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Lankan delegation headed by Foreign Sec. attends Commonwealth Senior Officials Meeting on next CHOGM

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Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane with Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland KC and Lankan High Commissioner to the UK Rohitha Bogollagama

A Sri Lankan delegation, headed by Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane, participated in the Commonwealth Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and the Committee of the Whole (COW) held in London from 03-06 September 2024, the Foreign Ministry said.

It said that the discussions at the meetings focused on the arrangements for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in October in Samoa and its outcome documents.

On the sidelines of the Commonwealth meetings, Foreign Secretary Wijewardane met the Permanent Under Secretary Sir Philip Barton of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, on 03 September 2024. Foreign Secretary Wijewardane and Permanent Under Secretary Barton discussed the ongoing implementation of the outcomes of the second meeting of the Sri Lanka – UK Strategic Dialogue, convened in May 2024 in Colombo.

Foreign Secretary Wijewardane apprised the Permanent Under Secretary of Sri Lanka’s progress in stabilizing the economy and the work to achieve sustainable development for all segments of the people. The Foreign Secretary also welcomed the recent high-level visits from the UK, as well as the ongoing discussions related to the implementation of the Developing Country Trading Scheme (DCTS) in Sri Lanka which is an impetus to bilateral trade. Both sides welcomed the recent signature between the two countries of the MoU on the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP). The vibrant people-to-people ties emanating from the significant community of Sri Lankan heritage in the UK also featured in the discussions.

On 05 September 2024, Foreign Secretary Wijewardane met with Patricia Scotland KC, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Both sides reviewed the ongoing collaborations between Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth Secretariat in diverse areas such as education, combating climate change, mangrove conservation and assistance in strengthening financial oversight. Secretary General Scotland apprised the Foreign Secretary of the deployment of the Commonwealth Election Observer Group, led by Danny Faure, former President of Seychelles, to observe the forthcoming Presidential Election. The Secretary-General also highlighted that for the first time, the upcoming Commonwealth Summit will be held in a Pacific Island Member State of the Commonwealth – Samoa – and would draw attention to climate change and related challenges.

Foreign Secretary Wijewardane also met with David Lammy, Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs at the Lancaster House on 04 September along with Heads of SOM delegations, and with Catherine West Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Indo–Pacific for the FCDO at a working dinner on 05 September.

On an invitation extended by the Anagarika Dharmapala Trust, Foreign Secretary Wijewardane addressed a gathering at the London Buddhist Vihara on 06 September where she highlighted the important religious contacts between the UK and Sri Lanka carried out through the work of the Vihara and the Maha Bodhi Society of the UK.

The Foreign Secretary was accompanied to the meetings by the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the UK Rohitha Bogollagama and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the High Commission of Sri Lanka to the UK.



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Cop who accepted Rs 3000 bribe nabbed by CIABOC

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A police officer attached to the  Raddolugama police station who accepted a bribe of Rs 3000/- from a motorist has been nabbed by officers attached to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Monday (14) evening.

It is alleged that the police officer demanded Rs 3000/- from the motorist to return his driving licence without prosecuting him for a traffic offence.

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GMOA swings into action on Vithana’s disclosure of MPs’ salaries, etc.

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MP Vithana / Dr. Sugathadasa

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has sought an explanation from Parliament regarding how PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is applied to parliamentarians.

GMOA Secretary Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa has written to the Secretary General of Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, in terms of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Information was sought on 09 July, 2025, in the wake of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Kalutara district parliamentarian Jagath Vithana posting his pay sheets from January to May this year on his Facebook.

In addition to information on PAYE, the GMOA has posed a number of other questions to the Secretary General regarding the parliamentarians’ salary as well as pensions.

Parliament passed the RTI Act on 24 June, 2016, and it came into effect on 03 February, 2017. This act, introduced through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, in 2015, is meant to promote transparency and accountability in government.

New controversy has erupted in the wake of Nawa Janatha Peramuna lodging a complaint with the CIABOC seeking an investigation into Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne abusing public property, a claim denied by the Secretary General of Parliament.

According to Vithana’s May pay sheet, his monthly allowance is Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, sitting allowance Rs 5,000, office allowance Rs 100,000, fuel allowance Rs 97,428.92 and transport allowance Rs. 15,000. His take home pay is Rs 317, 760.92 after the deduction of Rs 1,200 for catering, stamp duty Rs. 25 and Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT).

Asked whether he regretted the releasing of pay sheets, lawmaker Vithana told The Island that in the run-up to the last parliamentary elections, held in November 2024, he had promised the Kalutara electorate he wouldn’t draw his salary. The MP said that however, he later felt the salary should be accepted and used in support of public welfare projects undertaken by him. “Therefore, the money was used appropriately,” he said, adding that both the government and Opposition MPs reacted with resentment. “I feel sort of isolated in Parliament. Hardly anyone talks to me,” MP Vithana said.

Dr. Sugathadasa said that having perused the pay sheets posted online, the GMOA had felt the urgent need to seek a clarification from Parliament as the lawmakers appeared to have received special status. The top GMOA official emphasised they wanted to establish the truth and used the RTI law to obtain information regarding the MPs’ salaries, pensions and other related information. “The GMOA made the request on 09 July, 2025. We are confident the Parliament will answer our queries,” Dr. Sugathadasa said.

Parliament meets only eight days a month. Attendance is not compulsory and there is no fixed time for lawmakers to attend sittings. Over the years, sittings have been suspended for lack of quorum.

The Island asked the GMOA official whether they would seek the intervention of the RTI Commission in case the Parliament declined to reveal the information sought by them. Dr. Sugathadasa said that the Executive Committee of the GMOA would decide the course of action if Parliament withheld information.

A few years ago Chamara Sampath, of Wijeya Newspapers, successfully moved the Court of Appeal against the Parliament after the latter refused to disclose names of Members of Parliament (MPs) who had handed over their respective declarations of assets and liabilities in 2018 and list of names of MPs who have handed over their Declarations from 2010 to the time he made the request (21 June, 2018).

The Court on 28 February, 2023, reaffirmed the RTI Commission’s stand that Declarations of Assets and Liabilities Law of 1975 (DALL) didn’t prevail over the Right to Information Act no. 12 of 2016 (RTI Act).

According to the Parliament website, an MP is paid Rs. 54,285, entertainment allowance Rs 1,000, driver’s allowance Rs 3,500 (only if driver is not provided by government). Fuel allowances are paid based on the distance from Parliament to the electoral district which each MP was elected and the approved market price of one litre of diesel on the first day of every month, telephone allowance Rs 50,000, transport allowance for personal staff Rs 10,000, and stamps worth Rs 350,000 issued to each MP annually.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

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Udaya alleges Prez hasn’t given up efforts to bring in outsider as AG

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Sri Lanka Educator Service Lecturers’ Trade Union yesterday (14) protested outside the Education Ministry, demanding that the government address their grievances. (Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha)

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader and former Minister Udaya Gammanpila says President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has delayed making a permanent appointment to the post of Auditor General in a bid to bring in an outsider early next year.

Addressing the media yesterday (14), Attorney-at-Law Gammanpila said that three civil society members of the Constitutional Council, who opposed the President’s move, would be completing their term in early January next year. Instead of appointing Dharmapala Gammanpila as the Auditor General, the President had given him only an extension in service so as to get rid of him at the first available opportunity and bring in his crony from the Kelaniya University.

The former lawmaker said that the success of the President’s plan depended on the appointment of pliant civil society members to the CC, ready to help advance the NPP’s agenda.

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