Category: News

Sri Lanka’s top defence official Wednesday announced that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not the “mastermind” of the Easter Sunday carnage that many claim was the catalyst for his ascendency.

General Kamal Gunaratne told a press conference organised by the Presidential Media Division that there was no basis for the allegations against Rajapaksa, a political non-entity at the time, who announced his candidacy two days after the April 2019 suicide bombings that killed at least 279 people.

The attacks were blamed on a group of local jihadists although the bombings were belated claimed by the Islamic State group led at the time by the internationally-wanted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who was later killed in a US bombing in Syria six months later.

“There are lot of allegations on social media that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the main mastermind of the Easter attacks,” Gunaratne said. “There is no truth in those allegations. It is a despicable attempt at making political gains”

He also denied allegations that the country’s current head of intelligence, Major General Suresh Sallay, was also involved in instigating the National Thowheed Jamath leader Zahran Hashim to carry out the audacious bombings. Sallay was previous the head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).

He said many linked Sally to the bombings because he was also a member of the minority Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslims were detained following the Easter Sunday attacks and some are still in detention without charges.

“It is unfair to make those allegations. As far as I know, Sally, a ‘golaya’ (student ) of mine from the time of being a cadet to major general. He can’t speak a word of Tamil or Arabic. He has not read the Koran, only the “Sally” part of his name is Muslim. He is not a radical.

“His two children have Sinhala names. He is married to a Sinhala-Buddhist lady,” Gunaratne said adding that Sallay who currently heads the State Intelligence Service, the country’s premier spy agency, was an asset to the country and the “jaaythiya” (race).

Sallay was performing a ”bodi pooja” at the “Uda maluwa” of Anuradhapura (Sri Maha Bodhi) when Gunaratne went there during the opening of the Sandahiru Seya temple recently, he said.

He also flatly denied that the suicide bomb leader was funded by the directorate of military intelligence (DMI) during a previous Rajapaksa administration when Sallay headed the DMI. Government minister had previously admitted that several Thowheed Jamath groups as well as the BBS, the Bodu Bala Sena group were supported by intelligence agencies. Zahran Hashim had broken away from one such Thowheed Jamath groups and formed his own.

In October, Sallay filed a complaint against Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith’s spokesman father Cyril Gamini Fernando over allegations that he (Sallay) played a key role in nurturing Zaharan Hashim.

Sri Lanka has requested the Pakistan Government to ensure timely receipt of financial benefits from the employer and the Government of Pakistan to the family of the late Priyantha Kumara who was brutally killed by a mob in Sialkot, Pakistan recently, Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said.

He revealed this at an event held at the Foreign Ministry today (15), where he handed over a financial grant to the family of late Priyantha Kumara. Minister Peiris, while expressing his deepest condolences to the family on the tragic death of Priyantha Kumara said that the prime concern at this moment is the future of the two children and the financial security of the family. In this regard, the Minister stated that he was in discussions with the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation to obtain assistance for the family of the deceased.

Minister Peiris mentioned that the Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in Colombo was informed that appropriate arrangements have been made in Pakistan to hear the case. The business community in Sialkot has agreed to provide US$ 100,000 to the family of Priyantha Kumara.

The Foreign Minister further said that Sri Lanka is closely monitoring the developments of the investigation and expecting those responsible for the gruesome murder would be speedily penalized by the law and justice will be served.

Time is running out for Sri Lanka to get assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as official discussions with government authorities and the IMF delegation now in the island are nearing completion, official sources said.

The government will have to make an official request for IMF financial assistance if there is a lack (or potential lack) of sufficient foreign currency financing available on affordable terms, to meet its net international payments.

“The IMF has not received a request for financial support from Sri Lanka recently, but the staff stands ready to discuss options if requested,” IMF’s Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Masahiro Nozaki said recently.

If Sri Lankan authorities fail to make a request with a brief proposal outlining economic situation and economic policy, the IMF staff team holds discussions with the government to assess the economic situation.

Typically, a country’s government and IMF staff must then agree on a programme of economic policies to be implemented in return for a loan.

It is now highly difficult to finalise this matter, but the government can ask for a short time period to enable them to make necessary requests and follow other procedures, informed sources said.

Once an understanding has been reached on the terms of the loans and the programme of economic policies, a recommendation is made to the IMF’s Executive Board to extend access to IMF resources.

These terms and commitments are restricting certain financial expenditure detrimental to the country although it is favourable for rulers and does not harm the public but it will close loop holes opened for financial misappropriations, a senior economist who has worked with the IMF revealed.

Depending on the type of funding arrangement, this could be in phased installments or as a single disbursement.

In similar circumstances, the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement with the authorities of Zambia on a three-year programme supported by an arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in the amount of about SDR 980 million or USD 1.4 billion.

The Zambian authorities who faced an economic situation similar to Sri Lanka have committed to an ambitious economic reform programme with the IMF to address the severe economic and social challenges facing the country.

These reforms seek to remedy past weaknesses in economic governance and public financial management that led to an unsustainable debt overhang.

Zambia’s external debt includes around USD 3 billion in outstanding Eurobonds and another USD 3 billion owed to China and Chinese entities. Tensions between those two groups of creditors have so far stymied restructuring efforts.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned home from Singapore ahead of schedule while his younger brother, Finance minister Basil, left for the US on a previously unannounced visit, official sources said.

The president was earlier expected to spend about five days in Singapore undergoing medical checks at Mount Elizabeth hospital, but it was not immediately clear why he returned in just two days. Rajapaksa had undergone heart bypass surgery at Mount Elizabeth in May 2019.

His sudden return coincided with the departure of Basil in the middle of what of the most serious currency crises since the 1970s, when the country was under severe trade and exchange controls.

Forex shortages come from money injected by a soft-pegged central bank into the domestic banking system either to finance the budget at below market rates (monetization of debt) or to offset dollars sales (sterilized interventions) to maintain a fixed policy rate out of line with domestic credit.

Hours before travelling to Singapore on Monday, the president had prorogued parliament till January 18, a move that effectively dismissed parliamentary committees, including the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

The president has also resisted pressure from within the cabinet and his parliamentary group to sack his top aide, Punchi Banda Jayasundara, who some insiders expect to stay in the job despite mounting pressure.

There have also been calls from some members of the ruling coalition to consider an IMF bailout.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet is divided on whether to seek an IMF bailout for the current balance of payments crisis.

Severe objections against Dr. P.B. Jayasundara have been rising with almost all the minister’s calling for him to step down as the Secretary to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over various concerns, the Daily Mirror learns.

At Monday’s cabinet meeting the matter had been raised by the ministers briefly and almost all the ministers present had raised concerns and were of the view that Dr. P.B. Jayasundara should resign from the post and a new face should be appointed.

A senior political source told Daily Mirror that one of the main allegations cited at the meeting was that he was unavailable to discuss matters of government whenever the ministers attempted to contact him and other issues which are yet to be revealed.

In fact, the pressure on Dr. Jayasundara has mounted so much that rumours are rife that he will hand over his resignation soon, but he has been told to stay back by Minister Basil Rajapaksa due to the President’s absence in the country.

Also, the new name proposed to take over Dr. P.B. Jayasundara’s position as Secretary to the President is that of Anura Dissanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Irrigation and former secretary to the Education Ministry.

However, this is yet to be approved by the President.

President Rajapaksa is presently in Singapore on a private visit, which sources said was a medical check-up and is likely to return to the island today.