Former president and current parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday that it was the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that should bear the responsibility for the non-settlement of payments to the Independent Television Network (ITN) for telecasting his advertisements during the January presidential election campaign.
Speaking to the media after giving a statement to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC) on the matter Rajapaksa said he was the party’s candidate and not an independent candidate.
“ The party should take complete responsibility over the matter because I was the candidate of the party” he said.
The UPFA has not made any comment on the matter as yet and the new UPFA Secretary Wiswa Warnapala has said the party will make its stance clear when party leader President Maithripala Sirisena who is currently in New York to attend UN General Assembly sessions returns to the country.
Rajapaksa was questioned Wednesday by four members of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe corruption and abuse of power during the previous regime.
The team had visited Rajapaksa’s Mirihana residence to record a statement from him deviating from the normal practice of summoning individuals for questioning at the commissions office at the BMICH premises.
The special team questioned the former president over non-payment of dues to state-owned TV channel ITN for broadcasting advertisements for his 2015 presidential campaign.
An audit inquiry has found that the state television Independent Television Network has incurred losses over Rs. 101 million as Rajapaksa has failed to pay the dues to the state TV for advertising his election campaign.
Same audit has found that the ITN had agreed to broadcast Rs. 44.7 million of advertisements for current president Maithripala Sirisena but only aired Rs. 2.6 million worth advertisements despite the agreement.
Ajith / September 24, 2015
He may be right. He was a candidate from UPFA.At the same time he was the UPFA chairman of UPFA when this expenses were incurred and he was responsible for paying it. He should have paid everything before handing over power to another chairman. He should answer why he spent such a huge amount of money and who approved that expenses.UPFA should investigate the irregularities and corruption within UPFA under his chairmanship and charge those who violated and misused party funds.
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Dinuk / September 24, 2015
Mahinda Jarapassa should be tried and locked up for this. He cannot simply pass the buck – as he will try to do with the war crimes as well.
But now even his corrupt stooge Sajin Vas Goo has been released by the Charming Attorney General who needs to be investigated.
I am mystified as to why Ranil has not sent the current AG on leave and filled criminal negligence and dereliction of duties charges against the AG?!
Can anyone explain?
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tika / September 24, 2015
Stupid its always been political correctness that has ruled the dammed devils island. They are all in it for something never for nothing- shape shape shape the national ego.
Give him another Tsunami and the matter would be cleared with all licking their fingers.
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Rarityminds / September 24, 2015
This is th reason why many were in the opinion that this man is born abusive person.
Thanks go to MY3 and not forgetting CBKs great efforts chasing this guy out of the active politics. This man simply ruined the nation.
Hambantota was made fund sucker only for his complex mentality to be comforted. Just becasue lANKEN airport was named after BANDAranayake, this man wanted an Airport by his name. How stupid the folks have been
to allow this kind of silly guys to represent the nation.
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srilal / September 25, 2015
it is reported that MR’s confidant Sajin De Vas had agreed to spill the beans , but it’s not clear as to what benefits Sajin going to get in return . Earlier in the year our Former Cheat justice Mohan Peries said to have agreed to do the same on one condition , that was Ranil Led government to keep him as the CJ , obviously MY3 & Ranil knew the danger of keeping him as the CJ ;thus, They flatly rejected it and got him sacked .Mervin the Vermin was the first to do the honours , question is how many more will be volunteering to show their gratitude towards their former Mafia boss !
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Dodo / September 24, 2015
UPFA is a group of corrupt thugs and all of them should be put behind bars if they fail to pay up, staring with the leader of course – Mahinda Jarapassa.
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Amarasiri / September 24, 2015
Former president and current parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa,
RE:UPFA Should Pay My Rs.100 Million Advertising Bill: Mahinda Rajapaksa
“Former president and current parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday that it was the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that should bear the responsibility for the non-settlement of payments to the Independent Television Network (ITN) for telecasting his advertisements during the January presidential election campaign.”
“Rajapaksa said he was the party’s candidate and not an independent candidate.”
Yes sir, you are correct. You represented UPFA, and was an agent of UPFA.
You were the UPFA party candidate. UPFA selected and sent you as the leading candidate , and because of your popularity and notoriety, and the advertising by UPFA, you were able to get 58 lakhs of voters to vote for you.
Let the UPFA also know that you understand that there are a lot of Modayas, Mootals and Fools in the UPFA, but even with those fools, still UPFA is liable because it was for the benefit of the party.
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sama / September 24, 2015
Amarasiri,
this statement alone further reveal how GONTHADIYEK the former president has been ?
Now the long overdue CTB bills alledged to have left by Rajapakshe, will have the same answer…. that UPFA or the party should pay for it.
Anyways, these men thought that they could make the very same nation fools for ever. It was the MY3-Rani-CBK changed it.. as an ICE mountain fell down. TO this day, these brainless men have beccome ZEROs to the nation – even if extrement consumaer such as Buruwanwerse seems making every effort to paint it different.
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Analyst / September 24, 2015
@Ajit. Yes you’re right in saying he may be right but as one is contesting as an MP. Isn’t it the responsibility of the M P in question as well to share ?? If it was permitted?
In that case UPFA may find in a situation to answer all the MP s up and down the country who contested under UPFA ticket may go to court to claim their share of expenses as well from UPFA ???
With the Partiy’ s permission an MP may be able to use the Party’s Funds not when there was no agreement.
The fools from UPFA from top to bottom hoped that they will win the election and MARA will become the PRESIDENT , resulting that everything can be SWINDLED FROM THE STATE. But Unfortunately all the master plans were bulldozed by the masses and rejected.
Now they talk about who pays what…….. Fools never learns.
This is why you need educated intelligent people in high places. Otherwise finding themselves in a right old MESS.
UPFA have under estimated their KAPPATTIA LEADER . Now leant the lesson.
Of course he will reject to pay knowing him??
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Analyst / September 24, 2015
Ha ha ha UPFA can lick the wounds now. Why did they agree in the first place or was not there a Party Manifesto for the do’s and dont’s ,
Forgotten all about it ?? Thought your master will WIN WIN WIN??
Boooooo to UPFA.
Go after Modawansa &co
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LEELAWATHIE / September 24, 2015
This guy would next time shamelessly say that all the expenses that his offsprings wasted by abusing the state fonds should be liable to UPFA:
Then the donkey supports would nodd their ass head on and on. So it would run for some more time, until the bugger would be branded in their hearts … nobody else, abusive by birth.
Ask him who should bear the cost of the helicopter charges by which this bugger president turned up the premises of the most alleged drug king of the negombo -Nimal Lanza was about to be arrested ?
There he would shamelessly say, yes of course people and UPFA… with his cesspit nothing better would not come out.
Sinhalayani nagitiyawa.. dont let you abused this way.. you should have a brain … mother lanka have produced you freedom to think and decide… think twice before being part of the voters that would support these the like highly abusive men and women
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sama / September 24, 2015
Actually these should be charged by their assets collected over there years.
Upfa men should pay it… if they really defend this guy. Each and everyone of their accounts should be investigated -above all buruwanse should pay the major portion since the bugger abused his words attacking any civlized men and women of the nation outreaching the mind sets of the most vulnerable folks for vote gains.
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srilal / September 24, 2015
Sama ,
Remember MR and his family members’ chopper ride bill dispute earlier in the year? in the end one mysterious soldier came and settled the full amount , this time too , some one will come forward and will settle the bill , MR is very good at passing the buck at others if it’s not beneficial to him . mark my word if and when MR is convicted for war crimes , he would not hesitate to say it wasn’t him that took the decisions , they were the collective cabinet decisions ; hence , entire cabinet is responsible for every thing .this accidental president’s true colours will have been exposed by the end of the trial.
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rohan polwatte / September 26, 2015
That mysterious person is one of the people who have MR’s robbed money.
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Rarityminds / September 24, 2015
These men would go on setting farts – not caring anything. By no means civlized, nor would they learn it in this life. They have absolutely no shame.
Ballige puthas of this kind deserve to be charged and put behind the bars for rest of their lives.
Just little credit they earn since his term ended the LTTE terror within the country.
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sama / September 25, 2015
This [edited out] will have to bark louder in next days. As if people are not second to the ones from Congo, they were all silent even if Rajapakshe men and women looted the state trechery.
For allt he high profile irrespponsible activities the man should be accountable- so he should be punished as the law is equal to any citizen of the country.
That is the nature of all idiotic leaders.. they even smiling while explaing their all wrong doings.. not learnt to applogized… showing the facts… actually.
Man to have abused people s funds for his SOBANA show off life – sending poor of the poor that poor, while only his kind of men and women being offered whatever the bugger thought and his Brother 50% thought were right – they abused the state funds to the core. That was the reason price hikes to go that up… while travelling to the country few months ago, I felt, even ones living on europe cant afford cost of living in the country today.
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rohan polwatte / September 25, 2015
He was the President from 2005 to 2015. He was the chairman of the UPFA AND SLFP within this period. He spent money from the treasury like his personal account. He nominated his uneducated illeterate family, cousins (MORONS)and his sycophant’s to responsible positions. MOney was lost and none of his sycophant’s or cousins or he is responsible? Why do we need to appoint president, ministers if they are not accountable for the positions that they held? WHY?????? This idiot is saying the UPFA is responsible to pay? Then PAY IT! IF you cant afford to spend then don’t spend it. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for every penny that was spend. non matter rice packets or arrack bottles you spent PUBLIC MONEY YOU WERE THE PRESIDENT THE LEADER AND IF YOU ARE SAYING THAT YOU WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE you brain dead MFR you should be JAILED life imprisonment or stoned to death!
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rohan polwatte / September 25, 2015
sri LAnkan air lines was abused. Mihin air was a white elephant created for your family to rob billions. YOu thought it belong to you. You took hundreds of family cousins close henchemen of yours when you went on foreign trips misusing public funds. Payed luxurious holtes and limousins sex sites dine & wined abusing public tax payer money while the middle and poor in sri lanka coudnt pay for thier electricgas bills or cook a proper nutritional meal. All this beucase LTTE defeat you jack ash? LTTE was deafeated collectively with international sri lankan forces thanks to SF beign the commander and many others. NOT just you and your jack assh stupid brothers. You abused the whole system destroying democractic institutions and encouraged lawlessness merely did nothing when your henchmen and family members threatened murder and created unbearable tax hikes to the innocent.
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sama / September 27, 2015
We are moving on the right track.
Please read it below – this is a great development of the long silence or withered move forward of the crime investigations during the last few months.
[Edited out]
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Ajith / September 24, 2015
People should understand how he manupulate the country and party for his benefit and when it comes to responsibilty he just put it on the party and country. He will put the same argument to war crimes and he will now say I am not responsible for war crimes I am only a President from UPFA and UPFA should responsible for war crimes. That means Srisena should take responsibility, not Mahinda, not Gotapaya.
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Shamil / September 24, 2015
Whoever pays, the 100M public fund is got eatten by this monkey.
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Spark / September 24, 2015
This expenditure took place when this goof was the President and also the Leader of the UPFA. Not only that, this goof was also holding the post of Minister of Finance, thus ethically responsible to avoid financial corruption happening between state institutions and sectors that are under his direct purview. This is a shameless statement typically from a humbug who simply does not give a damn towards ethics, principles, accountability, financial discipline towards public enterprises and money and last not least human conscience.
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Chanaka / September 24, 2015
It was not his money, it was our money he wasted.
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Gamarala / September 24, 2015
While Mahinda Rajapaksa’s answer may be technically correct, it is up to him to determine whether his answer is morally correct.
There is a saying `justice should not only be done but it should SEEM to be done.
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Dr.Goebells / September 24, 2015
Gamarala
They do not know the meaning of the word ‘moral’ – so what better can you expect ?
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Point of View / September 24, 2015
Bloody rogue. What an insult to us Sri Lankans to have had this shameful bugger as the President for 10 years.
Every mouthful of rice they have, every piece of cloth they wear, the roof over their heads are all bought by robbed money from the tax payers of Sri Lanka !
Entire family, brothers, sisters, their wives, husbands, children, grand children – all have to pay for this. When so many are suffering without food, housing, medicine and proper education, these scums robbed the country like nothing.The three idiotic sons think no end of themselves. Bloody uneducated rascals.
Their destiny will be worse than Saddams and Gaddafis !!
What goes around always comes around !!!
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eusense / September 24, 2015
In a way MR may be right if the UPFA undertook the ITN contract. Who signed the agreement? ITN has to go after that person. If not they have to grin and bear it. This is a good lesson to all who pander to politicians!
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Douglas / September 24, 2015
What MR says is true. If UPFA has submitted the advertisements, it is the responsibility of it to pay. However, the records would show the “parties” who sent those advertisements to ITN. Also it must be noted that MR was the UPFA Chairman and Susil Premajayantha was its Secretary.This Secretary must tell us, with records available at the party office, how the decisions were made and what amount of expenditure was authorized for such advertisements and how it was proposed to finance it. Was the expenditure to be met by the party funds already available in the bank or is to be collected from the donors pledges. If the questioning and recording were conducted on these lines, Mr. MR cannot escape that easily as he was the Chairman of UPFA at that time. In that “Official capacity” he is answerable and accountable. The main task before the Commission is to find out how this loss occurred and who was responsible and how it could be recovered. Please remember Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, the then Secretary to the President was also questioned on this matter and he had no connections to UPFA. On that strength, I presume there are more to it than Mr. MR says especially as regards the sources of funding this advertisement.
As reported in “Island” of September 23rd, Mr. MR has said: ” The Commission asked me to come to the office at the BMICH to make statement, but I had no time to waste on such frivolous matters and therefore I asked them to come to my Mirihana house”. Just see how an ex President and a sitting member of the Parliament speaks in public. Of course, to him this Rs. 100 million is nothing and “Frivolous” when compared to billions he had wasted and allowed to be siphoned out by his own family and goons from public funds. The country has lost and it is a must to recover those losses. That is the main task before this Commission and I hope it will work with that motivation and responsibility.
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MOHAMED MARZOOK / September 24, 2015
Can the normal process of law an justice deal with all the corrupt activities of MR, his family and cohorts. They have done every wrong in a cunning manner making sure that they could escape from them. Should not there be some special method to punish them? Sometimes…..the Libyan method.
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mike / September 25, 2015
M.M.
Instead of the Libyan method, let’s try our very own method! Bury Medamulana Meeharaka and his family and cohorts in a cesspit and seal it with concrete.
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Somapala / September 24, 2015
Susil Premajayantha was the UFPA secretary at the time.
He can save his old boss by paying.
He robbed hundred of millions when foreign companies were exploring oil and gas in Mannarbasin.
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Adhil Nizam / September 24, 2015
This is the BIG PATRIOTISM, jobless jokers like Dayan Jayathileka and wimal weerawansa are shouting about. May be Dayan Jayathileka should pay this bill. After all DJ is the jobless joker who white washes every dirty thing the Rajapakshas did.
This is how they wasted billions of our tax payer money, which may not necessarily be illegal but it was very immoral. No other candidate was allowed to advertise on the state media. He monopolized everything and still didnt pay the bill and now saying its the SLFPs responsibility.
Who was the authoritarian leader of the SL government and the SLFP at that time? Would anyone have dared to question an order from the rajapakshas or ask for payment? NO…
This is how the rajapakshas looted Srilanka and this is exactly why he should be in Prison – if nothing else as a warning for current and future politicians not to loot this country.
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jamesfolly / September 24, 2015
leaked un list of suspected war criminals from files
1.Mahinda.Rajapaksa
2.Gotabaya.Rajapaksa
3.Sarath Fonseka
4.Chandarika.Kumaratunga
5.Jagath Dias
6.DM.Jayaratne
7.Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan aka karuna amman
8.Douglas Devanada
9.Kumar Pathmanathan
10.Shavendra Silva
rest of list will be uploaded after the remaining files can be reloaded
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srilal / September 24, 2015
Can you share the link please ?
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sam / September 24, 2015
too many flies might bring the site down….let him first get it all via proxy.
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Off The Wall / September 25, 2015
There is a separate list for suspected LTTE war criminals starting with:
1. Velupillai Prabhakaran
2. Shanmugalingam Sivashankar (Pottu Amman)
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Tamil from the north / September 25, 2015
@Off the wall, you can try them if you find them. One is dead and the other is presumed dead.
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jamesfolly / September 25, 2015
Yes but the un list only has list for those who are alive as the people you stated can not be trialed
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Eusense / September 25, 2015
This is his personal dream list. He is making up and looking for more to add later.
By the way who did the investigation to list suspects?
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jamesfolly / September 25, 2015
The un did it
One of the key investigators included Silvia cartwright
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eusense / September 25, 2015
To whom did she talk to make conclusions? Separatists Diaspora or the sleeper LTTE cells?
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jamesfolly / September 26, 2015
Refugees and witnesses on both sides
The refugees whom escaped to west and also srilankans after sirisena administration
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Tamil from the north / September 26, 2015
@JamesFolly, please don’t give a genuine reply to this racist Eusense bugger. He is being sarcastic in his questioning. I have trailed this scoundrel for sometime and he is a racist. You on the other hand, have far too much intelligence. So write your findings and we are here to read it.
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Tamil from the north / September 26, 2015
@Eusense the racist Nuisance, the sleeper LTTE members are all working for MaRa. I cannot believe they talked behind his back. It is time you grew up.
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kumaran / September 24, 2015
Who will pay for the BILLIONS of dollars stacked away in foreign accounts, who is responsible for two humongous “projects” called the Rajapaksa Airport and Rajapaksa Harbour, who will pay for the enormous damage to the pristine nature of Hambantota, and for so many purile “projects” that are of no use to anyone? Above all, who will pay for the image loss of our national image of a people of gentle, polite, tolerant nature?? How long will it take for this image to be restored? It is very easy and “simple” for him to sit in comfort and be cynical. But it will take a long time for Sri Lanka to win back the hearts of the people and to restore confidence in Law and Order.
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mahinda Weerawanse / September 24, 2015
This is how he robbed the entire nation easy to say ÙPFA is responsible .how much he and his family robed this country.
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Kumar Sandirasegaram / September 24, 2015
He has no logic, decency or professionalism, isn’t it reasonable for the head of state to satisfy himself that expenditure of an election campaign is fully estimated and paid by the party source if that has been agreed in advanced. What his illogical action is that you can proceed and spend someone else’s money without any discussion about payments because he was the Head of state. What a load of baloney’!. He knew if he had won the presidency this colossal amount would have been met by the ordinary tax payer including the very poor. It also could have got lost in dubious accounting by his stooges. He has no logical or moral explanation to this immoral act of treachery and vandalism. He must be made to pay from his loot or prosecuted by the Attorney Generals office.
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confu tao / September 24, 2015
MR called this election, not the party. The decision to hold an early election was made by MR for his own benefit, not the party’s. After the poor showing in the Uva province elections, this criminal got cold feet and it was at his beckoning that the early presidential election was held. Funds raised for a presidential election are for the presidential candidate and not for the party. Similarly funds spent on the presidential election are decided by the presidential candidate and not the party. He was the beneficiary of the advertising and it is his responsibility to settle this account. Also like how MS paid for the advertising in advance, this scoundrel evaded payment. As the beneficiary of the advertising he is guilty of abuse of power and fraud and should be jailed. Further the commission must investigate who paid for the sil garments, free alcohol, transport of people to meetings, cut outs and dinners and free meals that were organized by this scoundrel
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Muhammed Fazl / September 24, 2015
Shameless thief and a murderer that he is, MR should pay since ITN PROMOTED the ex-president and NOT the UPFA.
MR can file a separate civil case against UPFA to resolve any monetary dispute.
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backlash / September 24, 2015
This is the same line taken by Weerawansa who is also guilty of the same crime and serious election offence. Mahinda R, said to be a lawyer – should know at least the basics of the Election Laws. The ignorant Weerawansa may not know the law. In any other country where democratic norms function both would have been unseated by independently functioning Courts. This was the case here prior to the mid-1970s. Our politicians of today have made a laughing stock of democracy.
Backlash
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Analyst / September 24, 2015
This mega maniac , and the swindler of the earth should be prosecuted . It will be difficult as he’s already tied up with millions of illicit dealings with other scoundrels like him.
So he is likely to threaten all the scoundrels and get away with charges.
His brain is only wired up to function cunningly. Not intelligently.
With his threats to the scoundrels the case will fizzle out. Mark my word.
He is an expert on denials and counter denials.
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Ritchie / September 24, 2015
MR is correct in saying it is the party’s responsibility to pay advertising bills. In the West, and in America it is the party which pays for their candidates’ expenses, including all travel expenses within the country. If not, only multi millionaires will be able to contest, if the candidate is responsible for paying all election expenses out of his personal wealth. There should be some regulations on who pays election expenses, and who should pay it should not depend on what Maithripala Sirisena’s opinion. As with any other country, unless it is a banana republic, the party should bear election expenses for their candidate.
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backlash / September 25, 2015
Ritchie – I believe in the U.S. candidates have to meet all their expenses including advertising, boarding, travel etc., when they “run” seeking Party nomination. Once a candidate wins the Party nomination much of the expenses are paid by the Party. But these are all either pre-agreed to or express in the laws. Here the Rajapakses have used their iron-grip in the State media for unlimited exposure and are now refusing to pay. At any rate, in the US the media is private. There is information to confirm responsible financial officers in the State media organisations have called for payments of outstanding dues before fresh facilities are considered – but they were all brushed aside with the usual threats and intimidation by hacks
coming on behalf of their bosses.
Backlash
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Piranha / September 24, 2015
The UPFA chairman and other office bearers have the responsibility of paying this debt. Whoever from the UPFA authorised the advertisements should be held accountable. ITN should take them to court. Rajapaksa the mega-thief evading responsibility like he did normally when he was the president.
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Upul / September 25, 2015
When anything is praised and given credit it’s me who did all those things. If there are any expenses or bad criticism, then it’s UPFA who has to answer and not me. This is the type of opportunistic person who ruled Sri Lanka for that past 10+ years and ruined the entire country. I am not sure he will get the punishment he deserves for all the crimes he did during his life time, but definitely, he will have to pay for his crimes someday.
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shankar / September 25, 2015
mahinda rajapakshe should either pay the 100 million less the 2.6 million sirisena incurred,or his assets should be confiscated for this value of 97.4 million.The people will consider it a fair justice.He should not be jailed.
A law should be brought in parliament banning any election advertisements.
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Saro / September 25, 2015
Nobody, including this ex-president and the candidate for whom these millions, sorry, billions that include what they owe to SLTB and others, has realised that the campaign expenses must be paid.
UPFA owes 192.5 millions rupees to SLTB alone. On the days these buses were hired to ferry people from various places to meetings addressed by this man the civilian passengers were abandoned wherever they were ordered to leave the en-route buses.
As long as our country is led by leaders or politicians of this calibre who put their interests on top of civilians and latter’s day-today businesses there is no hope we will progress comparatively with other nations. We are still primitive in devaluing civilians and their lives. It is sad to note that this man still enjoy popular support not only from the victims of his undemocratic rule but also from many elected representatives and government servants.
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Common Sense / September 25, 2015
Though the subject matter is election expenses, non payment and abusive allocation of radio space, the more important or the general scenario is what abuse that can possibly take place when a sitting president contests the elections under the banner of a political party who commands not only a majority but a two-thirds. In fact, it is reported that a grandson of JR is supposed to have told MR that he was the president who made full use of his grand-father’s constitution, in an opening ceremony.
The deliberations that took place to reduce presidential powers resulted in the 19th amendment to the constitution, which is something but in real terms is cosmetic. We take for granted that certain personalities were booted out of the polls and the so called better are in office. The reality is that if a President has an agenda to include the fattening of his belly and his political party commands a majority then he can have his way. A two thirds majority in parliament makes it worse.
The present scenario is interesting. Under the combination of two major political entities they are all in government and virtually no opposition. It has the two thirds majority, so both the President and the Prime Minister can have there way without any critical examination from an opposition. The loud noises we heard about wasteful highway projects and port-city project are no more and we will hear no more noises. That doesn’t mean that everything is OK. Incidentally those controversial projects are now on. For once I do not say that everything a government does should be hounded out but it must be subject to critical examination to prevent abuse.
Another interesting model one can consider, is to divorce the office of the President from party politics. The JR constitution bars a person assuming the office of the President from so many things but does not prevent the President being a part of a political party. In this regard, it is seen that the President of Singapore is elected by the people but not as party nominees. In fact he or she cannot be a part of a political party. Nominees for the position of President must have specified qualifications cum experience.
What matters more in preventing abuse is the prevention of having an abusive agenda rather than a so called reduction of authority. In this regard the virtual entrenchment article 4 of the constitution has to be taken into account and mandating the president to be out of party politics is not inconsistent with article 4. The amount of authority a president outside party politics has becomes immaterial as abuses can be examined by political parties, both in government and opposition.
Today is a government of a mix of politicians who were engaged in the trade of allegations against each other sometime back and in some sense it is a cohesion for the better or for worse. But one should not have a short memory to forget the bickering between President CBK and Premier RW to the extent of Minister Ravi K demanding CBK’s handbag be examined. That is the result even in the future if the President is from one political party and the Prime Minister from another opposing each other.
Therefore if a constitutional change is envisaged, then one of the options that can be considered is to make the Presidency out of party politics and that would make the President to follow the advise of the Prime Minister in most cases (unless the advice tendered is absurd) and make it a kind of parliamentary government in-spite of entrenchment of article 4.
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Vimukthi / September 25, 2015
Mahinda won the Presidential election with the support and blessing of Velupillai Pirapakaran and his LTTE. It is revealed that LTTE was paid 180 million before the election and the balance after the election from the public funds totalling to an amount nearly Rs.1,000 million. It is a punishable crime under the dragonian Prevention of Terrorisn Act for aiding and abating torrorisn. The Terrorism Investigation Unit of the Police should have arrested him and others involved in this deal immediately when the information was leaked to the public by Sripathy Sooriarachchi, Mangala Samaraweera and Tiran Alles groups. We all know how politicized institution the police is. Country should have saved billions and billions of rupees of poor rate payers money and saved the life of valuable persons like Lasantha Wickrematunge.
When Mahinda was elected he made a public statement saying that I am only a trustee of the people and not the owned of the country. But, ever since he was elected, he and his family members along with his political stooges were behaving like the properioters of the country and robbing poor rate payers money through out ten years of his office. At last, foolish Sinhala voters decided to vote him out of the office very late.
Being a dictator and did every thing what is only good for him, his family and his political stooges, took all the decisions on his own or by his brothers, how can he pass then responsibilities to the party, UPFA? Behaviour of Susil Premjeyath as the secretary of the UPFA neede to be taken into consideration in this regar. Therefore, stern action should be taken against Mahinda Rajapakse and Susil Premjayenth to recover not only the Rs.101 million due to ITN, but also to other state instituions such as Repavahini Coorporation, Sri Lanka Transport Board etc.
Sri Lankans who are looking to save the country, this is for you. You have a golden opportunity to launch sustainable and visible public campaign until the money is recovered. Most of the corrupt and culprits associating with Mahinda’s cabinet of minister are back with portfolios. Watch them too. Vimukthi
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Pot Shot / September 25, 2015
Dear Mr. Former President (and now MP)
Just in case you were still President, would you have said the same. NO! . Instead you would have taken the people’s money from some ministry and paid the bill.
Damn rogue!!!
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Tamil from the north / September 26, 2015
People should drag this MR bugger’s arse to the street, lift his skirt and thrash him with a stick maybe about 100 times. Dirty bastard, murdered people, robbed and pillaged the whole country for 9 years.
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whywhy / September 26, 2015
Who was responsible for war victory ? Dutugamunu and he
alone , not UPFA !
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