17 DEc 2014
පොදු අපේක්‌ෂක සහ සෙසු පක්‌ෂ අතර
කිසිදු පරස්‌පර ගිවිසුමක්‌ නැහැ
- හිටපු ජනපතිනි චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්‌ඩාරනායක කියයි
විපක්‌ෂයේ පොදු අපේක්‌ෂක මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතාට සහාය දැක්‌වීමට සෙසු පක්‌ෂ සහ පාර්ශ්ව සමග ඇති කර ගෙන ඇති ගිවිසුමේ කිසිදු පරස්‌පරතාවයක්‌ නැතැයි හිටපු ජනාධිපතිනි චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්‌ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග මහත්මිය ඇයගේ කොළඹ නිල නිවසේ ඊයේ (16 වැනිදා) පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවක්‌ අමතමින් සඳහන් කළාය.
අත්තනගල්ල ප්‍රා. සභාවේ ආණ්‌ඩු පක්‌ෂ මන්ත්‍රීවරයකුව සිටි ඉන්දික රාජපක්‌ෂ, මීරිගම ප්‍රාදේශීය සභාවේ ශ්‍රීලනිප මන්ත්‍රී සෝමරත්න දේනෙත්ති සහ හලාවත නාගරික මන්ත්‍රීනී ජීවනී කාරියවසම් යන මහත්ම මහත්මීහු විපක්‌ෂයේ පොදු අපේක්‌ෂකවරයාට සහාය දැක්‌වීමට එක්‌වීම අරමුණු කොට ගෙන මෙම මාධ්‍ය හමුව කැඳවා තිබිණි.
රට පුරා හැමතැනම දූෂණය, භීෂණය, තර්ජන ගර්ජන රජයද්දී ඔවුන් තිදෙනා ගෙන ඇති තීරණය ඉතා ප්‍රශංසනීය සහ නිර්භීත බවත් ඒ වෙනුවෙන් තමාගේ හෘදයාංගම කෘතඥතාවය ඔවුන්ට පුද කරන බවත් කුමාරතුංග මහත්මිය එහිදී පැවැසුවාය.
http://www.divaina.com/2014/12/17/news30.html

17 Dec 2014

CBK: ‘My govt. liberated 65% of LTTE controlled territory’

* Rajapaksas suffering from memory loss

* Ballot rigging possible; monitors needed

December 16, 2014, 12:00 pm 
by Zacki Jabbar

Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday lashed out at President Mahinda Rajapaksa saying that he was talking as if she had contributed nothing to the war against the LTTE.

Kumaratunga told a news conference at her residence in Colombo that when she left office in 2005 around sixty five percent of the territory under the control of the Tamil Tigers including Jaffna, which at that time was its nerve center had been captured.

"We drove the LTTE out of Jaffna in December 1995 about one year after I became president. By the time I left office in 2005, sixty five percent of the land extent under Prabhakaran’s control had been liberated," she said, adding that the present government had cleared only the remaining 35 percent occupied by the Tamil Tigers.

"But, unlike the Rajapaksas, I will not take all the credit for our achievements. Battles were won due to a team effort which included the security forces chiefs and their men on the battle front. We also cannot forget the sacrifices that the people of all comminutes made to achieve our goals.

Mahinda and his siblings are suffering from a memory loss syndrome," the former President observed.

She said that ever since May 2009, the masses had been bombarded with claims that it was the Rajapaksas and Rajapaksas alone who had liberated the country while making no mention that it was under her administration that the hard work had been done and the foundation laid for the final assault.

Predicting that the ruling UPFA would rig next month’s Presidential Election, Kumaratunga urged foreign governments to send as many observers as possible to ensure a free and fair election.

Rajapaksa had, she said, resorted to underhand dealings and trickery at previous elections and it was bound to happen again as the stakes were very high this time round.

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=116100

16 Dec 2014
Video: I finished 75% of the war: CBK
2014-12-16 18:22:00

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga today staked a bigger claim for the war victory by reiterating that 75 per cent of the LTTE-held territory was cleared during her tenure.

She told a news conference held at her official residence that at the time she took over the presidency in 1994, the entire northern region -- barring five or six military bases at Mannar, Talaimannar, Kankesanturai, Point Pedro, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya in the central part of the North -- was controlled by LTTE leader Velupullai Prabhakaran.

Ms. Kumaratunga said Prabhakaran was calling the shots in the North and even dictating terms to the government officials............

05 Dec 2014

“Momentum against executive presidency is unstoppable” - CBK

Love her or hate her, ex-President Chandrika Kumaratunga is a force to reckon with. Coming out of a nine-year retirement last month, the former Head of State has joined forces with a broad opposition movement attempting to abolish and reform the presidential office that she once held for 11 years. 
The declaration of SLFP frontliner Maithripala Sirisena as a common opposition challenger to President Mahinda Rajapaksa has cemented Kumaratunga’s position in the public psyche as polls fever hits the nation. As she struggles alongside Sirisena, the UNP and the civil society movement coalescing around the abolition platform, Kumaratunga is perceived as the leader of the SLFP rebellion that is threatening to crack open the ruling coalition ahead of the 8 January 2015 poll. She remains one of the fiercest critics of the Rajapaksa administration, but the fears of her children held her back from contesting as the opposition candidate in this election. 
As she lingered over a late lunch at her Independence Avenue residence, before the elections were declared, President Kumaratunga engaged in a frank and laidback discussion with Daily FT about constitutional revolution, SLFP politics and when the hostility with President Rajapaksa began. The former President laughed about how she sketched the original design of the Nelum Pokuna, her essay-writing skills that she is using towards penning her memoirs and how much she loves being a grandmother. She also shared what aspects she would try to do-over if she could turn the clock back on her two-term presidency.
Following are excerpts:
http://www.ft.lk/2014/12/04/momentum-against-executive-presidency-is-unstoppable-cbk/