‘Deshaya’ wanted Gota to say he’ll enter politics!

 

Sunday, 14 September 2014 

It was at the insistance of Ranjith Ananda Jayasinghe, editor of the recently launched ‘Deshaya’ of Wijaya Newspapers Ltd. that defence ministry secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has declared that he would enter Sri Lankan politics, say sources close to the defence secretary.

Needing an exclusive story for the first issue of ‘Deshaya’, Ranjith Ananda has met the defence secretary and asked him, “Sir, give a lead for the first issue of our newspaper.” As Gotabhaya was thinking deeply about the request, Ranjith Ananda asked him, “Sir, shall we take the lead that KP will be freed?” With a smile, Gotabhaya responded, “Does he need to be freed again? From the days he was brought in, he is free. The other thing is that such a lead will not go well with India.”

In the end, he said, “Publish that I will enter politics. But, also write that I will do so only if the president requests.”

Anyhow, ‘Lanka News Web’ carried months before the launch of ‘Deshaya’ that Gotabhaya will enter politics by contesting from Colombo and that he will be given Rohitha Bogollagama’s Kotte electorate.

These days, he is laying the groundwork for his political entry. Last Friday, the special invitees for a cocktail party at his home were Sri Lanka’s richest person Harry Jayawardena and Ashoka Pathirage, owner of the up and coming Softlogic Company. That was the fourth such cocktail party for the Sri Lankan business community he has held. The organizer of these cocktail parties is Gotabhaya’s closest friend, wealthy businessman Dilith Jayaweera.

Last week, Softlogic bought well-known Sri Lankan cloths retailer Odel. A silent shareholder of Softlogic is economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa. However, Gotabhaya is making careful plans to become popular among the business community. For that, the Urban Development Authority is helping him a lot.