Front Page

Front Page

Top civil servants on the road
Unprecedented protests against Minister Wijesekera's behaviour
By Shelani Perera
Sri Lanka's top rung civil servants are to launch an unprecedented protest over Minister Mahinda Wijesekera's treatment of his secretary S. C. Mannapperuma.
The Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association (SLASA), the premier organisation of top civil servants, at a general council meeting on Thursday unanimously decided to hold the street protests for the first time.

SLASA President S Ranugge said yesterday that Minister Wijesekera's outburst against Secretary Mannapperuma in a dispute over posts and projects was a serious threat to administrative officers. He said the street protests would be held within the next two weeks if action was not taken by the President or the Prime Minister. The SLASA could not take legal action, so it would take street action.

The planned lunch-hour street protest by Sri Lanka's top civil servants would be the first such action in the history of the country's administrative service. Mr. Ranugge said the protests would be held batch by batch on different days so that work in the state sector would not be disrupted.

The SLASA is also planning to fire out letters to the President, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition giving details of the Wijesekera incident and other harassments faced by officers.

Mr. Ranugge said the response of the government to the earlier appeals had been weak-kneed while the President also had not acted though she had the power and SLASA now felt the urgent need to get the independent Public Services Commission into gear.

In the heated confrontation at the Fisheries Ministry, Secretary Mannapperuma has accused the minister of being abusive and offensive while Mr. Wijesekera had charged the secretary was inefficient and guilty of insubordination.

Back to Front Page