President says he will never disband FCID

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said he was in talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to remove the last paragraph of the gazette notification pertaining to the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division.

“This was the same message I conveyed to the seniors of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

I never promised to disband the FCID,” President Sirisena said, addressing a meeting with media heads yesterday.

When asked whether the SLFP would take measures to disband the FCID under its own government, President Sirisena said there was no such decision. However, the President said he had a problem with the last paragraph of the gazette notification pertaining to the FCID and he would take action to remove it.

The last paragraph of the gazette notification deals with the Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat which coordinates investigations with the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division. However, when contacted by the Daily News, a senior lawyer said, the removal of the last paragraph of the gazette would allow any individual to lodge complaints with the FCID and that would “broad-base” the scope of the institution.

(Daily News)