Abolish FCID immediately, amend 19A

The FCID was created for political purposes and therefore it should be disbanded

The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) should be abolished immediately, and the 19th Amendment to the constitution changed to ensure stability of the country, Chairman of ‘Yuthukama Conference’ Gevindu Kumaratunga declared.

Mr. Kumaratunga told a press conference that the FCID should be scrapped and its files handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

“The FCID was created for political purposes and therefore it should be disbanded. Of course we note that certain cases which it was investigating such as the Bond Scam should be carried out by the CID and the wrong doers, penalized,” Mr. Kumaratunga said.

He also called for further amendments to the 19th Amendment and pointed out that the president should be provided with powers to dissolve parliament as and when he thinks it had failed to perform its duties. “It is fair to vest this power with the executive president of Sri Lanka especially when considering the constitution in India where a non-executive president in that country enjoys such powers” he commented.

He suggested that the constitution should make provision for the president to hold the defence ministry. “There is nothing wrong with the president holding this ministry if he is the head of the armed forces,” he said.

He further stated, “The current president had got the mandate to make these changes and we request him to implement these as soon as possible”.