Sri Lanka's Joint Opposition on Tuesday called for Field Marshal and minister, Sarash Fonseka to be sacked from his position for his comments stating that he would be happy to stand as a witness against the former military general, Jagath Jayasuriya, who is accused of war crimes.
“We do not trust him. He contradicts the President’s statements and attempts to betray the country,” MP Prasanna Ranatunga was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
“It is doubtful whether the minister was plotting to betray the soldiers by accepting money from the LTTE Diaspora."
"We feel that he made his statement with the awareness of the President and the Prime Minister. If Minister Fonseka was removed, people will realise that the government was not involved in this controversy," he said, adding that Mr Fonseka's comments were "in stark contrast to the statement made by President Maithripala Sirisena".
Mr Sirisena pledged he would protect Mr Jayasuriya against any war crimes case, and said he would not let anyone touch him.
Mr Ranatunga said the Joint Opposition was considering submitting a no-confidence motion in order to remove Mr Fonseka, in the same way the UNP ensured the removal of the former justice minister.
They would be meeting tomorrow, to take a final decision. party leaders would meet tomorrow in Parliament and a final a decision on the no-confidence motion would be taken at the meeting.
"The minister should not discuss his personal matters in public," Mr Ranatunga said.
"If any soldier had committed a crime, the minister should have taken action against them at the time he was Army Commander"
Last week, the former military general Jagath Jayasuriya was forced to flee Brazil after human rights organisations filed lawsuits against him over his role in committing war crimes during the final stages of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka.
Mr Fonseka responded to the incident by saying he was away that crimes were committed under Mr Jayasuriya's command and he was willing to stand as a witness.
Mr Jayasuriya has rejected the allegations as "baseless".
Several Sri Lankan politicians have condemned Mr Fonseka's comments as traitorous.
