OIL PRICES ONLY GO UP AND NEVER COME DOWN WITH PRICE FORMULA
Speaking on the alleged conspiracy to assassinate him and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday the investigation into the incident would be handed over to the CID no sooner the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) concluded its probe and submitted its preliminary report.
Speaking to the Heads of Media Institutions at the President’s House, he said he spoke to IGP Pujith Jayasundara about this matter on Friday morning as well.
“The recording, which talks of assassination attempts on me and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, states that they want to do so because we are against drugs. I already spoke to the IGP and will discuss the issue further on Friday evening as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, referring to the UNHRC resolutions on Sri Lanka, the President said he would submit a set of special proposals to the UN on September 25 and subsequently to the new Human Rights High Commissioner seeking solutions to the post-war issues in the country.
He said the proposals would be made seeking relief when implementing UNHRC resolutions and to safeguard the sovereignty, national security and the reputation of the armed forces. “I’m optimistic that these proposals will also enable the amicable resolution of unresolved issues revolving around alleged war crime charges against the armed forces and the incidents which reportedly took place between the army and the LTTE,” the President said.
He said the charges against the Sri Lankan military forces were levelled by PRO-LTTE NGOS and LTTE sympathizers in the Tamil Diaspora. “They want the government to release all those who are arrested on charges of terrorism including former LTTE members in remand custody. At the same time, they want to punish tri-forces personnel. This is a conundrum. Therefore, I will submit a special proposal to the UN to solve these issues,” the President said.
He also spoke of the arrest of military personnel and the attempt to arrest the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and said no one can be arrested without filing a court case or handing over charge sheets.
“If the CDS is being arrested, either a court case should have been filed or charge sheets should have been handed over. A number of military personnel including the second in command of the Army (Major General K.A.D. Amal Karunasekara) and Commodore D.K.P. Dassanayake were released after being kept in remand custody for months without charge sheets or court cases. I even reminded the CID and the Attorney General’s Department to file a court case first before arresting anyone,” he said.
The President said tri-forces personnel had been arrested and remanded since August 2015 over various investigations but no court case had been filed against them. “The arrest and unnecessary detaining of personnel will only bring disgrace to the government,” he said.
Referring to the recent protests held in Mullaitivu against alleged forceful resettlement of Sinhala families, the President said there was no such state-sponsored resettlement of Sinhalese in any part of Sri Lanka
The President also assured that there was no threat to the National Security under the present government as claimed by some personnel and that Sri Lanka was receiving military assistance from the US and even Japan.
“When maintaining the military today as a country where there is no war, reorganisation is taking place but the military has not been weakened. Even today, the highest amount of funds from the budget is being allocated to the Defence Ministry. Some personnel had conflicts with each other since the time of the war. From the statements they make as if they have just woken up, it seems they have not abandoned their old habits. Those who hold high posts should not make irresponsible statements,” he said. Referring to the recent protests held in Mullaitivu against alleged forceful resettlement of Sinhala families, the President said there was no such state-sponsored resettlement of Sinhalese in any part of Sri Lanka.
“Due to the Mahaweli Projects, original residents were relocated in the Welioya area. There is the land requirement for the second generation of these families. This is a matter about finding lands,” he said.
Commenting on the recently introduced oil price formula, the President said it was introduced to provide the benefit of fuel price reduction in the international market to the people but the local fuel prices had been increasing since the introduction of the formula.
“A decision whether to change this will be taken based on upcoming Budget proposals,” he said.