The President has presumably decided to consider a one-year service extension requested by the current IGP, C.D. Wickramaratna, and grant the extension in two phases.
It has been reported that a three-month initial extension is on the cards, and the rest will be decided later.
The President has arrived at this decision after a lengthy discussion he had with Law and Order Minister Tiran Alles and the current IGP himself.
Sources at the Presidential Secretariat indicated that the President has taken this decision against a backdrop where Public Security Minister Tiran Alas was trying hard to appoint Western Province Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Deshbandu Tennakoon to succeed the current Inspector General of Police.
At present, there are two pressure groups that have launched their campaigns as to who should be the next IGP.
One group, including Sagala Ratnayake, is of the opinion that the current Inspector General of Police, C.D. Wickramaratna, should be given a service extension, while a strong SLPP group led by Basil Rajapaksa, Johnston Fernando, and UNP’s Vajira Abeywardene and others are lobbying for the appointment of Deshbandu Tennakoon as the next IGP.
It is alleged that mainstream media groups have been exploited and abused by interested parties to lobby for the appointment of Tennakoon as the IGP.
However, it has been revealed that the government’s plan is to grant the current Inspector General as many service extensions as possible and solve the intricate problem involving Deshabandu Tennakoon in the meantime.
