Wednesday, 21 May 2014 01:41
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PM under fire from Opposition over drug scandal allegations
Anura Kumara slams Govt. on drug issues; Says political involvement means heroin is now coming in kilos and tons
SLFP Old Guard mounts defence on PM’s behalf
Mahindananda claims very little confidence among opposition MPs over no confidence motion
By Ashwin Hemmathagama
Our Lobby Correspondent
The main opposition United National Party moved a no confidence motion against the ruling UPFA coalition, saying the incumbent administration had failed to curb the drug menace that was threatening the social fabric in the country.
The claim was vehemently denied by ruling party Parliamentarians when the motion was tabled for debate yesterday.
UNP Lawmaker and former Speaker of Parliament Joseph Michal Perera who moved the moment, highlighted several media reports with regard to the recent drug scandals that had seen top Government officials being implicated by association.
“The current Prime Minister addressing the house on 6 July 2001 stated that there were politicians involved in drug trafficking. On 2 December 2013, DNA MP Anura Dissanayake exposed the involvement of the Prime Minister’s involvement in the Asia’s largest heroin stock taken into custody,” Perera charged.
The UNP MP said that MP Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thero of the JHU, which is a coalition partner of the Government, had also confirmed the Prime Minister’s involvement in an interview granted to a website.
“MP Duminda Silva giving an interview to a national newspaper last week has stated that his name is used for drug trafficking. When Presidential Advisor Bharatha Lakshman was killed, drug-related issues came up. When a house of Provincial Councillor Nimal Lansa was raided for heroin, the President himself visited the location to embrace the local politician,” the former Speaker said.
Seconding the motion, UNP Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake joined the debate highlighting the fact that law and order do not affect the high and the mighty.
“Many ministers in the Government are against the drug menace but they are unable to speak. But we will continue to criticise the Government. Why can’t the Government take action to apprehend the culprits? Ignoring barrels of ethanol and catching a person with a bottle of illicit liquor is not rule of law. This Government policy is to destroy us all silently,” Karunanayake charged.
He also blamed the Government for safeguarding former LTTE weapons procurer Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP.
In response, Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva said the drug issue was a concern for the Government and that the administration was focused on eradicating it. “Even if the no confidence motion is defeated, we should be able to eradicate the drug menace from Sri Lanka. The Opposition is making parallels with other countries. This is absurd and we disagree,” he said.
Minister De Silva said the Government had introduced new laws to apprehend culprits and drug traffickers.
“The biggest disgrace is that instead of praising the Government for the preventive action taken, you have brought in a no confidence motion. If you take the Prime Minister’s Secretary’s action, it is a concession requested for a container but not to release it from the port,” the Minister said, rising to the Premier’s defence.
He said there were 421 ongoing High Court cases and 585 Magistrate’s Court cases related to drug issues. In the recent past death penalties were given for 55 cases, life imprisonment for 178 court cases and other penalties including imprisonment for 397 cases. “We have a strong Government and this is not an issue that needs to be debated,” Minister De Silva charged.
Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said the UNP was not even able to decide on a common presidential candidate, but was “talking big” about other things.
“You are talking about a common candidate but still can’t collect all signatures. Check the past no confidence motions that we were able to move. The UNP has faced an issue of survival when compared with the development program followed by this Government. The Prime Minister is a mature politician. So do you believe that he would issue a letter to carry a container containing heroin?”
Aluthgamage said drugs were being imported by terrorists and the underworld. “This Government fully destroyed the terrorist network in this country. Not only that, we have also managed to destroy the underworld. Many of them have fled in fear. If the Government want to position Sri Lanka at the centre of the drug trade, the underworld will be needed. We send people to the gallows for having two grams of heroin,” the Minister charged.
Aluthgamage also said that the motion had only the signatures of the UNP and not the JVP or most other opposition members in parliament. He recalled that in the past no-confidence motions had the backing of the joint opposition but this time the UNP was alone.
DNA MP and JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who revealed extensive details about controversial Government deals, said that while the regime was claiming to have eliminated both terrorism and the underworld, the drug menace was thriving without the two sources.
“How does that happen? This Government has 161 seats in the House. But many who no longer agree with this Government remain to sit with it. The recent elections have proved that the Government’s popularity in Colombo is waning,” he charged.
Dissanayake said the time was ripe to seize the moment. “Now is the time to use divisions within the Government to remove it from office,” he charged.
The JVP Leader said however that the UNP no confidence motion would help the Government close ranks and regroup.
“Once heroin was smuggled in small quantities hidden inside the body. But now with political involvement, it comes in containers. One particular container arrived at the harbour on 22 August 2013. The letter was sent on 23 August. The sender address is an official residence of the Sri Lanka Railway. The third factor is that the container contained grease. A permit is required to import grease to Sri Lanka. Where is the permit?”
Dissanayake charged that it was ironic that when the Police Narcotics Bureau raided the home of a UPFA Provincial Councillor in Negombo, two hours later President Mahinda Rajapaksa had arrived at the scene by chopper.
“With this visit, the signal given to the Narcotics Bureau it that is not to touch the supporters. Who is behind Chilaw drugs? Who is behind drugs in Kelaniya? Everybody knows these facts,” he said.
Hitting back against Ministers who spoke during the debate, Dissanayake said that while they were referring to sentencing persons who had brought only a few grams of heroin into the country to death, “heroin coming in kilos and tons is ignored”.
