Sri Lanka has reiterated its position that it will not remove the military from the country's north, saying that the new government's priority remained with national security. Newly-appointed state minister of defence, Ruwan Wijewardena said President Maithripala Sirisena made it clear he will not allow the country to be divided. Speaking during a meeting with chief prelates of the Buddhist clergy in Kandy, Mr Wijewardena said the reports that army will be withdrawn were false, adding that the new government would ensure that the security forces are treated with respect and provided with all...
Sri Lanka's parliamentary speaker Chamal Rajapaksa will remain in his position under the new government led by President Maithripala Sirisena. New leader of the house Lakshman Kiriella told the Sunday Times that Rajapaksa, who is the brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, will be able to remain as speaker for the next three months, as the SLFP had pledged to cooperate with the government to implement the new president's 100-day programme.
Photograph: ColomboPage Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena vowed to always seek advice from the Buddhist clergy and “do each and every action” to ensure the well being of the Buddha Sasana, in a speech given at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara Temple on Saturday. Speaking after worshipping at the site, Mr Sirisena told the audience of monks that he “will always seek the advice and the blessings from the Maha Sangha to fulfill the obligations and responsibilities [the government] has to the people”, reports ColomboPage . The Sri Lankan president further added that “he will take every action for the betterment for the people and the Buddha Sasana”. Photograph: Facebook - Sajith Premadasa
Tamils in Chunnakam protested on Saturday against contamination of the local environment by the Chunnakam Power Station, demanding justice for the effects of the spread of heavy fuel oil waste into water supplies. The oil waste from the power station has contaminated wells and drinking water in local areas including Udumalai and Tellipalai, reports the Uthayan. It continues to spread into other regions of the Jaffna peninsula.
In view of the Sri Lanka's new president's closeness to the last stages of the armed conflict, serving as acting defence minister for the final two weeks, the exiled journalist, J S Tissainayagam, stressed the need for the international community to ensure he too is held to international standards of justice. "As details of Sirisena’s possible connection to war crimes emerge, what is the international community – especially the Western democracies that are pushing for an international investigation – going to do?," asked Mr Tissainayagam, writing in the Asian Correspondent.
The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, said Tamils must be patient about the militarisation of the Tamil homeland, urging people to wait and see as Sri Lanka's new president had only been in office for one week. Asked by BBC Tamil on Saturday, what the TNA was going to do about the Sri Lankan government's announcement on Friday that there would be no reduction in the numbers of troops deployed across the North-East, Mr Sampanthan replied, "it has not been long since the government came to power." "Only a week has gone by," Mr Sampanthan said, stating that he was aware of the news reports regarding the government's announcement.
The former head of Sri Lanka's army, Sarath Fonseka, will contest parliamentary elections later this year, according to officials from his Democratic Party. Senior party officials are discussing procedures in order to enable Fonseka to become a member of parliament. The party leader was previously blocked from contesting after his failed attempt to unseat former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. General secretary of the Democratic Party, Ananda Manawadu said that Fonseka would definitely be contesting at the upcoming general election, reported Ceylon Today .
Former minister Mervyn Silva has filed a complaint to the CID against Gotabaya and Basil Rajapaksa, over criminal activities, including white van abductions and the killing of a journalist. Mr Silva said former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was behind the notorious white van abductions, which were used to devastating effect, especially against Tamils. “I do not want to take revenge from anyone. They are the ones who took revenge from me. I was not given a proper ministry to work. I came to the CID to complain over all the murders such as Bharatha Laksman Premachandra, Lasantha Wikrametunge and the attacks on several private media institutions. It is Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was behind the white van culture in the country,” he said .
Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe reassured China's ambassador to the country on Wednesday, that cooperation would continue despite the defeat of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. "Sri Lanka attaches great importance to developing relations with China, and is willing to further strengthen bilateral pragmatic cooperation in various fields for mutual benefits and win-win results," Mr Wickremasinghe said following his meeting with Ambassador Wu Jianghao, reports China's state news agency Xinhua .
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s central committee today appointed President Maithripala Sirisena as the chairman of the party at a meeting at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute earlier today. The unanimous decision came after former president Mahinda Rajapaksa told the UPFA coalition, of which the SLFP is the main constituent party, that he is prepared to hand over chairmanship to the new president. In a statement, Rajapaksa said he did not want to see the party divided, but would “strongly represent the wishes and aspirations of the more than 5.7 million members of the public”, who voted for...