News

Johnston on why yahapalana govt. did not have JO members prosecuted

Published

5 years ago

2021/12/7

by Saman Indrajith

The yahapalana government had tried to prosecute the then Opposition MPs belonging to the Joint Opposition for a fracas in the Chamber of Parliament, but got cold feet on finding that CCTV footage records proved the partiality of former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando said yesterday.

Making a statement, in Parliament, following the announcement by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena that a committee comprising government and Opposition MPs would be appointed to investigate the incidents of violence in Parliament on Friday and Saturday, the Chief Government Whip said: “Time was when MPs came to the Chamber armed with knives to attack us. During an incident that went out of the control of former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, MPs resorted to fisticuffs. Some MPs threw chilli powder, while some hurled chairs. Following that incident the yahapalana government and its speaker Karu Jayasuriya tried to prosecute the Opposition MPs. They lodged complaints at the Colombo Crime Division and the Rajagiriya police station. They boasted that action would be taken against us under the criminal law. Somehow the investigation was stopped. Later, when the CCTV footage was inspected it was found that the Speaker had summoned outsiders to the Chamber. Among those outsiders was a secretary of Karu Jayasuriya, who later decided to stop the investigation seeing that he would be in trouble if the probe continued,” the Chief Government Whip said.

“It is obvious that with regard to the Friday incident, the SJB MPs are trying to cover the wrong doing of their MP. Today they state that there is no security for the opposition MPs. JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake spoke in this House today. TNA MPs too do not complain of such insecurity. That proves the SJB is propagating a lie.

“MP Manusha Nanayakkara rushed to the Chair on Friday addressing the Speaker by the name of an animal. We stood up for the protection of the Speaker, who always upheld democracy in this House. The speaker allows all opposition MPs to raise points of order to hinder the speeches of government MPs. There was no need to continue the session after five in the evening if those opposition MPs had not been allowed to waste the time by raising points of order unnecessarily. Only the minister who is supposed to deliver the reply speech is entitled to ask for additional time, not the opposition MPs. MP Nanayakkara had no right to ask for additional time and thereafter tried to attack the Speaker. There are security personnel assigned to the Speaker but they cannot come to the Chamber that was why we rushed to protect the speaker.

“The opposition’s so-called boycott is a ruse. Today the debate is on the expenditure heads of the Housing Ministry. That ministry was under Sajith Premadasa during the yahapalana time. If the debate proceeded as planned all his corruptions would have come to the surface. Therefore the opposition leader made use of this issue to boycott the debate so that his wrongdoings could be kept under the carpet”.

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Ranawaka accuses govt. of using JVP cadres and police to suppress political opponents

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/20

Sahan Weerasooriya

… reminds AKD led over 560 protests during Yahapalanaya

Former Yahapalana Minister and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday (19) alleged that the JVP, which carried out over 560 protests during the 2015-2019 period, was now bent on preventing the Opposition from exercising its democratic right to protest.

Recalling the declaration made by the JVP at the height of the violent protest campaign in July 2022 that it would set the Parliament ablaze, the former parliamentarian lashed out at the JVP-led administration for using the police excessively to curb political opposition. Ranawaka said this while addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Flower Road Office .

Commenting on the protest campaign launched by the Maha Sangha, demanding presidential pardon for General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Ven. Galagotaatte Gnanasara, the ex-Colombo District lawmaker alleged that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake used a combination of police, investigative units and JVP cadres to break up the monks’ protest. The government went to the extent of compelling the JVP/NPP-run Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to deprive the peaceful protesters of basic toilet facilities, he alleged.

The government’s actions proved that only those with prior approval from JVP Pelawatte headquarters could launch protests in Colombo, its suburbs or in the provinces. The police have become a political tool in the hands of the JVP, the ex-Minister said. (SF)

News

Six killed as speeding bulker crashes into vehicles, shop in Akurana

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/20

Sahan Weerasooriya

By SK Samaranayake

Six people were killed and seven others injured when a speeding bulker lorry carrying cement and concrete ploughed into several vehicles and a shop on the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road at Kurugoda, Akurana, yesterday (19).

Four of the victims, two women and two men, died on the spot in the accident which occurred around 10.30 am, according to Alawathugoda Police.

Police said the bulker, travelling at high speed from the Matale direction, collided with three three-wheelers, two motorcycles and two lorries before veering off the road and crashing into a commercial establishment.

Five of the injured were rushed to the National Hospital of Kandy, where hospital sources said two remained in critical condition.

The bodies of the four victims were placed at the Akurana Hospital, where two others, who suffered minor injuries, were also receiving treatment.

The driver of the bulker was arrested by the Alawathugoda Police Traffic Division and is to be produced before court.

Investigations are being conducted under the supervision of Central Province Senior DIG Lalith Pathinayake.

News

Prof. Peiris, summoned by CIABOC, appeals for Ven. Gnanasara’s release

Published

4 hours ago

2026/10/20

Sahan Weerasooriya

G.L. Peiris

By Shamindra Ferdinando

owledging that there had been an administrative lapse on the part of the President’s Office in 2019 when Maithripala Sirisena granted presidential pardon to Ven. Gnanasara Thera, Convener of Janathawadi Joint Opposition Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday (19) urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to rectify whatever those shortcomings and release the General Secretary of Bodu Bala Sena.

Addressing the media at the former President Ranil Wickrekmesinghe’s Flower Road Office, Prof. Peiris emphasized that it was not fair to hold Ven. Gnanasara accountable for lapse or technical fault of others at the Presidential Secretariat during President Sirisena’s tenure.

Prof. Peiris was flanked by UNP Chairman Wajira Abeywardena and United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka.

The fresh appeal was made on behalf of Ven. Gnanasara in the wake of President Dissanayake and JVP heavyweight Anura Kumara Dissanayake ruling out fresh presidential pardon for the monk. Minister Lal Kantha declared that the government couldn’t under any circumstances meet the continuing monks’ protest demanding Ven. Gnanasara’s release. President Dissanayake dismissed repeated appeals for Ven. Gnanasara’s release when he addressed the NPP really in Badulla.

Sirisena granted presidential pardon in May 2019 even before he completed a year of his six-year term of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court during proceedings of the media personality Prageeth Ekneligoda’s 2010 January disappearance in the Homagama Magistrate’s court.

At the onset of the regular weekly briefing, Prof. Peiris said that he would report to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today (20) morning as requested by the commission. “The CIABOC wanted to record my statement regarding a meeting I chaired at the ministry after the conclusion of the war in 2009 pertaining to an ongoing investigation.”

Commenting further on the imprisonment of Ven. Gnanasara, the former parliamentarian said that President Sirisena intervened following a spate of requests made on behalf of BBS General Secretary by the Mahanayakes, Anunayakes and other Maha Sangha.

The Supreme Court on 10 September, 2026 rescinded the presidential pardon granted in late May 2019.