Author: TELO Admin

The Supreme Court has granted leave to proceed with several petitions that challenge a presidential pardon given to a soldier convicted in the killing of eight Tamils 23 years ago.

The cases were filed in April 2020 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives, its executive director Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, families of the victims and several other parties.

A three-judges SC panel on 12 October decided to take up on 17 May 2024 the petitions which allege a violation of clause 12 (1) of the constitution by Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s pardoning of Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake.

The court gave both the respondents and the petitioners time to submit objections and counter-objections.

In April 2019, the SC upheld a High Court verdict that Ratnayake was guilty of the killings that occurred on 19 December 2000 in Mirusuvil, Jaffna.

If a motion is tabled in parliament to abolish the presidency, another motion to dissolve parliament must be tabled the same day, the opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said amid intense speculation that Sri Lanka’s all-powerful executive presidency is to be finally abolished, albeit for reasons of political expediency.

Former JVP legislator Sunil Handunneththi told reporters Wednesday October 11 evening that President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration cannot be allowed to hold on to parliament power after dissolving the presidency.

“They can’t be allowed to abolish the presidency and hold on to parliament power. The day they bring in a motion to abolish the presidency, they must also bring a motion to dissolve parliament. Then we can start with a clean slate,” said Handunneththi.

The JVP, along with numerous other parties both government and opposition, has long advocated for the abolishment of the presidential system.

“The presidency must be abolished, but you can’t be holding parliamentary power under the guise of that,” the former MP said.

“Wickremesinghe doesn’t have [a mandate] anyway],” he added.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena, meanwhile, said he had heard something different.

“We have heard that there is a plan to hold a referendum to abolish the presidency and amend the constitution so that the president can be elected by parliament,” he said speaking to reporters.

These remarks come amid media reports that discussions have been held at the highest levels of government about the possibility of holding a referendum on abolishing the presidency. This is reportedly due to fears that no political party will be able to secure 50 percent of the vote at the presidential elections due October next year.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said speaking at a public event earlier this week that the incumbent president’s term expires in August 2024 but the current parliament’s term is valid till around October 2025.

“Ranil and Basil are thinking, with this they can continue on till 2025 instead of going home in August 2024,” said Dissanayake, possibly alluding to discussions reported to have taken place between President Wickremesinghe and chief organiser of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Basil Rajapaksa.

At least one spokesperson for Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) have dismissed these reports, however.

Trade unionist Saman Ratnapriya who is affiliated with the UNP and is officially Director General of Trade Unions to the President, said the government has no plans to change elections and that opposition parties are making fanciful statements.

“These are statements without truth. By making these statements, leaders of opposition parties are just trying to get a kick. The government has no plans to change elections,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not support providing subsidies to everyone in Sri Lanka.

Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department said that there needs to be targeted support to the poor and vulnerable in Sri Lanka.

“We fully sympathize and understand the hardship faced by people in terms of falling wages, cost of living increases, and so on, and we’re fully sympathetic to that. But again, the program, we do have, , prices reflecting cost recovery. And why is that important? It’s important because otherwise the electricity sector faces losses and that becomes a public problem down the road. So, you have to have cost recovery. I think that’s important. You also don’t want to provide, subsidies to everyone. It should be more progressive. And here we believe the targeted support to the poor and vulnerable is the way to go,” Srinivasan told reporters.

He also said that efficiency in the energy sector and the electricity sector could be increased through structural reforms.

“And, in general, SOE reforms are important in Sri Lanka. And that’s part of the program we have where the IMF working at the World Bank is pushing ahead with reforms to SOEs, including in the electricity sector,” he added.

Krishna Srinivasan also said that as part of the IMF review on Sri Lanka, what will be required will be financing assurances.

“In that context we will look to see how much progress has been made on debt restructuring efforts and if there are any agreements, then how do they square with the debt targets and so on? So, it’s part of the process of the second review,” he said.

Srinivasan said that the financial sector review will look at what restructuring is taking place within other creditors, including private creditors.

Nearly four decades after India and Sri Lanka stopped a passenger ferry service, a high-speed passenger ferry service was launched on Saturday (14 Oct.), once again connecting the two neighbouring countries.

Accordingly, the Cheriyapani ferry service links Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu with Kankesanthurai in the northern province of Sri Lanka.

At 08:15 a.m. on Saturday, Cheriyapani departed Nagapattinam port towards Kankesanthurai with 50 passengers and 12 crew members under Captain Biju George.

The ferry reached Kankesanthurai at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon, and headed back to Nagapattinam at 02:00 p.m.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed gratitude after the passenger ferry service was resumed. In a video address, he said, “We are embarking on a new chapter in the diplomatic and economic relations between India and Sri Lanka. The launch of a ferry service between Nagapattinam and Kankesanturai is an important milestone in strengthening our relations.”

The ferry service initially planned to commence on 10 October, underwent some administrative issues and had to be rescheduled for 12 October and later 14 October.

The project, under the India-Sri Lanka Joint Committee, is aimed at revitalising regional trade and tourism and fostering stronger people-to-people relations. The initiative renews historical sea ties that existed between the two countries since the early 1900s.

Decades ago, the Indo-Ceylon Express that operated between the port city of Thoothukudi and Colombo through Chennai stopped operating after the Sri Lankan civil war in 1982.

The reintroduction of ferry services comes two years after the two countries signed a passenger transportation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is considering India’s request to not allow Chinese Survey and Research Vessel Shi Yan 6 to undertake a joint military scientific research with the island nation’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone between late October and November this year, people familiar with the matter said.

President Wickremesinghe’s response to the issue, raised by external affairs minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with the Sri Lankan head of state in Colombo on October 11, was non-committal, the people added, asking not to be named. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Sabry was quoted by Sri Lanka’s The Island newspaper on October 9 saying that his country had given permission to the Chinese ship for docking at Colombo deep seaport in November. The same report quoted him as saying that Sri Lanka does not want “to get involved” with “big power rivalry going on” between “China, India and the US”.

Interestingly, a US navy ship, USNS Brunswick, docked in Colombo on Wednesday, and no dates have yet been announced for the visit of Shin Yan 6, the Chinese vessel.

The Chinese vessel was earlier maintaining position 1,000 km east of the China-controlled Hambantota port in the Island nation, and is currently about 280 nautical miles (500 km) east of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal. Carrying nearly 2,000 tonnes of diesel, the ship has enough supplies to last for two more months. The ship entered the Indian Ocean Region on September 23.

In July, after a visit by the Sri Lankan President, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was “necessary” the two countries worked “together, keeping in mind each other’s security interests”. The final decision on the ship, HT learns, may be taken by Wickremesinghe during his visit to Beijing to attend the BRI summit on October 17-18 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Over the past five years, Chinese ships have been active in the Indian Ocean Region with the PLA Navy growing into a proper blue water navy.

The total number of vessels including warships, ballistic missile trackers, survey and research vessels recorded in 2019 were 29, grew to 39 in 2020, then 45 in 2021 and 43 in 2022. This year, till September 15, 28 Chinese ships have been recorded in the region.