Category: News

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath states that the government plans to provide vehicles for all 225 Members of Parliament in the near future.

He clarified that MPs will no longer be granted permits to import vehicles.

The minister made these remarks during his appearance on “360°” current affairs programme on TV Derana last night (20).

Explaining the decision, Minister Herath stated, “The government will take steps to ensure all MPs are provided with vehicles, eliminating the need for individual vehicle import permits.”

The son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian, Namal Rajapaksa says his father is prepared to vacate the official residence in Colombo, if required.

Speaking to the media today, the MP said, “That house was granted to former presidents under the Constitution. It’s primarily a matter of security. However, if the current President wishes to sell the house and requires former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to vacate, we are ready to comply. This is not a house we requested. It is something provided to a former president according to the law.”

When asked about his response to a possible sudden eviction, Namal Rajapaksa replied, “He will leave at any time. These are government properties, not ours. If the President wants to sell this house to someone, we will vacate without any issue.”

Addressing Mahinda Rajapaksa’s stance on the matter, Namal stated, “He shares the same opinion. Many seem to have forgotten that he is Mahinda Rajapaksa.”

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake revealed yesterday (19) that the official residence of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been valued at a monthly rent of Rs. 4.6 million, emphasizing the need to either regularize its use or vacate it to prioritize national development.

FrontLine Socialist Party (FLSP), a breakaway group from ruling Marxists Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna warned Sri Lanka government of stepping into a geopolitical war involved with regional powers India and China after President Anura Kumara Disanayake’s visit to the both countries.

President Disanayake last week visited China, a month after his first official foreign visit to India.

During his visit to China, President Dissanayake agreed to follow eight major steps announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping for supporting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and take forward all major projects including the joint development of the Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port.

The central committee of the FLSP, which is a breakaway party from President Disanayake-led Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said Belt and Road Initiative is “a geopolitical strategy of China in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean”, instead of an economic development programme.

“The United States is pursuing what it calls the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” against China, and it is no secret that this power struggle has been creating acute tensions in the Asian region, including the Indian Ocean region,” the FLSP said in a statement.

“It could escalate from an economic, trade war and political, diplomatic confrontation to an open military conflict.”

The FLSP was partly behind Sri Lanka’s mass protests in 2022 which led to ousting former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government. However, analysts say it could not capitalize the party’s success of ousting a strong leader to electoral victory like JVP.

HEAVY CRITICISM OVER CHINA

The JVP when in opposition has strongly criticized successive governments over leasing Hambatota port to China on a 99-year lease and allowing Beijing to construct Port City adjacent to the main port in commercial capital Colombo.

The FLSP said an assessment of the joint statement Sri Lanka issued with India on December 16 and China on January 16 reveals that Sri Lanka is entering the major geopolitical war in the Indian Ocean region.

During President Disanayake’s Chinese visit, Sri Lanka signed a deal with state-run Sinopec to construct the island nation’s largest refinery with an investment of $3.7 billion near the deep southern port of Hambantota, which is now owned by China until 2116.

The FLSP said the Sinopec refinery project raises concerns over increasing geopolitical tension, country’s energy sovereignty, and the way money will be invested in the project while a proposed oil pipeline project with India could dent the country’s revenue in bunkering fuel supply.

“This is not only a matter of losing revenue, but also a risk that Sri Lanka will lose its energy sovereignty, and the provision of military facilities at these ports poses a threat to national security,” the FLSP said.

“All these agreements indicate that (Sri Lanka’s) North and East are under Indian domination, while the Southern province, including Hambantota, is under Chinese authority.”

“The fact that these regional powers are preparing for a strong intervention in Colombo makes this danger even more serious.”

The FLSP called public attention to the ongoing political dynamics that threaten “not only the economic independence of Sri Lanka, but also the political independence and security of the people”.

“We believe that the positions taken by the government in the face of the geopolitical conflict that have emerged in connection with the President’s visits to India and China are extremely serious.”

“…we appeal to the working people, including the able masses, for an organized intervention to create alternatives to the economic – political – geopolitical – military challenges faced by Sri Lanka and to make them a reality.”

The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, which took office on September 23, 2024, has promised to address longstanding human rights issues that have plunged Sri Lanka into repeated crises, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its World Report 2025.

Dissanayake has pledged to introduce more equitable economic policies and to repeal the notoriously abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act, but he has not backed accountability for widespread rights violations during Sri Lanka’s 1983-2009 civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the report said.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists.

Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“Sri Lanka’s multiple crises are connected by entrenched impunity for rights violations, discrimination against minority communities, and laws and institutions that seek to silence critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“President Dissanayake has an opportunity to make real progress on rights if he carries out his campaign pledges, but he also needs to address the legacy of past conflicts and continuing abuses against Tamils, Muslims, and others on which he has been troublingly silent.”

• While an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout helped stem the immediate crisis after the Sri Lankan government defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022, the United Nations estimated that a quarter of households were suffering food insecurity in 2024.

• Policies pursued by the outgoing administration of President Ramil Wickremesinghe under the IMF program shifted the burden of recovery largely onto people with low incomes. The Dissanayake government has pledged to combat corruption and create more equitable economic policies.

• Police and other security agencies harassed and threatened activists and human rights defenders with impunity during 2024, particularly in predominantly Tamil areas in the north and east, including undue restrictions and interference in the financing of civil society organizations.

• In May, the UN human rights office issued a report calling for the international community to undertake prosecutions and other accountability measures to address thousands of unresolved cases of enforced disappearance that occurred over decades during the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) uprisings, and the LTTE armed conflict. The UN Human Rights Council has extended a mandate to monitor human rights violations and collect evidence of crimes during the civil war.

President Dissanayake should begin to address Sri Lanka’s many human rights problems by fulfilling and building upon the pledges he made during his party’s election campaigns.

China has expressed its interest to help in capacity building in Sri Lanka’s judicial, law enforcement and security sectors amid rising online frauds and arrest of a higher number of Chinese for alleged online financial scams.

The Chinese statement came during President Anura Kumara Disanayake’s official visit to China.

“The two sides recognize judicial, law enforcement and security cooperation as an important component of bilateral cooperation, and stand ready to jointly crack down on cross-border crimes such as telecom fraud and online gambling,” both countries said in a joint statement following the meeting with Disanayake and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“China is ready to do its best to support capacity building in Sri Lanka’s judicial, law enforcement and security areas and provide assistance of police supplies.”

However, the joint statement did not elaborate on the details of the specific capacity building the both countries discussed.

Sri Lanka government officials said China sent a police team recently when more than 200 Chinese were arrested across the country for alleged online financial scams.