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The Sri Lankan government yesterday clarified that the prorogation of parliament by the president has no negative impact on its functioning and operation.  President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday proclaimed that the parliament will be prorogued with effect from midnight April 12 and the next session of the parliament will commence on May 8.  The prorogation is the period between the end of a parliament session and the opening of the next parliament session.  Government information director general Sudarshana Gunawardana issuing a statement said, “All matters which, having being brought before parliament, have not been disposed of at the prorogation of parliament, may be proceeded with during the next session. Therefore, the prorogation of parliament has no negative impact on the functioning and operation of the government.” President Sirisena on Thursday suspended parliament until next month in a shock move amid a deepening power struggle between him and his unity government’s prime minister. The move came hours after at least 16 Sirisena loyalists, including six cabinet ministers, said they would leave the troubled coalition. Relations between the rival groups in the unity government have soured after both suffered losses in February’s local council elections. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) had increased pressure on the followers of Sirisena – who voted against Wickremesinghe in a recent no-confidence motion – to resign. Parliament had been expected to meet again next Thursday and presidential officials declined to comment on the reason for the suspension. “We have been surprised by the announcement,” one government legislator who  requested anonymity said. Just hours before he announced the suspension of parliament, Sirisena had appointed acting ministers to the positions of those who quit the cabinet. Wickremesinghe last week won the motion of no-confidence moved by the joint opposition and backed by Sirisena’s ministers. With the help of minority Tamil and Muslim parties, the premier defeated the motion – dealing a blow to Sirisena, who had campaigned for Wickremesinghe to stand down to allow him to appoint a prime minister of his choice. In recent weeks, Sirisena has reduced Wickremesinghe’s powers, removing from his control the central bank, the policy-making National Operations Room and several other  institutions. Former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse’s party trounced the UNP and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in the February polls to win control of two-thirds of the 340 local councils at stake. In the run-up to the election, Sirisena branded the prime minister and his party as more corrupt than the Rajapakse regime, which Sirisena and Wickremesinghe jointly toppled  in 2015. Earlier Thursday, a presidential spokesman said a wider government reshuffle would be announced next week. The SLFP is to decide later this month if it will remain in government. Rajapakse is pressing for a 2020 national election to be brought forward.

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena suspended parliament until May 8 late on Thursday, his secretary said, in a surprise move days after fractures appeared in the island nation's ruling coalition government. "The President has prorogued parliament until May 8," Secretary Austin Fernando told Reuters. He declined to give any reasons for the president's decision. The move came after the government promised a cabinet reshuffle after a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was defeated last week.  Earlier, six ministers quit the coalition government, forcing Wickremesinghe to patch up his cabinet ahead of a wider reshuffle. Wickremesinghe gave the duties of the six Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) ministers to four other members of his cabinet. The prime minister's United National Party had increased pressure on the followers of Sirisena -- who voted against Wickremesinghe in a recent no-confidence motion -- to resign. With the help of minority Tamil and Muslim parties, the premier defeated the motion, dealing a blow to Sirisena, who had campaigned for Wickremesinghe to stand down. Those who voted against Wickremesinghe "have no moral right to remain in government", Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said. Relations between the rival groups in the unity government soured after both suffered losses in February's local council elections. Former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa's party trounced the UNP and SLFP to win control of two-thirds of the 340 local councils at stake. In the run-up to the election, Sirisena branded the prime minister and his party as more corrupt than the Rajapaksa regime, which Sirisena and Wickremesinghe jointly toppled in 2015. A presidential spokesman said a wider government reshuffle would be announced next week. The SLFP is to decide later this month if it will remain in government. Rajapaksa is pressing for a 2020 national election to be brought forward.

Sri Lanka’s state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corp (CPC) is under pressure to raise fuel prices as the refiner incurred huge losses this year, cabinet spokesman Rajitha  Senaratne said yesterday.  The CPC incurred a loss of Rs9.9bn ($63.5mn) in the first two months of the year, a  government document showed.  “It (CPC) is under pressure to raise prices because of such losses,” Senaratne told Reuters after the weekly cabinet press briefing, adding it is not a “good time” to raise fuel rates ahead of the traditional Sinhala-Tamil New Year, which is celebrated by 90% of the 21mn population.  Lanka IOC, the only other local fuel retailer and a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corp, had raised retail prices for gasoline and diesel on March 24, after the government failed to implement a  pricing formula.  This has put the government under scrutiny to raise prices at fuel stations, which are normally decided during talks between the government and retailers. Lanka IOC, however, is allowed to set fuel prices at its own will.  The fuel pricing formula is under consideration and a final decision is yet to be taken,  Senaratne added.  Despite several measures to reduce rates of essential goods, the public is still wary of higher food prices amid new income tax slabs.  The new taxes will hardly affect the lower-income group, President Maithripala Sirisena’s coalition government said.  A price hike could make the coalition government more unpopular among the voters ahead of the potential provincial council elections this year, analysts said.  Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to boost the island nation’s revenue, the government had increased the excise duty on diesel to Rs13 per litre in August last year, but had asked fuel retailers to retain the old rates.

A familiar face is back on walls across Sri Lanka. The country’s former president Mahinda Rajapakse has been grinning from thousands of posters and billboards recently, palms pressed together in gratitude. Voters delivered a shock repudiation of Rajapakse’s government three years ago, as the UN investigated war crimes against Tamil civilians, dissidents disappeared in unmarked white vans and warnings were issued that Sri Lankan  democracy was at risk. In February, however, they gave the Buddhist nationalist leader’s new party a surprise victory in local elections. With polls for parliament and the presidency scheduled for two years’ time, the result has reaffirmed Rajapakse as Sri Lanka’s most popular politician, and raised hopes among his supporters – and fears in others – that he may yet return to power. The Rajapakse-led opposition forced a no-confidence motion in parliament against the prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, last week. It failed, but Wickremasinghe was criticised by several of his own ministers during the debate, widening cracks in the already fragile coalition government that turfed Rajapsakse from office in 2015. “We are heading towards a snap election,” said Namal Rajapakse, an MP and the former president’s son and heir apparent. “The future of the coalition government is going to be very unstable.” Campaign advertisements in the run-up to the February polls were stark. “Remember when winning a rugby match was punishable by death?” asked one United National Party flyer, in reference to a murder allegedly linked to the Rajapakse family. “Remember when white vans were a symbol of terror and repression?” The resurgence of a leader with such heavy baggage is less surprising to close observers of Sri Lankan politics. “Rajapakse never went away,” said Alan Keenan, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. “His shadow has loomed over this government, literally from the first day.” It took an unlikely coalition to unseat Rajapakse from the presidency in 2015. Appalled by a leader they regarded as breathtakingly corrupt and increasingly authoritarian, defectors from his own party forged an alliance with members of the opposition, campaigning on a unity platform of reviving civil society and tackling corruption. In power, however, longtime political enemies have struggled to work together, finding they are united by little more than antipathy toward the former president. “The relationship between the president and prime minister is as bad as it could be,” Keenan said. To win over minorities such as the Tamils, the current president, Maithripala Sirisena, promised to implement tough reforms, including devolving power to regional governments, pursuing the cases of those who disappeared during the Rajapakse years, and reforming the constitution to ensure no president could accrue the power of his predecessor. Commentators in Colombo agree too much of that agenda has been shirked by a government afraid of challenging Buddhist nationalist sentiment in the country, and kicking off a wave of rightwing anger that could lift Rajapakse and his family back into office. Less lofty issues have also sapped the government’s support. The price of staples such as onions, fish and coconuts has increased steeply, while a decision to remove an uneconomical fertiliser subsidy has burned the agricultural sector, which still employs nearly one in three Sri Lankans. “Mahinda looked after us,” said Gamaga Nona, a paddy and banana farmer in Madilla, a village on Sri Lanka’s south coast. Fertiliser was eight times cheaper under the Rajapakse government, she said, and the change has nearly halved the annual profit of her family farm. “Now the fertiliser is delayed and sometimes we never get it.” K A Karunanapala, another southern farmer, worries about Chinese influence in the region. The Sirasena government agreed last December to lease a new port in Hambantota to a Chinese state-owned corporation for 99 years. It was intended to help pay back about $8bn in Chinese money borrowed by the Rajapakse government, but has provoked a furious backlash. “What does [Sirisena] do for us, other than going around trying to sell our assets?”  Karunanapala asked. Civil society groups in Colombo acknowledge a pall has lifted since 2015. Newspapers that once laboured under official censorship, or the kind enforced by military vehicles parked outside journalists’ homes at night, now print boisterous criticism of the government. Human rights groups chased out 10 years ago are re-establishing  offices in the city.  People are breathing more easily, said Asoka Obeyesekere, a lawyer and director of the local chapter of Transparency International.  Namal Rajapakse calls the allegations of corruption and violence that dogged his father “well planned, well executed propaganda”. “We are looking for a fresh start,” he said.  His party would seek a clean slate with western governments, he said, but added that continuing to participate in a UN Security Council investigation into the final months of the civil war – in which about 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed – would need to be “looked into more deeply”. “Any war will have casualties, we won’t deny that,” Rajapakse said. “But at the end of the day what matters is the future.” That future is still uncertain for the family. Their party won about 45% of the vote in the local government elections, the largest share in the country, but not enough to win an outright parliamentary or presidential majority.  Should opposition groups find a way to paper over their differences, and unite as they did in 2015, they may still have the numbers to keep the Rajapakses out.

Sri Lanka received 707,924 tourists in the first three months of this year, an increase of 17.1% compared with the corresponding period last year, a minister said yesterday. Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga told Xinhua news agency that the country could have attracted more tourists in March if not for the outbreak of communal violence in Galle and the subsequent declaration of the state of Emergency. India, China, Germany, France and the UK are the biggest tourist markets for Sri Lanka.  Quoting the latest statistics released by the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority, he said the country received 233,382 tourist arrivals in March. “It is a drop against 235,618 tourists we received in February. Despite the slight decline, we can sustain the growth momentum for the future as the country is now normal,” Amaratunga added.

As a ‘New Year gift’ to the people in the north, the Sri Lanka Army is releasing 650 acres of privately owned lands in the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna, the government information department said.  The land in Palaly in the Valikamam north divisional secretariat in Jaffna had been occupied by the security forces since 1990.  Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi said that 650 acres of land in and around the Palaly main military complex, including land in Vasavilan and Palaly north, would be released to their original owners on April 16.  He said the military was demarcating these areas and also readjusting its forward defence lines. Following several rounds of talks between high ranking military officials in Jaffna and district secretariat officials and officials of the rehabilitation, reconstruction and religious affairs ministry the military has decided to return the land to their  original owners.  Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Religious Affairs Minister D M Swaminathan said the military was releasing the lands as a goodwill  gesture.  The military had come to an understanding to meet the needs of the people who had lost their lands in the north, the minister said.  Since 1990, some 27,000 acres of private land had been occupied by the military as the war intensified. However, with the end of the war in 2009, the government took the initiative to return the occupied private lands to their original owners.  The military has also asked the rehabilitation ministry for Rs880mn to relocate its military installations in the north and east.

People participate in a traditional game during Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations in Colombo yesterday. Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese and Tamil communities will mark the new year on April 14.

Sri Lanka yesterday ruled out any possibility of having foreign judges in its investigations on war time human rights abuses. President Maithripala Sirisena told the media yesterday that Sri Lanka’s position was clearly communicated to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva last month. Sri Lanka was represented at the Geneva session by Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana and ministers Sarath Amunugama and Faizer Mustapha. At the UNHRC last month some countries, including Canada called on Sri Lanka to fulfil its international commitments by ensuring the involvement of Commonwealth and international investigators, prosecutors and judges in the accountability process. The Canadian delegation in Geneva had said that Canada was disappointed by the slow progress in implementing commitments to advance peace and reconciliation, political stability, human rights and accountability. Canada reiterated the desire for the government of Sri Lanka to ensure that a process of accountability is established that will have the trust and confidence  of the victims of this war. Some Tamil groups have been saying that without the participation of foreign judges the accountability process will not be seen as being credible. Breakthrough after top sleuth’s arrest: The long-delayed arrest of the head of the military intelligence directorate has led to a breakthrough in solving the Keith Noyahr abduction case which is directly linked to several other attacks, police said yesterday. Retired major general Amal Karunasekera was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) as he was undergoing treatment at an army hospital, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said. Gunasekera said Karunasekera, who was the director of the military intelligence was arrested in connection with the May 22, 2008 abduction and assault of Noyahr who at the time was an editor of the Nation newspaper. However, official sources said the former head of the DMI was under investigation for the Noyahr abduction as well as several other connected cases, including the assassination of Sunday Leader founding editor Lasantha Wickrematunga. “This arrest marks an important breakthrough in the case,” an official source said. Investigators have found that the members of the DMI were directly involved in high-profile killings and abductions during the former regime and many of them are currently on bail. Evidence gathered so far showed that police as well as judicial medical officers had colluded to cover up almost all the cases. Several senior police officers are currently facing prosecution for their roles in destroying evidence or subverting  investigations. The then defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has denied involvement in the killings and also maintained he had no command responsibility over the intelligence units and has shifted the blame to his army chief Sarath Fonseka. For his part, Fonseka has said the intelligence units that operated outside the northern and eastern war zones were not under his command.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday survived a no-confidence vote in parliament after a majority of the legislators in the House voted to support his coalition  government. The opposition, eyeing fractures within the ruling alliance, had sponsored the trust vote against Wickremesinghe blaming him for failing to prevent an alleged scam in the bond market, and for failing to stop anti-Muslim riots that occurred last month.  The vote showed Wickremesinghe winning the support of 122 members of the 225-member parliament. Wickremesinghe has resisted calls to resign from President Maithripala Sirisena, whose Sri Lanka Freedom Party had threatened to vote against the prime minister over an alleged scandal in the bond market. The motion was put to a vote yesterday evening after a marathon debate. Sirisena joined hands with Wickremesinghe’s United National Party to oust strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015 after a decade in power. But the pair have since been embroiled in a power struggle, especially over economic policy, which has sowed divisions in leadership. Sirisena publicly blamed the free-market champion for mismanaging the economy as Sri Lanka’s growth plunged to a 16-year low of 3.1% in 2017. A multi-billion bond scandal at Sri Lanka’s central bank - which fell under Wickremesinghe’s portfolio until Sirisena removed it last month - only deepened acrimony between the leaders. The prime minister was cleared of any wrongdoing but accused of trying to protect a former central bank governor named as a suspect in the insider trading scam. The no-confidence motion was moved by an opposition grouping led by Rajapakse, who humiliated the governing coalition in a surprise blitz at local elections in February. The former strongman president wants a national election slated for 2020 brought forward. The prime minister could be brought down only if Sirisena can unite his own divided party and engineer defections from Wickremesinghe’s UNP.  But the UNP is the largest single party in the 225-member assembly, commanding a comfortable majority with the help of allies. Tensions between the coalition partners have also escalated over Sirisena’s attempts to extend his presidential term by one more year till 2021, a move that was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this year. The UNP has suggested that it may go it alone at the next general election in 2020. Presidential powers to sack the government and call early elections were removed through a constitutional amendment introduced in the early days of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition.

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe faces a no-confidence motion today that could go down to the wire and lead to political instability in the island nation, even if the government manages to scrape a win. Wickremesinghe leads a national unity government in alliance with President Maithripala Sirisena’s party, which has said it would vote against the prime minister, blaming him for failing to prevent an alleged scam in the bond market. The opposition, which swept local elections last month, aims to drive a deeper wedge within the ruling coalition with the no-confidence motion and bring forward a national  election due in 2020. “There is common consensus in the party to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion,” said Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, a minister of Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). “Clearly the SLFP is of the view that the prime minister should step down.” Wickremesinghe has faced criticism for failing to deliver on economic growth which slumped to 3.1% last year, its worst pace since a recession in 2001. The rupee currency is hovering at a record low. The government is also under pressure as it tries to manage China’s expanding infrastructure push in Sri Lanka, located near key shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean, but which has raised fears that it could push the tiny country deep into debt. Wickremesinghe’s United National Party-led coalition has 107 members in the 225-member parliament and, until now, the support of 42 members of the SLFP, which gave it a comfortable majority. But if the SLFP votes against the government, Wickremesinghe could lose his majority. He would then need the backing of minority parties in the  opposition to stay in office. Eran Wickramaratne, the junior finance minister, said the UNP had asked for a quick vote “to end any uncertainty people will have in their minds” and hoped for a stronger government  to emerge afterwards. Political instability is weighing on the economy, he said. “You are not going to get 6-percent-plus kind of growth because of the political issues. We will move into 4-percent-plus in 2018,” he said. The yields on Sri Lanka’s benchmark bonds have risen 83 basis points since early this year, and the central bank chief has also warned of risks to economic growth from political  instability. Shailesh Kumar, Asian director at consultancy Eurasia group, foresaw limited cooperation between the UNP and the SLFP after the no-confidence motion, even if the prime  minister survived. “This means there will be limited appetite for economic legislation and instead the two will likely indulge in populism to shore up their positions ahead of the 2020 elections,” he said. Foreign direct investments (FDI) doubled to $1.6bn last year, but more than 40% of that was from China, for two key projects that have dragged on for more than a year. A trade pact signed with Singapore in January and expected free trade agreements with China and India later this year are seen boosting Sri Lanka’s export revenue through new FDIs. But officials of the Board of Investment say investors have been waiting for clarity on the political front.

A man collects lotus leaves at a lake in Colombo yesterday.

A man collects lotus leaves at a lake in Colombo yesterday.

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe faces a no-confidence motion on Wednesday that could go down to the wire and lead to political instability in the island nation, even if the government manages to scrape a win. Wickremesinghe leads a national unity government in alliance with President Maithripala Sirisena's party, which has said it would vote against the prime minister, blaming him for failing to prevent an alleged scam in the bond market. The opposition, which swept local elections last month, aims to drive a deeper wedge within the ruling coalition with the no-confidence motion and bring forward a national election due in 2020. "There is common consensus in the party to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion," said Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, a minister of Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). "Clearly the SLFP is of the view that the prime minister should step down." Wickremesinghe has faced criticism for failing to deliver on economic growth which slumped to 3.1% last year, its worst pace since a recession in 2001. The rupee currency is hovering at a record low. Fears over debt The government is also under pressure as it tries to manage China's expanding infrastructure push in Sri Lanka, located near key shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean, but which has raised fears that it could push the tiny country deep into debt. Wickremesinghe's United National Party has 107 members in the 225-member parliament and, until now, the support of 42 members of the SLFP, which gave it a comfortable majority. But if the SLFP votes against the government, Wickremesinghe could lose his majority. He would then need the backing of minority parties in the opposition to stay in office. Eran Wickramaratne, the junior finance minister, said the UNP had asked for a quick vote "to end any uncertainty people will have in their minds" and hoped for a stronger government to emerge afterwards. Political instability is weighing on the economy, he said. "You are not going to get 6-percent-plus kind of growth because of the political issues. We will move into 4-percent-plus in 2018," he told Reuters. The yields on Sri Lanka’s benchmark bonds have risen 83 basis points since early this year, and the central bank chief has also warned of risks to economic growth from political instability. Populism will rise Shailesh Kumar, Asian director at consultancy Eurasia group, foresaw limited cooperation between the UNP and the SLFP after the no-confidence motion, even if the prime minister survived. "This means there will be limited appetite for economic legislation and instead the two will likely indulge in populism to shore up their positions ahead of the 2020 elections," he told Reuters. Foreign direct investments (FDI) doubled to $1.6bn last year, but more than 40% of that was from China, for two key projects that have dragged on for more than a year. A trade pact signed with Singapore in January and expected free trade agreements with China and India later this year are seen boosting Sri Lanka's export revenue through new FDIs. But officials of the Board of Investment say investors have been waiting for clarity on the political front. 

Sri Lanka’s central bank is expected to keep key interest rates unchanged tomorrow after a rate review, but economists in a Reuters poll are not ruling out the possibility of a rate cut to help bolster economic growth that has slipped to a 16-year low.  The economy grew 3.1% in 2017, the slowest since a recession in 2001 and well below the 4.5% pace of 2016, revised government data showed last month.  Twelve of 14 economists in the survey predicted the central bank would keep its standing deposit facility rate (SDFR) and standing lending facility rate (SLFR) unchanged at 7.25% and 8.75%, respectively.  Two analysts forecast a rate cut of 25 basis point in SLFR.  All predicted the statutory reserve ratio (SRR) would  remain at 7.50%.  “They might consider holding the prevailing rates. But a rate cut would be much welcome by the market in order to achieve some healthy growth rates (in the economy), which is otherwise faltering,” said Danushka Samarasinghe, research head at Softlogic Stockbrokers.  “A rate cut could somewhat negate the natural slowdown which could be expected from the new broad based capital gains tax and higher payee taxes,” he said, referring to new taxes in the wake of a new Inland Revenue Act enacted last year.  The central bank’s rate decision is due before Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe faces a no-confidence motion tomorrow. The motion was submitted by joint opposition amid political uncertainty since the two main parties in the ruling coalition lost a local government election in February.  President Maithripala Sirisena’s centre-left Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the prime minister’s centre-right United National Party (UNP) suffered defeats in a local election held on February 10.  Since then, the future of the unity government has been a concern and the central bank governor has warned of risk to growth from political instability.  The central bank has tightened monetary policy four times since December 2015 through March last year to fend off pressure on the fragile rupee and curb stubbornly high credit growth that stoked inflation.  The previous rate increases along with tight fiscal measures to meet conditions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.5bn loan have dragged on the economy.  Last month, the IMF said the central bank has prudently managed monetary policy amid price shocks and market volatility and urged it to remain focused on price stability as its primary objective and stand ready to tighten if signs of demand-side inflation pressures or accelerating credit growth appear.

Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shoor is seen at the Colombo port during its visit in Colombo yesterday.

A British passenger ship that sank after it was bombed in a Japanese air strike in the World War Two has been raised off the Sri Lanka coast after 75 years, the media reported. The SS Sagaing, whose passengers and cargo were largely saved back in 1942, was refloated on with the help of a team of divers from Sri Lanka’s navy, reports the BBC. It had been resting about 35ft under the water at Trincomalee harbour. The salvage operation took several months and was carried out by Sri Lanka’s Eastern Naval Command unit. It required the strengthening of the 452ft long vessel’s main structural framework, which began on September 11, 2017, the navy said in a statement on  Saturday. The team of divers also erected an artificial side to the ship in order to seal an area before “dewatering” it to recover lost  buoyancy. Prior to the ship’s refloat, the damaged sunken vessel was used as a pier for other naval ships in the harbour.

Riders control their bulls during a traditional cart race ahead of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in Homagama near Colombo yesterday.  Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese and Tamil communities will mark the new year on April 14.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday reduced the responsibilities of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as a power struggle worsened within their uneasy coalition. Sirisena took away the central bank, the policy-making National Operations Room and several other institutions from the control of Wickremesinghe, who had held them since coming  to power in January 2015.  The changes were published in a government gazette notice issued yesterday which transferred the responsibilities to Finance Minister Mangala  Samaraweera. There was no official explanation for why the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had been taken away from the prime minister’s control. In 2015 a central bank governor appointed by Wickremesinghe, Arjuna Mahendran, was accused of insider trading. Sirisena appointed a special inquiry which cleared Wickremesinghe of any wrongdoing. But Mahendran was held responsible for passing sensitive information to his bond-dealer son-in-law Arjun Aloysius to make $75mn in undue profits. Sirisena joined hands with Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) to oust strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2015 after a decade in power. But since then their alliance has fractured, with Sirisena clashing with free-market champion Wickremesinghe over economic policy. Relations worsened further after their coalition did badly in local government elections last month. The president blamed the premier for their electoral  setbacks. Earlier this year, Sirisena publicly lambasted Wickremesinghe and his UNP, saying they had mismanaged the economy. Sirisena said the current government was also more corrupt than the former regime they toppled together. A section within Sirisena’s party supports a no-confidence move against Wickremesinghe slated for April 4. However, the UNP is the largest single party in the 225-member assembly and commands a comfortable majority with the help of allies. The premier could be brought down only if Sirisena can unite his own fractured Sri Lanka Freedom Party and engineer defections from  Wickremesinghe’s UNP.  Tensions between the coalition partners have also escalated over Sirisena’s attempts to extend his presidential term by one more year till 2021, a move that was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this year. The UNP has suggested that it may go it alone at the next general election in 2020. Presidential powers to sack the government and call early elections were removed through a constitutional amendment introduced in the early days of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition.

Sri Lanka has called for stronger maritime and air links with Bangladesh to boost bilateral trade and investments between the two nations, the commerce and industry ministry said yesterday. The ministry said that while the ports of Hambantota and Colombo were of vital importance to the maritime industry due to their strategic locations in the Indian Ocean, there could now be strong linkages between these ports and the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh to facilitate shipping, tourism and investments, Xinhua news agency reported. In addition, the ministry said more frequent direct air links between Colombo and Dhaka too shall strengthen economic co-operation, investment promotion, tourism and people-to-people contacts. “Expansion of air links would bring more opportunities to entrepreneurs and investors of the two countries,” said Commerce and Industry Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. “As neighbouring members of the Bay of Bengal region, both countries have many commonalities. Our common cultural affinities and historical links have immensely nourished our modern day inter-state relations,”  Bathiudeen added. He said that in recent years, Sri Lanka’s bilateral trade with Bangladesh saw a surge. In 2017, apparels, plastics and petroleum products were Sri Lanka’s leading exports to  Bangladesh.

The intelligence unit of police in Sri Lanka has confirmed that fugitives wanted for serious crimes such as former diplomat Udayanga Weeratunga and underworld don Madush, who have been issued Interpol red notices and wanted by police for years in connection to serious crimes, are living in a Gulf country, according to a local media report.  In the past, a number of Interpol red notices, blue notices and international warrants have been issued for about 15 Sri Lankans including underworld dons, narcotics traffickers who have connections to international drug trafficking networks and other absconding criminals in foreign countries.  The information received by the intelligence unit has revealed that most of them have fled to India, Singapore and Malaysia first and later reached Dubai.  It is reported that they are already involved in various crimes including drug trafficking, mafia gangs, international espionage and arms sales and operating from the Gulf country.  According to the information received, the absconding criminals earn millions from their illegal activities and deposit the money in foreign banks.  The financial institutions have learned through the police that the fugitives have discussed withdrawing the money from the banks if they were arrested by the police and the banks have informed the relevant authorities of the Gulf country.  In the meantime, Sri Lanka police are hoping to chart out a plan to apprehend the criminals wanted by Sri Lankan authorities and seek their extradition to the country.