The one who was dropped
The name of a serving Major General who was to be part of the three-member General Court Martial to try retired General Sarath Fonseka had to be dropped at the last hour.
Insiders say this was because his name transpired when the "summary of evidence" was being recorded at the Ward Room of Navy Headquarters.
The man who saved millions
Fund raising during the opposition presidential campaign in January has become the talking point.
Most of the contributors, insiders say, were told to personally hand over the money to retired General Sarath Fonseka, the opposition's common candidate. This was in an upper floor room at his campaign office at Rajakeeya Mawatha.
There was a queue of businessmen and well wishers. A staffer was known to tell those who sought appointments that only sums above five million rupees would be personally accepted by retired Gen. Fonseka.
At least one businessman fell foul of United National Front (UNF) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for failing to obtain an appointment with General Fonseka. He wanted to make a cash donation.
Soon after the presidential elections, however, he called Mr. Wickremesinghe to thank him for not making the appointment. "Sir, I am thankful to you for helping me save some money," he told the UNF leader.
War politics at big match
It happened at the Ananda-Nalanda annual cricket encounter at the SSC grounds.
Using a hand-held microphone, a speaker was praising the virtues of three old boys of Ananda. He said they were great heroes who were involved in the military campaign to defeat Tiger guerrillas. The trio, all Major Generals, were present at the occasion.
Suddenly, someone, who was in good spirits barged in, grabbed the microphone and declared all those remarks were big lies. "The man who won the war," he shouted, "is retired General Sarath Fonseka."
He added the name of another serving Army officer before others grabbed the microphone from him.
It turned out that the interruption came from an Inspector who is in charge of a Police Station in the City. To make matters worse, he had been present at the venue after reporting sick to his bosses.
Now, the Army officers want Police Chief Mahinda Balasuriya to go into the conduct of this officer.
Ban on Bogol's job
Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama admitted to the Sunday Times last week he had sought a UN job for his son.
This is by asking an official in the office of Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN to hand over a letter (on the Foreign Ministry letterhead) to Vijay Nambiar, UN Secretary General's Chief of Staff. He argued last week that there was nothing wrong in this.
Now, the media at UN headquarters have raised the matter at a news conference with Secretary General Bank Ki-moon. Here is the text of the Q & A:
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, late last week you spoke with the President of Sri Lanka, and said that you are going to name a panel, to advise yourself, on accountability. Over the weekend, the President said that you had no right to do it and had a very different read-out of the call than we received, at least the way I hear it. Can you explain what the purpose of the Panel is and when you think you are going to name it? And the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka over the weekend, confirmed that he sought a job for his son with the UN. I wonder if you think that is appropriate, and is such a job going to be given?
SG: As you said, I had a frank and honest exchange of views with President [Mahinda] Rajapaksa, Thursday night, last week, over issues that were of concern to both of us. This included moving forward on political reconciliation, further movement on the condition of internally displaced persons, and the establishment of an accountability process.
I am concerned with the lack of progress of the joint statement which both I and President Rajapaksa had agreed during my visit last year. I raised this issue and discussed [it]. I made clear to President Rajapaksa that I intend to move forward on a Group of Experts which will advise me on setting the broad parameters and standards on the way ahead on establishing accountability concerning Sri Lanka. For that purpose, we have agreed that I dispatch [Under-Secretary-General of Political Affairs] Lynn Pascoe in the very near future.
Q: Do you think that it's appropriate for the Foreign Minister of a country with which you are dealing with on possible war crimes to be seeking a job for his son with the UN?
SG: First of all, I am not aware of that particular case of job application of the Foreign Minister's son. As a matter of fact, any recruitment process will have to be dealt with in a most transparent and objective manner by the selection committee members. That is what the United Nations has been [using] as a principle.
Secret talks at Senaka's
Stories of what went on behind the scenes when opposition political parties came together to support retired General Sarath Fonseka at the January 26 presidential elections are now emerging one by one.
It has now come to light that opposition leaders met at several secret locations, often travelling without their personal bodyguards.
One such meeting took place at the office of Senaka Haripriya Arnold de Silva at Jawatte Road. The ground floor was a sales outlet of sort.
Inside a room there, were the movers and shakers of the opposition. Among them were UNF's Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mangala Samaraweera and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna's Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Retired General Fonseka was somewhat irritated when he saw two photographs on the wall. Both showed Senaka de Silva standing among others in a crowd near President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a public function.
It is customary for some to obtain copies of such pictures, make enlargements and hang them on their walls.
Retired General Fonseka was somewhat irritated. "Look at this, He thinks I am not going to win the presidential election," he remarked, prompting laughter among others.
Another meeting had taken place at a Nawala residence. Insiders say this is where Senaka de Silva's girlfriend lived.
Now, most opposition leaders except those in the JVP are blushing. It was after revelations that Senaka de Silva is a convicted criminal.
The Attorney General's Department is still studying a request by the Belgian Government for his extradition to serve a three-year jail sentence there. He had been convicted for a fraud.
Wedding hall for politico
Residents in Kottawa, in the Colombo district, call it a wedding reception hall. It is not.
It is the political office of a ruling party candidate. A businessman spent more than three million rupees to build it with new material including pipes, cloth curtains and lighting. The cost of labour alone was Rs 800,000.
Diplomatic immunity
from retirement
A Sri Lankan ambassador posted in a European capital has continued to serve there even after he hit the mandatory retirement age of 60 -- although he could have done so only with the approval of the Cabinet. But that approval never came.
A senior official of the Foreign Ministry, for some unaccountable reason, was apparently reluctant to put his signature on the marching orders for the envoy concerned.
And since his continuation as ambassador was technically illegal beyond his specified term of office, he had no legal right to a government salary. The question that is lingering in the minds of many of his colleagues in Colombo is: will he be called upon to reimburse the money due to the government? If not, who is going to pay for this diplomatic blunder?
Taking a cue from this fiasco, two other career ambassadors, who will also be reaching the retiring age of 60 shortly, and who are serving in West Asia, are apparently planning a longer stay beyond retirement age citing diplomatic precedence.
But will this fly a second and a third time around? Or will the precedent be grounded?
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