But will this interim government bring political stability? The man who is the primary cause for the economic ruin and on whom people have lost confidence is hiding behind the constitution and continuing as an autocratic president. Aragalaya demands him to step down. At least a couple of party leaders in the opposition had declared that they would not, on principle, join RW’s interim government as long as GR remains in that position. In the meantime, the ousted Prime Minister, who should have been arrested by now for his role…

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By Meera Srinivasan Scores of people on Wednesday gathered in Mullivaikkal village, in Sri Lanka’s northern Mullaitivu district, to remember the tens of thousands of Tamil civilians who were brutally killed in the final stages of the civil war in May 2009, when the armed forces crushed the LTTE. Simultaneously, dozens came together expressing solidarity in a rare public remembrance event in capital Colombo, at Galle Face, the ocean front where citizens’ groups are protesting for 40 days now, asking President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to quit over the economic crisis stifling…

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(This article from “The Economist” appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Gota go”) On paper, at least, Sri Lanka is one of the wealthiest countries in South Asia, ranked by the un on a par with much of eastern Europe in terms of development. Yet the country of 22m people is suffering severe food shortages, locked petrol pumps and power cuts lasting as long as 13 hours a day. The currency has lost nearly half its value against the dollar over the past two…

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Dear Prime Minister, As I watched you take oaths at the Presidential Secretariat, my mind was drawn to the last time you did so, on 16 December 2018, on day 52 of the 52-day coup plot that was mounted against Lankan democracy. On that Sunday morning, you were flanked by your wife, Dr. Maithri Wickremasinghe and several senior opposition MPs in what still feels like the finest hour in the history of our constitutional democracy. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Several political parties rallied around you, putting the constitution before party…

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Media freedom is a promise that has been common among every government that comes to power, although each of their tenures has, equally commonly, been marked by incidents that have violated or undermined media freedom. The latest of such incidents was reported on Tuesday (17), sadly from the venue that is meant to set an example for the rest of the country – Parliament. According to reports, two Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna MPs had allegedly snatched the mobile phones of two journalists – Prageeth Perera and Kasun Samaraweera – for…

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Sri Lanka is grappling with its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. But amid this serious economic situation, Tamils on the island and around there world are going to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the civil war’s end on May 18, a war that lasted from 1983 to 2009, ushering in the so-called  Mullivaikkal massacre committed by the Sri Lankan Army. Almost at a similar time every year on May 15, around 12.4 million Palestinians around the world commemorate the Nakba or catastrophe, which refers to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Israelis and the near…

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United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister last Thursday. His appointment comes at a time when the country is struggling to overcome its worst ever economic crisis, since gaining independence from the British in 1948 and in the midst of a soaring cost of living, severe shortage of essential commodities including medicines and medical equipment, domestic gas, petrol, diesel and kerosene. He has taken up the challenge of rebuilding the badly bloodied, battered and bruised country when none of the other political party…

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India’s Supreme Court has ordered the release of one of the convicts involved in the 1991 murder of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. AG Perarivalan was in jail for over 30 years. In 1998, he was sentenced to death, but it was later commuted. Arrested at 19, Perarivalan was convicted for procuring batteries that were used in the bomb to kill Gandhi. Gandhi was assassinated by a female suicide bomber as he addressed an election rally in Tamil Nadu state.

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A heated situation erupted in Parliament when Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam yesterday (17), alleged that Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena stopped him chairing Parliamentary Sitting  and invited SLPP MP Shantha Bandara to preside, when he was invited to the chair by the staff. Raising a Privilege Matter in the House, Rasmanickam said, when he was invited to chair the Sitting, Gunawardena sent messages to the Secretary General of Parliament asking Bandara to be invited instead of him. “This is a matter of my privilege. Before…

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While insisting the 9 May attack was State terrorism, MP Udaya Gammanpila yesterday (17), called for the arrest of all politicians who instigated the attack on peaceful GotaGoGama protesters to restore public faith on law and order. Speaking in Parliament, Gammanpila extended his condolences to the family of MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala who was killed in Nittambuwa and MPs whose properties were damaged during the unrest. “We have to condemn all kinds of terrorism equally. The attack on GotaGoGama protesters was State terrorism. Those who attacked the protesters were summoned by…

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Thousands of Tamils killed in Sri Lanka’s decades-long separatist war were commemorated on Wednesday for the first time outside the minority’s heartland in the north and east of the country. Clergy from Buddhist, Hindu and Christian communities offered prayers in Colombo and lit a clay lamp for those who perished between 1972 and May 2009 when the fighting ended. The ceremony coincided with the 13th anniversary of the ending of hostilities. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220518-sri-lanka-honours-tamil-war-dead-after-13-years

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Ask P’ment to release those including Prez implicated in CoIs’ report  Cops, Army personnel and politicos named, Families of the Disappeared org. claims BY Dinitha Rathnayake  The Families of the Disappeared organisation in Sri Lanka is calling on the Parliament to release all the names collected by Presidential Commissions of Inquiry (CoIs) into the alleged perpetration of enforced disappearances in the late 1980s, including the list that names President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his role in the Matale District where more than 700 persons disappeared while he was in charge. “The…

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Today, on May 18, millions of people worldwide are commemorating the 13th anniversary of the massacre at Mullivaikal that ended Sri Lanka’s horrific, 26-year communal civil war. On May 18, 2009, the Sri Lankan army finally surrounded 400,000 Tamil civilians and surviving Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters in a 6km radius around Mullivaikal. The Sri Lankan government had initially declared the area a “no fire zone” and told civilians to go there to be safe. However, the army then launched a mass artillery barrage on the men, women…

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Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who stepped down from his position amidst growing public agitations, arrived in the Parliament to attend today’s proceedings. This is the first time Rajapaksa made an appearance in the House after resigning as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on the 9th of May. He vacated the position the same day, in the wake of nationwide public furore following an attack by ruling party supporters on anti-government protesters outside the Temple Trees and at the Galle Face Green in Colombo. On May 11, Defence Secretary…

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The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court has ordered to remand SLPP MPs Sanath Nishantha and Milan Jayatilleke until May 25.  The two parliamentarians, who were arrested in connection with the attack on the anti-government protest sites in Colombo on the 9th of May, were produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court earlier today.  The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had arrested MP Nishantha at the Flower Road in Colombo last evening while he was later brought to the CID office to record a statement. MP Jayathilake was apprehended near the Sri Sambuddhathva…

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By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka on May 15 said it will “duly investigate” information flagged by Indian intelligence agencies — that ex-LTTE were “regrouping to launch attacks” in the island — and “strengthen security”, a day after authorities denied the claim reported in The Hindu. On May 13 The Hindu, citing Indian intelligence sources, reported that “some erstwhile cadre” had entered Tamil Nadu to “plan and execute” attacks in Sri Lanka that is in the grips of a crippling economic crisis and political uncertainty. The attacks were being timed with…

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There was complete pandemonium on Saturday (14)when embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with SLPP legislators for the first time since the latest wave of mob violence, which led to arson attacks against many of them.Tight security granted to the president’s personal shaman, Gnana Akka, in Anuradhapura was figured at the meeting with angry MPs asking why the army protected her while legislators faced the wrath of mobs without any protection. The Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) legislators had been invited for a closed-door meeting at the President’s tightly-guarded “Janadhipathy…

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Maithri announces change of stance Meeting to discuss portfolios today PM to meet other independent parties soon The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) yesterday (15) stated that it would support all correct decisions taken by the Government to resolve the current economic crisis in the country, and that it was willing to discuss the allocation of ministerial portfolios to SLFP MPs, two days after stating that it would neither be part of a government under the new Prime Minister, nor accept any portfolios. This was stated in a letter directed…

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Health Minister Ma Subramanian, on Sunday, inspected the drug warehouse in Chennai which stores essential medicines that the State plans to send to Sri Lanka, in the first phase. By Express News Service CHENNAI:  Health Minister Ma Subramanian, on Sunday, inspected the drug warehouse in Chennai which stores essential medicines that the State plans to send to Sri Lanka, in the first phase. The Tamil Nadu government had passed a resolution in the Assembly last month to send medicines worth Rs 28 crore to the crisis-hit island nation which is in…

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ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka police have arrested over 200 suspects over the mob violence and arson attacks that occurred on May 09 after supporters of ex-Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked a peaceful protest in Colombo. Police media spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa said in a statement that around 230 suspects were arrested for incidents of property damage around the country. “Around 707 cases of vehicle and property damages were reported. More complaints are still coming in and so far around 230 suspects regarding those incidents have been arrested,” Thalduwa said. The…

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