Bathiudeen willing to resign from all positions if found guilty

• “I will resign if I am found guilty”

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

Minister of Industry and Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Co-operative Development and Vocational Training and Skills Development Rishad Bathiudeen had informed the government parliamentary group that he is willing to resign from all positions if he is found guilty by any investigation.  

He said in that case he along with four other MPs of his party would resign. 

 
The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has handed over a no-confidence motion against the minister alleging that he gave political patronage to those behind Easter Sunday’s bomb attacks.  The motion has placed the ruling United National Party (UNP) in a quandary with some of its Catholic MPs vowing to support it.   

State Minister Niroshan Perera asked Mr. Bathiudeen to step down warning him that if he did not do so, the state minister would support the motion.   

This matter came up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting yesterday where Mr. Bathiudeen denying the allegations levelled against him and said he would resign his portfolio if either the President or the Prime Minister requested him to do so. He is accused of asking Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake to release a terrorist suspect, supplying scrap copper to the factory owned by suicide bomber Imsham Ahamed Ibrahim and influencing the police to charge some of the workers of this factory under a different law other than the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) so that they could be granted bail.   

The UPFA has handed over a no-confidence motion against the minister alleging that he gave political patronage to those behind Easter Sunday’s bomb attacks