The four-lane highway leading out of the Sri Lankan town of Hambantota gets so little traffic that it sometimes attracts more wild elephants than automobiles. The pachyderms are intelligent — they seem to use the road as a jungle shortcut — but not intelligent enough, alas, to appreciate the pun their course embodies: It links together a series of white elephants, i.e. boondoggles, built and financed by the Chinese. Beyond the lonely
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had said the proposed new Constitution would safeguard the country’s unitary status and the pre-eminent place afforded to Buddhism. Therefore, the country can rely and place confidence on the assurances given by them, Malwatte Mahanayake Most Ven.Tibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera said.
China has called for an end to geopolitical competition in Sri Lanka, pointing out that all countries should work to promote mutual development.
The Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Yi Xianliang, addressing a ceremony to mark the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China at the BMICH in Colombo last week, said that China would maximise the synergy of each other’s development strategies
Sri Lankan authorities have arrested seven people, including at least one Buddhist monk, suspected of storming a United Nations safe house for Rohingya Muslim refugees last week.
Monk Akmeenmana Dayaratana and another suspect were arrested Monday and ordered to remain behind bars until at least Oct. 9, said police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara. He said the other five suspects were arrested and remanded over the weekend.
The 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council closed just a few days back, on the 29th of September. At that session, there were allegations of genocide, systematic discrimination, rape and torture in custody, extrajudicial killings and militarization leveled at Sri Lanka besides a call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid al Hussein, for the second time in two sessions, for Universal Jurisdiction to be exercised. Universal Jurisdiction allows the courts of another country to prosecute a Sri Lankan citizen for alleged violations
The Interim Report on Constitutional Reforms submitted to the Constitutional Assembly (CA) by the Steering Committee last month has proposed to change the composition of Constitutional Council to increase civil society representatives.
The ten-member Constitutional Council (CC), is an apex decision making body that makes recommendations with regard to the appointment of high ranking public and judicial officials
The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) said today the Interim Report of the Steering Committee on Constitutional Reforms had craftily challenged the foremost status given to Buddhism despite the assurance given by MP Jayampathy Wickramaratne.
PHU Leader and MP, Udaya Gammanpila said according to Dr. Wickramaratne the foremost status given to Buddhism had not been harmed.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today appealed to Parliament to work together to achieve a political solution for the national issue.
The Prime Minister made the appeal when he addressed Parliament today during a special sitting of Parliament to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of Parliamentary Democracy in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission has called for an urgent meeting tomorrow with several Ministries to discuss the incident involving Rohingya refugees.
The Cultural Affaies Ministry, Justice Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and the Ministry of Law and Order are among the institutions summoned for the meeting tomorrow.
Sri Lanka will sign a deal with Russia to procure a Gephard 5.1 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Navy, the Cabinet of Ministers decided last Tuesday.
The Russian built Gepard 5.1 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). The NATO identification is Gepard Class.
The unanimous decision came on a recommendation from President Maithripala Sirisena who is also the Minister of Defence.
The Commercial High Court of the Western Province has granted a landmark interim injunction, which was sought by an Indian company over mass counterfeiting in Sri Lanka.
The matter, which was held before High Court Judge, Mahinda Samayawardhena, was declared to be a ‘textbook case of violation of intellectual property rights”
The Ministry of Law and Order and Southern Development issuing a press release on the recent upheaval related to Rohingya refugees says that though several groups have begun to create tension on the presence of such refugees here, eight years ago, when they were present in the country such groups had not uttered a word.
The Ministry has charged that certain groups with vested interests are attempting to cash in
The Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Bill was passed by Parliament with a 2/3 majority and signed into law by the Speaker. The need for a 2/3 majority is reported as being based on the advice of the Attorney General. Whether the Bill provides for the Governors to take over the functions of the Provincial Councils at the end of their statutory period or not, the present understanding is that the Governors would be responsible for the functioning of
President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday assured that there would be no room for a division or a separation of the country under the proposed new constitution.
He also assured that his government would not in any way dilute the position given to Buddhism that has already been guaranteed in the present constitution. He made these remarks yesterday in response to the comments of several Maha Nayaka Theras,participating in a ceremony held at Gemunupura in Ampara.
People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has stressed the need to include provisions in the proposed campaign finance law to monitor transnational funding to political parties during elections.
It has submitted proposals to be included in the campaign finance law which would govern the finances of candidates during election campaigning. PAFFREL Executive Director
Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake said that expediting the removal of Army Camps in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, is not suitable under the present circumstances.
At a media briefing on Thursday (28) in Kandy, he said that according to the Chief Minister of the Northern Province there are 180,000 soldiers based in the region.
In the aftermath of the enactment of legislation to change the electoral system for Provincial Council elections, the government will appoint a committee on Monday to work on the delimitation of new electorates for the purpose, a Minister said today.
Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Faizer Mustapha held a top level meeting with the officials of the Elections Commission on Wednesday to work out modalities for this purpose.
As the government celebrated its second Right to Information (RTI) day this year, Mass Media and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera believes that a more watchful public will lead the way to an efficient government service.
“Experience around the world has shown that when the people have information and they are watching, the public service is forced to perform,”Minister Samaraweera said. Addressing a
Mr. President, a myth has been spread over the years, that there is discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Out of a population of 22 million people in Sri Lanka, 11.2% are Northern Tamils while the upcountry Tamils who came to Sri Lanka during British colonial times, are about 4.1%. But these are not the only minority communities in Sri Lanka; 9.3% of the Sri Lankan population are Muslim. Several other minority communities such as Burgers and Malays amount to 0.6% of the population. The majority community is obviously Sinhalese at 74.9%.
The Maha Nayaka of the Amarapura Maha Nikaya Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thera and the Buddha Sasana Karya Sadaaka Mandalaya, a leading Buddhist organization, has opposed certain sections of the Interim Report on the new Constitution that was presented by the steering committee of the Constitutional Assembly recently.
A statement issued by the organization said the report has suggested the inclusion of "Sri Lanka
The Sri Lanka Army says it is prepared to engage in open dialogue with the United Nations to address alleged war crimes.
Addressing media after calling on the Chief Prelates of the Malwathu and Asgiri Chapters in Kandy today, Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake dismissed allegations in this regard.
Former External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday accused the government of having turned a blind eye to the plight of security forces officers and men facing war crimes allegations.
Referring to statements UK MP Paul Scully as well as Northern Provincial Council member
The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) congratulates the people of Kurdistan on their recent success in conducting a referendum in their homeland and among the Kurdish diaspora.
The Kurdistan people were subjected to genocide under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Notably, during Saddam’s genocidal Anfel campaign between 1986 and 1989, tens of
The United Nations on Wednesday raised concern for the safety of Rohingya Muslim asylum seekers in Sri Lanka after Buddhist monks and hardline nationalists forced them to flee a U.N. shelter in the capital Colombo.
The refugees, who were detained in April along with two suspected Indian human traffickers in a boat off Sri Lanka’s coast, are now in a camp in southern Sri Lanka to ensure their security after the incident in the capital.
Interestingly the Constitutional Assembly Steering Committee’s interim report, presented to Parliament by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on September 21, was largely a document containing ethnically sensitive issues. In the light of the report, one would wonder whether constitution-making is nothing other than handling ethnically sensitive matters.
The report deals with devolving power to the provincial councils, merger of provinces, unitary
