Day: 10 February 2015

By Cyril Wimalesurendre KANDY – Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) decision to establish an all-party administration in the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) was devoid of any ulterior motive, SLMC leader and Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage Minister Rauf Hakeem said in Kandy yesterday (09). Minister Hakeem was speaking to media after calling on the prelates of Malwatte and Asgiriya temples to mark his assumption of office at the new ministry. The SLMC invited other the parties including the TNA to join hands with it to from the administration of…

Vasudeva,Dinesh,Wimal and Udaya Want Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Ministerial Candidate Against Ranil Wickremesinghe By Lahiru Pothmulla Four political allies of the United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) today expressed sentiments in favour of fielding former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Ministerial candidate at the forthcoming general elections. They said there was no other hope to defeat incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and added Mr. Rajapaksa had already secured 5.8 million votes in the January Presidential Election. “This is not a battle against President Maithripala Sirisena but a move against Prime Minister…

Muslim Congress Aligning with UPFA to Form Eastern Province Administration Strikes Serious blow to Tamil-Muslim Reconciliation By Latheef Farook In the east of the island the destiny of Tamils and Muslims remains intertwined and, inevitably, they share both adversity and prosperity. Thus it goes without saying that it is always in the interest of the two communities for their political parties to work together. Under such circumstance the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, SLMC, entering into an agreement with the United Peoples Freedom Alliance, UPFA, to form the Eastern Provincial Council…

Families of those reported missing during and soon after the war staged a demonstration in Jaffna today seeking the intervention of the new Government to find those missing. The family members of those missing staged a protest walk and later demonstrated outside the Jaffna District Secretariat. Several politicians, including those from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) took part in the demonstration. The family members, who had yesterday staged a similar demonstration in Mullaitivu, held placards and cried during the protest. They also handed over a petition to the District Secretariat to…

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLFP), which was earlier part of the UPFA Government, before backing President Maithripala Sirisena at the last Presidential elections, said that it will work with the United National Party (UNP) at the Parliament elections. SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, speaking to reporters in Kandy today, said that an agreement had already been reached with the UNP on the Parliament elections. “We had reached a Memorandum of Understanding before the Presidential elections,” he said. Hakeem said that the SLMC will also look at supporting a National unity Government after…

Last week I had a view of another lagoon—in Jaffna. On Thursday, early in the morning, I took the Chinese built train to Kankasanturai that ran on Indian tracks after Vavunia. The train took more than seven hours to reach Jaffna, my destination. This time I travelled by train after 35 years; my last train journey to Jaffna was in July 1980, during the time of the general strike. Extending the railway to North is undoubtedly commendable. My last visit to Jaffna on A9 was in 2011 for the demonstration…

By Jehan Perera In the immediate aftermath of the change of government and government policy following the presidential election there has been a flurry of visits to Sri Lanka by representatives of foreign governments. The representatives of the foreign governments who are currently visiting Sri Lanka come with a broad mandate to get acquainted with the new situation and to assess the prospects for sustained change. Sri Lanka has several unique factors that give it an importance that is disproportionate to its size. Its strategic location in the Indian Ocean…