Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that he will make a special statement on March 16 regarding the Batalanda Commission report, which was recently tabled in Parliament by the government.
Addressing Parliament, Wickremesinghe acknowledged that he had been named in the report, but urged MPs to carefully examine page 119 to understand the context of the accusations.
“Page 119 of the commission report states that it was not legal for me to allocate two houses. Therefore, I am said to be responsible for Batalanda. However, the report does not recommend any punishment against me,” he stated.
The former President further emphasized that the Commission did not directly accuse him but rather held him and then-Kelaniya SSP Nalin Delgoda indirectly responsible for the events at Batalanda.
“There are no direct allegations against me. The Batalanda Commission report was submitted to Parliament only after the JVP had accepted it. It also details how the Patriotic People’s Movement was murdered,” he added.
Wickremesinghe also pointed out that the Commission does not have the power to strip anyone of their civic rights, as it was only a general Commission established under Article 48.
His response comes amid growing political debate over the findings of the Batalanda Commission, with various factions interpreting the report’s conclusions differently.
