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TNA accepts president’s overture, MP suggests party ready to talk federal

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/27

ECONOMYNEXT —Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will engage constructively in sincere attempts at resolving the ethnic issue, legislator M A Sumanthiran said responding to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s overtures to the opposition, while also suggesting that the TNA was open to a federal solution.

“We will engage constructively in every sincere attempt as we have always done but will not allow any farcical process,” Sumanthiran tweeted Thursday November 24 afternoon.In a speech made in parliament the previous day, the Jaffna district MP said there can be no reconciliation by sweeping the truth under the carpet.

“It is only by the ascertainment of the truth that there can be true reconciliation,” he said.

“Your actions must be louder than words. All we have are words, words and words. As I speak, more lands are being acquired,” he added, highlighting an example that prompted a response from President Wickremesinghe that he would look into the matter.

Wickremesinghe on Wednesday re-extended an open invitation to opposition parties to a discussion on a permanent solution to Sri Lanka’s decades-long ethnic problem. Talks would begin after December 11, he said, with a view to agreeing on a solution by February 04 2023 when the island nation celebrates 75 years of independence from the British.

“We welcome the president’s initiative. He said everyone must agree on the solution. We want all the people of this country to be content and be satisfied and feel secure that this is their country,” said Sumanthiran.The MP said there is broad consensus already on the issue and that only a few things need to be ironed out.

“That can be done in a day’s sitting. You don’t require three months,” he said.

President Wickremesinghe agreed in his speech that there is nothing new left to talk about.If the president is looking at the South African example, said Sumanthiran, it must be noted that that country underwent a political transformation “before they could look at accountability issues”.

“That fundamental change must happen and must precede other measures,” he said.

Among the issues that Sri Lanka is confronted with with regard to reconciliation between communities is the matter of alleged human rights abuses, particularly during the final phase of the 26-year armed conflict. Missing persons, militarisation and alleged land grabs have also figured prominently in various international fora where Sri Lanka’s human rights record has come up for discussion.

“Of course you need to do many confidence-building exercises because there is a serious lack of trust because of the long history and what happened,” said Sumanthiran.

The MP said it is crucial that the core, root issues are settled first before considering issues of justice and accountability, which he said would provide the people a different outlook on resolving those issues.He also paid what has lately been a rare compliment to President Wickremesinghe from the TNA.

“We recognise that perhaps you are the only person in this House today — although you’re not a member of this house — who’s had the longest experience in this matter. You were part of the government negotiation team that negotiated with the TULF from the middle to the end of 1986, which ended with the Indo-Lanka accord, and the 13th amendment which we did not accept as a meaningful scheme of devolution,” he said.

The 13th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution emerged out of the controversial Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 as a purported solution to the worsening ethnic conflict. Provincial councils came in the wake of this amendment, but land and police powers have yet to be devolved to the provinces as originally envisioned. Both Sinhalese and Tamil nationalists have opposed the 13th amendment, the former claiming it devolved too much, the latter complaining it didn’t devolve enough.

Wickremesinghe knows “everything that is to know about the resolution of this”, said Sumanthiran. He also acknowledged the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) appointed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“Though we did not participate in the APRC, that’s a good report. Many members in the front row today in the government were members of the cabinet in August 2000 when President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga brought a constitution bill to parliament. The UNP at that time led by President Wickremesinghe opposed it only because of a transitional provision with regard to executive presidency, not because of the devolution arrangements in that,” he said.

The UNP government notoriously burnt the draft bill in parliament when the Kumaratunga government presented it. Analysts have revisited that event as a possible misstep in Sri Lanka’s path to a lasting peace, though others disagree.Sumanthiran said consensus is already there and all that is required is for decisions to be made.

“That is what has been entrusted to the president now,” he said.

The president’s call for a permanent resolution by the 75th Independence Day celebrations is a good ideal to work towards, but there isn’t much time, the MP warned.

“So we are willing to work with you constructively to achieve the objective you have enunciated. We’re willing to achieve the reasonable and legitimate aspirations of our people and indeed all the people that live in this country,” he said.In his speech, Sumanthiran was emphatic that his party does not wish to do anything behind the back of the majority.

“Everyone must feel secure. That is our desire as well. That the majority of this country must accept it.”

The MP then said that more than 40 percent of the world’s population live in federal countries. (There are 25 countries with a federal form of government).

“Those are the strongest countries in the world,” the MP claimed.

“You have others who are quasi federal, who sometimes call themselves unitary, like Great Britain, where the extent of devolution is far more than even in a federal form of government.

“We don’t ask for something that is not found anywhere in the world. We’re asking for something that is reasonable and is practised all around the globe. That will ensure that all our people will live with dignity and self respect in this country. We want the majority people to accept and understand that. You are, after all, a preponderant majority. No one can shift that. It was Prime Minister S W R D Bandaranaike who in 1926 introduced the idea of federalism to this country, not the Tamil leaders,” he said.Sumanthiran recalled that it was in fact the Kandyan chiefs who had asked for a federal form of government on two separate occasions in the early 20th century.

“So it can’t be bad for the Sinhala people, it was the Sinhala people who asked for it,” he said, noting that over time wrong messages have been communicated to the country.

“There are suspicions those must be allayed. We must resolve this in a just way, so that we can all can then stand up as the president envisages by Feb 04 2023 as the children of one mother,” Sumanthiran said.

Federalism has been a highly controversial and politically inflammable idea in Sri Lanka over the years, with many nationalist or even some moderate parties in the south vehemently opposing the very suggestion of it. It is unclear whether this stance has softened over the 13 years since the end of the war, but to date no Sinhalese-dominated party has come out in support for it.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Gevindu Kumaratunga who now sits in the opposition responding to Wickremesinghe’s invitation on Wednesday cautioned that they can only support a proposal that will honour Sri Lanka’s unitary character.

“If you’re asking for a consensus within a unitary Sri Lanka, we’ll agree. Outside of that, I don’t think a majority of people will agree. There is a ground reality here. Our soldiers laid down their lives to protect the unitary state,” said Kumaratunga.

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Heat Index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala and Mannar districts

Published

2 hours ago

2026/03/12

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. on 11 March 2026, valid for 12 March 2026.

The public are warned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at
some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala and Mannar districts.

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.
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News

Power sector reforms jolted by 40% pay hike demand

Published

3 hours ago

2026/03/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Nusith Kumaratunga

The government’s sweeping electricity sector restructuring programme ran into fresh turbulence yesterday, with authorities warning that meeting a 40 percent salary increase, demanded by striking power sector unions, could push electricity tariffs up by nearly 100 percent.

Chairman of the National Transmission Network Service Provider (NTNSP), Nusith Kumaratunga, issuing the warning at a media briefing, said the additional salary burden would significantly escalate operating costs in the newly formed power sector companies.

According to Kumaratunga, granting the 40 percent salary increase would raise the monthly wage bill by about Rs. 1.8 billion, amounting to nearly Rs. 22 billion annually, placing enormous pressure on the already fragile financial position of the electricity sector.

“If that additional burden is passed on to consumers, electricity tariffs may have to increase by close to 100 percent,” he said.

The briefing was organised by the management of the successor companies created following the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

Kumaratunga said electricity sector trade unions had presented 64 demands in the wake of the restructuring exercise.

“Out of the 64 demands, 62 have already been agreed to,

while the remaining two have been referred to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for discussion,” he said.

He explained that the majority of the demands related to the continuation of privileges previously enjoyed by employees under the CEB structure.

“During the initial round of discussions itself, the boards of directors agreed to 59 of those demands,” he noted.

Among the concessions already granted was the continuation of bonus payments, similar to those previously paid by the CEB, at least temporarily, until a performance-based incentive system is introduced.

The management had also agreed to grant an allowance of Rs. 11,000, in addition to the existing cost-of-living allowance, bringing the average additional monthly benefit to around Rs. 17,000 per employee, he said.

Kumaratunga stressed that management had approved all demands that could be granted at the ministerial level.

However, he said the proposed 40 percent salary increase would be difficult to justify, particularly at a time when other segments of the public service were not receiving similar benefits.

He also revealed that unions had requested that a 25 percent salary adjustment, granted to senior executives in 2024, be extended to all employees, with retrospective effect from January 1, 2024.

Granting such a request would require amending an existing Cabinet decision, which the boards of directors of the newly established companies do not have the authority to do, Kumaratunga explained.

He pointed out that the newly created electricity sector companies had only commenced operations on Monday, and their work had already been disrupted by the ongoing trade union action.

“It is difficult to understand why the strike continues when the vast majority of demands have already been addressed,” he said.

However, the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union clarified that the 40 percent salary increase was not their primary demand.

Union representatives said that the electricity sector employees were originally due for a salary revision in January 2027, but the ongoing restructuring had raised concerns that the scheduled increase might not materialise.

“That is why we requested at least a reasonable percentage increase in order to secure some form of salary revision,” a senior electrical engineer said.

The dispute comes at a critical moment as the government presses ahead with the unbundling of the CEB into separate generation, transmission and distribution entities, a reform programme, officials say, is aimed at improving efficiency and attracting investment to Sri Lanka’s troubled power sector.

However, the restructuring has been strongly opposed by trade unions, which argue that the reforms could undermine employee security and weaken state control over a strategic national utility.

With industrial action continuing and tariff hikes looming as a possibility, the confrontation between the government and electricity sector unions appears set to intensify in the coming days.

By Ifham Nizam

News

UN scientific research ship here amidst ban on such vessels

Published

3 hours ago

2026/03/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

The United Nations-flagged vessel R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen

A UN vessel arrived in Colombo yesterday (11) to conduct a month-long marine scientific survey in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This is the first foreign scientific research vessel here since President Ranil Wickremesinghe banned such visits on January 1, 2024, for a period of one year. However, the ban remains in place with the NPP government yet to announce its new decision on the issue.

The following is the text of statement issued by the Foreign Ministry yesterday: “On the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka, the United Nations-flagged vessel R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, under the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka today to conduct a marine scientific survey in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources and the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA).

R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen supports countries in collecting critical scientific data for sustainable fisheries management and in understanding how climate change is affecting marine ecosystems. The survey, spanning 32 days, will focus on assessing marine living resources and marine ecosystems, providing updated scientific data that will support Sri Lanka’s sustainable fisheries management and ocean governance. During the mission, scientists will undertake a range of activities, including hydro-acoustic surveys to estimate the biomass and distribution of key fish stocks in Sri Lankan waters; assessment of marine pollution levels; and biodiversity monitoring.

An important component of the programme is capacity building. The mission will bring together Sri Lankan scientists from NARA and other national institutions with international experts, promoting scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Sri Lanka previously hosted the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in 2018, when the vessel conducted a comprehensive survey of Sri Lanka’s continental shelf and upper slope, in collaboration with national institutions. Earlier, Nansen surveys were also carried out in Sri Lankan waters in 1978–1980, reflecting a long-standing scientific partnership under the Nansen programme.

Sri Lanka’s participation in this survey reflects the country’s continued commitment to sustainable fisheries, marine ecosystem protection, and international scientific cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.”