• Claims that weapons were issued to PC members, not the party
• Claims CBK was not party Gen. Secy

In the wake of reports that former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is yet to return more than 100 12-bore shotguns that were issued to her when she was with the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) from 1980 to 1990, the SLMP stated that it was not to them (SLMP) or Kumaratunga that such weapons were issued, but to Provincial Council (PC) members at the time.

The SLMP called on the relevant authorities including the Ministry of Defence to recall the weapons, stating that neither the Party nor the former President had the guns in their possession.

Citing a document tabled in Parliament by the State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, the media had reported that Kumaratunga, who led the SLMP for some time after the assassination of her husband and SLMP founder, slain actor-turned-politician Vijaya Kumaratunga, had received 104 12-bore shotguns in 1988, and that they had not yet been returned to the Government.

When contacted by The Daily Morning and queried as to whether the SLMP is in possession of the weapons issued at that time, its President Alfred Ramanayake said that they are not in possession of any weapon, and that they had been issued PC members at that time. "It was a time when a politician could not even fearlessly come out of their home. Therefore, the then Government got the military and Police to provide some training to politicians, particularly PC members, and provided them with weapons. It is not true if someone says that political parties got weapons and kept them in their offices," he charged.

He argued that Kumaratunga had not served as the SLMP's General Secretary, and she had instead served as its President after Vijaya Kumaratunga's death.

"These weapons were issued to General Secretaries of parties. So, the fact that she had received these weapons is somewhat problematic. Even if that has happened for some reason, there was no need for her to keep hundreds of weapons. I am sure that they must have been distributed to PC members. The Government should get them to return the guns."

When contacted by The Daily Morning, the Office of Kumaratunga stated that the former President would soon issue a statement on the matter.

Vijaya Kumaratunga founded the SLMP in 1984 and led it until his assassination in 1988. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga then led the party for a short time, and left for the United Kingdom due to security related concerns. The SLMP lost 117 leading members during the 1988–89 riots, including Vijaya Kumaratunga, Ven. Pohoddaramulle Pemaloka Thera, T. B. Wijesuriya, and Deva Bandara Senarathne. 

In response to a question raised by an MP, Tennakoon had stated in Parliament that the majority of MPs who were provided with weapons during the period between 1980 and 1990 were yet to return them. According to the answer tabled in Parliament, more than 100 out of 150 politicians including MPs who were provided with weapons during the said period have failed to return them to the authorities thus far.