Category: News

Leader of the NPP Anura Kumara Dissanayake has promised economic freedom by building a production-based economy and ensuring equal dividends to all.

He was addressing the Sri Lankan community in Los Angeles, USA during a recent visit.

Dissanayake identified them as a key pressure group during key national elections as they keep a close tab on developments back home while leading secure lives in their adopted country.

He addressed a key criticism of his party’s capabilities of governance.

The NPP is an honest and dedicated group committed to spending their efforts for the country and the people without expecting anything personal.

It has personnel with expertise in economics, foreign affairs, education, health, agriculture, economy etc., Dissanayake added.

Sinopec in August became the third player in the local fuel retail business by commencing operations at over 100 fuel stations in the country.

Colombo: Sinopec, China’s state-owned oil and gas giant, will be awarded the contract to build an oil refinery in the southern port of Hambantota, energy minister Kanchana Wijesekara said on Tuesday.

There were only two bidders shortlisted and Vitol (of Singapore) pulled out. That leaves only Sinopec and we will finalise an agreement with them in a couple of weeks,” Wijesekera told reporters here.

The investment agreement would soon be entered with Sinopec, Wijesekara said.

However, the Minister made no mention either of the quantum of investment or the capacity of the refinery.

Sinopec in August became the third player in the local fuel retail business by commencing operations at over 100 fuel stations in the country.

Four years ago, the Sri Lankan government had awarded the same project, estimated to involve an investment of USD 3.85 billion, to an Indian family-owned company based in Singapore, but it failed to commence construction.

In August, the government terminated an agreement with Silver Park International and re-possessed 1,200 acres of land allocated for the refinery.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was then the prime minister, had attended the November 2019 ground-breaking ceremony of Silver Park.

Wickremesinghe had expressed hope the refinery in Hambantota, a deep sea port with proximity to busy shipping lanes between Asia and Europe, would attract more investment to the area. Refined petroleum products are expected to be exported from the Hambantota port.

The deep sea harbour was controversially leased to a Chinese state-owned firm in 2017 for 99 years for 1.12 billion dollars. The then President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government had paid USD 1.4 billion to a Chinese company to build it.

Hambantota is Rajapaksa’s home base and his administration was accused of fixing Sri Lanka in a Chinese debt trap by building expensive infrastructure projects with high-interest Chinese loans.

China remains Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor.

Sri Lanka is yet to restructure its defaulted USD 46 billion external debt, a pre-condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) when it announced a 2.9 billion dollar bailout over a four-year period from March this year.

State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage will keep her Parliamentary seat after the Court of Appeal ruled in its majority decision that there is no merits in the writ petition which sought an order declaring that she is not qualified to be a Member of Parliament.

Social activist Oshala Herath filed this petition seeking an order in the nature of a Writ of Quo Warranto declaring that Diana Gamage is disqualified to be a Member of Parliament and is thus not entitled to hold office as a MP. Oshala Herath told Daily Mirror that he is expecting to file an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the Court of Appeal judgment.

With Justice K.K.A.V. Swarnadhipathi agreeing, Justice Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne in his judgment held that the merits of the case do not warrant issuance of a writ order. Justice Karunaratne further observed that the petitioner had filed this petition without complying with the Supreme Court Rules.

“The petitioner does not have an iota of evidence that would substantiate his claims against State Minister Diana Gamage. The petitioner has failed to satisfy the court that he has a statutory right against the State Minister. The petitioner is before this court with an attempt to bring disrepute to the State Minister and tarnishing her good name pursuant to petitioner’s personal agenda. The application of the petitioner is an action of private nature and therefore not governed by any statute of the democratic socialist republic of Sri Lanka. As such the petitioner is not entitled to invoke the writ jurisdiction of this court against the State Minister. The merits of the case do not warrant issuance of a writ order. As such the petitioner’s application was dismissed with cost,” Justice Karunaratne held.

However, in a separate judgment, Justice M.A.R. Marikar held that the petitioner has proved a prima facie (at first view) case against the State Minister as decided in the case of Geetha Kumarasinghe. Justice Marikar said he cannot agree with the findings of the President of Court of Appeal Justice Karunaratne and thereby issued a Writ of Quo Warranto declaring that Diana Gamage is disqualified to be a Member of Parliament and is thus not entitled to hold office as a MP.

“The voters’ expectation is that parliamentarians should be accountable, transparent and their integrity. The petitioner has produced sufficient materials that the State Minister has not obtained Sri Lankan citizenship and not renounced her British citizenship. Being a Parliamentarian, first respondent Diana Gamage should be transparent and should have shown her genuineness with regard to Sri Lankan citizenship. The first respondent has an obligatory right towards the petitioner and the public that she is holding the public office maintained by the taxpayers’ money of the republic. Being a Member of Parliament, the first respondent should be an example in a transparent manner for the public. The duty of the first respondent is to prove her citizenship right rather than challenging the petition,” Justice Marikar observed.

In this case, the petitioner claimed that State Minister Diana Gamage is a British citizen and only a British citizen can hold a British Passport. The petitioner maintained that by virtue of becoming a citizen of another country, Parliamentarian Diana Gamage ceased to be a Sri Lankan citizen. The petitioner said Diana Gamage has not obtained dual citizenship or any other form of citizenship in Sri Lanka.

The petitioner further said Diana Gamage is disqualified from election as a MP or to sit and vote in Parliament under and in terms of Article 91 read with Article 89 and Article 90 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Counsel Hafeel Farisz appeared for the petitioner. President’s Counsel Shavindra Fernando appeared for Diana Gamage. Farman Cassim PC appeared for SJB General Secretary.

Two officials have been handed over charge sheets over sexually harassing female employees in the Housekeeping Department of Parliament.

The charge sheets were handed over last Friday (27) by Deputy Secretary-General of the Parliament – Attorney-At-Law Chaminda Kularatne, based on findings of initial investigations done in this regard.

The two parliament officials were given a 14-day period to show cause. If they fail to do so, they will be sacked from their positions.

(Source : Lankadeepa)

National People’s Party (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday expressed the view that Sri Lanka should embrace a genuinely non-aligned foreign policy in the present global landscape.

“Sri Lanka must transition towards a non-aligned foreign policy that does not align with any specific foreign power,” Dissanayake said.

The NPP leader made these remarks while speaking at an event in Los Angeles as part of his ongoing tour of the US to connect with party supporters and well-wishers.

“No nation can exist in isolation in today’s interconnected world. Global economies and communication are interlinked, and although not officially declared as wars, many powerful countries are engaged in power struggles with each other such as the conflicts between the US, China, India, Russia and Europe,” he noted. “At present, Sri Lanka lacks the potential to emerge as a global power centre,” he added.

The MP noted that due to this situation, it is inevitable that Sri Lanka becomes entangled in these power struggles or becomes a victim of them. Dissanayake emphasised that, as a result, Sri Lanka’s primary foreign policy objective should be to refrain from offering direct or indirect support to any of these feuding foreign powers and adopt a non-aligned foreign policy.

“Whether we like it or not, geographically, we are situated within the Indian power centre. Therefore, we cannot overlook India when deliberating on our political or economic choices,” he said.

“Consequently, we must formulate our economic strategy accordingly. The present economic plan has consistently relied on the same approach since the 1980s, centred on asset sales and acquiring loans. We must make a decisive departure from this course,” he remarked.

The NPP leader said, Sri Lanka should strive to build an economy capable of withstanding all the political and economic crises occurring globally.

Dissanayake is scheduled to visit Boston, Virginia Beach, Washington DC and New York to address Sri Lankans domiciled in the US.