By Ravi Ladduwahetty Courtesy Ceylon Today

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Prof. G.L. Peiris said yesterday (12) that it would be more moot to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee to probe the Kandy carnage rather than a Presidential Commission of Inquiry.

“The sincerity of the Government would be shown by the Commissioners whom the Government would be appointing to such a Commission and it would also reveal whether the Government wants to ascertain the truth of what happened or whether it was to hide the truth and inflict revenge on the Government’s political opponents,” Prof. Peiris told a news conference at Battaramulla yesterday.

Instead, Prof. Peiris said that it would be more moot to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee comprising all parties represented in the House so that the views of all parties and stakeholders would be expressed and that would be the way forward if the Government’s motive was to ascertain the truth, Prof. Peiris added.

He said that there were three Provincial Councils Elections which were outstanding from last year, three this year and there were three more Elections for three more Provincial Councils, which will be due next year, which could be expedited this year, he said.
He said that the SLPP will be contesting all of them with the constituent parties under the lotus bud symbol.

Earlier, he charged that the Government had totally broken down of late.

He also charged that the Government was in such a state of confusion that even the Government did not know how many Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers and Deputy Ministers it had with each passing day.

Prof. Peiris said that Sri Lanka had reached such a state of confusion that there were three Ministers of Law and Order in the last three weeks.

He also said that there was such an internal strife within the Government where ministers were openly criticizing the President for his selection of ministers. He quoted Minister of Regional Development Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as having severely criticized the appointment of Minister of Law and Order Ranjith Madduma Bandara as the new Minister of Law and Order and asked where the sense of collective responsibility within the Cabinet of Ministers lay.

He said that the situation had deteriorated to such an abysmal low that the Muslim community in Kandy were turning to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for their security and salvation as they had absolutely no confidence in the Government at all. “That was the underlying message that was given to him during his visit to Kandy in the immediate aftermath of the Kandy carnage,” Prof. Peiris claimed.

He also condemned the statements made by United People’s Freedom Alliance General Secretary and Minister of Fisheries Mahinda Amaraweera whom he quoted as having said that social media should be banned and that laws should be brought in to regulate social media.

He also blamed the Government for suppressing social media which he said, was to suppress dissent. “With the restriction of online businesses, how does the Government attempt to allow the businesses which deal with online marketing of properties and vehicle sales, survive?, he queried.

He said that it was also the Government which undermined the authority of the Police and that was why there was a state of restlessness among the people who had no faith in the Police as well.

He said that the Government had degenerated to such an extent that Government politicians could not have confidence in the Police and particularly in the case of a Kandy District Government MP who had slept on the road , as a show of protest of being unable to get an Officer-In-Charge transferred.