Opposition accuses President of using decentralised budget to bribe its MPs into supporting him

By Saman Indrajith

The Opposition alleged in Parliament yesterday that President Ranil Wickremesinghe used the decentralised budget and bar permits as bribes to lure MPs into supporting his presidential campaign.

Raising a point of order, Dissident SLPP MP for Kurunegala District Dayasiri Jayasekera said some Opposition MPs had received funds from the decentralised budget and other incentives in return for their promise to support the government.

Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella claimed that 500 bar licences had been distributed. “These licenses have been given to Opposition MPs who pledged their support to the President and the government. The President comes to Parliament and preaches Buddhism while distributing bar licences.

“I have been in this Parliament for 35 years. There was never a time that we had to beg for funds from the decentralised budget. Every MP got them whether they supported the government or not. Now, the decentralised budget allocations have been released selectively. I call upon the Chair to give a ruling that every MP should get his or her decentralised budget allocation,” Kiriella said.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that he would look into the matter.

Kiriella: Please do not take time. You keep postponing action. Why can’t you give a ruling? This amounts to giving bribes.

Speaker Abeywardena: How can I give a ruling without knowing it fully? So, let me look into this first.

SJB Gampaha District MP Harshana Rajakarauna told Parliament yesterday that the government had adopted two ways of granting funds from the decentralised budget to the MPs. “The majority of MPs in the Opposition have not been given any funds. Decentralised budgets have been released only to a selected number of Opposition MPs. Those who had received the funds have got between Rs 200 and 300 million rupees each.

“MPs such as Mujibur Rahuman, Buddhika Pathirana and I have not been given a cent while the MPs supporting the government have received one hundred million rupees each. It is public money that is being used in this. This amounts to breach of privilege of MPs. We know that some of those who got the money are now unable to speak a word against the government. So, the intention of the President in giving these funds was to silence them,” MP Rajakaruna said.

Chief Government Whip, Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that there was no distribution of decentralised budget funds but some MPs had made proposals for projects on the basis of needs discussed in Rural Committees for the village development and forwarded these proposals to the President, who approved funds for the implementation of those projects. Most of the other MPs do not even attend rural committees, so that they do not have such projects, the Minister said.