The Sri Lankan government has expressed concern over a recent Memorandum of understanding, signed between the US Embassy in Colombo and the Trincomalee Urban Council, to establish an ‘American Corner’, a public information centre.

Unnamed officials said the External Affairs Ministry had no knowledge of this and did not authorise the MoU, reported the DailyMirror.

Two American corners already exist in Jaffna and Kandy.

According to a fact sheet of the US embassy, “The host institution, the Urban Council, plans to provide support for the maintenance and operation of the Corner. The American Corner will provide access to current and reliable information about the United States via book collections, the internet and through of variety of events such as public readings, films, speaker programs, workshops, meetings and exhibits. Products and services will include books and multimedia collections, periodicals and databases, hi-speed internet access, and cultural and educational programs.”

Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has interrogated members of the German NGO the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, for allegedly working beyond its legal mandate.

The NGO, which has been working on the island since 1974, has had their local representative Sagarika Delgoda interrogated by CID.

According to ColomboPage,

“The state-run ITN accused Ms. Delgoda of being engaged in a conspiracy for several years to overthrow the present government and set up a UNP government loyal to the West and the Tamil Diaspora.”

See the full report from ColomboPage here.

Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse has warned the government of the consequences in case the TNA wins the Northern Provincial Council polls, due to be held later this year.

"As the Secretary, Ministry of Defence, my responsibility is to warn the government of the grave repercussions of empowering a hostile provincial administration with land and police powers. Police powers in the hands of those still pursuing a separatist agenda can pose a severe threat to national security,” the president’s brother said, according to The Island.

"Having paid a heavy price in the battlefield to eradicate the LTTE, it would be foolish on our part to create conditions for a new war. I cannot impose my will on the political establishment. But, I intend to tell those who still consider the 13th Amendment as panacea for all our ills, it’ll be the primary cause for another conflict," he said.

A ruling government coalition party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), have submitted a motion proposing a 19th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution, earlier on Thursday.

The proposal “aims primarily to repeal the 13th amendment”, which was labelled in the motion as a “threat to the independence, sovereignty, unity and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka”.

The JHU, led by Sinhala Buddhist monks, went on to deem the 13th amendment “unconstitutional and unlawful”, adding to the chorus of Sinhala voices against it. The group also added that a Tamil translation would be availabke, but noted,

"In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail."

Early in 2012, India’s then foreign affairs minister, SM Krishna visited the island stating India was “looking forward to the implementation of the Article 13.” See the JHU’s response to that visit in our earlier post:

JHU: 'India is trying to exploit Sri Lanka's vulnerable position’ (22 January 2012)
 

Amidst discontent over Sri Lanka's hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Sri lanka will launch a campaign to ‘promote’ the Colombo ahead of the meeting.

A multifaceted initiative was announced, with Media Ministry Secretary, Charitha Herath, given leadership of a publicity team in Sri Lanka, whilst Sri Lankan High Commission missions overseas were instructed to launch individual campaigns.

Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunatilaka Amunugama said that members of the government will also attend a meeting to be held at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London this week.

The Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry reiterated to his government that CHOGM 2013 will be an opportunity to showcase the post-war developments and the vast economic opportunities available in the country.

See below for previous Sri Lankan attempts of lobbying the Commonwealth:                  

‘Sri Lanka lobbies the Commonwealth…’  (26 April 2013)

The Director General of the Commonwealth Business Council, Mr Peter Callaghan, met Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs, G.L Peiris, for discussions relating to the arrangements for the Business Forum, a side-line event that will be held at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The Ministry of External Affairs has claimed that the Commonwealth Business Council in London is collaborating actively with the Minister of External Affairs to enhance the inflow of investment into Sri Lanka, as a result of the Business Forum.

The latest Commonwealth initiative, comes amidst strong concerns about the holding of CHOGM in Sri Lanka.

See below:

'Canadian PM – ‘deeply troubled’ by SL hosting CHOGM' (25 Apr 2013) 

‘The Commonwealth faces a clear choice on Sri Lanka’  (24 Apr 2013)

A government document has revealed that the China Development Bank is to increase its lending to Sri Lanka development projects, now totalling to more than US$1.4 billion.

The document outlines that US$300 million of the loan will be spent on developing roads and US$200 million on water supply projects, with the rest going to the national business school.

This follows on from previous funding of road development and irrigation projects, as wel as the $1.5 billion loan for the construction of a port and $209 million loan for the construction of an airport, both in Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's hometown of Hambantota.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is set to visit China next week for the first time since Chinese President Xi Jinping came into power.

See the report from Reuters here.

Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department has questioned the Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni, Sivasakthi Anandan, over Saturday’s memorial event in Vavuniya.

Anandan said he was questioned as to why he organised the commemoration event when he reported to the CID office in Colombo, accompanied by fellow MPs MA Sumanthiran and Suresh Premachandran, BBC Sinhala reported.