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5- member committee coming to replace CC |
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2010-08-28 |
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SLMC to support govt. to secure 2/3 majority Reforms will remove restriction on MR to seek third termBy Kelum Bandara & Rifthi Ali The government will introduce a five member committee comprising the Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader as an alterative to the Constitutional Council under the proposed constitutional reforms to be introduced early next month. The other two members will be nominated by the Opposition and the President. The government is now in a position to amend the Constitution to this effect, with the SLMC yesterday deciding to offer its support to the government to secure the required two-thirds majority to pass this legislation in Parliament. The government currently has 146 MPs in the House and this number will now move up to 153 with the SLMC’s willingness to support this move. The present Constitutional Council consists of ten members. The Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader are ex officio members of it. Besides, five members are nominated in agreement between the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader. There is one nominee by the President and another by the minority parties. However, the CC remains defunct today over a constitutional deadlock. SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem, after the party’s High Command meeting told the Daily Mirror that he would not basically join the government, but only support it to enact the proposed constitutional changes. ............ (Read More)
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IDPs denied right to return to original homes — TNA |
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2010-08-03 |
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The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday accused the government of denying many displaced persons their right to return to their original homes in the North. Addressing a press briefing at Hotel Renuka in Colombo, TNA MP and media spokesman Suresh Premachandran alleged that the army had informed some of the displaced persons that they would be given alternative land as their houses and property were being used to accommodate soldiers and their families.
He said that certain sections within the army were working according to their own agenda and warned that, if allowed, they would change the demography of the North. Premachandran said that there were around 100,000 security forces personnel in the North and if they were to be settled there with their families and provided with land, there would be over 400,000 more people in that part of the country.(Read More) |
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TNA MP seeks release of 765 LTTE suspects in detention |
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2010-07-27 |
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Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Batticaloa, P. Ariyanethiran, has written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa asking him to release 765 Tamil young men and women kept in various prisons for suspected links with the LTTE. The MP has said that since the war ended on May 19, 2009 it is time the suspects against whom there were no criminal cases were released.
He has pointed out that among the detainees were 50 women and five children. These detainees are apart from an estimated 8,000 LTTE suspects kept in special camps in the North. They are alleged to be LTTE fighters who surrendered to the security forces during the last phase of Eelam War 1V.
(Read More)
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Insulting Palestine: Bahu wants MR to punish Amb. Perera |
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2010-07-26 |
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New Left Front leader Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne yesterday accused former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Air chief Marshal Doneld Perera, Sri Lankan ambassador to Israel for insulting Palestine. Karunaratne said that former SLAF Commander had no right to comment on Palestine and cause embarrassment to a friendly people. In a recent interview with a leading Israel’s newspaper, Air Marshal Perera was quoted as saying that Sri Lanka respected the Jewish State’s legitimate right to fight Palestinian terror, a statement the Foreign Ministry subsequently rejected.
NLF leader Karunaratne said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa should recall Ambassador Perera and initiate disciplinary action against him. (Read More)
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Constitutional reforms: TNA, JVP also to be invited for talks |
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2010-07-17 |
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The government said yesterday the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) would also be invited to take part in the ongoing talks on constitutional reforms. It said the government and the United National Party (UNP) had arrived at a consensus on several major issues. Senior Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva told a news conference that electoral and constitutional reforms would be introduced soon and several committees representing the opposition have been appointed to work out the details.He said the discussions between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the second round of talks that followed between the two groups were fruitful. (Read More)
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Minority parties also to submit proposals |
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2010-07-17 |
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The minority parties, which were represented in the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) have drafted alternative proposals for constitutional reforms, which include a parliamentary system of governance with a ceremonial president and a senate of 75 members. The report is to be tabled in parliament on Tuesday. These parties have submitted this alternative set of proposals for constitutional reforms since the government had failed to place the APRC interim report before the people. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) APRC representative Nizam Kariappar and Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) representative R. Yogarajan have prepared the proposals based on the minutes of the APRC deliberations. Mr. Yogarajan who is now a UNP national list MP will table this document in parliament on Tuesday. (Read More) |
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Ranil to talk with all parties |
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2010-07-14 |
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The main opposition UNP yesterday said its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe would soon begin discussions with all parties representing Parliament on changing the Constitution and replacing the Executive Presidency with a Prime Minister responsible to the legislature.UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told a news conference that the objective of these talks would be to build up a common stand on Constitutional Amendments. However Mr. Attanayake said President Mahinda Rajapaksa would also have talks with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) separately. He said the current focus on the talks with the government is on the proposed amendment of the local government electoral system. UNP General Secretary said several ideas have propped up regarding this, while a mixed system was more likely. However no final decision had been made on the issue. Mr. Attanayake said the stand of the minority parties which claim their right to represent the people would diminish if the current proportional representation system is replaced with the ward system and with likely moves to introduce a mixed system. (Read More) |
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Presidential election petition in September |
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2010-07-06 |
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The petition filed by common opposition candidate retired General Sarath Fonseka challenging the election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to be heard for three days from September 13, a special five-judge bench of the Supreme Court announced yesterday. Bench comprising Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, Justices Shirani A. Bandaranayake, K. Sripavan, P.A. Ratnayake and S.I. Imam will hear the preliminary objections raised by the respondents on September 13, 14 and 15. When the application was taken up yesterday the respondents filed objections and this led to General Fonseka’s counsel Upul Jayasuriya, requesting a date after one month.(Raed More)
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Fonseka forms new party |
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2010-06-30 |
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General Sarath Fonseka has submitted an application to Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayaka seeking to form his own party under the name ‘Democratic People’s Alliance with Tiran Alles as the General Secretary.
The new party will be part of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) headed by General Fonseka which also includes the JVP.
Currently Fonseka does not have his own political party although he heads the Alliance
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EPDP-TNA talks on national question |
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2010-06-28 |
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In what appeared to be a new political development in the post-war period, EPDP Leader Minister Douglas Devananda yesterday contacted TNA leader R. Sampanthan for talks to reach a common understanding on a solution to the national question and other immediate needs of the Tamil people. Minister Devananda told the Daily Mirror yesterday that he had telephoned Mr. Sampanthan and General Secretary Mavai Senathirajah for talks. He quoted TNA’s response as ‘quite positive’. Last week, six Tamil parties, on an invitation by the EPDP, had a meeting in this respect. The party is now planning to include the TNA and the TMVP for the future meetings.“This is a forum for Tamil parties to express their views. We need to have a common understanding. We are still at the initial stage on the issue,” he said. (Read More) |
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