LASANTHA INVESTIGATION BECOMING CAN OF WORMS
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - 09:00
In an interesting turn of events, Dilrukshi Dias Wickremasinghe, the dynamic Director General of the Bribery Commissioner, tendered her resignation on Monday morning, without citing any reason.
The nearest reason for the Bribery Commission Director General’s resignation was the controversial speech made by President Maithripala Sirisena, addressing a military welfare event in Colombo, last week.
In his speech, the President criticised the conduct of the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Bribery Commission saying they followed a ‘Political agenda’ when they took legal action against former heads of security forces. The President’s remark, without doubt, created a major controversy in the political sphere as some analysts described it as a veiled attack on the UNP.
Shortly after the President’s speech, it was rumoured that the Bribery Commission Director General was preparing to step down from her position. However, the situation seemed under control when a group of ministers, led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, met the President for a special meeting, on Thursday night. Following the positive outcome of the meeting, many believed that Wckremasinghe would not resign from the position and the independent bodies, appointed under the 19th Amendment, would function as usual.
