DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

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Colombo, March 02 (Daily Mirror) – Denying the allegation by Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayake that the former Speaker had used fuel worth Rs. 33 million within nine months from January 1, 2024 to September 24, 2024, which amounts to Rs. 4 million per month, former Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said spreading falsehood to gain power will not be successful every time.

The following is a statement issued by former Speaker Abeywardena in this regard:

“I would like to state at the outset that I have not resided in any official government residences since I first entered Parliament in 1983 and until September 2020, when I was appointed Speaker. In September 2020, after almost a month of being appointed, I had to shift to the official residence of the Speaker for official and security reasons.

“I solemnly declare that throughout the entire period of my tenure, I spent my personal money on my meals at the Speaker’s residence. There is no legal provision for government funds to be spent on the meals of a Speaker. However, when special guests, foreign ambassadors or foreign diplomats visit, it is a duty to entertain them, and such expenses are considered as expenses of the Speaker and are incurred at government expense. It is regrettable that all such expenses have been added and presented as expenses incurred for my personal meals.

“Also, from 1983 until I assumed the office of the Speaker in August 2020, even during my various Ministerial positions, I have always travelled in a single vehicle. Just as Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya found out after assuming office that she will have to travel with escort vehicles for security reasons, I too had to travel with three other vehicles after assuming the office of the Speaker. Every Speaker is allocated three vehicles (an official vehicle and two escort vehicles) and in addition, a jeep belonging to the Police Special Task Force was also allocated to me. I would like to inform the public that these vehicles were the only ones allocated for my needs and those of my security officers. In addition, five vehicles and fuel were allocated for five key officials of my staff.

“The vehicles and fuel provided to those officials were similar to and in accordance with the circulars mentioned in the instruction paper issued by the Secretary to the President of the present government on 21st January 2025 on the staff allowances of Ministers. Therefore, since spending Rs. 33.4 million on fuel for the three vehicles allocated for me over a period of nine months appears even statistically impossible and because running charts of all vehicles are available with Parliament. I request a special audit done in this regard.

“Although it is futile to present more detailed data in a social context that expects short answers, I would like to request journalists who are interested in investigating into the truth, to obtain the details on the above and other allegations made against me from Parliament under the Right to Information Act, and not only to investigate into the years 2023/2024 but also from 2020.

“I also request that legal action be taken immediately if there is any irregularity in this regard. Although spreading falsehoods was a successful strategy to gain power, I believe that using it repeatedly and on a daily basis to reinforce in the minds of the voters that the decision they had made was the right one, will not be successful, even in the short term. I couldn’t agree more with the statement by Minister Bimal Ratnayake when he said that a person cannot be judged a gentleman merely by his attire, but a gentleman is made by his conduct and actions. To this, I would like to further add that holding a high or low office also doesn’t guarantee that one is a gentleman.

“I would like to conclude my explanation by recalling the following two verses from the Dhamma Pada. There is no sin that cannot be committed by people who speak falsehood, ignore the Dhamma, and have no belief in the afterlife.

“If someone harms a pure-hearted and innocent person who has done no harm to others, that harm will return to that fool like a lot of dust thrown up into the wind.

“Since it does not take long for the realities felt by the people to transcend temporary psychological gratifications, I hope that the government led by Minister Bimal Ratnayake will be interested and intelligent in managing the state machinery well and leading the country towards development, and in fulfilling the good promises made to the people soon.”