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Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa this week made it clear that those who left them during the Yahapalana government would be welcomed back, but they need to maintain the distance. He clearly meant political distancing, and not social distancing.

He was referring to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) members who had returned to contest on the SLPP ticket.
Mr Rajapaksa was trying to explain to his supporters how the returnees should be treated. It has been no secret that some of the SLFP members contesting on the SLPP ticket have been snubbed at political rallies.

“Some people left us saying that there was some cow dung in our milk container and jumped into a sewage tank. Now they have climbed out of the tank and returned to us. When they come back, we must accept them, but we should not embrace them. We all know what would happen if we embrace a person who is smeared in sewage,” Mr Rajapaksa told his supporters during a meeting.

He said they would definitely welcome them back out of compassion. However, Mr Rajapaksa pointed out that to work together they must first need to purify those who were smeared in sewage.That seemed a stinging attack on SLFPers who are contesting under the SLPP banner, one of whom is former President Maithripala Sirisena.
Sniping between the two have been going on for some time, and just last week the SLFP office bearers threatened legal action against SLPP members who attacked them from political platforms.
Clearly, SLPP National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa has been under pressure from SLPP candidates who are engaged in the ‘manapey porey’ (fight for the preference vote) often called the ‘balu porey’ (dog fight) with SLFP candidates contesting from the same list in the districts.

Questions over Central Cultural Fund document and allocation of Rs. 11bn
A document has now surfaced where the Central Cultural Fund’s (CCF) Governing Council reportedly gave approval to release funds of the CCF for projects approved by former Minister Sajith Premadasa during his tenure of office.
The document contains a date just a day ahead of the Presidential elections held on November 16 last year.
It has now been revealed that no such meeting was held on the date mentioned in the document.

The document contains only eight signatures of the 11 member Governing Council and importantly does not have the signature of the Council’s then Chairman – former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. It is also minus the signatures of former members of the council Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and the former PM’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake.

Among others who have signed the document are former Ministers Sajith Premadasa, Mangala Samaraweera, Mano Ganeshan and John Amaratunga.

According to Council members the last meeting of the Governing Council was held as far back as March 05, 2018.
Therefore, questions are being raised as to how the document came about when no such meeting was held.
A report compiled subsequently had revealed that as much as Rs 11 billion had been withdrawn from the CCF funds without approval.

The money had been spent during the election period.
Some of it was spent on religious programmes and construction of buildings for religious schools.

Presidential Media Unit: The picture of double standards
On Thursday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa attended campaign meetings in the Gampaha district in support of SLPP candidates contesting the 2020 parliamentary election. One of these meetings was organised by former Minister and SLPP candidate Prasanna Ranatunga at the Udugampola ‘Sathi Pola’ (weekly market) premises.

A Sunday Times team on election coverage was also in the district at the time. Our photojournalist, who had the official Media Identity Card issued by the Government Information Department, tried to enter the Sathi Pola venue to take some photographs of the event attended by the President. He was curtly informed that only photographers from the Presidential Media Unit (PMU) were authorised to cover the event from inside the venue.

Just as he turned to leave, however, another photographer who claimed to be the official photographer for a local mayor was promptly granted entry to the venue. This begs the question, are personal photographers in the pay of SLPP mayors now recognised as members of the PMU?

Bribery probe on two Kandy cops
Police have opened an investigation against two Kandy policemen who reportedly obtained Rs 300,000 from an area businessman to expedite forensic reports needed to obtain bail for his son.  The businessman’s son was arrested by the Kandy Police District Anti-Corruption Unit and remanded. It is alleged that the police officers had demanded money to get the forensic report needed to get bail expedited.

As the person is remanded for several months, the family members tried to obtain bail but had failed due to the delay in the report.  Two police officers had wanted Rs 500,000 to get the reports, but eventually had agreed to obtain them for Rs 300,000.

After making the payment and with no response for several months the businessman decided to complain to the police.  The Kandy Police crime branch is conducting the investigation into the complaint.

Wigneswaran declares assets, but questions on foreign currency in accounts
The Northern Province’s former Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has come out to declare his assets. He issued a statement giving details of his assets to show how transparent he was

He declared that his local bank accounts had Rs 4.4 million while he also has 9,618 British Pounds and 1210 US Dollars in his accounts.

Retired Justice Wigneswaran also said he had a plot of land in Sandilipay, Jaffna and he had gifted his Colombo 7 house to his daughter as dowry, but had life interest in it.

He explained that the money in his savings was from the pension he got as a retired Supreme court judge and the salary he got as Chief Minister. There was no explanation to the foreign currency in his accounts.
He is the first northern candidate who issued a media statement about his assets.

A blast from the past

Political party candidates are all out to promote themselves ahead of Wednesday’ s elections. Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka uses the vehicle in which he was caught in a suicide bomb attack at the Army Headquarters in Colombo in 2006. The vehicle that was badly damaged in the explosion is kept on display at the locations where Field Marshal Fonseka campaigns. A photograph showing the former Army commander injured is also on display along with a dummy of the woman suicide bomber. Pic by Deepa Adhikari

Cat and drugs game out of the bag
Guards at the Welikada Magazine Prisons, yesterday detected a cat with 1.7 grams of heroin, two SIM cards and a memory chip tied around its neck, officials said.

The cat had been sent from outside the prisons into the prisons when the prison guards detected the animal. They noticed a small parcel tied around its neck.

Yesterday’s detection was the fourth foiled attempt to smuggle drugs, phones, SIM cards and tobacco into various prisons in the past two weeks.

ACJU president Rizwe Mufti receiving the donation from a Chinese embassy official

China makes donation for Muslims
China has made a donation to the Colombo based All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulema (ACJU).
The Chinese Embassy’s website has posted a picture of an official there handing over a document to an the ACJU President Rizwe Mufti.