The United National Party led UNFGG alliance that supports President Maithripala Sirisena‘s good governance principles has used the state run Sunday Sinhala Silumina newspaper and the UNP Gampaha candidate Ruwan Wijewardene‘s family owned Wijeya newspaper’s Lankadeepa newspaper in an unethical propoganda drive with barely 24 hours to go for the general elections. This unethical practice is bound to cause unfavorable issues to the UPFA campaign.
The Sunday newspapers leading up to the elections carries paid advertisements in an extra cover page which looks identical to the front page and usually prints the words that it is a paid advertisement in such instances. However the Wijeya Newspaper’s Lankadeepa newspaper of today highlights that the dummy cover page is a paid advertisement in an extremely small font size. On the other hand the state run Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited’s Silumina Newspaper does not highlight the fact it is a paid advertisement.
Earlier the Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya had stated that President Maithripala Sirisena’s recent five page letter to the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa should not be used as election propaganda during these days leading up to the voting day. Both the Silumina and Lankadeepa newspapers have ignored the Election Commissioner’s orders.
Az / August 16, 2015
Much better than bringing a FAKE opponent to the voting booth!
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NAK / August 16, 2015
Not only this even ‘The sunday Island’ carries a propaganda item by Thisaranee gunasekera.
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max / August 17, 2015
I think this Gunasekara lady does not get a proper sleep unless she writes some utter lies with full of hatred against MR. And Gunesekara is a clear example for those who try hard to make a bogus theory – MR regime did not have press freedom!
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Leon / August 16, 2015
The EC must take immediate steps to stop this election violation. This is the very thing that RW was against. This would result in loss of votes by right thinking people.
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S.Fernando / August 16, 2015
Who cares? uneducated Sinhalese village idiots and any minority traitors who supports Rajapakshe should be crushed like the Nazis were crushed. If SLFP, the cancer created by Bandaranayake in 1956 can be banned altogether on August 18th it would be better for all communities because this SLFP is bound to create another devil someday. JVP in the current foam is ok i guess but should be monitored closely.
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words / August 16, 2015
I can see that this uneducated urban idiot has insomnia!
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Ben Hurling / August 16, 2015
Lake House is run by Kavan Ratnayaka. Brother of RW’s blue-eyed boy Sagala Ratnayaka. What do you expect?
Most likely RW will be PM for 5 years after the election. Expect only marginal/minimal progress as opposed to rule of wounded street thug from Hambantota.
1. Police & military torture will continue.
2. Only lip service will be paid to true press freedom and ethics.
3. Cronies and henchmen will be appointed to plum postings. Though of slightly higher quality than street thug’s uneducated cronies.
Do not set yourself up for utter disappointment by expecting too much.
Hopefully MS will intervene in the worst situations of abuse. Remains to be seen.
Cheers!
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Neo / August 16, 2015
lol are you expecting the puppet to intervene with the puppeteer? Ranil would be appointed PM even without a mandate by the puppet. Then Ranil will change the constitution and will be appointed the executive prime minister. An executive prime minister without a real mandate! There will be blood because of Ranil’s greed and they will happily slaughter another 50,000-100,000 rural Sinhalese.
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Ben Hurling / August 16, 2015
Neo,
I quote Tisaranee:
“Rajapaksa underestimated his general secretary and paid a heavy price for it on January 8th. He continues to regard Mr. Sirisena as a lightweight who could be coerced and deceived at will, like most leading SLFPers.”
The so called “puppet” sent the once almighty street thug back to Hambantota. Defeated and dejected. Not bad for a “puppet”.
You are welcome to consider him a puppet, at your own peril though.
Cheers!
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Leo / August 16, 2015
geez, when TNA, Muslim parties, JHU, JVP, UNP and then a section of SLFP run against a single candidate yes of-course you can beat him. What do you think will happen if the same happened against Ranil. lol he wouldn’t have passed the 30% mark.
Sirisena is a puppet because he does anything Ranil or Ranil’s western masters order. Going as far as far as sacking Susil and Anura just so Ranil can win. These are not Rajapakshe people. Whether Sirisena defeated Mahinda or he was used to defeat Mahinda is irrelevant here.
You should be one of those elite zombies who are programmed to hate rural Sinhalese who had sadistic pleasures when previous UNP government slaughtered 60,000 sinhalese youth collaborating with JVP. Otherwise you wouldn’t excuse Sirisena behaving like a dictator to allow Ranil to win so Ranil can bring forward his con-federal project again.
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Hesh / August 16, 2015
Mahinda knew he was been circled and took a gamble. If people had voted him overwhelmingly it would have been a setback to the foreign paid anti national elements who were working to oust the nationalist government. Now Tisaranee[Edited out]
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Native Vedda / August 16, 2015
Hesh
“If people had voted him overwhelmingly it would have been a setback to the foreign paid anti national elements who were working to oust the nationalist government.”
If it was a nationalist government which was solely depending on foreign support including Hindia, China, Pakistan, USA, Europe for its survival then it should be sacked and replaced by a more liberal one.
On 8th January that’s what happened and you should be happy that you are able to express your own rotten observation in a liberal media. Good that Jan 8th happened which stopped this country becoming another North Korea. If you miss your old nationalist state you are free to apply for North Korean citizenship where you will feel home away from home.
Kim Jong-un will be happy to accord you with red carpet welcome you at the airport. He also own many Rottweilers.
Do you know who financed MR for his presidential elections expenses in 2005, including the fees he paid to VP?
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max / August 17, 2015
Thisaranee is a known hater to MR only. You quote her and proving once again, you too write craps. Other than hatred, your head is empty.
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Robert.R / August 16, 2015
The colours of Mr. Clean not so clean we see. This is what we can look forward to and much more in the coming years from this man. No change then as I always supposed.
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NIRMALA n / August 17, 2015
Robert.R
Thank you for your critical statement about Ranil.
Keep it up.
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K.A Sumanasekera / August 16, 2015
This ensures more than 6 Million Sinhala votes to the SLFP and Mahinda.
I am glad the President hired his own deputy Defence Minister and PM Ranil’s nephew to do this favour for the Mahinda Party.
And forced UNP money man Malik Samarawickrema pay for it…
Even thinking Elite in Colombo can now have a clue where the money came from…
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Ajith / August 16, 2015
Out of this 6 million sinhala votes, how many votes for Mahinda & how many for SLFP and how many for Mithiri? Are you saying that you have printed six million ballot papers illegally?
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Sadith / August 16, 2015
This is not unethical, this is the Good Governance, new world order is that if you are Unethical, Immoral, Corrupt, Wicked, Shady then you can preach about Good Governance.
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mj / August 16, 2015
MARA..is an mental case, any body supporting him, is an mental case..voters please put all this mental cases to a side on the 17th. .
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Sri Lankan times / August 16, 2015
This is very pathetic. However according Tories, they are just reporting about the president.
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Wera / August 16, 2015
This is another classic piece of bias. The extent to which this has been a fair and balanced election campeighn is being ignored to go after some slight exuberance on the part of two new papers. Who gives a toss. The other day CT screamed the headline about RW batting sixes to Victor Ivan’s so called soft ball interview. Then comes Mr Meeharaka on TV all questions are prearranged and dictated by him. Even the moderator is dictated by him and dragged out from maternity leave for his benefit. Not one peep by CT about this. Weather it is paid advertising or not it seems to be saying some thing that I think the whole country agrees with. Even the Meeharaka’s own supporters know the inevitable is about to happen.
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Harry Hatton / August 16, 2015
They are Royalists, live in Colombo 7 and therefore gentlemen as the claim goes !
Voters don’t be fooled !
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Rufus Milleth / August 16, 2015
Ben Hurling and Harry Hatton have made some
pertinent points.
The UNPers, most of them have decided, that
they have already won Monday’s elections. Even
Pakiasothy Saravanamuthu’s NGO has given him
a big lead.
If he does win, there will only be ONE change.
It is a dictator in a tie/coat who will run
the country and not a white national dress clad
one.
He sure will pack all positions including ministerial
with school mates, members of his Boy’c Club and other
cronies.
The tragedy is that village bumpkin Maithripala Sirisena
will not know what is going on. Within three months in
office, people will realise they have voted a wrong man
and a wrong government.
Of course they have no choice. Mahinda has let them down
with family rule. Ranil will perpetuate a new kind.Sri Lankans
deserve what they get.
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Virn / August 16, 2015
No people will not realize the devil they just let in 3 months because of paid civil society and red elephant trying to force the attention away from what Ranil is really upto like how they did in the last 6 months. People will only realize when Ranil along with TNA force down the new federal Sri Lanka down their throats.
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Jayasingha / August 16, 2015
Sirisena is like a non playing captain of a team sitting in the pavilion and cheering for the opposition and criticizing the playing captain and shouting that his team will lose and happy about it. What a leader we have in this country.
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Boss / August 16, 2015
That is why we said that he was chosen carefully. Now they can appoint Ranil to run the country without getting him elected. Americans are masters at this game.
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Anton / August 16, 2015
Maithreepala’s long letter to Mahinda is true even though some say it was a forged signature. Mahinda’s reply is also true and he wouldn’t have replied if Mathreepala’s signature was forged. Sacking of Susil and Yapa took place and even their membership in SLFP is also suspended. All this proves that the President is against Mahinda’s group winning and the President supports silently the real SLFP members who are contesting under the betel leaf. All this shows that the President can and wants to work with RW and with those who join United National Front after the elections except those who are with Rajapakses who are the biggest national looters and criminals and drug dealers. These papers are only highlighting the facts and nothing wrong in it. As Az says, this is better than showing an imposter with Mahinda on the polling day to mislead the voters.
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JeffK / August 16, 2015
Now they have started blocking websites favoring UPFA. Ranil preparing for a grand vote rigging through Sirisena the puppet. Expect paid civil society dollar suckers to justify it using loop holes in the constitution, history, etc.
It is said Ranil, Malik had met J.C Waliamuna to get the help of civil society to prepare propaganda supporting Ranil been appointed PM even with lesser number of seats than UPFA. Blood will flow because of Ranil, again.
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Harry Hatton / August 16, 2015
Save the country from Evil Ranil. Saw how he acted in defense of conman Mahendran. How he tried to change 19 amenment to become executive Prime Minister. How he is using lakehouse & Vijaya group. How he appoined his cousin Ruwan wijewardena defense minister.Please dont let this johnna into power.
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Won / August 16, 2015
People won’t but the puppet will. That was why this jellyfish was selected the common candidate in the first place.
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Nilantha / August 16, 2015
all politicians think only about them. no one think about sri lanka. god blase peoples in sri lanka. UK Government why you gave freedom to sri lanka.
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Liberal One / August 16, 2015
Because they were bankrupt after the world war 2 and running the country using the English speaking elite class they created is way easier than direct imperialism.
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