Sri Lanka’s leading presidential election candidates have spent over Rs. 1 billion so far on their campaigns in just two weeks, according to figures released by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) reportedly spent Rs. 574 million expenditure, whilst Sajith Premadasa’s New Democratic Front (NDF) spent Rs. 372 million.

All other political parties account for less than 1% of the expenditure, the CMEV added.

 

 

Over 250,000 Australians have been campaigning to stop the deportation of a Tamil family from Australia to Sri Lanka. Despite their campaign for fairness, “the Morrison government still insists on denying assistance to the Biloela family,” Meggan Devery writes for Independent Australia.

The United Nations (UN) claimed that Sri Lankan peacekeepers to be deployed with its mission in Mali have a “critical and specialized capability” needed to protect convoys on the ground, as controversy erupted over the Sri Lankan army’s continued participation on peacekeeping missions.

<p>Socialist Party of Malaysia’s Deputy Chairperson, S Arutchelvan, condemned the Special Measures Act (SOSMA), which has been used to detain 12 men for their alleged ‘LTTE links’.</p> <p>According to the Green Left, Arutchelvan said that SOSMA must be repealed urgently. He was previously a veteran of the campaign against the Internal Security Act (ISA), legislation which was used to detain people without trial but has now been repealed.</p> <p>Arutchelvan also condemned the unwarranted attempt to criminalise support for the right of Tamils to self-determination, human rights and welfare in Sri Lanka.</p>

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals dropped by 22.5% in October, representing a seventh straight month of decline, despite the government launching several worldwide "aggressive" tourism campaigns.

Both Sri Lanka’s leading candidates in upcoming presidential polls have emphasised their commitment to “national security” and strengthening the controversial military, as canvassing heats up this week.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told Anadolu Agency that for Gotabaya Rajapaksa, national security “will remain his foremost agenda”.

“All countries prioritize national security,” he said. “There is no point in talking about reconciliation without ensuring national security.”

Sri Lanka’s president declared open a new military complex this morning, speaking at a grand opening ceremony alongside accused war criminal Shavendra Silva.

<p>There have been no police investigations and no accountability for the threats and violence faced by refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka says a new report published by Amnesty International and Minority Rights Group International.&nbsp;</p> <p>Following the Easter Sunday attacks, where more than 250 people killed in three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka, refugees and asylum seekers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran faced attacks by armed mobs, forcing some to flee their homes.</p>

Sajith Premadasa, the UNP’s presidential candidate, has stated that once elected he would appoint a new Prime Minister who could command the confidence of parliament.

He told reporters;

"As soon as I'm appointed President, a new Prime Minister who commands the confidence of Parliament will also be appointed. Sri Lanka will have a new first-time Prime Minister who will be endorsed by the majority,"

<p>Mahinda Rajapaksa, former war-time President of Sri Lanka and accused war-criminal, has criticised UNP&nbsp;Presidential candidate, Sajith Premadasa, of deliberately misleading the Sinhalese majority by avoiding the term “unitary state”.</p> <p>In his statement, he claims the chapter of the UNP’s manifesto dealing with constitutional reforms will replace Sri Lanka’s “unitary state” and will lead to the nation becoming “a loose federation of virtually independent provincial units”.</p>