I am completely baffled at intelligent people’s assertion that it is OK to steal as long as the project is completed! Not even if it is beneficial to anyone.

I am at a loss for words, that people who I believe are intelligent take the view that the cost overruns of Norochcholai, Mattala, Hambantota Port, Katunayaka Expressway, Southern Highway, and the completely unnecessary proposed Sampur Power station using highly polluting coal, and now the Casino complex with very low taxes and free licenses are all OK as it is infrastructure for the benefit of the people of Sri Lanka.

The attitude is that everyone over invoices and if there was another government it would be worse, so it is just a huge cross the people of Sri Lanka have to bear and the weight we have to carry as Sri Lankans.

In summary if you want to be Sri Lankan and live in Sri Lanka, this is a price, where a bunch of people and their friends will share the equivalent of US$50B in cost overruns to spread amongst themselves, as the price of progress for this growth that will (however it is divided) take us to the US$10,000 per capita GNP by 2025!!

These guys have just set themselves up, and will not budge from that stand, and want to be in the bunch who share the spoils, not in the bigger bunch who have to pay for that, through sweat and toil be in Sri Lanka or overseas, by artificial low exchange rates so the wealthy can buy imported luxury items at below value!!

Put simply a person remitting money to SL will be paid say Rs1M for his riyals instead of Rs2M and the person buying the car will pay Rs20M instead of Rs40M!

Of course we have sufficient examples all over the world from Suhartos and Marcoses where leaders plundered the wealth of their countries in this way. IS it really right that this happens openly, and without any accountability as the Govt. has the power, of numbers and its backers are looking for ways to benefit from this largesse, rather than in all conscience stop this banditry against this Country.

The added problem is that the Govt. is permitted to borrow from the Chinese at exorbitant interest rates as a huge commission on the rates is paid to the fixers who share it amongst themselves, and in the case of infrastructure loans has been estimated at over US$3B of commissions that have just gone to a few people, and in the end the Country will have to pay it interest and capital on that over many years. Is there to outcry, no patriots left in Sri Lanka, and a poor populace blind!!

What a colossal waste of Rs15M! – we can’t even access www.chogm13.lk

It was reported yesterday that the CHOGM web site address referred to in the heading had cost Rs15M. I cannot even access it to find if it is worth anything. The fact that I cannot access it must mean that the whole amount has gone into someone’s pocket and we still seem to have apologists for this Government.

I cannot understand how anyone in all conscience can defend this Government and its waste as isolated. It is just rampant in everything the Government spends.

The reader please try accessing www.chogm13.lk as I can’t. I am quite frustrated and fed up and I am not a person coming to CHOGM. SO just imagine what the overseas visitor thinks about it?

Oh finally after a few false starts and 10 minutes of trying I finally got through! Is this the wondrous site? There is nothing wondrous about it.

Contact

General Enquiries

Chief Executive Officer
Taskforce Secretariat for CHOGM 2013
Block 4, BMICH
Bauddhaloka Mawatha
Colombo 07
Sri Lanka.

Tel : +94117575200
Fax : +94117575221
Email : chogm2013(at)mea(dot)gov(dot)lk

The above is an extract of the contact. Is this the way the email addresses are written? Come on which planet are we from for Rs15M. Who is the joker who was given the task of doing the website, as it has not even passed the peer review at which such bloopers would be pointed out and corrected.

If the indication above is any indication on our ability to organize a drunkard mud wrestling competition, no wonder the Canadian PM did not want to deal with such.

Why are these Govt. stooges who get these Govt. contracts so inept? It reflects so adly on the Country  and if truth be told, the Mahinda Rajapakse Govt. must share the blame if not take it on his shoulders personally as no one seems to be accountable for this embarrassment.

Full marks to you Harsha de Silva MP for pointing this out yesterday evening, but you missed saying what an aberration it was!!!  

I have a serious problem with our Journalists!

The Government just released 2014 Budget Estimates, and to a fault ALL the media reported that Defense Expenditure estimates have been reduced to Rs250B from Rs289B in the previous year.

NO ONE CARED TO CHECK IF WE WERE COMPARING APPLES TO APPLES!!

Journalists were you asleep, or don’t you check what you write with someone a little more intelligent than you? I guess not. So where were the Budget Estimates for the Ministry of Law and Order? It is a new Ministry, so there weren’t any costs last year. WRONG.  

Why don’t Journalists question something quite illogical. The total expenditure estimates for 2014 have gone up 30% to Rs 1.5Trillion, and why would defense drop by 20%? No one has asked that question.

Quite simply the Rs50B for the Ministry of Law and Order is shown separately this year, as it is a new ministry and under the present practice must be shown as such. In fact defense expenditure has gone up as a result and the people have been misled by this poor journalistic reporting.

I have scoured the papers since to see if there were any corrections to the reports to correct any errors of the earlier reports, but to no avail. Either they are embarrassed at that basic error or are still in complete ignorance on this score.

Considering it is the largest single budget allocation, one would hope they take more care in reporting this and also conduct some research into the details of the expenditure to make some relevant observations.

I note that the opposition had asked for details and the Govt. using national security refused to further elaborate on the expenditure, by breaking it down to types of equipment which they intend importing, as that would make sense.

It would be advisable if there is some sort of checks and balances to see if unreasonably high costs are paid for equipment that could otherwise have been sourced for much less. This will inevitably show that there is considerable kickbacks in the ordering of defense equipment and cannot escape notice of the higher ups in defense unless of course they are directly responsible for the graft.        

Is Kenya learning from Sri Lanka to tell lies!!

It is common knowledge today, how Sri Lanka plays duplicitous games, where the local audience is fed a diet which is completely different to that fed to the foreign audience. Often therefore Journalists are completely duped as they only read the English Press and are unaware that the Sinhala Press tells a very different story.

The Govt. is now adept at this game by fooling the gallery with information they only want the gallery to hear, but which is completely fictitious, and play a different tune to the international audience trying to curry favors from them!!!

It is the same game that the Kenyans are playing and as usual the Govt. is fooled by the rhetoric. Kenya quite categorically has told their neighboring African Commonwealth Countries NOT to attend CHOGM, as their Leader, President Kenyatta has been indicted on war crimes, or HR violations by the ICC, and this is used in the local Press in Kenya as an appeal to them NOT to attend as a sign of pretest, and Nothing to do with the SL situation.

When the SL govt. enquired  as to the truth of this statement they told our Foreign Minister that there was absolutely no truth. It is a case of De Ja Vu and our Foreign Minister GL Peiris must realize it the same game that he is used to playing. The govt press headlined this fact for our local audience that the there was NO truth in the Press reports emanating from Kenya. Any idiot can check the facts by going on line and checking the Newspapers in Kenya for the stories.

It is interesting isn’t it that both Kenyatta and Rajapakse are playing the same political game when accused of similar international crimes. Is it any wonder how felons think alike?       

I have no idea if the Kenyan appeal will work, and I somehow doubt that other potentates will miss out of a junket to bring their chums for a bit of fun in Sri Lanka. After all SL is providing luxury of accommodation and vehicles and escorts free of charge and who would like to miss it?

Let us also see if the Kenyan President follows and practice what he preaches, or is willing to take the gamble to hob nob with his fellow counterparts in crime. It will be interesting to see what drives him here – Domestic politics or the desire to be feted by similar bedfellows.

Always remember what you read is not what it is, just what you are told!!    

The BBS is smarting after losing the Halal fight and so is on a rampage

Whatever one wishes to believe in the end all the companies that sell products bar about 5 have retained the Halal logo on their products sold in Sri Lanka. So the BBS were clearly snookered and they know it and are smarting.

Their recent parade of cars to Kandy was of NO effect. They are now planning alternative action, but their thunder has been stolen and they are now even not able to get the Kandy rally in the back pages of the paper. Their campaign was waged on the media, and now they are a lost cause as the media WILL NOT give them the light or time of day, except report on an innocuous meeting here and there.

It is also interesting that the people who had previously undertaken to perform the Halal testing have advertised for a third party to take over this certification process, so they are able to wash their hands of the allegations and hopefully get some credibility back.

The Govt. conscious of the Muslim vote do not want to upset the applecart as they have too few friends outside SL shores and are determined to keep the few Muslim countries that have stood by Sri Lanka and don’t want the Halal saga to upset this delicate balance.

Whilst I have maintained in this blog that the Govt with its divisive policies wants to hold on to an extremism to pretend to pander to the Sinhala Budhist vote, are pragmatic and willing to compromise for their long term interests after being publicly castigated by the Muslim lobby overseas.

The Mahinda Rajapakse Govt. is caught in a classic “Catch 22” situation, and caught between and rock and a hard place trying to work out how to get over it. Their policy has been to further erode the credibility of the opposition as the sure fire way to get over this problem, and as my previous blog entry pointed out, has already decided to compromise the loyalty of the UNP by buying silence and playing their tune. The people who have effectively sold the UNP into the abyss are Maithri and Sajith, and it will do well for the party faithful to really understand who the true enemies of the UNP are and take steps to counter that effectively.

I can only hope for the sake of Sri Lanka that people are forewarned about the backyard shenanigans and take appropriate action to ensure we have a thriving democratic set up where the Govt. game can be outed and Sajith Premadasa’s true colors shown. Let us hope it happens sooner rather than later.      

What is the game plan of the Govt. vis a vis the Opposition?

There appears to be some unholy alliances forming in the bid to oust Ranil from the head of the UNP.

If the Matara scuffle is anything to start on, it is obvious that the overwhelming police crackdown on the heart of Ranil supporters is to take him down. So there is NO truth anymore of the Govt. wanting to keep Ranil for their own survival, much as many people would like to pretend, as they are media created misinformation for their own agendas.

Who is sufficiently powerful in order to only accede to Maithri’s request of people they identified, where none of the Maithri people with poles and culprits have been identified or apprehended. One name Ghotabaya Rajapakse. After all Herman Guneratne the chief culprit in the shooting seen by all, is still pretending to be sick at the Merchants Ward as the deal to clear him has not been finalized and he has yet to turn up in Matara. Gota wants unimpeded route to premiership and with Sajith at the helm no self respecting SLFPer will cross over to the UNP, whereas with Ranil already 70 MPs are ready and waiting for the moment to teach the family a lesson. It is better to think this logic through than merely accept what I say.

Who is behind Maithri, it is Sajith Premadasa all the way. It was Maithri’s son who purposely misidentified people such as Sandith Samarasinghe as one who hit him, when all the people Sandith had with him, know it to be false. Further Maithri and Sandith are friends from small days, so the depths to which Maithri has sadly fallen are beyond redemption.

One main reason Sajith was reluctant to take on the leadership was the mass of information the Govt. possesses of his transgressions, especially artifact hunting and ivory poaching.

So in order to grab leadership he has had to sign his life away to the family, by agreeing to be their puppet for not rocking the boat, and behaving like a permanent opposition, unable to resurrect themselves from the doldrums.

It is this sad fate that Sajith seems bent on taking the UNP to and to never have a hope of rising from the ashes he himself has created by his actions, that have also contributed to most of the leadership deserting the party. Just ask Dayasiri, who he believes is more detrimental to the UNP and you will have your answer.

It is therefore best to understand this new challenge to the resurrection of the UNP, and be forewarned before it is too late to repair the damage as most people have been barking up the wrong tree, as to where the fault lies. 

Priyath Wickrema is fouling the air with lies that the Island Newspaper continues to parrot!

When the Chairman of the SLPA makes a statement that the (only two births) at the Hamabantota Harbor are in use, and that ships are waiting in line for bunkering he is just making a statement and doing his job he is paid to do as a faithful servant. It is time the Island and the journalist doing the interview understands that and that it hides a myriad of ills.

For the good doctor (Priyath has PhD) to say then that the second phase is required as there is no room for ships is a purely contrived statement to justify the position he has taken on behalf of his benefactors, and one must look deeper into what all the fuss was about the Port.

 http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=90507

Despite his confident assertion that it is not, I still state the port as is, is a “White Elephant”

The reason there are ships at all is that it is the cheapest port to stop over in just as the Mattala airport is as well. This is because vessels are permitted to come at little cost, as it is subsidized by the Govt. or SLPA, just to attract more ships.

Secondly the Govt. has forced all car carrying vessels to dock at Hambantota, and that is adding Rs100,000 to the cost of importing a car, when the expanded Colombo Port has the capacity to bring them in. The heavy cost in fuel use to get car carriers to bring them to Colombo, is further congesting the roads, and destroying them as they have not been built to withstand the weight of the juggernauts that ply this route.

Thirdly the low charges and incentives have permitted car manufactures to plant their vehicles at the port, and use feeder ships to send them to different destinations in Asia and the Middle East. However what the SLPA earns from allowing them thousands of acres of tarmac to park these bonded vehicles is peanuts and could be used more productively. Any idiot will plant his cars when he is not charged for it!

There are insufficient competent drivers to move these vehicles creating more chaos and delays for the birthed ships, and could be turned around quicker if there were more efficient drivers to move the cars as there are in other countries. I wonder if the Chairman of the SLPA realizes that there is congestion only because it is due to lower and subsidized rates at loss making prices and not anything else.

It must be remembered that in the grand development plan of Sri Lanka, the UNP has a port development in Hambantota at a better location and not at the head of the rock that needs blasting, and more importantly a deep water port out to sea, and not by taking land and carving out a port from it. It must be further remembered that expansion of the Port when it is in the water is easier as one is not restricted in space, and can be performed more practically.

No one is denying the strategic location of the Port. However taking loans from China at exorbitant rates of interest and getting them to build this port was not the answer.  It could have been built at a fraction of the money already wasted on a BOT basis, where there will be little need for Govt. financing were it auctioned internationally to the highest bidder. They would then build the most economically practical design. Remember this is with NO COST to GOSL.

So when I see such asinine comments made by supposedly responsible officials to justify their sycophantic existence it makes by blood curdle, as it is simply the citizens of Sri Lanka who have been taken for a ride. It is not the Doctor who has the additional debt burden, it is every citizen of Sri Lanka who is that much poorer because of the choices made by people who rule over them.

I do not need to go into the Indian Sugar refinery project that has got the go ahead in the FTZ adjoining the port as there will be no future for the existing refineries if this large refinery requires the raw material from locally grown sugar cane. So the estimated jobs in this industry will be miniscule as this refinery will be run with hardly any labor unlike the 5 proposed and already working ones of Pelawatte, Sevenagala, Himburana, Kantale and Gal Oya.

The building of the port was by Chinese labor, and no one has been employed locally from it, another blunder! The Chinese just killed and ate anything they could lay their hands on denigrating the wildlife of the area for ever. Ask the locals they supplied the game meat, although it was illegal so to do. The Govt. turned a blind eye to their indiscretions, when a local would be have been jailed for a simple kill of even a porcupine or thalagoya (land monitor).

I recommend the Island to their own research and find out the reasons for the congestion, like I pointed to, and find out the details of the ships what cargo they brought, why they used Hambantota and if SL is really making any money from this port of call before justifying precious MONEY, OR HIGH INTEREST LOANS to build the proverbial casket of GOLD ON THE WHITE ELEPHANT.  

Were the Secret Ballots to elect the President of the Councils an indication of “dissent within the ranks of the UPFA”?

The newly appointed Chief Ministers of both Wyamba and Central Provincial Councils were in for a rude shock when their respective nominees did not get the support they assumed. One was DEFEATED, the other only barely ELECTED.

Now the candidates proposed by the UNP opposition have had their SLFP memberships rescinded and have been called upon to answer to their lords! This is a clear witch-hunt of those who do not toe the line within the UPFA.

Of course this is just the first indication of a fissure and the recent article by Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema from exile further elaborates her thinking, not fully shared by me, but I believe the house of cards will crumble at the right moment, when some unbelievable act of stupidity and arrogance by the leaders will bring it crashing down, handing the opposition the golden opportunity for a comeback, on a platter.    

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/mrs-upfa-becomes-a-simmering-pot/

It is important that people understand that when structures are made for personal gain, they can crack faster than when they are created with no ulterior motive but purely for altruistic reasons. That is why anyone who believes in right and wrong has nothing to fear from the present state of affairs.

It is quite clear from all that has taken place recently everything that is being done is only for longevity of a family master plan and not to ensure the fulfillment of the theory of the alliance. Therefore in time all members of the alliance are likely to want to strengthen the alliance at the expense of those who try to destroy it. It seems that now it is not the opposition that is its greatest enemy but the ruling family only who do not allow dissension, and appear only to want to control all power amongst themselves.  

In the media age, “he who controls the media will eventually control people’s thought processes” and eventually spell disaster for a policy not built on firm foundations. You can only fool the media for a while, and then the people who depend on them for a little while longer. Once both parties realize that there was no reason to fear the paper tigers, and that just a match will set them alight, then truth with prevail and the rascals shown the door. Who will replace this known devil, should be the question in our minds, not if or when they will be replaced!! 

How time changes everything especially the history of rulers! The real legacy comes after and cannot be manipulated

There have been rulers who change the scripted history during their rule to what they want it to be, and are so foolish not to realize that once they have passed on, it is more than likely that change is made to reflect the truth.

In recent memory, the previous Iranian President was one who preached that the Holocaust never happened, only to be called misled by the current President.

In a similar fashion once this President’s rule in Sri Lanka finally ends, Sarath Fonseka will get his rightful place in what he did, and in a sense will be glad not to be associated with the President, who precipitated a break-up of Sri Lanka by defeating the Tigers without a just peace to put a lid on. Instead may end up as a traitor who paved the way for a breakup by his openly hostile attitude to minority rights, by claiming there are NO minorities in Sri Lanka!!

We are seeing alarming indications of his divisive policies toeing a Sinhala Buddhist line, that belittles the Tamil need to assert their rights. Many countries have different communities who live in harmony in a unified state, and Sri Lanka instead of learning from them are letting the extremism of a small ultra orthodoxy dictate a racist agenda, that is now clearly seen to polarize the country. A small match from either side is enough to give rise to a “Black July” and it is simply regretful that with all the power vested in this Administration, something no govt. before and I doubt hence will have, has been clearly unable to prevent a recurrence of communal disharmony. The size of the security forces will not matter!

One only has to see how different the Premadasa Administration was in its flawed policies. The Gam Udawas now don’t even exist and have been lost to the jungle from whence it came. The 80,000 flowers of our youth who perished with the idea of defeating the JVP, merely plucked out some of the most brilliant minds of a generation never to rise to their true potential, and the flawed policy of giving arms and funds to the LTTE to chase out the Indian Army, a wholly regressive step that further delayed the ultimate defeat of LTTE terrorism.

The unkind truth however is that we who forecast that truth will finally be the victor, from a very flawed administration, that has dazzled the people with monuments, but may not be around to witness the rewrite having passed on!! It is up to the good Historian NOT to be influenced by individual bias, but be objective in viewing the might have beens, to explain to those who come after us what it was really like in that period, and how easy it was to sway public opinion.   

Mangala has not had so much publicity since he was fired as the FM

One wonders whether there was an ulterior motive in Mangala gathering the party faithful to Matara to ostensibly attend an Adhishtana Pooja at Devundera Devala at the same time and place where the Anti Ranil walk from Devundera to Colombo was about to take place!!!!

Anyone with any sense of intelligence would have known that it would lead to a clash. When one has been officially hauled up to protect one’s leader, it is the loyal job of a party faithful  so to do and that is why the innocents came to Mangala’s.

So the clash appeared to be fortuitous for Mangala and disastrous for the UNP, as when Maithri called upon the arrest of Mangala for planning this fight, it was like music to his ears. So like any savvy politician who likes to stretch any publicity, he made a big song and dance about his handing himself in to the Police on Monday or was it Tuesday, surrounded by his lawyers!! It was headlines for a few days, and a photo op of him carrying a sirisiri bag with a tooth brush and sarong to be incarcerated in remand. It cut a forlorn figure evoking some sympathy with people and now Mangala is again known by the gallery, ready to win an election or at least enough preferences for his own especially the local Matara caste vote! Don't forget he asked the police to handcuff him so he could have had his photo taken with handcuffs, all part of the political games people play for votes from our citizenry who get taken in by such.

I would hate to think he sacrificed the UNP for his own ends, as he can now flit between parties, especially if Chandrika decides to challenge Mara in light of the lack of any other opposition at present and Mangala  along with Maithri both southern traitors, further  reducing the electability of the UNP by their own sword!

I beg the reading public of this blog just to contemplate the back room workings, as the action of the police is completely out of character. They have NOT performed an impartial investigation and have relied mainly on Sirasa and Mawbima footage, both designed to be lopsided, favoring the Maithri Guneratne camp and therefore flawed evidence in a court case. The sheer ineptitude of the police is staggering unless of course one believes the UNP accusation of a Govt. contract to further pressure the UNP loyalists into submission!

I am not asking the reader to believe what I say, just to have an element of healthy skepticism in mind to ascertain on their own what it is that is happening. Don’t forget the MARA govt. wants to be in power for ever, and is this another passage in that game? It certainly looks it, and the Guneratne’s bit players in it and Mangala just making the most of an opportunity for him to gain as much publicity as an architect of the squabble. Why was Maithri not arrested if Mangala was? All very ONE SIDED HEH!!

Mangala to be arrested! On what grounds?

In an unprecedented act of irresponsibility, a Matara Magistrate, Wasantha Ramyakumara has directed the police to take into custody Mangala Samaraweera and 11 others, but on condition that there is sufficient evidence against it.

It is not up to a magistrate so to do, even though names have been presented to court by parties with a personal agenda. It is up to the police to perform the necessary investigations, and determine if there is sufficient evidence of breaking the law, and then take the necessary steps depending on the gravity of the crime.

This kind of behavior on the part of the magistrate brings the whole criminal justice system to disrepute. Anyone can submit any names of people at the scene, and if he crime is the intent to commit a crime, even if they did not do so by only carrying the poles and sticks in their hands, both for self defense and attack, as even the pistol used by Herman Gunaratne could theoretically be used in the same context.

It is important the Justice system does not take sides, and mentioning that Mangala be arrested is also tantamount to more of a Govt. act of revenge against a staunch MR supporter. We have seen a complete breakdown of law and order where those elected on the Govt sides to any post appear to be engaged in all manner of crime and especially murder. The latter is particularly relevant at present over the Murder of the British National in Tangalle a few years back for which the wheels of justice are yet to flow.  

In this particular episode, it appears that the law enforcement authorities are only interested in Mangala and his supporters and not the crimes to which Maithri and his supporters are alleged to have done, as evidenced in the FB videos now for all to see. Only Maithri’s father who was caught acting like a gunslinger on TV has been taken in albeit chained to a hospital bed at the National Hospital in some level of comfort.

It is time to appoint another police officer from outside the area (Matara) to conduct an impartial enquiry and report on the alleged offences and who was responsible using both available video clips, mainly from channels partial to the anti Ranil camp, which further distorts the truth. That way the current perception that the Govt. is pursuing its own agenda using the anti Ranil faction, dividing an already fractious opposition can be put to rest and an independent assessment of where blame should lie. After all much more serious incidents have yet to be investigated. 

Oh how easy it is to be fooled by the Press!!! The fake kidnapping

This is yet another case of the media in Sri Lanka being misled by known fraudsters. As is the case in Sri Lanka and as evidenced by how much air time is given to Maithri Guneratne, people can make any accusation and the media reports it as truth. It is all fiction and the figment of a fertile imagination.

The latest is the reports in all media that Anura Lokuhetty, who is embroiled in a management and ownership dispute over Serene Pavilions, the boutique hotel in Wadduwa, has informed the police that he has been kidnapped and dumped in Bandaragama!

The reality was that he was illegally occupying a room at the hotel, when he was forbidden from being there, and when a director came with some of his people to inform the hotel staff, that Citrus Leisure was now running the hotel, he had got into a heated argument, and was asked to vacate the place. So in order to implicate all those who came to throw him out, he faked the kidnap and ratted on the people who came, naming them as those responsible for the kidnapping and dumping.

Once the truth comes out after the police enquiry, where 9 people have been taken into custody pending investigation, then it will no longer be news, and NO newspaper will want to report that they lied to the people based on the accusations of a known liar.

It is understood that he was thrown out of the golf club for falsifying some card, and then had problems at both his previous employments, both at the then Confifi Group and later at the Galle Face Group where he held senior positions and parlayed that into the Serene job, by hoodwinking the main investor Clive Leach from the UK to give him free shares, and then we know what happened to Leach!

He again tried to illegally take control of Serene which resulted in the current saga that has raged for the past month in both the Sinhala and English media where he has been able to use his duping skills to good effect to speak with reporters, who it seems do not have an ounce of grey matter, to investigate the reason this person is making these far flung allegations.

I would caution the readers of any news item, or article, to read it with skepticism, as nine times of ten it is a trumped up news item for the purposes of the readers delight. Let us call our reporters fiction and figments of their own imagination.    

It is clear that the Jathika Pawra is headed into the Democratic Party

The charade put on by the ex-members of the UNP Maithri Guneratne and Shiral Laktilleke to gather troops at Devundera and march to Colombo was an abject failure on the part of the publicity given it by Mawbima and Sirasa, as barely 150 turned up. However Mangala Samaraweera got caught in the web of intrigue with disastrous consequences for the UNP.

It was clearly an act further denigrating the UNP that the aforesaid individuals and their henchmen are engaged in, as they know very well that they will never get nominations from that party. So why did they engage in it.

It is clear that in their act of denigrating the leader of the UNP, the knock on benefit will accrue to Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party from which they will inevitably have to seek their candidacy and of course be elected.

Whilst it is very wrong of Sirasa to give a person the mike, as they continue to give Maithri and his cohorts daily, as all they are engaged in doing is making accusations against dedicated UNPers who are committed to overthrowing the Govt. and wish to see a better Sri Lanka. In the guise of trying to rid the UNP of its leader, they are actually doing nothing for the credibility of Ranil, but everything to further damage the UNP.

Whilst it is definitely the Government that is benefiting from all the actions of both Maithri and Sirasa, it is not incorrect if we assume they are on a Govt. contract except for the unholy alliance of Maharajah Group and Ceylon Newspapers pursuing a dual agenda, by helping both the Govt. and the Democratic Party to completely destroy the UNP merely out of a grudgefest and not out of any love for the country.

The fact that Mangala and by extension Ranil fell for this trap last weekend is very sad, as they should have ignored this threat and it would have gone away.

Mangala making silly accusations that Maithri’s father was a Presidential Advisor further helped Maithri’s and Herman Guneratne’s cause more than the UNP. The ill advised campaign of getting UNP members to come to Matara backfired terribly, as Maithri is using his chance to name and shame everyone who came to Matara, all staunch party men to protect the party, but have no way of defending themselves from Sirasa and Mawbima accusations that border on the libelous but in fact is difficult in a court of law to get to stick.

In a country where the electorate is fooled by the people who are allowed TV time, as people are now lazy even to read an analytical paper, showing both sides of the debate and leaving it to the reader to make up his or her mind, the perception is more important that reality. The damage that the perception does is irreversible.

The influence of the electronic, and mainly TV in Sri Lanka today, means that both the State channels constantly blaring propaganda and misinformation, and now Sirasa doing the same, is making it even more difficult for the principle opposition to raise its head and show they mean business.

The people within the UNP appear to put themselves over party and have created a public perception that there is NO ONE who has the country’s interests at heart. We know that the Govt. does not, only in rhetoric. We believe that the JVP make the most sense, but have lost all electoral credibility as they continue to pursue a wholly impractical agenda, that has distanced the electorate giving Sarath Fonseka and his party the middle ground despite their lack of a plan policy or purpose.

The level of personal attack permitted by Sirasa and seized by Maithri Guneratne is beyond the pale. However there are no media ethics in Sri Lanka and people do not appear to be able to judge between believing fair and balanced coverage from overtly biased, leaving it to the mudslingers to rule the day.

In any country where justice prevails Maithri Guneratne would be jailed and everything he owns taken from him, as he is allowed to crucify people without impunity. A Nobody trying to be somebody has been allowed to get away with murder. It is the system stupid that is rotten to the core for allowing such. It has nothing to do with free speech, or independence of the Media, it is simply a gunfight at the OK corral with no law to enforce.

As with all things, what goes around comes around and the perpetrators of this dastardly act will one day pay for their sins, but until that time, the people of Sri Lanka are held hostage by the egos of a few traitors and their ambition.

All those who care about Sri Lanka owe it to their fellow citizens to point out what is wrong in our daily lives, and try to correct the wrongs. The people of Sri Lanka must attempt to decipher truth from fiction, instead of being lead like cows to slaughter, as after they have been slaughtered there is no point finding blame. Let us blame and shame those who continue to work for their personal gratification, and point out what policies are required to get our country back to a firmer foundation where all who live in it can share in the wealth of the nation.    

The answer if not Ranil, is definitely not Sajith – a wholely misleading message!

 The FT today, (10^th October 2013) correctly analyzed why Sajith is not suitable to lead the UNP. It was an extremely fair and unbiased article which needs some enumeration.

http://www.ft.lk/2013/10/10/a-pivotal-moment/

If one goes back to the Matara incident, it was both irresponsible for a small team, the leaders who are no longer members of the UNP, to even attempt a march to Colombo, to overthrow the Leader of the UNP, and it was an undisguised show that Sajith was behind it from the beginning. After all the Media that appears to determine public opinion, was used by two small players, namely the Ceylon Today Group of Tiran Alles in conjunction with Killi Maharajah's Sirasa group which gave intense publicity to this, and resulted in fewer than 150 demonstrators from Devundera. They simply give voice to "Sajith for leader" campaign, trying to influence public opinion.

Having said that it was just as reprehensible for Mangala (with tacit approval from Ranil Wickremasighe) to gather their troops in Matara, which was clearly inciteful, and wholely unnecessary considering the expected turnout for the anti Ranil demo.

The inevitable clash took place and the rest is history, and in my opinion did a lot of damage to the UNP, which both parties MUST shoulder blame for.

So to come back to the point in this essay, it is clear that Sajith is unable to be up front about his intentions, except of course clearly enunciate in the aforesaid publications that he is ready for the mantle of leadership and want to take it.

If that is the case why fight shy of making decisions pertaining to his and his party’s future at the WC meeting on Monday, and thereafter, when he was asked to attend the meeting of the new governing council or what name it will in future be known as! The frustration of the UNP was clear, when it announced that they cannot wait for the date of Sajith participation before meeting to decide on the party’s direction and were ready to start without him.

Sajith’s handlers are clearly handling him, and not himself. This is clearly an act unbecoming of a leader who must weighing all the pros and cons decide to act decisively. The UNP needs a person who is not just decisive but also seen to be decisive, and neither of which tag can be pinned on Mr Sajith Premadasa MP. So I would ask his supporters if they honestly believe their man has what it takes!!