Provincial Council elections held in North, North-Western and Central Province; Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wins in North; United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) wins in North-Western & Central Province; President Rajapaksa leaves for UNGA summit; Chin
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    • (SEPTEMBER 16-22)

    According to reports, provincial council elections were held in the Northern, North-Western and Central Province of Sri Lanka on September 21, 2013. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has won the first ever provincial council elections in Northern Province. The party won all five districts in the Province and secured 30 of the 38 seats for the newly formed Council. The UPFA has secured seven seats and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) got one seat in the Council. In North Western Province, The UPFA won 34, UNP secured 12 seats, The Democratic Party won 3 seats, the SLMC 2 and JVP secured 1 seat out of 50 seats. The UPFA also secured a sweeping victory in the elections to the Central Provincial Council. The UPFA won 36 out of the total 56 seats, the UNP won 16 seats while the Democratic Party and CWC secured 2 seats each. The UCPF and SLMC managed to win just 1 seat each in the Central Provincial Council. 1

    Reports noted that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, along with First Lady Shiranthi Wickramasinghe Rajapaksa, left on a five-day visit to New York during which he will address the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), taking place at the UN headquarters in New York City. The Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Mr. Dullas Alahapperuma, Monitoring MP of the Ministry of External Affairs Sajin De Vaas Gunawardene, Member of Parliament Mr. Lohan Ratwatte and Secretary to the President Mr. Lalith Weeratunga are accompanying President Rajapaksa on the visit. 2

    In other developments, according to reports, for the first time in Asia, China will sign a Free Trade Agreement with Sri Lanka. This would be implemented from November this year. Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that this FTA would allow selected Sri Lankan items to be exported to China on 100% zero duty. 3

    Reports noted that Sri Lanka's economy grew by 6.8 percent in the second quarter of 2013. According to Department of Census and Statistics, the industry sector grew by 10.1 percent and services by 6.6 percent while agriculture sector shrunk by 1.1 percent. In agriculture, tea had contracted 0.5 percent, rubber had grown 2.0 percent, coconut had shrunk 25.4 percent and paddy was 2.1 percent. 4

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