Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe yesterday stepped down from his ministerial portfolios of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reform as he is running for the upcoming Presidential Election.
Addressing a special press conference held yesterday (29), he stated, “On July 25, I declared my candidacy for the upcoming Presidential Election.
Then two days later President Ranil Wickremesinghe also declared his candidacy as an independent candidate for the election. As candidates for this election, we are two strangers because neither of us is contesting from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). No one has yet come forward to compete from the SLPP.”
He added, “I did reject ministerial posts on two occasions during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s governance. But two months before Ranil Wickremesinghe became President, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed me to this ministerial post. After Ranil Wickremesinghe became the President, I continued to work in this ministerial capacity at his invitation.”
Rajapakshe said, “It’s nothing new for me to accept, leave, or get expelled from ministerial posts. I have rejected six ministerial posts before, I resigned once, and I was expelled in 2017. This is the second time that I have resigned from a ministerial post. During the two years I spent as the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reform, I got full freedom as a Minister and the full support from the President.”
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