President's office will issue statement on Aussie media reports: Lakshman Yapa

25 August 2016 05:35 pm

The Presidential Secretariat will issue a full statement in the days to come on the news reports published in Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation among the Australian media on an alleged attempt to obtain a financial donation from an Australian company for political work by a coordinating secretary of President Maithripala Sirisena when he served as the Minister of Mahaweli Development and Irrigation in 2009, State Finance Minister Laksman Yapa Abeywardana today said .

Responding to a journalist at the weekly news briefing at the SLFP head office yesterday, Minister Abeywardana said it was quite obvious that the attempt was aimed at slinging mud at President Sirisena on a non-existent transaction.

“The Australian media, that made this allegation itself says that however ‘no donation was made’ at all. In short, there was no transaction into this effect took place,” Minister Abeywardana stressed.

“There was no one who made the alleged donation or the one who obtained it. There was no account number or the name of the bank on which the cash or the cheque deposited. Therefore, there is no case here,” Minister Abeywardana added.

He said however, the government would go deep into this false allegation and the Presidential Secretariat will issue a full statement on the issue.

He asked as to why this false charge was made after seven years if something to that effect actually happened in 2009.

The Australian based Fairfax media alleges that Sirisena and his adviser allegedly demanded a ‘political donation’ from the Snowy Mountains Engineering Company (SMEC) in return of Sirisena approves the awarding of a World Bank funded dam project when he was the Minister of Mahaweli Development and Irrigation.

Responding to another journalist as to why the government unearths cases of bribery, corruption and embezzling allegedly took place under the Mahinda Rajapksa regime, Minister Abeywardana said there were enough documentary and collaborative evidence to evidence to frame charges against perpetrators who have reportedly involved in those crimes.

“The cases of corruption, bribery and embezzling filed in various courts are prima-facie cases with provable evidence. There are those who paid the bribery and those received it. There are bank accounts, banks and cheques that involved the crime and the purpose of paying the bribe. Therefore, almost all those case filed against corrupt politicians of the previous government are water tight cases. The allegation that has been made against President Sirisena is only a wichful thinking and there is no case here,” Minister Abeywardana emphasized. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

http://www.smh.com.au/business/australian-companies-linked-to-bribe-scandals-in-sri-lanka-and-congo-20160823-gqyzlp.html