Leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Former President MP Maithripala Sirisena responding to reporters after a Party meeting in Colombo yesterday (18) said he does not wish to hold an immediate disciplinary inquiry into the party members who accepted ministries in the government.

The priority should be given to the problems currently facing the country and to find solutions, and other affairs, therefore, are of no interest to the party at the moment, the SLFP Leader told the reporters.

However, Sirisena did not respond to a query by a reporter on what actions should the party be taking, were the rest of the SLFP members taken in as government ministers as well.

MIAP

1. Presidential Advisor on National Food Security, Dr. Suren Batagoda, says the amount of food consumed by Sri Lankans has reduced by about 60% due to the prevailing food shortage in the country: asserts the President has instructed that no one in Sri Lanka should go hungry.
   
2. Minister of Transport Bandula Gunawardena says Sri Lankan authorities are continuing negotiations with Russia on the provision of a loan to buy Russian fuel: also says Sri Lanka is slowly recovering from the economic and foreign exchange crisis.
   
3. Finance Ministry says Sri Lanka will make a presentation to its international creditors on debt restructuring & IMF bailout plans: presentation to be open to all external creditors in an interactive session.
   
4. Draft resolution before the UNHRC in Geneva, handed in by the UK, said to be the strongest since 2009: Sri Lankan Government set to reject resolution, titled 51/1: Foreign Minister Ali Sabry says the resolution is unnecessary and divisive and that it will be resisted by the Government.
   
5. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry’s speech at Geneva’s UNHRC indicates Sri Lanka is not ready to accept a hybrid tribunal of foreign and local judges to inquire into alleged war crimes and other human rights violations.
   
6. Books at the Colombo International Book Fair 2022 at the BMICH, priced much higher than in previous years.
   
7. Colombo Port records drop of 2.2% in volume for the first 8 months of 2022 amounting to a loss of 106,760 TEUs: fall due to domestic volumes reduction of 10.39% year-on-year on the back of economic woes.
   
8. President Ranil Wickremesinghe pays his respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall in London.
   
9. Auditor General Chulantha Wickramaratne calls for investigation into the process of obtaining compensation for environmental damage caused by the sinking of the X-Press Pearl MV last year: Environmental Scientist Hemantha Withanage says damages claim could be as much as USD 10 billion.
   
10. Poultry Manufacturers Association says unless VAT on imported poultry food and vitamins is reduced, the price of chicken and eggs will have to be increased by 40% during the forthcoming Christmas and New year seasons.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Sabry will deliver the Sri Lanka statement at the 77^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September, 2022 in New York.

During the visit, he will  address several Ministerial level meetings, such as the Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Conference on Interaction & Confidence Building Measures in Asia, the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Member States of the Group of 77 & China, the Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative, and the NAM Foreign Ministers Meeting. He will also have bilateral discussions with the Foreign Ministers of UN Member States. In addition he will also meet with the highest level of UN Officials in New York. The Sri Lanka delegation will consist of Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York Mohan Pieris, as well as a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in New York. The High-level segment of the Session will be held from 20 – 26 September 2022.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

18 September, 2022

A group from the wealthy Rajapaksa family has pressured the Police to release ‘Minuwangoda Neil’, an underworld kingpin who was searched and arrested by the Police Special Task Force (STF) at a roadblock in Minuwangoda area two days ago (16) with a 09 millimetre pistol in his possession, unravelling the latest example of the country’s rule of law being shattered away, sources disclosed.

The said underworld leader held a licence for his pistol, but seven live ammo, more than the authorised quantity, were found in his possession, due to which an arrest was made on Neil, and the STF recovered a licenced 12-bore gun, with 10 more bullets than the authorised quantity during a search into his house.

As Neil was being handed over to the Katunayake Police Station, former Minister Namal Rajapaksa, his brother Rohitha Rajapaksa and State Minister Indika Anuruddha, the SLPP MP representing the area, telephoned and pressured the Police to immediately release him, in what they claimed as the suspect being one of their ‘best supporters’ and ‘a disciple’ of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, multiple sources cited.

As the STF officers were about to hand over the underworld kingpin to the Katunayake Police Station, the officers working at the station at the time being pressured by the phone call from the high end denied taking him into custody, and as a result of not being able to avoid the facts repeatedly presented by the STF officers, the Katunayake Police Station was compelled to take ‘Minuwangoda Neil’ in, but produced him before the Magistrate in a manner in which none of the items found in his possession were ever recovered in the first place, so that he can be granted bail easily, our correspondent said.

There have been multiple reports in the recent months divulging the collapse of the country’s rule of law, and due to the current economic crisis, crimes are also at a rise throughout the land. Needless to mention that politicians and their family members, who have been disgraced by the people of Sri Lanka, are still playing their game of bending the law by threatening the Police, paving the way for further aggravation of the prevailing crisis.

Should these events remain unbeknownst further clotting the country’s rule of law backed by dirty political games favouring the underworld, it is high time that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Minister of Public Security pay their gravest attention on these events and an impartial investigation be carried out. LNW is all eyes on this!

The Sri Lankan authorities continue negotiations with Russia on the provision of a credit facility to purchase Russian fuel, disclosed Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardena.

Speaking to Russian news agency Sputnik, Minister Gunawardena added that the affair can be managed in the event that Sri Lanka is slowly recovering from the economic crisis befallen it, and that the Government of Sri Lanka is expecting some ‘big support’ from Russia. The discussions are going very well, the Transport and Highways Minister added.

He further told Russian media that ex President Rajapaksa appealed to the Russian President to provide Sri Lanka a credit facility to purchase fuel from the ex Soviet country and ease the fuel crisis in Sri Lanka.

The political protests that existed in the last few months have now been finished, Gunawardena went on responding to a query on the island nation being safe as a tourist destination, adding that as Parliament voted in favour of Wickremesinghe as the President, political stability has been established in the country.

MIAP

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has reportedly opposed the welcoming of two well-known figures from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to his Cabinet, following the reception of a list of 11 SLPP MPs on his table expecting ministries, political sources disclosed.

These two SLPPers, among others, are reportedly former Ministers Rohitha Abeygunawardena and Johnston Fernando, whose anointments as Cabinet Ministers in the new RW-regime are strongly opposed by the President himself, according to sources.

Meanwhile, another group of MPs are set to be sworn in as Cabinet Ministers, but the appointment of new ministers have been dragged in throughout the course of time on several occasions, mainly due to the aforementioned opposition raised by Wickremesinghe.

The Ruling Party SLPP, on the other hand, is of the strong opinion that every MP mentioned in the list should be given Cabinet Ministries.

MIAP

The long-argued ‘system change’ demanded by the people’s struggle is far from reach given the double standards of the government, where on one hand the National Water Supply and Drainage Board in August acted on disconnecting the water supply of 21,000 people with overdue payments, and on the other, it granted a grace period of two months for ministers and MPs of the same conduct, under the instructions of the Speaker.

Correspondents told LNW that 76 public representatives who sit and have sat in the current Parliament of Sri Lanka have failed to settle their water bills to the Board, and 15 of them have already died. The amount overdue is a staggering figure of over Rs. 3.2 million.

Among the default are 34 public representatives who are in the Cabinet and the pool of State Ministries belonging to the current Ranil Wickremesinghe-led regime, owing the National Water Supply and Drainage Board more than Rs. 4.4 million, they disclosed.

The political humour comes to play in the event that these figures are also the ones who build various arguments for the privatisation of loss-incurring public institutions by going on public record that these bodies are losing their coins because of their servants and the provision of various subsidies to the people of the country.

MIAP