Mahinda Rajapaksa who resigned from the Premiership of Sri Lanka on Saturday to make way for the re-appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister has vowed to come back with voters’ support to “bring forces opposed to the country to their knees.” Wickremesinghe would be sworn-in as Prime Minister on Sunday along with a 30-member cabinet. In his five-page parting statement on Saturday, Rajapaksa warned that the UNF government and Sri Lanka will be held hostage to the divisive, separatist and anti- national agenda of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
Colombo, Dec 15 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s challenged Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his premiership on Saturday, paving way for a new government to be established under President Maithripala Sirisena. Rajapaksa signed his resignation letter, surrounded by his party members at his official residence in capital Colombo, television footage showed. Shehan Semasinghe, a lawmaker, […]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hectic travel schedule and his government’s advertising blitz over the past four-and-a-half years have cost Indian taxpayers about 65.9 billion rupees (US$ 920 million). The globe-trotting prime minister’s 84 trips around the world cost roughly $280 million, while the government spent US$ 640 million on promoting Modi’s flagship projects and achievements, according to new government data, writes Iain Marlow in Bloombergquint
Realizing that it had failed to keep its promise to usher in “Achchey Din” (Good Days); that there had jobless growth; and that certain major decisions like demonetization had backfired; BJP governments, both in the Center and the States, had revived the Hindutva movement to capture the imagination of the voters. But the results of the recently concluded State Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram showed that economic and regional issues had upstaged “Hindutva” – the ideology of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is based on Hindu-majoritarian dominance over religious minorities, particularly the Muslims.
Colombo, Dec 14 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s challenged Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa will step down from his premiership on Saturday after the Supreme Court earlier Friday continued a suspension order on him and his cabinet from continuing in office. Rajapaksa’s son and Parliamentarian from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Namal Rajapaksa said that his father […]
Yusuf Molla, a farmer in Rajshahi’s Tanore, has at least 200 rare and almost extinct varieties of paddy in his collection that he has developed over the years out of love for the crop. During a visit last month, this correspondent found 77 sections in Yusuf’s land. Each section had a signboard carrying the name of the variety cultivated there. Each variety has a distinct texture, colour, smell, and taste.
It was the fond hope of Sri Lankans that a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the dissolution of the Sri Lankan parliament would usher in a truce between President Maithripala Sirisena and the ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and bring the curtains down on the standoff between the Executive Presidency and the parliament. But the court’s ruling that the dissolution of parliament by the President was unconstitutional, has not resolved the conflict between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe or between the institution of the Executive Presidency and the legislature. President Sirisena has vowed that he will continue to fight Wickemesinghe even if he continues to enjoy majority support in parliament.
Sources close to the President told newsin.asia that this means that Sirisena will continue to conduct cabinet meetings as the Head of the Government, but will not participate in its decision-making process. However, he will continue to exercise his powers as the constitutional Executive President, Head of Government and Head of State.Given the nature of the Sri Lankan constitution which endows the Executive President with vast and decisive powers, an Executive President can put spokes in the wheel of the cabinet and countermand its decisions.
But Sirisena has a plan to continue his resistance to Wickremesinghe. After hearing the judgment on Thursday he told his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) that if he has to appoint Wickremesinghe he will not participate in the government’s decision-making process but will continue to carry out his responsibilities as the Executive President. This could mean that the Executive Presidency will be pitted against the Prime Minister and his cabinet. An Executive President could put spokes in the cabinet’s wheel, forcing the government to come to a grinding halt. But the scenario will be radically different if the United National Front puts forward Sajith Premadasa as its Prime Ministerial candidate, sources close to the President said.
Colombo, Dec 13 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court, on Thursday, ruled against President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to dissolve Parliament and conduct a snap Parliamentary Election in early January. A seven judge bench headed by Chief Justice Nalin Perera, delivered the verdict saying the President’s decision was unconstitutional with Chief Justice Perera further explaining that if […]
