PM’s Damaging Gaffe Sparks Political Crisis
Government’s Desperate Photo-Op Exposes Deep Divisions
US Envoy Leads Aggressive Push for Trade Concessions
Bimal Exposes Political Vendettas Behind False Unity
Ranil’s Calculated Deception Through Puppet Candidate
Conflict Resurfaces
Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya’s reply to the question raised by Pohottuwa’s D.V Chanaka in Parliament last Wednesday about Rohitha Rajapakse’s Supreme Sat Satellite was another indication of the ongoing conflict within the government.
Within less than 24 hours of her statement a cabinet minister Wasantha Samarasinghe stated in the Parliament the figures presented by the Prime Minister are incorrect. This gave light to the two statements of Prime minister and the minister as the key topic of discussion in many political settings last week.
Many attributed this as gross violation of collective responsibility of the cabinet of ministers and sighted as a deliberate insult on prime minister. Many claimed if the Prime Minister has uttered something in correct the procedure should have been for her to make the correction the following day not a cabinet minister highlighting it.
There were others who said this is a breach of Westminster parliamentary tradition and the person who is responsible of presenting false information to parliament should immediately quite the relevant position the person holds.
Government media spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa taking the same stand as Wasantha said anyone with an iota of brains could understand the data presented by the prime minister was incorrect.
In the midst of various opinions, discussions and debates, the best political remark on the matter was made by Namal Rajapaksa, the national organizer of the Pohottuwa. Namal said that now Chichi’s rocket has crashed in Pelawatte.
Harini’s speech led to the creation of various news stories developed to defuse the crisis that had arisen within the government. One such story stated that the relevant information was provided to the Prime Minister by the Board of Investment, and that the mistake had been made there, and that an investigation had therefore been initiated against the officials who had provided the wrong information. The news stories further stated that swift action would be taken against them.
Strange photo
However, the crisis within the government has become so severe that the heads of government had to do something that has never happened within the Malima government before to defuse it. 5 days after the Prime Minister made her statement, after the cabinet meeting held last Monday (11), a photo suddenly emerged showing all the heads of government laughing and joking together. This photo, which emerged from the Presidential Secretariat, showed the President, the Prime Minister, and cabinet ministers Bimal, Lalkantha, Vijitha, Harshana Nanayakkara, and Anura Karunathilaka standing together laughing. They were laughing at a story that Lalkantha was telling the President while showing something on his mobile phone.
History of the photos
Initially the social media friendly with the Malima government released this picture, it went viral later with many social media networks as well. After the Prime minister’s statement on Wednesday and the release of this picture it was obvious with in these five days’ major discussions have taken place within the government.
Accordingly, we also tried to investigate the stories behind such photos. Because such rare photos are usually released to the media only during times of crisis within the government. Otherwise, when crises arose between the President and the Prime Minister or when crises arose between the President and Cabinet Ministers, such photos of them together were released to show that there was no such conflict.
For example, during the time when J.R. Jayewardene was the President, there was a major disagreement between Premadasa and Gamini Dissanayake, who were in the cabinet. When the media reported information in this regard, J.R. took Premadasa and Gamini to the opening of the Victoria Dam and publish a photograph of the three of them laughing together in the media. Although J.R. had tried to show that there was no such conflict within the government, in reality, the Premadasa-Gamini conflict was developing within the government.
After the impeachment motion was filed against former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, a photograph of all the MPs and ministers together with Premadasa was published in the media at that time to show the country that there was no such crisis within the government. The message given to the country through that was that there was no conflict between them.
After Ranil became Prime Minister during Chandrika’s government in 2001, once when Prime Minister Ranil was on a tour to America, Chandrika summoned Karu Jayasuriya, the Deputy Leader of the UNP, gave him the Prime Minister’s post and planned to topple the government. Through that, Chandrika took steps to show the country that a serious crisis had arisen within the UNP.
But after Ranil arrived in Sri Lanka, he published photos of himself with Karu in the media and showed the country how everyone was rallying around him.
After that, during the 2015 Yahapalana government, various conflicts and crises arose between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil. When the media reported these, they repeatedly released photos of Ranil and Maithri together to the media, showing that there was no such crisis.
But the story behind all these photos is that such conflicts actually existed within the government and that these types of photos were released to quash them. Many believe that the story behind the sudden release of a photo of all the powerful members of the Malima government smiling together 5 days after Harini’s controversial parliamentary speech is the same story.
We are in Love
Amidst all this, leader of the House, Bimal, who never uses words that do not suit him seen, exaggeratedly answered Harini’s question at the media conference. When Bimal was asked about Harini’s statement, he said that there was no crisis with the Prime Minister, that he was working with the Prime Minister at ease, and that are in ‘full love’ with the Prime Minister.
But the most ridiculous thing about this is that the same Bimal, who said full love for the Prime Minister, came to Independent Television about 4 months ago and participated in a conversation with journalist Sisira Yapa and made a statement that the engine of the government would be changed. It is very clear that this engine was none other than Harini Amarasuriya. In addition, Bimal said that a cabinet reshuffle was scheduled to be carried out, changing the responsibilities of several ministers, including himself. This is how we reported Bimal’s statement on May 25.
Question
The chairmen of a number of institutions under the ministry resigned. Why is that?
Almost all of our chairmen, about 99%, were appointed from within the government of three ministers. We had to govern the country without instability at that time. We got together a group of about 21 and appointed various chairmen and leaders. Some of them were appointed for a short period. They also know that. Some voluntarily resigned. Another group resigned from those positions to seek elections.
The concept of state governance can only be understood by getting down to it. Governing an institution requires knowledge, discipline, and management. It requires timely wisdom. Many other things are needed.
Some people have good qualities but do not have those qualities. Some people are really not suitable. Even when I took over the ministry, I said that I would only be there for six months, if I can’t, I will resign, I don’t want to keep this. We have about 2000 years to work. For the first time, a government of the lower class was formed.
Whether the whites ruled or the kings ruled, they did not look after the poor people of this country. That is why there are about 2000 years of problems to solve. Everyone has a responsibility. If we can, we will do it, if we cannot, we will leave humbly. Only when we run this machine will anyone understand whether we can do this or not. That is why what we did in these first six months was to get used to it. To gain experience. We do not trust the officials. We have heard a lot of their fighting talk.
We understand whether we can do what these people say or not. We also understand that even though these people say something, there is something else in their heads. Some are lazy. Some are political henchmen. What we did in these six months was to understand both of them. Otherwise, there is no other way to understand these two. Now we have finished all the elections. Now we have to drive for the next four and a half years. For that, we need good parts for the engine and good machines.
Accordingly, in the next few months, I hope to transfer responsibilities, including myself. Maybe new people will be appointed. We will discuss them very amicably. There are many people who want to come in and work voluntarily. We must be accountable to the mandate. We must be accountable to the people. But when they lie and try to deceive us, our patience is stretched a little….’
(May 25, 2025)
We have been reporting through our ‘inside politics’ column that some kind of conflict is emerging within the Malaima government between the JVP and Malaima, or between the JVP and Prime Minister Harini. Although all the media outlets are reporting that there is a conflict within the government today, we started reporting on this conflict a few weeks after the presidential election. Or a few days after the general election, a two-thirds majority government was formed. Below is a revelation we made about the ongoing conflict between the government and the Prime Minister six months ago, that is, last February.
Compass left out
Although everyone called the current government the Compass government after the presidential election and the general election, two weeks after the general election, we made an extraordinary revelation through the column and said that the JVP and the Compass are not one, but are gradually becoming two. Although everyone habitually says ‘the Compass government. the Compass government.’, we had revealed that the JVP’s power is being suppressed within the government and that the entire Compass government is being manipulated by the JVP.
‘During the elections, some popular groups in the Compass party deliberately defeated the JVP in the villages, the JVP is harassing the Compass party, some in the Compass party do not care about the JVP party.’ Although various rumors became topics in political discussions, they did not get much space in the media at that time.
Such topics did not reach the public. The reason for this was that since the wave was already sweeping the JVP, some media outlets were also swept along with the wave of fear. Since the public was also in a state of shock, they did not pay any attention to such news even when they saw it. But during the general election itself, we, fulfilling our media responsibility, had reported that such a division, such a conflict of opinion was emerging within the Malaima government.
However, it seems that the fact that we mentioned during the general election is now coming to light due to the public’s discontent with the government. Therefore, now the public has started to see that crisis. The public has started to talk about that crisis. In this regard, we are humbled by the fact that the facts we uncovered have been confirmed.
We previously pointed out that the main event that brought the JVP*-Malama crisis within the government was the resignation of Senesh Bandara Dissanayake, who was the chairman of the television. Senesh Bandara was appointed as the Chairman of the National Television by Vijitha Herath, who was also the Minister of Mass Media in the Anura-Harini-Vijitha cabinet.
Whatever one may say at the time of the appointment, Senesh made some effort to clean up the cobwebs of television using his creative abilities. Being a talented young designer and having experience in the media sector was a great advantage for Senesh. However, after the general election, the post of Minister of Mass Media was handed over to Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.
A few days after Nalinda was appointed, Senesh suddenly resigned and exited the television. At that time, many people said that Senesh resigned due to a disagreement with the minister, but a few days later, Senesh posted on his Facebook page that he had only accepted the position of chairman of the television for a period of three months, and that since that period had expired, he had resigned from the position of chairman of the television with the intention of accepting another national responsibility. However, to this day, it is not known that Senesh has been assigned such a national responsibility by the government. Accordingly, it appears that Senesh left the national television due to some disagreement.
Why did Ramal resign?
We brought up the Senesh incident again here because last week another chairman from within the Malima government had submitted his resignation. It was none other than Ramal Siriwardena, a well-known figure who served as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board. Ramal is a person who has served as the Chairman of the SLTB four times and knows its ins and outs well. Ramal first assumed the position of Chairman of the SLTB during the administration of Chandrika Bandaranaike.
Many say that during the periods when Ramal served as the Chairman of the SLTB, Ramal had always taken steps to improve the status of the SLTB. In this way, Ramal, who has been involved in politics with the SLFP since Chandrika’s administration, took steps to nominate Malima from Gampaha when the nominations were given in the last local government elections. This was because of Ramal’s close relationship with Gampaha political powerhouse Vijitha Herath.
When Anura, Vijitha and Harini selected, Ramal once again gave the position of SLTB Chairman because of his close relationship with Vijitha. But what happened to Ramal was the same as what happened to Senesh. That is, when Vijitha’s ministry changed and the Transport Minister’s post went to Bimal Ratnayake, Ramal had to suddenly hand in his resignation letter and go home. When investigating this matter, many people say that a conversation with Minister Bimal was the reason for this resignation. It was further said from the rumors that something more had happened to Ramal than what Senesh had to face.
However, when Ramal’s incident received a lot of publicity in the media, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had also taken steps to speak to Ramal. At that time, the President had told Ramal not to worry and that if there was a problem, it could be resolved through discussions. Vijitha Herath has also spoken to Ramal and informed him that he is working to resolve the issue. The information we have indicates that the President and Vijitha have spoken to Ramal in this manner due to the suspicion that Ramal will make a statement to the media regarding his resignation.
Bimal Ratnayake, the character involved in the alleged conflict with Ramal, is a very powerful individual within the JVP. Under any circumstances, a decision cannot be taken against Bimal because the vast majority has already identified Bimal Ratnayake as the next JVP leader.
Within a shorter period following this, the third chairman appointed by the Malima government also resigned from his post. It was N.B. Monty Ranatunga, who was the chairman of the National Housing Development Authority. Ranatunga was also appointed as the Chairman of the Housing Development Authority during the time when the Anura, Vijitha and Harini cabinet was ruling the country.
However, after the general election, the Housing Development Authority was handed over to the Minister of Housing, Dr. Anura Karunathilaka. However, on Friday, Ranatunga had taken steps to submit his resignation letter by sending a long letter to the Minister. This is also considered to be another aspect of the crisis emerging within the new government.
JVP-Malima conflict
It was termed as an attack by JVP on Malimawa by many observers.
However, only a few of the facts of the JVP-Malima conflict have come to light. There are many more unknown facts behind the scenes. We have revealed a lot of information in this regard since the last general election through this column. Also, due to these conflicts, the non-JVP Malima groups are currently politically orphaned.
These Malima groups are currently in a political limbo, with no support from anyone in the JVP, no one to discuss matters, and no recognition within the government. During the last election, these Malima groups had informed the head of the Malima, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, about the injustices being done to them by the JVP.
But Harini is currently maintaining a complete political silence due to the fact that she does not have much space in the government. Despite the pressure from the people who voted for the government, JVP MPs and ministers have come out to express their views on behalf of the government, Harini, as the Prime Minister, has not been seen standing up for the government in that way. Harini can only be seen issuing statements inside Parliament at the moment….’
(Inside Politics 2025 February 02)
Harini silent
What happened to the Speaker Harini, who was the cause of the incident, when Wasantha, Nalinda and Bimal directly responded to the Prime Minister’s speech, If the Prime Minister had made a mistake, she should have corrected it in Parliament on the same day or the next day.
Conspicuously Harini did not say a word about it when the ministers of the government said that the Prime Minister’s speech was wrong. Why Harini do not say whether her speech was right or wrong? Even though ministers have been making various discourses and various photographs been published on the government side, Harini has not said a word about it up to this day, which is more serious concern.
Instead, Harini met two special people last week. Harini first met with the Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Santosh Jha. The discussion held at Temple Trees focused on the development of the education sector between India and Sri Lanka. After that, Harini went to the Archbishop’s official residence and met Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. There, too, Harini focused on education reforms. But the special thing here is that Harini did not make a statement anywhere that the speech she made was wrong or right.
BOI Reply
However, in the end, Harini’s story was also seen being passed around by officials as usual, based on the ‘manufactured’ news that an investigation was being conducted against Board of Investment officials. Accordingly, some social media outlets had directly accused the Director General of the Board of Investment, Ms. Renuka M. Weerakoon, who was said to have provided information to the Prime Minister. It was also seen that some media outlets had published her photos and made serious allegations against her. Accordingly, we also investigated her side of the story.
She had stated, ‘We have made a small mistake here. That is the fact that we were unable to put two or three commas. That is all the mistake that has been made on our part. There has also been a small oversight on the part of the Prime Minister. Where we put millions, she said billions. Apart from that, there is no mistake in our report. No matter how many investigations there would be we have no problem….’ Accordingly, it is impossible to say at this time which way the future of the investigations that are being conducted against the officials will turn.
Another division
This division within the government was also clearly seen in the recent tariffs imposed against Sri Lanka by the Trump administration. The one who played a very crucial role behind the scenes in reducing the tariff imposed from 44% to 20% was none other than the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US, Mahinda Samarasinghe. Once, when the Exporters Association met the President and discussed the tariffs, the President clearly stated that Mahinda Samarasinghe should be given the credit for it.
Mahinda Samarasinghe was first appointed as the Ambassador to the US during Gotabaya’s time. Even Ranil Wickremesinghe, who became President after Gotabaya was ousted, did not remove Mahinda Samarasinghe from that position. This was due to Mahinda Samarasinghe’s ability to manage them in extremely critical situations and his past experience. Although Anura made a statement that all the ambassadors who held political positions would be recalled when he came to power, Anura did not take any action against Mahinda Samarasinghe. Taking a single decision, Anura said that Mahinda should continue to serve as the ambassador to the United States.
Nalinda attacks
However, even after the President made this public praise, Nalinda Jayatissa and Wasantha Samarasinghe had given a very harsh response to Mahinda Samarasinghe in the media. At that time, Nalinda publicly stated that he did not even want to talk about the role played by Mahinda Samarasinghe.
We took steps to publish the statements made by the President regarding Mahinda at that time, and the statements made by Wasantha and Nalinda regarding Mahinda on our website. However, after our disclosure, after reducing the tariff to 20%, the President, who came to Parliament, took steps to publicly thank Mahinda Samarasinghe once again.
The President said that Ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe played a major role day and night in achieving that victory, as there is a huge time difference between America and Sri Lanka. Through this, the President silently said that the ‘man of the match’ of this operation was Mahinda Samarasinghe. Accordingly, due to this incident, it was clearly seen that there is no single position within the government on any issue, and that there are different positions between the President and the ministers. Accordingly, as Namal said, not only Chichi’s rocket, but also Donald Trump’s tariff has now crashed into Pelawatte.
Trick Dudley
Last week, we made an extraordinary revelation through the ‘inside politics’ column and revealed that Ranil Wickremesinghe is preparing to play a new game by bringing Kanchana Wijesekera to the fore. We said that Ranil is trying to avoid the pressure from the Ruwan, Sagala and Vajira groups by giving Kanchana a high position in the UNP, and that he is trying to break a group from the SJB. Also, week before that, we reported on another rope that Ranil has fed to Milinda Moragoda. We said that Ranil has taken steps to feed his usual common candidate rope to Milinda.
we are ready to reveal information through this column that Ranil has fed the common candidate rope to another millionaire businessman. It is none other than former President Maithripala Sirisena’s brother, millionaire businessman Dudley Sirisena. It is said that the operation to lure Dudley into the common candidate’s trap has been entrusted to Vajira Abeywardena by Ranil.
There, Ranil has dressed Dudley in the common candidate’s suit and informed him to come and meet him with Vajira immediately. Ranil, who dressed Milinda in the first week, has dressed Kanchana in the second week and Dudley in the third week. It is still too early to say whether Dudley will eat this trap of Ranil and burn the money he has in his hands for Ranil.
We say this because in the 2019 Presidential Election, Ranil similarly lured the number one millionaire businessman in Sri Lanka into the common candidate’s trap and made him spend millions for the UNP. Since Milinda, Kanchana and Dudley are all well-to-do people, many believe that Ranil is preparing to take money from them.
Police raid Sirikotha
This is very clear from a statement Ranil made at a meeting held in Sirikotha last week. There, Ranil had said, ‘We don’t have the money to revamp Sirikotha now. Let’s all get together and start looking for money. I have also come to this now…’ Accordingly, many people point out that Ranil is distributing the common candidate suit to the millionaires in this way with the intention of extorting money from them as usual.
Meanwhile, a police team had suddenly arrived in Sirikotha last week. This was to question a powerful person from the North Western Province who had been appointed by Ranil to a high position in Sirikotha. It is learnt by this column that this politician has been accused of taking money on the pretext of providing land in the North Western Province during the previous government, and that this police team has come to obtain statements for an investigation that has been initiated in this regard.
In addition, it is learnt that a special investigation has also been initiated into the matter in which many individuals in the UNP Working Committee acquired assets in the past. Therefore, these former MPs have been seen arriving at the meetings held in Sirikotha in Maruti cars, small vans and buses these days. The relevant photographs are also in the possession of this column.
Ranil meets Mahinda
However, while Ranil was meeting millionaires and putting the suit of a common candidate, he went to meet former President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week and played another strange game. Although he was appointed as the President through the election held inside the parliament with the help of the Pohottuwa, Ranil later destroyed the Pohottuwa and initiated investigations against the Rajapaksas, so there was not a very close relationship between the Rajapaksas and Ranil throughout the past period.
However, after Mahinda gave him time for that due to a request from Ranil, in the discussion that took place, Ranil told Mahinda that the UNP was ready to enter into a grand alliance with Namal. Ranil told Namal to meet him to discuss the matter and informed Mahinda that he would advise Namal in this regard. Mahinda also told Ranil that he would inform Namal of the proposal.
Kanchana-Shehan to the Pohottuwa
However, it is seen that Namal, who is now politically mature, has understood the problem that Ranil is trying to solve. Because when Ranil was acting as the President, a large number of senior members of the Pohottuwa left the UNP and joined Ranil. Some left the Pohottuwa and went with the cylinder that Ranil had formed.
However, since Ranil has now become a political invalid, it is seen that the vast majority of the Pohottuwa who went to Ranil are once again gathering around the Pohottuwa. Some are publicly coming to the Pohottuwa office on Nelum Mawatha and discussing with Namal, while some groups are holding discussions with Namal in various places regarding this.
it is reported to ‘inside politics’ column that people like Kanchana Wijesekera, Shehan Semasinghe, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, who worked closely with Ranil, have now resumed political dealings with Namal. Last Thursday, Rohitha Abeygunawardena had also taken steps to invite Namal to a dinner party held at his house. It is also reported that Shehan has also started a special round of discussions with Namal.
Ranil is not unaware that the re-joining of Pohottuwa seniors who were close to him is a great danger for him. Accordingly, Ranil had summoned Shehan Semasinghe a week ago and informed him that UNP politics was suitable for Shehan. Ranil had informed Shehan not to re-join Pohottuwa and to do politics together with the UNP.
We reported last week on this column how Ranil had previously summoned Kanchana and given the same advice. However, Shehan has told Ranil to his face that he cannot do politics with the UNP, and that he has decided to do politics with the Pohottuwa again since the Pohottuwa supporters are once again joining forces with Namal at the village level.
This column also reports that Kanchana has also taken a wise decision. Accordingly, Kanchana has decided not to do politics with the UNP and Ranil anymore. Kanchana has also decided not to take any position in the UNP. Accordingly, it is reported that Kanchana has decided to form a new party or buy an already registered party. However, it is also reported that a certain strongman in the Pohottuwa itself is expressing his opposition to Kanchana rejoining the Pohottuwa and entering politics from Matara. It is said that this strongman, who had joined various parties in the past and returned to the Pohottuwa, is protesting against the Kanchanas out of fear that he will lose his position.
Namal’s response
Why is Ranil playing games like this to keep the seniors of the Pohottuwa with him? The reason for this is nothing else but to break the unity that is being built between the opposition parties after the local government elections, and especially the unity that is being built between Sajith, Namal and the Tamil Alliance.
It is not that Ranil does not know that if this unity is built or if the Pohottuwa strongmen join the Pohottuwa again, the UNP and he will lose their security. Therefore, Ranil is trying to somehow build an alliance between the UNP and Namal and keep the UNP and himself alive. Otherwise, Ranil has calculated that only he and two or three people who have been accused of corruption and fraud will be left in the UNP.
However, after information was reported in this regard, one MP has asked Namal about response to Ranil’s proposal. Namal had said, ‘We have not forgotten what Ranil did for our family and party. I will not fall for any of those proposals. But if Ranil talks, I will go for discussions. He thinks he is the biggest gamer. Let’s see what game we are playing…’.
UNP against
However, Ranil took steps to present the proposal to merge with the Pohottuwa to the UNP Working Committee last week. There, giving Ranil a star-studded answer, even the two or three remaining seniors have pointed out that the UNP has no political future if it merges with the Pohottuwa. It is also reported that Akila, Naveen and Thalatha have pointed out that the culture of the UNP is different and that of the Pohottuwa is completely different.
Attack on Sajith
Last week, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa embarked on a tour of the South. The main purpose of Sajith’s trip was to meet and discuss with the elected SJP local government representatives from the Hambantota and Monaragala districts and to discuss the issue of the Sevanagala sugarcane farmers. Accordingly, while Sajith was traveling from Colombo to Hambantota, he saw an elephant near an electric fence near Yala.
In addition to politics, Sajith is an environmentalist who loves wildlife, the environment, and wildlife photography. That is why Sajith often goes to the Yala and Wilpattu forests as soon as he gets a break from politics and engages in animal watching and photography.
There are very few political leaders in the world today who love animals and forests in this way. Sajith and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are two political figures who love wildlife and protect wildlife. Once, due to a news report that Indian tigers were going extinct, Modi went to a jungle in India with a well-known environmental television channel and spent a night with tigers for a special documentary program. It received a huge response internationally. Modi had also done documentaries with Indian actors and actresses emphasizing the importance of tigers. Modi protected the endangered Indian tigers in that way.
Sajith, too, saw the elephant standing by the fence during his visit to Hambantota and immediately remembered that it was International Elephant Day that day and that elephants in Sri Lanka were currently facing a serious threat. Accordingly, Sajith immediately stopped the vehicle and made a special statement with the elephant in the background, taking steps to stop the elephant-human conflict and give a special message to the government and the country about the importance of protecting elephants that are currently facing a threat.
Dogs in Yala?
Then, after the trip to Hambantota, Sajith took a short tour of Yala, as he had about two hours of rest. While visiting Yala, Sajith once saw two dogs in the jungle. At that moment, Sajith was reminded of a previously reported mafia in Wilpattu Forest where tour guides brought dogs to the jungle and used them as prey for tigers, allowing them to be photographed and videotaped, thereby taking a large amount of money from foreigners.
Accordingly, while looking for the two dogs in the Yala Forest, Sajith saw two tigers and a jeep with guides carrying tourists parked on the other side. There, Sajith suspected that the guides were running a racket to extort money by letting the dogs fall prey to the tigers and then showing them to foreigners. Accordingly, Sajith immediately stopped his jeep across the road and tried to capture the two dogs, the two tigers, and the jeep carrying the tourists in his camera lens. But Sajith was unable to capture the photo. Sajith made that attempt to present this special photo to Parliament and raise his voice in Parliament regarding it.
Attack from Ranil
However, someone who misunderstood Sajith’s attempt had videotaped Sajith blocking the road and holding the jeep and posted it on social media. This video was widely shared on social media networks especially those friendly to Ranil, and it was seen that a major attack had been launched against Sajith. But this is the real story behind it.
However, even though Sajith took the photos and immediately informed the Yala Wildlife Officers, they said that when people came from the north to the Kataragama foot procession, dogs had also arrived, and that the dogs that had arrived were still in Yala, lost among them. However, since it has been almost a month since the Kataragama procession ended, many people are of the opinion that this argument is unacceptable. Accordingly, what should be done is not to attack Sajith, but to pay attention to this fact that Sajith pointed out, if the tourist guides are doing something illegal, they should immediately stop it and protect the wildlife for future generations.
Dilith refuses
Last week, the opposition submitted a no-confidence motion to the Speaker against Deputy Defense Minister Aruna Jayasekara. While other opposition parties expressed their support for the motion, Dilith Jayaweera stated that he would not support it. This is not the first time that Dilith has interfered with the work of the opposition in this way. Previously, Dilith Jayaweera had been publicly accused of supporting the Compass in many places when power was established in local government institutions.
Will Aruna be removed?
However, it is said that a technical problem has now arisen regarding the no-confidence motion presented against Aruna Jayasekara. Some groups point out that a no-confidence motion can only be presented to a minister in charge of the relevant subjects and not to a deputy minister who has not been entrusted with subjects. Their position is that this is clearly stated in Section ‘2M’ of the Constitution Interpretation Act. There, a Deputy Minister can only move a no-confidence motion if the subjects of his or her ministerial portfolio are allocated by a gazette notification. Otherwise, it is stated that a ‘charge of impeachment’ or ‘vote of censure’ can’t be brought against a Deputy Minister. Accordingly, we will have to wait for a few more days to know the government’s response to the no-confidence motion against Aruna Jayasekara.
