I am resigning with pride: Ravi
Ravi Karunanayake, who resigned on Wednesday as foreign minister, made a statement in Parliament on Thursday. Here are edited excerpts:
“There have been media and social media reports and discussions about me in the past few days. In Parliament too views have been expressed. A no- confidence motion too has been handed over against me.
“Therefore I believe that I should explain matters to the House.
“There was a question about the apartment I am occupying in Colombo 3. I made a statement before the Commission on Treasury Bonds. Therefore I thought I should explain my stance as a responsible minister and Member of Parliament.
“I wish to present the facts before this House.
“Since there was a renovation at our Battaramulla residence there was a need to shift. I did not have an official residence. Therefore our family members looked for a house. My family members were told Nahil Wijesuriya’s daughter had a house. She was a classmate of my daughter. She was opposed to renting out a house to a politician. Therefore my daughter had suggested to rent it out to one of their mutual school friend Arjun Aloysius’ company. My daughter reimbursed the lease money.
“The owner decided to sell the apartment and a company owned by our family purchased it. A loan from the Seylan bank was obtained for this purpose. I am tabling document Seylan Bank – Ref: No – WTL.CRD/2016 – 1535, 29 September 2016. The Chairman of the company owned by our family paid the instalments. They have been accounted for in the company accounts.
“Everybody who visited my place is aware of my earnings. They are aware that I did not earn money illegally. I have not used political power for my business activities. Most of the persons who signed the No- Confidence motion are aware that I have not earned money from politics.
“In the past not only the minister, but even a person connected to the minister was not summoned before a Commission. We know how ministers with power acted .We know how Prime Ministers acted. Presidents acted like kings. They still try to hide from the law. We are not like that. We respect the law and order. By presenting myself before the Commission as witness I showed that there is a new political culture and new political ethics. It was appointed to probe what happened in issuing bonds. At the Bond Commission the judges intervened several times and cautioned the way the Additional Solicitor General questioned me. I’m not going to talk about the behaviour or the mistakes in the professional abilities of the Additional Solicitor General. The reason for him to be that much aggressive in his behaviour will be revealed soon. Sometimes it may be a result of a competition for promotions. Or else it may be other reasons.
“The Attorney General’s Department was able to investigate 8803 pages within a short period of 48 hours. It is a positive feature. We request them to work in the same speed to find the corruption done by ministers in the previous government and take immediate steps regarding the 87 files that were handed over.
“I worked hard for UNP for 32 years. I faced the challenges during harsh times. I sacrificed all my ambitions for the party. Due to that I received death threats. Court cases were filed against me for false allegations. Tried to arrest me. I was implicated for an exchange fraud for 10 years. Finally I was acquitted. Indrajit Coomaraswamy who worked with Raj Rajarathnam who was charged in that court case is the Central Bank Governor now. I say these facts to show that we were subjected to political revenge when we were in the opposition. Now they are involved in character assassination.
“In the presidential election in 2015 we believed that to defeat the Rajapaksa regime it was I who gave the symbol of the Swan for Maithripala Sirisena who was the common candidate. I used my portfolio to serve the public. To do justice for the party supporters. Everyone in the House, knows that my phone is switched on for 24 hours. I used this position to serve not to enjoy the power and the privileges. What is eternal is the service we did and our good qualities and our honesty. But many do not understand this. They think that their posts are eternal. Power is eternal. Thus, they dream about power even after they were removed from power. They do any cheap thing to take power. They are not worried of what happens to the country if they get power.
But from the January 8 revolution we worked to build a different society.
There is no basis for my charges. I am not involved in any of those. But some groups and media have found me guilty by now. Within the last 10 to 12 days the media acted in an unprecedented manner. They said I have to be crucified. I won’t be disheartened by those.
“I feel, there is a conspiracy to de- stabilise the ‘ Yahapalana Government’ based on the allegations against me. There is an attempt to destabilise the democratic process followed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe . The persons behind the conspiracy are those rejected by the people, those accused of corruption, fraud and crime. They are trying to regain power to avoid being penalised for the offences.
“That is why I say that history and time will eventually decide my place. My intention is to do the right thing and serve honestly. Irrespective of the allegations I will stand for the truth. I will fight to eliminate corruption and crime from this country. I will work to protect our party members. I will be dedicated to protect the social and political values gained after the January 8 revolution.
“I am not sorry or shocked by the decision to resign, but I am doing it with pride. I am sacrificing my position for the dignity of the House. I am sacrificing this position for the Ministers and the backbenchers who love the party, for the voters from the Colombo district, the persons who love our party. I am sacrificing my position for a novel political culture, for disciplined governance and to protect the democratic rule. I am sacrificing it for the sake of the consensual Yahapalana government of the President and the Prime Minister”.