News
UNP, AJP won’t be present
Two come from Welikada and B’caloa prisons to take oaths tomorrow
… Chandrakanthan second ex-LTTE cadre to become lawmaker
by Shamindra Ferdinando
Among those scheduled to take oaths as lawmakers tomorrow (20) are Premalal Jayasekera and Sivenesathurai Chandrakanthan a.k.a. Pillayan currently held in the Welikada and Batticaloa prisons, respectively.
The UNP and Ape Janabala Pakshaya wouldn’t attend the inaugural session as both parties couldn’t resolve simmering disputes over the appointment of National List members. Both parties won one NL slot each.
Jayasekera a.k.a. Choka Malli contested Ratnapura district on the SLPP ticket whereas Chandrakanthan a.k.a. Pillayan contested from the Batticaloa District while being in remand custody.
Chandrakanthan backed the SLPP at both presidential and parliamentary elections in Nov 2019 and August 2020. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself visited Chandrakanthan in Oct 2019 to finalise electoral agreement in this regard.
Chandrakanthan, who leads the breakaway LTTE faction TMVP (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal) was taken into custody in Oct 2015 over his alleged involvement in the assassination of Batticaloa District TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham inside a church during Christmas mass in 2014.
Chandrakanthan succeeded Karuna Amman as the TMVP leader in 2007.
A senior parliamentary official told The Island that Premalal though being convicted by the Ratnapura High Court over a killing in Kahawatte in January 2015 had appealed against that decision and, therefore, he could be sworn in as an MP. The former UPFA Deputy Minister polled over 140,000 preferential votes and was placed second in the Ratnapura district.
Pillayan, who fought for the LTTE under Karuna, is the second ex-LTTE cadre to enter parliament. The first was Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, who was accommodated in Parliament on the UPFA ticket during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s first tenure as the President. The UPFA again appointed Karuna to Parliament in 2010 on the National List.
Chandrakanthan also served as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province.
Karuna was unsuccessful in his attempt to enter parliament from Digamadulla district at the recently concluded general election.
By Akitha Perera
Discussions between the SJB and the UNP on forming a united front for the upcoming general election had collapsed due to the actions of a senior UNP member, SJB Chairman Imthiaz Bakeer Markar. said.
Markar told The Island that initial talks between the two parties had been progressing smoothly until the intervention of a prominent UNP figure.
The early negotiations were headed by SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara and UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene. “At one point, I thought the alliance was almost finalised. However, the involvement of the senior UNP member completely derailed the discussions,” Markar said.
The SJB proposed that Wijewardene assume the UNP leadership and Ranil Wickremesinghe be appointed a senior leader. “Wickremesinghe was opposed to this arrangement,” Markar added.
Former Governor Navin Dissanayake revealed on 27 September that MPs who had supported Wickremesinghe in the presidential election had decided to back SJB leader Sajith Premadasa as the prime ministerial candidate.
“At that stage, we thought we were close to an agreement. However, during last few days, the talks have deteriorated, and it now seems unlikely that we will contest the election together,” Markar said.
Nominations for the general election begins today (04) at 22 district election offices across the country with submissions being accepted until noon on 11 October.
By Rathindra Kuruwita
There are between 15,000 and 30,000 street children in the country, according to the last study on the subject, Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Chairman of the Professional Forum of Physicians on Medical and Civil Rights, has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Colombo, on Thursday, he said the majority of those children tended to gather near places of worship and large business areas.
Dr. Sanjeewa expressed concern over the vulnerability of the street children, noting that they were often subjected to abuse and easily drawn into transporting narcotics. A significant number also ended up working as sex workers or beggars. He highlighted that many female child sex workers became underage mothers.
Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar will pay an official visit to Sri Lanka today and meet the Sri Lankan leadership.
A communique issued by the External Affairs Ministry of India said that in keeping with India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and SAGAR outlook, the visit underlines the shared commitment of the two countries to further deepen the longstanding partnership for mutual benefit.
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