Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena stated that it was his responsibility “to protect the forces and the honour of the war heroes” in an interview to Lankadeepa this week.
Mr Sirisena was responding to comments he made earlier this month where he slammed an ongoing corruption commission for investigating members of the military. The Sri Lankan president said he was merely speaking according to his conscience and continued to criticise the financial corruption investigation.
“They should understand their duties and responsibilities,” he said. “They should focus on large scale financial frauds.”
“When the Heads of the Forces are taken into custody, I must be aware of it as the Minister of Defence,” he added.
“That is what I meant by the balance of the different institutes. Will those investigators take responsibility if these actions caused unrest? It is my responsibility to protect the forces and the honour of the war heroes. The investigations into the fraud and corruption should be done according to the proper procedure.”
Following Mr Sirisena’s comments last week, the head of the bribery commission resigned.
Earlier this week, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister called for his government not to be judged by the words of the Sri Lankan president, as tension mounts within the ruling coalition.
