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2024 Prez poll: Champika denies alliance with MR-Ranil grouping, won’t contest

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Patali Champika Ranawaka

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Rebel Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) lawmaker Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday (31) denied speculative media reports pertaining to him being the presidential candidate of the ruling Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa alliance.

In a hastily issued statement over the weekend, the leader of the Eksath Janaraja Peramuna (EJP) emphasised that there was absolutely no basis for such claims.The next presidential election is scheduled to be held later this year. The parliamentary election is scheduled to be held thereafter.

Declaring that he wouldn’t close ranks with the Rajapaksas under any circumstances, the former Minister urged the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to replace party leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Ranawaka contested the last parliamentary election in August 2020 on SJB ticket.The SJB secured 54 seats, including seven National List slots.A co-founder of former Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Ranawaka said that Wickremesinghe, who had been picked by the SLPP as the eighth President, in July 2022, brazenly advanced the SLPP’s political agenda, hence there couldn’t be any alliance between his party and the incumbent administration. The MP alleged both Rahapaksas and Wickremesinghe promoted utterly corrupt business interests hell-bent on making money at the expense of the country and the people.

Referring to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster in July 2022, following an intense protest campaign (though apparently hatched by outside forces), Ranawaka said that his party had explicit faith in the public power to achieve their political objectives.

Commenting on various political proposals advanced by different parties, MP Ranawaka stressed that daunting challenges faced by the country couldn’t be overcome by pursuing now defunct JRJ, Premadasa strategies or socialist experiments. The parliamentarian who had served the Cabinets of both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena declared their efforts were meant to harness public opinion against the current corrupt set up and help facilitate a new social order.

A dissident SLPP MP told The Island that a section of the ruling party seemed uncertain about Wickremesinghe’s candidature at the presidential poll though the likes of Minister Kanchana Wijesekera publicly declared the party’s support for the incumbent President. Power and Energy Minister Wijesekera is on record as having said that the majority of the SLPP parliamentary group backed Wickremesinghe for a second term.

In July 2022 the SLPP, at a vote in Parliament, picked Wickremesinghe to complete the remainder of the five-year term won by Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the 2019 Nov presidential election.

The dissident SLPP lawmaker pointed out that a group, led by Gampaha District MP Nimal Lanza, that had been at loggerheads with the top leadership over criticism of the President’s policies, also backed Wickremesinghe’s candidature, regardless of SLPP National List MP Dammika Perera being promoted as their candidate.

MP Ranawaka said that both the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghe had been rejected by the people and they couldn’t regain public confidence under any circumstances. MP Ranawaka was among those who voted against the Budget 2024 at the Third Reading of the Appropriation Bill on Dec 13. It was passed with a majority of 41 votes, with 122 for and 81 against. Jaffna District MP C.V. Wigneswaran was absent at the time of the voting.

MP Ranawaka said that his party was in touch with members of the SLPP, the UNP as well as the SJB. However, the EJP wouldn’t seek a consensus with the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghe but would continue to work with other parliamentarians, he said.

The former Minister also dealt with the continuing controversy over the procurement of fake immunoglobulin. Declaring that the corrupt deal on the purchase of immunoglobulin had been first disclosed by Chairman of the EJP, Medical Specialist Ajith Amarasinghe, MP Ranawaka urged President Wickremesinghe to allow the law to take its course. According to MP Ranawaka, Dr. Amarasinghe had revealed the controversy pertaining to blood samples.

MP Ranawaka said that former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and the others involved in the immunoglobulin scam shouldn’t be allowed to side-step the issue and escape justice.



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Landslide early warnings issued to Badulla, Galle, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunagala, Matara and Rathnapura districts

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The Natural Hazards Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organization has issued land slide early warnings to the districts of  Badulla, Galle, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunagala, Matara and Rathnapura.

Accordingly,
Level II landslide early warnings have been issued to the divisional secretaries divisions and surrounding areas of Dehiowita, Kegalle, Mawanella and Bulathkohupitiya in the Kegalle district and Kuruwita, Eheliyagoda and Ratnapura in the Ratnapura district.

Level I landslide early warnings have been issued to the divisional secretaries divisions and surrounding areas of Welimada and Haldumulla in the Badulla district, Elpitiya in the Galle district, Bulathsinhala in the Kalutara district, Yatinuwara and Udapalatha in the Kandy district, Warakapola and Yatiyanthota in the Kegalle district, Polgahawela in the Kurunegala district, Kotapola, Akuressa and Pasgoda in the Matara district and Pelmadulla, Elapatha, Balangoda, Imbulpe, Ayagama, Nivithigala, Kalawana, Openayake, Kiriella, Kahawattta and Godakawela in the Ratnapura district.

 

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Public Security Ministry Secy transfers CI probing his alleged failure to prevent terror attacks – Gammanpila

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Easter Sunday Carnage:

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, retired SDIG Ravi Seneviratne, had transferred a senior police officer who was conducting a probe into his alleged failure to act on an intelligence warning to prevent the Easter Sunday carnage (2019), former MP Udaya Gammanpila, said yesterday.

Addressing a media conference, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Leader Gammanpila said former DIG Palitha Siriwardena had complained to the then IGP C. D. Wickramaratne that the Easter Sunday attacks had resulted from the dereliction of duty on the part of SDIG Seneviratne, and called for legal action against him (Seneviratne).

IGP Wickramaratne had assigned Chief Inspector (CI) Induka de Silva to investigate the complaint against Seneviratne, Gammanpila added.

Gammanpila said: “In March 2022, Seneviratne submitted a petition seeking a court order to prevent the CID from arresting him. In his statement, he claimed that on 10 Feb. 2022, he had become aware that Chief Inspector Lalitha Dissanayake had filed a ‘B’ report, alleging that ‘serious omissions by Seneviratne and former CID Director SSP Shani Abeysekara had led to the Easter Sunday attacks’. Seneviratne claimed that respondents were attempting to falsely implicate him by initiating a biased, unlawful, and unreasonable investigation, based on an anonymous petition that accused him of neglecting his duties in respect of investigations into the National Thowheed Jama’ath.”

Regardless of the ongoing investigation and legal issue, the JVP/NPP government had appointed Seneviratne the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, said Gammanpila. “CI Induka de Silva continued his investigation and Seneviratne transferred him to the police HQ,” Gammanpila said, noting that Seneviratne was now in a position to suppress the probe against him.

Gammanpila challenged Minister Vijitha Herath to a debate on national security and public debt.

Our attempts to contact Seneviratne for comment yesterday were in vain as he did not answer his telephone.

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Vaccination drive underway to tackle re-emergence of measles in some districts

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By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Ministry of Health has launched a special measles vaccination programme in selected districts in response to the recent increase of cases of the disease.

Senior Epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Hasitha Tissera, announced that the programme will be conducted in 12 districts across the country until 09 Nov.

Although Sri Lanka successfully eliminated measles, cases were reported in certain areas last year, according to Dr. Tissera.

This programme specifically targets young people who, for various reasons, had not received the full dose of the measles vaccine, he said.

Sri Lanka ha made remarkable progress in controlling measles over the past two decades, Dr. Tissera added. “However, when the measles virus re-emerges in certain communities, it’s critical to take immediate action.”

Earlier this year, the Health Ministry said there had been over 700 cases of measles in the country in 2023.

The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine was added to Sri Lanka’s immunisation programme in 1984. A second dose was added in 2001 to strengthen immunity levels, and in 2019, the World Health Organization declared Sri Lanka measles-free.

However, a global drop in immunisation coverage between 2020 and 2022 impacted many countries in the region, contributing to a resurgence of measles cases, including in Sri Lanka, UNICEF reported earlier this year.

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