What Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said was not good news to Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem, who is also the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.
The Polls Chief said that both the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) contestants at the October 8 local polls have given their asset declarations. Ninety per cent of the candidates had done so.
However, most of the SLMC candidates had not yet made their declarations.
Not good news for the Minister of Justice.
It was only last week that SLMC's Kalmunai Urban Council members were sworn in before Hakeem.
Inflating the Cabinet
UPFA circles at the highest levels are talking about a possible Cabinet reshuffle by January next year.
Insiders say the number of ministers may not shrink but is likely to increase with the creation of a few more ministries. There is also to be changes in heads of corporations.
Muzammil magic at Manning Market
Colombo's new Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil chose to do his own shopping for vegetables at the Manning Market yesterday.
Crowds surrounded him and some vendors even offered him fruits and vegetable free. He insisted that they take money and said he would not come again if they offered it free of charge.
When he came to one shop, the owner had a complaint. He said there was a leaking gulley which had not been repaired for months despite several complaints he had made to the municipality.
Muzammil pulled out his mobile phone from his front pocket and called the CMC Workshop. He told the workers to come over immediately.
While the CMC workers were on the job, Muzammil waited till the job was completed.
JVP uses old book to hook dissidents
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Somawansa Amerasinghe turned up for his party's Central Committee meeting last Tuesday with a rather old book torn at the edges - a rare edition of sorts.
It had been written by Rohana Wijeweera, the slain rebel leader when he was serving a jail sentence. Only a few copies had been printed in a secret foot pedal operated press at Raddoluwa in Katunayake.
A copy had been given to a one time party strongman Upatissa Gamanayake who had handed it over to him.
It had become useful to Amerasinghe because of a chapter that deals with factionalism. During a revolution, Wijeweera has noted that there would be a growth in factionalism. He has spoken about how it develops and how spies within become a threat to the party.
The Central Committee has decided to print the book. It will be distributed to members when the party commemorates late Wijeweera's death anniversary on November 13.
SJH reshuffle: Controversial board member left out
A controversial Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital board member, known for his outburst against doctors and patients alike, has not been re-appointed.
A new board will be chaired by Nimal Bandara, a retired public official. Among other positions, he was a former Secretary to the Ministry of Education. Others are Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Dr. Harsha Samaraweera and Dr. Janaka de Silva.
This is in addition to ex-officio positions that include the Director of the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital, Director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, Director General of Health Services and a representative of the Treasury. The Consultants are also entitled to nominate three members.
The former board member known as a collector of board papers for wider public distribution including media outlets had become the subject of an official inquiry. The result -- he was omitted.
The monks got their white gentleman
Buddhist monks led by former JHU MP Ven. Akmeemana Dayaratna Thera went to the Australian High Commission at Gregory's Road in Colombo on Thursday to hand over a letter addressed to Prime Minister Julia Gillard thanking her for not backing those who were attempting to take legal action against President Mahinda Rajapaksa while he is there to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
However they were told by the security personnel that none of the staff members was present at the time to receive their letter. The monks were eager to hand over the letter to an Australian national and hence one of them asked the security men if there wasn't at least one "white gentleman" to receive their letter.
The monks were asked to wait for a while and soon a "white gentleman" arrived. The monks handed over the letter to him and left the scene.
When media personnel present at the scene asked what the name and the designation of the Australian official was who received the letter, they were told that he was a member of the staff and not an Australian. Of course the clergymen were unaware.
Earlier they had planned to stage a protest after pro-Tiger groups had called for the prosecution of President Rajapaksa -- a claim totally dismissed by the Australian government.
Rajapaksa outruns Gillard in C'wealth Games
The Sri Lankan President has out-manoeuvred Prime Minister Julia Gillard over duelling bids for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Ms. Gillard yesterday hosted senior officials from across the Commonwealth for a sports breakfast in Perth, on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
In the audience were the bid teams for the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota and Queensland's Gold Coast, as well as members of the 71 Commonwealth Games associations who have a vote.
The vote will be decided at an assembly in St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean on November 11.
Ms. Gillard made a brief mention of the Gold Coast as having put in a bid, saying Australia would host an "outstanding games", the newspaper said.
But President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose country is also hosting the next CHOGM, used his 10-minute speech to make a concerted pitch on behalf of his nation.
Mr. Rajapaksa said his nation wanted to mirror Malaysia, which hosted the Games in 1998 and witnessed massive economic expansion in the following years.
"(Winning the bid) would be a life-changing event in our history," the President said.
He said it would allow reconciliation among his people, after years of civil war, and the reconstruction of infrastructure.
He pledged to finish building all accommodation and sporting facilities by 2015, promising the bid had his government's "highest backing".
Mr. Rajapaksa pointedly noted Australia had hosted previous Games.
He congratulated Ms. Gillard for Australia's contribution to sport worldwide and the Games in particular.
They don't want monk as chairman
For a second time in succession, the Embilipitiya Urban Council has not been able to meet due to lack of a quorum.
This naturally meant that the seven member council (UPFA 5 and the UNP 2) has still not been able to elect a chairman. The post should have gone to Jathika Hela Urumaya's Ven. Weweldeniye Gnana Prabha Thera who won the highest number of preference votes.
However, the SLFP wanted one of its own nominees to head the Council. A venerable bhikkhu, some SLFP leaders argued, would not be able to decide on awarding tenders for meat stalls and similar issues.
Confusion over TNA visit to US
The trip to Washington by a delegation from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has ruffled many feathers after its members spoke out in different voices.
One of them said the visit was sponsored by the US government and another added that there would even be a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Both were inaccurate.
Sri Lanka's Embassy in Washington DC checked with officials of the State Department.
They said the highest the TNA delegation would meet was Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary for Political Affairs. She was only one notch above Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Bob Blake.
The Embassy was assured that the visit was arranged by the TNA though the party had asked for meetings with State Department officials including Blake.
Thereafter the TNA team will visit Canada and return to New York on their way back to Colombo.
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