Sri Lanka Trending English News - Latest international news headlines, pictures, and video

Unfair to connect PM to alleged bond scam

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara
Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said that it was unfair to connect the name of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the alleged bond scam, since there are enough evidences to prove the negligence of the former Central Bank governor and the former officials of the Central Bank.

He made this observation at a media conference yesterday at the Sports Ministry Auditorium.

“Though the former Central Bank Governor has used the name of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe several times, the Prime Minister cannot take such a decision,” said the Minister adding that the decision should be taken by the Monetary Board.

He said it was questionable why they have used the name of the Prime Minister without the Monetary board taking the correct decision.

Responding to a question raised by a journalist with regard to the request made by the Joint Opposition to conduct a probe against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over the central bank’s controversial Bond issues, Jayasekara said the Prime Minister has not intervened to safeguard corrupt officials.

The Prime Minister fulfilled his duty by instructing the office of the Leader of the House to forward the COPE report to the Attorney General for necessary legal action. For the first time immediate measures have been taken to forward the COPE report to the Attorney General for necessary action, he said.

“As a person who represents the COPE committee for about 10 years, we submitted several COPE reports even during the previous regime. But no action had been taken with regard to those reports,” he said.

The Minister said that the President, Prime Minister and the present regime will never safeguard people who are involved in bribery, corruption or any other financial malpractice.”