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CBK handles advertising campaign for Sirisena
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Representatives of advertising companies queued up outside the Colombo residence of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on Friday.
They made different presentations to her on the propaganda campaign for the Presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
That included not only campaigns in both print and electronic media but also on how to tackle the social media. Ms. Kumaratunga was reviewing the presentations to select the best to defeat her successor, Mahinda Rajapaksa. She chose the confines of her home for the exercise instead of Siri Kotha, the UNP headquarters from where all the campaigns were to be directed.
The actors behind the release of Indian drug convicts
While the recent release of the five Indian fishermen sentenced to death for drug smuggling, has made headline news, Indian media are reporting some hitherto unknown details of the backdoor manoeuvrings that took place. Well-known Bollywood actor Salman Khan had dispatched a friend and media personality named Rajat Sharma to Colombo to invite President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son Namal for the wedding of Arpita Khan, the actor’s sister.
During the visit Mr. Sharma met President Rajapaksa also. The telephone conversation between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President where a request had been made for the release of the Indian fishermen had been made by the Indian PM. Premier Modi had confirmed that journalist Sharma was a close personal friend of his for the past 40 years. The men were released a few days later on a directive from President Rajapaksa.
Indian media reported that New Delhi seems to have made its best efforts through multiple channels, possibly including actor Salman Khan’s link to Namal Rajapaksa who on November 21 tweeted a photograph with the actor and his sister. “It was lovely catching up with @BeingSalmanKhan ahead of the 2nd wedding reception,” Namal Rajapaksa said in a tweet wishing the bride.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, Premier Modi spoke to President Rajapaksa on the telephone and thanked him for releasing the fishermen. They met this week in Kathmandu where the Indian premier wished the President good luck in his presidential election campaign.
Crossover panic hits WPC
Western Provincial Council (WPC) Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga summoned a special meeting of UPFA members on Thursday.
It was amid rumours that an attempt was being made by the UNP group to take control of the council.
A notable absentee at the meeting was UPFA Councillor Hirunika Premachandra together with the three JHU members of the Council.
The Chief Minister told the gathering there were rumours that some UPFA members were planning to cross over and urged them to ensure that this did not happen.
Three more in crossover show
Crossovers from the UPFA ranks to the Opposition have been the talking point in political circles these days.
While the UPFA leaders argue that they have stemmed the flow by addressing the grievances of those tipped to move out, Opposition circles insist that there was still a trickle waiting to say goodbye.
Among them, they say, is a minister who is adept at playing different roles as well as his sibling who is a provincial councillor.
Another strongly tipped is the sibling of a slain politico who had trade union connections.
The trio, insiders say, were not responding to appeals by the UPFA leadership who were seeking meetings.
Internal police battle continues: Illangakoon vs. Balasuriya
A ding-dong battle goes on between Police Headquarters and the Ministry of Law and Order.
The latest is a directive by Inspector General N.K. Illangakoon that any officers summoned to the Ministry should keep the IGP’s office informed before visiting there. He has also said that once they undertake such a visit, they should also inform him of the purpose for which they went there. The move comes amid directives by Law and Order Ministry Secretary and former Police Chief Mahinda Balasuriya, transferring out scores of police officers including those in charge of stations. The process, a Police source said, was ongoing.
Such transfer orders, Police sources said, were being issued by-passing the IGP via Director (Personnel) who is a functionary under the Police Chief. Causing concern over the move are allegations by Opposition parties that the mass transfers were politically motivated in view of the Presidential elections on January 8. Amid this tussle, the head of a premier State intelligence arm was ticked off by President Mahinda Rajapaksa this week. The agency concerned has been responsible for one of the worst failures in recent times — failure to provide any hard intelligence on moves by those in the Government side crossing over to the Opposition.
If that was bad enough, one source said, worse was the failure in not being able to report on an ‘open source’ event – former Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, ex-President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and a host of others turning up on the same stage at the New Town Hall. That is where Mr. Sirisena’s candidature was announced for the first time through a televised news conference.
Meanwhile, DIG Chandra Wakista, who heads the State Intelligence Service (SIS) appeared on a television network on Friday night to deny he had forwarded to UPFA leaders a report forecasting victory for Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential election. This is the first time that the head of an intelligence service has subjected himself to public exposure in a world of intelligence gathering where they operate secretly.
Lankans not online for India
External Affairs Ministry officials in Colombo are concerned that Sri Lanka has been left out from a new online visa system New Delhi has introduced.
One of them said yesterday that the inclusion of Sri Lanka would have helped thousands of pilgrims who visit places of Buddhist worship in India.
They point out that though the issue of visas to different countries is on the basis of reciprocity, Sri Lanka continued the issue of visas to Indian nationals on arrival in Colombo.
MR tweet blunder on PM NS
Not so long ago, the Presidential media unit said in an advisory that tweets which carry the initials MR at the bottom were personal messages from President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
There was a tweet from MR just before he arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal for the SAARC summit. It said:
Mahinda Rajapaksa@ PresRajapaksa 2d
I look forward to meeting with President Ghani, PM Hasina, PM Tobgay, PM Modi, President Yameen and President Shariff – MR
An embarrassing faux pas in the message was not noticed until some angry Pakistanis tweeted back. They said Shariff was not their “President” but was Prime Minister.
It turns out that a media staffer in the Presidential entourage was responsible for the blunder. The official was ignorant of a basic fact – that Nawaz Shariff was Prime Minister of Pakistan.