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Wednesday, 11 September 2019 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Nuwan Senarathna
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) yesterday defended the decision of President Maithripala Sirisena to bring the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) under the purview of the Defence Ministry, insisting it was a decision taken on good faith to resolve its leadership issues.
Speaking to media at the SLFP head office, General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara said the decisions taken by the Non-Cabinet Mass Media and State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene to appoint a SLRC Chairman was done without the approval of a special Committee set up at the Presidential Secretariat.
This Committee was tasked with reviewing heads of State institutions, according to Jayasekera.
“The previous SLRC Chairman Inoka Sathyangani was appointed with the approval of the Committee. However, Minister Wijewardene sent a letter requesting to appoint someone else as SLRC Chairman and that name was rejected by the Committee. As a result of that the previous Chairman continued to occupy the position,” Jayasekara said.
Jayasekara noted Wijewardene had appointed a new Chairman without the approval of the Committee set up at the Presidential Secretariat. He claimed that the appointment led to internal conflict at the SLRC.
“Minister Wijewardene appointed Local Government representatives as Board members. That also was a reason for the internal conflict at SLRC. There was an incident when two people claimed the position.Considering all these circumstances, the President decided to bring SLRC under the purview of the Defence Ministry.”
Wijewardene defended his involvement in the SLRC on Twitter, saying the SLRC has been operating at a loss.“Through Treasury, tax payers have been funding SLRC’s salary bill of Rs 40m per month. For months I’ve been trying to change the management but was obstructed by the president. Latest attempt resulted in the President gazetting SLRC under his purview,” he stated in a tweet.
