News

LSSP cautions government on US State Secretary’s visit

Published

5 years ago

2020/10/28

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) has cautioned the government not to fall into the USA’s trap to get Sri Lanka involved in the war of attrition between the US and China.

LSSP General Secretary Prof. Tissa Vitarana said in a statement yesterday (27): “During the US State Secretary’s visit, there will also be pressure to sign the MCC and SOFA agreements that the UNP-led yahapalanaya government was prepared to sign to obtain a grant of US$ 480 million. The Gunaruwan Committee has given instances of countries like Madagascar that signed and fulfilled the conditions, but did not receive the promised amount of money. Not surprising, as the USA itself is in an economic crisis and heavily in debt.

“The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is one of the most powerful politicians in the world. He is also the USA’s Minister of State (in the USA the members of the Cabinet are called Secretaries, not Ministers). His present visit to Sri Lanka, and three other Asian countries including India, is to get some Asian support for its planned attack on China, which has not received the support of ASEAN.

“For example, the Philippines President Duterte has said that he is not ready to go to war with China, and will resolve their issues bilaterally and peacefully. Even the European Union led by Germany has recognised that China is only interested in trade, and it is refusing to support the USA’s military attack on China, the LSSP statement further noted.

“The USA is advancing its “India First” policy to rally Asian support against China. Pakistan has taken China’s side and Sri Lanka too must do the same. This is a truly Non-aligned Policy to which all countries that were colonized have always subscribed to, from the time we were liberated from Imperialist rule. Under no circumstances should Sri Lanka support USA military aggression against China, it added.

“Even staying neutral is tacit approval. We must oppose war by the USA against a fellow Third World country. What right has the USA to claim that China poses a military danger to it, when its boundaries are thousands of miles away? It is the USA that has over 400 military bases around China, while China has only one outside its boundaries”, the LSSP said.

“Signing the MCC and SOFA agreements would compel us to support USA aggression. The MCC agreement would enable the USA to exploit our economy without restriction and its companies to buy our land besides establishing rapid transport links from Colombo to Trincomalee. The SOFA agreement would allow thousands of armed troops from the USA to use the whole of Sri Lanka as a military base (now that they are losing Diego Garcia, their main Indian Ocean base).

“Thus, the LSSP appeals to the Government to take a non-aligned stance and support China. It is also vitally important that Sri Lanka does not sign the MCC and SOFA agreements.

“The Sri Lankan government should ensure that the UN Declaration on the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace be implemented immediately. This is a declaration which Sri Lanka itself initiated.”

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Cabinet approves construction of new 300 bed Base Hospital in Deniyaya

Published

6 hours ago

2026/02/18

Priyan

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution forwarded by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to relocate the Deniyaya Base Hospital after constructing a new hospital with a capacity of 300 beds at an estimated cost of Rupees 6,000 million.

The Southern Provincial Department of Health has acquired a plot of land in Handford estate which is approximately 03 kilometres away from the town for this purpose.

News

Cabinet nod to legally empower methodology for implementing the ‘Praja Shakthi’ poverty alleviation national movement

Published

6 hours ago

2026/02/18

Priyan

The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the resolution furnished by the Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment to instruct the Legal Draftsman to draft a bill to legally empower the implementation of ‘Praja Shakthi’ (Strength of the Community) poverty alleviation national movement

News

NPP not under Indian pressure to hold PC polls – JVP

Published

6 hours ago

2026/02/18

Sahan Weerasooriya

Tilvin Silva

…preliminary work started on new Constitution

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva yesterday (17) maintained that the NPP government was not under Indian pressure to hold the long delayed Provincial Council elections.

The top JVP official said so appearing on Sirasa Pathikada, anchored by Asoka Dias. Tilvin Silva said that neither the devolution nor terrorism issues had been discussed during his meeting with External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Deputy National Security Advisor Pavan Kapoor, in New Delhi. This was Tilvin Silva’s first visit to India.

Declaring that politics hadn’t been on the agenda, the JVPer said that the Indian focus was entirely on economic development and technology.

The JVP General Secretary visited India under the Indian Council for Cultural Relations’ (ICCR) Distinguished Visitors Programme from 5-12 February 2026. General Secretary Silva was accompanied by Kitnan Selvaraj, MP, Ilankumaran Karunanathan, MP, JVP Central Committee Member Janaka Adhikari, JVP’s Media Unit Head Hemathilaka Gamage and Member of JVP’s International Relations Department Kalpana Madhubhashini. The delegation visited New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram.

Responding to another query, Tilvin Silva said that Dr. S. Jaishankar had reiterated that India would always remain a true and trusted partner for Sri Lanka, in accordance with its ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ and Vision ‘MAHASAGAR.’

Referring to the second JVP insurrection in the late 1980s, the JVPer claimed that they had not been against India but responded to the actions of the then Indian government.

Sri Lanka enacted the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in the wake of the Indo-Lanka peace accord of July 1987 to pave the way for Provincial Councils.

Tilvin Silva said that since they came to power, Indo-Sri Lanka relations had changed. “India has realised we could work together,” he said.

The JVP official said that preliminary work was underway, regarding the formulation of a new Constitution. The abolition of executive presidency and creation of an Office of President sans executive powers, too, would be addressed, he said, adding that the strengthening of the legislature was the other issue at hand.

Pointing out that the NPP had 2/3 majority in Parliament and could introduce a new Constitution on their own, Tilvin Silva said that they intended to obtain views of all and study the past processes in a bid to secure consensus. The JVP, as the party that campaigned against the introduction of executive presidency, way back in 1978, would lead the current effort to do away with the existing Constitution, he said.

Tilvin promised that they would implement what was in their manifesto.

The interviewer also raised the issue of abolishing the pensions for ex-Presidents. Tilvin Silva said that the Supreme Court, too, had approved the move to abolish pensions to ex-MPs. Therefore there was no issue with that, however, the ex-Presidents pensions couldn’t be done away with as they were made through the Constitution. That would be addressed when the government introduced a new Constitution in consultation with other stakeholders.

By Shamindra Ferdinando