• UNP evokes fear of social media crackdown, urges Facebook to not disclose user information to Sirisena government

    Nov 16

    The United National Party (UNP) has urged Facebook not to disclose user data to the ‘illegal’ administration of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena citing concerns that data would be misused by the government.

  • ‘Ramped up international pressure on Sri Lanka is key’ – Samantha Power
    <p>Senior US policy figure Samantha power called for “ramped up international pressure” on Sri Lanka this week, amidst violence in parliament between lawmakers.</p> <p>Stating that the proposed prime minister appointee Mahinda Rajapaksa stands “credibly accused of war crimes,” Power noted that “institutions in SL are bending but not breaking”.</p> <p>“Ramped up international pressure is key,” she added.</p>
  • MDMK leader says HC's order will never destroy Eelam in Tamil minds
    <p>The MDMK leader, Vaiko on Thursday rejected an order from the Chennai High Court instructing the burning of over 1700 copies of a book, compiling the speeches of the Tamil nationalist, Pazha Nedumaran.&nbsp;</p>
  • US, India, Australia and Japan discuss crisis in Sri Lanka
    <p>Senior officials from the United States, India, Australia and Japan met in Singapore yesterday to discuss the Indo-Pacific region, with the political crisis in Sri Lanka firmly on the agenda.&nbsp;</p> <p>US officials underscored the importance of "encouragement of an outcome to political developments in Sri Lanka consistent with democratic principles" during the meeting, the State Department said in a statement.&nbsp;</p>
  • UPFA MP accuses TNA MP Sumanthiran of producing parliamentary disarray
    <p>The UPFA MP Susil Premajayantha accused the TNA MP M A Sumanthiran of producing the parliamentary disarray which he said, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe directed.&nbsp;</p>
  • A bloodless coup in Sri Lanka is going awry – The Economist
    <p>Current Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena’s schemes “are blowing up in his face” writes The Economist on Thursday, as political turmoil in Colombo continues with violence inside parliament this week.</p> <p>Sri Lanka still “has no clear government” the piece continued, stating it was in a “constitutional quandary” and that the island’s “bureaucracy fell into near paralysis”.</p> <p>The Economist concluded by saying,</p> <blockquote><p>
  • Sri Lanka's business chambers urge end to crisis
    <p>Sri Lanka's business chambers has urged an end to the political crisis warning of economic downfall otherwise.&nbsp;</p> <p>"We are deeply concerned about the current political situation in the country. It is our view that the executive and the elected representatives have a duty to ensure that decisions are taken with regard for due process and the Rule of Law," a joint statement by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka, Joint Apparel Association Forum and Women's Chamber of Industry and Commerce wrote.&nbsp;</p> <p>"The events of the last few weeks have resulted in absolute instability which is a situation that Sri Lanka simply cannot afford. This will no doubt hinder development and have a significantly adverse impact on the social and economic trajectory of our country. It is observed that the entire administration of this country has come to a standstill and the public officers are paralyzed being unable to discharge their functions. The ultimate victims are the people of our country.</p> <p>We recently witnessed the most unacceptable and abusive behavior displayed in the Chamber of the Sri Lanka Parliament. The conduct of some of the elected representatives was both shameful and an embarrassment to our country.<br> &nbsp;</p>
  • British High Commissioner slams ‘deplorable behaviour’ of Sri Lankan MPs
    <p>Britain’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka criticised the “deplorable behaviour” of Sri Lankan lawmakers as a second day of violence engulfed the chamber on Friday.</p> <p>“Today Sri Lankans have again seen deplorable behaviour by some MPs, unbecoming of them and of their noble institution,” said James Dauris in a tweet following Friday’s violence.</p> <p>“No parliament can perform its role when its own members stop it from doing so.”</p>
  • Sirisena vows he will not prorogue parliament ‘under any circumstances’
    <p>Amidst a second day of violence by lawmakers inside parliament, Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena vowed that he would not prorogue parliament “under any circumstances”.</p> <p>“I urge all Parliamentarians to uphold principles of democracy parliamentary traditions at all times,” he said whilst MPs were throwing chairs and bottles of water mixed with chilli powder at speaker Karu Jayasuriya this morning.</p>
  • Rajapaksa accuses Speaker of being ‘hand in glove with Western embassies’

    Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa accused the speaker of parliament Karu Jayasuirya of being “hand in glove with certain Western embassies” as violence erupted in parliament on Thursday.

  • Chilli powder and chairs hurled at police as violence continues in Sri Lanka's parliament

    A second day of chaos set off inside Sri Lanka’s parliament as lawmakers hurled chairs, books and water mixed with chilli powder at the Speaker, who had to be shielded by a heavy police escort in the chambers.

  • International pressure on Sri Lanka must be sustained – The Guardian editorial

    Amidst fears of violence spilling into Sri Lanka’s streets and the country’s security forces intervening, international pressure must be sustained, The Guardian argues in its editorial on Thursday.

    “The suspicion is that [President Maithripala Sirisena] and his chosen prime minister [Mahinda Rajapaksa] hope to give the impression that Sri Lanka is becoming ungovernable and that fresh elections are the only solution,” the newspaper states.

  • China hopes Sri Lanka can maintain stability

    The Chinese government has expressed its hope that Sri Lanka can maintain stability and deal with the current political crisis.

    Responding to a request for comment on the ‘political upheaval’ in Sri Lanka after the Sri Lankan president’s attempt to dissolve parliament was suspended by the Supreme Court and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s position as prime minister suffered a no confidence vote, Hua Chunying, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday:

  • Touring the killing fields

    The Sri Lankan armed forces announced that it had taken a delegation of foreign military students and their families on a tour of the North-east, where they visited different army bases and were told by the military of how the region was recaptured.

  • Bad day for democracy in Sri Lanka says German ambassador
    <p>Germany's ambassador to Colombo today criticised the violent scenes in parliament tweeting it was a "bad day for democracy in Sri Lanka."&nbsp;</p> <p>"SL has a long and proud democratic tradition - reading about throwing objects at the speaker and preventing votes is unbecoming of a democracy," Joern Rohde added.&nbsp;</p>
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