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Home » ColumnsThe naked emperor’s Friday night horrors
Aiyo Sirisena, I am writing to you for the second time in two weeks. That is unprecedented but then, what we are realising is that you are an unprecedented President. With you in charge, everything seems to happen on Friday nights, when the nation shuts down for the weekend — and this happened this Friday [...]
Social justice leader says Sirisena gave ‘boot’ to the people
Professor Sanath Wijesuriya, who in 2015 was at the forefront of the campaign to bring President Maithripala Sirisena to power, used a simple analogy to describe the feelings of those who voted for Mr. Sirisena and now let down by his decision to join hands with Mahinda Rajapaksa: “It’s like a girl placing all her [...]
Who will triumph this Game of Thrones?
Darkness has settled upon the land. And this time, perhaps, to reside on a more permanent footing. In this sunless hour when reason has fled to brutish beasts and the constitution has been stabbed in the back, the nation stands at the crossroads leaderless, hopeless and godless; and, with light denied, does not know which [...]
A fight to reset Sri Lanka’s constitutional clock
As the core of Sri Lanka’s Democratic Socialist Republic implodes in multiple critical ways today, it cannot be said that we were not forewarned. For not only President Maithripala Sirisena but also each and every one of us must abide by a fundamental truth underlying the legal order. The Constitution cannot be selectively applied because [...]
Harmful economic consequences of a prolonged political crisis
The adverse economic consequences of the prolonged political crisis are many. A protracted political stalemate would set back the development of the economy immeasurably. Deterioration in law and order would be the worst scenario for the economy. There is no clear indication as to how or when the current political impasse would be resolved. Hopefully [...]
So Sri Lanka, whatever that means
Last Monday Sri Lanka’s tourism authorities launched another promotional brand with the tagline “So Sri Lanka”. As tradition would have it, proceedings got underway with the country’s new tourism minister Vasantha Senanayake, (probably the first among the new bunch of ministers to make a break for the airport and enplane to London) lighting the oil [...]
Constitutional turmoil: The moves and countermoves
Secret events that led to Sirisena’s decision to dissolve Parliament; the numbers were there and not there Several Muslim MPs were about to join the Rajapaksa group, but changed their minds and were sternly rebuked by their leaders UNP needs to learn from its mistakes and conduct a positive campaign at grassroots level; Speaker defends [...]
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