News

Ministry of Education has decided to keep all government and government-approved private schools closed from the 18th to 20th of July 2022.

The decision was taken at the virtual discussion held this morning (July 15) at the Ministry of Education, with the participation of the Education Secretary, Additional Secretaries, Director of Education (National schools), Provincial Secretaries of Education and Provincial Directors of Education.

In arriving at this decision, they have taken into account the difficulties in securing transport facilities due to the prevailing fuel crisis.

Accordingly, the schools will be reopened for in-person lessons on the 21st of July.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered the Sri Lanka Police to impose a curfew within the Western Province within immediate effect.

Further, he also ordered that an emergency law be imposed islandwide, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed.

Despite such orders having been given though, no such curfew has been enforced yet.

Earlier today (13), Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters near the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo.

The protesters had marched from the Galle Face protest site towards the Prime Minister’s Office on Flower Road and staged a protest outside the premises.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the Acting President a short while ago (15).

Wickremesinghe was sworn in by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.

The Premier was appointed as the Acting President on 13 July by Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his absence from the country, by virtue of Article 37(1) of the Constitution.

Police Special Task Force (STF) SSP Romesh. A. Liyanage has been suspended over the recent attack on journalists near the Prime Minister’s private residence on Saturday (09).

Accordingly, SSP Liyanage was suspended with immediate effect for failing to prevent the brutal attack on a group of journalists who were covering the protests.

During Saturday’s protests, four journalists were attacked by officers belonging to the Sri Lanka Police and the Police STF opposite Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence in Colombo, moments before his residence was set abalze.

The injured media personnel were rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment.

A special Party Leaders’ meeting is due to be held at 10:00 am today (15), under the patronage of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

The meeting is expected to focus on the ongoing crisis, while a consensus pertaining to nominations for the post of Prime Minister is also expected to be reached.

Meanwhile, Parliament will convene tomorrow (16), so as to commence the procedure required to appoint a new President.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is hoping for a resolution to Sri Lanka’s political turmoil that will allow a resumption of talks for a bailout package after a violent day of protests.

“We hope for a resolution of the current situation that will allow for resumption of our dialogue on an IMF-supported program”, the IMF said in a statement.

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will resign on Wednesday (13) after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence and secretariat on Saturday, an official said.

Protesters also set fire to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s letter of resignation has been received by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, the Speaker’s Media Division confirmed.

Accordingly, Rajapaksa had reportedly sent his resignation letter to the Speaker via e-mail, of which the legality is now being verified, the Media Division further said.

Abeywardena is due to make an official statement in this regard tomorrow (15).

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has told the party leaders that he is willing to resign as Prime Minister and make way for an all-Party Government to take over.

He claimed that he is taking this decision in view of the fact that island-wide fuel distribution is due to recommence this week, the World Food Program Director is due to visit the country this week and the Debt Sustainability report for the IMF is due to be finalised shortly.

Therefore, the Premier said that he agrees with the recommendation by the Opposition Party Leaders to ensure safety of the citizens.

A curfew has been declared within the Colombo district from 12:00 noon today (14) till 05:00 am tomorrow (15).

The curfew was imposed by Acting President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by way of an Extraordinary Gazette.

Accordingly, only those with written permission granted by the Secretary, Ministry of Defence Secretary, Ministry of Public Security, the Inspector General of Police or any officer authorised by them will be permitted to travel during the hours in which the curfew has been imposed.

Sri Lanka has imposed police curfew with effect from 9 PM today for several police divisions in the Western Province. This will be in effect until further notice.

These areas are:

Negombo Division

Kelaniya Division

Nugegoda Division

Mount Lavinia Division

Colombo (North) Division

Colombo (South) Division

Colombo (Central) Division.

Sri Lanka Police said that people living in the said police areas MUST remain indoors during the period of the Police Curfew.

(Reuters); Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was expected to head to Singapore after fleeing to the Maldives in the early hours of Wednesday, a government source in Sri Lanka told Reuters, as protests continued in Colombo.

The source, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the subject, said Rajapaksa could send his resignation to the speaker of Sri Lankan parliament after landing in Singapore.

An aide to Rajapaksa and the Singapore government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation Nimal Siripala De Silva has sent his letter of resignation to the President following an allegation made by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in Parliament yesterday citing a social media report that a Cabinet Minister had solicited a bribe from Japan’s Taisei Corporation.

The Minister said that though he is NOT the cabinet minister in question, the project by the Taisei Corporation comes under his purview, and therefore the public may assume that he is the alleged Minister in question who solicited a bribe.

He called on the President to conduct an independent investigation into the allegation, in order to protect the good name of the government and his innocence.

Nimal Siripala said he was resigning to pave the way for an independent and impartial investigation.