The Minister of State for Defence, Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, stated in parliament that the Air Force and Army have not prohibited retired officers from engaging in politics, but there is no room for activities that are detrimental to national security.
Noninterference with regular officers is imperative, and the maintenance of discipline among military officers is vital, he said.
The minister was responding to the leader of the Jathika Jana Balawegaya. Anura Kumara Dissanayake regarding the blacklisting of retired Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuiyakontha.
The minister said that the rights of military officers in active service have been restricted under article 15.8(a) of the constitution, and those restrictions will no longer be effective following retirement.
At the same time, he pointed out that the officials who can have a strong influence on the regular cadre after retirement are not allowed to discuss their personal political views and party affairs with the people in service.
The minister also said that the reason why Air Marshal Sampath Thuiyakontha was blacklisted and banned from entering any air force base was that he made a speech during a political rally in Gampaha that was described as a threat to national security and damaged the image of the air force.
“There had been no issue with Sampath Thuiyakontha’s speeches in previous meetings.”The problem was the speech he gave at the Gampaha rally.
He was blacklisted for reasons other than political retaliation. That decision was taken by an internal standing committee related to state security. It has no political flavor. The minister said
The Air Force has the absolute right to issue orders prohibiting entry into the Air Force base. Then there is no legal basis to question or give reasons to the concerned officer. You know that there are other retired officers working for your party. That is not a problem. Their speeches should not affect the officers in active service.
Sampath Tuiyakontha and Aruna Jayasinghe were not blacklisted for political reasons.
The ministers said it was essential to keep politics and military service in two separate compartments.
