Editorial
Home » EditorialAfter JJ, Lanka must build better ties with Tamil Nadu
Hot on the heels of the death of a true friend of Sri Lanka in Cuba’s Fidel Castro came the passing away of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram (JJ) — by no means a friend of Sri Lanka. A populist to the core, who distributed cash, gold, sewing machines, mobile phones and various other [...]
MPs must lead by example
Come hell or high water, Parliamentarians have served themselves yet another allowance and the Government has found the money for it by raising the price of diesel sending food prices of common folk still higher. It is a widespread belief that MPs no longer live in a pecuniary state and that they don’t live by [...]
Take middle path on foreign policy
The Government received a reality check last week in Geneva when the Attorney General (AG) and the chief of National Intelligence (CNI) got a rude shock at a UN committee monitoring torture when they were cross-examined to the point that they had to beat a hasty retreat from the floor. That some of the UN [...]
Road terrorism and the corruption ring
Private buses are a classic example of capitalism gone wrong in this country. In the pre-nationalisation era of yesteryear, private bus operators made a lot of money and provided a useful service to the people. With the advent of socialism, these companies were nationalised and the state began to have a monopoly in public transport [...]
Trump trumps: Will he dump liberal America?
And so, the American voters have picked the unknown devil (instead of the known devil) to lead them for the next four years. In their somewhat skewed election process, the defeated candidate got more popular votes than the winner who to the much over-rated ‘most powerful job in the world’ – the President of the [...]
The quick-fix drug price formula is no cure
Hot on the heels of a nasty blow to the people by way of an increased Value Added Tax (VAT) including on services provided at private hospitals, the Health Ministry seemed to want to cushion the hit by imposing a MRP (Minimum Retail Price) on at least 48 popular drugs. Not a comprehensive list, but [...]
Corruption and political agendas
For the third consecutive week, the issue of corruption came to the fore of public debate. The President fired the first salvo referring to the ‘politicisation’ of the Government’s anti-corruption drive. His remarks caused consternation within the ranks of his National Unity Government, especially the main coalition partner, the UNP. The President was being accused [...]