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The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz, tweeted that she was honoured to see democracy in action after her visit to parliament today. Teplitz said that she was glad to see the parliament fulfilling the constitutional role once again.


Meanwhile, the German Ambassador to Sri Lanka,  Joern Rohde, in a tweet yesterday, hailed the Supreme Court for the interim order as it allowed the parliament to exercise its constitutional role.

Crony Rajapaksa loyalists that were appointed to head all state media institutions have fled following the Supreme Court’s decision to suspend president Maithripala Sirisena’s unconstitutional dissolution of Parliament, sources within state media said.

It is also reported that former strongman Rajapaksa’s goons at ITN and Rupavahini, who took hold of the institutions and attacked several journalists as soon as Rajapaksa was sworn in as prime minister on October 26, have also fled their respective institutions.

Sources said that leaders of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna have advised their trade union representatives, who resorted to attacks, both verbal and physical on Cotober 26, to leave their institutions.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has issued a statement confirming the no-confidence motion (NCM) adopted against 'purported' prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government was passed by a majority with 122 MPs signing in favour of motion.The Speaker will inform president Sirisena on the decision taken by the parliament today, the Speaker's Media Office said. Copies of the motion as well as the list containing signatures will be sent to president Maithripala Sirisena for necessary action.

List containing the signatures of 122 MPs that supported the NCM against Mahinda Rajapaksa:

A special party leaders meeting will be convened in parliament tomorrow (14) at 8.30 am, a release issued by the Speaker’s Office said a short while ago. It is also reported that Parliament will be reconvened tomorrow, as originally stated by president Maithripala Sirisena, before the abrupt unconstitutional dissolution of Parliament.

The Supreme Court today suspended the presidential decree dissolving Parliament and ruled that an earlier decree summoning legislators on Wednesday is valid.

The Financing Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Motor Traffic to intesify its fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. 

The aim is to receive intelligence information related to investigations and prosecutions of money laundering, terrorist financing and other related crimes.  

Money laundering and terrorist financing are internationally connected financial crimes which could threaten the stability of domestic as well as global economic and financial systems. 

The MOU with the DMT would enable FIU to gather intelligence and information which is vital for prevention, detection and prosecution of such offences. 

The FIU has already entered into MOUs with 37 foreign counterparts as well as 7 domestic government agencies such as Sri Lanka Customs, Department of Immigration and Emigration, Inland Revenue Department, Department for Registration of Persons, Sri Lanka Police, Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka and Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka in order to share information to strengthen the AML/CFT framework of the country.

The Supreme Court has issued a stay order suspending the Gazette notification issued by Maithripala Sirisena on the dissolution of Parliament.

The interim order has been issued effective until December 18.

SLFP MPs A.H.M. Fowzi and Piyasena Gamage along with Manusha Nanayakkara crossed over to the opposition today in support of the no-confidence motion brought against 'purported' prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Furthermore, Wasantha Senanayake and Vadivel Suresh, who crossed over to the Maithri-Mahinda government last week, have also announced their resignations from their respective Ministerial Portfolios.

They added that they would support the United National Party.

Operations Director of the Anti-Corruption Force, Namal Kumara, has said that he is prepared to contest the general election at any time. He also said that he has decided to contest from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Namal Kumara became a controversial character as he revealed of an alleged assassination plot to kill several prominent figures in the country including President and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During president Sirisena’s first address to the nation after the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, he stated that this alleged assassination plot exposed by Namal Kumara has been one of the reasons for him to sack Ranil Wickremesinghe.

However, with Kumara planning to contest under the SLPP, political analysts point out that the whole assassination plot could be a fabrication to justify the unconstitutional appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa to the post of prime minister.

A figure previously known mostly among nationalist groups, he has now been thrust into the limelight while his sketchy past has cast a doubt on his claims with many others questioning his mental state.

Sri Lanka’s Parliament today passed a no-confidence vote against the government headed by Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former strongman hastily sworn in as prime minister last month.

The motion brought Wednesday morning by the leader of teh Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna could mean that Rajapaksa will have to resign his post.

Parliament convened for the first time since Oct. 27, when President Maithripala Sirisena suspended the legislature after firing the sitting prime minister and Cabinet in a power struggle and plunging the island nation into a crisis.

Sirisena dissolved Parliament last week in a bid to build support for Rajapaksa but the Supreme Court ordered the legislature to keep working until next month.

Veteran banker Ranjith Fernando has resigned from the post of chairman Sri Lankan Airlines after serving for six months at the helm of the national career following the customary procedure during the change of government, informed sources said. 

Fernando told the Sunday Times online that he tendered his resignation to the transport ministry secretary after newly appointed cabinet minister’s assumption of office allowing him to appoint his nominee to head the Airline. 

However, there was no immediate confirmation of resignations of other members of the board of directors comprising Mano Tittawella, Susantha Katugampala, Dr. Roshen Perera, and Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy. 

Fernando was chosen to head the Board based on his experience in transforming the then State-owned National Development Bank where he served from its inception in 1979 until his retirement in 2001. 

 He has functioned as the Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, Urban Development Authority and as Chairman of several public listed companies.

As per the gazette notification No. 2095/50 issued by president Maithripala Sirisena on 04th of November 2018, Parliament will reconvene at 10.00 am tomorrow, a release from the Speaker's Office said.

President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday (11) defended his unconstitutional dissolution of parliament, stating that the decision was taken to prevent violent clashes among rival legislators and "horse-trading of MPs". 

However, a telephone conversation between Sirisena and former minister Palitha Range Bandara going viral on social media shows the President inquiring from Range Bandara about the possibility of joining his newly formed government.

The former minister stated that although he had no issues of working with Sirisena, he had very strong reservations about working with Mahinda Rajapaksa, who Sirisena appointed as the Prime Minister last month. 

"It was sad that parliamentarians were being traded for LKR 100 to 500 million,” Sirisena said during his address to the nation yesterday, referring to statements made by some of the parliamentarians that they were offered huge money to switch sides.

In the telephone conversation however, Sirisena invites the former minister to meet him sometime later and discuss further about the possibility joining him in the government. 

The recording of the conversation can be found below.