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Video: Gammanpila says coup allegations a joke

21 Jan 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila said today that allegations that a coup had been planned by former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, G. L. Peiris and himself on the night of the presidential election were totally false and claimed that all that had taken place on that night was a discussion about whether it would be necessary to impose a curfew to prevent violence in the country following the defeat of the SLFP.

Mr. Gammanpila, speaking to the media soon after making a statement to the CID regarding the allegation of his involvement in an alleged coup on the night following the presidential election that took place at Temple Trees, said that more than one hundred people were present during a discussion which took place in the presence of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and that discussions centred around whether curfew should be imposed on January 9 in order to maintain a peaceful atmosphere in the country ahead of the visit of Pope Francis.

Those who attended the meeting included former Minister G.L. Peiris, Central Bank Governor Ajith Navard Cabraal, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the police chief, the commanders of the three forces, the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Law and Order Ministry Mahinda Balasuriya, he stated.

“We were told that UNP supporters had attempted to assault one of our Provincial Councillors, Samanmalee Sakalasuriya, at a counting centre and there had been some reports of possible poll violations in Colombo. So we discussed about the possibility of imposing a curfew to maintain law and order so that there would be no hindrance to the arrival of the Pope” he said.

But, Mr. Gammanpila added that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was of the opinion that the opposition would get the wrong impression if this was done and he had instructed the IGP to take the necessary steps to control the situation after holding discussions with the new President and Prime Minister. He had also instructed Presidential Secretary Lalith Weerathunga to organise the oath taking ceremony of the new president, Mr. Gammanpila said.

Mr. Gammanpila said that the claim that he had been part of an alleged coup was baseless as such a coup never existed. “I told the CID everything I knew. I was present at Temple Trees from 2.30 am to 6.30 am on January 9 and a coup was never discussed during that time,” he said adding that if such an uprising did take place it would be the first attempted legal coup in the world with knowledge of the Attorney General.

“It is a big joke to think that Professor G.L. Peiris and I, who had never even used a catapult, had been part of a coup,” he said. (Ajith Siriwardana)

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