Category: News

Chairman of the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, Nimal Punchihewa says a draft Bill to regulate expenditure incurred by candidates at elections conducted under the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, the Provincial Councils Elections Act, the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Presidential Elections Act’ drawn up by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka has been approved by the Attorney General and submitted to the President. If approved by the President, the Bill will be presented to Parliament for ratification.The need for regulating campaign finance has arisen as some candidates and political parties spend billions of rupees to ‘buy’ votes.

Both the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFEREL) and the CMEV campaigned for regulating campaign finance and Manjula Gajanayake the National Coordinator of the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) at the time took the initiative to set up a special team to keep tabs on the colossal amounts political parties and candidates spent on their election campaigns.

Gajanayake said that the CMEV had spent 15 million rupees to monitor campaign finance at the 2019 Presidential Election and 2020 General Election. He said that the CMEV reports showed that approximately 7,800 million rupees had been spent at these two elections but it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Gajanayake said that Sirithunga Jayasuriya, who contested the 2019 Presidential Election and former MP Ranjan Ramanayake, who contested the 2020 Parliamentary Election, were the only candidates who had disclosed their campaign expenditure.

Gajanayake, who is currently the Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), said that IRES would monitor campaign spending at future elections. He said that the Election Commission of Sri Lanka should set up a special committee to review the maximum amount each candidate and political party could spend on their campaign at each election and added that it was imperative that the source of funding was disclosed and spending made transparent.He said that laws should be introduced to unseat anyone found guilty of spending over and above the stipulated ceiling; introducing a regulatory mechanism to control campaign finance would undoubtedly change the Sri Lankan election landscape in the future.

China has the honour of being Sri Lanka’s closest buddy in the past decades Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardana said yesterday while heaping his praise on the 73rd national day of the People’s Republic of China.

He stated that China has been a genuine friend that stood in times of trials, challenges and success for the sake of the people of this country.

Even in the current situation, China has further assured to help us with investment and extend its cooperation to uplift tourism and in other fields.

“The new trade agreements that we committed at the discussion table would yield good results and fetch success in the coming months. The Chinese have laid the foundation to become the global giant by gaining top recognition and by striking a perfect balance in the global arena.” the prime minister said.

China is honoured for its rapid and balanced progress in political, social, and economic power; cultural, scientific, and technological environmental research; and space exploration, he said.

China is a true and a powerful global leader. Especially through its leadership and extending its hand to the Asian, African and Latin American countries and the contribution it makes towards the prosperity of all nations across the globe.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring when the two held informal discussions in Tokyo last evening, on the sidelines of the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Sources present at the discussion said that during the meeting which lasted for around 10 minutes, the Indian Prime Minister congratulated Wickremesinghe on his presidency and also discussed Sri Lanka’s present economic crisis.

Modi and Wickremesinghe discussed Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring and Modi also inquired on Sri Lanka’s talks with the International Monetary Fund and the current status of the talks.

After being briefed by Wickremesinghe, the Sri Lankan President requested for more Indian investments to which the Indian Premier had responded positively saying India would increase its investments in Sri Lanka to assist the country out of the economic crisis.

The meeting between the two South Asian leaders was expected especially at a time when India has played a crucial role in assisiting Sri Lanka during the economic instability.

Sri Lanka will seek a vote on an upcoming resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with the help of its friends as the resolution is “unfair” and aimed at tarnishing the country’s image at a time of economic crisis, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said.

The new resolution is likely to tighten Sri Lanka’s space to deal with international trade further as several key conventions in trade concessions like Europe’s GSP Plus are tied directly to human rights. Already the European Union has threatened to withdraw its trade concession as the country has failed to fulfill its commitments on implementing some key international conventions.

The draft resolution, titled “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” and sponsored by the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Canada, Malawi, Montenegro and North Macedonia, was formally handed over to the Human Rights Council Secretariat last week.

The draft text requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to enhance its monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on progress in reconciliation and accountability, and on the human rights impact of the economic crisis and corruption.

“It is unfair,” Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told EconomyNext on Thursday September 29.

“It is against our constitution and we have to respond to that. We are not going to agree on that. Whether we will win or lose, there are things on which we cannot compromise. We will ask for a vote through our friends,” he said.

Sri Lanka has been strongly against an external evidence gathering mechanism by the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights though the UN body has already started the mechanism despite facing a lack of finance initially.

Sri Lanka’s human rights record has been criticised widely since the final stage of a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009 due to the alleged killing of thousands of ethnic minority Tamils by government forces. The government of Sri Lanka has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Some Western nations have already imposed a travel ban on some military leaders who led the government’s war effort on the grounds of alleged crimes. Canada and Germany had refused to accommodate Sri Lankan military officials in the island nation’s diplomatic missions in those countries.

Minister Sabry said the resolution is a concern because it seeks long term prosecution of military officials.

“Particularly what we are concerned about is an outside evidence gathering mechanism and the long-term prosecution of Sri Lankan armed forces outside Sri Lanka. That we cannot agree with,” he said.

The new resolution has called upon the government to address Sri Lanka’s ongoing currency crisis including by investigating corruption and prosecuting those responsible including public and former public officials. It has asked the UNHCR to stand ready to assist and support independent, impartial, and transparent efforts on this.

“They have brought in some economic crimes which has not been defined. Many countries have gone through (economic crises). But what is the UNHRC doing about an economic crisis?” said Sabry.

“If there is a crime, we have to prosecute in Sri Lanka. Economic recovery must take place in Sri Lanka and the international community should support us. So, tarnishing our image at this point in time will have a negative impact. People will not want to work with us and no new people want to come and invest,” he said.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said amidst major economic stress, Sri Lanka is undertaking an unprecedented fiscal effort as part of the government’s commitment to restoring the country’s debt sustainability.

Therefore, he expressed hope and expectation that Sri Lanka’s creditors, and all stakeholders, will support Sri Lanka in these efforts to restore the country’s debt sustainability and help put the country back on the path of inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

President Wickremesinghe presided over the annual meeting of the ADB Board of Governors on Thursday (29) which was held at the ADB headquarters in Manila, Philippines and attended by Governors and official government delegations.

President Wickremesinghe noted that the government has already undertaken major macroeconomic policy reform measures and this program is aligned with the commitment of the government to implement an ambitious and comprehensive package of reforms that will help restore the sustainability of the country’s public finances, addressing external imbalances, and restarting the growth engine through structural reforms and improvements in governance.

“Amidst major economic stress, Sri Lanka is undertaking an unprecedented fiscal effort as part of our commitment to restoring the country’s debt sustainability. It is our hope and expectation that Sri Lanka’s creditors, and all stakeholders, will support us in these efforts to restore our debt sustainability and help put the country back on the path of inclusive and sustainable economic growth,” he said.

The President said that whilst Sri Lanka undertakes these deep and often painful reforms, the country is experiencing rising unemployment and a reduction in purchasing power of the consumers. He added that the government is cognisant of the adverse impacts on the most vulnerable members of society, adding that every effort has been taken to allocate greater financing and resources towards targeted support for social protection.

He assured that the government has stabilized Sri Lanka’s economy and many countries and stakeholders are keenly monitoring how they resolve this crisis. Wickremesinghe said that his government is well aware that the evolution of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis includes both domestic policy elements as well as external shocks, adding that the resolution of the crisis also requires both domestic efforts and the support of external partners. “It is incumbent upon Sri Lanka and our creditors and partners to set an example of how collaborative and good faith action can result in sustainable and equitable solutions to sovereign debt issues.”

However, he emphasized that the economic levers alone are insufficient to stimulate global economic recovery. Adding that the factors underlining the main crisis is not only of economic origin, the President said they are also the consequences of evolving geopolitics.

He noted that as this global rivalry intensifies into a new cold war, which will determine a new global power balance by 2050, the inability of the major countries to give leadership to the mitigation of the global climate change crisis is becoming more apparent.

“As they say in many of our countries when the elephants fight, it is the grass that is crushed. This is the predicament of many of our member countries. Therefore, we must overcome the geopolitical rivalries to address the major threats to our existence, otherwise we will all fail leading to instability in our region reminiscent of Europe after World War I. On the other hand, our ability to successfully meet these challenges will lead to remarkable progress in raising the living standards of our people through the rise of the economies of our member countries.”

Hence, President Wickremesinghe said that the ADB’s Strategy 2030 seeks to respond to global challenges, including climate change and natural disasters, food and energy insecurity, whilst also embracing opportunities in the digital economy, sustainable energy, and leveraging technology for inclusive education and healthcare. Thus, he said that the ADB has a crucial role in helping to shape and finance policies that improve people’s lives and livelihoods across Asia and the Pacific.