A Statement from a group of Sri Lankan academics forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission

SRI LANKA: Declaration by university academics on the 2015 Presidential election

December 15, 2014

The presidential election has been announced and each of us will be called upon to exercise our vote as citizens of this country on the 8^th of January 2015. It is our considered view that our country is at a historically important juncture at this moment and our decision at this election will have crucial implications for future generations. While we do not believe that all the changes we desire can be achieved overnight, or simply through a regime change, we believe strongly that this presidential election offers a window of opportunity to re-establish democracy, the rule of law and good governance and to address issues of social justice.

A Statement From a Group of Sri Lankan Academics Forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission by Thavam Ratna

Practice Of Torture And Presidential Systems

| by Laksiri Fernando

( December 15, 2014, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) Recently, some opted to recommend the continuation of the executive presidential system in Sri Lanka, based on the ‘majoritarian’ examples of the Security Council and BRICS member countries. The argument went something like the following.

Practice of Torture and Presidential Systems by Thavam Ratna

Presidential debates and its impact on the voter

December 16, 2014 

My eyes caught the attention of a recent web publication which had the caption ‘Mahinda-Maithri debate in the offing’. If such a debate actuallytakes place, it will doubtless herald a new era for democracy in Sri Lanka.It can be a catalyst for better understanding presidential aspirants from the standpoint of the voter.
Presidential Debates and Its Impact on the Voter by Thavam Ratna

TISL Informs EC On Misuse Of State Property In MR’s Poll Campaigning

December 15, 2014 

Corruption watchdog, Transparency International Sri Lanka has written to the Elections Commissioner regarding misuse of state resources in the election campaigning activities of President Rajapaksa.

Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya

In a letter to Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, the organisation has listed out specific accounts of state resource misappropriations on which they have received complaints so far to which includes ‘treating’ of public sector officials, state institutions joining hands with movements led by the Rajapaksa family and use of schools to promote election campaigns.

TISL has noted that Chief Accountants of every district have been summoned to the Temple Trees for a discussion on the budget without inviting them to the Finance Ministry or the Treasury as usual. The organisation has pointed out that this action has challenged integrity of the electoral process, the trust and validity of election results and has called upon the EC to probe into the incident.

They have also noted that the organisation – Sri Lanka Youth which is a state institution has been linked with the ‘Nil Balakaya’ a movement led by President’s son MP Namal Rajapaksa to campaign for the President. In the guise of capacity building training, some 100 youth from the Northern Province have been given instructions on how to carry out campaigning for Mahinda Rajapaksa in their respective areas.

TISL has also written with concern over the use of schools for political activities where school development committee meetings have been held and parents and members have been summoned by provincial politicians to promote the election campaigning activities of MR.

Among the other incidents noted is also the misuse of land that belongs to the Kurunegala Municipal Council. The establishment’s auditorium – which is usually not given for the use of external parties-, had been given out to a group named the ‘Kurunegala Free Lawyers Organisation’ who were pledging their support to MR.

While noting all these incidents, the TISL has urged the EC to take relevant measures in order to ensure they do not recur and has called upon the public to inform them on such incidents on 0115627432 or 0719241133.

Vote Decisively For A Credible Political Culture For Our Children’s Sake!

By Lukman Harees -December 15, 2014 

Lukman Harees

What does the bloodthirsty passage of time not leech away?

Our parents’ generation, worse than their parents’,

Has given birth to us, worse yet-and soon

We will have children still more depraved

Horace, Odes, 3.6, 45-8.

Quotes about the debased quality of politicians we elect to office and the utter public dislike for them,  are many and varied. The quote  ‘We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office’ appears in ‘Aesop’.’. ‘Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession.  I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first’ rightly quipped Ex US President Ronald Reagan.‘It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected.  The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen.’ Said George E. MacDonald. ‘When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators’,’ P.J. O’Rourke’ wrote . ‘Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least’ opines Robert Byrne. “An honest man can never be bought.  That’s why there are so few in politics.”  was a  QueenBee quote. Then again, an author unknown quote goes thus, regarding the need for a change  :  ‘Politicians are like diapers.  They both need changing regularly and for the same reason’.Read More

SRI LANKA: Presidential Elections and Prevailing Situation of Abysmal Lawlessness

December 15, 2014

Whatever be the outcome of the presidential election to be held on the 8th of January 2015, Sri Lanka has already entered into the deepest political crisis it has ever faced since the adoption of the Executive Presidential system through the 1978 Constitution. Within the period of a few weeks, all the manifestations of strength and might that the system was able to put up have vanished. In all likelihood, there will never be a return to a confidence in the Executive Presidential system again. The President himself may try to survive politically in some way, but the system he tried to make permanent by adopting the 18th Amendment has been exposed as lacking moral and political validity.

Photo: Prison inmates are being used for the election campaigning activities of the President Rajapaksa (Courtesy: CaFFE )

What the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about at this juncture is the tremendous adverse effect of trying to keep this system afloat. The AHRC is concerned about the consequences of the current political crisis on the people and on future generations.

In this regard, the following indisputable aspects of erosion into the people's freedoms need noting:

1. The juridical system, particularly at the very top, has eroded completely and it has lost credibility in the minds of the people. All that is visible is a stooge system. The political master, the President, has unashamedly wanted to dictate his terms on all political matters to the courts and the public understand that the higher courts, on such political matters, have but one option which is to obey. Even under some military dictatorships the courts are not reduced to servility in the manner that the courts in Sri Lanka have been reduced at present. This means that the people perceive the role of the judiciary as a ridiculous one. That, unfortunately, is what the Executive President wants the courts to appear as. Under these circumstances, the courts simply cannot play the role of being the protector of the rights of the people. Instead, the courts are being required to stand up against the rights of the people. This complete transformation of the role of the higher courts has already happened. What it means to each of the individual citizens is therefore a matter that each citizen should fathom for his or herself.

2. The government has lost the loyalty of the people, including its own servants. The motivating factor for those who serve the government is fear and not loyalty. Perhaps the only loyal circle is a small circle, which has proprietary and financial benefits in the abuse of the government's power and resources. The general loss of loyalty is most manifest in the very fact that the President and the inner circle were unable to have any kind of information about the defection of the General Secretary of the ruling party itself.

3. A further clear manifestation is that the government is unashamed about lawlessness. The Asian Human Rights Commission has noted for years that the issue of legality and illegality has lost significance in Sri Lanka. In a modern society, there can be no worse crisis as a whole, whether political, commercial, or social, than the loss of the meaning of legality. This simply means that any kind of arbitrary action is possible and that there is no legal defence of any sort against such arbitrary actions. This is even worse than situations that exist in monarchies. Even in monarchies the kings were jealous in guarding the enforcement of the law in order to maintain their own power. It is in fascist dictatorships and the kind of dictatorship that existed under Joseph Stalin that the idea of legality was altogether abandoned. Though Sri Lanka may not be a fascist state or a Stalinist regime, the approach to law that has been adopted is manifestly similar. This, as far as the citizens are concerned, is a threat, not only to their civil liberties but also to their property rights and all economic, cultural, and social rights, and other great concerns of modern times, such as the environmental rights. There is no basis on which to pin any expectation on law for the safeguarding of any of these rights.

If a citizen is unable to pin their hope on the law for the safeguarding of their rights, then what will they turn to for protection? The ominous nature of this problem can be seen from what has happened to the system of policing in Sri Lanka and the prosecution system, which is vested with the Attorney General's Department. These are two of the most important institutions for law enforcement and they have lost their capacity to act on the basis of any kind of legal criteria. The Executive Presidential system has destroyed the potential of these two institutions to be guardians of the law within accepted norms and standards.

Under these circumstances, it is hard to find any kind of rationality in the assertions of those who vociferously argue that Sri Lanka cannot do without Executive Presidency. Does Sri Lanka need to be lawless? That is what the type of Executive Presidential system that Sri Lanka has proved to be over several decades. How could any rational person argue that a state of lawlessness will safeguard the best interests of Sri Lankan citizens?

In this situation of chaos and utter confusion, a citizen has nothing to go by except his own faculty of reason and his own good sense. If Sri Lanka is to overcome what has happened and what is continuing to happen, this will depend on the extent to which Sri Lankan citizens are able to rely on their own faculties of reason and good sense and face up to one of the worst times in their history. Whether the prevailing catastrophic situation will worsen or not will have to be decided by the citizens themselves, who will be better or worse depending on their ability to use their own rationality and good judgment.

25 கோடிக்கு விலைபேசினார்கள், தந்தை மனவருத்தம் அடைந்துள்ளார் என்றார் நாமல்: சிறிது நேரத்தில் கோத்தபாய அழைப்பை மேற்கொண்டார்: குணவர்த்தன எம்.பி

Submitted by MD.Lucias on Mon, 12/15/2014 

என்னை 25 கோடி ரூபாய்களுக்கு விலை பேசினார்கள். அத்துடன் தனது தந்தைக்கு ஆதரவளித்து அரசாங்கத்துடன் இணைந்து கொண்டால் நான் விரும்புவது எல்லாவற்றையும் தருவதாக நாமல் ராஜபக்ஷ என்னிடம் கூறினார். என்று எம்.கே.டி.எஸ். குணவர்தன கூறினார். திருகோணமலை 4 ஆம் கட்டை பகுதியில் பொது எதிரணி வேட்பாளர் மைத்திரிபால சிறிசேனவை ஆதரித்து நேற்று ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை நடைபெற்ற கூட்டத்தில் உரையாற்றும் போதே அவர் மேற்கண்டவாறு கூறினார்.

அவர் தொடர்ந்தும் பேசுகையில்,

நான் அரசாங்கத்தை விட்டு வெளியேறிய பின்னர் இலங்கை துறைமுக அதிகார சபையின் தலைவர் என்னுடன் இரண்டுமுறை தொடர்பு கொண்டு பேசினார். 25 கோடி ரூபாய் தருவதாகவும் எனது முடிவை மாற்றிக் கொள்ளுமாறும் கேட்டார்.

நாமல் ராஜபக்ஷ என்னுடன் கதைத்தார். உங்கள் முடிவை மாற்றிக் கொள்ளுங்கள் எனது தந்தை மிகுந்த மனவேதனை அடைந்துள்ளார். மீண்டும் நீங்கள் எங்களுடன் இணைந்து கொள்ளுங்கள். அதற்கு பதிலாக நீங்கள் எதனைக் கேட்டாலும் தர தயாராக இருக்கின்றோம் என்று கூறினார்.

நான் கூறினேன். நாமல்  எனக்கு எதுவும் கிடைக்கவில்லை என்று நான் அரசாங்கத்தை விட்டு விலகவில்லை. இவை எல்லாவற்றிற்கும் காரணம் உங்கள் சிறிய தந்தை. அதனை பற்றி உங்கள் தந்தையுடன் கதைத்துள்ளேன். ஆனால் அதனை அவர் சிறிதும் கவனத்திற் கொள்ளவில்லை. அதன் பின்னரும் எல்லாவற்றையும் சகித்துக்கொண்டு அரசாங்கத்தில் இருக்க முடியாது. அதனால் வெளியேறினேன். இதனை உங்கள் தந்தைக்கு சொல்லுங்கள் என்று கூறினேன். அவர் நிச்சயமாக இதனை அவரது தந்தைக்கு கூறமாட்டார். காரணம் இப்போது குடும்பத்திற்குள் பிரச்சினை தொடங்கியுள்ளது.

கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்ஷ அரை மணி நேரம் என்னுடன் கதைத்தார். ஏன் இப்படி செய்தீர்கள்? ஏன் என்னுடன் இது பற்றி கதைக்கவில்லை? என்றார். நான் கூறினேன். நீங்கள் யார்? ஏன் நான் உங்களுடன் கதைக்க வேண்டும்? என்று. அதற்கு அவர் நான் ஜனாதிபதியின் தம்பி பாதுகாப்பு செயலாளர். கட்சியின் பழைய உறுப்பினர்களை நன்கு அறிந்தவன் என்று கூறினார். சரி அப்படியானால் அதற்கு நான் என்ன செய்ய என்று நான் கேட்டேன். அதற்கு அவர் இல்லை. கொஞ்சம் யோசியுங்கள் என்றார். அதற்கு நான் இனிமேல் யோசிக்க எதுவுமில்லை. உங்களுக்கு தேவையென்றால் என்னை கொன்று விடுங்கள். நான் மனித தன்மைக்கு மட்டுமே கீழ்ப்படிவேன். அழுக்குள்ள இடத்துக்கு மீண்டும் வருவதற்கு நான் விரும்பவில்லை.

இது மட்டுமல்ல கோத்தபாயவும் ஜனாதிபதி செயலக அதிகாரியும் மைத்திரிபால சிறிசேனவுடன் 3 மணி நேரம் கதைத்தார்கள். நேற்று முன்தினம் சனிக்கிழமை ஜனாதிபதியின் பாராளுமன்ற செயலாளர் குமாரசிறி ஹெட்டிகொட மூன்று தடவை என்னுடன் கதைத்தார். அவர் எனக்கும் ஜனாதிபதிக்கும் மிக நெருங்கிய நண்பர். எப்போதும் அவரும் ஜனாதிபதியும் நானும் ஒன்றாகத்தான் உணவருந்துவோம். அவர் கூறினார் குணே என்னை உங்களுடன் கதைக்குமாறு ஜனாதிபதி கூறினார். அவர் மிகவும் கவலைப்படுகின்றார். மீண்டும் நீங்கள் அவருடன் வந்து சேருங்கள். அவருக்கு உங்கள் மீது எந்தக் கோபமும் இல்லை. இது வரை அவர் உங்களைப் பற்றி ஒரு வார்த்தை கூட குறைவாக பேசவில்லை. நீங்கள் எந்த நேரமும் அலரி மாளிகைக்கு வர முடியும் உங்கள் முடிவை மாற்றுங்கள் என்றார். இதற்கு நான் கூறினேன். மீண்டும் அந்த அழுக்குள்ள இடத்திற்கு வர நான் விரும்பவில்லை என்று.

நண்பர்களே இப்போது நம்முன்னுள்ள மிகப்பெரிய கேள்வி நாட்டைப் பாதுகாப்பதா? அல்லது தனிப்பட்ட ஒரு குடும்பத்தைப் பாதுகாப்பதா? என்பதே. தீர்மானமெடுக்க வேண்டிய நேரம் நெருங்கி விட்டது என்று கூறினார்.

Rajapaksa Abandons Speech In Dambulla ( Video)

( December 15, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A speech delivered by President Mahinda Rajapaksa over the weekend was cut-short following continous disruptions by the crowd, The Colombo Post reports.

"Rajapaksa, who was addressing a crowd in Dambulla, was forced to abandon his speech as members of the audience continued to disrupt him. According to eye-witnesses the President was forced to stop several times until the crowd grew silent before he continued. Finally Rajapaksa grew annoyed and announced that he could no longer continue his speech and that he would give way for them (the noisy audience members) to use the podium, he bid farewell to the crowd and left along with the rest of the contingent on the platform", the report added.

Sources within the government denied that the President was forced to cut his speech short, but instead he finished early as he had another meeting to attend.

Several weeks ago over 500 farmers from Dambulla protested along the main A9 road in Dambulla over the government's decision to import big onions from India. According to P. R. Senajayakody, a local farmer, members of the government buying agencies had instructed them not to sell their produce as prices were expected to fall. However, when they went to sell their produce in the market they were told the government had imported onions and there was a surplus and so they would not be able to buy the locally grown onions.

Watch the video below;

I still Respect Mrs. B: MR

December 15, 2014

Despite having instructed former General Secretary of the SLFP to refrain from mentioning the Bandaranaike name, President Rajapaksa has said yesterday that he still deeply respects Sirimavo Bandaranaike and revers her.

Sirima

Addressing a rally in Nawalapitiya yesterday, he had said that it was Mrs. B who brought all of his siblings as well as himself into the political arena and that he would never forget it.

“I have not brought a single sibling of mine into politics. We were all brought to this field by Mrs. Bandaranaike. She invited Chamal Rajapaksa and when he declined the first time, I was given the chance. When she re-invited him he accepted and joined politics. This is why we still respect her; her picture is still in our houses, we still revere her . . . we will not forget our past so I think people inside glass houses should not be throwing stones at others. . .,” he said.

This is in contradiction to the allegations that are being leveled against him and his family by the SLFP-ers who defected about strong attempts being made to erase the Bandaranaike name from the party.

Following his crossover and after being named the common Opposition candidate, Maithripala Sirisena who was the former General Secretary of the SLFP said he was given clear instructions by President Rajapaksa to refrain from mentioning the names of SWRD Bandaranaike or Mrs. Bandaranaike during SLFP events.

Cricket Fans At Pallekele Boo Rajapaksa Election Propaganda Stunt

December 15, 2014 

Attempts to politicise the sixth ODI between Sri Lanka and England in Pallekele on Saturday became a total flop when cricket fans hooted the stands down until presidential election propaganda was taken off giant screens.

Presidential election motto “Subha Anagathayak” appeared with his lotus flower insignia during the match, where crowds were preoccupied with giving former skipper Kumar Sangakkara a rousing farewell from Kandy.

When giant screens at the Pallekele Stadium flashed Mahinda Rajapaksa‘s election propaganda, the crowds hooted and booed until organisers were forced to remove the electronic banner.

Not even cricket and the prisons have escaped the Government’s electioneering efforts, with election monitors reporting today that prisoners in their prison uniforms were being used by the ruling UPFA coalition to carry out election work.

Pictures released by the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections or CaFFE showed prison buses and prisoners in blue jumpsuits walking the streets holding Mahinda Rajapaksa cut outs and posters. CaFFE said that the prisoners had been involved in erecting a platform for the UPFA rally in Kamburupitiya on Sunday (14).

Election law violations on the rise

BY Rathindra Kuruwita, Ruwan Laknath Jayakody and Menaka Indrakumar-2014-12-15

Present political conditions indicate that the coming Presidential Election is to be one of the most keenly contested elections in recent times. In parallel there has been a glaring increase of major election law violations after President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared the election on 20 November. These election law violations are a serious threat to electoral integrity, election monitors claim. Integrity of the electoral process and what happens during the run up to the election plays a vital role in holding a free and fair election. Without electoral integrity, leaders and officials lack accountability to the public, public confidence in the election results is weakened, and the government lacks necessary legitimacy.

Election Law Violations on the Rise by Thavam Ratna

Corruption as political weapon

Editorial-December 14, 2014

There are two things that all politicians seek mandates at elections to eliminate—poverty and corruption. But, as is common knowledge, they do precious little to make good their pledges. Instead, we have seen most politicians eliminate their own poverty through corruption while marketing their humble origins as the progeny of farmers and slum dwellers to woo and dupe poor voters. They amass so much of wealth through corrupt deals that they bequeath their children billions of rupees so that the latter can not only live in clover without being employed but also bribe the public with various handouts in return for votes.

In what may be considered an all-out attempt to destroy former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (CBK) politically in retaliation for her efforts to bring it down, the government has reproduced the Chaura Rajina (Bandit Queen), a book by former Ravaya editor Victor Ivan on CBK, as a special newspaper supplement. The damning allegations therein against her have gone unchallenged legally or otherwise.

Interestingly, in the run-up to the 1994 parliamentary polls CBK declared that during her self-exile in London following her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga’s assassination in the late 1980s her children had been wearing hand-me-downs. Claiming that she was dependent on bank overdrafts, she made a solemn pledge to eliminate bribery and corruption as a national priority. But, she has come to be described in derogatory terms by one of her erstwhile chums who backed her to the hilt then! We refrain from commenting on the allegations in Ivan’s book; suffice it to say that Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion!

Opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena claims that the government leaders’ corrupt deals have resulted in massive cost overrides in road construction projects among other things. He has also made several other allegations of corruption against his former political masters. UPFA MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, who broke ranks with the government, has recently told this newspaper, in an interview, that Sirisena once, in a conversation with him, criticized ‘corrupt road construction deals’ while the latter was still part of the incumbent administration. So, the question is why Sirisena did not take up the issue of corruption at Cabinet meetings. He would have remained mum if he had succeeded in securing the post of prime minister.

Similarly, the government is accusing Sirisena and his family members of various rackets ranging from hoarding paddy, illegal sand mining and logging and, above all, having abused political power to open the sluice gates of a reservoir in Polonnaruwa to prevent a family hotel in its reservation being submerged during rains thus creating water shortages in the areas for the past so many years. Why didn’t those who are making these allegations take any action while Sirisena was in the government?

Strangely, those who make themselves out to be paragons of virtue by accusing others of corruption don’t want their claims investigated. They only use allegations of corruption as a political weapon against their rivals. They only promise to appoint special commissions for that purpose! In 1994, CBK promised to investigate the plunder of state resources under governments since 1977 and confiscate the illegally acquired wealth of the UNP politicians. But, after being ensconced in power, instead of carrying out that pledge, her government with the help of Opposition MPs from the UNP and the JVP stripped the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) of powers to initiate inquiries without waiting for formal complaints.

We are reminded of a pithy slogan that the JVP once coined to condemn both the SLFP and the UNP for their corruption and abuse of power—unuth ekai, munuth ekai, which roughly put into English means ‘there is no difference between both of them’. The JHU changed the slogan to ‘unuth ekai, munuth eka, thopith ekai—‘all three parties [the UNP, the SLP and the JVP] are the same’. And, frustrated voters who know all politicians for what they really are may say: thopi okkoma ekai—all of you are the same!

Duminda, Hirunika to safeguard SLFP!

 

On Monday, 15 December 2014 

It is has been decided to handover the mechanism of the ‘movement to safeguard the SLFP’, formed by former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to protect the SLFP from certain death at the hands of the Rajapaksas, to western provincial councilor Hirunika Premachandra who returned home on December 14 from Singapore and to former deputy education minister Duminda Dissanayake.

The reason for handing over this task to them is that both are presently in a state of inaction due to no duty being entrusted to them. As offspring of the late SLFP giants Berty Premalal Disssanayake and Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, they are to safeguard their paternal heritage and rally the dormant SLFPers across the country with new vigour.

Duminda and Hirunika will undertake the task from the elections office of common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at Thimbirigasyaya in Colombo 05.

However, this election office is presently in a totally chaotic situation, as all its rooms are being occupied by the sons and daughters of leading UNP and SLFP figures. The place looks to be anarchic, with space being allocated without any planning - three rooms for facebook updating and two rooms to run the websites etc. At least the common opposition candidate does not have a room of his own here.

From morning till night, it is frequented mostly by people from advertising agencies, who have made puppets out of the sons and daughters of leading UNP and SLFP figures. There is swindling of Rs. 01 million from each businessmen being brought by them, purportedly to fund newspaper advertisements. A full page advertisement in ‘Lankadeepa’ costs Rs. 475,000, but the racketeers charge Rs. 775,000 plus expenses for artwork. We are in the possession of all the information, but we would not publish them as it would adversely affect the campaign of the common opposition candidate. We demand an immediate halt to this swindling and to carry out activities at this office in a transparent manner by appointing a campaign manager and a campaign theme.

A motorbike for a photocopy from ‘dansala’

MONDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2014

Motorbikes, distributed to government employees and various groups as bribes in exchange for their votes, have been made available to Members of Divisional Councils supporting Mahinda faction say reports. They were able to claim a motorbike with a photocopy of the identity card.

Government employees had to pay an initial advance of Rs.50,000. However, members of Divisional Councils have been given motorbikes without any payment.

Members of the three security forces and police expected motorbikes under the scheme at a discounted price. However, they have not been included in the scheme yet. Even many government employees who have already paid Rs.50,000 advance have not received their motorbikes.

Govt’s Mr. Moneybags Nadesan Stops Crossovers With Big Bucks

December 15, 2014

As the Rajapaksa regime pulls out all stops to prevent further erosion to the opposition, the Colombo Telegraph can now exclusively reveal details about the money bags behind stopping defections from the ruling UPFA coalition.

Nadesan

Thirukumar Nadesan, businessman and the husband of President Mahinda Rajapaksa‘s niece Nirupama Rajapaksais said to be offering large sums of money to UPFA members on the fence about who to support at the presidential election in January.

The Rajapaksas have entrusted the moneybags to Nadesan, whose own track record on criminal financial activity could be exposed if he fails to do the regime’s bidding.

Colombo Telegraph learns that Nadesan has informed confidants that all those SLFP members taking funds from the President and his family in exchange to remain with the Government will have hell to pay if he wins a third term.

“To really enjoy their money they will have to pray for him to lose because if he wins he will demand the money back with interest,” the businessman is reported to have quipped in the company of friends and associates.

The President is livid about having to spend money in hundreds of millions to hold MPs and Government Ministers from decamping, the Colombo Telegraph also learns.

Former Government Minister of Public Reforms Navin Dissanayake claimed that he had been offered 100 million to remain with the Rajapaksa government. Colombo Telegraph learns that to retain some ministers and hold back MPs on the fence, the Government has also written off housing and other loans to the tune of millions. In the case of Janaka Bandara Tennakoon who cried about the fate of the SLFP in a widely publicised speech recently President Rajapaksa has threatened to recall his children serving in Lankan missions overseas if he crosses over, Colombo Telegraph learns.

Over 20 SLFP members were scheduled to cross over to the opposition in order to support the candidacy ofMaithripala Sirisena, but the flood has turned into a trickle since the Rajapaksa regime put their counter strategy in motion.

Throwing hundreds of millions at MPs was akin to small change for the Rajapaksa campaign, some sources noted. It is not clear if Nadesan is spending his own money or the Rajapaksa brothers’ cash on stopping defections.

Meanwhile the Colombo Telegraph can now reveal that President Rajapaksa held a meeting with six separate private advertising agencies two weeks ago. Each agency was handed over an advance of Rs. 50 million to start production and book air time for the President’s re-election campaign. The incumbent President is reported to have submitted his declaration of assets to the Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya but this document has not yet been made public. It is unclear if the asset declaration shows enough amassed wealth to afford a publicity campaign of the scale the Rajapaksa administration is undertaking.

On December 8, Nominations Day, every major newspaper published in the country – 15 in all three languages carried false front pages featuring the President’s return to Sri Lanka after the end of the war on May 18th 2009. Each newspaper carried an article of its own front page on the historic day. Sources said that in the English newspapers alone such a false cover would cost upwards of Rs. 2 million while Sinhalese newspapers would cost much more.

Thaksin Sinawatra had a narrow shave!

 Monday, 15 December 2014

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has had a narrow escape from death while in Sri Lanka, from the air crash in Hokandara that claimed four lives.

The ill-fated Antonov aircraft had been sent from Trincomalee to Colombo especially to take back Sinawatra and his four-member delegation to Trincomalee.

He had arrived in Katunayakee with his delegation for a special task early morning on that day. They were due to be taken back by helicopter, but the pilot had refused to fly due to heavy mist. The Air Force helicopter landed at Ratmalana and the Antonov aircraft which is capable of flying over mist, was sent to take the VIPs back.

That aircraft crashed as it was readying to land at Ratmalana. Once the mist dwindled towards the afternoon, Shinawatra and his team left for the Trincomalee navy camp by the same air force helicopter.

They are staying at the navy headquarters lodge specially built for president’s son Yoshitha Rajapaksa, say navy sources. This area is out-of-bounds for naval ratings. The ex-Thai premier has stayed there on several previous occasions too, say the sources.

According to our sources in the air force, Shinawatra is taken by special flight from Katunayake to either Trincomalee or Nuwara Eliya without any emigration and immigration checks whenever he visits the island.