BASL President pays tribute to Lal Wijenayake, recalls his stance on 22nd Amendment

Colombo Telegraph reports that Lal Wijenayake died in Kandy on the evening of October 31, 2026, aged 86. Daily Mirror and Newswire report that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake paid tribute to him, while Lankadeepa also reports the president visited to honour him.

Daily Mirror reports that the Lawyers Collective expressed grief and described Wijenayake as a founding member of Lawyers for Democracy, the group from which the Collective later developed. Newswire reports that Lawyers for Democracy issued a statement on November 2, describing him as a Kandy-based senior lawyer and one of its Convenors.

Newswire reports that Lawyers for Democracy began in July 2012 after an attack on the Mannar Magistrate’s Court, and said Wijenayake helped bring lawyers, trade unions, civil society groups and others together to protect the courts’ independence and the rule of law. The organisation also recalled his participation in opposition to the January 2013 impeachment of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, including the organisation of rallies, gatherings and public-information efforts.

Newswire reports that Lawyers for Democracy pointed to Wijenayake’s resistance to the proposed 22nd Amendment, although he belonged to the ruling administration’s policy-making body. It also credited him with work supporting civil liberties, equal treatment, ethnic harmony and reconciliation. Newswire separately reports that Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa paid tribute, highlighting Wijenayake’s defence of judicial independence despite their political differences.

Colombo Telegraph reports that Wijenayake entered the Lanka Sama Samaja Party while studying in the early 1960s, later joining its Politburo. The outlet says he served as a provincial councillor for about 15 years and led the opposition in the first Central Provincial Council. Colombo Telegraph also reports that his legal practice spanned more than 52 years, including work for trade unions, plantation workers and the Ceylon Federation of Labour, and that he published two poetry collections.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.