Army reacts to Chief Ministers outburst ?

The Eastern Province Chief Minister Z.A. Nazeer Ahamed speaking disparagingly at a Senior Navy officer, Capt Ranjith Premaratne Commanding Officer of the Sampur Navy Camp and demanding him to “just get out from here” if he does not understand the ‘protocol’ is seen in a video uploaded to the internet. However, the Navy was reportedly not responsible for the preparation of the agenda of the event and the Chief Minister was invited by the Governor to attend the function.

The incident occurred at a recent function in Sampur in the presence of Governor of Eastern Province Austin Fernando and US Ambassador Atul Keshap.

Meanwhile, sources within the Army say that the Army Commander had instructed Military establishments that the Chief Minister should not be invited for any Military function nor entertained in any Army establishment for whatever reason, for his insolent, ill-mannered and boorish behaviour towards Capt Ranjith Premaratna a senior military officer, as it was reflective of his disrespect to all military personnel.

It has been revealed that the dispute occurred after the American Ambassador was invited to stage before the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister was not expected at the event as it was reported earlier expected that he would be abroad on the day of the event.

Commenting on the incident at the function, Chief Minister Z.A. Nazeer Ahamed said that he, as the Chief Minister, had not been acknowledged officially by the compère and that prior to attending the Sampur function, he had attended another function in Kinniya and when he asked the governor about going from there to Sampur in the helicopter, the Governor had said there was no room for him.