UPFA nomination foils; Mahinda preparing to contest through ‘budding flower’???
Posted on July 8th, 2015
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It is reported that the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is now unable to contest the upcoming General Election under the UPFA due to some restrictions imposed and failure of Mahinda-Maithri collaboration, Rajapaksa is now planning to contest under the Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front (Ape Sri Lanka Nidahas Peramuna) with the symbol of a budding flower.
The party which was formerly named Sri Lanka National Front with the symbol cricket bat recently changed its name to ‘Ape Sri Lanka Nidahas Peramuna’ and symbol to a budding flower.
Although the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was granted nominations from the UPFA, it has been revealed that the President has imposed several conditions on Rajapaksa contesting the upcoming general election. One specific condition states that Rajapakse will not, under any condition, be appointed Prime Minister. In addition MR was limited to only contesting in the Hambantota District electorate. The most important condition is that should Rajapaksa be indicted of charges by any international or local tribunal, he would have to immediately vacate his seat as an MP, if he is elected into a seat, paying way for Western power to punish him for defeating LTTE terrorists.
A release was recently published with the signature of UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha that President Maithripala Sirisena has agreed to give former President Mahinda Rajapaksa nomination through the UPFA without any pre conditions.
However speculation was rife that the release had been issued arbitrarily by Premajantha without the explicit consent of President Maithripala Sirisena. A statement to this effect was published under a Facebook page that claimed to be of former MP Arjuna Ranatunga who had attributed it to former President Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaratunga. However when contacted by Ada Derana Ranatunga claimed that the Facebook page for a bogus one.
Regardless political analysts state that with the majority of the SLFP Central Committee backing affording nominations to Rajapaksa and the faction led by Kumaratunga maintaining strongly that nominations should be withheld, a split in the SLFP is imminent.
Incidentally due to this political uncertainty the next rally in the series ‘Stand up with Mahinda’ scheduled to be held in Anuradhapura on July 9 has been cancelled. This rally was slotted to officially kick off the election propaganda campaign.
In this context President Maithripala Sirisena said that he is not prepared to betray the peoples’ revolution that began on January 8.
Rights after the decision to afford nomination for Rajapaksa, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said that the Jathika Hela Urumaya will depart from the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and will contest under a new front at the forthcoming general election.
Meanwhile SLFP Treasurer and Minister S.B. Nawinne announced that he will join the United National Party (UNP) and contest the upcoming General Election from the UNP ticket. Media reports claim that Minister Arjuna Ranatunga is also holding talks with UNP officials to form a Front under the UNP.
Due to these circumstances if there is a breakdown in the Mahinda-Maithri collaboration those who are backing the former President is prepared to contest under the budding flower symbo
July 7th, 2015 at 7:13 am
Let’s do this! Chairmanship of UPFA and nomination – you have 24 hours to decide, Maithripala, or 100 MPs walk and join the Mahinda Party, leaving you with traitors from districts Mahinda carried in January.
July 7th, 2015 at 3:51 pm
President Mahinda Rajapaksa should not accept these RESTRICTIONS on his Nomination as an MP candidate. They are absolutely DISCRIMINATORY and deprive him of his CIVIC RIGHTS as a full citizen of Sri Lanka!
He should QUICKLY form his own party and gain the FREEDOM to nominate himself and others from within it. Let Sirisena RUE THE DAY that he did this.
…………….
Sri Lankan President imposes conditions on former president Rajapaksa’s nomination
Colombopage.com
July 07, Colombo: While Colombo has been in an uproar over President Maithripala Sirisena approving former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s nomination for the upcoming parliamentary elections, recent revelations tell of conditions placed on this approval that may foil latter’s plans to be back in a seat of power.
The President has reportedly met a group of United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) leaders at his official residence in Wijerama Mawatha Tuesday and the meeting was to focus on the nominations lists of the UPFA.
Although the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was granted nominations from the UPFA, it has been revealed that the President has imposed several conditions on Rajapaksa contesting the upcoming general election.
This announcement of conditions seems to have converted the UPFA Medamulana Camp’s celebratory attitude into a somber one overnight.
One specific condition states that Rajapakse will not, under any condition, be appointed Prime Minister. In addition MR was limited to only contesting in the Hambantota District electorate.
Incidentally, the former head of state only received a nomination from the UPFA and not its main constituent Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which requires him to contest under the Betel Leaf only. President Sirisena has also conveyed intent to remove UPFA association with the SLFP altogether.
Furthermore, it was said that should Rajapaksa be indicted of charges by any international or local tribunal, he would have to immediately vacate his seat as an MP, if he is elected into a seat.
In addition Rajapaksa is not to involve the Buddhist extremist group, Bodu Bala Sena or its new political party Bodu Janatha Peramuna in any manner in his election campaign.
Since this announcement, the press conference scheduled to be held on 9th July by the opposition has been postponed with no future date cited and MR’s planned 8th July filing of his nomination papers has also been put on hold.
These collective statements and conditions makes Mahinda Rajapaksa’s expected return to power a far less likely situation than it seemed just a few days ago. What’s more, the momentary doubt felt by the populace over the approval of the nomination is slowly beginning to dissolve as the country’s new president seems to shine through as the shrewdest of them all. Only this time – he’s working for the people and not for any personal or nepotistic gain.
It remains to be seen how the opposition will react to this new turn of events, but political observers believe, in all likeliness they may not be seen going quietly into the night.
July 7th, 2015 at 5:17 pm
Walk! Sirisena is drinking the same Kool-Aid as Ranil by thinking he has more power than he actually has simply because he is being backed by the United States. Chairmanship of UPFA and nomination without restriction, or walk with 100MPs and make sure you BURY Sirisena’s 30 SLFP MP traitors so you never have to worry about him ever again.
The US has obviously told Sirisena that they plan to indict Mahinda on some phony charge in the event he gets a majority in Parliament, and this is absolutely crazy that another country believes it has a right to determine who Sri Lanka’s leaders are going to be rather than the people of Sri Lanka. How ‘democratic’ is that? And what is with the Hambanota restriction? This is Basil’s seat, so Sirisena is also trying keep Basil from contesting. And it is in the best interest of the party to contest from the district where you get the biggest bang of seats, and that is Kurunegala, not Hambanota. Ranil and the UNP are the ones who do not want Mahinda to contest from Kurunegala, not the UPFA or SLFP.
And who is Sirisena to unilaterally void the Constitution of Sri Lanka that provides that the Prime Minister is chosen by selecting the person who has the ‘confidence’ (majority of seats) of Parliament, so if Mahinda gets the majority, Sirisena has no choice but to appoint Mahinda as PM or the Supreme Court forces Sirisena to appoint.
July 7th, 2015 at 5:59 pm
USA agents at work again! Maru Sira changes mind again AFTER meeting them!!
MR should contest from a seperate party. It has 2 problems.
1. MR is bound by BS conditions.
2. MR’s supporters are NOT given nominations. They are LOST.
So this is NOT a good deal. SHED IT.
But IF MR contests seperately UNP has a bigger chance to WIN because it is the LARGEST party as SLFP and UPFA are divided.
July 7th, 2015 at 7:08 pm
Lorenzo,
The ‘divided’ argument is a red herring, as it is a 90/10 split in favor of Mahinda, and the 10% of MPs sticking with Maithripala are mostly from districts Mahinda won in January. This means Mahinda can completely usurp the UPFA-SLFP with his own party if he wants to by crossing over the 100 MPs who are already with him and fielding pro-Mahinda candidates against the 10% traitors. This leaves Maithripala with nothing, Ranil with a minority, and Mahinda with a majority in Parliament.
The ONLY hope Ranil has is that the non-UNP, non-minority voters are stupid enough to vote for the SLFP to help the UNP control the government. Good luck with that, and I would certainly bet against it rather than be subject to Maithripala’s authority as a party leader that is CERTAIN to lead to Mahinda not becoming prime minister. At least with his own party he has a chance to be PM regardless of what Maithripala thinks if Mahinda can get 13 more seats in this election to trigger the ‘confidence of Parliament’ Constitutional provision that Maithripala cannot escape.
July 7th, 2015 at 7:08 pm
ඉන්දියානු අදිරදයෝ හා රටේ සිටින ඉන්දියානු පරපෝසිතයෝ සින්හලයින් නැතිකරනුතුරු නිදාගන්නේ නැත.
July 7th, 2015 at 8:49 pm
MB,
It will not be 90/10 as it is now. As the campaign progresses UNP’s GESTAPO FCID will frame MR, SR, etc. to discredit them.
MR needs a POWERFUL SLOGAN to blast all these.
If you want a 90/10 split of the SLFP in favor of MR, PROMISE TO SCRAP 13 amendment. ALL other fake “patriots” will be shell shocked because they cannot match this promise.
Get GR to contest. Get Karannagoda. Get Weerasekera. Get Daya Ratnayaka. Get VEN ELLAWALA MEDHANANDA.
Do another 1956. Kill the SLFP which is now another MINORITY party. Form the NEW 1956 party as SWORD-B did.
Unless such an AGGRESSIVE campaign is run, MR’s party cannot win MOST seats.
July 7th, 2015 at 10:22 pm
Lorenzo,
The powerful slogan is: TIRED OF THE US TELLING SRI LANKA WHAT TO DO? VOTE FOR MAHINDA AND STAND UP FOR SRI LANKA’S INDEPENDENCE!
The FCID and the politicization of law enforcement by Ranil and the UNP is one of the reasons Maithripala has lost 1 million of his 2 million votes that he got on his own (the other 4 million came from the UNP and the minorities). Everyone knows by now that Ranil is using the FCID for election purposes, and it is actually disgusting to the vast majority of the voters. Where was the FCID when the largest bond fraud in the history of the country was going on right under Ranil’s nose?
I agree with your point about “more aggression” – Mahinda needs to be more aggressive in taking it to Ranil and the UNP and linking their sorry seven-month-100-day rule on behalf of the United States with enablers like Maithripala and Chandrika (and Fonseka) so the voter is never fooled again.
It is the United States that did not like all of the Chinese development going on in Sri Lanka and wanted it stopped. It is the United States that did not want a Chinese submarine docking in Sri Lanka. It is the United States that does not want Sri Lanka or any other country buying oil from Iran. It is the United States that wants Sri Lanka more dependent on the EU for trade. It is the United States that keeps pushing for a “political solution” that would divide Sri Lanka along racial and religious lines. It is the United States that wants to establish a military base in Trincomalee. It is the United States that wants to ‘privatize’ (control) state institutions in Sri Lanka. It is the United States that is pursuing phony war crimes accusations against Sri Lanka at the UN.
ALL of these US actions are made possible by a UNP government, so the way to stop it is to vote against the UNP AND their enablers in the SLFP who currently are part of the UNP-led government by supporting Mahinda and his candidates for Parliament.
July 7th, 2015 at 11:39 pm
Author of the mess is none other than the ”bandit queen”. Moda Siraa is only a puppet just like that other lingerie taylor, who are prepared to go down to any low and do any despicable act with bandit queens orders.
Time is running out. There is no time to take out bandit queen from the equation, rather MR should form a different front and ”announce” to the country of his presence in the battle. This is what patriotic people are waiting for.
Hell with SLFP. Hell with UPFA. Hon.Mahinda, you are the leader people want. So do what has to be done and rally the masses to chase away this lowest of the lowly bandit queen and her puppets.
July 8th, 2015 at 2:54 am
Form the NEW 1956 party as SWORD-B did.- Very interesting PROMISE TO SCRAP 13 amendment.
SLFP , freedom from whom??? Demila .
TULF – liberation from whom ??? Chinkalavar.
We are United mother Lankan ??? to whom We are fooling since 1948 .
Velu !!! You done it ,Thalaivaa rest in peace at Nanthi Kaddal .
July 8th, 2015 at 5:36 am
MB,
That is not going to SELL. It is like an old communist slogan. MR has US citizens in his family (3 of them) so people will not take it seriously.
People need PRACTICAL and RELEVENT slogans.
SCRAPPING 13 amendment is a SURE way to WIN the election. People are FED UP with so many elections, ministers, etc. To cut a tree or build a road you have to go to so many places.
July 8th, 2015 at 11:07 am
Some points o consider :
* Gota no longer has dual citizenship. I presume he has given up US citizenship.
* India is now mulling over train connection to Lanka over Palk Sts (God forbid such a connection at this point in time !).
———–
MR may be best off with his own new party.
*There will be NO ambiguity then with NO Sirisena’s split personality presence, as he is mostly with UNP and only partly with SLFP.
*Also NO CBK deflecting her anger with the JVP (death of husband – JVP ought to apologise offiicially for this even at this late stage), and Buddhist clergy (death of father – who apologises for this ?), taking it all out on MR & his group. *Also NO Ranil W. & Mangala to take out their frustrations re Lanka Constitution with no gay rights, venting it all on MR & his group. Ranil & Co. in power means FCID and other Fascist type governance in place.
In short, MR will be free to formulate his plans for the country and move forward without all those with their ‘axes to grind’ against Lanka and her People > neo-colonisation and enslavement.
IT WOULD BE JUST WONDERFUL IF ALL LEADERS COULD GET TOGETHER AND BUILD UP LANKA. Can it happen ?
July 8th, 2015 at 11:22 am
Lorenzo,
Mahinda’s anti-US hegemony RECORD is much clearer than the ‘personal’ motivations of any family member to avail themselves of US citizenship or permanent residence status.
Ranil’s pro-US hegemony RECORD is equally clear, regardless of whether or not he has a family member with a US green card.
July 8th, 2015 at 1:58 pm
MB,
I want MR to WIN.
But that slogan you say was NEVER popular in SL. This slogan did NOT sell last time and it will not this time. People hate Endia MORE than USA.
SCRAPPING 13 amendment is the BEST way to convince people MR is AGAINST US-Endian dictates. People need SPECIFIC action than broad brush slogans.
Why is everyone scared to take up 13 amendment? People look for leaders to SCRAP 13 amendment but NO ONE takes up this issue!
SWORD-B contested the 1951 election with a WEAK slogan and LOST the election. In 1956 he FEARLESSLY took up the SINGHALA ONLY IN 24 HOURS slogan. Controversial but GOOD for his VOTERS. This is what MR should do.