Harindra B. Dassanayake, President Maithripala Sirisena’s spokesperson with respect to international media refused to respond to questions put to him regarding the President’s daughter Chathurika Srisena arrogating her father’s powers as well as the charge that this was a case of nepotism and abuse of authority.
Colombo Telegraph wrote to Dassanayake on the 8th of September seeking clarification on the President’s daughter getting state officials to accompany her on a supposedly fact-finding mission. She clearly stated that she had deliberately brought officials so that the problems of the people could be attended to.
Since there was no response from Dassanayake, a reminder was sent on the 10th of September to which he replied as follows: “was away from office. Will get back to you tomorrow. delay regretted.”
As there was no communication, Colombo Telegraph once again wrote to Dassanayake yesterday. The following was his response;
“Of course you need an answer. However, in my official capacity, I represent the President and therefore, I am not in a position to give you the answer you need.
Best Regards
Harindra”
This is an issue that directly concerns President Maithripala Sirisena and therefore Colombo Telegraph is at a loss to understand how Dassanayake, even as he admits that he represents the President, believes that for this very reason he is ‘not in a position to answer’.
Meanwhile when Colombo Telegraph contacted the President’s Deputy Director Media Sunil Jayasekara to clarify if Chathurika has been given a portfolio in her daddy’s government, he said that as far as he knows she holds no governmental position.
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kp / September 16, 2015
“a portfolio in her daddy’s government”
CT very slowly turning into LeN. Uvindu taking cliff-notes from Senadheera on how to completely trash one’s credibility.
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Amarasiri / September 16, 2015
Harindra B. Dassanayake, President Maithripala Sirisena’s spokesperson,
“Harindra B. Dassanayake, President Maithripala Sirisena’s spokesperson with respect to international media refused to respond to questions put to him regarding the President’s daughter Chathurika Srisena arrogating her father’s powers as well as the charge that this was a case of nepotism and abuse of authority.”
Next time, the media asks questions about Ms. Chathurika Srisena’s activities and the impact it has on the Sri Lankan traditions of Nepotism, ask to contact Amarasiri, or ask them to just read Amarasiri’s Posts on this matter.
Or, you may appoint Ms. Sirisena as the Ombudswomen, and make these media personnel; focus on other matters that are more material.
[Edited out]
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K.A Sumanasekera / September 16, 2015
Poor Chathu is only trying to help the poor Dalits who have no clout unlike the the other half of Yahapalanaya lead by Batalnda and cousin Whisky Madam..
I mean Chathu didn’t get her mates to bid for Bonds
Neither she got an official gig like Bangsa to take care of health and Wealth Insurance of the Colombo Elite
She doesn’t even get paid.. Right..
We have to be realistic. Poor thing doesn’t do drugs, No night clubbing unlike her brother.
Doesn’t use Botox.and mouth off journos unlike the Chicks , both old and young in the Elite Camp.
I don’t think Chathu even has a poodle…
Doesn’t the poor lass deserve a break ?..
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Sinhala_Man / September 17, 2015
For once a comment by K.A Sumanasekera has got more “greens” than “reds”; but I have added nothing. Why?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeo_Danaos_et_dona_ferentes
“Doesn’t the poor lass deserve a break ?” of course, she does, but she must also learn to identify the Trojan Horse!
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Imthi / September 16, 2015
Don’t be surprised this is just the start…
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Mallaiyuran / September 16, 2015
“Of course you need an answer. However, in my official capacity, I represent the President and therefore, I am not in a position to give you the answer you need.”– in Sinhala Intellectual Language
“My job is to create untrue cover ups and lies. That is for what I am employed; that is for what I am paid for from people’s money. You know that very well. Now, what the heck you are asking from me? Just go to hell!” – in English
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BBS Rep / September 16, 2015
Keep the pressure up CT.
Sirisena is already showing signs of treading MARA’s path. He has stacked his cabinet with rogues and outright criminals from MARA’s cabal. His daughter is showing signs of following on the path MARA’s children took. A lot of people worked hard to oust MARA for these same reasons. We must not allow My3 to get away with such behaviour.
I hope Sobitha Thera will come out demanding yahapalanaya. All the others with a say are jostling to get their snouts into the gravy train.
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Sriyani Mangalika / September 16, 2015
We have questions about important Avanguard case regarding alms . KP LTTE leader case long standing Ekneligoda media personnel case high lighting he is a terrorist , withdrawing cases against Mahind Rarapaksha and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. As citizens we are not satisfied at all about present position. Really we are helpless.
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Amarasiri / September 16, 2015
Harindra B. Dassanayake,
RE: President’s International Media Point Man Speechless On Nepotism Charge
You need to be street smart. Yes, this is strictly speaking Nepotism.But at least Ms. Chathurika Srisena, is not a crook. She simply wants to help.
How does it compare with the crooks and thieves the President had to accommodate in order to get the crooks and thieves to distance themselves from MaRa MaRa Chatu MaRa. They were given MP posts from the national list and on top of that given Ministerial Portfolios, That was blackmail by the MaRa Crooks and Thieves.
Now I know why the IQ of the Sri Lankan journalists and the IQ of the Presidents International Media Point man all have low IQs.
What can you expect when the National Average IQ is 79.
Can’t they find some people with at least a Z score of 2 to answer those Media personnel with Z scores of -1?
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Patriot / September 16, 2015
Not only Chathurika the daughter of the President, the first lady too has jumped into action to rebuild the lost image of the President due to his foolish actions to save the leadership of the corrupt party SLFP . The other day both mother and daughter appeared on “Sirasa news first” serving “Biriyani” to poor cancer patients at Maharagama. They are following the previous first family in the same manner. Disgusting show off!!
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Chandra / September 16, 2015
A storm in a teacup considering the continuous and unprecedented mockery of a yahapalanaya.
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Tsunami Hora / September 17, 2015
Chandra
“A storm in a teacup….”
Dont forget that hurricanes and tsunamis always start as a storm in a teacup until they get out of bounds andeventually, out of control.
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Amarasiri / September 21, 2015
Chandra
“A storm in a teacup considering the continuous and unprecedented mockery “
Indeed. Storm in a teacup.
One wonders weather the measured IQ of Sri Lankans, 79, truly reflects, the common sense of Sri Lankans. This storm in a teacup, give support for that hypothesis at least for some of them.
Did anybody figure out the IQ of the editorial Board of Colombo Telegraph?
We all know about Wimal Midawansa of 2/2 =0 fame.
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Jayan / September 16, 2015
We know very well what would happen when president’s children get involve in politics. This woman should be sent back to where she belongs, Polonnaruwa. She can take along with her idiotic sibling of her’s too.
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Hooter / September 16, 2015
Chaturika using the President’s name and getting the media to cover her pocket meeting does not augur to well. This should be stopped as that is the reason why the Rajapakse regime was sent packing. President’s children may be seen but not heard.
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Imran / September 16, 2015
What a contrast to Batalanda Ranils wife Maithree. The elitist vs the rustic. The cultured vs the crude. The trendy vs the humdrum. The sophisticated vs the inelegant. The upper crust vs the lower crust. The fasionable vs the dowdy. The ladylike vs the unrefined.
Even at yesterdays meeting in Delhi airport with Indias woman Commerce Minister, Maithrees behavior and body language spoke volumes about her class and finesse . As the wife of the chief guest she stayed aloof from the pomp of the moment, even respectfully shunning a forced handshake unless she was proferred one by the woman Minister. Yes of course, all this would have changed in an instant if she overshadowed Ranil and jumped into his trousers to do the honours. Yes, she would have gained instant fame as being more capable in the political arena than her husband who has already gained notoriority as being ineffective and Sotthi. But this would have seriously damaged her personal image. The presidential duo of mother and daughter need to take a leaf from this classy lady and continue to remain in the shadows for fear of messing up the presidents future political endeavours and also to preserve their own respect among the public.
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maalumiris / September 17, 2015
@Imran
A true paean to the elitist in all of us ! Thank you for reminding us that Colombo 7 is still The Best !!!
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Sinhala_Man / September 17, 2015
Is “Imran” the latest handle for Sappho?
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shankar / September 17, 2015
nepotism is when she gets some benefit.The only people who have benefited from all this is the villagers.As for the spokesman not responding that is because siri must have told not to answer anything to do with his daughter,not because he is on the defensive because of any bad behavior on her part.Naturally a father would be protective towards his daughter and siri does not want to answer any questions because he feels that his daughter has not done anything to be answerable to.The word nepotism should be carefully analysed and this case should not be confused with the appointment of his brother to the telecom which was indeed nepotism.I doubt the brother would have won the position if there was a merit process involved and the best candidate chosen.
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maalumiris / September 17, 2015
(a) Siri does not want to answer any questions because he feels that his daughter has not done anything to be answerable to
OR
(b) Siri does not want to answer any questions because he know quite well that his daughters actions (regardless of motivation) made a bit of a mockery of his office, his pre-election campaign promises, indeed, the whole foundation upon which he was elected.
IMO, it was a bad call by the daughter and MS is making it worse by not addressing it head-on
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Lanka Watch / September 17, 2015
This episode is a small matter as political thuggery and people’s money
not utilised in a big way like in the past, but if they want to run a good government, The President and his daughter should talk to the press and explain the situation and if the young lady, who lacked experience in political affairs, should apologise, to the people if procedure was broken but remaining silent means arrogance. People will always ask the question as to what is the difference between this govt.
and the past regime and it may pave the way for MR to return earlier than expected as what happened there happens here too.
Not sure who is right or who is wrong but people should not be kept in
the dark in a good government. She may have done the right thing but people need answers. Mr.’Kleen’ Ranil is from a different kettle of fish. He would have come out with an immediate statement , blunt or other wise,to the people. He stands on his principles.He said no losers
will be accepted in the UNP NL and Even powerful Rosie Senanayake could
not find a place in the cabinet. Rules apply to everybody as he says. Rosie lost because UNP accepted non UNP’ers for Colombo constituency but still she did not complain and Ranil did not break the rule, tho’ the fault was with UNP. This is a good example of Party/member relation
-ship. This is what people should appreciate as politicians should stand on their principles and not stoop down to low levels. What more,
he stood by his appointee Governor Mahendran,(tho’ a Tamil) even at the risk of losing the election because he felt that Mahendran was not a wrong doer.
People will wonder how the Govt.of Mr. Kleen and Mr.Corrupt is going to work,hand in hand. As time passes, there is bound to be chaos in the ruling coalition, with two sets of people with different policies, running the govt. Lets pray that they stay united,at least until such time, the people friendly legislations are passed and made into law in the country so that our future generations do not have to live under dictatorial rule.
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Off The Wall / September 19, 2015
She’s cute though………….
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sacre blieu / September 19, 2015
The transition from a chaotic criminal oriented government to a sensible and disciplined structure cannot happen overnight nor by a wave of a magic wand. Sure, there have been flaws with the government during the last ten months and quite rightly these have been brought to its notice. Ranil lost the chance of the UNP gaining ,at least, a simple majority by, mainly the bond scandal, the working of it a reflection of a lack of credibility and the tolerance of decaying principals on the part of officials, and which was exploited by the opposition. The Presidents’ daughter may have wanted to ensure that the officials did their duty to the satisfaction of the public and ,by her presence , ensure that no questionable practice would creep into the workings of objective and be a slur on her fathers’ name. However, it would have been better if she remained in the background as an observer or invitee.
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Leon / September 21, 2015
Poor Chathu is only helping to cover up her daddys inefficiencies.
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T Wickramaratna / September 21, 2015
Very soon we will have to revert to MR & Namal baby
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