Speaking to a group of UNP politicians at his office yesterday (07), the PM said Mahendran would not return until he would be cleared by COPE.

He is a very good bank governor, and has a deep understanding of international financial affairs which the world acknowledges, said Wickremesinghe.

Dr. Coomaraswamy too, is of similar calibre, he said, noting that their fathers were good friends since their school times and Coomaraswamy’s father went onto serve as deputy director general of the GCEC and was instrumental in creating the Biyagama FTZ.

Both Mahendran and Coomaraswamy have had their basic learning under ex-finance minister Ronnie de Mel, he added.

When a journalist present asked him as to whether former president Chandrika Kumaratunga had mediated to settle the CB governor dispute, the PM turned the discussion elsewhere.