Editorial
Home » EditorialGovt. fights shy of transparency
Lawyers assigned to check documents related to mega projects undertaken in recent years by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) have stumbled upon a curious detail. They have found that the interest rate on a Chinese loan to build the first phase of the Hambantota Port was significantly increased, seemingly at the instigation of the [...]
The flame of freedom, 100 years on
This week, quite unnoticed, amid the current political drama unfolding and the uncertainty playing out in recent times, was the centenary of the 1915 riots which was a watershed event in the history of the Independence movement of this nation. On May 28, 1915 – one hundred years ago, this country was in flames. It had [...]
Victory and Remembrance
Amidst the high drama we saw this week in the august assembly called Parliament, with the minority Government desperately trying to ward off a succession of no-confidence motions, the country was at pains trying to resolve how to commemorate the end of a brutal separatist insurgency this month six years ago. On May 19, 2009, [...]
Govt. on strike; President faces agonising choice
Political instability is snowballing with the Prime Minister of a minority Government saying ‘Parliament is dead’; a section of the same Government saying election pledges must be fulfilled before an election is held; and the majority Opposition declaring that Parliament must continue till electoral reforms are introduced through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. In [...]
The forgotten workers of May Day
May Day came and went, and as always, it was a political show of strength with workers of the world divided and what was meant to be their day overshadowed by politicians. May Day is not even celebrated in May in the country where it was first declared – the United States, which instead marks Labour [...]