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The leadership training program being conducted for school principals has been suspended till the completion of an investigation into the sudden death of a school principal during the training program recently, the Ministry of Education stated.

The program has been halted after the death of the principal of Suchi National School in Hambantota. The principal, Rohini Kumari died while taking part in a leadership training program held in Kurunegala.

The 52-year-old Kumari was the mother of four daughters.

Source : The Sunday Times

A meeting between SLFP Ministers and MP’s with the President are now underway at the Presidential Secretariat.

The SLFP is set to take a final decision if to quit the national government or not after the parliamentary group meeting today. This is despite media reports claiming yesterday that Minister Thilanga Sumathipala had said that the SLFP has made a final decision in this regard and has decided to quit the national government. These claims were later refused by party insiders.

Accordingly, the party is set to announce its final decision today.

Parliament will be informed tomorrow on the status of the current national government according to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. According to him he will seek information regarding the SLFP - UNP government and if it will go forward from the PM and inform the house of its decision.

He made this statement in response to questions raised by the Chief opposition whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake and JO MP Dullas Alahapperuma on the expiry of the time given to the national government.

The leader of the House Minister Lakshman Kiriella said that the two parties have not withdrawn from the government and the government is still continuing as agreed. The Minister further said that he will be consulting the Prime Minister in this regard and that he will be given the answer tomorrow.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has informed the President last night (18)that he will not step down from his post unless a no-confidence motion against him can be passed in parliament.

He is said to have told this during a meeting held yesterday at the President’s official residence.

Joining the meeting, General Secretary of the United National Party (UNP) Kabir Hashim has expressed the party stance saying it has no wish for a new PM and the party wants to continue with the good governance government.

 Hints from both parties about crossovers!

Severa SLFP members in favour of good governance will join me : Mujibur Rahman

The UNP says as the party has the majority in the house they will continue with the government as several SLFP members favourable to good governance is set to join them.

According to UNP MP Mujibur Rahman is the SLFP wishes to form a government they will have to show the majority in the parliament he said adding that the UNP has 107 MP’s with the majority of the government needs 113. “There are several SLFP MP’s willing to join us and we will then have many more members than even needed” he said.

Challenge to the SLFP!

He went on to say that the UNP has no issue in continuing the government as it is and only a particuar senior Minister of the SLFP is attemtping to topple the government.

“They want to form a new government but if so they must show a majority” he said adding that they at least must show more number of MP’s than the 107 that supports the UNP" he said while challenging the SLFP.

As the leader of the parliamentary group with the majority support UNP leader Wickramasinghe will remain as the PM he said adding that there is no need for an alternative choice.

"A minister of Sri Lanka Freedom Party recently collected signatures to a letter to announce the withdrawal of his fellow ministers from the government, but all the SLFP ministers have not signed it," he points out.

"In such a situation, I would challenge them to bring a no-confidence motion and win," he said.

Tamil National Alliance :

He also said that no discussion has been held with the TNA to secure the majority of the house. While the media questioned the MP about UNP members not present at the MP meeting he said they had prior commitments and had informed the General Secretary of their inability to attend.

SLFP response :

Senior Deputy Chairman of the party and Labor Minister WDJ Seneviratne has said that they have the strength to form a new government with a group of MPs from the combined opposition and United National Party.

According to the local government election results, a new scenario for Sri Lankan politics was created, and accordingly, the president will be empowered under the 19th amendment to appoint a new prime minister and a new cabinet to change the prime minister's position he said.

UNP members joining us : WDJ Seneviratne

 While saying the new government will be formed with the help of the JO he said the SLFP is able to get the majority.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that it is the President who is protecting the Prime Minister.

He made this remark in response to a question asked by the media after the Parliamentary session held yesterday.

Rajapaksa also said that they will request the Speaker to hand over the Leader of the Opposition to the group of MPs representing the Joint Opposition.

“Governments come and go. This government will remain for two more Vesak poya days”, Rajapaksa said.

He further said that he is prepared to offer his support to appoint a SLFP MP to the post of Prime Minister and that he will not assist the Prime Ministers of the UNP. According to the way the President is acting now, it is hard to believe that there will be a change in the post of Prime Minister, Rajapaksa added.

Sri Lanka is looking to negotiate with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank to obtain USD 115 million as part of financing the accelerated solid waste management project, estimated to cost USD 274 million.

Cabinet approval was granted last week for the proposal put forward by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs. It was also decided to hold discussions with the IBRD to obtain necessary funding.

The project will be implemented by the Megapolis and Western Development and Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministries.

Attempts to topple government has made the ‘pohottuwa’ go astray says UNP MP, Chandima Gamage.

The MP joining the debate today (19) said the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna represented by the ‘pohottuwa’ (Flower Bud) has now gone completely astray after their failed attempts to topple the government.

“Those elected from the SLPP are those who do not even allow women of the village to be in peace,” he said adding that the JO has become less popular now among the people due to these issues.

 Source : aanduwa.lk

Minister of Regional Development Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and Deputy Minister of Social Empowerment, Welfare and Kandyan Heritage, Ranjan Ramanayake appear to be aiming at the Law & Order Ministerial portfolio prior to the impending cabinet reshuffle.

Speaking to the media yesterday the minister said he could show quick results in apprehending wrong-doers if he is appointed as the minister of Law and order.

"I will show results in six months if I am given the portfolio of Law and Order," he said. According to sources, the Minister is said to be one of the frontrunners to be appointed as the new Minister of Law & Order.

There is a strong support to make Field Marshal Fonseka the next Law and Order minister with responsibilities over the police, sources said adding that both the president and the prime minister favoured the idea.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake has also said he too will work towards arresting wrong-doers quickly if he is at least appointed as the Deputy Minister of Law and Order.

A cabinet reshuffle will take place on Wednesday (21) according to information received from the Presidential Secretariat.

The President has decided to appoint a new cabinet after resolving the current political issues sources said.

It is reported that if there is a continuation of the national government, a change in the number of non-cabinet and non-cabinet ministers see no change and will only bring about a change in the ministerial portfolios.

However, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution states that when there is no national government, the number of cabinet ministers should be 45 cabinet ministers in 30 cabinet ministers.

Ministers who did not obey President to be axed!

The President has decided to make drastic changes during the cabinet reshuffle and accordingly it will be changed in the fields of Law and Order, Highways, Foreign, Investment Promotion, Agriculture, Urban Development and Mass Media.

The President has summoned the President of the UNP Malik Samarawickrama today for a lengthy discussion in this regard.

However, the internal sources of SLFP say that SLFP ministers who did not support the move to expel Ranil Wickremesinghe from the post of Prime Minister may be axed during this Cabinet reshuffle.

A total of 50 unemployed youth in Jaffna, including rehabilitated former LTTE combatants, has joined the Sri Lanka Army under the militarized category and reported for non-military duties on Thursday at the Security Force Headquarters in Jaffna (SFHQ-J), Ministry of Defence said.

The new initiative was launched by Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi, Commander, Security Forces - Jaffna (SF-J) in close coordination with the Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation and other state officials in Jaffna with the blessings of the Commander of the Army who pioneered the project in the peninsula when he was the Jaffna Commander.

The new recruits are to be employed at the Sri Lanka Army Farm inside the Palaly Army Cantonment where a massive coconut cultivation project is now underway to grow 100,000 coconut trees, to be in parallel with the ongoing national drive for tree planting.

Following the meeting with the President today, Minister S.B Dissanayake has said that SLFP parliamentarians will remain as one group. According to the Minister, the group has decided to continuously support the President in this instance.

The decision was reached after the group’s meeting with the President today (19) he said.

The SLFP was set to take a final decision if to quit the national government or not after the parliamentary group meeting today. This is despite media reports claiming yesterday that Minister Thilanga Sumathipala had said that the SLFP has made a final decision in this regard and has decided to quit the national government. These claims were later refused by party insiders. However, no exact decision in this regard was announced following the meeting.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday will keep unscrupulous recruitment agents, who exploit job seekers to the UAE, away from the recruitment sector.

Signed in Abu Dhabi by Nasser Bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, and Thalatha Athukorala, Sir Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Employment, the MoU aims to foster cooperation in the labour and manpower fields, WAM reported.

It has an annexure of a protocol agreement that will facilitate the process for approving and recruiting domestic workers.

Al Hamli lauded the close relations binding the two countries in labour-related fields, emphasising that the MoU paves the way for a new stage of cooperation and ensure a balanced and effective management of the contractual work cycle of employees.

The MoU will regulate the activities of recruitment agencies working in both countries and ensure transparency and legal compliance in Sri Lankan workers’ recruitment.

The Sri Lankan Minister said the MoU indicates both nations’ keenness to bring transparency in all stages of recruitment and employment.

Under the protocol on domestic workers, the recruitment of Sri Lankan domestic workers will strictly be done in accordance with the laws and regulations, which are enforced in both countries. Only recruitment agencies registered at the ministry are able to process employment applications for domestic workers that have been submitted by employers, said the WAM report.

As many unregistered agents work in the recruitment sector, the MoU will help prevent them from exploiting the job seekers, a top Sri Lankan diploma told Gulf News on Sunday.

“Unscrupulous agents often cheat job seekers as they give bogus promises,” said Sulaiman Jiffry Mohideen, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UAE.

This causes many issues such as contract substitution [an original contract made in Sri Lanka substituted by another one upon arrival in the UAE] and related problems, he said.

A recruitment agency in the UAE has to register with the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) for recruiting people from Sri Lanka.

Whenever many complaints are raised against an agency, the embassy blacklists that entity, the envoy said. He said such punitive actions are possible against registered agents only.

As the MoU envisages the presence of registered agencies only in the recruitment sector, it will make it easy to control them, the ambassador said.