CHOGM coronation will become Mahinda’s crown of thorns: Mangy
Thursday, 28 November 2013 00:00
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Claims in Parliament Sri Lanka is systematically transforming into major center for money laundering
Lowest ever world leader participation reported at CHOGM 2013
Accuses a ‘certain family’ receives US$1.2 b - $1.8 billion in annual commission from Chinese companies
UNP MP claims Rajapaksa family member donated 423,000 pounds to UK Conservative Party
By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent
Former SLFP strongman, now opposition United National Party Lawmaker Mangala Samaraweera, yesterday took on massive Government spending on the Commonwealth summit, claiming that heavy chunks of commission had been collected by a “certain family in Sri Lanka”.
Samaraweera said Sri Lanka now boasts commission-led development common to bandit rulers in Libya, Indonesia and North Korea.
The UNP MP said Rs. 15.5 billion had been spent on CHOGM 2013.
“The summit theme was eradicating poverty – what did the meeting do to alleviate poverty? It has only increased poverty and inflation,” Samaraweera charged.
He charged that the total losses of state enterprises have increased by 432% during the Rajapaksa regime since 2005.
Sri Lanka was steadily transforming itself into a centre for money laundering, the UNP MP said, saying billions from commissions were being earned from development projects like the Katunayake expressway, Samaraweera claimed.
“New Delhi based journalist Rajeev Sharma in his paper 5261 published in South Asia Analysis Group states that a certain family members in Sri Lanka receive US$1.2billion – US$1.8 billion as commission for Chinese projects during 2005 – 2015. It also works out to an annual intake of US$120 million – US$180 million from these Chines projects. This is more than what the entire Parliament is allocated,” he revealed.
When his speech was interrupted at this juncture by Government members, Samaraweera shot back: “Why are you getting excited? It could be any family in Sri Lanka.”
He said that with the defeat of the LTTE, Sri Lankans had anticipated the dawn of a new era. Instead the entire Government mechanism is being tailored to afford benefits for certain individuals,, Samaraweera said.
“The country is heading for bankruptcy and getting isolated in the international arena. CHOGM shows how we were isolated though the Government boasts about it. CHOGM 2013 had the lowest international leader participation. According to Minister G.L. Peiris’s new African policy we donated a millions worth of a water project to Uganda when our own were shot for asking for water. But even the President of Uganda didn’t come for CHOGM,” Samaraweera charged.
Samaraweera charged that the Commonwealth Secretariat, like like a father over anxious to get his aging daughter married at any cost who hides certain details of from the grooms dubious past from the relatives, had to resort to many maneuverings to overcome the objections of some of powerful members. He said he expressed these sentiments in writing in an open letter to the Commonwealth Secretary General a few days before the summit.
“Although the President believes CHOGM was his coronation, it won’t be long before he realizes that it is nothing more than a crown of thorns,” Samaraweera charged.
“British Prime Minister David Cameron is blaming Sri Lanka here to increase his vote base in the UK while your leader blames Cameron to increase his vote base in Sri Lanka,” he quipped during his speech.
Samaraweera also accused the Government of having discreetly donated 423,000 pounds to Britain’s Conservative Party, through an individual named Hettiarachchi. “The Conservative Party had admitted to receiving this donation. The details are in the British Parliamentary Hansard and emerged in the UK newspaper Daily Mail,” the UNP MP said.
