AKD’s Chinese Romance Becomes ‘Sour Grapes’ to rest
Sajith Clings to the ‘Phone’ and party Name
Book on Welikada Haunts AKD and Harshana
Justice Minister’s Honours, Sparks Outrage
What AKD Brings Back ‘From China with Love’
Government Devolves into a Circus of Jokers
Namal on the defence
Our prediction comes right
After completing his second official visit overseas to China President Anurakumara returned to Sri Lanka on Friday. Whilst other media were blank on the President’s visit during the past month, the ‘Inside Politics’ column reported useful and accurate information about this visit of the President.
In particular, we reported a lot of information about how the background was prepared for the President’s visit to China, how the Chinese delegation arrived in Sri Lanka with the Chinese President’s messages, how the President prepared for the visit to China, and the advantages and disadvantages of the visit to China.
During this visit to China, the ‘inside politics’ column was the first to report information to the country regarding the opening of an oil refinery in Hambantota. On October 15, 2024, we highlighted through this column that China is preparing to open this refinery on a large plot of land adjacent to the Hambantota Port.
Our report was as follows.
Big investment in Hambantota
On the other hand, China has also been planning to enter the Hambantota port in a big way. During the previous government, a large amount of land was released to China by the then government for the construction of an oil refinery adjacent to the Hambantota port, and China is currently preparing to build this oil refinery in Hambantota with a huge investment. It is said that China plans to build the largest refinery in the South Asian region and change the existing dominance in the oil sector in that region.
In addition, China plans to discuss the port during the President’s visit and has decided to intervene very soon in its development activities.
Old stories surface again
However, while the local media was reporting loudly that the President had signed a massive investment agreement worth US$ 3.7 billion in China, news and videos about the history of this oil refinery were widely circulated on social media on Thursday (16). It was revealed that the land required to start this refinery had been released during the reign of Mahinda Rajapaksa and that former Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera had signed an agreement with China’s Sinopec Company for an investment of US$ 4.5 billion during the reign of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe concerning the start of the oil refinery. At that time, videos of the JVP, who were in opposition, protesting and attacking this agreement were also circulated on social media on Thursday.
However, we have pointed out through the ‘inside politics’ column that India, the US and other Western countries are closely monitoring the President’s visit to China. We have pointed out how the President discussed regional security with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to India, and how the President stated that no decision would be taken up that would affect regional security. Through this, we have also brought some information about the more dangerous picture behind the President’s visit to China. In particular, we have reported on India’s strong response from the beginning to the entry of Chinese research vessels into the Indian Ocean region and Sri Lankan territorial waters.
Maritime Economics
The most notable incident was that although the Presidential Media Unit stated that 15 agreements were to be signed during the Chinese visit, no further information was reported on what the other agreements were, apart from the agreement regarding the start of the oil refinery. However, a certain special word was mentioned in the statement issued by the Chinese side. It mentioned the word ‘Maritime Economics’, which had never been heard before. Otherwise, the word ‘Ocean Economy’. Many believe that this will be the questionable proposition of the President’s visit to China under the current circumstances.
However, before the President’s visit to China began, an article published by the ‘South China Morning Post’, a well-known newspaper published in China, confirmed the information we had published over the past month through our column. The article began by stating that the one-year ban imposed by former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Chinese research vessels expired on December 31st and that the government of new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake would lift the ban. The South China Morning Post reported that several new protocols are to be introduced in this regard to balance India and that Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath has confirmed that several new protocols will be introduced based on Chinese research vessels. Vijitha Herath also stated that these new standards will be imposed using international experience and safety methods.
Responses to the article
Many people responded to this article published by the Chinese newspaper. The Australian National Security Council’s Frederick Shreya commented on the matter, saying that these new criteria for Chinese research vessels should be monitored to see if they do not pose a threat to India’s security. Frederick Shreya also stated that he believes Sri Lanka will set these criteria so that there is no conflict with India.
In addition, Sankalp Gurjar, a professor at the University of Pune, also responded to the matter and said that a big challenge has arisen before Sri Lanka and that it is a question of whether Sri Lanka can resolve this issue without interfering in the Indo-China crisis related to the Chinese research vessels. Sankalp Gurjar stated that the Indian government’s position is that the Chinese vessels are coming to spy on their country, no matter what name they are called.
Through this, there is now a possibility of a major discussion in the future on what is included in the agreement on the ‘Maritime Economy’ that the President signed in China. Accordingly, as we warned, the issue of the Chinese research vessels has now come to the table. It will be seen in the next few days how the government will respond to those questions. However, the group led by the President prepared for this Chinese visit with great expectations for two months and they had planned to gain major political traction through it. However, it should be noted that if we lean more towards China than necessary, there is a danger of serious diplomatic problems arising from India and other countries.
Losing elections
While the President was on a tour of China, the political map of Sri Lanka began to change rapidly. This was because the Compass party was losing consecutively in the cooperative local elections held at the village level. It is a fact that a government that is elected after winning a presidential election wins almost every election by a landslide in any country. It was the case in Sri Lankan politics in the past as well.
Anura of the Compass party won a two-thirds majority in the general election held after winning the presidential election and was able to form a parliament with 159 members. However, for the first time in Sri Lankan history, a leftist leader came to power with immense power and currently within a short period of 3 months, the government should read the serious signal behind the defeat of the lowest level elections such as the cooperative elections at the village level.
Cooperative elections are generally considered to be a mirror that can predict who will have power at the village level. Due to the landslide victory of the Compass in many cooperative elections held across the country before the presidential election, many people assumed that SJB leader Sajith Premadasa would easily win the presidential election.
However, it was the Compass that won the cooperative elections that were being held about two weeks before the presidential election. Accordingly, it was possible to get a hint that many people at the village level had turned to the Compass as the presidential election approached. However, the fact that the Compass has been defeated in the cooperative elections in such a short period of 3 months after the presidential election has now become a matter of surprise to many.
The coming colors not good
The most disturbing setback is the defeat of the Compass in the Hambantota Angunakolapella cooperative election. The opposition had joined forces to vote against the compass. After that, the Compass also lost the Gampaha Kelaniya cooperative election. One of the most surprising things was that the compass had also lost the Homagama cooperative election in the Kelaniya Valley, which it had won by hundreds of thousands in the last presidential election.
It was noted that the compass representatives had considered the Homagama cooperative election as a general election and had launched a massive election campaign for the first time in history. Huge posters had been pasted all over the city like never before, and arrangements had been made to distribute compass pamphlets door to door. The compass had also launched a massive propaganda campaign by continuously making phone calls to some cooperative members. But in the end, the compass was defeated in Homagama.
Close contest at Biyagama
In Biyagama, the Malaima and SJB groups fought side by side and finally, Malaima was able to secure a close victory.
Through this, many people started saying that due to the serious contradictions that had arisen between Malaima’s speeches and actions, there was a doubt as to whether any hatred had developed among the people who had voted for Malaima towards the government. If such a thing had happened, it was a prelude to a serious crisis and will not be good for the future of the government.
The government should pay close attention to this issue because the local government elections are scheduled to be held in two months. The local government elections are also considered village elections. Despite achieving victories at the national level, Malaima must return to the village in the local government elections.
In the face of a situation where some disadvantage has arisen in the cooperative elections, the Malaima government has had to choose new political tactics in facing the local government elections. As we reported last week in this column, this must be why heated discussions are taking place at the JVP party headquarters until midnight. It is suspected that heated discussions have been held among the JVP leaders regarding the situation at the village level, despite winning the national elections.
SJB ready
However, the main party that is eagerly waiting to establish itself as a party in the country in this local government election is none other than the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. We had previously reported this on several occasions through ‘inside politics’. SJB is a party that was formed with the 2019 general election in mind. SJB has not faced any other local elections except for a presidential election and another general election at the national level.
Therefore, apart from the national level members, SJB does not have any Pradeshiya Sabha, Urban Council, or Provincial Council members who strengthen the party mechanism at the village level and grassroots level. Accordingly, this is the first time that SJB has had the opportunity to strengthen itself as a party at the village level.
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe knew this as soon as he assumed the presidency. Accordingly, Ranil, with the help of Anura and Malimawa, postponed the 2023 local government elections indefinitely because he knew that if the elections were held, the SJB would record a huge victory at the village level. If that happened, Ranil knew that the SJB would win the presidential and general elections. Accordingly, Ranil did what he did at that time, preventing the SJB’s strength at the village level.
Ranil’s anti-SJB campaign
With about 2 months left to hold the local government elections, Ranil had taken steps to prevent the SJB from strengthening at the village level and moving forward as a party. That was, he carried out a huge campaign in his family newspapers and social media, saying that to win the local government elections, the SJB and the UNP should join forces, and that many people from both sides had expressed their willingness to do so.
Moreover, to confirm it, he went to the Kaduwela constituency last week and made a big show of 27 strong representatives of the SJB at the regional level joining the UNP and holding a press conference. It was said that these 27 Kaduwela strongmen had decided to leave the SJB and join the UNP. However, there was a different story behind that incident, which was not reported by any media.
The reason is Hirunika
Although the 27 Kaduwela strongmen worked in favour of the SJB in the last general election, they did not work to ensure the victory of the Kaduwela constituency organizer, Hirunika Premachandra. This was in protest of the way she was handling the Kaduwela organizing. Accordingly, all 27 of them had worked for the SJB organizer Borella, Janaka Nanda Kumara. Although they had taken steps to inform the party leaders about Hirunika’s problem at the same time, no action was taken due to the election.
However, after the general election, Hirunika removed all these 27 people from the party positions they held. Accordingly, even though these 27 people informed the party leaders about their problem again, they did not receive a proper response. Accordingly, they remained silent and kept aloof from political activities. Ranil took advantage of this. Ranil immediately spoke to these 27 people through UNP representatives and took steps to bring them back to the UNP. They called a media conference and pointed out in a big way that the grassroots of the SJB had begun to unite with the UNP.
Hirunika had launched a serious attack on Sajith’s election campaign in this way during the last presidential election. This was by attacking the Hiru Media Network, the only media channel that supported Sajith during the presidential election. There, Hirunika publicly stated that Hiru had made a deal with Sajith to release Duminda Silva. Due to Hirunika’s speech, Sajith’s election campaign faced serious setbacks during the presidential election. It was also a strong reason for Sajith’s defeat in the presidential election. Finally, Hirunika was also defeated in the general election, which was a complete disaster.
Newcomers Advice
However, during the discussions to reunite the SJB and the UNP, several newly elected MPs from the SJB met Sajith on several occasions at a Colombo hotel last week to express their views on the matter. There, they firmly told Sajith that no matter who he joins with, anyone with allegations should not be brought back into the party, and that the SJB name and phone symbol should not be abandoned under any circumstances.
‘You are the leader of the party. The people of the villages in this country still regard you. If we are to move forward as a party, we need to bring in other party groups and organizations. There is no problem with that. But if bank robbers, vehicle thieves, and thieves who have not paid crores of rupees in taxes are brought back into this party, it will be a great disaster for the SJB. Now there are no people like Harin, Manush, or Rajitha who have been accused in this manner. If anyone in this party is trying to drag this party to other places, you should think about it from the party’s side without fear and take a decision. Because people now hate the word theft.
You have never been accused of these crimes. There have been no murder charges. No one in this party has such charges. Now we have a strong team. Therefore, let anyone who wants to leave go and you should take steps to protect this party….’ When these new MPs told this to Sajith, who listened to all of them carefully, said only one thing. That is, no matter which party is brought around the SJB, no one will be allowed to erase the SJB identity.
‘You guys don’t have to be afraid of anything. I have already informed the party’s MP group and management committee of my decision. Under no circumstances will I allow anyone to remove the SJB or the phone symbol. “Even if we have left with ten, we are ready to go on this journey with those ten….” was Sajith’s response.
Final decision taken
The SJB Working Committee met last Thursday against this backdrop. Here too, many MPs said that some agreement should be reached between the two parties before the local government elections. Some others said that the SJB should work to reach some agreement by discussing not only with the UNP, but also with all the opposition parties. Accordingly, steps were finally taken to appoint a four-member committee to initiate peace talks with the UNP. It included party general secretaries Ranjith Maddumabandara, Kabir Hashim, Mujibur Rahman and Harshana Rajakaruna. The UNP side has nominated party general secretaries Thalatha Athukorala, Ruwan Wijewardena, and Ranil’s former advisor S. Samaratunga. Accordingly, it is understood that discussions between the two parties are set to begin in the future.
However, at the end of the working committee meeting, Sajith took steps to give a clear message to everyone. That is, no matter who is brought into the party, he will not allow anyone to dissolve the SJB, and he is ready to unite everyone under the phone symbol.
Sajith, who made this announcement at the working committee meeting, has now embarked on another task: initiating discussions with all other opposition parties. Accordingly, Sajith aims to discuss this with all opposition parties during the upcoming parliamentary week and reach some agreement.
Wimal alone
Meanwhile, the National Freedom Front led by Wimal Weerawansa, who did not contest the last general election, has also reportedly decided the upcoming local government election. It is to contest the local government election as a single party without allying with any party. Although several parties including Wimal supported Dilith Jayaweera, who contested in the last presidential election, Wimal did not contest the general election after his defeat in the presidential election. He made a special statement there and said that he would not ally with any party in the future. Accordingly, Wimal is preparing to contest the local government election alone as a party and enter at least a hundred MPs into local government institutions. Through this, Wimal plans to set up a grassroots mechanism as a party and embark on a long political journey.
Will Namal be taken in?
Last week, there was a huge uproar in the political arena that MP Namal Rajapaksa was to be arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department. It was also said that Namal was to be arrested based on a statement by former businessman Nimal Perera regarding an incident in which Sri Lankan Airlines allegedly committed major financial irregularities in the purchase of aircraft during the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.
Nimal Perera was engaged in business with Dhammika Perera, a millionaire businessman at the time. It was also said that Nimal Perera was closely associated with Namal and all the Rajapaksas at that time. However, with the coming to power of the Malima government, Nimal Perera had gone to Australia. However, Nimal had recently left a message for Namal stating that he was preparing to return to Sri Lanka and that he would be making a statement regarding a controversial transaction in the past.
In response, Namal had only said, “Thank you very much.” However, as he had said, Nimal had come to Sri Lanka and taken steps to make a special statement to the officers conducting the investigation. Rumours spread that Namal will be arrested in the political arena after that statement was made. However, Namal was not idle in this regard. Realizing that political revenge had once again begun due to political pressure, Namal immediately called the seniors of the Pohottuwa to discuss the future actions to be taken in this regard. At that time, everyone including Namal said that legal action should be taken against this immediately and that free legal assistance should be provided to all those who are subjected to political revenge. Accordingly, Namal appointed a committee of lawyers in the Pohottuwa to appear for the same.
‘This is an attempt to somehow implicate me in the local government elections and undermine the Pohottuwa election campaign. Few of our people who supported Malimawa in the last presidential election and the general election have realized the mistake and are starting to join us again. Some of them are going to the SJB. others are joining us. The government is now afraid of this. They think that if I stay out, it will be a disadvantage for them. But I am not afraid of that. I will face this….’ When Namal said this, the group also took steps to discuss who would lead the party’s election campaign in the local government elections if Namal was arrested in any way. Accordingly, many people said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa should take over the party’s election campaign under any circumstances. Accordingly, the group decided to discuss this matter with Mahinda soon.
The latest joke
Some in the government can be seen providing ‘jokes’ to the people daily. First, the government provided the people with the ‘doctor’ joke. The first chapter of that joke ended with the loss of the Speakership of Asoka Ranwala, the first Speaker of the Malima government. Ranwala had said that he would present his doctorate to the country, but he has not yet presented the degree to the country.
The second part of the doctor joke was initiated by the Minister of Justice, Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara. He accused the parliamentary staff of providing a doctorate title in front of his name on the parliament website. Not stopping there, Harshana took steps to take the incident to the Criminal Investigation Department. Accordingly, the Criminal Investigation Department officials had come to Parliament and questioned the staff in this regard and they said that according to a letter issued by the government’s Leader of the Hous’s Office, the title of Dr. had been placed in front of Harshana’s name. However, the investigations in this regard have not been completed yet.
Harshana stir media
Harshana, who has become a national headline, once again grabbed the attention of social media last week. This was at a ceremony to pay tribute to officers who have served the prison department for a long time. The chief guest was Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara. Former Prisons Commissioner Emil Ranjan Lamahewa had also received awards from Harshana for serving for over 37 years. This became an issue when Emil Ranjan posted a photo on his Facebook page regarding receiving the awards.
Emil Ranjan was the former Commissioner of Welikada Prison when the riot took place in 2012. On November 9 of that year, about three hundred Special Task Force (STF) personnel entered the Welikada Prison in Colombo and began a search operation.
The search operation aimed to seize unauthorized weapons in the hands of the prisoners, it was stated.
First, the Special Task Force, which searched the notorious Welikada Ward, where serious criminals are held, and confiscated mobile phones, etc., from the prisoners, then entered the cells known as the ‘Chapel Ward’, where those sentenced to death and those sentenced to life or long prison terms are held.
Some inmates had said that although the plan was to handcuff the prisoners held in those cells and search them, it turned into a clash when the prisoners resisted. In such a situation, the search operation, which began at around 1:30 pm on November 9, ended with twenty-seven deaths and over forty prisoners receiving non-fatal injuries.
It has also been described as the worst attack since the 1983 July riots in which Tamil prisoners were killed. Fifty-three Tamil prisoners were killed in the 1983 attack in Welikada Prison.
It is reported that there were about four thousand prisoners in Welikada Prison when these killings were carried out in 2012.
Emil Ranjan Lamahewa was arrested in 2018 in connection with the incident and 2022, a three-judge bench of the High Court pronounced the verdict in the relevant case and sentenced him to death. It is noteworthy that the former Prison Commissioner was the only defendant convicted out of the three defendants charged before the court in connection with the Welikada prisoners’ murder.
Challenging the verdict, former Prisons Commissioner Emil Ranjan Lamahewa filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, and a five-member Supreme Court bench ruled in 2024 to acquit him of the death penalty and released him.
However, at a time when many were afraid to speak out against this incident, it was JVP activists who fearlessly expressed their views against it. JVP-affiliated lawyers went to court. As a result, investigations were launched against Emil Ranjan. However, as soon as the Minister of Justice presented an award to the said Emil Ranjan, journalist and civil society activist Kasun Pussevela made a special note on his Facebook page. It was written as follows.
Activist Lament
‘Mr. President, Minister of Justice, shameful, ugly, disgraceful,
A tribute from revival….
Mr. President, the Welikada book that you requested from me is still preserved in the party headquarters library in Pelawatte. Your government’s Honorable Minister of Justice, Mr. Harshana Nanayakkara, and you too should wipe your hands with its pages and throw them into the dustbin of history.
Thank you
