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Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ajith P. Perera said that the Government’s claim that the Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill follows a United Nations convention is false.

He made these remarks during yesterday’s (05) Parliamentary debate on the Trusts (Amendment) Bill.

Perera said a UN report had made clear that the Bill was not drafted in line with the organisation’s conventions.

He said the UN had also urged the Government to ensure that any new law complies with international standards.

On that basis, he accused the Government of misleading Parliament about the origins of the proposed legislation.

He questioned who had written a Bill containing such serious provisions and asked whether the Government had consulted the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, civil society groups or subject experts.

He said it had consulted none of them and described the drafting process as entirely arbitrary.

Perera said that the Government was introducing the law to suppress democratic dissent against its own administration.

He said the measure, presented as a way to protect the state from terrorism, was harsher than the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

The opposition lawmaker alleged that it borrows elements from the PTA, which he described as a matter of grave concern.

Noting that the Bill is under review by the Supreme Court, Perera said he trusted the Court would deliver a sound ruling that upholds the fundamental human rights of citizens.

He said the opposition would offer its support if the Government presented a fresh Bill on organised crime that is consistent with human rights.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara informed Parliament that the government, despite its initial promises to preserve public rights, is now actively subverting democratic principles.

The SJB General secretary asserted that the government had systematically abandoned its core commitments to uphold civil liberties.

Drawing attention to a series of recent human rights concerns, he said that 17 individuals had died in police custody alongside the fatal shooting of a child.

He raised concerns over the proposed Prevention of Organised Crime Act, revealing that 26 petitions had already been lodged in court against the measure.

Bandara pointed out the country is currently operating under peaceful conditions, making the introduction of stringent anti-terrorism and crime legislation unnecessary.

He warned that such statutes risk granting excessive powers to law enforcement agencies at a time when over 1,000 police officers have faced interdiction under the present government.

Furthermore, he criticised efforts to regulate traditional religious practices, specifically highlighting interventions regarding donation boxes at Buddhist temples.

He said that judicial independence had already been compromised following the passage of the 22nd Amendment.

Bandara added that the administration is resorting to public intimidation and state authority to cover up its own political instability.

Opposition MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam says the government must explain why citizens face relentless cost of living increases while the Treasury holds hundreds of billions of rupees in reserve.

Speaking during the parliamentary sitting on 6 November, he urged immediate relief measures for ordinary citizens.

Rasamanickam highlighted that headline inflation climbed to 8.3 per cent in October while food inflation touched 8.8 per cent.

Following a recent price hike on 2 November, staple bakery items such as bread surged by Rs. 5, compounding the pressure on households already struggling under cumulative electricity tariff increases of over 28 per cent implemented since April.

He challenged assertions made by Deputy Minister Kaushalya Ariyarathne that fuel was being retailed below import costs, pointing out that diesel and petrol were being brought into the country at Rs. 307 and Rs. 322 per litre respectively.

Citing official figures from the Ministry of Finance Mid-Year Fiscal Position Report for 2026, he revealed that the Treasury held a cash balance of Rs. 690.3 billion at the end of June.

He argued that it was illogical to impose additional fuel taxes while holding such liquidity, demanding that available public funds be deployed directly to relieve economic strain.

He drew attention to the Rs. 57 billion spent on energy subsidies in the first half of the year, noting that Rs. 41 billion went to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and Rs. 15 billion supported electricity tariffs.

The CPC subsequently recorded a net profit of Rs. 29.2 billion, prompting the lawmaker to question whether state corporations exist to turn a profit or serve the public, particularly after taxpayers settled Rs. 750 million in state bank loans for the entity in the previous year.

Demanding complete transparency from the government, Rasamanickam submitted a series of formal questions regarding the total treasury funds spent on fuel subsidies from January to date, the monthly relief expenditure, and precise sales volumes across petrol and diesel categories.

He called on the government to clarify whether the Rs. 41 billion allocation to the CPC was fully passed on to consumers and whether fuel relief would extend beyond December 31, 2026.

Prioritising support for public transport operators, agricultural workers, and the fishing sector, he warned that rising diesel costs could double land cultivation expenses for farmers ahead of the upcoming Maha season.

Chief Inspector Varuni Bogahawatta, who served as the Officer-in-Charge of the Administration Division of the Kotawila Police Station, and four other suspects have been further remanded until November 20.

The order was issued by Matara Chief Magistrate Chathura Dissanayake.

During the proceedings, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the court that investigations would be completed and the relevant findings submitted on November 20.

Chief Inspector Bogahawatta was arrested by the CID over allegations that she had failed to disclose the sources of funds used to purchase a vehicle and settle its lease instalments.

A luxury vehicle in her possession was also recently taken into CID custody.

The investigation was launched following revelations that the vehicle's lease instalments had allegedly been paid by an individual suspected of involvement in the misappropriation of more than Rs. 1 billion from the Matara Cooperative Society.

The Sixth Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue was held in, bringing together senior officials, maritime practitioners, researchers, regional expertsand diplomats to discuss practical cooperation to addresssome of the most pressing maritime challenges facing the Bay of Bengal.

Co-hosted by the Pathfinder Foundation and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) in Switzerland, the two-day Dialogue was held at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo. Building on five previous editions, this year’s meeting placed particular emphasis on moving from policy recommendations to practical, actionable forms of regional cooperation.

The Bay of Bengal remains one of the world’s most economically significant maritime regions, with around a quarter of global maritime commerce passing through its waters. At the same time, the region continues to face increasingly complex challenges, including maritime security concerns, geopolitical competition, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, pressure on shared marine resources, vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, and the impacts of environmental change. The Dialogue recognised that many of these challenges are transboundary and require sustained cooperation among littoral states.

The Dialogue opened with remarks from Amb. (Retd.) Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of the Pathfinder Foundation, and Amb. (Retd.) Venu Rajamony, Senior Adviser for South Asia at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. The opening programme also featured a plenary address by H.E. Amb. Indra Mani Pandey, Secretary General of BIMSTEC; a recorded keynote address by H.E. Arief Havas Oegroseno, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia; and a special address by H.E. Ambassador Dr. Felix Neumann, German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Mr. Milinda Moragoda, Founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, also joined the opening session. High Commissioners, Ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions attended alongside senior officials, maritime practitioners, experts and representatives of regional and international institutions.

Discussions on the first day focused on the strategic position of the Bay of Bengal within the wider Indo-Pacific, maritime communications and crisis response, the security of critical undersea infrastructure, and cooperative approaches to managing shared maritime spaces and resources. Participants also discussed ways to strengthen institutional trust and practical coordination among regional actors, improve responses to incidents at sea, protect subsea cables and other critical infrastructure, and promote confidence-building measures in the management of shared maritime spaces.

The second day featured a recorded message from Hon. Tim Watts (MP), Australia's Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs, and the session's deliberations placed strong emphasis on sustainable fisheries governance, including regional approaches to preventing, deterring and eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Discussions also considered the importance of improved evidence and data, the management of shared fish stocks, the reduction of cross-border tensions, and the humanitarian and livelihood dimensions of fisheries governance.

A major feature of this year’s Dialogue was the session “From Adoption to Action,” which built on policy advances and recommendations from the previous five Dialogues and focused on identifying practical ways to achieve actionable outcomes. Participants took part in three breakout discussions on maritime security, inclusion, and data and science diplomacy.

The Dialogue will share its outcomes with regional organisations and the governments of the Bay of Bengal littoral states.

Pictures
1. Ahmed Jawad, Director, PF Amb. (Retd.) Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of the PF, Ambassador Dr Felix Neumann, German Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Milinda Moragoda, Founder of the Pathfinder Foundation Dr. Pandian Krishnan Pandey, Director, Bay of Bengal Programme – Intergovernmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) Amb. (Retd.) Venu Rajamony, Senior Adviser for South Asia at CHD and Dr. Mahinda Parakrama Dissanayake, Advisor to the President on Maritime, Ports and Logistics, Sri Lanka two-day Sixth Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue

2.Milinda Moragoda, Founder of the Pathfinder Foundation Dr. Pandian Krishnan Pandey, Director, Bay of Bengal Programme – Intergovernmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) two-day Sixth Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue

3. Participant of the two-day Sixth Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue attracted local and international participants, with the inaugural session featuring Colombo-based diplomatic missions, including ambassadors and high commissioners.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has participated in the Executive Session of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2026, held in Antigua and Barbuda.

According to the Prime Minister's Media Division, the session took place on Tuesday (03), with Commonwealth leaders discussing key global economic and development priorities and exploring ways to strengthen cooperation among member countries.

Discussions focused on increasing trade and investment within the Commonwealth, creating greater opportunities for private sector participation and financing, and improving coordination across international monetary, financial and trading systems to promote a more inclusive and equitable global economy.

Leaders also discussed strengthening climate finance partnerships to support climate resilience and sustainable development, particularly in vulnerable member states.

The session further highlighted the importance of developing youth skills, encouraging entrepreneurship and expanding economic opportunities for young people across the Commonwealth.

The meeting provided an opportunity for leaders to exchange views and consider collective approaches to strengthening economic cooperation, building resilience and promoting sustainable and inclusive growth among member countries.

The Colombo Magistrate's Court has ordered that Member of Parliament Chamara Sampath Dassanayake and his private secretary, who are in remand custody over corruption allegations, be further remanded until November 10.

Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama issued the order after considering submissions made by officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and lawyers representing the suspects.

The Colombo Magistrate's Court has directed the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to submit an update on the progress of investigations into the controversial Krrish deal on November 20.

When the case was taken up today, MP Namal Rajapaksa, who was previously granted bail in connection with the case, was produced before the court by prison officers.

Meanwhile, the court ordered that another suspect in the case, Janaki Siriwardhana, be further remanded until November 20.

Sri Lanka’s failure to capture high-value global tourism stems from decades of mismanaged state land pricing, weak coastal zoning, and arbitrary arrival targets lacking strategic backing, an industry expert said.

Speaking at the THINC Tourism Conference in Colombo on 15 October 2026, TWC Holdings Chairman Thilan Wijesinghe outlined critical structural missteps that have constrained the nation’s hospitality sector over the past 20 years.

Drawing on his experience launching luxury ventures such as Ceylon Tea Trails, Wijesinghe called for an immediate overhaul of national tourism policy to elevate the island beyond low-yield market segments.

Policy missteps and structural failures

Critiquing past administrative decisions, Wijesinghe noted that successive governments mistakenly treated numerical arrival targets as a substitute for comprehensive tourism planning.

State authorities were faulted for mispricing scarce coastal land, with 99-year leases in 2012 priced at roughly Rs. 20 million per acre on the East Coast—representing a 400 per cent premium over local freehold values—which forced investors to shrink project footprints or abandon ventures entirely.

The deregulation of coastal height limits further damaged high-end destinations like Tangalle and Talpe by allowing high-rise apartment builds to encroach on finite beachfront land.

Consequently, only six per cent of Sri Lanka’s graded resort inventory is currently managed by international brands, compared with at least 33 per cent in competing destinations such as the Maldives, Mauritius, and Vietnam.

Proposals for reform and transformation

To rectify these historical imbalances, Wijesinghe proposed five core policy interventions, including the enforcement of strict destination-level zoning, government viability-gap funding for domestic aviation to connect the North and East, and tax measures targeting long-term speculative holding of undeveloped beachfront property.

He also urged state support for rebranding aging hotels through international joint ventures and restricting coastal high-rise developments to designated urban zones.

Wijesinghe also highlighted two transformative infrastructure proposals.

He suggested partnering with global luxury rail operators like Orient Express to utilise the historic Colombo-Badulla track, and exploring the feasibility of hosting a Formula One street race circuit connecting Galle Face and Colombo Port City.

Strategic execution to unlock value

The address concluded with an emphasis on shifting national strategy from volume-driven metrics to high-yield tourism experiences.

With international management agreements recently secured for luxury developments including a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Wijesinghe stressed that Sri Lanka must capitalize on renewed investor interest from India and the Middle East by establishing consistent policies to turn its natural assets into long-term economic value.

Sri Lanka’s national poverty rate has climbed to 16 per cent following the economic crisis, leaving approximately 3.42 million people living below the official threshold.

The figures were published by the Department of Census and Statistics in its preliminary Household Income and Expenditure Survey for the first quarter of 2025, which gathered data from a nationally representative sample of 25,000 households.

The findings show that post-crisis price increases have reversed years of steady poverty reduction across the island.

Stark regional disparities persist across the country, with the rural sector accommodating the vast majority of the impoverished population at roughly 2.9 million individuals.

The estate sector recorded the highest overall poverty rate at 23 per cent, while the rural sector stood at 17.3 per cent and urban areas registered 7.8 per cent.

Analysts emphasize that while nominal household income surged to an average of 120,266 rupees per month, severe inflation eroded real earning power by nearly 8 per cent compared with 2019 levels.

Median households suffered an even sharper purchasing power contraction of 11.1 per cent.

Although average monthly household expenditure rose to 116,191 rupees, experts attribute the higher spending almost entirely to inflated prices rather than improved living conditions.

Reflecting the soaring costs of basic foodstuffs and essential goods, the official individual monthly poverty line more than doubled from Rs. 6,966 rupees in 2019 to Rs. 16,417 in 2025.

US-based Tamil diaspora groups have expressed deep disappointment over the reported outcome of recent talks between a Tamil delegation and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.

The delegation, which included Sri Lankan Tamil Members of Parliament Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and Dr. Ilayathamby Srinath alongside diaspora and Indian political representatives, met the Indian minister on October 28, 2026 to discuss the Tamil national question.

However, diaspora commentators argue that the engagement failed to adequately articulate core historical and political demands, relying instead on limited assurances regarding economic relief and religious protection.

Questioning legitimacy and historical core

Critics within the diaspora community maintain that addressing religious heritage and financial aid cannot substitute for a comprehensive resolution to the Tamil national question.

Concerns have been raised over how the delegation was selected, the exact mandate granted to non-elected participants, and whether fundamental principles such as self-determination, historical sovereignty, and the 1977 electoral mandate were explicitly presented during the session.

Although Ponnambalam reported receiving verbal assurances that Indian funds would not be used to compromise Tamil identity or Hindu heritage sites, diaspora observers point out the absence of written commitments, clear implementation timetables, or formal monitoring mechanisms.

Demands for legal scrutiny and total transparency

Advocating for a solution rooted in international legal frameworks, diaspora representatives insist that any lasting political settlement must confront the Tamil people's right to self-determination as outlined under United Nations conventions.

They have formally called on the meeting organisers to publish the submitted memorandum, detail the specific arguments made regarding Tamil national rights, and outline the exact responses given by the Indian finance minister.

Until a complete and documented account is provided, the US Tamil Diaspora has rejected the reported proceedings as an insufficient expression of Tamil political aspirations.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Ajith P. Perera has accused the government of improperly removing a no-confidence motion against the Speaker of Parliament from the official Order Paper.

He raised the allegation in parliament during an adjournment debate on the country's export economy.

Perera said that a panel presided over by Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne voted to pull the censure motion on 23 October without seeking advice from the Attorney General.

He said the motion was originally submitted on 9 October and formally entered into the parliamentary schedule on 12 October, after which the Committee on Parliamentary Business agreed on 16 October to consult the state's chief legal officer.

He emphasised that established parliamentary tradition required the Deputy Speaker to preside whenever a Speaker faced a motion of no confidence.

He detailed that the submission contained 50 distinct allegations, comprising 17 charges concerning the misuse of public funds, 20 counts relating to interference in bribery investigations and conflicts of interest, and 13 allegations regarding the erosion of democracy and parliamentary impartiality.

Perera stressed that opposition members retain a clear right to present their arguments on these matters on the floor of the House.