By Zacki Jabbar

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, under investigation on corruption charges was trying to revive his flagging fortunes by making false allegations aimed at winding up the military against the government , Cabinet Spokesman and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said on Friday.

He emphasized that Gotabhaya like any other citizen of this country would have to face in courts the criminal charges that had been framed against him.

“Gotabhaya thinks that by making false accusations to the effect that I blamed the entire military for the actions of the AAVA group in Jaffna, he could create hatred within military ranks against the government. But that is not the way to revive ones flagging political fortunes. The men and women in uniform are intelligent enough to differentiate between the truth and lies.”

Accusing the Rajapaksas of having created the “AAVA” Group with the assistance of some military officers to destabilize the North after the war with the LTTE had ended, Senaratne pointed out that his words “some army officers” had been distorted by Gotabhaya to mean the entire military.

He said that the remnants of AAVA had got reactivated recently and were trying to disrupt the peace in Jaffna and the governments reconciliation efforts.” We know the identity of some of the persons who were behind the recent criminal incidents in Jaffna. Investigations are continuing and more details will be released soon.”

Emphasising that essential requirements of the security forces would be provided, Senaratne revealed that private lands would be purchased to resettle the war displaced in areas of the Jaffna district where there was a scarcity of land.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was trying to gain political mileage by holding the entire government responsible for allegations of corruption in the Central Bank 30-year bond issue of February 2015. But that contention was not correct since the Governor of the Central Bank was legally empowered to act independently and was liable for his actions, he noted.

Senaratne said that the biggest ” robberies” had occurred under the watch of Mahinda Rajapaksa and 30 COPE reports relating to them had been thrown into the dustbin.

” When such a person goes around slandering people, no one would take them seriously. Also don’t forget that several of his immediate family members are being tried in courts on corruption charges.”

Courtesy:The Island