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AKD pledges new constitution, provincial polls, commission on discrimination
ECONOMYNEXT —A National People’s Power (NPP) government will hold a referendum on a new constitution, hold the delayed provincial council and local government polls within a year, and appoint a commission to investigate discrimination, NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.
Speaking at a rally in Jaffna on Thursday September 05, Dissanayake said an NPP administration will draft a new constitution on the premise of equality, democracy and participatory governance as one country, picking up where the 2015-2019 administration left off.
“A lot of southern politicians try to make deals with the people of north. They say ‘Vote for us; we’ll give you the 13th amendment or 13 or land powers’. How long have they been doing this? I’m not here for that. If I came to make a deal with you, you might say 13 is not enough, give us plus. My first intention is to build a government that has won the confidence of both the north and the south,” he said.
“Governments in our country were formed against the ‘other’. Governments in the south were formed against the north. Sinhala governments were formed against Tamil people. My first objective is to change this politics of opposition to the other,” he added.
Dissanayake said that there has been a need for a new constitution in Sri Lanka for a long time.
“In 2000 a new constitution was drafted. Ranil Wickremesinghe and co set fire to it in parliament and put an end to that. There was conversation again about the constitution between 2015 and 2019, but there was no conclusion,” he said.
The NPP leader said the NPP plans to “rapidly conclude the process that began in 2015-2019” and draft a new constitution based on equality and democracy and where everyone can participate in governance as one country. The draft constitution will seek to “devolve power politically and administratively to every local government body, district and province and guarantee the political participation of every ethnicity”.
“We have presented a proposal for a new constitution. A summary of that proposal has been given to you. We will get this constitution approved at a referendum in a very short time and make it Sri Lanka’s main law,” he said.
Dissanayake noted that provincial council elections haven’t been held in six years and local govt elections have been delayed by two years.
“These elections which have been postponed indefinitely will be held within a year and people’s opportunity to participate in governance will be affirmed,” he said.
An NPP government will also appoint a commission empowered to take legal action against discrimination, he said.
“There are Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims in this country. There are Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims. There are those who speak Sinhala and Tamil languages. There’s a diverse set of communities. Until racism is completely ended, there is a danger of some uncertainties among these groups, of being discriminated against. We will appoint a commission that has the power to take legal action against discrimination. People can complain to this commission of any instances of discrimination,” he said.
Claiming that an NPP victory at the September 21 presidential election is a sure thing, Dissanayake urged Tamils in the north to be a part of that victory and not to stand in opposition to it.
COPF final report on USD 2.5 mn cyber fraud recommends action against all responsible
The US$2.5 million loss incurred during Sri Lanka’s foreign debt repayment to Australia was a clear case of a cybercrime and theft, Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva told Parliament yesterday.
Presenting the COPF final report on the cyber fraud, Dr. de Silva said the incident amounted to a serious financial crime and called for a comprehensive investigation, by law enforcement authorities, to identify and prosecute all those responsible.
The report revealed serious governance, procedural and operational failures that enabled the fraudulent transfer of public funds, while recommending sweeping reforms to strengthen cybersecurity, financial controls and public debt management systems.
According to the report, officials of the Treasury and the Central Bank bore responsibility for governance lapses that contributed to the failures. It also highlighted the fact that the Ministry of Finance was operating an outdated Microsoft Exchange Server after security support had ended, while basic safeguards, such as multi-factor authentication, had not been implemented.
The COPF said suspicious payment instructions linked to debt repayments involving India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium had also been detected, preventing further losses. However, the US$ 2.5 million fraud materialised only in the repayment transaction involving Australia.
The report has noted that officials had failed to verify lender email domains, relied on unverified email communications and lacked adequate internal controls, allowing the fraud to continue for months.
Although the investigation uncovered system-wide weaknesses across several institutions, only four mid-level Finance Ministry officials had been suspended so far, the report said.
The COPF has recommended a special audit of the foreign debt repayment process, strengthened cybersecurity measures across state institutions, updated financial regulations and improvements to public debt management systems.
by Saman Indrajith
News
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, together with Opposition MPs, yesterday signed a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) in Parliament against Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.The move comes in response to the unrest at the Negombo Prison, where both prison officers and inmates were killed.
Opposition members said the Minister had failed to fulfill his responsibility and accountability regarding their safety.According to the Opposition group, the NCM seeks to hold the Minister directly accountable for lapses in ensuring protection within the prison system.
The Attorney General yesterday informed the Supreme Court that the government has decided to review the legality of agreements entered into by the previous administration to hand over the country’s electronic visa issuance operations to private companies.
Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena, appearing for the Attorney General, made the submission when the Supreme Court took up the fundamental rights petitions filed by former MPs President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran, Patali Champika Ranawaka, and Rauff Hakeem, challenging the previous Cabinet’s decision to outsource the e-visa system.
The petitions were heard before a three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Arjuna Obeyesekere.
The Additional Solicitor General informed court that the current Cabinet had appointed a subcommittee to examine the legality of the agreements with the private companies and requested time to report on its findings, stating that the review was still underway.
President’s Counsel Sumanthiran, appearing as one of the petitioners, told the court that although the present government had indicated its intention to cancel the transaction, the petitioners wished to proceed with the case.
He noted that members of the current Cabinet had been named as respondents in the petitions.The Supreme Court directed the petitioners to issue notice on the members of the current Cabinet, named as respondents, and fixed September 29 for further proceedings.
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Showers will occur in the Sabaragamuwa, Western and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
US$ 2.5 mn cyber heist exposes system failures
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
AG informs SC of e-visa agreement review
Navy, Coast Guard seize smuggled pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in Puttalam
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