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Home » ColumnsPM visit reboots equilibrium with China; seeks conversion of loans into equity
New plans to reshape Hambantota port, Mattala airport and Norochcholai; Visit to Beijing successful Crucial decisions tomorrow on standby facility from IMF; new tax laws and reform of loss-making state enterprises Ranil holds tête-à-tête with Rajapaksa to discuss deals with China, withdrawal of Army security By Our Political Editor A crucial final round of talks [...]
Had you stayed
My dear Sirima, I thought of writing to you because, had you been with us, it would have been your 100th birthday next Sunday. Sadly, very few people seem to remember that even though you made world history by becoming the world’s first woman Prime Minister. The Gandhis, Meirs, and Thatchers followed you! It is [...]
Populist measures lead to economic crisis
Last week’s column discussed the burden of foreign debt during the last regime, when it doubled from US$ 21.4 billion to US$ 43 billion. The foreign debt that was about 60 percent of GDP at the end of 2014 is a continuing burden to the new government that took over in 2015. Clarifications Some misinterpretations [...]
Sri Lanka’s constitutional ‘house of cards’
From a strategic point of view, it was a great sleight of hand for this Government to have successfully ‘packaged’ the 19th Amendment to the Constitution as a notable constitutional gain for Sri Lanka, despite its many problematic provisions. Some of these seemingly progressive but actually deadening provisions include bringing back the 17th Amendment’s Constitutional [...]
Happy Hindu and Sinhala New Year
Our society usually names the New Year as Sinhala and Hindu New Year. The Media and the higher ups in society maintain this as Sinhala & Hindu New Year. But I wish to term it as Hindu & Sinhala New Year. One reason for this is that in Sinhala the shorter word is placed first [...]
Presidential red light for Fonseka’s Benz
Soldier turned politician Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, now Minister of Regional Development, received what seems a polite snub from President Maithripala Sirisena at a recent weekly ministerial meeting. It came after the Field Marshal told the meeting that with the financial allocation of Rs. 35 million for his ministry, he was unable to even buy [...]
No free Chinese takeaway but Chinese takeover on the menu
There is no such thing as a free Chinese takeaway; and, if the visiting Lankan high powered delegation led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe fancied otherwise, the Chinese hosts made pretty certain the guests got the message crystal clear when the fortune cookie, opened after the diplomatic feast of niceties was over, revealed the thumping [...]
A cash-strapped nation on a splurging spree
In our student days there was a commonly used Sinhala phrase – “clean suit empty pocket”. That succinctly conveyed the image of a well-clad individual without a cent on his person. If this pithy Sinhala phrase came to mind last week it is on reading three news reports that suggest that empty pockets do not [...]
MP’s Code of Conduct draft circulated among members
It’s been a long time coming, but the draft Code of Conduct for lawmakers that was circulated among MPs this week, if adopted, will go a long way towards building public confidence and trust in elected representatives of the country. Speaker Karu Jayasuirya informed MPs on Thursday that the draft Code of Conduct has been [...]