Fraudsters and corrupted will be punished under my term – Mahinda
Posted on March 31st, 2019
Courtesy Adaderana
People who commit fraud and take commissions will be punished severely during his administration, says Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He pointed out that the incumbent government is responsible for the prevailing crisis in the country.
He mentioned this following an event held in Welimada area today (31).
Meanwhile, addressing a function held at Balangoda earlier today, he said that the public has been oppressed due to the administration of the current government without any proper management.
Stating the current government runs the country without any management, focusing only on taking commissions, he says that the political leaders of this government have no idea on the sufferings of the general public.
The government is run with the support of the Tamil National Alliance, said Rajapaksa.
This government is a defeated government. Not just us politicians, but even the people just watch the country deteriorating by the day,” he added.
According to Rajapaksa, there is no place for Buddhism in the new constitution and that it mentions only of a ‘religion’ instead of ‘Buddhism’.
These days antiquities and ruins are bulldozed. This government was trying to build houses by flattening Vijithapura ruins. Even forest reserves are deforested today. If we continue to just watch this, the country will end up a desert,” said he.
The Opposition Leader, attending a function at the Carlton kindergarten in Maligawatte, stated that a winning candidate will be presented for the upcoming presidential elections.
March 31st, 2019 at 6:24 pm
Sadly all these applies to all past regimes as well. No one was punished severely for serious acts of corruption.
Corruption is part of the governance mechanism of Sri Lanka since 1977. It cannot be rooted out without a complete restructure of the entire governance system. Punishing the corrupt is a pipe dream. Chandrika and Sirisena also promised it but nothing happened.
For instance, politicians deliberately appoint corrupt and/or crooked people as senior ministers and senior officers. They are controlled through the threat of legal action. Due to fear they do whatever the president tells them. The moment they go against the president, their “files” are publicized or sent for prosecution.
If a clean minister or a senior official is appointed, politicians cannot manipulate him. He will do things beneficial to the people, country, opposition parties, etc. without going through the political system.
Even most of the very senior military leaders were trapped into various criminal acts that had nothing to do with fighting the war. If they ever compete against politicians, those cases will be dragged into the public (or handed over to the International Criminal Court).
Once this type of work helped Sri Lanka. In 2006 parliament’s COPE report identified various corrupt MPs and officials. Threatening prosecution, the minority government got them to support it. As a result, political stability was maintained which helped us win the war. However, almost all those who temporarily supported the regime backstabbed it or did far worse criminal acts.
Sirisena does not allow the punishment of his two prime ministers, their families and their supporters with the hope that he gets their support at the next presidential election. If it is not forthcoming, he will send those files to the AG’s department. He may be too late.
April 2nd, 2019 at 1:18 am
He should look in to his mirror.
April 2nd, 2019 at 10:06 pm
A $250-million-yacht complete with a massage room, a sauna, a helicopter landing pad, a cinema, and gold-leaf fittings that once hosted celeb-studded parties—and is now key to Malaysia’s efforts to recover funds related to the 1MDB scandal—has found a buyer.
The Malaysian government announced today (April 3) that it had sold the vessel “at market value” to Genting Malaysia, a hospitality-focused conglomerate, for $126 million, with the funds expected to be collected by the end of this month. The government said that it was the highest-value recovery to date in the eight months since it started the process to recover some of the billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB, a state investment fund set up to back development projects.
The 300-foot super-luxury yacht was seized in Bali last year and sailed back to Malaysia in August. It has been docked at a navy facility in Langkawi for the past five months in order to preserve its condition. US prosecutors alleged that the Cayman-flagged-yacht was purchased by mysterious financier Jho Low in an intricate series of transactions with $250 million in laundered funds.
The announcement of the yacht’s sale comes on the same day as former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, after many delays, stands trial on multiple charges of money laundering related to 1MDB funds. He is expected to face further criminal proceedings over charges of abuse of power and criminal breach of trust. He has denied wrongdoing and said the charges are politically motivated. Najib suffered a shock defeat in elections last year to his mentor and former leader Mahathir Mohamad after almost a decade in power.
Low’s whereabouts are unknown, but he is believed to be in China. Malaysia issued an arrest warrant in December in absentia against Low, who has also denied any wrongdoing.
In addition to multiple charges of money laundering filed against him in Malaysia, Low has been charged in the US with conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to bribe officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, allegedly with the aim of directing 1MDB business to Goldman Sachs.
The US justice department, which has also been investigating the 1MDB scandal, had earlier filed a forfeiture petition for the yacht, and for a long list of other assets (paywall) linked to the scandal—including a clear-acrylic grand piano gifted to Miranda Kerr by Low, and a Monet painting.
Some of the ill-gotten gains purchased with 1MDB funds can never be recovered—for example, the millions of dollars spent on champagne for the celebrities and financiers Low cultivated.