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Rajapaksa gives immediate facelift to Embilipitiya fair It has been a gruelling schedule for President Mahinda Rajapaksa as he campaigned for the September 8 provincial council elections in the North Central, Eastern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces. When it came to a rally in Ratnapura, large crowds had gathered at the Sivali Grounds but Rajapaksa had not [...]
The necessary evil and the lesser evil
My Dear Voter, I thought I must write to you as I feel sorry for you because you have been asked to go to the polling booth once more if you happen to live in the North Central, Sabaragamuwa or Eastern provinces — even though you may not be really keen to elect another set [...]
Dictators are not immune from justice processes
Dictators who believe that they are immune from being brought to justice for the crimes that they commit should take a long, hard look at what is happening around us in the wider global community. And let me add a caveat right at the start. This is not a precursor to a discussion on the [...]
Maldives Commission Report – will it bring calm or storm?
It was just a week ago that Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Waheed was in Colombo, meeting diplomats, businesspeople and the media on a mission to strengthen the existing friendly relations between Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The visit came just days ahead of the release of a report by a commission appointed to investigate the [...]
People left behind: How inclusive is inclusive growth?
Poverty amidst growth is a much debated issue these days. The poverty paradigm has shifted from poverty reduction to inclusive growth as the process of rapid economic growth has left out large numbers of people from meaningful participation in their societies. Inclusive growth is concerned not merely with income inequality, but all dimensions of poverty [...]