Government MP Denied UK Visa, Raising Integrity Concerns
Internal Divisions in the NPP Government Escalate
SJB Waits Complacently, Failing to Launch LG Election Campaign
Concerns about the government’s low profile at the Defense Symposium
Unveiling the Hidden Reasons Behind Top Government Resignations
Fonseka’s Struggled Return to Politics
SJB-UNP Talks Intended to Weaken SJB
What will happen to Compass?
Contrary to the widely held belief that JVP and Compass remained united after the presidential and general elections, the Inside Politics column made a remarkable revelation just two weeks after the general election, signalling a gradual rift between the two parties. We shed light on JVP’s increasing consolidation of power and its manipulation of the government—an influence that visibly marginalized Compass.
Key indications of this divide included the strategic defeat of popular Compass candidates in certain electorates, with direct blame placed on JVP. Additionally, instances of harassment and neglect toward Malima members in rural areas have further exposed these tensions. As these disparities become more evident to the public, we take pride in having uncovered them before anyone else.
We highlighted the Rupavahini Corporation chairman Sunesh Bandara Dissanayake’s resignation which was the first to surface. Shanesh was appointed as the Chairman of the National Television by Vijitha Herath who was the minister in charge of mass media. This was in the Anura – Harini – Vijitha cabinet.
Shanesh was noted for his genuine attempts towards cleaning the corporation which was full of corruption using his skills and professional knowledge backed by vast experience during the short span he served as Chairman. Post general election saw the ministry being entrusted to Dr Nalinda Jayatissa and after this change, Shanesh’s sudden resignation was reported. Many felt and commented reason for the resignation was the disagreement that cropped up with the new minister. However, Sureshe’s FB post denied these speculations and said that he had accepted the Chairman’s position for only three months and as the period lapsed he resigned and indicated he would assume a new role with national responsibilities.
However, it is yet unknown whether Senesh has assumed such responsibility which affirms leaving Rupavahini could be due to a disagreement.
Ramal’s resignation
Following Senesh last week saw another Chairman resigning. Ramal Siriwardena a former SLTB chairman who had served in this capacity four times before being appointed once again as the Chairman of SLTB by the minister of Transport of the new government resigned.
Ramal’s first stint as Chairman was under the Chandrika Bandaranayake government. Many hold the view during his tenure as the SLTB Chairman. He has taken various productive measures to improve SLTB. He has been involved in politics with SLFP since Chandrika’s government and filed a nomination as Malimawa candidate during the last local government election from Gampaha district because he has a very close relationship with Gampaha district powerhouse of government Vijitha Herath.
When Anura, Vijitha and Harini formed the cabinet, Ramal was once again given the position of SLTB Chairman because of his close relationship with Vijitha.
Ramal too resigned once the minister was changed, ironically both Shanesh and Ramal were appointed by Minister Vijitha Herath. In this instance many opine that disagreement with the minister Bimal Ratnayaka was the reason for this. Further to this some opinion surfaced Ramal had to face something greater than what Shanesh had to face with the respective minister.
Media attention was well received for Ramal’s resignation and it is said President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka too had directly spoken to Ramal and pacified him not to get carried away and things could be sorted out through amicable discussions. Minister Vijitha Hearath too had reportedly spoken to Ramal assured to resolve the matter. It is believed president and the minister speaking to Ramal is an indication to prevent Ramal making a statement to the media on his resignation.
However, most significantly Bimal Ratnayake is believed by many as the next JVP leader and any decision would not be taken against him under any circumstances.
Before the heat got subsided another Chairman appointed by the Malima government also resigned from his position. Monty Ranatunga who was appointed by the government as the Chairman of Housing Development Authority during Anura- Harini- Vijitha cabinet tendered his resignation from his post. Monty Ranatunga forwarded a lengthy letter along with his resignation to Minister Dr Anura Karunathilaka on Friday. This too could be a crisis added to the previous two within the government.
JVP-Malima conflict
Indications are that these attacks on Malimawa were deliberate attacks by the JVP within the government.
Although only a few incidents have surfaced, signs suggest that many more conflicts are simmering within the government, yet to come to light.
We previously reported, even before the general elections, on the ongoing cold war between these two factions. It is evident that while Malima cadres are not part of the JVP, they have been left stranded, politically isolated, and without direction. They have no one to turn to for support or redress. Despite holding a powerful position in the government, their leader, Harinie, appears helpless. Unlike other ministers who publicly defend the government, Harinie only speaks in its favour within parliament and remains silent outside. This political inaction has left the Malimawa groups in uncertainty, without any backing..
Visa denied to Compass MP
It is reported the British High Commission in Sri Lanka refused a visa to a government MP who was nominated to attend the workshop on artificial intelligence security organized by the London branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
As requested by the hosts two MPs from the government and two from the opposition were to be nominated to attend this. As per this two government MPs one representing the hill country and the SJB Matara district MP Chatura Galappathi were nominated.
British High Commission granted Visas for Chatura Galappathi and other government MPs but refused visa to the MP nominated who represent the upcountry by the government.
This incident attracted many social media and media uproar. There are various reasons cited by many for the denial of visa on the government MP however neither the government nor the British High Commission has issued any statement on the refusal.
Chatura Galappathi posted a FB picture posing with the Sri Lankan-born former minister Ranil Jayawardena in the UK. Many other politicians and others confirmed the visa denial of NPP government MP however no one was certain about the reason for the denial.
‘Inside Politics’ column records its serious concern about this. This is a rare incident. The ruling party nominated MP’s visa denial looks very suspicious. The USA or Britain normally denies visas to a person if the person is accused of serious fraud, money laundering, or war crimes. This prompts many to conclude the High Commission is giving some clues to the public by this refusal. We believe this is an eye-opener for the government to act.
Mahinda returns to the fray
The Criminal Investigation Department last week arrested the second son of former President Mahinda Rajapakse. Two special teams were deployed to arrest Yohitha Rajapakse. The criminal investigation department leaving Colombo last Saturday arrested Yohitha coming out of the Agununukola Pallessa exit of the southern expressway.
Mahinda Rajapakse was organising seven-day Pirth sermons at his official residence at Wijerama Mawatha Colombo during this time. With the absence of a very few all pohottuwa MPs and ministers were to be invited for this religious programme. Organising this was entrusted to Namal Rajapakse and on his behalf his personnel secretary Sanjaya handled the organizing work.
However, subsequently, the organizing was taken over by the Ratnapura Pohottuwa strongman Janaka Wakkumbura who had invited all scattered pohottuwa politicians. Mawrata website reported this and it was communicated as a Pirith chanting and a meeting of all members. Many journalists and camara crew gathered at Wijerama residence to report this event as news of importance.
However, an order had been received from the top not to invite two or three former strongmen of the Pohottuwa. Those who did not receive Mahinda’s invitation were Nimal Lanza, Mahindananda Aluthgamage and several others who had recently gone to Ranil’s side and made a mockery of the Pohottuwa.
Wakkumbura had taken steps to invite three powerful Pohottuwa members who had joined Ranil, Kanchana Wijesekera of Matara, Ramesh Pathirana of Galle and Shehan Semasinghe of Anuradhapura. All three had informed Wakkumbura that since they were out of Colombo at that time, it would be difficult for them to attend.
However, according to the information we have, Kanchana, Ramesh and Semasinghe have decided to meet Mahinda and Namal separately at a later date and hold discussions. It is also understood that all three are ready to meet Mahinda and Namal separately and discuss the issues affecting them. In particular, their argument has been regarding the recent behaviour of Sagara Kariyawasam, the General Secretary of the Pohottuwa.
The message conveyed to them by Mahinda and Namal during discussions on this matter is that Sagara’s issue is not a big one and can be resolved and that Sagara made this not as his decision but as approved by the party seniors at the time. However, despite working closely with Ranil in the past, their preference is to once again join hands with the Pohottuwa in politics, according to the ‘Inside politics’ column.
Accordingly, the seven-day Pirith sermon held at Mahinda’s house last week can be described as not only a meritorious act but also a political step taken to reunify the Pohottuwa with the aim of the upcoming local government elections. Through this meritorious act, it was also clearly seen that all the parties that had broken away from the Pohottuwa were brought back under Mahinda’s shadow.
While the Pohottuwa was preparing for the upcoming local government elections, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party was preparing to bring out the old chair symbol once again and contest the local government elections.
Accordingly, the SLFP leaders have also been seen these days engaged in a campaign to unite the groups that broke away from the SLFP. In particular, they have paid more attention to the groups that have not decided to join Pohottuwa to join the party again. Accordingly, last week, the SLFP leaders had taken steps to hold a special discussion with groups like Nimal Lanza who was rejected by the Pohottuwa. Channa Jayasumana, representing Dilith’s universal power, and Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, a former strongman of the Pohottuwa.
Fonseka returns
While the Pohottuwa and the SLFP are mobilizing for the local government elections, the most ridiculous thing is that Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, who did not even contest the general election for fear of losing and suffering a crushing defeat in the presidential election, has also embarked on a campaign to build a political alliance.
Fonseka organized a political discussion at his home last week and invited a large number of opposition representatives such as Nimal Lanza, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Ravi Karunanayake, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, and Iran Wickramaratne.
In this discussion, Fonseka emphasized that a large alliance should be built against corruption. However, the information we have indicates that when Fonseka talked about building an alliance against corruption, some of the people present there laughed at some of the people who had been invited. It is also reported that some people who were coming out after the meeting ended laughed and said, ‘Fonseka has only talked about some dead bodies to ally against corruption.’ The ‘Inside Politics’ column has also learned that some people got up in the middle of the discussion and left the gathering. It is noted that this anti-corruption alliance, which is said to have been formed under the leadership of Fonseka, has become a joke on the first day.
UNP-SJB talks
Amidst all these alliance talks, the SJB-UNP alliance talk has become the topic of discussion for many. Last week, we made several revelations in this regard and pointed out that these alliance talks are a game being played by Ranil to destroy Sajith and SJB. Last week, we revealed how a discussion was held in a house in the mountains regarding this, and how a businessman close to Ranil and a powerful woman participated in it.
We also reported that during that discussion, a plan was discussed to drag out the alliance talks and bring several SJB MPs to the UNP at the last minute. We also revealed that several SJB members who do not understand grassroots politics and who express their opinions just by seeing a microphone are engaged in a campaign to tie SJB-UNP.
However, during the discussions held over the past two weeks, one thing that the UNP leaders have understood is that the MPs in the party are not ready to leave the SJB under any circumstances. This is because there is no UNP in the villages, let alone a name, and the UNP has dissolved at the village level to the point where it is not possible to find a candidate even for the local government elections.
Accordingly, the UNP’s latest plan is to bring the inactive village-level SJB organizers and the defeated SJB popular political figures back to the UNP and break away MPs in the party due to the lack of ideology. Ranil has entrusted this operation to Thalatha and Ruwan. Accordingly, it can be seen that both of them have already started making phone calls to the SJB grassroots-level constituency organizers and the defeated popular figures and trying to lure them to the UNP.
In addition, another plan launched by the UNP is to sabotage the talks at the last minute by presenting a series of proposals that the SJB cannot agree with in any way. Accordingly, it is reported that the proposal is scheduled to be presented to the UNP-SJB negotiation table in the next round of negotiations. The UNP is preparing to present a series of proposals that are not acceptable in this way to drag out the negotiations and gain the necessary time to bring the village-level organizers of the SJB back into the UNP.
Although this plan of the UNP has been difficult to grasp for some high-level leaders of the SJB to understand, it appears that it has become very clear to the village SJB leaders through the statements made by Rohana Bandara, the SJB leader in Anuradhapura, to the media last week. He told the media that although the UNP-SJB merger is good, its symbol should be a telephone and the party leader should be Sajith. In addition, Suranga Ratnayake, a new MP from Anuradhapura, also expressed his views to the media and said that even if the UNP joins with the SJB, Sajith should not be treated unfairly.
Suranga Ratnayake stated that if the UNP, which is talking about joining today, had joined in the presidential election, Sajith would have been the leader of the country by now, and that in that case there would be a UNP-SJB government. In addition, former local government members, provincial council members and electoral organizers associated with the SJB representing the Kandy district have already strongly informed the party leaders that no one other than the SJB representatives should be given a chance from the SJB list in the upcoming local government elections and that people who cannot win in a vote are currently trying to infiltrate local government institutions from the SJB list.
The government is keen
However, the President has already announced that all arrangements have been made to hold the local government elections by early April. The government can be seen preparing for it because the President has already started touring the country holding friendly meetings. However, there is still no sign of preparations for the local government elections from the SJB side, and many of the party’s seniors can be seen still engaged in UNP-SJB alliance discussions.
Here, there is another point that should be said to some SJB leaders who have high hopes for this merger. That is, the government is also waiting for this merger to happen. They have also planned to launch a massive propaganda campaign saying that the SJB has joined the thieves as soon as it joins the UNP. In the past, a strong attack was launched on the UNP leaders, calling them bank robbers, land robbers, gas robbers, oil robbers, coal robbers, etc., and many investigations are still underway in this regard.
It is also possible to learn that the government has already collected audio recordings containing the accusations made against the UNP leaders by SJB members when they left the UNP. Accordingly, the government is preparing to launch a massive digital propaganda campaign, saying that thieves joined the UNP as soon as SJB joined. As an initial step, last week, a certain party took steps to release a video clip on social media using the images of Ranil, Sajith, Mahinda and Maithri saying ‘Back to us’.
Therefore, we tell some SJB parrots involved in the SJB-UNP discussions who are spying on the ‘Mawrata’ newspaper that we have found all the information about these parrot leaders before they look for us. We must also state that we are not afraid of these parrot leaders. Therefore, we only have to say to those parrot leaders who are wearing the suits of leadership that we are ready to present all your information to the country and the people at the right time.
In the midst of all this, Sajith embarked on a new task last week. That was to meet with the leaders of the opposition parties and discuss how to act as a joint opposition in the face of the government’s program. Accordingly, a group of opposition MPs including Ravi Karunanayake, Mano Ganesan, Palani Digambaram, Shanakyan Rasamanikkam participated in that discussion.
A big legal battle
In addition, Namal Rajapaksa, who had been widely reported to be arrested in the past few days, has also recently started working on leading the party targeting the local government elections. Accordingly, Namal is preparing to start the election campaign in Pohottuwa from Anuradhapura on Saturday.
Meanwhile, an indictment was filed against Namal, who was scheduled to be arrested on charges of money laundering, last week before the Colombo High Court. This was based on the Krish transaction. Namal had made a special note on his Twitter account in this regard.
‘I read in the media that the Attorney General has filed a charge sheet against me in the case related to the Krish Company. During the Yahapalana government, when this matter was initially investigated, this matter was referred to the Attorney General 8 years ago. Under the current government, an indictment has been filed today after 8 years. The current government has launched a political hunt against the Rajapaksa family.
I have faith in the judiciary and believe that justice will prevail. The charges were fabricated against us, and it seems that the National People’s Power government believes that it can divert attention from their failures in governing the country and reduce the serious burden faced by the people. However, their shortcomings will soon be revealed for all to see. The government cannot hide their failures behind the attacks on the Rajapaksa family for long. I strongly and sincerely hope and believe that justice will prevail above all else,’ it said.
However, the Pohottuwa group including Namal has now decided to enter into a massive legal battle regarding the cases filed against the Rajapaksa family and the Pohottuwa activists. Accordingly, it is reported in the ‘Inside Politics’ column that Namal and his group have held discussions with a large number of prominent lawyers over the past few days. One of the issues that the legal team has informed is that it should be investigated whether there is a possibility of filing a fundamental rights petition against the arrest of Yoshitha Rajapaksa twice for the same charge.
In addition, it is understood that there has been a lengthy discussion on how to file a case against Nimal Perera. However, based on all these facts, a legal battle could be expected in future.
Anura’s Game plan
Amidst all this, the President is currently preparing to present the inaugural budget of the Malima government to Parliament on the 17th. The government is currently using this budget as the biggest trump card to escape the accusations being levelled at the government from various quarters. Sources in the ‘Inside Politics’ column say that the President has planned to present this budget as a popular and election budget. In particular, no new tax levy will be presented through this budget, and it is reported that the President has planned to provide many concessions to the people through this budget, including salary increases for public servants. It is also learned that a new policy will be presented in this budget regarding loss-making state institutions and profit-making institutions such as Sri Lanka Insurance and Telecom.
Less attention to Summit?
Through the ‘inside politics ‘column, we reported that Western countries, led by India and the US, were paying special attention and closely observing the President’s visit to China. We said that these countries were watching what the President was doing in China, what agreements he was signing, etc. In addition, not revealing to any media, we said that views were also exchanged on allowing Chinese research vessels, which had been banned until now, to enter Sri Lankan waters in the Indian Ocean again. Confirming this, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath also expressed his views on the matter at a media briefing. At that time, Vijitha said that a committee had been appointed to prepare new criteria for the entry of those research vessels into Sri Lankan waters.
However, after the end of the President’s visit to China, another important summit was held in Sri Lanka from January 28th to 30th. It was organized with the intervention of the National Defense College of Australia. Although it was not widely publicized, the focus of this conference was on the new situations developing in the Indian Ocean region. Due to its importance, almost all major countries have taken steps to involve experts in the fields of naval, research, fisheries, coast guard, etc., and all civilian institutions. In addition, the highest representatives of the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime were also seen participating in it.
Last year, this conference was held in India. This time, it was decided to hold it in Sri Lanka because new situations were developing in the Indian Ocean region. But the problem was whether Sri Lanka was reading it correctly, even though other major states had paid more attention to it considering its importance. Because only the Navy was involved in it from the Sri Lankan side, and other important institutions such as the NARA Institute, Customs, and the Fisheries Corporation, etc., and civilian institutions, did not participate. Many believe that Sri Lanka lost the opportunity to exchange highly sensitive information that they had.
However, the fact that Russia and China did not attend this conference was also a special event. Although there is no clear information about whether they deliberately boycotted the conference, whether they did not attend because Western countries were participating in the conference, or whether they did not attend for some other reason, their absence seemed to have attracted the attention of many.
In addition, there is also news that there was some doubt among this group about why Sri Lanka gave less importance to the conference. Since this incident occurred after the President visited China, there was room for some to misinterpret it, so it is only necessary to mention here that it is the responsibility of the government to intervene in this matter immediately, draw attention to this extremely sensitive issue, and dispel any doubts that may arise.
