Ongoing Murders Spark Fear Psychosis
Planetary Shifts Stir Politicians’ Fears over LG Election Date
India Warns Ranil Against Misleading the Nation
NPP Government Faces MP Resignations
Harini’s US Aid Grant Raises Suspicions
Harsha Falls into His Trap
During the President’s maiden budget presentation in Parliament last week, SJB MP Harsha de Silva interrupted with a question. Rather than responding directly, the President paused and remarked that he had no answer for Harsha and couldn’t grant him the SJB Colombo District leadership he desired. He suggested Harsha seek it from Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa instead.
The President’s statement came on the heels of a recent SJB meeting where Sajith Premadasa had assumed the Colombo District leadership himself. When asked by the media, Harsha admitted that Sajith had taken over both the party and Colombo leadership, adding that he wasn’t clinging to positions.
However, insiders reveal that it was Harsha himself who initially raised the Colombo District leadership issue. Back in the 2019 general election, when SJB first contested, Sajith secured the top spot in Colombo, with S.M. Marikkar of Kolonnawa coming in second. As party leader, Sajith initially intended to grant Marikkar the Colombo leadership, even preparing a formal letter to that effect.
District leadership
But Harsha and his allies intervened, cautioning Sajith against appointing Marikkar, arguing that Marikkar’s Muslim identity might affect broader community support for the party. Ironically, this overlooked historical precedents like M.H. Mohamed (a Muslim) and Ravi Karunanayake (a Catholic) who had both led Colombo for the UNP. Under pressure, Sajith ultimately decided to retain the Colombo leadership himself, leaving Marikkar empty-handed.
Fast forward to today, Harsha’s previous manoeuvring has backfired. After securing the second-highest votes in Colombo in the recent election (just behind Sajith), Harsha requested the Colombo leadership along with his role as party treasurer. But Marikkar, now seizing his moment, called a press conference, highlighting how an unnamed individual (widely understood to be Harsha) had blocked his leadership bid years ago.
Beyond leadership squabbles, questions are now being raised about Harsha’s performance as SJB’s treasurer—a role he has held since the party’s inception. Critics claim he hasn’t raised a single rupee for the party in over five years and hasn’t contributed to party functions, anniversaries, or meetings. Despite this, Harsha continues to pursue top roles, including party leadership and the Opposition leadership.
Adding to his challenges, Harsha failed to secure his electorate for Sajith in the last presidential election, with Sajith finishing third in Kotte despite publicly promising Harsha the finance minister position in his potential government. Instead, Harsha’s actions are believed to have paved the way for Anura to outperform both Sajith and President Ranil in the constituency.
‘Indian’ Trump card
We’ve previously shared insights about former President Ranil Wickremesinghe multiple times through the ‘Inside Politics’ column, highlighting that Ranil is more of a politician who engages in ‘news planting’—influencing the media to shape narratives—rather than someone who connects directly with the people and places his trust in them.
We highlighted many examples of Ranil doing politics by ‘planting’ fake news through the family newspaper ‘Lankadeepa’ owned by his uncle Ranjith Wijewardene and Cousin Ruwan Wijewardene. We also revealed that Ranil is doing politics through his family newspaper ‘Lankadeepa’ in this way, especially since he has become a character who cannot win in any election.
Oman conference
The most recent occasion for this was the Indian conference on maritime security held in Oman.
Former presidents, former ministers, and other former dignitaries are invited to attend such conferences, and Ranil was also invited by the organizing committee. It was a normal invitation that is usually extended to a former president of a country. But the government had already created a controversy over the power project of India’s number one businessman Gautam Adani, and Adani had also announced that he would respectfully withdraw from his Sri Lankan investments.
Capitalizing on this Ranil planned to show the country that a serious crisis had arisen between the government and India over the Adani issue and to go to the conference in Oman to show the country that ‘I am the saviour – India is with me – when there is any problem, India will deal with me…’ and establish that he would continue to be active in politics.
Vijitha and Ranil together
Ranil also new that Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath was scheduled to attend the Indian conference representing the government. Ranil planned to attend the conference and somehow take a photo with Vijitha Herath and release it to the media, thereby creating a crisis within the government.
Accordingly, Ranil and Vijitha, who had left for Oman to attend the Indian Ocean Conference, were staying in the same hotel. At every opportunity, Ranil tried to somehow meet Vijitha and pose for a photo with him and leak it to the international and local media. During this visit, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Vijitha and Ranil separately and held discussions, so Ranil lost that opportunity.
Anura also came to know about this game that Ranil was going to play in Oman. That was through a phone call received by the President. The call said that Ranil and Vijitha, who had come to Oman, were both staying at the same hotel and that Ranil was somehow trying to take a photo with Vijitha. The information we have is that immediately after receiving this call, Anura called back Oman and informed Vijitha about Ranil’s plan. Accordingly, Vijitha has kept his distance from Ranil throughout the Oman visit. Especially at the end of the event, when the guests who participated in it posed for a group photo, Vijitha posed far away from Ranil.
Ranil back to India
However, even after returning to Sri Lanka after his Oman visit, Ranil planned to show that there was a conflict between the government and India and take advantage of it. While looking for various opportunities and reasons for that, another wonderful opportunity arose for Ranil. It was a conference to be held in New Delhi, India, on the 28th and 01st of March. Ranil was also informed that Narendra Modi was scheduled to attend the conference to be held at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi as the chief guest. Accordingly, Ranil decided to get a ticket and attend the event. Through this, Ranil is trying to show the country that India is currently at odds with Anura, that India is still dealing well with Ranil, and that he is still accepted in India.
Picture opportunity
Also, Ranil booked a ticket to attend this conference to take a picture with Modi and show the country that India still cares about him.
The ‘Inside Politics’ column was made to understand that a secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party is behind planning Ranil’s trip to New Delhi. The column is informed that this secretary is a person who frequently visits Sri Lanka and that he has visited Sri Lanka on several previous occasions even when Ranil was the President. It is also learnt that this person had also gone to Oman after hearing that Ranil would be attending the Indian Ocean Conference held in Oman. Accordingly, this person, who is associated with the BJP, is organizing Ranil’s visit to Delhi this time.
‘Inside Politics’ column also learnt that during Oman’s visit, Ranil was given a serious warning from the Indian government fraction. Information being discussed in the diplomatic sphere suggests that India has given this warning to Ranil through some third party. India has been informed not to show off that they are with India through this and mislead the country. It is also reported that India has unofficially informed Ranil that it amounts to unethical behaviour and that steps should be taken to stop such action immediately.
Ranil can’t.. Anura did..
In addition, our column once reported that Ranil had planned to bring Indian Prime Minister Modi to Sri Lanka a few months before the last presidential election and to put on a big show. Although it was reported that Modi had been invited for that purpose and that the Indian government had accepted the invitation, we kept quiet and said that India had received information that Ranil had planned to bring the Indian Prime Minister to Sri Lanka, ignoring the presidential election, and to gain an indirect advantage through it. Accordingly, we pointed out that Modi would avoid visiting Sri Lanka during the election. Confirming our prediction 100%, Modi canceled his trip to Sri Lanka at the last minute. Modi did so in a context where certain local media outlets friendly to Ranil had been continuously publishing news during the election campaign claiming that Modi was coming to Sri Lanka.
Anura brings Modi
However, despite Ranil’s failure to bring Modi to Sri Lanka, an opportunity has arisen for the current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to bring Modi to Sri Lanka. Anura officially extended an invitation to Modi to visit Sri Lanka during Anura’s first visit to India. By that request, Modi is currently preparing to visit Sri Lanka in next April. Many people point out that during this visit, Modi will lay the foundation stone for the 120 MW Sampur Power Plant to be built in Sri Lanka with the sponsorship of the Indian government.
It was opposed back then
Many years ago, when India was preparing to build this Sampur power plant during the Yahapalana government, the JVP had seriously opposed it and had carried out agitation campaigns across the country. At that time, K.D. Lalkantha went to the Human Rights Commission and handed over a petition against it.
Below is the press release issued by the JVP in this regard.
‘The Eastern People’s Organization and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna took steps to hand over a complaint to the Human Rights Commission regarding the violation of the human rights of the people who were wronged due to the Sampur power plant project.
The handing over of the petition took place today (05) at 11.00 a.m. at the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. On this occasion, JVP Politburo member Comrade K.D. Lalkantha, the convener of the Eastern People’s Voice Organization, Mr. Hemachandra Arun, and several representatives on behalf of the people who had suffered injustice participated.
Media Unit
Janata Vimukthi Peramuna
2016.02.05
The JVP launched a big fight against the Sampur power plant and against Indian intervention.
But the irony of fate is that Modi, who had opposed the JVP at that time, comes to Sri Lanka under a JVP government to build the Sampur power plant. Last week, the cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of the President approved the construction of the Sampur power plant. Notably Lal Kantha, who had opposed the Sampur power plant earlier, is also sat in the cabinet this time. Accordingly, it is said that Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka will most likely take place before the local government elections are held in April.
Ranil worried
With the news of Modi coming to Sri Lanka, Ranil is seriously worried more than anyone else. This is because Ranil, who had been pointing out that he had great relations with Modi and international relations, was being invalidated through this. Although Ranil had been claiming that he had international relations since then, we showed with examples through the column that Ranil did not have any such international relations.
Especially when Ranil and other UNP leaders publicly said that Ranil would receive $4 billion from Japan when he became President, we revealed that Ranil did not have such international relations and that Ranil would not receive even a single dollar from Japan, let alone $4 billion. Confirming the facts we said, Ranil was unable to receive any support from Japan until he left office. The only advantage that Sri Lanka received during Ranil’s rule was the $3.9 billion loan agreed with the IMF. But it was not Ranil who initiated the deal with the IMF, it was Basil Rajapaksa, who was the Finance Minister during Gota’s government. This was clearly confirmed when Ranil, who participated in a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat at that time, publicly got into an argument with Basil demanding the IMF agreement.
However, Ranil could not bring Modi to Sri Lanka, but all plans have been finalized to bring Modi by Anura to Sri Lanka. Ranil must have jumped into the middle by now, grabbing the Adani issue and unable to pull it off.
Ranil’s latest lie
Since this collapse of Ranil’s attempts, it is no longer possible to continue with false news plants about India. Ranil, as usual, used his uncle’s and Cousin’s newspaper to ‘plant’ a new story. Accordingly, a strange story published on the Lankadeepa website and newspaper last week said that Ranil was scheduled to enter parliament from the national list of cylinders before the end of this year. However, the news did not mention how Ranil would enter parliament.
This nonsense was also confirmed by Ravi Karunanayake, who is the leader of the cylinder, in parliament the other day. Accordingly, when the MPs asked Ravi about it, Ravi smiled and said that it would not happen at all.
‘That is not going to happen in any way, because only I and Pfizer are from the national list of the cylinder. If Ranil comes, either I have to resign or Pfizer has to resign. So I will not resign, nor will Pfizer resign. Even if Pfizer resigns, we will not bring Ranil, but someone else will come to Parliament. That is why he cannot come…’ was the answer given by Ravi to the MPs.
In addition, on Friday, Sharmila Perera, who is the Secretary General of the Cylinder, told the media that the story of Ranil coming to Parliament from the Cylinder is a blatant lie.
15 MPs leave?
There has been a lot of news on social media these days that nearly 15 MPs from the Compass are at risk of leaving the Compass government soon. Since it has been more than five months since the Compass came to power, some social media outlets are now reporting this news in a big way, but we reported this news through the column when the Compass government was formed by two-thirds of the Compass government and it had been more than two or three weeks.
There we pointed out that a JVP-Compass conflict could be seen in various forms within the Compass government. We had reported there that this conflict is emerging based on various topics such as the professor-doctor issue, and policy issues, and that at times the JVP politburo has become very tense due to this.
However, last week we also conducted a special investigation into the news that nearly 15 MPs from the Compass are preparing to resign. Accordingly, this time we are ready to reveal the true story of this story to the readers.
Out of the 159 Compass MPs, 107 are represented by the National People’s Power led by the Compass. There are 52 full-time JVP MPs. However, the vast majority of the 107 Compass MPs are people who hold doctorate-professor titles as well as high positions in major companies and institutions, have high privileges, and receive high salaries. Or they are high-level professionals. They were elected to the Compass MP positions leaving aside all those privileges and salaries.
Living with pittance
Also, this group said on the election platform that the Compass MPs would not receive salaries, privileges, vehicles, fuel, staff, etc. to hold power. Because of that promise made to the people, they are now having difficulty obtaining them. Although full-time JVP members can eat a pittance without privileges, this has now become a big problem for a group of Compass members who came to Parliament leaving aside high-level salaries, jobs and privileges.
Accordingly, they are currently making some assessments as to whether they will continue to eat these pittances and remain in Parliament as MPs for five years without salaries, vehicles, fuel, privileges, or whether they will leave Parliament and go back to their old jobs and live the comfortable life they have been living until then. Accordingly, the information we have indicates that this conversation that is taking place among a group of Compass MPs has reached a peak by now, and there is a high probability that a group of MPs will leave Compass at any moment.
Option of leaving
Accordingly, if a group of Compass MPs resigns, what will happen next? It is not that the JVP has not understood this emerging situation. But the JVP is waiting for these Compass MPs to resign at any moment. This is because when they resign from their MP positions, they have an opportunity to appoint full-time JVP members to those vacant positions. In that case, they will be able to further increase the number of full-time JVP MPs, above current 52. This is a big advantage for the JVP. Therefore, the JVP hardliners have informed the party that the resignation of these Compass MPs is beneficial for the JVP. Currently, there is a rumor circulating on social media that nearly 15 JVP MPs are preparing to resign from their MP positions.
Meanwhile, many comments are being made on social media these days about the Prime Minister of Malima, Harini Amarasuriya. In the past few days, many people have questioned Harini’s receipt of a large amount of money from the U.S. Aid organization, but there has been no proper explanation from either Harini or the government. That is why it is possible to see different parties expressing different opinions regarding Harini’s receipt of money from the U.S. Aid. Some have even expressed their opinions publicly, mentioning very personal matters. But what is special about this is that the JVP’s interest and effort in responding to the attacks that come from outside has not been enough to protect Harini from the attacks.
Opposition meets ‘MACO’
There has been a lot of discussion in the political arena these days regarding the holding of local government elections. While the government is preparing to hold the local government elections in April, the opposition is saying that the budget debate will continue until March 21st, so the local government elections should be called after the budget debate is over. First, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara, Dayasiri Jayasekara, and V. Radhakrishnan MPs went to the Election Commission met its officials and took steps to present this request. However, there was no positive response from the Commission.
In the meantime, opposition MPs had received information that the Election Commission was also preparing to announce the local government elections during the budget debate. In particular, the MPs had realized that a serious situation had arisen through a special interview given by an Election Commission official to a weekend newspaper. It was stated that the same MPs who had previously demanded the elections were now requesting to postpone the elections.
Opposition united
Accordingly, the opposition MPs met with the Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa last week to discuss the matter. At that time, everyone pointed out to Sajith that all the opposition parties should gather and discuss and take a firm stand on this matter.
Accordingly, Sajith also took steps to summon all the opposition parties to the Opposition Leader’s office in Parliament before the budget debate began. A large number of MPs who participated in it could be seen expressing their views strongly criticizing the actions of the aforementioned election officer. All of them who expressed such views pointed out to Sajith that the entire opposition, led by Sajith, should go to the Election Commission and take steps to discuss this matter. As the main party that went to court requesting the holding of local government elections, Sajith also accepted the proposal. Accordingly, Sajith accompanied the opposition MPs to the Election Commission to discuss this matter further with them.
Rasamanikkam furious
During the discussion, the strongest attack on the commission officials was made by Tamil Alliance MP Shanakyan Rasamanikkam. Rasamanikkam, who started his speech by mentioning the statement made by the commission official to the newspaper, pointed out that the statement made by the official to the newspaper was completely false.
The relevant official stated that he did not make such a statement to the newspaper, that they had presented the headline incorrectly, and that he could not take responsibility for the headline. However, Rasamanikkam again questioned why the newspaper article was published on the official website of the Election Commission. Rasamanikkam pointed out that if the headline was wrong, at least a note should have been made and it should not have been published on the official website of the Election Commission, and in addition, a correction could have been sent to the relevant newspaper regarding the headline. The official was visibly stunned as Rasamanikkam said this.
Astrology and election date?
However, Sajith and all the opposition members pointed out only one thing to the Election Commission officials. That is, the budget debate is held only once a year and the opposition members have a big role to play in Parliament. Therefore, Sajith pointed out that there was no time to participate in election campaigning under such circumstances and took steps to request the Commission to declare the election after the budget debate.
Leaders of Compass too were informed that all the opposition parties had accompanied Sajith to the Election Commission. They were more disturbed by this, had taken steps to go to the Election Commission the very next day and discuss the matter. Bimal Ratnayake and Sunil Watagala were in that group. They met with the Election Commission officials and pointed out that the local government elections should not be postponed, and that the elections should be called immediately since only five weeks are enough for campaigning.
Crucial election
However, this local government election is extremely crucial for the Malima government and the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya. The reason for this is that both these parties had fought for justice in court when Ranil postponed the local government elections. Today, the ruling party and the opposition are represented by those two parties. But why are these two parties currently holding different opinions on holding the local government elections?
Readers will be surprised to know the reason. No matter how much the Malima leaders say they do not believe in it, it is an astrological reason that has influenced it, whether anyone admits it or not. No matter what they say when they are not in power when they are holding government power and holding ministerial positions, and when the dates for elections are set, everyone naturally turns to astrology.
The best example of this is that even the Election Commission, while expressing its views on the date of the last presidential election, publicly declared that the presidential election could not be held on a day, considered an inauspicious day.
Crucial May 14
All these people are waiting and everyone’s target is May 14. That is, there is a major planetary shift on that day. Therefore, one party is preparing to hold the election before May 14 anyway, since the planetary shift is inauspicious for them. The other party is preparing to hold the election after May 14 anyway, since it is auspicious for them.
However, the general tradition is not to call an election during the budget debate. But now, one party is eager to break even that general tradition and demanding that the election be announced during the budget debate itself. However, many people believe that it is not appropriate to postpone this election for too long, as it is being prepared to be held after going to court and even losing some people’s jobs.
Chamuditha’s security
Last week, more than the budget, the country’s attention was drawn to the underworld murders that took place in a row within 3 days. The first murder took place in Middeniya. There, a man and his two children were killed. The second incident was extremely controversial. For the first time in history, a shooter managed to shoot and kill Ganemulla Sanjeeva, considered an underworld leader, inside the courtroom while a case was being heard. The shooter and the woman who gave him the gun safely left the court premises, which are considered a high-security zone. Before the heat of the incident had died down, another young man was reported to have been shot in the chest on Uswetakeiyawa beach the next day.
There is also a story that no one knows about the Middeniya murder, the first of these three incidents. That is, a few days before this person was murdered, he had participated in a discussion with journalist Chamuditha Samarawickrama and had revealed the names of several politicians. Another special feature here is that all four people who had interviewed Chamuditha in the past were murdered. The first of them was Karandeniya Public Health Inspector Roshan Thushara. The second was Dr. Senaka Gamage. He had died mysteriously after the relevant interview. The third was Saman Perera, the leader of the Ape Jana Bala Party, or Royal Beach Saman. The killers had taken steps to send five people, including Saman, to the next world.
Protection removed
However, due to these threats, police protection had once been provided to Chamuditha. However, steps have been taken to remove that protection in the past. Accordingly, many people thought that Chamuditha’s security was also under serious threat.
Against this backdrop, Chamuditha informed Opposition Leader Sajith about this matter on Wednesday. Chamuditha had pointed out to Sajith that his security was in danger as four people he had interviewed had already been killed and that the situation was even more serious as the security guard he had been assigned had also been removed. Accordingly, Sajith told Chamuditha that he had seen the news published on the ‘Mawrata’ website in this regard and that he would draw the government’s attention to it in Parliament.
Call to president
Thereafter, Chamuditha also called the President on Thursday morning and explained the matter. The President, who had listened to Chamuditha carefully, informed Chamuditha that he would look into the matter.
However, as promised to Chamuditha, Sajith raised the issue of Chamuditha’s security as well as the issue of the security of the MPs in Parliament on Thursday. Sajith also alleged that the government has taken steps to remove the security of judges. In response, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala stated that no steps have been taken to remove the security of judges. Dayasiri immediately intervened in the debate and said that the government had issued a circular to remove the security of judges.
However, by last Friday, the government had made two special decisions. The first was to inform the Acting Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya to make an appropriate decision regarding the security of MPs. The other was to provide Chamuditha with police officer security once again.
