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President: Cabinet has agreed to implement 13A fully

Published

4 years ago

2023/01/28

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Thursday, informed the All Party Leaders Conference on Reconciliation that the Cabinet was agreeable to fully implementing the 13th Amendment.Issuing a statement on Friday, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said the President is bound to implement the laws of the land and the 13th Amendment is a part of the Constitution.

“The 13th Amendment has been in existence for over 30 years. I must implement it. If anyone is opposed, they can bring in a constitutional amendment to change it, or abolish it,” he said.

The President said that the country has to decide whether to fully implement the 13th Amendment or abolish it. “We can’t decide to do neither. Any MP can bring a private members motion to abolish the 13A. What happens when most people don’t support the motion? We will have to fully implement it,” he said.

The President said that he is working, according to a Supreme Court decision, on 13A. “We have to look, especially at the decision given by Chief Justice Palinda Ranasinghe. We are still in the bounds of a unitary state. I am against a Federal state but I support the devolution of power to provinces. The provincial councils don’t even have the powers enjoyed by the City of London. So we can’t call this a federal state,” he said.

Wickremesinghe added that former President J.R. Jayawardane and his lawyers took great pains to prevent the 13A from leading to a federal state. He added that at the end of the war, against the LTTE, a large number of lands in the North and the East, that belonged to private owners, were under the control of the Army. However, most of it had been returned to the people, under presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena.

“Only about 3000 acres are under the security forces. The forces must be given the opportunity to release these lands, without hindering national security. The Land Commission, too, must be immediately established. The draft on that can be presented by March. The Commission will have nine members, from each province ,and 12 will be appointed by the President. The we can come up with a national land policy and the Commission can implement the land policy,” he said.

The President said that 30 percent of the land will be allocated for forests. Large swaths of forests, in the upcountry, and in the catchment areas, for rivers, have been destroyed.

“We must increase the forest cover and the Land Commission must be entrusted with this,” he said.

The President added that he will provide further information, on February 08, on how the amendment will be implemented. He urged political parties to submit their proposals by February 04, the Independence Day of the country.

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Malaysia declares emergency in Sarawak as haze from Indonesia worsens

Published

13 hours ago

2026/09/5

Priyan

This aerial photo taken from a commercial plane shows haze from Indonesian forest fires blanketing a residential district in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak state on the island of Borneo, on September 5, 2026 (Aljazeera)

Malaysia has declared a state of emergency in a district in Sarawak state after haze caused by wildfires in neighbouring Indonesia increased air pollution to “hazardous” levels.

King Sultan Ibrahim “has consented to the declaration of emergency throughout Serian Division, Sarawak, following haze conditions that have reached air pollution levels hazardous to public health and safety”, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

The declaration followed a formal request from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee after the region’s Air Pollutant Index reached levels warranting consideration of a local emergency.

Under the order, 647 schools in Serian will close from Monday until at least the end of next week, alongside government and private offices, plantations, construction sites and quarries, with only essential services continuing to operate.

The state’s disaster management authorities said a three-day cloud-seeding operation launched on Thursday would be extended to at least Monday, citing forecasts of “more conducive cloud formations” during that period.

Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee chairman Douglas Uggah Embas, speaking at a news conference in Kuching, stressed that the emergency applied only to Serian, not the entire state, but urged residents there to take the situation seriously.

“Please minimise outdoor activities and avoid strenuous activities outdoors,” he said.

Sarawak, in the northern part of Borneo island, has been heavily affected by haze for weeks, as have the neighbouring states of Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.

(Aljazeera)

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Sun directly overhead Moratuwa, Kesbewa, Handapangoda, Idalgashinna, Yudhaganawa, Kotiyagala and Panama about 12.08 noon today (05)

Published

17 hours ago

2026/09/5

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 (05) are Moratuwa, Kesbewa, Handapangoda, Idalgashinna, Yudhaganawa, Kotiyagala and Panama about 12.08 noon

News

Namal remanded until Sept. 18 over Airbus deal investigation

Published

18 hours ago

2026/09/5

Thilina Walpola

Namal Rajapaksa being brought to the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser and Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa was yesterday remanded until September 18 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court following his arrest by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) in connection with an investigation into the controversial SriLankan Airlines Airbus aircraft transaction.

Rajapaksa appeared before the CIABOC at around 9.15 am yesterday to record a statement after being summoned over the transaction. He was taken into custody following several hours of questioning and subsequently produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate.

The investigation centres on allegations surrounding the acquisition of six Airbus A330 and eight A350 aircraft by SriLankan Airlines in 2013, in connection with an alleged USD 2 million bribe.

Former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena and his wife, Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake, had previously been named in connection with the alleged bribery.

Chandrasena was arrested on March 12 as part of an investigation launched by the CIABOC under the Anti-Corruption Act and was subsequently released on bail. He was later found dead on May 8 while on bail, with police suspecting that his death was a suicide.

Open warrants have been issued for the arrest of Wijenayake, who is named as the second suspect, and Shamindra Rajapaksa, named as the third suspect, in the case pending before the Fort Magistrate’s Court in connection with the Airbus transaction.

The investigation has also received assistance from Airbus, with a delegation from the company’s parent group in France visiting Sri Lanka during the first week of August. The delegation provided statements and other assistance to the CIABOC as part of the ongoing inquiry.

Rajapaksa’s arrest and remand yesterday mark a further development in the widening investigation into the controversial aircraft deal.