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by Ravi Ladduwahetty

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told his Government Parliamentary Group yesterday that no military personnel will be deployed hereafter to provide security to VIPs, as an initial move to depoliticise the military.

The Prime Minister has told his MPs that Police trained personnel will be used for the protection of VIPs, political sources told the Daily News yesterday.

According to these sources, Premier Wickremesinghe has said that the Sri Lanka Army which was a ceremonial one was transformed into a combative force after 1983 and it was as a result of this that soldiers took to violence. The Udathalawinna massacre, the recent clashes between the Army and Police outside the Dalada Maligawa premises were clear examples of this, he said.

The Government will be presenting the Vote on Account in Parliament on February 5 to cover expenditure between March 19 and April 9. The Vote on Account will be debated on February 5,6 and 7, the Prime Minister has said.

Premier Wickremesinghe also announced the setting up of a Parliamentary Committee on Political Victimisation and has said that the Attorney General was being consulted on the scope and the mandate of the committee, sources said.

The Prime Minister also exhorted all MPs to be present in Parliament during sittings and especially the newcomers.

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