• IMF team meets RW in Kandy, discusses economic policies; watches Kandy Esala Perahera
• Sri Lanka is well positioned, says Dr. Montek Singh at SJB forum; notes key economic aspects
• EC to decide on holding LG Polls this week following SC order; General Elections also this year
• Successive govts. have failed to heed SC directives; Sajith, AKD slam RW; Sajith says will punish
• RW leads in campaign theme songs followed by Namal; Manusha’s media doing RW’s official song
• RW’s campaign woes continue; RW reaches out to old confidant who declines, another arrives in SL
• RW’s ‘gas cylinder’ covering UNP’s ‘elephant’ angers RW, calls Sirikotha to reprimand Shamal and co.
• UNP convention at Sirikotha today after many years; UNP leaders expect to ‘resurrect’ UNPers
• SLMC’s Moulana gets written commitment on compensation for victims of forced Covid cremations
• AKD responds to RW’s claim that AKD had hidden when asked to take over Govt. during crisis
• SJB cancels health sector convention due to poor turnout; office opening postponed due to boycott
• Sajith loyalists in SJB plan two-pronged campaign to prevent SJB defections; Thalatha moves out
• SJB puts out ‘high-class op.’ by RW to attract defectors; plans to discredit SJBers joining RW camp
• Hyde Park conspiracy takes centre stage in RW camp; Sajith takes over MR’s political ‘saloon door’
• Patali, Marikkar, and Sujeewa assigned to slam AKD; Sujeewa disgruntled over delay in honouring pledge
• Namal holds rally in A’pura without any area SLPP MP; MR says will not accept defectors back to party
• Dilith says no majority or minority communities in SL; slams northern politicians for pushing extremism
• Talks start on forming SLPP dissidents’ new alliance; Maithri’s Dushmantha, Angajan join SLFP-led PA
• Irony hits Tamil common candidate with ‘conch shell’ electoral symbol, earlier held by nationalist JHU
• Disputed ITAK Leader extends support to Ariyanethiran; ITAK CC says no decision yet on Prez Polls

As campaigns for the Presidential Election are heading towards a peak, likely by the onset of September, the key contenders at the polls have made the country’s ongoing socioeconomic crisis the main theme of their campaigns.

At the height of campaigning, a few key contenders have taken on an economically sensitive issue as a key pledge – the renegotiation of Sri Lanka’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has formed the base for the country’s debt restructuring programme. 

Opposition Leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) Leader and presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) are two of the key contenders who have vowed renegotiations with the IMF if they assume office.

Both Premadasa and AKD are however yet to outline their backup plan for Sri Lanka during the period of renegotiations with the IMF and the suspension of the debt restructuring deals with the creditors until the finalisation of an IMF programme.

Not to be left out of the IMF debate, President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s side has also signalled that the Government had already proposed several amendments to the ongoing tax programme due to the improvement of conditions in the country.

While there is no doubt about the many burdens shouldered by the citizenry due to some of the IMF conditions, it is a concern that some of the key contenders have failed to look at building up from the current position of the economy and work to provide relief to the masses while working on further stabilising and pushing the country’s economic growth without trying to return to square one.

However, all this talk of the future of the IMF programme has undoubtedly caused much concern to the IMF team in relation to Sri Lanka as well. 

President Wickremesinghe, it is learnt, had met with IMF representatives led by Peter Breuer, who is leading the IMF team currently keeping a close watch on the economic policies of key candidates at the election, in Kandy for a discussion when the President had visited the city to attend the Esala Perahera last week.

It is also learnt that following the discussion, the IMF representatives had also watched the perahera in Kandy before returning to Colombo.

The IMF team has thus far cautioned the key contenders of the economic sensitivities surrounding moves to renegotiate or suspend the fund’s programme with Sri Lanka.

On the right path

It is in such a backdrop that a group affiliated to the SJB organised the National Visionary Summit in Colombo that saw two prominent Indians, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia and T. Krishnakumar, delivering keynote addresses. Premadasa presided at the event and the key topic was Sri Lanka’s economic future.

In his 15-minute speech at the event, Dr. Ahluwalia noted the importance of debt restructuring. 

Towards the end of his speech, he said: “One last point, not everything you envisage will happen.” He added: “But if you have a credible set of steps, I don’t think the world will expect you to do everything. But the world will expect that these were credible steps and that they’ve certainly done quite a bit in some of them. That’s what leads to confidence.”

Dr. Ahluwalia finally said: “Sri Lanka is well positioned at this point to make that transition in spite of the many negative things you may hear about the global economy and global attitudes.”

More elections

However, the country is likely to witness a string of elections following the conclusion of the Presidential Election on 21 September given last week’s Supreme Court verdict that had called on the Election Commission (EC) to hold the postponed Local Government Elections at the earliest possible date. 

The EC, it is learnt, is expected to discuss and decide on holding the delayed Local Government Elections this coming week.

The Supreme Court in its verdict had also faulted the President as the Finance Minister and the EC for not holding the elections on time and claimed that they had violated fundamental rights.

It is evident that the victor at the Presidential Election – any of the three frontrunners at the polls – would dissolve Parliament and hold Parliamentary Elections soon after assuming office to secure a fresh mandate.

Therefore, Sri Lanka would witness the holding of the delayed Local Government Elections and early Parliamentary Elections in the coming months.

History of violating orders

However, the non-adherence to Supreme Court verdicts by Sri Lankan governments is nothing new. It is learnt that there had been previous instances where the government of the day had not heeded verdicts of the Supreme Court.

One such instance was in 1999, when then Brigadier Parry Liyanage had filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition before the Supreme Court stating that his rights had been violated by not being promoted to the rank of major general despite a recommendation by the then Army Commander to the then Defence Secretary. 

Liyanage was a respondent in the famous case on the murder of a group of students in Embilipitiya during the 1988/’89 period and was later cleared by court. 

While the Supreme Court had upheld that Liyanage’s fundamental rights had been violated by not being promoted to the rank of major general by the Defence Secretary following a recommendation by the Army Commander and directed that Liyanage be promoted as a major general, then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (CBK) had not approved the promotion as the Defence Minister despite the court ruling.

A second instance was also during CBK’s tenure. The then CBK Government had not adhered to the court ruling that was issued against the impeachment motion in Parliament against former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva.

On a third instance, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) had also ignored a Supreme Court verdict related to fuel prices. 

An FR petition had been filed before the Supreme Court in 2008 over the massive loss of foreign exchange incurred by the country due to the controversial oil hedging deal. The Supreme Court had directed that the fuel prices be reduced to Rs. 100. 

President MR however, had not adhered to the Supreme Court directive and had instead worked to create awareness of the losses the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) would incur if fuel prices were reduced to Rs. 100.

A fourth instance had also reportedly taken place during MR’s tenure. This was when the Supreme Court had issued a directive nullifying the report by the committee that had probed allegations levelled against former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake in the impeachment motion against her.

The fifth and sixth instances were reported during the tenure of President Wickremesinghe, related to Supreme Court verdicts against the holding of funds allocated to conduct Local Government Elections and the Supreme Court directive that called for the temporary suspension of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon.

Punishing RW

Nevertheless, Premadasa has claimed that President Wickremesinghe would be held accountable and brought before the law under a government led by him for violating court directives. 

When the Supreme Court directive on the Local Government Elections was issued, Premadasa as well as AKD slammed Wickremesinghe for violating the court’s directives.

Premadasa claimed at a rally in Moratuwa that Wickremesinghe was contesting at the Presidential Election as an individual who had violated court orders.

However, Wickremesinghe responded to the Supreme Court verdict during a meeting in Maharagama by saying that he did not regret the decision he had taken at the time to postpone the Local Government Elections. He pointed out the country’s economic crash and the difficulties faced by the people when the elections were to be held. 

“I only ask what might have happened if Local Government Elections had been held when the country’s economy was reeling due to an unprecedented economic crisis,” Wickremesinghe said.  

Theme songs galore

While Sri Lanka’s political landscape continued to wallow in chaos, songs targeting campaigns of main contenders at the Presidential Election seem to have become a new trend. 

There are several songs that have been produced for key candidates, with President Wickremesinghe taking the lead in that aspect, followed by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) candidate Namal Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe’s campaign has witnessed the release of several theme songs. The ‘Mawbima Dinanawa’ song in Anuradhapura was by a youth group called Focus Group. United National Party (UNP) Chairperson Wajira Abeywardena has also got several songs released for Wickremesinghe’s campaign. 

However, the main campaign song being prepared by Manusha Nanayakkara’s Sera Media is yet to be launched.

Campaign woes continue

However, that Wickremesinghe’s election campaign work was facing some internal chaos was reported by ‘The Black Box’ in its previous week’s column. This situation has however not shown much improvement in the last week either.

It is evident that the Wickremesinghe campaign is currently facing the age-old adage, ‘Too many cooks spoil the soup’. While foreign experts together with Nanayakkara and the M2M Office team are working on one side of the campaign, Harin Fernando and his team are working on another, with Abeywardena and his team playing a completely different role. 

Minister Prasanna Ranatunga’s daughter Archana, who is trying to claim de facto leadership of the Wickremesinghe campaign, also seems to be engaged in another programme.

Meanwhile, the teams engaged in the campaign continue to complain that despite large sums of money being paid to social media accounts and pages, there is no proper campaign or messaging being carried out by any of them.

Realising the chaos in the campaign, Wickremesinghe, it is learnt, had reached out to one of his confidants who had played a key role in his and the UNP’s previous campaigns. This confidant however has declined, saying that campaign was in a state of chaos and that there were “undesirable” individuals playing key roles in campaign work.

It is also learnt that another former UNPer, who had been involved in UNP campaign work in the past, especially during the ‘Yahapalana’ Government, and had left the country after the Government’s defeat, has returned to the country to try and resolve issues in the Wickremesinghe campaign.

Elephant conundrum

Meanwhile, the issues faced by Wickremesinghe’s party members in the UNP with SLPP defectors resurfaced last week when the ‘elephant’ symbol at the front of the UNP Headquarters was covered by a banner of Wickremesinghe and his electoral symbol of the ‘gas cylinder’.

Photographs of the new banner covering the UNP’s traditional ‘elephant’ symbol at the Party Headquarters Sirikotha were shared on social media and it became a sensitive issue for the traditional UNPers. Several senior UNP officials had immediately shared the photograph with Party Leader President Wickremesinghe, who at the time had been in Anuradhapura attending his maiden campaign rally.

However, upon seeing the photograph, Wickremesinghe had called the senior UNP official who had sent him the image and inquired about it. 

Upon being informed that the ‘elephant’ symbol at the UNP Headquarters had in fact been covered by the new banner, Wickremesinghe had lost his cool and immediately asked to be put in touch with officials at Sirikotha and had slammed them, asking that the banner be taken down immediately instead of covering the ‘elephant’ symbol.

The following day, Sunday (18), the UNP’s traditional ‘elephant’ was back in front of Sirikotha.

It is learnt that UNP Chairman Abeywardena had instructed Sirikotha Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shamal Senarath to put up Wickremesinghe’s ‘gas cylinder’ symbol at Sirikotha in a visible manner since the Party Headquarters also served as an election office for the President. However, this directive had been carried out in a manner that had resulted in the covering of the UNP’s ‘elephant’ symbol.

Party convention

Following the ‘elephant’ saga, the UNP, which is still in the process of rebuilding its electoral and grassroot-level machinery, started to make arrangements for the party convention scheduled for today (25).

The UNP convention is to be held at Sirikotha after many years as a move symbolic of the party’s resurrection. The entrance of thousands of UNPers to Sirikotha today is expected to help awaken UNPers at electoral level.

RW’s pledge to Moulana

Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe has given a pledge to dissident Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Member of Parliament (MP) Ali Zahir Moulana that he will take steps to pay compensation to families who were victims of forced cremations of persons who had died due to Covid-19.

It is learnt that when Moulana and Wickremesinghe had been going through the agreement that was to be signed when the former decided to defect from the SLMC and extend support to the latter, it had been the President who had noticed the non-inclusion of the clause on compensation payment to the Covid victims. 

While going through the agreement, Wickremesinghe had said: “Everything looks good, except that you have missed out on a key point on compensation for the Covid cremations.”

Moulana had noted that it was his son who had drafted the agreement and had immediately called the latter to include the clause pointed out by the President.

After signing the agreement, Wickremesinghe had told Moulana that he (Moulana) had received a commitment in writing on compensation for Muslims who had faced forced cremations during the pandemic, which the SLMC as a party had failed to gain.

Slamming Sajith-AKD

Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe was on attack mode during his maiden campaign rally in Anuradhapura on 17 August. 

“At a time when there was no electricity and everyone lived in darkness; no fuel which forced people to walk; no gas, with exploding cylinders; no medicine, leading to deaths on the streets; when hotels were closed and factories collapsed, I, along with the Prime Minister, took on the responsibility of leading the country. 

“No one else was willing to step forward. Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned, as did the former President. The Leader of the Opposition fled, and Anura Dissanayake was nowhere to be found. Where was Sajith Premadasa during this time? Where was Anura Dissanayake? If they were truly aware of the people’s suffering, they could have stepped in to take over the Government and address these issues,” Wickremesinghe said.

The President further claimed that Premadasa and AKD must withdraw from the Presidential Election and support him if they were unable to respond to some key questions.

“I would like to question where Sajith Premadasa and Anura Dissanayake were when the price of a gas cylinder climbed to Rs. 6,800. Why did they not take action at that time? We will continue to ask this question at every stage. They must provide answers; if they cannot, they should refrain from running in the election. I invite both Sajith and Anura to join us on either side of this stage,” he added.

AKD responds

However, NPP presidential candidate AKD decided to respond to Wickremesinghe’s claim by saying that then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) had not offered the NPP the opportunity to head the Government, nor had he responded to a letter from the NPP.

AKD claimed that the NPP had written to GR in May 2022 saying that it had a solution to resolve the crisis and requesting power to be transferred to the NPP, but GR had not responded to the letter.

The NPP candidate further explained that it was clear that the then Government feared that an NPP government would take action against corrupt officials and ministers.

No-show for SJB

The main Opposition SJB meanwhile faced an unusual incident last Sunday (18) when the party had to cancel a convention of the health sector as only around 50 participants had turned up for the event at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre in Colombo.

Opposition and SJB Leader Premadasa had decided to cancel the event after learning of the lack of participants even after one-and-a-half hours from the starting time that had been scheduled for 9 a.m.

The organising of this event had been assigned to SJB MP Dr. Kavinda Jayawardana and the convention had been expected to record an attendance of around 2,000 doctors, nurses, and other health professionals.

It is learnt that the event had been organised last year by MP Rajitha Senaratne, who has since joined President Wickremesinghe, and the SJB had assigned this year’s event to Dr. Jayawardana.

Dr. Jayawardana had told the media that the meeting had to be postponed due to unavoidable circumstances that were not related to poor attendance.

However, it is learnt that a large number of health professionals affiliated to the SJB had informed Senaratne that they would not be attending the SJB convention this year that was organised by Dr. Jayawardana and that they too were disgruntled with the SJB leadership.

More cancellations

Last Wednesday (21) also saw the SJB having to cancel yet another political event.

The SJB’s election office in the Gampaha District was reportedly scheduled to be opened on Wednesday morning. However, SJB Gampaha District Organiser MP Ajith Mannapperuma and several other organisers had decided not to attend the opening ceremony. 

When news of the possible boycott of several key SJB Gampaha District organisers had reached the SJB leadership, Premadasa had directed his loyalists to check the veracity of the reports received by him.

It is learnt that the building used as the Gampaha District office by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during the 2019 Presidential Election had been selected by the SJB to open their own Gampaha District campaign office. 

The deal to secure this building to open the SJB office had been carried out by SJB MP Harshana Rajakaruna and another SJB electoral organiser named Kuruppu. Mannapperuma had not been informed of any of the plans related to the SJB Gampaha District campaign office. 

Mannapperuma had learnt of the setting up of the Gampaha District office from several of his supporters, who had said that Rajakaruna was setting up a campaign office in Gampaha. It is this that had made Mannapperuma and a group of his loyalists decide to boycott the office’s opening ceremony. 

“I have no issue with the SJB leadership opening an office, but the issue is that all of it was planned without my knowledge. I have been in politics for 22 years. I have never been belittled in this manner,” Mannapperuma had told an SJB senior who had spoken to him.

Finally, Premadasa had decided to cancel the event that was organised to open the Gampaha campaign office. 

Meanwhile, the SJB meeting in the Katana electorate that was presided over by Premadasa last Wednesday evening had also failed to attract the anticipated crowds. 

The rally had been organised by the SJB’s Rose Fernando and SLPP dissident MP Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, who is the SLPP’s Katana Organiser. 

No crowd

A meeting of the SJB’s Gampaha District organisers to discuss the party’s Presidential Election campaign was held at Mannapperuma’s residence last Monday (19). SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara had also attended the meeting.

Madduma Bandara had informed the meeting that Premadasa had insisted that the SJB must hold a rally in Gampaha last Wednesday. Dr. Jayawardana had noted that the Gampaha municipal ground could not be booked at that time since it was a poya holiday.

Due to the Party Leader’s need to hold a rally in Gampaha on Wednesday, it was decided to hold the rally in Katunayake in the Katana electorate. Madduma Bandara had asked Fernando to organise the rally with Dr. Fernandopulle. 

However, Mannapperuma and several other SJB organisers had not attended the rally while SJB Negombo Organiser Jayawardana had attended the meeting just before it concluded.

A class clash

The SJB, which is engaged in several operations to prevent further defections from the party fold, has taken up a two-pronged approach. 

The first is the programme to discredit SJBers who had decided to join the Wickremesinghe camp by claiming that they were doing so for perks and privileges.

The second is to create the impression that Wickremesinghe was engaged in an elitist campaign targeting high-class and high-caste members in the SJB who would find it difficult to address Premadasa as ‘sir’ if he assumes office and his wife Jalani as ‘madam’. This fact was recently revealed by SJB MP S.M. Marikkar.

Marikkar has referred to Thalatha Atukorale as a ‘walawwe ammandi’ and has claimed that there was a ‘high-class operation’ to get SJBers to defect to the Wickremesinghe camp.

However, amidst talks of possible defectors from the SJB, there were also reports of a conspiracy being hatched by a Wickremesinghe confidant residing at a penthouse in Hyde Park, Colombo. Reports of discussions between the Wickremesinghe camp and several SJB members have now resulted in the pro-Premadasa faction keeping a close watch on the goings-on at the Hyde Park penthouse.

A group of pro-Premadasa SJBers has also made it known to other members of the party that Premadasa is aware of the SJBers who had attended discussions at the Hyde Park penthouse, whom they had met, and even the food they had consumed during such occasions.

Campaign to discredit

However, the campaign launched by the SJB Media Committee to discredit the MPs who leave the party fold to join Wickremesinghe claiming that they were defecting for perks and privileges has resulted in internal clashes as well as fisticuffs.

This campaign was the main reason for the public fisticuff between Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) member, SJB MP P. Digambaram and former member of the TPA MP M. Velu Kumar.

The duo had first engaged in a verbal battle during a political debate at a private television station last Monday that had resulted in fisticuffs between the two MPs. 

Digambaram had called Velu Kumar ‘Bar Kumar’ and Velu Kumar had responded by calling Digambaram ‘Kudu Diga’. Velu Kumar had to receive treatment at hospital after being injured. 

Meanwhile, the Government has called upon the SJB leadership to take disciplinary action against Digambaram for the attack on Velu Kumar during the television debate.

It is also learnt that prior to this incident, Digambaram had also engaged in talks with the Wickremesinghe camp. A discussion had reportedly taken place at the residence of a senior UNP member in Kotte with Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) Leader, Minister Jeevan Thondaman also attending this meeting.

Thalatha’s move

Meanwhile, the move by former SJB MP Atukorale to resign from her seat in Parliament citing mainly the division between the UNP and the SJB captured the attention of everyone in the political field.

While criticising Premadasa’s actions and his policies, her key proposal in the speech was that the UNP and SJB should unite.

It was then that even the SJB leaders understood that the Hyde Park penthouse discussions between a group of UNPers and a group of SJBers had actually worked out. The SJB as well as some UNP seniors have also understood that Wickremesinghe had entrusted a few of his close confidants the task of attracting SJBers into his fold.

The SJB leadership and several confidants had discussed Atukorale’s possible defection after learning that she had met Wickremesinghe at UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene’s residence.

Premadasa’s confidant Lakshman Fonseka however had told Premadasa that he had taken necessary measures to ensure that no other SJB MPs would join the Wickremesinghe camp following Atukorale’s move.

The SJB last week also took steps to fill the vacancy created by Atukorale’s exit by appointing Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) member and former Education Minister of the Sabaragamuwa Province Prabath Bhanu as the SJB’s organiser for the electorate previously held by Atukorale.

Meanwhile, following Atukorale’s decision, there has been a visible decline within the SJB. There is an ongoing discussion within the party endorsing her statement. These SJBers have once again noted that the UNP and SJB should unite to gain the maximum edge at the upcoming elections. 

More to follow

Following Atukorale’s move, there is talk of several other SJBers also following suit. These SJBers however might not take the strong stand taken by Atukorale to resign from her parliamentary seat.

A meeting between a group of these MPs was organised last Thursday (22).

It is learnt that several SJB MPs are looking at joining the Wickremesinghe camp mostly due to their displeasure over arbitrary decisions being taken by the party leadership and several of his confidants.

By Wednesday evening, Wickremesinghe managed to secure the support of SJB Jaffna District Organiser Victor Stanley. Along with Stanley, SLMC Propaganda Secretary U.L.M.N. Mubeen and Sri TELO Leader Pararajasingham Uthayarasa joined the Wickremesinghe camp.

Rishad’s predicament

Meanwhile, another member of the SJB and its electoral alliance backing Premadasa faced an unpleasant predicament.

All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Leader Rishad Bathiudeen was informed by officials recently of the suspension of development projects that the ACMC had initiated at electoral level in six districts (Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Puttalam, Trincomalee, and Batticaloa) at a cost of more than Rs. 200 million. The directive, it is learnt, had been issued by Presidential Secretariat Accountant S.A.P. Kumari to the district secretaries.

Bathiudeen and several members of the ACMC had secured these funds under the decentralised budget amidst much criticism by Opposition as well as Government MPs who claimed that the funds had been allocated only to a select group of legislators by the President. The MPs who had received these allocations were expected to defect from their parties and join with Wickremesinghe.

However, Bathiudeen together with his ACMC joined the SJB-led alliance to support Premadasa.

After learning of the suspension of the projects, Bathiudeen had written to President Wickremesinghe asking if the decision to suspend the projects had been made following his announcement to support Premadasa.

It is learnt that although the projects of the ACMC MPs who had joined Wickremesinghe after defecting from the party fold have now been suspended, they have been assured that the projects would be restarted after the September election.

Sajith replaces MR

Given the continuing acceptance of members to its fold and giving them appointments in the party, SJB Leader Premadasa seems to have taken over the famous political ‘saloon door’ that was earlier held by former President MR.

However, the interest shown by many SLPPers to also join Premadasa after SLPP dissidents like Nalaka Godahewa had joined the SJB fold has become a concern for many SJBers. A group of SJBers had pointed out to Premadasa that the party needed to be a little selective in accepting newcomers since the SJB could not be seen as accepting ‘bad apples’ from the SLPP.

Premadasa had also informed his inner circle that consists of confidant Fonseka, Madduma Bandara, Marikkar, and Sujeewa Senasinghe that the SJB needed to be careful when accepting new members, especially those with corruption allegations.

Last week also saw the late former Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s niece, Chanchala Gunawardena joining the SJB to support Premadasa and being appointed as an Organiser of the Matara District.

Also, dissident SLPP MP from the Matara District Karunadasa Kodithuwakku, who was earlier in the Freedom People’s Council (FPC) co-led by Prof. G.L. Peiris and Dullas Alahapperuma, joined the SJB last week. Kodithuwakku was among the last two members of the FPC to extend support to a key contender at the Presidential Election. A majority of FPC members have now extended support to Premadasa, including Prof. Peiris and Alahapperuma.

Meanwhile, Kumari Sandalatha Munasinghe, wife of the renowned late actor Jackson Anthony, officially joined the SJB last week and was appointed as an Organiser of the Gampaha District.

Sujeewa’s wait

Meanwhile, former MP Senasinghe, who plays a leading role in Premadasa’s campaign, is disgruntled with the failure of the party leadership to give him due recognition by appointing him as an office-bearer of the SJB, it is learnt.

Senasinghe had joined Premadasa last year after maintaining a low profile following the defeat of the ‘Yahapalana’ Government in 2020.

After joining Premadasa, Senasinghe had carried out several programmes, such as ‘Brotherhood’ to gather all former MPs and ‘Javaya’ – a programme to mobilise the youth towards the SJB.

Given the success of these programmes that had been launched last year and had continued until this year, Senasinghe had been promised an official post in the party by Premadasa. However, the failure to appoint Senasinghe to an official position, it is learnt, has resulted in him feeling quite disgruntled.

Nevertheless, Senasinghe continues to support Premadasa in his campaign work.

SJB’s decision

The SJB meanwhile has reached a decision on addressing several key issues, preventing further crossovers from the SJB to Wickremesinghe and blocking AKD’s growing popularity.

Given that Wickremesinghe is continuing to focus on getting SJBers to his fold, the SJB media strategists led by Marikkar have planned a media campaign to discredit the SJBers who join Wickremesinghe. It is learnt that the SJBers who join Wickremesinghe would be labelled as corrupt, in addition to claiming that their decision to join the President was based on financial perks. 

The SJB’s media campaign committee that meets on a daily basis, convened by Fonseka, has also decided to carry out a separate campaign to slam NPP presidential candidate AKD to block his growing popularity. 

Patali to slam AKD

The media campaign committee has noted that AKD is currently being targeted by only a few on political stages and that there is a necessity to launch a campaign targeting him.

It was then decided by the committee to assign the task of slamming AKD on political stages to Patali Champika Ranawaka, who recently returned to the SJB fold with his party – the United Republic Front (URF).

Ranawaka also believes that AKD poses a great threat to both Wickremesinghe and Premadasa given his growing popularity.

Ranawaka, it is learnt, had also informed President Wickremesinghe, when he had met the President to inform of his decision to join Premadasa, of AKD’s possible victory at the Presidential Election and that Premadasa stood the best chance of preventing such an eventuality.

Ranawaka is to be supported in this endeavour by Senasinghe and Marikkar.

AKD’s pledge

Meanwhile, JVP/NPP Leader AKD has pledged to bring back former Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Arjuna Mahendran who was accused of being involved in the controversial CBSL Treasury bond scam during the ‘Yahapalana’ Government.

Addressing a public rally, AKD claimed that Mahendran had an Interpol warrant against him and that if he were to be elected to office, he would get Mahendran back to the country and make him stand trial for the bond scam.

AKD further noted that Mahendran at the time had told the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that he had carried out the Treasury bond sale following instructions of incumbent President Wickremesinghe.

“We wanted to do this [getting down Mahendran] without telling anyone, but when we are asked how we plan to address certain issues, we have to reveal this,” the NPP candidate added.

Namal’s rally

Meanwhile, SLPP candidate Namal held his maiden rally in Kada Panaha in Anuradhapura last Wednesday.

The SLPP last week also admitted that the party had lost all its main organisers in the Anuradhapura District to the Wickremesinghe campaign. SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said last week that the SLPP had held the Anuradhapura rally without the participation of any SLPP MP in Anuradhapura.

Nevertheless, he noted that SLPP supporters had attended the meeting without being told by any SLPP MP in Anuradhapura. 

Photographs of the rally show SLPP supporters thronging around Namal to shake his hands and take photographs.

Attacking SLPP dissidents

SLPP Leader, former President MR also attended the Anuradhapura rally and slammed the SLPP dissidents who had joined Wickremesinghe.

When the crowds had shouted asking MR not to accept the defectors back into the party fold, MR had said: “If you don’t want them, I also don’t want them.”

It is interesting to note that many of the pro-Premadasa social media campaigners had put up posts promoting Namal’s Anuradhapura rally.

SLPP dissidents also noted that it was surprising to see them getting attacked by the SLPP and the SJB. “Sajith [Premadasa] is not attacking Namal [Rajapaksa] and Namal is not attacking Sajith. Both are attacking us [SLPP dissidents and Wickremesinghe],” dissident SLPP MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage said.

No funding by DP

Meanwhile, the SLPP, it is learnt, is facing some difficulties in carrying out Namal’s campaign, given that anticipated funding for the campaign from businessman-turned-politician Dhammika Perera had not been forthcoming.

Several of Namal’s loyalists have lamented that without the promised funding, Namal was carrying out his campaign with great difficulty.

Cardinal in demand

Meanwhile, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and other Catholic Church leaders have become a key focus at the upcoming Presidential Election, with the main contenders eyeing the support of 1.5 million Catholic voters in the country and queuing up to meet the Cardinal.

Still reeling from the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks and calling for justice for those slain, Cardinal Ranjith has on many occasions slammed the failures of the authorities to address this issue. This fact is also playing a key role in the support of Catholic voters at the polls.

Opposition and SJB Leader Premadasa had met Cardinal Ranjith prior to the announcement of the Presidential Election and had handed over his plan to address the Easter Sunday attacks probe. However, this time around (last Sunday), presidential candidate Premadasa had met with Cardinal Ranjith and several auxiliary bishops in Colombo to reaffirm his commitment to unravelling the truth behind the attacks.

Meanwhile, NPP presidential candidate AKD had also met with Cardinal Ranjith on 17 August prior to launching his election campaign rallies. AKD had also pledged to bring justice to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks.

Last Monday (19) also saw SLPP candidate Namal also meeting with Cardinal Ranjith. The discussion between the Cardinal and Namal had also been focused on the 2019 attacks. 

Namal had noted that an independent judicial commission would be appointed to probe the attacks.

Last Friday (23) saw candidate Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe also meeting with Cardinal Ranjith.

No endorsement

However, the Catholic Church claimed that it will not be endorsing a presidential candidate despite meeting several key nominees in the Presidential Polls.

“We will not be endorsing anyone,” Archdiocese of Colombo Spokesperson Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando has said, adding: “That is for the people to decide. We are only having discussions with several nominees regarding issues that concern Catholics.”

Catholic groups on social media had also made comments critical of Cardinal Ranjith’s decision to meet with Namal.

More for PA

Meanwhile, the SLFP Nimal Siripala de Silva faction-led People’s Alliance (PA) last week received two members – former General Secretary of the SLFP Sarathi Dushmantha Mithrapala (formerly from the Maithripala Sirisena faction) and Angajan Ramanathan.

The duo had decided to extend support to Wickremesinghe following discussions with de Silva and State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna.

Mithrapala had stated that he had no ill feeling towards Sirisena and that the decision to support Wickremesinghe had been taken after Sirisena had announced his decision to remain independent during the polls.

New SLPP alliance

Following the formation of two key political alliances by the pro-Wickremesinghe and pro-Premadasa factions, the dissident SLPPers backing Wickremesinghe are now looking at forming another political alliance.

The proposed new alliance that consists of a group of Wickremesinghe supporters is to be led by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena with dissident SLPP Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana as the General Secretary.

A discussion on the formation of this alliance was held at Temple Trees last Tuesday (20) morning. It is learnt that the discussion was focused on the appointment of key office bearers and the executive committee of the alliance as well as attracting more members to the alliance. It is to also open its doors to SLPP Local Government and Provincial Council members.

This new alliance is to be the front that will field the SLPP dissidents at the next Parliamentary Elections.

Namal’s policy

Meanwhile, SLPP candidate Namal, who has also initiated a dialogue with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), maintains that he will not mislead Tamil voters, especially the Tamil youth, with false promises during the election period.

Namal has said that he and his party stands for a unitary state that will not merge the Northern and Eastern Provinces and that land and Police powers cannot be devolved to the provinces. “There is no change in our stance. I will not make false statements to the Tamil youth just to win votes and not deliver,” he has added.

Dilith’s stance

Meanwhile, Sarvajana Balaya presidential candidate Dilith Jayaweera has noted that there is no Sinhalese majority or a Tamil minority in the country.

Speaking in Jaffna, Jayaweera claimed that there was only a majority that consisted of all ethnic groups. He called on all Tamil people not to be misled by some Tamil political leaders who promoted racism in the north while leading luxurious lifestyles in Colombo.

Jayaweera further claimed that politicians who had visited the north to burn down the Jaffna Library had been entertained in the residence of the same northern politicians who were promoting racism. 

Conch shell irony

Meanwhile, an irony of all ironies has also taken place in this Presidential Election campaign. This is the allocation of the ‘conch shell’ symbol that was previously assigned to the nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which was led by Buddhist monks, to the common Tamil candidate.

It is ironic that the symbol formerly held by a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist party will now be assigned to common Tamil candidate P. Ariyanethiran, who is contesting the upcoming election as a representative of the minority Tamil community.

ITAK split

However, cracks within the main Tamil political party – the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) – resurfaced last week with disputed Leader of the ITAK S. Shritharan announcing his decision to support common Tamil candidate Ariyanethiran.

Shritharan had reportedly informed Ariyanethiran of his decision when the two had met last Friday (23) in Jaffna.

The ITAK Central Committee has meanwhile maintained that the party was yet to make a final decision on the Presidential Election. Members of the ITAK Central Committee have stated that the party will make a decision on whether the party will back a presidential candidate or not after looking at the manifestos released by the candidates and having discussions with them.

Members like TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran have been critical of the fielding of a common Tamil candidate.