Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Friday (September 27, 2024) appointed Senior Deputy Inspector General Priyantha Weerasuriya as the acting police chief, replacing Deshabandu Tennakoon who was suspended by the Supreme Court in July.

The move comes after a three-member bench of the apex court issued an order that will remain in effect until the completion of hearings on nine fundamental rights petitions filed against Mr. Tennakoon.

Also read | A break from the past, a new beginning in Sri Lanka

Mr. Tennakoon’s suspension is linked to a 2011 incident where he was found guilty of violating an individual’s fundamental rights through torture while in custody. Despite the Supreme Court’s directive for disciplinary action, Tennakoon was appointed police chief by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe in February, with approval from the Constitutional Council.

The Supreme Court on July 24 suspended Mr. Tennakoon from serving his office and suggested an acting appointment be made. However, Mr. Wickremesinghe’s government refused to act on the court order, citing it as an impediment to parliamentary powers.

Prior to his appointment as the acting police chief, Mr. Weerasuriya served as the Senior DIG in charge of the North Central Province, a position he has held since March 2024.

He has served in the police for 36 years and is the the first officer in the police’s 158-year history to rise from the rank of a Police Constable to IGP, according to EconomyNext news portal.

He is a law graduate from the University of Colombo and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resource Management.

He had served as the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of Crime and Traffic, as well as the Director of Police Logistics. He has also participated in United Nations peacekeeping missions in East Timor and Haiti.

This handout photograph taken on September 25, 2024, and released by Sri Lanka’s President Office shows the country’s newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, as he addresses the nation in Colombo. Sri Lanka’s new president called on September 25, for restarting talks with the IMF “immediately”
| Photo Credit: AFP

Sri Lanka will swiftly begin talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to take its ongoing programme forward and expedite negotiations with its external creditors for debt relief, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.

The message, his first televised address to the nation, was aired Wednesday (September 25, 2024) evening.  “The change we seek involves many steps that will take time. However, achieving stability and confidence in the current economy is crucial,” Mr. Dissanayake said, days after he won a crucial national election held two years after the island nation went bankrupt.

Also read: Sri Lankan polls: economy takes centre stage | Explained

While sections have voiced concern over the leftist leader’s possible stance on the country’s ongoing IMF programme, Mr. Dissanayake’s address made clear — as did his poll manifesto — that his government, of the National People’s Power [NPP] alliance, would not steer away from the IMF-led course of economic recovery. All the same, the NPP has said it would renegotiate certain elements of the Fund’s package, especially its austerity measures that ordinary Sri Lankans are struggling to cope with, at a time when high living costs persist, and real incomes have fallen.

Reviewing its Sri Lanka programme in August, the IMF said Sri Lanka’s “knife-edged” recovery was at a critical juncture. “Sustaining the reform momentum and ensuring timely implementation of all program commitments are critical to cement the hard-won economic progress to date and put the economy on a firm footing,” it noted. Following Mr. Dissanayake’s victory in the September 21 presidential election, the Fund said it looked forward to working with his government.

Further, Mr. Dissanayake said in his address that the country needed a Parliament that “accurately reflects” the will of the people. “The existing Parliament does not represent that will. Therefore, I took the step yesterday to dissolve it. A Cabinet was appointed in line with our parliamentary representation,” he said. On Wednesday, Mr. Dissanayake also appointed new Governors to the island’s provinces, which are under Governors’ rule since the provincial councils have remained inactive for over five years.