Sri Lanka to hold presidential vote on November 16

https://uk.reuters.com/Ranga Sirilal, Shihar Aneez

Sri Lanka to hold presidential vote on November 16

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will hold a presidential election on Nov. 16, the head of the island nation’s election body told Reuters on Wednesday, as its $87 billion economy struggles to recover from a political crisis and the aftermath of deadly Islamist bombings.

The official notification of the election would be published later on Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said. Nominations for the contest will close by Oct. 7.

Election Commission officials have said there could be a record 18 candidates in this year’s election, while analysts say it is possible that a run-off count will be needed to decide the winner of a tight contest is which no-one is likely to poll more than 50% of first-preference votes.

The main opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has already nominated his younger brother and wartime defence chief Gotabaya.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s centre-right United National Party (UNP) is yet to nominate its candidate, but party sources told Reuters it was likely to be decided between deputy leader Sajith Premadasa and Parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.

Gotabaya, 70, is widely seen as the frontrunner due to his popularity among Sri Lanka’s Sinhala Buddhist majority, many of whom credit him with ending the 26-year civil war in 2009 and believe that Colombo needs a seasoned leader after Easter bombings that killed more than 250 people.

However, Gotabaya faces a legal battle over allegations of misappropriation of state funds when he was defence chief, which he denies, along with questions over the renunciation of his U.S. citizenship.

There is no opinion polling on the popularity of candidates.

The next president will have fewer powers than his predecessors, following a 2015 constitutional amendment that will hand more powers to the prime minister and parliament after the election.

Sluggish economic growth, national security, endemic corruption and deep ethnic and religious divisions in the South Asian nation will be key issues at the upcoming polls, political analysts say.

Economic growth is expected to hit a nearly two-decade low this year, after the Easter attacks on luxury hotels and churches hurt the country’s tourism industry.

A seven-week constitutional crisis in the last quarter of 2018, after President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former leader Rajapaksa, also hurt the economy as the political uncertainty slowed investment.

Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Euan Rocha and Alex Richardson

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

தேர்தல் புறக்கணிப்பு தொலைக்காட்சி விவாதம்

தேர்தல் புறக்கணிப்பு

சமரன்: நவீன திரிபுவாதத்தையும் கலைப்புவாதத்தையும் எதிர்த்த...

சமரன்: நவீன திரிபுவாதத்தையும் கலைப்புவாதத்தையும் எதிர்த்த...: கனுசன்யாலின் வலது சந்தர்ப்பவாத  நிலைப்பாடும் கட்சி ஐக்கியத்திற்கான முயற்சிகளும் பிளவுகளும் முன்னுரை-பகுதி1

"Sons of the country" calls for a boycott of the occupation elections

 Palestine PFLP 02 Sep 2019

The movement of the people of the country renewed   its appeal to the Palestinian people in the occupied territories in 1948, to boycott the elections of the "Knesset" Zionist held in September.

This came in a statement issued by the movement of the sons of the country, the first Sunday of September, in which she said "for the second time in a few months we find ourselves in front of Israeli elections to the Zionist Knesset."

In its statement, the Movement affirmed its position on boycotting the occupation elections, saying, "Our position in the movement of the sons of the country calling for a boycott of the Knesset elections is known to the far and wide." Palestine, from its sea to its river. "

The people of the country stressed that, accordingly, participation in the occupation elections on the basis of the oath of allegiance to the occupying power and the sufficiency of a meager political ceiling dropped by the occupation after a quarter of a century of absurd negotiations with our people Our people and the whole world, which is a stab in the side of the struggle of the free people of the whole world to narrow the circle of boycott against Israel and a Palestinian knife! What's new in these elections! "

The people of the country affirmed, "We in the movement of the people of the country believe in the absolute necessity of our unity as a people and political forces to face the challenges of the stage, and the dangers ahead of us, the liquidation of the Palestinian right to return and independence and the division of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and depriving us of our lowest civil rights derived from our success in our homeland. Keeping us under occupation in sporadic cantons in Gaza, inside and in the  West  Bank. ”

The movement considered that participation in these elections, and even the announcement by the chairman of the joint list of readiness to participate in the occupation government, "is nothing but an administration that has emerged to fight against the occupation and to reduce our national cause with crumbs of rights that we can obtain at the very least if the same efforts are invested in organizing our institutions and building our struggle." Emancipation "

The movement appealed to the Palestinian people, saying, "The people of our father's people .. The campaigns of these elections, as every election Knesset, refuses to be only on our blood. The race between the Zionist parties is on one of the most able to expose our rights and blood on the one hand and to obtain international support for this On the other hand."

"Participation and voting in these elections for any of the Zionist parties is a humility and a contribution to penetrate our consciousness and cancellation of our Palestinian national identity and a prize for the criminals against him and it is our duty to confront it and preserve our achievements as a living people struggling and struggling against its occupier."

The boycott was seen as a struggle mechanism that could repel this attack, which is being heard in light of the joint statements about its willingness to make alliances in different formats with the same forces that compete with it in the elections. Zionist parties except in the form !. "

In its statement, it stressed that boycotting these elections under these political circumstances and after decades of betting on the Knesset is the struggle and political message that must be faced by everyone who is betting, and betting on the adaptation of our people from their central issues.

`` It is a challenge to the declared Israeli policies in getting us out of the general political equation in return for crumbs of budgets.It is a declared refusal to muzzle anti-Israeli legitimacy, and attempts to define our political ceiling by pursuing boycott voices and promoting a national movement that does not derive its political legitimacy through the occupation parliament. ''

No attempt to forcibly take over Rupavahini Corp. - Ruwan

http://www.dailynews.lk/ Thursday, September 12, 2019

Defence State Minister and Mass Media Minister Ruwan Wijewardene denied speculation on internet social media that he was planning to forcibly take over the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), the state-owned national television network that was recently transferred out of the Media Ministry and put under the purview of the Defence Ministry.

Defence State Minister and Mass Media Minister
Ruwan Wijewardene

Speaking to news media at the Media Ministry last evening the Minister said he had never engaged in thug-politics and therefore, that information was totally baseless.

Wijewardene said that he had no quarrel with President Maithripala Sirisena for taking over the national television, which had been under the Media Minister’s purview but, the issue was about a media institution being gazzeted under the Defence Ministry. “This move is an attack against democracy and also the country’s media freedom,” he pointed out.

Wijewardene also pointed out that the SLRC has been incurring losses in hundreds of millions since 2014. Mismanagement, as well as fraud and corruption, had resulted in this situation, he claimed. However, four attempts by him to make changes to the institution’s management have been averted by the President, he said.

“This is the first time in the country’s history that a television network was gazette under the Defence Ministry. Such things did not happen even during the war. Therefore, I am totally against his move,” the non-Cabinet Media Minister said.

சமரன்: 2019 தியாகிகள் நாள் கழகக் காட்சிகள்

சமரன்: 2019 தியாகிகள் நாள் கழகக் காட்சிகள்:

செப்டம்பர் 12 இந்திய விடுதலைப் புரட்சித் தியாகிகள் தினம். நக்சல்பாரிப் போராளி, மார்க்சிய லெனினிய போல்சுவிக் புரட்சியாளர், கம்யூனிச ஆசான்,கழகத் தலைவர் தோழர் ஏ.எம்.கே.நாமம் நீடூழி வாழ்க!

‘You will never break our will’ – Palestinians to Netanyahu after Jordan Valley annexation pledge

middleeastmonitor.com September 11, 2019

“It’s our parents’ and grandparents’ land. We will hold onto it no matter what it costs.”

‘You will never break our will’ – Palestinians to Netanyahu after Jordan Valley annexation pledge

Palestinian protesters hold placards prior to the arrival of the Israeli prime minister to attend a state memorial ceremony at the Ibrahimi mosque, in the West Bank city of Hebron on 4 September 2019. [Mosab Shawer-Apaimages]

Palestinians tilling the fertile Jordan Valley said on Wednesday they have been rooted for generations to the West Bank land that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to annex, and they vowed never to give it up, Reuters reports.

“We tell Netanyahu, and whoever follows him, you will not break the Palestinians’ will, you will never break our will, never, never,” said Hassan Al-Abedi, a 55-year-old farmer who lives in the village of Jiftlik.

“It’s our parents’ and grandparents’ land. We will hold onto it no matter what it costs.”

Drawing condemnation from Palestinian and other Arab leaders , the right-wing Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he plans to “apply Israeli sovereignty” to the Jordan Valley and adjacent northern Dead Sea if he prevails in what is shaping up as a tough battle for re-election on Sept. 17.

Palestinians seek to establish a state in all of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and their leaders said Israeli annexation would violate international law and effectively nullify interim peace deals from the 1990s that included security cooperation.

Against the backdrop of Jordan’s desert mountain range to the east, Palestinian farmers tended their crops and worried about their future in an area where the town of Jericho and the River Jordan are reminders of a biblical past.

“This is not Netanyahu’s land to give,” said Ismael Hassan, a 75-year-old Palestinian from Zbeidat village. “Whether or not Netanyahu succeeds (in the election) we won’t accept it. This land is for Palestine, for the Palestinians.”

In Israel, which captured the West Bank in a 1967 war, Netanyahu’s declaration was widely seen as a bid to sap support from far-right election rivals who advocate annexation of Jewish settlements, and from a centre-left that for decades has argued that the Jordan Valley should be kept on security grounds.

Retaining the Jordan Valley would effectively leave Israel encircling any Palestinian political entity that emerges.

CRAFTING OPINION

Following up on his speech with remarks on Facebook on Wednesday, Netanyahu took credit for having persuaded U.S. President Donald Trump to recognise Israeli sovereignty over another strategic slice of occupied territory – the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967 – and to relocate the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

The White House was informed in advance of Tuesday’s annexation announcement, Netanyahu said, adding that he was “crafting opinion in favour of recognition of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley”.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (R) show members of the media the proclamation Trump signed on recognising Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights after their meeting outside the West Wing of the White House 25 March 2019 in Washington, DC. [Alex Wong/Getty Images]

A U.S. official confirmed Washington had been pre-notified but said the announcement was not coordinated between the sides.

“He (Netanyahu) is a politician making a political statement,” another U.S. official said.

Netanyahu’s decision to issue the promise showed, however, that he had little reason to fear any pushback from the Trump administration, which has hewed to a heavily pro-Israel policy and backed him at almost every turn since taking Trump took office in 2017.

BREADBASKET, BORDER

Some 53,000 Palestinians and around 12,800 Israeli settlers live in the Jordan Valley, according to monitor Peace Now. The main Palestinian city in the region is Jericho, with around 28 villages and smaller Bedouin communities.

Palestinians often refer to the Jordan Valley as their “breadbasket”. In his speech on Tuesday, Netanyahu described it as Israel’s eastern border with Jordan.

“Even Netanyahu’s main rivals believe that any Palestinian entity that is established in the West Bank should be completely encircled by Israel, having no border with Jordan,” said Nathan Thrall, an International Crisis Group analyst.

“The annexation plan shouldn’t be dismissed as election bluster. If re elected, Netanyahu will be under tremendous pressure to implement it.”

The valley, which at 2,400 square kilometres (926 square miles) accounts for nearly 30% of the West Bank, has dozens of Palestinian farms as well as open areas that the Palestinian Authority has sought to develop for solar energy projects and industrial zones.

There are some 30 mainly agricultural settlements in the area, along with 18 smaller Israeli outposts, Peace Now says.

“It’s impossible to have a Palestinian state without the Jordan Valley,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters in an interview from his office in Jericho.

“My prosperity can come (only) if I can control my natural resources, my shores on the Dead Sea, my shores on the Mediterranean, my water, my land.”

Erekat said the Palestinians would welcome “a third party presence” such as NATO or the European Union but said: “A Israeli military or civilian presence in the state of Palestine is not okay. Because this will not make peace.”

Israeli leaders have ruled out such a foreign peacekeeper force, citing the failure of a similar proposal for Gaza after Israel quit that territory in 2005.

“We did not get an era of peace. We got three wars. We’re not going to allow that to happen to our east,” said Dore Gold, a Netanyahu confidant who runs the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs think-tank.

POLITICAL GAMBIT

The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2014.

The Trump administration is expected to release its long-delayed peace plan after Israel’s election, and it is still unclear the proposal will adhere to previous U.S. support for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

That rollout is unlikely to be affected even if Netanyahu goes ahead with the Jordan Valley annexation plan after the election, a U.S. official said.

Palestinians have boycotted the Trump administration, accusing it of pro-Israel bias.

A far-right coalition partner of Netanyahu hinted at doubt about the premier’s sincerity, saying there had been no movement on the Jordan Valley question during his decade in power. “How come this matter (annexation) is coming up now, a week before the election?” Bezalel Smotrich told Israel’s Army Radio.

Netanyahu also reaffirmed a pledge to annex all of the settlements Israel has established in the West Bank. But he said that broader step could take longer and required “maximum coordination” with Washington.

Netanyahu is fighting for his political life after an inconclusive election in April. His right-wing Likud party is running neck and neck in opinion polls with former armed forces chief Benny Gantz’s Blue and White. 

"Operation Yellowhammer" - The Document

Wales On Line  11 SEP 2019

By Ruth Mosalski Political Editor

 "Operation Yellowhammer" - The Document

Government publishes secret Operation Yellowhammer plans for a no-deal Brexit

The Government has released documents relating to Operation Yellowhammer - its contingency plan for a no-deal Brexit.

MPs won a vote to force the Government to release the documents on Monday.

Only one section of the document is redacted. The rest shows:

• 'Low-income groups will be disproportionate affected by any price rises in food and fuel'
• Disruption at ports will last three months before it starts to improve
• Lorries could face delays of up to 2.5 days
• As Brits will face immigration checks, there will be delays at airports, train stations and ports
• Electricity prices will increase "significantly" to consumers and businesses
• Medicines are "particularly vulnerable" to extended delays
• It will be harder to prevent and control disease outbreaks
• Supplies of fresh food will decrease - there is a risk of panic buying
• UK nationals overseas will lose rights and access to services
• Protests and counter-protests will take place across the UK - 'there may be a rise in public disorder and community tensions'
• Trade with Ireland will be "severely" disrupted with "agri-food" hardest hit
• There is a likelihood of clashes between fishing vessels as EU nations fishing vessels will be in UK waters
• Care for the elderly services are vulnerable.

The document is titled: "Operation Yellowhammer: HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions"

On Wednesday, business secretary Andrea Leadsom said that Operation Yellowhammer documents were a "worst case scenario" about leaving without a deal rather than a "prediction".

"I actually do not think that it serves people well to see what is absolutely the worst thing that could happen."

The Prime Minister's spokesman said MPs demands to see Operation Yellowhammer, and messages by Downing Street staff about prorogation were "disproportionate and unprecedented".

The documents are here .

இலட்சோபம் மக்கள் திரண்ட கற்றலான் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம்

By Associated Press September 11, 2019 

Massive Rally for Catalonia's Secession in Barcelona

BARCELONA, SPAIN - Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards who support the secession of Catalonia gathered in Barcelona on the region’s main holiday Wednesday, just weeks before a highly anticipated verdict in a case against 12 leaders of the separatist movement.

Supporters of Catalan secession came from all parts of the wealthy northeastern region to its main city. Many carried flags or wore T-shirts supporting Catalan independence as they met for the rally in a large public square.

Protesters hold esteladas or independence flags as they take part in a demonstration during the Catalan National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Sept. 11, 2019. 

The Sept. 11 holiday memorializes the fall of Barcelona in the Spanish War of Succession in 1714. Since 2012, it has become the date of massive rallies for the region’s secessionist movement.

The Barcelona police said that around 600,000 people turned out for the event.

Polls and the most recent election results show that the region’s 7.5 million residents are roughly equally split between those in favor and those against breaking with the rest of Spain.

Spain’s caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who has tried to thaw tensions with Catalonia since taking power last year, wrote on Twitter that “Today should be a day for all Catalans. For the path of dialogue within the Constitution, harmonious coexistence, respect and understanding.”

This year’s rally comes while a dozen leaders of Catalonia’s 2017 failed attempt to secede await a verdict from the Supreme Court on charges that include rebellion. They face spending several years behind bars if found guilty, and a heavy punishment would most likely spark public protests in Catalonia. The verdict is expected this month or next.

The movement, however, is going through its most difficult period since separatist sentiment was fueled by the previous decade’s economic difficulties, from which Spain has only recovered in recent years.

The pro-secession political parties have yet to agree on what the response to a guilty verdict by the Supreme Court should be. That has earned the criticism of the leading grassroots groups which have fueled the secessionist drive.

Regional Catalan president Quim Torra says that a guilty verdict would provide an opportunity to make another push for independence, without specifying how that could be carried out.

“The objective of independence should be the horizon of this country after the verdict,” he said in a recent interview on Catalan public television.

Other separatist politicians think the best move is to call regional elections in an attempt to increase their representation in the regional parliament and focus on gaining the backing of more than half of Catalans. Those against independence complain that the separatists have monopolized the holiday for their political ends.

But some activists have accused all their political leaders of not taking concrete steps to achieve their goal. Radical activists recently expressed their anger by throwing garbage and excrement on the doors of the offices of pro-secession parties.


“Not only have we not advanced, but we have taken some steps backward,” Elisenda Paluzie, the head of the influential pro-secession grassroots group ANC, told the crowd. “We demand that our leaders don’t let us down.”

Rupavahini Corporation brought under Defence Ministry

Colombo Telegraph September 9, 2019 

Rupavahini Corporation brought under Defence Ministry

State television, Rupavahini Corporation, has been brought under the Ministry of Defence. 

A gazette notification has been issued bringing the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) under the purview of the Ministry of Defence which is headed by President Maithripala Sirisena. 

The move comes as the Elections Commission prepares to call for Presidential elections. 

Rupavahini Corporation was earlier under the Ministry of Mass Media which comes under Non Cabinet Minister Ruwan Wijewardene.