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The move follows a meeting the Council had on Friday with Mr Jayasundera and members of the Police Commission. It was chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.

After a lengthy discussion, the CC gave the Police Chief two weeks’ time to resolve disputes he is locked in with the Police Commission. They centre on the Commission’s directives over promotions of senior, middle level and junior officers. He had reportedly not executed them.

Mr Jayasundera had taken up the position that such matters would have to be referred by him to the Ministry of Law and order — an argument that was rejected by the CC. He had been told that the Police Commission is an independent body and was legally empowered to issue directives.

An angry Speaker Jayasuriya, Chairman of the CC, a source said, admonished the Police Chief for bringing disrepute to both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe through his conduct. He said the Police Chief’s conduct in the past had been cause for concern and asserted that personal issues should not cloud his execution of official duties.

Mr Jayasundera was in Kandy yesterday and paid a visit to Sri Dalada Maligawa.

SL defence delegation in Moscow

Defence Secretary Kapila Waidyaratne in Moscow on Monday met Russia’s deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin for bilateral talks on military-technical cooperation and other matters.
Part of the Sri Lankan delegation at the talks was a Russian secretary at the embassy, raising questions as to why she was on the Sri Lankan side.

‘Jana Balaya’: Fake news exposed

How the ‘fake news’ phenomenon is coming into play in Sri Lanka was highlighted prominently during the Joint Opposition (JO) organised ‘Jana Balaya’ protest in Colombo this week. Prominent figures in both the Government and Opposition were left exposed after sharing deliberately false information surrounding Wednesday’s protest.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, were the two most prominent individuals who joined the protest at the Bo-Tree Junction in Pettah. The former President’s official Twitter account was soon tweeting pictures claiming to be from the ‘Jana Balaya’ protest. It was not long thereafter though that some of those in the Twitter community pointed out that the pictures were from a JO rally held some time ago in Nugegoda. The post has since been taken down.

On the Government side, speaking during a news conference later on Wednesday, State Minister Ajith P Perera claimed that 81 drunken protesters who participated at the ‘Janabalaya’ protest were transported to hospitals by the 1990 Suwa Seriya Ambulance Service.
He pointed out that the JO had opposed the introduction of this so-called “Indian” ambulance service.

Mr Perera’s claim was disputed by his own United National Party (UNP) colleague, State Minister Harsha de Silva, who was instrumental in helping to set up the ambulance service in Sri Lanka with a grant from the Indian Government.

Mr de Silva published Suwa Seriya’s patient report from the protest on social media, clarifying that just one person who was under the influence of liquor had been transported to hospital by the ambulance service.

TNA battles move from Jaffna to Supreme Court

The on-going internal conflict between Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members loyal to Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan reached the Supreme Court this week. Both parties accused each other of taking revenge for their different political stance through a legal battle.

Following a Contempt of Court case filed by former Provincial Minister B. Deniswaran who secured an interim order from the Court of Appeal to reinstate him as a PC Minister, one time Supreme Court Justice Wigneswaran presented himself on Friday before the very court he once sat on, along with current Provincial Ministers who have been named as respondents. The Court postponed the case for September 18 and ordered the Chief Minister and the Provincial Ministers to be present when the case is to be taken up for hearing.

Earlier, the Court of Appeal granted interim relief to Mr. Deniswaran the provincial minister for Fisheries, Transport, Trade and Rural Development, after he claimed that the Chief Minister acted arbitrarily when he removed him from the board of ministers. The court also held that Mr. Deniswaran was duly appointed and that he continues in his post as before.

K. Kanag-Isvaran PC who represented Chief Minister Wigneswaran told court that the root cause for this case was the political differences that existed within the TNA, of which the chief minister the provincial minister were members.

Speaking to the media outside the Superior Court complex, Chief Minister Wigneswaran alleged that TNA Parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran was behind this legal battle for political reasons, using the unseated Minister as a proxy while petitioner Deniswaran accused the Chief Minister of planning to break away from the TNA and form a new party with likeminded followers in the council.

Going here and there, CIABOC to get eight-storey building

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been given permission to construct an eight-storey building by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) but it is ten storeys less than what the Commission sought permission for.
The building will be constructed on a bare land located behind its previous Malalasekera Mawatha (Colombo 7) building.

The Commission had been asked to vacate the building as it had fallen into disrepair and there was a threat of it crumbling. The Commission’s staff of about 100 had then moved into the building which earlier housed the Registration of Persons Department at Keppetipola Mawatha in Colombo 7. This building belongs to the Cabinet Office, but a request had been made to the Cabinet by Higher Education and Cultural Affairs Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to use it as a Cultural Division while the Bribery Commission was in occupation of the building.

However, the Commission had brought the matter to the notice of President Maithripala Sirisena who had asked it to continue using the building until a new building was constructed.

Meanwhile the CIABOC is also on a recruitment drive to strengthen the institution. It had called for applications to fill 265 posts and had received 14,250 applications, which are now being processed. These include Crime Prevention Officers and Legal Assistants. The Commission is facing a staff shortage at present with not enough persons in administrative posts to process even the applications, officials there said.

Ranil going to Viet Nam again

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will make his second visit to Viet Nam in a month next week.
This time it is to attend the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) World Economic Forum which begins on Tuesday September 11.
Last month, he visited Viet Nam for a conference on the Indian Ocean.

Manisha mix-up may puzzle the queen

Poor James Dauris. He must be packing his bags thinking that dear Boris had done the dirty on him before quitting as Foreign Secretary.
A Sri Lankan website carried a report the other day that our ambassador in Seoul, Manisha Gunasekera, who is actually packing her own bags ahead of leaving South Korea, has been appointed British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.

In fact, she has been appointed Sri Lanka High Commissioner to the Court of St James. Might make an interesting talking point when Ms. Gunasekera presents her credentials to the Queen who is well informed and rarely misses a trick or two.
Ms. Gunasekera, a career officer, due in London end of this month would be the fifth career diplomat to serve as our high commissioner in Britain.

Maharagama’s Master Sir in another controversy

The Chairman of the Maharagama Urban Council once demanded that all persons calling at his office should address him as “Sir.” A notice to this effect was posted outside his office (see photo above).
Now comes a complaint that the chairman allegedly summoned three workers of the Council’s electricity department, admonished them and ordered them to kneel.

The employees allege that they were also assaulted. However, the chairman has denied the accusations, saying he found the employees drinking at a bar and claimed he had photos of it in his mobile phone.
The Maharagama Police are now investigating.