"If Ranil scraps me off ... I'll step down!" -- Ranjan Ramanayaka

"If Ranil scraps me off ... I'll step down!" -- Ranjan Ramanayaka

If the government considers my role or behaviour a botheration, the right to throw me out of the party rests on Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasingha, Minister Ranjan Ramanayaka says.

He said that the Prime Minister on several occasions before this exposed his name perilously and that it was mentioned at a workshop held at Hilton Hotel as well as at a Working-committee gathering, in his presence. He also added that the sole responsibility of a decision of expelling him from the party lies in the hands of the Prime

Minister and if such a decision is taken he would have to step down from the government.

He told this by responding to questions posed to him by the media at his Madiwela official residence. "I personally believe that my party is a Democratic party. My opinion is that it is correct to engage in self-criticism and to point out our own faults and rectify them. The Lord Buddha has said that 'All my efforts is not to enjoy luxurious living ... but to attain Buddhahood only'. So then what I too have to say is that all these efforts of mine is not to secure the Ministership but to get at the thieves. Namal Rajapaksa constantly makes fun of me saying 'the Minister who catches the thieves'. A few thieves address me as the Minister who catches thieves.

Prior to January 8th, 2015 what we repeatedly said on every stage was that the airport would be closed at 12 in the night and the thieves would be nabbed. It was for that that we got the best response. It was that statement that mostly influenced this regime to acquire power. Even our former Finance Minister said that there is a big gap in this budget and that nothing is necessary, but that if the monies robbed by the clique of robbers including former President could be recovered, this budget could be brimmed. I heard those words with my own ears. But we could recover only 146 billion of the C.S.N. We got back that money. But there's no owner. We can see that anti-corruption committees in Sri Lanka are being closed down. During a period such as this I proposed that anti-corruption committees be opened in all twenty-five districts and to open up committees in all nine provinces. That was our first pledge. But the government keeps on closing them down. Then ... the F.C.I.D. is going to be closed down. A group of some of our own Ministers say that the F.C.I.D. is not necessary. A certain Minister has said that if ...... calls you'll, you'll need not go; that they'll look after it. So there is contradictory talks within this government itself. What will happen as a result of this is that the thieves who robbed trillions of money are being safeguarded. We saw in the recent past the names of our thieves appearing in Panama Papers. In the same way we saw how Bank of Ceylon branches are being opened in tax-free countries. Only less that 20 or 30 citizens of Sri Lanka were there in Mauritius Islands. So there was a public opinion as to whether those were established with the purpose of remitting black money there.

During the past our Attorney-at-Law Mr. Weliamuna went to Dubai with former Director of the Bribery Commission and came back after being unsuccessful ... without any reason. We feel that there is some hitch in our government in the procedure of catching the thieves. I believe that this happens on the basis of some form of friendship. This is my own opinion. I will not withdraw my words on that because it is apparent that there is a liaison between former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and some of our Ministers. The best example is that during the recent past the driver of a best friend of Gamini Senerath by the name of Dissanaike came to us. He came and gave us secret information that on days such as January 6th and 7th a sum of upto 1200 crores were withdrawn between 9 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon from 4 banks. We made an investigation about it. Documentary lists with signatures were found to prove that they were genuine. Even upto date they were not summoned to the relevant institutions. There's perfect evidence in the Siriliya Account that Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa was connected to that fraud. But she was not summoned to the institution concerned for an inquiry ... she was brought to the Speaker's official residence. Our leaders get stuck. It must be exposed to the public because our pledge is that on the night of 8th January at 12 o'clock the airport would be closed and the thieves would be cornered. But that didn't happen. Now the batch of thieves get together and poke fun at us.

Our leaders pass the ball here and there. The public are waiting till the results are announced. What should be the result? The thieves are to be in remand prison and the income and assets of the thieves be acquired. Our leaders should expose to the masses as to what should be done to the wish of the public".

Report -- Udayanthi Munasingha