Sirisena angry over Pohottuwa symbol as rift widens with SLPP

President Maithripala Sirisena, leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), was livid yesterday that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had effectively shut the door on a political partnership.

This came after SLPP Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam called at the National Election Commission (NEC) on Friday and paid the deposit of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as the party’s candidate for the presidential election on November 16. In doing so, he has formally acknowledged that Mr. Rajapaksa will contest under the budding Lotus Flower (Pohottuwa) symbol.

Both, President Sirisena and SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera had been insisting that the presidential candidate should contest under the Chair symbol or another “neutral one.” The move was rejected by SLPP architect Basil Rajapaksa during talks with an SLFP delegation this week. This came after one-on-one talks between President Sirisena and SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

In a bid to pressure the SLPP to heed the SLFP’s conditions in forging a partnership, President Sirisena, political observers believe, resorted to a string of moves. One was his declaration that during the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, Rs. 2 billion remained unaccounted for in the project to construct the Nelum Kuluna tower. It was declared open last Monday.

Former President Rajapaksa, under whom the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRC) came, denied the accusation and said in a statement that there was no impropriety. A similar position was also brought out by the Sri Lanka Ambassador to China, Karunasena Kodituwakku, and the Chinese company involved.

President Sirisena’s accusations have prompted China, the world’s second largest economic power, and the state-owned companies to question the allegation.

In the midst of these denials, UPFA (United People’s Freedom Alliance) General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera made a feeble attempt to protect the president by saying that if he had made incorrect allegations, that was because his officials had provided him with inaccurate information. Yesterday, the Presidential Secretariat was busy preparing an official statement to confirm that the claims made by President Sirisena were correct. No doubt, that would place some strain on relations between Colombo and Beijing.

Another move was to initiate legal action against SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the 2005 presidential election. This was on the grounds that being an American citizen, he had worked for his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidential election campaign. The Colombo Magistrate refused the CID’s application to have Gotabaya Rajapaksa questioned on what seemed flimsy grounds.

The investigations are being directed by Senior DIG in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Ravi Seneviratne. He is on a year’s extension of service granted by President Sirisena who oversees the Police.