Nov 17 (ST) Voter apathy, a changed political landscape and holding the election on a weekday were among reasons for the historic low voter turnout at the general elections, election observers opined. The overall turnout at Thursday’s election was 68.93% as compared to the 75.89% turnout in 2020 and the 79.46% turnout at the recently concluded prez election. Executive Director of PAFFREL, Rohana Hettiarachchi, more..

Nov 17 (AD) Ambika Samuel, the newly elected female representative to Parliament, has expressed confidence in the potential of the youth in plantation community and beyond to take an active role in politics. Speaking about her journey into politics, Samuel, the first female Tamil MP to have been elected through a major political party from the plantation community, emphasized that her entry into the political sphere is not just a personal achievement but a stepping stone for others, more..

Nov 17 (AD) Former Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage announced his retirement from active politics during a press conference in Nawalapitiya. Reflecting on his extensive political journey, Aluthgamage highlighted that his family had been politically active in the Nawalapitiya constituency for seven decades, with his own involvement spanning over 30 years. However, he stated that the outcome of the recent General Election indicated that the people of the Kandy District more..

Nov 17 (ST) The Govt of Sri Lanka is to reduce the heavy cost of maintaining Parliament by curtailing the benefits given to newly elected MPs. In this respect, a committee has been appointed headed by a retired officer of the SL Administrative Service to spearhead these reforms with the goal of slashing the currently enjoyed perquisites and allowances by MPs. It will scale back vehicle provisions, pensions, house allowances, and other financial perks more..

Nov 17 (AD) Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Rathnayake states that there has been a significant reduction by 10% of the voter turnout in 2024 General Election, in comparison with Prez Election which was held in Sept 21. 5% of the ballots casted have been rejected, which is 667,240 votes in total. The total number of votes polled is 11,815,246 which amounts to a 68.93% of total registered votes out of which 11,148,006 were considered valid, according to the EC. more..

Nov 17 (DM) Voters in SL have respected and approved the ideology of increasing women reparasetation in elected bodies, NPP MP elect Nilanthi Kottahachchi said, a day after the NPP swept the Parliamentary elections. "Parliament is where laws and policies are compiled, it is also the the place which decides country's destiny where economy and its place among the international community," Kottachchi said. "There was an ideology that more women should be represented more..

Nov 17 (AD) The 2024 General Election marked a resounding victory for the NPP led by Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake, setting unprecedented records in SL’s electoral history. The NPP secured 6,863,186 votes, the highest ever obtained by a political party in a general election, surpassing the 6,853,690 votes won by the SLPP in 2020. This also accounted for a record-breaking 61.56% of the total vote, overtaking the previous high of 60.33% recorded by the UPFA in 2010. more..

Nov 17 (AD) The Colombo District has seen a profound shift in voter dynamics in the 2024 General Election, with the leader of the SJB Sajith Premadasa suffering a significant decline in support. Premadasa, who garnered an impressive 305,744 votes in the 2020 parliamentary election, managed only 145,611 votes this time—marking a loss of 160,133 votes. The rise of the NPP has made significant inroads into areas traditionally dominated by the UNP and subsequently SJB as well. more..

Nov 17 (ST) Jaffna electoral district, once considered a stronghold of Tamil nationalism and dominated by Tamil political parties for decades, is no longer the case with the NPP, winning the electorate securing three seats this week. This is the first time since independence that a southern political party swept the northern electorate which consists of administrative districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi, with perhaps an exception being more..

Nov 17 (EN) SL’s new administration will carry out pledges in the NPP manifesto including the enactment of a new constitution, General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva said. In the manifesto put forward before the Presidential elections, a new constitution, strengthening democracy within it, giving rights to various sections of the citizenry and abolishing the executive presidency were promised, he explained at press briefing at the party headquarters Friday. more..

Nov 17 (SO) Traditional parties suffered major setbacks as the NPP swept district after district at Thursday’s poll. The party also mustered majorities in the North and the East. Batticaloa was the only district of the 22 electoral districts that the NPP lost as the ITAK received 96,751 votes and clinched three of the five seats. ITAK won eight seats, establishing itself as the main Tamil-representation party in Parliament. ITAK’s candidate Shanakiyan Rasamanickam received 65,468 votes, more..

Nov 17 (ST) The NPP came up with a tentative list consisting of senior party stalwarts, trade unionists, and professionals to fill the 18 national list slots while SJB and NDF are set to finalise their lists tomorrow. NPP announced 18 names from the list of 29 the party had handed over to the Election Commission, but senior NPP officials said the final list was yet to be confirmed. NPP’s tentative National List consists of Bimal Ratnayake, Dr. Wasantha Subhasinghe, Dr. Anura Karunathilake, Dr. Upali Pannilage, more..

Nov 17 (AD) Constitutional Council has approved the recommendation to appoint Justice Murdu Fernando as the Chief Justice. Justice Fernando took oath as the Acting Chief Justice before Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Oct 10, 2024. Justice Fernando is the second woman to hold the position of Chief Justice in SL’s history, after Shirani Bandaranayake in 2011. Fernando joined the AG’s Dept as a state counsel, where she served for over 30 years having been promoted to more..

Nov 17 (TM) Cabinet of the newly-elected JVP-led NPP Govt is set to be sworn in tomorrow, it is learnt. NPP sources confirmed that the Cabinet would be notably smaller than previous administrations, with the number of ministers capped at fewer than 25, in line with the Govt’s pledge to streamline governance and improve efficiency. The swearing in of the new MPs will be held on Thursday, with Prez Anura Kumara more..

Nov 17 (AD) The registration activities of newly elected Members of Parliament are scheduled to begin from tomorrow (17). Accordingly, the newly elected MPs can register for the Parliament online. Meanwhile, measures have been taken to keep two special information counters of the Parliament open on Tuesday (19) and Wednesday (20) for the newly elected MPs to access information regarding the registration process. Furthermore, plans underway to hold a three-day special workshop more..

Nov 17 (ST) Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake will deliver his govt’s policy statement at Thursday’s (21) inaugural session of the new Parliament. The presidential speech is scheduled for 3 p.m. Under Article 33(a) of the Constitution, Prez is empowered to present the Government’s Policy Statement at the start of each new session of Parliament. Parliament, however, is due to convene at 10 a.m. for its first sitting to allow for the affirmation of the oath of office of the new members and more..

Nov 17 (ST) For the first time in SL’s political history, a single party went beyond a two-thirds vote at Thursday’s parliamentary elections. “We did not expect this much,” an overjoyed NPP General Secretary, Dr Nihal Abeysinghe said. “In my remarks last week, I kept it to a reasonable margin, around 120 seats,” he said, referring to his comments in these columns. People have imposed even greater confidence in us more..

Nov 18 (DM) For the first time in history, Sri Lankans have demonstrated a noteworthy advancement in political literacy, with all three communities rejecting divisive politics. In Thursday’s elections, the NPP secured 61.56% of the total vote, marking a significant increase from the 42.2% they achieved previously. This surge was driven by 1.2 million former SJB, NDF and minority party voters (from the previous 7 million), who shifted their support to the NPP. more..

Nov 18 (DM) Candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s election as Prez did not come as a shock, to many in the country. A few of the prez candidates save one or two foresaw this. What they did not anticipate was the near red-wash that swept the country at the parliamentary elections. From Point Pedro to Dondra Head and Colombo to Trincomalee, with the exception of the Batticaloa district, the NPP group swept the country. Unbelievable though it sounds, more..

Nov 18 (TM) With the conclusion of the Parliamentary Elections last week, the Election Commission (EC) after a brief break is to commence preparations to hold the delayed Local Govt (LG) Elections early next year. The holding of LG Elections has opened a fresh debate on whether the nomination lists already accepted by the EC should be cancelled and fresh nominations called for the polls. more..

Nov 18 (TM) Sri Lanka is facing an onslaught of online criminal activity, especially a range of scams which prey on an unaware and vulnerable segment of a nation which has only recently jumped onboard the digital bandwagon. Due to a lack of awareness, poor policy-making and lethargy on the part of the enforcement arms of the State, more vulnerable people keep becoming victims of such organised crime operations. However, some of the local law enforcement agencies, more..

Nov 18 (CT) More than the actual numbers, it is the extent of the NPP’s sweep, from north to south and from west to east that is truly historic and stunningly remarkable. There is nothing to analyse here. The victory of the NPP is utterly comprehensive. NPP has led and won the most number of seats in 21 of the 22 electoral districts, with the sole exception of Batticaloa where the NPP is placed second after the ITAK. And of all places, NPP has won the Polling Division of Jaffna, which is old Jaffna City more..

Nov 18 (GV) The Grimm version is known wider but the Turkish one cuts deeper. In both tales, the boy goes in search of fear and finds a crown. In the Grimm version, fear comes when a pail of cold water full of tiny fishes is thrown over the new king’s sleeping form. In the Turkish version, the new king contemplates his responsibilities – trying to make the poor rich and the bad good – and knows terror. Walter Benjamin in Illuminations calls more..

Nov 18 (Island) The results of Thursday’s parliamentary election were still trickling in as this is being written on Friday but it was clearly evident that Prez Anur980′s). Liberally peppering his speech with references to Karl Marx and the JVP’s founder-revolutionary Mr Rohana Wijeweera more..

Nov 18 (FT) Aitken Spence, a leading conglomerate with a diverse regional presence, has reported an EBITDA of Rs. 8.9 billion for the six months ending 30 Sept 2024, reflecting a growth of 10.4%. EBITDA includes earnings from equity accounted investees; however, excludes interest expenses, tax, depreciation, and amortisation. The Group’s profit from operations (excluding forex) improved significantly by 38.7% from Rs. 2.5 billion to Rs. 3.5 billion for six months ending 30 Sept 2024. more..

Nov 18 (Island) The results of Thursday’s parliamentary election were still trickling in as this is being written on Friday but it was clearly evident that Prez Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s NPP/JVP, as it is best known, has clinched a historic victory winning better than a two thirds majority in the 225-member legislature. They won all but the Batticaloa district, a stupendous performance by any reckoning and SL must hope that the rulers will deliver on the faith reposed on it by the whole country more..

Nov 18 (CI) Kusal Mendis' unbeaten 73 trumped Mark Chapman's 76, as SL secured a narrow three-wicket win in the 2nd ODI in Pallekele, and with it seal the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead. It was their first ODI series win against NZ since 2012. Having been set a subpar target of 210 in a rain-truncated 47-over game, SL were made to work hard on a sluggish surface as NZ's array of spin options kept chipping away. more..

Nov 18 (Caracal) Sri Lanka, once on the brink of collapse, now finds hope in communism. Frustrated with conventional political parties, dynastic politics, and rampant corruption, the people have rallied behind the country’s communist party, JVP, and its alliance under the banner of the NPP. Last month, voters elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the party leader and former revolutionary, as president. The snap parliamentary elections he called led to a resounding victory for the party, more..

Nov 18 (Island) Following their stunning victory in last week’s parliamentary election, the JVP/NPP leaders must still be pinching themselves to make sure that they are not dreaming. Their mammoth majority is sure to go down in SL’s history. However, the bigger the majority, the greater a govt’s responsibility and the higher the possibility of the public expecting miracles and becoming frustrated. Above all, the Actonian truism that absolute power corrupts absolutely more..

Nov 18 (FT) Sugath Wasantha de Silva, a National List candidate from the NPP, has etched his name in SL Parliamentary history as the first visually impaired MP. His appointment was confirmed through the NPP’s National List, which was gazetted yesterday. Before venturing into politics, de Silva was a well-known activist advocating for the rights of the visually impaired and disabled communities in SL. He currently serves as the President of Visually Impaired Graduates’ Council (VIGC). more..

Nov 18 (FT) HNB Group has recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 38.7 billion, growing by 26% Year-on-Year (YoY), while the bank’s Profit After Tax (PAT) increased by 34% YoY to Rs. 22.2 billion for the nine months ended Sept 2024. Chairman Nihal Jayawardene said: “Having experienced five years of extreme volatility and unprecedented challenges, SL has witnessed macroeconomic stability during the year. We believe that the completion of the external debt restructuring as announced, more..

Nov 18 (TM) The primary responsibility to mobilise voters to cast their votes during elections lies with political parties and their local representative, Election Commission (EC) stated. Nevertheless, the Commission stressed that they have done their best to encourage citizens to cast their vote during the Prez and Parliamentary General Elections. Nearly 3.5 million eligible citizens did not vote in the Prez Election, while 5.3 million more..

Nov 18 (ST) Mired with controversies, SL’s foreign employment facilitation agency, SL Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has received complaints that certain crucial data has been deemed irretrievable, prompting an internal inquiry to identify the root cause of this. Unable to retrieve data from its website, several foreign employment agencies have complained and pointed out this issue to the Bureau. “Some agencies have complained that they cannot see data more..

Nov 18 (FT) Global giant Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has revealed that the strong mandate received by the National People’s Power (NPP) at last week’s Parliamentary Election is positive for SL. “A strong two-thirds majority allows the Govt to make constitutional amendments. With both the President and the PM from the same party, there should be fewer political roadblocks in the way of the Govt to implement its political and economic agenda. The strong mandate allows the Govt to focus on more..

Nov 18 (TM) SJB stressed that its leadership will remain unchanged despite the party's loss in the recent Parliamentary General Election. A senior member of the SJB also confirmed that Sajith Premadasa will continue as the Opposition Leader in the new Parliament. He also said that Premadasa, who served as the Opposition Leader in the previous Parliament, is deemed well experienced to lead the Opposition at a time when Govt has secured more..