MR’s party responds to allegations
Posted on October 15th, 2015

Courtesy Adaderana

Summoning the former President before the Commission to Inquire into Serious Corruption over several matters is undoubtedly an attempt to convey to the public the impression that the former president had engaged in wrongdoing and to gain some political mileage thereby, Rohan Welivita, Media Secretary to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says.
Welivita, issuing a statement said, Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared before the Commission to Probe Serious Acts of Corruption today in response to a letter sent to him by the commission. This letter mentions five matters which are under investigation by the commission.
The first matter that is under investigation by the Commission is the appointment of Mr Anura Siriwardene as the Chairman/CEO of Independent Television Network at a time when the position was not vacant. This appointment is not made by the President but officially by the Secretary to the Treasury as the Treasury owns the majority of the shares of ITN. This appointment had been made after the former Chairman left that position.
The second matter under investigation is an alleged financial loss caused due to an advertising firm by the name of ‘Media Factory’ not paying dues owed to ITN for televised ads. ITN had issued a letter dated 27 January 2015 claiming what was due to them and Media Factory had settled the outstanding amount in full. ITN has under signature accepted that the payment has been received.
A financial loss of Rs. 24 lakhs allegedly caused by an advertising firm by the name of ‘Special Solutions’ not paying their dues to ITN is the third matter under investigation. We understand that all outstanding amounts due to ITN with regard to this transaction have been paid by the said advertising firm. It should be borne in mind that when advertisements are repeated many times, all media organisations broadcast a certain proportion of them free of charge as an incentive to advertisers.
The fourth matter under investigation is the allegation that up-front payment was received for advertisements promoting presidential election candidate Mr Maithripala Sirisena, but that these advertisements had not been aired and Rs 86 lakhs had been returned thus depriving ITN of an income the institution should have received. This is an internal administrative matter of ITN.
The letter sent by the Commission to the former President also states as the fifth matter under investigation the allegation that Mr Maithripala Sirisena had been charged twice the usual amount for advertising thus discriminating between two equal presidential candidates. This too is an internal administrative matter at ITN.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa contested the January 2015 presidential election as the candidate of the UPFA. The presidential candidate of a major political party cannot possibly supervise the advertising campaign carried out on his behalf. Campaign advertisements are given to media organisations by the advertising firm retained by the candidate’s political party. The candidate or even his political party very often has no direct contact with the media organisations over advertising.
In any event, all matters relating to campaign advertisements are handled by the political party or alliance of the candidate. As such these matters are not the responsibility of the candidate but of the relevant political party or alliance. When it was proposed within the SLFP that President Mahinda Rajapaksa should contest for the presidency for the third time, it was the present Chairman of the party who seconded that proposal.
Summoning the former president before the Commission to Inquire into Serious Corruption over matters of this nature is undoubtedly an attempt to convey to the public the impression that the former president had engaged in wrongdoing and to gain some political mileage thereby.”

10 Responses to “MR’s party responds to allegations”

  1. Cerberus Says:

    This is a very critical time for Sri Lanka. The Yahapalanya group has fallen into the Western devised trap to divide the country and take over the country as they did in 1815. The current group have no brains to see through these traps. They should combine forces and form a United Sinhala party to combat what the country faces. In 2009 Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka as the Sri Lanka representative in Geneva did a fine job.

    To quote him : “What most people probably don’t know is that in May 2009, there was indeed a Resolution on Sri Lanka that the West tabled at the UN Human Rights Council, but it was not taken up for debate because the President of the Council announced that it was no longer necessary since all the issues included in it had been taken up in the resolution that Sri Lanka tabled which had just got voted in with a massive, near two thirds majority in the Council. It is also interesting that the only dissenting votes were the EU block of 12 votes. In 2009, the bulk of the international community was firmly with the resolution that Sri Lanka put forward together with the non-aligned nations. It had the broadest support of the Human Rights Council, bar that of the EU.”

    In contrast what happened in Oct 2015 is a tragedy for Sri Lanka. We co-sponsored a US Resolution against Sri Lanka. I am not sure why it was done in such a hurry. They could have asked time to study it and then given a decision. The worst thing is after selling the country President MY3 comes home like a conquering hero as if he had single handedly won the battle against all the Western forces arraigned against us. They are supposed to have spent Rs. 10 million on the celebrations. MY3 could have done a better job and played for time to study the Resolution.

    All the the Sinhala forces must join up against the divisive forces of Tamil leaders and some of the western powers.

  2. Fran Diaz Says:

    How has this sorry state of affairs come about ?

    1. It is due to Colonisation of nearly 500 yrs.

    2. Tamil Leaders demanding a Separate State from 1930s.

    3. Tamil Caste Wars from Tamil Nadu transferred into Lanka.

    4. Lanka Resources being eyed by foreign sources.

    5. Sinhala Buddhist leaders & Sinhala Buddhist villagers, and moderate Tamil leaders & low caste Tamils turned into ‘fall guys’ and cannon fodder by greedy others !

  3. Fran Diaz Says:

    Add :

    6. Cold War politics gave a boost to all the mischievous elements in SE Asia and the ‘divide & rule’ politics prevailed.

    7. Internal weaknesses ruled through ‘divide & rule’, bribes, blackmail, etc.

    At least now we know what strikes us to be deaf, dumb and silly from time to time …..

    Time to stop the bullying and harrassing of the Rajapakse Family, the Armed Forces and the former MR govt. We know what ails the country. All the cats are now out of their bags, analysed, identified and labelled.

  4. Cerberus Says:

    In the above note what I was trying to say was that rather than trying to charge President Mahinda Rajapakse on trivial matters and calling him to the Presidential Commission, all the Sinhala forces must join together and bury differences in enforcing National interests. We need MR and we also need the Yahapalanaya group however foolish they have been up to now.

    The biggest problem facing the country today is the current resolution against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC which also tied to Tamil Separatism and loss of sovereignty of the country . We have so many able people it would be great crime to let the country go down without using their skills due to the personal animosities people have. Rather than trying to destroy each other we should be uniting and doing what is best for the country as a whole.

    All allegations of heavy corruption have been founded to be false so far and likely in the future too. When MR came into power in 2005 or even in 2010 he did not try to take revenge on Ranil W and CBK even though he could have. There were ongoing Commissions to look at Batalanda crimes, money taken by CBK from Waters edge land transaction, disappearance of insurance money from the 11 Sri Lanka planes destroyed by LTTE, the infamous MoU with the LTTE, etc., which are just a few crimes which I think were there to be looked into.

    Even President MY3 though he is sitting pretty now must remember things can change overnight. He must not try to take revenge since if the situation changes then there are many things which may be investigated by the others who come into power after him. He appears to have broken the law many times in the last few months to ensure he remains in power. His behavior during and after the elections has been atrocious in my opinion. See:

    http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=116619

    http://www.asiantribune.com/node/86130

  5. LANKAPUTHRA Says:

    Fran Diaz, MR did a big mistake after he returned from London. The fight between Vass and the High Commissioner. He came with Vass on the same plan and showed at a news conference, as he was the head of the SL government. In the election MR lost, VASS campaigned for MR. (read what Vass is telling the Bribery Commission and the protection from Financial CID). He went to open a gas station and was pelleted with marbles by on lookers. One lookers said that only MR support this common law crook) Don’t you think MR should come up and state it was a mistake?) MR should get rid of all the staffers who were exposed to VASS and replace them with young graduates. It was MR’s Mistake; it is difficult to correct this; until MUSLIM OBAMA Leaves office. How did the MUSLIM Ambassador get to SL? OBAMA Calls RANIL PUNK and The Election Commission on a daily basis.

  6. Ratanapala Says:

    Why have we forgotten the Central Bank Bond Scam which is a far bigger fraud than this issue for which MR has been accused of? The Bond Scam must be brought to the fore to bring justice to the Sri Lankan nation who lost big time by this scam.

  7. nilwala Says:

    There are lots of ‘red herrings’ being cast by the Yahapalanas to keep the country confused and to periodically resume the current administration’s witch-hunt technique deftly copied from the US in order to divert and confuse the issues. Hope the Lankan Public understands the methodology of “CHANGE” that has resulted in nothing but INSTABILITY, and no real development.
    The Rajapakse family will continue to be used as long as the Yahapalanas wish to keep the public distracted from the REAL ISSUES FACING THE COUNTRY.

    LIES AND MORE LIES CONTINUE TO BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY…

  8. Fran Diaz Says:

    L’Puthra,

    Re Sajin Vass : I am not well informed about this person. We all know he probably is a sort of underworld character or has connections to the underworld. A number of presidents did have the underworld under some control/information about through various people. I am assuming that Sajin is such a person.

    MR did admit to some mistakes. But he too was trapped into his office and the onerous responsibilities that went with it. MR was a WAR President, and had to deal with all the grave tasks that he undertook to free the country of terrorism. We have to take that into account first. We simply cannot treat him as a peace time President of Lanka.
    MR had to deal with all the errors of the past. It was not an easy task. We have to acknowledge that fact and then move on.

    I simply do not understand what you say of Pres Obama. Pres Obama had nothing to do with what went on in Lanka i.e. the Tamil leaders demand for a Separate State, the Tamil Dalit problems from Tamil Nadu, the Indian Caste based/poverty problems that impinge on Lanka or the creation of Cold Wars. In my view, he is an able and just President, striving for peace in the world and avoiding a third world war. He is constantly hampered by other forces working against such ideals.

  9. Fran Diaz Says:

    L’Puthra,

    Also re Mr Keshyap, here is the required information about him for our Readers. Yu really must do your homework on people before you write stuff about them !!

    ——

    This is an extract from the “The Hindu” :

    Mr. Keshap and Mr. Verma, the U.S. envoy to India, both trace their origin to Punjab

    Indian-American Atul Keshap has been confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, becoming the second Indian-origin diplomat to be posted to the region after Richard Rahul Verma.

    Mr. Keshap (44), a former official at the US Embassy in India, was on Wednesday confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the country’s envoy which would be his first Ambassadorial posting.

    He is currently working as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau of State Department. He joined the Foreign Service in 1994.

    Mr. Keshap and Mr. Verma, the U.S. envoy to India, both trace their origin to Punjab.

    He was the deputy political counsellor at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi from 2005 to 2008.

    Mr. Keshap also served as special assistant for the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia for the under secretary of state for political affairs.

    In 2003, he moved to the White House as director for North African and Middle Eastern regional affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He was also the director for UN Human Rights in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs from 2008 to 2010.

    His father, Keshap Chander Sen, who was from Punjab, was a U.N. development economist working in Nigeria where Mr. Keshap was born in June, 1971. His mother, Zoe Calvert, had been in the U.S. Foreign Service when she met and married Mr. Sen in London. She had also served at the U.S. embassy in India.

    “My parents’ service and my upbringing instilled in me a firm dedication and commitment to American values, and led me to a career in the Foreign Service,” Mr. Keshap said in his confirmation hearing on June 23.

    He had said since January, Sri Lanka has made progress on challenging issues, from fighting corruption and media censorship, to beginning the long process of healing after decades of war.

    “We want to help the Sri Lankan people strengthen democracy, civil society and human rights, including media freedom and freedom of religion,” he said.

    “We want to help build a lasting peace and fellowship among Sri Lanka’s ethnic and religious communities, including credible justice, accountability and reconciliation that can facilitate closure for those who suffered and lost loved ones during the war,” Mr. Keshap added.

    He said that Maldives faces challenges with youth unemployment, rising extremism, and social unrest.

    “We want a better relationship with Maldives, so that we can deepen cooperation. And we want to help it return to the democratic path on which it courageously embarked a few years ago, and look forward to strengthening our relationship when that happens,” Mr. Keshap added”.

  10. aravinda Says:

    What happened to 18 BILLION Dollars Mahinda’s money found by Managala Samaraweera just before the election.

    Now we read Namal is having 3.4 BIILION dollars in Dubai.

    Wow and wow. Where on Earth will this bullshit end and Sirisena behave like a President? Answer is never.

    Sri Lanka’s GNP is 75 BILLION Dollars. Sri Lankans voted for Ranil and Sirisena twice. No wonder they treat Sri Lankans as nincompoops.

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