‘I was offered Rs. 100 mn to remain in govt.\' Three persons approached me – Navin

UPFA Nuwara Eliya District MP Navin Dissanayake, who crossed over to the UNP on Sunday, said yesterday that he had been offered Rs. 100 million by the government to remain in the UPFA coalition.

 ‘I was offered Rs. 100 mn to remain in govt.\' Three persons approached me – Navin

UPFA Nuwara Eliya District MP Navin Dissanayake, who crossed over to the UNP on Sunday, said yesterday that he had been offered Rs. 100 million by the government to remain in the UPFA coalition.

Addressing the media at the Opposition Leader’s office in Colombo flanked by Opposition Presidential Candidate Maithripala Sirisena and UNP National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dissanayake said that he had been approached by three persons in a bid to bribe him into changing his mind.

"I am aware that several billionaire businessmen are spending money on behalf of the government to stop ministers and MPs from crossing over and pledging their support to opposition presidential candidate," he said.

Asked whether they would stay with the government after accepting bribes, Dissanayake said people were different and some would not change their decision to join the opposition while others might stay with the UPFA after accepting money.

"I could have asked for more if I had really wanted, but I did not betray my policies to remain in a corrupt regime," he said, adding that at present the government was in a very difficult situation due to its corruption and irregularities exposed by the Opposition in the run-up to the upcoming presidential election.

Responding to a query why the UNP had taken 20 long years to unveil a portrait of his father, late UNP leader Gamini Dissanayake at Sirikotha, Dissanayake said a photo of his father had been there, but his family had asked for a new portrait two months before and present leadership had granted that request.

UNP National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that late Gamini Dissanayake had played a key role in 1977, 1982 and 1988 elections for the victory of the UNP.

He said that Dissanayake had done tremendous work to make the Mahaweli accelerated development programme a success.

"Today, his son, Navin, has joined us to support the opposition presidential candidate who is also a leader from the Mahaweli region," Wickremesinghe said, adding that they would create a new political culture in the future. Opposition common presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena said that Rajapaksa government had not given Navin his due place, but he (Sirisena) had done justice to his father Gamini Dissanayake by continuing his work as the Minister of Mahaweli for 11 years.

Source - www.island.lk/index.php