President orders probe over alleged bribe move involving Japanese firm

• Aviation, Ports and Shipping Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva steps down pending investigation
• SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa on Tuesday in Parliament queried who sought bribe from Taisei Corp. of Japan

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday ordered an immediate investigation into the allegation of bribery in a transaction between the Aviation Ministry and a Japanese company.

President’s Media said Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva will step down temporarily from the position of Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Services on the instructions of the President until the investigations are concluded.

The statement referred to allegations levelled by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on Tuesday in Parliament.

In his speech, Premadasa said he heard the President got very agitated because a Minister in this Government has solicited a bribe from the Taisei Corporation of Japan. 

“Can the country be salvaged by a corrupt Government like this? Who sought a bribe from the Taisei Company? The Prime Minister is asking if there is a better way to overcome the economic crisis and if so to tell him. He must first get rid of corrupt, bribe taking Ministers in the Cabinet,” Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Premadasa said in Parliament.