Why do billionaires want to be President of Sri Lanka?
Will Xian Yang 6 show up or not?
Will there be another referendum in Sri Lanka?
We said it before
‘Our presidential candidate is a three-letter man…’
When the talk about the topic related to the presidential election to be held next year started within the society, one of its frontline leaders, Mr. Ranjith Bandara, laughingly told the following story about the presidential candidate in Pohottuwa. Through that, Ranjit Bandara hinted that there is a possibility that one of Basil and Namal will run as the presidential candidate in Pohottuwa. On the 17th of last month, we very responsibly said that the presidential candidate of Pohottuwa is not a three-lettered person, but a four-lettered one. This is how we revealed for the first time through the ‘State Secrets’ channel that this four-letter candidate has the approval of the Rajapaksa family.
Here is the candidate…
If so, who will be the presidential candidate who will Basil bring? In the past, friends close to Basil have said in press conferences that the presidential candidate in Pohottuwa may be a three-letter person. However, according to the information we have, this presidential candidate found by Basil is not a three-letter person a four-lettered person a popular candidate. The ‘Inside Politics ‘ column has learned that there are frequent discussions between Basil and that person these days, and plans are being made to present this candidate for the presidential election under a new alliance headed by Pohottuwa. But although we have confirmable information about who it is, we are not disclosing it at this time because it has to come out officially from the bud.’
Inside politics – September 17
A three-way battle
Confirming this disclosure we made, about a week ago, according to the facts that were discussed in various places in the political field, it was said that the presidential candidate of Pohottuwa is the millionaire businessman Mr. Dhammika Perera. While various rumours were spreading about it, Dhammika also confirmed the revelation we made one hundred per cent and told the media that he is ready to run for the presidential election if the majority of the parties like it and if it can exceed 50 per cent. Although Dhammika did not disclose further information in this regard, we still claim that the Rajapaksa family has taken a final decision to submit Dhammika to the presidential election battle.
Accordingly, the three main candidates of the 2024 presidential election battle have been announced by the respective parties. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya announced the name of the opposition leader Mr. Sajith Premadasa as its presidential candidate in a working committee meeting of the party held about two months ago. The Janata Vimukti Peramuna also announced the name of Mr Anura Kumara Dissanayake as its presidential candidate during the same period. Now it has been unofficially announced that Dhammika Perra is the candidate for Pohottuwa. Although the names of various businessmen and well-known people have been mentioned in various places, these individuals have given statements and discussions to various channels and YouTube channels and said that they will also contest the presidential election, but the signs that the upcoming presidential election will turn into a three-way battle have already been put down.
On the other hand, the coming presidential election can be pointed out as a presidential election with a greater difference and importance than the previous presidential election battles. It can be pointed out that the main reason for this is the fact that this is the first presidential election where a person who was elected president with a mandate of 69 lakhs was removed from office by a public struggle for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka. On the other hand, this is the first presidential election to be held after a perverted situation in which a person who was at home was elected to the position of president after a vote in the parliament to replace the president who was removed by popular power, unable to win even a seat in the parliament. Therefore, this presidential election is the first opportunity for the people to achieve their desired goals through the struggle.
The invisible secret
Also, in this three-cornered battle, one can see a fact what the people of the country struggled and demanded. Miraculously, the three main candidates who are running for the presidential battle this year are all young leaders. One of the main things that the people demanded during the struggle was that young people with experience, educational background political knowledge and philosophy should take charge of the country’s future. People who are of retirement age should be removed from politics. The people who were in the struggle did not demand that the youths of twenty and thirty years should be handed over to the country.
If so, what is the speciality of the main candidates running for this year’s presidential election? The special feature is that three young leaders from the main parties are running for the presidential election as the struggle demanded. Because two of these three were born in 1967. Accordingly, the opposition leader Mr. Sajith Premadasa was born on January 12, 1967. Dhammika Perera was born on 24th December 1967. The other candidate Anura Kumara was born on November 27, 1968.
The gap is eleven
On the other hand, looking at these birthdays, there is another special similarity between the three. The birthdays of all three are exactly 11 months apart. Dhammika Perera was born exactly 11 months after Sajith’s birth. Anura Kumara was born exactly 11 months after the birth of Dhammika Perera. The other speciality is that all three have received higher education from local and foreign universities and have more than 20 years of experience in political and business fields.
Accordingly, when looking at this year’s presidential election battle, one thing is very clear. That means that there is no place in the politics of this country for anyone who has been stagnant in politics for over 60, or 70 years.
Surround the houses
In the last parliamentary week, there was a big controversy in the political field based on a speech made by Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapaksa and Government MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage about the fact that measures have not been taken yet to appoint members to the Bribery or Corruption Investigation Commission. The reason for this is that the Minister of Justice has made this accusation directly to the Constituent Assembly. Vijayadasa directly said that the people should surround the houses of the members of the Legislative Assembly before they surround the houses of the politicians. As Vijayadasa’s speech was approved by the government member Mahindananda, it was seen that it received a great response in the media.
However, during the last struggle, many of the people who talked about surrounding the houses of the politicians and the Parliament were arrested and although the Criminal Investigation Department and the responsible agencies had issued statements, there was no statement from the Minister of Justice or MP Mahindananda who said that the houses of the representatives in the Legislative Assembly should be surrounded. The parties could not have been seen to have acted.
A complaint from Sagara
However, the problem arose that in addition to the political representatives, there were also three representatives of civil organizations performing their duties in the Legislative Assembly, and after the speeches of Vijayadasa and Mahindanada, a serious question arose regarding the security of those three civil representatives. Mr. Sagara Kariyawasam, Secretary General of Pohottua, first informed Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena about that. According to the information we have, it is said that after these comments, the representatives of the Constituent Assembly have seriously discussed this matter in the presence of the Speaker. It is also reported that the representatives have indicated to the speaker that a strong decision should be taken based on the statements made by Vijayadasa and Mahindananda.
Accordingly, after explaining the facts of these representatives, the Speaker has also taken a strong decision on this matter; the ‘inside politics’ column learned. According to this, the speaker is ready to make a special statement in this regard in the next parliamentary week.
Nazir sent home
An event that turned the recent politics upside down like a bomb blast was the historic decision given by the Supreme Court last Friday to revoke the position of Mr Naseer Ahmed, who left the Muslim Congress and joined the government to become a minister. In the past 25 years, a large number of politicians came to parliament from a party and joined the government as ministers, but in almost all cases, the verdict was in favour of the respective MPs. But this time the Supreme Court put an end to this and said that the decision taken by the party secretary general to remove Nasir Ahmed from the party was legal. At the same time, the Sargent at Arms of the Parliament, Mr. Narendra Fernando, issued a statement to the media and said that with such a decision, a Member of Parliament usually loses his parliamentary seat and that the study has been commenced regarding that decision.
However, President Ranil Wickremesinghe spent the last weekend in Batticaloa. As Nasir Ahmed also represents Batticaloa, Nasir was going to be the main character of the President’s trip to Batticaloa. But with the decision of the Supreme Court on Friday, Nasir, who cancelled his trip to Batticaloa, informed the President of the same and took steps to start the operation from Saturday to protect his position as a Member of Parliament. Accordingly, while discussing the legal measures that can be taken in this regard with a group of high-ranking lawyers, some of them pointed out that nothing could be done according to the judgment given by the Supreme Court.
He said that the abolition of the position of MP is permanent. But because something has to be done, the lawyers advised that a request should be made to the Supreme Court to re-investigate this decision and to inform the Secretary General of Parliament and the Election Commission not to take a decision regarding Nasir’s position as a Member of Parliament. Even though the President was in Batticaloa, it was also noted that he joined in the discussion on the phone from time to time.
This is what happens
Generally, when such a decision is given regarding a Member of Parliament, the Supreme Court officially submits the decision to the Secretary General of the Parliament first. After that, the Secretary General of the Parliament should inform the Election Commission about it. Since the Supreme Court gave its decision on a Friday, the decision was officially received by Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Nasir Ahmed’s lawyers had taken steps to submit a request to the Supreme Court asking for an investigation into the relevant decision. The lawyers, who submitted a copy of the request to the Parliament and the Election Commission, had informed them not to take a decision on the MP’s parliamentary seat until the decision of the relevant investigation is received.
President with lawyers
Also, after completing the Batticaloa visit, on Monday, the President discussed the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Naseer Ahmed with a group of high-ranking lawyers. However, we do not have information to say whether the Attorney General participated in this discussion. But almost all the leading lawyers who participated in the discussion had pointed out to the President that there is nothing left to be done regarding the relevant decision, that there is no point in asking for a re-investigation, and that the decision of the Supreme Court will definitely have to be accepted.
Verdict to Parliament
Meanwhile, upon receiving the Supreme Court decision on Tuesday afternoon, Mrs. Kushani Rohanadhira, the Secretary General of the Parliament, immediately took steps to seek legal advice in this regard. According to the instructions of the Attorney General, it was said that according to the Supreme Court’s decision, Nasir Ahmed’s position as an MP will be abolished. Accordingly, on Tuesday itself, the Secretary General of the Parliament took steps to send the announcement to the Election Commission that Nasir Ahmed’s position as Member of Parliament was abolished. On Wednesday afternoon, the Election Commission issued the gazette announcement that Naseer Ahmed’s position as a Member of Parliament will be abolished and accordingly, Ali Zaheer Maulana, who contested from Batticaloa, will be appointed as the new Member of Parliament.
Everyone is nervous
With this incident of Naseer Ahmed, everyone in the country is now waiting to see what will happen to the cases pending before the Supreme Court regarding some who came to the parliament from different parties and got ministerial posts and are now together with the government. Three major cases are currently pending before the Supreme Court. It is based on the three SJB MPs Harin Fernando, Manusha Nanayakkara, and Diana Gamage. These three came to the parliament with joy as SJB candidates and then to get ministries to join with the government. Just like Muslim Congress General Secretary Nisham Kariyappar did to Naseer Ahmed, SJB General Secretary Ranjit Mandumabandara, who called for disciplinary investigations against these three, also took steps to expel them from the party. They have now challenged the letter before the Supreme Court, and last Wednesday, the Supreme Court had taken steps to call the case related to Harin-Manusha.
The lawyers representing Harin-Manusha requested time to file objections to the matters stated by the SJB general secretary, but the Supreme Court rejected it and said that steps should be taken to file objections on the same day. The decision in this case is to be given within another 2 months, and Diana’s case is scheduled to be called on the 18th.
The bud casts the net
Meanwhile, with the decision given to Naseer Ahmed, a special discussion has emerged in Pohottua in this regard. Especially in the last general election, almost 150 MPs from Pohottuwa came to the parliament, but now that alliance is divided into four or five and disintegrated. One party, the SLFP, has left the government and is sitting independently in the opposition. One part of it has taken ministries together with the government. Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, and Vasudeva Nanayakkara party have created another group called ‘Uttara Sabhagaya’ and is sitting in the opposition.
A group of 13 people led by Dallas Alahapperuma is sitting independently in the opposition under the name of ‘Freedom People’s Assembly’. Nimal Lanza, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and another group are in talks to form a separate alliance to support the President. A few other MPs in Pohottuwa are holding behind-the-scenes talks to join SJB. According to this, there are only 118 MPs left for Pohottua. As a result, Nasir Ahmed’s position as a member of parliament has been abolished, so the government has only 117 members.
In view of this background, in a special discussion held recently, it has been learned that there has been a discussion to prepare a plan to regain the MPs of Pohottuwa by using Nasir Ahmed’s case judgment. According to the judgment given to Naseer Ahmed, an MP elected by a party must be subject to the decisions taken by that party. Accordingly, Pohottuwa has planned to cast a net for all members of Pohottuwa targeting the upcoming budget. If Pohottuwa officially decides to support the budget, all MPs elected from Pohottuwa should stand together with that decision. If not, the chiefs of Pohottu have the opportunity to take legal action against them going by Nasir Ahmed’s judgment. Accordingly, Pohottuwa is currently preparing plans to trap all MPs in Pohottuwa based on the upcoming budget.
2 letters already sent
Meanwhile, the leaders of Pohottuwa have already arranged to send two letters to Chandima Weerakkodi and Jayaratne Herath who are independent of the party. Alleging that they have accepted appointments as seat organizers of Samagi Jana Balawega. It is also heard that the letters have informed that further action will be taken in this regard.
This too was said before
Two weeks ago, in a special disclosure through the ‘Inside Politics’ column, we said for the first time that a proposal to abolish the office of the Executive President without holding the presidential election was being discussed within the government very secretly. Under the current situation, this proposal has been made to prevent the presidential candidate from going to Mr. Sajith Premadasa or Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the basis that it will be difficult for the candidate or the president to win the next presidential election, and the plan is to abolish the executive presidency through a referendum And we had reported there.
The disclosure we made on September 17 is as follows.
The latest theory
However, the best part of the discussion between the two came after that. That was along with Basil pointing out to the President what should be done to avoid this disadvantageous situation. There, Basil presented a new political theory to the President.
Abolition of the Executive?
Generally, Basil is not considered as someone who plays political games just for the sake of it , but as a prankster who plays political games in timely manner. According to Basil’s calculations, it has been found that there is no chance of producing a president from the bud for at least 10 to 15 years, so it is said that Basil’s plan is to take a strong seat in the opposition in the parliament. Basil’s plan was the background for presenting the latest political theory to the president.
A referendum
Accordingly, Basil’s proposal was that the abolition of the executive presidential system was the best option at this time. Basil had pointed out to the President that since some cases have already been decided regarding the abolition of the office of the Executive President, it is easy to abolish it through a referendum, and then the people can be asked whether the executive system is necessary or not. After that, Basil has explained to the President that it is possible to go to a parliamentary system led by the Prime Minister.
A game inside the parliament
Accordingly, Basil’s game is very clear. Basil knows that if a resolution is brought to abolish the executive system, neither the Samagi Jana Balavegaya nor the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna will be able to oppose it. Basil also knows that the UNP and Pohottua can compete together or individually in the next general election and play a game within the parliament. Many people are of the opinion that this should be the reason why Basil waited for three days to meet the President and set off this political bomb.
Will Ranil like it?
However, there is no information about whether the President liked it or not, but during our investigations, we found out that there is no great objection from the President. If he is not capable of contesting the presidential election and winning it, if Pohottuwa is also unable to win it, it is absolutely impossible to think that the president will make up his mind to hold a presidential election and hand over the presidency to opposition leader Sajith Premadasa or JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. From that point of view, the President will also think that the proposal brought by Basil is the best option. We are saying this based on the information we have that there have been many discussions in this regard within the government. However, we believe that an open dialogue on this topic will begin with the parties related to the government in the coming days.’
‘Inside Politics September 17’
What Anura said
After our disclosure, the social media and other media took steps to report this news, and it was seen that opinions were expressed in the political media meetings. Especially after our disclosure, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressed his views on this for the first time. Addressing a party conference, Anura said that the government is planning to launch a political coup by bringing a proposal to abolish the presidential system. Anura asked the party members in the meeting whether they would like to abolish the executive presidential system. Then everyone raised their hands in approval. Anura said again that after the abolition of the executive presidential system, the parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in the year 2025. But the JVP members shouted and said that they were against it.
Anura replied accordingly and said that the government is planning to abolish the executive presidential system and is ready to rule for another year, and accordingly, a resolution should be passed that the parliament should be dissolved the moment the executive presidential system is abolished. It could be seen that the gathered party members raised their hands and expressed their agreement.
Change in the voting system
On the other hand, to the last cabinet meeting Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapaksa had also submitted a proposal regarding changing the election system. Accordingly, pro-government English newspapers had reported that a referendum would be held on whether the executive presidential system should be abolished, and it had been proposed to further strengthen parliament with an executive prime minister. According to this report, it is likely to be postponed after the amendment of the laws related to the presidential election scheduled to be held next year based on the results of a referendum. Accordingly, another disclosure we made three weeks ago has been 100% confirmed through this news.
However, it is clear that the government is now planning to postpone the presidential election. Accordingly, the opposition leader Mr. Sajith Premadasa, who immediately issued an announcement against it last Tuesday, said that he will work together with all the opposition to defeat this conspiratorial program of the government. The announcement is given below.
Sajith is against
2023-10-09
Postponing or not holding elections is a serious attack on democracy
It is no secret that the government, which has already postponed the elections, is preparing tricks and tricks to postpone the elections to be held next year. The government is preparing for that by extending the piece of cake smeared with icing called ‘changing the electoral system’.
It should be emphasized to the government that it is a piece of poisoned cake and the people of this country will not be fooled by them. The current government, which plays with the sovereignty of the people, marked its decisive beginning by illegally postponing the local government elections that should have been held.
Rulers without a mandate will never have the blessing of the people. However, it is a truth that the whole world can experience that the end of the efforts of the rulers who seized power opportunistically to carry out their governance activities by using various political strategies without limiting the mandate or the will of the people is a tragedy.
Also, we can get many examples of the tragedies that have happened due to the postponement of elections in this country, and we are questioning whether the current government is preparing to take this country back to the dark past.
It is no secret that postponing or not holding elections that should be held according to the constitution is a serious attack on the democracy of a country.
It is only a dream to hope for an election from a government with a president who has destroyed the people’s sovereign parliament with mockery, insults and insults saying that ‘elections will not be postponed, there is no election to be postponed’, but we would like to emphasize to the government that we are ready to take all possible measures against that terrible process. We wish
We emphasize to the government that the measures taken by the dictatorial anti-democratic government to suppress democracy and people’s sovereignty will be definitely defeated by people’s power.
Sajith Premadasa
Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Sri Lanka
What Marikar said
In addition, Sajaba Deputy National Organizer and Media Spokesman S.M. Marikkar held a press conference last Tuesday and said that an extraordinary power of two-thirds of the Parliament is required to change the electoral system, but the Samagi Jana Balawega is not ready to give the majority to such amendments brought with the aim of postponing the elections.
However, the President does not have a very good character certificate when it comes to postponing elections. After the establishment of the good governance government in 2015, the UNP government led by the President postponed the provincial council elections indefinitely, and it is a special event that no one knows what has happened to the provincial councils. Also, the government had decided to postpone the local government elections that were to be held last year, citing the topic of changing the electoral system. According to this, the government is planning to change the electoral system and somehow postpone the upcoming elections.
Prasanna’s American Secret
Mr. Prasanna Ranatunga, who is the chief organizer of the ruling party, was seen suddenly leaving for America two weeks ago. Mr. Sagala Ratnayake, who works as the President’s senior advisor, was also on a special visit to America when Prasanna went to America without much noise. He went to America with a few others to participate in a special mission. Accordingly, many people suspect that a special meeting between Prasanna and Sagala has taken place in America.
The reason for this is that Prasanna has adopted a strong Ranil-friendly character throughout the past. Prasanna is generally considered to be a staunch Rajapaksa supporter since then. But he had developed a close friendship with Ranil, who became the president after Gotabaya’s resignation. Because of this, Prasanna said on several occasions that Ranil should be presented as the candidate of Pohottua in the next presidential election and that Ranil would also have his support. However, after Pohottuwa protested, Prasanna met with its leaders and later told the media that he is ready to support the candidate nominated by Pohottuwa. Prasanna further mentioned that if Ranil is nominated from the pot, he will support him.
The ‘Inside Politics’ column has learned that Prasanna, who suddenly travelled to America two weeks ago, is planning to go to America once again within the next few days. It is not yet clear whether Prasanna is leaving for America this time for political reasons or for some other reason.
An invitation to Sajith
Last week, we revealed that the interview given by the President to the country’s main TV channel, , during his visit to Germany, caused a great controversy. In order to alleviate that, we further revealed information that the President had arranged to give a dinner to the concerned journalist on the day of the interview or the day after.
However, even though the discussion of has created a very unfavourable situation for the President, last week, another special person in Sri Lanka was invited for an interview on the same channel. The invitation was received by none other than Mr. Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the opposition. According to the information we have received, the opposition leader has accepted the invitation. Accordingly, it will be seen in the opposition leader’s interview.
China’s game plan?
With the International Monetary Fund deciding to postpone the second loan instalment to be given to Sri Lanka, the government made plans to somehow negotiate with them again and get the second loan instalment. Minister of State for Finance Shehan Semasinghe, Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe and Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena also attended the annual conference of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Morocco with this aim in mind. Since all other creditor countries of Sri Lanka except China were to participate, the government hoped to sign a separate memorandum of understanding with other creditor countries in this conference to restructure the foreign debt without China. Before participating in the Morocco conference, the government had also made arrangements to publicize the news through the Sri Lankan media.
However, the position of the International Monetary Fund was that all the creditor countries of Sri Lanka, including China, should come to a common platform and sign a common agreement. But China rejected that position from the beginning and said that it will not participate in the general discussions and that before restructuring the Chinese debt, the IMF and the World Bank should show the restructuring of the debt with Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, with the news that other foreign creditors are ready to reach an agreement with Sri Lanka without them, it was seen last week that China also took steps to play a separate game for Kalyal. Accordingly, while the Sri Lankan delegation was in Morocco, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China issued a special tweet saying that China is ready to cooperate with other countries to recover from Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, and for that purpose, to restructure foreign debts in a fair way for multilateral institutions and commercial creditors. and are invited to participate in the discussions.
Accordingly, with this announcement by the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, many people thought that China has also agreed to Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring program.
Brewer doesn’t even know
However, a few hours after China issued this announcement, Mr. Peter Brewer, the head of operations related to Sri Lanka at the Financial Fund, who participated in the talks in Morocco, said in a statement that China had not given him any such notice, and he is not aware of such a thing. According to that, many people have thought that China has played a game on low alert.
The ship is not coming
Meanwhile, a crisis situation has emerged regarding the Chinese ship Xian Yang 6, which was scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on October 28. Two weeks ago, we made a special disclosure for the first time and said that the government has made an official request to postpone this ship, which was supposed to arrive in Sri Lanka at the end of October, until November. This was also confirmed by Foreign Minister Ali Sabri who came to a press conference on a TV channel last week. But the information we have received so far says that the journey of this Chinese ship to Sri Lanka has been abandoned by China.
On the other hand, the President is also scheduled to visit China next week. A statement made by the President last week while the Chinese visit was at the beginning of his speech has now drawn everyone’s attention. The President said that the construction of all highways, including the Central Highway, which has been stopped for now, should be started immediately. Accordingly, many people are expressing the opinion that the President will hold talks with China regarding the construction of these highways during his visit to China