Lanka News – Lanka Gazette – Sri Lanka News Portal

A committee headed by UNP MP Joseph Michael Perera is currently considering amending the party constitution.

A meeting will be held today at party headquarters Sirikotha. On the agenda will be discussions as to which party office bearers will be subject to an election.

The Working Committee recently decided that leadership posts within the UNP will be subject to an internal election. Continue Reading

UNP Kandy District Parliamentarian Abdul Cader last week joined the government expressing his displeasure over the manner in which UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was handling affairs of the party.

Cader told The Sunday Leader that although he was saddened to leave the UNP, of which he has been a member for the past 52 years, the party was being taken on a wrong path by the party leadership. Continue Reading

United National Party’s Hambantota District Parliamentarian and son of a former President, Sajith Premadasa is to be groomed as its next leader, a senior party member said. 43-year-old Sajith Premadasa is the only son of the late Ranasinghe Premadasa, a former leader of the party and president, assassinated by the LTTE.

UNP Kegalle District Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim told The Sunday Leader the UNP had arrived at a decision to assign more responsibilities and powers to Sajith Premadasa, who first entered parliament in 1994 and has been elected at every election since then. Hashim said that UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had agreed to the decision calling it a “transitional stage.”
Pressed as to whether this would entail a possible leadership change in the immediate future, Hashim was non-committal. Continue Reading

Dissent continues to grow within the UNP. UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has now raised the hackles of UNP Central Provincial Council members, who met to voice disagreement with his choice for Council Opposition Leader on Friday.

The post fell vacant when Wasantha Aluvihare was elected to parliament in the last general election. Aluvihare said  a meeting was scheduled for Friday, as some members did not agree with the decision made by Wickremesinghe to appoint K.K. Piyadasa as the leader of the opposition. “They didn’t discuss the decision with me, and so I was unable to give any proposal to the UNP Leader,” Aluvihare said. Many members were of the opinion that there were more experienced members who deserved the post, rather than Piyadasa, Aluvihare said. Continue Reading

A large number of newly appointed cabinet ministers are expressing their dissatisfaction over the portfolios allocated to them. Soon after the swearing in ceremony a senior member of the ruling party Nimal Siripala De Silva was overheard making rude comments about his portfolio. Silva, the former Minister of Health was appointed as Minister for Irrigation. Analysts said that Former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake (Public Management and Reforms), John Seneviratne (Public Administration and Home Affairs) and A. H.M. Fowzie ( Disaster Management) have all been demoted. The President himself held on to four key ministries (Defence, Finance and Planning, Ports and Aviation and Highways).

The biggest winner is the President’s younger brother Basil Rajapaksa appointed to the cabinet for the first time as the Minister for Economic Development. He is expected to get key economic institutions under his Ministry.

The President gave some of the other key ministries to members of constituent parties of the Alliance. Wimal Weerawansa got the key ministry of Construction, Engineering Services,  Housing and Common Amenities while Champika Ranawaka the financially lucrative Ministry of Power and Energy. Others to benefit were those who crossed over from the United National Party, most of whom got key ministries. Rajitha Senaratna was appointed as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Johnston Fernando as Minister of  Co-operatives and Internal Trade, and Gamini Lokuge as Minister for Labour Relations and Productivity Improvement. Continue Reading

Sajith Premadasa

Popular UNP MP Sajith Premadasa denied knowledge of a proposal to appoint him Co-Deputy Leader of the UNP.

“There is a lot of talk I don’t trust. There are several permutations of this rumour, sort of farcical talk before it happens,” Premadasa said.  However a UNP parliamentarian who is also a close confidante of UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe confirmed that such a reform had indeed been proposed. In the just concluded general election Premadasa secured over 89% of UNP preferential votes in the Hambantota electorate, strengthening his claim to a prominent position within the party.

UNP MPs Vajira Abeywardena and Ravi Karunanayake were also proposed as co-deputy leaders, the source said. The Sunday Leader has learned  that the measures to introduce deputy leaders had first been suggested about one and a half years ago. Continue Reading

D.M. Jayaratne

The UPFA has secured 144 seats at the recently concluded general election which has put them just four short of giving them  a 2/3rd majority in parliament and has conclusively given President Mahinda Rajapaksa a clear mandate for the next six years.
Polling a clear majority of nearly 31% over the main opposition UNP, the President was described by his closest aides as being “content and jubilant.”

The President, The Sunday Leader learns is committed to changing the constitution. Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne is quoted in our inside pages asserting this is so.

Given that the changing of the constitution entails the support of the Speaker of the House the President placed his elder brother, Chamal, as Speaker. Chamal Rajapaksa is well liked and respected by politicians of all hues. Continue Reading

When The Sunday Leader attempted to contact the new Deputy Minister of Mass Media and Information, Dr. Mervyn Silva to ask him what his plans for the Media Ministry as the Deputy Minister were, we were informed by one of his aides that the Gampaha District MP had been admitted to the General Hospital on Friday as he was suffering from a throat infection and was finding it difficult to speak as a result of this.

It was also reported on Friday that while accepting his letter of appointment from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Dr. Silva had rolled up the shirtsleeve of his left hand and told the President that he would be heading to the hospital as soon as the swearing in was over as his arm was swollen and painful.

President Rajapaksa, the Minister of Mass Media and Communication was not available to comment on the Ministry’s future plans.

Johnston Fernando vehemently denied reports that he met with an accident last week when travelling with popular female artist Samitha Mudunkotuwa in his car.

“These stories are all false rumours. I was never in any accident and I’m perfectly fine. I will be pressing charges against all the news agencies and media that reported this fictional accident,” Fernando said angrily when asked about the incident.

The UPFA candidate, who crossed over from the UNP to the Government obtained a ministerial portfolio and won the Kurunegala seat in the recently held general elections was allegedly involved in an accident while travelling with Samitha who had sustained serious injuries as a result of it.

The singer had to then be admitted to a private hospital in Colombo and received treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). She was seen attending shooting for the reality show Sirasa Super Stars in a wheelchair a few days ago however. Continue Reading

The UNP’s Ranil Wickremesinghe is coming under renewed pressure to quit after the party’s devastating defeat at the April 8 General Election.  The party is expected to win only nine (9) national list seats plus 46 seats in the new parliament, the lowest since the proportional representation system was introduced in 1978.
Ranil Wickremesinghe became Leader of the party in 1994 and twice survived attempts to force his removal.  The party has seen its vote base shrink in a series of provincial and national election defeats over  the past two years.

UNP rebels disgusted with the party’s worst performance ever, told The Sunday Leader that a change in leadership was needed in order for the party to move forward.
Badulla District MP Lakshman Seneviratne, when asked for his opinion on the issue had only this to say – “I am having the last laugh – what I have been predicting where the UNP is concerned came to pass at this last election.” Continue Reading