Columns

Tackling hard-nosed questions with witty responses is not something new for the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who assumed duties on Thursday, though he did not have a single seat in Parliament and had to be nominated as an MP. Many times he deflects hard questions by cracking jokes.

Shortly after he assumed duties on Thursday and visited religious places for blessings, he had a casual chat with journalists. One of them, a foreign journalist asked whether he has any moral mandate to run Sri Lanka since his party failed to return even a single seat. His response was that even late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had only three members backing him in 1939.

Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Walukaramaya Temple after being sworn in as the new PM. Pic by Eshan Fernando

“How did he become the Prime Minister? Because of the crisis. I have done the same. Learn your history,” he said, somewhat angrily and walked away.

There was another question from another journalist about the recent protest staged in front of his personal residence in Colombo under the slogan ‘Ranil should go home.’

The PM responded by saying: “When the protest was underway, I was at home,” and chuckled.

Lankans based in Melbourne on the hunt for Yoshitha and his allegedly ill gotten wealth

Melbourne based Sri Lankans are super active these days trying to find the truth behind social media posts saying that Yoshitha Rajapaksa, Chief of Staff of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, had reportedly arrived in the city a day after the May 9 unrest in Colombo.

This group which alleged that Yoshitha Rajapaksa came to Melbourne with purportedly ill-gotten wealth accumulated through corrupt practices also lobbied local Australian politicians to subject the former Chief of Staff to the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment Regulations 2021 to prevent the transfer of illegal funds to Australia.

They have launched digital petitions to exert more pressure on Australian authorities as well. These reports of Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s whereabouts were conflicting. They all revolved around a former Sri Lanka national cricketer’s marital family connections to Yoshitha Rajapaksa, including a former CEO of the national airline and his wife who have been named in a corruption case in the United Kingdom at a time when Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s uncle was the chairman of the airline.

Jammu and Kashmir former CM warns of crisis in Sri Lanka

It is no secret that Sri Lanka has become the perfect example of how a government should not manage its economy as it is facing arguably the worst economic crisis since gaining Independence, due to mismanagement and corruption.

The alarm bells rang from neighbouring India as well since the Indian rupee also further depreciated amidst increasing inflation patterns.

In a Tweet, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said this week: “What happened in Sri Lanka should serve as a wake-up call. Since 2014, India is being whipped into a communal frenzy & imagined fears. It is treading the same path of hyper-nationalism & religious majoritarianism. All at the cost of disrupting social cohesion & economic security.”

SM content creators make quick cash through fake news after Monday’s violence

There is always an opportunity in a crisis–even for the warped minded and the crooked. As Sri Lanka’s economic situation deteriorated over recent weeks with violent incidents, there is one segment of social media content creators using the opportunity to make some quick bucks by spreading fake news and through misinformation campaigns.

The problematic content creators on YouTube and other platforms were not merely from this country, but across the shores they were spreading lies that went from people dying in the streets due to starvation to vivid descriptions of how military personnel evacuated former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa from Temple Trees–his official residence–through a special operation as protesters clashed along Colombo’s streets on Monday.

In Tamil, one such YouTuber described the details as he witnessed the whole saga by himself but what matters was the video went viral with nearly half a million views. Worst of all, mainstream news channels in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu too picked up similar lines without cross-checking with verifiable sources.

When a diaspora based Sri Lankan national shared the link with his family members back home to verify the details, he was shocked to hear that the whole content was filled with fake news and gossip that was presented in a convincing way. Apparently, he had stopped watching Sri Lankan related content on social media platforms because of his high pressure and mental health, he said.

Central Bank reserves: Who is saying what?

Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe gave an ultimatum during a media briefing this week on the dire state of the economy and the consequences of not having a stable government in place as the economic crisis deteriorated with more queues for essential items and fuel.

As a professional, he also expressed concerns about continuing in his post in the absence of a government and said he would have to resign from his post if a stable government failed to take office within the next two weeks.

What many were not aware of is the fact that when he took over nearly a month ago on April 13, the Central Bank’s usable reserves were merely US$ five million. This was disclosed by former CB Governor Indrajit Coomarasamy during a panel discussion on the status of the economy. It was organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

However, on the following day, then Finance Minister Ali Sabry told the Parliament the official reserves were nearly US$ 50 million.

A few days later, an International Sovereign Bond (ISB) coupon maturing had to be paid.

“Ïf we did not do it on April 13, we would have had a hard default because we would not have been able to pay
the coupon,” Dr Coomsaraswamy said.

Harrowing experience of employee who was caught in the crossfire

It was chaos on Monday when pro-Government protestors turned violent towards peaceful protesters at Colombo’s Galle Face promenade after they marched from Temple Trees, as the Police looked on.

For ordinary passengers who were on their way to Colombo from other sub-urban towns by buses and private vehicles, it was a harrowing experience for them as they were caught in the cross-fire.

One employee who was travelling in a private bus was stopped by unknown people near High Level road in Maharagama and told to find another bus or walk to the protest site of the aragalaya at Galle Face Green, as small groups of individuals organised a solidarity march following the attacks.

Once he got onto another bus, that was also stopped midway and he was warned by another group of angry protesters who said if they failed to stop the service, it would result in the burning of the bus. There were no tuks available there as most people were rushing to their residences fearing further violence on the streets.

After hours of waiting amid the chaos, this ordinary citizen managed to get a ride in an expensive tuk to get back home. But it was surreal to witness along the way, protesters smashing windows and attacking buses before setting them on fire by late evening. This he watched later in the late night news bulletins.