PM's acting blunder

It is not only the UNP that is inflicted with communication problems. This week saw a glaring instance in the UPFA too.

Traditional Industries Minister Douglas Devananda was to have been a member of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's entourage to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. However, at the last minute he decided not to go and instead flew to Jaffna.

In Colombo, Prime Minister, D.M. Jayaratne swore in Weerakumara Dissanayake (National Freedom Front - Anuradhapura District) as acting Minister of Traditional Industries.

It was only later that Premier Jayaratne was told that he had made a mistake. He telephoned Devananda in Jaffna to apologise. We are not sure if he apologised to Dissanayake as well.

Obama's swipe at Lanka?

Did US President Barrack Obama take a swipe at Sri Lanka during his address to the United Nations General Assembly this week? Some Sri Lanka watchers at the UN seem to think so. Here is what he said:

"In times of economic unease, there can also be an anxiety about human rights. Today, as in past times of economic downturn, some put human rights aside for the promise of short-term stability or the false notion that economic growth can come at the expense of freedom.

"We see leaders abolishing term limits. We see crackdowns on civil society. We see corruption smothering entrepreneurship and good governance. We see democratic reforms deferred indefinitely."

Of course, there is the case of America's bete noir, the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who did this and the Ugandan President Museveni trying to do this (extending term limits), but the Sri Lankan experience is the most recent. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka opted not to respond to this, having had the opportunity of speaking after Obama.

UNP infighting also on TV

The internecine problems within the United National Party (UNP) received live coverage countrywide this week.

It came when Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena was waxing eloquent on a private television channel.

One of the callers to the programme was Dayasiri Jayasekera (UNP- Kurunegala District). He challenged some remarks made by Mr. Jayawardena that the seven party MPs who voted for the 18th Amendment to the Constitution have been expelled. He said the decision had been made at the Working Committee meeting.

Mr. Jayasekera said he was also present at the meeting but no such decision had been made.

Shot putt shot down

Planning for their annual police sports meet held at the Police Grounds in Bambalapitiya was no easy task.

At one conference, a senior Police officer suggested that the event be shifted to the Army grounds.
The reason? The grounds would be damaged by those taking part in events such as the shot putt. Others laughed. The proposal, however, was overruled.

No chief whip for UNP; no communications

Communications within the United National Party (UNP) appears to have broken down even at the level of its Parliamentarians.

The Sunday Times asked former Speaker and UNP Gampaha District MP Joseph Michael Perera why he and his colleague Lakshman Kiriella (UNP - Gampaha District) voted against the extension of the State of Emergency when it was debated in Parliament this week. "There is a secret behind it. I cannot disclose it," he replied.

However, the cat was out of the bag. On Thursday, the UNP Parliamentary group had decided to vote against it. With the Chief Opposition Whip John Ameratunga now visiting United States, there was no one to inform those MPs who did not attend the group meeting which had been attended by only ten members.

The MPs who were unaware of the decision abstained. It was the others who opposed it.

Pro-president demo and post-script

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to the UN drew the usual pro-LTTE demonstrators, mostly from Canada. The demonstrations were in the Dag Hammarsjoeld Plaza under the shadow of the UN. And the placards, as expected, accused the government of war crimes and urged the world body to take the country before a war crimes tribunal.

However, day two was more favourable towards Rajapaksa. On a day of huge protests against China and Iran, the New York Times reported there was an ''odd group of Sri Lankans'' who were holding placards doing exactly the opposite: supporting a head of state addressing the UN.

"We're happy with the President," the Times quoted Suranga Perera, a freelance graphic designer, as having said. Asked if he did not feel out of place among all the other agitators, he said: "Í guess. What can I tell you."

The postscript came from a Sri Lankan expat bystander, an obvious Sarath Fonseka supporter, who shouted: "How much are they paying you for this?"

Bust-up and cost up

When UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera raised a question in Parliament on Friday asking why public servants are being denied an enhanced cost of living allowance when the government was spending millions to take a delegation of 130 persons to the UN general assembly meeting in New York, Deputy Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama had an interesting reply: "You are talking about a 'sochchama' (an insignificant amount) of necessary government expenditure and comparing it with the cost-of-living allowances which cost a massive amount.".

Police get tough on police

The Matale Police special operations unit officers who went on the trail of a group of illegal timber fellers in the Sigiriya have been taken to task.

On a tip off from a villager, they were found enjoying a river bath after consuming alcohol while on official duty. The team headed by a Sub Inspector (SI) had gone into the area without informing their superiors. The matter was brought to the attention of Kandy DIG Pujitha Jayasundera.

A team from Kandy was sent to the area and the men were brought there following which the SI was interdicted and the special unit dissolved with immediate effect.

In another case, three policemen attached to the Mirihana Police station were remanded yesterday after they had gone on a private jaunt in a three-wheeler belonging to the Police and lost the vehicle.

The men attached to Women and Child Bureau of the station had visited a Buddhist temple in the Nugegoda area, parked it outside and gone in. When they came back, they found the vehicle missing. When queried, the policemen had said they went to the temple for an investigation but there was no official entry made in the Police log before their departure

Sajith told to look beyond Hambantota

The questions being raised by UNP MP Sajith Premadasa on a regular basis about hospitals, schools and roads in the Hambantota District which he represents has irritated a government minister.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena advised him last week that if he wants to emerge as a national leader he needs to focus beyond his district and look at things on a national level. Given all the attention that Hambantota is getting these days, one wonders whether it needs an opposition legislator to draw any more attention to the same area.

Media men in diplomatic circus

This diplomatic posting seems to be going from one media man to another. Karunaratna Paranavitarana, a former Rupavahini employee who unsuccessfully contested the last general election as a UPFA Ratnapura district candidate is tipped to go as Consul General to Toronto, Canada. The post fell vacant in April and was last held by journalist Bandula Jayasekera.