Election monitors have strongly condemned JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva’s Jaffna declaration that the long-delayed Provincial Council polls couldn’t be held this year due to financial and legal impediments. Silva said so after declaring open a new NPP coordination office, in Jaffna, over the last weekend.

People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), and the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES), said that Tilvin Silva, in his capacity as the General Secretary of the main constituent of the National People’s Power (NPP), couldn’t make such a declaration under any circumstances.

PAFFREL head Rohana Hettiarachchi and IRES Chief Manjula Gajanayake emphasised that the JVP-led NPP government should be ashamed of the developing situation.

Hettiarachchi said that Tilvin Silva’s statement has to be examined against the backdrop of a parliamentary committee, headed by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, tasked to determine the electoral system under which PC polls should be conducted.

Alleging that the JVPer had made the parliamentary committee irrelevant, the civil society activist said that the whole exercise of appointing the Herath-led committee now seemed a farce. The JVP’s ruse to put off PC polls further reminded the country of a similar bid made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Hettiarachchi said, asserting that a government couldn’t postpone any poll, claiming it didn’t have the wherewithal.

Hettiarachchi emphasised that conducting elections was the responsibility of the government of the day. PC polls have been delayed for nearly one and half decades. Hettiarachchi said that as the NPP won the parliamentary election in November, 2024, it should be held accountable for further delaying the PC polls since then.

Responding to The Island queries, Hettiarachchi said that the JVP’s move couldn’t be justified, under any circumstances. If the NPP felt that the PC system was not required then urgent action must be taken to initiate a dialogue regarding the PC system and remove it through necessary constitutional means, he said.

Hettiarachchi alleged that the JVP, having gained political power, was now following the despicable agenda of the previous political parties which sought to hold onto power at the expense of the democratic rights of the people. The JVP proved that they were not different from those who were routed at the last presidential and parliamentary polls, the PAFFREL chief said.

Tilvin Silva’s unexpected Jaffna statement contradicted their election manifesto that promised to conduct both Local Government and PC polls in 2025.

Gajanayaka said since 1998 there had been several Supreme Court and Court of Appeal rulings regarding the PC polls due to reluctance on the part of some governments to conduct polls for obvious reasons. Referring to Tilvin Silva’s declaration that money allocated for the conduct of elections were utilised for Ditwah relief, Gajanayake emphasised the need to verify such claims. Gajanayake suggested that there should be provision to conduct a forensic study to find out whether Treasury had the required funds or the government lied.

Gajanayaka said that though the JVP was the dominant party, it would be interesting to know the opinion of Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe, General Secretary of the NPP. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is the leader of both the JVP and the NPP.

The JVP Jaffna declaration couldn’t be accepted, Gajanayake said, adding that the JVP never really backed the PC system, though it contested them later after having waged a bloody insurgency against the Indian introduced set-up. Gajanayaka recalled the violence unleashed by the JVP in the wake of the Indo-Lanka accord of July 29, 1987, under which the then Congress government forced Sri Lanka to enact the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) says Sri Lanka’s total exports, comprising merchandise and services, reached US$ 1,380.93 million in April 2026, recording a year-on-year growth of 6 % compared to the previous year.

The EDB in a statement has said that the positive export performance recorded during the first four months of 2026 highlights the resilience of Sri Lanka’s external sector. Sustained export earnings, supported by stable merchandise trade and the growing contribution of services exports, indicate a steady and encouraging recovery trajectory for the Sri Lankan economy in 2026.

Commenting on the export performance in April 2026, Mangala Wijesinghe, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), has said: “Sri Lanka’s export sector continued to demonstrate resilience in April 2026, with total exports reaching US$ 1,380.93 million, recording a year-on-year growth of 6 % compared to April 2025. Merchandise exports recorded a notable increase of 9.87%, while services exports continued to make a significant contribution to overall export earnings, reflecting the growing importance of the services sector within the country’s export portfolio.

‘Those who benefited from her actions forgot her’

By Shamindra Ferdinando

British citizen Kayleigh Fraser, who has been in hiding here since late 2022 following a deportation order issued by the then government over her reportage of the UPFA goons attack on Galle Face protesters, on social media platforms, wants the government to rescind that order, enabling her to leave the county.

Fraser’s counsel Nagananda Kodituwakku quoted her as having said that she doesn’t want to be deported under any circumstances. The government wanted her to surrender to pave the way for swift deportation, Kodituwakku said, alleging that the major beneficiary of the regime change operation, the National People’s Power (NPP), had failed to intervene on her behalf.

Responding to The Island queries, Kodituwakku said that they had appealed to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, on 03 October, 2024, but in vain. Dr. Ghanasena Wijesekara, a physician based in Melbourne, Australia, staged a protest outside the Presidential Secretariat on 11 November, 2024. He said: “We received an assurance that the deportation order would be rescinded following the parliamentary elections and a new request was made on the same day. But, the NPP government didn’t keep its promise,” Kodituwakku said.

The lawyer said that Premier Dr. Harini Amarasuriya should have looked into the plight of Fraser as she was aware of her role in support of the campaign against the Rajapaksa government and subsequently the Ranil-Rajapaksa government. “We expect Premier Amarasuriya to intervene at least now,” Koditiwakku said.

Koditiwakku said the British High Commission had declined to help. According to him, the BHC position was made clear at a special meeting called to discuss formal representations made on Fraser’s behalf.

Kodituwakku explained that the government intensified action against Fraser in the wake of Wickremesinghe appointment as the President in late July, 2022. Like the JVP/NPP, another beneficiary of the protest campaign refrained from helping the only foreigner who campaigned for their cause, Kodituwakku said.

Immigration officials, accompanied by police, raided Fraser’s property in Battaramulla on 02 August, 2022, took her passport and ordered her to report to Immigration Headquarters, within a week. On a request made by her friends in the UK, Kodituwakku took up her case pro bono, and accompanied her to the Controller of Immigration on 08 August, 2022. Having denied her legal counsel an opportunity to be present during the questioning, Immigration Headquarters, on 10 August, 2022, returned her passport with a removal order mandating her departure by August 15. Her legitimate leave to remain in the country, originally valid until March 8, 2023, was arbitrarily cancelled with the word “UTILIZED” stamped across her visa page.

Kodituwakku claimed that due to the highly politicised nature of the case, prominent President’s Counsel Geoff Alagaratnam declined to represent her, leaving him to defend Fraser.

Kodituwakku said that they challenged the immigration decision before the Court of Appeal. When the application came before the court on 22 September, 2022, Justice Priyantha Jayawardena declined to grant a hearing on the technical ground that certified copies of the Court of Appeal proceedings had not been filed.

Although, they filed a fresh application (SC/Spl/LA/246/22) on September 13, 2022, the then Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya fixed the matter for support on December 08, 2022, before Justice Priyantha Jayawardena, though Fraser requested that she didn’t want the same judges, who had refused her earlier appeal, to hear the new case.

Kodituwakku said that Fraser had gone underground after Justice Jayawardena, on 08 December, 2022, postponed the case for seven months, to 07 June, 2023,

BHC provides consular assistance

The Island sought a response from the British High Commission to allegations that the BHC failed to help Fraser. BHC spokesperson said that they had been providing consular assistance to her.