report in Dawn, November 15th, 2023DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Former MNA and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leader Ali Wazir was arrested in Dera Ismail Khan, sources said here on Tuesday. He was picked when he was coming to Dera from Quetta in a private car. According to the sources, PTM leader Ali Wazir was arrested near the Darazinda tribal subdivision. He was arrested by the Daraban police. When contacted, Daraban SHO denied having arrested Mr Wazir. However,…
Posts published in “Sri Lanka”
By A.J. Abeynayake in The Island, Nov 15, 2023The Supreme Court yesterday (14) ruled that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and several others are responsible for the ongoing economic crisis. The bench comprised Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, Buwaneka Aluwihare, Priyantha Jayawardena, Vijith K. Malalgoda and Murdu Fernando. The five-judge bench by a margin of five-to-one determined that the Rajapaksa brothers as well as former…
By Jamila Husain in Daily Mirror, Nov 15, 2023With a Presidential election scheduled for next year, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said he had still not made a decision if he would re contest the presidency as his focus presently was to terminate Sri Lanka from bankruptcy. Responding to a question by the Daily Mirror at a meeting with the Editors at the Presidential Secretariat last evening, Wickremesinghe did not confirm nor deny his plans of a…
report in The Island, Nov 13, 2023The National Peace Council (NPC) has expressed concerns about certain aspects of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) Bill. The NPC has in a media statement said that it is concerned about the role given to ONUR to be prescriptive vis a vis civil society by virtue of the power “to guide and facilitate peace and reconciliation programmes conducted by local organisations including community based organisations.” Text…
By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Nov 13, 2023Top SJB spokesman Mujibur Rahman yesterday (12) alleged that a section of the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government seemed to be raising funds for the presidential election scheduled for next year.The former SJB MP said that a well-organised operation was underway to raise funds at the expense of the country. Rahman told The Island that the recent increase in the Special Commodity Levy (SCL) imposed on imported white sugar had…
by Rajan Philips in The Island, Nov 12, 2023President Wickremesinghe’s political days are numbered in more ways than one. There are virtually none left for Mahinda Rajapaksa. The oldest of them, R. Sampanthan, is under pressure to formally retire. Vasudeva Nanayakkara has not been heard in a while, but he too belongs to the cohort of politicians who entered parliament in 1970 or 1977. They respectively came from Colombo, Hambantota, Galle/Kiriella and Trincomalee, and belonged…
report in The Island, Nov 12, 2023ECONOMYNEXT –Amid speculation of a widening rift within the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) over its political future, the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has called the SLPP’s bluff, challenging it to defeat the upcoming budget if they want an election. Former SJB MP Mujibur Rahuman said the SLPP can defeat the upcoming budget if they want a parliamentary election. “If the Rajapaksas want to go for…
By Asiri Fernando in The Sunday Morning, Nov 12, 2023An updated version of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to grant diplomatic permission for foreign warships, military aircraft, and research vessels has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers last week, with the SOP expected to be provided to foreign missions in Colombo in the coming weeks, The Sunday Morning learns. When contacted, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry yesterday (11) confirmed that the updated version…
report in Daily Mirror online, Nov 12, 2023COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has alleged that Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Jay Shah was responsible for the issues plaguing Sri Lankan cricket. In an interview posted on YouTube, Ranatunga alleged the close connection with officials of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had created a situation where submissive to the BCCI. “Because of the connection between…
By Saman Indrajith in The Island, Nov 9,2023The country was descending into anarchy with no IGP to head the Police Department, NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa told Parliament yesterday. “There is no legitimate IGP in this country today . We call on the government not to play with law and order,” MP Weerawansa said. Weerwansa said that the Constitutional Council had not approved a service extension for the incumbent IGP. “Without Constitutional Council approval an IGP…