Government and Opposition Caught Napping on ‘Multi Plug’ Scandal
Frontline Party Shocks with ‘Gray Deals’ Revelation
Vimukthi’s Arrival Sparks Media Stampede
Rani Consults Stars to Save Him
Ranil’s Media Spin Spins Out of Control
Julie Chung’s Goodbye Dinner Turns Spicy
Ranil’s faith in astrology
Whatever said and done Astrology has occupied a pivotal place in Sri Lankan politics during politically critical times. It is well known fact even the leftist politicians despite their claim of nonbelief in astrology surreptitiously resort to astrological help when saddled with critical political decision making.
Former president Ranil Wickramasinghe is one who acclaimed himself as a nonbeliever of these astrological guidance and charms. However hand full of individual knows that Ranil Wickramasinghe is a staunch believer in astrology.
This was clearly visible after his defeat in 2020 elections even he fell short of votes that would qualify him to enter the parliament. Ranil announced his retirement from politics to his family and close friends after this crushing defeat.
But suddenly he changed his mind and entered the parliament through the national list which no UNP leader has ever resorted and few knew this sudden change was made based on an astrological advice by a guru.
This advice to Ranil was given by not by one astrologist but few of them who worked closely with him since 1994. Significant prediction given by these soothsayers was according to his horoscope his chance of becoming president would never happen in is young age and he would get change to be president only for a brief period during the laterpart of his life span.
These astrologers were not with Ranil, but some new set of soothsayers who got closer to him in 2020 were instrumental for the change of his retirement plan. They predicted the time is ideal for him to rise to the pinnacle.
Just as those astrologers had said, during the Gotabaya Rajapaksa era, the country faced a great crisis and surprisingly, Ranil was able to reach the presidential chair.
Despite Ranil assumed as the president for a while, Ranil had forgotten the advice given to him by these astrologers due to his greed for power. Accordingly, instead of building the country and retiring with dignity, Ranil planned to continue in power placing political greed as the main focus. The result was that Ranil had to lose the last presidential election and go home.
128 days to go
Ranil’s birth sign is Pisces. After the defeat in the elections he once again summoned the astrologer to read the horoscope. They read it and said there is no room for him to rise again until August.
According to astrology, Saturn enters Pisces in June. Ranil also assumed the presidency at a time when Saturn and Jupiter were in alignment. But with Jupiter leaving that position, Ranil was thrown out of power. Accordingly, after Saturn entered the zodiac sign, fell back to its usual position on the fourth day, as usual. Accordingly, a Saturn ‘erashasta’ has started for Ranil after March 23rd, and it is scheduled to be in full swing for the next two and a half years.
Why did we make this brief introduction to Ranil’s astrological planetary transit for the first time? We made this disclosure not just for a reason, but because Ranil, who had been very quiet throughout the past period, suddenly entered the political arena by playing a little game.
Ranil played that game with another piece of advice he had received astrology expert. Although Ranil usually did not care astrology a bit when he was in power, he is known to be someone who moves his political map back and forth according to astrological advice when he is out of power.
Accordingly, although it is inauspicious for the planet to transit in Pisces for two and a half years from March 13th, Saturn is scheduled to undergo a retrograde motion for a period of 128 days, after which Saturn is scheduled to return to its previous position on November 28th.
The astrological advice received by Ranil says that although he is going through a very bad time, only for the short period of 128 days during which Saturn is retrograde will give him some political advantage. \ Ranil, the astrologers who advised him and everyone in the country are aware that Ranil will not be able to come to power again within these 128 days. However, Ranil is trying to somehow play some game within these 128 days and become a figure in politics again.
Sajith the Obstacle
The biggest obstacle for Ranil in this regard is the opposition leader and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa. Although there was some ideology within both parties that the UNP and SJB should unite before the last local government elections, it was not possible at that time due to the underhand manipulation of some seniors in the UNP.
However, according to the results obtained after the local government elections, a certain political reconciliation has been established between the SJB and the UNP, and that unity has enabled them to seize power in many local government institutions.
UNP General Secretary Thalatha Athukorala also officially issued a statement stating that the UNP and SJB will work together in establishing power in local government institutions. Accordingly, a large unofficial consensus has been formed between the UNP and the SJB at the village level, and this consensus is also being formed among the party members at the village level.
Although it is a matter of happiness for the UNP-SJB party members, Ranil is not at all happy about this unity. Ranil knows very well that the biggest obstacle to his seizure of power is the SJB-UNP unity that is being formed at the village level. Therefore, Ranil wants to somehow break this relationship between the two parties and create a crisis within the SJB against Sajith.
News Plant once Again
Ranil has never been someone who has done politics with the people or with the party. From the beginning, Ranil did politics by ‘planting’ various fake news through his family’s newspaper network. Or rather, by ‘planting news’. Ranil had a newspaper network and several channels that were ready for that. But throughout the past, we have exposed Ranil’s fake news planting operation to the country through the ‘Inside Politics’ column with evidence and examples. Although the people were deceived by this fake news in early days, now the people do not pay attention to it because of the revelations we made about it.
With the astrological advice that a favorable situation can be created during the very short period of 128 days when Saturn is in transit, a special news item was suddenly ‘planted’ in Ranil’s family newspaper, ‘Lankadeepa’.
The news reported that a shake-up was to take place in the top leadership of the SJB. The news, which was spread in Lankadeepa, also received a lot of publicity on social media networks friendly to Ranil. In addition, a news story spread on another website said that a group of 10 SJB MPs had met Sajith and informed him that there should be a change in the SJB leadership.
By this fake news Ranil targeted the Samagi Jana Balawegaya management committee meeting that was scheduled to be held two days later. Ranil’s plan was to exert some influence against Sajith through SJB MPs at the management committee meeting. According to that plan, Ranil called several SJB MPs and invited them to meet him, saying that he would like to have a private conversation.
Through this, Ranil’s plan was to create a rebellion within the SJB and create a crisis regarding Sajith’s leadership. The second plan was to capture a few people in the SJB and create an opinion that the party needed a deputy leader. To create the necessary background for this, Ranil also took steps to bring in a few people who were always ‘sneaking’ in the SJB and lure them by saying that they were suitable for the deputy leadership.
Plan exposed
But the problem was that the moment these SJB MPs went to meet Ranil, Sajith was tipped off from all sides, saying, ‘This MP went to meet Ranil.’ Accordingly, as soon as these MPs came out of their meeting with Ranil, Sajith had called all of them as if he did not know anything. These MPs had informed Sajith of all the details of their conversation with Ranil. Accordingly, Sajith had understood the four corners and the breadth of the game that Ranil was going to play well in advance.
Sajith knew all this information and remained silent without saying a word, according to the information we received, we took steps to disclose information on the ‘Mawrata News’ website on several occasions regarding this game that Ranil was planning to play.
The SJB Management Committee meeting began on Tuesday, but it was a special event that there was no commotion as expected from Ranil’s side. It could be possible that the SJB MPs had also seen the revelations made to our country regarding the game Ranil was going to play. Although Ranil thought that there would be a rebellion against Sajith within the SJB, what actually happened was that instead of rebelling against Sajith, all the MPs unconditionally strengthened Sajith and stood up for him.
If my mouth opens…
Sajith, at the beginning of the management committee meeting, expressed his views on this matter and said, ‘The top positions of the SJP will be changed’. This was done by none other than Ranil. This news was published in his family newspaper. It was also published on websites friendly to him.
In the past, when everyone was saying to join hands with the UNP, I laid the foundation for it. But later these people started attacking me. Now, this news has been published in this news that 10 SJP members came to meet me and informed me to change the leadership…’ As he was expressing his views, Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Marikkar interrupted Sajith’s speech and asked who the 10 MPs who met Ranil were. Madduma Bandara and Marikka also requested Sajith to submit information regarding them to the management committee.
In response, Sajith said that no SJB MP had come to meet him as mentioned in the news and that no such request had been made to him. Sajith, who claimed that it was all Ranil’s news plant, said that he had not spoken about it so far, but that he was ready to speak out on the matter in the future and that if he did, an SJB-UNP merger would never happen.
When Sajith made a somewhat impulsive comment, Madduma Bandara, Kabir Hashim and Mujibur Rahman immediately intervened and said that Ranil should not speak and that no one but Sajith could influence positions in the SJB. Therefore, these three MPs, who had informed Sajith not to intervene in this issue, informed Sajith that they would take steps to provide an answer to it. Accordingly, the issue ended there.
The attention of the Management Committee was then drawn to the operation launched by the government targeting opposition MPs these days. MP Marikkare informed the Management Committee that MP Sujeewa Senasinghe had to appear before the court for several months and that the party should do something for him.
Marikkare said that since Sujeewa had to appear before the court as well, all the party members should go to the court premises to give him strength. All the MPs including Sajith agreed to this. Sajith said that no matter what work he had, he would come to the court premises on that day for Sujeewa.
It was special occurrence that all the party MPs came to the court premises to appear for Sujeewa on Tuesday. These MPs, who were at the forefront, also took steps to express their views on behalf of Sujeewa to the media. Accordingly, in the end, Ranil, who had sought to gain some political advantage by creating a rebellion within the SJB based on the transit of Saturn, had to stand aside as all the MPs gathered around Sajith.
The Multi-Plug Deal
A very controversial incident occurred within the government last week. That was, steps were taken to suddenly suspend a tender that had been awarded for crores of rupees, with one multi-plug priced at Rs. 72,000 under the Digital Ministry. When looking at the chain of events behind the scenes from the day the tender was submitted to the awarding of the tender and the cancellation of the tender, many people were able to see something surprising. The first surprise was that after the relevant tender was awarded to a certain company,
Wasantha Mudalige, the head of the Jana Aragala Sandha, revealed the facts to the country for the first time.
Normally, if there is any theft, fraud or irregularity within a government, it comes out through the main opposition party. Otherwise, through another political party in the opposition. Or through the trade unions in the opposition. But the information about this multi-plug tender was not released for the first time not by a party representing the opposition in parliament, but through the People’s Struggle Alliance, which claims to be affiliated with the Frontline Party outside parliament.
This is not the first time that information about controversial transactions taking place within the government has been released through the Frontline Party. Earlier, the Frontline Party made a strong revelation to the country regarding the award of the electronic identity card tender to India.
The Frontline Party also seriously questioned the government regarding the agreements signed with India. Now, for the first time, the government’s multi-plug tender has also been released through the People’s Struggle Alliance, which is affiliated with the Frontline Party. All of this is a project being carried out by the Digital Ministry under the President.
No matter how controversial this multi-plug transaction is, even after Wasantha Mudalige presented it to the country, no opposition party pursued it much. No information was disclosed to the country. But after Wasantha Mudalige presented this information to the country along with the cabinet paper, social media gave it a lot of publicity.
The government’s transparency was strongly questioned. Accordingly, the government immediately took steps to cancel this multi-plug tender. As far as we know, no government has ever reversed a tender awarded due to a revelation made by a party with a small representation in the opposition. But it is unique that such a thing has happened this time.
As everyone knows, the Frontline is a part of the JVP that broke away and is involved in politics. Although they are two separate parties, both have people who have worked together for a long time and know each other. Accordingly, the question that has arisen now is who is leaking information about these transactions and cabinet papers between the government to the Frontline.
A serious question has arisen among many people as to whether the information is being provided by trade unions affiliated with the JVP, or whether the frontliners are receiving it from officials affiliated with the JVP, or whether the frontliners are receiving it from another powerful arm affiliated with the JVP.
We had mentioned several times before that there were some conflicts and crises within the government through this column. We had also reported on the occasions when those crises and conflicts came to light publicly. Even social media started reporting that there was some conflict of opinion within the Malima government based on the revelations we made.
In addition, the Frontline Socialist Party was the first to reveal the facts to the country regarding the most serious problem the government is facing these days, the incident of releasing 323 container trucks from the port without any inspection.
At that time, they never targeted Bimal Ratnayake, a strongman of the JVP. Bimal also later said in Parliament that he had no connection with the container incident, that the Customs was an institution not under his control, and that he had no authority to issue orders in this regard.
The next thing that came out from the Frontliners was the incident of providing the digital identity card to India. Now the multi-plug incident. Accordingly, although there is no official information, many people have suspected that some kind of connection is emerging between the JVP and the frontliners through these incidents.
Accordingly, this time we are saying that many things related to certain misdeeds happening within the government are more likely to be revealed through the Frontline party than through other opposition parties.
Why was Anura Slow?
Last week, the MP.L.K. website, which discloses various information about MPs and ministers, made a surprising revelation. It was about the promises made by the current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake before the presidential election and the promises he had fulfilled during the period since becoming the President.
This was stated in this Anura Meter conducted by Verite Research.
Verite Research made this revelation through the ‘Anura Meter’, an online tool that monitors the progress of the promises included in President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s 2024 Presidential Election Policy Statement. They pointed out that the President had made 22 major promises during the election period, of which only one has been fulfilled so far. The promise that was fulfilled is the amendment of the Pay-As-You-earn tax.
The Anura Meter, a website run by Verite Research, examines 22 of the president’s promises, covering areas of high public interest, including economic reforms, governance, anti-corruption, law and order, and social security.
The fulfilled promises category represents 5% of the 22 selected promises, with 35% of these 22 promises partially fulfilled and another 14% initiated. However, it states that there is no updated information on 10 of the 22 promises, or 45%.
Mahinda praised and blamed
In an extraordinary revelation made last week by us , we revealed that the President’s name had been incorrectly reported as ‘Aruna Kumara Dissanayake’ in the letter to Sri Lanka published on its website by the White House, and then how the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States, Mahinda Samarasinghe, first noticed this and immediately called the White House and took steps to correct it diplomatically. In addition, Mahinda Samarasinghe had played a very important role even in the negotiations regarding the reduction of tariffs. His experience and wealth of experience in the diplomatic field had been of great help to him in this.
However, after our revelation, the Sri Lanka Exporters Association met the President to discuss the tariffs imposed by the Trump government. Due to the 30% tariff, exporters were already in some uncertainty and mental breakdown regarding the future of their companies. However, the President, who explained the progress of the negotiations with the Trump government, said that Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe, as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka, had played a major role in carrying out these tasks.
However, at the cabinet press conference held last Monday, journalists once again asked the Cabinet Media Spokesperson Minister Nalinda Jayatissa about this. The most notable incident that was witnessed there was Nalinda’s statement that he would not give any answer in this regard.
Through Nalinda’s response, many understood that Nalinda had responded in a somewhat contemptuous manner. Or that Minister Nalinda Jayatissa is rejecting the President’s praise of Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe in front of exporters. Through this, it was also possible to note that there was some conflict of opinion within the government regarding Trump’s tax.
This was further clarified through a statement made by Deputy Minister Anil Jayantha on Derana TV. Anil Jayantha, who spoke in line with the President’s position despite what Nalinda said, said that Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe is playing a special role in the discussions regarding the tax.
Indonesia succeed
Regarding the 30% tariff imposed by the Trump government, we said last week that all discussions going forward are scheduled to be held online. However, speaking to the media in this regard, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said that another team will leave for the United States on the 18th to discuss the relevant taxes.
However, as a result of a recent discussion, it was possible to reduce the tax imposed on 44% to 30%. Government Minister Anil Jayantha said that this was the highest concession received by a country in the Asian region, but it was later revealed that while the United States imposed a 30% tax on Sri Lanka, it had imposed only a 19% tax on Indonesia.
While reducing taxes on Indonesia in this way, the Trump government had made a major trade deal with the Indonesian government through it. In addition to reducing the tariff imposed by Indonesia on American goods to 0%, Indonesia has agreed to purchase 50 Boeing aircraft worth billions of dollars from the United States.
While Indonesia is entering into a major trade deal with the Trump administration to reduce the US tariff, Sri Lanka will also have to enter into a major trade deal with the United States to reduce the relevant tariff. On the other hand, it is reported that countries such as India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, which are competitors of Sri Lanka, have reduced their tariff rates significantly in their negotiations with the United States. Although it has not been officially announced yet, it is said that India has reduced this tariff rate to between 20% and 15%. Some say that India has succeeded in reducing it to 12%. The reason for this is that the United States is not ready to give up a large market like India, and India is not ready to give up a large market like the United States.
Accordingly, when Indonesia announced 0% tariffs on American goods, can Sri Lanka also follow such a system? Can it buy oil and gas from America as previously promised to America? Can it buy Boeing aircraft from America like Indonesia? All these are still unanswered questions.
Who will buy 3 Boeings?
Amidst all these discussions, a rumor that is currently circulating unofficially in the political arena is that Sri Lanka is preparing to buy three Boeings from the United States at a cost of billions. Although this was not published in any national media outlet, only one media outlet took the initiative to report on this matter last week. However, there was no mention of whether the planes will be purchased by Sri Lankan Airlines or by another company. However, it goes without saying that the second round of negotiations that have already begun to reduce Trump’s taxes is extremely crucial for the future of Sri Lanka.
Vimukthi has arrived
A topic that emerges in Sri Lankan politics from time to time is Vimukthi Kumaratunga. That is why local newspapers have taken steps to publish headlines saying ‘Vimukthi is entering politics’ on numerous occasions. However, this time we are going to reveal the latest story about Vimukthi.
After some time, Vimukthi returned to Sri Lanka last week. But this time, Vimukthi did not come to join politics. Vimukthi came to attend a special event organized for her mother Chandrika’s 80th birthday. The event was organized at the Galle Face Hotel. Vimukthi came to attend not alone but with the two children of his sister, Yashodhara Kumaratunga, who lives in England.
The event was attended by the closest friends and relatives of the Bandaranaike family because it was an important milestone in Chandrika’s life. Only one person outside the family was invited to the event. he was Malik Samarawickrama, who is considered to be a very close friend of Chandrika and Ranil. It is a well-known secret that this Malik was the one who built the relationship between the two, carried messages and made deals when Chandrika and Ranil were active in politics.
It is also reported that after the party at the Galle Face Hotel, which Vimukthi also attended, Chandrika hosted another separate banquet for her friends and party members at the Horagolla Walawwa in Gampaha to celebrate her birthday.
Was Julie Chung deceived?
The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mrs. Julie Chung, has completed her term and is currently preparing to leave for the United States. The new US Ambassador to Sri Lanka is said to be Eric Meyer. It is said that he will assume duties as the new US Ambassador to Sri Lanka soon.
However, the period during which Julie Chung was in the country can be described as a very crucial one. In 2021, a popular struggle broke out against the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, Gotabaya was removed from power, and as a result, a new government was formed during Julie Chung’s term. Many people said that Julie Chun had great support for the struggle. Julie Chung is also known to be a very close friend of Anura.
Ranil-Sagala-Harsha-Kabir
This time, we are not going to talk about the special friendship between Julie Chung and the President, but about the close friendship between Julie Chung and former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The reason for our story is a dinner hosted by Julie Chung last Wednesday night. Although it is not usually a special thing for Julie Chung to host a dinner, the most special thing that was seen at this dinner was because of the people who attended it.
Because the participants were UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP National Organizer Sagala Ratnayake and two SJB MPs Harsha de Silva and Kabir Hashimu. Information about this dinner, which was held in great secrecy, was later revealed to some media outlets. Usually, leaking to the media about such dinners attended by SJB MPs has been a tactic of Ranil for some time, and as soon as this dinner was over, Ranil’s side leaked it to certain parties. We say this because we also received the news from Ranil’s side.
But the special thing about this incident is that this meeting took place at a time when there were opinions that some relief would be received through the transit of Saturn according to Ranil’s horoscope. As we said earlier, Ranil is currently carrying out a crisis-creating operation within the SJB. Accordingly, Ranil was seen personally calling several SJB MPs in the past few days and giving them various suggestions and ‘ropes’. One of the MPs who went to discuss with Ranil was Dayasiri Jayasekara.
The rope that Ranil had given to Dayasiri was that Dayasiri had the potential to become the deputy leader of the party. However, after meeting with Ranil, Dayasiri had told his friends, ‘I know about Ranil. I will not eat his ropes now.’ However, after the dinner held with Kabir, Harsha and Julie Chang, many people had suspected that Ranil had knowingly or unknowingly involved Julie Chang in this operation through the leak of the news from Ranil’s side.
Here is what was said
However, a lot of information has now been reported to us from other sources about the discussions held with Chang Ranil, Harsha, Sagala, and Kabir. One of the sources said that Ranil and the group were called to discuss the Electricity Board Act that the government is currently preparing to pass. But the question is what Ranil, who currently has no power, can do in this regard.
Another source said that these discussions were held to activate the LNG agreement signed between Sri Lanka and the American company Fortress Energy during the previous Rajapaksa government. During the previous Rajapaksa government, there was strong opposition from the then opposition in this regard, and despite that opposition, the Rajapaksa government had taken steps to sign the relevant agreement. Although the agreement was signed, it did not go into effect due to the opposition that arose from the society. Accordingly, in this discussion, the relevant LNG Sources say that discussions have been held regarding the reactivation of the project.
But what many are saying is that Ranil joined this discussion with SJB representatives Kabir and Harsha to create a crisis within the SJB. Because Kabir or Harsha had not informed Sajith in advance that they would be attending such a dinner with Ranil. But while all these people were at the dinner with Julie Chang, Sajith had been informed about this from another party.
But Sajith, who knows about Ranil’s game, did not show any concern about it. Because Sajith knows that since the SJB and the UNP are currently joining at the village level, it has become a big problem for Ranil. Therefore, Sajith also knows that Ranil is planning to break that alliance by using various subterfuges. That is why Sajith did not show any concern regarding the relevant news even though it was reported.
