"Ranil Wickremesinghe was the chief planner of the bond scam" - Anura Kumara

Colombo (News 1st): The leader of JVP Anura Kumara Dissanayake speaking about the Central Bank bond scam questioned; "Did Ranil Wickremesinghe not steal?" He noted that Ranil Wickremesinghe was the chief planner of the treasury bond transaction that led to the Central Bank bond scam. He noted when COPE investigations were underway, and when a COPE meeting was to take place in the evening, Ranil Wickremesinghe summoned the UNP members of the COPE committee to Temple Trees for a meeting. He added that the meeting was chaired by Ranil Wickremesinghe and former Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran participated in it. MP Anura Kumara added that it was Arjuna Mahendran who prepared the answers for the questions that were to be raised during the COPE meeting and that was how everything was planned. He said the position of the Prime Minister is a license to steal public properties in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, a politburo member of the JVP Wasantha Samarasinghe noted that in 2011, former President Mahinda Rajapksa brought in an act, that includes provisions to pay pensions and now Wickremesinghe is attempting to bring back the EPF to the Colombo Stock Exchange. He said the EPF belongs to the working public of Sri Lanka and questioned as to how Wickremesinghe can make such decisions? He went onto note that Arjun Aloysius misappropriated the EPF funds when they were invested in the stock exchange between 2008 and 2012, during the Rajapaksa government and following the Rajapaksa government, Arjun Aloysius together with Ranil Wickremesinghe defrauded the Central Bank in February 2015. Samarasinghe noted that Arjun Aloysious is now on bail and currently unoccupied, therefore, investing EPF funds in the stock exchange will help keep Aloysius busy. He questioned; "What are they trying to do now?" He noted that elections are nearing and Ranil Wickremsinghe is trying to source funds for the upcoming elections, through the re-entry of the EPF to the stock exchange. Politburo member Samarasinghe noted that in 2011, it was they who led the struggle against the Rajapksa government who had a two third majority. He said that they will not allow the Wickremesnghe government to invest the EPF funds in the stock exchange.