Unveiling Deceptive Politics: Exposing the Dubious Origins of Rannan Eliya’s Opinion Poll
Surprise Guest Sparks Tension: Inside the Meeting Between Basil, President, and Mahinda
Tensions Boil Over: Basil’s Outburst Unveils Rift Within Government
UNP’s Kuliapitiya Rally Unveils Intriguing Behind-the-Scenes Drama Ahead of Presidential Election
Rising Anti-Indian Sentiment: Wimal Weerawansa Joins Forces with Uvindu Wijeweera Amidst Indo-Chinese Power Struggle
Social Media Smear Campaign Unfolds Amidst Women’s Day Celebrations
The poll falsehood
Recent editions of this column have featured periodic updates on an opinion poll orchestrated by Dr. Ravi Rannan Eliya, a figure whose influence transcended national politics, extending into the international arena. This poll, purportedly assessing the upcoming presidential election’s dynamics, allegedly involved telephone interviews with 500 selected individuals, forecasting the potential electoral outcomes for various political parties.
In the initial poll, Dr. Rannan Eliya allocated a significant 39% share to the JVP-led National People’s Force, contrasting with 27% for the United People’s Force and 10% for the UNP. This forecast stirred speculation, suggesting a unified front between the SJB and UNP as necessary to counter the JVP’s ascendancy. The government amplified these findings, while numerous local political commentators uncritically integrated them into their analyses. Even prominent Indian media outlets such as ‘The Hindu’ and ‘NDTV’ echoed these statistics.
However, amidst the widespread dissemination of Dr. Rannan Eliya’s findings, our “Inside Politics” column undertook the task of uncovering the enigmatic figure behind the poll. Our investigation revealed a disconcerting reality: the poll appeared engineered to advance specific political agendas, founded upon dubious premises. We shed light on Dr. Rannan Eliya’s affiliations with the Ranil Wickramasinghe party, suggesting a deliberate strategy to manipulate perceptions of political dynamics.
In essence, our scrutiny exposed Dr. Rannan Eliya’s poll as a tool wielded to fabricate a narrative of JVP dominance, compelling the UNP and SJB to align against it. This revelation underscores the importance of discernment and critical inquiry in navigating the intricate landscape of political discourse.
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Tilvin too believed
However, after we disclosed that, Rannan Eliya, who worked to raise the percentage to 51%, followed by the JVP, which had a percentage of 37%, then it, was seen that the polls were temporarily stopped. At that time, even JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva, who is considered to be a person with political maturity for political gain, was seen publicly announcing the results of Rannan Eliya’s opinion polls on political platforms.
The real poll results out!
No matter how many opinion polls are released to the media like this mushrooming as the elections are approaching, there are also opinion polls that are very accurate, acceptable, and conducted with high accuracy. Often intelligence agencies and embassies, as well as internationally recognized opinion polling institutions, make certain predictions about the election results and conduct opinion polls in this way. They are not conducted by making phone calls to 100 to 200 people as Rannan Eliya did, but rather a sample of more than 5000 is selected to cover all groups such as provinces, districts, cities, gender, minor, old, youth, jobs, etc. This time we are going to reveal for the first time from the ‘inside politics ‘ column about the information of a special opinion poll conducted by an international organization with such responsibility. Although the complete details of this opinion poll have not been made public until now, a summary of it was received by various parties in this country last Monday. It was seen that the information had reached not only the highest places of the government but also the embassies and some politicians of the opposition. Due to the fact that the final report has not yet been received by the this column, we will not publish it officially, but this time we are ready to publish its brief information for the information of the readers of this country.
Sajith in the lead
According to this opinion poll, it has been very clearly revealed that in the upcoming presidential election, SJB led by Mr. Sajith Premadasa will get 39% of the votes, and the National People’s Force led by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna will get nearly 20% of the votes. The poll revealed that Pohottuwa, who obtained a mandate of 69 lakhs in the last presidential election, will get 9% in this election, President Ranil Wickramasinghe will get only 5% of the main United National Party, and several other candidates will get about 1% of the votes. Apart from this, the most remarkable thing to see is that 24% of the voters have not yet made a final decision on who they will vote for, and no candidate has crossed the 50% mark yet.
This well-known organization has conducted this poll without the North and East provinces. Leaving aside the vote in the North, if we talk about the Eastern Province, Rauf Hakeem and Rishad Badurdeen, who are in power there, are currently with Sajith. It is clear from this result that Sajith can easily get more than 50% if he gets that percentage of votes and a certain percentage of votes in the north.
According to this poll, it is very clear that under the current situation, Sajith is clearly ahead of everyone else. It should be mentioned here that since the final official statement of this opinion poll has not been made public, we will not present its official information and that after the official announcement of the opinion poll, we will inform the country first through ‘Mawrata’. According to this, the information contained in this opinion poll had been received by the political sections established in all the embassies as of last Monday.
Shifting support started
In addition to this, in the past, the embassies of two powerful countries had conducted a similar nationwide opinion poll, and the results obtained by that and the results of the opinion poll conducted by this independent institution can be seen to be very consistent. Accordingly, in the coming period, everyone will be able to see a lot of strong changes, including shifts in the main parties.
Ranil was also waiting for this
We have previously reported on several occasions through this column that the President is waiting for the results of a certain opinion poll to announce whether he will contest the presidential election or not, and accordingly, he is ready to announce his decision at the end of March or the beginning of April. and that Although we did not name names at that time, we said that the President was delaying the results of the opinion poll conducted by the above-mentioned recognized institution. The president has been known since history as a person who believes 100% about the poll results of this institution. In the past, Ranil had made many political decisions based on the final results of the opinion polls conducted by this institution. Several examples of this can be seen in Ranil’s recent political history. One example is the 2019 presidential election. Because it is very crucial for the United National Party and Pohottuwa, both the main parties were delaying the announcement of the results of the opinion poll conducted by this institution to choose their presidential candidate. At that time, Ranil, Karu and Sajith were all ready to run for candidacy from UNP, while Basil and Gota were also ready to run for candidacy from Pohottuwa.
Sajith is still ahead
The opinion poll revealed that if Ranil ran for the presidential election as the UNP candidate, he would get 7%, and if Karu ran, he would get a percentage of 3%. But if Sajith comes forward, he will get a percentage of 33% from the opinion poll. At the same time, the poll revealed that if Gotabhaya stands as the candidate for Pohottuwa, he will get a percentage of 31%.
Accordingly, with the announcement of the results of this opinion poll, there was a great influence from within the UNP that Sajit should be nominated as the party’s presidential candidate. In the end, Ranil also had to bow his head to this opinion poll and reluctantly give Sajith the presidential candidacy. Mahinda also had to give the presidential candidacy to Gotabhaya. Since this opinion poll was conducted before the Easter attack, Sajith was already 2% ahead of Gotabha. When Sajith’s votes were added to the Tamil Muslim votes in the North East, it was clear that the percentage could easily exceed 50%. But everything turned upside down with the Easter attack. After that, highlighting the matter related to security, Pohottuwa as the former defence secretary announced that he would present Gotabhaya as the candidate for the presidential election, and it was seen how he received a significant percentage of votes. On the other hand, in the opinion poll published by that institution in 2019, it was estimated that the JVP would get 4% of the votes.
Ravi was also fired
That is one example. This time, in this column, we are ready to reveal for the first time another example of how much confidence Ranil has in the opinion poll conducted by this institution. This is based on a major incident that happened after the establishment of the good governance government in 2015. After the central bank bond fraud, Pohottuwa, the main opposition, worked to build a big ideology against it in the country. Pohottuwa strongly said that Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was the Prime Minister at the time, and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and others were responsible for it. Accordingly, while waiting, the good governance government saw the collapse of its popularity within the country.
At that time, Ranil had entrusted this major company to conduct an opinion poll to find out about the popularity of the government. The results said that in order to moderate the opposition against the government to some extent, Mr. Ravi Karunanayake should be removed from the position of Finance Minister. Accordingly, Prime Minister Rani finally decided to remove Ravi from the post of Finance Minister according to the result of that opinion poll.
Ranil’s verdict
Accordingly, there is no doubt that the results of this opinion poll on the upcoming presidential election conducted by an institution that the president has a lot of trust in has now been received by the president. Accordingly, the president will announce within the next few weeks whether he will run for the presidential election, or whether he will make another political decision.
On the other hand, the biggest information that has been revealed by this poll is the crash that has happened in Pohottu. Polls have revealed that Pohottuwa, who received 52% of the votes in the last presidential election, will win only 7% of the votes this time. Accordingly, it has been learned that many political decisions are to be made within the next few weeks.
Basil makes a noise
Two weeks ago, we revealed in this column that Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, who had spent several months in the United States, suddenly returned to Sri Lanka with the plan to make a political revolution within the Parliament and hold a general election through it. Confirming our disclosure 100%, Basil gave a special interview to Sirasa TV last Thursday and said that he would prefer a general election rather than a presidential election first. Because of that, Basil pointed out that the party that wins a presidential election will wash away other political parties and win the party representing the president when the next general election is held. That is why it was stated at the beginning that the disclosure we made a fortnight ago is 100% confirmed through Basil’s statement.
A surprise guest
In a recent rendezvous in Sri Lanka, Basil wasted no time in conferring with the President to delve into the nation’s pressing matters. Joined by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the discussion delved into the current political landscape, albeit only skimming the surface of the real intrigue. While media outlets buzzed with speculation from the political grapevine, none had the inside scoop on the most pivotal moments shared between Basil, Mahinda, and the President.
As the dialogue between Basil and the President unfolded, an unexpected twist emerged, catching Basil off guard. In an unforeseen turn, Mahinda’s second son, Yoshita Rajapaksa, made a surprise entrance into the discussion. Basil’s astonishment quickly morphed into ire, triggered by the realization that Namal Rajapaksa, the more politically active member of the Rajapaksa clan, had been extended an invitation while Yoshita had not. The absence of prior notification compounded Basil’s frustration, which escalated as Yoshita took a seat at the discussion table, intensifying the tension in the room.
We said it before
However, Yoshita was invited by the President because of his close relationship with Yoshita. Previously, we made several special disclosures through the this column and said that there are frequent meetings between the President and Mahinda at the Colombo Shangri-La Hotel, and all of them are organized with the coordination of Mr. Yoshitha and the President’s Chief of Staff Mr. Sagala Ratnayake. As a result, we pointed out that a close friendship has developed between Sagala and Yoshita, and that Yoshita also attends meetings between Mahinda and the President. Based on that friendship, it was seen that Yoshita had been invited to this discussion by the President.
Basil’s outburst
Amidst the unexpected arrival of Yoshita Rajapaksa, the discussion between Basil, the President, and Mahinda took a fiery turn, culminating in a heated exchange echoing through the meeting room. Basil’s voice reverberated as he lamented the perceived neglect of Pohottuwa’s MPs within the government, emphasizing the mandate they hold as representatives of the party. His impassioned plea for equal treatment was met with a retort from Ranil, whose own voice rose in response, citing past opposition to policy decisions as justification.
As the verbal sparring subsided, this column learned that this confrontation merely foreshadowed brewing crises within the government. Following the intense meeting, Basil publicly called for a general election, marking a significant escalation. Yet, despite the gravity of the situation, the mainstream media remained silent, failing to capture the seismic shifts underway within the corridors of power.
The call to Yoshita
Apart from this, we are ready to report another special event that happened after this meeting. It was about a phone call that Yoshita received from a certain person after the discussion. The person who made the call had told Yoshita that the president was unhappy with the way Basil spoke during the discussion. The news is that this person has commented with displeasure to Yoshita about Yoshita’s silence while Basil was talking like that, and about Mahinda not making much effort to reconcile it.
The upheaval begins
However, after this incident, many of the incidents that were not reported to the media were lining up in the main office of Pohottuwa located on Nelum Mawatha, Battaramulla. The most important event was the message from Basil to the seniors of the party that Pohottuwa should be ready to make a political decision very soon. As we have revealed earlier in this column, Basil does not just move here and there to make his political decisions. He based on the opinion polls he conducts at the village level. Basil had informed his team to conduct these polls before leaving for America. The results were in Basil’s hands while he was in America. According to those results, the pollsters had reported to Basil that the party led by Sajith was at the top. They had arranged to inform Basil about the location of the ‘pot’. Because of this, Basil knows that he has to work hard if he wants to get Pohottuwa higher in in an election battle. Basil came to Sri Lanka having prepared all those strategies and prepared the necessary background for their implementation.
And why was Basil tempted to speak to the President in a loud voice during the meeting with the President? The reason for that is because Basil got some clues about the fate of the President and the UNP, in the opinion poll conducted by him, SJB and JVP were above the ‘pot’.
A hater in the bud
Accordingly, this time this column is ready to make another special disclosure. It is definitely that a final decision has been taken to present a candidate for Pohottuwa in the upcoming presidential election. We are ready to confirm with great responsibility that that candidate is not a Rajapaksa. At the same time, some special decisions have been taken by Pohottuwa to raise the pot from its present place. That is to bring Mahinda forward again. It is also known that although Pohottuwa has suffered some setbacks in the village, the people of the village still have some attraction towards Mahinda, so they have decided to descend once again under Mahinda’s leadership.
On the other hand, it is possible to see that there is a big discussion within Pohottuwa regarding the fact that Pohottuwa is still sitting in the government. Many have pointed out to Basil, and Basil’s position has been that Pohottuwa will not benefit from sitting in the ruling party any longer. Therefore, it has been learned that the leaders of Potottuwa are choosing what are the chances of going to a general election before the presidential election. Also, if an emergency general election is held, the Pohottu has decided to take a strict decision on the Pohottuwa chiefs who are with the President. It has already been identified who those people are, and it has been learned that Pohottuwa has decided not to give them nominations in the general election, and to replace them with the second-tier leaders of the respective districts. Accordingly, by the next Sinhala New Year, apart from the sounds of firecrackers bursting in the country, the people will undoubtedly be able to see fireworks displays in the government as well.
Uvindu-Wimal to be together
Since the past, JVP politics has been against Indian expansionism. As far as anti-India is concerned, one of the five classes of JVP was related to Indian expansionism. But with the sudden visit of JVP leader Mr Anura Kumara Dissanayake to India recently, it was seen how JVP abandoned the fight against Indian expansionism.
However, the Indian expansionism presented to the country by Rohana Wijeweera, the founding leader of JVP, could be seen once again coming to the fore. It was from none other than Rohana Wijeweera’s son Uvindu Wijeweera. Accordingly, on the 12th, a book entitled ‘Road Map of Indian Invasion – ECTA – Final Setup’ was launched at the Library and Documentation Services Auditorium located at Freedom Square, Colombo 07 under the chairmanship of Uvindu. It was chaired by Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara, a Sinhala Buddhist leader who spoke against Indian expansionism since then. In addition, Professor Medagoda Abhayatissa Thero also presided over it, and Kalyananda Thiranagama, Vaii Wasantha Bandara, and Uvindu Wijeweera made special readings.
Apart from this, Uvindu took another step forward and arranged to hold a motorcade from Colombo to Kandy on Friday. That was while holding the slogan ‘Mawbima Anathure’ which was the slogan of Rohana Wijeweera in 88-89. In this regard, a poster campaign was also launched in Colombo last Wednesday, and it can be seen from that poster that Uvindu Wijeweera and his team are preparing to create a big front against Indian expansionism in the future.
Wimal out to battle
As Uvindu Wijeweera, son of the late revolutionary leader Rohana Wijeweera, mobilizes against Indian influence, another formidable figure, Wimal Weerawansa, embarks on a parallel campaign against Indian expansionism. Weerawansa, renowned for his staunch opposition to Indian policies, is slated to address a public gathering at the Maharagama Youth Service Council, rallying under the banner of ‘Escaping Dependency: Revisiting Economic Policies Since ’77’. Many anticipate the convergence of Wijeweera and Weerawansa’s anti-Indian agendas.
Against the backdrop of a simmering Indo-Chinese cold war for Sri Lankan territory, marked by frequent incursions of Chinese research vessels and subsequent Indian protests, Weerawansa’s and Wijeweera’s actions take on heightened significance. Recent developments, including a meeting between Weerawansa and the Chinese Embassy’s consul, Chen Xiangguan, signal a direct entanglement of Indo-Chinese geopolitical tensions with Sri Lankan domestic politics. Speculation mounts regarding the emergence of a potent political force united against Indian influence, potentially reshaping the country’s political landscape.
A ban from the US
After the end of the war in 2009, the most powerful international accusation against Sri Lanka was that war crimes had been committed during the war. It was presented so strongly during that period that the United Nations Human Rights Council on many occasions even saw proposals in this regard being presented against Sri Lanka. Various countries have adopted resolutions against Sri Lanka. But with time, due to the suppression of those accusations, where it was not possible to take any serious decision against Sri Lanka, the powerful countries of the world started imposing various types of sanctions targeting Sri Lanka. One of them was the imposition of travel restrictions on military commanders and high-ranking military officers who were directly involved in the war, preventing them from entering their countries. Accordingly, the United States has refused to grant visas to Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who was the Army Commander at that time, Shavendra Silva and other top military officers to enter the United States even today. Moreover, the major countries of Europe and Australia had refused to grant visas to officers involved in the war on many occasions.
What happened to MP
However, since the former Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had obtained dual citizenship of the United States even before the war, although the United States did not decide on Gota at that time, the United States did not issue a visa to enter the United States at any time after he renounced his dual citizenship to contest the presidential election. At least at the time of the struggle, Gota applied for a visa to enter the United States on many occasions after fleeing from Sri Lanka, but the United States refused it every time. Also, due to several other powerful countries rejecting Gota’s visa, in the end, Gota was able to go out of Sri Lanka only to Dubai and Bangkok.
Although the United States usually followed such action concerning security personnel involved in the war, it had never taken such action against politicians. But suddenly, last week, a powerful member of the government had to face that sad incident. Although this member of parliament has not held a position in the ruling party, he is considered a senior politician who has held powerful cabinet minister positions in many governments in the past. Although he had nothing to do with the war, this MP was also a powerful minister in that government at the time of the war victory.
The son of this powerful MP is engaged in education in America. Accordingly, although this powerful member of parliament applied for a visa from the American Embassy to visit his son, the embassy had taken steps to reject his visa application in a way that no one expected. Surprised by this, this powerful member of parliament had asked the American Embassy about the reasons that affected it, but none of those reasons had been presented by that side.
When this information was reported to the state secret belt, we also took steps to find out the truth or not of this story because the news cannot be taken lightly. There we have come to know that the US authorities have already prepared a list of names of a large number of people who should be denied visas for non-military personnel. It is reported that the list of names includes not only the names of politicians, but also the names of public officials related to the incidents of human rights violations, the names of officials in other fields who have been subjected to various accusations, and the names of several people in the judicial field. It has been learned that the list of names prepared by the United States has now been handed over to many major countries including Europe and Australia.
We tried hard to somehow get this list of names but we could not get at least a hint of it. Accordingly, to know who is on the list of names, visa applications in this manner must wait until they are rejected.
Kuliapitiya unsettled
As the United National Party (UNP) kicked off its presidential election campaign with a grand public meeting in Kuliapitiya, orchestrated by Kurunegala stalwart Mr. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, the spotlight shone on the stage, but backstage, a series of undisclosed events unfolded, shrouded in secrecy from the media’s lens.
Foremost among these incidents was the conspicuous absence of Minister Harin Fernando, a prominent UNP figure known for his organizational prowess. Many had anticipated Fernando’s pivotal role in orchestrating the event, yet his unexpected no-show left attendees puzzled and speculating.
Adding to the intrigue was the abrupt departure of Mr Navin Dissanayake, Sabaragamuwa’s governor, who had initially been slated to address the crowd in Kurunegala. However, Dissanayake’s name mysteriously vanished from the list of speakers, prompting his swift exit, a move corroborated by his public acknowledgement on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the UNP’s Management Committee convened under the presidency, sparking heated discussions regarding the exclusion of Harin Fernando from the event. Despite being entrusted with the propaganda department, Fernando’s apparent communication blackout on the day of the rally left many erstwhile supporters silent and evasive post-event, casting shadows over the once-lauded Kuliapitiya gathering.
Harin to organize the May Day
However, due to this setback, the UNP has decided to celebrate the upcoming May Day parade very grand scale. This year, the organization of the May rally has been entrusted to none other than Harin Fernando. When Harin was asked about this recently, he laughed and said, ‘There was a small membership meeting in Kuliapitiya. We have planned to celebrate the May Rally in Colombo with a large crowd. This is going to be the biggest May rally in the history of Colombo. In this way, it is known that some attacks are being made from within the party on this statement made by Harin by throwing a nod at the Kuliapitiya meeting.
JVP split
As Women’s Day unfolded, political parties in Sri Lanka orchestrated diverse initiatives to honour the occasion. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, representing SJb gainst the government.
However, the day’s festivities took a dark turn as evening descended, marked by a barrage of malicious attacks on social media targeting Sajith. Over 200 fake accounts launched a coordinated assault, questioning the integrity of his public welfare programs. Undeterred, Sajith vehemently defended his initiatives, refusing to succumb to baseless criticisms.
Yet, the plot thickened as previously unseen photos emerged on social media, depicting JVP leaders engaged in similar acts of charity, contradicting their condemnation of Sajith’s efforts. Among the faces captured in these images were JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sunil Handunnetti, casting doubt on the authenticity of the smear campaign allegedly orchestrated by the JVP’s machinery.