President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated that he would not hesitate to remove any Minister of his Government from office the very next day if they are indicted before a court for a fraud committed through the use of ministerial powers.

The President made this remark while responding to a question raised by a journalist at a special media briefing held yesterday (17) regarding allegations levelled against Minister of Energy Kumara Jayakody and the alleged corruption in coal procurement.

Commenting on the case currently pending against the Minister, the President said that the case relates to a procurement issue that had occurred in 2014 when Jayakody had served as a public official.

Noting that the matter is presently before court, the President refrained from making further comments and said that the final determination would be made by the judiciary.

The President also clarified matters regarding the investigations into the alleged irregularities in coal procurement.

“If I conduct an investigation myself, there could be allegations of bias. In the past, there have been instances where committees were appointed by the Presidential Secretariat to produce reports favourable to those in power and claim that everything had been ‘cleared’. I will not follow that method,” he said.

According to the President, based on the close studies he had conducted, he was aware that no fraud had taken place. However, he stressed that full freedom has been granted to formal oversight bodies such as a Parliamentary Select Committee, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), or the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to conduct investigations into the matter.

President Dissanayake further assured that if any corruption or fraud is uncovered through investigations conducted by such formal institutions, action will be taken against the relevant individuals regardless of their status.