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All except her?
Amidst reports of how people of all walks of life – three-wheeler drivers, lawyers and retired military officers among others were being entertained at Temple Trees, Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse heard of a different kind of complaint.

He was told by friends of a complaint by President Kumaratunga that she had not been invited for a meal on any occasion. “Why not? I invited her for a meal a number of times but she never came,” thundered Rajapakse.

He told a close confidant that on one occasion he waited with all the food ready. Shortly after midnight he had received a call that she was unable to come, said Rajapakse.

Not too pleased
Soon after the launch of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse’s manifesto, Minister Mangala Samaraweera presided at a press briefing on the manifesto and its contents.

Representatives of all the parties which had pledged support to the Prime Minister were present and one by one each of them addressed the gathering, including members of the CWC and a breakaway faction of the Up Country People’s Front.

It was after all of them spoke that JHU MP Ellawala Medhananda was allowed to speak. The monk was obviously not too pleased with the way he was treated as was evident when he complained to journalists after the meeting.

Carrying on regardless
Although the Treasury last week instructed the head of the Rupavahini Corporation not to make permanent 15 casual employees, the Chairman has disregarded the circular and given them permanent positions but at a lower rank.

The reason is they were employed as casual employees in higher positions, for which they had no qualifications and hence when making them permanent, they have been given positions commensurate with their qualifications.
All this when there are many permanent employees who have completed more than 10 years of service and with promotions long overdue.

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