President Ranil Wickremesinghe has turned around the Treasury, which now has a reserve of US$ 4 billion, within a year of taking charge. The Treasury didn’t have even a single rupee when he took over.
The second tranche of US$ 337 million from the International Monetary Fund, along with US$ 200 million from the Asian Development Bank and US$ 250 million from the World Bank for various programs totalling US$ 787 million was received last week as a result of the devoted commitment of President Wickremesinghe.
The President who came to Kandy from Diyathalawa last Sunday, gave a good speech – in that he is ready to take unpopular decisions to save the country from bankruptcy.
Opening the New Town Hall, Kandy, the President said that he has the choice to make the country bankrupt by taking popular decisions or to save the country from bankruptcy by taking unpopular decisions.
Following the statements of President Wickremesinghe, some were saying that he will not contest the Presidential election again.
Apart from that, there was talk in political circles that the Chief of Staff of the President would be removed and someone else would be appointed to replace the President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake. It was said that the Secretary of the Ministry of Education Nihal Ranasinghe would be appointed instead of Chief of Staff Ratnayaka, and when there was talk of appointing Gamini Senarath as President’s Secretary, many people started asking Sagala Ratnayaka and Saman Ekanayake about this.
The common answer of both of them was that they did not know about this (with loud laughter). “Both rumours come from the same place. This is clearly a political conspiracy. It is clear from this that the Government and the Opposition group are trying to make one of their own candidates by carrying out a campaign saying that the President will not contest again,” the MPs said in unison.
In the face of the rumours that President Wickremesinghe will not contest in the upcoming Presidential election, letters after letters started coming to the Presidential Secretariat from religious leaders, civil organisations and people of various ranks. All of them have requested that President Wickremesinghe come forward as the candidate in the upcoming Presidential Election and win it and make the country a prosperous land.
The President held the Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Hall of the Presidential Secretariat on Monday evening. When the President finished the Cabinet meeting and reached his office on the second floor, another group of Ministers entered the room behind him on the invitation of the President. “Come on, because everyone is together,” the President asked with a smile.
“Sir, everyone is now saying that you will not contest the Presidential election this time. What is the truth about this,” Minister Prasanna Ranatunga asked.
“I am not saying whether I will contest or not. In any case, there is still a lot of work to be done to rebuild the economy,” the President said.
“We don’t have much time, Sir, because the Presidential election is due next year. We have to get ready for it,” MP Wajira Abeywardena said, looking at everyone.
“The debt restructuring program should be concluded. We need to build a new economy. It takes time,” the President gave the usual answer.
“Continue to build the economy, Sir. We will start the campaign,” everyone nodded and approved what Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said.
“We will start the campaign from the second week of January. Then we can go down to the village,” MP Premanath C. Dolawatte said.
“The President is working to give the MPs allocation and the district’s allocation from next year to develop the villages again. With that, we can make a big leap,” said Prof. Ashu Marasinghe.
“You rebuild the economy. Join us as a candidate when needed,” Minister Shehan Semasinghe said with a smile.
“We will meet the President again with the people who are not here. Then we will start the campaign.” Everyone approved what Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said. President Wickremesinghe also nodded to all this and did not say anything.
MoUs with telcos
On Tuesday morning, President Wickremesinghe joined the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (SLTRC) and the telephone companies to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. A new tsunami warning method was unveiled and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the SLTRC Director General Madushanka Dissanayake and the heads of the telephone companies.
Meanwhile, the President called and congratulated Kilmeesha Uthayaseelan who emerged victorious in the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs Season 3 reality competition hosted by the Zee Tamil channel in the State of Tamil Nadu, India.
The President had invited Foreign Minister Ali Sabry and Foreign Ministry officials to discuss foreign policy and his participation in the Non-Aligned Summit in January. President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake and Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka were also present.
While talking about foreign policy, the President gave a wonderful speech in front of the officials, recalling the non-aligned policy.
“Since the introduction of universal franchise in 1931, no Government in Sri Lanka has banned the Opposition and put them in jail. Looking at other countries, Sri Lanka is the only country that has not done so. Japan did it before 1945. They did it by deploying a thug in the Army. Leaders such as Indira Gandhi in India and Marcos in the Philippines did this. Anwar was sued in Malaysia. We are the only ones who didn’t do it.” The President gave a long explanation using examples from many countries, surprising Foreign Ministry officials as well.
UNP Management Committee meeting
The UNP Management Committee meeting was held that evening. Party Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene told the President that they will launch a series of meetings targeting the Presidential Election from January 19 along with future plans. This conference, which starts in Colombo, is to be carried across the country after that and Party Leaders have been assigned responsibilities.
UNP General Secretary Range Bandara presenting the report said the same thing. According to that plan, regional organiser appointments and polling agent appointments are to be made. General Secretary Range Bandara said officers will be appointed as if there are six representatives per polling station.
General Secretary Range Bandara said that all these people will be connected with the digital mechanism of the party.
Later, a list of grievances of party members was placed before the President. The General Secretary gave a list to the President outlining the grievances of the organisers, such as non-inclusion of party representatives in the Aswesuma relief program, the program of giving deeds to farmers and condominium owners, and non-inclusion of party representatives in the district and rural management committees.
A discussion about this arose due to others also whispering that representatives in villages were distancing themselves from the party due to these issues.
President Wickremesinghe instructed to give the General Secretary’s letter to the President’s Secretary, since money will be allocated for development at the district level from January.
The President tasked Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and MP Wajira Abeywardena to find out about Government officials who were subjected to political revenge and take measures and promised to solve these problems.
He told the group that representatives will be appointed to the High Post Committee and other committees next month which was adopted according to the party constitution in the last convention. Later, the President left to participate in the State Drama Festival.
IMF second tranche
The news of the release of the IMF second tranche was reported when the President came to his office on Wednesday morning. That afternoon, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the USA Mahinda Samarasinghe, Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka, Secretary Saman Ekanayake and a group of officials from the Ministry of Finance and the President’s Office were also present.
Ambassador Samarasinghe outlined the situation in the US and the investment opportunities of millions of dollars from them.
Speaking about the release of the IMF’s loan premium, the President also appreciated Mahinda Samarasinghe’s support for it. The President also appreciated the commitment of Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Finance Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena, Shirantha Herath of the Office of the Chief of Staff for the commitment they made to get to the IMF second tranche.
At the end of the President’s speech, Ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe said that it was President Ranil Wickremesinghe who stood behind all of them and handled this task.
That evening, the President went to watch the Christmas Carols at the Presidential Secretariat and stayed there for a long time.
The next day the President came to the office and met several Ministers. Many Ministers started talking about the statement issued by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
When Minister Manusha Nanayakkara said, “I see that the former President Rajapaksa has also gone to Sajith Premadasa’s side,” everyone looked at each other.
“Why has the former President said that he is against taxation? Sajith Premadasa also says the same thing. Both mean the same thing. When you look at the statement of the former President that is what you see,” when Manusha repeated, everyone laughed.
Presidential candidate
“Dhammika Perera is to be given the position of National Organiser of ‘Pohottuwa’ and he is said to be the presidential candidate in Pohottuwa,” Prof. Ashu Marasinghe said.
“The members of that side are saying that Rs. 200 million was taken from him to spend on the Pohottuwa Convention. They are also talking about the fact that Perera had pretended to get the candidacy by giving money,” MP Wajira Abeywardena said.
President Wickremesinghe met the Tamil MPs representing the Northern and the Eastern Provinces and discussed their problems. At the end of the discussion, the President went to TNA Leader R. Sampanthan and inquired about his well-being, appreciating him for coming there even though he was not well.
The President, who received the credentials of the new Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha on Friday, left Colombo with First Lady Prof. Maithri Wickremesinghe to spend the Christmas vacation.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Leader former President Mahinda Rajapaksa attended several events last week. Former President Rajapaksa attended the ‘Siri Asiri’ felicitation ceremony held on behalf of ‘Lankadeepa’ Editor Siri Ranasinghe.
When former President Rajapaksa was leaving the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute premises, a large group of people surrounded him. Most of the people were from the rural areas and they were keen to shake the hands of former President Rajapaksa and exchange pleasantries.
“Prasanna, why have you got wet?” former President Mahinda Rajapaksa asked when he saw Minister Prasanna Ranatunga.
“No. Sir. Traffic on the road and the people are stuck. So, I got down and got the vehicles moved around,” Minister Ranatunga said with a smile.
“Sir, brother Prasanna is like that. He is ready for anything in Parliament,” said a Member of Parliament who was there.
“I know about him. Prasanna wants to do the work somehow. It is a good characteristic of leadership,” said former President Rajapaksa touching Minister Ranatunga.
The media conference for a stable country held on December 21 became heated because of the discussions about the underworld and anti-narcotics operations being conducted these days.
At the media conference Minister Tiran Alles said, “This will continue until the President and I are there, and if we are gone, I don’t know.”
At the end of the discussion, Minister Alles was invited to the guest room for tea. When he was having tea with the officers of the Presidential Media Division and at exactly 12.08 noon, Tiran switched on the speaker of his mobile phone when he got a call. Everyone saw how he responded to the telephone call aggressively. Media Secretary of MP Mahidananda Aluthgamage who acted promptly, recorded the conversation on his phone. Five minutes after the end of the press conference, everyone who talked about how the underworld was paying attention to Tiran Alles to the extent of issuing death threats from a foreign country, also requested him to take care of his security.
However, Tiran said, “I will not stop this no matter the threats. The President gave me the same advice.”
Discussion at Namal’s residence
A discussion was held with MP Namal Rajapaksa along with back row MPs and State Ministers at Namal’s residence in Malalasekara Mawatha recently. It was reported in several media that leading businessman Dhammika Perera was nominated as the presidential candidate of ‘Pohottuwa’.
One of the MPs asked Namal why Dhammika Perera is contesting. He told Namal, “You can contest the Presidential election.”
However, Namal took the issue quite seriously. “First we need to strengthen the party. If the party requests, I am ready to contest any election, not the Presidential election. Because I am someone who accepts challenges,” said Namal.
He said, “There are four people on our side who can contest in a Presidential election. If Basil Rajapaksa and I also decide to contest, there will be six candidates.
Commenting on the work planned by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in the past few days of the year without having any rest, SJB MP Hector Appuhamy said that the Opposition Leader has a disease that cannot stop him from working.
MP Nalin Bandara also said that the disease is more serious than the physical diseases the Opposition Leader is suffering from. The Opposition Leader, who participated in the Sakwala program at Nugegoda St. Joseph Girls’ College on Thursday and the ‘Sakwala’ program at Gonsalvez College, Pamunugama on Friday, also participated in the party’s Working Committee meeting on Friday. Former MP Sujeewa Senasinghe said that he will attend a meeting of Local Government candidates in the Nuwara Eliya district on Saturday, December 23. He said that Opposition Leader Premadasa has been invited to hold such a meeting in every district due to the success of the meeting in Gampaha recently.
It is reported that several JVP leaders have paid close attention to certain speeches made by JVP politburo member, former MP K.D. Lal Kantha recently. The Leaders of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) have drawn a lot of attention regarding a statement made by Lal Kantha during the electoral level meetings of the National People’s Power (NPP).
Lal Kantha had said, “We talk wrongly about other political parties and other politicians. We have also made mistakes. Why don’t we talk about them? We need to talk about them too.”
It is reported that the Leaders of the JVP have decided that this speech of Comrade Lal Kantha is bad for their party and that certain media of the Government will make use of these speeches to attack the JVP and that Comrade Lal Kantha should refrain from speaking at meetings for some time.
