PSC fails to hold govt. responsible for Easte Sunday attacks : JVP

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has called out the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) for its inability to hold the government as being fully responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks. 

The party's comments came in the backdrop of the submission of the PSC's final report to Parliament this week.

“The PSC while naming the President, Prime Minister, and top security officials as those responsible for failing to prevent the attacks, has not mentioned that the entire government should be responsible as a whole,” JVP General Secretary Vijitha Herath told a news conference today (Oct 25).

However, he conceded that several important details had been revealed through the exercise, allowing the people to identify those responsible for the failure to prevent the attacks in April this year.

Meanwhile, the JVP also expressed disagreement with the government's interim budget of Rs 1,474 billion passed in Parliament for the first quarter of next year.

"Through this Rs 2.4 billion alone has been allocated for the expenses of the President. This amounts to a daily expenditure of Rs 20 million a day," Herath told reporters.

He emphasised that such an expenditure was a waste of public funds in the backdrop of the high cost of living expenses and piling debt.

The JVP General Secretary observed that the cabinet's decision to approve a costly retirement package for President Maithripala Sirisena was against a court ruling issued to that effect.

He recalled that the court ruling issued in 2005 during the term of former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, had limited the post-retirement benefits of a President.

Meanwhile, responding to a query, the Herath stated that the JVP would contest under the NPP banner at all upcoming elections after the presidential vote on November 16.