Presidential Election Abuses by Rajapaksas
12/04/2015
It is amidst an impending parliamentary election that more details of abuses and irregularities at the January presidential election are now emerging. A shocking revelation is how the assets of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) were allegedly used like a local taxi service by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his family members and a few onetime ministers during the presidential election campaign. Helicopters and fixed wing aircraft were allegedly used and abused at their will and pleasure. At the end of it all, no payments have been made to the SLAF for these flights. The costs of these flights, an SLAF source said, would run into millions of rupees which the taxpayers would have to meet. The source said all the costing had been done from the point from which the aircraft or helicopter took off until it returned to the same location. In the case of helicopters, they left the SLAF base in Ratmalana and often landed in Colombo to pick up the VVIPs and VIPs. “Our costing procedure includes the point of origin, locations visited and the return to where the flight took off from,” said the source who did not wish to be identified. He is barred from officially talking to the media.