Author: TELO Admin

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, has announced that it has been decided to conduct the Local Government Elections at the beginning of next year.

He made this statement while speaking to the media today (23) in Kandy.

“The Supreme Court has issued a ruling to hold the local government elections as soon as possible. However, the necessary provisions were not allocated to conduct these elections this year.”

“Therefore, the local government elections will take place at the beginning of next year. We are prepared to hold the elections for the Pradeshiya Sabhas and Urban Councils,” he stated.

Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said his successor Anura Kumara Dissanayake should fully implement the “vision document” adopted with India last year.

President Dissanayake, elected to the top office in September this year, is scheduled to visit India in mid-December.

During his India trip in July 2023, then-President Wickremesinghe had signed a vision document with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, outlining areas of cooperation between the two countries, especially economic partnership.

“In the vision document signed by me and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, we have set out the areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. I am of the opinion he (Dissanayake) should move forward and we should implement this vision document in its entirety,” he told PTI.

Wickremesinghe, who attended an event at the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar school in Indore, was replying when asked what should be the areas of mutual cooperation when Dissanayake visits New Delhi next month and meets PM Modi and other Indian leaders.

The vision document adopted during Wickremesinghe’s tour emphasised on strengthening maritime, air, energy ties and people-to-people connectivity between India and Sri Lanka. It also envisaged accelerating mutual cooperation in tourism, power, trade, higher education and skill development.

Earlier, Wickremesinghe inaugurated a sports complex at the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar and later addressed the audience on the topic “Common Heritage: India and the Indian Ocean”.

Referring to India’s assistance during Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis, he said his country has benefited from this legacy during the most difficult period in its history.

Wickremesinghe, who has also served as prime minister of the island nation, thanked PM Modi and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the financial assistance.

Citing different examples at the school gathering, Wickremesinghe maintained India and Sri Lanka have had religious, trade, linguistic and cultural relations since ancient times.

Source: PTI

Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong during his visit to the island nation’s Northern Province, which is close to India, said ethnic minority Tamils have made ‘a correct decision’ in helping ruling Marxists-leaned National People’s Power (NPP) to win the last week general elections.

Sri Lanka’s North is the closest Sri Lankan landmass to the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Northern Tamils have been more close to India due to Hinduism religion, Tamil language, and the culture.

Historically, Northern Tamils have voted for their own ethnic minority leaders, but they mainly voted for the ruling party this time.

Though the NPP got lower votes, they won five out of 12 in Northern Province, giving an unprecedented win for a main political party that was also backed by ethnic majority Sinhalese.

Ambassador Zhenhong’s visit came four days after the election.

“I believe that the Tamil community has made a correct decision,” Zhenhong told reporters on November 19.

“We can see the NPP right first, even in Jaffna district. And this shows that the Tamil community has surpassed its traditions and embraced a bigger picture in looking to the future.”

“We see a new change. It shows that all communities, all ethnic groups and all religions in the country are now working together in solidarity, and I believe that it is for the better future of the country.”

“This afternoon I visited Point Pedro and I was impressed by the slogan written there which is ‘Unity in diversity is the strength of Sri Lanka’. I think this is very correct and I think this is where the hope lies. And this recent general election perfectly reflected this slogan.”

Ambassador Zhenhong’s comments, political in nature, come during his visit to Jaffna in Sri Lanka’s Northern region where India has already started direct flights and ferry between South India and Sri Lanka’s North.

Foreign policy analysts said foreign diplomats usually do not directly comment on local politics, though there have been some instances of political interference by foreign diplomats in the past.

The key minority party in the North, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) which won six seats in the 2020 parliamentary polls, only won two seats in the Province.

Ministers in the previous government have said India has raised concerns over increasing Chinese investments and activities in its backyard of Sri Lanka’s north citing security concerns.

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE CONNECTION

“Today I am here without a special purpose. Today we are here to see how is the life going in the North since recently, specially to see the lives of our brothers and sisters in the Northern province,” Zhenhong said.

“This year for the first time Jaffna supported a party from the South, the NPP, to win the election for the first time in the history.”

“All these show that both Jaffna and the whole Northern Province are making changes and all these make our visit more meaningful,” he said.

China has invested in sea cucumber plants in the North and assured an export market for the products. Some fishermen have gradually shifted to sea cucumber farming due to poor fish catch in the Northern sea amid bottom trawling by Indian fishermen.

China also is in the process of providing dry rations, housing units, and fishing nets for Northern people. The Embassy has also started a scholarship programme for the undergraduate students in the University of Jaffna.

Sri Lankan government had to cancel a renewable energy project won by a Chinese firm through a proper tender process after India complained of security threats, Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry officials have told EconomyNext.

The previous government banned Chinese vessels coming to Sri Lanka for research purposes after security concerns raised by India and the United States.

However, that one-year temporary ban ends next month. Sri Lanka’s new government under Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said they will decide on the research ship after the November 14 general elections.

India in 2014 raised security concerns over a Chinese nuclear submarine docking in Colombo port, where India accounts over 70 percent of the transshipment volume of the port.

Three month later, then President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost his bid for a third term to his own party secretary. After the defeat, Rajapaksa accused the key Indian intelligence service behind his defeat.

A group of civil society activists today lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) against newly elected Jaffna District Independent MP Dr. Archchuna Ramanathan.

The complaint was filed by the civil society activists requesting the CID to investigate certain controversial comments made by the parliamentarian in a video posted on the social media platform Facebook.

A video of the independent MP went viral on social media yesterday (21) which showed him seated in the seat reserved for the Leader of the Opposition in the House and refusing to move despite repeated requests by the parliamentary staff, during the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament.

The MP’s behavior and comments were the subject of intense discussion even on social media platforms.

Dr. Ramanathan was elected to Parliament representing Jaffna District Independent Group No. 17 from the Jaffna District.

Sri Lanka’s Marxist-leaned President Anura Kumara Dissanayake promised to prevent politicians using racism as well as communal and religious slogans to capture state power in future.

Dissanayake’s National People’s Power swept the parliament election held last week to record a landslide win with 159 seats in the 225-member parliament.

For the first time in Sri Lankan history, a political party was backed by all Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, and Catholic communities during the election with the majority of them backing the NPP.

The NPP won 21 out of 22 electoral districts and 150 out of 160 electorates, the official election results showed. A Marxists party led coalition has won national elections for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history.

Dissanayaka in his policy statement during the inaugural session of the new parliament said when racism becomes a theme of a political camp; the definite consequence is counter racism from opposition political camps.

“Racism does not remain in one place. One portion of racism will nurture and grow the other portion of racism. We have experienced this in our long history, politics, and society,” Dissanayake told the parliament while addressing the new parliament in which his party had 156 new legislators compared to the last parliament.

“Although we were in different provinces, although we were far apart in cultural views, although we spoke different languages, although we practiced different religions, this election has shown that we have converged into focusing on one purpose and lined up for that,” he said.

“This election has shown that a very strong opportunity has now been created to build national unity, which has been a long-cherished wish in our country.”

“We can have different political ideologies, but I also say one thing responsibly. We will not give in to racist politics in our country again.”

Previous president Gotabaya Rajapaksa used racism against Muslims after the April 2019 Easter Sunday attack. His government before the 2020 parliament election ordered forced cremation of Muslim and Catholic victims of Covid-19 despite heavy criticism from the international community.

The island nation also has seen a 26-year civil war as a result of successive governments’ communal-based decisions while depriving the rights of ethnic minority Tamils. That war killed more than 100,000 people with thousands still missing amid a large number of human rights violations.

The island nation also has seen riots targeted ethnic minority Tamils, Muslims, and Catholics, mainly for political reasons in the past.

He said his government will not allow religious extremism to rise its head “at any cost”.

“Our people have been affected enough by communal conflicts. This land has been soaked with blood. Rivers have been filled with people’s tears. Suspicion, distrust, and anger have been there between us. Today, our responsibility as representatives of this parliament is to not create a state like this for our future children,” he said.

“We have the responsibility to do politics with whatever slogans, it could be economy, it could be democracy. You can use anything you want. But we will not allow the creation of communal and religious slogans to capture political power in the country.”

Former state minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan has arrived at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) once again this morning (22) to provide a statement.

Statements are being recorded from him in connection with investigations related to the controversial documentary aired by the British television network Channel 4 concerning the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka.

Pilleyan previously appeared before the CID on November 20, where he had stated his preference to provide the statement in Tamil. He was subsequently instructed to return today after arrangements were made for language translation.

On 06 September 2023, Channel 4 aired a controversial documentary containing startling accusations relating to the bombings on Easter Sunday (April 21) in 2019 which targeted several Catholic churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. The carnage claimed the lives of more than 260 people and left hundreds of others wounded.

Channel 4’s new ‘Dispatches’ investigation titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings’ is a nearly 50-minute-long videos with serious, yet straightforward allegations about the attacks. It was based on the testimonies of high-placed whistleblowers who alleged that senior governmental officials were complicit in this heinous act.

The main whistleblower Hanzeer Azad Maulana was a spokesman for LTTE’s breakaway group Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) led by former MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan.

During a press conference on November 11, Police Media Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa said that the CID has launched a probe into the relevant incident as per a complaint lodged by an organization with the Ministry of Public Security against the statement made by Azad Maulana to Channel 4 on the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.

As part of the investigation, the former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province was summoned by the CID on November 12 to provide a statement regarding the allegations in the documentary.

However, Pilleyan did not arrive at the CID on the scheduled date instead requested a new date to provide his statement through his attorneys.

He was then informed to appear at the CID on November 20 and Pilleyan had arrived at the CID at around 9.30 a.m. He had left after around 5 hours after recording his statement, Ada Derana reporter said.