PM to take action after listening to Vijayakala

There was no need at all to revive the LTTE terrorist organisation, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday.

He said action would be taken against State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran for calling for the revival of the LTTE.

Making a special statement in Parliament, the Prime Minister said that what action should be taken against the State Minister would be decided after a meeting with her and listening to her explanation on the alleged statement she had made.

PM Wickremesinghe made this observation, announcing the UNP’s stance on the controversial statement made by Maheswaran.

The PM said the Speaker of the House had already taken steps to hold an inquiry with regard to the matter and the government had looked into the controversial statement made by Maheswaran. “Our political committee met immediately and discussed the matter. Maheswaran will be given an opportunity to tell us her side of the story. Necessary action will follow her explanation.”

Wickremesinghe said that people and the military had laid down their lives to protect the country. Many leaders of UNP, SLFP and Tamil parties had been killed during the time of war. The Parliament was attacked

“We will always safeguard the sovereignty of this country. The LTTE is already banned. There is no need for reviving it. We are still to reach a political solution agreed upon by all communities in the country.  The government under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena is currently carrying out the land releasing process. Development is essential for North and East.”

Referring to the commotion made by the Joint Opposition MPs in Parliament on Tuesday, Wickremesinghe said that strict action should be taken against their behaviour. He also suggested that JO made such a commotion to cover up the revelations made by The New York Times as regards the Hambantota port.

The PM said: “These are the very persons who gave party president portfolio to an ex-LTTE head Karuna Amman, who has killed over six hundred police officers. These are the same people who bribed LTTE leader Prabhakaran to win an election. These are the very people who sent the Army Commander who won the war to prison.  How rightful is it for them to make such a big fuss about this when they have acted like this?”