Author: Karu

President Ranil Wickremesinghe in conversation with some of those who attended the all-party leaders meeting yesterday President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday stressed that all political parties should unite to provide a solution to the ethnic problem by Independence Day celebrations 2023. He emphasised that all political parties should come to a common agreement to provide a solution to the ethnic problem by the upcoming 75th Independence celebration. President Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed this while attending the All-Party Conference held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. The President convened this conference with the aim…

An all-party meeting was held here to discuss the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution as mooted by India to resolve the long-standing demand for political autonomy for the minority Tamils in the island nation, political leaders said on Wednesday. The Tamil parties which participated in the meeting on Tuesday urged the government to hold the northern provincial council election. The 13A is already a part of the Constitution and it is a point that most parties agreed to, Tamil Progressive Alliance leader Mano Ganesan told PTI. Ganesan, who represents…

President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that all political parties should come to a common agreement to provide a solution to the ethnic problem by the upcoming 75th Independence Celebration. President Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed this while attending the All-Party Conference held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (13) afternoon, Presidential Media Division said. The President convened this conference with the aim of finding a solution to the ethnic problem through national reconciliation. “We must all come together to solve the problem in this country. Whether it is called an ethnic problem or something…

Following Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) Convenor Wasantha Mudalige being further remanded until 17 January 2023, after being produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (13), several parties including the IUSF and “aragalaya” (people’s struggle) activists have raised concerns regarding the actions of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), and the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Department. Mudalige, who was in remand custody under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA), was produced before Colombo Additional Magistrate T.N.L. Mahawatte last morning. President’s Counsel Saliya Pieris who appeared for Mudalige informed the court that…

Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Opposition MP Mano Ganesan, speaking during the all-party conference on reconciliation held yesterday (13) at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, expressed that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the devolution of power through the system of Provincial Councils (PCs) should be both the starting point and the way forward with regard to resolving the national ethnic issue, which, he noted, is not solely relegated to the North and the East of the country.  “The…

By M. A. Sumanthiran – M.A Sumanthiran PC Thank you Honourable presiding member. I am glad to speak on the 3rd Reading, particularly on the votes of the Ministry of Justice today when my good friend at the Bar Hon. Ali Sabry is the minister of Justice. We’ve had a long association. He occupies a very prestigious post that of a Minister of Justice, In the olden days it was occupied by somebody who was from the Senate – from the upper house – because it was a prestigious office to hold. However I think…

By Jehan Perera – Jehan Perera The passage of the budget by a comfortable majority confirms that the government’s parliamentary majority is holding in the face of adverse circumstances. The ruling party has lost over twenty of its members who no longer follow the party line. But the rest of them appear to be staying together despite the lack of a clear and public leadership. Prof. G L Peiris who gives leadership to one of the breakaway groups has assailed the ruling party members for having betrayed the mandate on which they…

Jayaraj Palihawadana, until recently the UK representative of the political party of the former Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has apologised unreservedly in court to South African human rights lawyer and activist, Yasmin Sooka, for making false statements against her. Sooka initiated a data protection claim in the UK under the Data Protection Act 2018, challenging the publication of inaccurate personal information detrimental to her reputation. Jayaraj Palihawadana published a report which he sent it to 47 diplomatic missions in Geneva in 2021 falsely claiming that Sooka was biased in favour…

By Kishali Pinto – Jayawardene The New Year that beckons in less than a month will not be happy for Sri Lankans. Leaving the land As the unprecedented migration of skilled professionals from medical, legal, information technology and accounting fields gathers strength with financial privations becoming steadily worse for the middle class, a perfect storm of repression also quickens apace. The more naive among us may be inclined to dismiss President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent gun-happy quips on the floor of the House regarding his ‘Hitler image,’ entirely inappropriate verbal onslaughts…

(Text of Speech made in Parliament by Jaffna District TNA Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran on 05th December 2022 ) Thank you Hon. Chairman of Committees. Out of those 26 minutes that I have, I will speak for 20 minutes, the balance 6 minutes will be taken by Hon. Govinthan Karunakaram. I am glad that both Ministers whose ministries are being discussed at the committee today are present in the chambers, Ports, Shipping and Aviation; and Justice, Constitutional Affairs and Prison Reforms. I have seen a report that Sri Lankan Airlines in…

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Last week’s article in these columns about Sri Lankan Tamil nationalist parties seeking a power sharing arrangement based on federal principles or the federal idea resulted in my getting quite a lot of responses from readers. Most of the messages as usual were from Sinhala readers while a few were from Tamil readers also. Despite differences in writing styles and usages of words and phrases among the readers who responded,there were two underlying themes in the two different categories of responses. The Sinhala readers expressed doubts and concerns…

Cites exploitation of prevailing political instability, economic depression  BY Buwanajee Coralage President Ranil Wickremesinghe used the political instability and economic depression in the country to become President similar to how Adolf Hitler came into power with the aid of the Nazi Party in Germany back in the 1930s, claimed Nidahas Janatha Sabha Leader and “independent” MP Dullas Alahapperuma, while addressing a political gathering in Badulla on Sunday (4). “Wickremesinghe is a President born out of political anarchy and economic depression at the time. Back in the 1930s in Germany, Hitler…

Leader of the Up-Country People’s Front, member of the Tamil Progressive Alliance, and MP for Nuwara Eliya District, V. Radhakrishan, compared Karnan to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, saying Karnan was a good man and a great giver, but because he was with Duriyodhanan, he was harassed by Lord Krishna. Similarly, President Wickramasinghe is a fine scholar. But he is on the wrong side, which is why many people, have rejected him for following the Dharma path. He said so while addressing the public meeting on Monday (5) at Watawala Plantation. He…

Senior Indian politician Subramanian Swamy has met former Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo. Subramanian Swamy was accompanied by a group of Indian lawyers and businessmen during his meeting with the former President.  The Bharathiya Janatha Party politician is expected to call on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena tomorrow.   Subramanian Swamy had called on former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the sidelines of his visit to attend the 15th International Research Conference organized by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU). Known to be a close ally of…

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “Was there then no essential difference between the ruler and the ruled?” Salman Rushdie (The Enchantress of Florence)> Sri Lanka, unravelled and unravelling, is mesmerised by a new wonder: the Lotus Tower. When that monumental symbol of Rajapaksa folly was opened to the public last week, people thronged to pay the entrance fee, ride to the top and gaze down. A monk enthused that he felt close to the highest of Buddhist heavens. Women thanked Mahinda Rajapaksa for enabling them to have this wondrous experience.It was as if…

ByD.B.S.Jeyaraj Sixty-three years ago on September 25th 1959 the Prime Minister Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (SWRDB) of Sri Lanka known as Ceylon then was shot and seriously wounded by a Buddhist monk. Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike succumbed to his injuries and passed away the following day. Thereafter September 26th 1959 got etched as an important date in the post-independence history annals of Sri Lanka. In later years , political assassinations became a regular feature in Sri Lanka.These killings proliferated when the armed secessionist conflict in the North –East and…

The Rajapaksa saga continues: As Gota flies in, Basil flies out with SC ok Like a thief in the night, he flees the island state, furtively sneaking out past midnight’s godless hour aboard a military jet, deserting his presidential office and leaving his country in the ruins he wreaked. In dereliction of duty as Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces and Executive President, he leaves his burning country at the mercy of unknown fates. He transgresses his vow, repeated oft, that, come what may, he will not run away, and…

By Buddhika Samaraweera Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera said that he would not take any notice of the criticism and sarcasm on social media platforms, particularly on Facebook, regarding his participation in an event to mark the Saudi National Day on Friday (23). Commenting on the social media posts in question to The Morning, he said: “Anyone can criticise or use sarcasm, but who cares about them? When they think they have had enough, they will stop. People in this country only know to sarcastically…

While claiming that Sri Lanka unconditionally recognize the fact that one has a fundamental right to freedom of expression, foreign minister Ali Sabry however told UN General Assembly’s 77th session that this freedom must be within the constitutional order “Freedom of expression is sacrosanct and must be exercised within the confines of the law., he said. The minister also said that confronted with overlapping challenges, developing countries and their economies are at extreme risk with Governments facing debt-default and financial collapse due to a lack of access to adequate capital,…

Claiming that a recent report indicated that at least 32 Sri Lankan citizens go abroad every hour, Chairman of the National Movement for a Just Society Karu Jayasuriya said it was a sign of a country’s rapid decline. He told a an even held in Chilaw recently that more than 500 doctors have left the country in the last eight months. “Hundreds of intellectuals including engineers are going abroad. Facing severe disillusionment and disappointment, they are now leaving the country hoping to at least provide their children with the best…