Author: lbostgadmin
Deadlock
Talks between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe ended in an impasse with both parties expected to continue discussions next week.Locked in a bitter power battle, both parties met behind closed-doors for just under three hours on Wednesday and sources said neither side showed signs of backing down.rn rnHowever, a joint statement is […]
Porn & Politics
In the heat of the moment, when passions raged and reached a climax over the Presidents swift move, PA parliamentarian Dr. Sarath Amunugama says her actions were driven by lquote sex and the lquote Sinhalese culture.Amunugama told journalists on Wednesday that UNF stalwarts were planning a late night adult entertainment belt or a separate lquote […]
Presidential Guarantee
Moves of a Nov. 19 budget re-surfaced, as President Chandrika Kumaratunga met with representatives from multilateral donor agencies on Wednesday, to assure her full support for ongoing economic reforms.Representatives were assured that Parliament would re-open and the budget presented on time, to ensure donor commitments are met, Presidents Senior Advisor, Mano Tittawella told Lanka Business […]
Playing Ball
Sri Lanka Telecom Chairman, Thilanga Sumathipala expects commercial talks with Lanka Bell to kick off in four weeks, when the ongoingtechnical and financial due diligence process ends.rnSumathipala told Lanka Business Online that the cumbersome process of checking physical infrastructure involved in a technical due diligence was taking time. He expects SLT engineers now on the […]
Money Matters
Sri Lankas ruling party MPs have been offered up to four million dollars in cash and foreign scholarships to defect to the presidents party, a government minister said TuesdaySeven MPs from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes United National Party (UNP) had been approached by President Chandrika Kumaratungas loyalists with the cash offer to cross the floor […]
No show
Most of the US$ 4.5 bn pledged in aid as well as a second US$ 80 mn tranche from the IMF is due in December, tied to conditions in the proposed budget.rn rnPlans to present the budget in Parliament on November 12 were scuttled when the President suspended parliament last week.rn rnldblquote Representatives of the […]
New Master
The telecom watchdog has been taken over by President Chandrika Kumaratunga as part of her lquote constitutional coup, effectively putting the whole industry in disarray. President Kumaratunga last week tookover the posts of Defence, Interior and Media, but said she had left the telecommunications ministry with the government.rn rnldblquote A subsequent check on the gazette […]
Testing 123
During its two month trial period, the cellular operator will give free outgoing and incoming calls to customers who sign up on its new GSM network. rn rnOfficials expect the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) to make up its mind by January 2004. rn rnKey areas requiring approval include incoming and outgoing tariffs and monthly rentals.rn […]
Short Crop
The Central Bank has cut its domestic borrowing programme for Nov. by Rs. 2 bn, as the Treasury is expecting some dollar funds to come in.The bank was earlier planning to raise Rs. 2 bn through a four-year issue on Thursday, with settlement on Nov. 17.rn rnldblquote The Treasury has informed us that around US$ […]
Coup Backfires
The Sri Lankan presidents plan to oust her archrival prime minister through a constitutional maneuver may have backfired and caused new rifts within her ranks, politicians and analysts say. A member of Kumaratungas coalition Peoples Alliance (PA) said she had failed to muster defections from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes party to ldblquote push through a […]
Snap Poll?
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told his cabinet Monday that he was ready to face a snap election to end a bitter stand-off with a hostile president, a government spokesman said.The government was prepared for an election, four years ahead of schedule, to get over the political impasse after President Chandrika Kumaratunga sacked three […]
Talks Delayed
Peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels have been postponed until the political crisis in Sri Lanka is resolved, the governments chief peace negotiator G.L. Peiris said Monday.“Given everything that has happened in the past few days, it is logical to assume that we have to resolve the threshold issue before […]