SLPP rebel group distances itself from RW

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday (16) said that his party wouldn’t allow its agenda and timetable to be decided by political parties that weren’t even represented in Parliament.

Lawmaker Premadasa, who is also the Opposition Leader, said so when The Island sought his response to the UNP setting March 20 deadline for the SJB to declare its intention to join forces to contest the upcoming Colombo Municipal Council election. The main Opposition SJB parliamentary group consists of 40, whereas the UNP doesn’t have a single seat in the current Parliament. In the previous Parliament, the UNP was limited to just one national List MP.

The UNP also declared its readiness to expand the alliance to contest the local elections in other parts of the country. Nominations are scheduled to close at 12 noon on March 20th.

Colombo District parliamentarian Premadasa emphasized that they had decided to contest under the SJB’s telephone symbol. Members of the SJB-led coalition were also contesting under the telephone symbol, the SJB Leader said. The SJBer indicated that there was neither space no time for negotiations with the UNP.

Elections are to be held to 336 local bodies. The 336 LG bodies consist of 28 Municipal Councils, 36 Urban Councils and 272 Pradeshiya Sabhas. However, the Kalmunai Municipal Council, Dehiattakandiya Pradeshiya Sabha (Ampara District), Mannar Pradeshiya Sabha (Mannar District), Punakari Pradeshiya Sabha (Kilinochchi District), and Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha (Galle District) are excluded from the forthcoming election.

The last LG polls were held on Feb. 10, 2018. Former SLPP Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana told The Island that their efforts to somehow unite various warring factions, ahead of the LG polls, weren’t successful. Dr. Pathirana had been among the group of dissident SLPP MPs who contested/backed the New Democratic Front (NDF) led by Ranil Wickremesinghe at the last general election.

Dr. Pathirana said that they would be fielding independent groups for selected LG bodies, while some returned to the SLPP, and the rest got back to the SLFP. At the time of last general election, the group, represented by Dr. Pathirana, consisted of about 60 SLPP MPs.

Dr. Pathirana indicated that their group had completely distanced themselves from Wickremesinghe-led political grouping that backed the UNP leader’s candidature at the presidential election and contested the general election under the NDF’s Swan symbol.

Dr. Pathirana stressed that they couldn’t pose a proper challenge to the National People’s Power (NPP) at the LG polls unless various SLPP factions rejoined. The SLPP secured 145 seats at the 2020 general election and at the next it was reduced to just three.

Opposition sources said that due to the much deteriorated status of the UNP it would find it extremely difficult to field fully fledged teams at LG polls. Sources confirmed that no political party represented in Parliament had shown any interest in joining forces, let alone the main Opposition party.

The UNP didn’t even contest the Elpitiya LG polls held soon after the last parliamentary polls in late Nov. last year.

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday rejected the Batalanda Commission report in its entirety.

“I wholly reject the report. No one can say the report was kept hidden. It was published as a sessional paper in 2000, but no one, including the JVP, asked for a debate,” Wickremeisnmghe said in a special statement.

He also said that there was no precedent in this country, or anywhere else in the world, of debating a sessional paper 25 years after it was published.

Making a special statement Wickremeisnghe said: “The Commission has only questioned my action to heed the request by then State Minister of Defence Ranjan Wijeratne to provide accommodation to the security forces which provided security to important state owned institutions in Biyagama during the height of the JVP insurrection of 1987/89.”

He pointed out that the Commission report mentions the heinous terrorist acts committed by the JVP during the 1988-90 period.

“I was only summoned as a witness. According to the Commission’s findings, I was implicated only in the matter of providing housing for police officers, which, as per regulations, should have been done through the Inspector General of Police. The report indicates that both Nalin Delgoda and I were indirectly responsibile for this process.

Apart from this, I was not implicated in any other allegations in the Commission’s report,” Wickremesinghe said.

The former President pointed out that the report was made available to Parliament in 2000, yet no party, including the JVP, requested a debate on it.

The full statement by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe:

In 1987, following the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord, the JVP launched a wave of terror across the country.

During this period, President J.R. Jayewardene assigned the responsibility of securing key locations in the country to Cabinet Ministers. Several economically significant sites were located in the Biyagama area, including the oil refinery, diesel power plant, the substation supplying electricity from Mahaweli to Colombo, and the free trade zone. The military was deployed to safeguard these locations.

To accommodate security personnel, it was decided to provide them with abandoned buildings and houses owned by the Lanka Fertiliser Manufacturing Corporation. At the time, several employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board were residing in some of these houses.

During this period of terror, the Sapugaskanda Police Station was attacked, and its Officer-in-Charge was killed. In response, Deputy Minister of Defence Ranjan Wijeratne contacted me, requesting that the vacant houses in the complex be allocated to military and police personnel for their security. Consequently, the administrator at the time took steps to hand over the houses to Kelani Police Chief Nalin Delgoda.

Several individuals, including a Provincial Councillor, a cooperative society chairman, and a police sergeant, were assassinated during this period. Additionally, an attack was carried out on the residence of another Provincial Council member.

The government in power took steps to restore the country’s stability, rebuilding the economy and ensuring national security.

After 1994, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga appointed a Commission to investigate allegations of a torture centre in the Batalanda area. Several individuals were summoned before the Commission, and I was called as a witness. At that time, I was serving as the Leader of the Opposition. The establishment of the Batalanda Commission was politically motivated, but the attempt to use it for political gain was unsuccessful.

According to the Commission’s findings, I was implicated only in the matter of providing housing for police officers, which, as per regulations, should have been done through the Inspector General of Police. The report indicates that both Nalin Delgoda and I were indirectly responsibile for this process.

Apart from this, I was not implicated in any other allegations in the Commission’s report. The report also extensively documented the JVP’s terrorist activities between 1988 and 1990, detailing the background and listing numerous violent acts committed by the JVP in Chapter Three. The entire history of those events is included in the report.

Beyond these findings, no other accusations in the report are relevant to me, and I completely reject the report.

No one can claim that the Batalanda Commission report was hidden. It was made available as a parliamentary session record in 2000, yet no one, including the JVP, requested a debate on it. Many did not accept the report, which may explain why no steps were taken to debate it in Parliament.

It is also noteworthy that no political party that came to power has attempted to use the report for political advantage. Furthermore, there is no precedent in Sri Lanka or other parliaments for debating a session record 25 years after its publication.

Sri Lankan-born Gary Anandasangaree was sworn in as Canada’s new Justice Minister and Attorney General.He took oaths in the presence of Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The Canadian Bar Association welcomed the appointment of Anandasangaree as Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

“We look forward to working with him and his Cabinet colleagues. We also want to thank former Minister Arif Virani for his commitment to improving the justice system over the past few years, including his efforts to reduce judicial vacancies and strengthen access to justice,” the Canadian Bar Association said.

The CBA and the federal government share a common commitment to upholding the rule of law, promoting access to justice, and ensuring a fair and efficient legal system for all Canadians.

CBA members will continue offering their expertise and helping to shape laws and policies that reflect the evolving needs of society, while maintaining the integrity of Canada’s legal institutions.