Behind Closed Doors

The Thajudeen factor, forked tongues and the ‘Master Blaster’ jump

by Rasputin

‘Master Blaster’ to jump

The ‘Master Blaster’ of the deep South is ready to extend his support to the UNP officially. The world famous ‘blaster’ resigned from electoral politics soon after the announcement of Parliamentary elections and a few days later his mother publicly extended her support to the UNP campaign.

Political sources told the Sunday Observer that the ‘Master Blaster’ would get on the UNP stage within the next few days, giving a clear edge to the green party in Matara. Unfortunately, Dullas Alahapperuma, the ex Minister who projects himself as the chief ideologue of MR, is at the receiving end of Master Blaster’s stroke play.

‘Raid’ backfires

An anti-Rajapaksa publication, printed by a group of SLFP stalwarts, made news in political circles over the past few days.

A group of MR allies namely Dhanasiri Amaratunga and Roger Seneviratne ‘raided’ the press along with police officers and inspected the publication. No legal action could be taken against the publication as it only highlighted corruption allegations levelled against the former President and his cronies.

While carrying out the inspection, Dhanasiri Amaratunga took measures to post photographs on Facebook. The photographs capture the cover of the publication and they went viral on social media within a few hours. It was through Amaratunga’s Facebook post that many ground level activists got to know about the publications.

As a result, the publishers had received countless requests from every nook and corner of the country asking for copies of the booklet.

Sources from the anti-Rajapaksa camp said the publishers of the booklet were planning to send a ‘Thank You’ note to UPFA Colombo District candidate Amaratunga in appreciation of his service.

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The Thajudeen factor

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s silence over Wasim Thajudeen’s murder has now become a serious worry for the UPFA camp.

It has been revealed that several key candidates of the UPFA, who are close to the former President, urged him to make a public statement, denying his family’s involvement in the matter. However, Rajapaksa has opted to stay silent over the matter, for some reason.

Meanwhile, an internal survey conducted by the UPFA had revealed that Thajudeen’s murder was becoming the ‘biggest disadvantage’ for the party’s campaign, at large.

The study, conducted by an internal strategy group of the UPFA, made it clear that the party was rapidly losing support among the urban middle class due to allegations on Wasim Thajudeen’s murder.

It was against this backdrop that former President Rajapaksa, who is also the head of the UPFA election steering committee, has opted to keep mum on the controversy. Interesting...!

Forked tongue?

UPFA Anuradhapura district leader Duminda Dissanayake, in his speech at an election meeting in Ganewalpola, Anuradhapura, launched another scathing attack on MR saying his father was ‘killed’ and removed from the political fold.

It was widely known that Berty Premalal Dissanayake, former Chief Minister of the North Central Province, was ‘silenced’ due to the influence of the former President as the latter wanted to make way for the Chandrasena family to grab political power in the Anuradhapura district.

In his speech, Duminda Dissanayake, who boycotted the UPFA’s inaugural rally in Anuradhapura, said there was a similar conspiracy to shut him out. It was evident that his criticism was directed at the former President who strongly backed Dissanayake’s main political rival, S.M. Chandrasena.

“I will not leave the party even if they kick me out. I will remain in the SLFP and fight back. I am the son of Berty Premalal Dissanayake and no one can throw me out of the SLFP,” Dissanayake told cheering crowds in a fiery speech on Thursday.

However, in a seemingly contradictory statement, Dissanayake, who is expected to join a national government after August 17, also said the UNP would suffer a defeat at the Parliamentary election. “A UPFA government, under President Maithripala Sirisena, will rule the country after August 17,” Dissanayake declared, raising eyebrows of some stalwarts of the UNP.

One-man band vs Aussie

An Australian national has lodged a complaint with the Sri Lankan authorities that a certain politico who is well-known among political circles for his ultra-nationalist views, embezzled money from three Australian companies. In the recent past, the politician, who leads a one-man-party of some sort, was in the forefront of the ‘Bring Back Mahinda’ campaign.

The Australian national had complained that due to misappropriations committed by the politician the companies ran into bankruptcy and over 400 employees lost their jobs. He also said the matter did not draw the attention of law enforcement authorities during the past five years as the politician used his influence to suppress investigations.

The CID has already launched investigations on the misappropriation and the politician, who often preaches about Buddhist values, is soon to be questioned in connection with the fraud.