Did the diaspora boycott the meeting with the President..?
The government’s continuous dead ropes…!
Who paid the bill for the flopped dinner in London…?
President Ranil Wickremesinghe made his first foreign visit to Britain to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth. The President prepared for this visit so long that he took steps to declare the Queen’s funeral day as a day of mourning in Sri Lanka. After some time, the President also raised the British flag in front of the Presidential Secretariat. It was seen that some people in the government were expressing different opinions regarding the raising of the British flag.
While some people said it was appropriate to do so, Wimal ‘s group said it was a slave mentality and it was unacceptable to act in this way when Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain. However, the President acted in this manner and left for Britain, must have had some plan in mind. Because Britain has a strong role among the countries representing the central group in the proposal that has already been submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Commission regarding Sri Lanka.
Tone down the resolution
Through this trip to Britain, the President may have thought to tone down the resolution or to renew broken relations with Britain. On the other hand, a large number of state leaders, including American President Joe Biden, were scheduled to attend the Queen’s funeral, so meeting and holding discussions with state leaders may have been another purpose of Ranil’s visit to Britain.
However, there was another plan for the President’s trip to Britain. That is to meet and hold discussions with diaspora leaders in Britain, the world’s strongest Tamil diaspora. As a step to recover from the financial crisis that the country is currently facing, the President also took steps to lift the ban on many Tamil diaspora organizations that had been banned from receiving money belonging to the Tamil diaspora to Sri Lanka. Apart from this, the President also proceeded to lift the ban on many Tamil Diaspora leaders who were on the banned list. Among them was the name of Suren Surendran, who lives in Britain as the strongest member of the Tamil diaspora.
Ranil’s UK trip
It is a special incident that even though the president removed the ban on diaspora organizations and diaspora leaders, Sri Lanka has not received even one dollar from them. Therefore, while paying his last respects to the Queen, meeting with these Tamil Diaspora leaders, discussing with them and obtaining aid for Sri Lanka was another purpose of the President’s trip to Britain.
Therefore, it should now be weighed whether all the goals aimed at by the President’s visit to Britain were accomplished in the same way. If not, it is about whether Sri Lanka got the expected results of that visit.
No head of states met..?
However, during this visit to Britain, we did not see the President meeting so many heads of state. The photographs released by the Presidential Media Unit only showed the President meeting two heads of state. That’s just the photo of him meeting King Charles and the photo of him meeting the Head of the Commonwealth. The President had met Charles when Charles had come to thank everyone who had attended the funeral.
Mission to meet leaders
In this way why Ranil could not meet the main leaders of the state during his visit to Britain? As we know, the President had taken steps to launch a separate mission to meet the heads of state before going to Britain. The President had handed it over to his close friend Mr. Neranjan Devaditya. Although Neranjan Devaditya was born in Sri Lanka, he is based in Britain. He was also a Member of Parliament representing the British ruling party, the Conservative Party.
Due to this, Neranjan has great connections not only with high-ranking ministers of the British government but also with diplomats. Also, as soon as Ranil assumed the presidency, steps were taken to give Neranjan Devadith a new position as the senior adviser in charge of foreign affairs in Europe and Western countries. Because of the special relations with the British government, Ranil thought and Neranjan had pointed out to the President that during this visit, all the high-ranking leaders of Britain would meet the President.
Expensive dinner a flop… who settles the bill?
Accordingly, while Ranil was in Britain, Neranjan invited top British ministers and organised a dinner. Neranjan also took steps to invite the leaders of other countries. Neranjan chose the ‘Army and Navy Club’, a luxury hotel on St James’s Street, for the banquet. This dinner was the decisive moment of the President’s trip to Britain, as many heads of state had been invited and the President was hoping that many heads of state would attend. Since both the dinner and the Queen’s funeral took place at the same time, the President also came to the dinner after paying his last respects to the Queen.
However, from the information we have received, it is said that although a large number of heads of state were invited, the dinner was a utter failure. Even though Neranjan Devaditya is a member of the British ruling party, the Conservative Party, or a member of parliament representing that party, at least the party’s high-ranking leaders or ministers did not participate in this dinner.
David Cameron attends
Only David Cameron, who was a former Prime Minister of Britain many years ago, participated in it as a figure known to the world to some extent. Accordingly, the President, who was expecting a large group of state leaders, must have had all hopes dashed as soon as he saw this situation.
And it is certain that a huge amount of money was spent to organize this dinner at the super hotel called Army and Navy Club. If that is the case, there is no information about whether the money was paid by the government, or whether it was paid by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Britain, or whether Neranjan Devaditya paid it, but it can only be said that the money spent on the banquet was wasted due to the failure of the banquet.
Flop with Diaspora..?
The next most special discussion of the President’s visit to Britain was the discussion organized with the British Diaspora. The responsibility of organizing this discussion was entrusted to the officials of the Sri Lankan High Commission in Britain. Accordingly, since the ban on many diaspora organizations had already been lifted, the High Commission officials had taken steps to invite all the Tamil diaspora organizations and their leaders, especially Suren Surendran, in Britain. Accordingly, the High Commission hoped that a large number of people would come to this meeting representing the Tamil diaspora.
But this meeting also had the same fate as the dinner organized by Neranjan Devaditya. That is, it was a special event that no representative representing the Tamil diaspora participated in it. The reason for this was that upon receiving the invitation, a large campaign was launched among the Tamil diaspora that they should not participate in this discussion.
Geneva allegations
In particular, due to the fact that the Geneva Human Rights Commission has made serious allegations that Sri Lanka is violating human rights and a serious question has arisen about the mandate of the government, the President’s discussion should be boycotted through that campaign. Accordingly, no Tamil diaspora representative or organization participated in it, but only one Tamil priest and one other person participated in it. All the others in the gathering were representatives of the Sinhalese and Muslim diaspora.
And another information that has been reported to us says that Neranjan Devaditya, the president’s close friend, has tried to boycott this meeting. It is said that a heated argument between Neranjan and the officials of the High Commission was caused by a letter sent by Neranjan stating that he was a senior adviser to the President while organizing the dinner at the Army and Navy Club Hotel. Due to this, it has been learned that Neranjan has taken steps to boycott this diaspora meeting organized by the High Commission.
How many heads of states president met..?
The next question about the President’s visit to Britain arose when a photo of him talking to King Charles was released to the media. Even though the state leaders of many countries participated in the event, the Presidential Media Unit released to the media only a photo of the President and King Charles engaged in a conversation. Accordingly, several questions cannot be avoided through this image. One of the questions is whether the President had discussions with powerful head of state to release a photograph. As the president attended this funeral to meet and discuss with the state leaders, it is a question whether he had an opportunity to do so or not.
After the funeral ceremony of the British Queen, the President attended the funeral ceremony of the former Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Shinzo Abe as his second foreign visit. There is a big story behind the President’s trip to Japan. Before the President assumed the post of Prime Minister, a story told by UNP seniors through the media was that Ranil has great relations with Japan and that as soon as Ranil arrives, he will receive a grant of 4 billion dollars from Japan.
Government’s dead rope
But at the same time, we emphasized through the ‘Rajya Rahas’ column , through the ‘Mawrata’ newspaper and through the our website that this news is completely false and that no such aid money or grant will be received from Japan at all. When we said that, not only the ministers of the government but also some of the opposition have swallowed the government’s dead rope.
After this loan, the second loan given by the government to the country was the IMF loan. He said that Japan is ready to take the lead in the debt restructuring program in obtaining loan assistance. The government also said that it was planning to hold a debt conference in Japan. The surprising thing was that this news was even reported by the world-renowned news agency Reuters.
Reuters report
After Reuters reported this story, the Sri Lankan media started reporting the news. But at that time too, we said again that the news is completely false and that Japan has not decided to hold such a conference. In the end, the Japanese foreign minister confirmed what we said and told the world that Japan did not intend to hold such a conference. Accordingly, the second excuse given by the government was also confirmed to be a lie.
Plan to meet head of states
The President left for Japan amid such an atmosphere. One of the president’s plans during his visit to Britain as well as his visit to Japan was to discuss with the heads of state who would attend Abe’s funeral. Another purpose of the discussion was to discuss the debt restructuring program with Japan. Accordingly, in Japan, the President took steps to officially discuss it with the Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. After these discussions, the announcement issued by the government said that the president’s talks with Japan regarding debt restructuring were successful and Japan agreed to it.
Facts put right by Japanese embassy
However, a few hours after the government issued this announcement, something strange happened. The Japanese Embassy in Sri Lanka issued an announcement containing information on the discussion held by the President with the Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
Although it is a common tradition to issue a joint announcement based on the agreement of both parties in such meetings, this time the announcement issued by the Japanese Embassy did not mention anything about the government. Instead, using a very delicate diplomatic language, it was stated that Sri Lanka should work in a manner that is transparent and in accordance with international rules in carrying out development activities.
Accordingly, no matter what the government said, as soon as we saw this announcement, we realized that Japan had given the government a sneaky punch through this announcement. This is because the Japanese ambassador has recalled the complaint made by the Japanese ambassador to former President Gotabhaya regarding Minister Nimal Siripala in this announcement.
Nimal’s incident haunting.?
Although Gota had taken steps to remove Nimal from the ministry after notifying the allegation of bribery from the Japanese Taisei company, it is clear through this announcement that Japan is worried about re-appointing him to the same position. After this incident, Sri Lanka was deprived of a big relief that was supposed to be received from Japan, and the Japanese Taisai Company also took steps to leave behind Sri Lanka by leaving the development activities of Katunayake Airport.
Accordingly, as per to the announcement issued by the embassy this time, if the debt is restructured, Japan has imposed a condition that all creditor countries should work from one basis. Accordingly, it is clear through these events that the President’s visit to Japan was not as successful as expected.
Why transit at Singapore?
However, this time we are ready to reveal to the country through the ‘Rajya rahas’ column fact that has not been revealed so far regarding the President’s visit to Japan. That is, the President had landed in Singapore while leaving for Japan. Normally, there is a direct flight from Colombo to Japan’s Narita Airport and a flight that goes via Singapore, but the President chose to leave for Japan last Monday on a Singapore Airlines flight that goes to Japan via Singapore.
The plane left Katuna at 12.50 am on Sunday, and. Landed in Singapore at around 7.20. Accordingly, the President has taken steps to stay in Singapore for several hours. According to unofficial information circulating in the political sphere, the President met and discussed with a powerful Dravidian minister of the Singapore government. The Dravidian minister is considered to have close relations with the President’s advisor Mr. Sagala Ratnayake as well as the Rajapaksa family. Even when Gota went to Singapore, the Dravidian minister came to City Hotel and discussed with him, the media reported at that time.
Meeting a special friend in Singapore
In addition to this, another unofficial rumor that is currently spreading says that the President also met another special person related to Sri Lanka who he knows very well during this trip.
One of the serious accusations leveled after Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe assumed the office of President was the allegation that the youths who were engaged in a peaceful struggle at the Galle face were assaulted by the security forces and removed from there. At that time, the president was accused of a serious violation of human rights. Although it has been a while since the heat has ended, the social and political sphere has once again been disturbed due to a new gazette issued by the President.
High security zone gazette
This coincided with the issuance of a special gazette by the President naming many high security zones. The President had signed this gazette before leaving the island to attend the funeral ceremony of the former Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe, which was his second visit, and at the same time, not only the political field but also the legal community was disturbed.
Bar association to litigate
The result was that Mr. Saliya Peiris, who is the President of the Bar Association, said that it was illegal for the President to announce these high security zones, and that the ‘State Secrets’ Act cannot be used to designate high security zones, and that the Bar Association is preparing to take legal action against it. . Not only the Bar Association but also the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawega immediately said that they will immediately take legal action against this illegal act of the President.
However, the President also came to know from various sources that a great controversy has arisen in Sri Lanka after the President went to Japan after signing this Gazette. Accordingly, the President immediately took steps to discuss this matter with the Attorney General and his friendly lawyers and several heads of the security forces from Japan. There they also asked the President what were the reasons that influenced the issuing of a gazette naming such high security zones. The people who spoke to the President were able to know the real story behind the designation of high security zones.
Ranil’s discussions from Japan
Accordingly, the President has informed this group that a group of senior government officials and representatives of the security forces came and made a presentation (a presentation) before leaving for Japan, where some groups are planning a powerful attack on former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. that he had been informed. Accordingly, the President informed the group that he had designated these high security zones. However, the legal team has indicated to the President that through this incident, a negative impact is emerging on the country internationally, and many parties are planning to take legal action against it. In this case, this group pointed out to the President that there is a possibility of getting an unfavorable decision in the court.
Consultation with IGP
After presenting these facts, the President immediately spoke to the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police and took steps to inquire fully about this matter. According to the news we have, after receiving this information, the President has asked the Attorney General from Japan whether there is a possibility of canceling the relevant high security zone designation gazette.
But the Attorney General has informed that it is not possible to do so and the President’s signature is required to cancel it. Accordingly, the Attorney General has been informed to prepare the relevant notification for signing as soon as the President arrives in Sri Lanka. However, several parties led by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya had already filed fundamental rights petitions against this gazette announcement before the Supreme Court.
will Ranil reverse the gazette
Former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was usually the one who was supposed to reverse the gazettes in the past. Many of the gazettes issued by him during the Gotabhaya period had been taken to be reversed due to some objections. However, if the high security zone gazette is reversed after the president comes to Sri Lanka, it will go down in the record books as the first gazette to be reversed under the current president.
Also, many other information related to this incident which we cannot disclose have been received in the ‘Rajya Rahas’ column. According to that information, we have received information that there will be several changes in the security forces after the President returns to Sri Lanka. In this regard, the ‘Rajya Rahas’ column has come to know that the President has engaged in many long discussions while in Japan, and many tough decisions have been taken there.
Basil active from US
These days Mr. Basil Rajapaksa has left for America. Accordingly, we made a special revelation about Basil last week and revealed that his 20-year-old mobile phone number had been deactivated. Basil used to keep his mobile phone active 24 hours a day wherever he went in the world and make sure to do business with Sri Lanka. But this time, Basil’s old mobile phone number was disconnected, so it was difficult for even Basil’s close friends to contact him. But he had taken steps to share ideas with the people he wanted from America through another new phone number called Basil.
According to the ‘Rajya Rahas’ has come to know, Basil has informed several people who have spoken to him from America that several political changes are likely to happen within the next few days. It is also known that many people have informed Basil about all the new issues and conflicts that are currently emerging within the government. According to this, Basil has also prepared many plans on how to deal with the scandal in the government in the coming period.
MR getting active once again
It has been learned that former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has been away from active politics for the past while Basil was making plans like this, has once again broken his silence and decided to re-enter politics. Accordingly, throughout the last week, Mahinda called many of his political friends to his official residence to discuss the current situation in the country. There, an exchange of views was seen between Mahinda and these political friends regarding former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
Blame game
Many of those who came here pointed out to Mahinda that the actions of former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa greatly affected the decline of the Pohottu government. In the past, when other parties were criticizing Gota in this way, Mahinda defended Gota and did not say anything wrong about him. But the surprising thing was that during the last few days when the friends who came to him were criticizing Gota, for the first time Mahinda joined them in criticizing Gota.
Yes, Gota, ate it all. The pohottuwa was also destroyed. Now we have to start all over again… When Mahinda shared his views about Gota with them, they looked at each other with surprise because Mahinda had never spoken a word against Gota.
Family reunion by Namal
However, it came to Namal’s ears that he had started criticizing Mahinda Gota without ever having done so. Accordingly, Namal organized a special discussion between the Rajapaksa comrades to restore the unity of the Rajapaksa family. There was one more special reason for that. It is that there has been some ill will between Basil and Chamal. The reason was that Chamal had given instructions to Gota to make some wrong decisions.
Issues within the government
Accordingly, Namal had come to know that Basil had severely criticized Chamal in several places. Accordingly, Namal prepared to hold a special discussion last week by bringing together Mahinda – Gota – Chamal and Basil. In general, we have reported on several occasions in this column before that no matter what the issues are between the Rajapaksa comrades, they come to one table at a critical moment, sit together, discuss and make decisions. According to Namal’s mission last week, the Rajapaksa family once again came to the same table to hold talks. Basil took steps to participate in this discussion from America through online technology. Although Mahinda, Gota and Basil participated in the discussion, we have not received any confirmed news about whether Chamal joined it.
However, in this discussion, Mahinda, Gota, Basil, and Namal took steps to discuss at length the issues that have arisen within the government and within Pohottuwa. As a result of that discussion, the group worked to make a number of tough decisions. A number of special decisions were taken here on how to proceed within the government and how to proceed within the parliament.
Father, uncle and nephew discussions
Apart from this, the main decision taken in the discussion was that since this is a government with a majority of Pohottu members, it should be considered as a Pohottu government. It was also decided that there should be complete intervention in appointing people to positions. The group also discussed the possible effects and responses of doing so. A number of decisions were also made about the responses to such pressures and responses during the group meeting and within the government.
LG elections and Rajapakses
Apart from this, there was a discussion between the Rajapaksa regarding the local government election. There, Basil had clearly indicated that even though the President, the United National Party and the JVP have used various tactics to postpone the local government election once again, they should not fall for them and conduct the local government election as scheduled. Basil, who pointed out that these parties are trying to postpone the local government election because they understand that they are at a disadvantage, and that they should not be caught in the political agenda, said that they should stand for the holding of the local government election together with the Election Commission. Mahinda, Gota and Namal also agreed to that.
Mahinda Gota secret discussion
After this discussion ended, another special discussion started between Mahinda and Gota in a room inside the house. The ‘Rajya Rahas’ column has heard that many special matters were discussed during the discussion, which was limited to only the two. In particular, it has been discussed here that Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa got the mandate in the last presidential election, and Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa got the mandate in the general election, and accordingly it has been decided to act according to that mandate in the future. It has also been confirmed by Gota and Gota has also pointed out that Mahinda should return to the arena and act according to this mandate. Accordingly, it is known that in the future, Mahinda will actively return to politics and act according to the mandate given to Pohottuwa.
Gota back to politics
Meanwhile, last week we made a special disclosure that a plan to bring Gota back to politics is underway along this column. There, we said that a certain member of the Wimal party, who is independent from the government, and a businessman have taken root for this. This time we are unveiling a brand new cabinet minister who has joined the fray. That cabinet minister is a character who worked very closely with Gota in the past. Accordingly, in the last few days, this cabinet minister also went to meet Gota and held discussions regarding bringing Gota back into politics, building a political friendship between Gota and Ranil and establishing a Gota-Ranil government. If that fails, it is also said that there has been a discussion about bringing Gota into politics through Pohottuwa or some other force
Will Ranil Chandrika acquaintance materialize
In the meantime, ‘State Secrets’ has learned that a well-known businessman who is friendly to both of them is trying to bring about a political reconciliation between former President Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and the President. Chandrika played a big role sitting behind the scenes in the formation of the good governance government in 2015, but there was a rift with Ranil based on a number of issues including central bank theft. This incident was a strong reason for the collapse of the good governance government and after the collapse of the good governance government, the rift between Chandrika and Ranil had also grown somewhat.
Dinner party that was not fulfilled
However, this businessman, who is currently carrying messages to bring together Ranil and Chandrika, is considered to be the one who has spoken to the SJB MPs and invited them to join the government. It is also known that this businessman is the one who called the MP group who were independent from Pohottuwa and informed them to join the government. Accordingly, this businessman last week reunited Chandrika and Ranil and applied a certain strategy to give strength to the government. That is to prepare a dinner at home. He arranged to invite Ranil and Chandrika to the dinner. Both accepted the businessman’s invitation. But finally, Chandrika decided not to attend the dinner. Later, when several people asked Chandrika about this, she gave a wonderful answer.
How can I go to that? With the anti-democratic work this government is doing, can I go and have dinner with Ranil? Now Ranil is with Rajapaksa. So can I wear a cloth and eat with them? That’s why I’m not going’ was Chandrika’s answer.
By Special Correspondent