Mawrata’ Newspaper Celebrates as Election Commission Confirms Presidential Election Date
President’s Threat to Dissolve Parliament Fails to Deter Namal
Ranil Secures Majority Support of ‘Pot’
Government’s Unease after Supreme Court’s Restraining Order on IGP
Emergency Cabinet Meeting Held Following Interim Order on IGP
Government Challenges Supreme Court Decision
NPP/JVP Silent on IGP’s Interim Order
Ranil to Contest with ‘Heart’ Symbol
Much awaited announcement
The Election Commission announced what the country was waiting for on Friday (26). The special gazette issued in the morning said that the 2024 presidential election would be held on September 21. It was stated in the relevant gazette announcement that the nominations will be accepted on August 15.
Despite the Election Commission announcing the date for the presidential election on Friday, the journey to this point was far from simple. The commission announced the date in previous elections without any issues or controversy. However, this time was different. Certain government factions have been sowing confusion and doubt among the public, suggesting from the start that the presidential election might not take place. They proposed allowing the president to remain in office for two more years without an election. Additionally, there were claims that the presidential election would be cancelled, similar to the local government election. On both occasions, fundamental rights petitions were filed with the Supreme Court, requesting the cancellation of the presidential election, and to call a referendum through the 22nd amendment, aiming to extend the President’s term by another year.
Election Phobia
When the government’s election phobia became public, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa spearheaded the resistance both inside and outside parliament. As the government took various steps to delay the elections, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and its legal team filed fundamental rights petitions against these measures in the Supreme Court. As a result, when petitions and rumours aimed at preventing the presidential election emerged, civil organizations, including SJB, successfully defeated them in court.
Ranil’s ‘no money’ policy
At the end of the ‘Aragalaya’ that started in 2022, after Gotabhaya Rajapaksa left the presidency and ran away, the whole country was ready to choose a new group in a new election and build a new country. The people were supposed to get the first opportunity for that in the local government elections. But the government tried to cancel the local government election by saying that there was no money and giving various reasons. Even though the Supreme Court had ordered the allocation of funds for the local government elections, the government took steps not to hold those elections. Although many people thought that the same would be done for the presidential election, the court took action to win the people’s right to vote due to the fight that the opposition had launched.
Mawrata’ Newspaper Celebrates Victory
The ‘Inside Politics’ column and the ‘Mawrata’ newspaper took an unwavering stand for the people’s democratic right to vote from the beginning. While other media remained silent as the government attempted to postpone local government elections, we ensured that all relevant information reached the readers of ‘Mawrata’ in advance. Consequently, the day the presidential election was announced, Friday, was a victory for us at ‘Mawrata’ newspaper, marking the triumphant conclusion of our fight for the people’s right to vote.
However, this all culminated when the Election Commission announced on the 17th that it would conduct the presidential election. The Chairman of the Election Commission also mentioned factors such as the ‘Rahu’ period and horoscopes, stating that the Commission would announce the specific dates by the end of the month.
Doubts on EC
At the same time, once again there was a disturbance in the country whether knowingly or unknowingly the election commission and the government were playing a game to get the necessary time to postpone the election. Accordingly, in the face of the massive opposition raised by the Samagi Jana Balawega and other political parties and civil organizations as the main opposition, the Election Commission did not get the opportunity to delay the announcement of the date of the presidential election. In a special statement at the beginning of last week, the commission said that the commission would meet on Thursday and announce the date of the presidential election on Friday.
Govt.’s covert strategies
Despite the situation, it appeared that the government was implementing other strategies to avoid it. Various government-related newspapers published front-page news claiming that the announcement of the presidential election date would be postponed by another two weeks. Mr Gamini Valeboda, an opposition member of parliament, held a special news conference on Thursday, stating that the 22nd amendment was scheduled to be brought to parliament on Friday. JVP’s Vijitha Herath also mentioned in Parliament that there were plans to delay the election announcement and to present the 22nd amendment. However, none of this happened on Friday. The Election Commission announced the date, and there was no mention of the 22nd Amendment.
Restraining order on ‘Desabandu’
Amidst all this, a significant political bombshell exploded on Wednesday, shaking the political arena. The Supreme Court issued an interim restraining order preventing Inspector General of Police Deshbandu Tennakoon from acting as the Inspector General of Police.
In the past, the President has acted without limiting Namal Rajapaksa, the national organizer of Pohottuwa. Despite Namal’s active political involvement, the President included Mahinda Rajapaksa and Namal’s other brothers, Rohitha and Yoshitha, in every important political discussion. This may have been an attempt by the President to incite conflict between Namal and his brothers. On the other hand, the President didn’t give much importance to Namal, despite his position in Pohottuwa, and underestimated his popularity within the party.
Namal’s village focus campaign
However, for the past few months, Namal has been going from village to village with the party. He advocated the ideology of the party. He gave strength to the party members. Within a short period, he became the most popular character within the party. Because of this, a situation arose last week that the President could not avoid talking to Namal while seeking the presidential candidacy. Because of this, last week the President sent a message to Namal and informed him that he should meet him immediately.
Last Saturday night, this special meeting was held at Sagala Ratnayake’s residence in Shangri-La Hotel. Before the discussion, the President must have thought that he would be able to get Namal to agree to his opinion due to his political experience and tactics. That is why the President started the discussion with Namal in English. When asked about past and political information in English, Namal did not care too much and proceeded to answer it in English in a friendly manner.
Parliament dissolution as a ‘threat’
After inquiring about the information, the President simultaneously asked for Pohottuwa’s opinion on the presidential election. Namal’s response was not what the President expected. Namal directly told the President that they would present an unexpected candidate, Dhammika Perera. This unexpected response made the President a bit nervous. In a threatening tone, though not necessarily a threat, the President said, “Is that so? In that case, this parliament is useless. I will dissolve the parliament.” The President thought this would unsettle Namal, but the reaction was quite different. Namal responded, “That is a good decision, Mr. President. We have been telling you to dissolve this parliament for over six months because it has a distorted mandate. Then we can get a new mandate.” With Namal’s answer, the President likely realized he had made a mistake.
Accordingly, the President calmed down immediately and told Namal again that he is continuing the negotiations on the alliance to be formed with Pohottuwa aiming at the upcoming presidential election, and that he is ready to contest the upcoming presidential election with that alliance. Namal also gave a somewhat strange answer.
Namal makes it clear
As far as I know, the President is not discussing a political alliance there. Gossip is spoken there. What I have learned from my father when forming a political alliance is that the most important political issues are discussed there. It is my understanding that things like how to run for election, how to divide districts, how to appoint district leaders, how to appoint seat organizers, what are the roles of each party, who is the general secretary of the alliance, and how to contest the general election should be discussed, but still, there has been no discussion about them. With Namal’s answer, it was seen that the discussion ended without any final decision. However, a few days later, with Namal’s strong statement in front of the media, there was no longer any cooperation with the President. There, Namal said that the President has worked to split the ‘bud’, and that is how the President thanked us for the help during the past two years. Accordingly, with Namal’s statement, it is unlikely that the president will get the support of Pohottuwa.
Pohottuwa ministers want ‘Ranil’
When Namal and Pohottuwa are working around Rajapaksa’s policies, the ministers representing the government are of the position that they should continue to support the President and that the President should be the candidate of Pohottuwa. One of them is Shehan Semasinghe, Minister of State for Finance. Accordingly, last week, Shehan invited all the MPs representing the government to a dinner party at his home in Kappetipola Mawatha to further discuss this matter. There many people said that regardless of Namal’s opinion, Pohottuwa still respects Mahinda’s views, so great pressure should be put on Mahinda to give Pohottuwa’s candidacy to the President. It was also said that according to their calculations, between 75 and 80 MPs in Pohottuwa are of the position that they should support the President.
Vajira’s discussion
Meanwhile, in the election operations office under Mr. Vajira Abeywardena located at Flower Road, Colombo, it has been seen that discussions are being held periodically to get support for the President. Accordingly, last week, Vajira had called all the ministers and state ministers to that office for discussions. There, the ministers of Pohottuwa pointed out to Vajira that to get Pohottuwa’s support for the president, Mahinda must be heavily influenced.
Accordingly, during the parliamentary meeting last Tuesday, the state ministers of Pohottuwa went to Mahinda’s room to discuss the matter. There they kept telling Mahinda that to protect Pohottuwa, the president should be nominated. Mahinda also shook his head when he could not escape the words of the state ministers and told them, ‘Okay, okay, you guys get on with the job. There is still time for that…’ he said.
Mahinda to contest?
Accordingly, these state ministers immediately reported to the higher-ups of the government that Mahinda expressed his willingness to run for president again. Based on that response, another special discussion was held between the government and Pohottuva last week. The President, the Prime Minister and Basil Rajapaksa on behalf of Pohottuwa participated in the discussion which was held at the Araliyagaha Mandirraya. Here, Basil directly proceeded to present all the conditions of the ‘pot’ to the representatives of the government. Especially during the election campaign, who should handle the districts, who should be the prime minister in the next government, who should be appointed as ministers, etc., Basil presented to the discussion table. But there was no consensus among the group. It was clear while the president was discussing with Basil about running for the presidential election, he took steps to pressure Mahinda through the state ministers to give him the support of Pohottuwa.
Supreme Court’s interim order
Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued an interim injunction preventing Mr Deshbandu Tennakone from holding the position of Inspector General of Police. Following this decision, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa convened a meeting with the legal team of Samagi Jana Balawegaya the next day to discuss potential next steps. Sajith received information that the government might respond strongly to this decision, leading to an extensive discussion about future actions if the government challenges the injunction.
The lawyers advised Sajith that any such challenge would be considered an affront to the court, regardless of the government’s rank. In response, Sajith appointed a special committee to consult with other parties and civil organizations and to make decisions on how to proceed. Additionally, he arranged discussions with lawyers to plan potential measures in Parliament if the situation escalates.
Defiers of SC order
Meanwhile, opposition party leaders advised Sajith that if the President is disregarding Supreme Court orders, steps should be taken to introduce an impeachment motion in Parliament. Sajith questioned whether there was sufficient time for this action. Despite concerns about timing, the party leaders insisted that immediate steps be taken. They suggested that a case could be pursued in court if a new government were to come into power.
At the end of the discussion, it was decided to discreetly gather the necessary information for the impeachment process. According to news from the ‘Inside Politics’ column, a proposal for impeachment may be presented to Parliament either during or just before the presidential election.
Emergency cabinet meeting
Following the Supreme Court’s order regarding the Inspector General of Police, the President convened an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening. During this meeting, the cabinet extensively discussed the actions to be taken in response to the Supreme Court decision. Various ministers offered differing opinions on the matter. Although there were rumours that the cabinet might take a strong stance against the decision, it was ultimately decided to thoroughly review the decision and present the cabinet’s position in Parliament within two days.
The decision to address the Supreme Court ruling in Parliament stemmed from concerns about the reaction of the country’s prominent presidential lawyers involved in the case against the Inspector General of Police. These lawyers were closely monitoring the government’s response and were prepared to file contempt proceedings if they perceived any criticism. The government was aware of this potential backlash and thus chose to issue two statements regarding the Inspector General of Police.
President informs the parliament
The first announcement conveyed the President’s stance on the Supreme Court decision. In a letter to the Speaker, the President stated that he was unable to appoint an Acting Inspector General of Police because he is also a candidate in the upcoming presidential election. He noted that this situation would subject him to election petitions.
The government planned to challenge the Supreme Court decision through a second announcement. To avoid potential contempt of court charges, the government decided to make this announcement in Parliament via the Prime Minister. On Friday, Dinesh Gunawardena addressed Parliament, declaring that the government would not accept the Supreme Court’s decision. He argued that there was no need to appoint an Acting Inspector General of Police and requested that the Speaker issue a statement similar to what Mr. Anura Bandaranaike had done, rejecting the court’s decision. However, the Speaker swiftly distanced himself from this request, stating that the issue should be resolved by the court itself.
Opposition discusses
On Friday afternoon, the opposition held a special discussion regarding the situation with the Inspector General of Police. Many MPs expressed surprise at the JVP and Malimawa’s unusually silent stance on the matter. Some MPs recalled that when the opposition challenged the appointment of the Inspector General of Police in the Supreme Court, the JVP acted swiftly. This raised suspicions among MPs that the JVP might have reached some secret deal with the government or was influenced by its connections with certain government ministers.
Meanwhile, it has been reported by the ‘Inside Politics’ column that Sajith Premadasa is preparing to disclose significant information in Parliament in the near future.
Reunion of Rajapakses
Additionally, the Rajapaksa family, which rarely convenes due to internal disagreements following Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, recently had a rare gathering. Two weeks ago, the family reunited for religious ceremonies celebrating Gotabaya’s birthday. Building on this, a special event was held last week, where all the children of the Rajapaksa family, representing the next generation, came together for a dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel.
Notably, Shashindra Rajapaksa, the son of Mr Chamal Rajapaksa, who was rumoured to be closely aligned with and supportive of the President, was present at the gathering. During the discussion, which included Namal and others, the current political situation was addressed in a very cordial manner. The conversation involved laughter and discussion about the operations, conspiracies, and propaganda from various parties aimed at creating divisions within the Rajapaksa family.
Many attendees asked Namal if he would run for the presidential election this year, to which he firmly responded that he would not. However, he emphasized that a candidate would indeed be nominated for the presidential election and explained the reasons for this decision to the group.
MR joined the discussion
Meanwhile, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was at his Wijerama Mawatha residence, learned about the meeting of the next generation of the Rajapaksa family at the Shangri-La Hotel. Delighted by the news, Mahinda immediately travelled from Wijerama to Shangri-La to join the gathering. He sought to engage in a friendly exchange of ideas with the younger Rajapaksas. Upon hearing of Mahinda’s arrival, several ministers from Pohottuwa in Colombo also made their way to the Shangri-La Hotel.
Second Opinion poll
Regarding this year’s presidential election, we have revealed the results of a poll that was accepted not only by the entire country but also by the international community. There we first said that according to this poll, Sajith is in the lead, Anura is in the second place, Pohottuwa and the President are after that. However, according to the last poll conducted two weeks ago, we pointed out that Sajith has come forward and Anura has fallen by 7%. But for ethical reasons, we did not mention the name of the organization that conducted this poll. That is because another organization had paid for and conducted the relevant opinion poll. However, we reported the results last week as follows.
Regarding the results of the upcoming presidential election, the results of the second opinion poll conducted by an organization recognized by the embassies, political parties and the business community in Sri Lanka have now been released.
According to the results released last week, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has managed to increase his winning percentage to 42.5%.
In the first opinion poll conducted earlier by this institution, Mr. Sajith Premadasa got 39% of votes.
Although JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is in second place, it is a special event that his percentage has dropped by 7% compared to the first opinion poll.
Although Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake managed to get 22% of the votes in the first opinion poll conducted by the relevant institution, according to the second opinion poll released last week, his vote percentage has dropped to 15%.
The current President Ranil Wickramasinghe’s popularity this time is 12%. Accordingly, Mr. Wickramasinghe has managed to increase his vote percentage by 3% from 9% to 12%.
However, in the opinion poll this time too, Pohottuva received only 9% of the votes. Accordingly, their popularity seems to have decreased or not increased compared to the first opinion poll.
However, the latest poll shows that 17% have not yet made up their minds about the candidate they will vote for in the presidential election.
This opinion poll has been conducted by the concerned institution without the two North-Eastern provinces. Accordingly, these percentages may go up and down depending on how the vote is used in those two provinces.’
IMF invitation to Sajith and Harsha
As we revealed, confirmed news was reported last week that the results of this opinion poll will be accepted internationally. This is due to the fact that the International Monetary Fund has invited Mr. Sajith Premadasa and Mr. Harasa de Silva, for a very confidential discussion. Normally, the IMF rarely invites representatives from a country’s opposition to this type of discussion. Especially when a presidential election season has been announced, such an invitation is hardly made. But this time, going beyond all those theories, it has been learned that the International Monetary Fund has invited the opposition leader and Harsha to the discussion, even though it is a presidential election season, to discuss how to deal with them in the future. Accordingly, it is also news that Sajaba has accepted this invitation.
Ranil First to lodge
After the Presidential election date was announced by the Election Commission on Friday, it was none other than President Ranil Wickramasinghe who first went to the Election Commission and deposited the bail money for the presidential election. Through that, he tried to show the country that he is ready to contest the presidential election. But there is a special thing that everyone should know. That is, there is no guarantee that all those who pledge money will run for the presidential election. Because it has not yet been announced that Pohottuwa will field a candidate for the presidential election or that they will support any other party.
‘Pot’ decides on Monday
Pohottuwa is set to make a significant decision in a special meeting next Monday, with an announcement planned for Tuesday at an auspicious time. Many believe that if Pohottuwa decides to nominate a candidate, the President might withdraw from the presidential race at the last moment.
The President’s initial move to pledge money before the Election Commission has raised questions. An investigation by the “Inside Politics” column reveals that the President is preparing to run as an independent candidate and needs to select a ballot symbol. This year’s presidential election includes several new voting symbols introduced by the Election Commission, one of which is a heart.
The column has learned that individuals who deposit the security money are allowed to choose their preferred ballot symbols. It appears that the President made the initial pledge to secure the ‘heart’ symbol for his independent candidacy.
