• SJB criticises Govt. for dragging the personal into the political 

The purported incident of slain President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s wife Hema Premadasa having allegedly requested the Presidential Secretariat for a host of stationery items is currently being discussed in the political arena.

During a Parliamentary session early this week, Government Parliamentarian Mahindananda Aluthgamage made some remarks on a letter that had allegedly been sent by Hema Premadasa to the Procurement Division of the Presidential Secretariat requesting a host of stationery items. He said that it was ludicrous that Hema Premadasa had asked for the relevant items from the Government in a backdrop where her son and Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa was talking about providing relief to the public.

Following Aluthgamage’s statement, a letter dated 20 September 2023, that is alleged to have been sent to an accountant in the Procurement Division of the Presidential Secretariat, asking for stationery items, began to be circulated on social media platforms and there had since been a discussion about it on social media platforms as well.

However, when the Procurement Division of the Presidential Secretariat was contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (5), the officer to whom the relevant letter had been addressed, had not reported to work, and another official stated that she was not aware of the matter, and that therefore, no comment could be made on the same.

Speaking in the Parliament yesterday, SJB MP, Chaminda Wijesiri criticised certain Government MPs who he claimed made statements on Sajith Premadasa and other Opposition MPs based on personal matters. “If we talk about someone's personal life, we have many things to say. Certain individuals’ spouses come and say that they have to pay this much compensation. We are not going to talk about such things. Sajith Premadasa, being in the Opposition, does much work that the Government cannot. Therefore, he is not incapable of providing for his mother.”

It was recently reported that the Presidential Secretariat had informed a staff member of a particular former President on 24 July that financial allocations would no longer be made for water, electricity, and telephone tariffs of former Presidents’ official residences, as per the instructions of the Attorney General’s (AG) Department. The reports also read that the AG’s Department had informed the Presidential Secretariat that former Presidents are entitled only to official residences, the maintenance of vehicles and a fuel allowance.

At present, Hema Premadasa and former Presidents Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena and Gotabaya Rajapaksa are entitled to the relevant privileges. In recent times, there have been strong criticisms regarding the granting of privileges to politicians including former Presidents, particularly due to the prevailing economic crisis.