Charitha Herath to lead mud-slinging campaign against Maithri!

Wednesday, 02 July 2014 

Minister Basil Rajapaksa has entrusted the task, to media ministry secretary Charitha Herath, of politically destroying SLFP general secretary, minister Maithripala Sirisena.

This campaign is part of the struggle to secure the position of prime minister of the UPFA regime. Both are exerting pressure on the president with the intention of becoming the PM.

Basil has entrusted the task to Charitha because the latter is having specific abilities and powers to fulfill it. A descendent of the Iriyagolla family, he is a brother-in-law of petroleum minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa. He had graduated from Peradeniya University as a monk of Malwatte Chapter, by the name Kamburugoda Soratha. He had departed Katunayake International Airport as the monk Kamburugoda Soratha, and landed at Washington Airport as Charitha Herath.

Charitha last week held a meeting at Abhayarama temple at Narahenpita to discuss the mud-slinging campaign against minister Sirisena. The chief incumbent of the temple, United Nurses Union president Muruttettuwe Ananda Thera and health ministry’s former secretary Nihal Jayatilake, presently economic development ministry secretary, were in attendance.

Several national newspapers last week published interviews given by Muruttettuwe Thera, in which he questions as to how minister Sirisena could serve as the PM when he cannot at least fulfill his responsibilities as the health minister. In addition, a mud-slinging article claiming the treasury has sought the return of the balance 95 per cent of the Rs. 02 billion allocation for kidney disease prevention, as only five pc had been utilized.

State Bank Jobs For Baby Brigade – Election Campaigning To Qualify Others For Permanency

Namal with “We Hambantota baby brigade”

Some 380 Rajapaksa henchmen have been recruited as clerks in the state-owned financial institution – the National Savings Bank last week.

The appointments that had been made on Saturday have raised an outcry due to the non-transparent and irregular manner through which they had been processed. The usual protocols that are followed when recruiting staff into the state sector had been completely overlooked during these appointments, without so much as even a paper advertisement calling for eligible applicants to fill in such a considerable number of vacancies.

Colombo Telegraph learns these recruits have been channelled by the Nil Balakaya (Blue Brigade) also called as “Namal Baby Brigade”– the brainchild of President’s son Namal Rajapaksa, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s inner circle to which includes Shashindra Rajapaksa and  President’s personal astrologer, Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena.

Close to 80% of the new appointees are females and are residents of Hambantota.

Allegations of accepting heavy bribes from these new recruits have also been surfaced due to the absence of a selection process such as a competitive examination (as recommended by the Premadasa-appointed Youth Commission in their report as a recommendation to prevent another youth revolt in the country). Some of the recruits had paid as high as Rs. 500,000 to their ‘brokers’ in the Rajapaksa inner-circle while the mothers of some of the female recruits had been compelled to offer sexual bribes to several top officials of the Nil Balakaya to include their children in the appointee list.

Presently, the new recruits are said to be undergoing a three-day residential induction program at the Central Bank Training Institute in Rajagiriya.

Presently some 500 agency-hired employees (recruited through manpower agencies) are working in the NSB as clerks, customer relations assistants, data-entry operators etc. Some of them have been employed with the bank for nearly seven years.

Recently, a group of these employees had visited the presidential astrologer who is also working as a Director in NSB, at his office located in the 7th floor, with a request to absorb them into the permanent cadre considering their years of service in the institution. However in response, Sumanadasa had stated they should expect their request to be considered only if they agree to campaign for the UPFA at the upcoming Uva elections.

Disappointed by his response, the group had left frustrated.