Govt.’s admission of truth of Mangala’s exposure - John Amarathunage

 Thursday, 26 June 2014 

The UNP says the police media spokesman’s statements confirm the truth of the revelations by party MP Mangala Samaraweera that intelligence was behind the incident in Beruwela.

Chief opposition whip John Amaratunga says in a statement that the present regime had done with the politicizing of the entire state mechanism through the abolition of the 17th amendment, and the armed forces were now being politicized.

The military and police spokesmen are now leading the government politcians in their involvement in politics, he charges.

Instead of dealing with matters of intelligence services in accordance with globally-accepted traditions, both these spokesmen were making various statements to the media.

The UNP statement stresses that MP Samaraweera had not revealed the identities of any intelligence official, but had mentioned the names of several top officials, whose names had come up both in and outside parliament on several previous occasions.

Even the state media has made references to these very officials by name several times, it points out adding that discussing intelligence chiefs is not considered an exposure of state secret anywhere in the world.

Had an MP made a false or baseless remark, it would have been responded to by the subject ministry, but the subject minister or the government spokesman are yet to make any statement regarding this issue, it says.

Other than accusing MP Samaraweera of having revealed the names of intelligence officers, the government has yet to reject the allegations contained in his statement, says the UNP statement.

Furthermore, the military spokesman does not have any legal powers to make remarks about intelligence services, which are operational not under the armed forces.

The police spokesman says investigations against MP Samaraweera are being held on the basis of media reports, although he himself previously has said that an investigation cannot take place based on media reports.

The government has no need to protect or uplift the masses who suffer due to the cost of living and the curtailment of free education and health services.

The Rajapaksa regime has no any intention other than making use of the entire state mechanism to ensure its own well-being, says the UNP statement, adding that it would bring this matter to the attention of parliament as well as the International Parliamentary Union.