SL Speaker to face no-confidence motion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 2003, 11:34 GMT]
The leaderships of Sri Lanka's main opposition Peoples Alliance (PA) and the Sinhala nationalist, Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Thursday decided to collect signatures of parliamentarians to move a no-confidence motion against the Sri Lanka Speaker Mr.Joseph Michael Perera stating he had no power to challenge the proclamation of the President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge proroguing parliament, political sources said.


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Prorogation of Parliament undemocratic - Speaker

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 2003, 05:57 GMT]
In a landmark ruling, the speaker of the Sri Lanka's Parliament, Mr. Joseph Micheal Perera Wednesday stated that the prorogation of Parliament by President Chandrika Kumaratunga was "undemocratic". "The Parliament has the authority to assemble and activate its legislative powers" he said. Sri Lanka's national legislature reopened Wednesday morning 10 a.m.
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Hospital destroyed by SLA, IPKF reconstructed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 2003, 04:59 GMT]
The central dispensary and hospital located in the village of Mahilavettuvan, 30 km West of Batticaloa town in territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the Batticaloa district, which was damaged by the military actions of the Sri Lanka Army in 1987 and destroyed later the same year by the Indian Peace Keeping Force, recommenced operation Tuesday, sources said.
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Appeal Court reserves order in case against SL President

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 2003, 17:09 GMT]
The Court of Appeal Tuesday reserved its order for December 17th on an application made by the Sri Lanka Legal Aid Foundation seeking the court to order Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, to appear in person in a case in which she has been cited as respondent for failing to appoint members to the National Independent Election Commission as recommended by the Constitutional Council, legal sources said.
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SL President will not attend opening session of parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 2003, 14:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament is scheduled to meet Wednesday morning at 10.30 a.m. after two weeks' prorogation by the President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge. However, the President will not attend parliament and speaker Mr.Joseph Michael Perera will deliver the opening address instead, parliamentary sources said, adding that he will read her inaugural address.


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Sri Lanka PM, President agree on stopgap committee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 2003, 08:34 GMT]
“There was no breakthrough in today’s talks between the President and the Prime Minister”, a senior Sri Lankan government official in Colombo said Tuesday. He said that it was agreed during the meeting to appoint a committee of officials to “work out the details of future working arrangements under which the President and Prime Minister could work together on the important national issues”.
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‘Let SL President resign and call fresh Presidential elections’ –TNA MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 2003, 16:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, should resign and call fresh Presidential elections as a way out of the current constitutional crisis without derailing the peace process and bringing more hardships on the people, said Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandraneru, the Tamil National Alliance’s Member of Parliament from the Amparai district, speaking to a gathering of fishermen at Alaiyadivembu in his district Monday, sources said.
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SLA refuses permission to TNA MP to visit civil office

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 2003, 15:18 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Monday refused permission to the Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr. Mavai Senathirajah to pay an official visit to the office of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) for Jaffna district which is housed in a portion of the Thellipalai Cancer Hospital which is located in the high security zone. The Thellipalai Cancer Hospital has been allowed to function since the signing of the ceasefire agreement by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, civil authorities said.
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"Executive Presidency must be removed" - Ravaya

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 2003, 11:58 GMT]
Influential Sinhala political weekly, Ravaya, in an editorial argued for the abolition of executive presidency or at the minimum clipping the powers of the Presidency. It said that neither the President Ms. Kumaratunge nor the Prime Minister Wickremesinghe are inclined to do so because of their self-interest.


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SLFP- JVP electoral alliance to be decided Monday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 2003, 18:26 GMT]
An emergency meeting of the central working committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), chief constituent of the main opposition Peoples Alliance (PA) will be held Monday at the President House to decide on forging a political and electoral alliance with Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and to decide the future course of action to solve the current political crisis, political observers said Sunday.


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Sri Lanka's President and PM to meet again

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 2003, 18:22 GMT]
The second round of talks between the President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge and Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe are expected to be held Tuesday at the Presidential office for the first time after Norway’s pulling out of the peace process it has brokered twenty two months ago with a ceasefire agreement between the United National Front government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, political sources said.


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TNA denies report on President’s invitation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 2003, 18:16 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Sunday denied reports in a section of the media that the President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge has invited the TNA for urgent talks. The leader of the Tamil National Alliance parliamentary group Mr.R.Sampanthan told Tamilnet that the TNA has not received any invitation from the Presidential Secretariat for such talks.
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PM holds talks with Malwatte Mahanayake

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 November 2003, 19:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasignhe Saturday afternoon called on the Mahanayake of Malwatte Chapter Most Venerable Rambukwelle Vipassi Thera in Kandy, capital of the central province and discussed the current political crisis. Senior minister Mr. G.L.Peiris and the chairman of the United National Party Mr.Malik Samarawickrema accompanied Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe to Kandy, government party sources said.
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TNA urges SL President to restore status quo ante

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 2003, 20:27 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance in a statement Friday urged Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, to take appropriate steps to ensure that the situation of a lack of clarity and uncertainty now prevailing in the country following the take over of three ministries is ended by restoring the status quo ante.
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SL President requests PM to continue peace talks

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 2003, 13:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, Friday requested the Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, to continue the peace negotiation efforts in the context of recent changes.
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Sri Lanka's PM withdraws from peace process

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 2003, 10:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, Friday said that he has informed the President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunge, to take in charge of the peace process, saying he is unable to take forward the process launched two years ago due to the current political crisis.
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Norway temporarily withdraws from peace process

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 2003, 06:09 GMT]
"Peace talks could have started tomorrow, provided there were clarity about who is holding political authority and responsibility on behalf of the Government to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire agreement and the resumption of peace negotiations. Until last week there was such clarity. Today there is no such clarity. Until such clarity is re-established, there is no space for further efforts by the Norwegian government to assist the parties.", Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgesen told reporters at a press conference held at Hotel Hilton at 11 a.m today.
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Referendum on de-merging NorthEast postponed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 2003, 17:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, has issued an extra gazette notification announcing the postponement of the referendum, which was to decide whether the temporarily merged Northern and Eastern provinces should be delinked or not, for another year. According to the gazette notification, the referendum for the east will be held on November 17th and for the north on December 01st next year, the Presidential secretariat said in a press release Thursday.
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SL President, Prime Minister brief their constituent parties

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 2003, 10:28 GMT]
President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge and Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe Thursday began separately briefing their constituent parties in the main opposition People Alliance (PA) and the United National Front (UNF) respectively with regard to the outcome of their talks held Wednesday at the Presidential House on the current political crisis, political sources said.
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Sri Lanka’s President meets Norwegian envoys

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 2003, 16:54 GMT]
Norwegian deputy foreign minister Mr. Vidar Helgesen, special peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Mr. Erik Solheim, Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr.Hans Brattskar, and an officer of the Norwegian embassy in Colombo, Mr. Tomas Strangeland, met with Sri Lanka’s President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, and discussed the resumption of peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the Janadipathi Mandiraya (President’s Residence) in Colombo Wednesday, sources said.
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