Category: News

Saturday 23rd July, 2022 (The Island Editorial) The wee hours of Friday saw a massive shock and awe operation carried out by heavily armed troops and police commandos in Colombo. They descended on the unarmed Galle Face protesters, destroying as they did a large number of tents and other makeshift structures that had been there for more than 100 days. The ‘special operation’ was launched close on the heels of the swearing-in of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. This dastardly act of politico-military muscle flexing must be condemned unreservedly. It is just…

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Sri Lankan security forces raided a protest camp occupying government grounds in the main city of Colombo early on Friday 22nd July. Protest organiser Chameera Dedduwage told Reuters they had planned to hand over the presidential secretariat to government authorities on Friday afternoon. USand British diplomats also expressed concern. “We urge restraint by authorities and immediate access to medical attention for those injured,” US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, said on Twitter. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said the crackdown could destabilise the country, which is in need of foreign…

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AKD alleges MPs’ votes were bought BY P. Waravita ( The Morning) Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was one of the three candidates for the vote in Parliament on the eighth Executive President yesterday (20), while alleging that yesterday’s vote was decided by “the usual horse trading and bribery”, said that following the said vote, a General Election needs to be held expeditiously, as the current Parliament is no longer a fair representation of the people’s aspirations.  “The (Dullas) Alahapperuma faction of…

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Ranil President for Next Two Years Yesterday, Parliament elected UNP Leader and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country’s eighth Executive President as per the Constitution. Wickremesinghe, with support from the SLPP, who has 145 MPs in the 225-member Parliament, won the election in votes cast by the MPs in a secret ballot, obtaining 134 votes, 52 votes more than his nearest rival Dullas Alahapperuma, paradoxically from the SLPP, who polled 82 votes. The third and last candidate, JVP/Jathika Jana Balavegaya (JJB) Anura Kumara Dissanayake obtained three votes, while of the…

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Party leaders urge Speaker to get GR to remove Ranil Agree to Speaker becoming acting Prez  Tri-forces Commanders tell Ranil to heed public voice    Ranil tells Speaker to nominate a PM acceptable to both Govt. and Opposition BY Buddhika Samaraweera (The Morning) At the party leaders’ meeting chaired by Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, which was not attended by Acting President and United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, the party leaders urged the Speaker to intervene to get President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to remove Wickremesinghe from the post of the…

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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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