News
Speaker says foreign powers asked him to take over Presidency during Aragalaya
By Saman Indrajith
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena yesterday revealed in Parliament that he had been asked by some foreign powers to take over the executive presidency while the country was in crisis owing to the Aragalaya protests.
“The objective of those who made that request was to create another Libya or Afghanistan here. They did not want to resolve the crisis or restore law and order to protect this country,” the Speaker said.
Making a speech soon after the defeat of a no-faith motion against him, Abeywardena said during the uprising many parties had pressured him to accept the post of Executive President. He said that there were both local and foreign forces. “I was asked to name a Prime Minister and Cabinet of ministers and rule the country.
“However, I was determined to uphold democracy,” the Speaker said, adding that he was surprised to see some of those who asked him to become the President of the country had signed the no-faith motion against him.
“When I rejected that call, they resorted to intimidation. There were threats too. Among those who exerted pressure on me were leading Bhikkhus and leaders of other religions. The then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called me and sought my opinion on transferring power to me. However, I knew that if I accepted that position without powers vested in me by the Constitution to do so, this country would end up in anarchy,” he said.
Speaker Abeywardena said that about Rs 45 million had been spent on the debate on the no-confidence motion against him and it was a waste of money.
“This is not the first time a no confidence motion has been brought against a Speaker in our parliament. There were four previous instances. Among the charges against the Speakers in those motions were violating Standing orders and other statutory provisions. But for the first time, there has been an allegation of violating the Constitutional provisions, in the motion against me.
That charge has been levelled on the basis of my conduct at the CC voting to approve the appointment of the IGP.” The Speaker said on that occasion he had acted to safeguard national security as the country needed a permanent IGP.
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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