GOTA responds to US Ambassador’s remarks on impeachment

Saturday, 19 January 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The greatest threat the US could pose to the Sri Lankan military is to withdraw defence scholarships to train Sri Lankan soldiers, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said yesterday.

“If America takes the training scholarships away, China will give them to us,” the Defence Secretary said, adding that the US had never supplied weapons to Sri Lanka during the war.

Secretary Rajapaksa was speaking at the National Chamber of Commerce where he presented certificates to those who completed the Enterprise Management Program conducted by the University of Colombo.The Defence Secretary charged that every time US Ambassador Michele Sison meets him, she asks him why soldiers have not been punished.

“I always tell her you can’t just punish people, you have to have a procedure,” Rajapaksa said. “As a Government, these are our challenges,” he added.

“I always tell her you can’t just punish people, you have to have a procedure,” Rajapaksa said. “As a Government, these are our challenges,” he added.

Rajapaksa was reacting to statements made by US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison at the Chamber of Commerce in Matara where he said that the Ambassador had criticized the impeachment process.

Ambassador Sison said in Matara that actions that undermine an independent judiciary in Sri Lanka may also undermine Sri Lanka’s ability to attract foreign investment. “It’s no secret that foreign investors assess the state of rule of law in a country as a factor when making investment decisions,” she said.