Prøve GULL - Gratis
NPP bags CMC in secret vote; SJB, allies disappointed with bureaucratic action
The Island
|June 17, 2025
National People's Power (NPP) councillor Vraie Cally Balthazaar yesterday (16) won a controversial secret vote to secure the mayoral seat at the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC).
She received 61 votes while Riza Zarook, fielded by the SJB-led Opposition, obtained 54 votes.
Two votes were rejected. The CMC consists of 117 members and the winner needs to secure at least 59 votes. At the 6 May Local Government elections, the NPP won 48 seats in the CMC while the SJB had to settle for 29.
At the onset of yesterday's proceedings, both the SJB and UNP demanded that an open vote should take place while the NPP asked for a secret vote. However, after noisy haggling over the issue for 30 to 40 minutes suddenly some Opposition members, and the NPP, declared they had reached consensus for a secret vote though some were heard insisting on an open vote.
Denne historien er fra June 17, 2025-utgaven av The Island.
Abonner på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av kuraterte premiumhistorier og over 9000 magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
FLERE HISTORIER FRA The Island
The Island
AI is only as good as the people wielding it
Beyond the now familiar generative AI chatbots, the future of AI more broadly remains unknown.
1 min
October 10, 2025

The Island
Starmer meets Modi on his first visit to India
(BBC) British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his first visit to the country.
2 mins
October 10, 2025
The Island
29 mobile phones recovered from three wards of Boossa High Security prison
Twenty-nine mobile phones were taken into custody yesterday from wards A, C, and D of the Boossa High-Security Prison, which houses some of the country’s most dangerous criminals.
1 min
October 10, 2025
The Island
Minister Herath: SL refrained from calling for vote at UNHRC to save funds
Sri Lanka refrained from calling for a vote at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as it did not want to waste public funds on a vote it was bound to lose, Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament yesterday.
1 min
October 10, 2025
The Island
The “intelligence” of generative AI is seriously limited
There is little evidence that a superintelligent AI capable of wreaking global devastation is coming any time soon.
1 min
October 10, 2025
The Island
13 bank accounts of Backhoe Saman's wife and her close associates frozen
The CID informed the Colombo Magistrate's Court yesterday (9) that 13 bank accounts belonging to Shadhika Lakshani, the wife of Backhoe Saman, who is currently in remand custody, and her close associates had been frozen.
1 min
October 10, 2025
The Island
Two, including retired Colonel arrested over massive foreign employment scam
Two individuals linked to a large-scale foreign employment scam involving nearly Rs. 200 million have been arrested by the Special Investigations Unit of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).
1 min
October 10, 2025
The Island
Ravi S. issues denial
The Police Media Division yesterday said that a false news report is circulating on social media claiming that retired SDIG Ravi Seneviratne, the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, told the Parliamentary High Posts Committee that the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks had been identified and that India was behind it.
1 min
October 10, 2025
The Island
Kariapper: "Main conspirator behind Easter Sunday carnage identified"
SLMC MP Nizam Kariapper yesterday said that Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, retired SDIG Ravi Seneviratne, had disclosed that the main conspirator behind the 2019 was identified.
1 min
October 10, 2025
The Island
Leading AI models are rapidly gaining general-purpose capabilities
I strongly believe that artificial intelligence poses an existential threat.
1 min
October 10, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size