The forthcoming parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka will be held under the current proportional representation system, the JVP said on Sunday. Speaking after a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said to the Sunday Times this will be the case, even if an agreement on the 20th amendment, on electoral reforms, was reached. “President Sirisena told us that if it is not possible for the political parties to reach common agreement on electoral reforms, he would dissolve Parliament and call general elections,” he said.
Leaders of the Indian government's main party, the BJP, urged the Sri Lankan government to ensure devolution of powers and equal rights to Tamils occurred without delay, reports the Times of India . A delegation of BJP leaders from Tamil Nadu met with Sri Lankan government officials during a visit to Colombo on Thursday. "The issue of giving equal rights to Tamils was discussed with Sri Lankan minister for health Rajitha Senaratne and minister for resettlement D M Swaminathan," the BJP national executive member, L Ganesan, was quoted by TOI as saying.
The UPFA MP, Bandual Gunawardane, said him and other UPFA MPs would be going to Geneva in order to tell the international community about the harassment by state police and seek international protection. Mr Gunawardane said on Saturday that they would be lodging a complaint with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva within two weeks. "It was important to inform the international community about Ranil Wickremesinghe’s ‘police government’," he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
Residents of Valikaamam North and East have raised objections to the Sri Lankan military's attempt to build roads through their private lands. Voicing their opposition to the local government agent, N Vethanayakan, the residents called for the military's actions to be brought to halt. Responding to the public outcry, Mr Vethanayakan has urged the military to abandon their attempt to build the roads, which cut through private lands.
The Sri Lankan government announced it would be shifting a navy camp in Sampur and blocking Sri Lankan Board of Investment projects, in order to release land to resettle displaced villagers in the East. Commenting on the pledge to release the land, Tamil National Alliance spokesperson Suresh Premachandran said “ultimately our struggle has borne fruit”. However, Sri Lanka's former Defence Secretary and current Eastern Province Governor Austin Fernando said the government had not faced any pressure to shift the camp, denying that the move was “politically motivated” or that it had been “carried...
The All Ceylon Farmers' Federation warned it would be “forced to take drastic action” if the Sri Lankan government fails to pay subsidies as has been pledged, reports the Sunday Leader . Namal Karunaratne, National Organiser of the All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation, said farmers had been promised subsidies of Rs. 2,800 to help them buy seed paddy, but over 75% of them had not yet been paid. “The previous government paid some of the farmers this compensation,” said Mr Karunaratne. “We have also held several demonstrations in protest of the government’s indifference toward our farming communities...
The International Federation of Journalists said in its latest report on press freedom that journalists in the North-East of the island continue to face threats and harassment. The detailed report on press freedom in South Asia, focused on attacks in the North-East and impunity for the killings of journalists who were murdered over the past few decades. "Even six years after the end of the war, the media in the Northern and Eastern Province of the island continue to face attacks and harassment," the report said.
The Bodu Bala Sena invited Sri Lanka’s former Defence Secretary Gotobaya Rajapaksa to join its new political party on Friday. The group’s national organiser, Witharandeniye Nanda Thera, said that Mr Rajapaksa had expressed his desire to enter politics and was yet to make a final decision. The party would be fielding candidates in the upcoming general elections he added. Buddhist monks to ‘guide’ new political party (05 May 2015)
The Sri Lankan government is engaged in talks with the Asian Development Bank, seeking to double its annual funding to $1.2bn. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the funds would be utilised by the government for development initiatives, budgetary allocations, capacity development and debt relief, LBO reported. “We used to get $300 – 350mn annually as funds,” Mr Karunanayake told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. “Now we are in talks with them to get it increased to $1.200mn,” he said. However in a recent press conference, ADB said Sri Lanka’s gross domestic growth would slow...
The Australian government praised Sri Lanka for initiatives that have prevented asylum seekers from fleeing the island and entering Australia. Australia’s immigration and border protection Minister Peter Dutton told a media briefing in Colombo that his government hopes to continue working with the Sri Lankan police, navy and intelligence unit in preventing illegal immigrants from reaching Australian shores. Mr Dutton went on to urge those on the island to stay in Sri Lanka instead of attempting to flee to Australia, reported Sri Lanka's President Media Unit .