UNP Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake has said that the present administration in Sri Lanka is similar to that of Tamil Nadu when Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister.
"Although Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu was imprisoned for bribery and corruption, 'Jayalalith's in Sri Lanka are walking about freely in public, avoiding the arms of law enforcement system," Ramanayake said adding that a group of "criminals" are ruling the roost in the country. He made these remarks while speaking at a political talk show on Derana last night, which was attended by representatives all major political parties.
While referring to Jayalalihaa's assets and extravagant lifestyle, Ramanayake said the behaviour of politicians in Sri Lanka was no different. "They wear shoes that are worth more than Rs. 100000. Some of the shoes they wear are made of crocodile skins. But there is no investigation into the manner in which they gathered wealth" Ramanayake said.
He also added that Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and Elections Commissioner have come across difficulties when gathering information on assets owned by politicians. "From the very top to the bottom, corruption is rampant. But no measure has been taken to address this situation," the outspoken opposition politician sad during the TV talk show. He said there was a marked difference between the conduct of law enforcement bodies in India and those of Sri Lanka
He said the present state of affairs in the country raises serious questions over the integrity of top rung leaders of the ruling party.
Ranjan Ramanayake maintained that when the UNP was campaigning in Uva they came across the ‘actual problems’ of the people. He said that the government was not able to provide the people with simple needs such as drinking water.
