Nomination Dates Set for Mannar, Punakari, and Dehiattakandiya

The Election Commission has scheduled the nomination process for the local government elections in Mannar, Punakari, and Dehiattakandiya to take place from March 24th to March 27th, until 12 noon.

According to the Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L. Ratnayake, security deposits for these nominations will be accepted from today until March 26th, 12 noon.

This decision follows the conclusion of legal proceedings related to the previous nomination process for these local government bodies.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has announced that the election for the Kalmunai Municipal Council will not be held due to an ongoing court case regarding the establishment of a new municipal council named Saindamaruthu.

Additionally, the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha election will not be conducted this time, as members were already elected in a previous election.

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Election Officials Meet to Prepare for LG Polls

District Returning Officers, Deputy and Assistant Returning Officers were summoned by the Election Commission to discuss the upcoming Local Government Elections.

During the meeting, extensive discussions were held regarding the process of accepting nominations, according to National Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake.

He emphasized that the acceptance of nominations is the first step in the election process.

As of now, 57 independent groups have deposited their security deposits for 168 local government institutions. Additionally, 18 political parties have also made their deposits.

The nomination acceptance process is scheduled to commence on March 17th.

Chamal Rajapaksa to contest LG elections

Former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa has announced his candidacy for the upcoming Local Government Elections under the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) from the Hambantota District.

Speaking to the media, Rajapaksa emphasized that the SLPP intends to field a significant number of young candidates in the district.

He also highlighted the party’s commitment to inclusivity, stating that its candidate list includes women and senior politicians, including himself.

2025 LG Elections: 18 parties, 57 independent groups place deposits

The Election Commission has issued a statement regarding the political parties and independent groups that have placed their deposits thus far to contest the 2025 Local Government (LG) Elections.

It states that, as per the process of accepting deposits that began on March 3, deposits have been placed for 168 Local Government institutions as of 4.15 p.m. on Friday (March 7).

Accordingly, the Election Commission stated that 18 recognized political parties and 57 independent groups have so far placed deposits for these 168 Local Governments.

Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Nalin Bandara says that it will be possible for the SJB to claim victories in a significant number of Local Government institutions in the upcoming Local Government Elections.

He says that a meticulous plan has already been prepared to gain power in the Colombo Municipal Council.

Meanwhile, MP Namal Rajapaksa claims that many who supported the National People’s Power (NPP) in the previous elections have rejoined the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) after realizing the truth.

However, Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage stated that the opposition parties will be left out and wiped out after the local government elections.

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Japan and Sri Lanka sign deal to restructure $2.5 billion in loans

Sri Lanka signed a deal with Japan Friday to restructure $2.5 billion in loans, marking the first agreement with bilateral creditors who had pledged debt relief to the cash-strapped nation last year.

Japan said it was granting concessions on a 369.45 billion yen ($2.5 billion) loan under a comprehensive debt treatment plan, which the International Monetary Fund considers essential for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.

“The development of Sri Lanka, which is located at a strategic point in the Indian Ocean, is essential for the stability and prosperity of the entire Indo-Pacific region,” the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Japan intends to further contribute to the sustainable development of Sri Lanka.”

Colombo’s finance ministry said Tokyo had played a “pivotal role” in helping Sri Lanka restructure its debt.

“Its leadership, commitment, and constructive engagement have been instrumental in helping Sri Lanka navigate the challenges of economic recovery,” the ministry said in a statement.

Sri Lanka announced last June that it had reached an understanding with all its bilateral lenders to delay repayments until 2028.

Formal agreements were delayed due to protracted negotiations, making Friday’s deal with Japan the first with an official creditor of the South Asian nation.

China remains Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, accounting for $4.66 billion of the $10.58 billion borrowed from other nations. Japan is the second-largest lender, with just over $2.5 billion in loans.

The government of leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, which came to power in September, had hoped to finalise debt deals before the end of last year.

The island nation defaulted on its $46 billion external debt in April 2022 after running out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports, such as food and fuel.

Its economy has since recovered following an IMF rescue package and the implementation of austerity measures aimed at repairing the government’s ruined finances.

In November, Dissanayake announced that Sri Lanka would honor a deal secured by his predecessor to restructure $12.55 billion in international sovereign bonds, a key condition for maintaining the $2.9 billion, four-year IMF bailout loan.

A majority of private creditors to the South Asian nation agreed in September to a 27 percent haircut on their loans.

As part of the agreement reached in September and ratified by the new administration, bondholders will also take an 11 percent cut on overdue interest payments.

Sri Lanka secured its IMF bailout in 2023 after doubling taxes, withdrawing energy subsidies, and raising the prices of essential goods to shore up state revenue.

The new government has vowed to keep up the reforms in line with the IMF bailout.

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The JVP insurrection of 1971 as I saw it as GA Ampara

In April 1971, there occurred the JVP insurrection which assumed significant proportions in the Ampara district. Rohana Wijeweera, the leader of the JVP at the time, had been arrested in Ampara, at the bus-stand a few months earlier and was in remand in far-away Jaffna. However, the cells he had initiated in the district schools, specially those with selected teachers and some of the best of the senior students continued to thrive — in Ampara those following science subjects were very active specially in the predominantly Sinhala areas.

On the night of April 4, 1971, the police station at Uhana — five miles away from where we lived — was attacked by a band of JVP militants. Shooting and grenade throwing had continued on both sides for or about two hours and some policemen suffered injuries. One JVP cadre had been killed and the police had seen others who were injured being carried away by the raiding party. As soon as the news was conveyed to me at daybreak, I motored up to Uhana and had my first sight of a dead militant.

He was a strong, strapping lad of about 20 years, dressed in a dark blue uniform. His body was still lying on the lawn of the police station grounds awaiting the post mortem. It had not been moved, and the weapon – a .303 rifle was lying by his side. His Che Guvera blue cap had fallen off and blood from the bullet hole in his forehead stained his face. I would never forget my first sight of the encounter of young militant against the state.

The police reacted very effectively in raiding the JVP hideouts in the jungles and I saw a group of captured students and a science teacher at the Maha Vidyalaya in Ampara being brought into the kachcheri cowering in the police jeep. The ‘boys’ had been camping out in the forest for a few days and appeared very dispirited and downcast having been badly assaulted.

Down towards the bottom of the district on the Moneragala border, a local JVP leader had set himself up as ‘Siyambalanduwa Castro’. His forte was the hijacking of government lorries laden with produce from the Eastern province bound for Badulla. Bags of rice and coconuts from Akkaraipattu were the main items of his brigandry. Soon, I had one of the cooperative department lorry drivers producing to me an official-looking receipt duly signed and sealed by ‘Castro’ which declared that the JVP had taken the twenty bags of rice being carried in lorry number such and such. It stated that the bags had been requisitioned at a time of emergency and acute food shortage for distribution to the poor. The driver should not be held responsible for any loss.

I gave the benefit of doubt to the lorry driver and absolved him from causing any loss to the state. I kept Castro’s receipt with me for a while as a memento of those stirring days of the beginning of the movement for the liberation of the poor of Uva.

The counter-action against the JVP uprising was intensive for the first month or so. Then in the month of May, there came an amnesty in which many thousands of young men and women surrendered. They were incarcerated, several, for quite some time. Many stories were later circulated about the number of young persons killed and the methods used by the military and the police in extracting information. My office and home became a place where anxious parents came to relate their tales of woe.

One morning, I was awakened by the sounds of heavy sobbing outside my gate. It was Jayawickrema of Uhana, whose house was a few yards away from the police station that had been attacked. He said his young son, Mihira, aged 23 had been taken in for questioning by the police and had been assaulted throughout the night. Jayawickrema had gone to the station and spoken to Weerasena, the OIC, who he knew well, but the OIC had denied that Mihira was taken in.

Later Jayawickrema found out that his son and three other boys had been taken away in a van to Batticaloa. I had the story inquired into and found that young Jayawickrema had indeed been taken in, beaten up badly and taken to the Batticaloa Hospital. On the way he had succumbed to his severe injuries. He had thereafter, been cremated in the Batticaloa cemetery. Old Jayawickrema was completely devastated and consoling him proved exceedingly difficult. He remained a constant friend until he passed away a few years ago.

Other stories also began to come from the colonies about police brutality. One that was particularly haunting was that of a group of youngsters from the 26 Colony shot in the presence of others as an example of what would be the fate of those who rebelled against the state. One of the mothers, whom we also began to know quite well, lost her mind on the death of her two sons and spent most of her time thereafter around the Buddangala Arannya where we used to meet her.

Once those who had surrendered came in, I was asked to find accommodation for about a thousand of them in Ampara. The only available site I had was the Malwatte Farm which was five miles away on the road to Samanthurai. I had earlier denuded the farm of all its goats and poultry, having to cater to the insatiable demands of the police for meat, when supplies stopped coming in from outside.

I sought authority from no one for my actions in dealing with an emergency but was certain I could adequately explain this to the government audit, if ever that were to arise. I remembered that Sir Oliver Goonetillake, when he was the Civil Defence Commissioner in war time, had done all manner of similar things and had had apparently 999 audit queries against him. I thought that if he could get away with it and yet go on to become governor-general, what had I to worry about?

We turned Malwatte Farm into a really effective rehabilitation center. Of course, the camp was heavily guarded and encircled with barbed wire and sentry points and looked like something out of an album of a prison camp in World War 11. But I was determined to make the inmates feel that they were to be rehabilitated and not imprisoned. I got them gifts of sports equipment and books from the local Rotary Club and some reconditioned two-wheel tractors from the department of agriculture which, along with the farm equipment, the boys began to use for their work on the farm. I used to drop by as often as I could to chat with them along with Esala, my 10-year-old son who became quite a favourite with the `boys’ since he was, as they said, the GA’s son and not the ASP’S son.

One day the camp inmates approached me and inquired if they could have a monk to visit them preferably on a Poya Day as some of them wanted to observe ‘sil’. This, I thought was such a good idea, that I prevailed upon the Nayake Priest of the Ampara Temple to come along with me to the camp and give a sermon to the inmates. It was a wonderful occasion when on that full moon night of Poson, the camp took on a most peaceful appearance and the boys used their bed sheets sewn together as ‘pavada’ which they laid for the priest to walk on to the platform from which he delivered a very appropriate sermon.

The atmosphere and the faces of the devout young men were indescribable. During that whole year there was only one case of a break out, when one night, a group of four boys had tunneled their way under the barbed wire fence and got away under the noses of the sentries.

Ampara Gets a CO

After the initial shock of the attack on the Uhana police station had been withstood and the police had mobilized their own defences however inadequately, the government imposed a coordinating officer for the district. He was a young Lieutenant Commander, Fernando, of the Navy who wanted to make a big impression. He migrated to Australia soon after his Ampara assignment. The coordinating officer had his own methods of imposing his leadership over me.

He set himself up at the Kondawattuwan Circuit Bungalow and had it ringed round by several concentric circles of armed sentries. It was very impressive. Consequently, it was quite an effort even to pay a call on him. I was received with great formality and courtesy but made to undergo quite an ordeal entering his fortress. My official driver, poor Weerasekera, was made to halt the car at least a 100 yards away from the entrance and wa1k.30 paces with his hands raised high above his head. It was only on his completely satisfying the sentries that he was indeed the driver of the GA that we were able to proceed inside. All this after informing them of my time of arrival in advance!

My own defence tactics were much more primitive. All I had were my faithful kachcheri staff officers: Piyadasa Liyanaarachi, U G Jayasinghe, Lakshman Perera, S B Niyangoda, A P Dainis, and the late Ananda Herath. They were duly mobilized and served with distinction as my personal bodyguards and doing night duty protecting the residency, smartly dressed in multi-coloured sarong and short-sleeved banian.

Damayanthi was persuaded to accommodate them, some on beds and some on camp cots, and feed us all for about three weeks at the residency. They provided great companionship and some much-needed good humour during a time of danger. Padmaseela de Silva — one of the braver ones — volunteered to act as the outdoor watchman choosing as a look-out point the hood of the balcony, which was, as he himself made out, both safe and from where he could not be seen. Everything went well for a couple of nights until Dainis going out for a ‘call of nature’ early one morning heard sounds of loud snoring. He discovered it came from Padmaseela, fast asleep and with his ancient 12 bore shot-gun, recently borrowed from the kachcheri, lying snugly by his side.

Source:The Island

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IndiGo Airlines Announces Direct Flights between Tiruchirappalli and Jaffna

IndiGo Airlines has announced daily direct flights between Tiruchirappalli and Jaffna, starting March 30, 2025.

Accordingly, this new exclusive route has been introduced to cater to the growing demand for a route connecting Jaffna to Tiruchirappalli in India, and will provide more options for both business and leisure travellers who wish to travel from South India to the northern province of Sri Lanka.

The daily direct flights will not only facilitate travel but also foster economic growth and cultural exchange between the two regions.

According to a statement published by IndiGo Airlines, speaking about the new route, Vinay Malhotra, the Head of Global Sales at IndiGo has said “Building on the success of our Chennai-Jaffna service, this new connection will further strengthen our network in the region.”

IndiGo Airlines in its statement announced that over 60 weekly flights to Sri Lanka will be operated from Indian cities, including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Tiruchirappalli.

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Batalanda Commission Report: Cabinet to rule on ex-Prez this week

After 25 years since its compilation, the Government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is set to discuss the controversial Batalanda Commission Report, a long-contested document detailing human rights abuses and alleged political involvement in torture and extrajudicial killings during the late 1980s and early 1990s, at this week’s Cabinet meeting, according to Minister of Health and Mass Media and Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.

The report, which implicates former President and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in the abuses at the Batalanda Housing Scheme, has resurfaced in public discourse following a recent interview with Al Jazeera and political developments calling for his accountability.

When contacted by The Sunday Morning, Dr. Jayatissa acknowledged the allegations against Wickremesinghe, stating: “We all know that Wickremesinghe was involved in the Batalanda case, so it is a common truth. We cannot deny the allegation.”

However, he refrained from specifying the precise actions the Government would take, noting that a decision would be made after the Cabinet discussion.

When asked whether Wickremesinghe’s civic rights could be revoked based on the report’s findings, he confirmed that the report’s existence was sufficient grounds for action.

During the interview with Mehdi Hasan telecast on 6 March on Al Jazeera, Wickremesinghe addressed several allegations including those related to the Batalanda Commission Report.

When confronted about a Government report naming him as a key figure in illegal detention and torture at Batalanda in the 1980s, he denied the allegations and questioned the report’s validity, stating that it was never tabled in Parliament.

Wickremesinghe emphasised that the accusations were unfounded, reiterating his stance that he had no involvement in the alleged activities at Batalanda.

The Batalanda Commission, established in 1994 by then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, investigated allegations of torture, illegal detentions, and extrajudicial killings at the Batalanda Housing Scheme, which was used as a detention and interrogation centre during the Government’s crackdown on the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection.

The commission’s report, submitted in 1997, implicated security forces and political figures, including Wickremesinghe, who was then a senior Minister.

The report alleged that he had knowledge of the activities at Batalanda and had visited the site, although it did not conclusively prove his direct involvement in the abuses. It recommended legal action against those responsible, including revoking civic rights and filing cases in court, but these recommendations were never implemented.

The report’s findings have remained a contentious issue, with critics accusing Kumaratunga of protecting Wickremesinghe by not tabling the report in Parliament or pursuing its recommendations.

Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Propaganda Secretary Duminda Nagamuwa recently highlighted this in a scathing critique of Wickremesinghe’s political career. “Kumaratunga protected Wickremesinghe by concealing the Batalanda Commission Report without bringing it to Parliament or revoking his civic rights,” he stated.

Nagamuwa also accused Wickremesinghe of manipulating the legal system during his tenure, citing the withdrawal of cases against political allies as evidence of his influence over the Attorney General’s (AG) Department.

He further stressed the need for accountability, urging the current Government, which includes members of the JVP, to act on the report’s recommendations. “There is no need for a gazette or new legislation. Simply enforce the report, present it in Parliament, revoke Wickremesinghe’s civic rights, and file a case,” he said.

EU funded agencies called for my resignation – Ranil tells Al Jazeera

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe criticized the stance of the European Union (EU) against him, claiming the Union had first attempted to depose him before crediting him for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.

During a fiery interview with British broadcaster Mehdi Hasan on Al Jazeera’s Head to Head, which aired on Al Jazeera last evening, Wickremesinghe also questioned the integrity of human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

When questioned on criticism he received from the EU on his handling of protesters at Galle Face, Wickremesinghe said: “The European Union had funded some of the agencies, and called for my resignation, the same union thereafter praised me as the man who took SL out of economic crisis.”

Despite this, Wickremesinghe said he still “liked” the EU.

To Hasan’s question on human rights concerns raised by Amnesty International, Wickremesinghe responded, “Amnesty International is discredited in our part of the world,” his explanation of why being cut mid-sentence by the broadcaster.

During the interview former President Wickremesinghe denied shielding ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa from prosecution.

“In my country, it’s the attorney general, who is not a political figure, who decides on prosecution – We can only send the evidence before him,” Wickremesinghe said when asked if he’d covered for ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country in 2022 following mass protests.

On letting Gotabaya Rajapaksa back into the country without arrest after Wickremesinghe took over the presidency in 2022, the the former President said: “He could come [back] in. There’s no charge against him. How could I? Am I a dictator?”

Hasan also pressed Wickremesinghe on renewed accusations by the Catholic Church that his own government had protected “other forces” involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings carried out by an ISIS-affiliate.

In response, Wickremesinghe called the allegations “all nonsense” and an example of “the politics of the Catholic Church.”

“The head of the Catholic Church [in Sri Lanka] is talking nonsense?” Hasan clarified. “Yes,” Wickremesinghe said.

Wickremesinghe, who was Prime Minister in 2019, was responding to public statements by local Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, as well as exclusive comments the Cardinal had made to Al Jazeera’s Head to Head team before the TV recording. In a phone call with Al Jazeera, Ranjith said Wickremesinghe had failed to heed the Church’s request for a truly independent investigation and called an earlier inquiry and report during Wickremesinghe’s presidency “not worth the paper it was written on”.

Turning to truth and reconciliation for Sri Lanka’s civil war with the LTTE (also known as the Tamil Tigers), Hasan asked if justice had been served to the thousands of victims of the conflict that ended in 2009. Wickremesinghe conceded: “No. Justice has not been served to any of the communities.”

Pressed on why, as President, he reappointed General Shavendra Silva – whom the US State Department accuses of war crimes – to head Sri Lanka’s armed forces, Wickremesinghe said, “It’s a practice not to replace military commanders during [an] election.” He added, “When I took over, I checked on it and I was satisfied that General Silva was not involved in it.”

Wickremesinghe went on to deny allegations made by a government commission that he knew of illegal detention, torture and killings happening at Batalanda, a housing complex he was living in as a minister in the late 1980s.

“I deny all those allegations,” he said when confronted with a government inquiry that named him as a “main architect” of securing the housing complex and alleged he, “to say the least, knew” about the violations taking place there.

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Ranil who claims licence to ride Ferrari cars knocked down by Al Jazeera: Bimal

The one who claimed to have a licence to ride Ferrari vehicles has met with a road accident, Leader of the House Bimal Ratnayke told Parliament today reffering to the issue between former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Al Jazeera.

“The one who claimed to have license to ride Ferrari vehicles has been knocked down by Al Jazeera. He seemed to have gone out of his mind and is uttering various things,” the Minister said.