Over USD$1 billion of development aid destined for Sri Lanka from the United States and Japan has been frozen due to the political turmoil on the island, claimed Ranil Wickremesinghe this week.

"Countries are sensitive, they have concerns (about a government led by Rajapaksa) democratic countries have concerns," claimed Wickremesinghe, who is tussling with Mahinda Rajapaksa for the position of Sri Lankan prime minister.

Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena has ordered parliament to reconvene on November 14th, more than two weeks since he appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister.

An official gazette notification issued this morning made the announcement, as both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe tussle for a majority in Sri Lanka’s parliament. Both men claim to be prime minister and have been involved in negotiations with lawmakers, amidst a series of crossovers to Rajapaksa.

Western governments and the United Nations have all called for parliament to reconvene immediately.

An upcoming posthumous biography of the widely acclaimed journalist Marie Colvin, Lindsey Hilsum’s ‘In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin is an extraordinary account of one reporter’s fearless and ultimately fatal dedication,” includes accounts of Colvin's time in the defacto state of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during their ceasefire with the Sri Lankan government.

Colvin wrote extensively about the suffering of the Tamil people in the Vanni under the government imposed economic embargo, and the massacre of Tamils at the brutal end of the armed ethnic conflict in 2009. 

Amidst the ongoing political crisis in Colombo, Tamil families of the disappeared spoke about their concerns over security in the North-East, following a possible return to a Mahinda Rajapaksa led government.

“We are very worried about the state of our protection after having protested for so long out in the open if he [Rajapaksa] returns,” one mother of the disappeared from Kilinochchi told Tamil Guardian. “Already we are seeing the military becoming bolder since Friday,” she added.

This fear about security however is coupled with their deep disappointment with the current Sri Lankan government for its failure to address their concerns.

The Sri Lankan air force continued with its militarisation of Vavuniya, despite calls for the military to vacate the region, with a series of events to mark its 40^th anniversary.

A Tamil youth from Mullaitivu was reported missing by his parents on Saturday, after disappearing while travelling to Colombo earlier this week.

Kilinochchi’s local community came together to clear the destroyed LTTE cemetery (thuyilum illam) at Kanagapuram on Saturday.

Senior US policy figure, Samantha Power urged the US to consider suspending aid and imposing targeted sanctions on Sri Lanka, in response to the island’s ongoing political crisis.

“The dangers of [Sri Lanka] constitutional crisis are clear: violence is possible & Rajapaksa’s return to power ‘will likely end flagging efforts at ethnic reconciliation,’” Power posted on Twitter, quoting from an International Crisis Group (ICG) briefing.

“Where is US diplomacy? [Sri Lanka] must know suspending aid [and] targeted sanctions [are] on the table,” she said.