Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the opposition, has swiftly and without warning withdrew from his appearance on yesterday’s (17) popular live broadcast of Derana 360. His involvement had been confirmed by pre-promotional materials and adverts, such as those in the Aruna daily, but his media team announced the cancellation yesterday’s morning without giving a clear explanation.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Media Secretary, Erananda Hettiarachchi, wrote to request that the pre-promotional ads be stopped in the wake of the cancellation. According to reports, Premadasa’s decision might have been impacted by information relayed by the leader of a rival media organization through a Premadasa associate.
The SJB and Derana networks are at odds over this decision, as Yuwaraj Athukorala, the news director for Derana, expressed disappointment over the last-minute pullout. Despite earlier assurances of the opposition leader’s participation, Athukorala condemned the decision, describing the rationale as illogical and baseless.
