President tells Indian delegation:

'It cannot be a Rajapaksa-Sampanthan agreement'

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said last week that all political parties must get together for an all-inclusive political solution for the grievances of the people in the North and the East, who had been unfortunate victims of the LTTE terrorism.

"We cannot import a solution, and it cannot be a Rajapaksa-Sampanthan agreement" the President said during a discussion with a visiting Indian delegation headed by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition of the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Indian delegation called on President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees on Friday afternoon.

During the conversation, Prasad told the President that Sri Lanka's unity and integrity are not negotiable. While congratulating the President for eradicating terrorism, the delegates stated that what they saw during their visit to Jaffna "was an eye-opener to all". They were impressed by the development work in the North. He said that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission report "was a bold step and is brilliantly written." The delegation also spoke about the nature of the relationship between India and Sri Lanka and said that local issues in Sri Lanka sometimes impact India as well.

"Sri Lanka is a friend of India beyond politics, beyond government," Prasad said. "It's a relationship of the heart." The discussion also focused on several other areas of mutual interest, including the challenges faced by fishermen and the Parliamentary Select Committee to find a political solution in the north and east. "All parties must get together for an all-inclusive political solution," President Rajapaksa said. "We cannot import a solution, and it cannot be a Rajapaksa - Sampanthan agreement."

The Indian delegation asked the President about northern elections to which President Rajapaksa reaffirmed his commitment to holding the elections in September. External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Karunatilaka Amunugama and Advisor the President Dr. Sunimal Fernando were also present for the discussions.

Ranil's political lesson to Mannaperuma

Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena was known to be a die-hard supporter of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ajith Mannaperuna was the next in line in the UNP preferential votes list for Gampaha district after the recent death of parliamentarian Dr. Jayawardena.

Mannaperuma entered Praliament last week to succeed Dr. Jayawardena as UNP MP for Gampaha District. Prior to Mannaperuma took oaths in Parliament, Ranil thought he should enroll Mannaperuma to his camp so that the strength of the Reformist group of the UNP won't go up.

Nimal Siripala de Silva

Ajith Mannaperuma

Ranil summoned Mannaperuma to his Jawatte office. After warming welcoming the new UNP MP, Ranil briefed Mannaperuma on the role of a parliamentarian. The Opposition leader had a lengthy discussion with the new MP-elect and wished him well. Ranil was convinced that Mannaperuma too would be loyal to him just as Jalalath.

On Tuesday evening, Ranil went to Naga Viharaya, Kotte to meet the chief incumbent Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera and his movement. The Opposition leader was accompanied by UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, former UNP chairman Malik Samarawickrema, parliamentarians Gamini Jayawickrema Perera and Wijayadasa Rajapakshe. Parliamentarian Arjuna Ranatunga and J.C. Weliamuna were among the other in the other delegation.

Ranil gave a detailed description on the new constitution proposed by the UNP. After a patient hearing, Ven Sobhitha Thera said both parties many common ideas. "We have many similarities and I don't think it would be difficult for us to work together. As the Opposition leader, you must meet the President and enlighten him. Depending on the response of the Government we could think of a future move," the Thera told Ranil.

As stated in this column, Ranil went ahead with his holiday plan in Nuwara Ealiya, despite the weekend's funeral of his confidant and Gampaha District UNP MP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena. After failing to impress Jayalath's family to put off the funeral until Monday, Ranil decided to pay his last respects to Jayalath's body on Friday and left for Nuwara Eliya with his inner circle.

To justify his absence and touring Nuwara Eliya, Ranil was smart enough to fix a few party events too through Chandana Karunaratne. Rani met several Estate trade union leader's at Karunaratne's residence, along with R. Yogarajan. He spent the night at the Grand Hotel.

President Rajapaksa turns '43'

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday completed 43 years since first entering Parliament. He was the youngest member to be elected to the then National State Assembly from the Beliatta constituency from the United Front coalition which secured an unprecedented victory.

The 1970 Parliament was a fitting beginning for this budding politician hailing from a political dynasty in the South, to chart a long career culminating in his ascension to the Executive Presidency.

He won the crucial 2005 Presidential election contesting under the United People's Freedom Alliance ticket and became the fifth Executive President of Sri Lanka.

President Rajapaska within a short span of three years succeeded in crushing one of the world's most ruthless terrorist groups - the LTTE which for three decades killed thousands of innocent people of all communities.

In his political career, President Rajapaksa went on to become a Cabinet Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Prime Minister before being elected as the 5th Executive President. He was the third elected President of Sri Lanka.

He was appointed Minister of Labour and Vocational Training following the People's Alliance victory at the 1994 General Election. In 1997, he was appointed as the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. President Rajapaksa was the Leader of the Opposition in 2001.

President Rajapaksa was re-elected for a second term of office at the Presidential Election held on January 26, 2010.

He established a record in Sri Lankan political history by being the first Executive President to lead his party to a landslide victory in Parliamentary elections held just over two months after being elected for a second term to the office of Executive President, with an overwhelming majority of 1,842,749, polling 6,015,934 votes.

Premier in China

Touring China after President Rajapaksa's recent state visit is Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne. He met Chinese Vice Prime Minister and held bilateral talks yesterday.

"Te People's Republic of China will not support any action taken against Sri Lanka," People's Republic of China Vice Premier Ma Kai told the visiting Lankan premier.

"China is a friend of Sri Lanka and will never forget the ties it has with Sri Lanka, the Deputy Vice Premier said when he met Prime Minister D M Jayaratne on Friday. The meeting was held at Haigeng Gargen Hotel, Kunming City in the Unnan Province. The Vice Premier said Sri Lanka has always supported China.

He said China will assist Sri Lanka to rise to an international level and several agreements have been signed between the two countries to uplift Sri Lanka's economy.

"Partnership agreements are being further formulated at the discretion of the two countries. Feasible approaches are being studied to convert raw material available in Sri Lanka to a production mode," Ma said. He said direct cooperation would pave the way to build a good future for both countries.

"China is concerned about the economic development strategies of Sri Lanka. During the past 15 years, Sri Lanka-China friendship has moved to a new avenue.

Sri Lanka's master development plan has been appreciated by China," the Vice Premier said. Prime Minister Jayaratne said Sri Lanka works closely with China.

"Sri Lanka expects 10 million tourists from China. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has signed over 15 agreements with China. Expo 2013 Trade Exhibition is a blessing to South Asian countries," he said. The Prime Minister requested China's Vice Premier to visit Sri Lanka.

Cabinet proposes two amendments to 13A

The Cabinet of Ministers proposed to make two amendments to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution under which Provincial Councils have been set up.

Cabinet spokesman and Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the Cabinet has granted seven days to all political parties to make their observations on the proposed amendments to the 13th Amendment.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet press briefing at the Media and Information Ministry on Thursday, Minister Rambukwella said the Cabinet proposed to repeal the President's right to proclaim the merger of Provincial Councils under the13th Amendment.

Minister Rambukwella said the Constitutional clause that requires the consent of all Provincial Councils to pass the nationally important Bills will also be changed and the consent of the majority of Provincial Councils would suffice to pass such Bills with a simple majority in Parliament. He said the Cabinet will discuss these proposals with the observations of coalition partners at the Cabinet meeting next week. The minister said amendments would be brought to the 13th Amendment in good faith as the Tamil National Alliance is not making their representation to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which is aimed at discussing the issues pertaining to the devolution of power.

"The government cannot wait any longer merely because the TNA is evading the PSC. Various forces from outside also insisted that the TNA should make their presence at the PSC but they did not," he said.

Minister Rambukwella said President Mahinda Rajapaksa has openly said he will accept whatever the decisions taken by the PSC and these decisions would be implemented.

"President Rajapaksa says that he is ready to implement whatever the decisions taken by the PSC," he said. Minister Rambukwella said the TNA has no policy over the PSC. He insisted that the amendments are not aimed at the Northern Provincial Council. "Elections in many Provincial Councils including the North Western Province are in the pipeline and the proposed amendments are not aimed at the Northern Provincial council election," he said.

Minister Rambukwella said the Cabinet of Ministers haven't taken any decision over land and police powers of the Provincial Councils.

He said political parties in the government have been given time to make their observations with regard to the proposals and they will also make their observation over the police and lands powers of the Provincial Councils.

Pavithradevi in Russia

A Sri Lankan delegation led by Power and Energy Minister Pavitra Wanniarchchi, and senior officials of the ministry has participated at the First Asian and Pacific Energy Forum 2013 during in Vladivostok, Russian Federation recently.

"We take pride in the fact that we are well on the way of achieving 100 per cent access to electricity by the end of this year and we have been able to manage our power system without any power cuts which is an exemplary achievement, Minister Pavitra Wanniarchchi said when she addressed the First Asian and Pacific Energy Forum 2013 in Vladivostok.

The Forum was a landmark event conducted under the auspices of the United Nations and its Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Sri Lanka was elected as a Vice Chair of the Forum.

"Let me congratulate Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak on your election to this prestigious position. We thank you for the timely initiative taken to address the issues of regional energy security and sustainable use of energy" Minister Wanniarachci said.

"Sri Lanka is a small island nation with a population of mere 20 million surrounded by the Indian Ocean and strategically located with close proximity to international navigational route connecting West Asia and East Asia. Sri Lanka's closest neighbour is India and also closer to the South Pacific countries on the west. Sri Lanka is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement and always acted as a strong and active member while maintaining non-aligned principles," she added.

Pavithra said that Sri Lanka "Our country is now a very peaceful country after the elimination of brutal separatist terrorism which has resulted a nearly three decades of unrest and well on its way towards becoming one of the emerging economies in Asia. We as a nation is very much grateful to the government and the people of the Russian Federation for their unstinted support extended to our country during the difficult times," she said.

"We take pride in the fact that we are well on the way of achieving 100 per cent access to electricity by the end of this year and we have been able to manage our power system without any power cuts which is an exemplary achievement. However, the cost of producing electricity has significantly increased along with the greater dependence on fossil fuels. As a country that does not produce petroleum this has been a particular weight on our economy," she added.

Nimal Siripala 30 not out

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva completed 30 years to his political career. A stalwart of the SLFP, he has made an immense contribution to the party and the country as a politician. The felicitation ceremony was held at Wills ground in Badulla under the patronage of President Rajapaksa.

Addressing the gathering, the President said the people of the country irrespective of their racial, religious and other petty differences, should strive for the development of the country. He added that people belonging to all religions and ethnicities should join and work for development.

President Rajapaksa said the Sri Lanka Freedom Party is always ready to give credit to its members who have taken great pains for the protection and promotion of the party. The President added that SLFPers in the calibre of Minister Nimal Sirpala de Silva will never betray the party, its leader nor the country.

"That was the main reason why we sent him to take part in the negotiations with the LTTE in Geneva," he said. "Nimal had no hatred for the LTTE although the terrorists tried to kill him in Jaffna," he said.

The President added that Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva took a genuine effort to end the conflict through negotiations.

"Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva participated in negotiations with the LTTE with much hope to end this issue forgetting all their atrocities to him and the people of the country in general," he said.

He said their friendship goes back to 1960s when the SLFP was contesting for the Colombo Municipal Council in the early sixties under the leadership of Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

The President said Minister de Silva was a tower of strength to former premier Bandaranaike during the 1965 General election too. He appeared in court on behalf of former Premier Bandaranaike when the latter's civic rights was deprived by the UNP regime. Minister de Silva played a leading role in the Sinhala Union when he was at Law College.

"He organized the student movement for the protection of the education system," he said. The President added that Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva canvassed for the district quota system in education to ensure equal opportunity for students in rural areas," the President added.