Who Is Cheating Whom? SJB MPs Continue Meeting to Discuss Joining Ranil
President’s Family Media and Loyal Outlets Push Fake News
Harsha Takes on VFS Controversy
Harin Allegedly Orchestrated Journalist Attack on Tiran
Basil-Ranil Meetings Dismissed as Fabricated
Tiran’s Officials Avoid COPF Summons
Ranil to Share Power with Newcomer Dhammika
Harsha takes up the fight
The controversy surrounding the VFS Company has not subsided. With the opposition strongly questioning this issue both inside and outside parliament, the government swiftly convened a cabinet meeting and revoked the visa issuance rights previously granted to VFS Company, transferring them back to the Immigration Department. The government likely hoped this move would resolve the controversy. However, the problem persisted when the Parliament’s Finance Committee took up the task of investigating the transaction.
Dr. Harsha de Silva, Chairman of the Finance Committee, emphasized that since the country’s financial authority rests with the Parliament, they summoned officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the Immigration Department to question them about the transactions. The public eagerly awaited to learn the masterminds behind this transaction through the Finance Committee’s questioning. However, due to the officials’ announcement that they could not attend on the scheduled date, the opportunity for immediate answers was missed. Subsequently, last Tuesday, the Finance Committee issued another summons for the officials to appear before them
Despite this situation, opposition leader Mr Sajith Premadasa received a message on Tuesday morning stating that officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the Immigration Department planned to skip the Finance Committee meeting scheduled for that day. The message advised Sajith to be cautious about this plan. Sajith assured the messenger that he would keep an eye on the situation. However, it is unclear whether Sajith informed Harsha de Silva, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, about this.
Harsha explained that the officials claimed they could not find the relevant files due to a transfer of offices in 2016, using this as an excuse for their absence. Harsha emphasized to Parliament that this excuse was unacceptable, asserting that when the Finance Committee summons someone, they must attend. He warned that he would not hesitate to take strict action against non-compliant officials. Consequently, Harsha stated that measures would be taken to summon these officers before the Finance Committee again in the future
Why skip the committee?
With Harsha’s disclosure, a matter that many people in the parliament were talking about was that these officials had avoided the finance committee by not answering the questions asked by the finance committee. It was seen that some people said that they avoided this meeting because they were afraid that the masterminds behind the deal would be revealed in the face of these interrogations. However, the country is waiting for the Ministry of Public Security officials and immigration officials to appear before the Finance Committee.
The mighty son comes out
However, last week we made a special disclosure about this transaction through the ‘Inside Politics’ column, revealing that a powerful son of a prominent politician from the south was involved. Although we did not name the politician or his son, their identities surfaced on social media. This revelation came during a YouTube discussion between Keerthi Ratnayake and journalist Chamuditha Samarawickrama. Keerthi Ratnayake unveiled the VFS deal, naming Pasanda Yapa Abeywardena, son of Southern Province Governor Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, involved.
Keerthi Ratnayake also alleged that questions posed by a journalist to put Minister Tiran Alles in a difficult situation were orchestrated by Minister Harin Fernando. We cannot verify the truth of these claims, but now that they have been exposed in the media, anyone can file a case against Keerthi Ratnayake if the statements are false. However, many days have passed since this discussion, and no one has yet declared the statements false or announced legal action.
Meanwhile, during the cabinet decision notification meeting last Tuesday, journalists asked cabinet spokesperson Mr. Bandula Gunawardena about the VFS transaction. Notably, Bandula stammered in his responses, often saying, ‘I don’t know,’ ‘I don’t remember,’ and ‘I’ll find out and tell you,’ which reminded many of Duminda Silva’s notorious forgetfulness.
Basil and Ranil
Basil Rajapaksa, who is considered to be the mastermind of Pohottuwa, took steps to hold talks with President Ranil Wickremesinghe for the 8th time last week after his visit to Sri Lanka. Earlier, the Basil-Ranil meeting was a major news item in the media, but now it has less value in the media because of these meetings that happen every day. Otherwise, the same news is published in the media after those meetings. That is, Basil asked Ranil to conduct the general election, but Ranil refused.
However, from the beginning, the president was of the position that the presidential election should be held first. On several previous occasions, we also took steps to report this position of the President through the ‘inside politics’ column. In this regard, it is said that the decision to be taken regarding the first election was discussed in an extremely secret discussion held between four or five people very close to the President last week. Here, the President has taken steps to show his friends the advantage of holding the presidential election first and the disadvantages of holding the general election first.
Here are the pros and cons
‘Every time Basil comes, he tells me to hold a general election. But I have decided to go to the presidential election first. Because in a presidential election, the biggest advantage lies in the votes of the Tamil Muslim minority in the North and East. That’s where you can get more benefits in the presidential election. If you go before a general election, these minority votes will be divided. Minor parties are breaking up. Those votes are scattered. If I do that again, it will be very difficult for me to collect those votes in a presidential election. That is why I have decided to hold the presidential election first. If there is a general election, we don’t get an advantage from it.’
Earlier, we gave many hints about this strategy of the President in this column. There we said that the president has handed over a contract to some of his close friends to free the Tamil and Muslim leaders who are with SJB and bring them to him. We reported that the President had told his friends to take every possible step to remove Hakeem, Rishad and Mano Ganesan from SJB. The President had said so because he understood that he could gain the advantage of the upcoming presidential election through them.
Basil gets ready
When the President chooses future strategies in this way, it was noted that Basil is also choosing strategies these days with the aim of any election. Accordingly, Basil took steps to start the election operation office of Pohottuwa in Battaramulla last week. Also, Basil has decided to worship Srimaha Bodhi and Ruwanmaliseya on the 26th and start the election battle of Pohottuwa from Anuradhapura. Thus, Basil starts the election campaign targeting both the presidential election and the general election.
If the presidential election is held first, there is a lot of discussion within the party whether Mr. Dhammika Perera will be presented as the candidate for Pohottuwa, or whether Mr Ranil Wickramasinghe will be supported. Dhammika has already expressed his wish to run for the presidential election from Pohottuwa, and the president has also requested Pohottuwa to support him. However, in the discussions held with the President and in the discussions held within the party, Basil has informed that neither Pohottuwa nor Ranil can win the upcoming presidential election. Also, Basil has clearly stated that Mr Sajith Premadasa is at the forefront.
Will Dhammika and Ranil come together?
Despite the ongoing controversies, on the 10th, the President was unexpectedly seen attending a ceremony at Nelum Pokuna alongside Dhammika Perera, during an event organized by DP Education Institute. At this event, the President highly praised Dhammika. With the nomination of the presidential candidate on everyone’s lips, seeing Ranil and Dhammika together has sparked speculation about another political upheaval.
Many who witnessed the event believe there is a possibility that the Pohottu party might propose Dhammika and Ranil as the President-Prime Minister candidates to prevent a potential division within the party. In this scenario, Dhammika, as a new face, could be nominated for the presidency, while Ranil could be the prime ministerial candidate, with a proposal to grant Ranil more powers through constitutional amendments. Observers speculate that seeing Dhammika and Ranil on the same stage could be a rehearsal for this impending political strategy.
Dhammika’s reply
However, many people who were confused about this Dhammika Ranil harmony had arranged to ask Basil and Dhammika about it last week. When Dhammika was asked about it, the answer was that Dhammika would not be nominated as the prime ministerial candidate at all. According to us, Dhammika has no problem with running as the presidential candidate and Ranil as the prime ministerial candidate. If in any case Pohottuwa takes that decision, it is possible to see how Pohottuwa’s trump cards will be renewed in the next presidential election. In that case, many people think that there is a chance to avoid division within the party and move forward. But nothing has been announced so far whether Ranil would like to run as the prime ministerial candidate of Pohottuwa.
4 presidents in one table
Meanwhile, Mr. Wijayadasa Rajapaksa, the latest candidate for the presidential election, has also entered the role of a newsmaker these days. After Duminda Dissanayake was elected as the SLFP President last week, he went before the District Court for an injunction against the appointment, but the District Court refused to grant the injunction. However, last week, the wedding of Vijayadasa’s second son was held in a luxury hotel in Colombo, and it was seen that four presidents were together. They are Mahinda, Maithripala, Gotabaya and Ranl. Vijayadasa arranged for all of them to sit at the same table.
Another wonderful incident happened at the wedding of Vijayadasa’s son, who took the hand of a famous gem businessman’s daughter. That is on Namal Rajapakse. Namal was at a table which was quite far from the table where Ranil, Mahinda, Maithri and Gota were. Many people came to Namal and talked to him about the current politics and it was seen that Namal criticized the president very strongly. It was also noted how Namal blamed the injustices and carelessness done to Pohottuwa especially after Ranil being appointed as the President.
What Ranil said to Namal
However, one of the people who spoke with Namal put this in the President’s ear before a moment had passed. Accordingly, the next day, the President made a phone call to Namal and inquired about the information that came first.
When the president asked laughingly, ‘Why are you cursing me everywhere?’, Namal was surprised. Namal told the President that it would be beneficial for everyone to go for a general election first. It is reported that Namal has indicated to the President that it is not possible to win the presidential election, and if that happens, Pohottuwa will have to face a big problem.
However, many people who know about this call say that the President had called Namal like this not to talk about politics or to talk about past information, but to indicate to Namal that Namal scolded him in places. Also, to show that he has connections with the people Namal is talking to, and to convince Namal that his friends around him will also inform him about what Namal says.
Coming soon
From the day Mr Ranil Wickramasinghe sat in the President’s chair, big news carried through his family’s newspapers and all other media was that a large number of MPs from Samagi Jana Balavega were ready to leave Sajith and join the government to strengthen the hands of the President. On many occasions, this news was published through the media, and it was also read that 30 to 40 SJB MPs were going to join the government.
During the last budget also, the government carried out a big campaign and said that about 30 SJB MPs were ready to vote in favour of the budget. But no SJB MP voted in favour of the budget. The likes of Range Bandara and Harin Fernando said that a large number of people from SJB would get on the UNP platform for the May rally, but no one got to see how they got on the UNP platform. There, it was also said some SJB MPs who had promised to get on the UNP platform on May Day had left the country a few days before. Some MPs were hospitalized. Others said that they have not yet recovered from their surgeries.
However, it seems that the statements and published news that numbers coming from SJB, have now reached the final stage with the start of the presidential election heat. The government thought that some SJB personnel who have been in close association with the President, doing business and taking privileges in the past will leave SJB and Sajit and join the government at a very critical time. We had previously reported on several occasions through this column how several SJB MPs met the President night after night and made certain deals.
This column, reported the occasions when certain MPs went to the President’s official office in the Parliament and met the President. We have shown how some MPs went to Nuwara Eliya with their families when the President visited Nuwara Eliya and stayed in hotels adjacent to the hotel where the President was staying and did business with the President. We have published the secret discussions of some to obtain bar licenses and decentralized funds in this column. Accordingly, many people thought that this small group of people who took privileges from the President would leave SJB and join the government at a critical time.
Why not happening
But this situation has been turned upside down based on acceptable international opinion polls that have been released regarding the results of the upcoming presidential election in the last two or three months. All the opinion polls conducted by a certain institution which is accepted by everyone in the main line and by the intelligence services revealed that Sajith will get more than 40% of the votes in the next presidential election. The opinion polls revealed that Anura will get 20%, Pohottuwa 10% and UNP 5%. With that result, it was seen that the group of MPs who made a deal with the government took a step back.
A discussion in Iran’s office
However, as the heat of the presidential election started to feel, this SJB group, which had made a deal with the government, started receiving messages saying, ‘Now is the time… get ready to join Ranil…’. With this influence increasing from the side of the government, a group of SJB MPs decided to meet Mr. Iran Wickramaratne at his office in Polhengoda last week. Gampaha district councilor Kavinda Jayawardene was invited to the SJB MPs for this discussion. Harsha de Silva, Kabir Hashim, Rajitha Senaratne, J.C. Alavathuwala, Ajith Mannapperuma, Rohini Kaviratne, and Mayantha Dissanayake were in the meeting. When some MPs were invited to the discussion, it was clear what the underlying purpose was, but a group of MPs who joined the discussion were not present because they could not participate as requested.
About a month and a half ago, we reported on this column that an SJB MP who organized a similar discussion at the home of a prominent businessman took steps to invite not only Sajith but also the President. Pointing out that it was to build a relationship between the President and Sajith, we mentioned that they invited SJB MPs. In the end, we reported that Sajith did not join the discussion, only J.C. Alavathuwala and Sujith Sanjay Perera, who were the relatives of the invited MP, were present.
Harsha is in a tight spot
However, it was seen that all the MPs who were invited to the discussion held at Iran’s house were together. Although the meeting was held to discuss joining the government, the best thing to see was that all three Harsha-Iran-Kabir very strongly said that they could not do politics together with the President.
We cannot do politics together with Ranil. Can’t even govern. There are things we told people in the last election. Ranil said it was not possible, so we got out of there. So we cannot go back and govern together with Ranil…’ while Harasha-Iran-Kabir pointed out that only two or three people like Rajitha and Ajith Mannapperuma have commented that they should work together with the President.
However, within 2 hours of this discussion, all the information came to Sajith’s ears. But Sajith was not disturbed by any of that. Didn’t ask anyone about it. But the next morning, Kabir came and met Sajith and informed Sajith that such a discussion was held, where such and such matters were discussed and such and such people expressed such and such opinions.
Rajitha has come
Not only Kabir but even Rajitha, who was adamant that he should attend the discussion and go together with the President, came the next day and took steps to meet Sajith. By that time, it was understood that most of the people who were in the discussion would not join the government, and if they did, only a few people who made big deals with the president would go, so Sajith spoke to Rajitha from the position that it is okay to go to the government.
‘Rajitha, if you are going to the government, go. It doesn’t matter. That is what Sajith said to Rajitha, “But if you are here, stay inside the party.” There was another reason for Sajith to say so. That is because the other day Rajitha sat together with Ravi Karunanayake and held a press conference. From the phone calls that Sajith received continuously, it was said that the MPs left the UNP and created SJB due to many accusations against the leaders of the UNP, including bond fraud. Therefore, all those who spoke to Sajith had informed him to take immediate action against Rajitha and to let Rajitha go if he wanted to join the government.
Accordingly, Sajith told Rajitha to go to the government if necessary, but Rajitha told Sajith a terrible story.
Oh, I will not go to the government. I mean U.N.P. It’s just that we need to come together as one and in harmony. If it does not come together, I will go around the country and work for you to sit in the President’s chair…’ is what Rajitha told Sajith there.
Mayantha gets his father’s electorate
However, a special point should be mentioned regarding Mayantha Dissanayake who participated in this discussion. It is related to the fact that many rounds of special talks have already been held between Mayantha and Sajith. During these discussions, Mayantha had asked Sajith to come to the Nuwara Eliya district where his father held the position of organizer, and if possible, to give him the seat his father had contested. Sajith, who listened to Mayanta’s request, finally decided to remove him from Kandy Kundasala, where Mayanta currently holds the position of organizer, and give Nuwara Eliya to him and Sajith’s decided to give the leadership of Nuwara Eliya district to Mayanta.
The meeting of MPs heats up
Meanwhile, in the meeting of SJB MPs held last Monday, there was some talk about the meeting held at Iran’s house and the information that this meeting was held at the invitation of Kavinda Jayawardene. Many MPs accused Kavinda of taking many privileges from the government.
It has been discussed in this meeting that Ranil and Sajith should be brought together. But everyone should know that we are U.N.P. He got out because he could not work with Ranil. Because you can’t win with Ranil. We lost to Ranil and U.N.P. Because both were labelled as bond scammers. Ranil somehow became president with the help of Pohottuwa. Now Ranil is guarding Pohottuwa and Mahinda.
That is why the people of the village are tired of Ranil. We could not win then because Ranil and U.N.P. Because of the big bank fraud that happened together. That’s why people rejected us. Therefore, if we go back with Ranil, our current 40% vote share will drop to 20%. The people in the villages are so tired of Ranil. That’s why we say that those who want to go to Ranil should go. We are a new party now. We have no thieves. No murderers. There are no deal-makers. When the MPs said, ‘We have important people who will accept the country…’, Sajith, who heard all that, said that he is not going to join Ranil at all.
