Category: News

The peaceful Occupy Galle Face protest is on for the 40th day on Wednesday (18) demanding a solution to the problems faced by the people and demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya.

People from various parts of Sri Lanka are at the GotaGoGoama peaceful protest site since last night.

They demand the immediate resignation of the President who has not solved the problems of the people.

Meanwhile, GotaGoGama branches that were established throughout the country in support of the GotaGoGama protest site near the President’s Office in Colombo are still active.

At the same time, a protest was held in front of the GotaGoGama branch in Galle yesterday (17) demanding both the President and the News Prime Minister to step down.

The GotaGoGama Kandy branch is on for the 32nd Day on Wednesday (18).

The Peradeniya University Students’ Union staged a protest at the venue yesterday (17) afternoon with the theme of “Continuing The Struggle”.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he was not satisfied with the pace at which the investigations into the attacks on protesters at Galle Face Green are being carried out, at present. Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he spoke to Inspector General C. D. Wickramaratne over the matter.

“I spoke to the IGP and asked him what the situation was currently as this matter was being raised in parliament. He said that having received the orders from the Attorney General, he had acted accordingly. I suggested him to keep this House informed of the progress of the investigations. I told him to update the Speaker every two to three days regarding the progress of the investigations and the latest developments.”

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe added that he has condemned the attacks and has reiterated the importance of taking legal action against all perpetrators. He noted that the game of attacking those who oppose them has gone far enough, adding that he had received information that the attack on Welgama was not an isolated incident. “If anyone does not like you, they can come and set fire to your home. This is a dangerous situation.” Wickremesinghe said that some may view his acceptance of the post of PM as a betrayal. “The fact of the matter is that we must resurrect the country’s economy. Apart from that, why do you think the public criticize this parliament so much? Hence, I suggest that this parliamentary culture be changed. Therefore, I suggest the setting up of a political council or national council. This bickering has to stop. We must be able to discuss matters of national interest and agree on decisions, or if there is disagreement, we could either discuss it and come to an agreement or vote on it. Both factions should remember this and we need to change this culture,” the Prime Minister said, adding that with this current Parliamentary culture the country can never progress.

He said all that both sides do is scream at each other and hurl insults at each other and that is why the public feel that they don’t want all parliamentarians. “We need a new code of conduct regarding the behavior of the parliamentarians. We also need new standards. There are many matters that need to be addressed. I will talk about the entire economy next week. However, I appeal to both the government and the opposition lets change this. If we have differences or issues, let’s resolve them through discussion. I too came to this position having heard all the blame and abuse. But I came here to uplift the country’s economy. I am not asking any of you to change your policies or views. All I am saying is when one member is speaking, the others must listen. Don’t conduct yourselves this way. If this continues for another week, we may not have a Parliament left by the following week to attend.”

Sri Lanka’s new prime minister says the country is down to its last day of petrol as it faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years.

In a televised address, Ranil Wickremesinghe said the nation urgently needs $75m (£60.8m) of foreign currency in the next few days to pay for essential imports.

He said the central bank would have to print money to pay government wages.

Mr Wickremesinghe also said state-owned Sri Lankan Airlines may be privatised.

The island nation’s economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, rising energy prices, and populist tax cuts. A chronic shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation had led to a severe shortage of medicines, fuel and other essentials.

Ravindu Perera, who lives in the capital Colombo, said he and his family had begun searching for fuel before daybreak on Monday.

“We went to several fuel stations and most of them were closed. At around 5.30am we took a chance and joined a queue at Townhall which is the station usually providing fuel for government vehicles,” he told the BBC.

“It was less crowded – but the queue gradually grew to about 2km long. We were lucky enough to get fuel around 9.00am once fuel was delivered.”

He said his friends outside the capital were having to wait even longer. “I’m working from home now to try and save fuel because who knows when I’ll get a full tank again.”

Auto rickshaws, the most popular means of transport in Colombo, and other vehicles have been queuing at petrol stations around the capital.

“At the moment, we only have petrol stocks for a single day. The next couple of months will be the most difficult ones of our lives,” said Mr Wickremesinghe in Monday’s address.

However, shipments of petrol and diesel using a credit line with India could provide fuel supplies in the next few days, he added.

Mr Wickremesinghe, who was appointed prime minister last Thursday, said the country’s central bank would have to print money to help meet the government’s wage bill and other commitments.

“Against my own wishes, I am compelled to permit printing money in order to pay state-sector employees and to pay for essential goods and services. However, we must remember that printing money leads to the depreciation of the rupee,” he said.

He also proposed selling off Sri Lankan Airlines as part of efforts to stabilise the nation’s finances. The carrier lost 45 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($129.5m; £105m) in the year ending March 2021.

In recent weeks, there have been large, sometimes violent, protests against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family.

Last week, the president’s elder brother Mahinda resigned as prime minister after government supporters clashed with protesters. Nine people died and more than 300 were wounded in the violence.

On Friday, Mr Wickremesinghe told the BBC, that the economic crisis is “going to get worse before it gets better”.

In his first interview since taking office, he also pledged to ensure families would get three meals a day.

Appealing to the world for more financial help, he said “there won’t be a hunger crisis, we will find food”.

The United National Party (UNP), represented solely in parliament by crisis-riddled Sri Lanka’s new prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, defended his widely criticised vote against an opposition attempt to express parliament’s dissatisfaction with President Gotabaya Rajajapksa on Tuesday (17).

The UNP tweeted Tuesday afternoon that Wickremesinghe had informed the opposition that voting to suspend parliament’s standing orders was a “poor parliamentary strategy”.

Earlier that afternoon, a motion by Sri Lanka opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M A Sumanthiran to suspend parliament’s standing orders in order to debate an expression of displeasure over President Rajapaksa was defeated, with 119 MPs including Wickremesinghe voting against it.

With the motion, the opposition sought to demonstrate how nationwide calls for President Rajapaksa’s resignation is reflected in the country’s legislature.

According to SJB MP Harsha de Silva, among those who voted against the motion was Sri Lanka’s newly elected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The UNP tweeted: “He informed them that government MPs wanted to first debate the attacks on their houses. Since [the] Motion of Displeasure was on the order book it would be taken up after the adjournment debate.

“The Prime Minister explained that protecting the Motion of Displeasure was more important than suspending Standing Orders. He said government MPs would use the defeat of the vote to suspend Standing Orders as an opportunity to prevent a vote on the Motion

Several MPs from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna have accosted two journalists covering parliamentary proceedings, within the parliament complex on Tuesday (17).

The Chairman of the Sri Lanka Parliament Journalists Association Prageeth Perera and News 1st journalist Kasun Samaraweera were accosted while reporting on parliament affairs by MPs W. D. Weerasinghe and Indika Anuruddha, while MP Channa Jayasumana had aided in the confrontation.

The two journalists filed a complaint with the Welikada Police citing that the MPs accosted them, and also snatched their mobile devices.

The journalists said the Sergeant-at-Arms in Parliament returned the mobile devices to them, after erasing the footage recorded during the day.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MPs Professor Channa Jayasumana, and Attorney-at-Law Premanath C. Dolawatte raised their concerns in parliament on Tuesday (17) citing that several people had entered Parliament and were recording their movements/

The two MPs had raised concerns over their security within Parliament.

However, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa stood by the journalists noting that Chairman of the Sri Lanka Parliament Journalists Association Prageeth Perera, and journalist Kasun Samaraweera had not done anything wrong, and were only engaged in their professional duty.

He requested the Speaker to intervene and ensure their mobile devices are returned.

At the same time, Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Manusha Nanayakkara warned the ruling party MPs NOT to behave like gangsters, adding ‘This is NOT a place for gangsters.’