New Secretaries appointed to ‘Mahinda Chintana’ government

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 November 2010, 12:24 GMT]
55 Secretaries, the highest civil servants of the ministries appointed Tuesday by the President of the Colombo government Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, were advised by him to discharge their duties properly according to the ‘Mahinda Chintana’, reports Daily Mirror. Structuring the ministries in his second term of office, Mr. Rajapasksa handed over new appointment letters to the secretaries of the various ministries. The Mahinda Chintana list of Secretaries has one Tamil and one Muslim among the 55. The lone Tamil secretary is appointed to the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development for which Mr. Douglas Devananda is the minister.
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CID launches investigation into JVP-Lebanon Hisbulla connection

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 November 2010, 07:36 GMT]
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka Police is said to be investigating to find out whether the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has any connection with militant Hisbulla Organization based in Lebanon following the arrest and deportation of a Lebanese couple on Saturday, sources in Colombo said. Mohamed Hottait, the Vice President of the Union of Democratic Lebanon Youth (UDLY) and his wife were arrested in Kandy on Friday on a report that they attended an anti-government rally organized by the JVP.
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Sri Lanka deports Lebanese couple

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 November 2010, 10:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Immigration and Emigration Department Saturday morning deported the Lebanese Democratic Youth Union Leader, Mohamed Hottait, and his wife on a charge of participating in a protest rally organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government in Kandy. The couple had been a tour in Sri Lanka.
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SC determines amendment bills consistent with SL constitution

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 November 2010, 17:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka Supreme Court has determined that the two bills, Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill and the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill presented in parliament last month on local government electoral reforms are consistent with the Sri Lanka constitution, the Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa announced Tuesday in parliament.
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Thousands of Tamil, Muslim, Sinhala youths held in secret camps – JVP leader

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 November 2010, 13:27 GMT]
Somawanse Amarasinghe, leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), told media in Jaffna Monday that thousands of Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala youths are held in the secret camps operated by Sri Lanka government. “If Mahinda Rajapaksa considers himself as the head of a responsible government he must disclose the names of the youths detained in its secret detention centers,” he said immediately after the JVP-backed protest demonstration that was forcibly dispersed by Sri Lankan military operatives, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, another JVP key person Ramalingam Chandrasekaran said Sri Lanka police forcibly sent back more than 50 students of Rajarata University from the South who had come in hired buses to participate in the protest demonstration. The police had stopped them at Ariyaalai and took them to Elephant Pass and sent them back, Chandrasekaran said.
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JVP accused of attempts to deceive Tamils in North

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 November 2010, 06:31 GMT]
The extremist anti-Tamil Jantha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party that had vehemently opposed the Liberation Struggle of the Tamils earlier is now assuming a false role in an attempt to deceive them by pretending to give voice for the silenced Tamils, political observers in Jaffna said. JVP, in the recent past had been gradually attempting to infiltrate into North with its various false fronts claiming to be genuinely interested in the Tamils, they added. The real motive of JVP is to rally support against Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is expected to be the chief contestant in the next presidential election, the observers said. The SL government stalwarts in Jaffna peninsula are equally keen in effectively killing the efforts of JVP in North, they said.
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Unidentified operatives attack JVP engaged in wooing Tamil support in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 November 2010, 15:02 GMT]
A gang of ten men arriving on five motor cycles to the residence of former Tamil parliamentarian, Pathmini Sithamparanathan Sunday around 6:30 p.m, assaulted the visiting Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party members, causing serious injuries to the group members including parliamentarian Sunil Handunneththi, who were engaged in talks with Ms. Pathmini Sithamparanathan. The injured were rushed to Jaffna Teaching Hospital. The extremist anti-Tamil JVP, which is now locked in waging a campaign against Rajapaksa family-rule in South, is attempting to woo Tamil support in Jaffna by highlighting the plight of the disappeared Tamils arrested by Rajapaksa's military. The attack by unidentified operatives on JVP has taken place a few hours after Namal Rajapaksa visited Jaffna to attend an opening ceremony.
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Wimal Weerawanse’s party office in Batticaloa burnt down

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 November 2010, 09:37 GMT]
Unidentified persons arriving on motor bikes set fire to the office of the National Freedom Front (NFF), a constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa, located along Punnaikkudaa Road in Ea’ravoor division in Batticaloa district Wednesday afternoon. NFF is a splinter group of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) that is currently campaigning vigorously against the regime of Rajapaksa. JVP is alleged to be instigating university students against the government.
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Local elections amended bill before Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 November 2010, 14:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Tuesday granted time to the petitioners and the intervenient petitioners to file their written submissions before November 8 in regard to two Bills-Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill that seeks to amend the Municipal Council Ordinance, the Urban Council Ordinance and the Pradeshiya Saba Act No 15 of 1987 and the other entitled “Local Authorities Elections (Amendment Bill)” that seeks to amend the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance”.
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Court remands student leader, UNP condemns arrest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 13:48 GMT]
The Colombo Magistrate Friday ordered remand for Udul Premaratne, Convener of the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), a student front organization of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), till November 12. Premaratne was produced in court after detention and interrogation at the office of the Nugegoda Division Superintendent of Police.
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Police arrest University Student leader

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 10:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka police arrested Udul Premaratna, Convener of the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF), a front of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Friday morning shortly after a delegation of the IUSF met the leaders of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) at its Sri Kotha office. Premaratna was arrested by policemen in uniform outside Sri Kotha when he came out after having discussions with UNP parliamentarians Karu Jayasuriya, Tissa Attanayake and Ruwan Wijewardene.
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SL Parliament extends state of Emergency

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 October 2010, 04:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Parliament Tuesday adopted the motion moved by its Prime Minister to extend the state of emergency for another month by ninety votes. 118 parliamentarians of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its constituent parties voted for the motion. The members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) voted against the motion. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians abstained from voting. State of emergency is being extended every month by the parliament since August 2005.
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JVP gets Fonseka's parliamentary seat

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 October 2010, 17:21 GMT]
Lakshman Nipunaarachchi of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is to fill the vacant parliamentary seat created with the imprisonment of the Sarath Foneska. The JVP is the main constituent of the Democratic National Alliance led by Sarath Fonseka, retired Commander of the Sri Lanka who unsuccessfully contested the presidential election on January 26.
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Samaraweera entangled in poster campaign against Rajapaksa - Dinamina

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 September 2010, 11:09 GMT]
Sri Lankan police have uncovered a 'clandestine' move to print several 'mudslinging' posters targeting Sri Lanka' President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Dinamina newspaper said in its lead story. Quoting police investigators, the article claimed that the group behind this attempt was opposition parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera. The order to print the posters has allegedly being given to a printing press with links to the Janatha Simukthi Peramuna.
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SL parliament adopts emergency extension without voting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 September 2010, 06:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Parliament Tuesday adopted a motion to extend the State of Emergency for another month without voting. Prime Minister D. M. Jayaretna tabled the motion seeking the approval of the parliament. Parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who were present in the house did not ask for division when the motion was put to vote.
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Police arrest 2 JVP members in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2010, 16:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka police in Jaffna arrested two members of Janatha Vimukthi Party (JVP) while they were putting up posters against the proposed 18th Constitutional Amendment at Hospital Road junction in Jaffna Saturday early morning, sources in Jaffna said. One of the men arrested is Veeraraj Lalithakumar who had contested as the chief candidate of Democratic National Party of Sarath Fonseka in Jaffna district in the last parliamentary election and lost. The police had removed all the posters pasted.
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Court decision on constitutional amendment sent to Speaker

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2010, 04:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Wednesday sent its decision on the proposed constitutional amendments to the Speaker of the House, Chamal Rajapaksa, brother of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The decision would be announced in the parliament on September 7. The five-member Bench of the Supreme Court chaired by Justice Shiranee Bandaranaike went through the draft bill that removes the restriction of the two term executive presidency system and the introduction of a parliamentary Advisory Council replacing the Constitutional Council appointed under the 17th amendment of the Constitution.
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JVP to launch campaign against constitutional amendment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 August 2010, 11:26 GMT]
The Sinhala Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has decided to launch a campaign from September 8 on the day the United Peoples Freedom Alliance government led by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse presents the constitutional amendment bill that removes the two term executive presidency system and modifying the Constitutional Council system into a five member advisory council.
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Rajapaksa instructs UPFA MPs not to leave island for 2 weeks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 August 2010, 13:19 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse has instructed its parliamentarians not to go abroad till September 15. The leaders of the constituent parties also have been instructed by SL president Mahinda Rajapaksa to ensure the presence of their parliamentarians in Colombo during the period.
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UNP appeals to all political forces to preserve Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2010, 01:36 GMT]
"The time is opportune for all Sri Lanka’s political forces opposed to the tyrannical course the present regime has set for this country to come together to preserve the future of this nation," according to the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya's statement to media.
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