By Sanja De Silva Jayatilleka The UNHRC’s High Level Segment is in session now, and is due to discuss Sri Lanka’s progress on the implementation of the Resolutions that this government eagerly co-sponsored in 2015 and 2017. The report of its progress is due to be presented later in the session, but one of the …
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By Rathindra Kuruwita Chief Minister of Uva Province Chamara Sampath Dassanayake, who is facing a Human Rights Commission probe for allegedly making Badulla Tamil Girls’ School Principal, R. Bawani kneel before him, has sent her a letter of demand for tarnishing his reputation. In this letter the Chief Minister has demanded Bawani to pay him …
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe took the ministry of Law and Order in a bid to avoid an embarrassing hold up of the new cabinet as Sunday’s swearing-in was marred by President Maithripala Sirisena throwing a spanner in the works. Political sources close to both sides said that Sirisena at the last minute refused to give …
By Rathindra Kuruwita The much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle, which was to address the disagreements between the two coalition partners of the unity government and adverse public opinion on its progress, has come under fire in some quarters. The mini reshuffle also took place behind closed doors. It was the first time journalists were not invited to …
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena has sworn in new ministers from the United National Party with changes from his United People’s Freedom Alliance promised later. Minister Ranil Wickremesighe is the law and order minister, and Kabir Hashim as minister of highways. “I congratulate the newly appointed Cabinet, State and Deputy Ministers,” President Sirisena said in …
Six Cabinet ministers, three state ministers and one deputy minister were sworn in before the President yesterday at the Presidential Secretariat in the long awaited Cabinet reshuffle. Although there were expectations that there would be drastic changes in the Cabinet, during the reshuffle after a disastrous local council election for the government, the only major …
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena has sworn in new ministers with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe as law and order minister, and Kabir Hashim as minister of highways.
An actor who has enthralled audiences across India, a talent powerhouse and one of India’s first female superstars, actor Sridevi passed away on Saturday night. The 54-year old actor died in Dubai following a massive cardiac arrest. Her death was confirmed by her brother-in-law Sanjay Kapoor to the Indian Express. Sridevi, her husband Boney Kapoor …
The suspense for Sri Lankans, kept in the dark for two weeks over the political crisis triggered by results of the local polls, will end today (Feb 25th). The Presidential Secretariat on Friday informed new ministers to be present at a swearing-in ceremony at 11 this morning (Sunday Feb 25th). The move signals the continuation …
(Excerpted From “Sunday Times”Political Column) On the subject of a ‘major’ cabinet reshuffle, which President Sirisena sought, there were delays with some candidates for portfolios not getting his approval. The process has not been without dramas. One was when Minister Malik Samarawickrema met Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiuddin at ‘Temple Trees’ to tell him that Sirisena …
The arrest of a retired senior Deputy Inspector-General has revealed how the police scuttled its own investigations to protect military intelligence men who carried out the assassination of editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. Senior DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara who is currently in remand custody has allegedly instructed his juniors to not only botch the investigation, but also destroy …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake A fortnight of jiggery-pokery in politics has now led to big talk about a Cabinet reshuffle. Can any shuffling of this set of politically crooked persons engaged in bad government bring anything good for the people? The two weeks of a power struggle within a hugely skewed team in government, and the …
by Shamindra Ferdinando The government has, under heavy pressure from the UK, carried out its decision to recall Sri Lanka’s military attache in London, Brig. Prinyanka Fernando, despite a presidential intervention. When the government announced its decision to recall the brigadier, following an incident where he allegedly made a throat slitting gesture in front of …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka I was born at a particular moment, 1956, into a center-left familial universe and culture. In 1956, Mervyn, aged 26, was introduced to SWRD Bandaranaike by his senior at university, Nimal Karunatilleke, a former Communist who had joined the MEP, the winning coalition of 1956, and whose victory in Matale, beating the …
By Sanja De Silva Jayatilleka The UN Human Rights Council’s first sessions for the year, also known as the ‘High Level Segment’ on account of the participation of high level delegates such as Ministers and even heads of states, is due to commence in a few days, on the 26th of February and will continue …
Former IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne is facing imminent arrest for concealing evidence in relation to the murder of Lasantha Wicrkremagtunga. The investigation teams have now established that the evidence of the murder had been destroyed under instructions of some top Police officers. It is learnt that former DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara and former SSP Hemantha Adhikari have …
Sri Lanka’s Finance ministry is set to be restructured as part of the major shakeup in the government following its humiliating local council election defeat two weeks ago, official sources said Thursday. State-owned banks, insurance and the central bank will be brought back under the Finance ministry, the sources said adding that the media portfolio …
Former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake is lobbying hard for a Cabinet portfolio at the reshuffle, sources within the UNP said. Karunanayake had to step down from his position in the wake of the Treasury Bonds fiasco. The Presidential Commission into the Treasury Bonds Commission recommended criminal action against Karunanayake and the UNP internal committee appointed …
Sri Lanka’s Prime minister and his junior coalition partner made separate statements in parliament Wednesday pledging to uphold their uneasy National government amid opposition questioning the arrangement. Ranil Wickremesinghe said the status quo was being maintained while the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) general secretary Mahinda Amaraweera seconded the Premier’s statement. The two formal statements …
by Zacki Jabbar Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said yesterday that for the first time in the history of election campaigns in this country, members of the same government had publicly criticised each other, having forgotten the principle of collective responsibility. Addressing the post-cabinet press briefing at the Information Department, Senaratne said one of the main …
In a rare acknowledgement of failure in its screening process, the United Nations has stopped a Sri Lankan military commander from going for a peacekeeping mission in the middle east. Up until several rights watchdogs and Tamil organisations wrote to the head of UN peacekeeping urging to stop Lieutenant Colonel Rathnappuli Wasantha Kumara Hewage, he …
The power struggle between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe ended with both being badly bruised, but the acrimony also exposed the failure of their long-term political strategies. The run-up to the February 10 local government elections deepened the differences within the uneasy coalition and saw Sirisena declaring that his government was more …
By Ranga Jayasuriya Sri Lankan politics is cheap. The depth of that cheapness is proof in the two stark choices that the people have now been given. One is the return of the old regime with all its nastiness. Forty four per cent of the voters had chosen that. And the other is to continue …
By Colonel R Hariharan After Mahinda Rajapaksa’s fledgling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) handed out a shocking defeat to both the UNP and the SLFP in the Local Government (LG) elections, the three-way political power game has become more complex than before. A gloating Rajapaksa, past master in political manoeuvring, is demanding fresh elections after …
(Full Text of Speech made in Parliament on February 19th 2018 by Leader of the Opposition and Tamil National Alliance(TNA) Parliamentary Group Leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan) 19.02.2018/4.36 p.m. – 4.48 p.m. / ගරු රාජවරෝදියම් සම්පන්දන් මහතා (විරුද්ධ පාර්ශ්වයේ නායකතුමා) (மாண்புமிகு ராஜவரோதயம் சம்பந்தன் – எதிர்க்கட்சி முதல்வர்) (The Hon. Rajavarothiam Sampanthan – Leader of the Opposition) Thank you, …
By Saman Indrajith Parliament sittings were limited to about 40 minutes yesterday as the House decided to postpone indefinitely the debate on the Bond Commission and PRECIFAC reports due to non-availability of English or Tamil translations of the PRECIFAC report. The decision was taken after TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran brought to the notice of the …
The mystery surrounding the missing report of the Presidential Commission that inquired into the death of former minister and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress founder M.H.M. Ashraff has taken a new turn, with the the commission secretary saying he handed over a copy to the National Archives. In a statement to the Right to Information Commission, …
By Dr.Reeza Hameed The President cannot remove the PM Following the large gains made at the local government elections at the expense of the UNP and SLFP by the Mahinda Rajapaksa led SLPP, the pro-Mahinda Rajapaksa opposition has been calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister on the basis of the spurious claim that …
Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena’s party on Monday aborted its move to topple Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, but vowed to press for a major reform of the unity government’s cabinet. Sirisena’s spokesman and minister S. B. Dissanayake said the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and its United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) decided to remain in …
By Dharisha Bastians President Maithripala Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party announced it would remain in the ruling national unity coalition yesterday, ending a week of political uncertainty and abruptly ending its campaign to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, although some members warned the ‘ceasefire’ was temporary. After lengthy discussions with President Sirisena at the Presidential …
By Pani Wijesiriwardena The US ambassador to Sri Lanka and his Indian counterpart this week publicly stepped in to halt a planned breakup of the National Unity Government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe after its heavy losses at local council elections held on February 10. The Sri Lanka Podu Jana …
Former President and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa today said it was none other than President Maithripala Sirisena who keeps Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his post without ousting him. The former president said this in response to a question asked by a journalist when he was leaving Parliament. When asked his opinion about President Sirisena seeking …
by Zacki Jabbar Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says a proper analysis of the recent local government election results would reveal that the UNP remains the “single strongest party” in the country. Admitting that the UNP had suffered a setback at the February 10 polls, mainly due to the cost of living, Wickremesinghe said yesterday that …
The relevant authorities should intervene to stop acts of post election violence in the country since Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) supporters have come on to the streets after their victory to destroy cut outs of government party candidates and threaten and even assault people who supported United National Front candidates, Megapolis and Western …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “Who will make the Revolution? The people, with or without the Communist party!’ –Fidel Castro Who will defeat the UNP? The people, with or without the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. That was proved at the Local Government election and will be proved at every forthcoming election up to and including next year’s …
By Skandha Gunasekara Emphasising the need to find a lasting solution to the national problem, the Leader of the Opposition yesterday condemned former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for inciting racial disharmony during the run-up to the recently concluded Local Government elections. “During the early stage of their campaign, Mahinda Rajapaksa said that Tamil Eelam was blooming …
By Rathindra Kuruwita Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) candidates and their supporters were systematically attacking and intimidating United National Party (UNP) supporters and state officials, JHU Media Spokesperson Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe alleged adding that UNP MPs should go to their electorates immediately to protect them. “We have received a significant amount of complaints of attacks …
By Dharisha Bastians Speaker Karu Jayasuriya launched last-ditch effort to save the beleaguered ruling national unity coalition yesterday, the SLFP continued to play hardball by threatening to quit the alliance as a crippling political crisis precipitated by stinging defeat for both main parties in the government entered its eighth day. After a relatively quiet weekend, …
By Kelum Bandara The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has informed President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday night that it would quit the national unity government, a party official said. UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera sent a letter in this regard to the President. The unity government was formed between the UPFA and the United National …
By Nalaka Sanjeewa Dahanayaka SLFP National Organizer Minister Susil Premajayantha has informed former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday (16) that unless the President takes steps to form a government sans members of the UNP by the end of the week, 15 SLFP ministers and parliamentarians including himself would be willing to join the joint opposition.
By Yohan Perera Documents pertaining to payments made by Mendis Distilleries owned by Arjun Aloysious to a set of MPs from government and opposition has been recovered and are being held by President Maithripala Sirisena,Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake said yesterday. Mr Ramanayake told journalists that Aloysious had made payments to the MPs in cheques.
By Kelum Bandara A Cabinet reshuffle is set to take place on Wednesday (21) as a fore-runner to a new government headed by the United National Party (UNP), it is learnt. The decision was taken after a meeting that took place on Sunday (18) between President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Speaker Karu …
President Maithripala Sirisena’s attempt to speak with Mahinda Rajapaksa on the telephone and discuss current political issues ended in failure as the Former President had not come to the phone to talk because he was engaged in an important matter. This had happened on Thursday February 15th 2018. However Mahinda Rajapaksa who was too busy …
United National Party (UNP) stalwarts were shocked when two of its prominent MP’s demanded that party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe step down as Prime Minister following the poor performance of the party at the recent local govt elections The Two MP’s who urged Ranil Wickremesinghe to step dow as prime minister were Colombo District MP Dr. …
Six Senior Ministers of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP) have asked President Sirisena to ask Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to Step Down as they were not willing to serve under him. The SLFP Ministers have also criticised Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake for allegedly suppressing high level investigations against the Rajapaksa family and associates …
A last ditch attempt by President Maithripala Sirisena to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has failed due to a constitutional hurdle and more significantly the lack of parliamentary support, sources close to both sides said. President Sirisena had agreed to continue working with Wickremesinghe, but had a sudden change of heart on Thursday after meeting …
by C.A.Chandraprema To say that the resounding electoral defeat of the governing coalition at the recent local government elections has set the cat among the canaries is an understatement. Up to the point when this article goes to press, the political aftershocks of the pohottuwa tsunami of February 10 continues with no end in sight. …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Those who are bewildered by the results of Sri Lanka’s local government elections a week ago need a harsh reality check if not a resounding knock to the head. Massive public discomfiture For it must be said that the rude punishment dealt by the electorate to the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition government was …
By Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu It is a February to remember and for the Government, one it would like to forget. The victorious populist backlash led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a Local Government election has put into serious question the political fortunes of the government, its constituent parties and their leadership to the extent …
By Meera Srinivasan With a banner sporting a picture of Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) founder S.J.V. Chelvanayakam in the background, senior Tamil leader R. Sampanthan made a fervent appeal in an election rally in Jaffna. “Unity”, he said, “is the only weapon we have now.” Days ahead of Sri Lanka’s February 10 local government …
By Sanajana Hattotuwa Since results of last weekend’s local government election were released, Hindu kovils were vandalised in Mannar, Muslims were subject to violence in Veyangalla and Uguraspitiya and an ebullient Mahinda Rajapaksa has commanded the media gaze. Much to unpack here. The election result itself is an indication of many things that were foretold …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Most of the discussion of today’s crisis is from the perspective of a lawyer. Mine is not a legalist point of view. It is a political science view, or even more simply a political view of the problem. I belong to the Realist school of Politics, and it is a Realist perspective, …
By J. Natasha Gooneratne Does the international community’s silence during the rule of Yahapalanya mean Sri Lanka is finally on the ‘right’ path, or that we’re finally doing what we’re told to do. From 2009 to 2014, Sri Lanka was so heavily featured in international news and foreign government feeds that it was impossible to …
By Dharisha Bastians Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe radiated a ‘business as usual’ attitude yesterday as he announced that he would continue in office, and brushed off a week of political uncertainty and chaos as the difficulties of ‘coalition politics’ in his first public comments since his party was defeated in Local Government elections last Saturday. …
Sri Lanka’s beleaguered Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe went before a hostile press Friday, his first public appearance after the local government elections, and accepted responsibility for the drubbing. Wickremesinghe fielded questions from journalists while demonstrating unusual calm and composure. He answered the incisive and embarrassing questions without rancour and he even managed to raise a …
By Camelia Nathaniel Former Mt. Lavinia Police Crimes OIC, SI Tissa Sugathapala and retired Senior DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara arrested by the CID over the killing of veteran journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge have agreed to testify as state witnesses, the CID said. Kalubowila JMO Dr. Sunil Kumara who issued Lasantha’s autopsy report stated that the cause of …
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Friday, broke days of silence and said he would continue as the Prime Minister of the country according to the Sri Lankan constitution. Speaking to reporters in Colombo, Wickremesinghe said he had no issues in continuing the unity government and said they would continue their work as before. …
By Dharisha Bastians As frantic efforts continued to keep the crisis-gripped National Unity Government together, Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka, a close ally of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, took the fall and announced his resignation yesterday. On his official Facebook page, Minister Ratnayaka announced that he had informed the UNP parliamentary group last morning …
By Chathuri Dissanayake The National Unity Government will continue despite the deep crisis it has been plunged into but with major changes to the Cabinet composition, Cabinet Spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne assured yesterday. With his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Cabinet colleague and Co-spokesperson Dayasiri Jayasekara staying away from the cameras yesterday, Senaratne put on a …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Civil Society grouping Purawesi Balaya yesterday called for far reaching Cabinet reshuffle, including the immediate appointment of war winning Army Chief Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as Law and Order Minister, to bring long delayed high profile investigations against the previous regime to a successful conclusion. Yahapalana proponent Ven. Dambara Amila Thera declared …
By Ameen Izzadeen The just ended local council elections remind students of politics of an age-old adage: Politics is a continuous and ruthless struggle for power. Those who understand this often grab political power and stay on in power. Even if they lose, they continue their struggle to undermine the government with the intention of …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka The Southern electoral tsunami and the consequent governmental crisis has understandably obscured from view, important new trends in Northern politics. These trends not only speak well of the Tamil people but open up the possibility of serious negotiations at a future date with a political front that represents the South far more …
Sri Lanka’s embattled coalition survived the most serious threat to its survival so far after a last ditch compromise Thursday that saw Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s authority reduced substantially. Coalition leaders blamed their downfall on Wickremesinghe’s Royal College cabal, including premier’s blue-eyed boy Sagala Ratnayaka, the minister of Law and Order, who is accused of …
In an effort to assert his power over coalition partner United National Party (UNP) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka’s President and chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Maithripala Sirisena, on Thursday appointed Muttu Sivaligam of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) as Deputy Minister of Primary Industries. The Cabinet Minister of …
By Jayadeva Uyangoda (Jayadeva Uyangoda is Professor Emeritus at the University of Colombo) Sri Lanka’s local government election held on February 10 has become more than a mid-term poll that usually helps the opposition. Rather, it has led to an immediate political crisis of sorts, threatening the stability of the present government. While the disunited …
By Dharisha Bastians Even as both the UNP and SLFP engaged in major political grandstanding that cast serious doubt on the fate of the Unity Government, President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met again for late night talks yesterday.
By Dharisha Bastians In a tit-for-tat move, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)-led UPFA threatened to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and form its own Government, under the premiership of senior party man and current Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva yesterday, as the ruling coalition plunged deeper into crisis and disarray. …
UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera and National Organizer Susil Premajayantha have requested President Maithripala Sirisena to form aUPFA-led government, claiming they can show a majority support in the 225 member legislature. The letter has been sent to the President amidst their negotiations with the Joint Opposition group to form a new coalition in Parliament. It …
The SLFP is looking into the possibility of forming a new government with the party’s Senior Vice Chairman Nimal Siripala de Silva as the Prime Minister, a Cabinet minister representing the SLFP told reporters, a short while ago. He said the party would hold discussions with the Joint Opposition, the UNP and minority parties in …
Sri Lanka President’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) which was decimated at recent local election has said it wants to topple Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and form a new administration. UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera told reporters Wednesday that he wrote Sirisena claiming that they had a majority in the 225-member assembly to form a …
By Camelia Nathaniel Retired Senior DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Tuesday, for allegedly concealing evidence in the murder of former Sunday Leader Chief Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. Nanayakkara was the Senior DIG in charge of the Western Province at the time of Wickrematunge’s murder with Mount Lavinia coming under …
By Disna Mudalige UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera and SLFP National Organizer Susil Premajayantha yesterday, made a written request from President Maithripala Sirisena to form a UPFA led Government. Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala told the media that the UPFA/SLFP members requested in the letter to appoint a new Prime Minister, who can win the majority …
By Chitra Weerarathne The Court of Appeal, yesterday extended till Feb. 28, the restraining order which prevented the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) and the police from taking steps to arrest, under Offences to the Public Property Act, Former Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in respect of the construction of the D. A. Rajapaksa Memorial at …
By S.S.Selvanayagam Court of Appeal yesterday further extended the Interim Order till 28 February, preventing the FCID from acting on the Certificate (B Report) under the offences against the Public Property Act in the Magistrate’s Court against former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya. The Bench comprised Justices P. Padman Surasena (President/CA) and Shiran Gooneratne and the matter …
By Sanja De Silva Jayatilleka I am sorry, but I just don’t get it. I thought what we had was a local government election, specifically for the purpose of deciding which parties assumed control of those local, grassroots, area-based institutions depending on the number members elected. The electoral results shown on the map of Sri …
(Text of a MEDIA RELEASE Issued by Sri Lanka Podu Jana Party Chairman Prof.G.L.Peiris under the heading ” Another attempt to mislead the Muslim people of Sri Lanka”) Following the Sri Lanka PodujanaPeramuna’s resounding victory at the local government elections, a rumor began circulating in the social media that the BoduBalaSena had made facebook posts …
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe turned tables on dissidents within his own party and managed to head off a challenge to his leadership after the party’s humiliating defeat at local council elections. More than a dozen dissidents went into his Temple Trees official residence to read the riot act to Wickremesinghe, but meekly walked out saying …
By Dharisha Bastians The enactment of the historic 19th Amendment continues to have profound relevance on the options open to President Maithripala Sirisena as crisis deepens in the ruling coalition, with legal experts warning that a 2003 style take-over of ministries by the President or the unilateral sacking of the Prime Minister feared by many …
US Ambassador Athul Keshap and Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandu have met President Maithripala Sirisena in an attempt to diffuse the current political crisis in Sri Lanka. The top diplomats, in two separate meetings, have informed President Sirisena to find a speedy solution to the current issue, without jeopardizing the political stability in Sri …
The two main members of the ruling coalition in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Maihripala Sirisena, and the United National Party (UNP) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, have decided to form a committee to go into the question of running the government in the light of their crushing …
By Dharisha Bastians and Chathuri Dissanayake Efforts to break a deadlock on the political future of Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition continued yesterday, with a second round of late night talks for all UNP Cabinet ministers at President Maithripala Sirisena’s official residence at Paget Road last night. The meeting ended inconclusively, but ministers present said the …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka We are living in a new country. We just need the Government to catch up with that fact. Mahinda Rajapaksa led a political formation that has emerged as the largest single party in the country, comfortably displacing the UNP. He did so while neither having a share of governmental power nor the …
The UNP Parliamentary group which met at Temple Trees unanimously agreed to form a UNP government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesimghe. “If the SLFP doesn’t like the idea, they can pull out of the government. If the President doesn’t like the PM, he can step down too. But, the UNP is proceeding …
President Maithripala Sirisena, who is currently under severe political pressure after the SLFP’s dismal performance at the Local Government polls, is now pushing for the resignation of Primr Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, authoritative political sources confirmed. The President, Asian Mirror learns, has agreed to form a UNP government without Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. He had informed a …
The majority of Central Committee members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) have endorsed the decision to pull out of the unity government. The matter has been widely discussed among the party officials today. They have unanimously decided that the SLFP cannot function in its present form as a coalition partner of the unity …
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is under renewed pressure to step down from the leadership of his United National Party (UNP) after its dismal performance at local council elections. UNP seniors said they wanted Wickremesinghe to step aside to clear the way for a major restructuring of the party after Saturday’s drubbing at the local government …
A crucial meeting between Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and his alliance partner, the United National Party (UNP)-led United National Front (UNF), which is taking place here on Tuesday, appears to be deadlocked over the issue, who should be Prime Minister in the planned reshuffle. Following the crushing defeat of the coalition partners Sri Lanka …
By Gehan Gunatilleke Few would have predicted the results of Sri Lanka’s local government elections in 2018. With the benefit of hindsight, we must now try to understand what happened and why. There are three lessons to be learnt from the results – one lesson for voters, one for the coalition Government, and one for …
By Outsider This was after all only a local government election, primarily to pick who will look after and nurture each ward, under the watchful eye of the local PS, UC, or MC, although pre/post-elections generated much political heat. Newspapers have concentrated mostly on victories of Pradeshiya Sabhas, mostly ignoring MCs. Municipality Areas (MCs) are …
By Dharisha Bastians Jubilant after his party swept local government polls on 10 February, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped up pressure on the Government to call parliamentary elections, even as the shocking election upset plunged the ruling coalition deep into crisis over the weekend. Questions abound about the future of the National Unity Government led …
By Lahiru Pothmulla Former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who returned yesterday to Sri Lanka from the US, said he could not accept the Prime Ministerial portfolio because he was an American citizen. He said this when asked by the journalists at the Airport whether he would accept the Post of Prime Minister if it was …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka The crisis of the UNP is not reducible to the enormous drop in its vote on Feb 10th, a vertical drop that is unprecedented for a long established party in government and at a local government election at which governmental patronage matters. The Feb 10th shrinkage of the UNP is the consequence, …
By Dharsisha Bastians Confusion reigned yesterday after reports surfaced that the United National Party, the main stakeholder in the ruling coalition was exploring options to govern independently and show a majority in Parliament, drawing a swift denial from President Maithripala Sirisena that agreements to this effect had been reached with his Prime Minister. Reports about …
By Saman Indrajith The UNP has decided to form a United National Front (UNF) government ending the coalition with the SLFP Maithri faction, party sources say. The decision to form a UNF government was taken following discussions between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the President’s official residence at Pajet Road in …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya As campaign rhetoric reached fever-pitch last week in the run-up to the LG elections on Saturday (10), the government stumbled on an unexpected news-nugget to feed its propaganda mill. It camein the form of reports that Udayanga Weeratunga, Sri Lanka’s former ambassador to Russia and Ukraine, on whom court issued an arrest …
There had been no agreement between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding future political action, President’s Media Division (PMD) said issuing a press release. “A number of media institutions have published stories saying that an agreement was reached between the President and the Prime Minister regarding future political activities,” the PMD said.
By Sandasen Marasinghe and Kamal Jayamanna Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged the government to go for a General Election in order to establish a strong government. He also said that that the SLPP has no intention of grabbing power in Parliament. Rajapaksa added that the last Local Government election results however has proved that …
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called on President Maithripala Sirisena to ensure that Parliament was dissolved immediately and a general election held to end the current political instability. Addressing a special media briefing at Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) headquarters in Battaramulla, former President Rajapaksa said the present government had no moral …
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said today the UNP had a solemn duty not just to the 46% of the electorate who voted for it and President Maithripala Sirisena’s SLFP last Saturday, but to the entire resounding majority of citizens of all 6.1 million of (55.3%) who marched to the polls last Saturday and voted against …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Last year, 2017, the Government and Opposition separately commemorated the centenary of the Russian revolution –actually of twin revolutions, liberal and socialist, of February and October 1917. In an interesting twist, the result of the Sri Lankan Local Government election of February 10th 2018 takes us back to a situation best described …
Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) swept the all-island local bodies elections held on February 10, has demanded snap elections to the Sri Lankan parliament saying that the local body election results have clearly shown that the government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has …
The Coalition Government partners of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) yesterday scrambled to find a way forward for the Yahapalanaya union, holding marathon meetings with different stakeholders. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had crucial talks to find common ground to take the Coalition Government forward …
By Sarath de Alwis President Maithripala Sirisena has earned the verdict given in local government polls. He appointed candidates defeated at the parliamentary elections through the national list and made them cabinet ministers. In electoral democracy, failure is decisive. Overturning the people’s verdict has a price. The verdict rendered at the local government polls is …
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) will govern 11 local government bodies in the Nuwara-Eliya District together with the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC), SLPP MP C.B. Rathnayake said yesterday. His comments came after attending a public meeting in Hatton with CWC General Secretary Arumugan Thondaman.
Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) said after sweeping the local bodies elections on Sunday, that its victory should be used to propel economic developmental work in Sri Lanka, which the incumbent government had allowed to languish since it came to power in January 2015. A statement issued by the …
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s proxy won 225 local government, or two thirds of the councils up for grabs, in a landslide that shell shocked both the President and the Prime Minister. Official results showed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party was a distant second with 41 councils — 10 municipalities, 13 urban councils and …
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha yesterday urged President Maithripala Sirisena to immediately remove Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and replace him with someone acceptable to the Joint Opposition.Incidently Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajiva wijesinha are closely related being first cousins with a set of comon grandparents.(JO). Following is the text of a statement titled “A Way Forward” issued …
President Maithripala Sirisena’s uneasy coalition faced a major internal crisis amid finger pointing for the humiliating shock defeat at local government elections, political sources said. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe whose United national Party (UNP) performed poorly was also under pressure to accept responsibility for the party’s bruising drubbing just two and a half years after …
The SLFP ministers representing the unity government are currently holding a discussion with President Maithripala Sirisena on their future course of action. This comes in a backdrop where the party has suffered a landslide defeat at the Local Government elections 2018. The discussion is taking place at the Paget Road residence of President Sirisena.
A 56 -member faction of Sri Lanka Freedom Party supporting ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made overtures to government members to join them to form an administration, after a new party backed by them swept local bodies at Saturday’s polls. “We are asking the members of the SLFP who are supporting the government to think seriously …