Category: Featured Headlines

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, met upcountry families and discussed the economic and political obstacles they face.

She also spoke to them about their aspirations for better housing, education, and opportunities to improve their livelihood.

“This morning, I met with Hill Country families (many of whom have ties to the region going back 200 years) to hear directly about the economic and political obstacles they face and their aspirations for better housing, education, and opportunities to improve their livelihood,” the Ambassador tweeted.

The Ambassador is on a visit to Nuwara Eliya and has met several people from all walks of life.

During the visit she announced that the US Embassy in Sri Lanka will expand the US State Department’s English Access Microscholarship program to provide two years of free after-school English language instruction to youth of diverse backgrounds in Nuwara Eliya.

During her visit, she also met with prospective teachers for the program who shared the challenges they face in meeting learners’ needs and their plans to equip the next generation with the language skills to empower youth to follow their dreams.

She also spoke about the importance of equality and expanding women’s contributions to legal professions at the National Law Conference.

The Ambassador noted that the judicial sector is vital for upholding the rule of law and protecting the freedoms that sustain democracy.

Rather than heed warnings from its allies and neighbours, Sri Lanka is pushing ahead with embracing China to tackle its economic woes.

Ignoring warnings from the United States, according to which Sri Lanka’s problems are rooted in its dependence on China and its mega infrastructure projects (which represent a security issue for India), Sri Lankan leaders are pressing on.

Sri Lanka’s goal is to get new financing and assistance from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as evinced by the latest deal signed in May with the China Merchants Group for a logistics port complex in the capital worth US$ 392 million.

Launched in 2014 and due for completion in 2041, Colombo Port City’s US billion investment to rival Dubai is but the latest of Chinese-funded mega infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka.

China already has some of the most important ports in the world, with at least 10 of the top 100, along with several smaller ports on the coastline and inland, key to support export chains.

“According to the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI), which scores countries and their respective container ports,” China is a leader since “about 80 per cent of global trade is moving by sea,” said economic analysts Viraj Samarakoon, speaking to AsiaNews.

That is why, “tapping into maritime shipping networks has been central to China’s strategy of export-led economic development.”

For scholars Samantha Hewapathirana and Anuradha Wijetillake, “Beijing’s efforts to shape global maritime connectivity do not end on China’s borders. The scale of China’s activities has raised questions about potential impacts on recipient countries, including broader implications of Beijing’s growing economic influence.”

An example of this is the port of Hambantota leased to a Chinese state-owned company to pay off (or reduce) Sri Lanka’s debt to China. This has sparked concerns about Chinese economic influence and the potential risks for smaller countries of signing expensive development deals with China, especially with respect to their territorial sovereignty.

Economic analyst Sanuth Wijewardena explains that “since 2021, Sri Lanka has undergone high fiscal deficits, with unprecedented levels of inflation as well as price surges of basic and essential commodities, including medicines. Due to depleted foreign reserves, Colombo announced that it would suspend foreign debt payments in April 2022.”

At the time, its “foreign debt totalled US$ 34.8 billion,” Wijewardena notes, “with nearly half from market borrowing and its largest lenders were China, the Asian Development Bank and World Bank.”

Source: Asia News

While revealing that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had called Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) to join the government collectively, SJB National Organizer Tissa Attanayake said his party had told the President to hold a general election first.

“We have told the President that a general election should be held first to find out the opinion of the people. We have told him that we will consider supporting him depending on the fresh mandate of the people,” Attanayake told a media briefing.

“The President told us to work with him collectively, but the main issue is that he is allied with the wrong people. He is with the SLPP which is responsible for the current economic crisis. This is the main reason which is stopping us from working with the President,” he said.

“At the same time we do not welcome the recent comments made by the President at the Law conference. He has said people are tired of elections and no party will secure 50 percent of the votes in future elections. We feel that the President is trying to imply that the election map of the country will be folded temporary and no elections will be held in the near future. The right thing which the President could do is to hold a referendum and seek the people’s consent to temporarily postpone elections. However, we request the President to hold any election, be it Presidential, general, provincial councils or even the local government elections without further postponements,” he added.

At the same time the SJB National Organizer said the President’s remarks may have been aimed at the court cases with regard to postponement of pending local government elections.

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe who is reportedly looking for an early popular mandate will need to seek a constitutional amendment repealing a provision that prevents a president elected by parliament from calling an early presidential election.

Human rights lawyer Gehan Gunatilleke told EconomyNext on Monday June 05 that the amendment, as any other constitutional amendment, will require a two-thirds majority in parliament. Additionally, he said, if the Supreme Court determines that any provision of the amendment is inconsistent with one of the entrenched clauses in the Constitution, the amendment bill must also be approved by the people at a referendum.

According to Gunatillake, it can be argued that the repeal of the provision in question – article 31(3A)(e) of the constitution – will not result in any inconsistency with any entrenched clause.

“However, it is the Supreme Court that will ultimately decide the matter,” he said.

Wickremesinghe was elected in July 2022 under article 40 of the constitution which provides for parliament electing one of its members to fill a vacancy in the office of the president for the remainder of the departing president’s term of office. This was after ex President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned following mass anti-government protests at the height of last year’s economic and political crises.

According to Gunatillake, as things stand now, a fresh presidential election can be held only after the remainder of what was originally Rajapaksa’s term ends in November 2024 as, as per article 30(2), a presidential term shall be five years. Though article 31(3A)(a) gives an incumbent president the power to call an election at the end of four years to seek a second term in office, article 31(3A)(e) posits that a president elected by parliament under article 40 shall not have the power to call an early election. It provides: ‘A person succeeding to the office of President under the provisions of Article 40 shall not be entitled to exercise the right conferred on a President by sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph.’

“So, the current President – who was elected by parliament under article 40 – does not have the power to call an early election. Only a constitutional amendment to repeal article 31(3A)(e) can enable him to call an early election, said Gunatallike.

This means President Wickremesinghe will have to seek a constitutional amendment repealing article 31(3A)(e) which, as noted by Gunatallike, will require a two-thirds majority in parliament and, depending on the Supreme Court’s determination, the approval of the public at a referendum though a case can be made the amendment will not result in any constitutional inconsistency.

Parliament support well in excess of a two-thirds majority for such an amendment is likely given that the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has already declared its support for an early presidential election.

Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, whose party endorsed him on May 16 at its presidential candidate, said that he intends to form an SJB-led alliance of opposition parties in the event of an early election, which Wickremesinghe is widely speculated to call.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka has expressed its discontent towards the recent decision to appoint a representative of the Chairman of the Regional Development Committee to monitor local government institutions.

Accordingly, Chairman of the Commission, Attorney-at-Law Nimal. G. Punchihewa noted that the matter would be brought before the Ministry of Local Government, in writing, tomorrow (05 June).

Explaining their reason for concern, Punchihewa noted that such an appointment could politicise local government institutions given that the Chairman himself is a representative of a particular political party.

Thus, he explained that this would be unfair to those affiliated with other political parties.

Further deeming the appointment an unnecessary one, the Election Commission chairman pointed out that the coordination required within local government institutions can be done through municipal commissioners and divisional secretaries.