By Mahinda Rajapaksa –
Mahinda Rajapaksa
False and misleading statements continue to be made about me by members of the present government. At a recent TV interview, it was said that over Rs. 100,000 million (Koti dahadahak) had been allocated to the Presidential Secretariat for the year 2015 and that it had now been reduced to Rs. 2,720 million (Koti 272).
A sum of 100,000 million was never allocated to the Presidential Secretariat. The actual sum allocated for 2015 was Rs. 9,593 million (Koti 959). No less than 25 state institutions such as the National Salaries and Cadres Commission, the National Ocean Affairs Committee etc, were listed under the vote of the President. Former presidents and their widows are also maintained by the Presidential Secretariat under this vote. The Establishments & Organizations Division of the Presidential Secretariat serves all the above mentioned institutions and absorbs the bulk of the expenditure. This expenditure therefore represents a large number of institutions and not only expenditure allocated to the President.
The actual sum allocated to the Office of the President (which is only one component of the vote that is designated under the President) for 2015 was Rs. 3,754 million (Koti 375). This included Rs. 1,000 million (Koti 100) which was meant to be spent on the construction of various community projects around the country. If this item is removed, the expenditure on the President’s Office is reduced to the Rs. 2,750 million (Koti 275) that is said to be the new allocation for the president.
It was also said that a special plane for my exclusive use was to be bought with taxpayers’ money at a cost of 16 million USD. No plane was ever ordered for my use. When Sri Lankan Airlines ordered new aircraft, Airbus Industries had provided a complimentary VIP conversion kit to install a cubicle with special facilities for special customers on commercial flights which can be installed and dismantled as required. The sum of 15 million USD was only the manufacturer’s indicative value of this kit which is actually provided free.
The various presidential residences are being mentioned in such a manner as to convey the impression that I had built them for my use. Temple Trees, President’s House and the residences in Nuwara Eliya and Kandy have been used by heads of State and government since the colonial era. The presidential residences in Anuradhapura, Embilipitiya, Mahiyangana and Kataragama were built by President Premadasa. None of these properties were built during my tenure. It was reported in one newspaper that Temple Trees and President’s House will be opened for public viewing soon. I welcome that because tens of thousands of schoolchildren from rural and remote areas and adults toured Temple Trees even when I was occupying it. It was indeed a pleasure to meet and interact with them and to find out snags in development in their areas. Crowds flocked to Temple Trees for my Poya day programmes as well.
It was also said that some vehicles of the Presidential Secretariat had not been returned. News reports said that 22 Defender Jeeps had been ‘discovered’ in Borella and another 53 vehicles belonging to the Presidential Secretariat found ‘abandoned’ in Pitakotte. These are official vehicle yards of the Presidential Secretariat and to say that vehicles were ‘discovered’ at such places is absurd. The vehicles found in Pitakotte are mostly high security vehicles dating from the 1980s which were condemned but cannot be auctioned off as per the normal procedure. All vehicles used by me and my staff have been returned. The details of other vehicles that had been issued to various officers and institutions under the Presidential Secretariat should be known to the Establishments & Organizations Division and can easily be traced by perusing the register maintained for the purpose.
*Statement issued by Mahinda Rajapaksa -Former President of Sri Lanka
Nathan / February 10, 2015
Who asked you for these BS explanations Your DISGRACE.???
You are talking about the financial frauds only again
telling BS as usual.
You and your Brother GOAT Killed Tortured ruined the international reputation
and the country is now a PARIAH country because of YOU and only YOU.
Forget trying to BS your way out.
Sorry mate Your permanent residence will be Wellikada Prison(Forget temple trees)
very soon and your Brother Goat will soon move into a cell in a US prison.
You will never see day light again in your life Your @#$%Cellency.
You Thought you will never lose ha ha ha ha !!!
Enjoy rotting in prison.
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K.A Sumanasekera / February 10, 2015
Obviously Elite, Anglicans and the Vellalas and their Leaders can’t tell the truth.
If they did they wouldn’t be where they are today.
If they do now, they wouldn’t be there after the Sinhala New year..
At least SLMC Hakeem had the decency to say Rajapaksa did a lot for his people specially the ones living in the Villages.
Hakeen in fact will be a good choice as the CM for the East, when the Vellalas are given full control of the North with TNA Police and Land Tiles.
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Point of View / February 10, 2015
Gratitude for protecting his file !
Both of them are despicable !!
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Palmsquirrell / February 11, 2015
“At least SLMC Hakeem had the decency to say Rajapaksa did a lot for his people specially the ones living in the Villages.”
“his people” = Sinhalese. Rajapaksa was busy stealing land from Tamils and colonizing Tamil areas with Sinhalese .
You only support Hakeem because you think he will be supportive of Sinhala chauvinism, or at the very least not as hostile as TNA.
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Sylvia Haik / February 10, 2015
I don’t blame the Rajapakses for proclaiming their innocence, in spite of overwhelming evidence, because what else could they say. I have faith in the international justice, even if these people managed to hoodwink the Sri Lankan judiciary. More powerful men than the Rajapakses got what was due at the hands of the International Courts. I pray for a just outcome for the innocent lives that they ruined, simply for doing their jobs as journalists, Civil Servants or whatever.
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Ram / February 10, 2015
It is easy to make allegations, and a huge multitude have been made. Some even seem credible but proof needs to be provided in order to make them stick, and for Court action. It looks like too much work for those who bark at the moon. Name calling and being insolent to the previous President and his family does not in anyway constitute proof. Even the ‘ethical’ guys at the BASL will be able to confirm that.
The attempt of MS/RW/CBK and the minions seem to be to throw as much mud as possible and hope that at least some of it will stick ahead of the next Parliamentary election. Will the electorate be that gullible ?
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Lasith / February 10, 2015
First and foremost is it not ironic that MR is on CT? Personally i think it shows complete lack of character and self respect on his part to come on CT and whine.
Secondly he is confirming a story that CT published accusing him of ordering a specially modified aircraft for MR’s use with the cost of the mod suite being spread amongst the cost of other aircraft.
If you read this article carefully you will understand that the budget he is trying to defend was actually beefed up for his personal uses.
In writing this article on this platform and the way it is written, there is a glaring problem I see, he is still taking the Sri Lankan public for granted.
This was been his undoing in the last election and has always been his problem since 2009. Him and his henchmen think Sri Lanka is full of Buffalo’s, who are ready to swallow any and every crap that he dishes out to us.
Think again mister, we are a country with a 2500 year history, even though we gave you respect for “ending the war” you have no right to assume that we are fools! Particularly as the president of this country you shouldn’t have looked upon the citizens as fools. Well you paid the price!
Karma has been kind to you so far, please try to at least live the rest of your life in peace. Respect yourself and try to steer away from cheap talk and cheap tricks as it makes you look politically inept and dull. Remember what happened to Prabakaran, when his time was up no matter what he tried everything failed.
Once again, being wise is not trying to grab on to every thing within your reach, its the ability to cut your losses and move on.
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CiTizen / February 11, 2015
Lasith, that was a long-winded comment starting with a faulty observation. MR didnt write this for CT, rather it was a statement made by MR which any interested press outlet could run as an article.
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White Flags / February 11, 2015
LOL. Again another comment showing the intelligence levels of CT readers, along with their perception of free media.
Rajapakse didn’t write to CT. This is a statement he issued in public to the public. Various media have decided to publish it, including CT.
Whats funny is people like this think they are “superior” in their thinking to the “dumb” masses of SL. But they can’t figure out the basics using logic and reasoning.
Sri Lanka: a nation blinded by narrow minded short sighted people who only see things through political tunnel vission and can’t think properly. Comically the majority of such people come from Colombo, think they are “educated”, “smarter” and “more aware” than the rest of the nation who they view as poor idiots.
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Asokan.s / February 10, 2015
Had you given these explanations when your opponents were accusing you during your tenure, it’s not necessarry for you to prove your inocence now.
Even if you write thousand explanations like this nobody would beleive you because everyone knows you are corrupt.
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Fahim Knight / February 10, 2015
Dear Mr.Mahinda Rajapakshe , what is that you really want ? Is it not time for your good self to retire ,and accept what ever is evidently done wrong during your regime, weather you ,your brothers or your minister, supporters or staff in general was involved-unfortunately the rule is you have to shoulder the entire blame and responsibilities- very much the Captain of the ship .
It is a strong and smart and loyal boy you have begotten Mr.Rajapakshe, reminded me of my childhood poem the boy who stood on the burning deck to death as not to break his father’s command ,it is also called Casablanca.
Please do retire with grace, go and take life a bit easy,you done what you can , spend more time with your lady , enjoy the serene country side of your beautiful village, meditate, help the needy, give charity it helps cleanse our souls you can afford.
Train your loyal Son Namal to take over your position , teach him never to become a slave of his Ego and teach him simplicity and humanity .
I wish you well Sir.
May Th Triple Gem bless you & Guide you.
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Lincoln once said no matter what I do, if the end prove me wrong , even Ten Angels swearing I was right will not make any difference .
no need to suffer your older age trying to prove anything to anyone at the cost of your health, you are only human ,you did what you did ,what you thought was the right way ,some received tremendous success, some did not work well.
So be it, just spend the rest of your life happily with your family.
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NB:
This comment has been dictated by Mr. Fahim Knight – due to his temporary vision needing surgery ( a strong critical writer especially on traditional religions,Politics and a strong environmentalist . (also pleas note his comments will always be under the nick of Fahim Knight..)
You may connect CT for further clarifications ,all such online writing is done via a shared network us by more than one person
Diana
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pr-pro
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punchinilame / February 11, 2015
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/
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BBS Rep / February 11, 2015
A media blitz is taking place on behalf of the MARA family.
We have already seen two articles in CT purportedly written by Namal Rajapaksa. Now this supposedly by the Maha Hora himself. Neither Namal Baba nor Maha Hora have English Language skills to write this type of article. So they must have some secret propaganda office stashes away somewhere. With the kind of money they stole they have the means to do anything and everything.
I hope people are not fooled.
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bo / February 11, 2015
Actually it does not matter who writes. More they write, more lies they tell, at the end no one would believe them; it was because the evidence of corruption and nepotism, mis-governance, decrepit law and order were largely there in evidence for public to see.
People prefer to believe what they saw, rather than planned and fabricated words published by fake-writers retrospectively; so they lose out more by their own actions. This is the beauty of natural justice; keep silent you lose, talk too much now, trying to justify, still you lose!
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White Flags / February 11, 2015
No genius.
What MARA has written is written in Sinhala by him (we assume). The letter/comment by him is available in Sinhala and Sinhala only (hikz).
Someone else has translated it.
And of course MARA along with Namal didn’t ask CT to publish “their articles”. They were published elsewhere into the public domain. CT decided to publish them as well.
You need to grow up and understand what freedom and free media means. Its not just seeing what you want and attacking who you want. Its hearing everyone’s opinions, including those you don’t like and those you disagree with. Complaining about it, and trying to silence it, just shows yourself to be a real primitive.
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Ravana / February 11, 2015
The people have gratitude towards you sir as the great achievements that you have brought to the country; you are a leader with a backbone.
We remember what news went when a new mansions came up in Colombo. They were either yours or Namal or Gota’s. I will be happy if those Goblins at least now realize that those stories were false. We see that you at least not have a single house in Colombo.
Majority of the people are not going to believe the fiend’s story who left you after a hopper.
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Pygmalion / February 13, 2015
This should be the period of reflection for the deposed President.From the days he was asked to leave Nalanda for unruly behaviour and his stay in Welikade prison over a charge of attempted murder.Attending his mothers funeral from prison hand-cuffed! How Sarath N.Silva then a State Counsel visited him in jail.
Lasanthas murder for exposing his sordid past and the other innumerable atrocities committed.People from good homes do not indulge in the things that has been attributed to him.True that he finished off the LTTE,but showed his vengeance towards the civilians by replacing the LTTE with the Army! Right now he is denying all but the truth about his governance will be known sooner or later.
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