News
DEW expects those formulating new Constitution to address NL issue
…reiterates 99A didn’t pass Committee Stage
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Former General Secretary of the Communist Party D. E. W. Gunasekara says the nine-member committee of experts formulating the new Constitution should take remedial action in respect of the National List introduced in terms of the 14th Amendment with unauthorised sections inserted thereinto.
Gunasekera told The Island that the then Speaker E.L. Senanayake had inserted a section that hadn’t been approved by the House, at the Committee Stage. Obviously, the Speaker had done so at the behest of then UNP leader and President J.R. Jayewardene, Gunasekara said.
The veteran Communist, who once represented the Opposition in the Parliamentary Select Committee on Franchise and Elections, stressed that what the Speaker had ratified was certainly not the 14th Amendment endorsed by the Parliament. He said that no less a person than the late Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, who chaired the PSC, in response to query raised by Anil Moonesinghe, had assured Parliament that only those whose names appeared on the National Lists handed over to the Election Commissioner before a general election would be able to become appointed MPs.
The Island
sought clarification from Gunasekera after a President’s Counsel, responding to our news report headlined Nagananda: Ranil’s re-entry inconsistent with Constitution with strap line ‘SC to be moved against allegedly unauthorized changes in 14-A’ said that when enacting legislation it didn’t matter whether it is in accordance with PSC (in this case PSC on Franchise and Elections) recommendations or not. The PC said: “The question is whether an amendment was moved at the committee stage and whether it was approved. If the constitutional provision is different from the Bill provision then the question is whether the amendment was moved. PSC recommendation is not relevant to the issue at hand.”
According to Gunasekera, two of those who represented the PSC on Franchise and Elections are still members of parliament––MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardena and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who re-entered parliament through the National List. They could easily reveal that Section 99A in the present Constitution hadn’t been passed at Committee Stage, he added.
Gunasekera said that attorney-at-law and civil society activist Nagananda Kodituwakku had moved the Supreme Court on his behalf in 2015 when the then President Maithripala Sirisena accommodated defeated candidates Vijith Vijithamuni Zoysa, S.B. Dissanayake, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Thilanga Sumathipala, Angajan Ramanathan and M.L.A.M. Hisbullah through the National List at the expense of those who were on the UPFA NL. Former CP General Secretary said that he had sought the SC intervention as he had been deprived of a NL slot.
However, almost all SC judges recused themselves from hearing the case and finally the then Chief Justice K. Sripavan dismissed the case.
Gunasekera said that the committee headed by Romesh de Silva, PC could easily check with Speaker’s Office whether Section 99A now in Constitution had been approved at the Committee Stage. Declaring that it was not a Herculean task, Gunasekera urged the five-member Election Commission, too, to verify that matter.
Both Gunasekera and lawyer Nagananda Koditiwakku said that certified sections at issue could be obtained from the Office of the Speaker. The following is the relevant section approved by the Parliament: “Where a recognized political party or independent group is entitled to any seat under such apportionment, the Commissioner shall require the Secretary of such political party or group leader of such independent group to nominate persons, qualified to be elected as Members of Parliament, to fill such seats and shall declare elected as Members of Parliament, the persons so nominated. However, at the behest of the then President, Speaker included within brackets the following section which hadn’t passed the Committee Stage: “(Being persons whose names are included in the list submitted to the Commissioner of Elections under this Article or in any nomination paper submitted in respect of any electoral district by such party or group at that election.)”
Gunasekera said that the other significant change introduced by the Speaker at the President’s behest was the provision for political parties to name their NL members within a week after being informed in writing by the Election Commissioner the number of seats secured.
Gunasekera said that he was really sorry he had not taken it up before 2015 general election. The veteran politician said that all political parties including CP could not absolve themselves of the responsibility for their failure to take remedial measures. Responding to another query, Gunasekera pointed out that Wickremesinghe’s swearing in as an MP was questionable as the party hadn’t named him within the stipulated week though he qualified by being on the UNP Colombo District list.
Lawyer Koditiwakku said that he had recently written to Chairman of the Election Commission Nimal Punchihewa following the latter’s recent declaration (in response to a query raised by The Island) that there was no constitutional impediment to Basil Rajapaksa entering parliament through the SLPP National List. Kodituwakku said that the former Minister hadn’t been in the SLPP National List or any district list therefore couldn’t enter parliament. Punchihewa said that the law (99A) was silent on appointments made after a NL member quit and there were previous instances of accommodating those not on the NL or those who unsuccessfully contested the general election.
Projected revenue at Rs. 5.3 Bn, budget deficit 1.75 Bn
Rs. 6,500 Mn allocated for Clean Sri Lanka initiative
Estate wages hiked to Rs. 1,750 from Rs. 1,350 per day
Rs. 1 Bn allocated to address human-elephant conflict
Rs. 342 Bn for road development programmes
The government has decided to reduce the annual turnover threshold for the registration of Value Added Tax and Social Security Contribution Levy from Rs. 60 million to Rs. 36 million.
The proposal will be implemented with effect from 01 April, 2026.
The new tax system has been proposed with the view of broadening the tax base, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said during his 2026 Budget speech in Parliament yesterday.
He said that the total number of registered taxpayers in Sri Lanka has increased by 300,000 as of 30 September, 2025, compared to 2024.
The President made this revelation while delivering the 2026 Budget speech.
President Dissanayake also confirmed that the Simplified VAT System (SVAT) has been abolished with effect from 01 October, 2025, and has been shifted to an approved refund process to improve tax compliance and reduce misuse.
Presenting the Budget Proposals for the year 2026 commenced at 1.30 pm and continued till 5.57 pm.
According to the 2026 Budget proposal delivered by the President, the government’s expected revenue for 2026 is set at Rs. 5,300 million while the expenditure has been projected to be Rs. 7,057 million.
The Budget deficit will be Rs. 1,757 million or 5.1% of the Gross Domestic Product.
The government has proposed to remove the Special Commodity Levy on imported coconut oil and palm oil and implement the general tax structure including Value Added Tax.
The new tax system on imported coconut oil and palm oil will be implemented from April 2026, President Dissanayake said.
At present, locally produced coconut oil and palm oil are subjected to Value Added Tax and Social Security Contribution Levy, while imported coconut oil and palm oil are subjected to Special Commodity Levy at Rs. 150 per kilogram and Rs. 275 per kilogram, respectively.
The new tax proposal has been proposed to ensure a level playing field, the President stated.
President Dissanayake said that a total of Rs. 6,500 million has been allocated for the Clean Sri Lanka programme for next year.
President Dissanayake said that the land acquisition process for the proposed Kurunegala-Dambulla expressway is currently underway.
Accordingly, through the 2026 Budget, the government has allocated Rs. 1,000 million to complete the land acquisition process, the President said.
The government has allocated a sum of Rs. 342 billion for road development programmes in the 2026 Budget, President Dissanakaye stated. A total of Rs. 66.1 billion has been allocated for the Kadawatha-Mirigama section of the Central Expressway through the 2026 Budget.
Furthermore, Rs. 10.5 billion for the Pothuhera-Rambukkana and Rs. 20 billion for the Rambukkana-Galagedara section of the central expressway have been allocated through the Budget.
The President said that through the 2026 Budget, a sum of 25,500 million has been allocated to develop Sri Lanka’s digital economy. He also pledged to establish a Digital Economy Council next year.
The allocation will facilitate the infrastructure needs, streamlining investment processes and fostering an innovation-friendly environment.
The government has proposed to allocate an additional provision of Rs. 1,000 million to the Department of Wildlife Conservation to expedite the completion of electric fence constructions and related projects aimed at mitigating human-elephant conflict across the country, the President said.
In addition, Rs. 10 billion has been proposed for research initiatives to identify long-term, research-based solutions beyond the construction of electric fences to reduce these elephant-human conflicts, he said.
Estate worker wages are to be hiked to a total of 1,750 rupees a day, President Dissanayake said, presenting the Budget for 2026.
“We believe that estate workers should be paid a fair daily wage, commensurate with their work,” the President said.
The current minimum wage of an estate worker is 1,350 rupees a day.
An additional 200 rupees will be given daily by the government to encourage estate workers to come to work, Dissanayake said.
“This is as an incentive for them to show up for the 25 days.” The government will allocate 5,000 million rupees for this, he said.
The Budget Debate on the Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill will commence on 08 November and continue for six days. The vote on the Second Reading is scheduled for 14 November (Friday) at 6 pm.
The Committee Stage Debate is set to begin on 15 November and will continue for 17 sitting days, including three Saturdays, until 05 December. The vote on the Third Reading of the Appropriation Bill is to be taken up at 6 pm on 05 December.
During the budget period, Parliament will meet daily, except on Sundays and public holidays. Sessions will begin at 9.30 am on Mondays and at 9 am on other days. Each day’s sittings will continue until 6 pm, with time from 6 to 6.30 pm allocated for adjournment motions, shared equally between the Government and the Opposition, except on voting days.
In addition, during the Committee Stage Debate, provision has been made for five Questions for Oral Answers and one Question under Standing Orders 27(2), apart from the regular business under Standing Orders 22(1) to (6).
Supreme Court Justice S. Thurairaja was sworn in as the Acting Chief Justice before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (07) at the Presidential Secretariat.
The appointment was made to discharge the duties of the position during the absence of Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, who is currently overseas.
Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayaka, was also present on the occasion.
The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) yesterday announced that the total number of foreign tourists who have visited the country so far, in 2025, has exceeded 1.9 million.
SLTDA said that a total of 32,815 tourists visited Sri Lanka during the first five days of November 2025. With this addition, the cumulative number of tourist arrivals for the year has risen to 1,923,502.
The highest number of daily arrivals during this period—7,412 tourists—was recorded on 01 November, with India continuing to lead as the top source market for Sri Lanka.
So far this year, the largest number of tourists have arrived from India (431,235), followed by the United Kingdom (177,167), Russia (138,061), Germany (119,415), and China (113,619).
Govt. corrals many more into tax net by lowering VAT threshold from Rs. 60 Mn to Rs. 36 Mn
Justice Thurairaja sworn in as Actg CJ
India leads in tourist arrivals that has topped 1.9 Mn so far
President AKD unveils reforms to anchor 7% growth target
Minister Herath off to Riyadh to attend UNWTO General Assembly
Nilanga Dela re-elected Diyawadana Nilame
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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