Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today said he is willing to testify at an investigation in connection with the Central Bank bond scam.
“I will be happy to go and give my statement if I am asked to appear before the commission,” Wickremesinghe said.
He was responding to an opposition complaint against him yesterday after parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) found Wickremesinghe’s nominee, Arjuna Mahendran had facilitated big profits made by Perpetual Treasuries, a Central Bank primary dealer firm linked to Mahendran’s son-in-law.
“We have ordered investigation into a complaint against myself. This is the good governance we pledged. I allowed an opposition member to head COPE,” Wickremesinghe said.
He said the government did not want to suppress the investigation. The joint opposition has called for Wickremesinghe’s resignation saying he was responsible for what they termed the biggest scam in the country.
Wickremesinghe said the Attorney General has been instructed to institute legal action as appropriate.
-Agencies
