{"id":188188,"date":"2018-03-04T19:43:30","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T14:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=188188"},"modified":"2018-03-05T02:16:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T20:46:16","slug":"basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/","title":{"rendered":"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Basil+Rajapaksa\">Basil Rajapaksa<\/a>, brother of the ex-president and widely recognized as the key strategist in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is reported to have refused to answer calls from President Sirisena or his representatives who have tried to forge an alliance between the SLPP and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_142087\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Basil.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-142087\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-142087\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Basil-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Basil-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Basil-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-142087\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Basil<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The <em>Sunday Times<\/em> reported that calls from the President as well as Basil\u2019s brother Dudley who was trying get through on behalf of Sirisena had gone unanswered. Basil, according to the Sunday Times, had told a leading Buddhist prelate that he did not mean any discourtesy but that the formation of a Government as envisaged by the President would require him to speak with the Joint Opposition since the SLPP is technically not represented in Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>However, Rajapaksa has stated that he had in fact met Sirisena \u2018at a non public place\u2019 two weeks ago, although he declined to divulge any further details<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":4232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-04T14:13:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-04T20:46:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"519\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/\",\"name\":\"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-04T14:13:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-04T20:46:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg\",\"width\":\"800\",\"height\":\"519\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2018-03-04T14:13:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-04T20:46:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":519,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/","name":"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-04T14:13:30+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-04T20:46:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg","width":"800","height":"519"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/basil-plays-hard-to-get-dodging-sirisenas-overtures\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Basil Plays Hard-To-Get, Dodging Sirisena\u2019s Overtures"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/mahinda-rajapaksa-basil-rajapaksa-2010-4-4-12-50-29-colombotelegraph.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188189,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188188\/revisions\/188189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}