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Home » ColumnsOpen Sesame to Ali Baba’s Cave of Thieves
The ancient Greeks had a word for it. They called it Hubris, extreme pride and arrogance which revolt the gods. The pride that blinds, the arrogance that deludes, the tragic flaw that invites Nemesis, the remorseless Goddess of Divine Retribution, to rap the door of the guilty and to deliver Heaven’s comeuppance. If it was [...]
So let’s see you do it, Mr Cameron
The scorpion’s sting is in its tail. Ask those who know. Ask David Cameron who has been baiting Sri Lanka in recent years from behind a façade of human rights and humanitarian concerns. Though the opening lines of his letter to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils which was holding its annual dinner a [...]
Looking East and West: Staying the course in foreign policy
Two events during the week gave an insight into the direction of government policy taking shape amidst influences from both East and West. Ahead of his meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry in Washington, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Wednesday made an important speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where for the [...]
Rs. 400 m spent on foreign advisors for domestic HR inquiry
Central Bank makes payments without Cabinet sanction for the past seven months Mangala requests Kerry and Ban Ki-moon to delay UNHRC report NPC ‘hardliners’ bring ‘genocide’ resolution; growing pressure to book those who plundered public funds The National Unity Government is exploring ways and means of delaying the investigation report on alleged war crimes in [...]
Curtains or rebirth for thoththa babaa?
My dear Tissa, I thought I must write to you, now that you are out on bail and I wouldn’t need to send this letter to Welikada anymore. It must have been a hectic few weeks for you, MP one week, minister the next week and remand prisoner a few weeks later! At least, they [...]
Ex-minister’s daughter tries diplomatricks
Among those who have been asked to vacate their diplomatic posts is Chaminthri Rambukwella, the daughter of former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella. She had been serving in New York since 2011 as the Second Secretary to the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN with an extension granted in 2013. She was recalled along with [...]
Emergent rule of law paradoxes of the Sirisena presidency
Undoubtedly there is a palpable sense of discomfort in the air. Much like the curate’s egg For close to a decade, the gross capture of state power, gathering of immeasurable wealth and discarding of civil liberties by the Rajapaksa Presidency and its acolytes put Sri Lanka under extraordinary strain. It was natural therefore, given the [...]
New opportunity to chase elusive fiscal deficit target
Reducing the fiscal deficit to below 5 per cent of GDP is essential to ensure economic stability and sustained economic growth. Successive governments’ intent to bring down the fiscal deficit has proved elusive. The new Government’s commitment to good governance provides another opportunity to reduce the fiscal deficit. The need to contain the fiscal deficit [...]