Why was the SJB May rally banned for the media?

Journalists who went to cover the Samagi Jana Balawegaya's May Day rally held at the Maligawatta P. D. Sirisena Stadium last May Day faced severe obstacles in freely carrying out their duties. Due to strict restrictions imposed by the organizers, journalists completely lost the opportunity to perform their duties as usual.

Print journalists were not allowed to stay near the stage to record the speakers' comments. When Mr. Ananda Palitha, the convener of the Samagi Combined Workers' Union, presented the party's May Day proposals, print journalists were instructed to move to the back. Despite journalists explaining that they needed to stay in front to record the speeches, the organizers did not change their stance.

Journalists took steps to complain about this situation to Member of Parliament Mujibur Rahman, who was a chief organizer of the rally. Although the MP instructed junior organizers to allow senior journalists to do their work, they did not follow these instructions and continued to obstruct journalists.

Furthermore, Lankadeepa photographer Lahiru Harshana was not even allowed to take his camera and other equipment into the stadium. He stated that he clearly saw a media officer of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya instructing security officers not to allow him to carry camera equipment, and for that reason, he decided to return to the office without carrying out any coverage.

Television cameramen were also not given the opportunity to cover this rally, and the organizers informed them that the necessary video footage for television channels would be provided by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya's media team. Accordingly, channels including Hiru broadcast the live event using footage provided by the SJB. This fact was also confirmed by an independent television report. It is also noteworthy that some of the journalists subjected to such strict restrictions had been covering the Samagi Jana Balawegaya party's news since its inception.

The reason for this change is not clear. However, unofficial reports indicated that the opposition was due to the large number of empty seats, which raised concerns about a potential political disadvantage. Furthermore, some media outlets, including Sirasa, reported that a large number of people left when SJB leader Sajith Premadasa's speech began.