by Maheesha Mudugamuwa

Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) General Secretary Susil Premajayantha and MP John Seneviratne. pic by Jude Denzil Pathiraja

The Opposition would request the government to remove the Central Bank (CB) Governor Arjuna Mahendran over the scandal ridden 30-year Treasury bond issue, Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva said yesterday.

Addressing a press conference held at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Headquarters in Colombo, he alleged that the UNP was whitewashing the Governor and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was trying to protect the offenders.

“It was not the opposition, but the UNP that was protecting the wrong doers without punishing them,” he said.

The MP said there was a procedure which should be followed by the Bribery Commission (BC) when they were inquiring into cases involving MPs or former presidents without tarnishing their image.

But now the UNP was assassinating the characters of the MPs by giving unwanted publicity to each BC inquiry. But at the end of 100 days they had not yet proved any corruption, De Silva added.

Meanwhile United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) General Secretary Susil Premajayantha said Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa would decide on the post of Opposition Leader as it was the duty of the Speaker and also it was not his duty as the UPFA General Secretary.

Premajayantha however said that the speaker had asked him to get the UPFA members opinion and not to select the opposition leader.

Meanwhile MP John Seneviratne said that the Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Ajith Perera and Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe had violated the parliamentary privileges by criticizing the decisions taken in parliament by the speaker.

Responding to a query SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said that the former SLFP National Organizer Basil Rajapaksa was still a SLFP member of parliament and he would decide what he should do in the party in future.

Rajapksa had resigned from his post and as of now all vacancies in the party had been filled up, Yapa said.

He also said that a meeting between former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Maithripala Sirisena would be arranged soon.

All party members from ground to top wanted the unity of these two leaders to ensure UPFA victory at the next election, Yapa added.

Courtesy:The Island