What has been widely described as the “historic” Supreme Court judgment which by a majority 4-1 decision of a five-judge bench held the Rajapaksa brothers, Mahinda, Gotabaya and Basil and other unelected officials including two past Governors of the Central Bank, a former Secretary to the President, a former Treasury Secretary and some members of […]

by Jehan Perera The government is facing an uphill task to rebuild the country which continues to be in a state of economic and moral decline which was evident in parliamentary proceedings last week. The initial hopes of a quick transition from the economic and moral decline that accompanied the pre-Aragalaya period ended with the […]

By Saman Indrajith The SJB yesterday accused the government of using trickery to prevent the judicial review of its new laws to bring down the value of money in the Employment Provident Fund by 30% as a part of IMF dictated economic reforms. Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella said that the government […]

When the five days long stretch of holidays ended last week and the Colombo bourse reopened for trading on Tuesday, the market surged 6.71 percent (633.69 points up) on the broad All Share Price Index (ASPI) while the Standard and Poor SL 20 index covering the 20 largest and more liquid companies quoted on the […]

Parliament disregarded COPE recommendation for PSC By Shamindra Ferdinando Eksath Janaraja Peramuna (EJP) leader and SJB MP Patali Champika Ranawaka, MP, has called for the setting up of a special commission to investigate those who bankrupted the economy.  Ranawaka said that those who had served

by Jehan Perera President Ranil Wickremesinghe notched up another achievement when Parliament ratified the Domestic Debt Restructuring (DDR) programme with a majority of 60 votes, with 122 members voting for and 62 against, with 40 abstentions. Parliamentarians who would need to think about their re-election prospects would have been reluctant to vote for a programme […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Dissident SLPP MP Gevindu Cumaratunga has strongly opposed the government move to place the debt-restructuring programme under President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s control as the latter does not represent Parliament. Addressing Parliament on Saturday (01), the leader of civil society group ‘Yuthukama’ pointed out that the Resolution on the Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) was [...

frowns on privileged status to wealthy investors, bid to restore dissolved LG bodies By Shamindra Ferdinando Top Opposition Spokesman Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (02) demanded that the government cancel, what he called, the deeply flawed ‘Aswesuma’ social security project, to pave the way for a fresh scheme. Addressing the media at the Nawala Office […]

The Sri Lanka Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) has discussed the lack of consent of beneficiaries of the Employment Provident Fund on a planned domestic debt restructuring plan, its chair Harsha de Silva has said. “…#COPF meeting discussed the #DDO plan but concerns were raised about burden falling on superannuation funds esp #EPF without […]

Sri Lankan state can’t allow even a small bank to collapse because that will trigger a bank run with a devastating impact on the economy. Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said, on Thursday night, taking part in a televised discussion. Dr. Weerasinghe

Tuesday 2nd May, 2023 Another May Day has come and gone. The organisers of the International Workers’ Day celebrations, in this country, rarely mention the Haymarket Riot in Chicago (1886), and benefits that accrued therefrom to workers the world over, much less commemorate the brave workers who have laid down their lives in the US […]