In a snapshot, b

January 3

As 2016 dawned, the National Unity Government was still in conflict with major differences between the UNP and the SLFP and the split within the SLFP itself widening. But on the positive side, plans were being drawn up for a new agreement for the two major parties to work together at least till the Government’s term ends.

January 17

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists work out plans for a new party led by him to contest the local council elections which have still not been held. Mr. Rajapaksa met local council members to work the strategy.

February 7

The Financial Crimes Investigations Division hits the headlines by arresting former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second son, Yoshitha, in connection with financial irregularities over the setting up of the Carlton Sports Network. Some SLFP ministers were angry and wanted the FCID disbanded. But it did not happen. Yoshitha was later given bail.

February 14

There was both good and bad news for the Government during the four-day visit to Sri Lanka by the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein. The climate was much better than what it was during the Rajapaksa regime and when South Africa’s Navi Pillay was the chief of the UNHRC. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe outlined Sri Lanka’s plan to conduct a probe through a Lankan judicial mechanism, but Prince Zeid in an eight-page statement said the Government would need to prove its credibility through performance.

February 21

Our Political Editor and a team of journalists visit the North for a first hand analysis of what is happening. They reported that the face of the North is changing and the region is growing faster than any other. But they also saw the attendant negatives such as the North becoming a hub for Kerala Ganja and liquor consumption rising. Jaffna’s Divisional Military Commander is transferred after a dispute with Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera over the Geneva issue.

April 3

With the Government facing an economic crisis largely because of the billions of dollars of loans to be repaid, crucial talks are held with the International Monetary Fund. They were successful. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister made a vital visit to China to discuss a plan whereby loans were to be swapped with equities in major projects here.

April 24

May Day this year had a political significance. Though the two main parties, the UNP and the SLFP, had formed a national unity government, more than half of the UPFA members had broken away to form the Mahinda Rajapaksa faction or the so-called Joint Opposition. (On May Day the pro-Sirisena faction held its rally in Galle and the pro-Rajapaksa faction in Colombo. Amid widespread speculation about who and how many people would turn up at these rival rallies, the pro-Sirisena rally eventually drew a bigger crowd.) In the week before the rallies, President Sirisena expressed concern that the UNP was going soft on the probes on corruption charges against the Rajapaksa family members and other leaders of the previous regime.

May 15

With the cost of living soaring and the delays continuing in the probes on major corruptions rackets, the Government’s popularity takes a beating. Plans to increase the Value Added Tax to 15 percent cause further turmoil.

May 22

As the controversy continues over the alleged delay in probing corruption charges against VIPs of the former regime, four ministers submitted a Cabinet memorandum asking for, the probe to be expedited. The Ministers were Patali Champika Ranawaka, Rajitha Senaratne, Arjuna Ranatunga and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. President Sirisena preempts the move and says he will give them a confidential briefing, but Minister Senaratne also alleges that some Cabinet moles are leaking information to the Rajapaksa group.

May 29

Amid conflicting and sometimes contradictory reports, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tells the Army high command that any probe on alleged war crimes will be by a domestic judicial mechanism without the involvement of foreign judges. Meanwhile, more practical steps are taken for reconciliation and national unity. A high- powered Office of Missing Persons is to be set up while the armed services returned more private land in the North- East to civilian owners. But the Tamil National Alliance is concerned that the Geneva Resolution regarding the alleged war crimes probe is being watered down.

June 5

Sri Lanka’s image in the international community improves as President Sirisena meets United States President Barack Obama and other G-7 leaders at their summit in Japan.

June 19

As the Government continues to tackle the economic crisis, it is forced to make more borrowing and impose more taxes thus provoking more public concerns. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s 2016 Budget is subjected to revision after revision prompting opposition critics to describe it as a salad.

June 26

President Sirisena again insists that the executive presidency should be abolished. Differences between the UNP and the SLFP on whether the new constitution or electoral reforms should come first. Civil society groups, unhappy over the Government’s failure to fulfil some of its main promises, meet the president to take the issues. Meanwhile, it is revealed that a UNP minister had ordered that STF security be provided to the discredited former monitoring MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardene.

July 3

President Sirisena calls the shots and appoints top economist Indrajit Coomaraswamy as the new governor of the Central Bank. This came amid a continuing controversy over former Governor Arjuna Mahendran in connection with the alleged bond issue involving a company linked to his son-in-law. Premier Wickremesinghe is said to have preferred former Treasury Secretary Charitha Ratwatte as governor, but the PM and senior Minister Malik Samarawickreme were called by the President and told of his decision to appoint Dr. Coomaraswamy.