Sri Lanka's new government rejected criticism of the security it had granted the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, stating it had given him "maximum security".
Speaking to journalists the cabinet spokesperson and minister, Rajitha Senaratne confirmed that Mr Rajapaksa's security included 21 vehicles and 213 officers, including 108 Sri Lankan army soldiers.
Rejecting an accusation made by Mr Rajapaksa that his security had decreased, Mr Senaratne was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying that Mr Rajapaksa "didn’t provide any security to his predecessor Chandrika Bandaranaike and she had to go to the Supreme Court to get her security."
"According to the guidelines set out by the Court a former President was only to be provided with a fixed number of vehicles. But we have gone beyond that and given him maximum security," Mr Senaratne said, adding "it was laughable that former President Rajapaksa is complaining about his security after being provided with 213 personnel which included 108 soldiers."
Hours after being elected into office, the new president and the new prime minister reiterated that the former president and his brother, the former defence secretary "need not worry about security since maximum state protection would be provided to them".
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