27 August 2016 10:35 am
Claiming he had no knowledge about the allegations in the Australian media reports that he had requested Rs.2.5 million from the Australia-based Snowy Mountain Engineering Company (SMEC ), President Sirisena has asked for the names of those involved.
“With regard to your questions involving the SMEC, we would like to communicate that he has no knowledge of the alleged incident and in order to ascertain the involvement of any of his office staff during the period he served as the Minister of Mahaweli Development, he would like to know more details about the allegation, such as the name of the person involved, the mode of communication, exact date of the incident, any proof of communication and any proof of solicitation etc,” he said.
Mr. McKenzie, who had written the news report had posed the following questions to the President: Either he or his co-coordinating secretary had met SMEC's Sri Lankan manager Mr. Dasanayake or any SMEC representative in early June 2009 and requested a donation or funds? If so, why was this request made? Did Mr Sirisena or his co-coordinating secretary request that SMEC pay a percentage of the Project that Mr Sirisena was to sign in Cabinet, to Mr. Sirisena, his political party or a representative? Did Mr Sirisena or his political party receive any funds or donations from the SMEC?
How does Mr Sirisena or his office or secretary respond to the allegations that he or they had sought a bribe from the SMEC in June 2009 in the form of a political donation in return for signing the Project contract in Cabinet?
Will Mr Sirisena assist police investigations in Australia into these allegations?
In response to his intimation, the Presidential Secretariat has written to McKenzie asking for more information on the allegations.
"In the wake of President Sirisena being committed to a zero-corruption policy, he would willingly collaborate in any investigation conducted by the Australian government into the alleged incident. He will also instruct the relevant local authorities to investigate into the allegation," Mr. McKenzie was told.
Meanwhile, President Sirisena drew his personal attention to the report published in the Australian website Sydney Herald that referred to some alleged incident of an employee of his office, when he served as the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Services.
The President states that he has no connection whatsoever in such an incident. He instructed the Attorney-General yesterday to investigate the matter and emphasized that during his political career, he had never indulged in any form of corruption or malpractice or encouraged or involved in any such activity. (Sandun A Jayasekera)