By
Lakmal Sooriyagoda

Nithya Senani Samaranayake who functioned as a director of two companies owned by Hambantota district MP Namal Rajapaksa was ordered remanded till August 22 by a Colombo Court for her alleged involvement in money laundering amounting to Rs.45 million.

On Monday (15) MP Namal Rajapaksa and Sudarsha Bandara Ganewatta who were arrested for their alleged involvement in laundering money to the amount of Rs.45 million in two companies owned by Namal Rajapaksa, were also ordered remanded till August 22 by Colombo Additional Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.

The suspect Nithya Senani Samaranayake was arrested on the charge of aiding and abetting to commit this offence, being a director of NR Consultation Private Ltd and Gowers Corporation Pvt Ltd.

She was ordered remanded till August 22 on the grounds that the prosecutors were yet to conclude their investigations.

Continue reading ‘Nithya Senani Samaranayake Remanded for Alleged Involvement in Money Laundering Case Involving Namal Rajapaksa’ »

By

Vishwamithra1984

It was reported last week that President Maithripala Sirisena would be the chief guest at the 70th Anniversary celebrations of the United National Party (UNP).

Maithripala Sirisena is not only the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; he is the current leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), in the last six decades the SLFP has been the chief political nemesis of the UNP.

Any student of Sri Lanka’s post-Independence political history would know that the SLFP, even though has always been reckoned as an alternative to the UNP, drew its major portion of membership from the left-oriented Sinhala-speaking, Swabhasha-educated electorate.

Continue reading ‘Bond Between President Maithripala sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Must Be Strengthened further’ »

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Leader and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan is reported to have had a microphone thrown at him by Northern Provincial Council Deputy Chairman Antony Jeyanathan during an argument over the appointment of a national list Parliamentarian.

Continue reading ‘Northern Provincial Council Deputy Chairman Jeyanathan Flings Microphone Angrily at Opposition Leader Sampanthan at Party Central Committee Meeting’ »

By

Somapala Gunadheera

The recent gimmicks seen at the passing of the “Office of Missing Persons Bill” (OMP), reminded me of a couplet I used to hear often in the heyday of ‘Thuppahi Culture’. It ran, “If you want to marry me darling, come the proper way – Peeping through the window darling what will people say?”

According to the Government, the OMP had been tabled three months back. No one had raised objections against it in Courts or in the House. The debate on the Bill had been fixed at a meeting of all Party leaders and a two day schedule for a debate thereon, had been mutually agreed. In that background, it is difficult to understand why some MPs, inclusive of prominent politicians who had held prestigious office in the past, resorted to an ugly show of canker and abuse on the aisle of the House that is universally accepted to be hallowed ground. The public did not see any obstruction, repression or sleight of hands on the part of the Government that could have justified such behaviour.

Continue reading ‘“Peeping Through the Window Darling What will People say, if you want to Marry me Darling Come the Proper way!’ »

By Shaahidah Riza

If there was any bad precedent in passing the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) Bill, the Joint Opposition MPs were responsible for it, said Minister for National Co-existence Dialogue and Official Languages, Mano Ganesan.

Continue reading ‘“Opposition MP’s Led by Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Geetha Kumarasinghe Raised Slogans,Sang Songs and Even Danced in Parliament”-Mano Ganesan’ »

The government is using intimidatory tactics to stifle dissent ahead of reintroducing the new VAT amendment Bill in parliament traders’ told The Island.

These were small establishments two of them being approximately 10X8, 10X15 and Asian Traders being the largest – a 10X15 three storied shop. Customs officers had arrived, and apparently checked the stocks and taken an inventory and asked for the documentation relating to the goods all of which had been provided, but they had sealed the shops anyway.

Continue reading ‘Systematic Sealing by Customs of Businesses Owned by Traders in the Forefront of Anti – VAT Increase Demonstrations.’ »

By Chamodi Gunawardana

The Joint Opposition yesterday said it planned to seek court intervention to issue a Writ Order against the Office of Missing Persons to be established by the Government in the next few weeks.

Speaking to the media, Democratic Left Front General Secretary Vasudeva Nanayakkara and a vehement supporter of MP Mahinda Rajapaksa said they would go before court after the office had commenced their operations in Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘“Writ will be Sought in Courts Against the Office of Missing Persons After it Commences Operations” Announces Vasudeva Nanayakkara’ »

DIFFERENT YET EQUAL

Come and stand with us for a free, equal and peaceful Sri Lanka, at 4.30pm, on 15th August (Monday) 2016, on Bauddhaloka Mw (past Arcade near the traffic lights leading to Independence turn-off).

WE ARE… Sri Lankan citizens from diverse backgrounds unified in our desire for a just and democratic country. We represent ourselves here as concerned, responsible citizens committed to building a society in which our different ethnic, cultural, and religious identities are celebrated equally.

WE BELIEVE… All individuals are equal and have an equal place in a plural and democratic Sri Lanka. We can and must contribute to making this a reality for all.
We denounce the incitement of racial or ethnic hatred, which is also often sexist and homophobic, by any group or individual and stand in solidarity with all those so targeted.

WE WANT… Each and every one of us, as well as politicians and political parties, religious and educational authorities and institutions, and the media, to take responsibility for creating an environment conducive for respect, healing and reconciliation.
We want the government, especially the judiciary and law enforcement officers, to promote equality and unity in diversity, act against those responsible for the incitement of hate, and take concrete steps to prevent the recurrence of these acts in the future.

WE GATHER…

– To show our solidarity as people of all identities who stand together in the spirit of unity, equality and peace.

– To further comradeship and goodwill towards building a just and democratic Sri Lanka for all.
Bring your friends, family, colleagues, and others to show your support for an equal and peaceful Sri Lanka.

Come and stand with us!

By Namini Wijedasa

Angry protests from Sri Lankans domiciled in Australia and the High Commission there forced the withdrawal of Australia’s Bureau of Statistics (ABS), giving an option, particularly to those of Tamil origin, to declare whether they are from ‘Tamil Eelam’ when responding to a query on their “country of birth”. This is for a national census now under way.

The Government agency has taken the step despite Canberra placing a ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Once the details of the survey appeared on the ABS website, Sri Lankans of different nationalities bombarded the High Commission with e-mails and telephone calls seeking an immediate removal of the offending reference.

Continue reading ‘Australia’s Statistics Bureau Gives Option of Declaring “Tamil Eelam” as “Country of Birth” in Answering National Census Query’ »

By

Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

The raucous commotion in Parliament this week with the passing of the Office of Missing Persons Bill without a vote is reflective of our utterly degenerate political culture. Even now, there is no clear idea of the numbers mustered on the floor to ensure the passage of this enormously significant legislation.

No politician can profess innocence

Sri Lanka’s disappeared number in their thousands. These unfortunates are not confined to one ethnicity. Indeed, the fate of the ‘missing’ is the most powerful common factor uniting the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslims down the ages. Many years ago, before unscrupulous politicians co-opted the Mothers Front of the South and the North, this was the one civil rights mass movement which had the potential to force the political command to come to a reckoning as to what happened to their sons and daughters.

So let us be quite clear on this. No political leader in this country, President or Prime Minister can wash his or her hands, Pontius Pilate fashion, and proclaim ‘I am innocent of that blood.’

Continue reading ‘No Political Leader,President or Prime Minister Can Proclaim Innocence on the Issue of Disappearances and Missing Persons’ »

By Chandani Kirinde

Thus far, members of the Joint Opposition (JO) group have managed to grab more than their fair share of attention, mainly due to their boisterous behaviour within Parliament, than for their role in enriching the legislative business. However, this week they got bogged down in a situation they themselves created by attempting to sabotage Government attempts to enact an important piece of legislation.

This miscalculation by the JO helped the Government to rush through the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Bill, with amendments, in less than an hour, from what was to have been nearly 13 hours of debate and discussion on a Bill that enables the creation of a seven-member permanent Commission to assist families of missing persons.

JO members who came to the Chamber on Thursday wearing black arm bands and satakayas, to show their disapproval of the Bill, initially, raised objection on the grounds they needed more time to debate it. The Government agreed to a full day’s debate on Thursday and half-a-day on Friday, but the JO was not agreeable to this arrangement and chose disruption over debate, walking to the Well of the House, shouting slogans and likely hoping Speaker Karu Jayasuirya would buckle under pressure and adjourn the House.

But it was obvious this time around, the Government was not going to allow the JO to usurp proceedings like they have done many times in the past year and hence, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera got on his feet and introduced the Bill to the House, amidst the din created by the protesting lawmakers. Much of his speech was inaudible to those inside the Chamber, but surrounded by Government MPs, he made it through his speech. He was followed by TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran and JVP MP Bimal Ratnayaka, both of whom extended their support to the Bill.

Continue reading ‘Joint Opposition Attempt to Sabotage Passage of Office of Missing Persons Bill Through Boisterous Conduct Backfires on Them’ »

by Saman Indrajith

Incidents during the debate on the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Bill in the House on Thursday had caused huge damage to the dignity and decorum of Parliament and both the government and the Opposition should be ashamed of it, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said yesterday.

Jayasuriya said the Joint Opposition MPs were entitled to stage protests but they had to be mindful of when and where they should do so. “Politicians may be rebellious when staging protests. But such protests should be held at appropriate places like the Lipton Circus and the Hyde Park not in the Well of Parliament. They should act with some restraint when registering their protest against something in Parliament.”

“The MPs should not choose the dining room to do what they are supposed to in a lavatory (vesikiliye karana de kema kamaraye karranna epa),” the Speaker said.

Continue reading ‘“Dont do in the Dining Room What you do in the Toilet” – MP’s Admonished by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya’ »

By

Razeen Sally

Expectations were high after the January and August elections last year. The incoming Government promised a new era of political liberalism, good governance, ethnic reconciliation and a balanced foreign policy. Not least, it stirred hopes of a more market-oriented economic policy that would, finally, make Sri Lanka achieve its long-heralded potential. What has changed in the last year-and-a-half?

To begin with credits: The political atmosphere is freer; the 19th Amendment and a new constitution in the works promise more checks on arbitrary power. Corruption is smaller-scale and less brazen than it was under the Rajapaksas. Ethnic tensions are much lower; the right symbolic overtures have been made to the minorities. Foreign policy has been rebalanced.

Despite initial bumps, China remains a firm friend, but relations have been repaired with India and the West. That said, there is no Yahalpalanaya: corruption and nepotism have returned to pre-Rajapaksa levels; they remain rife. And tangible solutions to inter-ethnic fissures – justice for human-rights abuses, land restitution, demilitarisation, devolution of power – remain some way off.

But the Government’s chief debit – its Achilles Heel – is the economy. Here expectations have been dashed, indeed given a good kick in the stomach. Regime change offered the best opportunity since 1977 to reform the economy, and to renew Sri Lankan society more generally. So far this opportunity has been squandered, following a dismal pattern since independence.

Continue reading ‘“Achilles Heel”of Yahapalanaya Govt is Lack of Credible Economic Plan’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

Sri Lanka has come to an agreement with China to create a Colombo International Financial City (CIFC) which will not only be an international financial services center, but a place where people can park their money, the Minister in Charge of the Megapolis project, Patali Champika Ranawaka said here on Friday.

Speaking to the media after the Ministry of Megapolis, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) signed a Tripartite Agreement to set up the CIFC, Ranawaka said that parliament will soon enact the Colombo International Financial Center Law to create an “International Financial Zone” in the 269 hectares of land to be reclaimed from the sea by the CHEC.

The zone will be earmarked for international and local banking and financial service companies and will be governed by its own laws as per international best practices. The zone will provide Sri Lankans high paid service sector jobs. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had said earlier that British laws would be established in the zone and that a British team will come to advice on this.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka to Create International Financial City With China in Colombo Where people can “Park their Money”’ »

By Saman Indrajith

State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe’s conduct in the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) came under severe criticism from his fellow COPE members yesterday evening for his attempt to intimidate and threaten witnesses of the controversial Central Bank bond issue, a senior COPE member told The Island.

The state minister threatened and tried to extract information in a manner harmful to the ongoing COPE investigation on former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran’s involvement in bond scam when the senior most staff members of the Central Bank including its incumbent Governor and all Deputy Governors had been summoned before the parliament watchdog committee last evening.

Content of a report by the Auditor General on controversial bond issue was taken for the discussion at yesterday’s meeting.

Continue reading ‘State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe Reprimanded for Behaving Disgracefully at COPE Session Probing Central Bank Bond Issue’ »

By P.K. Balachandran

Undeterred by the clashing interests of the US, India and China in the South and East Asian region, Sri Lanka is assiduously wooing these countries to achieve a quantum leap in economic development making up for 30 years of stagnation brought about by an ethnic conflict and a brutal war.

While the US is being placated by the implementation of the resolution on Sri Lanka passed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on October 1, 2015, the Sri Lankan government is doggedly pursuing an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, despite strong local opposition; and is allocating huge infrastructure projects to China setting aside some serious reservations which existed till last year.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka woos the US, India and China Simultaneously for a Quantum Leap in Development’ »

(Text of Statement on the Bill on the Office on Missing Persons tabled in Parliament by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs, MP, on 11 August 2016)

Hon. Speaker,

The Office on the Missing Persons’ Bill, which we will be debating today in this House, I believe heralds a new beginning, a new era of peace and reconciliation for our long suffering country.
68 years after Independence, two youth insurrections, and a 26 year old war, Sri Lanka is now ready to commence the healing process of our wounded and fractured nation, coming to terms with the tragedies of our past, so that we could harness the potential of our great nation and its people to pave the way for the future our country truly deserves.

As Lee Kuan Yew, in his memoirs – “From Third World to First” wrote –

Ceylon was Britain’s model Commonwealth country. It had been carefully prepared for independence. After the War, it was a good middle-sized country with fewer than 10 million people. It had a relatively good standard of education, with two universities of high quality, a civil service largely of locals, and experience in representative government starting with city council elections in the 1930s.

When Ceylon gained independence in 1948, it was the classic model of gradual evolution to independence.

Alas, it did not work out. During my visits over the years, I watched a promising country go to waste.
It is sad that the country whose ancient name Serendib has given the English language the word ‘Serendipity’ is now the epitome of conflict, pain, sorrow and hopelessness.

Today, however – 7 years after the end of the brutal war and the defeat and the demise of LTTE terror, Sri Lanka is now ready to win the peace and heal the scars of conflict, sorrow and pain. This Bill is the first step in healing our own nation and its people so that we could face the challenges of the future as a united nation; unity in diversity!

Hon. Speaker,

This is a very special day for all of us in this House, irrespective of the political parties, the colours, symbols and ideologies that we represent.

Today is a day that seeks to unite us as human beings. A day for each of us in this House to pause for a moment, reach deep within our hearts, speak to our conscience and demonstrate through action, that we are guided by peace, compassion, empathy and brotherhood, noble principles which the four main religions in our country – Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam – teach us.

Hon. Speaker,

As you know, there is no corner of this blessed and beloved country of ours, that has not been drenched by the tears of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children who have wept and continue to weep, not knowing where their loved ones are, or what happened to them. They only know that they are missing. They don’t know whether they are dead or alive.

Continue reading ‘“Those who went Missing and Those Who Grive For Them are all our Citizens” – Mangala Samaraweera’ »

By Dharisha Bastians

The National Unity Government passed landmark legislation to help thousands of families trace missing loved ones after skillfully outmanoeuvring the pro-Rajapaksa Joint Opposition, which launched a sustained effort to obstruct proceedings and prevent the bill’s passage in Parliament yesterday.

The Office of Missing Persons Bill was passed with amendments and without a vote after a debate that lasted less than an hour amidst a constant stream of disruptions by Joint Opposition MPs.

As the Joint Opposition screamed and railed against the establishment of the OMP in the Well of the House, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya put the bill to Parliament. Supported by the Coalition Government and the two recognised opposition parties, the TNA and the JVP, the OMP legislation was enacted into law.

“Today is a historic day. It is a day when we take the very first step towards righting the wrongs of 68 years,” said Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who shepherded the legislation through Parliament, amid howls of protest by the Joint Opposition that denounced him as a traitor to the nation.

History would judge the true traitors, the Foreign Minister said during a press conference convened after the bill was enacted into law.

The Office of Missing Persons to be incorporated by an Act of Parliament as a permanent independent body with wide-ranging powers to investigate disappearances and trace missing persons is the first mechanism of a four-pillared structure for truth-seeking and justice in post-war Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘Govt Outmanoeuvres Mahinda Loyalists and Passes Bill to Set up an Office of Missing Persons Without Taking a Vote’ »

By Saman Indrajith

The Joint Opposition’s protest enabled the government to rush the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Bill through parliament yesterday.

The Bill was passed with amendments amidst shouting and chanting of slogans by Joint Opposition against the government.

When the time came for Notice of Motions and Orders of the Day, Leader of the House Highways and Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella moved the Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) Bill for the second reading.

MEP Leader Dinesh Gunawardena said that the Joint Opposition would not agree with the government’s to change the session plan to hold the debate on the OMP for two days – Thursday and Friday) and to have the vote in Friday evening to advance the voting at 11 am on Friday. He said that shortening the time of debate would deprive the Opposition MPs of their time to speak in Parliament leading to the deprivation of their privileges.

Continue reading ‘Govt Rushes Through Office of Missing Persons Bill in Patliament Within Two Hours Amidst Joint Opposition Protests’ »

The draft Bill to establish an Office on Missing Persons (OMP) was passed with amendments in Parliament without a vote.

The Bill was adopted despite objections raised by the joint opposition which alleged that the Bill will betray the military.

The government had earlier said there have been strong requests for providing true information on disappeared or missing persons to their relatives to know their actual fate.

“It will enable such families to be reunited, closure with regard to such disappearance, or granted with reparations and other relief and support,” the government said.

Continue reading ‘Amended Bill to Establish an Office of Missing Persons(OMP) Passed by Parliament Without Vote Being taken’ »

SEVEN years ago, at a busy crossroads in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city, armed men in an unmarked white van abducted Stephen Sundararaj. He was going home, his three children snuggled up against him, after idling for weeks in a police cell. Mr Sundararaj, then a 39-year-old project manager at a local human-rights group, had been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, a draconian law permitting arrests without warrant for “unlawful activities”. He challenged the move in court and would have pursued the case, had he not been hauled away mere hours after his release. He was never charged with a crime. He has never been found.

Such horrifying tales are common in Sri Lanka, where 26 years of ethnic conflict ended with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009. In the past century the country has also experienced two Marxist insurgencies in the south, and several anti-Tamil pogroms. In May Mangala Samaraweera, the foreign minister, admitted that it had one of the world’s largest caseloads of missing people. The armed forces, the Tamil Tigers and other insurgents are all to blame.

Continue reading ‘“Missing” Persons in Sri Lanka: A New Government Tries To Give Certainty To Grieving Relatives – The Economist’ »

By

Dharisha Bastians

The Paada Yaathra in March 1992 led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, the 47-year-old SLFP Parliamentarian from Hambantota, was epic. Over 17 days, the marchers travelled 280 kilometres from Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo to Kataragama, in the deep southern heartland that the Rajapaksa family calls home.

The trajectory of the 1992 Paada Yaathra intentionally cut through Sri Lanka’s Southern Province, once a hotbed of Marxist activity, where the JVP ran its training camps and hideouts for insurgents. In the ensuing UNP Government crackdown on the JVP insurgency in 1988-89, thousands of young people disappeared from remote villages in the districts of Matara and Hambantota, on suspicion of being Marxist insurgents.

For politicians like Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former SLFP colleague Mangala Samaraweera who represented the Matara District, the issue of disappearances was much more than only a question of human rights and state terror; the ‘missing’ were also their constituents. Mahinda Rajapakasa’s Paada Yaathra in 1992 was a campaign to pressure the UNP regime into investigating enforced disappearances during the JVP insurgency.

Twenty-four years ago, his slogans were against state oppression, privatisation of state resources and ironically, demanding a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict. Joining him on the historic march from Colombo to Kataragama were leftist politicos Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Wickremabahu Karunaratne.

Continue reading ‘From “Paada Yaathra 1992” to “Paada Yaathra 2016”: Decline and Fall of Human Rights Crusader Mahinda Rajapaksa’ »

By

Kamanthi Wickramasinghe

Wasim Thajudeen, a talented rugby player, a friend to all and a man full of smiles, was brutally murdered and his body was left in a charred state at Narahenpita, four years ago.

After much investigation, many breakthroughs and dead-ends, the case is yet to be solved. Although nothing was heard of the incident during the previous regime, quite surprisingly the matter emerged as soon as the ‘Good Governance’ regime saw light on January 8 last year.

So far, much has been revealed about the matter but even after four years, the alleged perpetrators are still free. The body was exhumed on August 10, 2015, exactly one year ago and according to the ex-JMO, surprisingly, some of the remaining body parts too have gone missing.

The Judicial Medical Officer’s (JMO) reports have become the highlight of this investigation due to the failure to establish a conclusive cause of death initially.

Today the Daily Mirror sheds some light on the JMO’s reports, which were submitted to establish the cause of death.

Continue reading ‘Wasim Thajudeen Murder Mystery Continues to be Unsolved While Conflicting JMO Reports Contradict Each Other’ »

By
Emilio Mayorga

Courtesy of Suba Sivakumaran

LOCARNO — Suba Sivakumaran’s has been presenting her debut project “The House of My Fathers,” at the 69th Locarno Open Doors showcase, devoted this year to national cinemas from South Asia region.
Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Woman Director Presents Her Debut film “The House of my Fathers” at 69th Locarno Open Doors showcase’ »

By
Sandasen Marasinghe and Disna Mudalige

A large number of Bills were passed and became law during the last decade in the same manner following the procedure which has been followed in respect of the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, although the latter had been treated differently, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday.

He also requested Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to discuss with party leaders and deliver a ruling on those laws passed and Parliament could follow one procedure in the future in moving a Bill before Parliament.

The Prime Minister also said it was the responsibility of the Speaker to decide if the standing orders have been followed by Parliament while Parliament also has the power to suspend its standing orders as well. The Premier made these observations after the Speaker made his announcement on the Supreme Court order on the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill.

He said that in reference to the judgement of the Supreme Court order, the government will table the Bill in the House later.

“There are a large number of Bills which have become law in Parliament, last Parliament and the Parliament before, following the procedure which has been followed in respect of the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill,” the Premier said.

Continue reading ‘“We Will not Sack the Chief Justice or Bring Impeachment Motion Against him for not Giving us a Favourable Ruling” Says Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

By

Upul Joseph Fernando

Former British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka David Gladstone, speaking to BBC Sandeshaya related a wonderful story on 2 July 2008.

“During the government of President Premadasa, present President Mahinda was a very good friend of mine. He came often to meet me. On occasions he met me, he told me to influence the government to search for youth who had gone missing in the North and the South. He told me that he would establish an association comprising parents and children of the missing persons in order to enable them to tell the world of their suffering. He requested me to speak of this to the UN and the Amnesty International”

David Gladstone related this incident. However, when the Maithri-Ranil government is attempting to open an office to search for missing persons, Mahinda said last week, it is a betrayal of the country and betrayal of the war heroes, issuing a statement.

So then, when Mahinda talks about missing persons, is it not a betrayal of the country and the war heroes?

Continue reading ‘How Mahinda Rajapaksa Betrayed the Country and War Heroes in 1989 on the Issue of Missing Persons.’ »

By Saman Indrajith

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday informed Parliament that the Supreme Court had determined that the Value Added Tax (Amendment) bill was unacceptable as it had failed to adhere to due process a financial bill should follow.

Making a special announcement the Speaker said: “The Court has determined that the provisions contained in Article 152 of the Constitution and Standing Order 133 are imperative in character and the failure to follow them render the subsequent proceedings nullity.

“Since the due process had not been compiled with in terms of Article 78(2) and 152 in the Constitution before the bill was introduced in Parliament, the Supreme Court has made in terms of Articles 120 and 121 read with Article 123 and 152 of the Constitution, that no determination would be made at this stage on the ground of challenge raised by the petitioners.”

He then directed the determination of the Supreme Court be printed in the official report of the proceedings.

Continue reading ‘Supreme Court Rules Value Added Tax(Amendment) Bill Unacceptable as it has not Adhered to Due Process of a Financial Bill’ »

BY Lankesh Gooneratne


An Interview with UPFA Puttalam District MP Sanath Noshantha Perera who has been Suspended from the SLFP for allegedly criticising President Mauthripala sirisena’s leadership in a TV Debate

Excerpts:

Q;What is your opinion about being suspended as a Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) member?

A: I actually think that I should not be suspended because we have a lot of politicians who leave the party and come back. But from the beginning I have been a loyal member of the SLFP. I will remain as a member of the SLFP in the future as well and I will never change parties for my own benefit. “I am a pure SLFPer.”

I do not think there is anyone who can take disciplinary action against me because I have been loyal to the party throughout.

Why I am claiming myself as a pure SLFPer is that my family has gifted two persons for the well-being of the party. I have donated my own blood to the party. I have lost my house when it was burnt to the ground in 1977 and 2001.

When the United National Party (UNP) was elected in 1977 they burnt down my father’s house because he was a diehard SLFP member. Even his own lands were distributed among members of the UNP.When my father was mentally tortured by the UNP he decided to commit suicide.

In December 2001 we organized 21 Bodhi puja’s for the well-being of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga after she was injured in a bomb blast. However, during the puja my brother was shot dead.
As politicians who sacrificed their lives and houses I am not a member of the SLFP who should be suspended.

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena Wants to Destroy the SLFP and not Develop the Party – UPFA Puttalam District MP Sanath Nishantha Perera’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka is now making a collective effort to seek national reconciliation. That would require concerted actions, through constitutional and administrative means, to address specific grievances of minorities. However, to begin that process, one should first have to distinguish between real and fictitious grievances. The problem in this country is that genuine grievances have been overwhelmed by a much larger set of perceived and inflated ones.

The Tamil political leadership has historically been keener on the latter and therefore, any incremental effort taken, at least since the Sinhalese polity developed a compromising tendency beginning with the late 80s, to address minority grievances proved nearly impossible. Those maximalist tendencies of the Tamil political campaign later gave rise to a maximalist terrorist group, of which murderous campaign and predictable state reaction, as well as the former’s subsequent decimation have now created a fresh set of grievances.

Ageing Tamil statesmen like the Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan and TULF leader Anandasangaree seem to have taken a lesson from the previous failures, for which they could not be blamed as since the Tamil political campaign was hijacked by the Tamil militancy and later terrorism, they became more or less the hapless bystanders. Their fate was not much different from those of villagers in the South who had to put up with or get shot by the equally egregious cadres of the JVP.

However, not all have taken that lesson, and one for sure is divisive Northern Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran. He tells the Tamil People’s Council that the Sri Lankan government is planning to bring a new Constitution before the March session of the UNHRC sessions in order to push under the carpet the accountability issues of the final phase of the war.

Continue reading ‘Chief Minister Wigneswaran Advances Disastrous Maximalist Campaign Abandoned by Other Tamil Mainstream Leaders’ »

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday, considered the disciplinary action to be taken against Puttalam district Parliamentarian Sanath Nishantha as a disciplinary action to be taken against all SLFP members in the Puttalam district.

Continue reading ‘Disciplinary Action Against Sanath Nishantha Amounts to Disciplinary Action Against SLFP in Puttalam District says Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa’ »

By

Manushi Silva

The party would forgive Puttalam district Parliamentarian Sanath Nishantha and reconsider the decision taken by the Central Committee to suspend his party membership if he makes a public statement that he accepts President Maithripala Sirisena as the President of the SLFP, Western Province Chief Minister Isura Dewapriya said.

The SLFP Central Committee recently decided to initiate disciplinary action against Nishantha and to suspend his party membership for allegedly criticizing the party leadership and making a statement to the media that he will not accept President Sirisena as the leader of the Party.

Continue reading ‘Suspension of Puttalam MP Sanath Nishantha May be Reconsidered if he Publicly Accepts President Sirisena as President of the SLFP’ »

by Zacki Jabbar

The United States of America says it wants to partner with the Sri Lankan military while assisting the government in drafting a new constitution and meeting commitments it had made to the United Nations Human Rights Council with regard to accountability issues.

An UN Human Rights Council endorsed resolution has called for the establishment of an independent domestic mechanism to probe allegations of war crimes against the previous Rajapaksa government and LTTE especially during the last stages of the near three decade war, which ended on May 19 , 2009.

The U.S. Ambassador Atul Keshap addressing a reception on board the ship USS New Orleans which docked in at the Colombo Port for a three day goodwill visit last week, said that they were welcoming new staff into the American embassy here to work on development programs, human rights cooperation, rule of law, justice, demining and many different things.

Continue reading ‘USA to “Assist” Sri Lanka in Drafting a New Constitution Discloses US Ambassador Atul Keshap at Colombo Reception for “USS New Orleans”’ »

by Pradeep Samarakoon

UPFA Puttalam District MP Sanath Nishantha threatens to move courts against President Maithripala Sirisena if the latter removes him from the party. He says he will also expose all those who are out for his scalp.

He said he would not accept President Sirisena as the Chairman of the party.

Continue reading ‘UPFA Puttalam District MP Sanath Nishantha Threatens to Sue Maithripala Sirisena Under 19th Constitutional Amendment Provisions If he is Removed From Party’ »

by Shyam Nuwan Ganewatte

Traders’s unions are poised to hold protests throughout the county starting from tomorrow against the government’s plan to take up the VAT amendment bill in Parliament on Thursday. Union representatives said that they would conduct a countrywide hartal tomorrow by shutting down their shops and taking to the streets.

As part of the protests organised by the All Ceylon Trader Union Collective, a letter would be handed over to the MPs of all parties, demanding that they vote against the VAT bill.

Trader union representatives said that their objective was to defeat the moves by the government to rush the VAT bill through Parliament on August 11. They said that the government had reneged on President Maithripala Sirisena’s promise to the traders that changes to VAT would not be effected without the concurrence of business community.

Continue reading ‘Island – Wide Hartal Shutting Down Shops Launched by Traders on August 8th to Protest Against VAT Tax Increases’ »

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

NEW DELHI, August 8: Bollywood film Dishoom starring Sri Lankan beauty queen Jacqueline Fernandez with John Abraham and Varun Dhawan has grossed over a billion rupees in nine days at the worldwide box office since its release on July 29.

Jacqueline Fernandez ~ in ~ ‘Dishoom’

The film has grossed INR 830.7 millionat the domestic box office and INR 200.6 million in the international markets.

Dishoom currently stands with the total worldwide collection of INR 1,031.3 million.

Continue reading ‘Latest Hindi Film of Jacqueline Fernandez “Dishoom” Grosses Over One Billion Indian Rupees in Nine Days’ »

By

Gagani Weerakoon

Meanwhile, the government has raised its concerns over the behaviour of Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran over the past year or so.

Wigneswaran who assumed duties as the Chief Minister in October 2013 has thus far failed to assist previous government or the present government which also has the backing of the TNA, the party which he got elected from, in any development efforts being carried out.

Several in the government have pointed out that his behaviour has become a ‘no action – talk only’ scenario depriving the legitimate basic needs of the Tamil community which elected the provincial political authorities to address the pressing requirements.

Further, whatever the government does, the Northern Provincial Council is opposing and bringing an end to all resettlement and development activities.

Continue reading ‘Govt Concerned About Behaviour of TNA ‘s Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran for the Past Year or so’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

Although Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena had promised that his government would release, by November 7, 2015, all incarcerated members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against some of whom charges had not been filed, 90 are still to be released.

The Tamil detainees, who consider themselves “political prisoners” and not “terrorist suspects” had gone on fast more than once to secure release. And every time they would withdraw it on the basis of a promise of action in their favor but only to be disappointed.

Angry with the state of affairs, the National Organization for the Release of Political Prisoners, is planning to hold a demonstration in front of the Colombo and Jaffna prisons on Monday.

Continue reading ‘National Organization for the Release of Political Prisoners to Stage Demonstrations in Front of Jaffna and Colombo Prisons’ »

By

P.K.Balachandran

The Chief Minister of the Tamil-majority Northern Province of Sri Lanka, C.V.Wigneswaran, has said that accountability for the war crimes allegedly committed in the last phase of Eelam War IV must be established before the Sri Lankan government formulates a new constitution to address the basic political question.

Addressing the Tamil Peoples’ Council in his capacity as its co-chairman in Jaffna on Sunday, Wigneswaran said that the constitution planned by the government will not be drafted to the Tamils’ satisfaction unless accountability issues were satisfactorily addressed prior to that.

He told the council that he had heard from someone involved in the constitution making exercise that the government is planning to brush accountability under the carpet by showing the international community before the September session of the UN Human Rights Council, that it is seriously working on a new constitution to address the political grievances of the Tamils. The plan is to get the new constitution passed by the March session of the UNHRC. By doing so, the government hopes that it can divert attention from the accountability issue and urge the Tamils to look to the future rather than look back at the past.

Continue reading ‘TNA Chief Minister Wigneswaran Tells Tamil Peoples Council War Crimes Accountability must be Established Before New Constitution is Promulgated’ »

By

Zahrah Imtiaz

Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Chairman, President Maithripala Sirisena along with the party Central Committee has unanimously decided to empower the General Secretary to take disciplinary action against any member who is found to have defied party orders.

“On Thursday evening, we had two important meetings, one was with leading SLFP activists and the President on party reforms and the second meeting held later was the convening of the Central Committee,” State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said at a media briefing at the Finance Ministry yesterday.

Soon after, SLFP General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera suspended the membership of SLFP Puttalam District MP Sanath Nishantha for having insulted the President.

Continue reading ‘SLFP Suspends Puttalam District MP Sanath Nishantha for Insulting President Maithripala Sirisena’ »

By Ishara Ratnakara

Though Additional Colombo Magistrate Nishantha Peiris had ordered the arrest of Joint Opposition (JO) and SLFP Hambantota District MP Namal Rajapaksa on charges of having carried out illegal transactions at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) using political clout, the Police have failed to arrest him to date though nine days have elapsed since the Court Order was given.

Continue reading ‘Court Orders Arrest of Namal Rajapaksa MP on July 28th but Police Have not Done so Even After 9 days.’ »

By

Shakthi De Silva

In a recent event concerning the foreign policy of Sri Lanka, Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda declared that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy since the government change of 2015 has been ‘friendship with all; enmity with none.’1

DS Senanayake

The significance of coining this phrase has been missed by some. The import of this statement rests in a similar comparison made in the House of Representatives Debates (HRD vol.3, 1058) many years ago. The HRD report mentions that ‘our policy in foreign affairs is to be the friend of all and the enemy of none’ in reference to late D.S Senanayake’s foreign policy in the period immediately after the granting of independence by the British.2

In this article I hope to begin, by reviewing the foreign policy of D.S Senanayake and relating it to the possible reasons that influenced his foreign policy decisions/choices.

Maithripala Sirisena

by Maheesha Mudugamuwa

The National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS) scientists have named three new Sri Lankan tiny goblin spiders of the genus Brignolia species in honour of prominent Sri Lanka authors.

NIFS Science Education and Dissemination Unit Communication and Media Officer Pradeep Piyathilake told The Island yesterday that the study authored by NIFS scientist Prof. Suresh P. Benjamin and his graduate student Sasanka Ranasinghe was a result of a country-wide survey and careful study of newly collected material and the species kept in various museums.

Continue reading ‘Three Sri Lankan Species of Goblin Spiders Named After Writers Carl Muller, Michael Ondaatje and Shyam Selvadurai’ »

By Ranjit J. Perera

The Auditor General in his report on the affairs of the University of Jaffna, for the year ended 31 December 2013, appears to have effectively obscured attention on several problems in this important seat of learning in north Sri Lanka. The report was published in the Government gazette just one day before a clash between two student groups forced the closure of the university on Saturday, 16 July.

The report states that dates to hold the examinations for various courses conducted under each faculty of the University and target dates to release results of the examinations had not been determined. The AG has observed that there were considerable delays in releasing the results of examinations ranging from one to 22 months from the date of examinations by the faculties of Agriculture, Arts, Management Studies and Commerce, Science and External Examination unit of the University during the years 2012 and 2013.

According to the University Grants Commission Circular No. 636 of 14 July 1995, the results of examinations should be released within three months after the examination. But, results had been delayed by a significant period as mentioned above, according to the report; thereby depriving students the opportunity to obtain employment in a timely manner.

Continue reading ‘Many Irregularities at Jaffna University Highlighted in Auditor – General Report’ »

By Rajan Hoole

Conflicting nationalist narratives – as adaptations of received history to explain the present and direct the future – have, for each community, its inner logic. This is evident in how the Sri Lankan media has treated the Jaffna University’s first clash between Tamil and Sinhalese students.

In this regard, the university has the opportunity of playing a constructive role in winning over its Sinhalese students through mutual understanding and respect, and thereby creating a base for demanding that other universities do likewise. That calls for courage, foresight and empathy.

Unfortunately, following the mores of its Sinhalese counterparts, today the Tamil cause is being presented by extremists and is mired in meaningless symbols, purposeless rituals and the exclusion of ‘others’ from particular spaces.

To understand the transition, we go back to the Vaddukoddai Resolution of 1976 – the definitive statement of Tamil separatism. The essential grievance in it is that the Sri Lankan constitution of 1972 gave the foremost place to Buddhism and obliged the state to foster it. These provisions were protected in the second republican constitution of 1978 as well.

Whatever may be said in mitigation – for example, that the constitution also guarantees religious freedom to others – in effect, it is inequality and the denial of secularism. This, invariably, leads to the other principal grievance in the resolution: ‘Denying the Tamils equality of opportunity in the spheres of education, land alienation and economic life in general’.

Continue reading ‘C.V. Wigneswaran’s Rise to Power in 2013 Signified a Deep Rot and a Sign of Things to Come’ »

By

Malinda Seneviratne

What did the Joint Opposition achieve by marching from Kandy to Colombo? What does it say about the strength of the joint Opposition? Does it say anything about the strength or otherwise of what is being called, tongue-in-cheek, the ‘Official SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party)’? Has to solidified the alliance between the SLFP and the United National Party (UNP)? Was it an exercise poorly timed because the SLF and the UNP government have been in power only for a year and a half and as such there’s little chance of this kind of agitation transforming into a mass upheaval resulting in regime-overthrow?

Let’s consider the facts. . Yes, it was organized a mere year and a half after Maithripala Sirisena became President and less than a year after the UNP won the General Election. There are two ways of looking at it. Some might say ‘too early’. True. There’s another way. If such numbers could be drawn to Colombo a mere year and a half after Maithripala Sirisena became President and less than a year after the UNP won the General Election it does indicate discontent of a significant nature. Putting it down to the ex President’s charisma or the stupidity of his followers will not rob it of this significance. Loyalties of protestors, ‘true objectives’ of the organizers, the reasons that drew the crowds are relevant of course, but in a political sense it is the show of strength that counts. We are not talking any more, after all, about the merits and demerits of one regime over another here.

Continue reading ‘Kandy to Colombo March Clearly Showed Where the Rank and File of the SLFP Stood’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

Hundreds of Sinhalese students of Jaffna University, who had fled to their homes in South Sri Lanka after a violent clash with their Tamil counterparts on July 16, are yet to come back to the campus despite assurances from the University Vice Chancellor that peace prevails and that their security is assured.

Sources in the University’s Jaffna campus told Express that out of about 800 Sinhalese students, only a handful have picked up courage to come back.

“Their fears are understandable. But we hope to see a good number returning in the coming week,” said a senior lecturer in the Arts faculty, who is also a public figure.

Continue reading ‘Most Sinhala Students Reluctant to Return to Jaffna University Despite Security Assurances’ »

By

Rasika Jayakody

When the Joint Opposition’s ‘Paada Yatra’ protesters approached the SLFP headquarters at Darley Road, on Monday evening, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a patron of the SLFP and a party member for over 45 years, was leading the march.

The moment they saw the SLFP headquarters, protesters started chanting slogans against the party leadership and its headquarters. They dubbed the SLFP headquarters the “Darley Parey appa kadey” referring to President Sirisena’s infamous defection from the Rajapaksa camp before the Presidential election, last year.

Interestingly, former President Rajapaksa, the de facto leader of the march, looked the other way when his supporters insulted the party and its leadership. In fact, the majority of the protesters who insulted the party were members of the SLFP and it showed that they had no qualms about dividing the 65-year-old party to boost the political campaign of the Rajapaksas.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Looks the Other Way as Supporters Chant “Darley Parey Aapa Kadey” Opposite SLFP Headquarters’ »

by C. A. Chandraprema

The Joint Opposition’s pada yathra from Kandy to Colombo over five days from the 28th of July to the 1st August undoubtedly made political history. This country has not seen anything like it before. I observed the commencement of the pada yathra in Kandy on the 28th and its end in Mawanella that day and the commencement of its final leg from Kiribathgoda as well as the final janahamuwa at the Lipton Circus. Before the final leg began from Kiribathgoda, Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing the crowd that had assembled for the start, said he had organised pada yathras before but that was going to be the biggest such event the country had yet seen, and he was right. The sky was overcast from morning but the weather held till the pada yathra concluded at Lipton Circus and that was a major contributing factor to its success.

Continue reading ‘Joint Opposition Now Prepared to Face Hustings as Separate Political Party Under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Leadership’ »

By

Upul Joseph Fernando

Ranil Wickremesinghe recently went to China similar to when Gamini Dissanayake was sent by JR to India during the period 1983-1987 when India was growling at Sri Lanka. JR sent Gamini to India to see whether, the LTTE India made could be given back to India and put an end to the conflict here. Rajiv jumped at that suggestion and put the Indo-Lanka Agreement on to JR’s shoulders. JR also accepted it. Rajiv took on the burden of the LTTE.

At the end Rajiv had to pay compensation with his own life. Ranil went to China with a pill similar to JR’s. That was to escape from the Chinese loan trap by asking them to take over the Hambantota Harbour and the Mattala Airport which were built with Chinese financial assistance. What was apparent was that the Chinese were far more cunning than India. India swallowed JR’s pill. However, China did not swallow Ranil’s pill. Ranil suggested that the Hambantota Harbour and the Mattala Airport be handed over to China for a certain period of time.

Ranil had proposed that China set off the loans against the assigning of the harbour and the air port. However, China had refused to do so saying it was against the policies of their government. What China is saying indirectly is that they do not care whether there are ships arriving at Hambantota or not or whether air planes arrive at Mattala or not and what they want is for their loans and the interest to be paid to them.

Continue reading ‘China Too Cunning to Fall Into Trap Set by Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

by Rajiva Wijesinha

Chanaka Amaratunga died 20 years ago on August 1st, 1996. He died a very disappointed man, for he had not been put into Parliament at the previous election. Those of us who have been in Parliament can vouch that that is no panacea for disappointment, given how sadly our Parliamentary traditions have been traduced. But Chanaka was a passionate believer in the Westminster system, the last perhaps to care deeply about its forms, with the possible exception of his great friend, Anura Bandaranaike.

I have written previously about the reasons Chanaka was not put in Parliament, but it is appropriate here, today, to note categorically that his hopes were destroyed by two people. In their careers they have often seemed polar opposites, but at the time they were united in their determination to keep Chanaka out. But I should note that it was not primarily dislike of him that motivated them, but rather fear – a much under-estimated factor in Sri Lankan politics. The fear was not of him but of another of his great friends, Gamini Dissanayake.

The two conspirators I refer to are Ranil Wickremesinghe and Chandrika Kumaratunga!

Continue reading ‘The Undermining of Chanaka Amaratunga by Ranil Wickremesinghe and Chandrika Kumaratunga’ »

By

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

In the Denzel Washington movie ‘The Equalizer’, a character explains his behaviour after an especially dramatic scene, saying “It sends a message: I am here”. That is the single most important effect of the significant Paada Yatra, the long march from Kandy to Colombo. Mahinda Rajapaksa has sent that same message to the political establishment and its external backers: “I AM HERE”. The Joint Opposition has done so collectively, saying “You may perpetrate the fraud that the TNA which has one thirds the seats that we have, is the official parliamentary Opposition, but as the national opposition, the real opposition, “WE ARE HERE!”.

To continue in the movie mode, the book by Elmore Leonard made into the film ‘Valdez is Coming’ has a scene in which the grizzled old mustachioed Mexican played by Burt Lancaster sends a laconic message through a survivor of his ambush,to his tormentors, the rich rancher and his gang,after he has begun to turn the tables on them with his sawed-off shotgun and Sharps buffalo gun: “Tell them, Valdez
is coming”.

Mahinda has signalled that he is on the move, and that he headed a gathering force and can field a credible formation at any and every election. If Ranil, CBK, and their foreign patrons thought that they had abolished the two party system in Sri Lanka and created a ‘bipartisan consensus’ which can grant the Tamil Diaspora’s punitive accountability and the TNA’s federalization demands, Mahinda, Dinesh and the JO have just signalled that the competitive two party system is returning in the transitional form of a tri-polar game.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Message Via Pada Yatra -“I am Here”;Joint Opposition Message Through Kandy – Colombo March -“We are Here”.’ »

Award-winning Sri Lankan carrier Srilankan Airlines, yesterday signed on board actress Jacqueline Fernandez, as their brand ambassador, Indian media reported.

The letter of agreement was exchanged between Srilankan Airlines Chairman Ajit Dias and Jacqueline Fernandez, at St. Regis Hotel, in Mumbai.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Beauty Queen cum Actress Jacqueline Fernandez will Serve as Brand Ambassador for Sri Lankan Airlines in India’ »

By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya

The recent outburst against journalists by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has caused raised eyebrows, not least because it flies in the face of the yahapalana government’s pledges to create a freer environment for the media. The PM’s remarks at an event in Kandy on the 23rd were unabashedly threatening. He did not merely take a passing swipe at a media organization or journalist who wrote something critical about him or his government but, having named the Daily Mirror and referred to its editor (Kesara Abeywardena), went on at some length about how ‘these journalists need to be taught a good lesson.’ Here’s part of what he said:

“The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the foreign minister must be removed. This Daily Mirror editor has also told me to go as well. Now if he doesn’t go himself, we’ll have to see what we can do about it. He was constantly entertained at Mahinda Rajapaksa’s table, going ‘shopping’ for him. This newspaper attacked Muslims and Tamils. If these people are calling for the removal of our people, let’s teach them a good lesson before that. We shall last the full term of five years. If we get the people’s mandate we can go even further. We cannot allow these people to fool around like this.”

(The PM also threatened to soon reveal the names of print journalists who ‘wined and dined and made money with the rogues’ in the previous regime.)

Continue reading ‘Ranil’s outbursts against journalists: A case of controlling the narrative?’ »

By Dasun Edirisinghe

The Kandy-Colombo Pada Yathra was only a warm-up act and the Joint Opposition (JO) would achieve its goal with the help of the next mass protest, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in Colombo last evening.

Addressing a massive crowd at the Lipton Circus at the conclusion of the five-day Pada Yathra, which had wended its way along the Kandy road, Rajapaksa said the JO and it allies were ready to give the masses anything they asked for.

The JO organisers said they had been compelled to hold their final meeting at the Lipton Circus as the government had denied them a place in the city for that purpose.

They said the government had ‘shamelessly’ prevented them from using all public grounds from Kandy to Colombo while extolling the virtues of good governance.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Addresses Massive Crowd at Lipton Circus in Colombo at end of Five day Pada Yathra from Kandy’ »

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Joint Opposition spokesman MP Udaya Gammanpila yesterday alleged that the police had made a series of abortive attempts to sabotage Pada Yathra at the behest of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government.

The police acted as if they had been receiving directives from Sirikotha as regards the five-day protest, UPFA MP Gammanpila said. The MP was responding to a query by The Island in the wake of the police repeatedly seeking judicial intervention to restrain the protest. The police moved Kandy, Mawanella, Kegalle, Thulhiriya, Gampaha, Attanagalla and Colombo Magistrate’s courts unsuccessfully.

The Joint Opposition consists of nearly 50 MPs elected on the UPFA ticket at the last parliamentary polls in August 2015.

Continue reading ‘Police Made Series of Abortive Attempts to Sabotage Pada Yathra at Behest of Sirisena – Wickremesinghe Govt Alleges Joint Opposition.’ »

by Rex Clementine

On Saturday, Angelo Mathews achieved what even legendary Sri Lankan captains like Arjuna Ranatunga and Mahela Jayawardene failed to achieve. Mathews’ two predecessors were brilliant tacticians and had outstanding teams at their disposals, but never achieved a Test win against world’s best team – Australia. Mathews leading a young Sri Lankan team was able to bring down world’s number one ranked team as Sri Lanka won the first Test at Pallekele by 106 runs. Mathews joined Chairman of Selectors Sanath Jayasuriya as the only Sri Lankan captain to have beaten Australia in a Test match.

Prior to the start of the first Test, Sri Lanka’s team was confirmed and Suranga Lakmal was certain to share the new ball with Nuwan Pradeep. But on the eve of the Test, Lakmal complained about tightness in his hamstring and on match day it was decided not to take a chance with Lakmal and hand Chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan his Test debut. It proved to be a blessing in disguise as Sandakan teased the tourists with his wiles to finish with a match haul of seven wickets.

Continue reading ‘Angelo Mathews Achieves What Legendary Captains Arjuna Ranatunga and Mahela Jayawardene Failed to Achieve’ »

By DR. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA [Former Ambassador to the UN in Geneva]

I write to refute a statement made with direct reference to me, by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in the course of his response to former President Rajapaksa in the newspapers of Monday August 1st 2016 under the caption “Enough is Enough”.

I have no intention of replying to Minister Samaraweera’s counter-critique of President Rajapaksa’s critical remarks on the structure of the Office of Missing Persons. However, as a student of comparative international politics I cannot help but note that Minister Samaraweera’s model of the OMP derives from contexts that are very different to that of Sri Lanka and thus has little relevance to us. The OMP derives from mechanisms for investigation into persons missing under military juntas in Latin America or mechanisms set up, also mainly in Latin America, in consequence of negotiated settlements arrived at, usually with external mediation/facilitation, between guerrilla movements and incumbent regimes.

Sri Lanka’s context is drastically different, i.e. that of a democratic state, with democratically elected governments, and whose legitimate armed forces fought a war strictly within its borders, against a terrorist enemy and won an outright victory. In no such context has there been a mechanism structured as the OMP is.

Continue reading ‘“Foreign Minister Samaraweera and his Prime Minister Must Stop Telling Untruths” – Dayan Jayatilleka’ »

(Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s response to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statement on the Office on Missing Persons)

Presidential commissions, including those appointed by Mahinda Rajapaksa such as the LLRC and Paranagama Commissions, have received complaints from the tens thousands of family members of those who have gone missing due to conflicts in the North and South.

Even today, years after the guns have gone silent, on a daily basis, mothers – bearing hardship and financial burden – go from government office to office, from police station to army camp, in the desperate search for their sons. The mothers’ backgrounds are different but their grief is the same: for example, there are those whose sons were forcibly conscripted by the LTTE, those whose sons participated in the 1987 insurrection and those mothers whose sons joined the army, but for whom all that is left are three letters, MIA.

In fact, even today in my constituency of Matara, there are mothers who come to me searching for their long disappeared sons. These mothers hope against hope that their children are alive and at the very least, to put the past behind, they need to know how, where and why they died. During the meetings that we had with families of the missing from across the country over the last few months, there were mothers of soldiers who came to us asking us to at least find a small bone fragment of their missing sons so that they can find closure.

Continue reading ‘Mangala Samaraweera Lambastes Mahinda Rajapaksa Over Setting up an Office on Missing Persons Issue’ »

By Anura Balasuriya, Pradeep Samarakoon and Chaminda Silva

The Pada Yathra from Kandy to Colombo against the government entered its penultimate phase yesterday with the Joint Opposition protesters resuming the walk from Nitambuwa to Kiribathgoda around 9.30 a.m.

The organisers of Pada Yatra said they anticipated government sponsored moves to disrupt their protest march in Colombo. Nothing would deter them, they said.

The walk was joined by thousands of people carrying banners and shouting slogans against what they called government’s witch hunt against political opponents, removal of farmer subsidies,heavy taxes, ‘constitutional death trap’, postponement of local government elections etc.

The Nittambuwa-Kiribathgoda leg saw more people joining the walk compared with the first, second and third days.

Continue reading ‘Joint Opposition Protest March Against Govt From Kandy to colombo Enters Final Phase on Monday’ »

By Aubrey Kuruppu in Pallekele

Angelo Matthews’ much-maligned men performed the incredible when they swept to a 106-run win over Australia slightly before tea on day five of the opening Test in the series at the Pallekele Stadium yesterday.

Under the cash for their performances from the World Cup, the Sri Lankans, unheralded and unsung, came back in a big way to net the biggest fish of them all — the number one ranked team in the world. Tutored and advised no end in the art of playing spin on turning wickets, when it came to the crunch, the Aussies (save for one or two), found the Sri Lankan spinners a difficult proposition.

The reliable left-armer Rangana Herath had a match-bag of 9 for 103, while debutant Lakshan Sandakan finished with seven for 102. More importantly, he sowed the seeds of doubt in Aussies minds by his sharp and unreadable spin.

Continue reading ‘Seventh Ranked Sri Lanka Spins its Way to Incredible 106 Run Victory Over No 1 Ranked Australia in Opening Test Played at Pallekalle’ »

Police are investigating whether any external element was behind the recent violence at Jaffna University while a committee appointed by the university administration conducts its own inquiry into the matter.

Violence erupted over the disputed staging of a Kandyan dance act during festivities welcoming first-year students to the university on July 16.

“We are investigating every possible way to determine the culprits and the cause behind this incident. We are also looking at whether this just a clash between two student groups or any hidden hand behind the attack. So far, nothing has been established,” Jaffna Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police P.P.S.M. Dharmaratne said.

Continue reading ‘Police Investigating Whether “External Elements” Were Behind Violent Incidents at the Jaffna Varsity’ »

by Gamini Weerakoon

Muttiah Muralitharan, who brought unparalleled fame and glory in cricket to Sri Lanka not so long ago, was last week being accused by this country’s cricketing nincompoops, fanatical nationalists and bookie associates of treason! It was indeed ironic that while this baying at the moon was continuing, the supreme body for Cricket, the ICC announced that he would be inducted into its Hall of Fame along with three other Greats of the Game.

When Murali (as he is called in the cricketing world) turned out for Sri Lanka his bowling action appeared to be suspect to the most spectators but those well informed in cricket strongly believed that his delivery was ‘ legal’ and was in accordance to the rules of cricket. Had he been thrashed all-round the wicket and out of the grounds he would surely have disappeared. But Murali kept taking wickets and the best batsmen in international cricket were bamboozled by him.

Unplayable Murali, dubbed the ‘Smiling Assassin’ was accused of ‘Chucking’ and our friends across the Palk Strait was quick to award him the honorific Indian title of ‘Chuckravarthi’.

Continue reading ‘Australia is not Sri Lanka’s Enemy and Muttiah Muralitharan is not a Traitor to his Country’ »

By Skandha Gunasekara

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa charged that the government had attempted to sabotage the Pada Yathra protest walk from day one of the march.

Addressing media persons during the walk yesterday, the former President alleged that attempts to disrupt the walk began with the arrest of his brother and former Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Accuses Govt of Trying to Sabotage the “Pada Yatra” from Day One of the Protest March.’ »

BY SHAAHIDAH RIZA AND RATHINDRA KURUWITA

The government will not be a barrier to the Joint Opposition’s (JO) Pada Yathra; however they might self-impose a barrier and blame it on the government, said Cabinet Spokesperson and Minister for Health Rajitha Senaratne.

Addressing a media briefing yesterday he also denied that the government has not blocked any grounds in order to prevent them from having their event.

Continue reading ‘“Events”Organized by Powerful Minister Along Route of Kandy -Colombo Protest March While Govt Denies Blocking “Pada Yatra”’ »

By Dasun Edirisinghe

SLFP Chief Ministers of Provincial Councils yesterday asked their PC members not to participate in the Pada Yatra protest march organised by the Joint Opposition from Kandy to Colombo, starting today.

Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Colombo, six chief ministers from Western, Southern, North Western, North Central, Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces warned that the SLFP Central Committee would take disciplinary action against those attending the protest march.

Continue reading ‘Six SLFP Chief Ministers Warn of Disciplinary Action Against Party Provincial Councillors Participating in Protest March’ »

By Chaminda Jayalath and Kavindya Chris Thomas

Mawanella Magistrate L.K. Mahinda yesterday ordered the Joint Opposition (JO), which is set to start its march from Kandy to Colombo today, to use alternative routes circumventing the Mawanella town and its city limits.

The JO is set to kick off its much touted four-day protest march from Kandy to Colombo this morning and its first stop was to be at Mawanella town.

Continue reading ‘Mawanella Magistrate Orders Joint Opposition To Seek Alternative Route For Protest March to Avoid Mawanella Town’ »

by Cyril Wimalasurendre

Kandy Magistrate Buddhika Sri Ragala after considering an application by the police ordered the organisers of the Joint Opposition’s protest march from Kandy to Colombo starting today to commence the march from outside the city limits.

The magistrate also ordered the membership drive organised by the United National Party (UNP) to follow suit this afternoon.

In the wake of the court ruling, the Joint Opposition yesterday announced that the Jana Satana Pada Yatra would begin from Getambe at 9 am. A senior spokesman said that they would go ahead with the protest campaign as planned.

The Magistrate stated that both groups could perform their religious observances in the morning.

Continue reading ‘Kandy Magistrate Issues Orders Keeping the UNP and Joint Opposition Activists Apart to Avoid Possible Breach of Peace’ »

By

Ajith Siriwardana

The Joint Opposition said today that they would commence their scheduled Pada Yathra from Galaha Junction tomorrow morning while respecting the court order not to conduct the protest march within the Kandy city limits.

Continue reading ‘Kandy – Colombo Protest March by Joint Opposition Will Commence From Galaha Junction in Peradeniya at 9 am on July 28th’ »

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today that Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

He is the first Sri Lankan to be accorded the honour.

Continue reading ‘Muttiah Muralitharan will be First Sri Lankan to be Inducted by International Cricket Council Into the ICC Hall of Fame’ »

Cricket heavyweights Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have come out in defense of former team-mate Muttiah Muralitharan, saying the spin-king need not defend his decision to coach the Australian team.

Continue reading ‘Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara Come Out In Defence of Former Team Mate Muttiah Muralitharan’ »

Canadian Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion will arrive in Sri Lanka on an official visit , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced .

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka said:

‘This bilateral official visit to Sri Lanka by a Foreign Minister of Canada takes place after 13 years, and within less than a year since the formation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Government.’

Continue reading ‘Canadian foreign Minister Stephane Dion’s Official Visit to Sri Lanka takes Place After 13 years says Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry’ »

Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara said that spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan doesn’t have to defend himself as ‘Murali is a great son of Sri Lanka’.

“Murali is a great son of Sri Lanka and he doesn’t have to defend himself. He love his country. He is free to consult or coach anyone,” Sanga tweeted.

Continue reading ‘“Murali is a great Son of Sri Lanka who is free to coach anyone and does not need to defend himself ” – Kumar Sangakkara.’ »

By

Amaradasa Silva

The right status and respect deserved for Buddhism should remain intact in the constitution, Colombo’s Archbishop Rt. Rev. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said today.

He expressed this view while participating at a religious ceremony held under the patronage of Chief incumbent Ven. Daranagama Kusaladhamma Nayaka Thera at the Sri Sambodhi Viharaya in Colombo.

The ceremony was held to confer the honour on the new Mahanayaka of the Asgiri Chapter Most Ven. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera and the Anunayaka Theras and the Secretary Thera of the Asgiri Chapter and the Chief Incumbent Thera.

Continue reading ‘Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith Does not want any Change to the Due Place Given to Buddhism in Constitution’ »

Sri Lanka’s record-breaking spinner Muttiah Muralitharan launched a blistering attack Monday on his former bosses after they complained about his behaviour in his new role as a mentor to Australia.

After his former employers said Muralitharan was damaging his legacy, the 44-year-old accused Sri Lanka’s board of setting him up as a fall guy if the hosts lose a series to the visiting Australians.

And Muralitharan, the highest wicket-taker in Test history, then accused the board president of knowing nothing about cricket and angrily denounced any suggestion of being “a traitor”.

“If Sri Lanka loses, they (the board) will say it is because of Murali,” he said in a recorded statement which was sent to AFP.

Continue reading ‘Instead of Getting Lankans Like Murali to Coach Young Spinners SL Cricket Board Prefers to bring white People from Abroad’ »

BY SULOCHANA RAMIAH MOHAN

It was just a another clash between two groups studying at the same campus, but this clash at the Jaffna University aroused much attention on 16 July onwards. The sudden outbreak of verbal abuse, pelting of stones and fisticuffs erupted over a matter that should have been solved on the previous night (15 July), says the President of the University of Jaffna Student Union Federation, Sisitharan Thankeswaran , a final year Management student hailing from Batticaloa.

Sisitharan agreed to talk to Ceylon Today, on condition that the writer would not misquote him, nor publish anything that could land him in trouble again. When queried over this attitude of his, he said that he had to surrender to the Police because most of the boys knew him well as the President of the Union and someone had lodged a complaint against him. “I was beaten up by them when I tried to push myself amidst an angry group of students to talk the groups to avoid confrontation, and then I had to be the one to surrender to the police, which was a very unfortunate situation,” he added.

Sisitharan explains, to begin with, the Sinhala students do not have a union of their own with whom they could sit and plan out, without interacting with everyone. On the 15th evening when everything was planned and the programme schedule was printed after prior approval from the relevant Deans and officers in charge, a group of Sinhala students suggested that the welcome parade should also have the Kandyan cultural dance. Immediately the student council that represents the Science Faculty informed the Union. I was told that the Sinhala students wished to have a Kandyan dance included in the welcome ceremony too.

Continue reading ‘Jaffna Varsity Student President Thankeswaran Sisitharan Assures “We will not Allow Such a Fracas to take Place Again”.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

C.V.Wigneswaran, Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil majority Northern Province, and S.Thavarajah, Leader of Opposition in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), have together asked the Lankan government to set up a “full-fledged” Commission of Inquiry to conduct an in-depth probe into last Saturday’s clash between Tamil and Sinhalese students in Jaffna University saying that the fracas was a manifestation of deeper problems faced by the Tamils of North Lanka.

In a joint letter released on Wednesday, Wigneswaran and Thavarajah said that the incidents in question should not be viewed from a purely criminal law standpoint.

Continue reading ‘NPC Chief Minister Wigneswaran and Opposition Leader Thavarajah Want Commission of Inquiry to Probe Jaffna Varsity Violence’ »

(Following is the text of the 93rd Birth Anniversary memorial oration of Late Leader of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) M Sivasithamparam at the Karaveddy, Thachchai Araneri School, Jaffna made by Leader, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, Rauff Hakeem. ‘We need new remedies to old problems.)

Ladies& Gentlemen,

It is with heartfelt pleasure that I address you this evening in a lecture in memory of Murugesu Sivasithmapram. Indeed, I find it an exhilaratingly rewarding experience because this is the second time that I have been asked to be the principal speaker commemorating and celebrating his life and contribution to the public life in our country. Although he held strong political convictions, he was a moderate with friends on both sides of the political divide. He possessed a charming eloquence in both Tamil and English. Despite an imposing physical appearance, he was a gentle giant with brilliant communication skills that endeared him to both proponent and opponent.

93rd Birth Anniversary memorial oration of Late Leader of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) M Sivasithamparam at the Karaveddy, Thachchai Araneri School, Jaffna made by Leader, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Minister Rauff Hakeem

He passed away on 5th June 2002, the year he returned to Parliament after an absence of three years. On 23rd January of that year he spoke in parliament on the overarching issues of the Tamil people and by a curious coincidence I followed him immediately after. His concluding line was I quote from the Hansard “While you go ahead with committees, please get together and find a way to live so that the people of this country the Tamils, the Sinhalese and Muslims – can live in peace, in freedom and as equals.”
Since those words in 2002 we have seen the end of a civil war and the dawn of peace. We have freedom and all citizens of this land stand equal. Yet we live in a time when these agreed parameters of the social contract need repetition and reiteration. That brings me to the title of my lecture today. ‘We need new remedies to old problems.’

The immediate inspiration for my title is the profound advice of Sir Francis Bacon who warned “he that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils…” Indeed, we do have two old problems. Our first problem is that we don’t know what our problem is. In order to find a solution we must first acknowledge that the problem exists. Once acknowledged we must define it. Then we must finally commit ourselves to solving the problem.

Continue reading ‘“Our First Problem is that we Dont Know What Our Problem is” – Rauff Hakeem’ »

By

Radhika Coomaraswamy

(C.Suntheralingam: – Grandfather’s Letters – Edited by Anjalendran – A Review by Radhika Coomaraswamy)

Before I say a few words about the book, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I must first position myself re Mr. Suntheraligam. I am a grand niece of his in the way Sri Lankans define grand nieces. The direct line is not that close but my father and uncle stayed with him while going to Royal College while my grandfather circled the country as a civil servant. For that reason, Mr. Suntheralingam treated us as his grandchildren, never afraid to tender advice when he wanted to.

C. Suntheralingam (9 August 1895 – 11 February 1985)

Mr. Suntheralingam was what you term a maverick, which according to the Oxford dictionary is someone who is “unbonded”. He never belonged to anyone or any party. He was always an independent. He made alliances according to his whims and principles but was apparently loved by many.

What are the signs of his maverick status? Here are some examples- He was against all the Tamil parties of his era The All Ceylon Congress of GG Ponnambalam and the Federal Party of SJV Chelvanayagam and in the 1940s, called them all “career communalists.” But after Sinhala Only Act and the riots, he wrote a Declaration asking Parliament to debate a motion calling for the division of the country and the separation of an area called Eelam- named by him, based on an 1803 map. Everyone blocked his efforts but since it seemed so out in left field at that time, people were more amused than angry.

Radhika Coomaraswamy

Another example of his maverick status was that he was extremely religious, a die hard Hindu but he memorized the bible and was an admirer of the principals and teachers at St. John’s Jaffna and St. Joseph’s college Colombo where he got his education. Strongly anti colonial, he still managed to praise the school for encouraging him to get the University scholarship to Oxford. The colleges did not allow individuals to speak any other language but English but they recognized him as a star pupil and seemed to have put a lot of effort into helping him reach his ambitions.
Continue reading ‘“Maverick” C. Suntheralingam was the Muhammed Ali of the Tamil Community’ »

By

Jolly Somasundram

“ Whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must be silent”
– Ludwig Wittgenstein.

The front page of the “Island” of 13th July carried a media statement of His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, on delays of rehabilitation by government, of those who suffered from the explosion of ordnance at Salawa. The statement “urged Government to waive red tape”, to get the job done. In the divide of spiritual God- secular Caesar, there is no secular power higher than the power of the People. By rendering unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, elected politicians and selected public servants implement secularism- as trustees- on behalf of the People.

Physical rehabilitation is a subject devolved on Caesar. If there is failure by the trustees, it is the politician and the public servant who will pay, none can usurp that role. Physical rehabilitation is a secular activity which does not fall within the spiritual remit of God or that of His job description. Civilians are free to advice, encourage and review secular performance.

Continue reading ‘Procedures? Bungawewa! The Santa Claus Approach to Salawa Rehabilitation’ »

By P K Balachandran

A violent clash between Tamil and Sinhalese students of Jaffna University last Saturday has led an indefinite closure of the university, the only institution of higher learning in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province.

Four Sinhalese students were injured, one of them seriously, when students belonging to the two communities attacked each other following a sharp difference of opinion over allowing Kandyan dancing in a function to welcome new entrants to the Science Faculty.

As per the time-honored tradition, the Tamils in the Science Faculty wanted to welcome freshers with “mela thaalam” (traditional nadaswaram and thavil music). But the Sinhalese students insisted that Kandayan dancing, which is performed in welcoming ceremonies among the Sinhalese in South Sri Lanka, be included.

While the Sinhalese students based their demand on the fact that they form a significant proportion of the student body in the Faculty, the Tamil students insisted that tradition must be followed, especially as Jaffna is a Tamil majority area.

Continue reading ‘Tamil – Sinhala Undergraduate Clashes Result in Indefinite Closure of Jaffna University’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday appealed to the Sinhalese-Buddhist majority in the island nation to realize that the minorities have a problem and solve it if they want to live happily.

“The Sinhala Buddhist community in this country will be able to live happily only after solving the issues pertaining to other communities in the country and the first step in this regard is to acknowledge that the people in the North (Tamils) have a problem to solve,” Sirisena said in Kilinochchi, while inaugurating a German Training Institute.

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena Calls Upon Sinhalese to Acknowledge That the People in the North Have a Problem to Solve.’ »

by Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Friday (15) night took in to custody Warrant Officer 1, Premananda Udalagama from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in connection with the murder of The Sunday Leader founding Editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge.

Continue reading ‘Military Intelligence Officer Premananda Udalagama Arrested by CID over Assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge Founding Editor of “The Sunday Leader”’ »

By The Sunday Times Political Editor

Storm clouds are building over Government’s main partners on the impact of the Value Added Tax (VAT) which has dealt a blow to a large segment of Sri Lankans.

The pro-Maithripala Sirisena Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), or the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), segment is unhappy over the political fallout from this exercise. The issue has been the main subject of conversation during informal meetings. At a dinner this week at the Colombo residence of a Galle District parliamentarian, their UNP counterparts came in for bitter criticism. The reason, they said, was the embarrassment caused to them and the damage to their party. It was a recipe, they noted, for their certain defeat at next year’s planned local government elections.

The UPFA position was articulated by Minister Mahinda Amaraweera who is the General Secretary. He told the Sunday Times later; “We are of the opinion that the VAT, introduced in May, should be amended in such a way as to provide relief to those worst affected. The manner in which the tax was increased was wrong. There should have been a process to educate the public before it was enforced.”
Amaraweera said just like the public, “we too have issues with the VAT. As members of the Government we have to face the people. You cannot introduce such measures by force.” He said in the next two weeks, members in the Government would meet President Sirisena and frankly express their views on the many implications of introducing VAT. “We need to keep the President informed about the impact, particularly at a time when we are facing a local government election,” he added.

Continue reading ‘SLFP Maithri Faction and UPFA Joint Opposition Are Both Against UNP Over Value Added Tax(VAT) Issue’ »

By

Rasika Jayakody

A few weeks before the release from prison of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, in 2012, MP Namal Rajapaksa, one of the most influential members of the previous government, made a very interesting statement in an brief interview with a vernacular newspaper.

The parliamentarian, who did not hold any official ministerial or deputy ministerial portfolio under the previous administration, said the former Army Commander would be pardoned if he wrote a letter to the former President.

This statement, not so surprisingly, raised many an eyebrow as it explicitly showed the authority the former parliamentarian wielded under the previous administration. The parliamentarian enjoyed such an authority in the previous government not because he received a mandate from the people. The unrestricted executive powers enjoyed by his father elevated him to an unchallengeable position in the Rajapaksa government, allowing him to operate seemingly above the country’s legal system.

Four years down the line, the same parliamentarian was summoned to the Police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID), last Monday, to record a statement with regard to alleged misappropriation of Rs. 70 million belonging to Indian real estate company, Krrish Group, granted for development of rugby in Sri Lanka. This time, his father did not have excessive executive powers and the young politician had no option but to comply with the ongoing Police investigation.

Continue reading ‘Ravi Karunanayake Predicted Arrest of Namal Rajapaksa One Day Before It Happened.’ »

By

C.A. Chandraprema

That this government has tied itself up in knots not only locally but internationally as well became apparent last week, when the former head of state Mahinda Rajapaksa – now the central personality of the opposition – was the only important to politician to send a proper letter congratulating the newly appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain Theresa May. President Maithripala Sirisena has sent only a twitter message. It is certainly true that Sirisena ran a jazzed up presidential election campaign designed to appeal to the younger generation with his name written as ‘My3’ – sms fashion. Yet, need this be taken so far as for an incumbent head of state to congratulate an incoming head of government with a twitter message? However he at least sent a twitter message. All we heard from the prime minister about the appointment of a new Conservative Prime Minister in Britain was a deafening silence.

The UNP especially is supposed to have a special relationship with the British Conservative Party both being members of the International Democratic Union – the global brotherhood of centre-right political parties. As such, for the UNP not to send a letter congratulating the new Conservative PM of the UK borders on deliberate rudeness.

This is a direct result of the Sri Lankan government needlessly getting involved in the internal politics of foreign countries. The present government sent a special ministerial team comprising of ministers of both the UNP and the SLFP to Britain to canvass among Sri Lankan expatriates on behalf of the ‘remain’ campaign. Even Suren Surenthiran of the Global Tamil Forum had the good sense to avoid getting involved in the Remain vs Exit controversy, giving their supporters the freedom of choice probably because they had a better awareness of the ground realities in Britain. Now with David Cameron, one of the foreign patrons of this government gone, there is an awkward silence on the part of the Sri Lankan government not knowing how to react to the new powers that be in Britain whose internal and external policies will be quite different to that of their predecessors.

Continue reading ‘Maithri- Ranil Govt Faces Decision Making Problems as Constituent Partners Pull in Different Directions’ »

By

J. Angelus

Rarely does a day pass by without the clicks, scrolls and stares of social media. Among the 3.4 billion people around the globe who access the internet, nearly 2.3 billion are found active on social media sites. Specially, youngsters seem to have developed an unbreakable bond with them. Social media provides different forms of interaction. They provide a wide range of expressive tools and audience to almost any user.

Nationally, statistics reveal that nearly 2.8 million Sri Lankans are active on social websites, and 2.2 million of them use their mobile devices to update or get updated. The number has increased by a staggering 53% in the past 2 years and is certain to continue so in the future. So, we arrive at a point where it is necessary to outlook the impact of these social networking sites.

While the fact that “our world has more mobile phone users than people who use toothbrushes” may amuse you, I doubt whether you would object, if I say ‘social media’ is just another word for ‘Facebook’ in Sri Lanka. Stats confirm this statement, showing that more than 90% of social media activity by Sri Lankans has been on Facebook for the past couple of years.

Continue reading ‘Exploring the World Through Social Media is not as Good as it May Seem’ »

The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to stick to its commitments on accountability.

Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General on Tuesday responding to a question posed on Sri Lanka, recalled that there were agreements between Sri Lanka and the international community and Sri Lanka should stick to those agreements.

“There are issues between the international community and Sri Lanka and agreements to ensure accountability. And we hope those are followed,” Dujarric said according to the Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General posted on the UN website. The post is a near-verbatim transcript of July 12th’s noon briefing by Dujarric, the web said.

Continue reading ‘UN Urges Sri Lanka to Stick to Its Commitments on Accountability According to Agreements with International Community’ »

(Text of Editorial Appearing in “The Island”of July 14th 2016 Under the heading “Of that Piscatorial issue”)

Finding a solution to the problem of illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters has become a Sisyphean task owing to the wrong remedies being applied. It looks as if the process of solving the piscatorial issue would drag on till hell freezes over.

Northern fishers took to the streets on Tuesday and held a demonstration opposite the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), calling for action to prevent their Indian counterparts from poaching in Sri Lankan waters. It is time the NPC stopped pussyfooting around and took a firm stand on the issue affecting the livelihood of thousands of fishers in the North.

The central government of India has chosen the path of least resistance; it is busy trying to resolve the issue through diplomatic means to appease the Tamil Nadu politicians instead of plucking up the courage to stand up to Jayalalitha et al and tackle the issue.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government is too timid to tell India what needs to be done for obvious reasons.

Continue reading ‘Northern Provincial Council Must Pussyfooting and Take Firm Stand against Poaching by Indian Fishermen’ »

By Harischandra Gunaratna

The Movement for the Protection of the National Zoo (MPNZ) yesterday said that there were moves by certain elements with vested interests to have the Dehiwala Zoological Garden closed.

Media Co-ordinator for the movement Shantha Jayaweera said the objective of those elements was to reduce the size of the present Zoological Garden on a 21-acre plot to around 2-3 acres.

Addressing a news conference in Colombo, Jayaweera said, “A newly formed foundation which claimed to be fighting for animal rights in Sri Lanka is spreading falsehoods claiming that animals in the Dehiwala Zoo were subjected to cruelty and some of the photographs they have posted on the Internet have been taken overseas. It has obtained 15,000 signatures from the public urging the government to close down the zoo.”

Continue reading ‘Sinister Moves by Vested Interests to Close down the Dehiwela Zoo Alleges Movement for Protection of National Zoo’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

COLOMBO: In a perceptible shift of emphasis from human rights and war crimes accountability to economic development, the United States on Tuesday asked Sri Lankans to eschew divisive politics and work for the economic development of all on the grounds that democracy and post-war reconciliation can be brought about only through equitable economic development.

This was stated clearly by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Biswal, and the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights, Tom Malinowski, at a media briefing after talks with the Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera here on Tuesday.

Biswal said that US-Lanka relations are on a “tremendous trajectory of partnership” for economic development and livelihood creation in the island nation. Among the areas she listed for cooperation are agriculture, health and education.

Continue reading ‘US Policy on Sri Lanka Lanka policy Moves away from Emphasis on war crimes Probe towards Focus on Economic Development’ »

World renowned author, winner of the Booker Prize and the 13th greatest English novelist according to the TIME Magazine, Salman Rushdie sits down with Hafeel Farisz of the “Daily Mirror” for his first interview with the Sri Lankan media. Rushdie, currently a Professor and Distinguished Writer at the New York University, speaks of his controversial novel The Satanic Verses, his childhood, his views on religious and political freedom among others in this exclusive interview

Excerpts of the Interview

Q: You have been very vocal about the idea or notion of the freedom of expression. Where does this voice in you toward the need for unfettered freedom of expression come from?

A: I have lived in places where there were a serious attempts to repress speech. I remember, it was at the time I began to write ‘Midnight’s Children’, being in India during the emergency, when press censorship was very heavy. People were put in jail for expressing their opinion, including members of Indira Gandhi’s own family. I’ve had family in Pakistan all my life.-Because of the partition my family was almost split down the middle. Half my family lived in Pakistan, and the other half in India. I had cousins, aunts and uncles in India, and I would go there quite often as a young person. To be in Pakistan during various dictatorships — the Ayub Khan period, the Zia Ul-Haq period– was to experience first-hand the stifling effect of censorship. Not just censorship, but the fear of saying what you thought.

I remember visiting my cousins in Karachchi, and we were just spending an evening in somebody’s house. I can’t remember what I asked, but it was a political question regarding what was happening in the country. My cousin who was sitting across the table from me kicked me from under the table. Because I wasn’t born yesterday, I changed the subject and asked something about cricket. About 20 minutes later my cousin said to me, “It’s okay now”. I asked, “What do you mean it’s okay?” And what he said was that the person who left the room was one whom they had identified as an informer, and now that he had left the room it was okay to talk. So I asked them why they would invite him if they knew he was an informer?

And they said, If we didn’t invite him we wouldn’t know who the informer was, and somebody else would be sent along”, and that “it was better to know who the informer was than not”. So I have lived in times of censorship and I’ve had a very strong reaction against it : the moment one starts to express one’s view of the world, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, in my case it’s predominantly been fiction, there are plenty of people who won’t want you to do that. Indira Gandhi at one point wanted to take me to court. The case disappeared because unfortunately she was murdered. But it’s not unusual even for imaginative writers to run up against the power structure. If you look at literature, you see this happening in country after country. Writers trying to say ” I think it’s like this” run up against people who try to prevent them saying that. In the Soviet Union of course many writers had their lives destroyed by trying to speak up against Soviet power. At this moment in China it’s very much the case. Journalists and creative writers are oppressed and disappearing, and living in a very precarious way. For me it seemed natural that one should object to that.

Actually the first great writer I met was the Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. I knew him as a child because he was a very close friend of one of my aunts, and he became like an extra uncle to me. His work fell into two kinds. On the one hand there were ‘Gazzals’ – beautiful poetry, much of which was love poetry, and much of which of course was set to music and became popular, and made him such a popular figure. Then on the other side, there was poetry which was political. He directly engaged with the big subjects of his time, partition being the biggest. He quite naturally moved between those two worlds — the world of the public and the world of the private. And I just thought. “Oh that’s what you as a writer are supposed to do”; that you engage both with the public subject and the private subject. I have tried to do that, and of course you know, like everyone else who does that, you run up against people who don’t want you to do that.

Continue reading ‘Exclusive Interview with Famous writer Salman Rushdie by Hafeel Farisz for Sri Lanka’s “Daily Mirror”.’ »

by Zacki Jabbar

With the government sending conflicting signals on the use of foreign judges in the proposed domestic war crimes tribunal, three senior American officials arrived in Colombo yesterday.

The UNHRC, U.K. and the U.S have emphasised that the credibility of investigations into allegations of war crimes against government forces and the LTTE especially during the final stages of the war which ended on May 19 , 2009 would depend on foreign judges being drafted into the domestic mechanism that was to be established.

Diplomatic sources said that the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal , U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Tom Malinowski and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for South Asia Manpreet Singh Anand were quickly back in Colombo due to a perception that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government having Co-Sponsored the UNHRC resolution on accountability issues appeared to be dilly dallying with regard to implementation.

Continue reading ‘Three Senior US Officials Arrive in Colombo to “Encourage” Govt to Speedily Implement the Resolution it Co – sponsored at the UN in Geneva’ »

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Skills Development and Vocational Training Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe yesterday dismissed as irrelevant a statement made by Jaffna District MP M. A. Sumanthiran at a recent Congressional hearing on behalf of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in respect of foreign judges in a judicial mechanism to inquire into war crimes.

Minister Samarasinghe was responding to a query raised by The Island at a special media conference held by the President’s Office at the Information Department to explain President Maithripala Sirisena’s stand on Western intervention in Arab countries and proposed judicial mechanism to probe accountability issues here.

The Island pointed out that TNA spokesperson had declared that there was a tripartite understanding involving the government of Sri Lanka, the US and the TNA to adopt Geneva Resolution 30/1 to pave the way for foreign judges.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Samarasinghe Dismisses Statement Allegedly made by MA Sumanthiran in Washington as “Irrelevant”.’ »

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Namal Rajapaksa was arrested by the police Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) yesterday and remanded till 18 July.

Namal Rajapaksa was asked to appear before the FCID on Monday to make a statement over some missing funds. He was questioned over the misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs. 70 million.

A statement from the police noted that Indian company Krrish Group which was given a $ 650 million project under the previous Government headed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had given Rs.70 million to the Carlton Sports Network as sponsorship for a rugby tournament.

Continue reading ‘Namal Rajapaksa Arrested and Remanded till July 18 Over Corruption Charges Related to Krrish Group and Carlton Sports Network’ »

By

Chaturanga Pradeep

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa today said he had to ask the government whether it was now happy after arresting his son Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa,

Mr. Rajapaksa who was arrested by the FCID today over an inquiry of allegedly misappropriating Rs. 70 million worth of funds belonging to ‘Krish Company’, was later remanded by Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne till July 18.

Continue reading ‘Ex – President Mahinda Rajapaksa asks Govt Whether it is Happy after Arresting his son Namal Rajapaksa MP.’ »

By Uditha Jayasinghe and S.S. Selvanayagam

A Supreme Court order suspending VAT increases delivered yesterday created confusion among the private sector and left the Government rushing to provide explanations ahead of ensuring that the relevant legislation is passed in Parliament next week.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe released a statement just hours after the verdict assuring that the legislation, which has BUP_DFTDFT-1-01already been tabled in Parliament, would be passed on 20 July. However, under the verdict traders cannot charge the VAT increase from consumers till 20 July but once the revisions are implemented they will be retrospectively applicable from 2 May, creating confusion among the public.

The Supreme Court issued an interim order on Monday preventing the implementation of the recent revisions made to the Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Nation Building Tax (NBT) until the relevant legislation was passed in Parliament.

Continue reading ‘Supreme Court Issues Interim Order Preventing Implementation of Value Added Tax Increases Until Parliament Passes Necessary Legislation’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

The Joint Opposition last week appointed a 50-member ‘shadow cabinet.’ Alas, even before the ink dried in appointment letters, its members thought it was a big joke. Many wanted out, and ‘Shadow Urban Planning and Water Supply Minister’ Lohan Ratwatte (of Joel Pera fame) resigned. Thus the grand plan flopped before it was launched.

It was not clear why some distanced themselves from this latest political manoeuvre, least because no one was sure who made the appointments in the first place. After all, the ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and now the ‘shadow Prime Minister’ had little interest in parliamentary traditions when he was in power. In his good times, he made Parliament a rubber stamp, concentrated powers of the state around him and his family. He promoted a new breed of young MPs, who conducted themselves as mindless sycophants relishing in the leader’s attention, and shouting dissident voices in and out of Parliament.

Lohan Ratwatte was quoted as saying in this newspaper last week, that the ex- president himself was unaware of the appointment of a showdown cabinet with him at its helm. Thus the shadow cabinet sounds like an in- your-facefarce, no less than those independent commissions of MR presidency.

Continue reading ‘Shadow Cabinet of Joint Opposition Dissolves Into a Joke Before It took Off’ »

By

C.A.Chandraprema

After the talks on VAT with the representatives of regional chambers of commerce broke down earlier this week, anti-VAT hartals broke out in the Ratnapura and Hambantota and it appears as if things will build up into a countrywide showdown if the government does not take a step backwards. In places like Ja-ela and Ampara town, the governing parties had tried to use their influence (and muscle) to blunt the campaign by persuading some shopkeepers to keep their establishments open. Such instances were however few and far between. Last week Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera was desperately trying to justify the VAT with the argument that it was necessary to collect increased taxes to provide better services for the people. Perhaps the point that the government seems to have missed is that it would have been impossible to motivate whole towns to put up their shutters if the VAT was not hitting the retailers really badly.

Another bombshell due this week is the impending increase in bus fares. This too is related to the government’s tax policy because the private bus owners started demanding an increase in bus fares following the changes to the government’s tax policy for vehicle imports. The likelihood is that the government will increase the fares. The choice is between surrendering after the private bus owners go on strike or surrendering before they go on strike. The government is likely to choose the latter option this week which will of course mean that the people will have to bear the brunt of the bus fare hike.

In the middle of all this, the prime minister made an intervention in parliament last Thursday which has given rise to much speculation. This was the request made by him to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to overrule the Supreme Court determination given in Nallaratnam Singarasa v Attorney General in 2006 which stated that Sri Lanka’s accession to Optional Protocol I of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) needed a two- thirds majority of Parliament and approval by people at a referendum in order to become law. The prime minister had referred to it as ‘a perverted interpretation of the Constitution’.

Continue reading ‘Armed Forces are now ” Encircled ” in the same way the LTTE was in April 2009’ »

By P K Balachandran

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday reiterated his opposition to the appointment of any foreign judge in the Judicial Mechanism that is to be set up to try war crimes cases as per the October 1, 2015 resolution of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Presidential Secretariat sources told Express.

Speaking at the higher ordination ceremony of the Ramanna Maha Nikaya in Panadura, the President had said: “ Though various views are being expressed in various places regarding the bringing of foreign judges and establishing of foreign military courts to take action against the so called human rights violations during the period of war, I will not allow any national or international activity which challenges the freedom, independence and territorial integrity of the country.”

Sirisena was compelled to clarify his position on employing foreign judges because Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had told the media that government is considering all options, including the appointment of foreign judges, and that the final decision on this will be taken after consulting all stakeholders including the Tamil victims of the alleged war crimes.

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena Rules out Once Again the Participation of Foreign Judges In war Crimes court’ »

by Shamindra Ferdinando

Acknowledging that there had been divergent views in respect of having foreign judges in a domestic judicial mechanism to probe alleged war crimes, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday emphasised that a solution acceptable to the majority of stakeholders could be reached.

Minister Samaraweera said the four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wanted foreign judges on the proposed judicial mechanism whereas others opposed it. But, there could be an alternative, Minister Samaraweera said, adding that consultations were taking place, both here and abroad in that regard.

Jaffna District TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran told Congressional hearing in Washington on June 14 they expected foreign judges as agreed during talks involving the government of Sri Lanka and the US in the run-up to the Geneva sessions last October.

Addressing the media at Foreign Ministry auditorium, Minister Samaraweera said there was no need to act hastily.

Continue reading ‘“Proper Inquiry Needed to Clear the Sri Lankan Military Over Alleged Battlefield Excesses” says Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera’ »

The Joint Opposition group of MP’s loyal to Ex – President Mahinda Rajapaksa today appointed a shadow cabinet of 50 ministers.

The shadow cabinet is led by ex-president and Kurunegala district MP Mahinda Rajapaksa who has been appointed shadow Prime Minister and also given the shadow portfolios of Defence, Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs.

Dinesh Gunawardane was appointed National Policies and Economic Affairs Minister, while Chamal Rajapaksa was appointed Transport and Aviation Minister.

Namal Rajapaksa has been named Foreign Affairs Minister and Udaya Gammanpila has been named Minister of Law and Order.

Some of the other appointments to the ‘Shadow Cabinet’ were:

Continue reading ‘Joint Opposition Appoints Shadow Cabinet of 50 Ministers with Mahinda as Prime Minister cum Defence Minister and son Namal as Foreign Minister’ »

T.Ramakrishnan

The episode of the exit of former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Arjuna Mahendran and the appointment of his successor Indrajit Coomaraswamy has not created any bitter feeling between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne said on Wednesday.

Answering questions of THE HINDU at the weekly press briefing, Dr. Senaratne said there was no “SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party)-UNP (United National Party)” dimension to the issue. “In fact, after this issue, they [Mr Sirisena, who also heads the SLFP, and Mr Wickremesinghe, the UNP chief] have become closer and friendlier”

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe have Become Closer and Friendlier after Central bank Governor Issue says Rajitha Senaratne’ »

By

Shamindra Ferdinando

The four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Friday (July 1) welcomed a hard-hitting statement, issued by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, in respect of war time and post-war accountability issues in Sri Lanka. The Human Rights HC reiterated the call for international participation in the proposed war crimes probe, on the basis of Resolution 30/1, adopted on Oct 1, 2015.

The TNA comprises the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) and three former terrorist groups namely TELO, PLOTE and EPRLF formed by the government of India in the ‘80s. The TULF, too, had been part of the grouping at the onset of the LTTE-TNA relationship, though it subsequently quit. TULF, leader V. Anandasangaree, told the writer, some time back, that he quit the alliance as he didn’t want to contribute to the LTTE’s despicable strategy.

In a statement issued on the afternoon of July 1, TNA declared: “We reiterate that justice for crimes committed, in the past, by both sides, is a necessary precondition to meaningful reconciliation. In this regard, we reiterate the importance of the full implementation of operative paragraphs 6 and 7 to ensure trust and credibility.”

The TNA didn’t include the two operative paragraphs in its statement.

Continue reading ‘Revelation About Tripartite Agreement Between the Govt, TNA and US on Foreign Judges in War Crimes Court’ »

By Saman Indrajith

Parliamentary watchdog committee (COPE) meeting yesterday turned tense as UNP members tried to exonerate former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran from the Treasury bond sale scandal, while others spoke against it.

Auditor General Gamini Wijesinghe and two other senior members of the Auditor General’s Department made a presentation to the COPE members of their findings from their investigation into Treasury bond sale scandal, COPE sources said.

The UNP members in the COPE who attended a meeting held by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on the previous day on the same issue argued that Mahendran was not responsible for the massive loss from Treasury bond sale. They argued that Mahendran was only implementing a policy decision of the government.

The JVP members counter argued and demanded to know, which office had made that policy decision. They also pointed out that such a policy decision should be approved by the Monetary Board and there was no such approval but only Mahendran’s instructions to go for private placements in bond sales.

Continue reading ‘UNP Members in COPE try to Exonerate Former Central Bank Governor arjuna Mahendran in Probe on Treasury Bond Sale Issue’ »