Courtesy The Island

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) yesterday urged the UNP government not to go ahead with controversial Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement without fully examining the proposed pact.

The following is the full text of the letter issued by BASL President Kalinga Indatissa, PC:

“The Bar Association of Sri Lanka views with grave concern the news item pertaining to the Cabinet paper seeking approval for the entering into of the MCC agreement.

“Despite news reports seeking to assure the public of the benign nature of the said agreement, the draft that was previously made available to us had a multitude of disadvantageous clauses for Sri Lanka. The BASL as a responsible organization took a lot of time to study the proposed MCC and submitted a detailed report. The BASL outlined the grave consequences that Sri Lanka would face as an independent and sovereign State in the event the GOSL proceeded to sign the MCC in that form.

“The proposed MCC as it stood then contained many issues of a very grave nature, as explained by us to the Honourable Prime Minister in writing, which we now disclose to the public to make their own observations. In fact, on 5/8/2019, the BASL received a letter of the Hon. Prime Minister thanking us for our efforts.

“We take this step as a responsible Association as the assurance given to us previously by the Government not to take any step towards signing the agreement without amendment and making a full disclosure of the contents to the public after obtaining our views has not been honoured.

“It is our belief that the draft proposals should be made available for Democratic debate before committing the Country to honour an agreement which only a privileged few have been privy to according to these newspaper reports. In the past these have been instances where the country and the people had to face the consequences where the respective Governments of the day proceeded to enter upon agreements without educating the public about the contents.

“In such circumstances the BASL holds the view that the MCC agreement should not be signed without providing an opportunity to the people to understand the true nature of the agreement.

“Therefore, we urge the Government not to proceed with the proposed agreement whatever compelling short-term economic reasons there may be without honouring its commitment made to us which we accepted in good faith.”

Courtesy Adaderana

The presidential candidate of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) said the political parties that signed the agreement to form a new coalition today (31) unified for a common purpose.

The members of these 17 political parties who love the country have formed the biggest ever alliance in Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa said further.

An accord was inked this morning (31) at The Foundation Institute with the auspices of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, SLPP chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris and the members of other political parties of this alliance, which is named ‘Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandhanaya’ (Sri Lanka Freedom People’s Alliance).

SLPP’s presidential hopeful said he intends to contest for the upcoming elections under this new coalition.

Rajapaksa added that, if elected, he expects the utmost support from all the parties of this political coalition to fulfil the hopes of people within his tenure as the president the country.

Rajapaksa confidently said that they are already leading the presidential election race with 56 percent of votes, which is the total of the votes obtained by these 17 political parties at the previous elections.

The political parties that had inked the accord for the ‘Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Peramuna’ are as follows:
1.Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
2.Sri Lanka Freedom Party
3.Communist Party of Sri Lanka
4.National Freedom Front
5.People’s United Front (Mahajana Eksath Peramuna)
6.Lanka Sama Samaja Party
7.Democratic Left Front
8.Pivithuru Hela Urumaya
9.Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP)
10.Ceylon Workers’ Congress
11.Vijayadharani Jathika Sabha
12.National Congress
13.Sri Lanka Mahajana Party
14.Desha Vimukthi Janatha Party 
15.Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulika (TMVP)
16.Eksath Mahajana Pakshaya
17.Mutpokut Tamil Kachchi (MTK)

Courtesy Adaderana

Leader of Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa has stressed that the government should not sign the pact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the USA behind the backs of the general public and the Parliament.

He quoted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as saying that the government intends signing this agreement before the presidential election.

Issuing a media release today (31), Rajapaksa said no agreement should be hurriedly signed with a foreign government just days before a decisive presidential election, however, the Cabinet has decided to enter into a pact with the MCC before the upcoming election.

Any such agreement should be signed, if at all, only after the presidential election,” Rajapaksa emphasized in his statement.

The contents of this proposed agreement are not known even to parliamentarians let alone the general public. Before this agreement is signed, its text should be made public, and presented to Parliament and debated,” he added.

The information available indicates that this agreement has to do with road development and land reform, the statement continued.

However, the government has not taken any steps to explain what exactly this entails and what its impact will be on the country, Rajapaksa pointed out while raising questions on the benefits this agreement can bring to Sri Lanka and the reasons for everything regarding the pact being shrouded in secrecy.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement, which has been drafted with the consent of the Attorney General will be presented in and enacted by the Parliament Lanka once it is signed, the Ministry of Finance said today (31).

Issuing a media release, the Finance Ministry said the Compact Agreement and the Program Implementation Agreement will be published in the Government Gazette before being submitted to the Parliament. 

On the request of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), the MCC undertook a constraints to economic growth analysis” in year 2016, the release said, adding that the MCC and the Sri Lankan government subsequently decided to focus on the land and transport sectors, which were identified as binding constraints to growth.

Following the constraint analysis, which concluded that congestion in the Colombo Metropolitan Region, poor transport connectivity between Provinces, and weakness in land administration constrain economic growth, the MCC agreed to grant USD 480 million for financing the above projects, the Finance Ministry said further.

According to the release, the final negotiations on the Compact were conducted in October 2018 between the MCC and a Cabinet-approved Sri Lankan government delegation.

The whole process and the final Agreements were done under the guidance of the Attorney General and well within the legal framework,” the Finance Ministry emphasized.

The Attorney General is in the opinion that Agreements are in order and there exists no legal impediment to execute same, it continued.

The complete media release issued by the Finance Ministry is as follows:

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a bilateral United States Foreign Aid Agency established by the United States Congress in 2004, applying a new philosophy towards foreign aid. It provides time limited grants and assistance to developing countries that meet rigorous standard for good governance, from fighting corruption to respecting democratic rights. On the request of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), the MCC undertook a constraints to economic growth analysis” in year 2016. MCC and the GOSL subsequently decided to focus on the land and transport sectors, which were identified as binding constraints to growth. The constraints analysis concluded that traffic congestion in the Colombo Metropolitan Region, poor transport connectivity between Provinces, and weakness in land administration constrain economic growth. Accordingly, the MCC agreed to grant USD 480 million for financing the above projects.

Final negotiations on the Compact were conducted in October 2018 between the MCC and a Cabinet approved GoSL delegation which consisted of officials from the relevant Ministries and Government Agencies for implementing the selected projects including a representative from the Attorney General’s Department. 

The whole process and the final Agreements were done under the guidance of the Attorney General and well within the legal framework. The Attorney General is in the opinion that Agreements are in order and there exists no legal impediment to executing the same. A Cabinet Memorandum along with the final drafts of the Agreements was submitted on 31.05.2019 to the Cabinet of Ministers. The Cabinet appointed a committee for further discussions of the matters in detail. And subsequently, the Ministry of Finance submitted the Cabinet Memorandum dated 05.07.2019 seeking the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for signing the Compact Agreement and the Program Implementation Agreement. The Cabinet of Ministers has granted its approval for signing above Agreements on 29.10.2019.

The Compact Agreement and the Program Implementation Agreement will be submitted to and enacted by Parliament of Sri Lanka once it is signed and before its entry into force and will be published in the Government Gazette before submitted to Parliament.

Courtesy Adaderana

The election manifesto of New Democratic Front’s presidential candidate Minister Sajith Premadasa has been launched a short while ago.

The ceremony commenced at Kandy this morning (31) under the auspices of the NDF presidential candidate, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other ministers and MPs of the alliance.

After the manifesto named Sajith’s Social Revolution” was ceremonially unveiled, Premadasa symbolically handed over copies of the manifesto to religious leaders present, UNP leader Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, SLMC leader Minister Rauff Hakeem, ACMC leader Minister Rishad Mathiudeen, Ministers Mano Ganesan, Patali Champika Ranawaka and other ministers in the alliance.

Prior to the commencement of the ceremony, Premadasa had visited the Chief Incumbent of Malwatta Chapter, Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero and presented the manifesto.

State Minister Eran Wickramaratne, who addressed the launching event, stated that the NDF presidential candidate’s manifesto includes three important pillars: a strong nation, a competitive economy and a just society.

The suggestions from many academics, professionals, chambers, business groups as well as from the general public were incorporated to build this manifesto, the State Minister said further.

He stated that there are three things that they need to put a stop to and that those things are drugs, corruption and religious extremism. 

While discussing certain points in the manifesto, Wickremeratne also said that presidential candidate Sajth Premadasa has proposed to include the subject of English into the curriculum starting from Grade 01 and also to teach the science subject in all schools.

He also said that they plan to include the preschool system into the free education system currently in place in Sri Lanka.

NDF Presidential Candidate Sajith Premadasa’s Manifesto (English) by Ada Derana on Scribd

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) — One of Sri Lanka’s biggest tea producers is aiming to promote organic Ceylon Tea in the Chinese market as the island country has the world’s first certified organic tea garden in the Central Highlands, an official from the company said here Thursday.

Alex David, manager of the Tea Department at Stassen Exports Private Limited, told Xinhua that Stassen owned the world’s first certified organic tea garden in Haputale, and in recent years there has been an increased demand in such type of Ceylon Tea globally.

David explained that in this tea garden, only organic fertilizers are allowed to be used and currently all their organic tea productions had been sold off.

We established this organic tea garden in 1984 as our chairman had a strong vision to go organic. Today we are proud to say that we are the pioneer producers of organic teas in the world,” David said.

So far, Stassen has produced an estimated 200 to 300 metric tons of organic tea which comes in flavors of black tea, green tea and organic hand made tea.

David explained that all stocks had been sold off as there was good potential in markets such as Europe, China, Japan and the United States for organic tea.

As the China International Import Expo (CIIE) to be held next month, David said they hoped to promote their organic tea and other brands of Ceylon Tea further into the Chinese market, in order to increase exports as the Chinese market held great potential.

We really appreciate China giving us a platform such as the CIIE to promote Ceylon Tea as there is very good potential in the Chinese market. When we started 30 years ago, our export market to China was very small and now it is growing immensely, especially due to our popular flavors such as Jasmine Green Tea, Black tea, Lemon Green Tea, Passion Tea etc,” David said.

Stassen Exports Private Limited that produces 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s total tea production participated in the CIIE last year and will attend the event this year.

Annually, Sri Lanka produces an estimated 330 million kg of tea out of which 30 million kg is produced and exported by the Stassen group into several international markets including China.

David explained that this year, at the CIIE, they hoped to educate the Chinese customers on how to brew Ceylon Tea as many international customers were unaware of how to extract the perfect taste.

It takes a while for us to educate our international customers on how to brew Ceylon Tea so this time at the CIIE we hope to have an educational session as well. In the recent past, there is growth for leafy teas, especially among Chinese youngsters. They also have a liking for our flavored teas such as Passion Fruit, Peach, Jasmine, etc. So we need to create awareness on how it has to be made to extract the maximum flavor,” David said.

Sri Lanka’s tea exporting is one of the largest foreign exchange earners in the country with exports hitting the 1 billion U.S. dollar mark by September this year, data from the Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers showed recently.

Tea export volumes in the first nine months of this year increased by 4.15 percent to over 200 million kg compared to last year.

Iraq emerged as the leading tea importer of Ceylon Tea followed by Turkey and Russia. Other noteworthy markets were Libya, China, Azerbaijan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ප්‍රමුඛ තම රජයක් තුළින් දුගීභාවය රටින් තුරන් කිරීමට පියවර ගන්නා බව විපක්ෂ නායක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පවසනවා.

ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ අද කොළඹදී පැවති පාක්ෂික හමුවකදී.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් නියෝජිත සමුළුව පැවැත්වුණේ විපක්ෂ නායක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන්.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

තම ජයග්‍රහණයෙන් පසු ගොඩනගන රජය තුළ ෆීල්ඩ් මාර්ෂල් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතාට හැර වෙනත් කිසිවෙකුට කිසිදු තනතුරක් දීමට මෙතෙක් තමන් තීරණය කර නොමැති බව නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා පවසනවා.

දඹුල්ලේ ඊයේ පැවති ජන හමුවකට එක්වෙමින් ඔහු වැඩිදුරටත් සදහන් කළේ දූෂණය සහ වංචාවට සම්බන්ධ දේශීය සංස්කෘතිය කෙළෙසූ කිසිවෙකුට තම රජයේ කිසිදු තනතුරක් ලබා නොදෙන බවයි.

මේ අතර තවත් ජන රැලි කිහිපයකටද සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා ඊයේ එක්වුණා.

ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණය ඉලක්ක කරගත් නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණේ ජන හමුවක් ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් වව්නියාව යන්ග්ස්ටාර් ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේදී පැවැත්වුණා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ආර්ථිකය නගා සිටුවීමට නිවැරදි වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සමඟ සාධාරණ බදු ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් හඳුන්වා දෙන බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පවසනවා.

ගල්කිස්ස ප්‍රදේශයේ ඊයේ පැවති ජන හමුවකට එක්වෙමින් ඔහු මේ බව කියා සිටියා.

එම ජන හමුවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී පූජ්‍ය අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියන්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී රෝහිත අබේගුණවර්ධන ඇතුළු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් රැසක් එක්ව සිටියා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ජනාධිපතිවරණයට පෙර අමෙරිකානු මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ගිවිසුම අත්සන් තැබීම අත්හිටුවන්නැයි ඉල්ලා භික්ෂුණ් වහන්සේ, දේශපාලනඥයින් සහ විවිධ සංවිධාන නියෝජනය කරමින් අද මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව වෙත පැමිණිලි ඉදිරිපත් කළා.

ජාතික විද්වත් භික්ෂු සංසඳය, නව සිංහලේ ජාතික සංවිධානය, මව්බිම වෙනුවෙන් රණවිරුවෝ සංවිධානය, බෞද්ධ තොරතුරු කේන්ද්‍රය, දේශ ප්‍රේමී එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධ මහතා ඇතුළු පිරිසක් මෙලෙස මැතිවරණ කොමිසමට පැමිණ පැමිණිළි භාර දුන්නා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ ඇතුළු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ 17 ක් එක්ව පිහිටුවන ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පොදුජන සන්ධානයට අදාළ අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුමට අද අත්සන් තැබුණා.

ඒ කොළඹ පදනම් ආයතනයේදීයි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, මහජන එක්සත් පෙරමුණ, ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ, පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමය, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ඊ.පී.ඩී.පී සංවිධානය, ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්‍රසය, ජාතික කොංග්‍රසය ඇතුළු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ 17 ක ලේකම්වරුන් මෙම ගිවිසුමට අත්සන් තබා තිබෙනවා.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ඇතුළු පිරිසක් ද එම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියා.

ගිවිසුම අත්සන් තැබීමෙන් අනතුරුව පක්ෂ නියෝජිතයින් ප්‍රතිඥාවක් ද ලබා දුන්නා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ආණ්ඩුව අත්තනෝමතික ලෙස ඇමරිකානු මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කරන්නේ නම් අධිකරණ ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගත යුතු බව මල්වතු පාර්ශවයේ අනුනායක අති පූජ්‍ය දිඹුල්කුඹුරේ ශ්‍රී විමලධම්ම අනු නාහිමියන් පවසනවා. <br

උන්වහන්සේ මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතවේ නියෝජිතයින් උන්වහන්සේ බැහැදැක මෙම ගිවිසුම පිළිබඳව දැනුවත් කිරීම සඳහා අද මහනුවරට පැමිණී අවස්ථාවේදීයි.

ළමුවෙන් එම පිරිස අස්ගිරි පාර්ශවයේ මහානායක අතිපූජ්‍ය වරකාගොඩ ශ්‍රී ඥානරතන හිමියන් බැහැදැක මෙම ගිවිසුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් දැනුවත් කළා.

අනතුරුව ඔවුන් පැමිණියේ මල්වතු පාර්ශවයේ අනුනායක අතිපූජ්‍ය දිඹුල්කුඹුරේ ශ්‍රී විමලධම්ම අනු නාහිමියන් බැහැදැකීමටයි.

මේ අතර, ජනාධිපතිවරණයට සති දෙකක් තිබියදී, ජනතාවට මෙන්ම, පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ද නිසි තොරතුරු හෙළි නොකර ඇමරිකාවේ මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ආයතනය සමග ආණ්ඩුව ගිවිසුම් අත්සන් නොකළ යුතු බව විපක්ෂ නායක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ පවසනවා.

විශේෂ නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් විපක්ෂ නායකවරයා සඳහන් කළේ තීරණාත්මක මැතිවරණයකට දින ගණනක් තිබියදී කඩිමුඩියේ මෙවැනි ගිවිසුමකට එළඹිය යුතු නොවන බවයි.

ගිවිසුමේ අන්තර්ගතය කුමක්දැයි රටේ ජනතාව මෙන්ම, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් ද නොදන්නා අතර, එය අත්සන් කිරීමට පෙර ජනතාවගේ දැන ගැනීම සඳහා ප්‍රසිද්ධියට පත් කළ යුතු බව ද ඔහු ප්‍රකාශ කරනවා.

එසේම එය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විවාදයට ලක් කළ යුතු බව ද සදහන් කරන විපක්ෂ නායක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, මෙයින් ලංකාවට සෙතක් සැලසෙන්නේ නම් මෙතරම් රහස්‍යභාවයක් පවත්වාගෙන යන්නේ කුමකට දැයි සාධාරණ සැකයක් පවතින බව ද සිය නිවේදනයෙන් කියා සිටියා.

එමෙන්ම, මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ආයතනය සමග හදිසියේ ගිවිසුම් ගත වීම වළක්වන ලෙස පූජ්‍ය අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියන්, උදය ගම්මන්පිල සහ විමල් වීරවංශ යන පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් අද ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන හමුවී ඉල්ලීමක් කර තිබෙනවා.

මීට අමතරව, ජනාධිපතිවරණයට පෙර ඇමරිකානු මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ගිවිසුම අත්සන් තැබිම අත්හිටුවන්නැයි ඉල්ලා මව්බිම වෙනුවෙන් රණවිරුවෝ සංවිධානය ඇතුළු සංවිධාන කිහිපයක් අද මැතිවරණ කොමිසමට පැමිණිලි කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ස්වාධීන මාධ්‍යයට බලපෑම් කරමින් හිරු මාධ්‍ය ජාලයට එරෙහිව දියත් කර තිබූ මඩ පෝස්ටර් ව්‍යාපාරයක් පිළිබඳව අද පොලිස් මූලස්ථානය වෙත පැමිණිල්ලක් සිදුකළා.

කොළඹ නගරය අවට හිරු මාධ්‍ය ජාලයට එරෙහිව අද මඩ පෝස්ටර් ව්‍යාපාරයක් දියත් කර තිබුණා.

එම මඩ පෝස්ටර් අලවමින් සිටි පුද්ගලයින් මරදාන ප්‍රදේශයේදී හිරු වාර්තාකරුවන්ගේ කැමරාවටද හසුව තිබූ අතර, ඔවුන් ත්‍රීරෝද රථවලින් සහ වෑන් රථයකින් එම මඩ පෝස්ටර් ඇලවීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයේ නිරතව සිටියා.

අංක 21 – 0877 දරන ත්‍රී රෝද රථය ඔවුන් පැමිණි එක් ත්‍රීරෝද රථයක් වන අතර, එහි හිමිකරු වන්නේ එස්.සිවරාජ් නම් පුද්ගලයෙක්.

ඔහුගේ ලිපිනය ලෙස සඳහන් වූයේ 145/127- ඒ, නාගස්වත්ත, කිරුලපන ලෙසයි.

මඩ පෝස්ටර් ඇලවීම සඳහා තවත් ත්‍රීරෝද රථයක් හා වෑන් රථයක් පැමිණ තිබුණා.

එලෙස පැමිණි අංක 253 – 6550 දරන වෑන් රථය ලියාපදිංචි වී ඇත්තේ එන්.අයි.සී. මොරායස් නම් පුද්ගලයාට වන අතර, ඔහුගේ ලිපිනය වන්නේ අංක 228, තිඹිරිගස්යාය පාර, කොළඹ 05 යි.

NC ABE – 2619 යන අංක දරන ත්‍රීරෝද රථයද මඩ පෝස්ටර් ඇලවීම සඳහා පැමිණ තිබූ අතර, එය ඩී.එම්.ආර්. කුමාර සිරිවර්ධන, සමූපකාර පෙදෙස, ට්‍රැක් 04, නව නගරය, මැදිරිගිරිය යන ලිපිනය යටතේ ලියාපදිංචි වී තිබුණා.

මොරටුව ප්‍රදේශයේද හිරු මාධ්‍ය ජාලයට එරෙහිව මඩ පෝස්ටර් අලවමින් සිටි පුද්ගලයන්ගේ රූපරාමු අප වෙත ලැබී තිබෙන අතර, කොළඹ – කොටා පාර ප්‍රදේශයේදී හිරු මාධ්‍යයට එරෙහිව මඩ පෝස්ටර් අලවමින් සිටි පුද්ගලයන්ගේ දර්ශන ආරක්ෂක කැමරාවක සටහන් වී තිබුණා.

මේ අතර, කොට්ටාව ප්‍රදේශයේ ද මෙම මඩ පෝස්ටර් අලවා තිබූ අතර, එම ස්ථානයට පැමිණි තරුණයෙකු එම මඩ පෝස්ටර් ඉරා දමනු ලැබුවා.

මෙම මඩ පෝස්ටර් පිළිබඳ හිරු මාධ්‍ය ජාලය අද පොලිස් මූලස්ථානය වෙත CIB 3-187/43 දරන අංකය යටතේ පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කළා.

මේ අතර, ස්වාධීන මාධ්‍යය වෙත එල්ල වන බලපෑම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මහා සංඝරත්නය දේශපාලනඥයින් සහ සිවිල් ක්‍රියාකාරීන් අද අදහස් පළ කරමින් විරෝධය පළ කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත

ජනාධිපතිවරණය ආසන්නයේ ආණඩුව ඇමරිකාව සමග හොර ගිවිසුම් අත්සන්  නොකළයුතු බව විපක්ෂ නායක මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ පවසනවා .

ඇමරිකාවේ මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ආයතනය සමග ආණ්ඩුව අත්සන් කිරීමට සුදානම් වන ගිවිසුම සම්බන්දයෙන් මාධ්‍යට විශේෂ නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ඔහු මේ බව දැනුම් දෙනවා.

ඒම නිවේදනයේ මෙසේද සදහන් වෙනවා.

ඇමරිකාවේ මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ආයතනය සමග ගිවිසුමක් අත්සන් කිරීමට කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය තින්දුවක් ගෙන ඇත. මේ ගිවිසුම ජනාධිපතිරණයට පෙර අත්සන් කිරීමට පියවර ගන්නා බවටත් අගමැතිවරයා මාධ්‍යට ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේය.

ජනාධිපතිවරණයට තව ඇත්තේ සති දෙකක් වැනි කාලයකි. තීරණාත්මක මැතිවරණයකට දින ගණනක් තිබියදී විදෙස් රටක් සමග ආණ්ඩුව කඩිමුඩියේ ගිවිසුමකට එළඹිය යුතු නැති බව අපි තරයේ ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටිමු. එවැනි ගිවිසුමක් ලංකා ආණ්ඩුව අත්සන් කරනවානම් එය සිදුවිය යුත්තේ ජනාධිපතිවරණයෙන් පසුවය.

මෙකී ගිවිසුමේ අන්තර්ගතය කුමක්දැයි රටේ ජනතාව තබා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්වත් දන්නේ නැත. මේ ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කිරීමට පෙර එහි පිටපත ජනතාවගේ දැනගැනීම සඳහා ප්‍රසිද්ධියට පත් කළ යුතු බවත්, එය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කර විවාදයට ලක් කළ යුතු බවත් අපි ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටිමු.

මේ යෝජිත ගිවිසුම මහාමාර්ග සංවර්ධනයට හා ඉඩම් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණයට අදාල එකක් බව කියා සිටියද එයින් හරියටම සිදුවන්නේ කුමක්ද යන්න ආණ්ඩුව ජනතාවට පැහැදිලි කර නැත. මෙයින් ලංකාවට සෙතක් සැලසෙන්නේ නම්, මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙතරම් රහස්‍ය බවක් පවත්වාගෙන යන්නේ කුමටද යන්න ගැන අපට සාධාරන සැකයක් ඇත.

ජනතාවට හොරෙන් හා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට හොරෙන් මේ ගිවිසුම් කිසිසේත්ම අත්සන් නොකළ යුතු බව අපි ආණ්ඩුවට තරයේ ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටිමු.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Yahapalana tried various tactics to rouse the population. Police were encouraged to be aggressive. Here is one instance shown on television news in April 2018. At Eppawela, the whole village turned out to object to the return of the Viharadhipati of Nallamudawa Sri Sailabimbarama Raja Maha vihara, because he had misbehaved. Police arrived and started hitting villagers with poles. Television cameras showed women battling with the police. Seven persons including women were arrested. The OIC of Eppawela police station was shown on camera, emerging with a pole and hitting a woman. He was later suspended.

Unfortunately for Yahapalana the public reacted with the aggressiveness of their own. In December 2018, angry residents of Gomadiya surrounded the Katuwana police station accusing the police of assaulting and killing a man.  The police had gone to his house, pulled him out and assaulted him, asking for information about an illicit liquor den. A thousand or so villagers went to the police station that night, shouted at the police and threw stones. The STF rushed in and brought them under control with tear gas and baton charge. This was shown on television news.

Even the Easter Sunday bomb blast did not create the shock reaction that the USA expected. The USA forgot that this was not the first bomb blast for Sri Lanka.  It was the worst certainly, but not the first. Instead of getting rattled and losing its head, as the USA expected, Sri Lanka simply became more furious and even more determined to get Yahapalana out. Parents were told to come to school to protect their children from future bombs. They were indignant.

The intelligentsia looked at the bomb blasts from the legal angle. They wanted to know who was to blame. They were so angry that Yahapalana had no alternative but to set up commissions of inquiry. Facts emerged and the public pounced on them.

Attorney General told the Colombo High Court that the State Intelligence Service had submitted 347 reports on Zahran Hashim and National Thowheed Jama’ath  to IGP Pujitha Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando from 2016  onwards.  Deputy Solicitor General told the court that 131 of the reports on Zahran Hashim and the NTJ were directed to the IGP while 97 of them were submitted to the former Defence Secretary. In September 2019, the public demanded that the IGP and Defense Secretary be arrested.

There is great rejoicing,  today, about the ‘Failed coup’ of October 2018. If Mahinda Rajapaksa had continued at Prime Minister after October 2018, the Easter Sunday Bomb explosions would not have been allowed to happen.

Three groups feature prominently in Yahapalana rule, they are the ‘civil society’, the ‘Yahapalana killer breed’ and the Maha Sangha.

The so-called ‘civil society’  has been given a less dignified label, by the Sangha, who call them  ‘NGO karayas’. The NGO community/civil society played a significant role in the Yahapalana   government’s overall strategy said A.J.M. Mussamil, former Mayor of Colombo. 

Chandraprema observed that the blood-thirstiest and most vindictive calls to put the Rajapaksas behind bars by any means possible came from the so-called members of ‘civil society’  and so-called liberal intellectuals associated with the Yahapalana project through foreign-funded NGOs.

This so-called ‘civil society’ has now come out into the open. Civil society organizations were present at JVP 2019 Presidential nomination ceremony at Galle Face, Colombo. ‘” Those on the platform included left-wing progressive political parties and civil society organizations,’ reported the media.

In October 2019, the Civil Society and Trade Unions Collective including over fifty trade unions and civic action groups from across the country met at a convention in Colombo and pledged to support the  2019 presidential candidacy of Sajith Premadasa. A slew of pro-democracy civil society organizations declared their support for UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa at the forthcoming presidential elections reported the  media.” Gamini Viyangoda said, We are civil society organizations, unconnected to the UNP, but we find freedom through the UNP camp.”

In addition to ‘civil society’ , the nation is now waking up to the fact that there is a particular segment of society that is promoting the  US occupation of Sri Lanka.   There was a cartoon in the newspapers, of the island of Sri Lanka carved into three pieces, each held by India, USA, and China. The cartoon showed Ranil Wickremesinghe and President  Sirisena standing by and laughing.

The country has now divided into those who wish to protect the country and those who wish to cut it into bits, said, critics.  The elitist Colombo still thinks that the world is dominated by the west and is happy to be servile and subservient to these powers. They do not believe in the capability for the native sons of the soil, said, critics.

This pro-Yahapalana group comes from a certain social class, critics observed.  They are sleek, good looking and well-fed. They are smooth-talking. Nothing fazes them. They do not hesitate to commit white-collar crimes. These white-collar crimes were well known in mercantile circles but became known to the general public only with the Bond scam. ‘Maha bankuwe horakama kele tie dala ingirisien kathakarana aya’ said the public. The bond probe has shown us that the rich don’t steal bread. They raid the bakery, added others.

This group can be described as a killer breed. They are insensitive to suffering. They do not mind if the farmers starve or commit suicide. They were openly indifferent to the Easter Sunday Bomb blasts. People were shocked at their ‘grinning behavior‘on television.

Yahapalana government has led to the political mobilization of the Maha Sangha in a manner never seen before. The last time the Sangha tried to influence events was in 1956. The Bhikkhu Peramuna of 1956 was ridiculed, especially by the confident non–Buddhist elite of the time. In 2019, it is different.

 The Maha Sangha have emerged as articulate and fearless opponents of Yahapalana. It is difficult to push them aside. They are citizens of Sri Lanka and are entitled to all rights of citizens. This includes the right to vote. That is an inalienable right. The right to vote carries with it the right to participate in politics as well.

The most recent gathering of the Maha Sangha was a special meeting of the Samastha Lanka Sasana Sangha samuluwa in Kelaniya on October 22, 2019. Television camera showed rows and rows of saffron-clad bhikkhus, looking, as usual, very grim. Kelaniya Vice-Chancellor Ven. Induragare Dhammarathana had arranged the meeting.

 He said that this was a very crucial election. Think of it as a multiple-choice question, where you have to tick off the best answer. The best answer is not Ranil Wickremesinghe or Sajith Premadasa. It is Gota. Medagoda Abeyatissa said that the bhikkhus had a historical right to involve themselves in politics.  I have shown that they have a modern right to do so as well.

Yahapalana’s rule was intended to crush the public. Instead, it has acted as a wakeup call. It is  Sri Lanka’s first wake up call.  Until now, Sri Lanka  was  dozing. The country needed this shakeup. The people needed this shakeup,” said Chandraprema.

The jarringly woken up public is now in a  hurry. They want, among other things,  national policies for everything. Foreign policy,   economy, trade, trade agreements, professional services, foreign ownership, the lot. They are now objecting to political interference in state administration as well. This is most unusual. Until now, no one objected to political interference, because everybody secretly hoped to make use of this loophole to advance themselves or their family.

Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association staged a two-day sick note campaign in September 2019, demanding, inter alia, an end to political interference in their official work. They want the strict implementation of established criteria on recruitment, transfers and promotions. Recruitment, transfers and promotions should be done based on established criteria and not because someone is known to this or that minister, they said. This is some ‘Wake up call’, commented analysts.

Yahapalana rule has also led to strong resistance at the local level where earlier there was none. In November 2018, residents of Kaladiya staged a protest opposite a factory where discarded iron is smelted saying it caused environmental pollution. Residents of Kalumulla, Marawila staged a protest in January 2019 against an attempt by a leading poultry farm to open another farm on a 50 acre land at Mahawewa. I cannot recall ever hearing of such protests before.

The silver lining in this saga of corruption in high-level Government, especially with the Central Bank bond scam as the focus,  said observers, is that there were upright officials of the Central Bank who objected. Whistleblowers within the Bank gave the stories to the media while the then Governor tried desperately to stop the leaks by checking on mobile phone calls and then effecting mass transfers of staff, reported the media. In contrast, there were also many public officers, mentioned by name, who had knowingly helped in   Yahapalana ‘s corrupt activities, for example, the cows from Australia” project and the export of gold-mixed soil”.

However, the diabolical nature of  some of the things  done by Yahapalana  seem to have gone unnoticed. Here are some instances.

Derana news  of 3.10 18 reported that the Housing authority is building a housing scheme bang in the middle of the elephant  corridor, where  elephants come for water. The location is Kurudana alimankada  near Mattala, near the 10 mile post close to Katanwewa. Cancer hospital, Maharagama lacked a drug that was needed for cancer patients who could be cured.

Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE)   found that in 2016 an imported cough syrup” which should have been tested on animals, has  instead, been tested on a group of patients who had sought medical treatment from the Ayurvedic Teaching Hospital, Colombo.

President of the Cosmetics Manufacturers’ Association of Sri Lanka (CMAS) said that Yahapalana government had, soon after coming to power, replaced the Cosmetics Drugs and Devices Authority with National Medicines Regulatory Authority. (NMRA) This had resulted in the market being opened for many cosmetic imports sans any regulation. There are loopholes in the law. Anyone could bring in any type of cosmetics and sell they them as they wished. These whitening creams for sale at beauty parlours and shops contained mercury amounts very harmful to the users and the environment. “There is one cream which has 10,000 times more mercury than the permitted amount.

Ministry of Rural Economic Development had imported pregnant  milch cows,  which were carrying highly contagious and deadly diseases, which were new to Sri Lanka . The  dairy farmers were  at the same time  advised to get rid of the Sri Lankan animals  they already  had.

Derana news 14.7.19 showed  the drought ravages areas of Rajarata. Villagers at Moragahakanda  said on camera, to television news, that all they needed was just one more round of water and their harvest would be ok. The Kaudulla engineer had sent water, but an order had come from high up, to close the  sluice.

Residents of Tissapura in Uhana, Ampara spend  the night on treetops fearing wild elephants. They have not been issued  with firecrackers to drive away the elephants.

A reader wrote to the newspapers in August 2019 saying the Rudra playground  in Wellawatte is to be handed over to a contractor to be used for a waste treatment project. Rudra playground, is the only playground available for recreation of children as well as adults in densely populated Wellawatte, apart from the Peterson playground  close to Pamankada. It is used by a large number of area residents including children, nearby schools, youth, elderly and military personnel for their recreational activities daily and is maintained by the Colombo Municipal Council.

An important result of   Yahapalana rule, is the call for a strong leader as President of Sri Lanka . Until now no one wanted a strong leader. They wanted a weak leader who could be pushed around.

Since Mahinda Rajapaksa was disqualified from a third try, the popular choice was his brother, Gotabhaya. Even the prestigious  Economist  mentioned his name. Whether or not Gotabhaya  wins the election, he has already won the popular vote. Crackers were lit when Gota’s nomination was announced. Crackers  were also lit  when Premadasa’ s assassination was announced.  

The public, specially the intelligentsia have   linked  Yahapalana with the USA. They spoke of the ‘USA led conspiracy that installed the present government’. They said, ‘the government is  pursuing a Western agenda  and is hell bent on destabilizing post-war Sri Lanka’.

 Yahapalana  government is following a course of action that is likely to result in a foreign dominated, bankrupt dependent economy that places enormous burdens on the people, and destroys Sri Lanka’s independence and sovereignty, making us a semi-colony of the USA and its allies,   said Tissa Vitarana.

Yahapalana government was seen as the  run up to yet another bout of foreign rule. When Yahapalana took power in 2015, there was an immediate comparison with  1815. Sri Lanka is definite that it does not want another bout of foreign rule. They think that three rounds of it, Portuguese, Dutch and British is  more than enough. They do not want to be under the USA.

There is  also no longer any great regard for USA either. At a conference in Colombo, which I attended,   a participant got up and  said that he thinks the USA is a fine country and is better than China. The audience laughed.  Now that  India has linked with USA, India is no longer respected either. Analysts are  puzzled as to why India would allow USA to station an aircraft carrier in Trincomalee. USA could then literally, turn their guns on India.

There was initially the possibility that Bay of Bengal, with Sri Lanka in it, would be the centre of the next war. The media carried a cartoon of USA, UK, India and China warships converging on Sri Lanka.

It is now unlikely that there will be a war in the Indian Ocean between USA and China. China does not plan to come all  the way to the Indian Ocean to fight  America. The days when wars were fought while bobbing up and down in boats on the sea are  also now over. China plans to bomb America direct, flying over the Pacific Ocean to do so.

Thanks to USA, there is now a silent tilt to China. The link with China is seen as a natural one for Sri Lanka.  There were cordial diplomatic relations between the Sinhala king and the Chinese emperor in ancient and medieval times. China is offering trillions of dollars which no other country can match, but they do not bully  us. When the west helps it leads to bankruptcy as in the case of Greece, said analysts.. Analysts point out that  a country should link, if at all,  with  the rising power, China and not with the fading power, USA. (CONCLUDED,  appendix follows.)

By : A.A.N.NIZAM – MATARA

The reactionary, neo-liberal, foreign and tiger terrorist servile United National Party facing the biggest defeat and collapse in their history is reported to have made arrangements to launch a massive plan to pin the responsibility of the Easter Sunday mayhem on SLPP and the winning candidate Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a wild attempt to minimize their repudiation.

This heinous plan is reported to have been initiated by the country’ biggest quisling anti-Christian, ant-Sinhala and anti-Buddhist agnostic and the leading butterfly (term used by President Sirisena to refer to homosexuals) Mangala Samaraweera.  This butterfly has a constant record of betraying political parties, betraying those who helped him, telling blatant lies, bluffing, arraign and attack people whom he dislikes and whom he is jealous of and some of which include:

• Boasted that people in SLFP are people who will not pass excreta in the very plate they have consumed meals and a few months after making this statement in a Rupavahini interview betrayed Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike and joined the UNP. Madam Sirimavo has appointed him as a co-organiser for Matara electorate and has told her confidantes later that Anura brought a male prostitute (pirimi wesiyak) to appoint as an organiser for Matara;
• Have acted as Gobbles of Sri Lanka on numerous occasions;
• He initiated a poster campaign against Ranil when he was in the SLFP Sayinh Ranilta Be” (Ranilcan’t) but after joining the UNP praised Ranil as Ranil is the only person who can develop Sri Lanka;
• Signed an agreement with TNA and TGTE in Singapore promising them a new Federal and secular constitution.  Sumanthiran told media that he came for this meeting as a beggar prepared to oblige for any condition;
• In the run-up to 2015 presidential election that the then President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa has swindled U,S,Dollar 18.5 Billion and deposited the funds in a bank in Dubai. Dentist and foul mouthed Rajitha said in several media conferences that he saw by his own eyes Namal carrying on his shoulders this money in gunny bags and it will be brought back to Sri Lanka soon but now no one talks about it ;
• Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has obtained a huge commission when MIG fighters were purchased for the Air Force;
• Mr. Gotabhaya’s family residence rent in The Los Angeles was being paid by Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington;
• Cardinal Dr.Malcolm Ranjith is a great statesman who was solely responsible for preventing a Catholic-Muslim flare up in the post Easter Sunday carnage as envisaged by the government and the United States.  Mangala who doesn’t respet people has on numerous occasions criticised the Cardinal as well as Catholics;  
• Addressing a meeting in Matara said that SriLanka is neither a Buddhist nor a Sinhala country;
• To celebrate his 30 years in politics he could not find anybody more appropriate than Ms Samantha Power, the former UN Representative for the US, who was instrumental in bringing those fabricated charges against toue gallant war heroes.  These actions imply his devotion to America has blinded his senses.
• The most despicable and unpardonable betrayal done by him was the c-sponsoring the American initiated UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka without the consent of the Present and cabinet approval which has surprised many countries as a Foreign Minister of a country has signed a resolution against his own country;
• In another sudden move this quisling got the cabinet to approve yesterday (29^th October) to sign the MCC agreement with the United State despite stern objection by the President. Political analysts say that this move has been taken 18 days before the election to express gratitude for the assistance being provided by the American Embassy for the election and ask why Sajith Premadasa who keeps on making hollow promises saying that he will not bow down to foreign powers did not oppose this move and raised his hand supporting it?
• There are also allegations that he acts as a money launderer for terrorist diaspora making use of VIP travel concession he gets while travelling for overseas destinations’ 

This new conspiracy plan has been launched following the setback suffered in the LosAngeles Court Case filed byAhimsa Wickrematunga.

Mangala is reported to have got Thushara Wanniaratchi,a leading personality in the Computer Division of the UNP and several Catholic ministers and MPs in the UNP who have become disillusioned by the failures of UNP meetings held in Catholic areas of the Gampaha and Puttalam districts (in the Catholic belt).

Attorney at Law MP Udaya Gammanpila today alleged that the United National Party (UNP) is conspiring to put the blame for the Easter Sunday attacks on the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa .He said that the UNP, out of fear of facing the biggest defeat in its history, is carrying out a massive conspiracy called Maha Helidarawwa” which is to be carried out in five steps.

According to MP Gammanpila, in the first step, the UNP has created false video evidence insinuating that Mr. Rajapaksa played a part in this attack with the aim of creating a political environment that is beneficial to him in relation to national security at the presidential election.

In the second step, Catholic UNP Ministers and MPs and some former provincial council members will hold a press conference alleging that Mr. Rajapaksa was responsible and demand to arrest him for these attacks. Then they would organize protests seeking to arrest him. Afterwards Catholic priests will request an impartial investigation on this issue.

Finally the UNP will publish a false document accusing Gotabaya Rajapaksa of having connections with international terrorists.

Referring to another meaningless jabber made by Sajith Premadasa recently saying madin epa godin enna” (come openly without slinging mud) Mr. Gammanpila said that they never flung mud at them and never made false allegations against them as the SLPP can understand his fear of defeat.

The filming of the fake video implicating that the Easter Sunday carnage was an act done by Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been completed. As per patriotic people who happened to be among this video filming crew that took place  at the residence of the UNP Computer Division personnel Thushara Wanniaratchi in Battaramulla,the film has been made as a confession by a person pretending as a member of the Thawheed Jamaat.

This imposter states in this fake video  that he is a member of the Thawhyeed Jamaat and the Easter Sunday blasts were carried out by them with the intention of providing advantage to Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in the ensuing presidential elections as he would give priority to national security issue in the election campaign. It is projected as an act carried out by the international terrorist organization on the request of Mr. Rajapaksa. In the video it is also stated that two persons giving their Muslim names as identity were the individuals who acted as Mr. Gotabhaya’link personnel with terrorist organizations in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe.

In the second stage of the conspiracy a joint media conference will be held by Catholic members of Parliament (including ministers) and former members of Provincial Councils altogether 8 persons demand that Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa should accept the responsibility for the deaths and injuries suffered by the people and call upon to immediately arrest Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the main suspect of the carnage    .      

The third step will be to hold demonstrations in front of Catholic and Christian in the country on Sunday 3^rd November demanding arrest Gota”.

Under the fourth step will be encourage Catholic priests to request the Police to hold an impartial enquiry on this matter and make some dignitaries in the Catholic community constantly requesting for an impartial enquiry. 

The next, the fifth step will be publication of a doctored document by the UNP (similar to Tissa Attanayake’s infamous document prior to 2015 presidential election and Tissa Attanayake is now the media director of comedian Sajith Premadasa) claiming that Mr. Gotabhaya has strong connections with international terrorists.

Tushara Wanniaratchi has issued a communique saying that now he is the Head of the Media Division of the UNP and it states that Easter Bomb Blasts is the work of Gotabhaya, Gotabhaya has links with ISIS and even Somalian sea pirates are an invention of Gotabhaya.

In this communique it is stated that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) candidate Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapakshahas aconnection with the bomb blasts that took place in the country on the Easter Sunday. He has made this statement on his Facebook page.

He has also stated that Gotabhaya has connections with ISIS and the Somali pirates were formed by the previous Rajapaksa government.

Writer’s comment:  Thushara and the ignoramus UNPers should know that the creation of theIndian Ocean Maritime Security Unit and managed by the Avante Garde company effectively eliminated Somalian Sea Pirate menace in the Indian ocean and similarly the creation pf the Ratna Lanka Security servies and the Task Force created for city beautification and renovation of ancient monumental buildings in the post war period  by Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa gave relief to several thousand service personal to remain employed without getting themselves involved in underground and nefarious activities.

Meanwhile the Catholic MPs of the SLPP alleged that the United National Party has initiated a conspiracy to launch a video campaign to accuse Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as responsible for the Easter Sunday and thereby rob the Catholic votes for the losing candidate Sajith Premadasa. They said that the film of this doctored video was being carried out at clandestine location in Battaramulla.

A media conference by the SLPP MPs in this connection was held at the Renovel Hotel in Kochchikade with the attendance of parliamentarians Nimal Lansa, Sanath Nishantha, Arundika Fernando, and Mrs. Sudarshini Fernandopulle. In addition to these MPs the Chairman of the Wennappuwa PS Mr. Trevin Fernando, former Provincial Council member Upul Rajitha and the former MP Sarathkumara Gunaratne also participated in this media conference.

The MPs pointed out at this media conference that the vicious elements in the UNP have planned to release the doctored video to the media outlets and the social media, to hold a media conference f UNP and allied personnel after that and then launch constant demonstration in front of churches to force the government to arrest Mr. Gotabhaya. 

The MPs pointed out that Mangala Samaraweera, Thusitha Halloluwa, Dayan Jayatilleke, and several others are behibdthis conspiracy and said that at a time a presidential commission has been appointed to probe the Easter Sunday carnage, thus conspiracy is being launched to get some form of mental satisfaction over the undoubted defeat being faced by then on 16^th November.

Given below are opinions expressed by the MPs at the media conference. 

MP Nimal Lansa:

The United National Party will not get even one million Catholic votes. Knowing about their apparent defeat they are planning to get some votes through this kind of conspiracies. The government was in receipt of information related to this attack on 97 times. They had CID as well as the TID, They had the Police and the Intelligence Service units.  They formed aSelect Committee after the attack.  These measures were taken only to hide the real culprits involved in this operation.

We urge the Catholic community not to get misled by the government’s deceptions.  The UNP which is unable to face the people is attempting to mislead the people through various fraudulent methods and get their votes. An advertisement company has been paid Rs. 100 Million to turn out  this video.  We know that this video is now being filmed in Battaramulla. The government anticipates to distribute this video to the people and plunder the votes of the people.  We urge the Catholic people if these vicious elements come to hold demonstrations in front of Catholic Churches teach them a strong lesson that they will never forget.

MP Sanath Nishantha:

The objective of turning out this bogus video was to mislead the people saying that Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks targeting the presidential election. Its objective was to apprise the people that the security in the country has collapsed. We have received information that after releasing this bogus video to social media the Catholic MPs in the government are to hold a media conference and accuse Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as responsible for the Easter carnage annd then hold demonstrations byUNP hooligans in front of the churches and demand for the arrest of Mr. Rajapaksa.  We have collected all relevant information on the people involved in these activities and their plans and necessary steps will be taken to take appropriate legal action against them.

MP Arundika Fernando:

It is people like Mangala Samaraweera, Thusita Halloluwa, and Dayan Jayatilleke who are behind this conspiracy.  What Mangala did always was launching conspiracies like this.  The appointment of a Select Committee was a strategy to save people like Hakeem and Rishad. This type of nasty acts are being done in the run up to the election to bait our Catholic people. We are going to report this matter to His Eminence Cardinal Dr. Malcolm Ranjith.  At the same time we will take legal action against this conspiracy. .

Mrs. Sudarshini Fernandopulle MP:

Justice was not meted out by this government for the victims of the Easter Sunday carnage.   We cannot get satisfied about the so-called investigations.  The Select Committee report was a lacuna.  We will not allow this government to further deceive the Catholic people.

The former MP  Sarath Gunaratne also addressed the media conference.

Meabwhile addressing a separate media conference today (30^th October) the media spokesman of Mr. GotabhayaRajapaksa, MP Keheliya Rambukwella said that they received information that Catholic MPs in the government Kavinda Jayawardene and Niroshan Fernande and Minister John Ameratunga’s private secretary have brought a large stock of posters accusing Mr. Gotabhaya as responsible for Easter Sunday carnage and they have reported this matter to the Police and the Election Commission.  Addressing another media conference the former Minister MP Susil Premjayanth said today that the public servants are due to cast their postal votes tomorrow and the day after (31^st October amd 1^st November) and yet they have not seen the manifesto of the joker Sajith Premadasa.  He said that there are 1,5 million public servants and this the first time a prominent candidate has ignored the public servants.

Mahinda Gunasekera

His Excellency the President, Hon. Prime Minister, Hon. Cabinet Ministers, Hon. MPs, and Secretaries of Ministries,

I am left to assume the accuracy of the news report carried in The Island of October 30, 2019 that the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the controversial agreement with the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and accept the grant of $480 million on offer from the US authorities. What I and other Sri Lankans would like to know are the obligations to be met by the Sri Lankan authorities as a result of accepting the funds being granted by the MCC which is missing in the news report. We would like to specifically know the answers to the following queries which had been touched on by various writers who had access to the terms of the agreement while it was under negotiation:

1.  The extent of the package of land to be released to the US authorities for their use for a period of 200 years during which time US law would apply within that region?
2.  The location of the landmarked out on a map of Sri Lanka?  Does it correspond to the land corridor between Trincomalee and the city of Colombo?
3.  Are armed US military personnel granted access to this area making it a virtual US military base thereby relinquishing Sri Lanka’s sovereignty over that portion of the island’s territory?
4.  Is there a provision to terminate the arrangement in terms of the agreement?
5.  What was the need to enter into such an arrangement without consulting the sovereign people or even having a debate in the national parliament?

Please reply urgently or make a public statement without delay as it needs to be first discussed by the public before elected representatives proceed to give up parcels of Sri Lanka’s sovereign territory for a handful of dollars.

Yours sincerely,

Mahinda Gunasekera
Encl.  News report.

Cabinet approves controversial MCC President Sirisena backs down

October 29, 2019, 10:20 pm

The Cabinet yesterday approved the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant of USD 480 million.

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera submitted the proposal. Earlier, President Maithripala Sirisena said that he would not approve the deal when the main opposition raised concerns over the agreement.

The Finance Ministry in a media release said: “On a proposal made by the Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera, the Cabinet of Ministers today approved the implementation of US$ 480 Million MCC grant. This consists of grant funds for traffic management in Colombo, Road Construction countrywide, and land administration improvements covering the whole country.

“These compact programmes to be funded by this project have been developed by the Sri Lankan officials of the line ministries and departments based on the needs of the country. The Sri Lankan Government has the option of amending the identified projects even after the signing of the Agreement.      

Sri Lanka is the 37th recipient of such grant funds from the people of United States of America. The Minister of Finance will sign the agreement in the near future as it was approved by the Cabinet yesterday. The implementation will begin in early 2020.

 “This is a great victory for the government and augurs well for the future. Sri Lanka began negotiation with MCC in 2001 at the direction of Ranil Wickremesinghe, the then Prime Minister. MCC negotiations were led by the Ministry of Finance and the MCC compact developed and finalized by the Compact Development Team of the Prime Minister’s office.”

 The US wanted to enter into three agreements with Sri Lanka. The three agreements Acquisition and Cross Service Agreement (ACSA), the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and the MCC grant came under heavy criticism. The ACSA was inked in Aug 2017 and with the government’s approval for MCC grant yesterday only the SOFA was pending for further processing, political sources said.

By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communication Researcher, SLFP/SLPP Stalwart and Convener – The Muslim Voice”, October 30th., 2019. 

IT WILL BE GOOD FOR THE ALL CEYLON JAMIYYATHUL ULEMA AND THEIR MOULAVIS (not all Moulavis) NOT TO ACT DECEPTIVELY ON FRIDAY THE 15th., NOVEMBER 2019, Insha Allah.

“The Muslim Voice” vehemently hopes and prays that the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama and it’s members will “STRICTLY” follow “point 07” of the guidelines stipulated statement issued please,

Insha Allah, which they have published – http://www.ft.lk/news/ACJU-issues-guidance-with-regard-to-Presidential-Elections/56-688638

In the last Presidential elections and general elections, though similar indications were made, The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama violated all election norms and preached from the “MIMBAR” in all mosques to vote against the SLFP, Mahinda Rajapaksa and the UPFA aggressively on the last Friday (Jumma prayers) before the polling day. 16th., November is a Saturday and 15th., November is a FRIDAY.

Let the people, especially the Muslim Vote bank who love our “MAATHROOBUMIYA” patiently wait and see what The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama and their “Moulavis” do on November 15th., Friday prayers, Insha Allah.

IT WILL BE GOOD FOR THE ALL CEYLON JAMIYYATHUL ULEMA AND THEIR MOULAVIS (not all Moulavis) NOT TO ACT DECEPTIVELY ON FRIDAY THE 15th., NOVEMBER 2019, Insha Allah.

Courtesy Adaderana

The student-centric education system will be reintroduced instead of the current examination-centric system, says Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Presidential Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The former Defense Secretary expressed these views addressing a public meeting in Ruwanwella.

The current generation of youth has not developed a skill that is competent as a result of the long-term education system that is exam-centric, he said.

Rajapaksa pointed out that information technology and digital technology is a great opportunity for the country to develop as well as the youth of Sri Lanka to get a good job and earn a decent income.

It is important to train young people on short term courses for employment in such fields as a solution to the employment issue, and cultivate children to be skilled from their infancy under a student-centric education system as training for the future, he pointed out.

Courtesy Adaderana

State Minister Wasantha Senanayake says he will not quit his ministerial post and challenged the United National Party (UNP) to remove him from the party if possible.

He made these remarks addressing a press conference held at Colombo today (30).

Senanayake said that he changed his mind of resigning from politics after the recent developments.

He says that he had already typed out a letter of resignation from his ministerial post and that it was supposed to be presented to the President this morning.

However, since the United National Party (UNP), last night (29), had made the decision to strip him of his party membership, he changed his mind and deemed the letter invalid.

Now, I will not resign. I will stay in this Ministry. Worked today, will work tomorrow, and will continue to come to work.

Only President Maithripala Sirisena can sack me from this post. He is the one who gave me this post. Not anyone else.”

Senanayake says that he has not been told what the charges against him are.

As far as I know, I just asked a question, thinking this was a democratic country.

Some talk of a dictatorship. I wonder where the dictatorship is if I can’t even pose a question.”

Meanwhile, the Party Chairman called him claiming that this decision was taken by a mistake, said Senanayake.

I replied to him saying that, if this is a mistake, please issue a press release. There is no point telling me.”

The Minister says he was planning to resign completely from politics as his questions didn’t receive a response he was hoping for.

However, since they said I will be removed from the party, I will not leave. I will stay and let’s see if they can sack me.”

Senanayake said that he previously planned to support presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa as a general civilian after his resignation.

Although I still have love and trust for Sajith Premadasa, I have no trust in the rest of the group. Their goals were clear after last night.

Can anyone take such a decision without a charge sheet? Anyone can suspend the party membership. But the membership cannot be revoked. There are procedures for it. If they aren’t followed, we too have ways.

I, at any point, have not mentioned that I will support a different candidate. However, now I will have to consider that as well.

I have not been sacked from the party. It is a lie. A sudden decision cannot chase away a person from the party overnight.

Senanayake says that he is willing to resign from his post if President Maithripala Sirisena requests it.

They were afraid that I was going to declare my support to Gotabaya Rajapaksa at today’s press conference. That’s why they hurried last night to muddy my name and to make me seem like a person who was chased away from the party.”

He says that today’s UNP isn’t a party of late Prime Minister and party founder D. S. Senanayake.

But we chose to back Sajith Premadasa with the hope that we would be able to attain that era once again”, he said.

Minister Senanayake said that although he hasn’t made a concrete decision on what will be done in the upcoming days, he will either support Sajith Premadasa or make a political decision.

The UNP yesterday (29) stripped the party membership from Wasantha Senanayake with immediate effect.

Wasantha Senanayake, great-grandson of UNP founder D. S. Senanayake, is the current State Minister of Foreign Affairs in the UNP-led government.

He had recently written a letter to UNP deputy leader and presidential candidate of New Democratic Front (NDF) Sajith Premadasa, expressing his concerns with regard to the latter’s election campaign.

In a recent media briefing, he also demanded answers from Premadasa for questions put forward by him regarding the role certain ministers will play in a future government.

•  Wasantha Senanayake removed from UNP 

Courtesy Adaderana

උපුටා ගැන්ම   lanka C news

ජනාධිපතිවරණය ජයග්‍රහණය කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව නව තනතුරුවලට පත්කරන පුද්ගලයන් අතරින් තමන් විසින් නම් කරනු ලැබ තිබෙන්නේ එකම එක තනතුරක්” පමණක් බව සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස අමාත්‍යවරයා පවසයි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව සහ නීතිය හා සාමය රැකීමේ වගකීම ෆීල්ඩ් මාෂල් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා ට පැවරීම තමන් මෙතෙක් පවරා දී ඇති එකම වගකීම බව ද සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස අමාත්‍යවරයා දඹුල්ලේ පැවති මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරක රැළියක් අමතමින් අවධාරණය කළේය.

එක්සත් ජාතික පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයා එම ප්‍රකාශය කළේ ඔහු ජනාධිපති පදවියට පත්වීමෙන් පසුවත් අගමැති ධූරයේ කටයුතු කරන්නේ තමන් බවට අගමැති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ කොළඹ අරලිය ගහ මන්දිරයේ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී සඳහන් කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුවය.

තමන් ජනාධිපතිධූරයට පත්වුවහොත් රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ අගමැති ධූරයට පත්කරන්නේ ද, නැද්ද යන ප්‍රශ්නයට ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස තවමත් නිසි පිළිතුරක් ලබාදී නොමැති අතර ඔහු මේ පිළිබඳව විමසූ මාධ්‍යවේදීන්ට අවස්ථා ගණනාවකදී ප්‍රකාශ කළේ මෙම මැතිවරණය ජනාධිපතිවරයා පත්කිරීමේ ජන්ද විමසීමක් මිස අගමැතිවරයෙක් පත්කරගැනීමේ ජන්දයක් නොවන බවය.

කෙසේ වෙතත් එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාසට සහය දක්වන දේශපාලකයන් කිහිපදෙනෙකුම සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ජනාධිපතිවරයා යටතේ නව අගමැතිවරයෙකු පත්කරන බවට හැඟෙන ප්‍රකාශ සිදුකර තිබුණි.

හරි ටිවී ආයතනය සමග මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමින්, හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී තිස්ස අත්තනායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස පිහිටුවන නව ආණ්ඩුවේ අගමැතිවරයා රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ද යන ප්‍රශ්නයට මෙවන් පිළිතුරක් ලබා දුන්නේය.

සජිත් ප්‍රේමාදාස පැහැදිලිවම ඔහුගේ කතා කිහිපයක සඳහන් කළා ඔහු පිහිටුවන ආණ්ඩුව අළුත් ආණ්ඩුවක් වෙනවා කියලා,” සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ගේ මැතිවරණ මෙහෙයුම් කාර්යාලයේ ප්‍රධානියකු වන තිස්ස අත්තනායක පැවසීය.

ඔහු කියනවා මගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයේ කිසිදු දූෂිතයෙකුට ඉඩ දෙන්නේ නැහැ කියලා. ඒත් එක්කම ඔහු කියනවා මම මිනිස්සු බලාපොරොත්තු වන ආණ්ඩුවක් ලෙස මේක පරිවර්තනය කරනවා කියලා. ඒකෙන් තේරුම් ගන්න පුළුවන් ඔහු මොකක්ද කරන්න යන්නේ කියලා. මිනිස්සු බලාපොරත්තු වෙනවා අළුත් ආණ්ඩුවක් අළුත් වැඩපිළිවෙලක්.”

සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ජනපති ධූරයක් යටතේ ඊළඟ අගමැති වශයෙන් පත්වනු ඇත්තේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ බහුතරයේ සහයෝගය ඇති පුද්ගලයා යි. 19 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයේ ඒ බව පැහැදිලිව සඳහන්. අනාගත රජයක අගමැති දූෂිත හෝ අකාර්යක්ෂම පුද්ගලයකු නොවනු බවට අපි සහතික වෙමු,” යනුවෙන් සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාසගේ ජනාධිපති මැතිවරණ මෙහෙයුම් කාර්යාලයේ ප්‍රධානියකු වන හිටපු අමාත්‍ය ඉම්තියාස් බාකීර් මාකාර් ට්විටර් පණිවිඩයක් නිකුත් කරමින් පවසා තිබුණි.

උඩරට ජනතාව ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදි සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාසට විජයග්‍රාහී ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලබා දී සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ජනාධිපති වූ විට අගමැති පදවිය උඩරටට ලබාදීම අවශ්‍ය යයි පැහැදිළිව ප්‍රකාශ කරන බව වැවිලි කර්මාන්ත අමාත්‍ය නවීන් දිසානායක පසුගිය (27) වැනිදා මහනුවරදී පැවැත්වුණු ජනරැළියක් අමතමින් සඳහන් කර තිබේ.පසුගිය (27) වැනිදා මාධ්‍ය හමුවක් අමතමින් එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ අමාත්‍ය අජිත් පී පෙරේරා පැවසුවේ සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ජනාධිපතිවරයා වූ පසු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයක් පවත්වා ඉන් බහුතර මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගේ කැමැත්ත ඇති පුද්ගලයා අගමැති ලෙස පත්කරන බවය.

තමන් බලයට පත්වුවහොත් අගමැතිධුරය සඳහා හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ පත්කරන බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ප්‍රකාශයට පත්කර තිබේ.

ජනාධිපතිධුරයට පත්වූ වහාම අගමැති ලෙස මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ පත්කරනවා දැයි ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂගෙන් ඔහු සහභාගි වූ මාධ්‍ය හමුවේදී මාධ්‍යවේදියෙකු ප්‍රශ්න කළත් එයට ඔහුගෙන් පිළිතුරු නොලැබුණි. 19 වැනි සංශෝධනය යටතේ ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකුට අගමැතිවරයා ඉවත්කළ නොහැකි බව නීතිවේදීන්ගේ මතය වී තිබෙ.

කෙසේ නමුත් එම මාධ්‍ය හමුවේදී ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පිළිතුරු ලබා නොදුන් ප්‍රශ්නයට පිළිතුරක් දෙමින් හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ පැවසුවේ නව ජනාධිපතිවරයෙක් පත්වූ පසු අගමැතිවරයා ඇතුළු කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය ද යළි දිවුරුම් දිය යුතු බවය. ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණ පවසන්නේ ජනාධිපතිවරණ ජයග්‍රහණයෙන් පසු පාර්ලිමේන්තු බල තුලනයේද වෙනසක් ඇතිකර මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ අගමැති ධුරය සඳහා පත්කරන බවයි.

– BBC

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, Oct 30 – China is helping Sri Lanka come out of a debt trap” and has led the island towards development by constructing ports, roads and water conservancy projects that improve people’s livelihood, Chinese Ambassador Cheng Xueyuan, quoted by China’s state owned Xinhua news agency said.

Speaking at a dialogue on China-Sri Lanka Pragmatic Cooperation with Sri Lankan journalists and academics, Cheng said that according to an annual report of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank and Ministry of Finance, by the end of 2018 Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt volume was about 52 billion U.S. dollars, 6 billion of which was from China, making up only 11.5 percent of the total debt.

He said in many cases, the Sri Lankan government was using low interest rate loans from China to repay the ones of much higher rate from Western countries and this helped Sri Lanka come out of a debt trap.”

Cheng said China-Sri Lanka relations have been renewed and pushed forward steadily and smoothly under the guidance of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and it had entered a rising period in history.

China has become the largest partner to Sri Lanka in terms of foreign investment, contracting construction, tourist volume, and foreign aid. China-Sri Lanka friendship and cooperation is gradually becoming a cross-political party, cross-nationality consensus,” Cheng said.

China was also a significant partner in generating investment to rebuild Sri Lanka after the end of its civil war in 2009 and more recently, China responded with speed and determination in the aftermath of the April 21 terror attacks by sending aid and security assistance, he added.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, Oct 30 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Tuesday announced he would continue as the Prime Minister if his presidential candidate, Sajith Premadasa wins the Presidential Elections next month.

Wickremesinghe asserted that Premadasa would function as the President and he would continue to function as the Prime Minister in a future UNF government, despite many of his party members including Premadasa remaining silent on who would be their prime ministerial candidate.

Infact, Minister Harsha De Silva, recently said that the Prime Minister in a new UNF government, would be a young, strong and professional individual would would work, with no corruption accusations against him. De Silva said Premadasa would make a strong decision on this matter, indicating that Wickremesinghe was not to be considered.

Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe, speaking to journalists and academics at the Temple Trees said the government had achieved many goals within the past four years and explained the numbers achieved.

Wickremesinghe also predicted that the country’s economic growth would reach 7.5 percent within the next five years following the development projects launched by the government.

Wickremesinghe said that following the suicide attacks, on April 21, the island’s economic growth had reduced to a great extent, but within 6 months after the attacks, the economy was showing a gain once again.

Unlike other countries which suffer from terrorist attacks, Sri Lanka’s economy was able to turn around within 6 months. I am confident within the next 5 years, our growth can reach up to 7.5 percent,” Wickremesinghe said.

Wickremesinghe further said that if the ruling party’s presidential candidate, Sajith Premadasa wins the Presidential Elections next month, the government would aim to lead Sri Lanka into a ‘full upper economy’ status.

The World Bank, in its latest report downgraded Sri Lanka’s economic growth to 2.7 percent in 2019 but predicted a recovery next year.

The World Bank said the island’s economic growth would depend on how it ensures political stability and continues reforms to strengthen revenue.

Sri Lanka faces a presidential poll on Nov. 16 followed by parliamentary polls in early 2020.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ජනාධිපතිධුර අපේක්ෂක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාගේ විදෙස් උපාධිය පහත් මට්ටමේ බොරුවක් බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල මහතා පවසනවා.

අද පෙරවරුවේ කොළඹ පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමින් මන්ත්‍රීවරයා මේ බව සදහන් කළා.

මෙම ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාව සදහා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන සුසිල් ප්‍රේම්ජයන්ත මහතා සහ පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි මහත්මියද එක්ව සිටියා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ජනාධිපතිවරණයට පෙර ඇමරිකානු මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ගිවිසුම අත්සන් තබන බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පවසනවා.

අර්බුදයට තුඩුදී ඇති මෙම ගිවිසුම හරහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ප්‍රදානය කෙරෙන මුදල ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 480 ක්.

මේ අතර, අදාළ ප්‍රදානය ලබාගැනීමට අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය හිමිවීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඇමරිකාව ප්‍රසාදය පළ කර තිබෙනවා.

ඇමරිකානු රජයේ සහශ්‍ර අභියෝග ආයතනය හෙවත් මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් විසින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබාදෙන ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 480 ක ප්‍රදානයක් ලබා ගැනීමට අදාළ අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය ඊයේ හිමිව තිබෙනවා.

අදාළ යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත්තේ මුදල් අමාත්‍ය මංගල සමරවීර මහතා විසින්.

මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ගිවිසුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් පසුගිය කාලයේ රට තුළ පුළුල් සංවාදයක් පැවති අතර, විපක්ෂය ඇතුළු පාර්ශ්ව රැසක් චෝදනා කළේ අදාළ ගිවිසුම මගින් මෙරට ඉඩම් අයිතිය විදේශ සමාගම් සතු කිරීම සදහා නව පනතක් හඳුන්වාදීමට කටයුතු කරන බවටයි.

එමෙන්ම ඊට අදාළ ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කිරීමට බලය ලබාදෙන අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල පත්‍රිකාව අත්හිටුවීමට ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා මීට පෙර කටයුතු කළා.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් වෙතින් ප්‍රදානය කෙරෙන ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 480 ක මුදල ලබාගැනිම සදහා අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය හිමිවීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඇමරිකාව සිය ප්‍රසාදය පළ කර තිබෙනවා.

ට්විටර් පණිවුඩයක් නිකුත් කරමින් මෙරට ඇමරිකානු තානාපති කාර්යාලය සඳහන් කළේ මෙම මුදල කොළඹ නගරයේ රථ වාහන තදබදය අවම කිරීම, බස් සේවා නවීකරණය, ඓතිහාසික සිද්ධස්ථාන සංවර්ධනය කිරීම, ග්‍රාමීය මාර්ග වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම මෙන්ම ඉඩම් පරිපාලනය යන ව්‍යාපෘති සඳහා යොදාගත හැකි බවයි.

ව්‍යාපෘති යෝජනාවන් අනුව අධීක්ෂණය හා පාලනය කිරීමේ බලය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සතු බවට ද එම නිවේදනයේ සඳහන්.

මේ අතර, මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ගිවිසුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අද පැවති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකදී මාධ්‍යවේදීන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාගෙන් ප්‍රශ්න කර සිටියා.

මේ අතර, මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් ගිවිසුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් දේශපාලනඥයින් ඇතුළු විවිධ පාර්ශ්වයන් අදත් අදහස් පළ කළා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ජනාධිපති ධුර අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට එරෙහිව ඉදිරියේදී දැවැන්ත මඩ ප්‍රචාරයක් දියත් කිරීමට අමාත්‍ය මංගල සමරවීර මහතා සූදානමින් සිටින බව සිංහලේ ජාතික සංවිධානය පවසනවා.

කොළඹ අද පැවැති ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමින් එහි නියෝජිතයන් මෙම අනාවරණය සිදුකළා.

lanka C news

ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රසය හිටපු මහලේකම්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී හසන් අලි සහ පක්ෂයේ හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී බෂීර් සේගුදාවුද් යන මහත්වරුන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදු ජන පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට සහය පළ කිරීමට තීරණය කර තිබේ.

ඉදිරි දින කිහිපයේදී ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග‍්‍රසයේ තවත් මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් කිහිපදෙනෙක්ම ගෝටාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට සහාය පළ කරන බවවාර්තා වෙයි.

ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී සහාය දිය යුතු අපේක්ෂකයා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රසය තුළ මේ වනවිට උණුසුම් වාද විවාද ඇති වී තිබෙන බවද වාර්තා වෙයි.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රසයේ මහ ලේකම් හා හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී හසාන් අලී සහ හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී බෂීර් සේගු ඩාවුඩ් නියෝජනය කරන එක්සත් සාම සන්ධානයේ සහය ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂට හිමිව තිබෙනවා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

සුඛිත මුදිත ජන සමාජයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම තම අරමුණ බව නව ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදි පෙරමුණේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස පවසනවා.

ඔහු මේ බව කියා සිටියේ කිරුළපන ප්‍රදේශයේ ඊයේ පැවති ජන හමුවකට එක්වෙමින්.