The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) will boycott today’s Victory Day Celebrations as a mark of protest against its leader’s not being invited for the event.

DNA parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Daily Mirror yesterday that the DNA’s leader Gen. Sarath Fonseka had made the biggest contribution to achieve this military victory over the LTTE.

“Gen. Fonseka was the key person. Now he is being held behind bars. The government is holding these celebrations at such a time. We cannot participate in the event because of this,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga said that he would participate in the   event representing his leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“Our leader informed me that he would not attend the main event. So I will attend,” he said. (Read More)

The JVP yesterday vowed to prevent a two-third majority in Parliament for the government to bring about constitutional changes in an ad hoc manner at this time.  The party said that it would be done with the help of other parties in the opposition.

Parliamentary group leader of the JVP-led Democratic National Alliance Anura Kumara Dissanayake told a news conference yesterday that the opposition would try to muster the support of certain sections of the government for this purpose.

Mr. Dissanayake said that the government was making a hurried attempt to amend the Constitution so that President Mahinda Rajapaksa could contest the executive presidency for the third time too.

“We have always stood against the executive presidency. Even the President agreed in 2005 to abolish it. In 1994, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga gave us a written to assurance to scrap it. The UNP which introduced this system is also against it now,” he said. (Read More)

The JVP yesterday threatened to take to the streets if the government goes ahead and signs the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India.

JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti charged that the Government, despite several requests by Opposition parties, has still not revealed the contents of the CEPA.

"We demanded that the Government reveal the contents of CEPA in Parliament and requested a debate," he said adding that however the chief government whip Minister Dinesh Gunawardena had blocked it.

Handunnetti said that Indian vehicles, drugs, foods, motorbikes and electrical goods have already invaded the Sri Lankan market and the situation would worsen if the CEPA is signed. (Read More)

The JVP yesterday urged the government to immediately reveal to the country the proposed Constitutional reforms instead of resorting to undemocratic and underhand tactics.JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva told a news conference that speculation was rife about the government’s plan to introduce Constitutional amendments soon.

“Speculation is also rife that President Mahinda Rajapaksa intends to discuss these matters with Indian leaders during his visit to New Delhi. However, the people of Sri Lanka should know about the amendments before anyone else does. Therefore, we urge the government to place these proposals before the country first,” Mr. Silva said. (Read More)

The JVP yesterday said that the country is in an economic mess and it is getting worse day by day due to the Mahinda Rajapaksa government’s corrupt administration and bad economic policies.

Speaking to the press at the party head office in Pelawatta, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said that according to the Central Bank report for 2009, all products and earning of the country had decreased while local and foreign borrowings of the government increased.

"Tea exports had decreased by 9.1 per cent compared with 2008. According to the Central Bank report, the country has exported 318 million Kgs in 2008 but it had reduced to 289 million in 2009. Tea is the main export crop in Sri Lanka and now the industry is under threat," he said.

Silva said the annual coconut production was 2,909 million nuts in 2008, but it had reduced by 147 millions in 2009 and only 2,762 million nuts were produced.(Read More)

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) says the country has not received any benefits from having the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony in Colombo.

The JVP-led political alliance said that though President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government had spent Rs. 600 million for infrastructure development and propaganda, several top stars had skipped the event.

Addressing the media at DNA head office yesterday, JVP MP Vijitha Herath accused the government of having ‘wasted’ Rs. 600 million on what it called a worthless event, while people recently displaced due to floods continued to experience difficulties. (Read More)

The recent tax reduction on vehicle imports was a mere gimmick by the government to increase its tax revenue, the JVP said yesterday.

JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti, commenting on the government’s move, told Daily Mirror that the government had adopted a jackpot style approach to increase its revenue during this trying time.

“When the tax rate is high, imports are discouraged. Then, the government’s tax revenue decreases. As a result, they have reduced the taxes on vehicle imports.  Now, there will be more and more vehicle imports eventually resulting in the increase of state revenue by way of taxes,” Mr. Handunnetti said. (Read More)