Can't support death penalty: Ranil Wickremesinghe

Srilankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that he cannot support the death penalty bringing his differences on the issue with President Maithripala Sirisena in the open.

Addressing a program yesterday, the Prime Minister said, United National Party (UNP) as the main party in the government, the Opposition led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are all against the decision to reinstate the death penalty. 

The Prime Minister further said that he expects to discuss this issue first with the Cabinet of Ministers and then with the President and the



Speaker. 

Mr Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka supported the United Nations (UN) resolution on the death penalty in 2016 when Maithripala Sirisena was President and he was the Prime Minister. 

He added that Sri Lanka once again agreed to support the resolution when the UN re-reviewed the resolution on December 17, 2018 when the President was Maithripala Sirisena while Mahinda Rajapaksa held the premiership.

President Sirisena has announced death penalty to four drug dealers this week which has been criticized by several western nations and human rights organizations.