Bimal Pushes for Government Engine Overhaul; Hadunetti Dismisses Need
Tensions Escalate in JVP-Malima Rift
Opposition Strengthens Grip in Local Government Councils
Signs of a Unified Opposition Finally Emerging
Ranil’s Wavering Strategy Falls Flat
Our story is exactly right
Last week we highlighted crisis brewing within the government between JVP and Compass.
We highlighted the schemes JVP targeting at the Prime Minister Harini Amarasooriya within the government. By Thursday evening we got information how Powerful minister in the government Mr. Bimal Ratnayaka confirming our story in an indirect manner in the political dialog telecasted in State owned media by Journalist Siira Yapa.
Bimal Ratnayake exposed the conflict by using some restrained words and explained the crisis we exposed. Our story highlighted events leading to Harini Amarasooriya accepting Milinda Moragoda’s Pathfinder invitation and mysteriously declining the same which the organizers invited former President Ranil wickramasinghe and he delivered the key note address at the pathfinder conference.
Immediately after ‘Inside Politics’ exposure of this story Bimal Ratnayaka appeared in the Sisira Yapa independent television and stressed the impending change in the engine of Compass government.
He emphasized a cabinet reshuffle including his and said some ministers could change.
Below is the statement that Bimal had made regarding the cabinet reshuffle in that interview.
Bimal confirmed
Question
The chairmen of a number of institutions under the ministry resigned. Why is that?
‘Almost all of our chairmen, almost 99%, were appointed from within the government of three ministers. We had to govern the country without instability at that time. We got together a group of about 21 and appointed various chairmen and leaders. Some of them were appointed for a short period. They also knew that. Some voluntarily resigned. Another group resigned from those positions to seek elections’.
‘The concept of state governance can only be understood by getting down to it. Governing an institution requires knowledge, discipline, and management. It requires timely wisdom. Many more things are needed. Some people have good qualities but do not have those qualities. Some people are not really suitable. Even when I took over the ministry, I said that I would stay for six months, if I cannot; I will give a letter and leave,
I do not want to hold on to this. We have to do about 2000 years of work. This is the first time that a government of the lower class was formed. Whether the whites ruled or the kings ruled, the poor people of this country were not taken care of. Therefore, there are about 2000 years of problems to be solved. Everyone has a responsibility. If we can, we will do it, if we can’t, we should humbly step down and leave. Only when we run this machine will anyone understand whether we can do this or not. Therefore, what we did in these first six months was to get used to it’, to gain experience’.
‘We don’t trust the officials. We have heard a lot of their fighting talk. We understand whether what these people say can be done or not. We also understand that even though these people say something, there is something else in their minds. Some are lazy. Some are political cronies. What we did in these six months was to understand both of them. Otherwise, there is no other way to understand these two. Now we have finished all the elections. Now we have the next four and a half years to drive. For that, we need good parts for the engine, good machines’.
‘In the next few months, I hope to transfer responsibilities, including myself. Maybe new people will be appointed. We will discuss them very amicably. There are many people who want to come in and work voluntarily. We have to be responsible for the mandate. We have to be responsible to the people. But when they lie, when they try to deceive us, our patience is a little stretched here and there….’ Bimal said there.
Whip man is out
Bimal’s speech’s highlight is renewing the compass government engine. Bimal’s words are clear indication of brewing conflict of JVP compass within the government.
Last week’s Mawrata main headline highlighted Bimal’s this controversial statement. With this the JVP Compas conflict which was not so public got exposed to wider audience. We note this as the ‘whip man’ is arrived and the procession would follow soon.
Bimal is currently considered one of the most powerful figures in the JVP. He is second only to party General Secretary Tilvin Silva. Bimal, who is considered a staunch JVP ideologue, is also known as a revolutionary and radical figure.
However, it is normal for parties like the JVP, which are centered on power, to face power struggles arising from within the party at certain times. Not only the JVP, but even the LTTE, a guerrilla organization with strict rules, has had many examples of internal power struggles on several occasions.
In particular, the LTTE, which was composed of a strict set of rules, was divided due to the peace talks that began in 2001. The reason for this was the LTTE living in the Thoppigala jungle. Karuna Amman, the leader of the armed forces, had the opportunity to come out of the jungle for the first time and travel to many countries around the world, including Thailand and Europe, where peace talks were held. Accordingly, Karuna Amman, who had seen the world, broke away from the LTTE and supported the government as a separate group and joined the security forces to see LTTE is eleminated.
Also, the JVP accepted ministerial posts together with Chandrika during the 2002 probationary government. However, when the JVP decided to step out of the probationary government, a serious disagreement arose within the JVP. In addition, when the war was about to end, in 2008, when the JVP worked with the UNP to defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa’s budget, a group of JVP strongmen including Wimal Weerawansa split the JVP and supported Mahinda’s government. Due to that reason, the JVP was divided and found itself in a very difficult situation.
After the defeat in the 1971 rebellion attempt, the JVP had to face a similar situation. Many JVP stalwarts were imprisoned, and a large number of other prominent people abandon JVP politics. Another group became anti-JVP by criticizing the JVP severely. Others left politics completely and started their own businesses to make a living. There are many other examples in international politics of how political and armed movements that operated with strict rules broke up due to internal power struggles.
Handunnetti replies
Bimal is talking about making a complete internal change in the government and giving place to strong members of the JVP. But the question is whether the JVP members will be ready to leave everything including the presidency and ministerial posts and follow Bimal when the JVP has everything for the first time in history.
In realistic politics, such a thing cannot happen at all. The best example of this is that two or three days after Bimal came to the state media and made this statement, another powerful minister of the government, Sunil Handunnetti, came to the Siyatha channel and made a completely different statement to Bimal’s.
When the Siyatha journalist asked Sunil whether the engine of the government would change, Sunil, laughing humorously, said that the engine of the government is currently running well, and therefore no changes should be made to it. Sunil also said that there should be no change in the cabinet and that all the ministers are currently performing their assigned duties very well. Sunil Handunnetti said to Siyatha Channel.
Journalist
These days, a change in the cabinet has become the most talked about topic in politics. Will there really be a change in the cabinet?
Minister Sunil Handunnetti
‘There is really no such thing. It was when I was saying this that I also looked at what this was. The people of this country gave us power in the National People’s Power Party, a two-thirds majority under the leadership of Comrade Anura Dissanayake. 159 MPs. That power was given to work collectively. We work as a collective team. We have said this before. We do not have individual achievements. We do not have goals that are being cut off from us as individuals. If we make a cabinet reshuffle, if we share any other responsibility, it is done as a collective process. It is done according to a real need. We do not have such a need now. I do not understand if anyone else has a need to change our cabinet.’
Journalist
Has there been talk recently that we need to change the engine parts and fix the engine a little?
Minister Sunil Handunnetti
‘There is no reason for such talk to arise. Because we are taking collective action. Because 7 or 8 months have already passed. During that time, we are fulfilling our goals.
They said the economy has collapsed. But today it is reported that our export income in the first 4 months of 2025 was 5.59 billion. That means that compared to the first quarter of last year, exports have grown by 6.9% this year. That means that one of the main criteria for measuring a country’s economy is the development of the export economy.
What did we say as our goal? Our promise to the people of this country is that we will build a productive economy, that productive economy with the participation of the people that benefits the people, especially to increase our export income. We have increased our export income. Then do we need to change the Minister of Industry or the Minister of Trade or the Minister of Agriculture or the Minister of Plantation Industries or the Minister of Fisheries? Because we are a team. As a collective result of our team, the export economy has developed. Do you believe that the President and the cabinet in this country are inefficient? Corrupt? Is there any accusation that anyone in our cabinet has stolen even a single rupee? If so, we will change before anyone says so. Has anyone said that we cannot do this? What is the reason for the change?
Earlier, there was stealing. I remember Ravi Karunanayake resigned at one time. Gamini Marapana resigned. Their cabinet members left. They were removed. They rebelled against the leader. They conspired. They formed a gang. Then the cabinet was changed. The ginger gang and the chili gang were created in the governments at that time. Do we have that? Then what is this now? They say that one will fall and the other will fall at one time, and they say that it is April Fools’ Day. I saw someone saying that May 27th next year should be cancelled. Those who say that, the people who say that, will fall… was the story that Handunnetti said.
Problem within the JVP Too?
Considering the two speeches of Bimal and Sunil Handunnetti, it is no wonder that Handunnetti is directly answering Bimal. Looking at Handunnetti’s speech word by word, it is a response to the speech that Bimal gave on Independent Television two or three days ago. Accordingly, it is clear through this incident that not only is there a conflict between Compass and the JVP within the Malima government, but also a serious disagreement has arisen between the JVP and the JVP based on various issues. Although many people think that all the JVP MPs and Ministers are united with Bimal’s stance, it can be seen through Handunnetti’s statement that the JVP MPs and Ministers are not 100% with Bimal.
What is Harini doing
How Harini is facing this crisis at the moment. When this conflict began, many people thought that Harini would keep her head down amid the threats and roars of the JVP since she was new to politics. On the other hand, as Bimal said in his speech, Harini would also melt, as he had mentioned that Anura alone should become the figurehead of the government and everyone else should melt. However, the information we have indicates that Harini is not ready to melt amidst the threats and roars of the JVP.
Harini has also decided to fight in the face of the threats and roars of the JVP. Harini, who has been very silent throughout the past, has now decided to break that silence and become an active figure within the government. Accordingly, we have to say that if the JVP thought that Harini would melt away in fear of the threats, it was 100% wrong.
Harini is not the kind of character who runs away in fear amidst challenges and threats. Harini is a revolutionary female figure who is ready to take radical political decisions. It is because of the radical political strength that a figure like Harini, representing the upper class of Colombo, decides to join hands with a party like the JVP.
Accordingly, Harini diplomatically managed this attack from within and responded to it by participating in a number of political events. She even took steps to make a controversial statement regarding the children of the country at an event related to education. Accordingly, she had shown the JVP that she was a political figure who was not ready to be intimidated by the JVP’s threats. She said that she had a strong backbone to face those threats.
Anura’s Stand
It is also worth looking into the President’s stand in this JVP-Malima conflict. Despite the fact that many people have been told not to talk about the internal struggle of the government, it was none other than the President who threw the first stone at the 60th anniversary of the JVP. The word the President used there was that there were certain ‘circles’ within the government. Although the President did not say anything about it after that, last week, at another political program that Harini attended, the President had taken steps to launch another subtle attack targeting Harini. Although in the first speech, the President referred to Harini and the group by mentioning certain ‘circles’, in this speech the President had used the word ‘Agathin’.
Normally, the President does not use such words when publicly criticizing opposition groups. If the President wants to attack Sajith Ranil, Mahinda or Namal in his speech, he criticizes them by mentioning those names in public. But in this speech, the President used the word ‘Agathin’ in his criticism. Through this, many people said that in this speech held at Temple Trees, the President used the word ‘Agathin’ to give a little shot to Harini and the group.
This indicates JVP-Malima conflict has been pushed to a certain critical point by now. It is also said that strong pressure is being exerted on the President from within the party to carry out a cabinet reshuffle as soon as possible. However, there is also great pressure on the President from other parties not to do so.
Accordingly, the government is currently facing a serious dilemma as to whether to change the engine of the government as Bimal said, or whether to continue running the engine as it is because there is no problem as Handunnetti said.
The President’s answer to this question was suddenly apparent last week. Although the President usually announces his decisions to the country on a public stage amidst applause from party members, this time the President took steps to express his opinion on the matter through his Facebook account. Although the President usually posts clear photos when posting a regular message on his Facebook page, this time his photo was posted in a dark color. It contained a very small sentence. That is, the steps taken for social progress will not be allowed to be reversed.’
SJB Trouble
Last week, a disagreement had arisen within the SJB over the election of members of the provincial governments. The culmination of this was the resignation of Chaminda Wijesiri from the Bandarawela Electoral Organizer post, Bandula Bandarigoda from the Galle Electoral Organizer post, Ranjith Aluvihare from the Rattota Electoral Organizer post, Anura Buddhika from the Horowpothana Electoral Organizer post and Ashoka Sepala from the Nuwara Eliya Joint Electoral Organizer post.
These resignations were widely publicized not only by the government but also by certain factions of the UNP. In some places, by publishing various news items and sending propaganda on social media, they said that ‘the SJB is over’. ‘The SJB is melting’. ‘Sajith’s leadership is over’.
In this way, even though certain groups within the SJB raised the issue through the media, Sajith was not bothered by any of it. They did not even care about five cents. Sajith had been paying great attention, day and night, to the behind-the-scenes operation to seize power in local government institutions where the government does not have a majority, led by the SJB.
Currently, there are 136 local government institutions where the government does not have a majority, and the people of the country are waiting to see how the opposition will establish power in these 136 institutions. In the midst of all this, when such resignations were happening, these organizers thought that just by holding media conferences and telling the country that they had resigned from the organizer’s post, Sajith would come after them and come on his knees.
However, Sajith, who did not limit the grumbling of those constituency organizers to a single penny, informed the party General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara that in no way should the criteria adopted by the Working Committee be changed in appointing list members and not be subject to the improper demands of the constituency organizers.
UNP strongmen meet
Meanwhile, Sajith was meeting other opposition party leaders and representatives without any media publicity and discussing the establishment of power in local government institutions. Since Ranil had refused to give media coverage for these discussions in the first round, Sajith did not take any steps to give media coverage to any of those meetings. One of the main discussions that took place behind the scenes was the meeting between Sajith and a group of UNP strongmen.
The discussion held last week was held at the residence of party general secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara, and was attended by party general secretary Thalatha Athukorala, chairman Vajira Abeywardena and Sagala Ratnayake from the UNP. In addition to Sajith and Madduma Bandara, Nalin Bandara and Mujibur Rahuman from the SJB were present. During this long discussion, the two groups were able to reach a number of specific agreements regarding the establishment of power in 136 local government institutions.
At the end of the discussion, Sajith and Thalatha also agreed to hold another special discussion at the Amari Hotel in Colombo with other party representatives as the second step. At that time, Sajith said that he would personally participate in this discussion but that he would not give any hint about it to the media for any reason. The UNP strongmen also agreed to this.
Who gave the tip?
Accordingly, after informing all the opposition party secretaries and representatives, steps were taken to hold the discussion at the Amari Hotel last week. Although invited, no representative from the Pohottuwa party attended. However, all the other opposition party representatives attended.
When this very productive discussion reached its final stage, Sajith and his team received a special piece of information. That is, although steps were taken to hold it secretly without giving any hint to the media, media teams had already arrived at the hotel by then, according to a notification that had been given to the media by a certain party about this discussion.
Accordingly, Sajith told the group that someone had given information about this discussion to the media, but no representative should issue any statement to the media regarding this discussion. When Sajith told the group that an official statement could be issued to the media after all parties reached a final agreement, everyone agreed to it.
Accordingly, everyone began to investigate who had given the news to the media despite being informed not to inform the media. Accordingly, they learned in a very short time that there were still some small conspirators in the UNP who did not support the UNP-SJB merger, so they had given this news to the media.
We specifically mentioned that there were still some conspirators who did not want the UNP-SJB merger because this group was behind the scenes and was obstructing this agreement. Our position from the beginning was that although these two parties should merge, the merger should take place according to a common agenda, not according to the agenda of UNP leader Ranil.
Ranil’s stance from the beginning was to destroy both SJB and Sajith and remove Sajith from the SJB leadership and unite the UNP and SJB under his leadership. Ranil implemented various conspiracies and subterfuges for that from the beginning. All those subterfuges were also revealed to the country from time to time through the ‘State Secrets’ column. But by now, Ranil has also been under great pressure from within the party to unite with SJB at this very moment. Because of this, Ranil is currently in a state of being unable to do anything and is in a kind of bind. However, the conspiracies launched by Ranil to divide SJB have not yet ended.
Ranil in a new game
Another move in this regard was held last week under Ranil’s leadership. At that time, Ranil had invited several opposition party representatives for a discussion, and a group including Johnston Fernando from Pohottuwa and a group of representatives from the SLFP participated in it. In a context where agreements were emerging between Sajith and the opposition representatives to establish power in local government institutions in a certain way, Ranil presented a new theory to the opposition representatives in this discussion that would break those agreements.
Presenting his plan very subtly, Ranil said that in establishing power in local government institutions, positions should be allocated according to the percentage of votes obtained by each opposition party. Accordingly, Ranil’s theory was that the chairmen and vice-chairmen should be divided among all the opposition parties. Justifying it, Ranil said that all the opposition parties, except for the SJB, have received a higher percentage of votes than the SJB, and therefore the SJB alone cannot be given the chairmanships of all local government institutions.
Ranil pointed out that while the SJB got 55%, the Pohottuwa party got 23%, the UNP got 13%, and the SLFP-led Podujana Peramuna got 10%. He asked Sajith to discuss this matter and inform him that the other opposition parties should also be given the chairmanship.
Ranil played this game for no other reason, knowing very well that when this theory is put forward to other parties, they would cling to it, but the SJB would not agree with it. Ranil’s plan was to disrupt the agreement that was to be reached among the opposition parties through this. Another objective of Ranil was to show the country that Sajith was a failure through that.
Get Namal
Ranil is playing another game these days to confirm this. That is, he is constantly talking to Namal and showing those around him that he has a great friendship with Namal. Accordingly, as soon as any political discussion is over, Ranil instructs his security guards to ‘Get Namal for me’ in a way that everyone can hear. Sometimes Namal answers these calls from Ranil, but in most cases, it is also reported to the this column that Namal ignores these calls. It is a special incident that the discussion between Sajith and the opposition representatives at the Amari Hotel was held after the discussion between Ranil and the opposition party representatives, and the Pohottuwa did not participate in it.
Sajith meets Pohottuwa
However, since the Pohottuwa representatives did not attend the discussion held at the Amari Hotel, Sajith called the Pohottuwa representatives and informed Madduma Bandara to organize a separate meeting after the relevant discussion was concluded. Accordingly, Madduma Bandara also called Sagara Kariyawasam and took steps to organize a separate meeting with Sajith. However, the Pohottuwa representatives, presenting a condition, said that they could not come to the Opposition Leader’s office to hold the relevant discussions.
After informing Sajith about this, Sajith said that he had no problem with it and that he was ready to come to a place Pohottuwa comes. However, even then, Sajith was not even aware of the fact that Ranil had proposed to Pohottuwa that the chairmanship should be divided according to a quota system.
Accordingly, Pohottuwa General Secretary Sagara and a group of people participated in the special meeting held between Sajith and the Pohottuwa representatives. After the discussion began, Sagara presented the quota theory previously proposed by Ranil and informed Sajith that the Pohottuwa should also be given positions in local government institutions. Although Sajith was somewhat shocked by the unexpected theory presented by the Pohottuwa, Sajith took steps to discuss the matter further. Accordingly, Sajith said that he could not take a single decision on the proposal at this time and that he would discuss it with the party and take a final decision on the matter.
Management Committee Meets
Accordingly, immediately after the discussion, Sajith informed the party leaders of the Pohottuwa’s request and took steps to convene the Management Committee, which is considered the highest body of the party, to discuss the matter. Sajith, who presented the Pohottuwa’s proposal, stated that the SJB would have to make a great sacrifice if it were to establish power in local government institutions according to that proposal. Accordingly, Sajith said that he could not take a single decision on the matter and that the party should take a decision on the matter and took steps to seek the opinions of the Management Committee members. Accordingly, after a long discussion, everyone finally told Sajith that although this was a great disadvantage for the SJB, the opposition, representing the opinion of the country and party members, should be given an opportunity to meet the Pohottuwa’s request since it was necessary to establish power in these local government institutions. Therefore, the SJB Management Committee had also informed Sajith to inform that the SJB agreed to the Pohottuwa’s proposal.
Accordingly, although Ranil planned to break the unity of the opposition by putting this theory in the opposition, in the end, Sajith agreed to the proposal and turning Ranil’s game around and reuniting the opposition. The SJB also took steps to inform Namal of the decision taken at the SJB Management Committee through Madduma Bandara. Namal was on a private visit to Dubai when the phone call came.
Upon receiving that call, another top SJB leader received another special call from Namal from Dubai. There, Namal engaged in a long phone discussion with this SJB leader, and it is said that the two were able to reach many political agreements there. Accordingly, we will end this topic by saying only that the people will be able to see what those agreements are in the future. It should also be noted here that the collapse of the opposition that Ranil hoped for will not occur through the introduction of the quota theory.
What happened to the organizers?
Against this backdrop, we should also look at the events that the SJB organizers had to face. At that time, Ranjith Aluvihare, who had resigned as organizer in the first stage, had again informed the party General Secretary through a letter sent by return mail that he was withdrawing the letter he had sent earlier informing him of his resignation from the organizer position. However, the media publicity given to the resignation had not been received.
Bandarigoda in Galle and Ashoka Sepala in Talawakelle had once again called Sajith and informed him that he was withdrawing the statements he had made that he was resigning from the organizer positions. Bandarigoda had sent messages after messages to capture Sajith on several occasions, but that attempt had been successful only after a few days. However, Chaminda Wijesiri alone had taken steps to criticize the actions of the SJB by making a statement to the media once again. This also received a lot of media coverage. However, later the ‘Lanka Sea News’ website had published a special news story in this regard and said that Chaminda Wijesiri had resigned from the position of Electoral Organizer due to the resentment of his brother Lakshman Wijesiri not being able to obtain the MP post. It was also seen how several other social media outlets had reported it.
Sajith in a tough decision
However, based on all these incidents, Sajith has now taken a tough decision. This is to give them a place to rise since a large group of young, talented MPs have come into the party after the establishment of local government institutions on the second day. Accordingly, if the current constituency organizers make unreasonable demands or resign from the constituency organizers in the future, Sajith has decided to immediately accept the resignation regardless of the rank and give the relevant constituency organizers to second-tier talents. Sajith has also taken a strict decision regarding the manner in which MPs should present their views to the media after the 2nd. If any MP acts in a manner that harms party policy or violates party discipline, Sajith has already decided to take disciplinary action against that MP, regardless of rank, and if necessary, remove him from the party. Since the Supreme Court has given a number of special judgments in the past, abolishing the parliamentary seats of MPs who go beyond the party’s decision in this way, Sajith has now planned to strictly implement party discipline after the 2nd. Sajith also took steps to summon the SJB legal team working on this matter last week and advise them on the matter.
Meanwhile, a special meeting was also held between Sajith and Ranil last week. That was at the launch of the film ‘Bahuchitavadiya’ held last Thursday night. Although the event organizers had invited Ranil and Sajith to the event, it is also a special incident that no conversation took place between the two.
Opposition from the North
Last week, the government was forced to withdraw a gazette notification issued two months ago to acquire nearly six thousand acres of land in four coastal districts owned by the people of the North, where it has become difficult to prove land ownership due to war damage, in the face of opposition from land rights activists, including MPs from the North and East.
In addition to the MPs from the North and East, former MP M.A. Sumanthiran also took steps to send a letter to the President in this regard. In his letter, Sumanthiran said that if these decisions are not withdrawn, he will not only take action to bring the people of the North to the streets, but will also violate civil laws.
Accordingly, in an emergency meeting held between the Prime Minister and the Minister of Lands, the North and East public representatives strongly demanded the cancellation of Gazette No. 2430 issued on Friday, March 28, 2025. The fact that the government took steps to cancel the gazette notification due to the strong opposition was a special event.
The Secretary of the Ilangai Tamil Arasu Kachchi President’s Counsel M. A. Sumanthiran, thanked President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on social media on May 27 for the cancellation of the gazette notification.
