No witchhunt and vengeance against anybody – Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Justice and Labour Relations Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC said that there is no witchhunt against anybody and the Government will not act with vengeance. “We are a democratic Government. Our pledge to the people was that we wouldn’t follow the policy of the previous regime. We will do everything according to the law. Democracy will be upheld and we will not deviate from the legal structure, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

Asked whether there is a witchhunt against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his associates, the Minister said that the Government has no intention whatsoever to go on a witchhunt or take revenge against anybody.

After the election results, people are divulging a lot of information about malpractices and corruption. The Anti-Corruption Committee has received over 30,000 complaints. Similarly, we are also receiving much information over the telephone. We have sought police assistance to look into these cases, Dr. Rajapakshe said.

“In certain cases, we found a lot of illegal deals and transactions. This is by no means, a witchhunt. If a man is killed by an Opposition member and if he is prosecuted is it a witchhunt, he asked. Just because he is an Opposition political figure, does it mean that even if he kills people, we should not inquire into it. The same applies to other offences too,” he said.

In response to the allegation that the new Government has permitted some swindlers to flee abroad the Minister said, the Government is going ahead with inquiries against them. Fleeing the country would not be an obstacle to trace them when investigations are completed.

The Ministers have also been called upon to submit reports on corruption and malpractices that had taken place in each and every Ministry and the office of the Prime Minister as early as possible.

The Government on the recommendation of the National Executive Council will appoint a committee to probe large-scale corruption during the tenure of the previous Government, he said.