Re: Thread for News on Local and Foreign Politics

[ruwan326]

Ranil to meet new Sri Lanka President, tipped to resign

November 19, 2019

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is to meet new Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and current opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday, and he is tipped to resign, making way for a new cabinet.

Lakshman Kiriella, current leader of the house said Wickremesinghe will step down.

Wickremesinghe met United National Party members Monday.

Galle district parliamentarian Vajira Abeywardene told reporters that UNP will support a motion to dissolve parliament immediately.

However others said there was no such assurance was given by a majority of members, who said they would sit in opposition benches making way for a new administration to be formed.

Sri Lanka Podujan Party founder Basil Rajapaksa told Sri Lanka’s Hiru TV that there were no plans to accommodate crossing over opposition members in a caretaker administration.

Under Sri Lanka’s constitution the President can dissolve parliament 4.5 years after its first sitting in September, which falls on March.

https://economynext.com/ranil-to-meet-new-sri-lanka-president-tipped-to-resign-32601/

[BackstageTop contributor]

So far two terrible possible appointments. Def Sec and Trs Sec. Hope they don't change CB gov.

[slstockVeteran]

So far two terrible possible appointments. Def Sec and Trs Sec. Hope they don't change CB gov.

In SL, qualifications or clean record will not let you keep a job !

Don't keep your hopes up they will retain Coom.
What going to happens to Cubby boy then  ?  ( Cabraal )

Cubby was already on media before election talking about the
economic  reforms Gov under Gota is going to make.

Coom will go out  atleast with a clean  record.
No bank robberies  or Matiyas .

[BackstageTop contributor]

So far two terrible possible appointments. Def Sec and Trs Sec. Hope they don't change CB gov.

In SL, qualifications or clean record will not let you keep a job !

Don't keep your hopes up they will retain Coom.
What going to happens to Cubby boy then  ?  ( Cabraal )

Cubby was already on media before election talking about the
economic  reforms Gov under Gota is going to make.

Coom will go out  atleast with a clean  record.
No bank robberies  or Matiyas .

CB Gov was one of the few good things Sira did.

[The Invisible]

Qualified people to head Sri Lanka SOEs, president says

ECONOMYNEXT – Only qualified and experienced people will be appointed to head Sri Lanka’s statutory bodies and State-Owned Enterprises many of which are loss-making, new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said.

He also that he requires Cabinet ministers under which these organisations come to refer any appointments they want to make as Chairmen and Board members of Statutory Bodies and State-Owned Enterprises to a screening panel established at the Presidential Secretariat.

“We want experienced and qualified people to head these organisations,” Rajapaksa said.

He pointed out that many of these SEOs were loss-making enterprises. “We want them turned around so that they can become contributors to the economy, not loss-making burdens to the Treasury,” he added.
(COLOMBO, 22 November 2019)

[The Invisible]

Sri Lanka president to call snap parliamentary election in March



Colombo, Sri Lanka | AFP | Sri Lanka’s new president said Friday that he will call a snap parliamentary election in March following his sweeping victory at the weekend.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is hoping to ride a wave of popularity by calling an election six months before the current parliament’s five-year term expires on March 1.

“I will consult the people at the earliest opportunity I get under the constitution,” he said, after swearing-in a new cabinet headed by his brother Mahinda, a former president who will now serve as premier and finance minister.

The brothers are credited with brutally defeating Tamil separatist militants in 2009 to end Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war, making them adored among the majority Sinhalese-Buddhist majority.

For the same reason they are feared by many Tamils, and also among the Muslim minority who have seen increased hostility since Islamist extremist attacks killed 269 people in April.

Currently the Rajapaksas and their allies have just 96 lawmakers in the 225-seat parliament, making it hard for them to pass legislation.

The opposition of outgoing premier Ranil Wickremesinghe is also six MPs short of a majority.

The new 16-member cabinet also includes another Rajapaksa brother, Chamal, who was made minister of agriculture and irrigation in addition to trade.

Foreign affairs was given to Dinsesh Gunawardena, 70, a leader of a small Sinhala nationalist party in coalition with the ruling party.

The only female in the cabinet, Pavitra Wanniarachchi, will take on women’s affairs and health.



See Also


Sri Lanka industrial zone shelved as expropriation thwarted



Qualified people to head Sri Lanka SOEs, president says



Sri Lanka rupee ends weaker, gilt yields up marginally



UN envoy meets Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa



Prima Ceylon reverses Sri Lanka wheat flour price hike














Nobody was named to the defence or law and order portfolios.

The International Monetary Fund said earlier this month that Sri Lanka’s economy was slowly recovering from the devastating effects of the April 21 attacks.

But the international credit rating agency Fitch warned Thursday that the new president’s pledges to increase social spending, public-sector wages and pensions could damage Sri Lanka’s public finances.

During Mahinda’s 2005-15 presidency, Sri Lanka borrowed almost $7 billion from China for infrastructure projects — many of which turned into white elephants mired in corruption — pushing up Sri Lanka’s debts.

In a possible sign that he intends to avoid a repeat of Sri Lanka’s strategic drift towards Beijing under his brother, Gotabaya’s first official trip abroad will be to India next week.

[slstockVeteran]

CB Chief to step down on 20 December


http://www.ft.lk/front-page/CB-Chief-to-step-down-on-20-December/44-690314?fbclid=IwAR2QVyhhIGHPcYVCagjcDBCGi9i_qI7BW5ORVItAgmfOX-nXEZ0NmYMEyUc

So far two terrible possible appointments. Def Sec and Trs Sec. Hope they don't change CB gov.

In SL, qualifications or clean record will not let you keep a job !

Don't keep your hopes up they will retain Coom.
What going to happens to Cubby boy then  ?  ( Cabraal )

Cubby was already on media before election talking about the
economic  reforms Gov under Gota is going to make.

Coom will go out  atleast with a clean  record.
No bank robberies  or Matiyas .

CB Gov was one of the few good things Sira did.

[The Invisible]

Sri Lanka to make laws to clear state workers from prosecution: PM

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will make new laws to clear state workers from the wrongdoing or lapses committed by taking decisions made in good faith to carry out government policy, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has said.

“In the recent times state officials were brought before the Financial Criminal Investigation Division and Bribery Commission,” Rajapaksa has said after taking over duties as finance minister.

“As a result officials were reluctant to take decisions.”

He was accompanied by Prime Minister Secretary Gamini Senarath, President’s Secretary P B Jayasundera and Treasury Secretary Sajith Attygalle.

Everyone should work hard to lift up the country and political leadership will give the necessary protection to state workers, Prime Minister Rajapaksa had said.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka was an active work place before 2015, with per capita GDP growing from 24 billion US dollars to 79 from 2005 to 2014, but growth has now declined.

National debt was also climbing, with a fall in the rupee making the situation worse.

He said at the time the rupee was only 130 to the US dollar.

Rajapaksa said interest rate have since risen. The tax system had become more complicated. (Colombo/Nov25/2019)