Former MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi said he would continue his political campaign even from prison, claiming that his summons before the Proceeds of Crime Investigation Division was an act of political revenge.
Speaking to journalists before appearing before the division today (23), Kuttiarachchi also said a future government led by his political camp would have President Anura Kumara Dissanayake summoned over his responsibilities as Finance Minister.
“President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, to put us in prison, you are looking into the price of an iron, a washing machine and a rice cooker, and how they were purchased. Let me remind you very clearly that it will not be long. People are now talking about sending your government home and bringing in a government of ours.
“As soon as we form a government, we will bring Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the Finance Minister, here. Let me remind you of that firmly. We will definitely bring you here in your capacity as Finance Minister.
“We will not bring you here to ask about the iron, refrigerator or washing machine used by Anura Kumara Dissanayake as President or Finance Minister. We will bring you here to question you about your responsibility as Finance Minister regarding the 323 containers. We will also bring you here to question you about the alleged $2.5 million fraud at the Finance Ministry.
“We will bring you here to question you about the alleged coal fraud that was there for everyone to see. We will also question you about the losses caused by bringing in substandard coal, the breakdown of the Norochcholai power plant and the damage to the national grid,” he said.
Kuttiarachchi’s allegations were directed at Dissanayake in his capacity as Finance Minister.
“Put us in prison. But I remind Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his associates: if you are going to imprison us, sentence us to death and put us in prison. Otherwise, if you imprison us with even a little breath left in us, we will continue this struggle even from inside prison.
“I am still only 46. My dear young leader, Namal Rajapaksa, is six years younger than me. We have seen plenty of prisons around the world and people being imprisoned for political revenge. This is outright political revenge.
“If we could not withstand such things, we would not have chosen politics. We would have bought a ten-acre paddy field and carried on cultivating it. We chose politics because there is not even a trace of fear in our hearts. So go ahead with your reprisals. You cannot stop us through revenge.”
He claimed that he had been summoned because he provided political leadership for a mass rally in Anuradhapura on September 12.
“Tissa Kuttiarachchi is being summoned for no other reason. This political harassment began because I provided political leadership for a massive public rally in Anuradhapura on September 12, responding to requests from the people, farmers, workers, the five great forces and Buddhist monks.
“If you think you can stop people like Tissa Kuttiarachchi through this, you are mistaken, Mr. President.
“So go ahead and harass us. Amid that harassment, we will continue our political programme for the beloved people of this country, our motherland, the Maha Sangha and other religious communities. I am going inside with that clear reminder.
“If I am able to come out, I will speak to you again this evening. Even if I cannot, we will remain with the people in spirit and continue this political struggle,” he said.
