The Minister for Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Douglas Devananda, who is also leader of the paramilitary EPDP, has announced that he would resign from his ministerial position to contest the Northern Provincial Council Elections as a candidate for the Chief Minister position.
The Island reported that the president Mahinda Rajapakse was not going to allow Douglas to resign from the cabinet, with Kumar Padmanathan also a name making its rounds as a candidate.
Douglas is one of the most notorious paramilitary figures and has an outstanding arrest warrant from India, for a murder committed in Chennai in 1986.
The minister and his paramilitary are responsible for murder, rape, forced prostitution, child trafficking and extortion, with the support of the Sri Lankan Government of course.