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Unlike all his previous foreign visits, President Maithripala Sirisena was not accompanied by any media personnel when he made a five-day state visit to the Philippines.

President Maithripala Sirisena waves to members of the media as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (R) looks on after reviewing an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Malacanang Palace grounds in Manila on January 16. AFP

Instead, his media office in Colombo was distributing to local news rooms statements and photographs of what he did. That included his meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.That, however, did not mean President Sirisena did not receive worldwide publicity over the Phillippines visit. Here is a report from CNN which speaks for itself:

“Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16) — Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said he admires the way President Rodrigo Duterte is handling the issue of illegal drugs in the country, adding he feels the same should be done in his own.

“In his speech at the state banquet given in his honour in Malacañang during his state visit Wednesday, Sirisena said, “The war against crime and drugs carried out by you is an example to whole world and, personally, to me. The drug menace is rampant in my country and I feel that we should follow your footsteps to control this hazard.”“Duterte, in his press statement after the bilateral meeting earlier, said Sri Lanka could be a partner to address the trafficking of illegal drugs.

“Duterte is a hardliner when it comes to addressing the problem of illegal drugs, including it in his campaign for the presidency in 2016. He has discussed it in many of his speeches since becoming president, including stories of him warning those involved in the drug trade to stop or he would kill them.

“In a speech in October 2018 he said dead drug suspects were just carcasses to him. In another speech in November last year, he said he would reward cops who kill superiors involved in drugs.“His administration, however, has defended the war on drugs, saying it protects Filipinos.“Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs has left more than 4,000 killed in various police operations, while human rights groups peg the number beyond 12,000.”

MiG deal dead rope: Top officer sees conspiracy to oust him
A tweet by an unidentified person caused a furore at the highest levels of the Police Department on Wednesday.
It said: “Wrecking the MiG deal probe? Disturbing news that a very senior police officer with access to the case may have copied records of highly sensitive evidence and is heading to Singapore, where several co-conspirators are domiciled. No check at airport? No electronic surveillance?”

Within minutes of the tweet becoming public, top brass at one of Police Department’s premier investigative arms received calls. They were being told that the senior Police officer was still at the departure lounge and that they should check his baggage.
At least one top officer was aware there was no such thing. He urged the caller to make a complaint. The “very senior police officer” concerned had in fact called upon him to act in his place when he was abroad for medical treatment for a knee ailment. Prior leave has been obtained by him.

Now, the officer who faced the accusation has appealed to the Ministry of Defence to conduct a full investigation into the incident. He claims there is a new conspiracy to oust him from his job.

New Southern Governor misses ‘U’
Is there a “Sothern Province” in Sri Lanka? At least those who believe in the Facebook of the Governor, Rajith Keerthi Tennekoon, would think so. See picture.
The Governor has also given his other vocations. He works at the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections and the Centre for Human Rights Sri Lanka.

MoD directive on high-profile arrests
Top cops have been advised that investigations or arrests of persons in cases politically linked should be made known to the Ministry of Defence.

Particular reference has been made to arrests. They have been told that directives from those outside the force, except President Sirisena under whom the Police Department functions, should be notified.

Ministers’ brotherly concerns

After two Committees – one under the Prime Minister and the second under the President – cleared him, Kavan Ratnayake has been appointed Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

He is the brother of Ports and Shipping Minister Sagala Ratnayake, under whom the SLPA functions.

This is the second time under the UNF government that a minister has appointed his own brother as Chairman of an institution within the purview of his Ministry. Both for the country’s harbours.

The first was Arjuna Ranatunga. He appointed his brother Dhammika Ranatunga as SLPA Chairman when he was the minister in charge of ports.

Later, as Petroleum Resources Minister, Mr. Ranatunga appointed his brother Dhammika as Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).

IMF team to assess situation before approving loans
Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera and non-Cabinet rank minister Harsha de Silva braved the cold weather and snowstorms in Washington DC for a meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde.
In fact, Dr de Silva was thoughtful enough to phone media offices in Colombo to say the first scheduled meeting did not take place due to the snowstorm. After all, Sri Lankans have to be kept informed. Even US government offices were closed on top of the longest shutdown in the country’s history.

The Sri Lankan duo’s mission was to plead for IMF help to make a quick recovery after the economic downturn caused by the 52 days of turmoil – the result of President Sirisena’s ‘October Revolution’ which ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers.

Top sources at the Finance Ministry now say the outcome of the visit will be the arrival of an IMF delegation in Sri Lanka to assess Sri Lanka’s requirements. Until then, the Fund has not made any commitment to Sri Lanka, these sources say, notwithstanding the fact that there is an IMF office in Colombo already.

Official and unofficial cabinet meetings
Every week, there are now two different meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers of the United National Front (UNF). One is official and the other unofficial. The official one, as is known, is made up of ministers or those acting in their place and is held at the Presidential Secretariat. The other, the unofficial one, is at Temple Trees and takes place a day ahead of the official event – without the President.

The difference? Taking part in the unofficial meeting are not only the Ministers who have been sworn in. There are also those who served as ministers in the previous cabinet.
They also air their views on matters which the ministers would discuss officially in the Cabinet, now limited to 30 by the 19th Amendment.

MP breaks into minister’s office
This is the case of an MP breaking the door to enter a Ministry to meet the minister.
Kalutara District MP Lakshman Wijemanne, who only recently sought a ministerial position, wanted to meet Minister Kabir Hashim.When he turned up at the Ministry, there was no one to meet him. An angry Wijemanne broke through a room to find officials there.

Minister Hashim was enraged. He told the MP he should not have done that. However, Mr. Hashim apologised to Mr. Wijemanne because none of his officials was on hand to greet him.
Now, the Ministry is to bear the costs of repairing the damaged door.

Sirisena quietly visits Thailand’s sacred isle
President Maithripala Sirisena, contrary to earlier reports, did not spend all his six-day private visit to Thailand in the capital Bangkok.

He also made an overnight trip to a tourist resort in Koh Samui, the country’s second largest island in the Gulf of Thailand. The palm fringed resort is located near a tiny island where lies a 12 metre tall Buddha statue at the Wat Phra Yai Temple.
Koh Samui is linked to the tiny island by a causeway.