COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's ruling United National Party, the dominant partner in the national unity government, today called for setting up of a presidential commission to probe the alleged Chinese funding of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's 2015 presidential election campaign.
A recent New York Times report claimed that "large payments from the Chinese port construction fund flowed directly to campaign aides and activities for Rajapaksa, who had agreed to Chinese terms at every turn and was seen as an important ally in China's efforts to tilt influence away from India in South Asia.
" Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) said that the veracity of the story must be verified and details bared.
"We would like to ask for the appointment of a presidential commission to do a complete probe," UNP legislator Harshana Rajakaruna said, referring to the NYT report -- 'How China got Sri Lanka to cough up a port'.
The report has claimed that the payments were confirmed by documents and cash checks detailed in a government investigation seen by the NYT.
Rajapaksa is yet to personally respond to the report.
His son said in a tweet that the report had many inaccuracies.
Several Rajapaksa loyalists have termed the story as fake.
The report alleged that at least USD 7.
6 million was dispensed from China Harbor's bank account in Colombo to affiliates of Rajapaksa.
With 10 days to go before polls, around USD 3.
7 million was distributed in checks: USD 678,000 to print campaign T-shirts and other promotional material and USD 297,000 to buy supporters gifts, including women's saris, it claimed.
Another USD 38,000 was paid to a popular Buddhist monk who was supporting Rajapaksa, while two checks totaling USD 1.
7 million were delivered by volunteers to Temple Trees, his official residence, the report alleged.