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Tag: Sri Lanka politics

  • Sri Lanka passes constitutional modification aimed toward trimming presidential powers

    Sri Lanka’s parliament on Friday handed a constitutional modification aimed toward trimming presidential powers, beefing up anti-corruption safeguards and serving to to discover a means in another country’s worst monetary disaster since independence.

    Sri Lanka has struggled for months to seek out sufficient {dollars} to pay for important imports reminiscent of gas, meals, cooking gasoline and drugs.

    Many Sri Lankans blame former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa for implementing a number of failed insurance policies together with tax cuts, a now-reversed ban on chemical fertilisers and delays in looking for IMF help that resulted within the nation defaulting on its overseas debt for the primary time in historical past.

    As a response to widespread protests, Rajapaksa had backed constitutional reforms that would cut back the powers of the manager presidency and allocate them to parliament in June. He resigned the subsequent month after protesters stormed his workplace and residence.

    “This amendment will not only help bring about the system change demanded by Sri Lankans it will also help in securing an IMF programme and other international assistance to rebuild the economy,” Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe informed parliament.

    In September, Sri Lanka signed an early cope with the IMF for a mortgage of $2.9 billion, with pledges to enhance laws to combat corruption.

    Opposition events and civil society representatives, nonetheless, have slammed the modification as not far-reaching sufficient in selling accountability and lowering authorities powers.

    “This is just tinkering with presidential powers and the amendment does not implement significant change,” stated Bhavani Fonseka, a senior researcher on the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo-based assume tank.

    “The president still retains the power to prorogue parliament, to hold ministries and the constitutional council will still have mostly government appointees.”

    The modification was handed with the required two-thirds majority.

  • Crisis-hit Sri Lanka swears in 37 junior ministers, two for finance

    Sri Lanka swore in 37 junior ministers, together with two for the vital finance ministry, the president’s workplace stated on Thursday, in a significant growth of the crisis-hit nation’s authorities.

    The island of twenty-two million folks is going through its worst financial turmoil since independence from Britain in 1948. Foreign alternate reserves have dropped to historic lows, leaving the nation struggling to pay for important imports of gas, meals and drugs.

    “New state ministers (were) sworn in before the president at the presidential secretariat,” the president’s media division stated in a press release.

    While President Ranil Wickremesinghe stays finance minister, lawmakers Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Shehan Semasinghe had been sworn in as state ministers within the finance ministry.

    Wickremesinghe took workplace after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka following mass protests in July after which resigned.

    Sri Lanka secured a staff-level settlement for a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this month however faces an uphill battle to barter repayments of billions of {dollars} with collectors. (Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe, Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Kim Coghill)

  • Sri Lanka invoice to trim president’s powers prone to change into legislation inside weeks-minister

    Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry mentioned on Monday a constitutional modification invoice trimming presidential powers is anticipated to change into legislation in a few weeks.

    “The new amendment will reduce presidential powers and bring back participatory governance,” Sabry advised reporters on the international ministry.

    The invoice, which would require a two-thirds majority in the home to change into legislation, was proposed to assist shore up stability and defuse unrest provoked by the nation’s worst monetary disaster in many years.

    The disaster got here to a head in July when then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was accused of financial mismanagement, fled the nation and resigned, changed by Ranil Wickremesinghe.

    The proposed modification would set up a constitutional council and 9 unbiased commissions to enhance governance. The commissions would work to advertise human rights, improve audit oversight of presidency businesses and bolster anti-graft investigations.

    Sabry mentioned Sri Lanka was additionally within the strategy of drafting a brand new anti-terror legislation that shall be consistent with worldwide finest practices.

    Ahead of a United Nations Human Rights Council session beginning subsequent week, Sabry mentioned Sri Lanka would oppose any worldwide try to assemble proof of alleged rights violations through the nation’s combat in opposition to the Tamil Tiger militants.

    “Our stance is very clear. We are a vibrant participant in the international community and intend to discuss with all bilateral and multilateral partners,” he mentioned. But any “external mechanism we are not agreeable to because our Constitution does not allow that.”

    Sri Lanka ended a 25-year civil battle between separatist insurgents from the ethnic Tamil minority and authorities forces in 2009. Rights teams accused each side of abuses through the battle.

    The Sri Lankan authorities additionally introduced on Monday that it has appointed a committee to facilitate the repatriation of Sri Lankan refugees who fled to India through the civil battle.

    The authorities mentioned about 58,000 Sri Lankans have been residing in Tamil Nadu state in India as refugees and solely 3,800 of them have been able to return thus far.

  • Sri Lanka’s ex-finance minister Basil Rajapaksa resigns from Parliament

    Basil Rajapaksa, the youngest brother of Sri Lanka’s president and former finance minister, resigned from his parliamentary seat on Thursday, the second such resignation from the cash-strapped authorities in a month from the highly effective Rajapaksa household amid huge public protest over the unprecedented financial disaster within the nation.

    With the Rajapaksas coming beneath intense public strain for his or her mishandling of the financial disaster, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the prime minister and elder brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, needed to resign final month.

    Talking to reporters in Colombo, Basil mentioned, “I resigned my seat to allow Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) to nominate someone suitable.” Asked if he had preempted resignation as he could be disqualified to be in Parliament by way of the proposed twenty first Amendment (21A) to the Constitution on account of his holding of each the US and Sri Lankan twin citizenship, Basil, the youngest of the Rajapaksa brothers, mentioned it wasn’t so.

    Basil, nonetheless, mentioned he’s against the twenty first Amendment, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

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    The 21A goals, amongst different reforms, at barring twin residents from contesting elections to carry public workplace.

    The twenty first Amendment can be anticipated to annul the 20A to the Constitution, which supplies unfettered powers to President Gotabaya after abolishing the nineteenth Amendment that can strengthen Parliament.

    In a direct assault on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Basil mentioned he’s in opposition to presidential powers being pruned to be vested with a chief minister not elected by the individuals. His elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa needed to resign amidst public anger in opposition to the federal government’s lack of ability to deal with the financial disaster.

    Wickremesinghe final week batted for the twenty first Amendment to the Constitution, saying it’ll curb the president’s limitless powers whereas enhancing the function of Parliament in governing the debt-ridden nation which can be dealing with an unprecedented political turmoil.

    Both Basil, 71, and Mahinda, 76, fell sufferer to public rage as demonstrations turned widespread urging the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 72, over the financial disaster.

    Widely considered the mental pillar of the Rajapaksa household of political brothers, Basil was the finance minister of Sri Lanka till April 4 when he was sacked by President Gotabaya because the nation’s financial disaster worsened.

    He was accused of being partially answerable for the financial disaster within the nation.

    However, Basil denied that the financial disaster was not his making and the nation ought to have gone to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout a lot earlier.

    Sri Lanka is at present within the technique of hanging a bailout cope with the IMF.

    Basil mentioned he was the one who initiated engagement with the IMF however there was one other group within the authorities in opposition to it at the moment.

    He mentioned the federal government ought to go for an IMF programme on a sound footing.

    Basil asserted it was his initiative — making contact with India for credit score strains — that saved Sri Lanka from struggling extra.

    On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Parliament that no nation besides India is offering cash to the crisis-hit island nation for gas.

    Meanwhile, billionaire businessman Dhammika Perera is tipped to be nominated because the SLPP nationwide listing parliamentarian to fill the seat vacated with the resignation of Basil, the Colombo Page information portal reported.