If Trump delivers his last hurrah to an empty United Nations, will it still make a sound?
UNITED NATIONS, August 15 (IPS) – There is no love lost between the United Nations and US President Donald Trump. When he addressed the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2018, Trump falsely told delegates that “in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the [...]
Greater power: Monk and the temple or a two-thirds majority?
The constitutional power vested in a two-thirds majority in parliament of declaring a man to be a woman and vice-versa emanated around the heady days of 1972 when the United Front government of Sirima Bandaranaike and Marxist parties commenced drawing up the second constitution for this country, having scored a two-thirds majority in the 1970 [...]
The people have spoken
Even I, an octogenarian who has witnessed many elections in this country, have to admit that I was surprised by the magnitude of the SLPP’s victory at last week’s election. While none of us really expected any of the other parties to win a majority of seats at these hustings, hardly anyone would have predicted [...]
Democracy at its ironical best
Democracy, whilst being accepted as the best form of governance by most countries in the world, is yet known for many shortcomings. The commonest of the shortcomings are: • Misuse of public funds and time • Populism • Rule by incompetent, irresponsible and corrupt leaders • Going for short term gains • Money-power to influence [...]
The dictator’s two dilemmas
NEW YORK – Authoritarian regimes often enjoy more public support than democratic governments do. To discover why, my colleagues and I administered the Asian Barometer Survey in four waves across 14 Asian countries between 2001 and 2016. What we found is that authoritarian regimes actually suffer from acute near- and long-term vulnerabilities. When asked how [...]