As Sri Lanka awaits the judicial decision on the controversial 22nd Amendment, expected this week, the Opposition is rallying to protest the amendment. However, all is not going according to plan, it is learnt.
The Nidahas Meheyum Madhyasthanaya (Independent Operations Centre), a group composed of several political activists and lawyers, aims for collective action to defeat the 22nd Amendment Bill in Parliament. The group, led by Maithri Gunaratne, Shiral Lakthilaka, Ravi Kumudesh, and others, held meetings with Opposition parties last week with the intention of creating a collective push against the bill. Key Opposition parties dispatched their general secretaries and senior officials for the talks, which were held at a prominent hotel in Colombo.
The Independent Operations Centre had drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining collective resistance against the 22nd Amendment, which several Opposition parties had signed eagerly.
However, the plan to discuss a joint protest against the 22nd Amendment had not drawn the political heavyweights which the centre had planned for. It proceeded to discuss plans to stage a large-scale protest near the Parliament Junction on Thursday (24), when the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the constitutionality of the proposed 22nd Amendment is to be tabled in Parliament.
Sources close to the discussions told The Sunday Morning that while plans were being drafted, an invitation sent to Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa to join the talks had been turned down. While several prominent figures of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) had joined the discussions, the absence of the Opposition Leader had raised eyebrows.
Later in the week, it is learnt that Premadasa had directed some SJB organisers to plan a protest against the 22nd Amendment at the same location, prompting confusion at the Independent Operations Centre about why the Opposition Leader had not joined their collective efforts and was instead going ahead with an SJB-led protest.
JR’s birthday
Meanwhile, former President J.R. Jayewardene’s 120th birth anniversary was celebrated at a function at the National Library premises in Colombo, organised by the Opposition-affiliated D.S. Senanayake Political Academy. It is learnt that former Member of Parliament Buddhika Pathirana from the organisation had extended an invitation to Opposition Leader Premadasa, who attended the function and used the opportunity to hold a discussion with former President and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.
It is also learnt that the UNP old guard, now dispersed between the party and the Premadasa-led SJB, had opted to take a back seat during the function, giving the stage and prominence to youth in the Opposition parties to discuss JR’s policies and legacy. Opposition politicians, including SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and Chief Opposition Whip Gayantha Karunatilleka, had joined the conversation.
However, Wickremesinghe and others had made themselves available to answer questions raised by the youth members and share their experiences with them. The former President had told the gathering that JR’s 17-year-long ‘revolution’ had transformed Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, despite invitations sent to media outlets for coverage of the event, journalists and photographers who attended the function were informed that the coverage would be carried out by Opposition media units and that the press release and visuals would be shared later.
Concerns about state of defence, security
It is learnt that following the JR anniversary event in Colombo, a group of senior UNP members had met Wickremesinghe at the latter’s Flower Road office and discussed the prevailing situation related to national security and the armed forces.
Sources said that Wickremesinghe had expressed dismay over the Secretary of Defence travelling to Canada to join a meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military heads, which he had claimed was unprecedented and a departure from Sri Lanka’s expressed foreign policy. Furthermore, questions had been raised over why a Secretary to the Ministry of Defence had sat down with NATO chiefs of defence staff, which he had also said was not a fitting scenario for protocol or defence diplomacy.
It is learnt that Wickremesinghe had also echoed concerns raised by some Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) members about the Government’s rush to dismantle the office of Chief of the Defence Staff, which the Opposition considers a move to weaken the armed forces.
Namal happy with turnout
SLPP National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa, despite being in remand custody, had expressed his satisfaction about the turnout for the party rally held in Anuradhapura on 12 September.
It is learnt that, prior to his arrest, Namal had briefed SLPP members D.V. Chanaka, Sagara Kariyawasam, and Johnston Fernando about how he wanted the rally organised. The three SLPP heavyweights had arrived in Anuradhapura ahead of the meeting and called in favours for party supporters and loyalists to arrange the rally, which former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) attended.
Janaka Thissa Kuttiarachchi, who was addressing the gathering when MR arrived on stage, announced his presence as the “arrival of the lion”. The SLPP figures on stage had encouraged their supporters to cheer loudly so as to have their voices heard in Polonnaruwa, where the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) was holding its rally.
It is learnt that UNP Leader Wickremesinghe had informed the SLPP organisers to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and post an image of Namal when his speech was read at the rally; however, the organisers had failed to carry out the plan.
Later in the week, when Namal was being brought to appear before courts in a Prisons Department bus, a few of his fellow inmates who had joined the ride had shouted that they were part of the presidential motorcade travelling with the future president, which had left Namal beaming.
Diplomatic meetings, visits and arrivals
Last week, Wickremesinghe had also met with the new Chinese Ambassador, who recently arrived in Sri Lanka and has been quick to pick up Chinese engagement with local politicians and officials.
Wei Huaxiang, the top Chinese diplomat in Colombo, also met Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara, with whom he had discussed the potential use of Chinese technology and AI tools in the justice sector. The Ambassador also met Minister of Women and Child Affairs Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Agriculture K.D. Lalkantha, and Deputy Minister of Defence Maj. Gen. (Retd) Aruna Jayasekara.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy last week announced that David Myers has taken over duties as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Colombo. Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Akio Isomata visited Nuwara Eliya last week and handed over a number of transitional shelters built with Japanese funding for those displaced by Cyclone Ditwah. A rare visit by a German parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka also concluded last week, with a focus on maritime cooperation and trade.
A delegation from the Australian High Commission visited Matale to assess the activities of entrepreneurs who had benefited from an Australian skills development programme designed to improve women- and youth-led entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, the Australian mission in Colombo had also arranged for a group of officials to join a team of Indian Ocean policymakers on a visit to Australian institutions in order to meet policymakers, practitioners, and academics involved in maritime security cooperation.
President’s change in practice
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, during a visit to Mullaitivu last week, broke with established practice by instructing that ministers of previous governments who had been involved in the project he was about to launch be invited to the opening ceremony.
Dissanayake was in the region to open a medical ward complex at the Mullaitivu Hospital built with funding from the Indian Government.
It was observed that politicians from all parties in the area had also been invited to the ceremony and given an opportunity to join the celebrations. During his address, the President also revealed plans to expand the number of universities in the country and improve higher education facilities for the public.
Army contingent off to Russia
A contingent of 75 Sri Lanka Army personnel departed for Russia last week to take part in the second Wolverine Path bilateral military exercise, which is focused on counter-terrorism tactics, it is learnt.
A Russian Air Force Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft arrived at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport on Wednesday (16) to fly the Sri Lankan contingent to its training ground at the 249th Sergeyevsky Combined Arms Training School – a Russian military training facility located in the Primorsky Krai region of Russia’s Eastern Military District.
Wolverine Path is the first bilateral training exercise between the Russian and Sri Lankan armies. Recently, a detachment of marines from the Sri Lanka Navy travelled to Hawaii and took part in one of the world’s largest multilateral military exercises – Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2026.