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Remove PM, SF if statements on Trinco port are false: NJC
View(s):The National Joint Committee (NJC) has called on President Maithripala Sirisena to remove Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Minister Sarath Fonseka from their posts, if they are found to have made false statements with regard to alleged negotiations on handing over the Trincomalee Port to India.
In a letter sent to the President, the NJC has drawn his attention to media reports last month, attributed to Minister Sarath Fonseka, telling Indian journalists that the Sri Lanka Government was negotiating with India to hand over the Trincomalee Port. “This report, we believe, has to be taken seriously because, it was reported a few days later that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also echoed similar intents by the Government,” it notes.
The letter stresses that the NJC is unaware of any decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers to negotiate with India on the port. If this is so, any negotiation in this regard, pursued by any authority or individual, is “ultra vires” (beyond one’s legal power or authority).
If it is found that such a negotiation had been initiated without proper approval, the organisation has urged President Sirisena to take stern action against those responsible.
“However, if what Minister Sarath Fonseka has mentioned, and reportedly reiterated later by the Prime Minister, is incorrect, you would have no other alternative than removing them from their respective offices for making false statements regarding the executive action of this Government.”