By Dasun Edirisinghe-December 10, 2013
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) leader Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera, on Sunday, demanded the immediate arrest of Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne, over the issuing of a letter to the Customs, from his office, to obtain the release of a container which was subsequently found to contain heroin. But, the JHU will not pull out of the government even if its demand is not granted.
JHU Spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe confirmed that Ven. Sobitha Thera’s call for the PM’s arrest and the responsible official was consistent with his party’s stand.
"We ask the government to reveal the name of the secretary who issued the letter on the Prime Minister’s letterhead and sack him," he said.
Addressing the Ven. Gangodawila Soma Thera Commemoration Ceremony on Sunday, JHU leader Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thera said that the Prime Minister, who did not know how a letter, on his behalf, had been sent to the Customs, requesting the release of a container containing 261Kgs of heroin, inside 1259 cans of grease, was not fit to function in that high post.
Asked whether the JHU had officially informed the government of its demand, as a constituent of the ruling UPFA coalition, Warnasinghe said there was no need to inform government of it separately as the party had announced it publicly through the media. "There is no need to pull out from the government over this issue, but we demand that the government punish the smugglers and condemn those protecting them," he said.
The spokesman said that the government should accelerate the investigations into the incident as the culprits were still at large, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Secretary Sirisena Amarasekera yesterday said that the Prime Minister’s office would institute legal action against Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera for making an unwarranted call for the arrest of the Prime Minister.
