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The disclosure at the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, vehemently denied by different official channels, highlighted a worrying situation in the day to day governance of the country. It also raised questions on the future of the coalition government.

Higher ups at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), probing an alleged conspiracy to assassinate the President and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa have said they suspect that the RAW is behind the plot. Yet, at least officially, President Sirisena managed to resolve the issue in just one day but the repercussions caused by his remarks continue to be felt. The Sunday Times is able to reveal today the events that unfolded within closed doors of the Cabinet Office and the President’s official residence at Mahagamsekera Mawatha, the former Paget Road.

The only reason that appears to have prompted President Sirisena’s outburst: the suspect now in custody, Marcelli Thomas is an Indian national. This is like arresting a Somalian and thereafter simply concluding that he is from the Al Shabaab militant group or arresting a Malian and saying he is a Tuareg militant. Nearer home, it would even be like arresting a Pakistani and saying he is from the Al Qaida or another militant network there.  There is no evidence otherwise, at least so far, to say Thomas was indeed a RAW operative or how he was involved in the plot.  He is now in detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. This is by no means to say the alleged conspiracy is a farce. Only a probe will show how deep it is. The suspect is being held under the anti-Terrorism laws.

Whether it is right or wrong, true or false, could be determined only after a thorough investigation. There are serious doubts in Sirisena’s mind whether Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera acted correctly and without delay. That has cast doubts on the probe too. Though the President of Sri Lanka, and the first citizen was involved, the IGP first asked only the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to probe this matter. That is a unit dealing mostly with internal police matters and came directly under the IGP.

Amid a political turmoil in the country, the Boys’ Scout motto ‘Be Prepared’ appears appropriate for the Chief Scout, President Maithripala Sirisena, who presided at the scouts awards ceremony held at the Polgolla Cooperative Society Hall yesterday.

An angry President Sirisena had to move in to ensure that the CID took over the case. After public revelations by self-styled anti-corruption activist Namal Kumara, a month ago, the only progress made has been the declaration that RAW was behind the plot. It was only on Friday, that the man allegedly at the centre of the conspiracy, DIG Nalaka Silva, onetime head of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), was interrogated for two days. At least two more days of questioning are due, say CID sources.  According to these sources, he is likely to be arrested tomorrow and produced in courts.

A fundamental knowledge of the working of intelligence or investigative agencies would give one an idea of how clandestine operations in this modern electronic age are carried out. A case in point was how in 2011, seven years ago, a group of 27 agents from Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, checked into different hotels in Dubai in business suits. Some were at Bustam Rostana Hotel where they murdered Mahmoud Al-Mabjouh, a Hamas leader. The men were armed with British, Irish, German and French passports.

Some passports were originals with photos of the agents replacing the owner. Others were forged. It took a while for Dubai authorities to unravel the plot using surveillance footage which is said to be one of the best in the world. Even after a meticulously planned under-cover operation, the exercise failed though the mission succeeded. Surely, is it not common sense that RAW would delegate one or more of Indian nationals in a blatantly bizarre operation?

Would its operatives carry Identity Cards when they are deployed for undercover operations and expose themselves? Thomas was a long term visa overstay and was giving tuition to students in Negombo at one time. Some students have claimed he was good at it. After his name surfaced, the Indian High Commission obtained the address of Thomas from the CID and later said in a statement that he was mentally unsound. A few Sherlock Holmes in Sri Lanka would still say that by itself is under cover activity. Yet, all this is only suspicion.

Here is a clear instance where a Head of State and Head of Government had been made to believe of RAW involvement without any tangible evidence but only on a suspicion based on suspect’s nationality. That Sirisena revealed this, with little verification, placed on razor’s edge the relations between Sri Lanka and India. This also highlights the absence of any “filtering mechanism” at the highest levels of presidential bureaucracy where sensitive information is vetted and he is briefed accordingly. Tragic enough, those who place the President and the nation in such possible peril get away to cause more blunders. A beleaguered President, despite the powers he enjoys, seems to be fighting a lonely battle. More on the conspiracy episode in the later paragraphs.

President Sirisena’s damning remarks came when ministers took up for discussion a Cabinet memorandum (No: MP&S/2018/28) titled “Operationalisation and Full Development of East Container Terminal of SLPA.”  It was presented by Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe. He explained that the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is in a “vulnerable situation without a deep draft container terminal in the recently developed Colombo South Harbour. Noting that it had been developed at a cost of US$ 375 million, he said there was a need to “suit the emerging trends of container line shipping.” The shallow water terminals pointed out by the SLPA, he said, “are running at full capacity and the SLPA is not in a position to expand its operations without a terminal in the South Harbour.

Samarasinghe said that “the East Container Terminal (ECT) is a deep draft terminal designed to accommodate the latest class of Ultra-Large Container Carriers (ULCC), deployed in the east-west sea route. Today the liner shipping industry is dominated by fourteen container shipping companies merged into four shipping alliances. These four alliances control 90% of container capacity on major trade routes and they have deployed ULCC vessels in the east west sea route with the latest being 22,000 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) class vessels.”

In his four-page memorandum, Samarasinghe sought Cabinet approval, to:

• Initiate a procurement process for short term (two years) leasing of five ships to shore container handling cranes to serve ULCC Vessels of the ECT phase-1 through International Competitive Bidding method to meet the demand during lead time.
• Commence the procurement process for five numbers of ships to shore container handling cranes with right capacity and fifteen numbers of Rubber Tuyred yard Gantry cranes for the East Container Terminal phase 1 by SLPA pursuing International Competitive Bidding method.
• To set up a Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee’s and Technical Evaluation Committee for the lease of equipment.
• Rescind the call for EOI (Expressions of Interest)/RFP (Request for Proposals) on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) basis in 2016.

Ahead of Cabinet consideration, it is customary that the Finance Ministry observations are obtained on memoranda submitted by ministers on matters involving finances. Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera presented to the Cabinet a four-page memorandum making his own observations. He agreed that the Expressions of Interest/Request for Proposals called for in 2016 could be rescinded. However, he made five different recommendations. They are:

• Re-activate the Ministerial Committee for the East Container Terminal.
• This Ministerial Committee, giving consideration to Cabinet decisions where ECT is identified as a national asset, enters into direct negotiations with the Governments of Japan and India on identifying strategic partners who will own a controlling stake in the PPP (public-private partnership) Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will lease the ECT and operate on a BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis for a 35 year period similar to existing PPPs in the Port of Colombo.
• The Ministerial Committee to commence negotiations on grant funding to be made available by the Government of Japan to procure cranes for the ECT.
• Appoint a Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) and Project Committee in keeping with PPP Procurement Guidelines to assist the Ministerial Committee and to negotiate with identified consortium partners to secure the maximum possible minority equity stake and revenue streams to SLPA via the Special Purpose Vehicle that will lease the East Container Terminal.

The Ministerial Committee to re-engage the Asian Development Bank on revised terms.

It is known that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had reached understanding both with India and Japan with regard to the ECT. Finality and a formal Cabinet approval were pending. The matter assumed greater significance in the light of his visit to New Delhi on Thursday. One of the subjects for discussion with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was this tripartite venture. Another is investment by an Indian company in north Sri Lanka where 15,000 acres were to be allotted to grow cane for sugar production.

The discussion saw Finance Minister Samaraweera waxing eloquent on the contents of his memorandum that backed the tripartite arrangement. This was after Ports and Shipping Minister Samarasinghe explained the highlights of his proposal. It saw an intervention by Sirisena for well over a half an hour. “This cannot be given to anyone,” he exhorted and referred to remarks by United States Vice President Mike Pence. CNN reported on October 4 as Pence saying that the “battle for influence on the global stage is becoming a major policy concern in recent months.” The report said he had warned that Sri Lanka’s southern port (Hambantota) may “soon become a forward military base for China’s growing blue water navy.”

“I am not going to give the ECT in the Colombo Port to any outside party,” Sirisena replied triggering a heated exchange. Even Vice President Pence has referred to the Hambantota which is only on lease. “We don’t want this kind of attention,” he declared and added that “under no circumstance would this take place.”

President Sirisena referred to Samaraweera’s remarks earlier that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had agreed to this. The President said “this is wrong.” He said during a meeting with the Indian Premier in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu during the BIMSTEC summit in August, he had explained to him that the ECT could not be given to India. He (the Indian Premier) had accepted the position, he added. He quoted Modi as saying, “It’s fine if you don’t want to seek collaboration for ECT. It is a section of your own government that proposed to give it to us.”

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said ECT would essentially be a transhipment facility for cargo destined to Indian ports. He estimated that the volume amounted to 80 percent of the cargo and added “this is the only way we can survive.” Wickremesinghe revealed that he had promised both Indian Premier Modi as well as Japanese Premier Abe. Diplomatic sources said Sirisena had concurred with the two leaders on the tripartite project when he visited New Delhi and Tokyo in March but Presidential sources claimed “there was no such thing.”

Samarasinghe pointed out that 75 percent of the cargo was destined for India. He argued that the Indian government did not envisage a role since it was the shipping companies that would be involved. Sirisena joined in to re-iterate that “our government has been subject to international attention. Hambantota Port is the best example. Accumulating material of international concerns expressed is causing concern. He then referred to the assassination plot against him by an Indian national, a RAW operator.

“These are concerns we will have to look into. Indian Prime Minister Modi may not know about this. There is a need to expedite the investigation,” declared President Sirisena, according to reliable multiple ministerial sources. He was visibly very angry and pointed out that the CIA in the United States had reportedly killed two Presidents. I love this country, exhorted Sirisena to be reminded by Finance Minister Samaraweera that “we all love this country.” Even Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed had expressed apprehensions to him over the conduct of the Chinese but did not elaborate.

Those remarks from the President drove Health Minister and official spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne into a tantrum. “Mey kathaawa methane keranney nehe. Apita loketh ekka randu wenda behe. Magen ehuwaa nam, mang kiyanawa ehema kathawak methane wunne nehe kiyala,” or we don’t talk about this here. We cannot fight the whole world. If anyone asks me, I will say no such discussion took place, he said.

A highly placed source close to Sirisena still denied that the President made any accusations against the RAW. “He (the President) said that an Indian national has been arrested in connection with the alleged plot to assassinate him. He said many people ask him whether it was the RAW. There are some instances where intelligence agencies operate without the knowledge of their governments. Even Presidents have been assassinated by the intelligence agencies of the same country,” the source said.

The President asked at the Cabinet what the Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera was doing. When the assassination conspiracy came to light, even before the investigations were concluded, he was making all kinds of remarks. Sirisena said that the Police chief had told him that the recorded tapes did not have the voice of DIG Nalaka Silva. Now, even the Government Analyst has confirmed that it was his voice.  How could he say so? Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara tried to intervene. He was stopped by Sirisena so he could make some remarks. Minister Samarasinghe who wished the arguments to end called for a stop. Finance Minister Samaraweera quipped that “ekadipathi wadaya” or dictatorship ended in January 2015. Wickremesinghe took exception to what was going on. Minister Samarasinghe, who is a strong ally of Sirisena, tried to persuade Wickremesinghe to stop, saying the issue is now over. He asked how he could be stopped when he was Prime Minister.

An angry Wickremesinghe exhorted “Bambu Gaha Gannawa” or a remark that meant something akin to impolitely saying “do what you want.” Sirisena declared “I don’t know who is protecting him,” referring to Police Chief Jayasundera. . He asked Wickremesinghe, “why can’t they (India and Japan) take the West Terminal of the Colombo Port” and noted that US$ 80 million had already been spent on it. Asked what was going to be the conclusion, Premier Wickremesinghe replied “give me two weeks.” Retorted President Sirisena, “I will give you one week. We cannot give to outsiders our domestic assets,” he declared. After his talks with Indian Premier Modi yesterday, Wickremesinghe is now expected to report back to the Cabinet.

Even though the Cabinet meeting ended around 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, the reverberations caused by the issues that surfaced spread far and wide. It is usual practice now for leaks on discussions reaching the media. This week, however, it was not just a case of leaks but a few had opened the sluice gates. It was all over radio, television and the print media. The Chennai based influential The Hindu newspaper, read by the establishment in India, took note of it. Later, its Colombo Correspondent Meera Srinivasan remarked at spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne’s regular news conference that she had checked with four different cabinet ministers. This was when Senaratne denied media reports about the discussions at the cabinet and said they were “completely false.”

Evidently, through these leaks a number of ministers had literally brought Sirisena to the accused box in the court of public opinion. A damage control exercise of unprecedented proportions was in the making at President Sirisena’s official residence on Wednesday morning. Around 7.30 a.m. Presidential Secretary Udaya Perera telephoned President Sirisena. He said Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu wanted to see him urgently and has cancelled his departure to New Delhi that day to be on call for the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s arrival. An appointment was immediately given for him at 10.30.

“As you know, there are political differences in the Cabinet. Some of them have wilfully twisted a comment I made about the alleged assassination threat against me,” President Sirisena told High Commissioner Sandhu, according to a highly placed Presidential source close to him. Many had asked him if the Indian national in police custody was a RAW agent but he had not made a remark, he contended. After the President said he also wanted to explain matters to Premier Modi, arrangements were made for a telephone call between Colombo and New Delhi at 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday. The source said, “both leaders agreed that the media reports were a manipulation and that the friendship between the two countries should not be harmed by any mala fide elements in the cabinet.”  The source added that the President had also explained the alleged assassination threat and the ECT were two different matters, but some reports had tried to make them look as one.

Other damage-control measures included: Minister Senaratne to deny the media reports at his regular post-cabinet news conference. Minister Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) spokesperson, to also do the same during his weekly Wednesday briefing. The Cabinet Secretariat and the Foreign Ministry to issue statements.

Spokesperson Minister Senaratne fielded questions at his news conference. Here are excerpts:

Q: There was some cross-talk at the cabinet meeting between the Prime Minister and the President over the cabinet paper put up by Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.

Q: What is the proposal about the container terminal?

A: There was no such proposal. It was about the purchase of cranes.

Q: But what about the news reports about an argument that is reported to have taken place?

A: The Cabinet Secretary has issued a statement regarding media reports.

The media reports are untrue. There were no cabinet papers about Indian government or private sector involvement in development of infrastructure.

The statement from Cabinet Secretary Sumith Abeysinghe said he requested  that the media should clarify from the Ministerial cabinet spokesmen when reporting about events at the cabinet meeting.

Q: We can understand the denial of the report, but the President also had mentioned about RAW?

A: What the President said was that they are trying to say the person from India was connected with the RAW. He said that through it they are trying to damage the good relations with India.  May be that’s how the person who gave it understood it. The media reports have tried to implicate the RAW.

Q: The media report said that the RAW was involved in the conspiracy?

A: The President did not say anything of that.

Q: You mean The Hindu report is wrong?

A: Not only The Hindu, all papers have got it wrong.

SLFP spokesperson and Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told his news conference on Wednesday that a deliberate attempt had been made by some ministers who had leaked information to cause a rift between the President and the Prime Minister. He said the President had clearly stated at the Cabinet that the ECT could not be given over to any other party and that it should be under the SLPA’s control.

The Foreign Ministry said, “The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been drawn to media reports attributed to President Maithripala Sirisena alleging the involvement of an Indian Intelligence Service in a plot to assassinate him. The Ministry wishes to clarify that the media reports in this connection are baseless and false…… ….It is disappointing therefore that matters of this nature have become the subject of distorted and erroneous media reports taking the President’s remarks out of context, which has given rise to further media and social media speculation and the spread of unfounded fear among the public.”

The Prime Minister’s Office (in New Delhi) declared: “ The President of Sri Lanka stated that he categorically rejected the reports in sections of media about him alluding to the involvement of India in any manner whatsoever in an alleged plot to assassinate the President and a former Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka.

“He mentioned that the mischievous and mala fide reports were utterly baseless and false, and seemed intended to create misunderstanding between the two leaders as well as damage the cordial relations between the two friendly neighbours. The President apprised the Prime Minister of the urgent steps taken by him personally and the Government of Sri Lanka to publicly reject these reports. In this context, he also recalled his meeting with the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka today morning……”

With that diplomatic exchange at the highest level, leaders of two sovereign nations have accepted each other’s position in the eyes of the international community and Sri Lankans. However, that is only the upper layer of a process. Beneath the ashes, there are burning embers which could spark a row or cause discomfort in the months to come. This is if issues are not correctly handled and are allowed to drift in different directions. A senior Police officer’s mere suspicion nearly ruptured relations between Sri Lanka and India. Worse enough, a leaf from President Donald Trump’s career record on fake news has hit the Sri Lankan media like a tsunami. They have become the sacrificial goat and not those who are murdering the truth.

The sudden spurt of a crisis in the cabinet came in a week where there were many other political developments. On Monday, the SLFP Central Committee held a meeting chaired by President Sirisena. An important decision was to change the party’s manifesto to set up a politburo. Such a body is to become the main organ in the party to make urgent policy decisions. The party’s annual convention has been pushed for a date next year and is to be confined to office bearers. Plans are to hold it at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Until the Executive Committee of the party decides on the office bearers, the present holders will continue in office. Contrary to earlier expectations, no matters relating to the recent Maithri-Mahinda talks were discussed.

A more significant meeting on Thursday was between President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe accompanied by their respective ministers. The UNP was represented by Ministers Mangala Samaraweera, Kabir Hashim and Akila Viraj Kariyawasam. On the SLFP side were Ministers Sarath Amunugama, Duminda Dissanayake, Mahinda Ameraweera, Faiszer Musthapa, Sriyani Wijewickrema and Vijith Vijithamuni de Soysa.

They decided that all efforts should be taken to ensure the Provincial Council elections were held. For this purpose, the five-member Committee headed by Premier Wickremesinghe that is now studying the Delimitation Report was called upon to expedite its report. The SLFP ministers raised issue of funds for the Gamperaliya programme not being received by their MPs. Wickremesinghe said he would ensure this was expedited.

Soon after Wickremesinghe and his ministers withdrew, President Sirisena asked the SLFP ministers to stay behind. He then gave his own account of the meeting he held with his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa. He said the two of them had met him at his own official residence. He did not go to the residence of former minister S.B. Dissanayake, he claimed. Sirisena said he had despatched a vehicle from the Presidential fleet to bring them to his house since it would have attracted public attention if they came on their own. He also said that he only discussed with the two Rajapaksas matters relating to their security in the light of attempts to assassinate him and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

I asked former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He told the Sunday Times, “If President Sirisena had said so, it is completely false. Neither I nor Basil went to his house; nor the use any of his vehicles. For that matter, I have never been to his house. That is all I can say.”

Basil Rajapaksa, ideologue and strategist of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), of which brother Mahinda is the de facto leader, confirmed to the Sunday Times that he and the former President met with Sirisena. He, however, declined to say where the meeting took place and debunked reports in some sections of the media that the talks had collapsed and there were no deals. “The status quo remains. There is nothing that has happened to change the environment that prevailed,” he asserted.

Basil Rajapaksa explained to the Sunday Times some of the matters he had discussed with President Sirisena. He admitted that he had suggested the name of Eva Wanasundera as the Chief Justice. He had even said that the “law of necessity” could be resorted to since the Constitutional Council was not fully constituted (at that point of time). He said that the reason was because the nominee of the Prime Minister, viz., the Attorney General, was at present a prosecutor and handled several cases against the Rajapaksa family. President Sirisena had replied that he would forward two names, that of Justices Nalin Perera and Eva Wanasundera. “There may be sections on our side who would be disappointed. But we realise he had recommended his own nominee, not that of the Prime Minister nor ours”, Rajapaksa said. The President later said he sent only one name to the Constitutional Council, that of Justice Nalin Perera. Even S.B. Dissanayake, a source said, who was around when they spoke on this subject had praised Justice Nalin Perera and declared he was a good choice for Chief Justice.

Basil Rajapaksa said our main issue was the concerns of the people who are undergoing hardships. We wanted to jointly address them and pave the way for early elections so people had the opportunity to decide, he said. Avenues on how best to ensure these and other matters received our attention, he added.

There is now still further confirmation that Mahinda and Basil Rajapaksa not only met President Sirisena at the Battaramulla residence of onetime minister, S.B. Dissanayake. They also sat together for dinner during a near three hour session where a sumptuous meal was served according to a source familiar with the talks. Among them: String Hoppers, Pol Rotti, Chicken curry, Mushrooms, White Rice, Fried Rice and other Chinese dishes, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.  Significantly, maybe, no hoppers were served. As earlier reported, Dissanayake was severely admonished after details of Maithri-Mahinda meeting were reported particularly in the Sunday Times. He asked the politician who has served in many political parties how only this particular meeting reached the media. Much earlier, the Maithri and Mahinda duo had met on two different occasions but those details never became public, he had pointed out.

Now to the Nalaka Silva episode: There is no gainsaying in the fact that the Police moved tardily over the revelations by the self-styled anti-corruption activist Namal Kumara. As President Sirisena told Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, when the voice recordings of DIG Nalaka Silva were seized by the CID, Police Chief Jayasundera had told him it was not likely to be that of the head of the TID. That Nalaka Silva was closely associated with Jayasundera, and he had approved the formation of a Rapid Deployment Force at the TID, received two Light Machine Guns (LMGs) approved by him, had all raised concerns. The Special Task Force (STF) was asked by the IGP to give the TID special training. This is notwithstanding the fact that the TID is not an operational arm of the police.

Mr. Maithripala Sirisena is no ordinary person. He is the President of Sri Lanka. Hence, any threat that endangers his life or for that matter even the former Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was at the apex of operations to defeat Tiger guerrillas, should be treated seriously. When there is a detection of a few grams of narcotics or the conduct of a sports meet, news conferences are held by the Police top brass. Here, the nation is kept in the dark. Ironically, some UNP ministers have not only defended Jayasundera, even via news conferences, but have also told him to stay on and fight, i.e. fight the President. Even an ordinary citizen receives better treatment though most are more frightened to enter a police station than face a criminal. Such an action directed to the President of a country, needless to say, is unbecoming of the Police.

The Sunday Times learns that President Sirisena will write to Police Chief Jayasundera next week calling upon him to step down or stating that he has been removed. The legal aspects are now being examined. Sirisena has also been critical of Law and Order Minister Ranjit Madduma Bandara for being silent on the alleged conspiracy and holding news conferences to defend the police chief. If Sirisena claimed there were rogue intelligence agencies that killed their own presidents, it would behove on him to find out whether there are such rogue elements in the CID. Their suspicions have shaken the government.

Unfortunately, for President Sirisena, he has been making a string of wrong remarks and issuing ill-advised orders in the past weeks. In New York to attend the UN General Assembly sessions, he took credit for winning the separatist war when he was acting Defence Minister. He told the General Assembly that Sri Lanka would find its own answers and appealed to the international community to lay off – a shift in the foreign policy position after three and half years. This week, he asked directors of two state banks and the BOI to resign – a task that is in the hands of the line minister at least where the state banks are concerned. Even the Presidential Media unit, it seems, is of no help to him. The saddest outcome is heaping all the blame on the media.

Just this week, President Sirisena paid one million rupees to Police Sergeant Sanatha Gunawardena, once a hostage of Tiger guerrillas. The officer, interdicted after he protested at the Thebuwana junction with a T-56 assault rifle was also reinstated. He was demonstrating against his own OIC for releasing a lorry carrying sand without a permit.

Last week’s reference in these columns to Minister Malik Samarawickrema travelling to Colombo by Inter City express train from Kandy to Colombo has drawn a response from him. He said he did travel by train but did not ask the Air Force for a helicopter. He flew Cinnamon Air, he said. He seemed conscious not to add his name to others in the government who were making scores of trips on SLAF helicopters, both social and business.

Three and half years in office, the coalition or “Yahapalanaya Government,” has reached breaking point. Sri Lanka is in a state of denial.