JVP slams President’s outburst against Bribery Commission and Police

By Dharisha Bastians

The Opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna yesterday levelled sharp criticism at President Maithripala Sirisena over his shocking outburst against the Bribery Commission and Police on Wednesday, and urged the Head of State to refrain from making statements that would weaken criminal investigations and prosecutions.

In a special media release issued yesterday, the JVP said President Sirisena’s remarks posed major challenges to the aspirations of 6.2 million Sri Lankans who voted against corruption in the January 2015 presidential election.

“By casting doubt about the political motivations of the Bribery Commission, the FCID and the CID, the President has made a very grave statement,” the JVP said in its news release.

The criticism came as the two main parties ruling in coalition called off scheduled press briefings yesterday, after the President’s fiery speech that laid bare his anger and frustration towards the UNP made headlines in all major newspapers last morning.

Minister of Telecommunications and UNP MP Harin Fernando was scheduled to address the press at 10:30 a.m. at Sirikotha last morning, but cancelled the briefing, reportedly on the instructions of the party leadership. Meanwhile, reporters walked out of a SLFP press briefing after Government Ministers avoided the interaction with the media, sending low-level provincial council members to address the briefing instead.

Speaking at a function to award land and housing to military personnel in Colombo on Wednesday, President Sirisena lashed out at Government agencies investigating corruption against former military officers and former members of the defence establishment. He said these agencies were going beyond their remit, to “haul” Gotabaya Rajapaksa and three former Navy Commanders to Court in the controversial Avant-Garde case. In his angry outburst, President Sirisena charged that the Bribery Commission, FCID and CID, were working to a “political agenda”, a charge that has been made repeatedly by former members of the Rajapaksa regime being investigated by these institutions.

In its statement, the JVP said that statements or actions that weakened real investigations into corruption and weakened the investigating agencies, were tantamount to betrayal of the people’s mandate.

Such remarks would also embolden members of the former regime currently under investigation for corruption, that were already casting aspersions against the investigating agencies, the Opposition party said.

“If the defeated Rajapaksa regime is attempting to misinterpret the actions of law enforcement agencies investigating corruption, in order to create a certain impression within the military, the response to that would be to defeat such attempts, rather than seeking to demoralise or weaken institutions working on corruption cases,” the JVP media release noted.

Given that the remarks were being made by the Head of State and Head of Government, the charge that the Bribery Commission, FCID and CID were working to a political agenda was not a light one, the opposition party said. “The President must then make it clear to the country exactly whose agenda these agencies are working towards,” the media release said.

According to the JVP, several cases of corruption against members of the current Government were not being probed. “We can only assume that these cover-ups are also happening according to someone’s political agenda,” the press release added.

The JVP urged the Government to refrain from weakening agencies dealing with corruption or diluting their investigations and also demanded investigations into dubious deals and corrupt individuals within the current ruling administration.

President Sirisena’s shocking remarks on Wednesday exposed a widening chasm between the partners in the ruling coalition. Analysts wondered if the remarks marked a crucial juncture in relations between President Sirisena and his Prime Minister, whose political cohabitation is approaching the two year mark.

The pair was scheduled to meet last evening, to discuss issues that may have given rise to President Sirisena’s outburst on Wednesday, highly-placed sources told Daily FT. The Prime Minister had been ‘flummoxed’ by the President’s outburst and had summoned his party MPs ahead of the meeting with Sirisena to discuss current tensions within the ruling coalition, the sources said.

During his speech, President Sirisena said he was taking up the issue of politicisation of these agencies up with his Prime Minister and Cabinet of Ministers, and added that he had warned them that he would be compelled to take action.

“I have no expressed these views publicly before. But soon I will have to take action openly as well,” he charged, in a fiery hour-long speech.

President Sirisena’s apparent defence of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the former military commanders also caused consternation in political circles, in light of widespread speculation that the powerful former official was in regular contact with the President.

The President’s outburst also comes in the backdrop of severe criticism and public anger against his son who was allegedly implicated in a violent attack on a nightclub in Colombo last weekend. The President has ordered two separate investigations into the incident, by the Police and the Presidential Security Division, Deputy Minister for Media Karu Paranavithana told reporters on Wednesday.