Basil’s arbitrary actions put Mahinda in trouble
BY GAGANI WEERAKOON-2017-12-31In 1982, I never had the faintest dream that some day in the future, I will be addressing you as the President of this country and as the head of the SLFP, President Maithripala Sirisena recalled on Friday at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo. Addressing SLFP-UPFA candidates who are contesting at the forthcoming Local Government elections the President declared that he would hand over the leadership of the SLFP not to a member of his family but to an educated and intelligent youth who engaged in clean, decent and corruption-free politics.
"Nepotism, corruption, thuggery and misrule had harmed the country and the party and therefore I am determined to build a new political culture and nurture a new breed of politicians untainted by corruption and wrongdoings," he said.
Some 7,000 UPFA and SLFP candidates will contest the February 10 LG polls under the Betel Leaf or Hand symbol and he was hopeful that a corruption-free political culture and a new generation of decent politicians would be born on 11 February 2018.
"This is a vision to hold before you because you are the ones who must take over the leadership of this country and the SLFP. To do that you need to be educated, intelligent, bold and fully committed to desist from corruption, thuggery, misrule or misdeeds. The UPFA and the SLFP will never tolerate corrupt politics or corrupt politicians. We will begin cleaning up the local administration after the LG polls," he said.
He said he hoped to see a set of young politicians who read books, newspapers and engaged in intelligent debates.
"When this new breed of young and clean politicians take over the administration at the grassroots level, the results will influence provincial and national level politics," the President said.
He asked the candidates not to insult or pick up fights with other party candidates during their election campaign.
"You explain your development programmes to voters. You tell them how you are going to resolve their problems and how you will tackle their day-to-day issues. Never engage in character assassination. You must act as parents, siblings or friends of the voters," the President said.
He said some people ask what the government did during the past two and half years.
"Certain media institutions fabricated news to fit their agendas. When Russia suspended our tea imports to that country, our detractors were jubilant saying it is the end of our tea industry and is the result of the unfriendly relations with the global community, the President said. "I rang up Russian President Vladimir Putin and requested him to lift the ban and he responded in a positive and friendly manner and it was lifted in two weeks. There is a shortage of urea fertilizer these days. I spoke to Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi requesting his help. He spoke to me a few hours ago and said he will be sending a consignment of 40,000 metric tons of Urea to Sri Lanka immediately. That is the result of our foreign policy."
He said clean politics and clean politicians would never be defeated and that the SLFP and the UPFA would be victorious and would pave the way for 2020 general elections and the 2021 presidential election.
President Sirisena was speaking on being determined to clear corruption from local politics few hours before the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Treasury Bonds Scam was handed over to him. The Commission's Chairman Justice K.T. Chitrasiri handed over the report when the Commission members met the President at the President's Office, yesterday, at around 12.20p.m. According to well-informed sources besides observations made by the Commission, the report also has made eight specific recommendations to be implemented. It is said that President Sirisena would forward the report to the Attorney General's Department without delay.
Goons as candidates
The People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) on Friday handed over a report to the Inspector General Of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara which carried details of tainted candidates citing substantial evidence received by the March 12 Movement.
PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi requested the IGP to inquire into the charges and asked the IGP to look into the matter of the political parties, which conducted rallies during the last day of the nominations.
During the meeting, PAFFREL officials also discussed the deployment of observers in the polling centres.
"We requested the IGP to put these areas under special observation as a lot of trouble may occur in such areas. Most of these offenders are currently facing one or several cases in various Courts. According to the current law, they cannot be prevented from contesting or filing nominations, but what we want to do is make awareness amongst the public so that such tainted people will not make it to the council as rulers," Hettiarachchi added.
According to election monitors, over 32 criminals and at least three underworld figures have fielded nominations for the 10 February 2018 Local Government Elections.
Hettiarachchi noted that the report had details of such tainted and corrupt candidates from Colombo, Gampaha, Matara, Puttalam, Kandy, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Hambantota, Polonnaruwa, Galle and Kalutara Districts. The types of offenders include illicit liquor vendors, cattle thieves, rapists, drug dealers, prostitutes, human traffickers, land grabbers, illegal sand miners and illegal quarry operators, burglars and other fraudsters and those charged with accepting bribery. This is in addition to murder suspects, weapon dealers and gamblers.
MR caught in a storm
With strongmen of the constituent parties in the Joint Opposition joining President Sirisena, everyone is now keeping an eye on what would happen to newly formed lotus-flower-bud – Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is going to kick start its election campaign by making a special statement in Colombo on Tuesday (2).
This came to limelight with SLPP allies, who are contesting the forthcoming Local Government (LG) polls, openly acknowledging that the majority of them are disgruntled over the manner in which the SLPP leadership – specifically Basil Rajapaksa – had handled the nominations process.
"We know that the majority of the regional political leaders were disappointed and disgruntled because we were disillusioned with the candidacy quota we were promised at the beginning of the whole nomination process. While it remains a fact that most of our members are disheartened over the matters regarding nominations, our Party and many other parties believe that crossing over to this Government is however not the solution," a Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) Spokesman Sisira Jayakody said following one of their strongmen Somaweera Chandrasiri accepting Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) membership.
Chandrasiri met President Maithripala Sirisena and pledged allegiance to the SLFP. Somaweera had assured the President that he will do his utmost to ensure victory for the SLFP.
He noted that Party members had experienced problems in obtaining nominations from the SLPP and were therefore disgruntled due to the step-motherly treatment meted out to them.
"It was Chandrasiri's personal decision to quit the MEP. Regional and provincial leaders of the MEP had a common grievance with regard to getting nominations from the SLPP. However, joining the Government is not the solution," he said.
On the contrary, MEP Chairman, Parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena noted that Somaweera had not expressed his desire to quit the Party.
"He did not inform us at any moment that he is going to quit. He was only saying that he is not happy, especially in relation to personal issues, ones that he is mentioning now. Other than that, concerning the political issues, there was no discussion or expression of his ideas at the Party central committee meeting or any meeting of any other Party committee. I have no explanation to give about his personal woes. If he has any personal woes then he must settle them himself. If there are political issues, then I can answer those," he said.
He went on to note that the MEP is actively involved with the Joint Opposition.
Meanwhile, National Freedom Front (NFF) Politburo Member and Kandy District Organizer Nimal Premawansa yesterday extended his support to the SLFP for the upcoming LG election.
Premawansa had met President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday morning. During the meeting Premawansa had said that he would fully support the SLFP LG election campaign led by the President, the President's Media Unit said in a statement.
Moreover, several supporters of the SLPP, including two candidates who had expected to contest the election on the SLPP ticket, also agreed to support the President and the SLFP at the LG election. Former LG Member Raja Sooriyakumara and the SLPP Mirigama Branch President Sachithra Amarasekara were among them.
Disgruntled and disappointed over the way nominations were fielded on top of his strongmen leaving his leadership and the party, NFF Leader Wimal Weerawansa last week called the former President to protest against the discriminations. Weerawansa who vociferously, reminded Rajapaksa that it was him (Wimal) who invented the concept of Mahinda Sulanga (a project to revive the Mahinda force) was in for a deeper trouble when Rajapaksa lost his cool and launched a scathing attack on Wimal over the phone using a language that cannot be published.
Meanwhile, Priyanjith Witharana who left NFF Leader Weerawansa, is tipped to get a top diplomatic posting, post LG elections while Piyasiri Wijenayake is to be appointed as a Governor and MP Weerakumara Dissanayake is to be appointed most likely as the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.
Meanwhile, it is also expected that at least three other party leaders in the Joint Opposition may show allegiance to President Sirisena while two top Rajapaksa allies from Kandy might return to the UNP – their original party. With their return another senior UNP minister from Kandy will not contest at the next General Election as he has already become extremely unpopular in the district and in the country as a whole.
