ECONOMYNEXT – The on-line edition of the Guardian newspaper has taken down a question it asked about islands around the world after the Sri Lankan government objected. Colombo’s envoy to London High Commissioner Saroja Sirisena wrote to the editors of the newspaper after seeing a question in a travel quiz which read ‘Eelam is an indigenous name for which popular holiday island?’ When a reader selects the correct answer which was Sri Lanka, a further description ‘the full name of the island’s recent military insurgency was LTTE – Liberation Tigers…
Read MoreDay: 17 May 2020
TNA Seeks Release of Tamil “Political” Prisoners:Party spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran hands over a list of the detainees under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism (PTA) Act to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa For Potential Action
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has sought the release of “political prisoners” who were arrested — some convicted — for their alleged association with or role in the rebel LTTE during the civil war. On Tuesday night, TNA spokesman and former Jaffna parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran handed over a list of the detainees under Sri Lanka’s controversial Prevention of Terrorism (PTA) Act to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. “There are 96 political prisoners in all and 47 of them were convicted. Only a presidential pardon can release them,”…
Read MoreTNA Scores Politically By Responding To PM Mahinda’s Invitation Positively
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj When Seven major opposition parties made an offer of responsible cooperation in return for restoration of Parliament to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa they were rudely rebuffed. When his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa invited all former MP’s of the dissolved Parliament for a political conference, he was rebuffed (but not rudely) by all opposition parties. All parties except one. Of the seven opposition parties who jointly made the responsible cooperation offer, only the Tamil National Alliance(TNA) accepted the premier’s invitation albeit with reservations. By responding positively to PM Mahinda…
Read MoreI Have No Confidence in the A-G” – EC Member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole
“As an Election Commission Member, I Refused to let the Attorney -General Represent me in the Supreme Court Because I Have No Confidence in the A-G” – EC Member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole By Prof. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole On 11 and 12 May, several newspaper and websites quoted the Attorney General as stating in Court that day that he could not represent the Election Commission in the ongoing FR petitions on the Parliamentary Elections. The Attorney General represented by ASG Indika Devamuni de Silva said that the AG would represent…
Read MoreSumanthiran has been frank and forthright in his answers
TNA Leader Sampanthan Commends Party Spokesperson Sumanthiran for Providing “frank and forthright i answers” to “questions that were asked with the deliberate purpose of promoting mischief and disunity amongst the people of this country” (Text of Statement Issued by R Sampanthan Leader of the Tamil National Alliance and former Member of Parliament) My attention has been drawn to the interview said to have been given to the media by Mr. M. A. Sumanthiran, President’s Counsel, former Member of Parliament Jaffna District, and Spokesman for the Tamil National Alliance. Mr. Sumanthiran…
Read MorePresident Rajapaksa Puts Soldiers in Charge of Everything
Sri Lanka Lurches Further Away From Liberal Democracy as President Rajapaksa Puts Soldiers in Charge of Everything Thereby Creating “Normalisation” of Military Influence in the Civilian Sphere- The Economist Posted by Administrator on 16 May 2020, 6:46 pm BEFORE THE presidential election he won last November, Gotabaya Rajapaksa laid out for Banyan his vision for Sri Lanka. It was a sunlit upland of peaceful, inclusive “knowledge-based” development. All the political bickering of recent years, “Gota” promised, would be swept aside by his programme of brisk, technocratic proficiency. His years as an army officer would…
Read MoreMalaria Created The LSSP, Covid-19 Is Showcasing The Military
By Rajan Philips – Rajan Philips “Even in those cases in which political and military leadership is united in the same person, it is the political moment which must prevail over the military.” ~ Antonio Gramsci Honestly, when I started this short series of articles comparing the malaria epidemic to the current pandemic, I did not foresee it ending in today’s title. History and political logic have a way of asserting themselves, sometimes serendipitously, sometimes harmlessly, and ominously at other times. Nonetheless, the title of the article should be taken for its metaphorical…
Read MoreRecord 14,617 soldiers to be promoted to mark War Heroes’ Day
A record 14,617 soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army are to be promoted on 19 May to mark the National War Heroes’ Day, the Army said today. The promotions will take place concurrent with the pinnacle of the day’s state commemoration scheduled to be held at the National War Heroes’ Monument at Battaramulla, Sri Jayawardenepura, headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The Army said that Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army, who was keen on turning those long overdue and…
Read MoreMalaysian Muslim organisation calls on Sri Lanka to approve Islamic practice
A Malaysian Muslim organisation has called on Sri Lanka to allow the bodied of Muslims who died of Covid-19 to be buried according to the Islamic practice. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM) said that the current religious slur on the minority group of Muslims does not augur well to the pluralistic make-up and harmonious co-existence of the Sri Lanka nation. In a letter published on the New Straits Times, MAPIM President Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid said that allowing religious prejudice to dominate the minds of people will…
Read MoreNearly 39,000 Sri Lankans overseas seek to return home
Nearly 39,000 Sri Lankans overseas have sought to return home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Foreign Ministry said that over 38,983 Overseas Sri Lankans (OSLs) in 143 countries at present have sought to return home, based on information gathered mainly through the ‘Contact Sri Lanka’ Web Portal of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. This comprises 3,078 students, 4,040 short term visa holders, 27,854 Migrant workers, 3527 dependents and 484 duel citizens and others. Meanwhile since 21 April, up to now, 3600 OSLs have been repatriated from 15…
Read MoreTamils urged to act strategically by forming partnerships with stakeholders by GTF
Tamil people and their leaders have been urged to take stock of the challenges and opportunities in the present political climate and act strategically by forming partnerships with all relevant stakeholders in Sri Lanka and in the international community. The Global Tamil Forum (GTF), an influential diaspora group based in the UK said that the importance and urgency of securing pragmatic and tangible gains, with the objective of fulfilling the political and economic aspirations of the Tamil people, cannot be overstated. The GTF today joined Tamils worldwide in commemorating the…
Read MoreTNA assures fullest cooperation to new Indian HC
TNA leader R. Sampanthan had assured new Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, on Thursday, his party’s fullest support to the latter on all matters that both countries have worked on for a long period, a statement issued, yesterday, by the TNA said It said: New Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, presented his credentials to the President and assumed duties as the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. Later on, High Commissioner Baglay had a telephone conversation with the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance…
Read MoreForeign Secretary has called on migrant workers as well as students and parents, to carefully calibrate the effect repatriation
Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha has called on migrant workers as well as students and parents, to carefully calibrate the effect repatriation at this time could have on their jobs and education, before making decisions to seek to return to Sri Lanka, availing of the limited flights being operated by the Government for those facing compelling circumstances. He made this observation yesterday (16 May 2020) in an appearance on the ‘News at 9’ on Sri Lanka Rupavahini, where he noted that over 38,000 Sri Lankans are seeking to be repatriated, of…
Read MoreUNP, SLFP share common ground on feasiblity of holding General Election on schedule
by Zacki JabbarThe SLFP, which is contesting the Parliamentary Polls on the Podujana Peramuna ticket, shared common ground with the UNP, on the feasibility of holding the elections as scheduled on June 20 when the two parties along with 32 others met the Elections Commission in Colombo, last week. General Secretaries of the UNP and SLFP, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and Dayasiri Jayasekara respectively, who not long ago worked together in the post-2015 government, but parted ways when their leaders fell out, had urged the Elections Commission to take a final…
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