{"id":193091,"date":"2018-09-01T05:37:14","date_gmt":"2018-09-01T00:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=193091"},"modified":"2018-09-01T12:58:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-01T07:28:04","slug":"pm-defends-chathura-senaratne-over-wedding-at-temple-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/pm-defends-chathura-senaratne-over-wedding-at-temple-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"PM Defends Chathura Senaratne Over Wedding At Temple Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

The office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, responding to alleged \u2018false and baseless allegations regarding parliamentarian Chathura Senaratne<\/a>‘s wedding, claimed that the event was not held at Temple Trees, his (Wickremesinghe\u2019s) official residence but in another building on the same premises.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Prime Minister\u2019s office, in a media release, explained that there are other buildings outside the \u2018official residence\u2019 which include a banquet hall.<\/p>\n

The office explained that there is a procedure which is followed in hiring these facilities for state or other functions.<\/p>\n

Senaratne had made a request to obtain the banquet hall for his wedding and the office, determining that since he was a Government MP and the reasons he had offered were just, had acceded to the request as per established procedures.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was not offered free of charge as some have alleged, but given at rates normally charged for events of this nature,\u2019 according to the media release.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister\u2019s office maintained that it had played no part in decorations, provision of food and beverages or any other matter.<\/p>\n

Senaratne, who has a reputation for uncontrollable bragging, is reported to have made a wedding speech in which he praised his bride for choosing to forego the opportunity of becoming a Permanent Resident of the USA. He claimed that the US Ambassador \u2018was shocked by this refusal and had said it was the first such case he had encountered as a diplomat\u2019.<\/p>\n

Senaratne also said that his bride had decided not to pursue a medical degree in a local state university because \u2018she wanted to support him.\u2019<\/p>\n

He finally said that the two had a dream of seeing a change in the country and claimed that this dream had been fulfilled.<\/p>\n