Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe faces a backlash from his own party, after a minister revealed several parliamentarians were ready to put forward a no-faith motion against him, if he refuses to step down as party leader. State Minister of Irrigation Palitha Range Bandara told reporters yesterday that a “number of MPs are ready” to back a no faith motion against the current prime minister, calling on Mr Wickremesinghe to step down from his position as head of the United National Party. "In this situation, the UNP has no further journey,” he said. “The UNP needs to make a...
The Northern Provincial Council has passed a resolution calling for an “international justice mechanism” headed by the United Nations in order accountability and “permanent peace” in Sri Lanka. The resolution, passed earlier today, notes frustration with the Sri Lankan government stating that it has “not only failed to take meaningful steps towards implementing” a UN resolution on calling for a hybrid accountability mechanism, but that senior government leaders including the president and prime minister “have clearly and categorically proclaimed that they will not fully implement the...
Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in on Monday as the country's Law and Order Minister, following Sunday's Cabinet reshuffle. The reshuffle came after the local government election results where both parties within the unity government were defeated by the former president's SLPP party. The reshuffle has been reportedly criticised by the UNP MP, Ravi Karunanayake, who was quoted by the Daily Mirror as describing it as "a joke". Reports within the Colombo press said that Mr Wickremesinghe took the position only as a temporary measure and another reshuffle would follow...
The Tamil National Alliance remembered the late Una McCauley, the UN's resident coordinator in Sri Lanka, who passed away last week, in a message released on Saturday. "Ms Una McCauley was a compassionate and committed person, who always cared for the marginalized and underprivileged communities," the TNA leader, R Sampanthan wrote in his condolence message. "Her contribution and commitment towards finding soluations to the issues faced by the Tamil people will never be forgotten and it will definitely go into the history of Sri Lanka. "Her untimely demise is a great loss to all those who...
Sri Lanka’s debt has reached a record high said the government’s Auditor General in this year’s report on Public Debt Management. The country’s debt has climbed to a record Rs. 417,913 per person by the end of 2016, an increase of nearly Rs 45,000 from the year before. In contrast, by the end of 2005, the debt per person stood at Rs 108,908. Moreover, the Auditor General said that debt would continue to rise due to the continuing depreciation of the Sri Lanka rupee and the inclusion of a considerable amount of foreign debt as part of the total public debt, which also continues to increase...
A former Sri Lankan police officer testified before a magistrate of how police in Colombo were instructed to destroy evidence relating to the murder of Sunday Leader editor, Lasantha Wickramatunga in 2009. Senior Superintendent Hemantha Adhikari, who now works as a security guard at a private company, confessed before the Mount Lavinia magistrate, and revealed how he was reportedly instructed to destroy evidence gathered from the crime scene. His confession, which came about as the former police officer reportedly “feared his own arrest”, comes in the wake of several senior officers being...
Bell Helicopter Textron, a US-based aerospace company, marked 50 years of sales of helicopters to the Sri Lankan military by presenting an award to a military official in Singapore earlier this month.
Dozens of Sinhalese in London, describing themselves as "patriot Sri Lankans", demonstrated in Westminster on Saturday in support of Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, the Sri Lankan Defence Attaché that was seen making death threats to Tamil protestors. The demonstrators held placards with slogans such as "Eelam is a delusion" and "arrest and deport them", while chanting "Sri Lanka, one nation." The demonstration was billed as a mass rally on Sinhalese social media platforms but turnout remained under one hundred.
ITAK, the main constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance, urged the international community to hold the Sri Lankan government accountable for its commitments around reconciliation, accountability and human rights. In a statement welcoming the UN Human Rights chief’s report, the party said they “strongly endorse” the High Commissioner’s recommendations and “strongly urge the international community to hold… Sri Lanka accountable.” The Sri Lankan government’s “lethargic progress” in addressing issues pertaining to the repeal of the PTA, release of civilian lands, the forcibly disappeared...
A global watchdog has warned that there are deficiencies in the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to stem money laundering, including in the implementation of sanctions on North Korea and Iran. The announcement by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) comes just weeks after the European Union placed Sri Lanka to its blacklist of countries at risk of money laundering. The FATF said that whilst steps had been taken by Sri Lanka since November 2017, deficiencies remain. In particular it highlighted the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Iran and North Korea. See more from...