By Sarah Hannan [caption id="attachment_100753" align="alignleft" width="223"] Letter addressed to Ministry of Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne sent by Pvt. Sc. Ravi Jayawardana[/caption]

• Defence Ministry yet to act on request
• Request should first be sent to MSD

The request to improve the security detail afforded to Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa is yet to be attended to, The Morning learnt. On 30 September, Private Secretary to the Opposition Leader Attorney-at-Law Ravi Jayawardana had submitted a letter of request addressed to Ministry of Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne, seeking to increase the current security detail. The request was made following an incident that occurred at the Mount Lavinia Police Division on 29 September where Premadasa, who is the Leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and his team faced a stone pelting episode when they visited the area to address their party supporters and announced their stand on the proposed draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Jayawardana had further noted that given the Opposition Leader’s position and increasing frequency of public engagements, he will require a larger security detail than he is afforded. When The Morning contacted the Ministry of Defence to inquire the action they are taking over the request, we were informed that the request should go through the police Ministerial Security Division (MSD) Unit which would then send it for the approval of the Ministry of Defence, after assessing the situation and deciding on the actual requirement to increase the security detail for the Opposition Leader.