Commending the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for having filed dozens of cases against political leaders and high ranking bureaucrats for violation of election laws, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), Manjula Gajanayake, has asked why other institutions like the Election Commission (EC)), the police and the National Audit Office have not taken any action against them.
Among the high-profile cases filed by CIABOC for misusing public resources for electioneering is the one against former ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Nalin Fernando for the unlawful procurement of carrom boards and checkers boards and the distribution of them among sports clubs ahead of the 2015 presidential election. A former state minister has also been accused of using state funds to publish advertisements in support of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Nishantha Wickremasinghe, a former Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, has been charged with misusing Rs. 1.25 million in public funds for the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election campaign in 2014. Former Minister S. M. Chandrasena was arrested and remanded yesterday (04) for distributing maize seeds among his party supporters in the run-up to the 2015 presidential election and causing a loss to the state.
Gajanayake said the EC, the Police and the National Audit Office should have taken against the suspects for those transgressions.
by Priyan de Silva 