{"id":46190,"date":"2016-04-16T19:43:33","date_gmt":"2016-04-16T23:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=46190"},"modified":"2016-04-16T19:45:33","modified_gmt":"2016-04-16T23:45:33","slug":"rajapaksas-conspire-to-create-split-between-president-maithripala-sirisena-and-prime-minister-ranil-wickremesinghe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=46190","title":{"rendered":"Rajapaksas Conspire To Create Split Between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe"},"content":{"rendered":"

An unscheduled meeting that took place last week between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President, MP Mahinda Rajapaksa managed to create ripples in political circles, especially among members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The Rajapaksas have now resorted to the latest conspiracy of trying to drive a wedge between the Prime Minister and President Maithripala Sirisena.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Divide and rule has been the policy of the Rajapaksas that was clearly witnessed during Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s first term in office. Rajapaksa ensured that divisions and political defections plagued the main political parties enabling him to create an environment where he could rule as he pleased with minimal opposition.<\/p>\n

The Rajapaksa clan is once again trying to create a division and this time around, the targets are Wickremesinghe and Sirisena.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A group of Rajapaksa loyalists in the joint opposition are currently engaged in a covert operation to seek the support of the United National Party (UNP) led by Wickremesinghe to abolish the executive presidency.<\/p>\n

The meeting between Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa took place on Tuesday (5) at the parliamentary complex and opposition MP Dinesh Gunawardena was also present at the discussion.<\/p>\n

Although the meeting was publicized as one that was aimed at discussing security issues of the former President, the discussion was focused on two issues \u2013 the abolition of the executive presidency and the incumbent government\u2019s relations with China. Interestingly, Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa pow-wow took place on the eve of the former\u2019s official visit to China.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, Rajapaksa had questioned Wickremesinghe on the UNP\u2019s stance on abolishing the executive presidency. The Premier has responded saying that the UNP was prepared to honour the pledge made during the last presidential election and has already submitted a draft proposal on the matter to the SLFP.<\/p>\n

Wickremesinghe further observed that the party would proceed after looking at the proposals presented by the SLFP as well. However, Rajapaksa quickly responded saying that the opposition would fully support the abolition of the executive presidency. Following the meeting with Wickremesinghe, Rajapaksa made a public comment calling for the abolition of the executive presidency and the introduction of electoral reforms, both of which were promised by President Sirisena during the last presidential election.<\/p>\n

Be that as it may, the latest political development disturbed many SLFP members loyal to Sirisena as soon as news of the meeting started to trickle out.<\/p>\n

However, apart from SLFPers some members in the joint opposition who have remained silent on the issue of abolishing the executive presidency were also perturbed as Rajapaksa\u2019s public statement with regard to the executive presidency was made without their knowledge.<\/p>\n

The extremist elements in the joint opposition like Dinesh Gunawardena, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila have not spoken in favour of the abolition of the executive presidency.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa\u2019s actions last week have further alienated the likes of MP Dullas Alahapperuma who have claimed that while being in the joint opposition the SLFP members in the UPFA opposition would work in support of President Sirisena, but act against the UNP. The meeting Rajapaksa had last week with Wickremesinghe and the declaration of support for the abolition of the executive presidency are now clear indications that the Rajapaksas are trying to strike a deal with the UNP against the President.<\/p>\n

According to reports, one of the key members involved in the former President\u2019s latest political move is brother and former minister Basil Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n

A few days after the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa meeting, Basil was quoted as saying he was prepared to recommence party politics.<\/p>\n


\nThe conspiracy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rajapaksas are looking at killing two birds with one stone. Apart from trying to drive a wedge between Wickremesinghe and Sirisena, the Rajapaksa clan is looking at destroying Sirisena\u2019s political future while striking a clear deal to ensure protection for the members of the former First Family who are currently facing many charges.<\/p>\n

The former President wants to pave the way to be able to contest for the post of prime minister at the next decisive election while ensuring that Sirisena would not be able to win at such a poll.<\/p>\n

The conspiracy the Rajapaksas are working on is a model where Wickremesinghe would post a resounding victory effortlessly while Rajapaksa and Sirisena would lose due to the split in the SLFP.<\/p>\n

Then the icing on the cake would be for the Rajapaksas to walk away free without being probed and prosecuted for the charges faced by them. The Rajapaksas believe that they could strike a deal on the matter with Wickremesinghe by showing the win-win scenario for the UNP, Wickremesinghe and eventually the Rajapaksas.<\/p>\n

The investigations being carried out into the allegations faced by the former first family has become a sword of Damocles hanging over Rajapaksa\u2019s head. However, Sirisena has continuously maintained so far that the abolition of the executive presidency was a matter for the parliament to decide.<\/p>\n


\nCourtesy:The Sunday Leader<\/em><\/p>\n

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An unscheduled meeting that took place last week between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President, MP Mahinda Rajapaksa managed to create ripples in political circles, especially among members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The Rajapaksas have now resorted to the latest conspiracy of trying to drive a wedge between the Prime Minister …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Rajapaksas Conspire To Create Split Between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »<\/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\/46190"}],"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=46190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46191,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46190\/revisions\/46191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}