Read on the application
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe sacked Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe on Monday after claiming his life was at risk for “exposing corruption” in the country’s cricket administration and that he would be held responsible if anything happened to him. President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Chief of Staff will be responsible. As soon as Ranasinghe arrived to attend the weekly cabinet meeting, he was handed a letter of dismissal signed by Wickramasinghe. It said that Ranasinghe has been removed from the Sports and Youth Affairs and Irrigation ministries with immediate effect. He was replaced by Tourism Minister Harin Fernando. He will also oversee the Ministry of Tourism and Lands along with Sports.
Earlier, Ranasinghe had said in Parliament that Wickramasinghe was trying to frame him for political revenge and was using false facts regarding the vehicle. The minister said that a vehicle imported by him has been impounded by the authorities on the pretext of tax evasion to frame him on false charges. Referring to his move to appoint an interim committee to run Sri Lanka’s cricket administration, Ranasinghe said, “Will I get this award for exposing corruption in cricket? I acted on the basis of the audit report.” He further questioned that when as sports minister he Why was the President taking political revenge when he had only exposed corruption. News website ‘Newswire.lk’ quoted Ranasinghe as saying, “My life is in danger, I may be killed today or tomorrow. If anything happens to me, the President and His advisor Sagala Ratnayake (Chief of Presidential Staff) should be responsible.
Earlier this month, Ranasinghe sacked the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) management during World Cup 2023 and appointed former World Cup-winning captain Arjun Ranatunga as the head of a seven-member interim committee to manage the cricket board but the Court of Appeal reinstated him a day later. . However, the Sri Lankan Parliament unanimously passed a resolution dismissing the country’s cricket governing board as government interference, forcing the International Cricket Council (ICC) to suspend Sri Lanka. The chaos in Sri Lankan cricket came to light after the national team’s early exit from the World Cup. Sri Lanka, who won the ICC World Cup in 1996, finished ninth in the 2023 ten-team tournament. President Wickremesinghe advised Ranasinghe not to appoint an interim committee and warned him of possible ICC action.