Editorial
Home » EditorialLeaders passing the buck to the voters
There is this old joke of how a man wanted to serve his country and thought one way would be to get elected to the country’s Parliament. So, he got himself nomination from a political party, and was duly elected. He went to Parliament and returned home after 30 days. “Martha,” he said to his [...]
President waves white flag and capitulates
And so, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa threw his hat into the ring for the forthcoming Parliamentary elections with some pressure politics this week, the culmination of a long drawn-out, well-orchestrated campaign that saw his successor, President Maithripala Sirisena, eventually capitulate. The timing of Mr. Rajapaksa’s announcement from his hometown of Tangalla on Adhi Esala full [...]
Where are the rogues of the last regime?
Midweek there was a strong rumour that Parliament would be dissolved at the stroke of midnight. Even the Speaker seemed unsure judging by a comment he made from his lofty perch in the august assembly. Only the President knew it was not to be; but by the end of the working week he had taken [...]
Enough of 225 is enough
Much of the time and energy of most Honourable Members of Parliament these days has been directed to their blatant devotion to their self-preservation for the next six years. It’s 20A (20th Amendment to the Constitution); 20A; 20A all the way around the length and breadth of the country. To hell with the much-needed Right [...]
Verbal garbage and the big stink
The subject stinks and is unappealing reading on a Sunday morning, but the rat-infested mountains of garbage in thickly populated Bloemendhal, Colombo North, and Meethotamulla have for many years stood as an emblem of Sri Lanka’s cavalier attitude towards waste disposal. The fetid heaps contain everything from plastics, paper and rotting food to hazardous hospital [...]