Month: November 2018

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirsena by sacking Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26 this year has not only precipitated the country into a political crisis, this is likely to lead to an economic disarray. Ousted finance minister Mangala Samaraweera not only reminded of the country’s outstanding debt of $1 billion, repayment of which needed a legitimate government and functioning legislature, he further pointed to the Article 148 of the Sri Lankan Constitution which provided for the Parliament’s full control over public finance and thereby…

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By Gayathri Gunasekara The Lawyers Collective warned that the present political crisis will lead to a situation where Sri Lanka will be suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth over anti-democratic actions taken by President Maithripala Sirisena. President’s Counsel J.C. Weliamuna said if the President doesn’t restore democracy, Sri Lanka will have to face dire consequences in the near future. “Suspension is the most serious punishment that can be administered to Members of the Commonwealth and it can be humiliating,” said Weliamuna. The Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles govern issues such…

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A fund to enable rehabilitated LTTE combatants to begin afresh consequent to their social re-integration will be established. Rehabilitation, Resettlement, Northern Development and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister Douglas Devananda, on his recent tour in the Jaffna district said he will take action to help former LTTE combatants in their social integration. Under the state rehabilitation programme, close to 13,000 former combatants have been rehabilitated. The Minister stated that the Office of the Rehabilitation Commissioner General had done a commendable service in the rehabilitation of these ex-combatants. Devananda said he would…

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ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s main minority party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Thursday asked President Maithripala Sirisena to restore the government that existed prior to October 26 saying they support Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government. The TNA said their 14 members will support a government of the United National Front (UNF), but stopped short of demanding Wickremesinghe’s restoration, leaving it to the United National Party (UNP) dominated  UNF. The TNA in their letter to President Sirisena said the man he installed as prime minister on October 26, Kurunegala district MP Mahinda Rajapaksa had…

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New party’s headquarters buzzing with activity; its main tactician says new policies are also being worked out SLFP Gen. Sec claims party’s support base intact; hopeful of forming a new alliance with SLPP under a common symbol “Let the power of the village take the country forward,” it says, in bold yellow Sinhala letters. “I can’t speak for the SLFP,” said Basil Rajapaksa, wearing a shirt in the SLPP’s trademark maroon The SLPP considers Israel to be a good example of how to take an economy forward, Mr Rajapaksa said.…

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Mahinda Rajapaksa was Supposedly Appointed by Sirisena to Salvage the Crumbling Economy but the Purported Prime Minister Has only Presided Over an Accelerated Economic Collapse for a Month. By Ranga Jayasuriya Not long ago, the stooges of Mahinda Rajapaksa, and MR himself, spewed some fanciful justifications for the contested ( and obviously unethical) sacking of Ranil Wickremesinghe, and MR’s appointment as prime minister in one Friday night quirk by President Maithripala Sirisena. One argument was that MR was appointed to salvage the crumbling economy. That Ranil though had a vision, was…

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Several photo journalists and cameramen who were at the Fort Magistrate’s Court premises to cover the case in which Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Ravindra Wijegunaratne allegedly involved in, had been attacked by several men who arrived on motorcycles a short while ago. CDS Wijegunaratne appeared before Colombo Fort Magistrate this morning, over his alleged involvement in the case of harbouring former Navy officer Prasad Hettiarachchi alias Navy Sampath. Several journalists had been injured in the incident which took place when the CDS was coming out of the Court complex…

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Rajapaksa’s Backdoor Entry Into PM Chair Wrong, His Popularity is Going Down, Says Arjuna Ranatunga Sri Lanka’s former Minister for Development of Petroleum Resources Arjuna Ranatunga says the controversial appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister was a ‘wrong decision’ as the government at that time was anyway getting unpopular. New Delhi: Sacked Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe may not be the most popular leader at present, but he is still giving tough competition to current the PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, says Sri Lanka’s former Minister for Development of Petroleum Resources…

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Confusion reigns supreme in Jaffna and the North-East today as thousands of people came forward defying magisterial orders to celebrate the birthday of the Tamils Leader Prabhakaran, The North was a sea of red and yellow flags symbolizing the Tamil National colour. Jaffna is at its noisiest today.  The LTTE Graveyards (called Maaveerar Thuyilum Illam, or Great Heroes’ Sleeping House) in Kopay, Uduthurai and Chaati are all places of great celebration of the “Great Heroes of the LTTE”.  In addition 7 LTTE Graveyards in Mullaitivu, 2 in Kilinochchi, 2 in Mannar and 1 in…

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President Maithripala Sirisena claims that only a few diplomats are concerned about the political situation and constitutional issues in Sri Lanka. Then it was pointed out that no country had officially recognised the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, President Sirisena during a meeting with the Foreign Correspondents Association at his Paget Road residence in Colombo 7 on Sunday, said, ” Only four or five diplomats are making a fuss. All the others are silent”, so Mahinda is recognised. He also alleged that former Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake had interfered with…

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The European Union and US are seriously considering “Individual” type sanctions on Sri Lanka coup plotters as a start before possible economic sanctions arrive next, according to sources close to Western Diplomats in Colombo. EU’s “Individual Restrictive Measures” type of sanctions involves visa restrictions and asset freezing of individuals who destabilized the target country. In Sri Lanka’s case, visa restrictions and freezing of assets of new PM Rajapaksa, that of all his cabinet ministers, as well as all MPs, officials and individuals who backed Rajapaksa, likely to be initial salvos…

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By Jekhan Aruliah Soon after I moved to Jaffna in 2015 I heard rumours of this fantastic food court run by war widows. Friends driving North from Colombo said they found it somewhere on the A9 near Killinochchi in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. It was a year before I actually got round to visiting the place in Killinochchi, about 1.5 hours drive (depending on who is driving, I know someone who can do it in an hour) from Jaffna Town, only to find some months later there is one within…

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The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) says it will never support newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa because of the violence which took place in Digana when he was President. SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem said that Rajapaksa is feared by the minorities.  “Under no circumstances will we allow the return of the Rajapaksa regime which was inherently corrupt and intrinsically evil. Feared much by the minorities’ they remind us of the horrors of the past. We all know who were behind the Digana incidents and how they have got released,” he said. Hakeem…

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Parish priest of St Anne’s Church, Kurana, Negombo, Rev Father Cyril Gamini Fernando yesterday lashed out at power hungry parliamentarians causing constitutional crisis at the expense of the country. The former Catholic Church spokesman, in his Sunday sermon, alleged that the country was in a sorry state for want of national leadership. Referring to allegations pertaining to some lawmakers switching allegiance to rival political parties for personal benefit, Rev. Father Fernando called for urgent remedial measures. Commenting on incidents in parliament during the third week of Nov following the reconvening…

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No economic miracle, no numbers in the House: only the folly of jumping the gun when he could have shouted ‘Bingo’ next year and truly had it all Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brazen boast that he had the Midas touch to turn the country’s economy around and turn, through his own personal designer brand of alchemy, Lanka’s copper to gold is, it seems, now in peril of being proved false. Four weeks after he had been surreptitiously sworn in as Lanka’s new Prime Minister in the twilight hours of October…

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http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/3016 by D.B.S.Jeyaraj Hello Friends Today November 26th is the birthday of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE)Leader Thiruvengadam Veluppillai Prabhakaran. Had he been living Prabhakaran would have celebrated his 64th birthday today. Incidently today is also the birthday of former National Security minister Lalith Athulathmudali. He would have been 82 if he were living. Prabhakaran was killed in battle on May 18th 2009 and body discovered on May 19th. I have written extensively about Prabhakaran in the past. I wrote an article a week after he died. This was for…

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There is a trend among some Buddhist monks to rage against Muslims on social media By Sonia Sarkar Lately, Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have been losing their temper a little too often. There was that incident from March this year, when a young monk raised a battle cry against Muslim Sri Lankans. “The sword at home is no longer to cut jackfruit; so, kindly sharpen it and go,” he exhorted. In September, when three men bared their bottoms at the sacred Buddhist site of Pidurangala Rock, had pictures taken and…

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