President Ranil Wickremesinghe attending the 156th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Police yesterday (03) said Sri Lanka could have met the end of its democracy had the protesters of the ‘Aragalaya’ been allowed to seize Parliament.
“When the law is violated, there are two bodies that act on it. The Police have the job to first investigate it, find out who is responsible for it and keep them in remand custody if they want to prosecute them. An independent court will decide whether those people have broken the law or not. So, a country cannot run without these two bodies,” the President said.
Wickremesinghe added: “In March, the youth of this country initiated a movement called the ‘Aragalaya’ against a government. They carried out the protests peacefully and without violence. Unfortunately, this group was removed and violent people took over this movement in June. So, it could have been collapsed, melted in July. But instead, instead of the young men and women who started this, they brought groups from every corner of Sri Lanka to undermine and destroy the government. Then, they attempted to besiege Parliament too. Had the Parliament been seized, this country’s democracy in particular could have ended. If that was the case, it will be a violation of the rule of law; a deprivation of the people’s universal suffrage.”
The President further noted that had the Parliament been seized, who was going to rule the country will never be known, adding, “At that time, Parliament was protected because the Army and the Police acted on it. Some say that those who came in were not treated properly, that they were oppressed. What else should have been done? Treat them with tea from the Parliament Canteen? There is no point of whitewashing it now. These will be revealed through the Police investigations. I think Parliament too has to find out about this later.”
MIAP
