Harini Strikes Back! Reclaims Her Ground in Power Struggle
Geneva on the Boil: Sanctions Storm Brews Amid Rising International Pressure
Dilith’s Double-Cross: The Betrayal That Crowned the ‘Compass’ Coalition
Den of Thieves? All the Usual Suspects Unite to Seize Council Seats
From Deputy to the Treasury Throne: Minister Poised to Take Over Finance Helm
Firestorm Looms: LG Commissioner in the Crosshairs
Colombo Battle
After the conclusion of the LG elections, the establishment of power in the local government institutions, which were unable to gain a majority, has now begun at the district level. After the local government elections held, the Compass and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, brought together opposition groups, more or less to established power.
However, everyone’s was focused on which group would seize power in the Colombo Municipal Council. It had become an issue regarding its political pride for the Compass. Because even though the Compass had won the presidential election, the general election, and the majority of local government institutions by a landslide, if it had somehow failed to seize power in the Colombo Municipal Council, which is considered the pinnacle of local government institutions, many rated it as a kind of political defeat for compass.
The Compass launched a massive political operation behind the scenes to seize power in the Colombo Municipal Council. In addition, Sajith, who was confined to his home last week due to illness, immediately after resuming political activities, had focused his attention on the discussions to establish power in the Colombo Municipal Council.
The main factor in seizing power in Colombo was the independent groups. The party that would receive the support of the independent group that contested under the ‘Butterfly’ symbol, the independent group that contested under the ‘Bat ’ symbol, and the independent group led by Lal Peiris, who has been accused of many wrong doings, was most likely parties to be gathered to seize power in the Colombo Municipal Council.
However, until the last moment, it was not possible to get a definite idea about who would gain power in the Colombo Municipal Council because these independent groups had met with government representatives and Sajith from time to time to hold discussions and to unofficially inform them that they would provide their support.
Discussions in casinos
While these groups were meeting Sajith, they were also holding discussions with the government parties in other places. Some of these discussions were held inside major five-star hotels in Colombo. Many third parties took the lead in this.
They spent the nights in those hotels, enjoying luxuries, such as food and accommodation and took steps to hold discussions with these independent groups regarding providing support to the government. Other discussions were held in the famous casino in Colombo. There was a large demand built up for the MPs of these independent groups to establish power in Colombo by last week.
However, with about two days left for the Colombo Municipal Council election, the SJB reported a step forward in the discussions and was able to find the majority required to establish the council. Accordingly, the SJB immediately took the signatures of a special letter from 60 MPs, the majority required to establish the council. The reason for signing the petition was that government insiders had informed the Western Local Government Commissioner, Ms. Sarangika Jayasundara, to hold a secret ballot in the selection Mayor in the Colombo Municipal Council. Accordingly, the SJB immediately obtained the signatures of 60 members, the majority of the council, to hold an open ballot in the selection of Mayor in Colombo.
Sajith calls Sarangika
In the meantime, Sajith made a direct phone call to the Local Government Commissioner, Sarangika Jayasundara, and inquired about the matter. Speaking to the Commissioner, Sajith said, “There is a big story going on at the moment that you are going to hold a secret ballot in the selection of Colombo Mayor’s posts. Is this story true? Can we know what method you are following?” When asked, the Commissioner replied to Sajith bluntly that she would take steps to select Colombo Mayour according to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Local Government.
Although the Local Government Commissioner informed thus to Sajith over the phone, she acted in a completely different manner when the council met for the first time on the 16th to conduct the election of the Municipal Council. Handing over a letter signed by 60 members to the Commissioner, the SJB members said that the majority of the members had signed a letter stating that an open vote was required for the selection of positions in the council, and accordingly, the positions should be filled through an open vote.
However, surprising everyone, the Local Government Commissioner stated that regardless of what was stated in the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Local Government, she would act in accordance with the Local Government Act, and accordingly, the positions would be selected through a secret ballot.
The way the Commissioner made her statement and the way she behaved, many who were watching, suddenly felt that things were happening according to a script that had been prepared in advance. Although the SJB members, as well as members of other parties representing the opposition, strongly pressed for an open vote to be held, the Commissioner did not seem to listen to any of them.
All the MPs of the Compass and some of the independent groups were seen backing her. Accordingly, in the final secret ballot, the candidate of the Compass, Ms. Vrai Kelly Balthazar, was elected as the mayor with 60 votes, while the candidate nominated by the SJB, Mr. Risa Saruk, was able to obtain only 54 votes.
No 59 Discussions
How did it come to exceed that 60 MPs initially supported the SJB, but then it was reduced to 54? This was as a result of extremely secret meetings held at several locations during the past 48 hours with the participation of government leaders.
One of the meetings was held at the JVP headquarters in Pelawatte. Since the Colombo contest was a very crucial battle, the President was also seen participating in the discussion. The President met all the MPs of the ‘Samanalaya’ party, a very crucial independent group, at the last moment and made them agree to seek their support for the Compass to seize power in Colombo.
Here, Mr. Waruna Deeptha Rajapaksa, who was a member of the JVP Politburo for a while, had taken steps to release a lot of special information in this regard on his social media with evidence.
Waruna said that a special discussion had been held in this regard at house number 59, Rosmead Place, Colombo 7, and that government figures as well as representatives of independent parliamentary groups had also participated in it.
Normally, we have heard that only the upper class like the Bandaranaikes, Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghes hold extremely important political discussions in the political mansions located in Rosmead Place, Colombo 07. For example, there is a house belonging to the Bandaranaikes in Rosmead Place and since Chandrika and Anura lived in that house in Rosmead Place , political discussions were held there regularly.
In addition, it was seen that the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghes would frequently come to the Bandaranaikes’ house in Rosmead Place and the houses of many other powerful politicians in the vicinity to hold discussions. But there was no report that the JVP had ever held political discussions in these huge mansions located in Rosmead Place. But the most notable incident that has been seen so far is that the JVP is now taking steps to hold political discussions in these huge mansion located in Rosmead Place, Colombo 07.
However, Varuna had further disclosed information and said that the heads of the government had participated in the special discussion held on the night of the 15th at this house numbered 59, Rosmead Place. Varuna had also revealed that there was a big allegation that certain officials had been summoned for it.
The group concluded the discussion and went to the party headquarters in Pelawatte, met the President there and held a discussion, and that there was a shortage of 2 more votes to obtain a majority in Colombo, and that this group had informed the President there.
Accordingly, Varuna had revealed that the President immediately called a certain person on his phone, and that after that phone conversation, the President revealed that the Compass Party would receive the support of two more MPs. However, despite the President’s statement, there was a fierce battle between Compass Party and the SJB over the power in the Colombo Municipal Council until the last moment.
Dilith’s double game
Amidst all this, Sarvajana Balaya led by Dilith Jayaweera’s two MPs who were elected to Colombo, and Dilith immediately told the country after the results were released that the MPs elected from his party would act independently in the council without taking any sides.
Many saw Dilith’s statement as a statement made to implicitly support the Malima government. In addition, on another occasion, Dilith said that he would take steps to present a candidate from the Sarvajana Balaya for the post of Mayor of the Colombo Municipal Council. Many also said that Dilith’s statement was taken as an attempt to implicitly support the Malima government by presenting another candidate in this way, instead of supporting the joint opposition.
At that time, Dilith had planned to present a Muslim MP representing his party in the mayoral race. It is said that the Muslim MP is involved in many of Dilith’s business activities. It is also said that Dilith runs his business activities in many of his buildings. Although Dilith launched a campaign within the opposition to give him the mayor’s post, Dilith had to withdraw it at the last minute due to strong opposition from everyone.
Also, Varuna Deeptha Rajapaksa had revealed on his social media that during the discussion held by the President, a phone call was made to someone, and that person could be suspected to be Dilith.
However, although it is not 100% confirmed whether Dilith had made any political deal with the President or not, Dilith issued a special statement on his social media on Monday morning of the Colombo election, stating that the Executive Committee of the All-People’s Power had decided to support the opposition candidate. Many had also introduced this as a ploy to escape the many accusations that could be leveled after the election, saying that Dilith issued such a statement a few hours before the election.
Medal for Balthazar?
In the final secret ballot, the Compass candidate received 60 votes, and many people had expressed suspicion that Dilith’s two candidates had also voted for the Compass candidate under the pretext of the secret ballot. In this regard, SJB candidate Risa Saruk also made a special statement after the defeat and said that many facts are being revealed that suggest that Dilith’s two MPs had used their votes to defeat the opposition candidate.
Risa also emphasized that he would file a case against the Local Government Commissioner, Ms. Sarangika Jayasundara, who proceeded to hold a secret ballot according to her own will when 60 MPs had signed a petition demanding an open ballot.
While the opposition was raising doubts about Dilith Jayaweera’s two MPs in the Sarvajana Balaya, many SJB MPs had also reported serious suspicions about Dilith’s parliamentary behavior by last week. Accordingly, many MPs who met Sajith in Parliament last week had informed Sajith to be very careful when dealing with Dilith.
These MPs had also informed Sajith that Dilith had taken steps to inform the President and the heads of the government about the decisions received from the opposition and certain incidents that occurred during those discussions, especially during the discussions held between the leaders of the opposition parties.
Many SJB MPs had informed Sajith about this earlier as well, and even at that time they had informed Sajith not to invite Dilith to any meeting of the opposition. Accordingly, at this moment, they pointed out to Sajith that since the suspicions raised regarding Dilith had now been confirmed, he should no longer include Dilith in the opposition’s discussions.
Accordingly, within a few hours of the MPs informing Sajith, another special order confirming this was issued to his MPs by Dilith. In that message, Dilith had informed that the MPs of the Universal Power Party should refrain from voting in the local government elections to be held in the future. In addition, within a few hours of the issuance of this order, the election of the Dodangoda Pradeshiya Sabha in Kalutara was held, and there were allegations that Dilith’s two MPs had acted in a way that was beneficial to the government.
This was stated by Kalutara SJB leader Jagath Withana to the media, and Jagath said that the MPs of Dilith’s Sarva Jana Balaya committed a great betrayal and acted in a way that enabled the compass to win. Jagath stated that he had informed party leader Sajith about this and that Sajith had also publicly accepted his opinion.
Case against Sarangika?
In addition, last week, the SJB leaders had called a special discussion to discuss the future action to be taken regarding Colombo Local Government Commissioner Sarangika Jayasundara. The special event that was seen there was that many President’s Counsels as well as other renowned lawyers participated in this discussion.
Many people there said that since the Local Government Commissioner had acted in violation of the law, legal action could be easily taken against her. Accordingly, it was decided to take legal action against Ms. Jayasundara, and it was also decided to file a complaint against her before the Bribery Commission.
The complaint was filed by the SJB Colombo candidate, Mr. Riza Sarook himself. Meanwhile, Sajith had taken steps last week to suspend the party membership of all the MPs who went beyond the party’s position during the local government elections and to take disciplinary action against them.
Opposition made silence
The next problem came in Parliament last week. That was when Opposition Leader Sajith stood up to express his views in Parliament on the current crisis in the face of the Israel-Iran war, but the Speaker did not allow him to do so. Immediately, all the opposition MPs stood up and protested against the Speaker and the government, and it was seen that everyone left the House that day, boycotting the House. Later, a meeting of the opposition party leaders was held at the Opposition Leader’s Office in Parliament, where it was decided to submit a complaint against the Speaker to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and the Human Rights Commission in Geneva against this anti-democratic process. At this time, it was also seen that while all the opposition parties including the SJB left the House, only the Tamil National Alliance MPs remained in the House.
Chancellor not meet?
As the political situation in Sri Lanka becomes so heated, international politics regarding Sri Lanka is also becoming increasingly heated. Although we have reported on numerous occasions ‘about the Geneva Human Rights Commission meeting scheduled for September and the extremely dangerous resolution to be presented against Sri Lanka there, it seems that the government is completely oblivious to it.
The information we have at present indicates that many extremely dangerous forces are already gathering against Sri Lanka based on the Geneva session scheduled for September. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently visited Germany, and many people expected that the President would hold discussions with German leaders regarding the Geneva session during his visit to Germany, but this did not happen.
In particular, the President did not get the opportunity to meet the German Chancellor during this visit. During the previous visits to Germany by former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, and Ranil Wickremesinghe, steps were taken to meet the Chancellors who were leading Germany at that time.
Also, there has been a very close relationship between Germany and Sri Lanka since ancient times. That relationship is so strong that the German Technology Institute or German Tech was a priceless gift from Germany to Sri Lanka. Also, there has been a strong trade relationship between Sri Lanka and Germany since ancient times. In particular, Germany had provided special support to Sri Lanka in obtaining the GSP Plus concession from the European Commission. Why did the current German Chancellor not take steps to meet President Anura?
Powerful Diaspora
From the information we have, Germany is among the countries that took the lead in bringing a strong resolution against Sri Lanka in Geneva this time. Apart from Germany, Canada and England are the other major countries are preparing for this. Also, the Tamil diaspora in all three countries is very strong. The support of this Tamil diaspora is extremely crucial for the governments of those countries in forming governments and forming state governments. Accordingly, many suspect that the Tamil diaspora had a strong influence behind the German Chancellor not meeting President Anuradha.
Also, the High Commissioner of the Geneva Human Rights Commission, Mr. Volker Turk, is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka next Monday. During this visit, the Geneva High Commissioner is scheduled to meet with representatives of the government as well as opposition representatives and hold discussions. The Geneva High Commissioner was also scheduled to meet with parliamentarians from the North and East and hold discussions on the human rights situation.
Opposition banned
However, in this situation, on Thursday (19), the Secretary General of Parliament, Mrs. Kushani Rohanadheera, issued a statement stating that the Geneva High Commissioner is expected to meet with all the leaders of the ruling party and the opposition party leaders in Parliament. It was stated that the meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday (24) at 4.30 pm in Committee Room No. 02 of Parliament, and that the economic crisis, the current situation in the country, the human rights situation and the reconciliation process are expected to be discussed.
With this announcement, the opposition MPs were very suspicious as to whether the government had launched any strategy to prevent the Geneva High Commissioner from meeting the opposition party leaders individually. Because in the past, when a head of state or a high-ranking official visited the country, the usual tradition was for the opposition party leaders to meet the head of state or official separately and hold discussions. But this time, the sudden change in that tradition had led to that suspicion.
However, the information we have indicates that at the end of the Sri Lanka visit, the Geneva High Commissioner is preparing to submit a report with strong evidence against Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Commission next September. It should also be noted here that if the proposal is passed by a majority vote at the Geneva Human Rights Commission, our country will have to face a number of serious crises thereafter.
Last week, a group of officials, including Ms. Gita Gopinath, Deputy Director of the International Monetary Fund, also visited Sri Lanka. Although this group traveled to Sri Lanka to attend a special conference, it is said that some investigation was conducted regarding the 4th tranche of the IMF that has not yet been released to Sri Lanka.
The executive-level discussion related to this will be held in Washington on July 1st. The final decision on whether or not to release the 4th tranche to Sri Lanka will be taken at that executive meeting.
However, a special incident also occurred during Geeta Gopinath’s visit to Sri Lanka. That is, she did not meet the representatives of the opposition during her visit, but only the representatives of the ruling party. In the past, when the representatives of the International Monetary Fund came to Sri Lanka, it was a common practice to meet the representatives of the opposition separately and hold discussions.
The representatives of the IMF learned the true information about the situation in Sri Lanka and the real situation during the discussions held with the representatives of the opposition. However, this time, the IMF representatives did not meet with the opposition representatives, and the information we have is that the IMF representative has suspended her meeting with the opposition representatives at the request of the government.
Anura to China again
The leaders of the Malima government have been seen to be maintaining close ties with China again these days. In particular, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva has been on a visit to China with a number of JVP MPs for the past few weeks and returned to Sri Lanka last Friday after concluding those discussions.
Also, the Trade Minister of the Malima government, Wasantha Samarasinghe, and the Ministry Secretary are currently on a visit to China. In addition, another big piece of information we are receiving now says that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is also planning to visit China again at some point. Tilvin’s visited China for several weeks to prepare the ground for the President’s visit to China, according to unofficial sources we are receiving.
Accordingly, why is the President suddenly planning to visit China again within a few months? While investigating this matter, many have raised doubts as to whether there is any connection between an incident that occurred during Gota’s government and this sudden visit to China by the President. When the country was in a serious economic situation towards the end of the government of former President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Gota’s economic advisors were pressuring Gota to immediately declare the country bankrupt and enter into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
However, Gota was also under great pressure from within the government at that time not to do so. In particular, due to the relations between the Chinese government and the Rajapaksas, a message sent by the Chinese government to the Rajapaksas stated that China was ready to provide a credit facility of $4 billion as soon as the Sinhala New Year season ended, and that they should not panic and be patient until then.
According to the information we have, this message received from China was conveyed to Gota by Ajith Cabraal, who was the Governor of the Central Bank at the time. Cabraal had told Gota not to declare bankruptcy and enter into an agreement with the IMF, as if he did so, the government would have to face a serious crisis under the conditions of the IMF.
Cabraal had taken steps to show Gota that the economic crisis could be resolved by taking the $4 billion loan from the Chinese government. However, Gota rejected it, and a major argument broke out between the two, according to the ‘inside politics column.
Four billion dollars
Accordingly, Cabraal had finally asked Gota, ‘Who advised you to go with the IMF?’ In response, Gota had said that his advisors had advised him. Cabraal then asked again who those advisors were. Gota said that former Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy had given him that advice. As soon as Coomaraswamy’s name came out of Gota’s mouth, Cabraal realized that there was no point in continuing the discussion. Accordingly, the Chinese $4 billion did not materialize, and the government decided to go ahead with the IMF.
We have learned that this incident has now also been reported to the President through a third party. Accordingly, many people have raised doubts as to whether Anura is preparing to get the 4 billion Chinese dollars that Gota could have taken but was canceled at the last minute for Sri Lanka.
Even during the President’s first visit to China, a large aid and investment package from China was proposed to the President. In particular, during that visit, Sri Lanka received many concessions such as the construction of a Chinese oil refinery near the Hambantota Port, the construction of the remaining part of the Kadawatha-Mirigama Expressway, and the waiver of late fees that Chinese companies had to pay due to the suspension of relevant constructions.
However, due to the continuous delay in allowing Chinese research vessels to enter Sri Lankan waters as agreed by the President, the Chinese government had taken steps to suspend all relevant concessions. Accordingly, it can be seen through the President’s sudden visit to China that everyone is suspicious whether the President is ready to take the relevant concessions and another 4 billion dollars loan from the Chinese government and lead the country for the remaining 4 years without any problems.
Minister resigns
The President had organized an appreciation ceremony last week to mark the retirement of Dr. Mahinda Siriwardena, who served as the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. At this, the President had taken steps to express special thanks to Mahinda for his contribution to building the economy since 2022, when Sri Lanka became bankrupt.
However, the problem is who would be appointed to the position after Mahinda’s departure. Initially, it was proposed that Duminda Hulangamuwa, an advisor to the President, should be appointed to the position. However, it was later reported that Duminda rejected it. After that, several other names were proposed, but none of them were confirmed.
Accordingly, although special attention was paid to the next senior official in the Ministry of Finance, many people reported that they could not perform the duties of the relevant position due to certain weaknesses. Accordingly, that name was also ultimately rejected.
However, the President has now selected a special person to hand over the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. That person is none other than Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Finance. Accordingly, it is reported to the column that Harshana Suriyapperuma is scheduled to resign from his parliamentary seat in the coming week and assume the post of Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. It is also learned that his economic knowledge and experience in the tax field have influenced this.
Harini is out
We reported in our ‘inside politics column a few weeks ago that there was a conflict of opinion within the government regarding the post of Prime Minister. Confirming this, Minister Bimal Ratnayake, who appeared on the government’s Independent Television, said that the engine of the government should be changed, that the scopes and responsibilities of several ministers, including him, are to be changed, and that a discussion is currently taking place within the party regarding this.
However, government ministers Sunil Handunnettith and Nalinda Jayatissa had stated in media conferences that such a discussion would not be held within the government, that the scopes of any minister in the government would not change, and that all ministers were performing their duties very well. However, through their response, it was clearly seen that there was a conflict of opinion not only between the JVP and the Compass but also within the JVP.
Against this backdrop, we revealed last week that the President was preparing to make a special statement in Parliament on this issue in the 3rd week. As we said, the President came to Parliament in the 3rd week but did not make any statement in this regard. The President, who attended the Sectorial Committee on Security held in Parliament that day, was seen leaving Parliament.
Why the President did not make the special statement he was preparing to make on Harini’s Prime Ministerial post that day? There is a big question as to whether the relevant issue has been resolved within the government by now, or whether the President has decided not to comment further on it, or whether the final decision to remove Harini from the Prime Ministerial post will not happen.
However, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya made a public statement on this issue appearing on the government’s own independent television last week. Harini said in the discussion that there is no problem regarding the Prime Minister’s post, and that certain groups are making such propaganda with the aim of creating a conflict between the Compass and the JVP. Many view Harini’s this remarks are a challenge to Bimal regarding the statement made by Bimal regarding the Prime Minister’s post.
Something wrong with Compass
The final results of the local government elections showed, the Compass had only won power in about 200 local government institutions. However, the Compass did not have a majority in about 150 local government institutions, and the opposition groups had lost power there. Initially the opposition too began negotiations to establish power in those local government institutions.
The Compass also negotiated with certain independent groups because it had the potential to seize power in many local government institutions after joining with independent groups.
However, the propaganda campaign the Compass carried out before the election, the Compass said that all parties other than the Compass were thieves, and that the people should take action to reject them, especially those contesting the elections from independent groups.
Accordingly, the opposition had pointed the finger at the compass and said that the compass itself had initiated discussions to seize power with the people who had anointed it as thieves, and through this, the compass’s white dress is stripped. However, the compass gain power in the Colombo Municipal Council in collaboration with independent groups, amidst this accusation from the opposition.
With Pohottuwa too
Despite the situation, last week, Malima, together with other opposition parties, established power in several local government institutions. Malima, which established power in local government institutions such as Kolonnawa and Ratnapura together with the SJB, was able to establish power in the Minipe Pradeshiya Sabha together with the UNP. Malima, which established power in local government institutions such as Medawachchiya and Galle together with the Pohottuwa, d power in the Dodangoda Pradeshiya Sabha with Sarvajana Balaya.
Significantly, Malimawa established power in collaboration with people like Thondaman, Pillayan and Rishad, who were strongly criticized by Malimawa during the election period. Accordingly, Malimawa, which formed the council in collaboration with Rishad Bathiudeen’s group in Kurunegala and Jeevan Thondaman’s group in Kotagala, had held discussions with Pillayan’s party, who is currently under arrest, to establish power in the Chenkaladi Pradeshiya Sabha.
