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Home » ColumnsCommon candidate still a mystery, but it all points to Ranil
At least officially, no one still knows who would be Mahinda Rajapaksa’s main rival at the presidential polls. That it would have to come from the United National Party (UNP), or backed by it, is no secret. Yet who that person remains cloaked in secrecy. At the so-called “G 20″ meeting last Wednesday, members asked UNP national [...]
COPE exposes for the sake of revealing and little else
Parliamentary Committee On Public Enterprise (COPE) Chairman, D.E.W. Gunasekera sounded rather optimistic when he presented the second interim report of the Committee to the House on Friday, saying, “It is our view that the COPE has been able to contribute appreciably towards the enhancement of good governance, in so far as public control of finances [...]
Reflections on economic growth, unemployment and poverty
There has been significant economic growth in recent years. Unemployment and poverty, too, have been reduced. These developments have been especially manifest in the five years after the war. There is visible evidence of economic growth, decreased unemployment and reduced poverty. Exogenous factors and foreign borrowing have played an important role towards these achievements. However, [...]
An appeal to Lanka’s conscience
In a impassioned KG Kannabiran memorial lecture delivered at Chennai last Sunday, Northern Chief Minister and former Supreme Court Justice CV Wigneswaran drew an unequivocal link between the subjugation of Sri Lanka’s judicial institution, (along with that often misunderstood, if not scoffed at term, the Rule of Law) and the plight of ‘Tamil-speaking peoples’ in [...]
Alles plays double game: Arranges meeting between President and Ven. Sobitha
Questions now over whether the NayakaThera will take part in tomorrow’s signing ceremony for a common programme Mangala decides to remain with UNP, gets front row seat at opposition rally and won’t take calls from Temple Trees Decision on common candidate after proclamation of election; JHU, JVP also defer decisions The dinner at the Moratuwa [...]
The importance of being Mangala
My Dear Mangala, I thought I must write to you even though I am not sure where to send this letter — to the Green Party or the Blue Party — but you seem to be a much more important person than we ever thought, because you are always in the news these days, although [...]
MR on his mark, gets set to go
Leader of the House Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said it best when he told Parliament on Tuesday, “The Supreme Court has given an excellent judgment.” Now with the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling, a vehement ‘yes ‘resounded ten times round the table for added comfort, the sibilant squeaks of moribund dodos that peeped out of [...]