Hidden agenda behind CID inquiry on Navin’s statement: UNP

•  Opposition says Govt. is launching witch-hunts against defectors in guise of ‘good governance’

The main opposition United National Party has alleged that there was a hidden motive behind launching a CID investigation into the claim by former Minister Navin Dissanayake, who recently defected to the Opposition, that he was offered Rs. 100 million to remain with the Government. “It is clear the Government has got very agitated about this statement by MP Dissanayake,” the UNP said in a statement yesterday. The Opposition party said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was engaging in play acting to show the public he was acting against corruption. “In reality the Government is simply starting witch-hunts against Ministers and MPs who have left the UPFA,” the statement said. Similar statements about being offered Rs. 450 million and Rs. 600 million by Ministers Wimal Weerawansa and Lakshman Seneviratne had never been investigated, the UNP said. “At that time the President’s conscience never wakened,” the party statement said. The UNP said it had no issue with the Government launching an issue into Dissanayake’s statement. “What we oppose is the brutal hidden agenda behind the move,” the party said. Scores of complaints about bribery and corruption within the Government had been subject to “investigation” but the reports were never completed, the opposition said. “Truly there is a need to change this corrupt and brutal system. The country has a golden opportunity to do so at the forthcoming presidential election,” the statement said. (DB)