Luxury rooms reserved for JO MPs, while supporters are forced to sleep on streets - Deputy Minister

Luxury rooms at Taj Samudra, Hilton and Shangri-La hotels in Colombo had been reserved by Joint Opposition MPs to stay overnight, while the people who came to Colombo to support the JO protest were forced to sleep on streets, Law and Order Deputy Minister Nalin Bandara said. Speaking during the Parliamentary debate yesterday, he revealed that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has booked Suite Room Number 754 of the Taj Samudra hotel to stay the night. Bandara added that rooms in luxury hotels such as Hilton and Shangri-La had also been booked for the JO MPs and their close associates and cronies to stay overnight.

“The ordinary people who were taken to Colombo in hired buses to take part in the protest will have to spend the night on the road. While the protestors were given a Rs.150 rice packet each, the JO leaders enjoy all the luxuries at hotels. This reflects the real picture of the JO,” he commented. “This Government has two more years to complete its term. The JO MPs are agitated as the law is catching up with them. Their cases are being taken up at the Special High Courts. They foresee their fate. That is why the JO is trying to grab power by using innocent people as shields,” he added.

Deputy Minister Bandara said the Government had assured the rights of the people to hold protests, adding that it has given instructions to the Police to guarantee the safety of the public and public property. “We do not use state power or thuggery to suppress protests. However, we will implement the law to the letter, if public property is damaged,” he noted. “The Government is ready to take up any challenge. The Government will do its duty to the country and the people, but we will not deceive anybody through fantasies and false promises,” he added.