Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Malik Samarawickrama before the bond commission

Malik Samarawickrama before the bond commission

Aug 08, 2017

Development strategy and international trade Malik Samarawickrama is due to be summoned before the presidential commission investigating the treasury bond issue next week. The evidence given before the commission by foreign affairs minister Ravi Karunanayake last week was controversial. Malik had hoped to see Ravi blamed for everything. It is also him who is aiding the joint opposition with its no-confidence motion against Ravi.

As the entire country knows, ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa and most MPs in the JO are not much interested in this matter. But, Malik is very much interested, because he wants to see that Ravi is blamed for everything and to wash his hands off the matter. We do not say Ravi is a baby, or we do not want to whitewash him. If he has done anything wrong, he should be punished. However, he is not connected to this bond issue matter, and he has to take the blame for someone else’s sins.
It was more than a decade ago when frauds first happened in bond issues. It continued during the Ajith Nivard Cabraal period in the Central Bank too. The only difference is that Cabraal did it with millions, but Malik did it with billions. If an extensive investigation is conducted, a sizeable number in the JO too, should confess their sins.
UNP sources say Malik took PM Ranil Wickremesinghe for a ride over this bond sale issue. He laid the groundwork by telling him that there was no other way to pay back a Rs. two billion loan obtained for propaganda work of the presidential election. CCTV footage bears witness that Malik, the then UNP chairman and not even a minister, was there when the bond issue concluded. He had no reason to be there. We do not know to what extent the commission will proceed, but many more exposures are likely next week.