Category: News

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is exploiting calls for progressive electoral reforms from society to delay elections, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake, alleged on Thursday.

Gajanayake expressed his concerns to The Island, stating that this strategy may lead to long-term crises.

President Wickremesinghe, through a Gazette, dated 16 October 2023, has established a Commission of Inquiry, led by retired Supreme Court Justice Priyasath Dep, whom some alleged is a relative of the President. This Commission is tasked with investigating and proposing changes to current election laws and regulations. It consists of nine members and is mandated to assess existing electoral frameworks and offer recommendations that align with current requirements.

Gajanayake noted that the stated goals of this initiative appear progressive and align with the demands made by election monitors, academics, and political parties over the years. These goals include enhancing representation for women and youth, adopting electronic voting using modern technology, and facilitating voting for Sri Lankans residing abroad. Additionally, the Commission is exploring the possibility of individuals contesting and representing two councils simultaneously, allowing those elected to Parliament to participate in provincial council elections concurrently.

The Commission is also examining other factors, such as permitting private sector voters engaged in election-related services on voting day to use postal voting and modifying the first-past-the-post voting system to better suit the pluralistic nature of society. Furthermore, it is tasked with proposing media standards, a code of conduct for political entities and their members, and strengthening laws governing political party registration and operations to enhance trust and public accountability, he said.

Gajanayake said that this is not the first time President Wickremesinghe has used progressive societal demands to his advantage. Earlier this year, a Committee, led by former head of the Elections Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya, was asked to reduce the number of local councillors from 8,400 to 4,000, the IRES head said.

“There was a feeling that there are too many local councillors, and no one could object to reducing them. Deshapriya has handed over a report on how to reduce the number. If the government actually wanted to reduce the number, they could have used these reports to do so. However, these reports are now shelved. It is obvious that the government only wanted to delay local council elections by this endeavour. Thus, it is clear that the Committee appointed on 16 October 2023 is a similar move by the President,” he said.

Gajanayake said appointing such a committee, when elections are near, is akin to undermining the legislature and the Elections Comission.

“The President now directly controls both local and provincial councils. Local councils haven’t had elected representatives for over six months, and provincial councils have not had elected representatives for over 60 months. Now the governors control both these bodies, and the President controls the governors,” he said.

Source:The Island

In a significant development aimed at fostering collaboration and cooperation in the field of journalism, the Sri Lanka-China Journalists Forum and the All-Pakistan Journalists Association came together to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The signing ceremony took place at the Communication University of China during the Global Journalists Salon organized by the All China Journalists Association.

The MOU signing was a momentous occasion attended by journalists from more than 15 countries and witnessed by Mr. Tao, the Director of the International Department of the All China Journalists Association.

The key provisions of the MOU include:

Journalist Training Programs: Both parties commit to encouraging the development of and participation in journalist training programs, strengthening the skills and knowledge of journalists from Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Support for Journalism Schools: The MOU seeks to promote cooperation between journalism schools in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, enhancing the educational landscape for aspiring journalists.

News Awards: The two parties will offer support for and participate in activities related to news awards, including the selection of winners, recognizing journalistic excellence.

Collaboration on Delegations: They will prepare letters of invitation for each other’s journalist delegations and assist with procedures such as visa applications, facilitating easier exchange of ideas and experiences.

Business Activities and Itineraries: The MOU envisions cooperation in planning business activities, suggesting itineraries, and finding translators for delegations, ensuring productive interactions.Consultation on Themes and Visits: The parties will decide through consultation the theme and itinerary of a given visit, tailoring their interactions to mutual interests.

Expenses: Both parties will hold consultations regarding expenses for food, accommodation, travel, and translating services, ensuring transparency and fair arrangements.

Both parties jointly will initiate to establish the South Asia Journalists Network of the Belt and Road Journalists Network (BRJN) in future.

The MOU takes effect upon signing by both parties and is effective for a period of five years. It includes a provision for automatic renewal, unless either party provides a minimum of six months formal notice to terminate the agreement at the end of its current term.

The MOU was signed by Zaheer Alam, President of All-Pakistan Journalists Association and Sudewa Hettiarachchi, who is the treasurer of Sri Lanka-China Journalists Forum, on the behalf of two organizations.

Sri Lanka has reaffirmed its commitment to the one-China principle.

According to a joint statement issued by Sri Lanka and China following the completion of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s four-day visit, Sri Lanka has once again recognized that the government of the China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and reiterated that it supports the efforts by the Chinese Government to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and opposes any form of “Taiwan independence.”

The statement added that Sri Lanka reiterated that it will never allow any separatist activity against China on Sri Lanka’s soil.

Meanwhile, the joint statement noted that the Chinese side reaffirmed its commitment to the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the foreign policy of forging friendship and partnership in the neighbourhood.

It added, China firmly supports Sri Lanka in upholding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, respects and supports Sri Lanka’s independent choice of development path that suits its national conditions.

Women’s Rights Groups and Activists across Sri Lanka on Friday demanded the withdrawal of a range of repressive laws and bills, especially focusing on the draconian Online Safety Bill and the Anti Terrorism Bill which they would result in the “end of democracy and fundamental rights”.

“Both Bills have sweeping provisions to seriously curtail and even violate the freedoms of expression, free speech, right to information, assembly and association. Both present fatal threats to democracy and fundamental rights in this country,” the groups and activists said in a strongly worded statement.

“The government’s intention in passing laws that violate the basic values of democratic governance in our Constitution, shows that they want to change course, and establish a political dictatorship,” the statement said.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing 45 petitions against the Online Safety Bill. The Anti-Terrorism Bill has been gazetted twice, but has not yet been placed before Parliament.

“We call upon the govt to WITHDRAW ALL these bills, and engage in a public conversation with qualified persons and citizens on public policy in these important areas. We call upon ALL Members of Parliament to fulfill the above stated Constitutional mandate and VOTE AGAINST these repressive laws,” the statement said.

State Minister Diana Gamage has been admitted to the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital following her claims about being assaulted by a male parliamentarian representing the main opposition.

She also filed a complaint with Welikada Police prior to getting hospitalized.

Earlier today, during the parliamentary session, Damage accused Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Sujith Sanjaya Perera of assaulting her outside the Chamber and called for a comprehensive investigation into the matter.

This prompted the temporary adjournment of the session by Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse, at the request of PM Dinesh Gunawardena.

After the session resumed, Chief Opposition Whip SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella said the opposition MPs had met up with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and showed him video footage of Diana Gamage using foul language at an opposition MP and behaving in an unruly manner.

Defending his actions, MP Sujith Perera said he had witnessed Diana Gamage becoming embroiled in a heated argument with his fellow MP Rohana Bandara, and when asked to give it a rest, the state minister had attacked him. The SJB parliamentarian said he only acted in self-defense. “You will be able to see what really happened and how MP Gamage behaved if you check the CCTV footage,” he added.

MP Perera also urged the Deputy Speaker to conduct an impartial investigation into the matter.

Meanwhile, MP Rohana Bandara accused State Minister Gamage of following him and verbally attacking him near the elevator. “We, men, also need to defend ourselves when we are insulted and attacked.”

Following the conclusion of the parliamentary session, the three parliamentarians were involved in an intense war of words, which was videoed by MP Perera on his mobile phone.