Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Yoshitha Rajapaksa has confirmed that he had officially resigned from the Sri Lanka Navy prior to assuming his new designation.

Following Yoshitha’s appointment, many questions were raised on social media on whether Yoshitha had resigned from the Navy to take up his new appointment.

Responding to such claims, Rajapaksa said that the Ministry of Defence had approved his request for resignation on the 10th of October, following which he assumed duties as the Chief of Staff of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on the 15th of October.

According to the Daily Mirror, Yoshitha Rajapaksa had applied for his resignation 08 months ago after serving in the Sri Lanka Navy for 14 years and his request was approved by the Ministry of Defence on the 10th of October.

The cabinet of Ministers had thereafter approved his appointment as the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister on the 12th of October, following which he assumed duties on the 15th of October, Yoshitha said.

He further said that at a time when he was politically victimised and suspended from the Navy for 4-years, he had worked for his father and built his experience to now be appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister.

Yoshitha served in the Navy from 2006 to 2020 and holds a Masters degree and PhD from the National Defense University of Ukraine, according to the Daily Mirror newspaper.