News

Lack of coordination between president, PM: former President Sirisena

Published

4 years ago

2022/06/19

ECONOMYNEXT – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have no real working partnership and there is a clear lack of coordination between them, former President Maithripala Sirisena said.

Speaking to the media on Friday, June 17, Sirisena said the two leaders have competing approaches to governance. He likened it to his own experience as president with Wickremesinghe as prime minister from 2015 to 2019. There were also tensions between then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe in the short-lived United National Party (UNP)-led government between 2001 and 2004.

“You’ll remember the situation in the country when Ranil Wickremesinghe and I were governing.

“Today, you have the president summoning ministers and officials for discussions and to issue instructions to them. Then you have the prime minister also summoning ministers, appointing committees and issuing instructions to officials.

“It is clear that there is no partnership between these two,” said Sirisena.

Though President Rajapaksa and PM Wickremesinghe have indeed been conducting separate meetings with officials or representatives from the same industries – a recent example being the tourism sector – there are no reports yet of open conflict between the two leaders.

Wickremesinghe was one of several choices for Rajapaksa for the premiership after the unceremonious exit of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa who was forced to resign as prime minister on May 09 after violence on peaceful protestors and retaliatory violence on government supporters.

Sirisena said the Rajapaksa-Wickremesinghe administration was not an all-party government. He reiterated the position of his party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), to form an all-party government with 15 cabinet ministers for a period of six months or one year, after which a parliamentary election may be held.

“This is a view shared internationally.

“Today the biggest problem facing the government is that it doesn’t have the approval or confidence of the people. Internationally, world leaders and organszations have no confidence in the government either because of how the government acted over the last three years,” he said.

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News

Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted

Published

10 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

A specialists committee has been appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation adhering to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 29.12.2025 for submitting appropriate recommendations analyzing the provisions of the draft bill formulation in regard to Animal Welfare.

Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the Legal Draftsman has been instructed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 18.05.2026 to prepare the final bill on the animal welfare.

Wherefore, the Legal Draftsman has formulated the draft bill and the clearance of the Attorney General has been received in the connection.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to publish the said draft bill in the
Government Gazette Notification and subsequently forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed

Published

10 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

Under the legal provisions for elections in this country since 2004, it is mandatory for voters who come to mark their votes to verify their identity through a valid identity card, and it is also mandatory for all such voters to be marked with an appropriate mark using indelible ink. The dual purpose of these two functions is to prevent a voter from voting more than once in a single election.

It has been observed that having to follow two different
methods at the same time to achieve the same objective hinders the efficiency of the duties performed at the polling stations and also incurs additional costs to the government.

Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to remove the legal provisions regarding the use of indelible ink and marking the voter with the appropriate mark from all election acts.

Accordingly, the development activities of the province, as well as national security, will benefit. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the
President to take necessary steps to remove the legal provisions

• Section 36 of the presidential Election Act, No 15 of 1981
• Section 38 of the Parliamentary Election Act, No 01 of 1981
• Section 36 of the Provincial Council Election Act, No 02 of 1988
• Section 53 A of the Local Government Elections Ordinance (262 Authority)
• Section 21 of the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981

News

Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

11 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 JUNE 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 June 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 2.00 p.m.

Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expectedat times over the Western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.