{"id":228270,"date":"2022-07-18T00:07:11","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T18:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=228270"},"modified":"2022-07-22T11:38:43","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T06:08:43","slug":"are-basl-media-acting-in-cahoots-to-promote-ranil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-basl-media-acting-in-cahoots-to-promote-ranil\/","title":{"rendered":"Are BASL & Media Acting In Cahoots To Promote Ranil?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/strong>Amrit Muttukumaru<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Amrit Muttukumaru<\/p><\/div>\n

It is intriguing that the \u2018Aragalaya\u2019 which has bravely done a magnificent job with much sacrifice to oust Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the office of Executive President, Mahinda Rajapaksa from the office of Prime Minister and brought the entire political establishment \u2013 particularly the 225 parliamentarians to their knees have seemingly withdrawn into their shell after Ranil Wickremesinghe took office as \u2018Acting President\u2019. Even the courageous Hirunika Premachandra who was the catalyst for the \u2018Aragalaya\u2019 is now missing in action!<\/p>\n

I am amazed. Here is a person who got a drubbing at the August 2020 parliamentary election failing to secure a seat being a serious candidate to replace an individual who less than three years ago obtained a whopping 6.9 Million votes! Although the votes obtained by Wickremesinghe was not released in the public domain, it is widely perceived to<\/strong> be less than a measly 20,000 votes! Is this not PERVERSE?<\/p>\n

Does not Wickremesinghe who rarely misses an opportunity to tout his purported commitment to democracy where he often refers to \u2018Latimer House Principles\u2019 which relate to transparent and responsible governance have any SHAME? Also shameful is that after leading his party (UNP) to parliamentary oblivion at the August 2020 general election, he is depending on Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s SLPP to fill the balance period of Gotabaya\u2019s tenure. On 12 July his maternal uncle Ranjit Wijewardene owned \u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 had on its front page the caption \u201cGovt .should work according to Constitution, no one can dictate to P\u2019ment from outside: PM\u201d<\/a><\/span> where Wickremesinghe is said to have stated \u201cI am here to safeguard the constitution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Even his parliamentary membership on the \u2018National List\u2019 has been plausibly questioned on the basis it is inimical to Article 99A of the Constitution. This is due to the alleged failure of the UNP General Secretary to submit his name to the Election Commission as its nominee on the \u2018National List\u2019 within the specified 7 days after then Chairman of the Election Commission – Mahinda Deshapriya had requested the General Secretary to do so.<\/p>\n

BASL \u2013 \u2018Double Standards\u2019?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1) The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) which \u201curges all parties to respect party leaders\u2019 decision\u201d<\/a><\/span> and upholding \u201cdemocratic values\u201d in electing \u201ca successor\u201d to Gotabaya Rajapaksa (\u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 16 July 2022) does not utter a word about the SUITABILITY of Wickremesinghe for this position. This is in the context of the General Secretary of Gotabaya\u2019s SLPP stating that the SLPP will support Wickremesinghe at the election in Parliament.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 which published the BASL \u2018statement\u2019 has glaringly IGNORED the letter from FUTA (Federation of University Teachers\u2019 Associations) addressed to Acting President Wickremesinghe. The FUTA letter inter alia DEMANDS from Wickremesinghe (i) \u201cYou consult with the speaker and the parliament and take the appropriate steps to resign from office immediately.\u201d (ii) \u201cPledge to the people of this country that you will not offer yourself as a candidate when the parliament meets to appoint a new President on the 20th of this month.\u201d<\/p>\n

2) The BASL which was reportedly \u201cdeeply disturbed at the occupation of the Prime Minister’s Office at Flower Road\u201d apparently showing no such distress when protesters occupied the President\u2019s official residence in Fort and the presidential office at the old parliament building. Ref. \u201cBASL calls on protesters to return Prime Minister\u2019s Office to authorities immediately\u201d<\/a><\/span> (\u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 14 July 2022)<\/p>\n

BASL & WNL in Cahoots? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The BASL and the country\u2019s dominant newspaper company Wijeya Newspapers Limited (WNL) acting in cahoots to promote Wickremesinghe\u2019s candidature to fill the balance period of Gotabaya\u2019s tenure and even beyond seems CRYSTAL CLEAR from the mischievous \u2018Editorial\u2019 \u201cTHE ARAGALAYA MUST RETURN TO GALLE FACE\u201d<\/a><\/span> in WNL owned \u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 dated 15 July 2022. It inter alia states:<\/p>\n

1) \u201cThese protesters- to date- have received the backing of lawyers. Till Wednesday (July 13) these lawyers gave the impression that they\u2019ll back the protesters in most of what they\u2019ll get involved in. But the latest advice from the lawyers to the protesters is for them to hand over the Prime Minister\u2019s office back to the authorities; and that they should do it immediately.\u201c<\/p>\n

2) \u201cAragalaya is now pushing the country\u2019s peaceful protest to a human disaster. The Prime Minister has urged the security forces to defeat a fascist movement which is setting foot in this people\u2019s struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

3) \u201cThe protesters are at their safest when they are at Galle Face\u201d (How very CONSIDERATE of WNL!!)<\/p>\n

The portion in the \u2018Editorial\u2019 referring to \u201cThe Prime Minister has urged the security forces to defeat a fascist movement which is setting foot in this people\u2019s struggle.\u201d must be read in conjunction with \u201cRW calls for defeat of \u2019Fascist\u2019 takeover\u201d<\/a><\/span> in the \u2018Daily Mirror\u2019 of 14 July 2022 where \u2018Fascist\u2019\u00a0is printed in RED!<\/p>\n

The President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL)\u00a0– Saliya Pieris\u00a0PC was the inaugural chairman of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) established by the Yahapalana government in which Ranil Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister. Pieris\u00a0was also a Member of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka during the Yahapalana years (October 2015 to March 2018).<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s dominant newspaper company Wijeya Newspapers Limited (WNL) is owned by Wickremesinghe\u2019s maternal uncle (mother\u2019s brother) Ranjit Wijewardene. It is apparent that the real MOTIVE of WNL to go out of its way to promote the disastrous political track record of Wickremesinghe is to carve out a political future for Wijewardene\u2019s laid-back son Ruwan who was given out of turn appointment as UNP Deputy Leader by first cousin Wickremesinghe. This is all part of DYNASTIC politics. The next in line Upali Newspapers Limited (UNL) founded by Wijewardene\u2019s late\u00a0cousin Upali\u00a0Wijewardene is now controlled by Upali\u2019s widow\u00a0Lakmani\u00a0who is the daughter of Sirimavo\u00a0Bandaranaike\u2019s late brother Dr.\u00a0Seevali\u00a0Ratwatte.\u00a0Both WNL Chairman Ranjit and UNL founder Upali are cousins of J. R.\u00a0Jayewardene who brought his nephew Wickremesinghe into politics. UNL\u2019s \u2018The Island\u2019 not to be outdone had a front page caption on 14 July \u201cRanil vows to fight \u2019Fascists\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/span>!<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Trillion Dollar Question is why the \u2018Aragalaya\u2019 has gone into hibernation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":220226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nAre BASL & Media Acting In Cahoots To Promote Ranil? - 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\/are-basl-media-acting-in-cahoots-to-promote-ranil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are BASL & Media Acting In Cahoots To Promote Ranil? 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