At the invitation of the Sri Lankan government, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Special Envoy and State Councilor – Shen Yiqin is to visit Sri Lanka from Nov. 18 – 21.
The announcement was made by the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning.
The State Councillor is also visiting the Maldives to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new President to be held tomorrow (Nov. 17) in Malé.
The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has no intention of defeating President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s budget for 2024, according to SLPP leader and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Speaking to reporters in Kandy on Wednesday November 15 after a religious ceremony at the Temple of the Tooth, Rajapaksa intimated that, while the budget may have a few minor shortcomings, it was generally positive.
“Yes. When we’re together, with a few minor shortcomings, there is a journey we’re embarked on together,” he said in a somewhat garbled and hurried response to a direct question by a reporter on whether he thought the budget was good.
Rajapaksa was ostensibly referring to the continuation of his party’s ongoing alliance with President Wickremesinghe, though speculation continues to be strife that all is not well.
Rajapaksa’s son and SLPP legislator Namal Rajapaksa, contrary to his party leader, sounded rather sceptical of Wickremesnghe’s ambitions for turning the crisis-hit economy around through the 2024 budget.
“We must study the budget. He had presented a lot of these proposals in last year’s budget too. They don’t seem to have been implemented,” Namal Rajapaksa said, speaking to reporters after the budget presentation Monday November 13 afternoon.
According to Rajapaksa senior, however, the SLPP has no intention of defeating the budget, which would result in a dissolution of parliament followed by an election.
“No, there is no reason to defeat the budget. None of our people intend to do that now,” he said.
Asked to comment on his son’s remarks on the budget, the former president said: “Ask him about that.”
The SLPP leader also said his party ready for an election “anytime”.
“We have planned to hold the party convention in a grand scale. We intend to bring every member from every district,” said Rajapaksa, adding that his brother and SLPP architect Basil Rajapaksa is currently organising the convention.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa does not accept the recent Supreme Court verdict holding him, two of his brothers and officials affiliated with their administration responsible for Sri Lanka’s financial crisis, Rajapaksa said.
Speaking to reporters in Kandy on Wednesday November 15 after a religious ceremony at the Temple of the Tooth, Rajapaksa said they will respond to the verdict in court when the opportunity arises.
“I do not accept it. I must state that clearly. There will be an opportunity to make a statement in defence. We will answer it then,” he said, asked for his thoughts on the verdict.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his brothers and former finance ministers Mahinda and Basil Rajapaksa, then Secretary to the President P B Jayasundera, then Treasury Secretary S R Attygalle, and then Central Bank Governors W D Lakshman and Ajit Nivard Cabraal had infringed the fundamental rights of the people by helping drive the country to default.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Namal Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son, said, meanwhile, that since parliament is the authority on public finance, a Parliament Select Committee already appointed to investigate the reasons for the crisis can summon the individuals named by the courts for further inquiry.
“We obviously respect the courts and we bow down to the court verdict. Parliament has already appointed a committee to investigate the things that happened to the economy in the recent past. In a civil rights case, we only present written statements. There is no cross questioning or calling up of witnesses,” said Rajapaksa.
The MP, who was minister of sports in the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, said parliament must draw the line on where taxes ought to be increased or decreased, referring to the allegation that the Rajapaksa government’s slashing of taxes in 2019 led to the crisis.
“In case there was a civil or fundamental rights violation in reducing taxes and providing relief to the people, parliament can decide where to draw the line on increasing or decreasing taxes, going forward,” the MP said.
“Now, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we have had to increase taxes with no limit. What happens then? All of us in parliament as well as the people must draw the line somewhere in order to move forward. Given today’s taxes, it is difficult for the private sector to raise wages as the president requested,” he said.
Opposition MP Harsha de Silva said on Wednesday that parliament should take up the question of civic rights of the individuals faulted by the Supreme Court for triggering the financial crisis, Sri Lanka’s worst since independence.
AUSTRALIA (ABC) – A retired Senior DIG has shed new light on claims that the former Sri Lankan government may have colluded with a terrorist group for political gain, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, including Australians, in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
The attacks by Islamic state-inspired terrorists on churches and luxury hotels killed 269 people including two Australians and injured about 500 other people.
The head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka is now calling on the Australian government to support an independent investigation into the allegations, a call backed by Melbourne woman Chathudilla Weerasinghe, who survived the attack on Colombo’s Kingsbury hotel.
“They should carry out an investigation … because there were so many blasts on the date — similar timings, coordinated – it has to be a major planned-out thing,” Ms Weerasinghe said.
In September, the UK’s Channel 4 aired claims by a former government aide, Asad Maulana, that a top intelligence official met with members of the terrorist group National Thowheed Jam’ath (NTJ) as part of an alleged plot to help former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa win government by creating a national security crisis from the attacks.
Now, the former head of the investigation into the bombings has spoken out for the first time about what he claims was political interference which derailed the police probe.
Former deputy inspector general of police Ravi Seneviratne said his team was taken off the case when Mr Rajapaksa took office six months after the bombings.
Mr Seneviratne told ABC Investigations that his lead investigator was removed without explanation “immediately after the new government was elected — at the time, not even a prime minister or the cabinet had been appointed”.
He said over the months that followed, 22 more officers were removed from the investigation, “but I was not given any reason for any of those transfers”.
The incoming government also imposed an overseas travel ban on more than 700 Criminal Investigation Department officers under Mr Seneviratne’s command.
Mr Seneviratne said this was seen as a bid to intimidate police who might investigate allies of the Rajapaksa regime.
“This was quite illegal,” Mr Seneviratne said.
“Because of this action, many officers were scared. Some officers even sought transfers because they didn’t want to work there any longer.”
Police charged more than 90 people in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks, but Mr Seneviratne said investigators hit roadblocks when they found “some intelligence officers had links with the Muslim group”.
One of these was unearthed with help from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, which traced regular communications with the NTJ terrorists to an Internet Protocol address used by a secret military intelligence operative.
Mr Seneviratne has claimed that military intelligence officers also visited the house of one suicide bomber on the morning of the attacks but did not share this information with police.
“On such occasions, when we tried to question certain individuals and groups, we faced some obstacles,” Mr Seneviratne said.
Sri Lankan intelligence agencies twice stopped police from questioning associates of the suicide bombers on the grounds they were involved in national security operations, he said.
“As military intelligence informed us that those officers were dealing with intelligence related secret matters, we didn’t investigate them further.”
Mr Seneviratne said military intelligence had thwarted an earlier investigation which he believed could have prevented the Easter Sunday attacks.
He said military intelligence had given police “wrong information” which concealed the role of the NTJ in the murder of two constables in east Sri Lanka six months before the Easter Sunday attacks.
In documents filed in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka last year, Mr Seneviratne alleged the Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Security Intelligence Service were “suspected to have conspired to plant [evidence] to mislead CID investigations on the murder of two police officers to prevent them from discovering the real assailants”.
Mr Seneviratne told ABC Investigations that he believed there was “a possibility to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks, if we were able to find out the suspects of the police murders”.
In September, Asad Maulana, a former aide to a current Sri Lankan government minister, told Channel 4’s Dispatches program that he witnessed a meeting between the NTJ terrorists and then head of military intelligence, Suresh Salley in February 2018, 14 months before the Easter Sunday bombings.
Mr Maulana claimed to Channel 4 that the intelligence chief later told him Mr Rajapaksa needed “an unsafe situation” to win an election.
Mr Seneviratne said Mr Maulana’s claims demanded a “thorough investigation”, including into why intelligence officers misled police about NTJ.
Mr Maulana’s former boss, the State Roads Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, has accused him of concocting the allegations to bolster his claim for asylum overseas.
Mr Rajapaksa, who after his ousting last year was sanctioned by Canada for human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s civil war, has dismissed the allegations as “absurd”.
Mr Salley has denied any contact with the NTJ terrorists, saying he was overseas at the time of their alleged meeting.
He is now the head of Sri Lanka’s Security Intelligence Service, a role that saw him meet Australian officials including Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil last year.
Neither Mr Rajapaksa nor Mr Salley responded to ABC interview requests or questions.
Last month, Channel 4 declined to appear before a commission of inquiry launched by current Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, citing a need to protect confidential sources.
The head of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, called on the Australian government to help build international pressure for an independent investigation to “help us to find out what really happened to these 270 people and who was behind it”.
“We want the Australian government, and also many governments in the world, to consider this as a serious human rights violation, violation of the dignity of human beings and serious suspicions of a political plot appearing,” he said.
He said in Sri Lanka, “big people, ministers … those who are in the intelligence services, had some role to play in the general mayhem that existed during the wartime: disappearances, murders during the war time, and then subsequently”.
“That is why we have been clamouring and asking for a transparent investigation, which is free, which is not guided by politicians … and also according to international standards.”
Cardinal Ranjith said one of his priests was being sued for defamation by Suresh Salley, after raising questions about the Easter Sunday attacks and what he said appeared to be “a political plot by a group of people at the top”.
“Other priests … have been under surveillance of these people. I am sure they are having files about many of us, even myself, I’m quite sure of that, because our telephones are not safe anymore for us to converse freely,” he said.
In Melbourne, Chathudilla Weerasinghe still lives with a fragment from an NTJ bomb inside her from the Easter Sunday attack on Colombo’s Kingsbury hotel.
“It’s too risky to get the shrapnel out because it’s right next to the heart,” she says.
“[The doctors] don’t want to risk that. So, it’s better to just leave it there.”
Her father Ranjith, a Monash University mathematics lecturer, said the family took seriously allegations that some Sri Lankan officials might have been complicit in the attacks.
“If it happened in Australia, definitely I am shocked,” he said.
“But back in Sri Lanka, it could be possible. The politicians are a very different breed.”
The High Commissioner for Pakistan in Sri Lanka, Mah.Gen, (R) Umar Farooq Burki visited the Eastern Province from November 5 to 8. He held meetings with political, military and social leaders and discussed issues related to mutual cooperation and social welfare.
At Pottuvil and Oluvil, the High Commissioner distributed furniture among schools in that area. He also distributed dry rations to the needy and sports equipment to those who desired it. The event reflected Pakistan’s commitment to social welfare, friendship and support to Sri Lankan communities irrespective of religion, gender and ethnicity.
In yet another event, the High Commissioner distributed sewing machines amongst widows and deserving families of Kalmunai Kudy to enable them to earn respectable livelihood.
The High Commissioner thanked the people of Eastern Province for the overwhelming warmth that was shown during his visit. He pointed out that Eastern Province is full of promising opportunities in terms of tourism, local small business, hoteling, surfing and much more.
Pakistan & Sri Lanka can come together and learn from each other in so many sectors of mutual interest. Both have huge potential in tourism, education, dairying, investment and business as well as joint training ventures.
The High Commissioner encouraged the local community especially the women to identify some areas where Pakistan and Sri Lanka can enter into joint partnerships for the uplift of the local communities in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
During the visit to Eastern province the High Commissioner also called on Commander South Eastern Naval Command at Panama and Eastern Naval Commander at Trincomalee. They discussed issues of mutual interest to further strengthen the defence and military relations between the two countries.
S. M. M. Mushaaraff, MP from Eastern Province and Abdul Rahuman Mansur, President of Rahmath Foundation facilitated the programme of the High Commissioner and made necessary coordination for different events during the tour.
China has sought permission from Sri Lanka for another one of its state-of-the-art research vessels to engage in research and survey in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Sea of Sri Lanka.
China is now requesting clearance for a vessel identified as Xiang Yang Hong 3.
Chinese officials have informed their Sri Lankan counterparts that the Xiang Yang Hong 3 is expected to engage in research within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
According to reports, the Xiang Yang Hong 3 is to engage in the research and survey from January 5th to February 20th, next year.
The Xiang Yang Hong 03 is owned by the Third Institute of Oceanology, of the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources.
Xiang Yang Hong 03’s home port is listed as Xiamen, Fujian Province, is 99.6 metres in length, and falls under the General survey vessel.
At the same time, the Chinese geophysical scientific research vessel Shi Yan 6 which reached the Port of Colombo in October in the midst of strong concerns from India, has once again indicated that it will be heading to Colombo.
However, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said that it was not informed about the arrival of the Chinese geophysical scientific research vessel Shi Yan 6.
The Shi Yan 6 continues to navigate in the Indian Ocean.
Over the years, over 17 state-of-the-art Chinese Research/Survey vessels reached the Sea of Sri Lanka.
The Xiang Yang Hong 3 had visited Sri Lanka for the first time on the 13th of December 2017, and remained in Colombo and Trincomalee for a period of 18 days.
The Xiang Yang Hong 3 returned to Sri Lanka on the 22nd of December 2019 and remained in Sri Lankan waters until the 5th of January 2020.
The Xiang Yang Hong 18 reached Sri Lanka on the 6th of January 2018 and remained in Sri Lankan waters for four days.
The Xiang Yang Hong 1 Scientific Research Vessel reached Sri Lanka on the 11th of April 2019 and remained until the 15th of April 2019.
The Xiang Yang Hong 6 Scientific Research Vessel reached Sri Lanka on the 27th of December 2019 and remained in Sri Lankan waters until the 17th of January 2020.
The Xiang Yang Hong 19 Scientific Research Vessel reached Sri Lankan waters on the 11th of February 2020 and was anchored for nine days.
The targets laid out in Sri Lanka’s budget for 2024 will be challenging to meet, even with the economic recovery that we expect to continue next year, says Fitch Ratings.
The fiscal deficit is set to be wider than our current forecast of 7.1% of GDP in 2024 in light of the new data, even after excluding bank recapitalisation costs, and the revenue/GDP ratio will be lower than we had assumed.
The government is targeting a budget deficit of 9.1% of GDP in 2024, wider than a revised estimate of 8.5% in 2023. However, without bank recapitalisation costs, the deficit in 2024 would be a narrower 7.6% of GDP. Excluding recapitalisation costs, the budget targets a primary surplus of 0.8% of GDP in 2024, against a deficit of 0.7% in 2023. However, including recapitalisation costs pushes the 2024 primary deficit target to 0.6% of GDP.
The primary surplus goal for 2024, excluding bank recapitalisation, is broadly in line with the 0.8% of GDP projected by the IMF in March when it approved Sri Lanka’s USD3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). We also see the revenue target as relatively aligned. However, the government’s expenditure target for 2024, at 22.2% of GDP, is somewhat higher than the 19.7% the IMF had envisioned and well above the revised budget estimate of 18.7% for 2023.
The release of the next tranche of EFF financing, worth around USD330 million, will depend partly on the IMF’s assessment of Sri Lanka’s progress in securing financing assurances from official creditors. Fitch believes there has been some progress since March, but the timeline for a restructuring deal with official creditors remains unclear.
Fitch believes there are significant risks to the government’s revenue goal for 2024. Sri Lanka has a record of fiscal slippage, and revenue collection fell 29% short of target over 9M23. The authorities aim to raise revenue by almost 45% in 2024. This will be aided by a planned 3pp increase in the value-added tax to 18%, but the boost to revenue from inflation is set to weaken in 2024. We project consumer prices will rise by 8.7% on average in 2024, compared with 22.1% in 2023. The lift from economic growth, which Fitch projects at 3.3% in 2024, will also be modest.
Downside risks to revenue could be offset by lower-than-budgeted spending. We think the presidential election in late 2024 will incentivise the government to keep to its spending plans, which include a 14% increase in spending on salaries and wages. Nevertheless, if revenue falls short, there may be some room to trim capital expenditure, which amounts to almost 20% of total planned spending and is budgeted to rise 55% in 2024, excluding bank recapitalisation.
The government’s efforts to implement governance reform after a recent diagnostic study by the IMF may also support revenue collection. The budget proposes to establish a new revenue authority under the Ministry of Finance to improve tax collection, and a new investment law will look to establish a National Economic Commission to promote investment. However, it will take time to assess these bodies’ effectiveness.
Fitch rates Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘RD’ (Restricted Default). We may move the IDR out of ‘RD’ upon the sovereign’s completion of a commercial debt restructuring that we judge to have normalised the relationship with the international financial community. Sri Lanka’s post-default rating would depend upon our assessment of its credit profile. Fitch upgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Local-Currency IDR to ‘CCC-’ in September, reflecting the completion of the local-currency portion of Sri Lanka’s domestic debt optimisation plan.
Source – Fitch Ratings
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to Make Recommendations on Election Law Reforms is now calling for written representations from the members of the public, political parties, organizations and interested individuals.
In a press release, the PCoI said it will accept written proposals or opinions pertaining to the following:
• Increasing the representation of women and youth
• Reducing the period between the time of declaration of an election and the release of results after concluding the election
• Providing opportunity for electronic voting
• Providing facilities for Sri Lankans living overseas to vote in elections
• Enabling a person to contest elections for both Provincial Councils and Parliament and represent both if elected
• Providing opportunity for postal voting for voters serving in Public Corporations/ State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs)/ Private Sector who are engaged in election-related services on election day
• Proportional representation, proposals on appropriate mixed election system reflecting the pluralistic nature of the society
• Strengthening the multi-party system
• Reducing the role of money in politics and prevention of policy capture
• Leadership’s accountability to political party members
• The role of political parties in strengthening national unity
Additionally, the PCoI is also calling for views and proposals on how political parties and independent groups should use the media, how they should connect themselves in carrying out public affairs, registering political parties and acting in a manner that is credible and accountable to the public.
Written proposals or opinions should be submitted on or before December 15, 2023 via e-mail to sec.coi@presidentsoffice.lk or to Secretary, Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Make Recommendations for Election Law Reforms, No. 21, SEMA Building, Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo 01.
The PCoI noted that the contact information or any personal data mentioned in the written proposals and opinions and would be treated as confidential.
A nine-member PCoI, headed by former Chief Justice Priyasad Gerard Dep, was appointed on October 15, 2023, to obtain information, investigate, inquire into and report on making recommendations for the amendment of election laws upon examining the existing election laws.
It consists of Suntharam Arumainayaham; Senanayake Alisandaralage; Nalin Jayantha Abeysekara, PC; Rajitha Naveen Christopher Senaratna Perera; Ahamed Lebbe Mohamed Saleem; Sagarica Delgoda; Esther Sriyani Nimalka Fernando; and Vitharanage Deepani Samantha Rodrigo.
However, in a special gazette notification published on November 02, Alan Carmichael Vere David was appointed as the 10th member of the PCoI, as it was observed that the number of commissioners holding office is not adequate to execute the functions of the commission more efficiently and speedily.
Through the said communiqué, President Ranil Wickremesinghe also increased the powers of the PCoI after identifying the necessity to expand the scope of the mandate of the commission.
Batticaloa, November 15, 2023: Today in Batticaloa, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung inaugurated a new American Innovation Hub (iHub) and welcomed the Governor of the Eastern Province Senthil Thondaman to join as a special guest. A joint initiative between the U.S. Embassy and Dream Space Academy, the iHub in Batticaloa aims to empower the youth of the Eastern Province, foster knowledge exchange, and promote people-to-people ties between the United States and Sri Lanka. In addition to the American iHub in Batticaloa, the U.S. Embassy has interactive American Spaces in Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna, and Matara.
“The Batticaloa iHub, our fifth American Space in Sri Lanka, will be a key link to connect the Eastern Province with the United States, as well as to cultivate connections between young people across the entire island,” said U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung. “As we celebrate 75 years of bilateral relations this year, this space holds great promise for the youth and academic institutions in the region, fostering innovation, leadership, education, and collaboration. This will be a space where all people feel comfortable and inspired, underlining the enduring and robust partnership between the United States and Sri Lanka.”
The Batticaloa iHub is designed to be a hub of intellectual engagement, providing access to a wide range of free-of-charge resources, including books, digital materials, multimedia content, and online databases. It serves as a space where students, researchers, and enthusiasts can gather to expand their horizons, engage in discussions, and collaborate on projects that contribute to educational and social development. The iHub also hosts a variety of free programs, workshops, and events focused on areas such as English language learning, entrepreneurship, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and American literature and history. These activities not only enhance participants’ skills but also foster a deeper appreciation for the diversity of thought and ideas.
Located at 7A Saravana Road, Kallady, Batticaloa, the Batticaloa iHub will be open to the public from Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon. All skills development programs and activities at the iHub will be conducted free of charge.
Visit the U.S. Embassy’s American Spaces website for more information: https://lk.usembassy.gov/education-culture/american-spaces/
By U.S. Embassy Colombo | 15 November, 2023 | Topics: News, Press Releases
In conjunction of the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Communist Party of China (CPC) enhanced its engagement with political parties, including those in Sri Lanka, in pursuit of further success of the project in the next decade.
The CPC concluded its BRI Dialogue with the representatives of political parties from South Asia and Southeast Asia in Kunming on November 10, the capital of China’s Yunnan Province considered the gateway to connectivity to these regions.
Representing Sri Lanka, General Secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Sagara Kariyawasam, General Secretary of the United National Party (UNP) Palitha Range Bandara and Foreign Affairs Secretary of Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Thilina Peiris attended the function in which the CPC shared its insights on the success story of the BRI during the first decade of its implementation and the way forward for the next decade.
The CPC has already tied up with the political parties in Sri Lanka cutting across the divide with regular exchanges. Most of the key politicians from both sides of the divide have already visited China on programmes, while new programmes are also on the cards.
Sri Lanka is one of the countries that recognized the BRI at its inception. It is also a country that matters most for China given its strategic positioning in the Indian Ocean with easy access to key markets in the region. The political goodwill in the host country concerned is key for the successful implementation of the BRI.
At the Kunming BRI Dialogue, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee Liu Jianchao delivered the keynote speech. The political leaders of the countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal attended the function.
