Category: News

The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s (SLPP) politburo is scheduled to meet today (29) to take the final decision regarding whether or not to field an SLPP candidate for the Presidential Election to be held on 21 September.

When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (28), SLPP General Secretary and Parliamentarian Sagara Kariyawasam said that the politburo would meet today. “We (SLPP) are yet to decide on a candidate for the Presidential Election. There are various rumours going around, but we will make the final decision at the politburo meeting.”

The Daily Morning also asked him about media reports that quoted former President and SLPP Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa of having said that they would support incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe if the Party decides. Kariyawasam, in response, said: “It is not true. Such reports have been planted by certain SLPP members who are loyal to the President.”

With the Presidential Election scheduled in September, opinions within the SLPP are divided. Some SLPP members have been expressing a willingness to support the SLPP-backed current President and United National Party Leader Wickremesinghe, while the others have expressed the view that the SLPP should field a separate candidate. There have been predictions that Government MP and businessman Dhammika Perera will be the SLPP’s Presidential candidate.

MP Namal Rajapaksa, who was unanimously elected as the SLPP’s national organiser in March, last week disputed the claim that the majority of their parliamentary group backed Ranil Wickremesinghe’s candidature at the forthcoming Presidential Election. He accused Wickremesinghe of causing rifts within the SLPP and stated that some in the party did not wish to back the presidential candidacy.

Several leading political parties have already declared their Presidential candidates. Among them are; Wickremesinghe, Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa, and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-led National People’s Power Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. In addition, incumbent Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Opposition MP, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka have also declared their candidacy for the Presidential Election.

”If living together is so hard, what about a separate state in the north for the Tamils? They have as good a claim to a nation of their own as most members of the United Nations. But as always it is a question of power, and in Sri Lanka the Sinhalese have the power. Do they also have the wisdom to see that the Tamil minority is treated in a way that justifies its retention within a unitary state?”

“The matters presented here in ‘Black July 1983: the Charge is Genocide’ constitute, at the lowest, prima facie evidence, sufficient to warrant an indictment for genocide against the Sri Lanka authorities for the crimes committed against the Tamil people in June, July and August 1983.

Paul Sieghart Q.C. in his  Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists and its British Section, Justice, March 1984, concluded:   “Clearly this was not a spontaneous upsurge of communal hatred among the Sinhala people.. It was a series of deliberate acts, executed in accordance with a concerted plan, conceived and organised well in advance. But who were the planners?… Communal riots in which Tamils are killed, maimed, robbed and rendered homeless are no longer isolated episodes; they are beginning to become a pernicious habit.” [see 1956, 1958, 1961, 1974 and 1977]

The International Commission of Jurists Review declared in December 1983 – “Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, acts of murder committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such are considered as acts of genocide. The evidence points clearly to the conclusion that the violence of the Sinhala rioters on the Tamils (in June/July/August 1983) amounted to acts of genocide.”

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka says that deposits have been placed for four candidates within today (26) to contest the 2024 Presidential Election.

This includes two independent candidates and two other candidates from recognized political parties.

– Ranil Wickremesinghe – Independent
– Sarath Keerthirathne – Independent
– Oshala Herath – ‘Abhinawa Niwahal Peramuna’
– ASP Liyanage – Sri Lanka Workers Party

While welcoming the announcement of the Presidential election, the United States said they look forward to free and fair elections that empower Sri Lankan citizens to determine their future.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jullie Chung said in a post on X “We welcome the Election Commission announcement of the September 21 Presidential election, affirming Sri Lanka’s longstanding commitment to democracy. We look forward to free and fair elections that empower Sri Lankan citizens to determine their future.”