News

The political alliance initiated by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) with political parties in the “Joint Opposition” in Parliament is to be formed in September.

A senior SLPP member says the alliance will be named Sri Lanka Podujana Sandhanaya and will be formed in the last week of September or by the first week of October at the latest.

The final decision on forming the alliance was reached at a meeting held last Tuesday (20) under the patronage of SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris. MPs Dullas Alahapperuma, Dinesh Gunawardena, Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, and many others had attended the meeting.

All party leaders have approved the draft constitution of the proposed alliance at the meeting.

The SLPP source said that 13 political parties are to form the proposed alliance out of which seven parties are currently represented in Parliament.

The Elections Commission (EC) has decided to seek the Attorney General’s (AG’s) advice on the filling of the parliamentary seat that has fallen vacant following the demise of United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Salinda Dissanayake.

The Election Commission initially instructed the Kurunegala District Returning Officer to submit the elections list for the vacant seat.

However, as a number of parties have made written requests regarding the post, the Returning Officer had forwarded the nominations to the Elections Commission.

The Director General of the Elections Commission Saman Sri Ratnayaka in turn has said the list has been referred to the Attorney General’s Department for advice.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has informed the General Secretary of the UPFA to submit a nomination for the national list slot that has fallen vacant by the resignation of MP Shantha Bandara.

Following Dissanayake’s demise, UPFA National List MP Bandara, who is next in line in the Kurunegala District elections list, resigned from the National List slot to re-enter parliament through the Kurunegala District list.

However, an argument was presented by some parties that Bandara despite being the next in line to parliament under the Kurunegala District list, is not eligible to fill the vacancy created by Dissanayake’s demise since he was already an MP appointed through the National List.

Hence, there are now two vacancies in the UPFA list – 1 National List slot and 1 Kurunegala District slot.

A secret operation is being carried out by Ranil Wickremesinghe and several others to secure the presidential candidacy of the United National Front, The Leader reported.

'Green Blood' organiser Lasantha Gunawardena along with Ministers Ravi Karunanayake, Vajira Abeywardena, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Sagala Ratnayake and Thilak Marapana had participated in the secret meeting which was chaired by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister is due to convene the UNP Working Committee early next week to select a presidential candidate based on the decision taken during this closed-door meeting.

Although the UNP Working Committee consists of more than 90 members, only 63 have been appointed while more than two-thirds of them have openly supported Sajith Premadasa as the Presidential candidate.

30 new appointments to the Working Committee!

Considering this situation, it has been proposed in the above discussion to nominate 30 members to the Working Committee and the relevant names had been decided immediately. The list of names is to be presented to the Elections Secretariat tomorrow (26) and the Working Committee is to then convene for a vote to choose the party’s Presidential candidate.

According to sources, the legal matters in this regard have been assigned to Minister Thilak Marapana, while media operations have been assigned to Lasantha Gunawardena. Ravi Karunanayake has been tasked with coordinating with other UNF parties.

Ranil’s promised deadline almost at an end!

According to the constitution of the UNP, the selection of the presidential candidate must be done by a majority of the members of the party and the members of the working committee at a joint meeting.

Accordingly, more than two-thirds of UNP MPs had written to the Prime Minister on Monday, calling on the Prime Minister to summon the Parliamentary Group and the Working Committee to arrive at an agreement on the Presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, senior ministers Kabir Hashim, Malik Samarawickrema and Ranjith Madduma Bandara, who met the Prime Minister on Wednesday (21), had also made the request and the Prime Minister had promised to take a decision on this by Monday (26). That deadline ends tomorrow.

(Source: theleader.lk)

Another township development project improperly planned by the Urban Development Ministry when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was holding the post of secretary was being completed in a sluggish manner.

The Kottawa, Kaduwela and Kadawatha Township Development Component (3K) had been commenced as a sub component of the Greater Colombo Urban Transport Development Project.

According to the Loan Agreement, the Project should have been completed 31 May 2015.

However, functions which were planned to be carried out under the Project had not been properly performed within the due period, government audit inspection revealed.

As such, this Project is being implemented at present on Treasury provisions without obtaining loans.

Accordingly, expenditure necessary for the staff and administrative purposes had to be incurred from the Consolidated Fund at present due to non-completion of the Project within the due period.

Therefore, a sum of Rs.43.4 million had to be spent therefore from the Consolidated Fund by the end of the 2017/2018 year under review.

Even though salaries for the staff of the Project had been computed erroneously and a sum of Rs.1.91 million had been over paid, the sum so overpaid should have been recoverable.

Moreover, the Project was being completed in a sluggish manner.

Six forensic audits into alleged treasury bond scams and mismanagement of a Rs. 2.2 trillion Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) are to be completed this year, official sources revealed.

Public interest groups are now demanding the authorities to instigate legal and disciplinary action against all officers allegedly involved in treasury bond misappropriations since 1998, especially in the period between 2008-2016.

The six forensic audits were expanded to cover 2015 and 2016, but the Presidential Commission of Inquiry looking into the alleged bond scam recommended that the government inquire from the year 1998.

Holding a forensic audit examination on the EPF involvement in Treasury Bonds and Treasury Bills transactions from 2008-2014 was also recommended by the Commission.

BDO India and KPMG are conducting the forensic audits and five of those audits began in April this year.

Most of those audits are to be completed in two to three months and the longest audit will take at least six months for its completion.

One of the forensic audits has still not commenced as the Indian audit firm BDO was claiming a high fee of Rs. 900 million to conduct it.

Out of this amount, a sum of Rs. 1.5 million is needed only for the purpose of auditing phone calls.

Most of these telephone calls were in Sinhala and the content of it will have to be translated to English enabling the foreign audit firm to continue the auditing process.

The Cabinet Tender Committee appointed to select prospective bidders has awarded contracts to BDO India and KPMG at an agreed payment of Rs.250 million and it was approved by the Cabinet on March 6 this year.

However, all six audits are expected to be completed before the end of this year and necessary action would be taken by the Central Bank considering the outcome of the forensic audits.

The Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) has handed over a report submitted by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to the Attorney General (AG) on the position of the investigations on the murders of Sri Lanka rugby player Wasim Thajudeen and Editor of The S0unday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge and four other high profile cases.

The Police Media Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara yesterday (22) said the report was handed over to the Attorney General.

The Attorney General last Friday (16) in writing instructed the Acting IGP to expedite the conclusion of police investigations into six high profile cases including the murders of Wickrematunge, 17 aid workers in 2006, Thajudeen and the abduction of journalist Keith Noyahr, the abduction and disappearance of 11 Tamil youths.

The Attorney General had instructed the Acting IGP to conclude investigations into the cases without delay and to submit the completed files to the Attorney General’s Department for the filing of charges.

The Acting IGP then directed the CID to submit a full report on the high profile cases referred by the Attorney General.

The five judge bench headed by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya has determined on Friday (23) that their opinion on holding the Provincial Council elections without the Delimitation Report would be conveyed to President Maithripala Sirisena shortly.

President Sirisena made an application to seek a determination from the Supreme Court on holding the Provincial Council elections without the Delimitation Report.

The ruling of this case has to determine whether the Provincial Council elections can be held before the Presidential election this year, political sources said.

Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya told the open court at the inception of the proceedings that 13 written submission were submitted by various parties in relation to the President’s application seeking determination on holding the Provincial Council elections.

The Department of Co-operative Development under severe political pressure has failed to recover outstanding loans and interest granted to co-operative societies during the Rajapaksa regime.

Theses cooperative societies are still managed by members of Sri Lanka Podujana Party headed by Mahinda Rajapksa.

According to a recent government audit query, loans totalling Rs.818.62 million had been granted to co-operative societies by the Co-operative Development Fund and Co-operative Surplus Fund.

These funds are coming under the purview of the Department of Co-operative Development and out of them, loans and interest thereon amounting to Rs.618.01 million and 208.94 million respectively had been outstanding by 31 December 2017.

Only loan installments and interests thereon amounting to Rs.1.73 million and Rs.9.06 million respectively had been paid by societies who had borrowed money in the year under review (2017/2018).

The Department of Co-operative Development had not taken adequate measures for the recovery of outstanding loans and interests thereon.

Even though it had been mentioned according to the Action Plan that loans amounting to Rs.20 million are granted, loans had not been granted to any co-operative society after July 2015.

The President’s Media Division (PMD) has yesterday (22) clarified comments attributed to President Maithripala Sirisena in a media release issued by the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo following the High Commissioner’s meeting with President Sirisena on Tuesday (20).

The PMD issuing a statement noted that the said meeting took place at the request of the Pakistani High Commissioner and during which he briefed the President about the recent developments with regard to India’s abrogation of Section 370 and annulling of Article 35A of the Constitution of India.

“The President gave a patient hearing to the Pakistan High Commissioner’s views and stated that both India and Pakistan have excellent friendly relations with Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka’s interest is to see the growth of regional cooperation and friendship,” the statement noted.

“The President did not make any other comment on the issues pertaining to India and Pakistan,” the PMD added.

President Maithripala Sirisena has informed the Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday (20) to postpone the signing of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact to January next year.

Sources in the government said the President has also said he would study the Compact and make his observations to the Cabinet in a week.

The Cabinet had met at around 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday (20) and the proposed MCC Compact had been discussed at length.

When several ministers had pointed out the importance of signing the agreement as soon as possible, the President has said it was better to postpone it till January.

Accordingly, a final agreement was reached on the signing of the MCC Compact deal.

What's in the Compact?

The Board of Directors of the MCC has approved a five-year, US$ 480 million Compact with the Government of Sri Lanka aimed at reducing poverty through economic growth. The Compact seeks to assist the Sri Lanka Government in addressing two of the country’s binding constraints to economic growth: (1) inadequate transport logistics infrastructure and planning; and (2) lack of access to land for agriculture, the services sector, and industrial investors.

The compact will be composed of two projects: a Transport Project and a Land Project.

The Transport Project aims to increase the relative efficiency and capacity of the road network and bus system in the Colombo Metropolitan Region and to reduce the cost of transporting passengers and goods between the central region of the country and ports and markets in the rest of the country.

The goal of the Land Project is to increase the availability of information on private land and underutilized state lands or all land in Sri Lanka to which the Government is lawfully entitled or which may be disposed of by the Government (“State Lands”) in order to increase land market activity. The Land Project would increase tenure security and tradability of land for smallholders, women, and firms through policy and legal reforms.

A leader without conflict with US

Meanwhile, sources also said that the US government is also of the view that the signing of an agreement that has been subjected to much controversy should not be done ahead of a decisive election.

However, political and social media activists claim that it would only be a Sinhala Buddhist leader who would have the strength to sign such an agreement with the US.

A political analyst and writer, Kusal Perera recently pointed out that the US will not be able to get the controversial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed by this government.

“It could be done only by a Sinhala Buddhist leader who has the full support of the military. The agreement was signed by Gota in March 2007 as Fifth Columnist. Therefore, there would not be a conflict of interest between the US and Sri Lanka if such an individual become the Head of State,” Perera has opined.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is looking at holding separate discussions with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and its presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

General Secretary of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), MP Mahinda Amaraweera says that arrangements are being made to hold these separate discussions as soon as possible.

Amaraweera explained that separate discussions will be held with Gotabaya since he was not an official member of the SLPP.

According to him, Gotabaya has been extended an invitation to join the SLFP as it would also be the best way to get the SLFP’s support.

Amaraweera noted that the SLFP’s intention was to bring victory to the country and not focus on any individual.

“Therefore there’s a necessity for a common policy framework for the country and such a document is currently being prepared,” he said.

Referring to the SLFP’s stance on the United National Party (UNP), Amaraweera said the SLFP has not taken any decision to hold discussions with UNP on a political alliance.

The New York-based global rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW) on says the appointment of Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva as Sri Lanka Army Commander negates all the Government’s pledges toward accountability, reconciliation, and reform.

The HRW said President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a general whose forces have been credibly accused of war crimes as the Commander of the National Army, confirming the fears of those like Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who, back in March, supported the United Nations Human Rights Council’s extension of its 2015 resolution on Sri Lanka.

The extension, which Sirisena and other top officials openly opposed, seeks justice and accountability for violations committed during the 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.

“The sad reality is, then, that there are those who oppose any measure to achieve accountability and reconciliation, because they don’t want justice,” HRW quoted Minister Mangala Samaraweera. “They want victor’s justice.”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka documented laws of war violations committed by the Silva-led 58th Division in the conflict that could amount to war crimes.