By Meera Srinivasan The story so far- On August 13, Sri Lanka approved the arrival of a Chinese satellite-tracking vessel to its southern Chinese-funded Hambantota port. It was the second approval from the island nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after it first cleared the visit on July 12. In the weeks in between, India raised …
BY P. Waravita The Chinese Yuan Wang 5 vessel, whose arrival was mired in a geopolitical tussle, docked at the Hambantota Port yesterday (16), with a welcome ceremony attended by prominent MPs, where the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong stated that the docking of the vessel is a “normal exchange” between China and …
By Meera Srinivasan and Ananth Krishnan China’s satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 on August 16 arrived at Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota Port, despite India and the U.S. voicing concern with Colombo over the military ship’s visit. Hours after the vessel reached the Sri Lankan port, China said the “marine scientific research” activities of the …
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Government has decided not to go ahead with the recommendations mentioned in the final report of the ‘One Country, One Law” Presidential Task Force (PTF) headed by Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, as many important issues that need to be addressed urgently have arisen in the current …
BY Buwanajee Coralage Scottish national Kayleigh Fraser, who participated in the “aragalaya” (struggle) in Sri Lanka, will be given time to leave the country, said the Department of Immigration and Emigration, following yesterday’s (16) dismissal by the Court of Appeal of her writ petition filed challenging her deportation by the Department over alleged visa violations. …
By Dinitha Rathnayake Hundreds of Tamil mothers engaged in a rally last Friday (12) in Kilinochchi District to mark 2,000 days of protests and activism to seek justice for their sons who they claim were forcibly disappeared during and after the civil war. The protests commenced in February 2017 during the Yahapalana Government, which promised …
By Kishali Pinto – Jayawardene The winding down of the iconic ‘aragalaya’ (struggle) site at the Galle Face Green this Friday as the police hauled away the last remaining tents, was met by its onetime occupants, not with sadness or resignation but, interestingly enough, a calm jubilation. State aggression met by counter-aggression ‘This Government has …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka on Saturday cleared the arrival of Chinese space and satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 on August 16 at the southern Hambantota port, a day after New Delhi reiterated its security concerns over the vessel’s visit earlier scheduled on August 11. Even as Colombo was put on a delicate diplomatic …
By Sam Cabral BBC News, Washington Author Salman Rushdie, who suffered years of Islamist death threats after writing The Satanic Verses, has been stabbed on stage in New York state. The Booker Prize winner, 75, was speaking at an event at the Chautauqua Institution at the time. New York State Police said a man ran …
By Meera Srinivasan Hundreds of Tamil mothers on August 12 took out a rally in Sri Lanka’s northern Kilinochchi district to mark 2,000 days of their relentless struggle, seeking truth and justice for their loved ones forcibly disappeared during and after the civil war. Women wearing black sarees and headbands marched in Kilinochchi carrying photographs …
The Sri Lanka Government today (August 12) granted permission for the Chinese tracking vessel Yuang Wang 5 to dock at the Hambantota Port after the Indian and US Governments failed to give “concrete reasons” for why they opposed its arrival. Yuang Wang 5 will now berth at the Hambantota International Port on August 16, five …
by Sharmini Serasinghe For the first time in the history of Sri Lanka, the nation experimented with a ‘Peaceful Protest’ to oust a leader they came to hate. And they succeeded! Sri Lankans across the nation, crossing boundaries of ethnicity, religion and social class came together in what came to be known as the ‘Aragalaya’ …
By Victor Ivan The article I wrote titled “Ranil’s Destiny” and published in the Daily FT last week, had received the attention of a large number of readers; also there were several criticisms published against it. Many people in Sri Lanka seem to have lost the ability to think logically not only on the issue …
BY Dinitha Rathnayake Protestors of the “aragalaya” (struggle) attached to the “RanilGoGama”, formerly “GotaGoGama”, at the Galle Face – whose protest site at the Galle Face Green was vandalised on multiple occasions, and whose activism led to the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa – have vacated the site …
On Tuesday August 9, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe paid his first official visit to the Army HQ in the outskirts of Colombo and addressed the troops even as protesters were planning to renew the agitation to oust him from the Presidency. As it turned out, the function at the Army HQ went off without …
Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has requested entry into Thailand for a temporary stay in a second Southeast Asian country after fleeing his island nation last month amid mass protests, the Thai foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Rajapaksa fled to Singapore on July 14 following unprecedented unrest caused by Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis …
By Anushka Wijesinha (Anushka Wijesinha is a Colombo-based economist and co-founder of the public policy think tank, Centre for a Smart Future) Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has been brewing for a while. Years of policy missteps and a problematic growth model came to a head at the start of 2022, with a debilitating foreign reserves …
By Dr Ranga Kalansooriya When Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s views on the resultant crisis differed somewhat from other MPs. Holding the one and only seat allocated to his party in Parliament, Wickremesinghe argued that Ukraine had antagonized Russia without seeking a peaceful diplomatic solution, and that the West played a …
Continue reading ‘China ,India and the Ranil Wickremesinghe Foreign Policy Perspective’ »
By Victor Ivan Things in the country are happening in a ludicrous manner. Regardless of the likes or dislikes of the people engaged in the Aragalaya (youth struggle) there is one important outcome that the Aragalaya has produced in the political sense: It has been able to oust Gotabaya Rajapaksa from his office who lacked …
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Colombo Chief Magistrate Nandana Amarasinghe yesterday (8) rejected a request made by the Police to issue a restraining order against a protest planned to be held today (9), organised by several political parties and civil organisations, against President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the current Government. While informing the court that several political parties …
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin, who was released on bail after being remanded for allegedly violating a court order, was received by a large group of teachers and principals near the Lipton Circus Roundabout in Colombo yesterday (8). Stalin, a well known trade unionist, was produced before the Colombo …
China said yesterday (8) that it was “senseless and unreasonable” to “pressure” Sri Lanka to defer the planned docking of Chinese space and satellite tracking research vessel Yuan Wang 5 at the Hambantota Port citing security concerns, in a thinly veiled reference to India, which has expressed strong objection to Sri Lanka over the planned …
Amidst a potential diplomatic clash with far-reaching consequences, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is engaged in “quiet diplomacy” to persuade China to agree to its request to defer the docking of the Chinese vessel Yuan Wang 5 to dock at the Hambantota Port this week, diplomatic sources told The Morning, while the Chinese Embassy …
By Kishali Pinto – Jayawardene President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s nonchalant claim that the law operates equitably in Sri Lanka (‘the law is the same for you, me and everyone’) in a carefully calibrated address at the ceremonial opening of the ninth session of Parliament this week, bears an uncanny resemblance to what his Presidential predecessor Gotabaya …
By K.K. S.Perera Searching for the meaning of the word “legitimate,” I referred dictionaries. Piled up a cross-section of the meaning in Collins, Webster’s, Cambridge and Britannica, as given below: They define legitimize/legitimacy as to make something legal or to make it acceptable, permissible or correct.- to give official or formal sanction; to authorize, to …
By Gamini Weerakoon (The writer is a former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island, and consultant editor of the Sunday Leader.) George Orwell in ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ writes a story of a ‘Non-Party’ man (Winston) being tortured by Party Man (O’Brien) who is trying to make him accept that if all records pertaining to the …
By Dinitha Rathnayake Protestors of the “aragalaya” (struggle) have declared 9 August as a “national day of protest” (Jathika Virodatha Dinaya) in their respective cities and regions. According to sources, people will gather in their own towns to protest against State repression, especially demanding that the Government abolish the state of emergency, emergency law, and …
By the “Sunday Morning” Political Editor The Government on Thursday (4) decided to rescind the permission granted to the Yuan Wang 5 Chinese research vessel with the relevant official communication to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo being delivered on Friday (5), The Sunday Morning learns. The Yuan Wang 5’s visit to Sri Lanka that was …
By Gagani Weerakoon (excerpt from the “Ceylon Politics” Column titled “Sajith boycotts Ranil’s Tea Party in the “Ceylon Today” of August 6th 2022) After the President’s Policy Statement, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa got SJB MPs together and started to discuss about the speech. At that time, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella asked Premadasa whether they …
By Marianne David Several incidents of people being shot dead and dead bodies washing ashore along the Colombo coastline, especially at Galle Face, have been reported in Sri Lanka in recent weeks, leading to the country being engulfed in a climate of fear and indicating a breakdown in law and order. Shooting incidents in the …
By Sandun Jayawardana Two weeks after being elected to office by Parliament, President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday (3) delivered a wide-ranging policy statement to the legislature where he outlined a series of political and economic reforms. He also renewed his appeal for parties in Parliament to come together to form an all-party government to resolve …
By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene The sullen growling of the Sri Lankan populace looking resentfully on as the nation’s political establishment consolidates itself once more, in the wake of an unparalleled surge of people power leading to the fleeing of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa amidst the tactical retreat of the Rajapaksa family, must not be mistaken for …
By Shantayanan Devarajan and Homi Kharas (Shantayanan Devarajan is Professor of the Practice of Development at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and a former Senior Director for Development Economics and Acting Chief Economist at the World Bank. Homi Kharas is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Development at the Brookings …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday affirmed the island nation’s commitment to the ‘One China Policy’ and asked countries to “refrain from provocations”, in a message apparently directed to the United States, days after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan. In a series of tweets, Mr. Wickremesinghe said: …
President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday ceremonially declared opened the third session of the ninth Parliament. Following the ceremonial opening at 10 a.m. the President presented the Government’s policy statement in accordance with powers vested in him through Article 33 of the Constitution. Addressing Parliament for the first time after being elected, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed on …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Nations are made not of oak and rock but ofmen,and as the men are, so will the nations be” – Milton Meyer (They thought they were free) Sovereign defaults have a long history. Imperial Spain, imperial Britain, revolutionary Russia, republican Spain, they all did it. In 2020 seven countries defaulted, Argentina for …
By Col R Hariharan Ninth of July 2022 would long be remembered in Sri Lanka as the day the three-month long ‘Aragalaya’ peoples protest movement succeeded in forcing their elected President Gotabaya to agree to resign on July 13. However, the President agreed to resign only after protestors forcibly occupied the President’s House and secretariat …
By Ananth Krishnan United States House Speaker and veteran Democratic politician Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday evening, marking the most high-level political engagement between the U.S. and Taiwan in 25 years. China condemned the visit as “a major political provocation” and said it would launch “targeted military operations” as countermeasures, even as Beijing …
By Victor Ivan Evidently, the Aragalaya (struggle) did not have a clear idea about the goals it hoped to achieve. Also, it did not have a clear idea about the limitations of its strength. The developments of the Aragalaya, especially the fact that President Gotabaya relinquishing the presidency and fleeing away can be considered as …
By “Citizen Jane” Dear Madam Ambassador, On April 2, 2022 you tweeted “Sri Lankans have a right to protest peacefully–essential for democratic expression. I am watching the situation closely, and hope the coming days bring restraint from all sides, as well as much needed economic stability and relief for those suffering” Salutary words Madam. Neither …
By P.K.Balachandran On July 9, it looked as if Sri Lanka was undergoing a revolution through raw peoples’ power. Massive crowds had converged on Colombo to force the incompetent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit. The Presidential palace, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s office were stormed, vandalized, and occupied. But the most barbaric act …
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Noting that an intelligent and disciplined group of young people pioneered the people’s struggle or “aragalaya”, which demanded the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Government, the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) claimed however, that a few inappropriate people who joined it later disrupted the movement and caused violence. …
By Philip Wen and Tripti Lahiri Sri Lanka’s new president said the country has experienced the worst of its economic crisis and that restoring political stability will allow it to begin turning a corner, starting with finalizing negotiations for an International Monetary Fund bailout that had stalled due to recent turmoil. “I think we’ve already …
By Meera Srinivasan India has raised the scheduled visit of a Chinese research vessel to a Sri Lankan port with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, after the Ministry of Defence in Colombo confirmed the ship’s arrival, despite New Delhi giving a “clear message” on its concerns. While there is no official statement so far from either the …
By Suhasini Haidar and Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry on Thursday denied reports that a Chinese research vessel involved in space and satellite tracking would enter the Hambantota port in August this year, even as India sent a “clear message” that it was monitoring the ship’s progress “carefully”. “We have no confirmation of such …
Sri Lanka – Civil Society Statement on attacks and reprisals against peaceful protesters 28th July, 2022 We, the undersigned individuals and organizations strongly condemn the ongoing attack including violence, false labeling and legal reprisals against unarmed peaceful protesters by the Sri Lankan government. We call for an immediate end to reprisals against those exercising their …
By Krishna N. Das and Waruna Karunatilake India, which is trying to expand its influence in crisis-hit Sri Lanka after China made deep inroads there, said on Thursday it was aware of reports about the planned visit of a Chinese vessel to a Sri Lankan port built with money from Beijing. Shipping data from Refinitiv …
BY Dinitha Rathnayake and Buddhika Samaraweera Key figures of the “aragalaya” (struggle) are facing intimidation at the hands of the Government, the Police, and the military, activists allege, with arrests as well as surveillance measures, including wiretapping their phones, taking place. According to sources, Attorney Nuwan Bopage, Catholic priest Fr. Amila Jeewantha Peiris, Inter-University Students’ …
BY P. Waravita The Proclamation on the State of Emergency, announced by then-Acting President and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe on 17 July followed by a Gazette on 18 July, was debated and passed in Parliament yesterday (27), with 120 votes in favour of it and 63 against. This proclamation was made by Wickremesinghe through the …
By Jorgelina Do Rosario and Uditha Jayasinghe The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka should kick off debt restructuring talks with its bilateral lender China, while the island state’s government seeks a financing loan from the Washington-based fund. “China is a big creditor, and Sri Lanka has to engage proactively with it on a …
Singapore has extended a short-stay visa for Sri Lanka’s deposed president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, local media in the city-state reported on Wednesday. Mr. Rajapaksa fled his country on July 13, after his official residence was stormed by thousands of protesters who had demonstrated for months against the island nation’s painful economic crisis. He first escaped to …
BY Buddhika Samaraweera A suspect named Dhaniz Ali, who is alleged to have entered the Sri Lanka Rupavahini (Television) Corporation (SLRC) premises in Colombo 7 and interfered with its broadcasting, was ordered to be remanded till 5 August by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court yesterday evening following his dramatic arrest by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) …
Wajira Abeywardana was sworn in as the United National Party’s (UNP) National List Parliamentarian yesterday (27), while Minister of Education Dr. Susil Premajayantha was appointed as the new Leader of the House and Minister of Urban Development and Housing Prasanna Ranatunga was re-appointed Chief Government Whip. Abeywardena took oaths before Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. He …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Extraordinary foresight is scarcely needed to have predicted the State’s attack on Sri Lanka’s globally feted protest site at the Galle Face Green in the wee hours of Friday morning, July 22nd 2022. Why this provocative show of strength? As formidable contingents of baton wielding masked military and the police took …
By Sandun Jayawardana When the United National Party (UNP) was all but wiped out at the 2020 parliamentary elections, many were quick to write off the party and its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as a spent force in politics. It took almost a year of squabbles within the party for Mr Wickremesinghe to even be appointed …
By Gamini Weerakoon (The writer is the former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and consultant editor of the Sunday Leader) Both pundits and the hoi polloi now agree that when Sri Lanka was at the critical juncture in deciding whether to take the straight and narrow hard way or muddle through and be …
By Meera Srinivasan Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a congratulatory message to Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe, nearly a week after his rise to the island nation’s helm amid political upheaval triggered by a severe economic meltdown. Mr. Modi’s outreach to Mr. Wickremesinghe follows messages from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “A wandering fire at a terrible height – can it be a star shining like that? Osip Mandelstam (Poem 101) A walking path bordered by the sea and a bit of lawn with few struggling saplings; a ‘marina’ sans yacht or boat (like that airport with no planes). Port City Marina Promenade, …
By MICHAEL SCHAFFER The U.S. is doing a small developing country’s dirty work in prosecuting its ex-ambassador for fraud, and it may eventually be cause for discomfort along Embassy Row. In normal cases, for a foreign diplomat with an instinct for pilfering from their own government, Washington represents a safe posting. Far from home, entertainment …
Highly respected economists and former Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy has said the economic recovery will require painful treatment whilst expressing hope that President Ranil Wickremesinghe would take all the tough decisions to avoid the disastrous situation. “President Wickremesinghe is economically very literate. He knows what has to be done. At times, it has …
By N Sathiya Moorthy In what friends and admirers, especially in Colombo’s overseas diplomatic corps, had not expected of him, Sri Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe ‘swung’ into action on his day one in office to restore law and order in the country that had been badly affected since the ‘Aragalaya’ protests against the then …
Ranil wickremesinghe is a familiar sight to anyone who has taken even a passing interest in Sri Lankan politics in recent decades. First elected to Parliament in 1977, he has held a variety of cabinet jobs over the years, including, on six occasions, that of prime minister. His most recent stint was in the service …
By Ameen Izzadeen For his admirers, Ranil Wickremesinghe is the president Sri Lanka has lost and found. The late former minister Mangala Samaraweera once described Wickremesinghe as the best president Sri Lanka never had. In his previous two outings as a presidential candidate, the victory was his, but on both occasions Wickremesinghe lost through no …
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Although two Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) National List Opposition MPs had expressed their desire to resign from their positions as MPs to enable former Speaker of Parliament and incumbent National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) Chairman Karu Jayasuriya the opportunity to enter Parliament, Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa had allegedly vetoed …
By P.K.Balachandran Disruptive and violent populist movements have undoubtedly registered successes, ending oppressive regimes and giving the dumb millions a voice to express dissent forcefully. But in the long run, these movements have delivered only partially and that too, briefly, literature on the subject shows. The question that is in the minds of observers of …
By Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Colombo Sri Lankan security forces have carried out a violent early morning raid on the main anti-government protest camp in Colombo, beating protesters, destroying tents and arresting nine people. Friday’s raid saw thousands of police and troops armed with riot gear descend on the protest camp, known as Gota Go Gama, …
By Meera Srinivasan A huge military contingent, along with police, raided Galle Face in Colombo early on Friday, where anti-government protesters have peacefully agitated for over three months in the wake of the island nation’s grave economic crisis. Several protesters were assaulted by soldiers, eyewitnesses said. The military attack on the main agitation site comes …
By Saroj Pathirana The military in Sri Lanka has taken control of the presidential secretariat in the capital after “brutally assaulting” the protesters. Soldiers also destroyed tents at the adjacent GotaGoGama protest site, arrested several protest leaders and cordoned off the area together with about 100 protesters. The military assault came hours after the protesters …
The new Cabinet of Ministers were sworn in today before President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the Prime Minister’s Office. Accordingly, 18 cabinet ministers including former minister Ali Sabry were sworn in today. Former minister of Foreign Affairs G.L Pieris who proposed Dullas Alahapperuma as the presidential candidate has been removed from his ministerial portfolio and replaced …
By Meera Srinivasan Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sworn in President of Sri Lanka on Thursday, is expected to appoint long-time Rajapaksa loyalist and senior politician Dinesh Gunawardena as Prime Minister, a source close to the President’s office told The Hindu. Further, Mr. Wickremesinghe will continue with the last-appointed Cabinet until Opposition parties are “ready to …
By Meera Srinivasan Six-time Prime Minister and acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on July 20 elected President of Sri Lanka — a post that has eluded him despite a near-half century political career — in extraordinary circumstances of a political crisis triggered by the island’s economic crash. Mr. Wickremesinghe won 134 votes in the 225-member …
Perseverant Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday reinforced his often underestimated prowess by becoming Sri Lanka’s 8th Executive President, comfortably winning a secret ballot from Parliamentarians with support mainly from colleagues loyal to ousted Rajapaksa regime. Of the 225-member Parliament, 223 voted with 2 MPs (MPs Selvaraja Gajendran and G.G. Ponnambalam) abstaining and 4 ballots rejected as invalid. …
President and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (20) invited all political parties in Parliament to join hands for the betterment of the country, while thanking the majority in Parliament for electing him as the 8th Executive President of the country. “I spent 45 years of my life in this Parliament. My life …
Army yesterday issued a tougher warning to unruly protestors saying that its soldiers have been empowered to use force to protect lives and State property from any harm. In a statement Army said members of the armed forces and the Police in terms of provisions, vested in them by the Constitution of Sri Lanka have …
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that his party’s candidate was unable to win the Presidential election in Parliament today. “We presented Dullas. We voted for him, but lost. Somebody has to win,” he told media in parliament. “He (Ranil) got more votes, so he became the president. That’s what has happened. We are waiting to …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka will witness a three-cornered race for Presidency on Wednesday, as the island awaits a new leader and government after an astounding people’s uprising ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa last week. Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe; the formerly Rajapaksa-aligned, and now independent Dullas Alahapperuma; and the leftist Anura Kumara Dissanayake were on Tuesday nominated …
By Dr Reeza Hameed On 13 July 2022, Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled from Sri Lanka under cover of darkness to an unknown destination. Even before his departure he had been in hiding. On the day he left, the country was informed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as his stand-in during his absence …
Continue reading ‘Parliament’s role in electing the President When the Office became vacant’ »
Prime Minister and Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday briefly recapped multiple achievements during the past 67 days in office. In a special statement, Acting President Wickremesinghe explained that when he took over as Prime Minister on 13 May the economy had collapsed, with power cuts lasting five hours a day. In the two months since …
The all-important Presidency will come up for a secret ballot today morning in Parliament with a close fight expected among the top two contenders in the three-cornered battle. When nominations were called in yesterday in Parliament, Prime Minister and Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was proposed by SLPP MP Dinesh Gunawardena who is tipped to be …
By Meera Srinivasan The staggering visual of tens of thousands breaching the high, iron gates of Sri Lanka’s heavily guarded Presidential secretariat and residence on July 9, to unseat its most powerful politician, is still playing on loop in everyone’s mind. It was less than three years ago, in November 2019, that the former soldier …
By Kishali Pinto -Jayawardene Carefully choreographed images of Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe hovering solicitously over injured soldiers in the Army hospital on Friday following clashes with protestors on the road to Parliament, is telling at several levels. Flagrant disregard of constitutional niceties Widely televised as his first act in office, this followed the resignation of …
By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema Beleaguered former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the first president of Sri Lanka to be forced out of office mid-term as well as flee the country after facing months of protests by the public that finally resulted in thousands storming into the President’s House, Presidential Secretariat, and Temple Trees on 9 July. …
Newly appointed Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday reiterated that he will protect the Constitution and will not allow any group to destroy democracy in Parliament. “We are obliged to uphold democracy. I am bound to protect the Constitution. I will never allow anything unconstitutional to take place in our country. I am not working outside …
By Chandani Kirinde Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the Acting President before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya yesterday shortly after the official announcement of the resignation of incumbent Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The six-times Premier Wickremesinghe will function in his interim post till 20 July when MPs will vote to elect a successor to Rajapaksa …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has officially resigned, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced Friday morning, ending days of uncertainty since the widely despised leader fled the island, dislodged by monumental public protests over a grave economic crisis. Mr. Gotabaya, currently in Singapore, had sent his resignation letter by email on Thursday, but …
by Dr. Reeza Hameed The popular uprising against the Rajapaksa regime started with the demand for the resignation of President Rajapaksa and the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Mahinda Rajapaksa to his credit saw the writing on the wall and quit, but Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not. The President appointed MP Ranil Wickremesinghe who entered Parliament …
By Chandani Kirinde President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced out of office by waves of public protests, sent in his registration letter from Singapore yesterday bringing to an end nearly three years of rudderless and chaotic rule. The President, who fled the country on Wednesday, emailed his resignation letter via the Sri Lanka High Commission …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday sent his resignation letter by email from Singapore, the Parliamentary Speaker’s office said, deferring an official announcement to Friday in order to verify the “authenticity and legality” of the document. The development came a day after Mr. Gotabaya, who rose to power in 2019 on …
By Azzam Ameen A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Maldives to Singapore believed to be carrying Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the world’s most-tracked flight on Thursday (July 14), underscoring massive global interest in the troubled island nation’s political affairs. Saudia flight 788 from Male was being tracked by almost 5,000 users as of …
By Chandani Kirinde Sri Lanka was pushed into a political impasse yesterday with the much-anticipated resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa not materialising and instead Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed Acting President, setting off a fresh wave of protests which continued late into last night. Wickremesinghe’s appointment as Acting President was confirmed last night by way …
BY Meera Srinivasan Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the island and reached the nearby Maldives in the early hours of Wednesday, ahead of his promised resignation, days after enraged protesters overran his office and residence in a protest sparked by a devastating economic crisis. However, a top official in Maldives, who asked not to …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the island and took refuge in the Maldives early on Wednesday, ahead of his promised resignation, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting President, the island’s Parliamentary Speaker said. The announcement came even as enraged protesters overran the Premier’s office in Colombo, in the midst …
Amid the emergence of “fascist” forces attempting to prevent a peaceful and democratic transition of power, the Armed Forces and Police have been instructed to restore normalcy, alongside the declaration of a State of Emergency and curfew to assist these efforts, Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe said, issuing a video statement a short while ago. Recalling …
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in his first appearance since a mob burnt down his private residence said he would safeguard the Constitution “A government must act according to the Constitution. No one can go beyond it and force or dictate Parliament from outside on how it should act. I am here to safeguard the Constitution …
By Dinesh Wijesinghe (The writer is an entrepreneur and investor in the food and beverage industry) The jubilation on the ground is almost palpable. It seems that the declared goal of the #Aragalaya, which was #GoHomeGota, has achieved its purpose of forcibly ousting a President, who was duly elected by the people of this country …
By Dr.Nihal Jayawickrama The Speaker of Parliament announced to the nation on Saturday night that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had informed him that he would be resigning from office on Wednesday 13 July. Following a meeting with party leaders held earlier that day at his official residence, the following course of action was announced: a) The …
Sri Lanka’s embattled President flew out of his country early on Wednesday, in a probable prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests over the island nation’s worst-ever economic crisis. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised during the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power”, after fleeing his …
BY Buddhika Samaraweera At least 10 people were injured during a clash yesterday (12) in the premises of the Prime Minister’s official residence, the Temple Trees, which was taken over by the people during the massive public protests on 9 July. When contacted by The Morning, a person who was near the Temple Trees premises …
By Hanna Ellis-Petersen The Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has made a failed attempt to flee the country as airport staff stood in his way and forced him to beat a humiliating retreat. Rajapaksa, who is due to officially resign on Wednesday after months of demonstrations calling for him to step down, was reportedly trying …
By Meera Srinivasan The United States rejected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s recent request for a visa, The Hindu learns from a top official, amid growing speculation over the besieged leader’s “attempts to flee” the country after promising to quit office. Mr. Gotabaya, formerly a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and the U.S., gave up …
By Jamila Husain President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday signed his resignation letter, dated for July 13 and the Speaker of Parliament will publicly announce it to the nation tomorrow, the Daily Mirror learns. The resignation letter of the President was signed and handed over to a senior government official who will hand it over to the …
By Chandani Kirinde Parliamentarians will vote to elect a new President by secret ballot on 20 July if no consensus is reached on a single candidate to take over the Presidency after the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Party leaders who met yesterday agreed to call for nominations for the post of President on 19 …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka on Monday was rife with speculation over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s whereabouts, and uncertainty over the island’s political future, two days after citizens mounted massive resistance against the two leaders over an unprecedented economic crisis. President Gotabaya, who has promised to resign on July 13, was on Monday flown to an …
By Krishantha Prasad Cooray Saturday the 9th of July was a moment of truth for our people. In coming together to Colombo in an unmistakable show of force, Sri Lankans brought to life the words of Albert Einstein that “in the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” Sri Lanka has never faced a crisis …
UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena says that the Prime Minister cannot resign as per the constitution in a situation like this. Answering questions raised by reporters if the Prime Minister is going to step down, the former MP said that constitution needs to be followed and that there is no clause in the constitution to do …
By Meera Srinivasan Political parties in Sri Lanka are scrambling to form an all-party government, a day after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to resign in the wake of a historic citizens’ protest. Sri Lankans are living through a harrowing economic collapse, where anti-government protests persisted for three months over the …
BY P. Waravita Three youths were arrested in connection to the fire at Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence at 5th Lane last Saturday (9) night and have been remanded until 20 July by the Fort Magistrate’s Court. “Three people were arrested yesterday – one is 19 years old, the other 21 years, and the third …
By Dinitha Rathnayake Eleven journalists attached to three media outlets, namely TV Derana, News First and Sky News, attacked by the Police while covering the protests in the country last Saturday (9). The Police had attacked journalists near Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence in Colombo 7, and during the protest at Chatham Street. Reporters …
By Meera Srinivasan Sunday was nothing like Saturday near Colombo’s seafront. It was much less crowded, but still teeming with people. They were curiously surveying the Presidential Secretariat and official residence, a day after outraged demonstrators captured and occupied the iconic colonial-era structures, in a stunning finale to a season of protests in crisis-hit Sri …
By Buddhika Samaraweera While condemning the torching of the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday (9), former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said that there is no need for violence to oust a government that lacks the support of the people. Making a special statement regarding the prevailing situation in the country, she …
Dumbfounding constitutional pundits, the largely peaceful protestors in hundreds of thousands inspired by the three-month old ‘Aragalaya’ on Saturday forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to announce their resignations. Defying shortage of fuel and public transport, anti-Rajapaksa people countrywide took to the street on Saturday and converged at GotaGoGama at Galle Face …