By Usman Khan

On Wednesday 20^th July acting President won the Sri Lankan Presidential election with a impressive majority against his opponents. In the election held in the Sri Lankan parliament, with its 225 members as the voters, the acting president got 134 of the 219 valid votes a recent SLPP rebel got 82 and the other got three. Voting was held by secret ballot permitted members to vote liberally.

On June 14, the post of President had been vacant since the former President resigned having falling from grace. On July 9, pressurize by a violent agitation former president fled the country to Singapore via Maldives and resigned from Singapore by email on July 14.

As per the constitution, the incumbent Prime Minister started office as Interim President and then as acting President after the former president quitted. Again, as per the law the parliament Speaker asked parliament to elect a President from between its members. The new president will be Sri Lankan President till November 2024 when former president term would have ended in the normal course.

The PM was supported by the single largest party in parliament, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), an outfit of the Rajapaksa clan. The combined opposition led by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) withdrew from the contest at the last moment and pledged support to, a recent SLPP rebel who was expected to divide the SLPP.

However, the opposition candidate failed to split the SLPP, even he was supported by the “chairman” of the party G.L.Peiris. The SLPP had 145 members out of a total House membership of 225. Out of this, a an ample number would have voted for the party candidate the new president as without those votes would not have got 134. This annihilates the pre-poll propaganda that SLPP MPs would desert the party because they feared the wrath of public agitators who had burnt many SLPP MPs’ houses and Prime Minister House.

The agitators who drove former president out had threatened to re-launch the agitation a candidate of the former president party won the election. However, no anxiety took place when the PM won. On July 19, trade unions had called for a general strike to prevent nominations being filed. But the call was ignored and all public services functioned.

The president called the extremists in the Aragalaya fascists who were demanding the resignation of all 225 MPs and a general election to elect a government which would follow their dictates.

The lack of response to the call for agitation was partly due to the fact that the Chief of Defense Staff had warned that disruptors and violent elements would have to bear the responsibility for their misdeeds. The peaceful supporters of the Aragalaya, who were the majority, stayed away, thus isolating the violent elements led by the ultra-leftist Frontline Socialist Party (FSP).

If there was violence on May 9 and July 9, it was mainly happened because the State machinery had collapsed. The then Head of State and Government of former president had lost his senses and failed to activate the law and order machinery. In the absence of orders, the men in uniform were mere spectators, for the most of the time.

The opposition candidates on the other hand, had promised the “Aragalaya” activists that they would go by their agenda, even though the more vocal section had put forth radical left and anti-IMF demands which cannot be implemented by any government.

On Tuesday, it was described that many members of the opposition had begun to feel that due to chaotic economic situation in Sri Lanka, the country needed a stable government under a firm leader who should be in a position to peacefully negotiate with the IMF and the international community for emergency forex injection and debt restructuring.

The domestic supply situation had also improved in the past few days with ships with fuel and cooking gas was to starting to arrive began to the streamlining the distribution system. As acting President, the PM had imposed a State of Emergency to keep materials flowing. That worked, giving confidence to a number of MPs who wanted a government which would work with single-minded decentralization.

After being elected, the incumbent president requested to the opposition to join to steer the country out of the economy disaster. Therefore, all the political stakeholder should work together to pull Sri Lanka out of the crisis. As President and Commander in Chief of the armed forces, he also inspected troops on Wednesday. He swore-in on Thursday in parliament, an institution to which he has been passionately devoted for decades.

WASHINGTON, 26 July 2022, (TON): The US has pledged $50 million to strengthen Egypt’s food security and help the country offset the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

US President Joe Biden made the pledge during a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Subject to approval by the US Congress, the $50 million in funding will, among other things, support Egypt’s smallholder farmers, according to the US Embassy in Cairo.

Nicole Shampaine, US chargé d’affaires in Cairo, said “building on more than 40 years of partnership and over $1.4 billion in US assistance to Egypt’s agricultural sector, the US government stands in solidarity with the people of Egypt at this crucial moment.”

CAIRO, 26 July 2022, (TON): A Jordanian delegation including Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi was received by his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.

The two sides agreed to prepare and activate a joint plan for cooperation in the field of food security, and to start implementing it within a month in partnership with the private sector in both countries, according to Jordan’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply.

Ahmed Hafez, spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, said the meeting was attended by the ministries of finance, transportation, trade and industry.

Yousef Al-Shamali, Jordan’s minister of industry and trade, discussed with his Egyptian counterpart Ali Al-Maselhi in Cairo mechanisms to enhance cooperation in food security.

WASHINGTON, 26 July 2022, (TON): US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking is traveling to the capitals of Saudi Arabia and Jordan to continue diplomatic efforts in support of the truce in Yemen.

US State Department said in a statement “the trip, starting follows US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Jeddah during which Yemen figured prominently in discussions.”

The statement said “in close coordination with the UN special envoy and our regional and Yemeni partners, special envoy Lenderking will continue our efforts to help advance peace.”

The truce in Yemen first came into effect in April and was then extended for a two-month period in June. It ends on August 2 and the international community is keen for it to be extended.

WASHINGTON, 26 July 2022, (TON): US Army Apache attack helicopters based in South Korea are holding live-fire drills with rockets and guns for the first time since 2019, as the allies step up military exercises amid tension with North Korea.

Training resumed at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex just south of the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone along the border, after having been canceled in recent years when those living nearby complained about noise and safety concerns.

Over the past week, AH-64E v6 Apache helicopters engaged in certification drills, video images and photographs released by the US 2nd Infantry Division showed.

The division said on Twitter “crews are qualifying during both day and night on the AGM-114 Hellfire missile, Hydra 70 rocket and 30mm canon.”

BEIJING, 26 July 2022, (TON): A foreign ministry spokesman said “China confirmed that it had delivered sterner warnings to US officials about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan, as first reported by the Financial Times.”

Spokesman Zhao Lijian “the Chinese side has made it clear to the US on many occasions that it is firmly opposed to Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. We are fully prepared.”

He added “if the US goes its own way, China will certainly take firm and forceful measures to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the United States should be held responsible for any serious consequences.”

KYIV, 26 July 2022, (TON): Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said “Ukrainian forces have destroyed 50 Russian ammunition depots using US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems in the war with Russia.”

He said in televised comments “this cuts their (Russian) logistical chains and takes away their ability to conduct active fighting and cover our armed forces with heavy shelling.”

Reuters could not independently verify Reznikov’s remarks about the use of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

KYIV, 26 July 2022, (TON): Kyiv expects the first grain deliveries under a UN-brokered deal to leave Ukrainian ports this week, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister said Monday, despite Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, who led Ukraine’s delegation at grain talks in Turkey, told a press conference “we expect the agreement to start working in the coming days.”

He added “we are preparing for everything to start this week.”

Kubrakov also highlighted the importance of security following a strike on the port of Odessa, one of the three export hubs designated in the agreement.

Kubrakov said “our position is very simple. We signed an agreement with the UN and Turkey. If the sides guarantee security, the agreement will work. If they do not, it will not work.”

CAIRO, 26 July 2022, (TON): In a speech at the Arab League in Cairo, Russia’s foreign minister praised member states’ balanced, just and responsible position on his country’s conflict with Ukraine.

Sergey Lavrov also emphasized Russia’s determination to deepen cooperation and trade with Arab states.

Regarding Ukraine, he said “NATO has no right to expand its security at the expense of others, especially Russia.”

Lavrov denied that the global food crisis was caused by the conflict, instead blaming the coronavirus pandemic, drought, and Western sanctions on Russian food, fertilizer and grain.

KYIV, 26 July 2022, (TON): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Europe to retaliate against Russia’s gas war by boosting its sanctions against Moscow.

Zelensky said “today we heard new gas threats to Europe. This is an open gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe.”

Russia’s state-owned energy giant said it will cut daily gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline to 33 million cubic meters a day about 20 percent of the pipeline’s capacity.

It said “it was halting the operation of one of the last two operating turbines due to the technical condition of the engine.

The German government said there was no technical justification for Gazprom’s announcement.