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Tuesday, 4 June 2019 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Nuwan Senarathna
Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday launched an Ombudsman Office to collect public grievances from people who have been subjected to political revenge and to collect information on corruption from 2015.
The Ombudsman Office will be open on every working day from 8.00am to 12.00pm at the Opposition Leader’s office. The Opposition leader’ office stated an Opposition MP will be available at all times to provide advice if needed.
Those who wish to provide information with regard to corruption cases at Government institutions can also provide such information to the Office. During the launch, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said the new office will collect all complaints of those who have been subjected to ill-treatment by the Government.
“People always come to us and complain about ill-treatment by the Government, therefore we thought if we open an office where anyone can come and seek help or give information on corruption or mistreatment it would be helpful. I assure you once we come back to power we will take necessary actions on each case,” he said.
The proposal to open an Ombudsman Office was presented by MP Bandula Gunawardena during a meeting held with the Opposition Leader, later the proposal was approved by the rest of the Joint Opposition MPs.
Speaking to media, Gunawardena said the Office will be open to the public regardless their ethnicity, religion or which political party they support. He noted the new initiative will pave the way to directly contact the Opposition Leader and present their grievances.
“A set of legal experts will also be available if anyone needs advice, we hope those who were ill-treated will come forward and provide information to us,” he added.
A similar initiative was introduced by the Opposition Leader on 6 February to provide legal consultancy services for people who have allegedly been subjected to political revenge.
