Following certain ministers and Government Parliamentarians criticising Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith – during the recently held three-day Parliamentary debate on the Easter Sunday attacks of 21 April 2019 – claiming that he is encouraging the public to vote for a particular political party at the upcoming Presidential Election, the Colombo Archdiocese denied the allegations levelled by those politicians.
In a press release issued yesterday (30 April), the Cardinal claimed that he has never expressed his views encouraging the public to endorse any particular party in the upcoming Presidential Election. He also condemned the statements made by those politicians, which could allegedly mislead the public, and hence urged the MPs to refrain from making such baseless allegations. He also said that the MPs must not criticise him, being shielded by Parliamentary privileges, stating that he was disappointed by the statements made by those individuals.
Stating that the main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-led National People’s Power, also of the Parliamentary Opposition, are the only two political Parties that have submitted their prospective programmes regarding the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks, the Archbishop noted that the other political parties also have the opportunity to submit their programmes. He also said that he has not asked the public to vote for any party but has urged them not to vote for anyone who has violated the fundamental rights of the citizens and disregarded the responsibility of bringing justice to the victims of the said attacks. Stating that he has always been demanding justice for the victims of the attacks through a transparent investigation, he also stated that he would encourage people to vote for any party that has proposed a programme to bring justice to those who still suffer due to the incident.
The Easter Sunday attacks targeting Catholic churches and Colombo hotels led to large-scale death and destruction.