President says no to Deshabandu?

President Ranil Wickremesinghe bowed to the influential Bar Association of Sri Lanka and rejected the Public Security minister’s nominee for the new police chief, ‘Economynext’ reports, quoting a source close to the President.

According to reports, Minister Tiran Alles had lobbied to appoint controversial senior Deputy Inspector General Deshabandu Tennakoon as successor to Chandana Wickramaratna who is due to retire later this week.

“The President said no to Deshabandu and is most likely to extend the tenure of Wickramaratna by at least another year,” ‘Economynext’ adds, further quoting the source.

It also states that the President was reportedly irked when he saw inspired media reports claiming that he had nominated Tennakoon’s name to the Constitutional Council last week.

The Bar Association in a letter to President Wickremesinghe last week ,urged him not to appoint any officer facing criminal charges or facing fundamental rights allegations, a clear reference to Tennakoon who faces multiple cases and even a court order for his arrest.

Meanwhile, ‘Sri Lanka Mirror’ has seen a SDIG seniority list of the police, with SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena at the very top.