News

President Wickremesinghe accused of using electoral reforms to delay elections, raising concerns of a constitutional coup

Published

3 years ago

2023/10/21

Thilina Walpola

Manjula Gajanayake

By Rathindra Kuruwita

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is exploiting calls for progressive electoral reforms from society to delay elections, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) Manjula Gajanayake, alleged on Thursday.

Gajanayake expressed his concerns to The Island, stating that this strategy may lead to long-term crises.

President Wickremesinghe, through a Gazette, dated 16 October 2023, has established a Commission of Inquiry, led by retired Supreme Court Justice Priyasath Dep, whom some alleged is a relative of the President. This Commission is tasked with investigating and proposing changes to current election laws and regulations. It consists of nine members and is mandated to assess existing electoral frameworks and offer recommendations that align with current requirements.

Gajanayake noted that the stated goals of this initiative appear progressive and align with the demands made by election monitors, academics, and political parties over the years. These goals include enhancing representation for women and youth, adopting electronic voting using modern technology, and facilitating voting for Sri Lankans residing abroad. Additionally, the Commission is exploring the possibility of individuals contesting and representing two councils simultaneously, allowing those elected to Parliament to participate in provincial council elections concurrently.

The Commission is also examining other factors, such as permitting private sector voters engaged in election-related services on voting day to use postal voting and modifying the first-past-the-post voting system to better suit the pluralistic nature of society. Furthermore, it is tasked with proposing media standards, a code of conduct for political entities and their members, and strengthening laws governing political party registration and operations to enhance trust and public accountability, he said.

Gajanayake said that this is not the first time President Wickremesinghe has used progressive societal demands to his advantage. Earlier this year, a Committee, led by former head of the Elections Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya, was asked to reduce the number of local councillors from 8,400 to 4,000, the IRES head said.

“There was a feeling that there are too many local councillors, and no one could object to reducing them. Deshapriya has handed over a report on how to reduce the number. If the government actually wanted to reduce the number, they could have used these reports to do so. However, these reports are now shelved. It is obvious that the government only wanted to delay local council elections by this endeavour. Thus, it is clear that the Committee appointed on 16 October 2023 is a similar move by the President,” he said.

Gajanayake said appointing such a committee, when elections are near, is akin to undermining the legislature and the Elections Comission.

“The President now directly controls both local and provincial councils. Local councils haven’t had elected representatives for over six months, and provincial councils have not had elected representatives for over 60 months. Now the governors control both these bodies, and the President controls the governors,” he said.

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Foreign News

One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane

Published

2 hours ago

2026/05/10

Priyan

A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado [Aljazeera]

A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.

Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.

It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.

A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.

It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.

The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.

It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.

“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.

Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.

Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.

While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.

In March, two pilots were killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.

[Aljazeera]

Latest News

Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

Published

2 hours ago

2026/05/10

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

News

Lanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai

Published

3 hours ago

2026/05/10

Thilina Walpola

ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.

“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.

The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.

Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.

“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.

“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”

“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.