30 March 2018 06:05 am
President Maithripala Sirisena, in an Extraordinary Gazette issued on Wednesday, moved two key institutions; the Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); which were under the National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry headed by the Prime Minister, back to the Finance Ministry.
Joint opposition member MP Bandula Gunawardena told a news conference that the said decision taken by the President was really important at this juncture and added that it was also appreciable that the President had scraped the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management headed by the Prime Minister.
“The Prime Minister has taken the Central Bank to his purview, appointed Arjuna Mahendran as its governor and the controversial Central Bank’s bond scam took place thereafter incurred a staggering Rs.2,000 billion loss, which have resulted his fate at present,” he said.
He said the Prime Minister was still safeguarding Arjuna Mahendran. He also said the No-Confidence motion brought by the Joint Opposition against the PM was mainly based on the irregularities which had taken place on his part with regard to the bond scam.
He said however, the President’s decision could be regarded as closing the stable after the horse had bolted, because he was instrumental for bringing in irreparable loss to the country, even if he had step down from his post or had lost the No-confidence motion.
He also said following the said decision of the President, he had still hinted that it would be difficult to run the country in this manner. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)
Video by Buddhi, Sanjeewa