PB Jayasundara Should Not Be Publicly Insulted, Rajiva Writes To Mahinda

May 27, 2014

Sending a letter to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa, ruling coalition MP and the leader of the Liberal Party of Sri Lanka Prof.Rajiva Wijesinha today urged not to insult the Secretary to the Treasury PB Jayasundara.

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP, Leader – Liberal Party of Sri Lanka

He said that he hope “suitable action will be taken to make it clear that the Secretary to the Treasury should not be publicly insulted when following government directives and that such conduct is not acceptable in a Member of the Cabinet.”

We publish below the letter in full;

Your Excellency

Last year, when I did not vote for the impeachment of the Chief Justice, instructions had been given, before I even returned home, to reduce my Security. I did not see this as a problem, since I have long argued that we now deploy far too much security, which makes a mockery of your great achievement in getting rid of terrorism from Sri Lanka in 2009. Two officers, as I now have, are quite enough for Members of Parliament, with perhaps one more for Constituency members. And certainly Ministers too could do with far less security, given the numbers and the expense involved.

I was happy therefore to contribute even in a small way to reducing government expenditure, and I realized that such a token reprimand made sense given the general requirement to support government in votes. However it is generally accepted in all parliamentary democracies that votes of conscience are acceptable, and certainly so when there is no threat of instability for government.

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