When Gamini Dissanayake contested the 1994 presidential election, J.R. Jayewardene had told him, “Gamini, you will be given a nuclear weapon. Take strong action against the LTTE,” says Pradeepa Jayewardene, the grandson of the late president.

Chulaka Gunawardene alias Deepthi Perera, the one-time Chairman and main shareholder of the financially crisis ridden Central Investment & Finance Limited PLC (CIFL) who was out of the island for some time has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after he arrived in Sri Lanka, was produced before courts where the Colombo chief justice ordered him to be remanded till 14 August.

A half year after Maithripala Sirisena’s stunning defeat of President Mahinda Raja­paksa raised hopes for democratic renaissance, the complexities of partisan politics, and Rajapaksa himself, have returned to centre stage, says International Crisis Group in a report.

Noting that it is certain that an anti-Rajapaksa regime will be formed after the parliamentary election, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake says, therefore, people should focus on building a strong opposition.