Palitha’s resignation drama keeps Lakshman in suspense

UNP Kalutara District parliamentarian Palitha Thevarapperuma staged a political drama over his much-publicised resignation from Parliament which ultimately ended with nothing. Newspapers carried banner page one headlines last week as Thewarapperuma’s resignation became headline news to most radio and television channels.

But the sober manner in which it ended compared to the high-drama, made one wonder whether Thewarapperuma had staged a political drama for popularity ahead of the next general elections which is expected to be held next year.

The main reason for that was the manner in which he was trying to channel his resignation letter. When the official way of tendering resignation by an MP was to hand over the letter of resignation to the Secretary General of Parliament, Thewarapperuma used delaying tactics by trying to hand it over to Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The next day newspapers quoted Thewarapperuma as saying that he would even assault Ranil and forcibly hand over the resignation letter. On the morning of the very next day, a greatly perturbed Thewarapperuma rang his leader to make a clarification.

“Sir, some newspapers have misquoted me. Those reports say that I have said that I would even assault and threaten you to accept my resignation letter. There is no truth in those. Any way I will come for today’s parliamentary group meeting to hand over the letter,” he said.

“I was not aware of such a statement. I wouldn’t have cared. Anyway, let’s discuss this at the meeting,” said Wickremesinghe.

Accordingly, Thewarapperuma came to UNP parliamentary group meeting the same evening, from which he was barred previously pending a disciplinary committee action.

One wonders whether it was a fixed drama but Thewarapperuma would always deny that.

When he was about to hand over his resignation letter to Ranil, there was somebody to grab it from the MP – fellow parliamentarian Joseph Michael Perera. Hence, Thewarapperuma walked up to Ranil without the letter and verbally told his leader that he would resign.

“I can’t accept your resignation letter, Palitha. You have to hand that over to the Secretary General of the Parliament,” Ranil reminded the MP of the correct procedure.

“But you have to think twice and also consult your voters. The Government has initiated action over the Aluthgama and Beruwala incidents. The CID had grilled Ven. Galabodaatthe and is conducting an investigation.

The Defence Secretary has made it clear that he has no connection with the BBS. Hence, things are moving in the right direction and you should not rush,” Ranil told his parliamentarian.

Undoubtedly, the most disgusted person in the entire drama was none other than the next on top of the UNP list of losing candidates from the Kalutara District – Lakshman Wijemanne who had also been a former MP. Wijemanne was kept in suspense during the Thewarapperuma drama.

A few weeks ago, Thevarapperuma said he would step down from his post as an MP as he was disappointed that he was unable to do justice to the victims of the recent unfortunate incidents in Aluthgama and Beruwela. He said he urged the IGP to resign from his post but he had failed to so.

Thewarapperuma had said the people and the media should view his offer to resign as an indictment on the present system and not attempt to portray him in bad light.

“A lot of people have asked me why I handed over my resignation to the Party leader, when I could have handed over the letter to the Speaker. The reason is because I was not resigning on personal grounds. Hence, I needed the party to back me, I also wanted the party to be held responsible for this and that is why I handed it over to the party leader,” the MP said.

When media had questioned whether his offer to resign and his previous agitation against the riots was an attempt to gain Muslim voters, Thewarapperuma said it was not so.

“It’s sad to be asked a question like this. If it is about votes I wouldn’t have gone all alone and put my life at risk. I wouldn’t have been alive to tell the tale if I didn’t drive through that mob that attacked me. That’s not how I do politics. I don’t do politics merely for votes,” Thewarapperuma had said.

Harin slings mud to gain cheap popularity

Tuesday’s political debate on TV Derama eventually turned out to be a boxing bout between Badulla District UNP MP Harin Fernando and North Western Provincial Council Chief Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera.

From the very outset of the debate, in which UPFA Puttalam District MP Arundika Fernando and JVP’s Sunil Hadunneti too participated, Harin went on a hammering spree, leveling wild allegations at the Government as well as personal and character assassinating remarks at his former UNP colleague Dayasiri.

It looked obvious that Harin had done so with malice and for cheap popularity ahead of Uva Provincial Council elections at which he is expected to be the UNP’s chief ministerial candidate.

Despite continuous cautions by Dayasiri and Arundika not to level baseless allegations if the UNP MP does not have any proof, Harin went hammer and tongs to ‘score’ from the gallery.

Harin used abusive language which was unbecoming of a parliamentarian at a public political debate.

Most of his verbal accusations sans proof were personally targeted at Dayasiri. At the final commercial break before the show ended, Harin had challenged Dayasiri and the duo began exchanging blows before the TV Derana staff had mediated to stop the ‘bout’.

Dayasiri had later accused Harin of using ‘un-parliamentary’ language during the live television debate and said he did not sling mud at his opponent.

“From the beginning of the television program, he (Harin) used unparliamentarily language and called me names like ‘balla, buruwa and thamuse, and acted like a low-class man, which is unbecoming of a parliamentarian,” the NWP Chief Minister was quoted as saying.

“I am not a person on whom one should use such language. I indulge in honourable politics and can’t resort to that level to respond. I didn’t speak about anything outside politics. I only asked him to resign his Parliamentary seat if he wanted to contest the Uva Provincial Council elections,” Dayasiri had said.

“I also asked Harin why he opposes casinos and patronizes them frequently. Was that not related to politics as a people’s representative?” queried Dayasiri.

Harin was dumfounded by those questions. He had then resorted to low down tactics to character assassinate Dayasiri in a disgraceful manner. Onlookers said it was Harin who first broke out after antagonising Dayasiri.

“It is not good for politicians to act like this in public. I apologise to the people over the incident,” he said.

Dayasiri and Hari were reported to have exchanged fisticuffs during the final commercial break of the political program.

Prior to the final break, there had been a serious argument between the two of them. During the final break, Harin alleged that Dayasiri had assaulted him, which had led to an exchange of blows between the two. But Harin had later said he had to punch Dayasiri Jayasekera in self defence, responding to the Chief Minister’s allegations that the UNP MP of starting the fight.

Harin had said that he regrets the incident and apologised to the public. It was unfortunate that Harin who is daydreaming of emulating Dayasiri as a Chief Minister, had set a bad example before the Uva PC elections.

Most importantly, Harin had Ranil hope to reach consensus.

UNP and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe last week said the UNP hoped to reach consensus with regard to the abolishing of executive presidency after having discussions with other political parties and organisations.

Ranil expressed these views following a meeting with the National Council for a Better Tomorrow (Pivithuru Hetak Udesa Jathika Sabhawa), headed by the Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera over the abolishing of the executive presidency.

“Several alternatives such as the Westminster system and other relevant systems were discussed for the betterment for the country,” Ranil had said after the meeting with the JHU parliamentarian.

Ven. Rathana Thera, commenting on his meeting with the UNP leader, had said it was a “fruitful discussion”.

“The discussions were a success especially with regards to the policy document presented by the Council for a better tomorrow.

We are happy that this discussion took place at an appropriate time for the country,” the Thera said.

He said the organisation had held discussions with all leftist parties and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

“We are hoping to have discussions with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and all the other parties as well,” the Thera said.

“Finally we hope to develop this document with the help of views from all parties,” the Thera said. But political sources said Ven. Rathana Thera’s talks with the JVP had ended without a decision with serious differences in opinion.

Jacqueline sends bunny cake to Indian minister

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez last week sent a bunny-shaped vegan cake with the words “Be Sweet to Bunnies - Ban Animal-Tested Products” written in icing, along with a letter to Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan hoping to urge him to have a heart for animals.

Jacqueline, who is a vegan, was delighted to learn that after banning the testing of cosmetics and their ingredients on animals, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is now considering amending The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, to include a ban on the import and sale of cosmetics that have been tested on animals anywhere in the world.

In her letter, Jacqueline has written, “There was no news sweeter to my ears than when I heard that your ministry included the new rule in The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, which bans the testing of cosmetics and their ingredients on animals in India in favour of modern, non-animal and human-relevant test methods.

Along with sending the vegan cake that accompanies this letter, I am writing to request that you be sweet to bunnies again by passing the proposed ban on the import and sale of cosmetics if they or their ingredients have been tested on animals”.

She continues, “My many compassionate friends and I were thrilled to know that your ministry agrees that the only way to be a bunny's honey is to let bunnies live freely, as they should, and not by caging them and conducting painful tests on them for lipstick and mascara.”

Uva PC dissolved

The Uva Provincial Council was dissolved from midnight on Friday, the Uva Province Governor's Office stated.

The Uva Province Governor Nanda Methew issuing a press release said the decision to dissolve UVA Provincial Council was taken as per instructions received from the Chief Minister of the Uva Province Shashindra Rajapaksa, Elections to the Uva PC is expected to be held before mid-September.

Meanwhile, two people were injured when a motor- bike was struck by the official vehicle of Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya at Arambekade on the Kandy Kurunegala Road last week.

Deshapriya helped to rush the injured to the Hospital. And one person was admitted to the Kandy Teaching Hospital.

The Election Commissioner had telephone from the spot to inform the Galagedara police about the accident and took steps to hand over his vehicle and driver to the police. The driver was arrested on suspicion and released on police bail after his statement was recorded.

Australia rejects allegations, insist Lanka is safe

Australia on Wednesday rejected allegations by Sri Lankan refugees returned to Colombo that they were mistreated and said their return sent a strong message to those thinking of following suit.

Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison was speaking in Colombo a day after several asylum seekers returned to Sri Lanka by Australia said they were badly treated before being handed over to the Sri Lankan navy.

Some of the people on the boat of 37 Sinhalese and four Tamils said they were ill-treated by Australian Customs officials who had infringed on their human rights.

“I find those allegations offensive and reject them absolutely,” Morrison told reporters after handing over two patrol boats to Sri Lanka to strengthen surveillance of people smuggling.

“Any venture... that thinks they can get to Australia, well I think a very clear message is being said particularly in the last few days that that venture will not prevail,” he said.

President asks report from Eran

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was present at the parliamentary sessions last week, asked UNP parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne to submit a report on the Ministry Secretaries doing part-time jobs as directors in private organisations.

The President made this request after Eran told the House that it was wrong for Ministry Secretaries to engage in such activities.

“Give us a report on it. Then, we can look into it,” the President said while being seated in his chair.

However, the microphone wasn’t switched on when he made this remark and as such it was unlikely it would be reported in Hansard.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratna told the Parliament on Friday that it is a well-known fact that several NGOs have exceeded their remits even to the extent of procuring weapons for terrorists. However, he said, the government was not intending to control NGOs but merely reminding them to act in accordance with the mandates they are pledged to.

He made these observations in Parliament yesterday in response to a special statement made by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe under Standing Orders querying if the letter dated July 01, 2014 issued by the National Secretariat to NGOs, was to control the NGOs.

The Prime Minister said the letter issued was not an order but a letter of instruction to request NGOs to act within the agreed boundaries and not to engage in any other action outside the original mandates. Prime Minister Jayaratne also said that these type of reminders go out in other countries as well.

Obama appoints his envoy in SL to top post

US President Barack Obama nominated US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele J. Sison as the Deputy Representative of the US in the UN Security Council.

Issuing a statement the Whitehouse announced that the President Obama intends to nominate Ambassador Michele Jeanne Sison as the Deputy Representative of the United States to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, and Deputy Representative of the United States in the Security Council of the United Nations.

It also stated that Ambassador Michele Jeanne Sison, a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Career-Minister, is the U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives, a position she has held since 2012.

From 2011 to 2012, Ambassador Sison was Assistant Chief of Mission in Baghdad, Iraq.

From 2008 to 2010, Ambassador Sison served as Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon, and from 2004 to 2008, as Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Ambassador Sison served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs at the Department of State from 2002 to 2004.

CID records statement from Madumadhava

The CID last week recorded a statement from popular singer Madumadava Aravinda over the speech he had made at Aluthgama on June 15. Last week the CID recorded a statement from the Bodhu Bala Sena General Secretary the Ven. Galabodaththe Ganasara Thera and from the Convener of the Sihala Ravaya Movement.

The police had arrested 118 people since June 15. Eighty eight of them were produced in courts and 25 released on police bail.

In the aftermath of the unfortunate incidents at Beruwala and Aluthgama, the CID was directed to specifically investigate the assault on a monk and the deaths because other law enforcement agencies and the police were investigating other incidents which took place that day.