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Sri Lankan gov't denies involvement in summons issued on former president

Xinhua, April 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday denied any involvement in the move to question former president Mahinda Rajapakse on bribery allegations.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera told journalists here that the decision to question Rajapakse was solely taken by the country 's Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption, an independent anti-graft agency.

"The government had never wanted to order such a probe because such a move was politically not advisable at this moment," he said, adding, "If this move had political connections then it would have been carried out much earlier or would have been put off for later. "

Uproar erupted in the Sri Lankan parliament on Monday and Tuesday over summons issued on the former president by Director General Dilrukshi Dias Wickremesinghe of the commission over allegation that Rajapakse had bribed a member of the ruling United National Party with a ministerial post.

Opposition parliamentarians alleged that the government had resorted to political harassment against the former president who is largely responsible for the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in the island nation. Endi