Devolution must be to village - President’s Secretary Tweets

* President a visionary leader

* 13 A, a white elephant

President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga answered questions on Twitter social-media yesterday, in a Twitter Q and A organized for the first time.

Among other opinions tweeted, he stated: ‘Pres Rajapaksa will always honour the Constitution. 13 A has to be viewed from people’s standpoint. Devolution must be to the village.’ He also tweeted: ‘13 A must be viewed from the angle of the citizen. It’s no secret that administratively it’s a white elephant. Experience of 22 years shows.’

In a session that lasted more than two hours on the President’s Twitter account [email protected], Mr. Weeratunga tweeted in answer to a wide ranging set of questions regarding devolution, land issues, media issues -- and sometimes, his personal relations with the President.

He tweeted: ‘SL needs a budget airline and it has proved its worth with its service to pilgrims who cannot afford to spend large sums on travel.’

Also, he tweeted: ‘I have never been involved in deals and it’s very unfair to ask me about my deals in Mihin Lanka. I was an honorary director for a while.’ At a personal level, he tweeted in reply to the question ‘how is the president as a boss’, saying: ‘The only thing I would like him to change is to give us more time to complete our tasks. He is a hard task master!’ He also wrote: ‘Started work with Pres Rajapaksa in 1994, later continuously for 8 yrs from 2004. A visionary leader; always been great to work with him.’ He added: ‘I take my job as a national commitment - because I can do good to others, I enjoy it. I have never been in a situ forcing me to retire.’