Tag: politics

SYDNEY, April 10, 2010 (AFP) – Australia’s decision to temporarily block asylum-seekers from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka could face a legal challenge, lawyers said Saturday. On Friday, Canberra announced it would immediately stop taking fresh applications from asylum-seekers from those two countries, as it attempts to thwart people smuggling operations. But the Australian Lawyers Alliance […]

April 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party on Saturday celebrated its landslide victory in the country’s first peacetime parliamentary polls since crushing separatist Tamil rebels, but the opposition cried foul. Government supporters carried national flags as they paraded through the streets and lit firecrackers, despite an official week-long ban on public celebrations. President […]

April 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party claimed victory Friday as results showed a sweeping victory though re-polling in two districts over poll violence and voter intimidation will delay the official result. The ruling party is tipped to get more than 125 seats in the 225 seat legislature though it may be short […]

GENEVA, April 9, 2010 (AFP) – The UN refugee agency revealed on Friday that it is reviewing the handling of Afghan and Sri Lankan refugees after Australia suspended asylum applications from those states. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) declined however to make a “judgment” on Australia’s move to stop accepting new asylum seekers […]

April 9, 2010 (AFP) – Veteran cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya and Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga have won seats in parliament, a local official said Friday. Ranatunga represented the opposition Democratic National Alliance and secured 27,792 votes to enter parliament. He joined politics after retiring from cricket. Jayasuriya contested Thursday’s polls for […]

April 9, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said Friday his party’s resounding parliamentary victory was a vote of confidence in his socialist economic policies. The president, who was not a candidate at Thursday’s vote, said the landslide for his United People’s Freedom Alliance was a vote for his economic and social vision […]

April 9, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party is running well ahead of the fractured opposition, early results showed Friday, in a vote marked by record low turnout and reports of violence and voter intimidation. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance was leading in 21 out of 28 polling divisions declared so far […]

April 9, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party claimed victory Friday in parliamentary polls, as counting showed them well ahead after a ballot marked by record low turnout and reports of voter intimidation. With more than a fifth of ballots counted, President Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had secured 62. 1 percent […]

April 8, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankans were voting Thursday in a parliamentary poll that is widely expected to see President Mahinda Rajapakse’s ruling party march to a comfortable win over the fractured opposition. For many Sri Lankans, it is the first parliamentary election in which they can vote without fear of Tamil Tiger violence […]

April 8, 2010 (AFP) – A shooting incident and reports of intimidation — mostly by ruling party supporters — marred Thursday’s parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, independent election monitors said. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) reported 160 incidents of poll-related violence during the first four hours of balloting across the country. A shoot-out […]

MERAK, April 7, 2010 (AFP) – Indonesia moved Wednesday to end a six-month stand-off with scores of Sri Lankan migrants who have refused to leave a rickety boat after they were intercepted trying to reach Australia. Foreign ministry official Sujatmiko said the 205 migrants camped at the port of Merak, Java island, since October were […]

April 7, 2010 (AFP) – South Asia is no stranger to political dynasties, and Thursday’s parliamentary polls in Sri Lanka could mark President Mahinda Rajapakse’s first step in securing a legacy for his own “first family”. Rajapakse, 64, has campaigned for his eldest son, Namal, who is contesting the election in the family’s home constituency […]