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President Ranil Wickremesinghe has decided to crack the whip and ask ministers and government MPs to leave if they are not actively engaged in his election campaign and remain mere bystanders.

This came after others working for the president’s victory in the upcoming presidential election requested him to do so.

The President has said that at this crucial time, there is no point in having ministers and MPs on his side unless they are working for his victory and asked those who make a nominal presence to go elsewhere if they so wish. To make the message clear, he removed Ports
& Aviation Services State Minister Premalal Jayasekera, Power and Energy State Minister Indika Anuruddha, Agriculture State Minister Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva, and Highways State Minister Siripala Gamlath, all of whom have extended support to other candidates.

Debate debacle: Only one candidate and moderator

An attempt to bring the leading candidates of the 2024 presidential election to one stage for a debate ended in a non-event yesterday when only one of the candidates showed up. The event was organised by the March 12 Movement and held at the BMICH. The supposed ‘debate’ was carried live by all major television channels and was also telecasted live on social media.

For the first round of the debates, which are due to run for three days, the organisers had invited six of the leading candidates: President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Opposition Leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya candidate Sajith Premadasa, National People’s Power candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna candidate Namal Rajapaksa, and independent candidates P. Ariyanenthiran and Dilith Jayaweera.

President Wickremesinghe had earlier written to the organisers informing them of his inability to attend. The NPP’s Mr. Dissanayake too had informed the organiser that he would not be able to attend.

The debate was due to be held from 3 to 5 pm, with the four candidates who were due to attend being asked six common questions. It began well behind schedule, and viewers who tuned in soon realised why. Only Mr. Jayaweera was present on stage. Though the audience at the BMICH and those at home were informed that Mr. Rajapaksa was also at the venue, he never took the stage. Mr. Ariyanenthiran, meanwhile, had left for Jaffna. There was no word on what happened to Mr. Premadasa.

In the end, moderator Saliya Pieris, PC, only had Mr. Jayaweera to ask the six questions he had been meaning to ask all the candidates that were supposed to join.

Customs goes beyond its custom; crosses trillion-rupee landmark

The Customs Department has reached a landmark of one trillion rupees in revenue for the first eight months of the year, officials said.

They said this put the Customs on course to reach its annual target of Rs. 1.5 trillion, and there was the possibility of surpassing this amount also.

It’s the first time such a target has been achieved, they said, adding that the positive outcome is due to non-interference in the work of Customs officials by outsiders allowing them to levy the necessary taxes and duties and contribute to the state coffers.

NPP leader attacks Wigneswaran, seeks Tamil votes

With Southern votes seemingly equally divided among the three leading candidates, there have been aggressive election campaigns by presidential candidates in the North to secure Tamil votes.

National People Power leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was in Jaffna this week, criticised Tamil nationalist politicians for ‘buying’ false promises by southern candidates with regard to the 13th Amendment. It was a reference to Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi’s decision last Sunday to back the candidature of Sajith Premadasa. Mr. Dissanayake described it as similar to a “blank cheque”.

Addressing a media briefing amidst campaigns on Friday, he was critical of parliamentarian C.V. Wigneswaran,
who declared earlier that the NPP lacked proper implementable policies to resolve the economic crisis the country was facing.

The Northern Province’s former chief minister went one step further to note earlier that if the NPP was elected to office, it might go to China for financial assistance again, resulting in another
financial disaster.

To respond to Mr. Wigneswaran, the NPP leader said, “Even Tamil people don’t listen to Wigneswaran anymore; should I be concerned about this?”

The NPP leader indicated that in the current geopolitical context, a country could not exist without the support of other states. “States extend support to other states, not to individuals. I’ll work closely on matters that are relevant to India while we do the same with China.”

ITN awaits Premadasa’s response

The Independent Television Network (ITN) has invited opposition leader and SJB presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa for a live discussion ahead of the upcoming polls.

ITN Chairman Sudharshan Gunawardena has written to Mr. Premadasa informing him that three candidates, namely Dilith Jayaweera, Nuwan Bopage, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have already appeared on the show titled “Kedapatha” and requested Mr. Premadasa to do so to discuss his manifesto.

ITN officials said they were awaiting his response. President Ranil Wickremesinghe will appear on the show on September 17.

Wimal’s talk show video offloaded but gains wider audience

Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa this week participated in a popular television show in which he spoke of a Colombo-based foreign ambassador’s interference in Sri Lanka’s political affairs, including the presidential election campaign.

Mr. Weerawansa questioned why the ambassador whose term ended a few months ago was still in the country and suggested it was to interfere in the presidential election and its aftermath.

He spoke in length on the role of the ambassador in the 2022 Aragalaya and her attempts to forge alliances between different political parties in the country. The MP also touched on the recent visit of India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval to Colombo and the various political leaders he met.

The programme was telecast on Monday, and by the following morning, the entire video was taken down from YouTube and other electronic platforms of the television station. The MP took to his Facebook page to say that the video had been taken down under pressure from various parties. This in turn led to a high demand to watch the video, and since then, many of its copies have been circulated through various platforms. The best way to get a wider readership or viewership is to have it banned, after all.

Marians apologise to NPP supporters in disturbing trend

Four members of the popular music group “Marians” were in for a rude shock recently when a video of them singing a few lines of a popular Sinhala song but changing the lyrics to give it a political twist did not go down well with some supporters of the National
People Power.

Marians extending an aplogy for doing no wrong

After the video appeared on social media platforms, the band members came in for strong criticism and were threatened with harm. They had to make a new video in which they were shown apologising profusely for hurting the sentiments of some people.

While it is not clear what prompted the band members to issue an apology for doing no wrong, the underlying message is disturbing given that if people are not free to make fun of politics or political parties, those lining up to make apologies will run into a rather large number.

TV company goes smart with presidential slogan

With the presidential election around the corner, traders in electronic items and tuition masters have resorted to clever marketing strategies to promote themselves, attracting the people.

One such company spotted on social media even used the layout of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election manifesto and borrowed a snippet of the slogan, ‘Puluwan Sri Lanka,’ to promote its Full HD smart television, incorporating a proposed election symbol of a TV into their advertising campaign.

State Minister accused of storming Badulla police station

State Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake has been accused of storming the Badulla police station and forcing the police to release 34 persons who had been detained for allegedly violating election laws while canvassing for President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The group of 27 men and seven women were taken in near the Badulla main bus stand wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the president’s campaign slogan.

It is alleged that the state minister had then stormed the police station and angrily demanded that the police release the detailed people. A video of the incident showing the state minister verbally abusing officers at the police station has now been released.

Police, however, have insisted that the group had been detained and later released on the advice of election officials. According to police, the election officials had explained to the group that they were not allowed to canvass for a candidate in such a large group, that only five people were allowed to canvas at one time, and that they could not do so wearing such t-shirts.

Police said the state minister’s conduct had nothing to do with the group being released and that it was done on the advice of election officials after the group was issued a warning.