News

Interim Budget passed

Published

4 years ago

2022/09/3

By Saman Indrajith

The interim budget presented by President Ranil Wickremeisnghe in his capacity as Finance Minister was passed in Parliament with the majority of 115 votes yesterday.

The interim budget proposals titled Appropriation (Amendment) bill was passed with 120 voting for and five members voting against while 43 MPs abstained from voting. JVP’s Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Vijitha Herath, Dr Harini Amarasuriya and TNA’s GG Ponnambalam and Selvarajah Kajendran voted against the budget. The SJB and a SLPP dissidents abstained at the vote.

SJB MP Thushara Indunil Amarasena and SLPP dissident group leader MP Prof G L Peiris announced hours before the vote that they would abstain from voting.

Prof Peiris said that the interim budget presented by Wickremesinghe, who is also Finance Minister, contains many “negative” proposals that are harmful to Sri Lanka. Prof Peiris He said while his group of independent MPs do not intend in any way to scuttle Sri Lanka’s ongoing talks with the IMF.

“We did not get an opportunity express our views on the contents of this interim budget. Taking all this into account, we have decided to abstain from voting this evening,” he said.

MP Amarasena said the interim budget document contains no proposals the SJB can support, but though there are grounds for opposing it, the party won’t be so cruel as to send the wrong message to the world vis-à-vis the government.

“As a party, we have decide to neither support nor oppose President Wickremesinghe’s budget and to abstain from voting instead,” he said.The vote on interim budget was taken at 5.30 pm after a four day debate. President Wickremesinghe in his capacity as Minister of Finance on Tuesday (Aug 30), presented the budget proposals.

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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.