Month: July 2022

GR’s ‘Great Resignation’ due today Speaker scheduled to announce President’s resignation today amidst rumours of GR not stepping down until safe exit assured PM to be appointed acting President to serve till 20 July Parliament to vote to elect new President to serve out the remainder of GR’s term next week Ranil, Sajith, Dullas among likely contenders Talks to continue to reach consensus on a single candidate   Sri Lankans hope to wake up to a historic day today with incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa set to resign paving the way…

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Amid Shortages and Turmoil, Sri Lanka Grinds to a Halt Sri Lankan economists warn that the country could face a famine-like situation in a few months. By M.R. Narayan Swamy July 03, 2022 For all practical purposes and intents, Sri Lanka’s once booming economy has collapsed. With traditional sellers unwilling to supply fuel due to lack of payment for previous shipments, and Colombo not having foreign exchange to buy stocks that may be on the way, petrol and diesel have almost run out. Whatever quantity the country still has is being…

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US, EU urges Sri Lankan political parties to cooperate and work quickly to achieve political and economic stability The European Union (EU) and the US on Sunday urged Sri Lanka’s political fraternity to cooperate, focus and work quickly’ to achieve a peaceful, democratic and orderly transition amid the island nation’s worst economic and political crisis in decades. On July 9, thousands of irate anti-government protesters stormed the official residence of embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and forced him to offer his resignation on July 13. A mob also torched the private…

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‘Curfews, curbs on social media won’t help’ By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Communist Party General Secretary D.E.W. Gunasekera yesterday (08) said that the country was in such a precarious situation that the government had to quit forthwith to pave the way for a genuine all-party government.Such an arrangement was a prerequisite to restore political stability urgently required to achieve economic recovery, the veteran politician said. At a Gathering of Opposition political forces in Colombo, he said was a manifestation of growing opposition to Gotabaya –Ranil administration. The former Minister emphasised that…

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Radical change in political culture vital for transformation – Anura Kumara Dissanayake It is much easier to imagine the end of all life on earth than a much more modest radical change in capitalism – Slavoj Zizek Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek’s quotation is quite apt to the situation in the country right now where the whole system collapsed before our eyes overnight. Yet who is modest enough to make the paradigm shift for a radical change against the corrupt, blood-sucking system is questionable. The National People’s Power led by the…

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India, US, Japan play significant role in SL (By sulochana ramiah mohan, Ceylon Today) The US Biden Administration has demonstrated a keen interest in Sri Lanka of late. With the arrival of the new US Ambassador, Julie Chung, who came during the worst financial crisis since Independence in 1948, Sri Lanka is seeing the three Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) countries comprising India, the US, and Japan (Australia expressed security concerns only on the illegal migration of Sri Lankans to Australia by boat) come in to play a significant role in Sri…

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Making the 22nd Amendment true to the President’s 11 May commitment (Daily FT 4th July 2022 – Prof Rohan Samarajiva) In his address to the nation on 11 May, the President committed to “enact a Constitutional Amendment that would restore the substance of the 19th Amendment” (my translation from the video record, because this speech is missing from the President’s websites).1  By this time, he had seen the steadfastness of the Aragalaya and the nationwide support they had. It is reasonable to assume that former Finance Minister Sabry had briefed…

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Harsha says IMF cannot provide a loan if creditors discussions fail  (the Morning. 1-07-2022) By Imesh Ranasinghe  The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) hands are tied over helping help Sri Lanka, as it is unable to provide financing until the country comes to an agreement with its creditors, Opposition MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said. Speaking to reporters yesterday (30), he said that even though Sri Lanka had sought help from the IMF 16 times earlier, about four or five programmes have been abandoned midway. “However, this time it’s different from…

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US offers Rs 7b more to feed 800,000 children for 15 months Sunday Times 3-07-2022 By Kapila Bandara   More than 800,000 children and 27,000 pregnant and lactating women in Sri Lanka will get essential nutrition over the next 15 months through US$20 million (Rs 7.16 billion) more funding announced by the United States this week. The funds will go to support a school nutrition program. Farmers are also being supported to help improve food production in a country driven to unsustainable debt from a borrowing binge since 2007 by Mahinda…

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SJB renews call for Gota go home for new all-party Govt. to take SL out of crisis SJB renews call for Gota go home for new all-party Govt. to take SL out of crisis Says every day President stays in power constitutes an extra day of suffering forced on people Opines present President and Govt. has little credibility within local and international community Questions legality as it includes the very people who had made way for this crisis Says urgently needed political and deep economic reforms to resolve crisis can only…

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