Ratwatte and Pakaralingam get a shelling from the Health Minister

Nov 14, 2016

If you ask any UNP Minister to describe Charitha Rathwatte they would say he is the man who destroyed the UNP in 2004 and has come back to destroy the UNP again. Even when the Prime Minister proposed the name of Ratwatte for CB Governor all the key decision makers did not want Rathwatte anywhere near the Central Bank.

The President and Former President were adamant that Rathwatte should not be appointed to the post of Governor, given his poor track record. The Prime Minister who was struggling to get cover after the COPE Report on the Bond Scam was released, given that the Joint Opposition and certain SLFP ministers were ganging up together to ask for the Prime Minister’s Resignation, it was the Health Minister who came to his rescue given the precarious situation the Prime Minister was placed.

According to a Cabinet minister the tone of the cabinet meeting had changed after the intervention of the Health Minister at the Cabinet Meeting held two weeks ago and the SLFP tune that was on the offensive also changed by evening. The Health Minister we understand had supported the Prime Minister despite the Prime Minister’s office mafia led by Ratwatte having given the nod for the Health Minister to be questioned by the Bribery Commission ahead of people like Gamini Senarath and Nivard Cabral.

After the fiery Cabinet meeting the Health Minister had vented his frustration by blasting the 80-year-old Paskaralingem. We understand he had told him” you entertain unsolicited proposals from certain people and approve them in 24 hours, while the health ministry proposals are sent from pillar to post with no finality.

I am not going to tolerate this anymore. Then he had said “tell that Ratwatte he ruined the government last time and we will not allow him to do it again. I will bring it up in cabinet”. Where was he before the election?  He spent 10 years saying the UNP can never make it under Ranil Wickramasinghe, now he has joined our government. Ratwatte got his younger brother appointed as Sri Lankan CEO and against the board wishes forcibly got him confirmed as CEO has ruined the airline according to the pilots guild. The Airline's indecisiveness under his leadership  has cost the airline millions of dollars and the latest decision to shut down flights into Paris, Rome and Germany is very very foolish according to travel experts.

We understand the President is very unhappy with the duo and many UNP Ministers are complaining that the UNP is continuing from where they were unceremoniously thrown out in 2004 thanks to people like Ratwatte and Paskaralingem being given positions in the government and wonder why an intelligent man like the Prime Minister cannot see the writing on the wall.