24 April 2019 01:32 am
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should resign after admitting that his actions had crippled the military intelligence services as well as the work done by the security forces in the name of safeguarding human rights, MP Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera said yesterday.
He told a news conference at the parliament complex that Mr. Wickremesinghe acted to cripple the military intelligence in 2001 and even under the present government the security forces were weakened as a result of his actions.
"After this government came to power in 2001, it started to betray the security forces. Then, 160 intelligence officers were betrayed in the incident that occurred at the Millennium City. The LTTE was allowed to regroup due to the ceasefire agreement as well. After 2015, about 20 intelligence officials were arrested after information about their activities were leaked by the police," the Thera said.
He said they had already briefed the President on the threats to national security and maintained that the PM should now admit his failures and resign.
Ven. Rathana Thera said the recent terrorist attack was a result of the failed policy adopted by the government during the last three years. "They allowed Muslim extremism to spread and even concealed information on Islamic extremists for the sake of Muslim votes," he said.
He said this was not a small group that had undertaken the Easter Sunday bombings and added that there was information that 87 suicide bombers were operating in Sri Lanka at present. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)