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JVP asks govt. to reveal plan, if any, to save economy within one week, or resign

Published

4 years ago

2022/06/23

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament on Tuesday that the Opposition had given the government one week to present a plan, if any, to save the country from the present crisis, or step down.

“There is no use of this Parliament if it cannot find solutions for the problems of the people. It has lost its legitimacy. There is no point in sitting of this House. The government, if it cannot solve the crisis, should go home. The opposition parties have decided to give one week’s deadline to this government to present to this House its plan to provide solutions for the problems of the people. Until such time, the Opposition will boycott Parliament,” Dissanayake said.

MP Dissanayake said that the House had met so many times since the beginning of the crisis. Nothing that had been discussed or debated in Parliament had helped solve the problems of the people. Children died in hospitals for want of medicines. People died in queues. The entire nation was in agony. Parliament did not respond to the voice of people. It had not been able to serve the very people who had elected it. The incumbent President should go home because he had failed. He could not prevent children dying in hospitals without medicine; people were dying in queues and farmers had lost their livelihoods. Instead of finding solutions, the President had formed a makeshift government and appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister.Wcikremesinghe was not a man who could resolve crises. “He only describes the crisis. One and a half months have passed since his appointment as the Prime Minister, but he has not been able to come up with a plan to solve this crisis”, Dissanayake said.

The JVP leader said that the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet had no solutions. Such a government no longer had a legitimate right to rule the country. They had proved their inability to find solutions. “The entire nation is asking the President to go home, but he does not leave. This government no longer represents the people or their aspirations. This is a government against all known principles of democracy.”

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Sun directly overhead Mannar, Periyamadu, Puliyankulam, Welioya and Pulmoddai about 12.11 noon today (30)

Published

5 hours ago

2026/08/30

Priyan

The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from 28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.

The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (30) are Mannar, Periyamadu, Puliyankulam, Welioya and
Pulmoddai about 12.11 noon.

News

Lanka tracks 11 US-sanctioned Iranian tankers off coast

Published

7 hours ago

2026/08/30

Thilina Walpola

(AFP) Sri Lanka’s maritime authorities were monitoring a fleet of 11 US-sanctioned Iranian oil tankers just off the island’s southern coast, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

The tankers were spotted close to the Galle harbour where an Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, was sunk by a US submarine in March, killing 104 sailors. Sri Lanka’s navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from that frigate.

Iranian vessels have been in limbo, unable to return to their home port because of a US blockade.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign minister Vijitha Herath said the tankers were in international waters where they had freedom of navigation.

“These ships are away from our territorial waters… we have no hold on them, nor have we facilitated them,” Herath told AFP.

The military deployed reconnaissance aircraft and patrol boats to monitor the vessels outside Sri Lanka’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters, a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“There is no indication of any ship-to-ship transfer of oil or illegal discharge of pollutants, so there is no basis for Sri Lankan authorities to take action against them,” the official said.

Many Iranian merchant vessels moved east towards the Strait of Malacca and Singapore due to US sanctions, while several remained near Sri Lankan waters, authorities said.

Sri Lankan officials said Washington had not formally notified Colombo about sanctioned Iranian-flagged vessels

News

House to debate abolition of Chief of Defence Staff post

Published

7 hours ago

2026/08/30

Thilina Walpola

Parliament is to debate next Wednesday the Government’s proposal to abolish the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), with the Second Reading of the Chief of Defence Staff (Repeal) Bill scheduled for September 9.

The Bill seeks to repeal the Chief of Defence Staff Act No. 35 of 2009, which was introduced shortly after the end of the armed conflict.

According to Secretary General of Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera, Parliament will meet from September 8 to 11, with the business for the week approved by the Committee on Parliamentary Business chaired by Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne.

The debate on the Chief of Defence Staff (Repeal) Bill is scheduled to take place from 11.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, following questions to the Prime Minister and other parliamentary business.

The CDS post was established under the 2009 Act as part of the country’s higher defence command structure.

On Tuesday, September 8, the House will consider two Orders published in Extraordinary Gazettes under the Motor Traffic Act from 11.30 a.m. to 5 p.m., followed by an Opposition motion at the adjournment.

On Thursday, September 10, Parliament will debate a Resolution under the Women’s Empowerment Act.

The final sitting day of the week, Friday, September 11, has been allocated from 11.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. for several Private Members’ Motions.

The motions will cover issues including regulation of the petroleum, fuel and water industries, measures to increase the birth rate, protection of the Diyagama Forest, pension deductions affecting Pirivena teachers, food-crop cultivation in mountainous areas, development of the Kithul industry and the establishment of a Faculty of Medicine at South Eastern University.

Questions at the adjournment will be taken up at the end of each sitting day.