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Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s lawyers and the Sinhala - Buddhist ‘National Organizations Collective’ have commenced a well planned political programme to obtain the Presidential candidacy of the Rajapaksa camp. Sources say this is in spite of opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa binding time without announcing their candidate and asking MP Dinesh Gunawardene to prepare to contest.

According to sources, the programme is as below.

While Gotabhaya has sought to relinquish his US citizenship to contest in the upcoming Presidential election and has handed over the necessary documents to the US government It was reported that he has received a letter confirming that his application to relinquish US citizenship has been received.

Speaking to the media on July 25, Leader of the Piviuthuru Hela Urumaya Udaya Gammanpila told courts that he had seen these documents in person. He added :

“Only a few have seen this documents. I am among them. I can tell without any doubt that the process to relinquish his citizenship is 100% complete. The last step is the State Department releasing the certificate which claims he has given up his citizenship."

“That document was sent to him in May 2019. The US State Department will release the report which mentions those who relinquished their citizenship at the beginning of the next month."

According to Mahindananda Aluthgamage who spoke to The Leader, Gotabhaya had travelled to Singapore for treatment recently using a valid Sri Lankan Passport.

Mahinda’s Opposition !

However according to sources, Mahinda Rajapaksa has now asked Gotabhaya to present proof that he has successfully reliqnuished his US citizenship prior to August 10 in order to be declared as the SLPP candidate at the party convention scheduled to be held on August 11.

He has apparently told his younger brother that the letter stating the US has received his application to give up his citizenship will not be sufficient. However, facing a tough situation to obtain this confirmation by then, his advisors have decided to now take a number of steps to circumvent the issue.

Solution from Minister Vajira!

As a result, it was proposed to obtain a letter of certification from the Minster of Internal Affairs, Vajira Abeywardene and then file a human rights case before the Supreme Court.

Gotabhaya's lawyers have advised him to request for a letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs in writing on his Sri Lankan citizenship in order to confirm that he has taken all steps to relinquish his US citizenship.

His advisors believe that he will receive a favourable response from Minister Vajira Abeywardene. An associate close to Gotabhaya has requested a few family members of the Prime Minister to act humanely towards Gotabhaya in this situation, sources said.

Based on the response from the Minister, Gotabhaya has taken steps to file a HR petition asking the courts to uphold his right to enter the Presidential election. They are also set to commence an anti government campaign at the same time to make these efforts successful.

Sri Lanka’s housing programmes are being carried out under the purview of four different ministries. Accordingly, the Ministry of Housing and Construction under Minister Sajith Premadasa is entrusted with the 'village reawakening housing programme. The urban and middle income groups' housing programme is under the purview of the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development headed by Patali Champika Ranawaka.

The Upcountry Development Ministry under Minister Palani Digambaram is tasked with overlooking the upcountry housing projects while the the Ministry of National Policies, and Economic Affairs under the Prime Minister is vested with the task of building houses for the poorest of the poor in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Sajith unhappy!

Minister Sajith Premadasa meanwhile has expressed his concern on splitting his pet subject of housing development among four different ministries.

Addressing a meeting in Hambantota, he noted that this was political game to undermine his popularity in rural areas.

It was a bitter pill for Sri Lankans to swallow as the controversial Pentagon-styled Defence Headquarters building complex at Akuregoda, Battaramulla has become a white elephant that has consumed millions of rupees from the country’s taxpayer money, a senior Cabinet Minister revealed.

The project was launched in 2011 at an estimated cost of LKR 8 billion to house the Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters moving from the Galle Face Green in Fort to the Battaramulla area, under a plan devised by the former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and current presidential aspirant Gotabaya Rajapaksa which entailed the shifting of all government administrative buildings to one area.

Another white elephant!

Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, under whose purview the land belong toPatali Champika Ranawaka noted that according to the plan of the former regime, the project should have been completed in 2018.

However, the Minister said that a sum of LKR 64 billion has been spent so far on this ‘white elephant’ project while another LKR 100 billion is needed to complete the massive project.

Sources from the Treasury said that the project will resume if and when the necessary funding is raised for the project adding that there is a possibility of construction work being disrupted due to budgetary constraints.

The project commenced during the tenure of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the cost estimate went up to LKR 20 billion.

Funding for the project came from the US$ 125 million earned through the outright sale of the Galle Face land to Shnagri-La Hotel on a suggestion made by Gotabhaya to the then president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The controversy surrounding the Shangri-La deal has become a jigsaw puzzle even at present as big players in the deal are still in the local political arena eying for power again, a senior official said.

Estimated cost vs actual cost!

According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on 25 January 2011, it was decided to construct a building to house the Security Forces Headquarters with more than 211,500 square metres at an estimated cost of LKR 25 billion and scheduled to be completed in two stages.

However, the designs thereon had been changed subsequently and increased the size of the building up to 411,915 square metres and as a result, the estimated cost of the construction had been increased up to LKR 55.60 billion, a report from the Auditor General revealed. Further, a sum of LKR 19 billion had been spent as at 31 December 2017.

The physical progress of the construction work of the three buildings identified on priority basis had remained over 60 per cent.

However, the overall physical progress of all construction work as at 31 March 2018 had remained at 48 per cent. Furthermore, the completion date of the construction work had been extended up to 30 June 2020 according to the revised work plan.

Since 2011, the offices of the Sri Lanka Army had been located in the buildings owned by government institutions and private sector organisations within the Colombo city and suburbs after removing the Army headquarters from its Galle Face premises.

Therefore, the 10 buildings totaling 555,036 square feet had been hired for that purpose as at 31 December 2017 and rents amounting to LKR 1,293 million had been paid as at that date.

In the meantime, these forces have been provided with temporary accommodation in 15 rented buildings at an annual rent of LKR 5 billion, he said adding that the abrupt and unplanned decision taken by the previous regime to shift the Defence headquarters to Akuregoda has put future generations under a heavy debt burden.

The final decision of the Muslim MPs, who previously held portfolios in the government, on whether or not to re-accept the ministerial posts previously held by them is to be made following a meeting this afternoon.

The group of Muslim MPs met with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (28) to discuss several concerns, especially on the formation of a separate Tamil divisional secretariat in the Kalmunai North Pradeshiya Sabha division, before making a final call on re-accepting portfolios in the government.

The MPs today (29) held a discussion with the Internal and Homer Affairs and Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Vajira Abeywardena on several issues including the controversy over the separate divisional secretariat in the Kalmunai Pradeshiya Sabha in the Easter Province.

However, a final decision is yet to be formally announced on the re-acceptance of portfolios by the Muslim MPs.

UNP MP Mujabir Rahuman meanwhile told the media that the Muslim MPs have decided to re-accept portfolios and they would be worn in within the next few days.

Nevertheless, MP Faizal Cassim has said that a final decision would be made only depending on the outcome of the meeting with Minister Abeywardena.

The Muslim ministers in the government resigned in June stating it would help facilitate investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks as well as express concern over the government’s failure to protest the Muslim community when being targeted by extremist groups.

However, UNP MPs Kabir Hashim and M. Haleem re-accepted portfolios several weeks ago.

World Duty Free, commonly known as WDF, epitomises luxury and is considered to be the Rolls Royce of the duty free industry.

WDF presents world-renowned brands imported directly from brand manufacturers and offers all its customers a memorable shopping experience.


The stores in both the departure and arrivals halls have products in all categories such as spirits, confectionery, perfume and cosmetics.

Along with fantastic promotions, an immaculate world class store layout and an unmatched level of Sri Lankan hospitality and customer service, WDF is truly a world class experience.

Travellers who pass through the Bandaranaike international Airport (BIA) are yet to gain a such sense of satisfaction in not only getting the best possible duty free shopping deals and superior products but also an unmatched level of service..

It is high time for Sri Lankan authorities to conduct an investigation to find out the shortcomings and take necessary remedial measures, a group of senior officials suggested to the government recently.

No suitable methodology has been introduced by the responsible parties to monitor the prices of items sold at Duty Free shops at the airport.

Therefore, it has been observed that the prices are determined on the discretion of the shop owners.

Due to non-recovery of custom duties for the items sold at these shops, the government has incurred a great loss in tax revenue.

Furthermore, there was no proper methodology to confirm that the benefit of the tax relief goes to the air travellers.

There were instances where no proper supervision made by responsible parties on duty free foreign liquor shops established at the Colombo Port, Katunayaka Airport and State Trading Corporation.

Under such circumstances, it has been pointed out by the government audit regarding the influx of duty free foreign alcohol to the open market and the effect caused to the tax revenue to be recovered by the government on local alcohol. However, no proper action has been taken to rectify the situation.

It has been widely speculated that former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa is one among five possible presidential candidates of the SLPP. According to reports, the names are being kept under wraps despite being widely discussed among party members.

Sinhala weekly Anidda said reported that, “At the JO party leaders meeting, five names had been suggested and it was agreed that Mahinda Rajapaksa should choose one." The names of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Chamal Rajapaksa, Dinesh Gunawardene and Kumara Welgama had been discussed as possible candidates.

Keeping the names mentioned above a secret appears to be unusual. However, joint opposition leaders believe this is because the fifth name being floated around belongs to Shiranthi Rajapaksa.

Perplexing statement by Rajapaksa

According to reports, Mahinda Rajapaksa has been tasked with choosing a name and informing the leaders of the joint opposition while the chosen candidate will be announced at the SLPP party convention on August 11.

Mahinda Rajapaksa however, speaking to media after attending an event at the BMICH recently said he has not said Gotabhaya Rajapaksa would be fielded as their party candidate.

Gota named to keep the excitement up!

A decision is said to have been made to portray former Secretary of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the presidential candidate despite him not being able to relinquish his US citizenship in order to keep the excitement and activities up of the racial forces that have gathered around him, Sinhala weekly Anidda had reported.

It further notes that they have also decided to name another candidate after nominations are called while also to carry out a propaganda campaign claiming that Gotabhaya was not able to relinquish his US citizenship due to a conspiracy between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the US government.

Attempts to crown Namal!

Speaking in parliament this week, Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa said the 19th Amendment was brought to prevent Namal Rajapaksa from becoming the presidential candidate.

A close confidant of the Rajapaksa family told ‘The Leader’ that Mahinda and Shiranthi’s only hope is to make Namal the President and they would not let anything get in its way. He stressed that therefore they will not allow Chamal to become the candidate in case it may affect Namal’s chances.

He also said Namal’s parents are apprehensive about those supporting Gotabhaya treating Namal badly adding that it is likely that a candidate outside the family will be named.

Ministers Rauf Hakeem and Rishad Bathiudeen are to attend this week’s Cabinet meeting after being sowrn in to their previously held portfolios last night before President Maithripala Sirisena.

Four Muslim MPs, who resigned from their Ministerial portfolios in June due to the tense situation in the country following the Easter Sunday attacks, re-accepted their ministerial portfolios last night.

Accordingly, Rauff Hakeem was sworn in as the Minister of City Planning, Water Supply and Higher Education, Rishad Bathiudeen as the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Co-operative Development and Vocational Training and Skills Development, Ameer Ali as the State Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Rural Economic Affairs and Abdullah Maharoof as the Deputy Minister of Ports and Shipping.

While all Muslim ministers resigned from their posts in June, UNP MPs Kabir Hashim and M. Haleem re-accepted their portfolios later on claiming they had to adhere to the calls made by the party hierarchy, but pledged to stand together with all Muslim MPs on common issues affecting the Muslim community.

The Board of Investment (BOI) is now obliged to conduct investigations into the failure of their two senior officials in charge of Katunayake Free Trade Zone yard to monitor and duly report the incident of allowing the stock mattresses to perish at open air without reshuffling and reprocessing.

This move has been taken in the wake of Hayleys Free Zone Ltd (HFZ), a subsidiary of Hayleys Advantis PLC, deciding to meet the Board of Investment (BOI) today to present a proposal to BOI.

The ‘free port’ and ‘bonded’ areas in ports and free trade zones have been declared as being outside the Sri Lankan territory, and goods delivered there cannot be subjected to Customs inspections, the import and export regulations in the Finance Act indicated.

It is possible for most BOI ventures to secure such concessions by taking cover behind the Strategic Development Projects Act (2008).

BOI in a statement noted that, “In January 2018, having observed that a significant amount of this cargo was stored within the free zone premises without being re-exported as envisaged."

BOI has given written instructions to the company to strictly comply with commitments laid out in the BOI agreement and the applicable environmental regulations.

Simultaneously, the BOI took further steps to suspend all future imports of used material and the company committed to clear all cargo by end February 2018.

The company however, has failed to meet this commitment and has from time to time requested extensions to comply, citing technical and other constraints.

Since the company has failed to re-export the goods as committed, the BOI has decided to take stern action against the company with a view to concluding this matter expeditiously.

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Sri Lanka’s Southern province is now undergoing sweeping industrialisation with the implementation of an unprecedented development plan in the region on the directions of, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Accordingly, Galle and Matara been earmarked to as investment zones focusing on exports. Furthermore, several large tourism zones of about 500 acres will also to be set up by the government.

A project preparation study has been carried out with the aim of improving the resilience and livability of the city of Matara and the greater Matara area.

The Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development is planning to develop Matara as a strategic city located in the Southern Economic Corridor and the vision is “to develop Matara as a commercial service centre” to achieve the desired level of economic growth while reducing regional disparities.

Ministry of Megapolis was the Technical Partner for the project preparation study and it has been proposed to make climate-compatible, low-carbon and resilient urban infrastructure investments.

It will focus on the improvement of solid waste management, upgrading of the city’s flood protection measures by adopting nature-based solutions where possible, improvement of the storm water drainage infrastructure, and urban regeneration and the improvement of city livability.

These sectors will then be prioritized for future investments by the French Development Agency(AFD) and the Government of Sri Lanka.

A EUR 520,000 grant has been provided for the study by the AFD-European Union funded window of CDIA. Matara was the first among 12 cities to be assisted by Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) to develop infrastructure projects with climate co-benefits under the AFD-CDIA partnership, a senior official of the ministry said.

In close collaboration with partners, CDIA has provided the overall management of the study, including supervision of international and local consultants who performed it.

At present, Matara faces serious environmental challenges and is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. Periodic floods linked to storm surge and inadequate storm water drainage cripple the city; while the lack of solid waste management measures continue to pose a risk to the environment and health of the residents.

Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake has been summoned again by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks.

Senanayake has already appeared and testified before the PSC.

However, he has been asked to appear before the Committee again on Wednesday (31).

Sources in the PSC said the Army Commander has been summoned again since there were some clarifications that were needed following the statements made by the intelligence chief and the investigators of the attacks.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several other ministers will be summoned before the PSC on 6 August.

Accordingly summons are to be issued to the Prime Minister; State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene; Minister of Public Administration, Disaster Management, and Rural Economic Affairs Ranjith Madduma Bandara; and Minister of Ports and Shipping, and Southern Development Sagala Rathnayake to appear before the Committee on 6 August.

Sources have also said the PSC would also invite President Maithripala Sirisena to testify.

Synergy that exists between India and Sri Lanka in the textile and apparel sector has given the strengths of India in the raw material base and manufacturing, and that of Sri Lanka in making a mark in certain niche categories.

This was stated Ms. Suja K. Menon Head of Economic & Commercial Wing, High Commission of India when she addressed the inauguration ceremony of the India International Textiles Expo (IITExpo) -Exhibition cum Buyer Seller Meet- in Colombo on Monday 29.

She mentioned that several Sri Lankan companies are also investing in India in the textile sector, contributing further to Indian economy.

India is the largest cotton and jute producer in the world and second largest textiles producer, as well as the second largest producer of silk in the world.

There exists significant complementary wherein Sri Lanka can source textile material from India and transform it into apparel and garments exporter for rest of the world. She encouraged Sri Lankan companies to be part of the supply and value chains of large Indian companies.

The India International Textiles Expo (IITExpo) -Exhibition cum Buyer Seller Meet,the three-day event is organized by the Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) of India, with the support of Ministry of Textiles & Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.

The Chief Guest at the inauguration ceremony was Hon. Anoma Gamage, Deputy Minister of Petroleum Resources Development of Sri Lanka.

Mr. Sharad Amalean, Chairman, Joint Apparel Association Forum; Mr. Rehan Lakhany, Chairman, Sri Lanka Apparel Export Association; Ms. Suja K. Menon, Head of Economic & Commercial Wing, High Commission of India; and Mr. Sunil Satgonda Patil, Chairman, PDEXCIL were also present.

Deputy Minister Anoma Gamage, in her address, conveyed that textile industry forms an important pillar of the Sri Lankan economy, given its contribution to GDP, exports and forex earning, employment generation etc.

She added that the textile sector also plays an important role in achieving the goals envisaged by the Government of Sri Lanka in its Vision 2025. She underlined the strong bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka, and cited the potential to further strengthen the collaboration in the textile sector. She also recalled her own personal connect with the textile industry for almost 25 years.

PDEXCIL has had a longstanding association with Sri Lanka since 1998. There also exists an MOU between PDEXCIL and Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA), which was signed in Gujarat in June 2017.

At the event, about 30 exhibitors from various textile clusters of India are displaying variety of fabrics, made-ups, home textiles, cotton and blended yarn etc. The event concludes on 31 July 2019.

In another unorthodox move, President Maithripala Sirisena is getting ready to issue a gazette extraordinary very soon resorting to his favourite political gamble of betraying the vast majority of people who voted for him to climb the ladder.

President Sirisena held a special discussion with the Chairman of National Election Commission and the Attorney General on the possibility of conducting provincial polls before the presidential election with a view of sticking into presidency till early next year by hook or by crook, informed sources said.

Political analysts predicted that this gazette extraordinary on provincial council polls will meet the same fate of the previous gazette extraordinary issued by him to dissolve parliament and held snap polls inducting a new Prime Minister and a new Cabinet of Ministers.

The National Election Commission informed that it is prepared to call for Provincial Council Elections disregarding the delimitation process.

The President’s intension is to conduct the provincial polls and thereafter a general election early next year after seeking the Supreme Court's opinion on his term in high office.

According to Article 31(3) of the Constitution, the President election has to be held not less than one month, and not more than two months before the expiration of the term of office of the President in office.

According to this constitutional requirement, the last day by which the presidential poll will have to be held, is the 9th December 2019 because President Maithripala Sirisena’s term in office ends on 9 January 2020.

Be that as it may, the current likelihood is that the PC elections will be even more disadvantageous to the SLFP and (to a lesser extent) to the UNP as well.

This will compel the President to seek refuge in the Rajapaksa camp (SLPP) with his SLFP leftovers compromising his high office for an alliance between the SLFP and SLPP otherwise his dream of sticking into power will vanish in thin air.

President now has only five full months in office before the last date by which a presidential election should be held and a new president declared elected.