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Maha Sangha issues ultimatum to PM

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4 years ago

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By Shamindra Ferdinando

Having issued an ultimatum on Saturday (30) at the Independence Square to the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) members including Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to quit the Cabinet forthwith or face the consequences, senior members of the Maha Sangha asked political parties to support their initiative.

The meeting took place at the Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF) on the joint invitation of Most Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Nayaka Thera and Rt. Rev. Dr. Anthony Jayakody, Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of Colombo.

Among those MPs present were Ranjith Madduma Bandara, General Secretary, main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, of dissident SLPP group, Buddhika Pathitana (SJB), Eran Wickremaratne (SJB), Vijitha Herath (JVP), Rishrad Bathiudeen (ALMC/SJB), Patali Champika Ranawaka (SJB) and former MP Mrs Ferial Ashraff.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) was represented by its President Saliya Pieris, PC. The top spokesperson for the Catholic Church Rev. Father Cyril Gamini was also present.

Lacille de Silva, former director administration, Parliament who is involved in the initiative, told The Island that the Maha Sanga had issued an unprecedented ultimatum to the President and the entire Cabinet-of-Ministers on the basis of letters dated April 04 and 20th, addressed to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, by the Mahanayaka Theras.

Pointing out that the letter, dated April 20, has also been addressed to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament, de Silva emphasised the urgent need to reach a consensus on a political settlement.

The economic-political-social crisis has to be dealt with without further delay, de Silva said, adding that the Mahanayakes first letter, dated 04 April, received President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s response only on April 25th, five days after the Mahanayakes issued their second letter.

Before Prof. Olaganwaththe Chandrasiri laid down the conditions for a political settlement, Ven. Omalpe Sobitha had warned that the ruination of the country couldn’t be allowed for the benefit of the Rajapaksa family. The former Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) lawmaker declared that Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa should quit as he had failed in his duties and responsibilities.

Having gathered at the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC), Baudhaloka Mawatha, the members of the Maha Sanga walked to Independence Square for a formal meeting, where the ultimatum was issued.

Ven. Omalpe Sobitha warned that they expected the incumbent government to heed their warning and take tangible measures to address public grievances, without further delay.

Civil society grouping Purawasi Handa, working closely with the Catholic Church, backed Maha Sanga initiative, said that they expected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and political parties, represented in Parliament, to reach a consensus on an agreement by 15 May.

Ven. Olaganwaththe Chandrasiri, on behalf of the Mahanayaka Theras and the Maha Sanga, declared the following :

(1) dissolve the Cabinet-of-Ministers

(2) an interim all-party administration pending general election

(3) an expert committee to advice the interim administration

(4) interim all-party administration to follow a national policy, developed on the basis of consensus reached in Parliament

(5) educating the public of the agreed proposals and

(6) the President should abide by decisions taken by the interim administration.

Asked whether in accordance with the proposed plan the President could remain during the interim administration, de Silva confirmed the continuation of the incumbent President for the time being. Of course, the President, under any circumstances, wouldn’t be able to exercise executive powers to the detriment of the interim administration, he said.

Purawasi Handa spokesperson de Silva emphasised that the Maha Sanga appreciated the high-profile protest undertaken by the public, at the Galle Face, demanding the resignation of both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa as well as the rest of the Cabinet Ministers.

The former top House official said that the Maha Sanga expected the President and all political parties, represented in the Parliament, to abide by the Mahanayakes, proposals. Therefore, whatever the initiatives undertaken by the President and other political parties, especially the SJB, should be done away with, or amended, to pave the way for the Maha Sanga’s initiative, de Silva said.

At the onset of the meeting at Independence Square, Ven. Prof. Agalakada Sirisumana flayed the President and the Premier for having enacted the 20th Amendment to the Constitution to enable themselves to engage in waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement, which, he said, had led to the present economic fallout. The President, the Premier and their henchmen wanted an administration that was not subjected to state auditing process, hence the decision to introduce the 20th Amendment.

The 20th Amendment received on overwhelming 2/3 support in Parliament, in Oct 2020. The controversial Amendment did away with provisions in the 19th Amendment that ensured transparency and accountability. The yahapalana administration enacted the 19th Amendment in 2015.

Ven. Sirisumana alleged the current dispensation had given ministerial portfolios to those who couldn’t be entrusted with responsibilities and caused havoc by delegating responsibilities to retired military officers; 48 percent of state enterprises had been placed under the Rajapaksas, the Thera added.

The senior monk was referring to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa, Chamal Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, Namal Rajapaksa and Shashendra Rajapaksa receiving key ministerial portfolios.

Stressing severe economic difficulties experienced owing to the incumbent administration’s failure to meet the basic needs of the people and make available essential food items, and services, at affordable prices, Ven. Sirisumana said that the government had paved the way for an era of queues.

He lambasted the government for the ill-conceived ban on all agrochemicals, in late April 2021, thereby causing huge crop losses. That decision destroyed the farmer community, Ven. Sirisumana alleged, while declaring their support to the ongoing campaign to oust President Rajapaksa and his government.

For 20 days, the protesters had been asking both the President and the Prime Minister to leave but they have chosen to remain, regardless of growing public protests, Ven. Sirisumana said, alleging that the President and the Premier hadn’t felt the growing public anger and extreme difficulties they were experiencing due to the government’s failure. The Thera reiterated their intention to have an interim administration for a period of one year, under a new Prime Minister.

Ven. Sirisumana said that they called the gathering at Independence Square as the government disregarded the Mahanayakes’ letter, dated 04 April.

Ven. Omalpe Sobitha asked PM Rajapaksa to acknowledge his failure and quit office. The monk said that unless the Rajapaksas did as advised by the Maha Sanga, they would be dealt with harshly.

Ven. Pahiyangala Ananda Sagara Thera vowed that they wouldn’t allow the current dispensation to continue. One family or one political party shouldn’t be placed in charge of the country, Ven. Ananda Sagara Thera declared, underscoring the significance of the ongoing Galle Face protest campaign. The senior monk said that the vast majority of those demanding the resignation of the President and the Prime Minister were Sinhala Buddhists. Declaring the public demanded the immediate restoration of normalcy, he warned all political parties to shed their differences and work in line with the proposals put forward by the Maha Sanga.

Ven Ananda Sagara urged SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa to cooperate with the plan and help achieve the stated objectives or face the consequences.  The Thera said that the Maha Sangha expected all political parties, including those who had declared they would operate independently to back the Maha Sanga’s proposals.


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Arshdeep and Prabhsimran star as Punjab Kings hammer Mumbai Indians

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3 hours ago

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2026/04/17

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Quinton de Kock opened his IPL 2026 with a cracking century [Cricinfo]

Quinton de Kock’s hundred on his comeback to the Mumbai Indians XI was overshadowed by Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer’s demolition of the chase of 196 with 21 balls to spare to keep Punjab Kings unbeaten five games into the season. Arshdeep Singh swung the new ball, reversed the old one, and bowled a quiet over in the middle to lead PBKS’ strangle job on MI, who suffered their fourth successive defeat.

An injury to Rohit Sharma opened the door for de Kock to play his first match of this season and become only the third batter to score a century for three different IPL teams. He scored 112 off 60 balls, Naman Dhir was promoted to No. 4 and scored 50 off 31, but the rest of the MI innings never got going.

Allah Ghazanfar briefly threatened to scupper a typically boisterous PBKS chase with two wickets in the powerplay, but Prabhsimran and Iyer never let MI back in. Like Dhir and de Kock before him, Prabhsimran enjoyed a reprieve on 11, and finished unbeaten 80 off 39 to take his sensational IPL 2026 tally to 211 runs in 122 balls. It was the first time he stayed unbeaten in a successful chase in the IPL.

Iyer scored an equally important 66 off 35, his third consecutive half-century, starting with a four first ball when MI had taken two quick wickets.

Arshdeep came into the match with two wickets and an economy rate of 10.6 in four games this season. Two left-hand openers were the ideal setting for him to improve his performance. The new ball swung in the air and moved off the surface, and Arshdeep kept taking it away from Ryan Rickelton. He beat the bat three times in the first over. In his second, he bowled a wobble-seam ball that ended up on the pads, but Rickelton found deep square leg to perfection.

Arshdeep backed Suryakumar Yadav to walk out expecting movement from left to right, but he angled the seam away, drew a thick edge and doubled his season’s wickets tally in two balls, and also went past 100 IPL wickets.

Even before those two wickets, de Kock signalled dangerous intent with a silken, aerial extra-cover drive first ball off fellow South African Marco Jansen. In Jansen’s next over, Yuzvendra Chahal lost the ball in the lights and missed a sitter from Naman Dhir. In the last over of the powerplay, de Kock gave up on making his ground but Iyer missed the stumps from mid-off.

That drop wasn’t the last error Chahal made. He started his spell by searching and frequently over-pitching and ended up conceding five sixes in his three overs for 45. Dhir hit two of those, the one over extra cover the highlight of his innings.

By the time de Kock got to fifty, MI looked set for a total in excess of 200. From 97 for 2 in 10 overs, de Kock went up a gear even as Dhir caught up with him. At 125 for 2 in 12 overs, PBKS were looking at a challenging target.

The comeback for PBKS began with Jansen conceding just seven in the 13th over, but like in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the lack of pace from Shashank Singh once again produced a game-changing wicket. In his 31-ball 50, Dhir evoked a lot of Hardik Pandya with a compact bat swing and shots that looked quite like the MI captain’s. Pandya himself, though, hardly got anything out of the middle of the bat. He eventually fell for 14 off 12 to what could well end up as the catch of the tournament.

Iyer didn’t even get his name on the scoreboard for this effort at long on: he went full length as he leaped to rein the ball in, caught it in his left hand while airborne, transferred it to his right even as he came down over the boundary, and managed to throw it to Xavier Bartlett before he touched ground.

With the ball reversing, Jansen and Arshdeep bowled excellent yorkers, going for eight and nine in overs 18 and 19. Sherfane Rutherford got four tailing pinpoint yorkers during his five-ball stay for one run. Only 70 came in the last eight, prompting Dhir to say during the innings break that MI were 20 runs short.

The way Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran tucked into some buffet bowling from Deepak Chahar, it looked like 195 was not 20 short but 40. However, led by Jasprit Bumrah who bowled four straight dots to Arya, Ghazanfar ended up with two wickets in the powerplay: Arya caught at midwicket and Cooper Connolly caught behind.

There was a time when MI had strung together 10 balls for one run and a wicket across the second and third overs of the chase. Prabhsimran cut the 11th for a regulation catch to backward point but Bumrah, wicketless in six straight IPL matches now, dropped it.

When Connolly fell, MI were still hopeful of a comeback. Iyer, though, brought a sense of calm, playing Ghazanfar’s mystery spin like you would offspin. He cover-drove the first ball he faced for four, and PBKS never looked back.

Prabhsimran faced just six balls in the first five overs, which means he did most of the damage with the field spread out. It started when Chahar came back to bowl the eighth over. Prabhsimran charged at him to hit a 90-metre six over wide long-off before tucking one off the hip for four.

Now Prabhsimran began to dominate the strike and the scoring, bringing up his fifty with successive fours off Shardul Thakur in just 23 balls.

Bumrah might be wicketless but his bowling has been good through the season. However, when Iyer pulled him for a disdainful six in the 13th over, it was all over for MI. If there were any doubts remaining with 50 needed off the last seven overs, Prabhsimran dispelled them with a four and a six off Pandya. The end was swift and brutal with even Bumrah finishing with 0 for 41 in his four overs.

Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 198 for 3 in 16.3 overs (Priyansh Arya 15, Prabhsimran 80*, Cooper Connolly 17, Shreyas Iyer  66, Marcus Stoinis 10*; AM Ghazanfar 2-31, Shardul Thakur 1-42 ) beat Mumbai Indians 195 for 6 in 20 overs (Quinton De Kock 112*, Naman Dhir 50, Hardik Pandya 14;  Arshdeep Singh 3-22, Marco Jansen 1-30, Shahshank Singh 1-19) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]

 

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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district

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5 hours ago

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2026/04/17

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Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 16 April 2026, valid for 17 April 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern
and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.


Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

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Ex-COPE head questions Prez Secy’s intervention in coal scam probe

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5 hours ago

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2026/04/17

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“Auditor General’s reports a matter for Legislature not the Executive”

Former Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Charitha Herath has said it is the COPE, and not the Secretary to the President, that should have asked the CID to probe irregularities in the procurement of coal for the Lakvijaya power plant.

Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, who is the Secretary to the President, lodged a complaint with the CID last week seeking an investigation into coal procurement.

No previous Secretary to a President had done so, the former parliamentarian and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Working Committee member said. Herath said so responding to The Island query regarding Kumanayake calling for a probe into coal procurement, since 2009, following the National Audit Office (NAO) report on the controversial procurement process for the 2025/2-26 period.

Herath emphasised that COPE, taking into consideration the growing discontent over coal procurement, especially after the NAO exposed serious irregularities, should have initiated action. Herath cited the National System Operator’s (NSO) seeking an additional electricity tariff increase of 15%, in addition to 10% increase announced on 01 April, for the second quarter, to cover-up Rs 16 bn deficit in power generation, as a matter of grave concern. NSO has cited the prevailing dry weather, the continuing crisis in West Asia, and the low-grade coal that had been procured as primary reasons for the unanticipated shortfall in electricity generation.

Herath said that as the Secretary to the Ministry concerned was the Chief Accounting Officer, the actions of the Secretary to the President caused a technical issue. Prof. Udayanga Hemapala, now under a cloud over the violation of procurement procedures, as confirmed by the NAO, is the Secretary to the Energy Ministry. Herath emphasised the importance of the procedure adopted in appointing a Secretary to a Ministry. “President issues one letter making the appointment. Secretary to the Finance Ministry issues a second letter underscoring the responsibilities of a Ministry Secretary as the Chief Accounting Officer of a particular Ministry,” Herath said.

The second letter emphasised the accountability on the part of the Ministry Secretary regarding public finance and his direct answerability to Parliament.

The ex-COPE Chief pointed out that the Secretary to the President was part of the executive. He was not part of the legislature. If there had been a directive from COPE, that should have been issued to the Secretary to the Energy Ministry, Herath said, emphasising the entire process had to be led by the legislature not the executive. In this instance to make matters worse the finger is also pointed at the executive for being part of the alleged cover up.

The Auditor General, who heads the NAO, is answerable to Parliament, Herath said, pointing out that the AG never sent reports to the Secretary to the President, who, too, comes under the purview of the NAO. The intervention made by the Secretary to the President could set a very bad precedent and it was unfortunate that the NPP, having campaigned on an anti-corruption platform at national elections in 2024 was now struggling to cope up with the major post-Aragalaya coal scandal.

The NAO undertook the examination of the 2025/2-26 coal procurement on a request made by Dr. Nishantha Samaraweera, Galle District lawmaker, representing the ruling NPP.

Lakvijaya, the country’s sole coal power plant, situated at Norochcholai, requires approximately 2.25 mt million annually and is credited with generating 30% to 40% of the overall national electricity requirement.

According to the NAO report, the Energy Ministry had awarded the term tender for the supply of coal to India’s Trident Chemphar Ltd., though it wasn’t properly registered. The NAO also pointed out the failure on the part of the supplier to follow proper procedure in respect of loading and unloading at respective ports.

Herath said that intentionally, or inadvertently, the NPP had erred in handling the investigation. He said after receiving the NAO’s report, COPE could have averted unnecessary controversy by following the laid down procedures. The COPE Chairman could direct the Energy Secretary to inquire into the coal procurement within seven days and submit a report to Parliament. In addition, if there had been any wrongdoing on the part of officials, relevant documents/files should be sent to the CIABOC or the CID.

The COPE, in consultation with the Speaker, could also take up in Parliament as an urgent/emergency issue at the onset of the proceedings, Herath said, adding that an interim report could be presented. On the basis of that report, in terms of the Standing Orders the Parliament could immediately decide to send it to the CID.

In addition to the above mentioned procedures, the COPE could on its own initiate a fresh inquiry and submit a report to Parliament and the country, Herath said. Pointing out that the coal company comes under the purview of the executive and not the legislature, Herath said that actions of the executive could be investigated. Herath explained how the British and the US responded to such situations. Unfortunately, here in Sri Lanka apparently the COPE was being used to clear the Minister concerned while holding the officials responsible for the coal scandal.

In the wake of the NAO report signed by Auditor General Samudrika Jayarathne, the defeat of the no-confidence motion moved against Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody couldn’t be considered a victory for the government, the ex-MP said. In fact, the coal scam has challenged the NPP’s much propagated anti-corruption stance, Herath said, adding that the issue couldn’t be examined without discussing the Energy Minister being indicted over corruption by the Colombo High Court recently.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

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