UNP Candidate Vasantha Senanayake Hooted At Polonnaruwa Rally
August 11, 2015
The practice of hooting the speakers at election rallies spread to the United National Party stage yesterday at Polonnaruwa. This was followed by a clash among two groups of party supporters.
A group hooted UNP Polonnaruwa District Chief Organiser, Deputy Minister Vasantha Senanayake, when he rose to speak at an election rally near the Kaduruwela bus stand.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also visited the rally following the incident. However, the rally took place without further incident.
A clash occurred after the rally between supporters of Senanayake and Nalaka Kolonne, who is also contesting the election under the UNP ticket. Three supporters of Kolonne were injured at the clash and were admitted to hospital.
Nalin Bandara Explains His 'Pistol Incident'
August 11, 2015
Former UNP Parliamentarian Nalin Bandara refuted the allegation by the UPFA that a political leaflet shows him brandishing pistols and shooting to the sky along with several of his supporters.
Speaking to Asian Mirror, Bandara said that the photograph was taken on May 1, 2014, during the UNP May Day rally. He was acting out the ‘toy pistol incident’ at Hambantota along with some of his supporters, Bandara said.
He recalled that the former UNP MPs who visited Hambantota Habour and Mattala Airport were threatened by the Mayor of Hambantota on April 17, 2014. The Mayor had brandished a pistol, which was later described as a toy pistol.
Bandara said that he was acting out this incident at the May Day rally held merely two weeks afterwards. It was a photograph taken at the May Day rally that was used in the leaflet, he added.
He also said that the UPFA is trying to find non-existing reasons to attack the government in the face of defeat.
Minister of Mass Media and Information Gayantha Karunathilaka said that the former UPFA government should be blamed for importing sub-standard fertilizer which has caused the spreading of the kidney disease.
Speaking at a press briefing in Galle, the Galle District UNP candidate said that it was ironical to see the UPFA accusing the present government of trying to discontinue the fertilizer subsidy.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently said that the UNP was planning to destroy the agricultural sector. The UNP manifesto does not say a word on the fertilizer subsidy, Rajapaksa claimed, saying that it was a sign that the UNP was planning to discontinue it.
However, Karunathilaka today refuted this allegation.
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.
Sports and Tourism Minister Navin Dissanayake alleged that there was a 'mafia' in Sri Lanka's sports sector during the former government's rule.
The 'mafia' was run by the three sons of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Dissanayake claimed at a meeting in Maskeliya recently.
Dissanayake, who was part of the former government until his defection to the Maithripala Sirisena camp during the recent presidential election, said that the 'mafia' was broken after the election of a new government.
He alleged that the country's development was focused on one family during the Rajapaksa government. The Rajapaksa family developed during that period, he elaborated.
Preference Votes Will Convert To Money, Claims Pubudu Jayagoda
August 10, 2015Frontline Socialist Party Propaganda Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda said that the preference votes obtained by candidates who are elected to the parliament will transform into money in the event of a hung parliament.
Speaking at a meeting recently, he said that both the UNP and the UPFA have realized the possibility of a hung parliament. In that event, some candidates from both parties are preparing to crossover for money, he claimed.
The higher the preference vote, higher will be the price they will demand, Jayagoda added.
Meanwhile, the JVP was preparing to prop-up a future UNP government, he also said, pointing out that the JVP has already rejected any deals with the UPFA. It has expressed the willingness to support any other government from outside, Jayagoda said.
Certain JVP national list members are already campaigning for the UNP, he added, pointing out that former Auditor General Sarath Chandra Mayadunne is campaigning for Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. Another lawyer in the JVP national list is in the campaign of UNP candidate Upul Shantha Sannasgala, he said.
Tissa Attanayake Questions Lavish Election Spending By UNP
August 09, 2015
Former Health Minister Tissa Attanayake said that the United National Party has given all candidates Rs. 2.5 million each for election propaganda work.
Speaking at a press conference at SLFP headquarters yesterday, he asked as to how the UNP could spend so much money for election campaigning barely six months after coming to power. He claimed that the UNP was financially in dire straits when he was still in the party.
'One is compelled to think that the Central Bank Treasury bond scam actually happened' he also said, observing that the UNP is throwing out heaps of money for the campaign.
However, he added that the UNP is aware of defeat in the polls. The 'national government' concept is put forward only because of the realization of that reality, he said.
UNP former parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake refuted former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s claim that there was no coup attempt on the night of January 8-9, saying that he has evidence to prove it if required.
Speaking to Asian Mirror, Ramanayake said that even the former Army Commander had said that their intervention helped preserve democracy in the country. Ramanayake said that he once thanked both the former Army Commander and the IGP for foiling this attempt.
Ramanayake said that neither the former Chief Justice nor the former Ambassador to France had any business to do at Temple Trees that night. Their mere presence raises questions, he pointed out.
Ramanayake also responded to Rajapaksa’s recent comments on the alleged coup, where the former President had refuted the claims. Rajapaksa had asked if a coup would be carried out ‘legally’ with the sanction of the Attorney General or the Chief Justice. However, Ramanayake responded by saying that Rajapaksa had controlled the legal system and manipulated it during his years in power.
According to information received, the Rajapaksa camp was planning to give legal justification and stay in power for two years, Ramanayake said.
Many things Rajapaksa did were not illegal but were undemocratic, Ramanayake argued, citing the removal of former CJ Shirani Bandaranayake as an example. Even Adolf Hitler acted with legal sanction, Ramanayake also said.
Maithripala Sirisena Is Not Wickremesinghe's Executive President, Claims Alahapperuma
August 08, 2015
Former UPFA MP Dallas Alahapperuma stated that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's claim that the national security would be protected under a UNP government cannot be trusted simply because President Maithripala Sirisena would be the Defence Minister.
Speaking at a meeting in Matara yesterday, Alahapperuma said that Wickremesinghe once signed an agreement with the LTTE without informing the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who was also the Defence Minister. Therefore, his word cannot be trusted, Alahapperuma said.
Alahapperuma also claimed that in Wickremesinghe's world, the executive president is not Maithripala Sirisena but US President Barack Obama.
JVP Slams 'Main' Parties For Lack Of Policy Discussion
August 07, 2015
JVP Politburo Member and former MP Sunil Handunnetti slammed both ‘main’ parties, saying that both the UNP and the UPFA do not discuss policy through their manifestos.
Speaking at a press conference today in Colombo, Handunnetti said that both the UNP and the UPFA has once again given a set of promises. He pointed out that this had been the political culture of the country over the past decades.
What the country needs is a discussion on policies to be adopted in the next five years, Handunnetti argued. Commenting on the UPFA manifesto he said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has given promises which he could not deliver as the President of the country for 9 years.
Handunnetti also criticized the UNP manifesto, adding that if the economic policy suggested by the UNP is adopted, the local industries would be ruined.
