CaFFE asks if President still have faith in PM

If President Maithripala Sirisena still trusts Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, it means that he has not read the bond commission report, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) said on Wednesday.

In a statement, CaFFE Executive Director Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon said the Prime Minister has shown that he relies, not on impartial inquiry and independent investigations when making decisions on important matters but on verbal assurances given to him by his associates.

He said that the report of the PCoI states that 'the question of whether or not the fact that, Mr. Mahendran was not a citizen of Sri Lanka precluded him from being appointed the governor of the CBSL was not a Question of Law. Instead, it was a value judgment, which had to be made by those who considered the wisdom of appointing Mr. Mahendran, who was not a citizen of Sri Lanka, as the Governor of CBSL.

"So it is obvious that the Prime Minister made an erroneous judgment. He made this decision despite the fact that a number of the most senior cabinet ministers had objected to the appointment. The cabinet Spokesperson Minister Rajitha Senaratne continuously states that he opposed the decision until the Prime Minister requested him to trust his judgment and not to intervene in his decisions. The erroneous value judgment of the Prime Minister has cost the nation over Rs. 11 billion," Mr. Tennakoon said quoting the bond report.

He said that the report adds that the confidence which the Prime Minister has placed on Mahendran was misplaced.

The commission states the prudent course of action would have been to independently verify whether 'Mr. Mahendran was honoring the assurances he gave the Prime Minister. We regret that the Hon. Prime Minister did not take this course of action.'

Mr. Tennakoon said the report shows that he was not only mislead by Mahendran but also by a number of other officials.

“Is this the kind of person we can continue to have as the Prime Minister of the country? This is a man who has made a series of terrible mistakes. Anyone can make mistakes, but these are mistakes that could have been easily avoided because a lot of people were trying to show the Prime Minister what actually transpired. But alas, Mr. Wickremesinghe continues to be stubborn as ever and it’s up to the President to decide whether he can entrust the management of this country to such a man,” he said.