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| Sunday, 28 March 2004 |
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Fortuneteller rebuffs UNF's Prime Ministerial hopeful The Battle of the Diyawanna by Vidushaka Only two more days and the curtain comes down on the propaganda campaign of 24 political parties and hundreds of independent candidates. Before the dust settles on the campaig15n people will queue up in four more days to select 196 members to gain entry to the supreme club surrounded by the Diyawanna. The battle which commenced seven weeks ago with over 4000 contestants will come to its climax this week. The Freedom Alliance which began their propaganda campaign in ceremonial fashion still continues with the same vigour and confidence. The UNF which began its campaign very late promised "more works later", but they themselves admit that they failed in the exercise. UNF's disgraceful efforts to exploit an old mother who lost her son at the war front were revealed last week. The UNF betrayed the war heroes who sacrificed their lives for the sovereignty and the integrity of the country duping war heroes' relatives for petty political gains at the elections. Late Sergeant S.A.Ranjith's mother had been brought to Colombo by some organisation called the Disabled and Dead War Heroes of Three Armed Forces Organisation and had done some 'shooting' to be used at the UNF's propaganda campaign. The poor party again proved that Ranil's "more works later" was just another "Gaja Binna" and they had only made some efforts to cheat their country men. This time, they deceived a war widow, wife of late Sergeant of Electrical Engineering Corps J.A.Leel Gaminie who sacrificed his life for the country at the Elephant Pass battle. One War Heroes' Welfare Association photographed this widow with her two children saying that those snapshots would be used for a programme of peace. Both widows have been cheated by the UNF cronies who handle the election propaganda campaign selling `peace'. The most pathetic issue is that late Sergeant Ranjith died in 1988 at the battle of Settikulam during the UNP regime. A close friend of the Prime Minister and also a candidate for the Colombo district for the UNF has informed the party leadership that he is unwilling to accept that kind of propaganda to win elections. Several UNF Ministers have also informed the PM that the credibility of the campaign was completely lost with their immature efforts to charge the JVP with the assassination of veteran politician Lalith Athulathmudali. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last gave an interview to three private television channels on the current situation of the country. For almost all the questions raised by the three presenters from the three channels, the PM had only one answer. It was "We had planned many things for the coming years, but our term was terminated on the way". Political critics were saying that this was bad form for a country leader. However, the PM has also reportedly blasted one presenter for asking him `unnecessary' (according to his view) questions at the interview. A religious leader from Kerala who is famous for fortune telling was in the country last week and one UNF Minister who fell from a stage at Ambalangoda had contacted the religious leader over the phone. Sources reveal that the Minister had queried the religious leader of his dream of becoming the Prime Minister in the country making the way for Ranil to be the President. However, the fortune telling religious dignitary had avoided answering the Minister. Sources close to the religious leader say that Minister Ashraff's tragic death occurred at a moment when he declined to answer some queries of Minister Ashraff. UNF's decision to boycott the State Media has gone by the board with some Ministers who apparently do not see eye to eye with such hypocritical partisan decisions gladly consenting to interviews in Sunday Observer. That rounds off this column on a happy note. |
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