Courtesy The Daily Mirror Acting President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to nominate a Prime Minister who is acceptable to both the Government and Opposition. In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Media Division said that on Monday (11th) the Prime Minister held a meeting with the Members of the […]

Courtesy Adaderana United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following the situation in Sri Lanka very closely and has urged all party leaders to embrace the spirit of compromise” for a peaceful and democratic transition. The comments by Mr. Guterres came as embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on July 14 fled to the Maldives on […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The Sri Lanka Army said today that protesters had brutally assaulted two soldiers last night during the protests near Parliament and took two automatic T-56 assault rifles from their possession along with ammunition.  Army Spokesman Brigadier Nilantha Premaratna said two army soldiers were brutally assaulted and their weapons and ammunition were […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has departed from the Maldives a short while ago, on board a Saudi Airlines flight, the Daily Mirror learns.  He is now on his way to Singapore along with his wife and two security officials who flew with him from Colombo. He had been escorted to the plane […]

Malinda Seneviratne  I write (it is 12.09 pm, on Wednesday) at a time when there’s a remarkable and unprecedented lack of political clarity in the country. As I write, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has left the country. As per the Constitution, if indeed Rajapaksa did resign, or, as reported, Rajapaksa citing Article 37.1 of the constitution , […]

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, July 13 (newsin.asia): Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was to resign on Wednesday, July 13, now intends to resign on July 14, upon reaching Singapore, informed sources said. Gotabaya Rajapkasa had difficulty in getting into Maldives as the immigration staff were reluctant to allow him in. It was only […]

Courtesy ANI Colombo [Sri Lanka], July 14 (ANI): Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled to Maldives on Wednesday followed by an uprising triggered due to the economic collapse of the island nation, is now waiting to travel further to Singapore.Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is now an acting president, has declared a […]

Courtesy GZERO Demonstrators celebrate after entering the Sri Lankan PM’s office in Colombo to demand his resignation as interim president.  REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte Things have gone from bad, to worse, to outright crazy in Sri Lanka since the beginning of the year. We warned you early on that the country would default on its huge sovereign debt, which […]

Suhasini Haidar Courtesy The Hindu Indian High Commission ‘categorically denies’ reports that India facilitated the Rajapaksas’ recent travel Distancing itself from the Rajapaksa family that has been pushed out of power by angry protestors in Sri Lanka, the government made it clear that it has not offered outgoing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his brother and former Finance Minister Basil […]

Courtesy Adaderana An island-wide curfew has been imposed until 5.00 a.m. tomorrow (July 14) by Acting President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The Prime Minister’s Office said an islandwide curfew has been imposed effective from 12 noon today (13) until 5.00 a.m. tomorrow. The curfew order has been issued by virtue of the powers vested […]

Courtesy Adaderana Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse protestors in front of the Speaker’s official residence near the Parliament. A large group of people were engaged in a protest near the Speaker’s house while police had used tear gas to disperse them as they attempted to breach the police barricades, Ada […]

Courtesy Adaderana Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has requested the Speaker of Parliament to nominate a person agreeable to the government as well as the opposition to be appointed as Prime Minister under an all-party government, the PM’s Office said. In the discussion held with the Cabinet Ministers at the Prime Minister’s Office on the 11th […]

By PTI  ‘We can’t allow the destruction of state property Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe | AP Acting President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday said there was a fascist threat to democracy in the country and vowed to restore normalcy as well as stop the destruction of state property, hours after […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත් සර්වපාක්ෂික ආණ්ඩුවක් පිහිටුවා රට තුළ සාමකාමී පරිසරයක් ඇති කිරීමට වැඩ බලන ජනාධිපතිවරයා ලෙස තමාත් කතානායකවරයාත් මේ මොහොතේ කටයුතු කරමින් සිටින අතර එය කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට කැරලිකරුවන් සහ ඇතැම් පුද්ගලයන් උත්සාහයක නිරත වන බව වැඩ බලන ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ පවසනවා. මේ වනවිට රට තුල පවතින තත්ත්වය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විශේෂ ප්‍රකාශයක් කරමින් ඔහු සඳහන් කළේ […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Acting President in accordance with the Article 37.1 of the Constitution, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardhane said today. He said in a special statement that the President informed him that the Prime Minister was appointed as the Acting President as he […]

Courtesy The Hindu Even as Gotabaya Rajapaksa is officially yet to resign, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to declare an island-wide Emergency ‘after he becomes acting President’ Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will declare an island-wide Emergency when he becomes acting President, his office said on July 13 although President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is yet to officially resign. […]

Courtesy Guardian Protests break out across Colombo demanding Maldives-bound Gotabaya Rajapaksa step down immediately Hannah Ellis-Petersen in ColomboWed 13 Jul 2022 07.43 BST The Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has fled to the Maldives on a military jet hours before he was due to resign on Wednesday, following days of extraordinary scenes including his presidential palace […]

Shenali D Waduge 13th July 2022 will be remembered as the day an elected President resigned becoming the only President since 1978 to do so. He was the 7thPresident of Sri Lanka but one who was unlucky enough to inherit a legacy for which only he has been held accountable. Though 6.8m voters voted him to […]

Courtesy BBC Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has arrived in the Maldives, after fleeing the country amid protests over the island’s economic crisis. The 73-year-old arrived in the capital city, Male, at around 03:00 local time (22:00 GMT), the BBC understands. Mr Rajapaksa left aboard a military jet, ending a familial dynasty that has ruled […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Immigration & Emigration Officers’ Association (SLIEOA) says its members have no lawful authority to prevent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from leaving the country as he is still officially in office. In a statement, the association also said there is no truth to the media reports and social media posts in circulation, which claim […]

Shenali D Waduge The political system has collapsed. Mob rule has taken over. Where lies the People’s mandate? Is Sri Lanka a functioning democracy or is life to function as per protests, protestors & their demands? What will life be under such a system of lawlessness & disorder when a handful decides what is law […]

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara, Mahanuwara 12.7.2022 My answer is no. Only the Chapter on Rajapaksa family in the Mahavamsa will be closed. It will be followed by a very uncertain and really turbulent period that might be followed by  a period of prosperity, happiness and peace for all if the present system of Government is replaced […]

Sugath Kulatunga In early March this year the Sri Lanka rupee was devalued by about 15% against the dollar. Since then, we have had a fuel and gas crisis and the escalation of all prices of essential commodities. The economic crisis led to Cabinet reshuffles several times and the resignation of the Prime Minister in […]

By Jonathan Manz /Contd from Part 1 In Ukraine in Feb 2014, Yatsenyuk, a former Central Banker now installed as the Junta Prime Minister, scrapped the Russian bail-out deal and sought instead IMF assistance.  The IMF demanded the immediate implementation of austerity measures; pensions, heating-assistance and other social programs were slashed.  Describing the situation created […]

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන මැතිවරණ සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ඡන්ද විමසීම් ජනතාවගේ සෘජු ඡන්දයෙන් පැවැත්වීමට හැකිවන පරිදි ඩිජිටල් ඡන්ද ක්‍රමයට පරිවර්තනය කරන නීති සංශෝධන ගෙනෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස් ජනරාල්ට ඉල්ලීමක්…. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පවත්වන මැතිවරණ සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ඡන්ද විමසීම් ජනතාවගේ සෘජු ඡන්දයෙන් පැවැත්වීමට හැකිවන පරිදි ඩිජිටල් ඡන්ද ක්‍රමයට පරිවර්තනය කරන නීති […]

Priyantha Hettige Courtesy Island Millions of Sri Lankans are anxiously waiting to see what actions will be taken to make life bearable again. If we follow the example of successful countries, we see how they have exploited their opportunities, and used the wealth created, not to import cars and go on luxury trips abroad, but […]

By P.K. Balachandran/The Diplomat July 12, 2022: Mobs have ended the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-Ranil Wickremesinghe government in Sri Lanka. On Saturday, huge crowds of angry youth stormed the official residences of the president and the prime minister and set fire to the private residence of Wickremesinghe, forcing the hands of the two leaders. Both President Gotabaya […]

Courtesy Adaderana Former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, wanted by Sri Lankan authorities over the bond scam, speaking to CNN Philippines about the island nation’s crisis situation said the government of Sri Lanka is finding it difficult to persuade lenders. In response to a question on the events that led to the collapse of Sri […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Several complaints had been lodged with the Kollupitiya Police claiming that various items and equipment were stolen from the Temple Trees. Police said the staff of the Temple Trees had lodged the complaints. The Media Unit of the Temple Trees also complained that some of their equipment was stolen from the […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror A group of officials from the Archeology Department arrived at the President’s House this morning to ascertain whether there have been any damage caused to the properties which have archeological value. The officials including the Director General of the Archeology Department Anura Manathunga discussed with the protesters who are occupying the […]