Ravi to quit shortly

Following a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat, Foreign Minister Karunanayake is likely to quit his portfolio shortly, according to sources.

A government spokesman said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, too, had attended the meeting at President Sirisena’s request.

Several SLFP ministers have demanded Karunanayake’s resignation pending the presidential commission of inquiry probe into alleged Central Bank-Perpetual Treasuries bond scams. They have called upon him to quit without facing the Joint Opposition’s no-faith motion.

Minister Karunanayake didn’t attend Cabinet meeting yesterday.

At the Cabinet meeting several ministers voiced concern over the way the Attorney General’s Department had questioned the Finance Minister on Aug 2. Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne claimed that the Attorney General’s Department had acted differently in cases where the bigwigs of the previous administration were implicated.

Minister Senaratne said the AG’s Department should swiftly act on those cases, too.

(Source: The Island – By Akitha Perera and Upali de Saram)