Speaker says he didn’t allege foreign hand in Aragalaya uprising

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Monday (01) said he had not alleged that Colombo-based embassies had been behind ‘Aragalaya’

Speaker Abeywardena said so in response to a query raised by dissident SLPP MP Gevindu Cumaratunga.

Cumaratunga asked the Speaker as to why a proper investigation hadn’t been launched into his (Speaker) declaration on March 21 that powerful foreign elements interfered and wanted him to act even contrary to the Constitution and went to the extent of threatening him after he refused to cooperate with them.

MP Cumaratunga pointed out that the government had responded to the disclosure made by the Speaker and former President Maithripala Sirisena in different ways.

MP Cumaratunga urged the Speaker to name those who interfered.

The Speaker denied MP Cumaratunga’s assertion. (SF)