Mr Ranil’s secret dinner!
Deception, falsehoods, a web of untruths!
Who will be the new leader of TNA?
Will Naml run for the presidency?
Rampant false news plants heralding the beginning of the election?
Lies and lies all lies …
In recent times, there has been a notable surge in insidious attempts to disseminate false information, aimed at misleading the public, as consistently revealed by the ‘inside politics’ column on numerous occasions. One such instance occurred before the assumption of office by the current president. A circulating rumour suggested that upon taking office, an immediate disbursement of $4 billion was slated to be received from countries like Japan, America, and other foreign nations. It was purported that this substantial influx of funds would resolve the country’s dollar crisis within a mere 48 hours.
The mainstream media, along with various other outlets, amplified this news, launching a concerted and organized campaign to promote the idea that Ranil would be the saviour of the sinking economy. Contrary to these assertions, the ‘inside politics’ column confidently maintained that Ranil would be unable to secure a single dollar. It asserted that the only viable solution to overcome the economic crisis facing the country would be seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In a turn of events that validated the predictions of the ‘inside politics’ column, Ranil Wickramasinghe eventually sought help from the IMF. However, despite being in office for over a year, he failed to secure any financial support from countries other than the IMF, the World Bank, and a few other organizations.
The lie of 30 cross overs
Following this, yet another orchestrated media campaign unfolded, featuring a narrative claiming that 30 to 40 members of the SJB were poised to defect to the government, resulting in a split within the party. This story, carefully disseminated by media sympathetic to the government and other outlets, has been strategically circulated on multiple occasions in the past. The intention is to instil in the people the belief that the government would create a significant divide within the SJB.
However, the ‘inside politics’ column has consistently dispelled this narrative, asserting that it is nothing more than false propaganda. According to this accurate reporting, only two to three individuals with close ties to the President might consider crossing over in pursuit of ministerial positions. Importantly, ‘inside politics’ emphasized that no members from the SJB were willing to join the government for ministerial positions. The column’s information, proven to be 100% accurate, stands in stark contrast to the government’s unsuccessful attempt to promote the narrative of 30 to 40 members defecting to their side.
Lansa’s Lie
A similar well-organized media campaign was launched by ‘pohottuwa’ and the UNP, with Nimal Lansa initiating the move and Anura Priyadarshan yapa supporting it. Approximately 30 SJB members and over 40 Pohottuwa members are expected to join this group.
‘Inside Politics’ column, highlighted that Nimal Lansa is making such a move to support Ranil, and no one from SJB or Pohottuwa will join the group. We revealed that a new office dedicated to this purpose was opened in Lake Drive Rajagiriya for Nimal Lansa to operate. Lansa had to shut down this operation because no one from SJB and Pohottuwa joined him, as ‘inside politics’ pointed out. Right now, our exposure has proven to be completely correct.
Hoax of the general election
Out column exposed another media operation that was hatched and launched by the government over the last three to four weeks. It is related to an organized campaign carried out through the media by several groups friendly to the government that a general election will be held first. For almost a month now, these people have been ‘spreading’ various false news and political analysis, trying to show the country that the general election will be held before the presidential election.
Many government loyalists wrote lengthy newspaper articles which were politically backed on this. For the past few weeks, we highlighted that this is not going to happen and it is false and the presidential election comes first.
Also, while the President was planning to hold the presidential election first, we uncovered who went to the president and said that the general election should be held first, and how the proposal was presented to the president. Not only that, two weeks ago we made another special disclosure through the ‘Inside Politics’ column and mentioned how in a meeting held with a person who is very close to him and who is not currently a Member of Parliament, he stated about his fate if the general election is held first. There we said that the president had told his friend that whichever government is formed after the general election, he will not be allowed to remain in the presidential chair for more than two or three days.
Presidential election first
However, confirming the few exposures we made, the President had finally publicly informed the ruling party that the presidential election would be held first, followed by the general election and the local government elections.
Dhammika from the bud
In this way, we did not stop telling the country about the presidential election. Although the seniors of Pohottuwa misled the country and party loyalists by holding press conferences in various locations indicating that a candidate with a three-letter name would run from Pohottuwa, we made a special disclosure a few months ago and stated that the Pohottu candidate is a famous person with a four-letter name. We revealed to the country his name and a week after that disclosure, it was Dhammika Perera. It was a special occasion when the leaders of Pohottu confirmed and demonstrated the disclosure we made months ago.
Basil ignites
While the president was expressing his views on the presidential election, Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, who is considered to be the mastermind of the pohottuwa, also revealed his plan and suddenly last week held a special pohottuwa congress keeping several issues in mind. The first of which was to show the country that everyone is together to provide mental stimulation to the party members since Pohottuwa had not held a main meeting after the ‘aragalaya’.
The second was to straighten the party to face a national election.
The biggest issue of all was the official presentation of the party’s next presidential candidate to the country.
Accordingly, it was seen that Basil worked hard to make this national conference a success. A lot of money was spent on that. A propaganda campaign was launched across the country, and Basil had also arranged to raise the Pophotuwa flags in all the major cities of the country, including the whole of Colombo. Basil, who organized all the behind-the-scenes activities, also prepared the list of party seniors and leaders who should sit in the front row seats on the conference day. Accordingly, Basil took steps to include the name of another special person who is not a senior member of the party among Mahinda, Basil, Chamal and Namal. It was none other than Dhammika Perera. Through that, Basil planned to give a clear hint not only to the party but also to the country as to who the presidential election candidate would be.
Group got stunned
As planned, on the day of the convention, Basil’s plan was seen to be successful by giving Dhammika a chair among the ‘front-line’ with Rajapaksas. As soon as they saw this unexpected occurrence, many people saw how certain ministers who were very friendly to the President were visibly shocked. They could be seen whispering to each other’s ears saying, ‘The presidential candidate has come out of the corner…’. Some ministers said this with a smile, but some ministers were also seen saying it with an astonished face. The information we have says that the President did not even expect that Pohottuwa would give a clear signal about his presidential candidate so soon.
Sir… you are coming, aren’t you?
Also, at the end of this conference, we are ready to report another special event that has not been reported in the media. It is related to the responses of the Pohottu party members to Dhammika. When Dhammika was coming out of the meeting, the Pohottu party members shouted and asked Dhammika, ‘Mr. Dhammika, are you coming to the presidential election…?’ At first, Dhammika smiled innocently raised his hand and responded, but since this question was raised continuously in two or three places, Dhammika also took steps to answer it. It was, ‘Oh yes… don’t be afraid. I am coming…’ Everyone around could see how the Pohottu party members responded by shouting and cheering saying ‘That’s all we need… we have enough… we will start working now…’
The government is worried
In this way, after informally giving the message to the country and the Pohottu party members at the Pohottu Congress that Dhammika is the presidential candidate of Pohottuwa, it was seen how the political arena was disturbed. The first incident was that the ministers who were loyal to the president as well as the ministers who were not loyal to the president were alarmed and immediately started sending messages to the president. Each of those messages said that the Pohottuwa party members were excited by Dhammika’s signal and that some political signal should be given by the government to suppress it.
A decision from Wijewardena mansion
At that time, the President had returned to Diyatalawa after visiting Horton Plains in Nuwara Eliya and stayed at the famous bungalow belonging to his relative Wijewardena family. Generally, the Diyatalawa bungalow belonging to this Wijewardena family is considered to be a famous place where the Wickramasinghe family has taken many important decisions, held extremely secret political discussions, and even cabinet ministers have come and held cabinet meetings. Not only Ranil’s uncle, former president JR Jayawardena but also Ranil’s father, Esmond Wickramasinghe, has come to this place where the Wijewardena family made very important decisions in their political career. Accordingly, along with this message received from his friendly ministers, the President decided to respond to this news at the Cabinet meeting on Monday, which is the first opportunity he gets.
News got planted
Meanwhile, after the Pohottu convention, when the message of Dhammika Pohottu’s candidacy for the presidential election was confirmed within Pohottuwa, special news was suddenly published in the media. The news, which was published without a name, said that the name of Dhammika Perera as the presidential candidate of Pohottuwa was not even proposed in the party’s executive council meeting held on Saturday. It was also seen how this news was given a lot of publicity on the websites that work closely with the President.
As soon as this news was published, this was also reported to Basil. Accordingly, Basil also immediately investigated the people who posted this news. There, Basil came to know that this news was published by a party friendly to Namal, not by Pohottuwa. Basil also discovered the underlying purpose of publishing this news.
The second plant
Meanwhile, news published in the media said that the president announced to the cabinet ministers that he would run for the presidential election at the cabinet meeting held on Monday. Upon seeing this news, many people had doubts about whether it was planted news by the president, whether the president said it, or whether it was published according to the information given to the media by a member of parliament who overheard the president’s statement. Because if the President had said such a thing, it should have been given a lot of publicity in the government media and in newspapers friendly to the President. But since no such thing was seen, the ‘Inside Politics’ column also investigated last week whether the president made such a statement in the cabinet.
‘We’, not ‘Me’
There we learned that when the Pohottu Ministers, who were upset by Dhammika’s news, asked the President about it, the President had declared in the Cabinet that ‘we will start the presidential election campaign from January’.
Accordingly, our revelation that the presidential election will come first is confirmed by this statement of the president. However, the word that the President has deliberately used here is not ‘I’ but ‘we’. Or not saying ‘I am coming to the presidential election.’ but saying ‘We will start the presidential election campaign in January’.
This speech by the President was published in the media, carrying a campaign that the President is ready to run for the Presidential election again.
Body language
With the media reporting that the President is contesting the upcoming presidential election in this manner, several people close to the President went to meet the President last week to find out the truth of this story. There, they informed the President that if the campaign for the presidential election is to be started, he should start with a program that can be agreed upon by all, rather than starting from scratch. They presented this proposal to the President to find out from the President’s mouth if there is any truth in this story.
But it was a special event that the president did not give a big answer to this question. Instead, the President shook his head and gave a short answer. There, this group was looking at the physical posture of the President. Otherwise, look at the President’s ‘body language’. This is because these few people have been close to the President for a long time and have studied his ‘body language’ very well. Accordingly, it was clear to them that the President has not yet made a firm decision regarding whether or not he will run for the next presidential election in the same way he answered that question.
Here’s the cheer?
On the other hand, in a crucial presidential election, when it is announced that an incumbent president or a ruling prime minister will run as a candidate, it is a common tradition to give massive publicity within the party. In recent history, in 1994, when Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga announced that she would run for the presidential election, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party members took steps to celebrate it with festivity across the country. Similarly, in 2005, when Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was the Prime Minister, announced that he would run for the presidential election, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party members lit firecrackers and celebrated in the same way. Although history says so, this time when President Ranil Wickramasinghe unofficially announced in the cabinet that he would run for the next presidential election, it was a special incident that no one from within the party or the seniors of the party said a word about it.
Another post for Dhammika
While the situation was like this, after the party convention held on Friday, Basil convened the party’s executive council at Mahinda’s official residence on Saturday and took steps to go abroad. There, Basil left for Los Angeles via Dubai, and internal party sources state that Basil is scheduled to return to Sri Lanka around the third week of January after Christmas vacation. However, it was a special incident that Basil stepped down from the position of national organizer of Pohottuwa in the executive council and left it vacant. According to the information we have, Basil has taken steps to leave the post of national organizer of Pohottuwa vacant to give it to Dhammika. A proposal has already been submitted to Dhammika in this regard, but Dhammika has not yet given a final word in this regard, the ‘Inside politics ‘ column leans.
Basil works from ‘States’
Meanwhile, despite leaving for Los Angeles, Basil keeps a close eye on the politics going on in Sri Lanka. Therefore, last week, Basil worked from Los Angeles to investigate every political change taking place in Sri Lanka and give the necessary response. Accordingly, Basil took steps to inform the Party Secretary General Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam, not only about the sudden news that the executive council of the party has not yet decided to make Dhammika the Pohottuwa candidate for the presidential election but also about the answers to the questions that the journalists may ask after the convention. On Monday, Sagara Kariyawasam sat for the press conference as usual after getting the necessary answers from Basil to the questions that may be asked by the journalists. As expected, the journalists first asked Sagara about the rumour that Dhammika Perera is the presidential candidate in the bud, and about the rumours that the executive council of the party has not yet taken a decision regarding him.
Sagara’s response
Accordingly, as planned, Sagara told the media that about four names have been submitted to the party for the presidential candidacy, and Mr. Dhammika Perera’s name is also at the forefront. Many people believed that Sagara had announced the opinion of the party unofficially by specifically mentioning the name of Dhammika Perera without mentioning the name of any other candidate.
The most beautiful work was seen after that. That is, along with Sagara’s official release of Dhammika’s name on Monday morning, party leader Mahinda Rajapaksa also made a special mention of Dhammika’s name on Monday afternoon. After a ceremony held that day, when the journalists asked Mahinda about the presidential candidate, Mahinda said that Dhammika’s name was also mentioned and that if he came forward, he could be a good candidate. Accordingly, taking all these chain of events in one line, one is quite clear. That is there has been some agreement among the Rajapaksas that Dhammika Perera will be the candidate for the upcoming presidential election.
Is it Namal’s problem?
On the other hand, we mentioned earlier that some investigation had been done regarding the news that the Executive Council had not taken a decision regarding Basil Dhammika who was in Los Angeles. According to the information we have, it has been confirmed through a special operation where Basil published this news, what was the desire of the people who published it, and for what reason the news was published. We said there that Basil had found that this news had been published by a party friendly to Namal.
We also did some research in this regard, and there we came to know that this announcement was not published by Namal’s side. The reason for this is that Namal has some hope to stand as the candidate of Pohottuwa in the upcoming presidential election. Namal’s opinion is that even if he is defeated as a candidate for the upcoming presidential election, he can establish the power of the party and portray a strong character in the opposition. After the information about this was reported last week, a strongman of the party called Namal and took steps to ask him about what was not true in this story. There, Namal said that the party should be established first, and then if an invitation comes from the party, he is ready to accept the presidential candidacy. Accordingly, it is clear from Namal’s answer that the rumour that Namal is about to accept the presidential candidacy is true.
Basil in front
Accordingly, Namal seems to be in some controversy these days regarding the opinion of the party. When the government decided to increase VAT, Namal protested publicly and took steps not to participate in the poll. In addition, Namal, who had met Mahinda, requested Mahinda not to participate in this as it is not the position of Potottu to put the tax burden on the people. But Mahinda, who had given a strong answer to Namal, had said that he had decided to do politics with the President in the future and that Namal’s politics could be done the way Namal wanted. Accordingly, Mahinda not only increased the VAT but also took steps to pass the budget. However, Namal did not participate in the vote to pass the budget, not only to increase the VAT.
Due to this background and the media report published by Namal regarding Dhammika, it is believed by many that Basil immediately put Sagara in front of Namal and unofficially announced to the country that Dhammika is the candidate for Dhammika.
Mahinda and Ranil meet
After the party conference held on Friday, a special meeting was held at the Colombo Shangri-La Hotel last Sunday night. None other than the President, Sagala Ratnayake, former President Mahinda and Yoshita were present at this discussion which was held with a dinner party. Earlier too, we made a special disclosure in the ‘Inside politics’ column and said that Mahinda, Ranil and Sagala had met and discussed in the Shangri-La Hotel in the same way. We mentioned that Mahinda’s son Yoshita Rajapaksa was also there.
Accordingly, last Sunday, a dinner party was held at the Shangri-La Hotel among this group, and there was a long discussion on how to conduct political activities in the future. The most special event that came to be seen here was that Mahinda had announced some comments in favour of the President in an announcement on Monday, the day after the dinner in question. Although the title of the announcement was ‘Tax Burden’, Mahinda had said through it that it is the responsibility of Pohottuva to protect the government until a national election.
Why doesn’t Ranil say?
According to the constitution, the 2024 presidential election is scheduled to be held next August. Accordingly, only 8 more months are left for it. With such a short period left for the presidential election, why is there no major preparation on the part of the president? Why can’t even the President’s friends see such urgency in the President’s physical gestures? Accordingly, we also engaged in searching for information about the reason for this slow nature of the President. Accordingly, the fact that we came to know was that due to past experiences, the President is reluctant to announce his position regarding the presidential election. The reason for this is that if the president says publicly that he will not run for the presidential election for some reason, or if he indicates that, from that moment on, no one will take any notice on him, otherwise, if he says it in English, he will become a public figure. No one knows about that, but the president has past experiences.
What happened to DB
Ranil experienced this for the first time during former president Mr. Wijetunga’s tenure. At that time, Gamini Dissanayake was holding talks to join the UNP again, and there was a big campaign at that time that Gamini would become the presidential candidate. But Ranil was in a position that DB should contest for the presidency again. Accordingly, Ranil and others pointed out to DB that he should use that power and plan to win the presidential election while still in office. But another group thought that the general election should be held first and a government should be formed after winning it. In the end, D.B. called the general election without calling the presidential election. Due to this wrong political decision, the UNP was defeated and fell on all fours. Later DB who was very scared announced that he would not run for the presidential election. Since then, no one cared about DB, it was possible to see how he became a campaigning president.
Knowing this experience well, what the president is currently doing is to continue his activities by showing that he is running without saying that he will not run for the presidential election. The president knows very well that if he says that he will not come to the presidential election, he will not care about anyone around him. It is for this reason that the people close to him, who know the body language of the president very well, are putting pressure on the president to hold the general election first. They plan that if a general election is called while the president is still in power, some members of the UNP can come to parliament together with Pohottuwa. If that happens, they have calculated that they can form a government together with SJB. In this regard, we have made a special disclosure in the last two weeks through this column. However, Basil is now preparing himself for the presidential election campaign knowing full well this plan of Ranil’s.
The TNA issue
The leader of the Tamil National Alliance, Rajavarothiyam Sambandan alias R. Sambandan is now 90 years old. Sambandan, who has been the leader of the Tamil National Alliance since 2001, has also held a record of leading the Tamil Alliance for 22 consecutive years. Due to long-standing illness and old age, he does not engage in public political activities much now. Instead, many activities of the Tamil Alliance in the North are carried out under the leadership of Sivagnanam Sridharan. Most of the political work in the south is done by MA Sumanthiran. Under this background, Sambandan is currently under intense pressure from within the party to step down from the leadership and it can be seen that there is a big competition between Sridharan and Sumanthiran for the new leadership of the party.
Sumanthiran or Sridharanda
Sridharan has the most support from the Tamil diaspora. They are pressuring the seniors of the party and claim that Sreedharan should be made the next leader of the Tamil Alliance. But many Western countries, including America, are of the position that Sumanthiran should be the leader of the Tamil Alliance. Since several sister parties that were already with the Tamil Alliance in the North have started separate political activities, everyone thinks that a leader who can unite all these parties should become the leader of the Tamil Alliance.
Sumanthiran, who made a special statement last week under this background, said that the new leadership of the Tamil Alliance should be chosen by holding a vote within the party. Sumanthiran also said that it is the most democratic system. Also giving further comments, Sumanthiran said that he is now 60 years old and will retire from politics in another five years. Sumanthiran further stated that he is not ready to make the mistakes of political leaders in the past.