Category: News

Postal voting for the upcoming Presidential Election would take place on 04 and 06 September, Saman Sri Rathnayake, Commissioner General of Elections, told The Island yesterday.

Voters who are unable to cast their votes during this period would have an additional opportunity on 11 and 12 September, he said.

“The ballot papers will be distributed on August 26. Officials directly involved in election duties, such as those in the Postal Service, Police, and Election Department, can cast their votes on 04 Sept. All others eligible for postal voting can vote on the subsequent days.”

Rathnayake said that 40 individuals had submitted deposits for contesting the presidential election. Of them, 23 represent political parties and others are independent candidates.

Nominations would be accepted on Thursday (15) from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Rathnayake said. “We have notified all candidates and their representatives of the security measures in place for Thursday. The police and security forces will be responsible for maintaining security,” he added.

On the last day for placing deposits, four candidates submitted theirs: MP Namal Rajapaksa from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Janaka Ratnayake from the United Sri Lanka

People’s Party, Lalith de Silva from the United National Freedom Party, and independent candidate Sarath Kumara Gunarathne.

SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, who made the deposit on behalf of Rajapaksa, mentioned that they did so at an auspicious time. Commenting on SLPP MPs who had pledged support for President Wickremesinghe, Kariyawasam said, “Everyone with a conscience and courage will return to support Namal.”

Sri Lanka’s government has welcomed Canada’s decision to retain the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) along with the World Tamil Movement (WTM) as terrorist entities.

Canada first listed the LTTE as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code in April 2006. It is a statutory requirement to undertake a review every five years. The latest review process concluded in June 2024.

According to the recent review, Canada maintains that the remnants of the LTTE have an international fundraising and procurement network that still exists, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“The review of the WTM notes that the group continues to play a facilitating role in the LTTE’s terrorist activities by fundraising on their behalf. This decision taken following a rigorous review process, reaffirms the continued threat posed by these organizations.”

The LTTE was also recently proscribed in India and the European Union. An application made for the de-proscription of the LTTE in the UK, this year, was dismissed.

The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) stated that Parliamentarians representing the SLPP, who are supporting President and independent Presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe will not be allowed to contest in the upcoming Parliamentary Election under the Party’s banner.

While the SLPP has fielded the Party’s National Organiser MP Namal Rajapaksa as their Presidential candidate, the majority of SLPP MPs, including Cabinet and State Ministers, have extended their support to Wickremesinghe, who was earlier backed by the SLPP as a whole.

As the Parliamentary Election will have to be held soon after the Presidential Election which will be held on 21 September, The Daily Morning queried SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam as to whether the MPs who are supporting Wickremesinghe will be granted nominations to contest the Parliamentary Election under the SLPP banner. In response, he said: “We, as the Party, decided to initiate disciplinary action against anyone who supports another Presidential candidate instead of the one fielded by the Party. It is meaningless to talk about nominations for those who violate Party discipline unless we take disciplinary action against them.” When queried if it means that such MPs would not be granted nominations to contest under the SLPP, he replied: “Yes.”

After the SLPP Politburo decided to field its own Presidential candidate rather than support Wickremesinghe, Rajapaksa was nominated as the Party’s candidate. However, a significant number of SLPP members have already expressed their support for Wickremesinghe. Reports suggest that these members are planning to form a separate political alliance, with the post of the General Secretary likely to be offered to the Minister of Health and Industries Dr. Ramesh Pathirana.

Australian Financial Review – An Australian Federal Court judge has slammed the Home Affairs Department for failing to properly scrutinise a Sri Lankan diplomat who confiscated a staffer’s passport and gave her just two days leave in three years.

Sri Lanka’s former deputy high commissioner to Australia has been ordered to pay $543,000 in unpaid wages and interest to a domestic worker and now faces a large fine for breaches of employment laws.

Himalee Arunatilaka, who served in Canberra from 2015 to 2018, denied her employee, Priyanka Danaratna, minimum pay and conditions during time in Australia, the court found.

Justice Elizabeth Raper found Ms Danaratna worked from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week and was only allowed two days off in that time after she burnt her hand with cooking oil.

Over the period, she was paid just $11,200 – around 75¢ an hour – which was sent to Sri Lanka. Ms Danaratna also was denied permission to leave the Canberra residence alone, and had her passport confiscated.

In addition to handing down a damning judgment for Ms Arunatilaka, Justice Raper suggested that if the Home Affairs Department had taken a closer look, “Ms Danaratna’s employment may have been very different”.

“It is not without concern that it would have been clear to [Home Affairs], by reason of the materials provided … that Ms Danaratna was not going to [be] paid nor enjoy the protections under the Award or the FW Act,” she wrote.

“There was no apparent attempt to conceal the arrangement by Ms Arunatilaka. It is perplexing that the department, in the circumstances, did nothing and granted the visa in the circumstances.”

Himalee Arunatilaka currently serves as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.

The case is one of several recent examples where diplomats from countries with poor employment practices have been caught failing to comply with employment laws and have been hit with big penalties in Australia.

The Australian Federal Court last year ordered India’s high commissioner between 2015 and 2016 Navdeep Suri Singh to pay $189,000 in unpaid wages and interest to Seema Shergill, who was found to be working in “slave-like” conditions in the chief diplomat’s residence.

Justice Raper also ordered Mr Suri to pay a $97,200 fine for wage theft, the maximum amount allowed.

Mr Suri brought Seema Shergill to Australia when he started in 2015. When they arrived in Australia, he confiscated Ms Shergill’s passport and confined her to the family’s Canberra residence.

Neither Ms Arunatilaka nor Mr Suri defended the legal actions against them, and it is not clear whether the claimants in either case will ever see a cent of the amounts awarded.

The cases were only possible because the Federal Court recognised that the residual immunity granted former diplomats does not extend to employees in their direct employment, who are covered by Australian fair work laws.

Clayton Utz pro bono Partner David Hillard, who led both matters along with Canberra barrister Prue Bindon, said these were not isolated cases.

“It is the second Federal Court matter in less than a year involving domestic workers at diplomatic residences in Canberra,” Mr Hillard said. “Domestic workers in foreign diplomatic residences are among the most vulnerable and isolated workers in Australia.

“It is hard to conceive of someone in 21st century Australia literally being trapped in a job for three years and earning 75 cents an hour.

“This decision … confirms clearly that these workers have rights in Australia, and that senior diplomats cannot hide behind diplomatic immunity when it comes to keeping their servants under slave-like arrangements.”

Ms Arunatilaka was in 2023 appointed Sri Lanka’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

The leader of the United Republic Front (Eksath Janaraja Peramuna) MP Patali Champika Ranawaka had signed agreement to support SJB leader Sajith Premadasa at the upcoming Presidential Election.

The relevant agreement was signed by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on behalf of the SJB and former Minister Champika Ranawaka on behalf of the United Republic Front.