National security of Sri Lanka is not a concern of local governments

Colombo: Only the island nation’s central government is empowered to make decisions on the national security and it is not a concern of the local governments, Sri Lanka military spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya has said.

The military spokesperson made this remark in response to a recent statement made by the Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council C. V. Wigneswaran that the latter should be informed about setting up of Army Camps and land acquisition programs in the Northern Province.

Brigadier Wanigasooriya told the national news agency, Lankapuvath, that only the central government has the power to make decisions on the country’s national security and it is not something that concerns the Local Governments, nor Provincial Councils or its councilors, .

“The National Security and Defense related decisions are Central Government sponsored, even in the countries like India and United States,” he said.

Setting up of Army Camps and land acquisition programs in the country directly falls under the National Security Council of Sri Lanka which is the executive body of the Sri Lankan Government that is charged with the maintenance of National Security with authority to direct the Sri Lankan Military and Police, under the guidance and patronage of the Commander-In-Chief, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he pointed out.