By Dharisha Bastians 

Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media, Nimal Bopage, found himself at the centre of another controversy when the Office of President Maithripala Sirisena disavowed statements the official made at a press briefing only hours later. 

Bopage convened a press conference at the Media Ministry in Polhengoda last afternoon, to make a revelation about a “media campaign that has been launched with the objective of assassinating President Sirisena” the official invite on a Ministry letterhead said. 

The Presidential Media Division informed several local media outlets, including the Daily FT, that President Sirisena was disassociating himself from Bopage’s statements at the press briefing. 

Daily FT learns that Acting Media Minister Karu Paranavithana had not been informed about the press briefing called by Secretary Bopage and was not aware that he was to make the statements to the press yesterday. 

Highly placed Government sources told Daily FT that the President was likely to take action against Secretary Bopage, who has courted controversy and stepped out of line several times before. 

The senior official had been warned by the President and other ministers to refrain from making statements to the press before clearing it with Government members first, the authoritative sources told Daily FT last night.  

However, the senior official also circulated a letter to the IGP among journalists at the briefing yesterday, complaining about an alleged plot he said had surfaced on social media by an individual claiming to be an astrologer. The individual the Bopage refers to in his letter to the IGP is Wijemuni Vijitha Rohana De Silva, the Sri Lanka Navy rating turned astrologer, who attacked former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with his rifle butt in 1987, during the Indian leader’s visit to Colombo.

Bopage told the IGP in his letter that there was a “grave threat” to assassinate a VVIP. 

During the press briefing, Bopage told reporters that he had not discussed the issue with President Sirisena. “I thought I should take these steps before the President asks me,” Bopage said. 

Asked by the BBC Sinhala Service whether it would not have been appropriate to inform the President before addressing the press about issues pertaining to VVIP security, Bopage insisted that he was not speaking on security matters, but on content being published in social media. 

“I have received many complaints about these postings across social media and other websites and upon investigation, have found them to be true,” Bopage said in his letter to the IGP, urging the country’s police chief to investigate. 

According to Secretary Bopage, close scrutiny of the videos reveals that the predictions have no “astrological basis” and appear to be part of a “sophisticated assassination plot”. 

In his letter to the IGP, the Media Ministry Secretary said that certain political forces were using the astrologer’s prediction to claim that there would be a major political shift in the country. 

Bopage told reporters at the press briefing that the postings and predictions on the individual’s personal Facebook page had to be brought to the attention of the mainstream media, in order to expose the “plot”.

“What the Secretary has done is to force the mainstream media to publish random content on social media and give it significance,” a Government Minister told Daily FT, speaking confidentially, due to the sensitivity of discussing the conduct of a public official. 

As Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media, Bopage has courted controversy before, issuing media releases dictating that the media should refrain from referring to the pro-Rajapaksa faction of the UPFA as the ‘Joint Opposition’ and warning that such usage could result in legal ramifications for journalists and media outlets. The statement elicited a wave of criticism and allegations that the Government was trying to intimidate the media and dictate terms to the independent press. 

Media Minister Gayantha Karunathilake and other Government officials disowned the statement by Bopage, saying it was the official’s personal position, even though the statement was released on an official Media Ministry letterhead. 

Bopage served as Chairman of the National Human Resource Development Council when the Rajapaksa administration was in office, and was implicated in a COPE report for financial irregularities during his tenure. In August 2015, the Attorney General’s Department ordered a police investigation into complaints received against Bopage during his term as head of the NHRDC, saying the Department would decide whether to file civil proceedings against the official based on the findings of that investigation. 

He was appointed Secretary to the Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms and Media by President Sirisena in April 2016.

MPs refused a second vehicle by Parliamentary Reforms Secretary

Secretary to the Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Nimal Bopage said he had refused to sign approvals granting a second vehicle to 58 MPs in spite of a directive from the Prime Minister. 

Addressing a press briefing at the Media Ministry yesterday, Bopage claimed that the Prime Minister had told him to “sign or resign” at the Economic Management meeting. The official refused to comment on whether he considered the ultimatum a threat from the Premier, when repeatedly questioned by reporters at the briefing. 

A controversial Government decision to grant a second vehicle to 58 MPs on lease rental has been approved by Cabinet. The rented vehicles will be granted to Government MPs who do not currently hold ministerial portfolios. However even these MPs are still entitled to duty free car permits.

As Secretary to the Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms, and the ministry’s Chief Accounting Officer Bopage will have to sign agreements to lease the vehicles. 

Bopage said there were several issues pertaining to the lease rental, including procurement issues. He also indicated that the President was not in favour of the idea.

Even though the Government would spend a huge amount of money for the rented vehicles – Rs. 590,000 plus tax - per month, the vehicles would not belong to the Government, Bopage claimed. 

“As long as I am Secretary, I will not sign,” he said, adding that he did not want to be part of the “perahera” in the future, in an apparent reference to FCID investigations into politicians and public officials.