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The ongoing political turmoil, which has left Sri Lanka with no functioning government for the first time since independence in 1948, did not deter President Maithripala Sirisena, from flying in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) VIP helicopter from Colombo to Kilinochchi.
He went there to open the sluice gates of the sprawling Iranamadu tank. The water flowing from there is said to benefit an estimated 10,000 farmers in the area. Last week, he went by helicopter to Moragahakanda to open the sluice gates there.

Until the defeat of Tiger guerrillas in May 2009, the Iranamadu tank area was a stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). When the UNP government was holding peace talks with the LTTE, the guerrilla ideologue, the late Anton Balasingham, arrived by sea plane that landed on the Iranamadu tanks. A “rest house” lay close to the sluice gates.

The sea planes were given by the then Malidivian government of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Immigration Department officials were flown by helicopter to seal Mr. Balasingham’s passport and later to place the departure stamp.

After opening the gates, Sirisena accompanied by his confidant Mahinda Samarasinghe and Northern Province Governor Reginal Cooray visited a village. Mothers surrounded the President, who was under tight security, to demand the whereabouts of their children. He told them that the government had appointed an Office of Missing Persons and it would go into the matter.

President Sirisena and his entourage were entertained to lunch at the Security Forces Headquarters. He later took the one and half hour return flight to Colombo.

Sri Lanka passport up nine notches in world ranking

The Passport Index released this week shows that Sri Lankan’s passport is in 84th position in the world rankings. This is nine notches up from last year. Sri Lanka has visa-free access to 16 countries and visa on arrival to 29 countries, while 153 countries still require visa.

Sri Lanka shares the 84th position with Lebanon and Libya. The Passport Index devised by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital looks at three factors: The country’s visa-free score – which includes visa-free and visa on arrival; the visa-free portion of their score versus visa on arrival; and the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index is used as a tie breaker.

On the Passport ranking list, the number one position goes to the United Arab Emirates, Singapore second and Germany third.

Look at your own Twitter account Harsha
UNP Parliamentarian Harsha de Silva made a huge hue and cry in Parliament this Wednesday over the House website which referred to Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister even after the Court of Appeal’s interim injunction barred him from functioning in that position.Mr de Silva also took to his official Twitter handle to express his concern in this regard.

However, one would be surprised to observe that his Twitter handle continues to address him as the State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs although the cabinet has been dissolved for more than a month.Now, this keeps one guessing – is this due to an unintentional error or an act of defiance?

Hakeem criticises ST sources
At the United National Front (UNF) parliamentary group meeting on Monday, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem referred to a report in these columns last week. It was about Harin Fernando, the former Minister, criticising UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at a public meeting in Badulla. He said Sajith Premadasa should be the leader of the party.

Under pressure, Mr. Fernando denied the criticism and said it was a 43 minute speech. However, a television station aired the whole speech where he did make those statements.Mr. Hakeem said it was wrong for those responsible to give such stories to the Sunday Times. Mr. Fernando, he said, was a young party leader who was working tirelessly for the UNP. UNP leader, ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, said he was unaware how the story came about. “They even criticise me,” he declared.

Guess, who wanted the finance portfolio
At least two UNPers, onetime ministers, have met President Maithripala Sirisena, according to sources in the Presidency.
Whether they were coming with messages or “free lancing” is not clear. At least one of them, these sources said, had sought the Finance portfolio, when talks were under way for a new government. However, President Sirisena had said that was not possible but he could be offered another portfolio.According to these sources, the same person had later made the same request from Mahinda Rajapaksa. The answer has been a firm “no.”

Meme rings a bell
Amidst the prevailing political gridlock, several memes revolving around recent political events have been floating across many social media platforms.One such meme was a matrimonial advertisement in which the groom was in search of a bride.
The advert read as follows:

“A groom employed at an Executive level is seeking for a hand in marriage. Divorced following the first marriage while the second marriage also resulted in failure. Entered into an illegal marriage very recently and is expecting another divorce since the majority of his family are not in agreement with the relationship. The bride must not converse in English and should always be clad in national attire while providing assurance that she will not challenge him at any point. A dowry of 30 cabinets and 45 cupboards would be offered to the bride who wishes to marry him. The groom is willing to pardon those who had committed mistakes”
Based on the recent political events in the country this advert rings a bell, doesn’t it?

Ranil wants democracy hopper
The hopper story which has become almost legendary since the defection of President Maithripala Sirisena from the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in 2014 continues to be used as a political idiom in the present day political scenario.

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who was among the speakers at the Professionals for Democracy event held in Colombo on Thursday started off his speech by making reference to the hopper talk. “This is the tachchiya (pan) talking. We all got together and cooked a hopper and that hopper was democracy,” he said amidst applause from the crowd. He vowed to fight on to uphold these principles despite the continuing clash with President Sirisena.