Nov 22 (ANN) The second sessions of the fifth Parliament was prorogued Monday (Nov 21) until Nov 25 for the newly elected Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to ceremonially open the new sessions and make his throne speech spelling out the new policies of his government. more..

Nov 22 (WS) The Ceylon Electricity Board continues to be plagued by an internal quandary; weeks after its Chairman Ananda Gunasekera and Vice Chairman Chula de Silva were virtually kicked out of their positions by a handful of top guys at CEB. more..

Nov 22 (WS) By the time you read this version of our weekly political round-up the country would have a new president, a new leader with enormous challenges ahead of him, not least of all because he has in the run-up to the election created all manner of aspirations among the voting public. more..

Nov 22 (TN) Predicting that if parliamentary elections were held and the LTTE encouraged Tamils to vote, the UPFA will likely lose the elections, and the UNP wll be able to form a coalition government with the SLMC and the TNA, Robert C Oberst, Professor of Political Science at Nebraska Wesleyan University says more..

Nov 22 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's new President, Mahinda Rajapakse, is going to keep the island's finance and defence portfolios for himself when he unveils his new cabinet later on Tuesday, his media secretary told Reuters. more..

Nov 22 (SLA) EPDP newspaper distributor, who came under Tamil Tiger (LTTE) gunfire attack along with four escorting Police Constables in THANDANVELI junction in BATTICALOA on 03 November 2005, succumbed to his injuries after being treated at COLOMBO national hospital for over two weeks. more..

Nov 22 (SLA) RAVAGING FLOODS that were being experienced as a result of torrential rains across the country have prompted civil administration and the Police to seek the assistance of Army troops to carry out immediate relief operations, particularly in TRINCOMALEE, AMPARA and BATTICALOA districts. more..

Nov 22 (SLA) THE ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE of fire from a moving jeep of the Police inflicted minor injuries on a civilian in the general area of THIRUNAVELY, JAFFNA on Monday (21) at about 4.30 p.m.. Police constable H.N.HETTIARACHCHI of KOPAY Police station was on a moving land rover jeep when his personal weapon accidentally discharged and struck a civilian, more..

Nov 22 (TN) Denying accusation they had intimidated Tamils into not voting in last week’s Sri Lanka Presidential election, the Liberation Tigers said the boycott by the Tamil people last week was a reflection of prevailing Tamil sentiments towards Sri Lankan leaders, based on their bitter experiences of the past. more..

Nov 22 (LBO) ADB will help develop more highly skilled workers in Sri Lanka through a new US$20 million loan to improve technical education and vocational training (TEVT) in the country. Building on the results of the ADB-assisted Skills Development Project, the current initiative will raise the quality, relevance, and sustainability of the programs more..

Nov 22 (LM) M.I.M. Mohideen, Chairman of the Muslim Rights Organisation, formerly Leader of the Muslim United Liberation Front and renowned statistician, commentator and writer on Muslim affairs in Sri Lanka was asked for his comments on the post presidential election political situation with specific emphasis on the Muslim dimension. more..

Nov 22 (LM) Heavy rains throughout yesterday flooded many roads in Colombo, restricting transport services and causing difficulty to thousands of people returning after the weekend and the long election break. According to the Meteorological Department the heavy rains were caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal more..

Nov 22 (LT) There won’t be any change in the leadership of the UNP says Mr. Tissa Attanayake, Deputy Secretary of the UNP. Earlier UNP Parliamentarian Rajithe Senaratne had stated to ‘Sandeshaya’ programme of the BBC that Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe would resign from the leadership of the UNP and Mr. Karu Jayasuriya would take his place. more..

Nov 22 (AT) The capture of Jaffna peninsula would be the final war of the Tamil Eelam movement, warned the special Commander Colonel Soosai, addressing a passing out parade of the 5th unit of the auxiliary force of Lt. Colonel Kangai Amaran’s naval battalion. The parade was held last Saturday. more..

Nov 22 (LeN) It is expected that LTTE Chief Prabhakaran will make a statement on the new President on the 27th, the final day of LTTE's Martyrs Week celebrations. When 'Lanka e News' contacted Tiger media spokesman Daya Master for his views on the New President he said 'Our leader will talk about him too on the 27th'. more..

Nov 22 (TW) Ranil Wickremasinghe is an honourable politician. People with principled politics are a rare breed in Sri Lanka fast becoming extinct. Such politicians usually say what they mean and mean what they say. They do not for example put down certain things in black and white in their manifesto and then try to win support from interest groups saying "Dont worry about those". more..

Nov 22 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's bourse closed firmer on Tuesday as buyers returned after a post-election rout drove the market down around 15 percent in two days. The Colombo All-Share ended a provisional 2.89 percent firmer at 2,222.23 points, after falling sharply on Friday and Monday more..

Nov 22 (AT) The results of Sri Lanka's presidential election of November 17, as officially announced on the following day, indicated that Mahinda Rajapakse, the prime minister, had edged out his rival Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the parliamentary opposition, by a margin of less than 2 percentage points, more..

Nov 22 (wsws) The SLFP candidate Mahinda Rajapakse is now installed as the new executive president of Sri Lanka. However, Rajapakse has no mandate at all to occupy the post, with its far-reaching constitutional powers, because he was elected on the basis of deceit and fraud. more..

Nov 22 (PIS) President Mahinda Rajapakse’s statement to the nation that he will uphold the ceasefire agreement was welcomed by the SLMM. “It was good to hear the new President say he will continue with the ceasefire agreement. A change of government does not automatically inactivate the ceasefire agreement. The contract stands until either party says it wants to pull out”, more..

Nov 22 (SLE) The news that CWC Leader Arumugam Thondaman, who broke ranks with the UPFA to support UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Election, is going to return to government ranks has roused a hornets’ nest among the rank and file of the UPFA. more..

Nov 22 (SAMN) It has been revealed in a research carried out by a non governmental institution that the number of minors sentenced to prison has increased recently. According to the research over 60% of the prisoners are believed to be minors. more..

Nov 22 (SAMN) MP Faizer Musthapha yesterday resigned from the post of vice president of the CWC. In his resignation letter to CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman, Musthapha said that ‘misguided elements within the party had impeded the transition of the CWC to the status of being representative of all communities. more..

Nov 22 (SAMN) Ishothor Arokkayanathan, one of the suspects in the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, is alleged to have been involved in underworld activities. Therefore the suspect could not be brought before court on every hearing dates for security reasons. more..

Nov 22 (LNP) In a move that is bound to impact on the cost of living the price of gas was increased from yesterday. Accordingly a 12.5 kg cylinder of Shell gas will now cost Rs. 850 in Colombo, an increase of Rs. 57 and a 12.5 kg cylinder of LAUGFS gas will now cost Rs. 840, an increase of Rs. 72. more..

Nov 22 (LNP) The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has decided to remain in the opposition without accepting any Cabinet portfolios in the present government, party`s parliamentary group leader Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera said yesterday. more..

Nov 22 (LNP) Sources close to UNP candidate and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe say that he is in the final stages of preparations to resign from his post as the head of the party. The source states that at the time Wickramasinghe`s narrow defeat in Thursday`s presidential election became clear, he informed those near and dear to him that he would resign. more..

Nov 22 (DN) The Most. Ven. Thibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatte Maha Vihara Chapter advised President Mahinda Rajapakse to have consultations with Opposition parties who did not support him at the Presidential election and get their support to arrive at a common consensus on the ethnic issue and then have talks with the LTTE for a solution to end the war. more..

Nov 22 (Gulf) Sri Lanka's deadlocked peace process has been thrown into uncertainty following Mahinda Rajapakse's inauguration as the country's fifth president on Saturday. Rajapakse's hardline stance against the island's separatist Tamil Tiger rebels could drive the new government and the insurgents farther apart, experts say. more..

Nov 22 (ANN) The 2005 Presidential elections are just over, and the Sri Lankans as a whole have once again, freely exercised their franchise, a practice which they are quite used to since the 1930s. This particular election is also important for our democratic legacy, more..

Nov 22 (BBC) The UNHCR has handed over responsibility of providing shelter for people displaced by the Tsunami to the government of Sri Lanka. UNHCR says that it has supported the Government and over 100 implementing partners in the coordination and construction of over 55,000 transitional shelters for those displaced by the December 2004 tsunami. more..

Nov 22 (AP) Floods from heavy rain paralyzed parts of Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, on Tuesday, stranding thousands of office staff at home and on streets with waist-deep water at some road intersections. Police have reported no casualties. more..

Nov 22 (Reuters) Tsunami survivors were among some 20,000 people forced from homes and makeshift shelters across Sri Lanka on Tuesday after heavy rains triggered severe flooding, officials said. The rains badly affected eastern and northern provinces, where hundreds of thousands of coastal residents are still living in wooden shacks more..

Nov 22 (AP) children play in water following heavy rains in Colombo, Tuesday. Floods from heavy rain paralyzed parts of Colombo on Tuesday, stranding thousands of office staff and on streets with waist-deep water at some road intersections. more..

Nov 22 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new government will maintain a state of emergency and the national parliament will be asked to ratify the tough laws, officials said. President Mahinda Rajapakse, who was sworn in Saturday after his victory at Thursday's election, was due to prorogue parliament later Monday and summon the assembly on Friday, more..

Nov 22 (AP) Sri Lanka's new President Mahinda Rajapakse was finalizing his Cabinet on Tuesday, but the swearing in of government ministers may be delayed by a day, his secretary said. "The process is on, but the formal ceremony may be held on Wednesday," Lalith Weeratunga said. more..

Nov 23 (LM) The Tamilnet website meets all the immediate criteria of a legitimate online news source. The menus, pictures, and headlines are aesthetically pleasing, well placed, and easy to navigate through. The content of the articles is presented in a seemingly impartial, reporting tone -- more..

Nov 23 (TW) Sri Lanka got a Sinhala hawk as president when Southern hardliner Mahinda Rajapakse was elected as its fifth exeucutive President. Now with the appointment of another Sinhala hardliner Ratnasiri Wickremanayake as Premier by Rajapakse the Country has a chauvinist Eagle as Prime Minister. more..

Nov 23 (TW) Speculation is rife in Colombo political and diplomatic circles about a possible secret deal, prior to the Presidential poll of Nov 18th , between Mahinda Rajapakse and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to have the new President elected through an enforced boycott in the Tamil majority regions of the North - East! more..

Nov 23 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new president delayed swearing in his cabinet Tuesday because of heavy rains, a government spokesman said, although political sources blamed it on wrangling for top jobs. "Because of the rains today we were forced to put off the ceremony," a spokesman for President Mahinda Rajapakse, said more..

Nov 23 (TN) Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, Leader of the Opposition and the President of the UNP is reported to have told a group of UNP parliamentarians about his intention of continuing to remain as UNP's leader. He expressed his desire following appeals made by majority parliamentarians, political sources said. more..

Nov 23 (TN) The Kaduwela Magistrate ordered further remand for the suspect in the Journalist Mr.D.Sivaram murder case when it came up for further inquiry on Tuesday. CID submitted a report to court stating that it has collected evidence to prove the suspect's direct involvement in the murder of Mr.Sivaram, more..

Nov 23 UNHCR) The UN refugee agency announced on Tuesday that it has completed its post-tsunami role as coordinator of a nation-wide transitional shelter effort in Sri Lanka, after the target of more than 58,000 shelters was achieved with the help of more than 100 non-governmental organizations. more..

Nov 23 (AFP) Thousands of tsunami survivors in rebel-held areas of northern Sri Lanka were cut off by floodwaters Tuesday, as aid agencies expressed fears for their wellbeing. "It's tractors only in most areas," said Penny Brune, head of the UNICEF in Kilinochchi, political capital of the rebel LTTE. more..

Nov 23 (AT) Beaming the television programs of Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebel outfit via Euro Star satellite to European Unions countries has been strongly criticized and urged the beaming be stopped immediately. more..

Nov 23 (LT) Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, Information secretary of the JVP who was hospitalised for a minor ailment will be discharged from hospital today (23rd) say hospital sources. Hospital sources say Mr. Weerawansa has completely recovered. more..

Nov 23 (AT) The main opposition United National Party (UNP) is likely to appoint its Kandy heavy weight, Deputy Secretary Tissa Attanayake to the secretary general position of the party within next few weeks. more..

Nov 23 (AT) In the “Situation” program that was telecast on last Sunday in the Tamil National Television based in Paris, V. Balakumar, a senior member of the LTTE , repeated his accusations against Ranil Wickremasinghe and Mahinda Rajapakse and asked: "Why should we vote for Ranil? Is here there to represent us? No. Is he going to voice our concerns? No." more..

Nov 23 (AP) A man who allegedly killed one person and seriously injured three others when he attacked a predominantly Tamil congregation in a Stuttgart church with a samurai sword will go on trial next week, judicial officials said Tuesday. more..

Nov 23 (PIS) A delegation of Confederation of Tamil Associations or ‘Tamil Democrats’ at a meeting with the European Union (EU) recently urged them to pressurise both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to re-start the current peace process with human rights, democracy and security at its core, by accommodating a transparent process. more..