A meeting between Upcountry Hindu Priests and the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, was held this morning (26) at the Presidential Secretariat.

During the meeting, discussions focused on several common issues and challenges faced by Upcountry Hindu priests over several decades. The Secretary to the President stated that the necessary intervention would be made to provide systematic solutions to those issues.

It was also decided to hold discussions once every two or three months regarding these matters. Discussions were also held on the Government’s programme aimed at addressing the needs of the people in the upcountry areas and the Hindu religious leaders expressed their gratitude to the Government for providing them with an opportunity to voice their concerns.

Among those present at the meeting were Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Up-Country Hindu Priests’ Association, Dr. Shiva Sri Velu Suresh Sharma Kurukkal, together with several Hindu priests, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, Director of the Department of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs, Y. Aniruddhan and several others.

(PMD)

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.