Category: News

Leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) MP Rishad Bathiudeen has pledged his party’s support to the opposition leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) candidate Sajith Premadasa at the upcoming Presidential Election.

On August 07, Rishad Bathiudeen’s ACMC had said it would announce the candidate the party will support in the upcoming presidential election on August 14.

The leader of the ACMC, former minister Bathiudeen, stated that this decision was taken during the party’s Supreme Council meeting on August 6.

He had stated that since the ACMC is still in the ‘Samagi Jana Sandanaya’, they would continue participate in the alliance’s meetings.

He had also stated that both the SJB and President Ranil Wickremesinghe had requested the ACMC for support ahead of the presidential poll.

The identification is now underway of the skeletal remains unearthed from the Kokkutuduvai mass grave in Mullaitivu, said JMO Kanagasabapathi Vasudeva.

He informed the magistrate’s court there on 08 August that remains belonging to 52 persons had been unearthed by 15 July.

Later, speaking to the media, Dr. Vasudeva said their gender, ages, heights etc. would have to be determined.

Twenty-five of the skeletal remains had been sent to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for examination, he said.

A detailed forensic report is expected within six months, added the JMO.

Forensic archaeologist Prof. Raj Somadeva informed the court in March that the skeletons belonged to LTTE members who had been hurriedly buried following a firefight in the mid-1990s.

Samples have also been obtained for DNA testing, as there are several sworn affidavits filed with that request, said lawyer V.S. Niranjan.

The case will be taken up again on 27 September.

Water supply workers digging to lay pipelines stumbled upon the gravesite on 29 June 2023.

The heir apparent of the Rajapaksa dynasty will face an unusual challenge in the September 21 presidential election, with his loyalists confronted by another Namal Rajapaksha on the ballot paper.

With 36 candidates having paid their deposits to get on the ticket by Tuesday evening and one more day left to pay, the 2024 ballot paper is set to be the longest yet.

Adding two Namals with the same last name makes the voting slip potentially the most confusing—at least for Namal’s loyalists. Fielding candidates with names similar to main contenders has been a tried-and-tested tactic before, notably by the Rajapaksas themselves.

In 2015, the Rajapaksas not only fielded another “Sirisena” in an attempt to confuse voters of Maithripala Sirisena—the opposition’s common candidate—but also gave him a makeover to resemble the man from Polonnaruwa.

The gimmick may not have fooled many, but the duplicate Sirisena — A. R. Sirisena—ended up finishing third, albeit with a huge gap, garnering 18,174 votes, or 0.15 percent of the total.

The Namal Rajapaksha entering the September election is a known spoiler. His name, when written in Sinhala, is identical to that of the scion of the Rajapaksa clan. Few will notice the slight difference in the English spelling—this Namal has an “h” in the family name, RajapaksHa.

In the 2015 poll, Rajapaksha, who tried to siphon off some votes from the family patriarch, Mahinda, ended up coming fourth, just behind the fake Sirisena, with 14,379 votes. In the 2019 presidential election, Rajapaksha’s ability to woo real Rajapaksa voters appeared to have diminished, with his votes dropping to 9,497.

Rajapaksha’s symbol in 2015 was the old-style rotary telephone, which is now the sign of Sajith Premadasa’s SJB party. This time, Namal Rajapaksha is contesting from the Samabima Party, whose symbol is an envelope.

Apart from battling dissension within the once-monolithic party, the Rajapaksa prince-in-waiting will have to contend with deception, misdirection, and obfuscation—all key traits of a successful Sri Lankan politician.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kalutara District MP Dr. Rajitha Senaratne has met President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Gangarama Seema Malaka, a short while ago, and pledged his support for the upcoming presidential election.

President Wickremesinghe and MP Senaratne also signed an agreement on the matter during the event.

Speaking to the media, Senaratne said he will work to ensure the victory of President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the 2024 Presidential Election.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers has approved the leasing state land within the Colombo Port City to build a hospital, school and university, a government statement said.

Asiri Port City Hospital (Pvt) Ltd is expected to invest 100 million dollars. Gateway International University (Pvt) Ltd is to invest 25 million US dollars in a university and 25 million dollars in a school.

Mayo Clinic of the US was expected to tie up with Asiri Hospitals group for the project.

The Colombo Port City was reclaimed from the sea by China Harbor Engineering Company.

The “marketable government lands” within the Port City will be leased for the hospital and port, the statement said.

The lease cost was not given.