By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera
Colombo, Oct. 23 (Daily Mirror) - Leader of the House and Minister Bimal Rathnayake yesterday rejected claims by SJB MP Harsha de Silva that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s economic adviser Duminda Hulangamuwa, had also served as an economic adviser to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Addressing Parliament, Rathnayake said Hulangamuwa had informed him that he had never served as an economic adviser to Wickremesinghe or any other President or Prime Minister, and that his current role under the National People’s Power (NPP) Government was his first such appointment.
Rathnayake said Hulangamuwa had only served as a member of various committees and held positions in them during his tenure as Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
“Other than that, Ranil Wickremesinghe has never appointed him to any position,” he said.
The Minister called on Harsha de Silva to withdraw his statement, describing the claim as entirely false.
De Silva told Parliament on Wednesday that President Dissanayake sought advice from Hulangamuwa, who, he claimed, had also served as an economic adviser to former President Wickremesinghe.