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Gnanasara ‘hamuduruwaney’, I thought of writing to you when I heard that you are likely to be pardoned and released by Aiyo Sirisena next week, when the country celebrates its next Independence Day. You must be relieved, ‘hamuduruwaney’ to hear that you can wear the saffron robe again, instead of the prison ‘jumper’. You must [...]
From Kilimanjaro to Medamulana: The fairy-tale wedding of the century
Standing atop the iconic Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, he proposed to her. The three dormant volcanoes, after which the mountain is named, did not erupt but his love for her had peaked. With a smile, she accepted. From the highest mountain in Africa (4900 feet), the romance transcended further to the hinterland of Beliatte in [...]
Coping with foreign debt repayment and external financial vulnerability
The country’s external financial vulnerability is serious due to the accumulated massive foreign debt, large debt repayment obligations and low foreign reserves. Furthermore, the difficulty of servicing the large foreign debt obligations of US$ 5.9 billion this year was made more onerous by the political anarchy of last October. The Government is, however, confident of [...]
Sri Lanka’s judicial institution should not be left to a few brave judges to uphold
The ongoing war of words in Parliament over the appointment of judges to the superior courts has an increasingly sinister dimension to it that must not be underestimated. Eerily familiar signs Taken together with the push by some politicians and supportive monks to seek a presidential pardon for General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena, [...]
Wanted: Lanka’s three men on the run
They were once the Three Musketeers of Lanka — the Athos, Porthos and Aramis in Alexander Dumas’s classic novel — appointed to high office by the Government and charged with the responsibility of ensuring the advancement of the nation’s interest both here and abroad; and to prevent abuse of position, corruption and injustice. But historical [...]
President on the warpath
That is a brave thing to do. President Sirisena has declared war on a worm. At least this time, he has interpreted the constitution correctly. Or maybe one of his legal maestros who told him he has the constitutional power to dissolve parliament anytime he pleased was able to read a simple constitutional provision without [...]
Laws sans implementation no deterrent to bribery and corruption
Parliament this week approved an amendment to the Commissions of Inquiry (CoI) Act, to give more teeth to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIAOBC). However, the slow pace at which the Government has moved in the past four years to combat the twin evils shows that Legislation alone, without strong political [...]
Sirisena on a new anti-corruption drive amidst UNP concerns of “witch-hunt”
Small group allegedly planning violence; Muslim community urged to take measures to ensure national unity and peace UNP faces spectre of damaging revelations by probe commissions, senior leaders see the process as “a polls ploy” Sirisena pushing hard for presidential election alliance with SLPP, but Rajapaksa’s group holds key on who the candidate will be [...]
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