News
Kiriella lambasts executive presidency as total failure, wants Parliament given its powers

By Saman Indrajith
Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella yesterday told Parliament that the prevailing situation showed that the executive presidency had failed.
“This crisis has shown us enough that the executive presidency cannot find solutions. While finding solutions we must bring about changes to vest the powers of the executive president in Parliament. We must find means to abolish this failed system of governance,” MP Kiriella said.
Kiriella said that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had, during a special party leaders’ meeting held on Monday (18), promised submit a proposal for the abolition of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and the restoration of the 19th Amendment. “The Speaker said that the 20th Amendment to the Constitution would be abolished. He said that the 19th Amendment would be brought back. Today, the Speaker says something else. We saw the President addressing the newly appointed Cabinet and that address was shown on TV last evening. At the end of that speech, the viewers were fully convinced that the executive presidential system was a failure. We demand that when whatever proposals are brought in as solutions to the present crisis, also bring the proposal to abolish the executive presidency.
“The country is beset with numerous crises and Parliament is not responsible for any of them. Some of the crises are due to the 20th Amendment that vested parliamentary powers in the executive presidency. Powers of the Prime Minister and Parliament were transferred to the executive presidency. Now, the decisions are made by the executive president and not by Parliament. We are under the impression that Parliament has the supreme power over public finances. Yet, we do not have such power. This Parliament does not know how terminals of the harbour and Trinco oil tank farm were given to India. Yesterday, the President expressed his regret over making some wrong decisions. The country is in the present plight because he made arbitrary decisions and was adamant to carry them on. So, it indicates that the executive presidency has failed. It should be abolished and powers should be re-vested in Parliament.”
News
Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation plague most schools, say Principals

By Pradeep Prasanna Samarakkone and Chaminda Silva
Around 500 schools across the country lack access to safe drinking water for students, Piyasiri Fernando, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Principals’ Association, has said.
Fernando told The Island that a significant number of schools did not have facilities to store water properly. He said many schools lacked sanitary facilities.
Fernando also noted that in some schools in the Eastern, North Central, Uva, North Western, and Central provinces, as well as in approximately 20% of schools located near coastal areas, there are no proper toilet facilities. Despite the issuance of circulars specifying the number of toilets to be built, based on the number of students, some schools still did not have sanitary facilities as per those guidelines, the Secretary of the Principals’ Association said.
According to the School Census -2023 (2024) conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics there were 3,882,688 schoolchildren, 830,021 in National Schools and 3,052,667 in Provincial Schools.
Out of 10,096 schools, 1,506 have 1-50 students, 1,638 have 51-100 students and 2,128 have 101-200 students. Only 67 schools have 3,001-4,000 students, while only 33 have more than 4,000 students. 3,117 or 30.9 percent schools have fewer than 10 teachers.
News
Julie meets Namal at SLPP HQ

US Ambassador, Julie Chung, visited the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) office on Friday (14) for discussions with party representatives.
Ambassador Chung arrived at the SLPP Headquarters around 10:00 a.m. and engaged in talks for over an hour and a half. Her visit followed a request by the SLPP to meet her.
During the meeting, she held discussions with SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, former Members of Parliament Sanjeewa Edirimanne, C.B. Ratnayake, and Jayantha Ketagoda, as well as current MP D.V. Chanaka. Milinda Rajapaksha, an advisor to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was also present.
The visit comes amid calls from SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa for an investigation into USAID fund recipients in Sri Lanka.
News
Speaker agrees to probe allegations of ‘unethical funding’ by USAID

By Saman Indrajith
Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne informed Parliament on Friday (14) that he intended to take necessary action regarding requests made by MPs concerning allegations over USAID funding in Sri Lanka.
He made this statement in response to a question raised by Opposition MP Dayasiri Jayasekara, who sought a clarification on the matter.
Jayasekara noted that SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa had sent a letter to the Speaker calling for the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate reports about unethical USAID funding in the country. He questioned whether such a committee would be formed and the matter formally examined.
In response, Speaker Wickramaratne confirmed that he was planning to take appropriate action on the issue.
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