News

TNA splits, new alliance emerges for local polls

Published

2 years ago

January 15, 2023

editor

Three Tamil National Alliance (TNA) partners broke away yesterday to form a new five-party alliance that will contest the upcoming local council elections in the North and East.

The Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), and the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), all of which had contested under the TNA, will be part of the new alliance.

The other two parties in the alliance are the Democratic Crusaders’ Party (DCP), formed by former LTTE cadres, and the Tamil National Party (TNP). The agreement forming the alliance was signed at Thinnaveli in Jaffna yesterday by Suresh Premachandran (EPRLF), Selvam Adaikkalanathan (TELO), Dharmalingam Sithadthan (PLOTE), Sivanandan Navindra (DCP) and N. Srikantha (TNP).

The Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani (TMTK) led by Parliamentarian C.V. Wigneswaran and former Jaffna Mayor M. Manivannan was also involved in the discussions regarding the alliance. However, they walked out of the talks on Friday following a dispute over the logo and the post of the General Secretary of the new alliance.

The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), the main constituent party of the TNA, was not involved in the discussions as it has decided to contest the local government election separately under its house symbol.

Sources said the new alliance plans to field candidates in both the Northern and Eastern provinces at the upcoming local polls. Talks on the logo of the new alliance continued yesterday.

(sundaytimes)

News

Bus associations oppose proposal of 2% fare reduction

Published

33 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

editor

The government’s proposal to reduce bus fares by a 2% effective from July 01 has led to the strong disapproval of bus associations, reports say.

It was also proposed not to revise the minimum fare.

The announcement was made during a meeting between officials of the Transport Ministry and representatives of private bus associations to discuss the annual bus fare revision, scheduled for July 01.

News

UN Rights chief meets families of missing persons

Published

39 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

editor

A group of activists and families of missing persons handed over letters and memorandums to the visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in Trincomalee today (June 25).

UN Human Rights Spokesperson – Jeremy Laurence, who is accompanying the High Commissioner, said while in Trincomalee that Mr. Volker Turk expressed sorrow and solidarity with the families of the disappeared.

Meanwhile, a peaceful demonstration was also held in Trincomalee during this visit, where a group of activists and victims of disappearances was seen holding placards and banners.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will visit Kandy before concluding his official visit to Sri Lanka tomorrow (June 26) after a special press briefing in Colombo.

News

200 new super luxury buses to be procured for expressways

Published

44 minutes ago

June 25, 2025

editor

There is an urgent need to introduce new buses to the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) bus fleet, as nearly 52% of the regular bus fleet of the Sri Lanka Transport Board and nearly 94% of the luxury bus fleet have exceeded the economic life span.

As to the insufficient buses to meet the passenger demand on the expressway, the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) is currently operating 61 luxury buses belonging to the private sector on a profit-sharing basis.

Therefore, the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has decided to purchase 200 new super-luxury buses by using their own funds.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways, Port and Civil Aviation to purchase 29 super luxury buses through the financially capable depots and to purchase the remaining buses by making a down payment using SLTB funds and the balance to be paid in monthly instalments over a period of 5 years.