'President said cabinet approval was not necessary' - Bandula tells Parliament on leasing Channel Eye to Lyca Group

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka's Media Minister Bandula Gunawardena told Parliament that when a Cabinet Paper was submitted to lease the airtime of Channel Eye of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation to Lyca Group, the President had said that cabinet approval was not necessary for it.

The Minister was responding to a question posed by the Leader of the Jathika Jana Balavegaya in Parliament on Tuesday (22). 

"This is not an estate owned by the minister or the board of directors. This is public property. In order to cover up a corrupt act, you have sought cabinet approval. The cabinet paper alone notes that no proper process was followed. That is why you are trying to use the cabinet to provide this move with some transparency. This means the Board of Directors has gotten together with the infamous company, to engage in corruption. This cabinet paper seeking covering approval has been produced for the purpose of saving oneself from being named as a respondent in the event a criminal inquiry is launched over the matter in the future," said Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the Leader of the Jathika Jana Balavegaya in Parliament.

However, Minister Bandula Guwardena said that when the cabinet paper was presented to the Cabinet of Ministers, the President made it clear that it was not something that should be moved to the cabinet. 

"Even though I have the power, I believed it would have been better to produce a cabinet paper for approval, and when I did so, the President and the Cabinet requested that I withdraw the cabinet paper, noting that it was not necessary," he added.