Category: Breaking News

Sri Lanka has already started to build the capacity of Navy in handling foreign research vessels during a one-year moratorium, Foreign Ministry Ali Sabry said.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government has temporarily halted foreign research ships after strong security concerns raised by neighbour India and the United States following the visit of two Chinese research vessels in 14 months.

Sabry said Sri Lanka has banned foreign ships for research purpose though they have use the island nation’s ports for replenishments and crew changes.

“What we basically say is not a ban, but a moratorium for a year that until we expand our capacity and build our capacity to understand what is necessary, for which we have appointed a committee. We will have a temporary pause for this particular year for all marine research activity,” he said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

“In the meantime, our navy is building its own capacity. That’s why we made a request to the Japanese to give us a beachcraft to monitor. Those authorities have agreed on that. \So that will give our navy the ability also to do their own research and then once they start working with collaboration with foreign countries.”

“They will act as equal partners to understand the gravity of it subject to that we only allow ports of call. Ports of call, we will continue to allow without a research component.”

Chinese Embassy in Colombo raised strong protest against the move to allow a German research vessel early in March following the island nation’s authorities turned down a Beijing request for a research vessel in February.

When the ban was announced, the government failed to specifically reveal its stance on requests for replenishment or crew change for foreign research vessels.

Sri Lanka is in the process of introducing a SOP (Standard Operation Procedure) for handling foreign research vessels and to improve the capacity of relevant officials in handling foreign research ships.

Two Chinese research ships were allowed to dock in Sri Lanka ports within 14 months through November 2023 with one called for replenishment and the other for research.

Chinese research ship Shi Yan 6 arrived in Sri Lanka in October 2023 and docked in Colombo port, for what Beijing citing was for “geophysical scientific research” in collaboration with the island nation’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA).

In August 2022, Chinese navy vessel Yuan Wang 5 docked at Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka for replenishment.

Both drew strong Indian protests citing security concerns in the Indian Ocean.

India uses the Colombo port as its main transshipment hub and accounts for around 70 percent of the total transshipment volume of the port.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka announced, Thursday, that the Presidential election will be held on a day between 17th September and 16th October 2024.

The election commission said that it will call for nominations to hold the presidential election within the specified timeframe in terms of the provisions of the Constitution and the Presidential Elections Act, No. 15 of 1981.

Current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and National Peoples Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake are expected to be the main contenders at the polls.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is yet to decide if it will support Wickremesinghe or put forward its own candidate.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by former President Maithripala Sirisena has indicated its intention of putting forward Minister Wijeydasa Rajapaksha as its candidate at the polls.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the last Presidential election but was forced to resign following mass protests in 2022.

In the wake of the Election Commission officially announcing that the Presidential election will be held between September 17 and October 16, a faction of both government and opposition MPs have expressed concerns as they prefer a parliamentary election first, Daily Mirror learns.

This follows the remarks by the founder of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Basil Rajapaksa who reiterated that his party maintains its stance that the general election should take place before the presidential election.

In addition to government MPs, a significant number of opposition MPs, the majority of whom are from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), prefer a general election, citing the potential to attract a broader voter base.

Against this backdrop, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is reported to have attempted to convince the government parliamentary group that the Presidential election must take place this year in accordance with the Constitution.

According to the Election Commission, the Presidential election should be held this year while the parliamentary election is slated for 2025. However, the President, as the Head of the State, is vested with the authority to dissolve Parliament and call for a snap general election.

Nonetheless, informed sources suggest that it is highly improbable for the President to dissolve parliament, paving the way for a parliamentary election ahead of the Presidential election.

Meanwhile, speaking to Daily Mirror, Election Commission chief R.M.A.L. Ratnayake stated that the presidential election will be declared between the end of July and the early part of August.

Furthermore, the nominations will be called within the specified timeframe in terms of the provisions of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Presidential Elections Act No. l5 of 1981.

Two retired officers of the Sri Lanka Army have been arrested for illegally recruiting Sri Lankan army soldiers to be employed in the Russian military.

Accordingly, a retired Major General and a retired Sergeant were apprehended by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Kurunegala on Wednesday (08).

Earlier on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence announced the launch of an operation to arrest the suspects implicated in directing retired Sri Lankan Army soldiers to join Russian or Ukrainian forces by illegal means.

Defence Secretary, General (Rtd) Kamal Gunaratne had emphasized that the operation was initiated jointly with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Intelligence Units.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe making a special statement in Parliament today said that the country has witnessed positive outcomes of entering into a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including the appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.

9 key points from the President’s speech:

1.Economic growth is forecasted at a minimum of 3%, with the figure being supported by various national and international institutions, President Wickremesinghe said. Inflation reduced to 1.5%, the primary account balance, which had been in deficit for many years, has turned into a surplus of 0.6% of GDP in 2023. A surplus in the current account of the balance of payments was recorded in 2023 & interest rates have decreased to between 10% & 13% over the year. Foreign reserves meanwhile surpassed USD 5 billion, the President said elaborating on several economic indicators.

2.Government employees received an allowance increase from Rs. 5000 in January to Rs. 10,000 in April, while pensioners were given a Rs. 2500 allowance. President Ranil Wickremesinghe acknowledged that these allowances are insufficient relative to the cost of living, but stated that the government cannot afford further increases.
“There have been numerous requests to revise salaries, but the government revenue is not sufficient to consider such requests. The truth is that government salary revisions can only be considered next year, based on the 2024 economic growth and state revenue.”

3.Outlining the key milestones of Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring efforts, the President said that government revenue was earlier at 8% of the GDP while state expenditure was 20% of GDP. By December 2022, total national debt was 128% of GDP.

4.President Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka has agreed in principle with foreign creditors to restructure its debt and is in ongoing discussions with the official creditors committee and the EXIM Bank of China.
“Sri Lanka entered an agreement with the Paris club official creditors as well as China, who is not a member of the Paris Club. China opted out, so we are dealing independently with China,” the President said.

5.By November 2023, Sri Lanka secured agreements to restructure debt with creditor countries including those from the Paris Club and China. While formal agreements with these creditors are pending, Lazard and Clifford Chance are facilitating ongoing dialogues on behalf of Sri Lanka. The goal is to conclude discussions by mid-2024, President Wickremesinghe said

6.Debt restructuring aims to reduce national debt to 95% of GDP by 2032, down from 125% President Ranil Wickremesinghe said as he detailed the targets and challenges in achieving debt sustainability during this period of time.

7.Making note of the Governance Diagnostic Report introduced to minimize corruption as per conditions agreed with the IMF, the draft law for the Proceeds of Crimes Act was approved by the Cabinet, President Wickremesinghe said.

8.The Aswesuma welfare scheme allocated Rs. 205 billion in 2024, tripling the funds compared to the previous Samurdhi scheme. The President emphasized the government’s efforts to provide relief to various vulnerable groups through these economic revival programs. Direct financial assistance has been allocated to kidney patients, the elderly and disabled individuals, with a 50% increase effective from April 2024.

9.Several new laws aimed at strengthening the government’s economic reform efforts will be presented in Parliament soon. The Economic Transformation Bill, the Public Finance Bill and the Public Debt Management Bill are some of the key laws anticipated, the President said.

Diana Gamage became the 12th Member of Parliament to be out of the island nation’s legislature that was elected in the 2020 general elections either due to death or resignation or legal actions, official data showed.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench on Wednesday decided that State Tourism Minister Diana Gamage is not eligible to hold an MP post after a legal case challenging her eligibility over holding the MP post due to her citizenship.

Gamage was accused of breaching immigration laws and hiding credentials over her citizenship.

Gamage entered the parliament through the national list under the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB)

Sri Lanka constitution has barred duel citizens for foreign citizens holding MP post in its latest amendment.

With Gamage’s removal, the current parliament has witnessed seven MPs from ruling Sri Lanka Pudijana Party (SLPP), four from opposition SJB, and one from minority Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) have lost the seats from the parliament.

The details of the MPs are out of the current parliament elected in 2020:
K H Nandasena (SLPP, died) Amarakeerthi Athukorala (SLPP, murdered), Sanath Nishantha (SLPP, died), Ranjan Ramanayaka (SJB, lost the seat due to legal action), Ajith Nivard Cabraal (SLPP, resigned), Mahinda Samarasinghe (SLPP, resigned), Basil Rajapaksa (SLPP, resigned), Mujibur Rahuman (SJB, resigned), Chaminda Wijesiri (SJB, resigned), Uddika Premarathne (SLPP, resigned), and Naseer Ahamed (SLMC, lost due to court ruling.