{"id":35573,"date":"2014-11-30T15:14:37","date_gmt":"2014-11-30T20:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=35573"},"modified":"2014-11-30T15:31:21","modified_gmt":"2014-11-30T20:31:21","slug":"navin-dissanayake-son-of-gamini-d-and-son-in-law-of-karu-j-resigns-as-minister-and-crosses-over-from-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=35573","title":{"rendered":"Navin Dissanayake – Son of Gamini D and Son in Law of Karu J – Resigns as Minister and Crosses Over from Govt."},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Dharisha Bastians<\/strong><\/p>\n

The political week looked poised to get off to a dramatic start with Minister and Nuwara Eliya District MP Navin Dissanayake quitting his portfolio and announcing his support for common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena.<\/p>\n

\"KJ<\/a><\/p>\n

Navin Dissanayake, who is the son of late UNP Leader Gamini Dissanayake, will rejoin the United National Party at its Sirikotha headquarters in Pita Kotte today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have resigned from all my positions in the Government. Hope to join the movement for democracy tomorrow. The country must be free from family corruption and nepotism,\u201d the former Minister of Public Management Reforms tweeted yesterday, announcing his resignation.
\n
\nThe MP has announced he will be supporting Maithripala Sirisena\u2019s candidacy in the presidential election scheduled for 8 January.<\/p>\n

Dissanayake\u2019s defection brings the total number of MPs the ruling UPFA coalition has lost since the announcement of Sirisena\u2019s candidature up to 11.<\/p>\n

Dissanayake, 45, joined the UPFA Government in 2007 with 17 others from the UNP, to help President Rajapaksa\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n

In a letter addressed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Dissanayake thanked the President for concluding the war, but noted that the situation with regard to corruption and fraud within his Government was \u201cno longer tolerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dated 29 November, Dissanayake\u2019s letter alludes to preferential treatment of ministers, large-scale fraud and irregularities and broken promises by the Rajapaksa Government on abolishing the executive presidency.<\/p>\n

Dissnayake complained to the President that he had not been provided the means to fulfill the needs of the rural people in the Nuwara Eliya District. \u201cOther Ministers were given large amounts of funds and opportunities to create jobs, but we were allocated meagre funds and could not create employment,\u201d the letter reads. Despite numerous complaints to political leaders, his grievances were not adequately addressed Dissanayake claimed.<\/p>\n

The former Minister also explains that his late father Gamini Dissanayake had worked together with his colleague Lalith Athulathmudali to abolish the executive presidency or subject it to serious reform in 1990. \u201cThis policy had been a part of his election manifesto for the presidency in 1994,\u201d Dissanayake said in his letter to President Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

He said the abolition of the presidency had also been included in the Mahinda Chinthana and Mahinda Chinthana Iridi Dakma policy statements in 2005 and 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty years after my father\u2019s death, there is a clarion call from all sections of society to abolish this system. Therefore, I hope to join hands with the forces mobilising to abolish the executive presidency,\u201d he told the President in his resignation letter.<\/p>\n

Dissanayake also revealed details about major frauds with regard to projects undertaken by the UPFA Government and irregularities in Chinese investments. \u201cThree weeks ago I revealed a Rs. 1.5 billion fraud in the purchase of coal for the CEB by the Power and Energy Ministry. This is just one instance. I am also aware of the many irregularities in Chinese projects. This situation is no longer tolerable,\u201d the letter stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever much our political journeys differ, I have no personal animosity with you. This is entirely a decision being made on principle,\u201d Dissanayake told the President.<\/p>\n

He also expressed his gratitude to President Rajapaksa for ending the war.<\/p>\n

With Dissanayake\u2019s defection, the Government majority in Parliament decreases to 150 MPs, or exactly a two-thirds majority in the 225 member legislature.<\/p>\n

Common Candidate MoU signing today<\/strong><\/p>\n

After weeks of negotiations and hammering out final policy details, opposition parties will ink a memorandum of understanding today (Nov 1st 2014) morning to field a common opposition candidate at the January presidential poll.<\/p>\n

The signing is to take place at the open air theatre of the Vihara Maha Devi Park at 10.00 a.m. It will be preceded by religious observances.<\/p>\n

Led by the main opposition United National Party, the alliance of opposition parties and civil society movements will cement a common consensus to abolish the executive presidency, restore democratic freedoms and independent commissions to depoliticise the system.<\/p>\n

Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero and JHU Chairman Athuraliye Rathana, Sarath Fonseka recent Government defectors, trade unionists, artists and civil society activists will participate in the event.
\n
\nCourtesy: DailyFT<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dharisha Bastians The political week looked poised to get off to a dramatic start with Minister and Nuwara Eliya District MP Navin Dissanayake quitting his portfolio and announcing his support for common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena. Navin Dissanayake, who is the son of late UNP Leader Gamini Dissanayake, will rejoin the United National Party …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Navin Dissanayake – Son of Gamini D and Son in Law of Karu J – Resigns as Minister and Crosses Over from Govt.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35573"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35573"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35589,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35573\/revisions\/35589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}