Arjuna’s support for Vasu’s case – state counsel to back opposing side
Jan 14, 2017
Mahinda Rajapaksa faction’s Vasudeva Nanayakkara has filed a FR petition in the Supreme Court against the leasing of the Hambantota port to China and the setting up of a China-Lanka industrial park in the adjoining area, and ports minister Arjuna Ranatunga is reportedly supporting the case. Arjuna and his brother, Ports Authority chairman Dhammika, have been opposing the handover plan from the outset.
The ‘Yahapaalana’ government has been trying, as the only available alternative, to lease the Hambantota port, which has sent the country into billions of dollars into debt and has become a white elephant, in order to earn income and reduce the country’s debt burden, but the Ranatunga brothers are working to their own personal agenda and sabotaging it by provoking trade unions, the media has reported previously. Media reports said a request for a 300 million dollar commission was behind the anti-China campaign of the Ranatungas.
Anyway, Arjuna has instructed that president’s counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardena be made the lawyer for the Ports Authority in this case. He may be appointed by the Ports Authority, but on Arjuna’s advice, the lawyer will work to the advantage of Vasudeva’s complaint. Arjuna has given a lawyer at state expense to work against it.
When considering politics of the Ranatunga family, what is noteworthy is that the entire family unites to protect the corrupt amongst them, despite their being divided politically. For instance, Prasanna is still a diehard Mahinda loyalist, while Arjuna holds a key ministerial position in the government. Furthermore, Nishantha, who swindled Sri Lanka Cricket money during the Mahinda rule is still free. Arjuna cries foul about the corruption and fraud that had taken place at SLC in the past, but he is careful to save his brother from blame. Once he said publicly, “My younger brother Nishantha is not a thief. At worst, he might have taken something without telling anyone. But, he is not a thief.”
