{"id":205672,"date":"2019-10-21T17:05:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T11:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=205672"},"modified":"2019-10-22T14:38:14","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T09:08:14","slug":"presidents-mistimed-benefit-could-amount-to-at-least-rs-360-million-tisl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/presidents-mistimed-benefit-could-amount-to-at-least-rs-360-million-tisl\/","title":{"rendered":"President\u2019s Mistimed Benefit Could Amount To At Least Rs. 360 Million \u2013 TISL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) is deeply concerned by the recent decision made by the cabinet of ministers, allowing President Maithripala Sirisena to remain in his official residence at\u00a0Mahagama\u00a0Sekara\u00a0Mawatha (formerly\u00a0Pajet\u00a0Road) in Colombo. TISL believes that the timing of the decision when the President is still in office and is the Head of Cabinet raises serious questions regarding conflicts of interest. This is underscored by the decision of the Supreme Court in 2007 regarding the premature exercise of executive power under the Presidents Entitlements Act of 1986.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sirisena<\/p><\/div>\n

Whilst former Presidents and their widows\/widowers\u00a0are entitled to an official residence as per the provisions of the Presidents Entitlements Act 1986, TISL wishes to draw attention to\u00a0a\u00a02007 judgment of the Supreme Court. In a fundamental rights application to the Supreme Court (SC FR503\/2005) a three-judge bench ruled in\u00a0favour\u00a0of the petitioners, quashing the cabinet decisions on grants and entitlements to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, whilst the President was in office.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0its judgement the court noted,\u00a0\u201cThe facts that have been clearly established in this case prove that the 1st respondent and the Cabinet of Ministers of which she was the head, secured for the 1st respondent benefits and advantages in the purported exercise of executive power in breach of the provisions of the President’s Entitlement Act No. 4 of 1986.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

TISL is firmly of the stance that decisions pertaining to such entitlements should only be taken at such time that the sitting President ceases to hold office. Furthermore, the fact that the decision was made during an election period where the President has declared that he will remain impartial despite his party\u2019s decision to support a candidate,\u00a0also raises several red flags on electoral integrity and potential corruption\u00a0under the Bribery Act.<\/p>\n

TISL Executive Director Asoka\u00a0Obeyesekere\u00a0said, \u201cA conservative estimate could place the benefit afforded to President Sirisena, as a result of retaining the official residence at\u00a0Mahagama\u00a0Sekara\u00a0Mawatha, at over 360 million rupees over a\u00a020-year\u00a0period. As this decision has been made by the cabinet of ministers led by President Sirisena the conflict of interest is deeply concerning and illustrates\u00a0little consideration for the protection of public resources\u201d.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

TISL calls for the\u00a0cabinet to\u00a0immediately\u00a0revoke\u00a0any cabinet\u00a0decision on the entitlements of President Sirisena. (TISL)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":199471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nPresident\u2019s Mistimed Benefit Could Amount To At Least Rs. 360 Million \u2013 TISL - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/presidents-mistimed-benefit-could-amount-to-at-least-rs-360-million-tisl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President\u2019s Mistimed Benefit Could Amount To At Least Rs. 360 Million \u2013 TISL - 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