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The second cabinet reshuffle of the good governance government is set to take place today (21) or tomorrow (22) sources of the Presidential Secretariat said adding that any ministers with corruption allegations will not be given the same portfolios.

As a result the Cabinet reshuffle scheduled to take place might be postponed the source said when asked by isis.lk news.

He also said the revised ministerial portfolios of the UNP have not been sent to the President as of last night yet due to objections raised by certain Ministers of the UNP.

Ineffective Ministers to get same treatment :

The cabinet reshuffle is being done under the full supervision of the President and the Prime Minister th source said. Accordingly Ministers who also have not performed and proved to be ineffective will also not be given the same Ministerial portfolios.

Young Ministers to get powerful posts :

It is reported that the young MPs will be given powerful portfolios for the cabinet reshuffle that will take place tomorrow with several senior ministers are said to be at the risk of losing.

According to 'Divaina,' the changes will take place in Ministries, Law and Order, Highways, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Sports, Science and Technology Ministries.

The leadership training program being conducted for school principals has been suspended till the completion of an investigation into the sudden death of a school principal during the training program recently, the Ministry of Education stated.

The program has been halted after the death of the principal of Suchi National School in Hambantota. The principal, Rohini Kumari died while taking part in a leadership training program held in Kurunegala.

The 52-year-old Kumari was the mother of four daughters.

Source : The Sunday Times

Police Media Spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara said that at least 19 persons have been hospitalised with injuries after a passenger transport bus caught fire in the early hours this morning at Kahagolla in Diyatalawa.

According to reports, the private bus with mostly Army and Air Force soldiers on board, had suddenly caught fire following a minor explosion at around 5.30 a.m. today. The Army Spokesperson notes that 7 among the injured are from the Army while 5 are from the Air force with the rest being civilians.

The condition of two soldiers are critical, the Army spokesman added. The injured passengers have been admitted to the Diyatalawa Hospital.

Parliament will be informed tomorrow on the status of the current national government according to Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. According to him he will seek information regarding the SLFP - UNP government and if it will go forward from the PM and inform the house of its decision.

He made this statement in response to questions raised by the Chief opposition whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake and JO MP Dullas Alahapperuma on the expiry of the time given to the national government.

The leader of the House Minister Lakshman Kiriella said that the two parties have not withdrawn from the government and the government is still continuing as agreed. The Minister further said that he will be consulting the Prime Minister in this regard and that he will be given the answer tomorrow.

Sri Lanka's Opposition Leader R Sampanthan has slammed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for his remarks during the recent poll campaign that a vote for the ruling UNP or SLFP would be a vote to revive the Tamil Eelam - a separate Tamil state.

Speaking in parliament, Sampanthan yesterday said that during the pre-poll campaign this message was propagated amongst the Sinhalese people in this country.

"They were told, 'this is a referendum for an Eelam.

If you vote for the Government or if you vote for the UNP, it will result in an Eelam being created.

So, do not vote for them'," said Sampanthan, also the leader of the Tamil National Alliance.

Sampanthan said his party in its election manifesto stated that it wants a political solution within the framework of 'undivided, indivisible single country".

"We only talked of a solution that is acceptable to our people, that is reasonable substantial power-sharing within the framework of a united, undivided, indivisible single country.

That was the propaganda we carried out in all our areas and when we did that, how dare president Rajapaksa say that Eelam could bloom after the election," the Tamil leader said.

Sampanthan stressed, "Eelam will bloom, not on account of us, but on account of your 'Lotus Bud'.

Your 'Lotus Bud' will bloom into an Eelam.

That is what will happen.

Therefore, please resist your temptation to achieve cheap political gain by carrying on such false propaganda".

Rajapaksa’s lotus bud party swept the poll in the Sinhala majority parts of the island winning 225 councils or two-thirds of the 340 councils.

The UNP won only 41 councils while the SLFP was a distant third with just 11 in the first electoral test of the unity government headed by Sirisena.

The LTTE, which led the separatist war for a separate Tamil homeland, was crushed by the Lankan military in 2009 with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.

(PTI)

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that it is the President who is protecting the Prime Minister.

He made this remark in response to a question asked by the media after the Parliamentary session held yesterday.

Rajapaksa also said that they will request the Speaker to hand over the Leader of the Opposition to the group of MPs representing the Joint Opposition.

“Governments come and go. This government will remain for two more Vesak poya days”, Rajapaksa said.

He further said that he is prepared to offer his support to appoint a SLFP MP to the post of Prime Minister and that he will not assist the Prime Ministers of the UNP. According to the way the President is acting now, it is hard to believe that there will be a change in the post of Prime Minister, Rajapaksa added.

The new Tamil television channel of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation commenced its telecast today (20) under the auspices of President Maithripala Sirisena.

The channel has been named the ‘Reconciliation Channel’.

SLRC which commenced operations in 1982, first launched a Tamil channel named ‘Channel Eye’ in 1998 which used one frequency to telecast sports, English and Tamil programs.

The new channel has been launched with the aim to encourage reconciliation in the post-war era. President Sirisena is said to have awarded five frequencies to SLRC for the new channels telecast purposes.

According to SLRC sources transmitters are to installed in Colombo, Hanthana, Kokuvil, Jaffna and the Southeast.

The channel is set to cater the 25 per cent tamil speaking population of the country and will air full time. The event was also graced by Minister of Finance & Mass Media, Mangala Samaraweera.

Attempts to topple government has made the ‘pohottuwa’ go astray says UNP MP, Chandima Gamage.

The MP joining the debate today (19) said the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna represented by the ‘pohottuwa’ (Flower Bud) has now gone completely astray after their failed attempts to topple the government.

“Those elected from the SLPP are those who do not even allow women of the village to be in peace,” he said adding that the JO has become less popular now among the people due to these issues.

 Source : aanduwa.lk

The President had decided to keep many subjects under his control, especially those that come under the purview of economic and agricultural sectors, in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle, sources from the Presidential Secretariat said today.

The sources further say that several institutions under the purview of the Ministry of Mass Media are to be brought under the President.

It is reported that the President has come to the conclusion that the reason for their defeat at the local government elections was due to the inadequate management of the economy as well as the inept management of the agricultural sector.

A cabinet reshuffle will take place on Wednesday (21) according to information received from the Presidential Secretariat.

The President has decided to appoint a new cabinet after resolving the current political issues sources said.

It is reported that if there is a continuation of the national government, a change in the number of non-cabinet and non-cabinet ministers see no change and will only bring about a change in the ministerial portfolios.

However, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution states that when there is no national government, the number of cabinet ministers should be 45 cabinet ministers in 30 cabinet ministers.

Ministers who did not obey President to be axed!

The President has decided to make drastic changes during the cabinet reshuffle and accordingly it will be changed in the fields of Law and Order, Highways, Foreign, Investment Promotion, Agriculture, Urban Development and Mass Media.

The President has summoned the President of the UNP Malik Samarawickrama today for a lengthy discussion in this regard.

However, the internal sources of SLFP say that SLFP ministers who did not support the move to expel Ranil Wickremesinghe from the post of Prime Minister may be axed during this Cabinet reshuffle.

Anunayake of the Ramanna Maha Nikaya, Ven. Girambe Ananda Thera passed away today (20) while receiving treatment at the Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital. The Thera was 80 years old at the time of his death.

According to hospital sources, Ananda Thera has been receiving in-house treatment at the hospital for over nine days prior to his demise.

Last rites of the Thera will be held on Saturday (24) at the Anuradhapura Harischandra Walisinghe stadium at 3 pm.

Following the meeting with the President today, Minister S.B Dissanayake has said that SLFP parliamentarians will remain as one group. According to the Minister, the group has decided to continuously support the President in this instance.

The decision was reached after the group’s meeting with the President today (19) he said.

The SLFP was set to take a final decision if to quit the national government or not after the parliamentary group meeting today. This is despite media reports claiming yesterday that Minister Thilanga Sumathipala had said that the SLFP has made a final decision in this regard and has decided to quit the national government. These claims were later refused by party insiders. However, no exact decision in this regard was announced following the meeting.