Sri Lanka president wins constitutional power boost

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliament on Wednedsay passed a constitutional amendment that grants President Mahinda Rajapaksa even more unchecked power, which had prompted opposition cries of a looming dictatorship.

Rajapaksa won 161 votes in favour of the 18th amendment

that removes a presidential two-term limit and more crucially, unwound an earlier amendment designed to de-politicise appointments to the police, judiciary, public service and electoral commissions.

Wednesday’s debate was largely a foregone conclusion as Rajapaksa had already engineered crossovers from opposition parties to boost his commanding parliamentary majority beyond the two-thirds, or 150 votes, required to change the charter.

Opposition and rights groups criticised the amendment, rushed through the supreme court and parliament in barely 10 days after the cabinet declared it an

Sri Lanka to Declare Early Poll Date on Monday

COLOMBO : Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa will announce a date for early national elections on Monday, a senior government official said.

“It will be today (Monday),” said the official, on condition of anonymity, referring to the president’s announcment.

Three other government sources confirmed the announcement and said the poll date would most likely be Jan. 23.

Other sources were not sure about the date, which they said would be an auspicious one determined by astrologers.

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Sri Lanka to Declare Early Poll Date on Monday was first posted on November 23, 2009 at 3:17 pm.

Obama arrives in China

SHANGHAI: U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in China on Sunday, taking his push to energise ties with Asia to the region’s emerging super-power and world’s third biggest economy.

Late in the evening local time, Obama landed in a rainy Shanghai, eastern China’s coastal commercial hub, where he is due to meet city officials and hold a “town hall” session with young people on Monday, before heading on to Beijing. Obama had no meetings or events scheduled for Sunday.

The U.S. President’s talks in Beijing with President Hu Jintao and officials will cover sometimes tense economic ties, international trouble-spots such as North Korea and Iran, and international efforts to fight climate change.

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Obama arrives in China was first posted on November 15, 2009 at 9:09 pm.

Obama arrives in China

SHANGHAI: U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in China on Sunday, taking his push to energise ties with Asia to the region’s emerging super-power and world’s third biggest economy.

Late in the evening local time, Obama landed in a rainy Shanghai, eastern China’s coastal commercial hub, where he is due to meet city officials and hold a “town hall” session with young people on Monday, before heading on to Beijing. Obama had no meetings or events scheduled for Sunday.

The U.S. President’s talks in Beijing with President Hu Jintao and officials will cover sometimes tense economic ties, international trouble-spots such as North Korea and Iran, and international efforts to fight climate change.

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Obama arrives in China was first posted on November 15, 2009 at 9:09 pm.

Sri Lankan President postpones poll announcement

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka News : Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday postponed the expected announcement of dates for early presidential and parliamentary elections due by April without giving a reason.

The delay followed the resignation on Friday of the chief of defence staff, General Sarath Fonseka, who is expected to stand against his former commander-in-chief as an opposition candidate.

Fonseka was widely credited with the army’s dominant role in winning a 25-year war against Tamil Tiger rebels which ended in May. Political analysts say he could split Rajapaksa’s voter base and attract those happy with the war victory.

At his Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s annual convention, Rajapaksa, said only that he would decide “in due course” after more than 100,000 party stalwarts urged him to call the presidential poll first. The government had said he would announce the dates at the convention.

Analysts say the move for early polls is part of Rajapaksa’s plan to win a second six-year term before his post-war popularity fades over issues such as the cost of living, public wage rises and labour unrest.

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Sri Lankan President postpones poll announcement was first posted on November 15, 2009 at 9:20 pm.

Sri Lankan President postpones poll announcement

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka News : Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday postponed the expected announcement of dates for early presidential and parliamentary elections due by April without giving a reason.

The delay followed the resignation on Friday of the chief of defence staff, General Sarath Fonseka, who is expected to stand against his former commander-in-chief as an opposition candidate.

Fonseka was widely credited with the army’s dominant role in winning a 25-year war against Tamil Tiger rebels which ended in May. Political analysts say he could split Rajapaksa’s voter base and attract those happy with the war victory.

At his Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s annual convention, Rajapaksa, said only that he would decide “in due course” after more than 100,000 party stalwarts urged him to call the presidential poll first. The government had said he would announce the dates at the convention.

Analysts say the move for early polls is part of Rajapaksa’s plan to win a second six-year term before his post-war popularity fades over issues such as the cost of living, public wage rises and labour unrest.

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Sri Lankan President postpones poll announcement was first posted on November 15, 2009 at 9:20 pm.

Sri Lankan Military Chief Lashes Out at Govt

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Military Chief Lashes Out at Govt, Sri Lanka’s outgoing military chief accused the government of sidelining him on suspicion he was plotting a coup after leading the army to victory over Tamil Tiger rebels, according to his resignation letter obtained on Friday by The Associated Press.

Sarath Fonseka’s forces swept through the jungles of northern Sri Lanka and ended the quarter-century civil war in May.

He announced on Thursday he would retire at the end of this month amid speculation he plans to run against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in upcoming elections.

Government spokesman Anusha Palpita said Friday, however, that Fonseka had been “granted permission to retire with immediate effect’’ by Rajapaksa.

Fonseka, 59, declined to discuss his future plans when he met reporters Thursday.

In his resignation letter to Rajapaksa, Fonseka complained that he was forced out as army commander just two weeks after the war ended and was appointed head of all military forces, essentially an administrative post.

He said a rumor was spread among top government officials accusing him of planning a coup, and that the president’s refusal to let him stay on as army chief showed “a strong mistrust in me, which is most depressing after all (that) was performed to achieve war victory.’’

The government was so suspicious that a coup was to be launched Oct 15 that it alerted neighboring India, “unnecessarily placing the Indian troops on high alert,’’ he said. “This action did tarnish the image and reputation’’ of the army, he said.

Government minister Mahinda Samarasing he said Friday that Rajapaksa would issue a detailed reply to the accusations soon.

Fonseka and Rajapaksa, who are both from the Sinhalese majority, became national heroes after the defeat of the minority Tamilrebels. Rajapaksa hoped to capitalize on his popularity by calling early elections next year.

Opposition parties formed a coalition earlier this month to challenge Rajapaksa in the polls, with media reports saying they planned to run Fonseka as their presidential candidate.

In his resignation, Fonseka appeared to be laying the groundwork for a campaign, accusing Rajapaksa’s government of failing to “win the peace in spite of the fact that the army under my leadership won the war.’’ “There is no clear policy to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people, which will surely ruin the victory … paving the way for yet another uprising in the future,’’ he said.

Despite the war’s end, peace dividends were yet to materialise and economic hardships faced by Sri Lankans have worsened, he said. Last week, Fonseka, a US green card holder, left the United States before he was to be questioned by US officials over alleged human rights abuses by his forces during the war, the government said.

A US State Department report said military attacks on civilians and hospitals during the fighting could amount to war crimes.

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Sri Lankan Military Chief Lashes Out at Govt was first posted on November 14, 2009 at 4:16 pm.