Trouble is brewing in the United National Party (UNP) and the grand old party may see a renewed crisis.
Insiders say General Secretary Tissa Attanayake has sent out a "charge sheet" to the recently named co-deputy leader Sajith Premadasa. He has been asked to explain six charges which relate to violation of party discipline.
They all relate to alleged insult or embarrassment caused to party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe through remarks made publicly.
Both Wickremesinghe loyalists and members of the Premadasa faction remained tight lipped over the issue. So much so, some even denied that such a 'charge sheet' has been sent out.
The question in party circles is what would follow and whether Premadasa would respond. One insider said he stands to lose his newly won co-leader post if found "guilty of the charges". That would naturally lead to another ding-dong battle in the party.
Premadasa has lakhs of elephant photos
UNP Co-Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa continues with his Sasunata Aruna programme where he makes cash donations to Buddhist temples.
The last was for a temple at Makalana in Galgamuwa. Villagers in the area had another complaint. They told Premadasa that a wild elephant, blind after being shot on earlier occasions, was causing havoc. It was destroying their crops and even homes.
'Yang api denma balanna" (Let us go now itself and see) he said and walked with a group. Many wondered whether he was going to chant some mantra and chase the elephant away.
Premadasa dipped his hand into a bag, picked up a camera and went on to photograph the elephant. Later, he told villagers that he had lakhs and lakhs of elephant photographs, perhaps enough to give one each to his supporters.
Sajith seems to be following in the footsteps of his father, the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa who did not limit his photography to 'shooting' elephants. During the last week of December in any year, he would stay in the wild life sanctuary of Yala. He would not return to Colombo until he saw an elephant on New Year's day, January 1.
Meanwhile, Premadasa is also to visit a mosque at Madawala in the Kandy District to make a cash donation. However, he has not said whether the funds for it will also come from Sasunata Aruna.
Ranil's vehicle hit from both sides
Like in politics, there seems a moral from an accident involving the Opposition United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Fortunately, he escaped unhurt.
Mr. Wickremesinghe was on his way to open a new shrine room in a temple in Mawanella.
At Kiribathgoda, the advance vehicle in his convoy applied brakes hard to prevent an accident. It happened so suddenly, his newly acquired Montero luxury jeep hit the advance vehicle. That is bad enough. The worse came when the rear escort vehicle banged on the rear of the Montero.
Perhaps that was one occasion when Mr. Wickremesinghe's own vehicle was hit from both sides. As for the Opposition UNP leader, in politics frontal and attacks from the rear have been so common that he has survived them all.
Ravi joins ranks of well-known late-comers
A new media unit for the United National Party (UNP) was opened at party headquarters Siri Kotha in Kotte last Monday.
Noticing that Colombo District Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake and national organiser was late for the occasion, Mr. Wickremesinghe remarked that he should be given an alarm clock. He could then be punctual.
The new media unit's head, Mangala Samaraweera, shot back. "I think I will also need one," he said. Samaraweera is also known for being late for occasions.
It prompted one UNPer to remark to a colleague that "Mangala had cultivated the bad habit from his former boss, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, a chronic late-comer." Ms. Kumaratunga may have, however, acquired her bad habit from her father, the famous S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who was known as the "late Mr. Bandaranaike" long before his death in 1959.
UN venue drama over Channel 4 film
In a fortuitous turn of events for the Rajapaksa government, the scheduled screening of the controversial film 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' in the U.N.'s Dag Hammarskjold auditorium on Tuesday had to be cancelled at the eleventh hour.
The government may have to grudgingly thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the cancellation. The technical crew who were assigned to facilitate the screening is to be deployed for a key political event the same day: the re-election of Ban Ki-moon for a second five-year term by the General Assembly.
The re-election, obviously, took precedence over the mounting charges of war crimes against the Sri Lankan armed forces as portrayed in the movie produced by Britain's Channel 4 television.
Not to be outdone, Amnesty International, which was sponsoring the screening, moved the event to the UN Church Centre just across from the UN Secretariat, a building that mostly houses non-governmental organisations. The fresh screening is now re-scheduled for Tuesday 11 am. Amnesty has also gone one better: It has invited representatives of Human Rights Watch for the screening. The film maker Callum Macrae will be present to answer questions from the media and the public.
If the screening took place in the Dag Hammarskjold auditorium, as originally planned, the movie would have received more political legitimacy being shown within the UN precincts. But the downside of the UN auditorium was that the audience would have been confined to the UN press corps, diplomats, staffers and NGO representatives -- all holding UN credentials to access the building.
But the new venue, outside the UN precincts, is now open to a wider audience: the public, including Sri Lankan expatriates.
So far, there are no planned government-sponsored demonstrations against the screening. But the possibility cannot be ruled out.
Malaysian job for Daulagala
Major General Lalith Daulagala is to be Sri Lanka's new Deputy High Commissioner in Malaysia.
He is a serving officer of the Sri Lanka Army and will succeed Major General Udaya Perera, who has been nominated by Army Headquarters for an overseas course.
Madam wants an Adam
The madam who was at the centre of a Police raid on a high class brothel was taken to the National Hospital this week.
She was to be examined by doctors to ascertain whether she suffered from any sexually transmitted diseases. She refused to be examined by a female doctor and insisted it should be a male. The request was allowed.
Brazil-bound ex-IGP hits out at police, but questions loom
Police Chief Mahinda Balasuriya who tendered his resignation but retired prematurely on Friday following the recent events around the Free Trade Zone where a 22-year-old youth was killed by police shooting is to be Sri Lanka's new Ambassador in Brazil.
External Affairs Ministry officials say his name has already been proposed to the Brazilian government and they are awaiting approval of his appointment.
The 32nd Inspector General of Police did something unprecedented last Friday. Unlike his predecessors who retired, Dr. Balasuriya published a newspaper advertisement where he chastised his colleagues over the incidents at the Katunayake Export Processing Zone.
He said: "Due to the unpleasant incidents that occurred at Katunayake EPZ, that is due to Police Officers not being able to carry out orders set by myself at Katunayake on 30.05.2011, I have decided to voluntarily retire despite being able to serve for another two years in the capacity of the Inspector General of Police. I would like to express my total displeasure with regard to Police action about the incident and I have taken the above decision to set an example to the Police, Public sector and Private sector."
What we have quoted is only one of ten paragraphs in the advertisement. Who paid for the advertisement, Dr. Balasuriya or the Police Department, is one issue. However, there are more important questions. Who said Dr. Balasuriya has been asked to go on retirement? Why did not Dr. Balasuriya the IGP take action against the Police Officers who did not carry out orders given by him? After all, that is insubordination and warrant dismissal of the officers concerned. Now that the IGP has given 'evidence' in public, will the Police officers he accuses be charge-sheeted? Or is this all to escape some kind of human rights allegations he may think will land on his head? Well, well, answers to those questions will never come in another advertisement.
Now, Dr. Balasuriya is set to leave for Russia tomorrow. Who is accompanying him? Jamis would rather not say and subject him to top level inquiries by the long arm of the law or the shorter poles of the lawless!!
Divided National Party at Poson dansala
The Poson dansala at UNP headquarters Siri Kotha was no doubt to seek merit.
Yet, it was held in two different ways by two different people -- Co-Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa and National Organiser Ravi Karunanayake.
Both distributed gram (kadaley) and ice cream from two different areas.
Rukman launches
book on Dudley
Government and UNP leaders are to gather together today when Rukman Senanayake launches his new book on Dudley Senanayake, his uncle and three times Prime Minister to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the late leader.
The first copy is to be handed over to UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya at a ceremony at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI).
Also expected to attend on behalf of the government is senior Minister Sarath Amunugama, a one-time UNP stalwart.
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