Rs.4000 allocation for universities slashed down to Rs.500 million – SB

WEDNESDAY, 27 MARCH 2013 

It is revealed that despite Rs.4000 million had been allocated for education from the last budget, only Rs.500 million is provided by the Treasury. This has been stated by the Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake. Minister Dissanayake accused the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance P.B. Jayasundra of slashing Rs.3500 million from allocations for education.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is the Minister of Finance and Mr. P.B. Jayasundra is the secretary of his ministry.

Minister Dissanayake made the statement regarding allocutions for education participating at a ceremony held to declare open a new building for Wayamba University of Sri Lanka.

Constitutional amendments ready

by W. Siri Ananda -2013-03-27

Recommendations for the amendments to the existing Constitution of 1978 have been drafted by a panel of experts and would soon be presented to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and other political party leaders, Convener of the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) and Chief Incumbent of Naga Viharaya, Kotte, Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera said.

“The recommendations will seek to reintroduce a parliamentary system, which gives power to the people, as well as a people’s elected Prime Minister,” he added.

The recommendations call for the abolishment of the appointment of parliamentarians according to the proportional representation and preferential vote system and propose the reintroduction of the first-past-the-post system, which existed before 1978.

The recommendations were drafted by a Committee headed by well-known Constitutional Lawyer and Former Senior Consultant at the Constitutional Affairs Ministry, Jayampathi Wickremaratne.

Ven. Sobitha Thera said, “All political leaders, including President Rajapaksa, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and leaders of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party, have pledged in the past in their election manifestos that they would introduce a new Constitution to replace the existing one.”