Sri Lanka’s police chief has refused a request by
President Maithripala Sirisena to step down following suicide bombings on
churches and hotels, two sources at the president’s office said on Saturday,
deepening the rift at top levels of government.
Sirisena, facing criticism over the failure to thwart the
attacks, blamed the inspector general of police Pujith Jayasundara and defence
secretary Hemesiri Fernando for not sharing advance warnings of the attacks
with him.
Fernando resigned earlier in the week, but Jayasundara was
holding on, the two officials said.
“He has refused to resign despite the president’s request,”
one of the sources said. Under Sri Lanka’s constitution, only parliament can
remove the police chief through a lengthy process designed to shield officers
from political interference.
The attacks in which more than 250 people were killed have
exposed the divisions between Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,
with both saying they had not seen warnings given by India’s spy service about
impending strikes on churches and the Indian embassy including one just hours
before the attacks.
Jayasundara, the police chief, was handpicked for the job by
Wickremesinghe. The first source at the president’s office said Sirisena was
still expecting him to turn in his papers. The second source confirmed the
situation.
Both sources declined to be identified as they were not
authorised to speak with media.
Jayasundara did not answer his phone or email seeking
comments. An officer at the police department said the police chief had not
resigned but did not come to work on Saturday.
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