ECONOMYNEXT – Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa who is opposition United People’s Freedom Alliance in Kurunegala has dropped minority Tamils and Muslims from his list of candidates to head a Sinhala-only team. The former leader was not present at the Kurunegala district secretariat to submit nomination forms leaving the menial task to his deputy and former energy minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa. Kurunegala, the third largest electoral district with a vote base of 1.26 million has a seven percent Muslim population. Political analysts see the total absence of minority candidates in the UPFA…
Read MoreDay: 14 July 2015
Estate workers demand drastic change
BY Mirudhula Thambiah JVP-led All Ceylon Estate Workers’ Union (ACEWU) Leader Ramalingam Chandrasekaran said, it is time for the plantation community to remain vigilant to bring about a change in the estates through the upcoming General Elections. “Now the people of the plantations have united to struggle against injustice. Similarly, they should struggle to bring in a change in the plantations too,” he said. Following are excerpts: ?: Talks on the Plantation Collective Agreement has been dragging for the past four months. No salary increments have been offered so far.…
Read MoreSinhala Buddhist vote
Sinhala Buddhist vote With the battle lines at this juncture drawn between Sri Lanka’s two main parties, namely the SLFP-led UPFA and the UNP, where both parties derive their strength from Sri Lanka’s overwhelmingly strong 75% Sinhala majority, it was the UPFA which won the majority of the electorates at the 8 January 2015 presidential poll, data published in this newspaper’s 10 January 2015 edition showed. The leader of the UPFA then was Mahinda Rajapaksa, defeated by Maithripala Sirisena at that poll. Though Sirisena, the new SLFP-UPFA Leader won the…
Read MoreMonks and murder suspects in Sri Lanka election (In Mahinda’S Group).
ECONOMYNEXT – A host of Buddhist monks and murder suspects are among over 6,000 candidates seeking election to the 225-seat parliament where members enjoy perquisits, power and pensions. Among the venerable priests seeking an “honourable” title before their names is Galagodaaththe Gnanasara of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) which former president Mahinda Rajapaksa blames for his January 8 defeat. Former deputy minister Premalal Jayaratne who is in remand custody in connection with the killing of a supporter of President Maithripala Sirisena in the run up to the January election was…
Read MoreReconciliation To Play A Key Role At Polls
Maithri-Ranil government addressed some issues, but more to be done… By Easwaran Rutnam As the Government closes shop and prepares to face what is likely to be a hard fought battle at the Parliament election, the Tamils in the North will be looking back at the past six months to see what President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have done for them before deciding on their vote on August 17. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition Government had promised to improve the lives of the people who had suffered in the…
Read MoreJVP National List of Professionals & Intellectuals: UPFA National List of Criminals & Fraudsters
Setting a new trend in the political stratosphere, the Janatha Vimukthi Permuna (JVP) yesterday presented a national list fully comprised of professionals, intellectuals and civil society representatives. None of the front-line members or the party’s ex-Parliamentarians had been given national list slots, unlike in the UNP and the UPFA. Among the national list members of the JVP are former Auditor General S.C. Mayadunne, Chrishmal Warnasuriya, Upul Kumarapperuma, Prof. A.J. Ruhunuhewa, Prof. Susiripala Manawadu, Prof. Kapila Perera and Prof. Piyadasa Ranasinghe. Cartoonist Winnie Hettigoda, Charles Dayananda, writer Anthony Jeewa, Sajeewa Chamikara,…
Read MoreUpcountry Tamils In Plantations: Politics A Void Situation?
By Vijayanathan Loganathan – With the nomination saga ending mid-day 13 July both UPFA and UNP are widely covered by the media and political discourses drawing from the drama that unfolded during last few weeks. These ascendancies however have diminished the visibility of minor parties elsewhere in the country. There is attention paid to JVP as a third force covering much of its positions and speeches but seemingly less focus on plantations where there is sizable voters and once termed as a turning point in electoral politics. LateThondaman was often…
Read MoreVideo: Several displaced politicians join UNFGG: JVP
The newly formed United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) is made up of several politicians who were displaced in the wake of President Maithripala Sirisena deciding to nominate Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said today.JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said those who opposed the United National Party (UNP) led government had withdrawn their objections before signing the Memorandum of Understanding for political benefits. He said some of them had put aside their party identities and their party symbol and the leadership because they would not have otherwise…
Read MoreI will NOT back MAHINDA I am against him says President Maithri
Sri Lankan voters urged to demand assets of parliamentary candidates EconomyNext – Sri Lankan voters should ask candidates at next month’s parliamentary polls to declare their assets and only vote for those with good education and experience and a national outlook, a minister said. “To get a job you need a real qualification and a character certificate from a referee who is of some social standing,” said Deputy Investment Promotions Minister Eran Wickremeratne……………….. read more Demand for bribes deterred German investments in Sri Lanka: Eran EconomyNext – German investors like car…
Read MoreOffense that Rajapaksa committed was turning a blind eye to the activities of his corrupt politicians including Mervyn Silva
So far, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has failed to execute what it promised in the first place for the goodness of the Buddhism, Advisor to the Bhikku Voice Organization (Pevadi Handa Sanvidhanaya) Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thero said. The observation was made at a press conference held at the Sri Abayaramaya Temple in Narahenpita on Tuesday (14). “For political gain, no political party ever used Buddhism as a tool. Apart from the JHU, there is no other political party that harmed the Buddhism this much” Nalaka Thero said. The Thero also went…
Read MoreKurunegala will be MR’s Waterloo
Kurunegala will be MR’s Waterloo Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, who leads the UNP’s Kurunegala district team, vowed to defeat former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in Kurunegala similar to that of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was considered invincible but was defeated at Waterloo. ……..READ ALL MR enters Guinness Book History has been repeated in a short space of eight months where a political alliance has once more been formed to try to make certain that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa would stay defeated. (See yesterday’s Ceylon Today)…………… read all RW-MR battle Former President…
Read MoreSLMC to give turbo boost to Ranil’s campaign
By Shamindra Ferdinando The SLMC has refrained from fielding a Muslim candidate on the UNP nomination list for the Colombo electoral district in a bid to garner the support of the entire community to Premier and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at the August 17 parliamentary polls. An eight-day nominations period for the polls closed at noon yesterday. SLMC leader and Minister Rauff Hakeem said that his party would go flat out in Colombo during nearly five-week long campaign. Hakeem was responding to a query by The Island soon after Premier Wickremesinghe accommodated the Eksath Jathika Yahapalana…
Read MoreGovernment to build two Police Stations in Jaffna
The Sri Lanka government is of the view that one of the steps to be taken for strengthening the civil administration after ending the conflicts of the war is widening the Police Stations and government offices. Accordingly, the government plans to expedite the building of two Police Stations in the war ravaged Jaffna. The Cabinet of Ministers has given approval to expeditiously build Police Stations in Jaffna and Point Pedro by increasing the estimated expenditure for the Jaffna Police Stations from Rs. 294.8 Million to Rs. 484.1 Million and by…
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