Editorial
Home » EditorialIf you are ‘Honourable’, put country before self
The spectacle in Parliament earlier this week speaks for itself. It reminds us of a postprandial speech made by the late Lakshman Kadirgamar at a UK-SL Friendship Society dinner, before he turned from lawyer to lawmaker. He said that in Britain, Members of Parliament were not referred to as ‘the Honourable MPs”, but some are, [...]
19A defeats Govt’s well meaning RTI Law
On Tuesday, the new Government is optimistic that those parts of the 19th Amendment (19A) to the 1978 Constitution — cleared by the Supreme Court — would be passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, notwithstanding undercurrents of a spoiler by lawmakers unhappy with the outcome of the January 8 Presidential election. While there is [...]
Implement promises; not elections now
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has long felt that the 1978 Constitution has run its course. Quoting the third US President Thomas Jefferson, he wrote in a United National Party (UNP) publication ‘Vision and Reality’ on the 35th anniversary of the 2nd Republican Constitution that all Constitutions must be revised every 19 years. Why 19 years [...]
What a friend we have in Pakistan
President Maithripala Sirisena embarks on his fourth official overseas voyage since assuming office in January, and that he has identified Pakistan to visit after India, Britain and China is a deserved recognition of a country that stood by Sri Lanka in its darkest hour in recent times. The scheduled trip to Islamabad was earlier put [...]
19th Amendment has arrived
Almost a century ago — August 1920 to be precise, the United States of America passed the 19th Amendment to its Constitution. By this amendment, its Congress (Parliament) granted franchise – the vote, to adult women in addition to the men. It was a long, hard struggle for women, led by a feisty young activist, [...]