Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said that a visit overseas and travelling to a place within the country for personal needs cannot be compared.
The Minister made these comments during the Cabinet media briefing today.
Asked if a president cannot use the official vehicle and security for attending to personal matters, Minister Herath said that the private visit of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe to the United Kingdom using public funds was wrong.
“Attending a funeral in Sri Lanka or going to any other place within the country, cannot be compared with reserving seats on a flight and travelling. That is wrong” the Minister said. He explained that even state sector employees are given provisions under a particular system to use vehicles for their personal needs.
“These are provisions made under circulars. Here the question is about misusing public funds” Herath said.
The Minister said that the investigation into the misuse of public funds by former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was based on a complaint, and saw the witness testimonies of a number of people.
“The expectation of the public is that the law is applied to all equally. For the first time in Sri Lanka, people are able to witness this. The public are especially happy about this,” the Minister said. (Newswire)
