• WB, ADB yet to release second part of funds assigned for budgetary support, awaiting prior actions
• India decides to proactively roll over more than $ 1.7 b due this week in swap facility to support SL
• AKD Govt. was trying to figure out next course of action with Indian swap when New Delhi decided to assist
• Court told SL committed to 19 Sept. deal with ISBs and local bondholders during Hamilton Bank case
• SJB slams Govt. over raising Rs. 419 b in T-bills and bond loans in 13 days from 2-15 October
• Controversy over 2 missing commission reports on Easter attacks probe; Udaya demands publicising
• Udaya gives Govt. 7 days to release reports; Govt. gives Udaya 3 days to hand them over to Govt.
• RW makes special statement about leading ‘gas cylinder’ campaign; wants efficient members elected
• RW summons Colombo District UNP candidates, asks them to canvas votes for Sagala and Susil also
• Highest preferential votes for candidate to enter House from Matara and lowest from Vanni
• Internal clashes increase in SJB with Ajith, Hirunika resignations; Hirunika blames Sajith’s confidant
• Damitha threatens legal action over name removal, Sajith intervenes; Damitha asks for National List slot
• Champika’s National Organiser remains with SJB despite URF decision; URF Chairman quits the party
• Wajira’s decision not to contest, stay out of National List suspicious; likely to secure UNP Nat. List slot
• Kamal, Ranjan first wanted to contest under JVP/NPP but were turned down due to past track records
• Dilith makes changes for maximum support for Sarvajana Balaya at polls despite Gevindu’s objections 
• MR ignores former minister making overtures; says on temporary break and has not quit politics

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and his Government – which is an Interim Government, to be precise, with only a three-member Cabinet – seems to have its plate full, mainly with issues related to Government finances and the country’s recovering economy. The AKD Government is under pressure from the Opposition and public over the raising of loans after running a campaign during the Presidential Election on the loans being taken by successive governments.

However, it is learnt that the Sri Lankan Government has at its disposal a sum of around $ 1 billion from several multilateral agencies that are yet to be unlocked by the new Government. These funds include the $ 330 million tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has been postponed pending an IMF staff review after next month’s Parliamentary Elections, and a collective sum of $ 760 million from the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) that was assigned to Sri Lanka as budgetary support. 

Informed sources told ‘The Black Box’ that the first instalment of the funds for budgetary support had been unlocked by the former Ranil Wickremesinghe Government. However, there are several prior actions that are required to be carried out for the Government to gain access to the remaining approximately $ 760 million.

One of the key reasons for the delay in getting the foreign funding amounting to around $ 1 billion is the need for economic policy clarity from the new Government and for a budget for 2025 that will outline the Government’s revenue-raising plan.

Be that as it may, the AKD Government received some form of reprieve with neighbouring India on Friday (18) unofficially informing the Sri Lankan Government that taking into account the nascent economic recovery and the upcoming IMF discussions, India has proactively extended a swap arrangement to support the economic stabilisation process. In fact, the swap was extended by India even without the AKD Government having to engage with the Indian Government and was engineered at a diplomatic level.

The Special Swap Arrangement under the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Mechanism is approximately $ 2.6 billion and, of this, more than $ 1.7 billion is pending and is due this coming week. 

The AKD Government, it is learnt, had been trying to determine its course of action with regard to the pending $ 1.7 billion when India had decided to assist the new Government by rolling over the payment. Had the AKD Government failed to address the pending payment, Sri Lanka would be considered to have defaulted a payment.

It is in such a backdrop that a delegation of the Government, including Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana and President AKD’s advisors on the economy, had travelled to Washington DC last week to commence discussions with the IMF on progressing with the ongoing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme that will include certain amendments being proposed by the new Government within the existing programme parameters. It is learnt that discussions between the Government delegation and the IMF will commence tomorrow (21).

Pushing welfare

Meanwhile, Senior Consultant to the President on Economic Affairs and Finance Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando, prior to leaving for Washington DC, has stated that the IMF has agreed to enhance the relief measures provided to the masses. He had reportedly revealed that the relevant proposals for this increase in relief would be submitted to the IMF in the near future.

Prof. Fernando emphasised that the current Government’s primary focus was on boosting the support extended to the public, particularly as part of its efforts to revive the economy. 

“During our discussions with the IMF, we made it clear that in order to stimulate economic recovery, the basic needs of the people – food, drink, and fertiliser for farmers – must be met. The IMF did not oppose the idea of increasing relief and encouraged us to present our programmes,” he had stated.

However, it seems evident that the AKD Government is also aware of the growing economic concerns, resulting in the announcement that the fuel subsidies being given to fishermen will be limited to six months.

A highly-placed source of the former Wickremesinghe Government told ‘The Black Box’ that Wickremesinghe had announced the fertiliser subsidy for farmers after making the necessary financial allocations for payment. “There are funds till this December for the fertiliser subsidy,” the source said.

Nevertheless, the relief measures to the public being focused on by the AKD Government hinge on Sri Lanka’s ability to meet the revenue targets under the IMF programme – a point which has been clearly articulated to the members of the Sri Lankan Government by IMF officials.

Govt.’s undertaking in NY

Sri Lanka last week reaffirmed its commitment to moving ahead with the ongoing debt restructuring efforts when the Hamilton Reserve Bank (HRB) case was taken up in New York.

The letter that was submitted by Clifford Chance US LLP on behalf of Sri Lanka had responded to and refuted claims raised by HRB in its 1 October 2024 correspondence to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

The HRB had challenged Sri Lanka’s efforts to secure further stays in the proceedings, arguing that political changes following the recent Presidential Election threatened the success of the debt restructuring programme, making it impractical to delay the litigation any longer.

However, Sri Lanka’s legal team had insisted that despite the change in leadership, the Sri Lankan Government remained fully committed to the ongoing programme with the IMF and was actively working towards implementing the agreement in principle reached on 19 September 2024 with International Sovereign Bond (ISB) holders and local bondholders. 

The Sri Lankan Government had also informed that it had selected Citigroup Global Markets Inc. as the dealer manager to oversee the bond exchange and related processes and that the bond exchange would be central to formalising the debt restructuring, with Citi working alongside Hogan Lovells, which will provide legal guidance throughout the process. 

Sri Lanka had reiterated that halting the HRB litigation process remained essential to ensure the smooth execution of these plans.

Taking loans

The AKD Government meanwhile has been slammed by the Opposition over the raising of Rs. 419 billion in Treasury bills and bond loans in 13 days from 2-15 October.

Former Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Member of Parliament (MP) Rohini Wijeratne Kavirathna last Wednesday gave the following breakdown of the Government’s loans between 2-15 October: 2 October – Rs. 142.2 billion; 9 October – Rs. 85 billion; 11 October – Rs. 95 billion; and 15 October – Rs. 97 billion. 

She further stated that in the last few days, the Government had been spending Rs. 32.23 billion a day, which means an expenditure of Rs. 1.34 billion per hour.

The Government meanwhile maintains that no loans have been obtained in violation of the ceilings that are already in place with regard to loan-taking.

Meanwhile, Presidential Consultant Prof. Fernando has commented that raising funds from the domestic financial market to cover ministry expenses and repay maturing Treasury bills and bonds is not an unusual activity.

“The Government needs funds to cover day-to-day essential expenses and to continue its services. The Central Bank raises funds every week through the sale of Treasury bills and bonds,” he has said, adding: “Additionally, they make repayments on those that mature on the due date. This is a regular process and it is continuing as usual. There is nothing special because a new president has been appointed.”

New debt management tool

Meanwhile, the Government last week stated that it would acquire new software to manage debt, following a proposal tabled by President AKD as the Minister of Finance.

The Cabinet had approved the procurement of the Commonwealth Meridian software, which is a web-based tool used by several member countries to proactively manage their debt, to guarantee the timely, accurate, and comprehensive recording of public debt data through an efficient system.

Sri Lanka currently uses the Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Recording and Management System (CS-DRMS) to manage foreign debt, a system maintained by Sri Lanka’s Department of External Resources.

However, the Government noted that the Commonwealth Secretariat had recently suspended updates and annual licence extensions for the CS-DRMS.

Focus on probes

Apart from balancing the economy, there is another area where there is much focus on the AKD Government. This area is related to the probes into emblematic cases that have been delayed in being concluded under successive governments.

One of the key cases under the spotlight is the Easter Sunday attacks probe, which has caused some controversy in the past week, following calls by former MP Udaya Gammanpila for the AKD Government to publicise the I. Imam and A.N.J. De Alwis commission reports related to the Easter Sunday attacks.

The Imam report was handed over to Wickremesinghe on 25 June this year, while the De Alwis report was handed over to him on 14 September.

Gammanpila also noted that if the two reports were not being publicised since there were several pages missing from the report, as pointed out by Minister Vijitha Herath, he (Gammanpila) was prepared to hand them over to the Government. “Mr. Minister, please tell me the missing pages, I will give them to you,” he said.

“Although the Government has not received these reports, we have received them. We are not publicising them since they should be publicised by the President as the reports were prepared by two Presidential Commissions. It is not ethical for a third party to publicise Presidential Commission reports,” Gammanpila added.

While Gammanpila gave President AKD and his Government seven days to publicise the so-called missing commission reports, Minister Herath responded saying that Gammanpila had three days to submit the report to the Government since it was illegal for him to hold onto such reports.

Gammanpila retaliated by saying that he would hand over the reports to the Government only if there was an assurance that they would be publicised and if not, he (Gammanpila) would publicise them as stated by him.

While there has been much talk about how Gammanpila had received the two reports, it is learnt that copies of these two commission reports are with only three individuals – the Attorney General, the former President’s Secretary, and one other individual. While members of the Government started to discuss how Gammanpila had received these reports, it is also learnt that a copy of these reports had been sent by mail to Gammanpila.

Meanwhile, referring to questions on the seven probes announced by the Government as being expedited and the non-inclusion of several high-profile cases like that of the assassinations of The Sunday Leader Founding Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge and Sri Lanka rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, and the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda, Minister Herath claimed that the high-profile cases and all other cases were being revisited. 

RW’s special statement

Last Thursday (17), former President Wickremesinghe made his first public speech since he was defeated at last month’s Presidential Election. It was expected that Wickremesinghe would speak about the current political situation in the country as well as his future plans after announcing he would not contest or enter Parliament.

However, in his special statement, Wickremesinghe gave much prominence to emphasising that voters should elect efficient people who could manage the economy during a crisis to Parliament.

“I ran for the Presidential Election under the ‘gas cylinder’ symbol. The Pohottuwa, United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), New Alliance, and all other groups came together and supported me. These people have worked under my leadership. Now all of them have come together once again.

“Some of those MPs as well as some of the officials of the UNP who worked with me are coming together again in this election. They are running under the New Democratic Front. They are going to contest this election under my leadership. 

“All these people have the necessary experience. They have carried out the required work properly in the past. Those who have worked with me for the past two years have the experience to face economic crises, so they must be in Parliament. 

“Whether you are in the Opposition or in the Government, you cannot run Parliament without this experience; if you try, you will fail in achieving the goals,” Wickremesinghe claimed in his statement.

He further pointed out that Sri Lanka would have to begin repaying debt from 2028. “By the year 2027, our Government revenue should be 15% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Currently that figure is 12%. To reach this goal, 1% growth should be achieved every year. By the end of this year, we can regain the level of GDP that was achieved in 2019. 

“At the same time, we have to increase our foreign exchange reserves. Our foreign exchange reserve should be in the range of $ 10-14 billion. After meeting these goals, we have to pay off the debt. We have to achieve the above goals within this period. For that, we need to ensure rapid economic development,” he added.

Pushing Sagala

Meanwhile, prior to making the statement last Thursday, Wickremesinghe had summoned Colombo District contestants under the ‘gas cylinder’ to his Flower Road office in the morning.

After discussing the areas to focus on during the campaign for the Parliamentary Elections, Wickremesinghe had informed the contestants that he wanted his confidant and UNP National Organiser Sagala Ratnayaka to be elected to the House at the upcoming election. The call by Wickremesinghe to the UNP candidates from Colombo was to ensure that when canvassing for preferential votes, one of the preferential votes be cast for Ratnayaka.

From the side of the dissident SLPPers, Wickremesinghe had said that former Minister Susil Premajayantha should be elected to Parliament.

However, it is learnt that several senior UNPers as well as candidates had been displeased at the manner in which the UNP leadership had handpicked a few candidates for promotion after claiming he would sit out the Parliamentary Elections.

Low enthusiasm

Election fever, however, is slow in hitting the masses this time around, while inclement weather also played its part by wreaking havoc in 12 districts last week.

Some political analysts believe that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) that polled around 42% during the Presidential Election could easily witness an increase in its vote bank to 50%. However, JVP/NPP seniors are working to secure a two-thirds majority in the House at the Parliamentary Elections. Nevertheless, to secure a two-thirds majority, the JVP/NPP will have to poll around 63% of the votes.

Be that as it may, it is interesting that the joint Opposition – Sajith Premadasa and Wickremesinghe – had polled over 50% of the votes at the Presidential Election and the Opposition parties currently believe that it is the JVP/NPP that can secure a parliamentary majority at the upcoming polls.

Preferential vote count

Meanwhile, a group of political analysts last week put pen to paper to calculate the minimum preferential votes required by candidates from each district. These calculations were based on the votes polled at the recently-concluded Presidential Election.

The highest number of preferential votes to enter Parliament was recorded from the Matara District. It is learnt that a candidate from the Matara District will require a minimum of around 85,728 votes to enter Parliament.

The second district that will require the highest number of preferential votes is Galle District, with a candidate having to poll around 82,951 votes to be elected to the House.

According to this survey, the Kandy District is at third place, with a candidate entering the House having to poll around 80,112 votes.

The calculation had shown that a candidate would require around 73,735 votes to be elected to Parliament from the Colombo District. The number of votes to enter Parliament from the Gampaha District stands at around 76,388 and around 76,335 votes from the Kalutara District.

However, the lowest preferential votes to be polled to enter Parliament is recorded from the Vanni District, with around 41,136 votes.

Nomination clashes

Meanwhile, the chaos that was left behind by the recently-concluded Presidential Election resulted in all key Opposition political parties witnessing internal clashes during the nomination period. The impact of these clashes reverberated last week with campaigns, with the SJB especially showing signs of internal friction.

The SJB’s internal chaos was first witnessed after nominations concluded, with former MP Ajith Mannapperuma announcing his decision to quit contesting the Parliamentary Elections after resigning from the party. He expressed his displeasure over the actions of SJB seniors in the run-up to the election, especially the decision to remove him as the party’s Gampaha District Leader.

SJB Leader Premadasa’s confidant Lakshman Fonseka and several others had objected to giving nominations to Mannapperuma, claiming that he had been dealing with former President Wickremesinghe during the Presidential Election and could quit the polls if given nominations for the Parliamentary Polls. 

However, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and National Organiser Tissa Attanayake had vouched for Mannapperuma, saying he had learnt from his mistakes and would put his full weight behind contesting the upcoming elections. It was finally decided by Premadasa that while Mannapperuma would be given nominations to contest under the SJB-led alliance, he would not be given the position of Gampaha District leader.

However, when Mannapperuma had announced his decision to quit the election race, claiming he was resigning from the party for not appointing him as the Gampaha District leader, Premadasa had been displeased since the likes of Madduma Bandara and Attanayake had not heeded him and his confidant over the nomination issue.

The next was the resignation of SJB’s Colombo District candidate Hirunika Premachandra from the post held by her in the SJB’s women’s wing. Premachandra expressed her displeasure at a statement made by one of SJB Leader Premadasa’s confidants where party organisers and members had been blamed for Premadasa’s defeat at the Presidential Election.

However, Premachandra said she would contest the upcoming election although she had submitted her resignation from the post held by her in the SJB.

Nevertheless, the SJB leadership last Wednesday announced through Party General Secretary Madduma Bandara that Premachandra’s resignation letter would not be accepted and that she should instead focus on contesting the election. Even at the news conference, Premachandra expressed displeasure at comments being made about party work by individuals who were not the Party Leader or senior office bearers.

Damitha’s threat

Meanwhile, actress Damitha Abeyratne has threatened legal action against the SJB, including former SJB MP Hesha Withanage, over the removal of her name from the party’s nominations list for the Ratnapura District.

Abeyratne claimed that she had voice recordings to prove that it was Withanage who had convinced her initially to contest from the SJB in Ratnapura when she had not decided about contesting at the Parliamentary Elections. A voice recording of a phone call said to have been between Abeyratne and Withanage was widely shared on social media last week.

Withanage responded to the allegation of his role in removing Abeyratne’s name from the SJB Ratnapura nomination list by saying that while Abeyratne had supported the party immensely, she could not be included in the Ratnapura list to contest since she was not from the district.

However, the SJB Leader, it is learnt, had spoken to Abeyratne and she had informed him that she would keep silent for a while out of respect to the party leadership.

Abeyratne nevertheless slammed the SJB once again last week after Party General Secretary Madduma Bandara had claimed that the controversy surrounding the non-inclusion of her name in the nomination list was due to a communication error. Abeyratne responded by saying that the General Secretary should then resign from the National List and put her name instead.

Chaos hits Champika’s URF

Chaos was also witnessed in some parties that partnered with the SJB-led alliance at the Presidential Election.

While former SJB MP and United Republic Front (URF) Leader Patali Champika Ranawaka quit the SJB-led alliance over the SJB’s failure to honour the agreement reached with the party, URF National Organiser Sumedha Ratnayake is continuing to contest under the SJB from the Gampaha District.

Several confidants of the SJB leadership, it is learnt, have held several discussions with Ratnayake to ensure that he continues to work with the SJB-led alliance without quitting like the rest of the URF members. 

However, URF senior Karunarathna Paranawithana, who had signed nominations from the Ratnapura District under the SJB-led alliance, announced last week that he would not contest the upcoming polls.

Meanwhile, URF Chairman Dr. Ajith Amarasinghe has submitted his resignation from the post held by him in the party as well as the party membership. Dr. Amarasinghe had resigned expressing his objection to the Politburo decision of the URF on 10 October where the party had decided to quit the SJB-led alliance and to not contest the Parliamentary Elections. Dr. Amarasinghe’s resignation letter was submitted to URF General Secretary Bandula Chandrasekara.

Shiral’s prediction

After witnessing the goings-on in the SJB, political analyst Shiral Lakthilaka has predicted that while Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya will poll the highest number of preferential votes for the JVP/NPP, the Opposition preferences will be led by former SJB MP Dr. Harsha de Silva.

The fact that Dr. de Silva is a more popular figure in the SJB than Premadasa has been discussed among SJBers in the past few months and following the Presidential Election, several SJBers proposed that there be a leadership change in the SJB and that Dr. de Silva should be handed over the leadership. 

However, the proposal was shot down by Premadasa confidants who turned the table on Dr. de Silva, blaming him and the other members of the SJB Economic Committee – Eran Wickramaratne and Kabir Hashim – for Premadasa’s defeat at the Presidential Election.  

Lakthilaka had also claimed in a social media post that Premadasa was following in the footsteps of his late father and that it was good that he (Premadasa) had been defeated at the Presidential Election. He had further noted that Premadasa had shown signs of being a dictatorial leader.

Wajira’s plan

The UNP-led alliance under the ‘gas cylinder’ symbol, which also includes members of the SLFP and several groups of dissidents from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is also trying to gather itself and move ahead with the election campaign after undergoing quite a lot of drama in the preparation of nomination lists.

It was once the dust started to settle after the nomination period that UNPers started to notice that UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardena was sitting out of the elections completely. While Abeywardena is not contesting under the new alliance from his constituency – Galle District – his name has also not been included in the National List.

However, many UNPers believe that Abeywardena will not retire from politics and will definitely have a back-up plan. A senior UNP source told ‘The Black Box’ that Abeywardena might be looking at entering Parliament through the UNP National List since the UNP is contesting under the ‘elephant’ symbol in the Nuwara Eliya and Vanni Districts.

JVP/NPP rejects Kamal

Meanwhile, the JVP/NPP, which adopted a strict screening procedure to select the party’s candidates, also saw some popular names being rejected without being given nominations.

Two of the key names the party had turned down were actor Kamal Addararachchi and actor-turned-politician Ranjan Ramanayake.

It is learnt that the JVP/NPP had turned down Addararachchi due to some controversies related to him in the past, which also includes allegations over the death of a model-turned-actress in the 1980s.

As for Ramanayake, the JVP/NPP, it is learnt, had taken into consideration his controversial conduct of recording telephone conversations and his eventual conviction of committing contempt of court.

Addararachchi is now contesting the elections under Rohana Wijeweera’s son, Uvindu Wijeweera’s party, the Second Generation, and is contesting from the party in the Trincomalee District.

Ramanayake meanwhile joined forces with diaspora businessman Allirajah Subaskaran by taking leadership of a new political party under the United Democratic Voice (UDV) ‘microphone’ symbol.

Suresh’s holy bath

Meanwhile, former MP Vadivel Suresh, who joined forces with Ramanayake, contesting from the Badulla District, decided to invoke the blessings of Hindu deities to ensure his election to Parliament at the polls.

The religious observances resulted in Suresh being bathed by seven pots of holy water and a series of prayers in his constituency in Badulla. The event was held after he had opened his political office in Hali-Ela.

Suresh’s son is contesting under the new ‘microphone’ party from the Nuwara Eliya District along with the daughter of late MP P. Chandrasekaran. 

Tilvin’s message

While JVP/NPP Leader, President AKD addressed the party’s candidates at the Parliamentary Elections last week, it was JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva who outlined the policies that would be followed at the upcoming elections.

Silva’s speech at the meeting however was not publicised in the media, given that it was made during the closed-door session after sending out the media following the public session.

It is learnt that Silva had explained the JVP/NPP policies and how the party would carry out the election campaign at the polls. He had noted that JVP/NPP candidates had to be exemplary in their actions and not engage in any form of action that would compromise the party’s integrity.

Silva had explained, especially to the NPP candidates since the JVP candidates were aware of the party policies, that the JVP/NPP district organisation had to be informed of the campaign programmes of each district and that all actions during the campaign period had to be carried out with the approval of either the district committee or the Party Headquarters (JVP office in Pelawatte). In the event of giving media interviews, the candidates also have to keep the district committee or the Party Headquarters informed.

Preferential plan

Meanwhile, there were many reports on social media about the JVP/NPP election campaign, claiming that the JVP policy of ‘no preferential votes’ would be followed by the NPP as well. The JVP’s policy during Parliamentary Elections previously was to only promote votes for the party instead of preferential votes for candidates. Once the party secures seats in the House, the party decides who should be sent to the House.

However, senior JVP/NPP members like Bimal Rathnayake and K.D. Lalkantha have explained that this time around there is no policy of asking voters not to cast preferential votes for JVP/NPP candidates.

Rathnayake told the media that the JVP/NPP would work according to election laws and promote votes for the party and candidates. However, he noted that there would be no competition among candidates as each district team would work as a team instead of working to promote individuals.

He has further explained that JVP/NPP candidates will work as teams of two or three in the electorates without individual promotions.

Gevindu’s objection

Meanwhile, former MP Gevindu Cumaratunga had raised objections to the inclusion of former President Maitripala Sirisena’s son Daham Sirisena in the Sarvajana Balaya party led by Dilith Jayaweera.

Cumaratunga had pointed out that it was Sirisena who had been President when the nationalist camp had fought against the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), and other foreign agreements. He had asked how the Sarvajana Balaya could accept Sirisena’s son Daham into the fold.

Jayaweera had explained that the party should focus on trying to get at least one member into Parliament at the polls. “We cannot move forward if we continue to hang on to past issues. All we need to be mindful is that the people we field are not corrupt individuals,” Jayaweera had added.

Cumaratunga had noted that SLPP dissident, former Minister Roshan Ranasinghe would have been a better leader to represent the party in the Polonnaruwa District than Daham.

Ranasinghe has been placed as the Kalutara District Leader while Daham has been appointed to the Polonnaruwa District. Ranasinghe’s appointment to Kalutara had resulted in the sidelining of senior member of Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Front (NFF), Jayantha Samaraweera.

Former MP from the Anuradhapura District Prof. Channa Jayasumana has been appointed as the Sarvajana Balaya Gampaha District Leader. It is learnt that the Sarvajana Balaya has left the Anuradhapura District leadership to be given to a state minister of the former Wickremesinghe Government.

Be that as it may, Jayaweera, who has spearheaded several winning election campaigns in the past, seems to be focused on getting individuals who stand a chance of entering Parliament at the polls.

Shehan’s meeting

Former State Minister Shehan Semasinghe meanwhile had reportedly engaged in a discussion with Jayaweera to explore the possibility of joining the Sarvajana Balaya. 

Semasinghe was accompanied by former Minister Kanchana Wijesekera and former State Ministers Anuradha Jayaratne, Kanaka Herath, and Premitha Bandara Tennakoon. 

However, it is learnt that the move had failed since the Executive Committee of the Sarvajana Balaya had expressed reservations over the two former State Ministers. There had not been objections over Tennakoon and Herath.

Nevertheless, Tennakoon and Herath had maintained that they would only join as a team.

Finally, Wijesekera, Jayaratne, and Tennakoon decided to contest under the ‘gas cylinder’ symbol, while Herath decided not to contest and focus on his doctorate. Semasinghe decided not to contest and sit out this year’s Parliamentary Elections.

Dilith’s wish for Sajith

Meanwhile, Jayaweera, who has stated that the Sarvajana Balaya is planning on presenting a formidable opposition in Parliament, last week wished former Opposition Leader Premadasa a happy retirement life.

Jayaweera noted that it was now time for Premadasa to retire as the Opposition Leader and that this had become the sentiment of many SJBers.

SLPP slams defectors

Meanwhile, the SLPP has started to slam former members of the party who had defected during the Presidential Election campaign to support Wickremesinghe.

Most of the SLPPers who had left the fold and joined the Wickremesinghe camp during the Presidential Election are now looking at trying to mend bridges with the SLPP and return to the fold. The SLPP, however, led by National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa, had responded saying that the party was selective on getting back defectors and that there was no trust with those who had betrayed the party at a crucial time.

It is in such a backdrop that a former senior women’s leader of the SLPP who was also a minister in the Wickremesinghe Government had recently visited SLPP Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) at his residence. 

MR had greeted the former minister and had asked what had made her visit him. After expressing displeasure over the current goings-on in the political scene, she had asked MR for advice on what she should do.

MR had laughed and said that she should ask her organisers and supporters since she had said several months ago that she had to defect from the SLPP to support Wickremesinghe since that was what was demanded by her people.

MR’s claim

MR however claimed that his retirement from politics was a temporary move since he had no plans to quit politics.

He noted that politicians never quit politics but only take temporary breaks.

MR further stated that not all Rajapaksas had temporarily retired from politics, noting that Shasheendra Rajapaksa was contesting from the Monaragala District.