‘MINISTER SAID TO HAVE 45 ADVISERS SHOULD CLARIFY’
Ministers do not need 45 advisers to assist them and if any minister is alleged to have appointed such a large number then he or she should clarify the matter, Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake said yesterday.
There are many found with forged passports in the Negombo remand prison while an MP who has committed a similar offence is allowed to move about freely. In Sri Lanka those who are accused of corruption are considered heroes while those who fight against corruption are ridiculed
He told a media conference that a minister should not appoint a large number of advisers and if anyone of them had appointed such a large number he should come out and reveal the real reason for doing so.
“The present government should not follow in the footsteps of the Rajapaksa regime,” deputy ministers said. Responding to a question asked by journalists about the allegation that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had helped an MP who was said to have obtained a forged passport, he said he was unaware whether it happened or not. “I at all I don’t think the Prime Minister will encourage the breaking of immigration and emigration laws to help this MP,” the deputy minister said.
He said, however, there was omething wrong with the way in which the law was enforced. “There are many found with forged passports in the Negombo remand prison while an MP who has committed a similar offence is allowed to move about freely,” the deputy minister said. “In Sri Lanka those who are accused of corruption are considered heroes while those who fight against corruption are ridiculed. Some insult the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Chairman Sunil Handunnetti about his fingers while JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is ridiculed regarding his relationships.”
Responding to another question on the setting up of special courts to deal with corruption, the deputy minister said the committee appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena to look into the matter has decided to fast track the process of setting it up. Referring to the paada yatra, he said it was organized by a group of people tainted with fraud and corruption and that paada yatras could not topple the government.
There are many found with forged passports in the Negombo remand prison while an MP who has committed a similar offence is allowed to move about freely