Administrative affairs of the police department have been affected in the absence of an IGP, as no successor has yet been appointed to C.D. Wickramaratne whose tenure ended nine days ago.
‘Lankadeepa’ reports that president Ranil Wickremesinghe will send three names in the coming days to the Constitutional Council as the leading contenders to be the next IGP.
At the top of the seniority list are senior DIGs Nilantha Jayawardena (administration), Lalith Pathinayake (northwestern province), Deshabandu Tennakoon (western province), Priyantha Weerasuriya (crime) and P.P.S.M. Dharmaratne (Sabaragamuwa province).
A three-month service extension for Wickramaratne ended on June 26.
The prime minister and government ministers are pressurizing the president not to grant him another extension, and appoint Tennakoon as the next police chief.
However, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has written to the president, asking that neither Tennakoon nor Jayawardena be considered for the position.
That has not gone well with deputy registrar of the Asgiriya Chapter, Ven. Narampanawe Ananda Thera, who completely disapproved of interventions by religious leaders over the IGP’s appointment.
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