News
FSP: President has no chance of success
President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the government were planning to impose the most draconian Emergency regulations in the post-independence history and they would further diminish the country’s chances of receiving assistance from the international community, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Pubudu Jagoda, said yesterday.Jagoda said the Emergency passed in Parliament would have serious consequences for the public and would fuel anger and dissatisfaction among the people.
“When Ranil Wickremesinghe came into power, his associates said that he could bring in billions of dollars to the country through his contacts. However, Wickremesinghe has not been able to secure any loan since May. However, it seems that he is doing his best to antagonise the international community by running his mouth,” Jagoda said.
Emergency will further undermine Sri Lanka’s credibility and the only thing left before Wickremesinghe and Co. was to sell national assets and privatise state-owned enterprises to foreign companies with dubious track records.
“This is the only option he has. No one is going to help a man like Wickremesinghe. It is obvious that he is incapable of ensuring political stability. Countries like the EU, China or Japan will not help a state mired in political instability. So, Ranil will start selling national assets and when unions rise against them, he will try to use these Emergency laws to crush the unions. It is unlikely that the unions will take such a move lying down and there will be more chaos,” Jagoda said.
The FSP Education Secretary said the new Emergency laws were more far more draconian than those imposed during the 71, and 88-89 insurgencies and the war with the LTTE. Jagoda said that the laws were mainly aimed at suppressing trade unions
“When Ranil became the Prime Minister, the first thing he said was that SriLankan Airlines should be privatised. He tried to do that between 2015 and 2019 and found there were no buyers among recognised international companies. Has he now found another company with a dubious reputation to sell the airline? More recently, the government has amended the electricity Act. This was done to let Adani come and take over the renewable sector of the country. People will not tolerate these moves,” he said.
Jagoda said that Wickremesinghe lacked legitimacy in the eyes of the people and the guarded responses from the international community showed that his claims of having access to international networks were also false.
“Ranil is not a legitimate President. The Parliament does not reflect the will of the people. We call upon the government to hold an election,” he said.
Representatives from the ’The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’ met with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on Wednesday [24th of June] at the Parliament premises.
During the meeting, discussions focused on the Sri Lanka Economic and Investment Summit 2026 (SLEIS 2026), which is scheduled to be held on 12 and 13 October 2026. Attention was also given to digitalization initiatives, the introduction of digital technologies in schools under new education reforms, and the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Sri Lanka’s education sector.
Representatives of the Chamber noted that the summit would serve as an important platform for encouraging both local and foreign investment, while also contributing to the shaping of the country’s future economic policies.
The meeting was attended by Krishan Balendra, Chairman of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce; Vinod Hirdaramani, Deputy Vice Chairman; Shiran Fernando, Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer; Aliki Perera, Deputy Secretary General and Chief Operating Officer; and Anagi Rodrigo-Weerasekera, Chief Economist and Head of Economic Intelligence, along with several other representatives.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
A discussion to review the progress of the housing project under which 4,700 houses are being constructed for the Malayagam community with Indian assistance was held this afternoon (24) at the Presidential Secretariat under the chairmanship of the Chief of Staff to the President, Prabath Chandrakeerthi.
Under this housing programme, 2,026 houses are to be provided to families identified by the National Building Research Institute (NBRI) as being at disaster risk. The remaining houses are expected to be allocated to eligible workers residing in the plantation sector.
Accordingly, the houses will be provided to Malayagam community families living on estates belonging to 22 Regional Plantation Companies, as well as estates under the State Plantations Corporation, Janawasama and Elkaduwa Plantations.
For the construction of each house, the Government of India has allocated Rs. 2.8 million, while the Government of Sri Lanka has contributed Rs. 400,000.
During the discussion, Chandrakeerthi instructed officials to ensure that the housing project is completed before the end of this year. He further directed that land identified for the construction of houses be released without delay and that the National Building Research Institute provide the necessary reports to identify suitable land for the project.
The housing project is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, the National Housing Development Authority, the State Engineering Corporation and the Plantation Human Development Trust.
Among those present were Additional Secretary (Development) of the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, K. S. Wijayakeerthi; Director General (Engineering), N. D. N. Pushpakumara; Director General (Planning), W. A. K. S. Damayanthi; the Secretary General of the Planters’ Association; and officials from the National Housing Development Authority, the State Engineering Corporation, relevant institutions and plantation companies.
(PMD)
It has been reported that Attorney at Law Rakitha Rajapakshe, the son of former Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, has been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over alleged links with the underworld.
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