Not only President Rajapaksa who has to be investigated, but actions of all those around him. That will be done, when General SF becomes President..!!

UNF asks Polls Chief to discipline ‘public servant Gothabaya’
‘He has become President’s media spokesman’

by Zacki Jabbar


The UNF yesterday called on Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake to take action against Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, for violating election laws.

Leader of the SLFP(M) Mangala Samaraweera, addressing a UNF news conference in Colombo, said that Gothabaya, as a public servant, could not be seen or heard to be campaigning for any candidate at the forthcoming Presidential campaign, but he had become the media spokesman of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"Mr. Gothabaya Rajapaksa is given slots running into several hours on national television and radio to defend the policies of President Rajapaksa and his government. But, as a public servant he cannot engage in such activity. We call on the Elections Commissioner to discipline Mr. Rajapaksa, by initiating action against him."

Samaraweera said that no previous Defence Secretary had behaved the way Gothabaya had conducted himself and it was high time that the Elections Commissioner took some concrete action.

"President Rajapaksa himself voted for the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, under which Independent Police, Public Service, Elections, Bribery and Corruption, Judicial Service and Media Commissions have to be appointed. But, his brother Gothabaya is now saying that an Independent Police Commission was not necessary. This reveals his thinking on maintaining law and order."

Refuting allegations made by Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, that a relation of General Sarath Fonseka had been involved in purchasing arms and ammunition for the army, he said such a serious allegation should have been made either by the Prime Minister or Leader of the House.

Fonseka, he said, had only requested more armoured personnel carriers, instead of arms and ammunition after the war had ended and that certainly could not be described as an act of corruption, he said.

Samaraweera said that the purchase of all arms and ammunition for the security forces had been handled by Lanka Logistics Limited, a company headed by the President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and included Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, Higways Ministry Secretary S. Amaraskera and Treasury Secretary Sumith Abeysinghe, who has now been replaced by P. B. Jayasundera.

"Three of the four directors of Lanka Logistics, are related to the President," he said.

Samaraweera said: "It is not only President Rajapaksa who has to be investigated, but the actions of all those around him. That will be done, when General Sarath Fonseka becomes the sixth President of Sri Lanka on January 26."


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