Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara should resign from his post to show that he is taking responsibility for his actions, United National Party (UNP) General Secretary Thalatha Athukorala said.Speaking to the media, she said merely accepting responsibility for the deaths during yesterday’s Negombo Prison clash was insufficient and that the Minister should step down.

“The prison riot showed the government’s inability to govern. How can this government run the country if it cannot even manage a prison? They have been interfering in prison affairs for some time. The former Commissioner General of Prisons was interdicted without any valid reason, but the Human Rights Council had recommended that he be reinstated,” she said.

“It is therefore not enough for the Minister to simply take responsibility for the deaths of prisoners during the Negombo Prison riot; he should resign from his post,” she added.