Chief Executive Officer sent away at gate ... problem at ITN again over 'hybrid' issue

Chief Executive Officer sent away at gate ... problem at ITN again over 'hybrid' issue

After the struggle for political power during the last fifty days, because President's faction holding on to one opinion and the Ranil faction holding on to another faction, a problem has flared up in appointing chiefs for state media institutions.

This problem was settled when an agreement was made with a chairman being named by Mangala under whom the Ministry of Mass Communication is and the President naming another representative
for another post there. As such, in future state media would operate in future under a 'hybrid' type of administration, it was reported.

Independent Television Networks which was popular as an institution which was considered as holding Politics as their god erupted in a state of confusion recently when a change was effected in the institution. Groups belonging to a particular political party did not permit any officer entering the institution other than the lady chairman and the chief administration officer Mr. Chandana Thillakarathna was hindered from entering the establishment last 27th under such circumstances.

These members of the party who were engaged in a protest from morning had made Mr. Chandana Thillakarathna's vehicle to park near the gate of the institution and had forced him to go away saying that a chief executive officer is not needed by them by holding billboards, it was reported.

Whatever it is, when another crowd of people argued that he be let in, Mr. Thillakarathna reversed his vehicle and went away before a clash erupted between the two parties and on that occasion the protestors resorted to hooting. Later, a person launching the protest who made a statement to the electronic media said that chief administrative officers appointed on a political basis from outside are not required by this institution and that they should be appointed from within. In any case, even during past governments, these appointments were effected in the history of Independent Networks according to political necessities.

Mr. Chandana Thillakarathna who was the subject of this hulaballoo had held this position for a number of years. He is said to be a person who put a stop to vehicles of Independent Networks that were thrown aside being subjected to decay and commenced a repair workshop and managed to save 12 million within an year and went as far as to see that balance payments of teledramas running into millions were settled and also broke down the monopoly of travel overseas of those of the firm and reinstated the procedure of the interview system and his attempt to transform this system had not been in favour of certain political opinionists, in which background this type of protest has erupted, it was reported. The video related to this incident, from below