DIS & DAT
A Hasty Retreat?
The day after being invited to take over the party leadership, UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya has left for India on a personal visit for four days.
Co-deputy leader Sajith Premadasa last Thursday called on Jayasuriya to take over the party leadership in order to build unity within the party. Jayasuriya responded positively saying he was ready to either relinquish any duties or accept new ones for the greater good of the party. Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe also responded by assigning Jayasuriya the task of unifying the party. Be that as it may, Jayasuriya left the country on a private overseas trip the following day giving the impression he needed time for a retreat before endeavouring to build unity within the grand old party.
Sad to be Sri Lankan
Cabinet Spokesperson and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella says that he is saddened by so-called comments by the son of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge on the controversial Channel 4 video footage.
Rambukwella told the media that he was baffled as to how Vimukthi Kumaratunge could justify the actions of the LTTE when they had attempted to assassinate his mother who was President at the time. The former President’s son had reportedly said he was ashamed to be a Sinhalese after watching the Channel 4 video on the final stages of the war.
Bankrupt and no Aid
The recent vote by a US congressional committee to ban aid to Sri Lanka has been shot down by the government as a move prompted by a country facing bankruptcy.
Chief Government Whip and Minister Dinesh Gunawardena addressing an event in Colombo last week had said the US was trying to stop giving aid to Sri Lanka due to the country’s bankruptcy.
He had said the US was facing an economic crisis and was therefore finding it difficult to manage its expenses. Therefore, the US would be happy to stop all aid to other countries.
A US congressional committee recently voted to ban aid to Sri Lanka unless the country showed “accountability” on the final stages of the war in 2009, an improved climate for freedom of the press, an end to emergency regulations and information from the government on the fate of people unaccounted for at the end of the war.
Bus Ride to Vote
VIPs in the country are now engaged in using various modes of transport in a bid to promote the peaceful environment in the country.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa set the trend by driving a car on several roads in Colombo during the daytime without any security. Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena rode on a motorbike from Kalutara to Galle to inspect the development work at the Galle Port.
The latest to be added to the list is SLFP General Secretary and Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena. Sirisena had opted to use public transport in his constituency on the 23rd. He had travelled by bus from his residence in Polonnaruwa to the election office in the town without being accompanied by any bodyguards.
Sirisena had said that he was used to travelling by bus and that his journey was aimed at giving an impression on the peaceful environment in the country where even VIPs are able to travel freely among the public.
Clergy to Govern LG Body
The country has set a new record with the governing UPFA announcing the decision to appoint the first Buddhist monk to head a local government body.
JHU candidate Ven. Wewelduwe Gnanaprabha Thera polled the highest number of preferential votes of 5,895 at the elections for the Embilipitiya Urban Council. The UPFA said the Thero would be appointed following clashes between the UPFA and JHU leaders.
The UPFA leaders have proposed the appointment of the second candidate in the UPFA preferential votes list instead of the Thero, claiming a Buddhist monk could not be appointed to head a local government body. However, following protests by the JHU leaders and a fast launched by Ven. Gnanaprabha Thero requesting his appoinment as the Chairman of the Urban Council, the UPFA decided to go ahead with the appointment.
