The PM is worried that disregarding him and the finance minister, the president is making attempts on the advice of his advisers and civil society activists to appoint Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe to the position, say UNP sources.

After declaring, at a public meeting in Girandurukotte, Polonnaruwa on June 29 that a new governor would be appointed within hours, the president had gone to the CB headquarters on the same evening, without informing the PM or the finance minister, with the intention of appointing him to the position.

After hearing about it, the prime minister himself immediately went to the CB headquarters.

Also present there was Arjun Mahendran, whose tenure was to end yesterday.

Several CB officials have spoken well about Mahendran, commending him about the considerable contributions he has made in the past few months.

The president has told them to give the details in writing.

Two CB officials identified as Ebert and Attanayake have proposed Dr. Weerasinghe’s name, said an official of the UNP media unit.

The two of them had been given promotions during the previous regime by the then governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

A senior official at the president’s office told Sri Lanka Mirror that the president was in a difficult situation due to the PM’s insistence that Mahendran’s term should be extended.

UPFA general secretary Mahinda Amaraweera has taken legal action against Mahendran, while all SLFP MPs have asked the president not to give an extension to him.

Civil society activists who met the president recently have urged him to appoint a senior official or independent personality as the governor.

Also, several UNP ministers have asked the president to implement recommendations in the auditor general’s report.

Related articles:

CB governor cannot be removed – PM