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Secretaries to two State Ministries have been appointed through the Cabinet, exceeding the powers vested in the Constitution to the President to appoint Secretaries to Ministries.

Cabinet Secretary S. Amarasekera announced the appointment of the Secretaries by issuing the Extraordinary Gazette notification No. 2162/20.

According to the gazette notification, B.M.S Balasuriya has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Welfare and S.T. Kodikara has been appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Housing with effect from 14th of February.

The gazette notification further stated that these appointments were made in accordance with the provisions of Article 55 (2) of the Constitution.

However, Article 55 (2) of the constitution states that "the appointment, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of all Heads of Departments shall vest, in the Cabinet of Ministers." As such, there is no mention in the constitution of the power the Cabinet has with regard to the appointment of secretaries.
When a former senior Ministry Secretary was inquired, the official pointed out that according to the provisions of the constitution, only the president can appoint secretaries and not the Cabinet.

He also said that if the Cabinet of Ministers has made such appointments, it would be illegal and exceed the powers vested on the president by the constitution.

The incumbent government has set up State Ministries in addition to the Cabinet Ministries and the secretaries of those ministries have been appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa up until this latest appointment of secretaries by the Cabinet.

Furthermore, the secretaries who were appointed by the president received their appointment letters which were signed by the Secretary to the President.

State Minister Roshan Ranasinghe said that former President Maithripala Sirisena will not be allowed to contest in the Polonnaruwa district under the 'Pohottuwa' symbol and that the SLFP should contest independently in the upcoming general election.

He further said that he requests Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and SLPP founder Basil Rajapaksa to facilitate arrangements towards this end.

According to surveys, the SLFP could win only four seats in the country if they contest independently, Minister Ranasinghe pointed out. He made these comments while addressing media in Polonnaruwa.

SLPP against the conditions set by SLFP

Meanwhile, parliamentarian D.V. Chanaka said that the conditions laid down by the SLFP in forming a new alliance for the upcoming general election were unfair.

He said that SLPP would be subjected to injustice due to these conditions.

Sri Lankan security forces and intelligence agencies have intensified surveillance and threats against families of victims of enforced disappearance and activists supporting them since Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president in November 2019, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today adding that the Sri Lankan government should fulfill its commitments to the United Nations Human Rights Council to strengthen efforts to locate the “disappeared” and bring those responsible to justice.

Activists working in six locations in the northern and eastern parts of the country on behalf of relatives of the forcibly disappeared told HRW that there has been a significant increase in government surveillance and intimidation. One activist said that prior to a recent victims’ meeting, “every one of the mothers got at least six telephone calls from different intelligence agencies asking, ‘Where is the meeting?’ ‘Who is organizing the meeting?’ ‘What is being said?’” Another activist said, “We can’t do any visible programs.… We’ve stopped everything.”

“The families of Sri Lanka’s ‘disappeared’ have spent years waiting for answers, but with the Rajapaksas back in power, security forces are threatening them to drop their demands for truth and accountability,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director. “The government needs to stop the harassment immediately and abide by Sri Lanka’s pledges to the UN to uncover the fate of the ‘disappeared’ and provide justice to victims’ families.”

Thousands of people, primarily ethnic Tamils, are believed to have been forcibly disappeared in state custody between 2005 and 2015, when the current president was defense secretary and his brother, current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, was president. President Rajapaksa has resisted demands for justice, including past Sri Lankan commitments to the UN Human Rights Council, and said at a recent meeting with the UN that the “missing persons are actually dead.”

During the bloody civil war, from 1983 to 2009, between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), both sides committed numerous abuses, including enforced disappearances. UN reports found credible allegations of enforced disappearances by government forces of captured LTTE fighters and Tamil civilians during the final months of the war in 2009. Among the army units the UN implicated in the worst atrocities at the war’s end were those commanded by the current army chief, Gen. Shavendra Silva, and the defense secretary, Gen. Kamal Gunaratne. On February 14, 2020, the United States State Department designated Silva and his immediate family members ineligible for entry into the US “due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights, namely extrajudicial killings.”

The new Rajapaksa administration has halted legal proceedings initiated by the previous government against navy officers accused of the enforced disappearance and alleged killing of 11 young men in Colombo and its suburbs in 2008 and 2009. In November 2019, following the presidential election, a government investigator looking into this and other cases of alleged serious rights violations implicating government officials fled the country following threats. Other criminal investigators have since been put under travel restrictions.

A member of the advocacy group Mothers of the Disappeared whose son was forcibly disappeared in 2009 told Human Rights Watch that since the presidential election she has been repeatedly visited by members of the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

“They have come and asked who is going to meetings,” she said. “And who is going to Geneva [to attend the UN Human Rights Council]. These are children who were taken by white vans from our houses or who surrendered [to the army]. These are the children we are talking about. I want to know what happened to my son – whether he is dead or alive, and if he is not alive, what happened to him and who did it; whether he was beaten, whether they broke a limb.”

A person who works closely with the families of the disappeared said that under the relatively open environment of the previous government, many relatives of the disappeared had chosen to speak out about their cases. “Now they [the security forces] know who talked about their crimes, so the victims have fears about their safety,” he said.

The previous Rajapaksa administration had repeatedly denied government involvement in serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances. However, under international pressure, Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010 established the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, which acknowledged an “alarming” number of allegations of disappearances in state custody, and said the government was “duty bound” to take “immediate” steps to bring those responsible to justice.

In 2015, the Sri Lankan government under President Maithripala Sirisena joined a consensus resolution of the UN Human Rights Council. A core commitment was to set up four transitional justice mechanisms to promote “reconciliation, accountability and human rights,” including an accountability mechanism involving international judges, prosecutors, and investigators; a truth and reconciliation mechanism; an office on missing persons; and an office for reparations.

Sri Lanka has made limited progress in meeting these commitments, but an Office on Missing Persons (OMP) and an Office for Reparations have been established. During the election campaign and since taking office, the Rajapaksa government has said it does not intend to abide by the internationally recognized process to address alleged grave international crimes by both sides. The government has also cast doubt on the future of the Office on Missing Persons.

Given Sri Lanka’s long history of enforced disappearance, it is vitally important not to allow the government to simply dismiss these cases. UN member states at the Human Rights Council in late February should call upon Sri Lanka to comply with its international legal obligations, protect victims and witnesses, and keep its UN pledges in a time-bound manner.

Should the government fail to do so, the council should take the initiative and adopt accountability measures leading toward international investigation and prosecutions.

“Family members of Sri Lanka’s many ‘disappeared’ have a right to know what happened to their loved ones,” Ganguly said. “The UN Human Rights Council is the one flicker of hope many families have that the fate of those disappeared will one day be known, and that justice will be done.”

Former minister Patali Champika Ranawaka is to be named as the national organiser of the new alliance led by UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa, sources from the Opposition Leader's Office said.

It is said that he will leave the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and join the UNP.

The Parliamentary group of the UNP which convened on February 5 had decided to nominate former minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara, a senior member of the UNP, as the general secretary of the new alliance.

Sources also said that Sajith Premadasa is planning to present these proposals to the UNP Working Committee which is scheduled to meet on February 10 and to register the new party as soon as it is approved.

A new wish: Sajith, Champika to begin a new journey

Meanwhile, MP Champika Ranawaka is planning to organise a series of seminars to bring opposition leader Sajith Premadasa to the public.

Arrangements have been made to have the first seminar at the Grand Monarch Hotel in Thalawathugoda on February 9 at 2.45 pm.

According to the 'Anidda' newspaper, a party leader of the proposed alliance between the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has said that the formation of the alliance between the two parties would not take place before the upcoming general election and that the SLPP would have to contest under the 'Pohottuwa' symbol.

The newspaper report further states:

“If the new alliance is to registered, it should be done before the dissolution of parliament on March 10,” the party leader pointed out adding that they would only have two weeks to finish the entire process.

He said that the leaders of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna were clearly not interested in forming a new alliance and that they would prefer contest the polls under SLPP with 'Pohottuwa' as its symbol.

He also said that this was the stance taken by Basil Rajapaksa, the National Organiser of the SLPP during the discussions he held upon his arrival to Sri Lanka.

Dullas Alahapperuma and Raja Collure, who were assigned with the task of registering the new alliance, have been quite busy with other activities, he added.

The highest level of court in Chhina, Supreme People’s Court, is expected to give an approval on Friday for the mass killing of coronavirus patients in China as sure means of controlling the spread of the deadly virus, Chinese media reported.

The State tells the court that China is on the verge of losing its health workers to Coronavirus as at least 20 health workers contract the virus daily.

The State argues that coronavirus patients admitted at hospitals only have their deaths delayed and infect many others while receiving care at the hospital.

China has been under criticism for human rights violations and organizations have questioned China’s approach in dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak and it is believed the country has already killed many of its coronavirus patients.

Source: City News - https://ab-tc.com/china-seek-for-courts-approval-to-kill-the-over-20000-coronavirus-patients-to-avoid-further-spread-of-the-virus/

The Ranil Wickremesinghe faction has proposed to the Sajith Premadasa faction to appoint Karu Jayasuirya as the general secretary of the United National Party and for the UNP led alliance to contest the upcoming general election under the 'Swan' symbol. 

Ravi Karunanayake has also agreed to handover the 'Swan' symbol.

Meanwhile, 'Anidda' in its lead story has reported that Ranil is prepared to elevate Karu. The newspaper reported that Ranil Wickremesinghe has agreed to resolve the party's internal crisis by forming a leadership council within the UNP and to appoint Karu Jayasuirya as the head of the leadership council as well the party's general secretary.

The report further states:

The appointment of Karu Jayasuriya as the General Secretary of the UNP has been discussed at a meeting between the Ranil Wickremesinghe faction and Rajitha Senaratne at Sirikotha. It is was reported that Ranil Wickremesinghe too had liked the proposal.

Current UNP general secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has also agreed to appoint Karu Jayasuriya as the party's general secretary.

The meeting was held at the party headquarters Sirikotha on Wednesday (12) followed by a discussion between MP Rajitha Senaratne and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya at the Speaker's official residence.

Karu was proposed before the presidential election!

At the meeting, Rajitha Senaratne had informed Karu Jayasuriya about the proposal. He has said that even before the last presidential election, Ranil Wickremesinghe had agreed to the proposal but changed his position at the last moment.

Accordingly, a discussion will be held between Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the proposal.

It is learnt that Rajitha Senaratne and Sajith Premadasa will also have another discussion after this meeting.

When inquired from a heavyweight representing the Sajith faction about the matter, he said that if Karu Jayasuriya is appointed as the leader, he has no objection to it. However, the formation of a leadership council and handing over the leadership of that council together with the post of general secretary could very well be a devious ploy of Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Sajith faction disagrees!

When inquired about these proposals, it was revealed that the Sajith faction has not agreed to any proposals even though they had received it from the Ranil faction.

“According to the unlimited powers vested in the UNP Leader through the party's constitution, he has the power to appoint a secretary as well as remove that person at any given time. As such, Karu Jayasuriya will be appointed now and soon after the election, Akila will be re-appointed, a member from the Sajith faction said.

“Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe is trying to capitalise on Sajith's popularity to get through the election and dispose him after the election. We are not going to fall for it this time,” he added.

"Elephant is good - Swan is ok - Heart is a joke": Karu's son-in-law says

Leading MPs of the United National Party had several press conferences yesterday to express their views on the potential symbol to be used at the upcoming general election.

Speaking at a press conference held at the UNP headquarters Sirikotha yesterday, MP Naveen Dissanayake said he would only contest the general election under the 'elephant' symbol.
"The heart symbol is comical. If we don't contest under the elephant symbol, we will be unable to maintain the votes we got last time," he further said.

Meanwhile, MP Harshana Rajakaruna at a press conference held the the Opposition Leader's office in Colombo yesterday (13) said that no one is opposed to contesting under the 'elephant symbol. "The Sajith faction does not intend to sideline anyone from the party," he said adding that the party supporters are rallying behind Sajith Premadasa.

Sri Lanka will soon commence construction on a world class theme park along the country's southern coast in order to promote adventure tourism.

Leading international theme park developer and operator, Sim Leisure Group Ltd, entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka's Elpitiya Plantations PLC, to set up its world-class ESCAPE theme park in Galle, a statement from Elpitiya Plantations said.

The statement said having been granted the preliminary approval to commence construction and barring unforeseen circumstances, Sim Leisure aims to commence the construction of "ESCAPE Sri Lanka" in March 2020.

The theme park will be located halfway between capital Colombo and the main beach resort of Galle.

"I see tremendous opportunity in the Sri Lankan market with its population of over 20 million. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries, which is unspoilt and green. The country's unpolluted coastline and beaches bring tourists from all over the world and its tourism industry is growing at an incredible pace," said Sim Leisure CEO Sim Choo Kheng.

He also highlighted that Sri Lanka has tremendous untapped potential for family leisure, compared to East Asia, with a natural advantage by setting up the first large-scale theme park in Sri Lanka.

The theme park will include an outdoor adventure theme park and water park and approximately 40 themed rides and attractions in three categories - Adventureplay, Waterplay and Gravityplay. (Xinhua)

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa have agreed to appoint a 10 member committee comprising of 10 senior UNP parliamentarians to resolve certain issues faced by the United National Front. Five names each have been submitted by the Ranil faction and the Sajith faction respectively.

Accordingly, the committee includes Sajith Premadasa, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Ranjith Madduma Bandara, John Amaratunga, Mangala Samaraweera, Ravi Karunanayake, Lakshman Kiriella, Navin Dissanayake, Kabir Hashim and Malik Samarawickrama.

The committee has also agreed to make a final decision with regard to the symbol on Friday. As such, the Working Committee meeting that was scheduled for Friday has been postponed.

However, sources from the Sajith faction stated that a favourable response was given by Ranil Wickremesinghe during last night's discussion on the proposed new alliance. Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim had also joined Sajith Premadasa for the discussion.

The former Chairman of People's Bank Mano Tittawella has passed away this morning in Melbourne, Australia.

Tittawella functioned as the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM), which is entrusted with coordinating transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka.

He also served as the Senior Adviser to the former Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera.

Tittawella was the Senior Presidential Advisor on Economic Affairs and was the Senior Director General – President’s Office from August 2003 to November 2005.

He was the first Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of the Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA), which was an initiative that he promoted to bring better accountability, good governance and enhanced performance to the largest public enterprises in Sri Lanka.

Apart from serving on the Board of National Council for Economic Development (NCED), which was the apex body, coordinating all economic development activities in Sri Lanka, he served as Chairman of Task Force to Rebuild the Nation (TAFREN), which was set-up to handle post-tsunami reconstruction and recovery of the country.

Tittawella has held many other key positions in the State sector, such as Director General of Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC) – the then privatisation agency of the Government of Sri Lanka and Chairman of People’s Bank – a State-owned bank in Sri Lanka, along with many board positions in some of Sri Lanka’s largest state sector enterprises. Tittawella has over 35 years’ experience in senior positions in the private sector as well.

He has an MBA in Capital Markets & Finance, from the University of Edinburgh and a Post-graduate Diploma in Human Computer Interaction from the British Open University. He was also a Member of the International Board of Trustees (IBT) of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK, from 2000 to 2003.

The proposed alliance led by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was finalized this morning and sent to the Elections Commission for registration, The Sunday Morning reported.

A political party affiliated to United National Party (UNP) MP Mangala Samaraweera – “Ape Jathika Peramuna” – has been reconstituted to be registered as the alliance led by Premadasa.

It is reported that the name proposed for the Premadasa led alliance is “Samagi Jana Balawegaya.”

The symbol of the proposed alliance is the “heart.”

A senior UNP MP has told The Sunday Morning that the documents to register the new political alliance were sent to the Elections Commission this morning (10) and that they were awaiting approval from the Elections Commission.

Health officials continue to see high numbers of dengue fever during the beginning of 2020.

During January, health officials saw 8,435 cases, including more than 1000 cases in Colombo and Trincomalee districts, data from the Ministry of Health showed.

This comes as Sri Lankan officials plan to launch a pilot project to combat dengue by means of Wolbachia bacteria on Feb. 17.

National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) Director Dr. Anura Jayasekera said the bacteria ‘Wolbachia’ is to be injected into the bodies of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and will commence in Dematagoda and Nugegoda areas.

Wolbachia, inside the body of the vector, competes with the virus for food and energy, making it hard for the virus to reproduce inside the mosquitoes, inhibiting the transmission of the virus. The bacterial is naturally passed on from one mosquito generation to another through eggs. Safe for humans and the environment the release of Wolabachia induced A. aegypti by the NDCU is scheduled to happen during the first two weeks of February.

Meanwhile, the cause for high-rise of the dengue patients, during the past two months of January and December 2019 is due to the changing weather patterns and the latent serotype being active (DENV3), said Dr. Jayasekera.