Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa should be brought to book as he is the prime suspect in all cases of large scale corruption, said Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka this evening.


Speaking at a seminar organised by the Anti-Corruption Front at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Mr. Ranawaka said the present regime should be firm in dealing with those who face corruption charges and penalise everyone who had been involved in fraud and corruption in the recent past -- right from the top to the bottom.


“We cannot afford to be lethargic about overcoming corruption,” he said; stressing that the racketeers who were involved in large scale corruption and fraud were trying to find a way out.


He said some of them may try to bribe prominent members of the present regime in order to escape.


Referring to the arrest of former UNP general secretary Tissa Attanayake, he said others involved in the campaign accusing Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe of having a secret pact should also be arrested.


He said the present regime faced the challenge of making the infrastructural facilities constructed by the previous government economically viable. As an example he said the highways should be used to transport fuel. (Yohan Perera)