News
Prez polls: Chief Govt. Whip dismisses Namal’s candidature, reiterates support for Ranil
Chief Government Whip and Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has declared that he wouldn’t support Namal Rajapaksa’s candidature at the forthcoming presidential poll.
The Gampaha District SLPP strongman said that Namal Rajapaksa lacked sufficient experience to contest the presidency.
Lawmaker Ranatunga explained his stance regarding the presidential polls at a meeting held in his political office at Udugampola yesterday (02).
Parliamentarian Ranatunga dismissed reports that the SLPP was discussing MP Namal Rajapaksa’s impending nomination as their candidate. However, if the party, for some reason, decided to field Namal Rajapaksa, he would quit the SLPP presidential polls campaign.
Minister Ranatunga made the declaration close on the heels of the SLPP appointing Namal Rajapaksa as their National Organizer, a post previously held by SLPP founder Basil Rajapaksa.
Minister Ranatunga said that he would back President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s candidature if a consensus could be reached on a symbol other than ‘Elephant’ or ‘Pohottuwa.’ Ranatunga warned that Wickremesinghe couldn’t win the next presidential election without the support of the ruling SLPP.
Declaring that the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake posed no threat, lawmaker Ranatunga claimed that 80 percent of SLPP now backed Wickremesinghe’s candidature.
Minister Ranatunga said that he appreciated Wickremesinghe as he accepted the challenge at the height of the economic crisis and lawlessness when no one else had the backbone to do so (SF)
The Paddy Marketing Board has approximately 115,000 metric tonnes of paddy stocks purchased from farmers, which are currently stored in the Board’s warehouses, and it has been planned to retain a sufficient buffer stock from these reserves and sell the remaining quantity in order to provide the necessary storage space and financial resources for the purchase of paddy from farmers during the upcoming Yala season.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation to sell the aforementioned paddy stocks
following a formal tender procedure.
The Promotion of Export Agriculture Act, No. 46 of 1992 provides the legal provisions for regulating and promoting the export agriculture sector in this country.
Taking into consideration administrative changes and sectoral developments that have taken place over time, approval was granted at the Cabinet Meetings held on 2023-09-04 and 2025-08-11 to amend the said Act, which has not been updated for over 30 years.
The proposed amendments are intended to amend the designations of the Head of the Department of Export Agriculture and other officials, and to provide a clearer definition of the term “the export agricultural crop.”
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation to publish in the Government Gazette the Draft Export Agriculture Promotion (Amendment) Bill, prepared in all three languages by the Legal Draftsman to amend the Export Agriculture Promotion Act, No. 46 of 1992, and thereafter submit the same to Parliament for its concurrence
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Ms. M.K.D.N. Madampe, appointed as Director General of the Department of Management Services
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, to appoint Ms. M.K.D.N. Madampe, an officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service in the Special Grade who is currently serving as an Additional Director General of the Department of Management Services, to the post of Director General of the Department of Management Services with immediate effect.
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Cabinet approves sale of Paddy stocks held by the Paddy Marketing Board
Amendment to the Promotion of Export Agriculture Act, No. 46 of 1992 to be gazatted
Ms. M.K.D.N. Madampe, appointed as Director General of the Department of Management Services
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