27th January 2016

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that what is expected from a new constitution is only about how the power of the government is devolved.  TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumandiran said “the best method to prevent the country getting divided is the devolving of power based on federal principles” During a media communiqué held in Colombo yesterday the TNA parliamentarian said a permanent majority and permanent minority community exist in the country and according to the current electoral method all the decisions are taken only by the majority community. Sumandiran said that this situation should be changed and amend the constitution where all the community in the country can use the governance. The MP said if we need to find a solution to the national problem […]

COPENHAGEN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — The Danish Parliament on Tuesday passed a controversial bill that tightens rules on asylum applications and empowers the authorities to confiscate valuables of asylum seekers to finance their stay in the country. Lawmakers in Copenhagen voted 81-27 in favor of the new austerity measures, aimed to make the country less attractive for refugees and migrants. Under the law, Danish police will now be able to search luggage of asylum seekers and seize cash and any individual items worth over 10,000 Danish kroner, or about 1,452 U.S. dollars. Wedding rings and any other items of sentimental value are exempted. It also favors delaying family reunifications for some refugees by up to three years instead of one year, and making it harder […]

The Government today said it will brief Parliament on the alleged offshore accounts of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella said that the Prime Minister will need some time to gather the information related to the accounts in order to brief Parliament. He was responding to a question raised by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on statements made recently by cabinet spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senaratne on the alleged offshore accounts of Rajapaksa and his family. Dissanayake told Parliament that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe must make a clear statement to Parliament on the offshore accounts. He said that while Senaratne had revealed details of the bank accounts another Government Parliamentarian had claimed he had seen the account details. Dr. Rajitha Senaratne […]

“This may be a last opportunity to defeat divisive and extremist forces in different parts of our country, and work towards a just society and a sustainable environment of peace, security and prosperity for all our people.” says the Friday Forum. Issuing a statment last night the Friday Forum said; “While discussions on a political solution have focused on devolution and power sharing with the provinces, our statement puts forward for our fellow citizens and parliamentarians some principles and ideas that we think are fundamental to address the structural problems that have undermined the body politic of our state and society since independence, and have created an environment for conflict and tension among communities.” We publish below the statement in full; PRIORITIES IN WORKING TOWARDS […]

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Missing Persons’ Commission headed by retired Justice Maxwell Paranagama, has requested the government to extend its term by a year from February 15, 2016 as it still has thousands of cases to investigate. Justice Paranagama told Express on Tuesday, that out of the 14,000-odd representations from civilians before it, interviews have been conducted only in 5,000-odd cases so far. “And we haven’t even touched the 5600 representations from the families of disappeared Security Forces personnel,” he pointed out. The commission was set up during the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime on August 15, 2013, and its term has since been extended more than once. In September 2015 the UN human rights chief, Prince Zeid, threw a bombshell by asking the government to wind it up […]