President offers Fonseka Defence Ministry advisory post

Field Marshal rejects offer; UNP pushes demand for his appointment as Law and Order Minister

President Maithripala Sirisena has offered to appoint parliamentarian Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as an advisor to the Defence Ministry, in the midst of a continuing demand by the United National Party ( UNP) to appoint him as Minister of Law and Order.

However, the President has refused the UNP's request to appoint him as the Minister of Law and Order.

Field Marshall Fonseka is reported to have said that the offer to appoint him as an advisor came after the President rejected the plea by the UNP to appoint him as the minister.

President Sirisena had made the commitment when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and four other UNP Ministers met him this week to discuss a request by UNP backbenchers that the Law and Order Ministry be given to Field Marshal Fonseka following the Easter Sunday bombings which killed more than 250 people. This was blamed as a serious Intelligence failure on the part of the Police and the Defence and Law and order Ministries, both of which are under President Sirisena.

The UNP delegation argued that constitutionally, only the Defence Ministry must be

under the President and that as the UNP was in control of the coalition Government, it wanted the Law and Order Ministry to be given to a UNPer.

The Sunday Times learns that the President had told the Prime Minister-led UNP delegation that senior police officers were against the move to appoint the former Army Commander turned politician and they would not be able to work together, as a result..

Field Marshal Fonseka is reported to have rejected the offer to be an advisor to the Defence Ministry. The UNP delegation is due to meet President Sirisena next week to press the issue further.

Meanwhile, four more Islamist organisations are to be proscribed under emergency regulations next week, a senior government official said.

The organistions are to be banned following revelations about their links with two other organisations which have already been banned due to their illegal activities.

Last week, the government proscribed the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) and the Jamiathu Millathu Ibrahim (JMI) declaring them as terrorist organisations.

The government is also to introduce laws banning these organistions.