Gain 40,000 votes by answering three simple questions: open to Mahinda and UPFA leaders only ! (Lanka-e-news -13.Aug.2015, 9.30PM) The deposed president of the country Mahinda Rajapakse or any leader of the UPFA ought to furnish answers to the three undernoted questions : 1.Until last week ,Mahinda and his group were making announcements that Mahinda suffered defeat because of western countries led by America. But now they say , with president Maithri they will form a government. Then are they implying they are going to form a pro western government…
Read MoreDay: 13 August 2015
Sri Lanka Parliamentary Polls Bring Tamil Radicalism to the Fore
COLOMBO: For the first time since the end of the Sri Lankan war in 2009, Tamil radicalism has come to the fore in a Lankan election. In the parliamentary elections slated for August 17, the brazenly pro-LTTE Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF) and Crusaders For Democracy (CFD), backed by pro-LTTE elements in the Tamil Diaspora, are challenging the 14-year electoral dominance of the moderate Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The CFD, a new outfit comprising hardcore ex-LTTE cadre, might draw a blank. But the TNPF, an older group headed by leading…
Read MoreTorture of Tamil detainees in Sri Lanka has continued, says charity
Despite election of reformist president Maithripala Sirisena, who vowed to lift government repression, charity says it is still receiving reports of torture Sri Lankan security forces have continued to torture Tamil detainees even after the election of reformist president Maithripala Sirisena in January, according to a report. The report, by the UK-based charity Freedom From Torture (FFT) and published on Thursday, comes just four days before critical parliamentary elections on 17 August. Sirisena, elected on a promise to lift government repression, is seeking to prevent a comeback by his predecessor,…
Read More‘White vans followed me’ – Wele Suda spills beans: Gave Duminda Rs. 2 m loan
Gampola Vidanelage Samantha Kumara alias ‘Wele Suda’ yesterday revealed in courts about his close connections with former UPFA Parliamentarian Duminda Silva a close assopciate of former President MAHINDA. Samantha Kumara told the Colombo High Court, that once he had loaned Rs. 2 million to Silva for his election campaign. However, Kumara said that when he asked Silva to return the money on a later date, white vans started appearing near his house and also police started visiting his home. Kumara revealed these details to the High Court when the trial…
Read MoreMahinda has accepted Thajudeen was murdered
UNP says Mahinda has accepted Thajudeen was murdered By Harischandra Gunaratna Deputy Foreign Minister and UNP Kalutara District candidate Ajith Perera yesterday said that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who when in power said that former Havelocks Sports Club rugger captain and Sri Lanka player Wasim Thajudeen died in an accident in 2012, had today accepted that the top sportsman had been murdered, Perera said that the law would take its own course in finding the killers of Thajudeen though certain elements with vested interests were attempting to cover it up.…
Read MoreVote for any animal but not MAHINDA
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike said the people could vote for any animal and not for the betel leaf symbol or the hand symbol at the forthcoming general elections if they wanted to save the country from corrupt individuals. Addressing several public meetings in Embilipitiya and the Eheliyagoda towns the former President said the UNP, the Hela Urumaya, a faction of the SLFP and the Leftist parties had joined hands on January 8 to bring about a change and to form a national government. The JVP was not directly involved in…
Read MoreVideo:“Mahinda’s defeat is already written on his forehead”
“Mahinda’s defeat is already written on his forehead. He will have no power to become the prime minister. UPFA has divided. Its election campaign is fractured at village level. Certain leaders of the UPFA publicly ask their supporters not to vote for the other fraction of the UPFA. Here is a conflict within the UPFA. As such, party members are looking for an alternative. Neither the UNP nor the UPFA can get 113 seats to form a government on their own,” said the Information Secretary of the JVP and the…
Read MoreRajapaksa Will Not Be Appointed Prime Minister, Sirisena Informs (SEE FULL LETTER)
President Maithripala Sirisena wrote to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa today and reiterated that even if the UPFA wins the general election, he won’t be appointed Prime Minister. Writing a lengthy letter, Sirisena said that there were a number of other senior party members who could be appointed as Prime Minister. He did not approve of Rajapaksa seeking to be PM once again after being President for years, Sirisena said. Sirisena also reminded that he had wanted to lead the SLFP election campaign. However, Rajapaksa’s insistence on being given nominations caused…
Read MoreRishad also asks for separate administrative unit
Minister of Industry and Commerce, All Ceylon Makkal Congress Leader and Vanni ACMC Group Leader Rishad Bathiudeen, too, has backed the call for a new Coastal Administrative Unit in East on 09 August. The ACMC Leader said on 09 August. “If voters of Ampara District elect two new ACMC MPs from us and send the traditional Ampara SLMC MPs home, then it will be sufficient proof that (they) have given us, the ACMC, a mandate. Today, I tell you, the Eastern Muslims that I will promptly and formally pressure the…
Read MoreIndian-American Atul Keshap sworn in as US Envoy to Sri Lanka
‘American people want to partner with the people of Sri Lanka as they forge a diverse, prosperous, unified, reconciled and democratic nation,’ Atul Keshap said Indian-American Atul Keshap has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, becoming the second Indian-origin diplomat to be posted to the region after Richard Rahul Verma. Keshap, 44, a former official at the US Embassy in India, was administered the oath of office by Deputy US Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Anne Higginbottom. “American people want to…
Read MoreDy Minister says Mahinda is like a drowning man clutching a straw
By Harischandra Gunaratna Deputy Foreign Minister and Kalutara District UNP Parliamentarian Ajith Perera yesterday said that members of UPFA, which itself was past its shelf life, were uttering nonsense at political rallies and talk shows as they had neither coherent policy nore action plan nor an acceptable election manifesto which was full of false promises. “The UPFA election campaign centred solely on Mahinda Rajapaksa was today was dependent on President Maithripala Sirisena for its survival,” he said. Addressing a news conference at the UNP headquarters, Sirikotha at Pita Kotte, Perera…
Read MoreCausing Rs. 12 b loss to EPF – Cases filed against MAHINDA & former CB Governor
CHAMIKARA WEERASINGHE Two cases have been filed in the Colombo Magistrates’ Court yesterday against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Central Bank Governor, Ajith Nivad Cabraal on corruption charges. The cases filed under the Penal Code accuse them of causing a loss of Rs. 12 billion to the EPF fund and causing a loss of Rs. 2.14 billion to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Counsel Kelum Darshana Kumarasinghe filed charges against Rajapaksa and Cabraal at the Magistrates’ Courts. According to Counsel Kumarasinghe’s application, the former Central Bank Governor, has…
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