Sri Lankan Parliament set to elect new president in three-cornered contest
Colombo, Jul 20 (PTI) The Sri Lankan Parliament is all set to elect the successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a three-way presidential contest on Wednesday, following a high-voltage political drama which saw the former president fleeing the country and resigning after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.
Parliament is scheduled to convene at 10:00 am to elect the new president.
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dullas Alahapperuma, a dissident ruling party MP backed by the main opposition, and leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake were proposed by lawmakers on Tuesday as the three candidates for the presidential election.
A candidate has to cross the magical figure of 113 in the 225-member House to win the election.
Alahapperuma's name was proposed by the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and Member of Parliament G L Peiris seconded it. Wickremesinghe's name was proposed by the Leader of the House and minister Dinesh Gunawardena and MP Manusha Nanayakkara seconded it. Dissanayake's name was proposed by MP Vijitha Herath and MP Harini Amarasuriya seconded it.
Wickremesinghe, 73, is seen as the frontrunner as he has the backing of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
Wickremesinghe faces a serious challenge from 63-year-old Alahapperuma, who is backed by the main opposition.
This is for the first time in 44 years that Sri Lanka's Parliament will directly elect a president. Presidential elections in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2019 had elected them by popular vote.
The only previous occasion when the presidency became vacant mid-term was in 1993 when president Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated. DB Wijetunga was unanimously endorsed by Parliament to run the balance of Premadasa's term.
The new president elected on Wednesday will serve the remaining tenure of Rajapaksa till November 2024.
After the election, Parliament will convene again on July 27.
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Gujarat ATS nabs labourer for providing information on Coast Guard ships to Pak agent
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Friday arrested a labourer for allegedly sharing sensitive information regarding the movement of Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships with a Pakistani agent, said a police official.
Dipesh Gohel, who worked as a welder-cum-labourer at Okha jetty in the coastal Devbhumi Dwarka district, shared sensitive information about ICG ships coming to the jetty with a Pakistan-based woman for a payment of Rs 200 per day, said Superintendent of Police (ATS) K Siddharth.
He has been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against the government under sections 61 and 147 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the SP told reporters.
The ATS had been keeping a close watch on Gohel after receiving a tip-off that the labourer was in touch with an agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI or an Army officer. Technical surveillance mounted after the tip-off established that phone calls and messages to Gohel emanated from Pakistan, he said.
"For the past three years, Gohel has been employed by a contractor who repairs Coast Guard vessels at Okha jetty. Gohel came in contact with a woman named Sahima on Facebook nearly seven months ago. The woman then started talking to him on WhatsApp," informed Siddharth.
The woman, who told Gohel that she works for the Pakistan Navy, offered to pay Rs 200 per day if he shares names and numbers of Coast Guard ships arriving at the jetty and their movement, said the police officer.
"Despite knowing that it was illegal, Gohel agreed and started sharing such sensitive information," said the SP.
Since Gohel does not have a bank account of his own, he gave account details of three of his friends. They all received Rs 42,000 in total through UPI during the last seven months from the woman. Gohel used to take cash from his friends against those deposits, said the IPS officer.
