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The bite was in the chew

Security considerations prevented President Mahinda Rajapaksa from taking part in ceremonies connected with the 200th anniversary of the Amarapura Nikaya.

But he was still able to address the large gathering which included members of the clergy, Prime Minister Rartnasiri Wickremanayake, UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya and other distinguished guests. That was through a satellite link.

President Rajapaksa spoke from his present official residence, Temple Trees. The attentive and large audience first saw the President's face on a large screen. On occasions the picture was distorted. Other times, it was frozen. Then there was no picture whilst the audio ran. After some time, with improvement in the picture quality and a drop in audio levels and vice versa, the speech ended with President Rajapaksa saying “theruvan saranai”.

Then came the biggest embarrassment. The link was not cut and the audience heard some personal remarks being made by President Rajapaksa. One had referred to his wanting to go to the washroom. Thereafter, he had asked aides to call a "sudda" who had wanted a photograph taken with the President.

An embarrassed Prime Minister Wickremanayake was furious. He had to telephone a senior officer in the Presidential Security Division (PSD) and ask him to immediately make sure the link was disconnected. That was done. An inquiry is now under way.

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