The Jathika Hela Urumaya, one of the founder and main constituents of the UNP-lead UNFGG, said it will not allow the TNA’s demand for federalism to become reality, dismissing the notion as “just one of their dreams”. General Secretary of the party, Champika Ranawaka, said the UNFGG had not made any proposals which could threaten Sri lanka’s sovereignty. “The President and the Prime Minister and even Mahinda Rajapaksa have accepted the unitary state of this country. The TNA has been calling for a Federal solution since 1949. It is just one of their dreams,” the JHU chief said at an election rally in Kolonnawa .
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) stands accused of providing equipment and other assistance to the Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to torture Tamil civilians. Equipment ranging from furniture to high end software, which links photos videos and intelligence reports, were given to the Sri Lankan police according to a set of documents obtained by ABC News. Machines to extract data from mobile phones, including location data, and other software tools were also passed on. Australian authorities faced strong criticism following the release, including from former diplomat Bruce Haigh, who served as Australia's deputy high commissioner in Sri Lanka in 1994. "[The equipment could be used] to pick people up off the street and take them back to headquarters and interrogate, torture and in many cases eliminate them," said Mr Haigh, who added that torture and kidnappings are “part and parcel of the operations of CID in Colombo".
A pre-election poll carried out by the Centre for Policy Alternatives showed the majority of Sinhalese back Mahinda Rajapaksa to become prime minister of Sri Lanka in the upcoming general election, whilst the overwhelming majority of Tamils rejected him. According to the survey, which sampled 2,000 people across the island, 36% of respondents backed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for the prime ministerial post compared to 31.9% for current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Meanwhile only 1.8% of Tamils surveyed backed Mahinda Rajapaksa, with 62.3% backing Mr Wickremesinghe. Mr Rajapaksa recently announced that there would be no room for separatism on the island, as he spoke out against devolution. A whole host of Sinhala political parties, including Mr Wickremesinghe’s UNP, have also announced they will not allow any devolution of power. Last month both leaders visited the Temple of the Tooth , to get blessings from Buddhist monks ahead of the general elections in a month’s time.
The Tamil National Alliance said it would not join a united government in Sri Lanka until the Tamil issue is addressed, reports Xinhuanet.com . Responding to questions on whether the TNA would take part in the Sri Lanka prime minister’s vision of forming a unity government that included ethnic political parties after elections, the TNA spokesperson said, We will not join the united government till the Tamil issue is addressed. But if the UNF wins we will offer our support to them from being outside the government.” Suresh Premachandran’s statement comes as parties from both the ruling and opposition coalition in Sri Lanka have rejected Tamil demands for federal power sharing.
Families of the disappeared across the North-East protested against the the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) local organiser, for deceiving them into attending an SLFP campaign event on the pretence of collecting information about the missing.
Sri Lanka's Board of Investment (BoI) said it will sign agreements with four foreign investors in deals worth nearly $4bn. BoI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said the major deals, worth nearly double of last year's FDI of $1.6bn, will include a $30mn investment from German car giants Volkswagen, a ship breaking facility at Hambantota, a monorail project and a crane factory at Colombo Port. Speaking on the Volkswagen deal to be signed, Mr Jayasuriya said , “It’s not huge but it’s just the footprint. We have asked them to set it up and given a time period for them to export,”
Sri Lanka’s Ministry Of Defence has teamed up with Sri Lanka’s tourism board to lead a motor expedition tour of Jaffna reports defence.lk . The expeditions are to be lead by military members of Sri Lanka’s Commando Regiment across the North-East. At least 75 people are expected to participate in the expeditions which have been funded by Coca Cola, Sri Lanka’s MOD and Sri Lanka’s tourism board. The initiative was launched by Major General Prassanna Silva on Monday.
A scheduled 10 day visit by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has been cancelled due to programming difficulties, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday. The visit was due to commence on August 3. A new set of dates for the visit is expected to be arranged after the parliamentary elections take place on August 17. The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mahishini Colonne, said , “The WGEID has visited Sri Lanka several times in the past as well and the decision to invite them to visit Sri Lanka once again was taken by the previous government. The...
India's Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways said Sri Lanka has not yet approved a project to link the island's Tamil North-East with Tamil Nadu in the south of India. Pon Radhakrishnan said on Monday the Indian government had asked the Asian Development Bank to carry out feasibility studies into the project, but that Sri Lanka is yet "to give the nod", the Economic Times reported. At the beginning of July Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said the project to build a road, leading across a bridge and through a tunnel, was already in its planning stages and the Asian Development Bank had pledged Rs 220bn ($3.5bn) towards it.
Former president and parliamentary candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to protect Sri Lanka's unity and to not leave any room for separatist notions. Speaking at an event marking the signing of an agreement with 61 Sinhala civil society organisations, Rajapaksa said the unitary character of the state would be compromised under a UNP government. “As he pledged, Mr. Wickremesinghe will create a new country without the North and East in it. With the proposals of the TNA for a federal state, we are certain he would accomplish creating a new country. We are concerned that we might not be able to...