Category: News

Sri Lanka has not had the benefit of a local Mahatma Gandhi, neither then, nor even today. So the country has to have a different model to India. The ideal model would be a collective leadership with a high level multiparty governing council for a period of time at least to chart a common economic program that sets some key parameters and strategies to set the country on a long term economic and social revival

There was no fight for . . . freedom which involved a fight for principles, policies, and programmes … No. It just came overnight. We just woke up one day and we were told, “You are a dominion now.” – S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Ceylon Prime Minister

(1956-1959)

Sri Lanka was declared bankrupt last year, 75 years after independence. The country owes more than it’s worth (or GDP) and its debt to GDP ratio is 120%. Its foreign debt is some $ 55 billion. It has hardly any foreign reserves that the country could call its own as borrowings are also included as foreign reserves. The country has been bailed out on several occasions by India, and China has loaned some $ 7 billion for infrastructure projects.

It has an airline that has been accumulating huge debts, $ 1 billion (https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/125137-colombo-to-take-on-srilankan-airlines-1bn-debt-official) and it has two other major government agencies with huge losses Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the Ceylon Electricity Board. The Public Finance web page providing free and open access to public finance data and analysis states that during the first four months of 2022 the cumulative loss of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) amounted to Rs. 860 billion and that this figure outweighed the annual loss of SOEs in 2021. The top 3 contributors to the increase of the loss are listed as (1) Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) (2) SriLankan Airlines and the (3) Ceylon Electricity Board (https://publicfinance.lk/en/topics/total-soe-losses-in-the-first-four-months-of-2022-outweigh-annual-losses-in-2021-1660039438).

The country’s public health system is in crisis and so is the education sector. Poverty levels have increased as has malnutrition especially amongst children. Recent government income revenue measures have dealt a crippling blow to a huge segment of the society while many seem to opine that these measures are not equitable and hit those in the lower income scales far more than those at the higher levels.

Given this backdrop, what is there to celebrate? Instead, the country should be mourning what has befallen it in the hands of those who have governed it since independence in 1948. While the current Government has been making some unpopular decisions to arrest the country’s decline and has sought assistance from the IMF to provide some oxygen, no Opposition political party or a leader has offered specific alternate solutions as to how they would address these serious issues although their criticisms have been very loud. Reminds one of empty vessels.

This is the backdrop to the troublesome situation the country is in on its 76th independence anniversary. Despite this, in true “nava gilunath band chun” style (a reference to the sinking Titanic when the ship’s band kept playing while the ship was sinking), the country is celebrating the event!

What did the country achieve in 1948 and was there a universal feeling of being free?

The Oxford Academic, its International Journal of Constitutional Law, in an article authored by Rehan Abeyaratne and published on 21 January 2020, examines in detail the status of sovereignty in Ceylon’s Dominion period (1948–1972). He says that “unlike India and Pakistan, which experienced protracted and violent struggles for independence, and then appointed constituent assemblies to draft indigenous constitutions, Ceylon remained loyal to the British government in the 1940s. It achieved Dominion status through constitutional reforms negotiated by anglicised—and largely Anglophile—political leaders. This elite-driven process aimed to engender goodwill from the British government that would lead to greater concessions, culminating in the Ceylon Independence Act, 1947, which entrenched Dominion status” (https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/17/4/1258/5710838?login=false).

While Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) became “free” from British colonial rule on 4 February 1948, the status it had from then till 22 May 1972, was that of a Dominion within the British Empire. It retained the British sovereign as its own sovereign, and it took 24 years from then for Ceylon to be truly free politically when the country became a Republic on 22 May 1972. India became a Republic three years after they were granted dominion status in 1947.

Unacknowledged factors that influenced “independence”.

India’s freedom struggle

While it is known and well recorded that India, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, carried out an unyielding fight for independence from Britain, there are no similar records of Sri Lankans (then Ceylonese) “fighting” for the country’s independence.

This is echoed by Dharmasiri Kariyawasam in his YouTube series titled “Kaarige Channel Eka” where he states that there are no similar records of Sri Lankans (then Ceylonese) “fighting” for the country’s independence as India did. In fact, if one were to go by the revelations made by Kariyawasam, even the leader subsequently named the Father of the Nation, had been content to settle for what one might call, a “dependent, limited, self-determination” where the elite in Sri Lanka would continue to rule Ceylon without any plans for a broad-based independent Ceylon.

b. The Atlantic Conference & Charter of 1941

Another little known or acknowledged factor that influenced and galvanised freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi to fight for independence in India was a particular development related to World War 2. This was the Atlantic Conference & Charter, 1941, a joint declaration released by the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 14 August 1941, following a meeting of the two heads of government in Newfoundland. The Atlantic Charter provided a broad statement of US and British war aims (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/atlantic-conf).

The Charter they drafted included eight “common principles” that the United States and Britain would be committed to supporting in the postwar world. These principles were.

1. No territorial gains were to be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom.

2. Territorial adjustments must be in accord with the wishes of the peoples concerned.

3. All people had a right to self-determination

4. Trade barriers were to be lowered.

5. There was to be global economic co-operation and advancement of social welfare.

6. The participants would work for a world free of want and fear.

7. The participants would work for freedom of the seas.

8. There was to be disarmament of aggressor nations and a common disarmament after the war.

As can be seen, a significant inclusion was that both the United States and Britain would be committed to supporting the restoration of self-governments for all countries that had been occupied during the war and allowing all peoples to choose their own form of government.

Although the Atlantic Charter of August 1941 was not a binding treaty, it was, nonetheless, significant for several reasons, amongst them, the right for self-determination. It is a widely published view though that Winston Churchill vehemently opposed the right for self-determination for countries as he felt that it would end British colonialism. It may be inferred that this is exactly what President Roosevelt had in mind!

Sadly, going on the current utterings by political leaders and the culture of promises rather than specific governance measures, and the refusal of political leaders to accept the repeated invitation by the President to meet and discuss a common program, it is very unlikely that there will ever be a climate in the country where the country comes before the self-interests of political leaders

A letter written by Mahatma Gandhi to President Roosevelt in 1942 expresses Gandhi’s concerns about the prevarication on self-determination by Britain. Mahatma Gandhi says “I venture to think that the Allied declaration that the Allies are fighting to make the world safe for the freedom of the individual and for democracy sounds hollow so long as India and for that matter Africa are exploited by Great Britain”. Although it is reported that Roosevelt went soft on self determination to accommodate Churchill and the broader goal of the Charter itself, ultimately it did serve as an inspiration for colonial subjects throughout the Third World, from Algeria to Vietnam, including India and Sri Lanka, as the stage was set primarily by President Roosevelt, for colonialism to end.

The acknowledgment that all people had a right to self-determination gave hope to independence leaders in British colonies. Historian Caroline Elkins said, “The independence genie was out of her bottle, and it was the Atlantic Charter that had set her free.

The future

The objective here is not to discuss or debate the lesser or greater efforts of leaders at the time regarding their efforts to gain independence for the country. It is history.

It is really to present a view that unlike in India where the sense of nationalism brought together leaders and ordinary folk of India of all faiths and stations in life in a common cause, the Sri Lankan effort was limited more or less to an English educated affluent few, many of whom were at times referred to as being more British than the British. Keeping in mind the fact that only around 5% of the population was conversant with English then, the absence of inclusiveness appeared to have been a designed strategy to keep the reins of power amongst that select few. Despite several drawbacks, the Indian sense of nationalism has persisted and grown making it a country that has a nondependent, self-reliant psyche built into its inner core.

Such a psyche never developed amongst Sri Lankans, and dependency, rather than real independence has instead become its inherent psyche. Self-determination was not a goal perhaps for most people as they did not know what it meant. Hundreds of years under the reign of Kings and Queens, followed by over four centuries of colonial rule would have made the general populace, subservient and ignorant of the meaning of nationalism.

It appears that the only time the country rises as one nation with a deep sense of nationalism is during the game of international cricket. This is so whether it happens in Sri Lanka or overseas, and Sri Lankans throughout the world have cheered for the Sri Lankan cricket team.

Sri Lanka has not had the benefit of a local Mahatma Gandhi, neither then, nor even today. So the country has to have a different model to India. The ideal model would be a collective leadership with a high level multiparty governing council for a period of time at least to chart a common economic program that sets some key parameters and strategies to set the country on a long term economic and social revival. What are the parameters?

They can be (a) An agreed target for GDP growth and per capita income over an agreed period (b) a debt to GDP ratio that should be agreed and not exceeded (c) a target for export earnings and an agreed common program to achieve such a target (d) a rupee revenue target and an agreed expenditure projection as a percentage of the income (e) An agreed tax and revenue raising policy and structure that is equitable, and which includes introduction of penalties for non-disclosure and nonpayment of taxes (f) an agreed infrastructure development program based on need and not want, with a clearly defined return on investment and which may be funded by long term, low interest bilateral loans or similar borrowings from international agencies like the World Bank, BRICS, ADB (g) the creation of a future fund with two components, one for foreign exchange and the other for rupees. Such a fund should only be used for emergency situations with the approval of the above-mentioned high level multiparty governing council.

Sadly, going on the current utterings by political leaders and the culture of promises rather than specific governance measures, and the refusal of political leaders to accept the repeated invitation by the President to meet and discuss a common program, it is very unlikely that there will ever be a climate in the country where the country comes before the self-interests of political leaders.

A strategy to show public displeasure with political parties – Register a protest vote

Perhaps the voters should either not vote at the next election or spoil their votes when voting to register their displeasure with the political parties, and their leaders unless very specific governance policies and very specific measures as to how their policies are to be achieved are publicly announced by them at least three months before an election for the Presidency and the general election. If a sizable majority of people were to do this, it would send a message to the political leaders and their political parties that they are not wanted, and it could give rise to a new breed of political leaders and political parties untainted by failure, corruption and lack of strategic thinking and action. All the key political parties and their leaders today have had their stints in governments, from the Presidency to cabinet ministerships. It is the same lot that is asking the people for their vote once again to acquire power without specific policies and without specific strategies to achieve their objectives. A serious question does arise as to why people should vote them in and continue with the charade of 76 years.

People have been fooled enough with false promises and these leaders should know they cannot be fooled all the time. The truth needs to be told as to where the country is today and how the decline may be arrested and how growth and prosperity may be ushered in at least for the future generations.

Fifteen years after the war in Sri Lanka ended, mounting evidence has emerged against former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for his pivotal role in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the civil war, said international human rights lawyers in a new report.

“If Sri Lanka is serious about dealing with its violent past, the litmus test is to hold Gotabaya Rajapaksa criminally accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” commented the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP)’s executive director, Yasmin Sooka.

2009

The damning report released in Johannesburg presents detailed linkage evidence connecting former President Rajapaksa to orders given by him to commanders in the field in 2009 when he was secretary to the Ministry of Defence. Although not the army commander, Gotabaya had command and effective control of the security forces.

The report shows he had contemporaneous knowledge of the violations of international humanitarian law and international criminal law being committed, and failed to take any steps to prevent them, or to hold those under his command accountable, says ITJP.

He and successive Sri Lankan governments have had countless opportunities since the war-end to initiate credible investigations into allegations of gross human rights violations and to establish prosecutions. Instead of allowing the truth to come to light, Gotabaya and his successors have perpetuated denial of the complicity of the security forces in these violations, rewarding and protecting the alleged perpetrators, charges ITJP.

The 96-page document examines evidence of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s alleged involvement in and knowledge of attacks on the No Fire Zones set up to protect civilians, his failure to prevent and investigate summary executions, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and sexual violence, arbitrary detention and the denial of humanitarian aid to civilians.

1989

This follows a report published by the ITJP in 2022 which examined Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s alleged complicity in mass enforced disappearance in an earlier period of violence in the late eighties in Sri Lanka. As a young army officer in Matale District in 1989, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was in command and control when more than 700 people – mainly from the majority Sinhala community – disappeared under his watch.

Both he and his subordinates from the period were promoted and went on to play pivotal roles in the 2009 conflict with one currently serving as Chief of Defence Staff despite being designated for gross violations of human rights by the US Government.

In response to an ITJP submission, UN experts wrote to the current government in 2022 asking what they had done to investigate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s role in the violence in the late eighties.

To date there has been no response. This is despite the fact that the government of Sri Lanka says it now wants to establish a Truth Commission to deal with the past – something it had promised in 2015.

“Gotabaya Rajapaksa is arguably the most notorious alleged perpetrator involved in both the violence against Tamils and Sinhalese; there is a direct line of impunity running from 1989 to 2009 and to the present day,” said Ms. Sooka. “There have been several commissions of inquiry with reports unpublished and recommendations not implemented; these left many families of the victims disillusioned and distrustful of the government. It is widely accepted that commissions alone cannot achieve that guarantee of non-recurrence that societies need after conflict – without
criminal accountability”.

Accountability Attempts

The ITJP assisted eleven Tamil and Sinhala victims to file a civil case against Gotabaya Rajapaksa for torture in the United States in 2019 but he acquired head of state immunity by being elected President that year. Another case accused him of involvement in the assassination of Sunday Leader founding editor Lasantha Wickremetunge.

In 2022, Rajapaksa was chased out of office by protestors angry about his mismanagement of the economy. He fled to Singapore where the ITJP submitted a criminal complaint against him over his wartime role but he soon returned to Sri Lanka where he has continued to enjoy protection despite the change of President.
Canada however has led the way in recently sanctioning Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother.

Other countries have been reluctant to follow suit, including those who voted at the UN Human Rights Council for the establishment of a UN project looking at accountability for Sri Lanka, says ITJP.

The current government of Sri Lanka has been arguing it can’t tackle a crippling economic crisis at the same time as holding the security forces accountable for mass atrocities. The same arguments were made in the past and only further entrenched impunity, charged ITJP.

The United States says the Online Safety Bill, which was recently passed by Sri Lanka’s Parliament, sends a negative signal.

Ambassador Julie J Chung’s Remarks at Amcham CXO Forum “75 years and Beyond: U.S.– Sri Lankan Business Relations in 2024”

January 31, 2024

Thanks to the Amcham President Shirendra Lawrence, members of the Board, and everyone here! It’s good to be back among friends.

Last year, we marked 75 years of the Sri Lankan/American relationship by focusing on People, Progress, and Partnership. As that celebration of 75 years concludes, it’s time to acknowledge where we are, then turn the page and look to the future. Here we are, at the dawn of a new year, just days before Sri Lanka’s Independence Day commemoration, to review the outlook for this year. I’ve already ticked off one of my new year’s resolutions: hiking up to the summit of Sri Pada/Adams Peak a few weeks ago to see the sunrise. What summits can Sri Lanka reach this year?

Just a few months ago, we were proud to announce the International Development Finance Corporation’s investment of $553 million in the Western Container Terminal at the Port of Colombo. Why was this so incredibly important? Beyond the large dollar amount, which is DFC’s second largest exposure in the entire Indo Pacific region; beyond the critical injection of private sector financing this country needs; beyond the confidence building signal it sends to potential investors and financiers that we believe in Sri Lanka’s future, it demonstrates the United States’s continuing commitment to the prosperity of Sri Lanka.

But building that future won’t be easy. The commitments required by the IMF as part of the Extended Fund Facility program call for government reform measures in both tax compliance and combatting corruption. These are hard steps, and not always popular. Sri Lanka has taken difficult measures to put the country on a long-term sustainable footing and comply with the IMF commitments. But the people of Sri Lanka deserve and continue to demand openness, transparency, and accountability from their leaders as the process of reforms moves forward. The new higher VAT rates have been a hit on the average Sri Lankan and your businesses. We understand that while there may be short term necessary pains, the public deserves to know that such measures are being taken looking at the wholeness of the problem and endemic issues that must be addressed in a structural, sustainable way, fair and transparent to all. That includes not just raising taxes but eliminating tax loopholes, addressing government inefficiencies, particularly in state owned enterprises. It means digitalizing customs to raise revenue and reduce corruption. Creating predictable customs duties and streamlined processes would encourage importers, who want to import more to Sri Lanka but are worried about the uncertainty in the import process. Unpredictable customs fees discourage importers and limit the amount of customs revenue the Sri Lankan government can collect. This shifts the burden of tax revenue further onto the shoulders of the people, who can’t bear much more. Earlier this week, I met with the National Chamber of Exporters who relayed some of their challenges – red tape, regulatory challenges, and unpredictability that impact their businesses. Exports and private sector growth will be the engine of recovery, but they need the space and support to thrive. As the largest export market for Sri Lanka, the United States can help be part of the solution.

It’s important that the government of Sri Lanka carry out reforms. But it’s also important to explain those reforms to the people in a clear manner. It makes for slower, but better legislation and reforms. One example is the Online Safety Bill. The Centre for Policy Alternatives reported from a poll earlier this month that more than 70 percent of Sri Lankans were unaware of the bill before its passage. When major global tech companies characterize the bill as “unworkable” and stifling innovation and democracy, instead of actually addressing online crimes, frankly this sends a negative signal in Sri Lanka’s path towards reform and recovery. Previous bills, such as the Personal Data Protection Act, took much longer to craft, but did a better job of taking stakeholder feedback into account. To work on legislation and reforms that will be durable, enforceable, and wise, the Sri Lankan government will need to do better in the future. This will be key to improving the business climate.

But businesses shouldn’t just sit back and wait for the Sri Lankan government to act. The private sector has a crucial role to play. Business leaders, like all of you in this room, have a role to play. You’re not only purveyors of goods and services; you’re also community thought leaders. One powerful example of this comes from the American south, during our country’s struggle for civil rights in 1964. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (whose birthday we just commemorated on January 15) had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for racial equality. When Atlanta’s business leaders refused to attend a banquet in his honor, the Coca-Cola company’s president at the time, J. Paul Astin, weighed in. He had spent 14 years in South Africa and had seen firsthand what apartheid had done to that country’s economy. He publicly said, “Coca-Cola cannot stay in a city that’s going to have this kind of reaction and not honor a Nobel Peace Prize winner.” How courageous is that during those times? The city’s business leaders relented, and they honored Dr. King. Atlanta continued to grow into a city that’s now an economic powerhouse. Thamari and Lakshan from that same Coca-Cola company are in the room with us today and Coca-Cola is a valued member of our own AmCham community. Coca-Cola in Sri Lanka today leads the way in eliminating waste, better stewarding water, taking care of local communities, and taking action to combat climate change. I know all of you share in these priorities. I also encourage you to raise your collective voices to push the Sri Lankan government to fight corruption and create a stable business environment.

Two years ago, I looked across this audience and only saw one woman on AmCham’s board. I challenged you to increase that number, and you’ve done it! I’m heartened to see four women now serving on this board, including the newest member, Neela Marrikar. This is a positive step. This could be a symbol for all economic growth in Sri Lanka. Economic growth should always be inclusive growth. There’s little point in growing an economy if it doesn’t lead to better lives for all participants, including women.

One example to follow is Tania Polonnowita Wettimuny, group managing director at IAS Holdings. Since founding the company in 2016, she has overseen dramatic growth and is now employing more than 300 people across four companies. She has also served as the first female chairperson of the Sri Lanka Logistics & Freight Forwarders Association. In the same way that this group needs 20 more Tanias, the country of Sri Lanka needs thousands more like her. And the good news is that you have them; they are waiting in the wings! They need examples like Tania and encouragement from the rest of us to take up the leadership roles of the future.

We’re hopeful as we look ahead to that future. We see a resurgence of U.S. investment interest in Sri Lanka. We also see some companies in Sri Lanka like GRI Tires, Melwa, Fortude, and M.A.S. who are making investments in the United States. We all know that trade and investment are a two-way street. We believe that these investments in the United States, if wisely made, will lead to economic growth both in Sri Lanka and in the United States.

For anyone who wants to look at how investing in the United States can help drive growth that benefits Sri Lanka, we invite you to attend the SelectUSA Investment Summit in June at Baltimore’s National Harbor. Today is the last day to sign up at the Early Bird discounted price. If you want more information, you can see Andrew Shinn, one of our economic officers, who is here today. He can help you get signed up.

Even as we see a resurgence of interest in two-way investment, we also see challenges ahead that will require leadership. Both of our countries will have elections this year. We need to do all we can to stabilize the business environment. As leaders, we need to think about both the medium-term and the long-term. In the medium term, we need to create an environment that’s conducive to trade, investment, and business expansion. One with transparent governance, where corruption is no longer tolerated. In the long term, we need to raise up a generation of leaders to take our place. There are several ways we should be doing this. Prabhash Subasinghe provides one example: he brought his daughter Saanya into GRI’s marketing leadership. Saanya was educated in the United States, at my alma mater Columbia University, and returned to Sri Lanka to work with GRI. I had the chance to talk with her about six months ago at the U.S. Embassy, where we talked about empowering women leaders. And Harry Jayawardena has similarly recruited his daughter Stasshani to work with him at Aitken Spence. Stasshani, another impressive up-and-coming leader whom I’ve also met with, is another beneficiary of U.S. training and education. Other leaders are looking to middle ranks to find successors to mentor. Every one of our organizations needs to think more about tomorrow’s leaders. To do that, we need to use our proactive priority-setting power to drive our organizations to identify and train future leaders – both women and men- at all levels. They will, after all, inherit the world we have worked so hard to build.

I’ll end with a thought about Apple. Apple just became the world’s most valuable brand, beating out Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. Apple increased its brand value by 74% in the past year. The top four global brands are American. Nearly 50 years after it was created, after almost going bankrupt, after facing tumultuous management changes, how did Apple become the world’s most valuable brand? It took innovation, openness to making mistakes, and creativity — all things that Sri Lankans can be and Sri Lankan companies can do. We should see Sri Lanka’s own Apple take seed here and grow to be a global leader. The United States government is cheering for you, and we stand ready to partner to create an environment that enables you and the next generation of companies to succeed. Let’s all hike up our own summits this year, whether in our personal lives, in your companies, or for Sri Lanka as a country. Thank you.

A Republican lawmaker has nominated Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, citing his ‘historic’ policy in the Middle East.

New York representative Claudia Tenney said in a statement that she decided to nominate the former president for his role in the Abraham Accords treaty, which formally normalised relations between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel.

‘Donald Trump was instrumental in facilitating the first new peace agreements in the Middle East in almost 30 years,’ she claimed in a statement posted on her website.

‘For decades, bureaucrats, foreign policy ‘professionals’, and international organisations insisted that additional Middle East peace agreements were impossible without a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Trump proved that to be false,’ she added.

‘The valiant efforts by President Trump in creating the Abraham Accords were unprecedented and continue to go unrecognised by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, underscoring the need for his nomination today. Now more than ever, when Joe Biden’s weak leadership on the international stage is threatening our country’s safety and security, we must recognise Trump for his strong leadership and his efforts to achieve world peace. I am honoured to nominate former president Donald Trump today and am eager for him to receive the recognition he deserves,’ the statement continued.

Mr Trump has previously complained that he has not received enough recognition for his work on foreign policy.

But while the Abraham Accords have been cited as a way to introduce and strengthen Israeli-Arab ties, the historic agreements have also been criticised for so far failing to produce meaningful solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

‘The Abraham Accords without the Palestinians were a disaster, just like his deal with the Taliban without the Afghan government. On top of that, he bombed the Middle East more than Obama,’ one person posted on X, following news of Mr Trump’s Nobel Prize nomination.

‘Someone explain to me how she nominates him for a Nobel for a peace accord in the middle east WHILE the middle east is at war in Gaza!’ another person wrote.

Despite such criticism of Mr Trump’s foreign policy, the 77-year-old was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize several times during his presidency. However, he failed to win the prize.

‘I would get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they give it out fairly, which they don’t,’ the former president complained at a press conference in New York in 2019.

Mr Trump was nominated for the prize in 2020 by far-right Norwegian politician Christian Tybring-Gjedde, citing his efforts to bring reconciliation to North and South Korea.

But despite a period of improved relations between North and South Korea, the negotiations ultimately failed in making any clear progress towards denuclearizing the North.

Swedish MP Magnus Jacobsson also nominated Mr Trump in 2020 for his role in brokering a deal to normalise relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

The following year, Swedish nationalist MP Laura Huhtasaari and a group of Australian lawmakers then nominated him for his role in brokering the Abraham Accords.

Mr Trump lost out that time to Filipino and Russian journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, who received the prize ‘for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace’.

The former president has routinely conflated his Nobel Peace Prize nominations – which the organisation does not record, release or consider to be endorsements – as an honorific.

Speaking at an Iowa rally in 2020, he said: ‘I get home, I turn home the television and they talked about your floods in Iowa. How is Iowa doing? The crops. How is this happening? How are they doing in Florida? Three or four stories, one after another.

‘Where is my Nobel Peace Prize? They don’t talk about it. I said, ‘You know, darling. This news is a little tough to crack’.’

Meanwhile, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany previously described the nomination as a ‘well-deserved honour’ for Mr Trump.

The organisation stresses that receiving a nomination, which any one of thousands of people can make, is not an ‘extended honour’.

While Mr Trump has never won the prize, his predecessor, former president Barack Obama, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his ‘extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples’.

Mr Obama donated the $1.4m award to charity.

His win is something that has irked Mr Trump, who previously suggested his predecessor had ‘no idea’ why he was nominated for the prize just months into his presidency.

‘When Obama got it he didn’t even – he just said, ‘What did I do?’ He had no idea what he did,’ Mr Trump said at a rally in 2020.

‘And they made it a big story,’ he added. ‘I did a great job.’

In 2013, Mr Trump tweeted calling for Mr Obama’s award to be rescinded.

The former director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad later said he regretted Mr Obama’s selection. ‘Even many of Obama’s supporters believed that the prize was a mistake,’ he told the AP news agency. ‘In that sense the committee didn’t achieve what it had hoped for.’

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in October.

Source – The Independent

72 health trade unions have launched a strike from 6.30 on Thursday (01) morning.

Co-convener of the Health Trade Union Alliance Ravi Kumudesh said the health unions joined the strike demanding that the Rs.35,000 allowance granted to doctors be given to them as well.

The government did not respond to their demands despite a strike being launched on a previous occasion as well.

The All Ceylon Nurses’ Union has reached a decision to refrain from supporting today’s strike action.

This was confirmed by its Chairman Ravindra Kahandawarachchi on Wednesday (31) afternoon, while speaking to media after visiting the Malwathu Maha Viharaya.