Category: News

The National Election Commission has announced its plans to certify the 2024 voter list by the end of July.
Chairman R.M.A.L. Ratnayake stated that the commission is currently examining the appeals filed over the initial draft of the voter list.

This process is being overseen by District Assistant and Deputy Election Commissioners. Once certified, the 2024 voter list will be used for all elections held after July.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the actions taken by the State Intelligence Service (SIS), Chief of National Intelligence (CNI), and other relevant authorities concerning prior intelligence received about the bomb attacks on April 21, 2019.

This decision follows the findings of the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry, dated January 31, 2021, which highlighted that Indian Intelligence agencies and other sources had provided advance warnings about the impending attacks.

The Committee of Inquiry will be chaired by Ms. A.N.J. De Alwis, Retired Judge of the High Court. Other esteemed members of the committee include SLAS special grade Officer Ms. K.N.K. Somaratne and Senior Lawyer Mr. W.M.A.N. Nishane, AAL. The committee’s mandate includes examining whether adequate actions and measures were taken by the SIS, CNI, and other relevant authorities based on the prior intelligence and evaluating the sufficiency of these measures.

Additionally, the committee will investigate the circumstances surrounding the Directorate of Military Intelligence’s (DMI) initial belief that the Vavunathivu killing of two police officers on November 30, 2018, was connected to the LTTE. This belief was held for four months before suspects with alleged links to the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) were identified.

A compact disk containing the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Bomb Attacks of April 21, 2019, has been provided to the committee. The President has authorized the committee to inquire relevant officials and examine pertinent documents to thoroughly investigate these matters.

Ms. Sarathanjali Manoharan, Senior Assistant Secretary to the President, will serve as the Secretary to the Committee of Inquiry. The committee is expected to submit its report, including findings and recommendations, to the President by September 15, 2024.

The leftist National People’s Power (NPP) is concerned not with the past but the future, NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said following a discussion with representatives of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) in Jaffna.

Dissanayake told reporters on Tuesday June 11 that the NPP in their manifesto for the 2019 presidential election had recognised the need for Sri Lanka’s provincial council system to continue.

“We must also have a dialogue on moving forward. There is a need for constitutional changes. We must also implement the provisions in the constitution that establish peace,” he said.

“In the present, we’re not about the past but how to create the future. To do that, Tamil people should be given a strong guarantee of rights in politics. They must be given a right make decisions for themselves. If everyone lives in the past, we will not be able to create a future,” said Dissanayake.

The NPP leader did not elaborate on the meaning of “right to make decisions for themselves”.

The party has been largely noncommital on its stance on the 13th amendment to the constitution, which the Marxist-Leninist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which controls the NPP, violently opposed during the late 1980s.

The full implementation of the 13th amendment continues to be a point of debate.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has indicated his willingness to fully implement the amendment without police powers, particularly in light of India stressing on its importance. Sharing police powers remains an issue, with many nationalist parties in the south arguing against it.

The 13th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution emerged from the controversial Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 as a purported solution to the worsening ethnic conflict, four years after war broke out. Provincial councils came in the wake of this amendment, though land and police powers have yet to be devolved to the provinces as originally envisioned. Both Sinhalese and Tamil nationalists have historically opposed the amendment, the former claiming it devolved too much, the latter complaining it didn’t devolve enough.

A full implementation of the amendment would see land and police powers devolved to the provinces, a development that is not likely to garner support from Sri Lanka’s more hardline parties. In February, sections of the Buddhist clergy took to the streets against the proposed full implementation of the constitutional amendment.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Sri Lanka in August this year, officials from the President’s office told journalists here.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe who attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi had invited the latter to visit Sri Lanka when the duo met on Sunday at Rasthrapati Bhavan.

Wickremesinghe had discussed the visit of Prime Minister Modi with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Delhi on Monday. Both the President and the Indian External Affairs Minister discussed the visit of the Indian Leader during which it was revealed that the visit is likely to take place in August this year. Jaishankar had assured President Wickremesinghe that he would visit Sri Lanka soon and look into the Indian Prime Minister’s visit.

A government led by Sri Lanka’s main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) will implement the 13th amendment to the constitution, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said, also claiming that people in the north have become addicted to false promises made by politicians.

Speaking at an event in Jaffna on Sunday June 09, Premadasa said an SJB government would ensure all civil and economic rights of the people.

“People in Jaffna district and the northern province have become addicted to the candy politics (losinjara deshapalanaya) of various leaders. They hand out these candies at election time.

“We will end the period that people fell for candy. Not just your civil rights, we will also provide economic, social, religious, cultural, educational health and right to life, as well as the right to a good income avenue to our beloved people,” said Premadsa.

An SJB government will implement the 13th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution, the opposition leader said, though he did not elaborate on to what extent the provisions in the amendment will be carried out.

“The people say enough talk, make it happen. I say to you that as action, we will definitely implement the 13th amendment, the amendment that’s contained in our country’s constitution.”

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that he is agreeable to full implementation of the 13th amendment except police powers.

At an all-party conference in July last year, Wickremesinghe said new police legislation would need to be introduced before police powers are dissolved to the provinces. Wickemesinghe also said Sri Lanka must either retain its provincial councils (PCs) with powers adequately devolved as provided for by the 13th amendment to the constitution or abolish the PC system entirely.

The full implementation of the 13th amendment continues to be a point of debate.

President Wickremesinghe has indicated his willingness to fully implement the amendment, particularly in light of India stressing on its importance. However, sharing police powers remains an issue, with many national parties in the south arguing against it.

The 13th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution emerged from the controversial Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 as a purported solution to the worsening ethnic conflict, four years after war broke out. Provincial councils came in the wake of this amendment, though land and police powers have yet to be devolved to the provinces as originally envisioned. Both Sinhalese and

Tamil nationalists have historically opposed the amendment, the former claiming it devolved too much, the latter complaining it didn’t devolve enough.

A full implementation of the amendment would see land and police powers devolved to the provinces, a development that is not likely to garner support from Sri Lanka’s more hardline parties. In February, sections of the Buddhist clergy took to the streets against the proposed full implementation of the constitutional amendment.

No future Sri Lankan government will have room to maneuver with the International Monetary Fund deal at least until 2028 as it will be the key for the island nation to come out of the ongoing unprecedented economic crisis and seek commercial borrowing from international capital markets, Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said.

His comments come as some of the opposition political leaders have publicly expressed their willingness to amend the IMF deal, citing it has burdened the public amid Economic Transformation Bill tabled in the island nation’s parliament is expected to ensure sustainability of international agreements.

“In drafting the budget for the upcoming year 2025, irrespective of the government ruling, it is imperative to address the loan agreements established with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until 2028,” Gunawardena told reporters at a media briefing in Colombo.

“By 2025, it is anticipated that the external foreign resource gap will not adequately cover international transactions. Past trends suggest that $5,018 million is needed for this purpose. Any government formulating the forthcoming budget must secure this funding.”

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government has already planned to facilitate such resource gap and if the island nation goes with the IMF deal, the global lender is expected to disburse $663 million in 2025 in addition to a $700 million budget support while the World Bank has pledged $400 million and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has promised $300 million, he said.

“It is anticipated that there will be a loan relief of $3,655 million through the restructuring of foreign debt,” Gunawardena said.

“The parties aspiring to assume state power must inform the country if they would be abiding by the agreements outlined by President Ranil Wickremesinghe,” he said, adding that there is no alternative for the future budget of the country.”

He said Sri Lanka will be able to tap the international capital markets in 2027 which will be for the first time in eight years, provided its foreign exchange reserves reach $14 billion before that as outlined by the IMF agreement.

He also said Sri Lanka, if goes with the IMF deal, will have a greater cushion in repaying its sovereign defaulted debts, extended to more than 20 years from 2028.

The Minister also said Sri Lanka missed the opportunity of not falling into the debt trap and economic crisis by implementing the Fiscal Management Responsibility Act passed by the parliament in 2003 when Wickremesinghe was the prime minister.

“Had we implemented it, we would have been saved from the economic crisis,” he said.

Sri Lanka is facing political uncertainty as it will be going for the presidential poll between September 17 and October 16 later this year.

Political analysts say incumbent president Wickremesinghe, despite pushing for reforms to ensure the economic recovery from the economic crisis, is not the most populour leader among the general public.

Opposition political leaders like center-right Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka are populour among the voters, but have been largely silent on specific economic policy strategies on the recovery and economic growth.

A close ally of President Wickremesinghe has put forward a suggestion to postpone both presidential and parliamentary polls by two years. However, the idea met with strong opposition.

Wickremesinghe government also has delayed local government elections without a specific date after initially postponing it twice citing there was no fund due to the economic crisis.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is currently in New Delhi, held a meeting today (10) with India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

During the meeting, Mr. Jaishankar addressed the swift resumption of development projects initiated in Sri Lanka with Indian investments, which had been halted midway.

He expressed his intent to visit Sri Lanka in the near future to oversee the progress of these activities.

Minister Jaishankar assured that he would visit Sri Lanka soon to coordinate the Prime Minister’s visit and expedite the commencement of development projects funded by Indian investments.

The discussions also covered India’s “Neighborhood First” policy. Minister Jaishankar highlighted plans for an industrial zone in Trincomalee, to be established by the Indian government, which will attract numerous Indian investors and potentially investors from other countries.

President Wickremesinghe noted that the new Economic Transformation Act will devolve powers in agriculture, health, education, and economic management to the Provincial Councils.

President Wickremesinghe also mentioned that the Truth and Reconciliation Bill will be submitted to Parliament by next July. The meeting also covered the agricultural modernization program being implemented in the country and addressed the ongoing issues between the fishermen of both nations, aiming for a swift resolution.

President Wickremesinghe announced that estate line rooms will be designated as estate villages through a gazette notification, allowing for their development under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

He also extended warm congratulations to Minister S. Jaishankar on his reappointment. The President also recalled his invitation to the Indian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka in the near future.

In attendance were President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Foreign Ministry Secretary Ms Aruni Wijewardene, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Ms Kshenuka Senewiratne, and President’s Private Secretary Ms Sandra Perera.