Dayasiri defends use of President’s Fund, rejects misuse allegations

• Says there are no legal provisions preventing politicians from seeking assistance

By Yohan Perera

There are no legal provisions which prevent politicians from seeking assistance from the President’s Fund, as it has been set up to assist all Sri Lankan citizens, MP Dayasiri Jayasekera said yesterday.

“Besides, no audit report has confirmed that I have misused the Fund to date. The Fund has assisted me the same way it has assisted other ordinary citizens,” Mr. Jayasekera told Daily Mirror.

“The NPP was badly hit with the recent fiasco where it was revealed that some of its members do not possess the qualifications they claimed to have earned. The government therefore launched an attack on us just to cover up the humiliation it has suffered from it,” he said.

“I suffered a cardiac ailment while engaging in a workout at a gymnasium in 2019. I was rushed to hospital and had to undergo surgery. The then President Maithripala Sirisena visited me and informed the hospital authorities that he will pay my hospital Bill. Accordingly, a part of my bill was settled by the President’s Fund while I used my money to settle the rest,” he said.

He said the ruling party has made an additional false allegation against him, saying he had used his initials to hide his identity when providing details to get assistance from the President’s fund. “I had no reason to hide my identity. ,” he said.