News
President meets top commonwealth official, diaspora group amid opposition criticism
ECONOMYNEXT –Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe met the Commonwealth Secretary General and a group of Sri Lankan expats even as his visit to the UK to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was questioned in the island nation’s parliament.A statement from the president’s media division (PMD) said on Tuesday September 20 that President Wickremesinghe met Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland that afternoon, a day after he met a Sri Lankan diaspora group.
Wickremesinghe also met King Charles III on Sunday September 18.The PMD wasn’t forthcoming with details on the meeting with the commonwealth secretary, but a statement said Wickremesinghe’s meeting with the diaspora group was attended by businessmen, investors and professionals of Sri Lankan origin, whom he had invited to invest in the country.Sri Lanka is going through a crippling currency crisis, the worst in the history of the country’s central bank.
“As I am meeting the Commonwealth Secretary-General tomorrow (20), we were talking amongst ourselves how we are going to function. We want the Commonwealth to be strong, to go ahead. The UK has been a friend and ally for a long time. We have been under the rule of UK and we have been an independent country having relations with UK (sp),” an official transcript of a speech he had made at the meeting said.
“It goes back a long time. There are times we have agreed with the UK and there are times we have disagreed with the UK. So those are bonds that we have, whether it be Labour or Conservative or coalition and we want to maintain those relations,” he said.
Just a week prior, on September 12, the UK handed over a new draft resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that analysts say is the toughest resolution on Sri Lanka yet.However, political analysts say President Wickremesinghe has been looking to improve Sri Lanka’s relations with the West, as the country finds itself between the proverbial rock and a hard place vis-à-vis China and India.
“It’s not a secret that we are all broke as a country. We have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. We have already started discussions with the [International Monetary Fund] and staff level agreement is there. We have to talk to India, China and Japan and to the private creditors. While we look at our issues of debt, we also have to repay what we have borrowed. This means we need 25 years from now to 2048. Then we will be 100, by then [we[ will be a prosperous society,” he was quoted as saying.
The government, under heavy Opposition fire over inclusion of a sex website in the Grade 6 English module, as well as overall education reforms, has decided to put on hold reforms in respect of Grade 6.
Cabinet Spokesman and Media and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa announced the government decision yesterday (13) at the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Information Department.
According to him, the decision had been taken at the previous day’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Dr. Jayatissa said that education reforms pertaining to Garde 6 had been put on hold until 2027.
The Minister said that other proposed education reforms would be implemented as planned. The Minister said that action would be taken against those responsible for the inclusion of a link to a sex website following investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department and the National Education Institute.
The SJB and several other political parties, as well as civil society groups, have accused the government of promoting an LGBTQ agenda, through the proposed education reforms.
The Opposition grouping Mahajana Handa, on Monday, made representations to the Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatta Chapter regarding the controversial reforms, while urging their intervention to halt the project.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (13) vowed to go ahead with his government’s agenda, regardless of the destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Emphasising the responsibility on the part of all to contribute to the post-Ditwah recovery efforts, President Dissanayake said that he would have complete faith in the public service.
The President said so at the launch of the re-building Sri Lanka project at the BMICH yesterday.
The JVP and NPP leader said that he wouldn’t take advantage of the death and destruction caused by the cyclone or use the situation as an excuse to reverse their agenda or weaken it.
President Dissanayake said that in spite of many calling for amending the then Budget, in view of the cyclone, the government presented the proposals that were agreed before the disaster struck.
The United States has announced that it will provide the Sri Lanka Air Force with 10 US Navy TH-57 helicopters free of charge.
The announcement was made by outgoing US Ambassador Julie Chung, who stated, on social media, that the helicopters would be transferred under the United States’ Excess Defence Articles programme. The aircraft are Bell 206 Sea Ranger helicopters previously operated by the US Navy.
US sources said that the transfer was intended to strengthen Sri Lanka’s disaster response capabilities, following the devastating cyclone that struck the island at the end of 2025 and killed more than 600 people. US officials have framed the move as a humanitarian measure aimed at improving aerial rescue and relief operations.
Fair weather will prevail except for a few showers in the Uva, Eastern, Western and Central provinces and in Galle, Matara and Rathnapura districts
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Govt. bows to pressure, shelves Grade 6 reforms
AKD: Govt. agenda on track despite Ditwah disaster
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