President Maithripala Sirisena wrote to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa today and reiterated that even if the UPFA wins the general election, he won’t be appointed Prime Minister.
Writing a lengthy letter, Sirisena said that there were a number of other senior party members who could be appointed as Prime Minister. He did not approve of Rajapaksa seeking to be PM once again after being President for years, Sirisena said.
Sirisena also reminded that he had wanted to lead the SLFP election campaign. However, Rajapaksa’s insistence on being given nominations caused him to retreat for the sake of the party, Sirisena said. Otherwise Rajapaksa would have stormed out of the party, dividing it in the process, the President recalled.
If he had led the party, those who had supported him in the general election would have supported the SLFP, Sirisena said.
The President also revealed that he and Rajapaksa met thrice after the January 8 election. He also revealed that the two had a telephone conversation two days prior to Rajapaksa signing nominations. Sirisena revealed that he promised Rajapaksa a respected retirement. According to Sirisena, Rajapaksa had refused, despite the fact that the majority of his family had supported Sirisena’s gesture.
Sirisena also revealed that he and Rajapaksa had been good friends until Basil Rajapaksa ruined the friendship.
Underworld Figures Returned With UNP Government, Says Rajapaksa
August 13, 2015
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the UNP government has brought back the underworld figures which his government had chased away.
Speaking at a meeting in Lunugamvehera, he insisted that the political campaign during the last few weeks was testament to the situation in the country.
Furthermore, Rajapaksa said that the new government had stopped the development work initiated by his government. Most of the work in Hambantota and other less developed regions in the country have been brought to a standstill, he added.
Rajapaksa asked the people to vote for the UPFA to restart the development programmes.
Former Minister and UPFA Kandy District candidate Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that the government would exhume even the slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s body if it would ensure victory in the upcoming general election.
Speaking to media he said that the UNP tried to tarnish the image of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, naming him a thief. However, since the people did not believe the UNP, it is now attempting to brand Rajapaksa as a murderer, Aluthgamage said.
He claimed that the people have realized what the government has done in the previous five month period. Therefore, the UNP will be defeated in the election, irrespective of its election gimmicks, Aluthgamage stated.
UPFA Campaign Strategy Has Failed Miserably: Ajith P. Perera
August 12, 2015
Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P. Perera said that both the UPFA manifesto and the image of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa have been tarnished during the general election campaign.
Speaking at a press conference at ‘Sirikotha’ UNP headquarters, Perera said that the UPFA manifesto, which promises ‘a guarantee for the future’, does not even have a guarantee for the present.
The UPFA stalwarts backing Rajapaksa thought that they could carry on the election campaign on the back of Rajapaksa’s perceived popularity, Perera said. However, the plan has failed miserably and the UPFA campaign is limping forward, he added. This has further tarnished the image of Rajapaksa, Perera argued.
CB Ratnayake's Driver Found Dead
August 11, 2015
Former minister C.B. Ratnayake’s driver was found dead at Ratnayake’s official residence at Malalaseka Mawatha, Colombo 7 this afternoon, Police Media Unit told Asian Mirror.
The police said that the individual was 50 years old.
He was alleged to have consumed poison after writing a letter saying that no one was to be suspected for his death.
Gammanpila Accepts Ranawaka's Challenge
August 11, 2015
UPFA Colombo District candidate Udaya Gammanpila on today challenged Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka for a debate on alleged deals between former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the LTTE in 2005.
Gammanpila made this challenge at a press conference held at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headquarters in Colombo.
Patali Champika Ranawaka openly challenged Mahinda Rajapaksa for a debate on the alleged deals, at a press conference earlier in the day.
Ranawaka said that he has evidence to prove the alleged deal between Rajapaksa and the LTTE.
President Sirisena Likely To Make Another Statement On Election
August 11, 2015
President Maithripala Sirisena is likely to make another special statement on the election within the next few days, Presidential Secretariat sources said.
Sirisena has expressed serious displeasure for using his image without his knowledge for a United People’s Freedom Alliance election advertisement.
His advisers have told him to make a statement before August 15 since it would be a violation of election laws if he did after the campaign ends.
Therefore, if Sirisena decides to make a statement, it will be done within the next few days, sources also said.
BBC Says Mahinda Rajapaksa Is Fighting For Political Survival
August 11, 2015
As Sri Lanka prepares to go to the polls next week, the country's controversial former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is fighting a battle for his political life.
He has faced a dizzying reversal in his fortunes.
This is the man who presents himself as the warrior king who, in 2009, ended the island nation's 26-year-long civil war.
The country's Tamil minority paid a terrible price for his "victory". One UN report estimates that 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the last few weeks of the war.
But finally putting an end to years of conflict proved hugely popular with the majority Sinhalese population and Rajapaksa and his family seemed set to run Sri Lanka for decades to come. He ended the two-term limit for president and appeared to be grooming his eldest son for power.
That all changed in January when, in a betrayal worthy of a Shakespearean drama, Rajapaksa was unseated.
His uncharismatic health minister Maithripala Sirisena unexpectedly won a narrow majority in the presidential elections, standing against his former political master.
But Rajapaksa is back, now standing not for president, but to be a humble MP - although he says he expects his party to do well enough to ensure he will become prime minister.
When I spoke to him in the kitchen of his huge house in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, he told me he was only running by popular demand.
"They want me," he said. "I thought I'd retired but when I went back to my village, you should have seen the queues! There were over 100,000 people."
That may be so, but there are other compelling reasons for Rajapaksa to want to return to power.
Since he lost the presidency, his reputation has come under attack. Members of his inner circle have been accused of graft, abuse of power and even murder. They deny the allegations.
Meanwhile Rajapaksa, the self-styled father of the new Sri Lankan nation, is alleged to have been involved in corruption on an epic scale.
He told me he was a victim of smears put about by his opponents.
"This is all political tricks," he insisted when we spoke. "Politically they want to attack us so they will do that."
I asked about the allegations that billions of dollars had been stolen during his time in power.
"So why don't you help us find this money?" he barked angrily, as his entourage swept the visibly irritated former president out of the house and into a waiting Mercedes.
He was more forthcoming at a huge rally just outside Colombo.
His effort to become an MP is being run as if he was still a presidential candidate. Before he takes to the platform there are endless speeches by fawning supporters, songs extolling his many virtues, and swooping cameras to project images of his cheering fans onto vast television screens.
He told the crowd the real corruption is in the new government, citing an alleged scam involving the sale of government bonds.
He also warns that the current government's plans to devolve power to the Tamil north will split the nation in two.
But it isn't clear he has the attention of some of his key supporters. During his speech I watched as one of the dignitaries on the podium behind him slumped forward gently and nodded off.
And his arguments seem to be falling on deaf ears amongst the public too. He's expected to win his parliamentary seat comfortably but a recent opinion poll suggests his party is trailing significantly behind the government.
Nevertheless it would be wrong to write the old warhorse off quite yet.
The fact that he is standing at all is testament to this veteran politician's tenacity, and the huge turnout at his rallies shows he still has some passionate supporters.
(BBC)
Rajapaksa Justifies 18th Amendment, Seeking Third Term
August 11, 2015
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that he passed the 18th Amendment and decided to run for a third term because there was a demand from the people to remain in office until the work he had started could be finished.
Taking part in the 360 political talk show on TV Derana, he insisted that the people, not the constitution, should decide on whether the president could take office for a third term. There is no need to merely follow what is said in the US or French systems, he added.
Rajapaksa also said that people decided to refuse him a third term. He bowed to the decision and went to his hometown, he added.
Rajapaksa stressed that he is contesting in the upcoming general election purely due to the demand of the people. He pointed out that thousands of people came to see him in Medamulana and Tangalle ever since he left Colombo following the election defeat.
UNP Colombo District candidate Dr. Harsha de Silva said that a laundry bill exceeding Rs. 600,000 has been received by the Prime Minister’s office recently.
The bill, for the last three months of the year 2014 were from the same laundry, he added. The bill for November exceeded Rs. 300,000 even after a 25 percent discount was given, Dr. de Silva said further.
The total of the bill was Rs. 632,575, he also said.
D. M. Jayaratne of the UPFA was serving as the Prime Minister during the said period.
