Category: News

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga revealed that she was offered a USD 5 million bribe by a family member of a junior Minister in her cabinet when she was the Prime Minister.

Kumaratunga said that the bribe was offered at her office in Parliament at the time to approve a deal with a Singaporean investor.

The former President said that she rejected the deal and threatened to arrest the individual and ordered them to leave.

Kumaratunga said that politicians must have the ethics to have the strength to refuse a bribe.

She noted that a former President had once told his Cabinet they can take bribes but must not get caught.

As a result, Kumaratunga says so many politicians stole and were not arrested.

The former President was speaking at the 45th National Conference of Chartered Accountants held in Colombo.

Former Presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe and Maithripala Sirisena were also speakers at the event.

The Election Commission has officially announced the spending limits for political parties, independent groups, and candidates in the upcoming election campaigns.

In the Colombo district, the highest expenditure cap has been set, allowing candidates to spend up to Rs. 5,750,000.

Political parties and independent groups in Colombo may allocate a maximum of Rs. 79,493,756.

For national list candidates in Colombo, the spending limit is established at Rs. 34,698.

In the Gampaha district, candidates can spend a maximum of Rs. 5,643,387, while political parties or independent groups may expend up to Rs. 81,735,055.

For national list candidates in Gampaha, the spending limit is established at Rs. 345,667.

The lowest spending limit has been designated for the Wanni electoral district, where candidates can allocate Rs. 1,673,243.

For political parties or independent groups in Wanni, the maximum expenditure is capped at Rs. 9,913,964.

National list candidates are allowed to spend Rs. 4,327 on their campaigns.

Candidates are required to submit a detailed expenditure report to the Election Commission within 21 days following the announcement of election results.

The Election Commission mandates that the signatures of the party secretary, independent group leader, and candidates must be certified by the Commissioner for Oaths or a Justice of the Peace.

India has completed 60 grant projects in Sri Lanka and implementing 16 more currently, the development coming more through investments and grants and relatively less through debt instruments, India’s envoy to Sri Lanka said on Tuesday.

Santosh Jha, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, also reaffirmed India’s support for island nation’s debt restructuring efforts, securing IMF support, and extending bilateral financial support to overcome immediate challenges.

Emphasising the importance of a robust partnership between India and Sri Lanka, highlighting the intertwined destinies of the two nations, Jha – who was speaking at the 45th National Conference of CA Sri Lanka – underscored the shared geography, history, and future that bind the two countries.

Source: PTI

Former presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe and Chandrika Kumaratunga engulfed in an argument over an incident of a certain political leader’s young son hiding USD 1000 million in a Dubai bank, where Mr. Wickremesinghe rebuffed the allegation claiming that his 2015 government could not find any even though teams were sent to Dubai.

Ms Kumaratunga said it was found out in 2015 that a young son of a certain political leader had hidden USD 1000 million in a Dubai bank but the government could not bring it back.

“I saw the bank statement with my own eyes. But, we could not charge him in court because we needed the original documents,” she said speaking at the 45th National Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka on Wednesday night.

Responding to the allegations, Mr. Wickremesinghe said the government sent in teams to Dubai but could not find any.

“I was told that the member’s relatives had kept money abroad. The bank was named as National Bank of Dubai. We sent in teams which had officials from the Police, AG’s Department and the Bribery Commission. We were not able to get anything at all. It was not there. Minister Thilak Marapana spoke to the foreign minister of the UAE. There was no trace of the money. The bank said they cannot disclose anything unless we have a court order,” he said.

He said the then government sent teams to Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore but could not find any dollar alleged to have been hidden.

“The person who claimed of hidden money in Uganda is also withdrawing the allegation,” he said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka would not be able to control corruption unless sophisticated machinery is brought in.

“Everyone talks of corruption. They talk of doing away with corruption within one year. Have they been able to do that? How many governments have come to power saying that they will do away with corruption? Why we have not been succeeding while some other countries have. Corruption has become a political tool and something for the media. No one looks at what has to be done. We have not had a sophisticated machinery that is needed to control corruption. It is not like 40 years ago, you can do something and you can get paid elsewhere. If you get money in Bitcoins, we don’t have the ability. Our own machinery cannot do that. I don’t think even the present president will be able to do that. That is why we discussed with the IMF as to what we should do,” he said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said the government filed number of cases in 2015 but most of them got acquitted.

“The present president talks of anti-corruption law. If you talk of bringing the money back, first, you need to identify it. So far there has not been any fund identification. Secondly, how can you bring it back? We need people who are trained for this. Some of the cases got rejected due to legal deficiency on our side,” he added.

The United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mrs. Julie Chung met with the Defense Secretary (Retd) Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyakontha at the Ministry of Defense in Kotte, Sri Jayawardenepura on October 16.

In this meeting, which was marked by a warm welcome, the two officers engaged in a discussion with the aim of strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries. Expressing gratitude for the recent donation of a new aircraft to the Sri Lanka Air Force, the Defense Secretary emphasized the importance of continued cooperation.

The meeting concluded with an exchange of souvenirs to commemorate the occasion. Attendees included Air Vice Marshal Padman De Costa, Military Liaison Officer, US Defense Adviser Lt Col Anthony Nelson and US Office of Defense Cooperation Chief CDR Sean Jin.