News
Now, Dolawatte denies he backed US-led LGBTQ project
Sri Lankan group appreciates Trump withdrawing support
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Former SLPP MP Premnath C. Dolawatte yesterday (23) claimed that a bill he presented to the last parliament was not meant to promote LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) rights. Attorney-at-law Dolawatte stressed that he sought to amend Sections 365 and 365A in the Penal Code which criminalised same-sex sexual activity, though it is hardly enforced.
The ex-MP Dolawatte said so responding to a query from The Island whether US President Donald Trump’s declaration that his administration would accept only two genders-male and female thereby ceasing US backing for various projects promoting LGBTQ rights would undermine the Sri Lankan campaign supportive of LGBTQ rights.
When pressed for a further explanation, the former MP insisted that his effort wasn’t intended to promote LGBTQ rights.
The then MP Dolawatte presented his bill to parliament in August 2022 just weeks after UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected to complete the remainder of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term.
Responding to another query, the former MP said that the dissolution of parliament immediately after the presidential election in Sept., last year brought the process to an end.
Dolawatte is on record as having said that the proposed amendments to Sections 365 and 365A in the Penal Code would receive the backing of MPs with a progressive mindset. Section 365 of the Penal Code terms “voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman, or animal” as an “unnatural offence”, while Section 365A penalises “acts of gross indecency between persons”.
Having gathered outside the US embassy in Colombo on Tuesday (21), Mothers’ Movement of Sri Lanka urged President Trump’s intervention to stop LGBTQ agenda being forced on Sri Lanka as a pre-condition for US, IMF and World Bank assistance.
Alleging that the US, IMF and World Bank Exploited Sri Lanka’s bankruptcy to advance their despicable agenda, the group said children, teens, journalists, lawyers, medical professionals, law enforcement authorities, educationists and academia were targeted.
According to the group the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, USAID and Global Equality Fund provided substantial funds to promote LGBTQ rights here.
The group alleged that the European Union via European Instrument for Democracy & Human Rights, Netherlands via Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Human Rights Fund, Canada via Feminist International Assistance Policy, UK via Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Sweden via Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Norway, Germany via Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development (BMZ), wholeheartedly backed the US project.
The UN threw its weight behind the high profile LGBTQ project with some Colombo based diplomatic missions openly intervening on their behalf, the group said.
Former MP Dolawatte claimed that the National People’s Power (NPP) government, too, had made various pledges to the international community.
A spokeswoman for the Mothers’ Movement of Sri Lanka told The Island that the new government should take a strong stand on this matter. The UN backed Western project was meant to weaken the traditional family thereby undermine the whole society. Interested parties even targeted parliamentarians as LGBTQ project had been one of the major objectives of the Biden administration that lavishly provided required funds, she said.
The price of oil has fallen to levels not seen since before the Iran war as traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route gradually resumes.
Global benchmark Brent crude briefly fell below $72.48 (£55) a barrel, the price it was at the day before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, before edging up to $73.23.
Energy prices have been on a wild ride since Iran responded to the strikes by effectively closing the strait, a critical waterway for oil and gas shipments.
The cost of crude has been moving sharply lower since the US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 17 June which set out a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme and other measures to end the war.
Representatives from the two sides met in Switzerland last weekend for talks to end the war, which resulted in the US partially lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
The number of vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz has risen significantly since the MOU was signed, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.
Its latest data suggests 284 vessels have made the transit from 18 June, the day after the deal was signed, although that is is still well below the pre-conflict average of some 138 crossings each day.
The ships passing through the waterway in recent days include those carrying crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), fertiliser and other goods, Kpler told the BBC.
The US and Iran had also formed a “communication line” to prevent misunderstandings “with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”, mediators Qatar and Pakistan said in a joint statement on Monday.
There has been a “tremendous shift” with far more ships using the strait in recent days, said Dimitris Maniatis, the chief executive of Marisks, a maritime risk advisory firm working with ships stuck in the region.
A limited number of ships can cross a northern passageway with the permission of Iranian authorities, he said.
The US navy has also provided guidance for vessels to travel through a southern route that is safe from mines and other obstacles that has been laid out since the war, Maniatis said.
But the number of ships crossing the strait is still below levels seen before the war, when it was used by more than 100 ships a day.
Hundreds of ships still appear to be waiting in the Gulf.
Fuel prices at the pump rose sharply when the Iran war began, and now the focus is on how quickly they will fall.
“On the back of the lowest oil price since before the Iran war started, drivers should see the average price of petrol fall below 150p [a litre] in the next week or so,” said Simon Williams, head of policy at UK motoring group the RAC. He added the price of diesel “ought to go back under 160p.
Petrol peaked at 159.53p a litre on 28 May, according to the RAC, while diesel has fallen from a high of 191.54p on 15 April.
The average price of regular gasoline in the US has dropped to around $3.93 a gallon after reaching $4 a gallon in April, its highest since 2022, but is still well above pre-war levels.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into major energy companies, accusing Shell, ExxonMobil and other firms of “gouging” drivers by not reducing fuel prices even as oil costs fell.
“Oil prices have come down so much and we are not seeing anything at the pump by comparison the way they should be,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil and gas industry in the US, said fuel prices “don’t move in lockstep with crude oil”.
British energy firms have faced similar accusations of unfairly hiking petrol prices since the Iran war.
The UK competition watchdog said last month that there was no widespread evidence of this, adding that average profit margins were “broadly unchanged” between February and March
(BBC)
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)
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