News
13 A: Prez accused of abusing GR’s mandate
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Dissident SLPP National List MP Gevindu Cumaratunga has accused President Ranil Wickremesinghe of blatantly abusing ousted predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s mandate.The lawmaker questioned UNP leader Wickremesinghe’s recent declaration in Jaffna regarding the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in 1988, at the behest of India.
MP Cumaratunga yesterday (12) told The Island that he raised the issue in Parliament early this week, close on the heels of President Wickremesinghe’s high profile visit to Jaffna.
The MP, with an impeccable patriotic pedigree, said that those who voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Nov 2019 presidential election and gave the SLPP a nearly 2/3 majority at the parliamentary election, the following year, endorsed the country’s unitary status. The Parliament elected Wickremesinghe to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term, Cumaratunga said.
Addressing a gathering in Jaffna, President Wickremesinghe urged all provinces to utilize the powers within the 13th Amendment to achieve development. President Wickremesinghe declared that time was opportune to utilize the 13th Amendment.
Referring to a recent statement made by the Director General of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) Deepthi Lamahewa, MP Cumaratunga said that the official who had been always supportive of devolution of power to the regions criticized the Provincial Councils for hindering post-war national reconciliation process.
MP Cumaratunga, in his address to Parliament, quoted Lamahewa as having said that Provincial Councils were an obstacle to reconciliation process.
At the onset, lawmaker Cumaratunga pointed out that seven lawmakers, representing the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), voted against the ONUR Bill on January 09 even though the new law was meant to appease the Tamil speaking community. Parliament passed the Bill with 48 MPs (SLPP 45+SLPP dissidents 2 +SJB dissident 1) whereas seven opposed and 169 skipped the vote.
Commending Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, for the spearheading role he played in enacting new laws, ONUR and new Hydrography Bills, MP Cumaratunga said that they owed an explanation why the Tamil voted against the Bill at its Second Reading.
MP Cumaratunga said that if Tamil parties felt that particular Bill required amendments, they could have followed proper procedure to do so at the Committee Stage. Instead, they voted against the Bill.
TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan aka Pilleyan (Batticaloa District), formerly of the LTTE, voted for the Bill. Lawmaker Cumaratunga was not present in Parliament at the time of voting.
Ahead of the Committee Stage, lawmaker Cumaratunga told Parliament that when the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Reconciliation and National Unity examined the ONUR Bill on January 02, 2024, he proposed that the appointment of members to the ONUR office should be subjected to the approval of the Constitutional Council. MP Cumaratunga proposed that those who had been proposed by the Justice Minister and appointed by the President should be subjected to CC’s approval.
However, the Chairman of the SOC on Reconciliation and National Unity MP Dilan Perera hadn’t presented his colleague’s proposal at the Committee Stage, therefore, it was not accommodated. MP Cumaratunga said that when he inquired from the Secretary to the SOC about the status of his proposal he was told the Secretary to the Justice Ministry had been duly informed in this regard.
MP Cumaratunga appreciated President Wickremesinghe, during his recent visit to Jaffna, giving ear to Jaffna-based civil society activist Arun Siddharthan, who wants to unite the races to fight the country’s problems, Lawmaker Cumaratunga, who is also the leader of the Yuthukama civil society group, flayed the Northern and Eastern Provincial Councils for failing to re-open at least one of the Sinhala schools that had been closed down during the war. The MP said that their failure to do so, 15 years after the end of the conflict, couldn’t be justified under any circumstances.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Iran has sought the Indian intervention, at the highest level, to provide lifesaving support to the crews of empty Iranian vessels stranded just outside Sri Lanka’s 12-nautical mile territorial waters off Galle.
Sources familiar with the issue said that Iran had brought the developing situation to the attention of New Delhi as the crews of almost 20 vessels, included Indian nationals. Sources stressed that the group of vessels that unloaded crude oil a couple of months back were now stranded within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The US Navy torpedoed an unarmed Iran frigate, returning from India, on 04 March, 2026, about 19 nautical miles off the Galle coast. The unprovoked attack killed nearly 100 Iranians.
The Iranian Embassy in Colombo has inquired from the Indian High Commission of their response to the situation, sources said. The US has issued a global warning against providing food, water, medicine and other services to the Iranian vessels. The outcome of Iran-India talks on the issue at hand was not known, though sources asserted India may not throw its weight behind Iranian efforts to address the issue.
Responding to The Island queries, sources said both Sri Lanka and India were in a dilemma due to the US warning. India couldn’t ignore the plight of the Indian crew members and the Iranian vessels in its backyard.
The Sri Lankan government remains tight-lipped about the vessels stranded in its EEZ. Our efforts to elicit a response from relevant authorities were in vain. In addition to Indians, there are Bangladeshis among the crew members. Iran has explicitly stated the responsibilities of the countries concerned to provide assistance in terms of international law.
The Iranian position was articulated by its Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dr.Alireza Delkhosh, recently. In a special statement, Ambassador Delkhosh emphasised that in terms of the Convention on the Law of the Sea (Article 98) as well as SOLAS and SAR
Conventions, Sri Lanka couldn’t refrain from providing the needs of the Iranian vessels stranded in its EEZ.
SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem lambasted the NPP government in Parliament for failing to provide assistance to the Iranian ships. The former Minister alleged that the government was simply carrying out dictates of the US. He strongly criticised the way Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath was handling the issue.
MP Namal Rajapaksa, who is in remand custody over the controversial Airbus deal, was further remanded until October 27 by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (13).
Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama made the order after considering submissions by officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and lawyers representing Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka’s economy is expected to sustain its recovery over the next two years, although growth is projected to moderate amid mounting global uncertainties, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook.
In its World Economic Outlook 2026: Resilience Under Strain, Urgent Choices, the IMF projects Sri Lanka’s economy to expand by 4% in 2026, slowing to 3.7% in 2027, following estimated growth of 5% in 2025.
Inflation, meanwhile, is forecast to rise to 5.3% in 2026 and 5.4% in 2027, reversing the average deflation rate of 0.5% recorded in 2025.
Unemployment is expected to remain steady at 3.9% throughout the forecast period.
The projections come amid growing pressure on the global economy from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, elevated energy prices, geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions.
Sri Lanka’s external position is also expected to weaken, with the current account balance projected to shift from a surplus of 1.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 to deficits of 0.5% in 2026 and 0.3% in 2027.
The IMF’s outlook points to continued economic expansion in Sri Lanka, but with slower growth, rising inflation and a narrowing external surplus giving way to current account deficits over the forecast period.
Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central, and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
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