{"id":66307,"date":"2019-11-13T18:35:14","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T23:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=66307"},"modified":"2019-11-13T18:37:55","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T23:37:55","slug":"refocusing-attention-on-slpp-presidential-candidate-gotabaya-rajapaksas-us-citizenship-renunciationiissue-is-a-last-ditch-attempt-by-supporters-of-ndf-presidential-candidate-sajith-premadasa-to-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=66307","title":{"rendered":"“Refocusing Attention on SLPP Presidential Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s US Citizenship Renunciation Issue is a last-ditch Attempt by Supporters of NDF Presidential Candidate Sajith Premadasa to Stave off Defeat” States Dr. Charitha Herath of PIPD"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya<\/strong><\/p>\n

Refocusing attention on Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s United States (US) citizenship renunciation issue is a last-ditch attempt by supporters of New Democratic Front presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa to stave off defeat, claimed Professionals Intervention for Policy Dialogue\u2019s (PIPD) Dr. Charitha Herath yesterday. <\/p>\n

\u201cGotabaya Rajapaksa came forth as the SLPP candidate because there was no doubt about him meeting the requirements to run for the presidency,\u201d Herath said, adding that while anyone can have suspicions over another\u2019s citizenship, there was a due process to be followed when acting on those suspicions. <\/p>\n

Dr. Herath commented on the issue at a press conference held by the PIPD along with actor Ravindra Randeniya, musician Rohana Weerasinghe, and lyricist Bandula Nanayakkarawasam.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While the artistes spoke about the decline of their respective industries in the past five years, Charitha Herath stressed on the sudden vocalisation of issues regarding Rajapaksa\u2019s US citizenship. \u201cNow that there is nothing left for them to do, the opposing political camp is making last-minute allegations without even taking the matter to courts,\u201d Dr. Herath said. He also pointed out that certain topics that have been featured in the DNF campaign, including the Central Bank bond scam, \u2018white van\u2019 abductions, and the sale of the Army headquarters land could have been acted upon, as the United National Party (UNP) has been in power since 2015. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a presidential candidate from the Government but they are behaving like they aren\u2019t part of the current Government,\u201d Dr. Herath said, adding that, \u201cThey\u2019ve mentally removed themselves from the Government and are now attacking the Government. This has become a political comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Herath questioned why the Government had failed to inquire into such incidents during their near-five-year term instead of promising to launch inquiries if Premadasa is elected as President. \u201cYesterday, the NDF said that after 16 November, the tax-free vehicle permits issued to Ministers will be discontinued. So why can\u2019t they discontinue them now? There\u2019s no validity in them saying the permits will be discontinued only after the Elections, as there\u2019s no reason for those who won\u2019t take that step now to do so after 16 November,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Herath went on to question why legal action is yet to be taken against a single individual implicated in the report submitted to President Maithripala Sirisena by the Presidential Commission appointed to investigate the Bond Scam.<\/p>\n

In addition to this, Herath mentioned the 10 November press briefing during which Health, Nutrition, and Indigenous Medicine Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne presented to media a man who claimed to be a driver of a \u2018white van\u2019. \u201cIn which country does a Minister present a driver of a white van to the media instead of handing them over to the police?\u201d Herath asked.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

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

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya Refocusing attention on Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s United States (US) citizenship renunciation issue is a last-ditch attempt by supporters of New Democratic Front presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa to stave off defeat, claimed Professionals Intervention for Policy Dialogue\u2019s (PIPD) Dr. Charitha Herath yesterday. \u201cGotabaya Rajapaksa came forth …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘“Refocusing Attention on SLPP Presidential Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s US Citizenship Renunciation Issue is a last-ditch Attempt by Supporters of NDF Presidential Candidate Sajith Premadasa to Stave off Defeat” States Dr. Charitha Herath of PIPD’ »<\/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\/66307"}],"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=66307"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66309,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66307\/revisions\/66309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}