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President Maithripala Sirisena last week sought a determination on whether the provincial council (PC) polls could be conducted in line with the previous proportional representation (PR) system, which existed before the enactment of the Provincial Councils (Amendment) Act in 2017, which introduced a hybrid of the PR and first-past-the-post systems.

The Supreme Court is to take up the request for observation on Friday (23) and is expected to deliver its opinion to the President before 30 August.

The President, in terms of Article 129 (1) of the Constitution, had referred to the Supreme Court the following questions for its consideration:

(a) In view of the review committee failing to submit its report to me in accordance with sub sections (13) and (14) of Section 3A of the Provincial Councils Elections Act No. 2 of 1988 as amended by Act No. 17 of 2017, (I query) whether, I, as President, can by proclamation forthwith publish the new number of electorates, (and) the boundaries and names assigned to each electorate so created in terms of the report of the Delimitation Committee submitted to the Minster assigned the subject of Provincial Councils?

(b) Whether the provincial council elections can be held under the Provincial Councils Elections Act No. 2 of 1988 as amended by Act No. 17 of 2017, once the proclamation referred in (a) above is published?

(c) Whether in the absence of such inability to hold such provincial council elections in terms of the present law, the said provincial council elections can be held under the law that was in force prior to the enactment of the Provincial Councils Elections (Amendment) Act No. 17 of 2017 in view of Section 6(2) of the Interpretation Ordinance?

Section 6(2) of the Interpretation Ordinance stipulates that “whenever any written law repeals in whole or part a former written law and substitutes therefore some new provision, such repeal shall not take effect until such substituted provision comes into operation”.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has requested the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) to submit observations if any on this matter by Wednesday (21).

Chairman of the Elections Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya has said that if the provincial council elections are to be held before the presidential election this year, the gazette calling for the provincial polls should be issued by August 17th.

The Trincomalee development master plan has been delayed owing to irregularities of the project planning officers assigned to this task by the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry.

The Ministry has commenced a Project of Preparation of a Master Plan with the objective of improving the agriculture, energy and tourism industries in the Trincomalee District.

A consultancy firm in Singapore had been selected as consultants for this project without following the Government's procurement guidelines.

Accordingly, an agreement had been reached for the preparation of the Master Plan of the Trincomalee District at a cost of US$ 982,000.

In terms of that agreement, the planning report should have been handed over within 09 months.

Nevertheless, the said report had not been handed over even by the end of the year 2017, a progress review report revealed.

Even though an amount of US$ 589,200 equivalent to LKR 90.29 million had been paid in 03 instances by the end of the year under review, the Master Plan of the Trincomalee District had not been prepared and handed over even by the end of June 2018.

The consultancy firm had failed to complete the said project within a period of 09 months as per the agreement and as such, it has been extended by another period of 08 months.

The Singaporean company had failed to provide the said plan within the period given for the preparation of the plan.

Even though the project was scheduled to be completed on 30 November 2017, the project had to be carried out by paying salaries to the staff up to 31 July 2018 due to delays encountered in the preparation of the plan.

Despite directives issued by the Attorney General (AG) and Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) calling for the completion of probes on several high profile cases, the CID is faced with difficulties in concluding them.

Officers investigating several high profile cases are facing difficulties due to the lack of co-operation from officials of the Sri Lanka Army, it is learnt.

Investigating officers note that most of the high-profile probes have come to a standstill and cannot be taken forward without the support of the Army.

A senior officer attached to the Police Department has said the CID had no powers to visit Army camps and carry out necessary probes within such premises and has therefore requested relevant authorities to provide certain documents required to proceed with the ongoing probes.

Some of the key investigations that are being blocked due to the Army’s lack of co-operation are the probes on the murder of former Editor-in-Chief of The Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge, the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, and the assault on journalist Keith Noyahr.

However, Attorney General Dappula de Livera has directed the Acting IGP to conclude five high profile cases and submit the files to the Attorney General Department. The five cases include the murders of Wickrematunge, Sri Lanka rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, and the 17 aid workers as well as the abduction of journalist Noyahr and the case involving 11 missing youths.

Meanwhile, Acting IGP Chandana Wickremeratne yesterday called on the CID to conclude these cases and submit the files to the Attorney General’s Department.

Thirteen Sri Lankans who attempted to travel to Australia illegally by boat have been deported today (15) by Australian authorities.

It is reported that these persons had left the island as a group on a multi-day fishing trawler. They are residents of Chilaw.

The group had arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport at around 6:30 am.

They have been handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) unit at the airport by Immigration officials for further investigations.

Update: Major Gen. Shavendra Silva has been appointed as the new Army Commander by President Maithripala Sirisena.

He will be the 23rd Commander of the Sri Lanka Army.

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President to appoint new Army commander today?

President Maithripala Sirisena is expected to appoint a new Commander to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) today (19) since the one-year extension of service granted to Army Commander Lt. General Mahesh Senanayake ended yesterday (18).

Lt. General Senanayake’s retirement has created a vacancy for the top post in the SLA.

The names of several Major Generals are at the top of the list of contenders for the position – Major Generals, Sathyapriya Liyanage, Shavendra Silva, Kumudu Perera and Nirmal Dharmaratne.

Military Spokesperson Brigadier Sumith Atapattu has said the President is expected to make the appointment of a new Army Commander, while Defence Secretary Retd. General Shantha Kottegoda has observed that the appointment of the new Army Commander would take place within these few days.

The government has allocated increasingly bigger volumes of funds over the last four years and especially under 'The Framework for Economic Development Master Plan' for the long term growth and development of the Northern Province.

The Framework for Economic Development Master Plan was launched in February 2019 by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

“This government has set apart massive funds for the development of Northern province and more projects are to be launched,” said the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen on Thursday (15).

He was addressing the ceremonial opening of a new hospital wing in Vavuniya . The new health facility was declared open by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe together with Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne and Minister Rishad Bathiudeen.

Bathiudeen’s announcement comes ahead of an Economic Development Analysis of the North, devised by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in the first quarter of 2019.

"Health, education and housing have been the key sectors that has displayed great improvements in this Province in the last four years. Many new school buildings too have now been completed and they are ready for opening," he added.

The GSP Plus trade concessions granted to Sri Lanka by the European Union (EU) will be subject to scrutiny this month by a delegation of the EU scheduled to visit the country this month.

The EU delegation will assess Sri Lanka’s compliance with the conditions under which the GSP Plus trade concessions has been granted.

Deputy Head of the Political Section of the Delegation of the EU to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Anne Vaugier Chatterjee has told The Sunday Morning that a GSP Plus Monitoring Mission will be in Sri Lanka during the last week of August.

Meanwhile, Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to the EU Grace Asirwatham had reportedly discussed details on the visit of the GSP Plus Monitoring Mission to Sri Lanka with European Commission Head of the South and South East Asia Division of the Directorate General of Trade (DG Trade) Peter Berz.

Accordingly, Ambassador Asirwatham has discussed Sri Lanka’s desire to further expand bilateral trade with the EU and to increase the utilisation level of the GSP Plus facility granted to Sri Lankan exporters.

Sri Lanka had committed to comply with 27 conventions related to human rights and labour rights in order to be eligible for the EU GSP Plus trade facility.

However, concerns have been raised recently on several human rights violations in Sri Lanka, especially those related to conventions mentioned by the EU, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and capital punishment.

Minister Ajith P. Perera in an interview with The Hindu newspaper has made a case for United National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader, Minster Sajith Premadasa’s candidacy at the presidential election saying the UNP cannot win an election only with the support of the Colombo elite.

Perera has said that this is the reason why the UNP should field Premadasa as its presidential candidate.

“Though he is western-educated, Sajith Premadasa is very grounded and has a connect with ordinary citizens in a way that no other UNP leader has,” Perera has observed.

“We can’t win an election with just the Colombo elite supporting us,” Perera has said.

“The majority of our MPs are with him, and a majority of our working committee members want him to contest. Backbenchers have also decided to support him,” he has further noted.

Sri Lanka’s general public and majority of low ranking security forces personnel have expressed concern on Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s come back as presidential candidate as they have bitter memories of his old doctrine of allowing military to do civilian duties.

This doctrine, known as the military’s dual function, had been put into practice when Gotabaya was holding the Defense and Urban Development Secretary post with unprecedented power.

They noted that the people of this country cannot forget undermining the dignity of war heroes by deploying soldiers in cleaning roads and walking paths as well as carpentry, masonry and almost all aspects of civilian work.

From engaging in labour work of changing the landscapes of the Colombo city with its rapid remodeling and ‘beautification’ to growing vegetables in the North and East and other rural areas , Sri Lanka’s military had been demoralized.

This was aimed at systematically increasing Gota’s grip on the economy and business activities at that time, economic experts claimed.

Gota with the Army has made a significant impact on private ventures that are in competition mainly due to the cheap labour of service men and women the then Defence Ministry has been freely exploiting, they said.

Several leading businessmen have revealed that not only has the military invaded the local business space but also issued threats to businesses engaged in similar fields to refrain from raising issues with their involvement or turn competitive with the businesses run by the Defence Ministry.

They were not given additional payments of allowance for this work as Gotabaya Rajapksa has made dual function compulsory for low ranking army carders.

A leading NGO warned that the failure to differentiate military and civilian roles under Gotabaya’s rule if he is elected president could lead to “unwanted military rule nursed by a democratically elected government."

The police probe being carried out into the alleged irregularities in the issuing of a new passport to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa is now under pressure with Rajapaksa loyalists exerting pressure on the police department to stall the probe.

Police sources said that following the revelation that Gotabaya’s name has not been included in the 2nd quarter list released by the US on the individuals who had requested to renounce their US citizenships, pressure was now mounting on the police to stop investigating into the Sri Lankan passport issue.

It is in such a backdrop that the Acting IGP Chandana Wickremaratne has moved to assign the police probe on the alleged irregularities in Gotabaya’s Sri Lankan passport to the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD), police sources say.

The probe was initially handled by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), but the Acting IGP has now reassigned the probe to the CCD.

The probe was launched following two complaints seeking an inquiry in to the allegations was sent to the Acting IGP by civil society activists. The two complaints were first forwarded to the CID.

However, some senior police officers are trying to maintain that the police is not probing into the issue, but merely inquiring to determine whether there is a necessity to carry out a probe.

Gota still a US citizen

Gotabaya’s name was not included in the official US Government publication “Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen To Expatriate”, or renounce US citizenship, in the 2nd quarter of 2019 - covering 1 March to 30 June.

Gotabaya’s name did not appear in the 1st quarter list and it was stated by his loyalists at the time that he had submitted his papers end of April and therefore did not make it to the list. They stated that Gotabaya’s name would appear in the 2nd quarter list. However, the latest 2nd quarter list does not include the name of the SLPP presidential candidate casting doubts over his candidacy since it seem he still remains a citizen of the US.

Gotabaya claimed that he received official confirmation on May 3 from the US Government that he was not considered a US citizen.

A document was then published by some media organizations, which he said confirmed he has renounced his citizenship.

However, the US Government, in its Federal Register - the equivalent of the Gazette published by the Sri Lankan Government - publishes a list of US citizens who have lost or given up their citizenship in the previous quarter every three months.

Accordingly, the most recent filing, a 17-page document, dated August 7, 2019 and covering the 2nd quarter does not include Gotabaya’s name.

The document states, “the listing contains the name of each individual losing United States citizenship, with respect to whom the Secretary received information during the quarter ending 30 June 2019.”

According to Article 91 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, no person can contest the Presidency or serve as President if they are a citizen of any country other than Sri Lanka.

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Controversy over Gota's new passport

The amendments prepared to be added to the Presidential Elections Act according to the 19th amendment to the constitution in relation to the constitutional provision which states that a dual citizen cannot contest a Presidential election has not been presented to the cabinet. According to sources, there have been continuous delays to present the amendments to the cabinet due to pressure exerted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The draft had been prepared over a year ago and the Attorney General's observations in relation to it had also been obtained. It is reported that when government stalwarts inquired on the matter, the Prime Minister had claimed it can only be presented to cabinet following a discussion and agreement with the President.

The Constitution notes how an election must be held including the time frame and qualifications. How to put into action those requisites mentioned in the Constitution is included in the Presidential Elections Act.

Accordingly, following a new constitutional amendment, the Presidential Elections Act must be amended to state how the Elections Commission must act.

The Commission does not have information on dual citizenship and the Department of Immigration and Emigration deals with such matters. Therefore, experts claim that without the necessary information in the Presidential Elections Act, there is a risk that the provision which states that a dual citizen cannot contest will not be put into action properly.

A government stalwart commenting on the Prime Minister’s failure to present the draft said it was done in the belief that Wickremesinghe would have an easy win if Gotabaya contested in the Presidential Election.

The Fisheries Corporation is now incapable of meeting the fish requirement of consumers due to inefficient management, lack of supervision in the procurement process and malpractices including paying huge commissions to middlemen.

The corporation has targeted to purchase 7200 metric tons of fish by spending a sum of Rs. 2,592 million in the year 2017/2018 under review.

According to the progress report, 3329 metric tons of fish had only been purchased only by spending a sum of Rs.1, 381 million.

Although it was targeted to earn an income of Rs. 3,375 million by selling 7200 metric tons of fish, an income of Rs. 1,915 million had been earned only by selling of 3857 metric tons.

Accordingly, the Fisheries Corporation had failed to reach the sales target by 46 per cent. Further, they have also failed to supply fish at concessionary prices which is the Corporation's main objective.

The Fisheries Corporation has changed the present system of procuring fish and instead introduced a direct purchasing method of fish stocks from the fisher folk on the shore without the involvement of middlemen.

The new method will be able to save a massive amount of commissions paid to the middlemen can and quality fish can be provided to the consumers at low prices.

It has been revealed that at some occasions, the middlemen's commission amounts to Rs. 30-40 per kilo of fish.

He said around Rs. 6 million is due from the Fisheries Corporation to fishermen for fish supplied during the months of April and May.

Official data revealed that a sum of nearly 270 million has been outstanding since 2015.