Too late for Ravi to resign; damage already done: Ranjan

1 February 2018 08:37 pm

Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake, the film-star-turned politician, said today it was too late for UNP assistant leader Ravi Karunanayake to step down because the damage had already been done to the party.

He said what the Bond Commission said in its report about Mr. Karunanayake had tarnished the image of the UNP and this would result in the party losing the floating votes.

However, the deputy minister said he would extol the party leadership for initiating action to remove Mr. Karunanayake from the post of assistant leader.

“I welcome the move by the UNP leadership to request Mr. Karunanayake to resign even though it is late in the day. It may bring some credit to the party even at this late stage,” he said.

The deputy minister said the former finance minister should have resigned from the post of UNP Assistant Leader as soon as soon as his association with Arjuna Aloysius was revealed.

“Many politicians in other countries resign as soon as corruption allegations are made against them and will do a world of good for Sri Lankan politicians to also follow this practice,” the deputy minister said and added that SLFP ministers, who are facing allegations should also resign from their portfolios.

“Some of the SLFP ministers faced corruption allegations during their tenure in the previous government and they too should resign from their portfolios to ensure good governance.(Yohan Perera)