Month: June 2022

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s newly gazetted 22nd amendment to the constitution bill does not curtail the powers of the president nor introduce checks and balances in any meaningful manner, contrary to the demands of the people of Sri Lanka, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) said. In the absence of any genuine attempt to address the inherent problems of governance, this attempt at reform will only worsen the existing political and economic crisis and destroy whatever little remaining faith citizens might have in constitutional governance, the organisation said in a…

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Thursday 30th June, 2022 Some Opposition politicians would have the public believe that the present crisis cannot be resolved unless a general election is held. They insist that they can save the economy and deliver the people from suffering if they are given a popular mandate to govern the country. There is hardly anything Sri Lankan politicians do not capitalise on, and therefore it is not surprising that they are making the most of the crisis. Chairman of the Election Commission (EC) Nimal Punchihewa has told them a home truth.…

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22nd Amendment to be gazetted today Justice Minister gets Cabinet approval to gazette Bill To be presented to Parliament within 7 days New Constitution too in the making By Chandani Kirinde The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution will be published in the Gazette today, following which it will be presented to Parliament after seven days, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said yesterday. He said that on Monday, the Cabinet had given approval to publish the Bill in the Gazette after the draft Bill prepared by the Legal Draftsman was cleared by…

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(The Island 24th June 2022) With the passing of Periyathamby Rajanayagam, another stalwart of the vintage days of left activism in Sri Lanka, is now gone. Rajanayagam was a trade unionist, human rights lawyer, journalist, writer and most importantly a life-long left political activist, to whom social justice, democracy and, with increasing authoritarianism, the right to dissent were consuming passions that he lived out daily until his health failed him in his 86th year. Born in Chunnakam, as the second child in a family of five, Raja’s political activism began…

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Daily FT 27th June 2022) Committee presents final report to House Makes 15 recommendations including guidelines for media during poll campaigns, steps to stop abuse of State resources Recommends more youth, women representation A Parliamentary Committee that looked into electoral reforms has recommended that legislation be introduced to control election expenses, a code of conduct for candidates and steps to prevent misuse of state resources during election campaigns. The final Report of the Select Committee of Parliament to Identify Appropriate Reforms of the Election Laws and the Electoral System and…

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(Daily FT 25th June 2022) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said that steps will be taken to legally grant land and house ownership to millions of people who do not have a deed to their own lands and homes. The program to hand over land ownership to landless families under the ‘Land for All’ program began yesterday at the Prime Minister’s Office. It is implemented by the Ministry of Tourism and Lands through the Land Reforms Commission and the Department of the Land Commissioner General. Minister Harin Fernando stated that…

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Immigration issues first-ever ‘Golden Paradise’ long-term visa The Department of Immigration and Emigration has issued the first-ever ‘Golden Paradise Visa’ to Chai Yin Man from China for five years. Man, is the Director of Baili Investments Lanka Ltd., a Board of Investment (BOI) approved Chinese company working on a 1,200-unit luxury apartment complex project in Rajagiriya with an investment of $ 60 million (over Rs. 22 billion). The long-term residence visa issuance initiative was introduced last month in a bid to attract foreign inflows and boost foreign direct investments (FDIs).…

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Officials delegation led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra holds talks with President and Prime Minister as SL seeks nearly $ 1 b additional financing  President and PM’s offices say India assures fullest support to resolve Lankan crisis Promoting India-Sri Lanka investment partnership including in the fields of infrastructure, connectivity, renewable energy and deepening economic linkages between the two countries discussed Indian team underscores unprecedented recent economic, financial and humanitarian assistance of over $ 3.5 b to SL guided by ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and Security and Growth for All in South…

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Thank you Mr President This statement is by the Sri Lanka Core Group comprising Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the UK and the United States. We recognise the significant challenges that Sri Lanka has been facing over recent months, causing great hardship for the Sri Lankan people. We note that protesters, have exercised their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of expression in recent months. We are deeply concerned by violent attacks on peaceful protestors and subsequent violence against government-aligned politicians and supporters. Those responsible…

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