At the 54th session of the Human Rights Council, U.S. Ambassador Michéle Taylor praised Sri Lanka’s progress in women’s empowerment and economic recovery. However, she urged the Sri Lankan government to enhance transparency in its anti-corruption efforts and sustainable development initiatives.
A selloff in Sri Lanka dollar bonds intensified on Monday (Sep 9) as investors reduced their country exposure over rising political uncertainties before elections later this month.
The country’s dollar bonds due in 2030 fell 3 US cents on the dollar to 49.9 US cents, the lowest level since February, extending their decline from their peak this year to about 15 per cent. Notes due in 2027 dropped more than 1 US cent to 49.6 US cents.
Market pressure has intensified before elections on September 21 as investors worry that a shakeup in leadership could upset debt talks that have stalled near the finish line. Opposition leaders have said they would look to renegotiate the terms of Sri Lanka’s programme with the International Monetary Fund.
“It is looking probable that Sri Lanka will need to further refine the terms of the deal agreed with bondholders” and will struggle to do so before the election, said Eng Tat Low, an emerging-market sovereign analyst at Columbia Threadneedle Investment. “Whilst I expect volatility to persist, the sharp selloff we have seen over the past few sessions may attract some ‘bargain hunting’ activities.”
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, leads the National People’s Power, a coalition of leftist political parties and groups backed by protesters who ousted the Rajapaksa government in 2022. He is campaigning on a platform of clean governance and eliminating corruption and has vowed to reopen negotiations with the IMF. His party opposes the debt restructuring framework agreed with the multilateral lender.
Dissanayake emerged as a key challenger to incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who remains unpopular for carrying out austerity measures in exchange for an IMF bailout.
“I think investors are adjusting position ahead of the election,” said Eric Fang, fund manager at Eastspring Investments in Singapore. “We think any big price correction present an opportunity to buy as the sovereign is on a recovery path and the debt deal presents a fair outcome for both issuer and investors.”
Source: BLOOMBERG
It was revealed that the passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka was increased by one more day in a week.
The service, which was reduced to three days a week due to lower-than-expected bookings, will now be operated on Saturdays, from 21 September onwards.
The ferry service, which resumed on 16 August with the new vessel ‘Sivagangai’, initially operated daily.
However, passenger demand prompted the company to reduce the frequency to thrice weekly, running on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, with this schedule maintained until 15 September.
The addition of the extra weekly sailing is part of IndSri’s efforts to better serve the growing demand for cross-border travel between India and Sri Lanka.
The 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council is set to commence on Monday, September 9, in Geneva.
This session will feature a significant discussion on the report concerning Sri Lanka, prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
According to the official website of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the report on Sri Lanka will be taken up for discussion on the opening day.
In a recent report, the UN Human Rights Office has called on Sri Lanka’s creditors to provide the Government with the fiscal space needed to realize economic, social, and cultural rights.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk in a new report said that economic policy decisions must align with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations.
He added that the ongoing effects of the 2022 economic crisis and subsequent austerity measures have particularly impacted the poor, especially women.
A report issued by the UN Human Rights Office has also identified renewed threats to fundamental freedoms in Sri Lanka, highlighting new or proposed regressive laws, erosion of democratic checks and balances, ongoing threats and intimidation against civil society and journalists, and the recurrence of serious human rights violations from the past.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk emphasized the importance of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections as an opportunity for Sri Lanka to recommit to the transformational changes demanded by a broad cross-section of its citizens, including accountability and reconciliation.
The report points to several laws and bills introduced by the Government since 2023, which grant security forces broad powers and significantly expand restrictions on freedoms of expression, opinion, and association.
This trend is particularly concerning during the pre-election period, Türk noted.
Despite a promised moratorium, authorities have continued to use the Prevention of Terrorism Act to arrest and detain individuals. The report highlights recent cases of arbitrary arrests, detentions, torture, and deaths in custody.
Impunity and lack of accountability for crimes committed during and after the civil war, which ended in 2009, persist. Türk urged the newly elected Government to address the root causes of conflict and undertake fundamental constitutional and institutional reforms to close the accountability gap and work towards reconciliation.
The report also describes a long-standing pattern of intimidation and harassment of journalists and civil society actors, especially those working on enforced disappearances, land disputes, and environmental issues. Families of the forcibly disappeared face intimidation, arrest, and surveillance by security services in their attempts to seek the truth or commemorate their loved ones.
Türk emphasized that crimes and violations committed during and after the civil war, including the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, must not go unpunished. He called for thorough investigations and accountability for those responsible.
In the absence of the Sri Lankan State’s willingness or ability to prosecute and punish perpetrators, the report urges the international community to pursue complementary strategies to support accountability in Sri Lanka. These strategies include the use of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction, targeted sanctions against credibly alleged perpetrators, and other measures consistent with international law.
The Ministry of Education has announced that schools will close temporarily to support the upcoming election.
The Election Commission has informed the ministry that schools designated as polling centers will be prepared on the 19th and 20th of this month, after the Grade 5 scholarship examination.
The Ministry had previously indicated it would accommodate the Commission’s request by granting holidays to the affected schools to facilitate the preparation of counting centers and ensure a smooth electoral process.
The Election Commission (EC) yesterday (8) opined that the decision regarding going ahead with the submitted nominations for the Local Government (LG) Elections will be based on the prevailing legal framework at the time they declare the elections.
The Cabinet of Ministers recently granted approval to make necessary provisions for the recalling of nominations for indefinitely-postponed LG Elections. This decision was made in the midst of reports that several candidates who submitted nominations to contest the LG Elections have left the country, and some others have passed away.
Speaking to The Daily Morning on the matter, EC Chairperson R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said that they would declare the LG Elections at earliest possible, and added that the decision whether to go ahead with the already-submitted nominations or not would be made as per the legal framework that would prevail at that time. “If the legal provisions for the recalling of nominations will be in place by then, we will have to work according to them. However, we can’t wait for a long time until such legal provisions are introduced.”
The LG Elections were initially scheduled to be held on 9 March 2023, but the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry and General Treasury had not released the required funds to the EC, which then rescheduled it (elections) to 25 April, and the postal voting to 28,29,30 and 31 March and 3 April 2023. Since the funds were not released by that time too, the EC once again postponed the elections, indefinitely.
Following the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling that the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, the Attorney General, and former EC members have violated the fundamental rights of citizens by postponing the LG Elections, originally scheduled for, the EC pledged that it would hold the LG Elections at the earliest possible time with due regard to its duty to hold other elections as required by the law.
Senior Illangai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) leader Mavai S. Senathirajah is confident Ranil Wickremesinghe will win the Presidential election and has called on him to address the critical issues faced by the Tamils.
Wickremesinghe met Senathirajah in Jaffna for talks and discussed some of the issues faced by the Tamil community.
Speaking after the meeting, Senathirajah said he told Wickremesinghe that he must win the election and address the issues of the Tamils.
Senathirajah said he urged the President to use his experience and look to uplift the economy in the Tamil areas.
He said that the need for a political solution for the Tamils was also discussed.
ITAK had recently taken a majority decision to back Sajith Premadasa at the Presidential election on 21st September.
ITAK spokesman M.A Sumanthiran had said the party leadership took the decision.
Premadasa thanked ITAK for the decision taken to support him.
“Together, we’ll create a future where everyone wins—a future with no racism, no discrimination and a future built on unity, strength, and shared purpose,” Premadasa had later said on X.
ITAK had met some of the other main candidates contesting the election before deciding to back Premadasa.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has met with Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) senior leader MP Mavai Senathirajah at his residence in Kankasanthurai, Jaffna this evening (07).
Meanwhile, during the meeting the ITAK Leader has reportedly expressed confidence that the President would win the election and ensure the development of the North.
This meeting has taken place following an invitation by the ITAK leader while Wickremesinghe is on a visit to Jaffna for a public rally as part of his “Puluwan Sri Lanka” presidential election campaign.
This decision was communicated by the ITAK MP M.A. Sumanthiran during a press briefing held on September 01, 2024.
MP Sumanthiran said that this decision was reached at the Central Committee meeting of the party.
The meeting occurred after an invitation from the ITAK leader, as Wickremesinghe visited Jaffna to attend a public rally for his “Puluwan Sri Lanka” Presidential campaign.
Earlier this month, the ITAK had announced its support for Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) candidate Sajith Premadasa. However, Senathirajah said that the party has not made an official decision regarding backing Premadasa at the upcoming election.
Meanwhile, it was also reported that the ITAK has also agreed not to support the Tamil common candidate P. Ariyanenthiran. The central committee of the ITAK has decided to request Ariyanenthiran not to contest in the 2024 presidential election.
Nevertheless, on Sunday (Sep. 01), the ITAK leader Mavai Senathirajah had stated that he was unaware of this decision which was said to have arrive by the party’s central committee.
Families of fishermen and local people protested on Sunday at Jegathapattinam in Tamil Nadu’s Pudukottai district over the Sri Lankan Navy arresting 14 fishermen and seizing their mechanised boats.
The fishermen were arrested on Saturday night.
K.R. Manikantan, fisherman leader of Jagathapattinam while speaking to IANS, said, “On a daily basis our brethren are getting arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and people are now worried about entering seas for fishing and to carry out their routine means of livelihood. Both the state and Central governments are turning a blind eye to the grave situation being faced by us.”
The fishermen’s leader further said, “Three mechanised boats were impounded by the Sri Lankan Navy. Even if the fishermen are released after some days of judicial custody in Sri Lanka, our boats will not be released. The boats are then attached by the Lankan government. This is making life miserable for the fishermen fraternity of Tamil Nadu.”
He said that the fishermen and family members would block the roads and disrupt traffic as a protest against the arrest of the 14 fishermen.
The fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing near Neduntheevu in the Palk Strait.
Their three boats were also impounded. The arrested fishermen along with 49 others had gone into the sea from Jegathapattinam around 7 a.m. on Saturday.
The arrested fishermen are, Pradeep, Ranjith, Prabakaran and Ajith who were on a boat owned by Mahadevan; Vishwa, Anandaraj, Anandababu, Kubendran and Sekar who were on a boat owned by Senthilkumar; and Manikandan, Muthukumar, Sellathambi, Selvam and Suresh who were on a boat owned by Manikandan.
The Tamil Nadu coastal police officers said that the arrested fishermen were taken to Kankesanthurai naval base in Sri Lanka.
It may be recalled that around 84 fishermen from Tamil Nadu are in the custody of Sri Lankan authorities. The arrests have led to protests erupting in coastal districts of Tamil Nadu like Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai.
Source: PTI
President Ranil Wickremesinghe must apologise to the northern people for inciting racism during a rally in Jaffna, instead of challenging him to apologise to the northern people, NPP Presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today.
Speaking at the 25th convention of the Inter Company Employees’ Union (ICEU), Dissanayake said President Wickremesinghe had challenged him to apologise to the northern people claiming that he had inflicted undue influence on the northern people.
“Ranil is attempting to incite racism in this election. I must be thankful to ITAK MP M.A. Sumanthiran. He has given the correct answer to Ranil. Ranil, you must apologise now,” he said.
Dissanayake said politics of inciting racism in the country is gone now.
“Politics of inciting racism in the country is not valid and successful now,” he added.
