Emerging from the new Permanent High Court at Bar in Colombo where his trail was put off for December 4, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa accused the government of trying to create a rift among his politically ambitious siblings.
Asked what he thought of reports that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was trying to promote basil over him (Gotabhaya), he said the reports were circulated by the government to create dissension within the family.
“But, if you ask me, my choice for a presidential candidate is Basil Rajapaksa. It is up to president Mahinda Rajapaksa to decide, I don’t think he has decided yet,” Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told reporters.
Neither of the two brothers can contest the presidency or even a seat in parliament unless they renounce their US citizenship.
On a previous occasion, Gotabhaya has said he could shed his US nationality and retain only Sri Lankan citizenship “within two months.”
In May, Gotabhaya had launched his de facto presidential bid by launching what he called his Vision 2030 in the presence of some 2,000 invitee at the Shangri La hotel in Colombo.
Gotabhaya suggested Basil as a possible presidential hopeful as his criminal misappropriation of state funds case entered its trial phase after a near three-year investigation. He is accused of spending millions of rupees of government money to build a museum for his late parents.
His remarks came amid rumours that the Mahinda Rajapaksa-led SLPP, a breakaway faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was going to unite with President Maithripala Sirisena to form an “caretaker” government.
Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa Monday dismissed reports of a "caretaker" administration and said he had full confidence in President Sirisena to honour his January 2015 mandate to work with the current coalition.
Premadasa said Sirisena risked his life to defect from the SLFP and challenge an autocratic presidency of Rajapaksa in 2015.
Constitutionally, the president has no power to form any other government without dislodging Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who can only be toppled through a no-trust vote in parliament.
An attempt to oust Wickremesinghe failed in February as well as in April and led to the breakup of Sirisena’s faction of the SLFP with a group of 16 crossing over to support the Rajapaksa faction.
Even if both Rajapaksa and Sirisena factions unite, they are still short of a considerable number of votes to bring down Wickremesinghe.
(COLOMBO, October 9, 2018)
Fri Jul 19, 2024 10:30 am by faithhharris
» CCS.N0000 ( Ceylon Cold Stores)
Wed Mar 20, 2024 11:31 am by Hawk Eye
» Sri Lanka plans to allow tourists from August, no mandatory quarantine
Wed Sep 13, 2023 12:16 pm by lauryfriese
» When Will It Be Safe To Invest In The Stock Market Again?
Wed Apr 19, 2023 6:41 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Dividend Announcements
Wed Apr 12, 2023 5:41 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» MAINTENANCE NOTICE / නඩත්තු දැනුම්දීම
Thu Apr 06, 2023 3:18 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» ඩොලර් මිලියනයක මුදල් සම්මානයක් සහ “ෆීල්ඩ්ස් පදක්කම” පිළිගැනීම ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ ගණිතඥයා
Sun Apr 02, 2023 7:28 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» SEYB.N0000 (Seylan Bank PLC)
Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:25 am by yellow knife
» Here's what blind prophet Baba Vanga predicted for 2016 and beyond: It's not good
Thu Mar 30, 2023 9:25 am by HaeroMaero
» The Korean Way !
Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:09 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» In the Meantime Within Our Shores!
Mon Mar 27, 2023 5:51 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» What is Known as Dementia?
Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:09 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» SRI LANKA TELECOM PLC (SLTL.N0000)
Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:18 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» THE LANKA HOSPITALS CORPORATION PLC (LHCL.N0000)
Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:10 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Equinox ( වසන්ත විෂුවය ) !
Mon Mar 20, 2023 4:28 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» COMB.N0000 (Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC)
Sun Mar 19, 2023 4:11 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» REXP.N0000 (Richard Pieris Exports PLC)
Sun Mar 19, 2023 4:02 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» RICH.N0000 (Richard Pieris and Company PLC)
Sun Mar 19, 2023 3:53 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Do You Have Computer Vision Syndrome?
Sat Mar 18, 2023 7:36 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» LAXAPANA BATTERIES PLC (LITE.N0000)
Thu Mar 16, 2023 11:23 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» What a Bank Run ?
Wed Mar 15, 2023 5:33 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» 104 Technical trading experiments by HUNTER
Wed Mar 15, 2023 4:27 pm by katesmith1304
» GLAS.N0000 (Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC)
Wed Mar 15, 2023 7:45 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Cboe Volatility Index
Tue Mar 14, 2023 5:32 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» AHPL.N0000
Sun Mar 12, 2023 4:46 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» TJL.N0000 (Tee Jey Lanka PLC.)
Sun Mar 12, 2023 4:43 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» CTBL.N0000 ( CEYLON TEA BROKERS PLC)
Sun Mar 12, 2023 4:41 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC (COMD. N.0000))
Fri Mar 10, 2023 4:43 pm by yellow knife
» Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
Fri Mar 10, 2023 1:47 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» CSD.N0000 (Seylan Developments PLC)
Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:38 am by yellow knife
» PLC.N0000 (People's Leasing and Finance PLC)
Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:02 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Bakery Products ?
Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:30 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» NTB.N0000 (Nations Trust Bank PLC)
Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:24 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Going South
Sat Mar 04, 2023 10:47 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» When Seagulls Follow the Trawler
Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:22 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Re-activating
Sat Feb 25, 2023 5:12 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» අපි තමයි හොඳටම කරේ !
Tue Feb 14, 2023 3:54 pm by ruwan326
» මේ අර් බුධය කිසිසේත්ම මා විසින් නිර්මාණය කල එකක් නොවේ
Tue Jan 03, 2023 6:43 pm by ruwan326
» SAMP.N0000 (Sampath Bank PLC)
Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:24 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» APLA.N0000 (ACL Plastics PLC)
Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:49 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» AVOID FALLING INTO ALLURING WEEKEND FAMILY PACKAGES.
Wed Nov 16, 2022 9:28 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Banks, Finance & Insurance Sector Chart
Tue Nov 15, 2022 5:26 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» VPEL.N0000 (Vallibel Power Erathna PLC)
Sun Nov 13, 2022 12:15 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» DEADLY COCKTAIL OF ISLAND MENTALITY AND PARANOID PERSONALITY DISORDER MIX.
Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:36 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» WATA - Watawala
Sat Nov 05, 2022 8:44 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» KFP.N0000(Keels Food Products PLC)
Sat Nov 05, 2022 8:42 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Capital Trust Broker in difficulty?
Fri Oct 21, 2022 5:25 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» IS PIRATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY A BOON OR BANE?
Thu Oct 20, 2022 10:13 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» What Industry Would You Choose to Focus?
Tue Oct 11, 2022 6:39 pm by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා
» Should I Stick Around, or Should I Follow Others' Lead?
Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:07 am by කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වා