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President stands on his head and cracks joke
View(s):It was dawn when Mahinda Illeperuma, a one-time journalist, walked into a room in Temple Trees where President Mahinda Rajapaksa was going through his routine exercises. He had wanted to obtain the President’s thoughts to formulate his speech for last Monday’s 65th anniversary of Independence.
He was somewhat surprised to see him with head on the ground, legs up and the hands on the floor. “May Moko Sir” (What is this Sir), he asked from the President.
“Nehe, mang me beluwey api kochchara honda kalath vipaksheta penne nehene. Ithing mang beluwe oluwen hita gaththama kohomada mata rata penne kiyala (We have done so many good things. The opposition cannot see any of them. So I stand on my head to see how I could see the country in that position),” declared President Rajapaksa jokingly.
Officials blunder on name of university
That the merged Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka were de-merged on a ruling from the Supreme Court is too well known.
Yet, media outlets received an e-mail with a photograph of President Mahinda Rajapaksa visiting a university in the east. The official account called it the “North-Eastern University.” However, the institution has long been renamed “South-Eastern University.” Obviously, some officials are missing their sense of direction.
Bandula alleges navel attack by LSSP
“Bada imbinna gihilla, buriya hapanawa wage,” or trying to kiss the stomach and biting one’s navel was the analogy Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena, used at Thursday’s weekly Cabinet meeting to drive home an issue that worried him.
He was comparing this to an alleged attempt by members of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) to declare open a road in his electorate (Homagama) without any intimation to him.
Gunawardena said he felt he should brief the Cabinet on the matter that amounted to a form of intrusion. Needless to say, the remarks drew laughter from President Rajapaksa and some of Gunawardena’s ministerial colleagues.
Bad weather takes MPs away from Trinco
Air Force flights were assigned to ferry Ministers and MPs who were to participate in the Independence Day ceremony in Trincomalee last Monday.
Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody, Piyasena Gamage, Udith Lokubanadara, Roshan Ranasinghe and C.B. Ratnayake were among a few who were in a one such flight. It departed from Ratmalana around 6.30 a.m. Most of them were having a nap during the flight.
When it landed, Polonnaruwa district UPFA MP Roshan Ranasinghe noticed a familiar scene in the vicinity. This looks like the Hingurakgoda Chaithya (Buddhist Temple), he told others.
“Yes, sir we have landed in Hingurakgoda, an Air Force pilot told the MP. Others wondered what had happened.
It was a while later that they were told the flight had to land in Hingurakgoda and not in Trincomalee due to bad weather.
No gifts, only blood for b’day
February 6 happened to be a special day for Western provincial Council Minister Udaya Gammanpila as he was preparing to celebrate his 43rd birthday. Since it was his “public day,” there was a large gathering to wish him “many happy returns of the day.”
It was a peculiar type of birthday as Gammanpila requested “a peculiar gift” from the gathering who came to wish him.
The peculiar gift was – a pint of blood from each.
The first in the queue to wish him was the Western Provincial Industrial Development Authority Chairman Nalaka Perera, who remarked in lighter vein “Emathi Thumath Hariyata Dracula wagei, (Mr. Minister, you are like Dracula).”
Gammanpila replied that unlike Dracula he wanted blood, not to kill people but to give life to them.
He said he wanted to help the country’s Blood Bank which was struggling to find blood with the drop in blood donations in the post-war period.
Out of around 250 who volunteered to donate blood only 153 were selected. Others were rejected as they were subjected to various diseases or were underweight which is also indicative of the health crisis of the country.
Alternative UNP: The gate is closed
The United National (Alternative) Front (Eksath Jathika Vikalpa Peramuna) founded by a group of breakaway UNP MPs has been delisted by the Commissioner of Elections as it has ignored communication with the Department.
The only listed members of the party are Nanda Mathew and Asoka Somaratne but they have not responded to queries regarding the party’s financial statements which have to be submitted to the Elections Department each year.
The party was formed by a group of UNP MPs after they crossed over to the government side in 1999. The Eksath Jathika Vikalpa Peramuna was registered as a political party in 2000 and its symbol was the gate. As one political wag remarked, the gate is now closed!
Namal in father’s shirt
The light-hearted banter began when the Independence Day ceremonies ended. The Sri Lanka Air Force had arranged lunch for VIP guests at the Air Force Training Centre. Even President Mahinda Rajapaksa stayed at Bambara House, the official bungalow of the Air Force Commander. He dined in different Air Force meal stations and mingled with senior officers. His regular residence in Trincomalee, the Navy House, was given to the Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Roshan Gunathilake.
“Shaa!!! Meya balanako beach shirt ekak endagena evilla (Wow, look at him, he has come in a beach shirt),” UPFA MP Udith Lokubandara said looking at his Parliamentary colleague, Namal Rajapaksa who arrived a few minutes later.
“Shirt ekanam lassanai. Eyeth meka oyage ekak nemei neda? (the shirt is nice but is it yours?)” asked Minister Priyankara Jayaratne.
“Nehe machang!! Magey bag ekey okkoma thiyenne T-shirt vitharai. Methanata T-shirt andagena enna behe ne. Mang horen thaththage kamareyta panna. Ethane iron karala thibba shirt eka endagena awa. E nisa wedipura thaththata penna inna honda nehe. Meka anduna gani. (No, my friend!! I have only T-shirts in my bag. They cannot be worn here. So I sneaked into father’s room and found this shirt kept neatly ironed. I should not be seen by my father. He may figure it out),” Namal Rajapaksa told his friends.
Moments later first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa who arrived at the scene walked towards young Namal Rajapksa. “Ahney, me thaththage shirt eka neda me endagena inne? (Aren’t you wearing your father’s shirt?)” she asked. There was laughter all around.
President claims no referendum
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in Parliament last week. He later joined with some government ministers and MPs for a brief chat.
Deputy Minister Sarath Gunaratne told the President that he heard that the Opposition Leader had said he would not object to a referendum to extend Parliament’s term.
“Mona janamatha vicharanada? Kisima chanadayak kal daanney nehe. Parlimenthu chande kal daanna janamatha vicharana nehe. Balaya thiyaganna prajathanthrawadayata haani wena dewal mang karanne nehe. (What referendum? No election will be postponed. No referendum to extend Parliament would be held. I won’t do anything to hold on to power and hampers democracy),” replied Rajapaksa.
Moments later, Minister Arumugam Thondaman approached the President and said that a group of children who were visiting Parliament wanted to take a photo with him.
“Ha, enna kiyanna (OK, ask them to come).” Rajapaksa then posed with the students for photographs and later ended up chatting with them.
Sajith tours Galle on bicycle
It was only the other day at the funeral of former UNP Minister Festus Perera that party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe recalled how he and the late Minister went house-to-house campaigning on bicycles in the Wennappuwa area once upon a time.
Taking a cue from that, Sajith Premadasa, the party’s deputy leader-in-waiting, got onto a push cycle and went around the Galle district during the party’s membership drive last week. He’s seen here with party spokesman Gayan Karunatilleke in the Bentara-Elpitiya electorate.
Can minister retain his family?
When one of the Ministers returned from Independence Day events in Trincomalee, he was shocked to have found that his wife had left for London with their children.
The Minister who managed to retain his portfolio in the recent mini-Cabinet reshuffle is now seeing how he can retain his family.
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