• RW discusses debt restructuring with Treasury officials; OCC, China finalisation this month
• Treasury Sec. says awaiting response from private creditors, confident of concluding by May
• SOE restructuring programme to look at extending time period given for RFPs for SriLankan
• Allirajah’s Lyca blocks divestiture of SLT, Lanka Hospitals stakes; AG confident of vacating cases
• No-faith motion against Speaker unites Opposition; MR, Govt. confident of defeating motion
• IGP Tennakoon’s appointment causes divisions in CC; four votes for, two against, two abstain
• AKD informs Sajith of move to announce Tennakoon’s appointment; Vijitha calls Sajith for details
• UNP begins polls campaign meetings with series of rallies; RW to attend first rally in Kuliyapitiya
• SLPP’s internal clashes intensify with Namal being pushed for Prez Polls; Basil to arrive this week
• JVP/NPP move for youth rallies after women; AKD highlights key challenges at the next election

With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gearing for the second review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Sri Lanka, which includes a progress review of the governance diagnostic, it would be correct to say that the Ranil Wickremesinghe Government has its work cut out in addressing the economic and governance issues highlighted by the IMF.

A team from the IMF is to arrive in Sri Lanka for the second review starting Thursday (7). The progress in meeting key commitments under the IMF-supported programme are set to be formally assessed in the context of the second review of the EFF arrangement alongside the forthcoming 2024 Article IV consultation assessing Sri Lanka’s economic health.

Meanwhile, IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday (27 February) that she wants to shine a spotlight on the timelines and predictability of debt restructuring processes at the next meeting of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable in April.

Georgieva had told Reuters that she hoped to make progress on the issue when the roundtable – which includes debtor countries and official and private creditors – meets in Washington in April during the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.

President Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Finance Minister is also focused on the progress being made on the debt restructuring programme.

During a meeting at the Treasury last week, chaired by Wickremesinghe and attended by Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana as well as State Ministers Shehan Semasinghe, Dilum Amunugama, and Kanaka Herath, the President had asked the Treasury Secretary about the Debt Restructuring Programme (DRP) and when the deals would be finalised. Siriwardana had said that the bilateral DRP would be finalised this month with the Paris Club – Official Creditor Committee (OCC) and China.

However, the Treasury Secretary had noted that the finalising of the debt treatment programme with private creditors was taking more time. He had explained that the new proposal had been sent to the private creditors via Lazard and that the Government was awaiting a response from them.

Wickremesinghe had then noted the importance of finalising the debt restructuring programme with creditors since the Government wanted to get new foreign investments on board to continue with the development agenda. The Treasury Secretary, it is learnt, had expressed confidence that the debt treatment agreement with private creditors could be reached by May.

Meanwhile, Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe had noted last week that the negotiations with the external commercial creditors would be completed in a couple of months. “We have completed the bilateral creditor negotiations. It is the formal process of getting into signing MoUs,” Weerasinghe had said. 

He had also explained that both the local banks which were holding a certain part of International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs) and their loans to the Government of Sri Lanka were still in the process of negotiations.

“We are both (CBSL and the Government of Sri Lanka) very much involved in that (negotiation) process. We are confident that we can clear all those uncertainties, benefiting both the commercial creditors as well as the Government,” he had added.  

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has also noted that the Government was focused on finalising the debt deal with bondholders and private creditors.

While the country grapples with the economic crisis, Tuesday (27 February) marked the ninth anniversary of the infamous bond scam of 2015. This initiated a forensic audit, conducted in 2019, on irregular transactions of the country’s largest superannuation fund – the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).

“The forensic audit reports reveal significant losses, with nearly Rs. 10 billion (Rs. 9,826 million) lost in bond market transactions from 2002 to 2015. The report also outlines losses in the share market, with a total loss of Rs. 9,470 million in listed equity and Rs. 389 million in unlisted equity from 1998 to 2017. These losses, stemming from both the bond market and the share market, amount to nearly Rs. 20 billion!” PublicFinance.lk run by Verité Research stated.

Incidents like the bond scam and the ill-advised decisions on economic matters by successive governments have placed the country in the state it is in today.

SOE restructuring

There had also been a discussion last week within Government circles about the ongoing programme to restructure several State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

During a discussion on the SOE restructuring process, the issues faced by the National Carrier, SriLankan Airlines, had been taken up and the need to find an investor for the airline fast had been the topic of discussion.

SOE Restructuring Unit Head Suresh Shah had noted that the period for Requests For Proposal (RFPs) for SriLankan Airlines may have to be extended. He had explained that while the SOE Restructuring Unit had received bids for the airline, the proposals were not good enough to move forward.

However, a final decision on extending the time period for RFPs had not been reached during last week’s discussion.

Allirajah hits back

Meanwhile, the SOE restructuring process also hit a snag last week when Subaskaran Allirajah’s Lyca Group obtained enjoining orders on the divestiture process of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and Lanka Hospitals PLC.

The Court of Appeal on Wednesday (28 February) had issued an interim order preventing the authorities from proceeding with the divestiture process of SLT and Lanka Hospitals Corporation until 12 March.

Allirajah’s Lyca Group had initiated legal action over it being disqualified from bidding for the Government’s stakes in SLT and Lanka Hospitals Corporation.

Lyca Group companies were reportedly among those listed during the Request for Qualification (RFQ) stage of the said SOE divestitures, but were rejected for the next stage of RFPs. 

One petition was submitted by Lyca Mobile SARL and Pettigo Comércio Internacional regarding SLT and another was submitted by Lyca Leasing Holding Ltd. and another entity regarding Lanka Hospitals.

It is learnt that Allirajah is currently on the warpath against President Wickremesinghe and his Government after being sidelined from the SOE restructuring process as well as being ignored during Wickremesinghe’s tour last month to Uganda to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit.

During the NAM summit, Allirajah, who had travelled to Uganda, had tried on several occasions to meet with President Wickremesinghe, but the latter had managed to give Allirajah the slip.

Wickremesinghe, it is learnt, is of the opinion that Allirajah needs to deliver on his promises, especially on getting diaspora investments into the country.

AG confident

However, the Attorney General (AG), it is learnt, has expressed confidence in getting the case before court vacated.

When the court had issued enjoining orders on SLT and Lanka Hospitals, the President’s Office had held a discussion with the Attorney General to further understand the cases. 

When asked whether or how the case could be vacated, the Attorney General had noted that the filing of the case had not been done accurately and could therefore be vacated.

No faith in Speaker

Meanwhile, the controversial piece of legislation – the Online Safety Act (OSA) – that saw Opposition MPs, civil society, and big tech companies raising concerns and objections, has now returned to haunt Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

Several Opposition parties, led by Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa, on Monday (26 February) signed a motion of no confidence against Speaker Abeywardena, claiming that he had violated the Constitution.

Accordingly, several MPs belonging to the Opposition and representing several political parties, including M.A. Sumanthiran, Lakshman Kiriella, Prof. G.L. Peiris, Tissa Attanayake, Chandima Weerakkody, and Shan Wijayalal de Silva, have signed the no-confidence motion against the Speaker for approving the much-disputed Online Safety Act amidst ‘irregular procedures’.

Premadasa had charged that the Speaker had ignored nine recommendations given by the Supreme Court while enacting the OSA, adding that they no longer had faith in him. “The Speaker has granted approval for the Online Safety Act in an unlawful manner. We carried out an analysis regarding the matter. The recommendations of the Supreme Court have been neglected on nine instances,” he had said.

“We have no confidence in the Speaker anymore. We will have to consider whether [the Parliament] has confidence in the Speaker or not, in the future,” he had added.

As such, the no-confidence motion has pointed out that the Speaker had ignored the Supreme Court’s recommendations pertaining to Sections 13, 17, 20, 33(6), 34(1), 35(1), 21, 22, and 33 of the Online Safety Bill.

Joint Opposition effort

Interestingly, the no-confidence motion against Speaker Abeywardena has managed to unite the otherwise-fractioned Opposition.

SLPP dissident groups in the Opposition, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), National People’s Power (NPP), and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have all expressed support to the no-confidence motion. Traditional opposing camps that are represented by the likes of MPs Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, and Vasudeva Nanayakkara have also joined what now seems like a joint Opposition move to express no faith in the Speaker.

MR’s faith

However, ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) has stated that the SLPP will support the Speaker during the no-confidence motion against him in Parliament. 

MR had noted that the SLPP would support the Speaker and expressed confidence in defeating the SJB-led no-confidence motion in Parliament.

Govt.’s strength

Chief Government Whip Minister Prasanna Ranatunga meanwhile has noted that the no-faith motion being moved against the Speaker would be defeated and that it would once again show the strength of the Government.

Ranatunga had noted that the no-faith motion should be taken up for debate as soon as possible since the Government was prepared to defeat the Opposition-led initiative.

However, some reports that reached the Opposition have revealed that there is a split among some members in the Government side over their stance on the no-faith motion against the Speaker.

Focus remains on Speaker

Interestingly, while the Opposition initiated a process to express no faith in Speaker Abeywardena, the Speaker was once again in the limelight over another decision made by him.

This time around, it was the meeting of the Constitutional Council (CC) that decided on the appointment of the 36th Inspector General of Police (IGP).

President Wickremesinghe had sent to the council his nomination of Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon as the new IGP on Tuesday (27). It is interesting that the President had sent in his nomination to the council while several petitions filed against Tennakoon were being taken up for hearing at the Supreme Court.

According to several members of the Constitutional Council, the appointment of the IGP had not been in the original meeting agenda.

IGP conundrum

The IGP’s appointment has sparked much controversy, especially over the votes that were cast at the meeting of the Constitutional Council last week.

The votes on Tennakoon’s IGP appointment had been divided in the following manner. Representatives of the Government – Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, and MP Sagara Kariyawasam – had voted in favour of Tennakoon’s appointment. 

Civil society representative Dr. Anula Wijesundera had voted in favour of the IGP appointment. Opposition Leader Premadasa and SJB MP Kabir Hashim had voted against the President’s nomination. Hashim had joined the meeting over Zoom from overseas and cast his vote.

Two other civil society members – Prathap Ramanujam and Prof. Dinesha Samararatne – had not cast their votes.

However, since five votes were needed to approve a proposal in the council and the division of votes was four votes in favour and four votes against, the Speaker had then cast his vote as the decisive vote. Premadasa had however pointed out that the Speaker did not need to cast a vote on the IGP appointment.

However, the Constitutional Council is not yet fully constituted, with the 10th member representing the minor parties not yet being appointed to the council.

Soon after Tennakoon’s appointment was made public, Premadasa claimed that the Constitutional Council had not approved the appointment. 

Premadasa had explained that there were four votes in favour of the appointment while two had voted against and two members of the council had abstained. “At least five votes are required for a decision. The Speaker has a casting vote only in case of a tie. There was no tie. The Constitution has been blatantly violated for the second time,” the Opposition Leader had added.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has fixed the hearing of seven Fundamental Rights petitions filed challenging Tennakoon’s appointment as Acting IGP and now IGP for 2 April.

Anura’s message

Amidst the differences of opinion about the votes that were cast and not cast over the IGP’s appointment, there were several legal consultations taking place at the President’s Office after hearing the issue.

However, later in the evening, news that the President’s Office had decided to announce Tennakoon’s appointment as the new IGP had reached Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)/NPP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD).

AKD had learnt that the President’s Office had decided that the Speaker’s decisive vote had brought the number of votes in favour of Tennakoon to five and that the Constitutional Council had therefore approved the President’s proposal.

AKD had then sent a message out to Premadasa that the news of the Constitutional Council approving Tennakoon’s name was being released to the media. Premadasa however had maintained that Tennakoon’s name had not been passed by the council.

Premadasa had sent back a message to AKD saying that it could not be so since four votes had been cast in support of the proposal and two had voted against while two had abstained. He had further stated that there was no reason for the Speaker’s vote since there was no tie.

Nevertheless, the President’s Media Division (PMD) issued a statement announcing Tennakoon’s appointment as the 36th IGP and a photograph of Tennakoon receiving his letter of appointment from President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake was also released to the media.

Vijitha’s call to Sajith

Meanwhile, JVP/NPP MP Vijitha Herath had called Premadasa to get the details on what exactly had transpired at the Constitutional Council meeting.

Premadasa, who had been at an event in Anuradhapura when Herath had called, had asked his Parliamentary Affairs Secretary Thisath Wijegunawardena to answer the call and explain that he was at an event. However, when Herath had explained that he had called to know the details of the Constitutional Council meeting that had approved the IGP’s appointment, Wijegunawardena had given the full account of what had transpired.

Once Herath had in turn explained the details to the NPP seniors, the JVP/NPP had decided to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

More prez hopefuls

Meanwhile, on the elections front, the long list of presidential candidates saw more names being added to it when Opposition MPs Champika Ranawaka and Kumara Welgama also declared preparedness to take up the challenge as candidates at the Presidential Polls. 

Ranawaka had made this revelation during a political talk show on a private electronic media channel. He had also noted that if the alliance to be formed that would include his United Republic Front (URF) believed him to be its candidate for the Presidential Election, he was prepared to take up that challenge.

Meanwhile, Welgama has said that he was the most suitable to be Sri Lanka’s next president and that he possessed all that it took to be the next president.

RW’s special Cabinet meets

However, President Wickremesinghe, who is now in the process of forming a shadow cabinet targeting the Presidential Election, has decided to hold a special weekly meeting of this ‘political’ cabinet. This meeting will be in addition to the weekly Cabinet meeting.

It is learnt that Wickremesinghe has planned to hold the meeting of the special political cabinet without the participation of any State officials to discuss future elections and expediting development projects.

UNP rallies

The United National Party (UNP) meanwhile has organised a series of rallies islandwide, targeting the elections this year. Party Leader, President Wickremesinghe is to participate in these rallies targeting elections, which will be the first time he attends polls rallies after assuming office.

The first rally in the series is to be held in Kuliyapitiya on Sunday (10) and is being organised by Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

UNP members have expressed to their party seniors that they expect Wickremesinghe’s presence at the party’s political rally, even though he had taken a decision not to participate in any political activism within the party given that he is the the President of a multi-party Government.

Prasanna pushes RW

Meanwhile, the internal clash within the SLPP over the party’s presidential candidate continues, with seniors like Minister Prasanna Ranatunga continuing to push President Wickremesinghe as the SLPP’s choice.

“The SLPP will have to rally around incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe as he has managed to bring some kind of stability to the nation. It was Ranil who was willing to take over the nation when others were running away when the country was plunged into an economic crisis in 2022,” the Minister had noted.

However, he had also noted that a final decision on the SLPP’s presidential candidate would be made once SLPP theoretician Basil Rajapaksa returned from the US this week.

While Ranatunga continues to make a push for Wickremesinghe, SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa has claimed that it is a very small group in the SLPP that hold ministerial and state ministerial portfolios in the Government that want to make Wickremesinghe the SLPP’s candidate.

“Some of our members in the President’s Cabinet and some state ministers feel that the party’s Presidential Election candidacy should be given to Ranil Wickremesinghe. Some others are proposing other names. But we must not be in a hurry,” Namal has said.

Namal has further stated that the SLPP’s presidential candidate will be announced once the Presidential Election is announced.

Push for Namal

Meanwhile, the ongoing clash within the SLPP over the party’s candidate was witnessed during a recent party meeting in the Matale District, when Namal’s name had been pushed into the Presidential Election race.

Namal’s name had been proposed by a group of participants at the meeting as the SLPP’s candidate and the proposal had been unanimously approved at the meeting. The SLPP’s Local Government members at the meeting had all voted in support of Namal.

Interestingly, senior SLPPers in the Matale District, Janaka Bandara Tennakoon and Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, had not been present at the meeting, while SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda, Indika Anuruddha, Thisakutti Arachchi, Rohana Dissanayake, and several other leaders in the Matale District had been present.

Meanwhile, SLPP Leader, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, while claiming that the party’s presidential candidate would be decided by the Executive Committee, when asked why Namal was now engaged in the role of a national leader visiting temples islandwide, had noted that Namal had to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Conflict

However, it is now learnt that the meeting headed by Namal in Matale had been organised following a recent meeting of the Matale District SLPP Electoral Committee held under the patronage of State Minister Premitha Tennakoon.

The meeting convened a few weeks back by Premitha had seen him stating that President Wickremesinghe should be given another chance to govern the country. Premitha had also criticised some stances adopted by the SLPP as well.

Following this meeting, a group of SLPP seniors had decided to hold another meeting in Matale headed by Namal and some SLPP seniors to counter the statements made by Premitha and to send a message out to the SLPPers that the party had not decided to back Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Polls.

Basil’s return

While the SLPP’s internal clashes are now being witnessed in the public domain, much focus is now being placed on Basil’s return to the country. 

Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga, who is a close relative of the Rajapaksa family and a Basil loyalist, has said that Basil is likely to be the prime ministerial candidate of the SLPP at the upcoming Parliamentary Election.

Weeratunga has also said that Basil will receive a grand welcome when he arrives in Sri Lanka on Tuesday (5) and a motorcade will bring him to Colombo.

According to the statements made by Weeratunga, it seems as if Basil has plans of changing the current elections calendar with Parliamentary Elections likely to be held before the Presidential Election.

It is learnt that Basil’s return to the country will see the SLPP finally initiating its political plan. Basil has already studied two surveys carried out by him at electoral level on the SLPP’s position in the grassroots.

It is also learnt that Basil has already factored in the number of SLPP seniors who have sided with Wickremesinghe and are likely to move out of the SLPP fold. Basil is therefore looking at promoting the SLPP’s second-level leadership at electoral level to take over at the General Elections.

Be that as it may, the SLPP’s decisive move is expected to take place after March, when Basil will decide whether the SLPP will continue to support the Wickremesinghe Government or move out, paving the way for the party’s political resurgence.

Champika’s campaign

Meanwhile, dissident SJB Parliamentarian and United Republic Front Leader Patali Champika Ranawaka has embarked on a campaign to initiate discussions with political parties in the Opposition on a common minimum programme launched by his party, named ‘One Step for the Country,’ aimed at resolving the issues faced by the country.

Ranawaka’s first meeting was with UNP Leader, President Wickremesinghe. The discussion was held last week (24) at the UNP Headquarters, Sirikotha. Ranawaka, together with a group of URF leaders, had focused on the contributions to be made for the country’s development through this collaborative humanitarian alliance.

Following the meeting with Wickremesinghe and the UNP, Ranawaka and the URF met the SJB to discuss his common minimum programme for the country. However, SJB and Opposition Leader Premadasa was not present at the meeting and Party General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara had led the SJB delegation at the discussion.

Following the meeting, Ranawaka said on X that he was thrilled to engage in a profoundly uplifting dialogue with SJB leaders at their Headquarters, delving into the transformative ‘A Step Forward with Unity for Our Nation’ common minimum programme.

“Together, we’re forging a path of unity and progress for our beloved nation!” he said.

From women to youth

The JVP-led NPP, which has been holding a series of district-level women’s rallies, is to target the country’s youth population through a similar series of district-level rallies. This was revealed by JVP/NPP Leader AKD recently.

He said almost 95% of the party’s rallies for women had now been held and that the next plan was to address university students, young professionals, intellectuals, and civil society activists and seek their contributions towards building a new country.

Similar meetings were planned for Buddhist clergy and farmers later on, he added.

NPP’s challenges

AKD has also spoken about two main challenges faced by his party at a party event at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo: gaining power of governance and building the country once in power.

“Despite being two challenges, both gaining power and building the country lie on the same path.”

In the past, separate paths had been chosen for these two tasks, he said, adding that those had been failures. “The country should be transformed by a path that unites all the people,” Dissanayake added.

No SJB or SLPP

The SLFP-led alliance, which is currently facing several stumbling blocks, is still continuing with internal discussions on forming the proposed alliance.

However, SLFP Senior Vice President Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa has said that a future SLFP-led alliance for the upcoming elections will not form an alliance with the SLPP or the SJB.

He had however noted that individual members from the SLPP and SJB were welcome to join the alliance, which was in the making.

It is learnt that a decision regarding the SLFP-led alliance is likely to be arrived at this week.