The sports minister of Sri Lanka was fired on Monday, only hours after accusing President Ranil Wickremesinghe of attempting to murder him over his efforts to clean up corruption at the cricket board.
According to officials, Roshan Ranasinghe was fired before of Monday’s weekly cabinet meeting after telling parliament that Wickremesinghe should be held accountable if he was slain.”I fear I could be killed because of my work to clean up the cricket board,” Ranasinghe told parliament, increasing a spat with Wickremesinghe, who had been at odds with the minister over the administration of Sri Lanka Cricket.
“If I am assassinated on the road, the president and his chief of staff will be responsible,” stated Ranasinghe.
Wickremesinghe did not respond right away; instead, his office merely confirmed that the minister had been fired.
Earlier this month, Ranasinghe dismissed the elected cricket board, accusing the office-bearers of egregious corruption, an accusation they deny and are contesting in court.
The richest sports organization in the otherwise impoverished island nation is the cricket board.
Earlier this month, the International Cricket Council suspended Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for breaking its regulations by not making sure the government was not meddling in its operations.
The president has urged Ranasinghe to reverse the board’s dismissal, but he has refused.
Three weeks ago the parliament supported the sports minister by approving a non-binding resolution calling for the resignation of the cricket board while a forensic examination of its finances was conducted.
A committee has been constituted by Wickremesinghe to look into the suspension by the ICC.
The cash-strapped nation made life miserable for its 22 million inhabitants on the island by defaulting on its $46 billion debt in April of last year due to a lack of foreign exchange to pay for the importation of even the most basic goods.
Months of civic unrest culminated in the overthrow of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the height of last year’s crisis, when demonstrators invaded his home.
