Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka’s Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) announced they will launch a party to “protect Buddhist culture” as there was a “threat” from minorities in the country. Speaking to The Indian Express , Chief Executive Dilantha Withanage said his organisation’s activities in Sri Lanka are “inspired by what the RSS and BJP do in India” and that the BBS would launch “a party modelled on these Indian ventures to protect Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka”. The monk warned that minorities were reproducing at a much higher rate than Sinhalese families and that this was supported by money from abroad.
The Sri Lankan government is intending to start discussions with the International Monetary Fund, seeking its assistance in reducing the debt burden it has amassed under former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Finance Minister Ravi Karunayake. who met with IMF officials earlier today, told Bloomberg before the meeting, the new president, Maithripala Sirisena, wanted to reduce the amount spent on interest on Sri Lanka’s $55bn (Rs7.2tn) debt. “We are initiating discussions on a new program,” Mr Karunanayake, said yesterday, but declined to give further details, only adding that “we will not be dictated to by any of these multilateral agencies.” Mr Karunayake said the new president sought to increase taxes on the “super-rich” to benefit poorer citizens, adding he would maintain fiscal discipline and eliminate corruption.
Sri Lanka's new government pledged to implement the 13th amendment to the constitution, which involves devolution of power to provinces. Addressing parliament, which held its first session on Monday following the electoral victory of President Maithripala Sirisena, the country's prime minister, and leader of the United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremasinghe said : "We will implement the 13A within a unitary framework."
A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said Sri Lanka's new president, Maithripala Sirisena, had assured them he was committed to good strategic cooperation with china and that he would "ensure the proceeding of major cooperation projects between the two countries that are under construction and the development of all-round cooperation." Asked about reports that policies of Sri Lanka's new government's were not favourable to China, the spokesperson, Hong Lei, said : "China and Sri Lanka are friendly neighbors. Our relationship has withstood the test of time, and is founded on a solid footing. Cooperation between China and Sri Lanka in various fields serves the aspirations and interests of the two peoples."
The Northern Province's chief minister, C V Wigneswaran said Sri Lanka's central government was not paying attention to tourism in the Tamil region and was not sensitive to Tamil concerns. "Some complex questions are arising regarding the tourism department - whether the tourism department will destroy our traditional values, whether those coming from outside will grab our resources.. there are also many other problems," Justice Wigneswaran said , addressing an event organised by the Karainagar Tourism Traning Authority Centre. "Our people are also considering the effects [of tourism] our economy, culture, and environment. They are asking questions such as do we want tourism? Should we let our community get destroyed?"
(Photograph: IBNS) Sri Lanka’s external affairs minister, Mangala Samaraweera, has been urged by his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj to ensure the “political reconciliation” of the country’s Tamil population, during the first talks between the two governments since Sri Lanka’s presidential elections. Mr Samaraweera also met with Prime Minister Modi, who congratulated the new Sri Lankan government on its election victory and expressed hope that President Sirisena’s victory will advance peace, reconciliation and development in Sri Lanka, and peace and progress in the region.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has denied agreeing to giving "full autonomy" to the Tamil regions of the island. An Indian news channel, NDTV, on Sunday tweeted that Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had told them “in principle, we have agreed to full autonomy to Tamil areas". Sri Lanka's The Nation newspaper contacted Mr Wickremesinghe after the tweet which it termed as 'controversial', was posted, to verify whether he had made such statement. ‘No, no, no...What I said was that I am for the implementation of the 13th Amendment and that I am for the unitary state,” Prime Minister...
The Northern Provincial Council has appointed a team of specialists to investigate the contamination Chunnakam Power Station. On Saturday, Tamils in Chunnakam protested the contamination of the local environment and water sources caused by the leakage of heavy fuel oil waste from the power station. The council's chairman, C. V. K. Sivagnanam, told Uthayan that nine experts had been selected to probe the issue. Mr Sivagnanam said the team would be directly monitored by the chief minister, C. M. Wigneswaran and environment minister P. Ayngarenesan, although no council members were on the team...
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has filed a petition in Sri Lanka's court of appeal, seeking the arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan, also known as KP. "We want him arrested for his activities. He has to answer many questions," JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath told media.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) criticised Sri Lanka's new government for delaying taking action against members of the former government involved in bribery and corruption. A spokesperson for the party told the Asian Mirror that so far five people with bribery and corruption allegations levelled against them, including former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, have left the country. The party said the government's delay in taking action is already causing doubt about the new president Maithripala Sirisena. The spokesperson said the party would push the issue with the...