FCID probes to continue; EC Chief says be more flexible
Sri Lanka’s Elections Commission said on Friday that while it didn’t have the power to stop ongoing investigations and probes by the Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID), it has requested the state agency to be more flexible during election campaigning.
Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya told the Business Times that, “what I cordially requested (the FICD) is ‘not’ to stop any investigation but to ensure that candidates aren’t inconvenienced by their actions.”
Earlier on Tuesday, a top FCID official told the Business Times in an interview that, despite parliamentary elections, this special police unit will continue its probes and also entertain fresh ones – if complaints are made.
Agreeing to an interview on condition of anonymity, the official said the unit is also probing alleged financial crimes during the tenure of the present government.In this context, he declined to divulge details of probes relating to financial transactions in the past six months but said the infamous bond issue was not among the investigations.
Mr. Deshapriya said that in instances where a candidate is scheduled to participate at a meeting and needs (at the same time) to be called by the FCID, he has requested that the FCID summon the individual at a different time.”I can only request them to resort to such measures,” he said.
His comments also came in the backdrop of UPFA General Secretary of Susil Premajayantha and a party delegation requesting the Elections Commissioner at a meeting later in the week to use his powers to persuade the FCID not to question their candidates saying these would be attempts to undermine the party campaign.
The Elections Commissioner also reiterated that he has urged all media institutions to stop ‘unduly’ publicisising events where those summoned by FCID, go into their office and when they exit are interviewed or carry pictures on TV or other media of those summoned to the FCID.
The FCID official said that, “now that the election has been declared, many have a wrong perception that we cannot carry out new investigations or that we are required to stop or halt what we have started. This is completely untrue. We can and will do both.”
Of the nearly 150 complaints received by the FCID since January 9, none of the probes has been concluded. Some five per cent of these probes were directly linked to the stock market and these were based on complaints by a cross section of investors.
According to him, the FCID is a hot topic as ‘things are happening’ there. “Many are disturbed, which is a clear indicator that things are happening,” he added. The official said they were striving hard to fast-track the investigations but declined further information.