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Questions have now risen over the parliamentary seat of former President and incumbent Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa once he formally assumes the role of Leader of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) on Sunday (11) at its convention to be held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.

Rajapaksa obtained his parliamentary seat as a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which contested under the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), at the last general election. Therefore, Rajapaksa is likely to lose his parliamentary seat when he assumes the SLPP leadership.

The SLFP constitution states that a member of the party cannot become a member or hold office in any other political party. If a member engages in such action, he/she is sacked from the party.

When Rajapaksa assumes the SLPP leadership, he ceases to be a member of the SLFP, thereby legally loses his parliamentary seat.

However, SLPP National Organiser, Basil Rajapaksa says that Rajapaksa losing his parliamentary seat after officially assuming the role of SLPP leader would not be an issue for the SLPP’s political path.

According to Basil, even if such a development takes place, it would not hinder the political journey of the former President.

“He has been President, he has been the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and he has held various Ministerial portfolios. Losing his Parliamentary membership will not be an issue. It will not hinder his or our journey in any way,” Basil told the media.

Basil has made this observation in response to a question posed by the media on the possibility of Rajapaksa losing his parliamentary seat obtained as a member of the SLFP.

“We will be announcing our new Party leader at our Party convention. It will be former President and current Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa,” Basil said.

Also, after assuming the SLPP leadership, Rajapaksa is scheduled to announce the party’s presidential candidate at Sunday’s convention.

The presidential candidacy is tipped to be given to Rajapaksa sibling, former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Mahinda to the rescue

There was pressure from senior SLFP members last year to sack Rajapaksa from the party and take over his parliamentary seat when he assumed the role of de facto leader of the SLPP last year.

Many UPFA MPs represented in the ‘joint opposition’ in parliament also took over membership of the SLPP and posted photographs of accepting membership cards on their social media pages.

However, President Maithripala Sirisena intervened at the time and requested UPFA General Secretary, MP Mahinda Amaraweera to declare that Rajapaksa and his loyalists were still members of the SLFP.

Proceedings of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and other Sectoral Oversight Committees are to be open to the media from tomorrow (09).

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya made the announcement in parliament today (08).

He further noted that the COPE is scheduled to meet at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow and that tomorrow's COPE proceedings will be open to the media.

Permission has also been granted to release the inquiries and findings of the COPE committee to the media in the future.

Indictment was served yesterday (8) by the Attorney General (AG) before the Colombo High Court against former Monitoring MP of the External Affairs Ministry during the Rajapaksa regime, Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, over money laundering charges.

Gunawardena has been indicted on the charge of laundering money amounting to over Rs 306.26 million, under Section 3 [1] [a] of Money Laundering Act No 05 of 2006 as amended by Act No 40 of 2011.

The Attorney General’s Coordinating Officer has stated that the indictment was served following an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on a complaint received on February 2, 2015.

The CID investigation had revealed that Gunawardena had owned a group of companies under the name of ‘COSMOS’ which had 21 companies at the time he handed nominations to contest the general election in 2010.

Though he had resigned as a director of all those companies and transferred his shares to his wife before he became a Member Parliament, evidence had revealed that he was effectively running the full operation of those companies even after he became a parliamentarian.

The CID investigation had revealed that Gunawardena was engaged in suspicious transactions using seven out of the 21 companies.

He had allegedly deposited over Rs 458.73 million in this manner in the accounts of those companies. The CID had found through evidence that Gunawardena had brought monies in cash and asked to deposit the same in an account of a company named by him and the bank details of the accounts maintained in the name of those companies have reflected these deposits.

Gunawardena had also withdrawn cash from those same companies though he had no legal bearing to do so following his resignation as director/owner of those companies.

Investigators have also found that neither Gunawardena nor his wife in their own admission have such a known income comparable to the vast sums of money he had deposited in those companies.

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks is considering seeking more time for the Committee if it is unable to finalise the report by the three month deadline of the PSC.

Chairman of the PSC, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ananda Kumarasiri has said that the members of the PSC will discuss with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on extending the term of the Committee by another month if it is unable to prepare the report on the Easter Sunday attacks by the end of the PSC’s term.

The PSC was mandated to produce its final report either within three months from its inaugural meeting or before the completion of three months from the date of formation.

Speaker Jayasuriya announced on May 23rd, the members of the PSC chaired by Deputy Speaker Kumarasinghe and including Minister Rauff Hakeem, MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Minister Ravi Karunanayake, MP Ashu Marasinghe, MP Jayampathy Wickramaratne, MP M.A. Sumanthiran, MP Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.

The PSC has so far recorded statements from the Prime Minister, State Defence Minister, former Law and Order Ministers, senior government officials, intelligence chiefs, investigators in to the attacks, religious leaders and Muslim political leaders.

National Organiser of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Basil Rajapaksa says former Defence Secretary and presidential hopeful Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will not be an authoritarian ruler if elected to power.

Basil in fact notes that his brother, Gotabhaya will respect democracy.

Basil gave this assurance during a news briefing held at the SLPP head office in Battaramulla yesterday (8).

He also said that the SLPP’s presidential candidate will be announced on Sunday (11) at the party convention and that the leader of the SLPP will also be formally picked at the event.

Former President, incumbent Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to be formally declared as the SLPP leader while Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is tipped to be the party’s presidential candidate.

According to Basil, the SLPP’s presidential candidate will be a person who has the full support of the public.

He has added that Gotabhaya is among a few others who meet the expectations of the SLPP and the public to be their presidential candidate.

Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya says that a final decision on the holding of the delayed Provincial Council (PC) elections will have to be made within the next 10 days if Provincial elections are to be held before the presidential election this year.

"There's belief that the Provincial Council's elections could be held before the presidential election. But we know that the presidential election will be held between November 15th and December 7th. However, if a final decision on the holding of provincial election is not reached within the the next 10 days, we will not be able to hold the provincial polls before the presidential election," Deshapriya said at an event in Anuradhapura.

Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena has decided to seek the opinion of the Supreme Court on the holding of provincial council elections and whether he has the power to call for elections.

To celebrate 73rd Independence Day of India the High Commission of India is organizing a special cultural event “Strings of Harmony”- a musical Jugalbandi featuring legendary Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and his son Pandit Rahul Sharma on Thursday August 15 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Convention Hall at 6.45 p.m.

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, the legendary maestro of Santoor,( the 100 stringed unique folk instrument from the valley of Kashmir), has created a new genre of instrumental music with his creative genius through his performance career of over half a century.He has been bestowed with a long list of National and International awards including Padma Vibhushan, the highest civilian award from Govt. of India.

His compositions for blockbuster Bollywood films like Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe, Darr etc. are all time favorites across the globe. Trained by his father Pt. Rahul Sharma has carved a niche for himself in the world of Indian classical and Fusion world music. With over 60 released albums spanning over a career of 20 years Rahul has experimented various genres from classical to folk to new age and world fusion. Rahul has released one of India’sbestselling albums called NAMASTE INDIA with world renowned Saxophonist KENNY.G, featuring the voice of India's leading actor Amitabh Bachchan. They will be accompanied by eminent musiciansfrom India such as Barkha Rahul Sharma(tanpura), Yogesh Samsi(Tabla), Bhawani Shankar(Pakhawaj), and Takahiro Arai(tanpura).

The event is being organized in collaboration with Ministry of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs, Govt of Sri Lanka, ITC Hotels, Taj Samudra and BMICH.

Admission to the event is free and by invitation only. Limited passes will be available at Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre(Indian Cultural Centre) from 5thAugust onwards. For further details, contact the Indian Cultural Centre at 2684698/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Former Sri Lanka Cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara has joined to support an initiative of the Commonwealth, “Peace at the Crease,” to help promote peace.

In a Twitter message, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has stated about her meeting with the former Sri Lanka captain.

“My thanks to @KumarSanga2 for a fantastic meeting and his commitment to working with #Commonwealth to deliver Peace at the Crease,” Patricia Scotland has stated.

Meanwhile, Sangakkara has thanked the Commonwealth Secretary-General for the opportunity to be part of the initiative.
“It was indeed a pleasure and thank you for allowing me to be involved. It’s a wonderful initiative that is timely and relevant. I’m sure there will be many like minded people and institutions joining hands with #Commonwealth to deliver peace at the crease,” Sangakkara has stated.

Minister of Foreign Employment and Sports and the United National Party (UNP) electoral organizer for the Badulla District Harin Fernando has organized a massive public rally in Badulla on Monday (12) to announce the candidacy of UNP Deputy Leader, Minister Sajith Premadasa at the forthcoming presidential election.

The Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is scheduled to announce its presidential candidate – Gotabhaya Rajapaksa – at the party’s convention on Sunday (11). The public rally to announce Premadasa’s candidacy has been organized in Badulla on the day after, Monday (12).

A large number of UNP ministers and parliamentarians are scheduled to attend Premadasa’s public rally in Badulla.

It was Harin Fernando, who fired the first salvo against the 10 year Rajapaksa regime, by defeating the then governing party at the Uva Provincial Council elections. It was the Uva Provincial Council victory recorded by the UNP in 2014 that gave the confidence to progressive forces in the country to eventually rally together to defeat the Rajapaksa regime that had a stronghold on the country since 2005.

Ministers and parliamentarians of the United National Party (UNP) have decided to stop all personal meetings with former Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Gotabhaya is all set to be named as the presidential candidate of the Rajapaksa led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

The decision to stop all personal meetings with Gotabhaya was compelled by the fact that he is to become a presidential candidate of the opposition and the growing concerns over reports of meetings that have taken place between senior UNP ministers and Gotabhaya, a senior UNP member told The Leader.

The issue of UNP ministers meeting with Gotabhaya came to light when UNP Chairman, Minister Kabir Hashim who visited Gotabhaya at his residence in Nugegoda to inquire after his health since had returned to the country after surgery, walked in on Minister Sagala Ratnayake having a secret meeting with the "Pohottuwa" presidential hopeful.

It is learnt that several UNP MPs had raised concerns over Ratnayake, whom they claim has had several secret meetings with Rajapaksa.

Ratnayake however, has said that he had visited Gotabhaya to inquire into his well being.

United States (US) Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells is to visit Sri Lanka next week as part of her official tour to the Indian subcontinent.

Wells is on tour of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India during her 11-day official.

The US diplomat is visiting India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka from 6th-16th August and is currently in Pakistan as the first leg of her tour.

She is expected in Sri Lanka early next week.

“Acting Assistant Secretary Wells will hold bilateral consultations on issues of mutual interest with senior government officials in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India, in addition to meetings with business leaders and civil society,” the US State Department has stated.

Sri Lanka’s trade with Asia’s fastest growing economy is set to surge when both countries meet for Ministerial trade talks later this year -after almost three years, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said.

The Bangladesh Joint Committee for Economic & Technical Co-operation (SL-BJCETC) at Ministerial Level was last held in Colombo on 9th November 2016.

During the 2016 SL-BJCETC session, ideas were exchanged between the two countries on the proposed Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Bilateral Free Trade Agreement.

Also, the draft Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA), cooperation between the Investment Authorities in Bangladesh (BIDA) and Sri Lanka (BOI), and the draft MoU on standards between BSTI and SLSI were discussed –they later became a reality when MoUs were signed in 2017.

The proposed bilateral FTA aims at boosting total trade to higher levels beyond current $150 Mn levels. According to the Department of Commerce, bilateral trade between both countries in 2018 (Jan-Nov) totalled $156.15 Mn in comparison to $166 Mn for all twelve months of 2017.

The balance of trade has been in favour of Sri Lanka over the years. Exports to Bangladesh were at $124 Mn (2018 Jan-Nov) growing by 34% in the five years since 2014. Sri Lanka’s main exports to Bangladesh in 2018 were plastics, cotton, knitted fabrics, soaps and fuel oil.

Even total trade has increased by 34% in the last five years–from $ 116 Mn in 2014 to $156.15 Mn in 2018 (Jan-Nov).
In July 2017, after a bilateral meeting between HE President Maithripala Sirisena and Hon Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, both countries signed 14 instruments some of them the result of 2016 Colombo session.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are members of regional trade and co-operation agreements, including the South Asian Free-Trade Area (SAFTA), the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation.