Columns
Home » ColumnsThe fox in the hen house
My dear Cabraal, I should have written to you a few days ago, but with Lohan doing what he likes to do and making headlines the world over, I had to write to him last week. My apologies for the delay in writing to you, but I am sure the sheer joy of being appointed [...]
Twitter diplomacy to the fore sees two birds being hit with one post
Diplomats taking to Twitter and other social media platforms is part of public diplomacy in the modern world. This week, a series of Pakistan High Commission Twitter posts, couched in sarcasm, lamented over the low levels to which journalism had fallen and said the High Commissioner had no super power to be in two places [...]
‘You stole, they stole’ … accusations fly thick and fast as shouting macthes reach fever pitch
COVID-19 infections and deaths might be on a downward trend thanks to a month-long islandwide lockdown, but scandals plaguing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government only seem to be going up. Parliamentary sessions held over two days this week descended into shouting matches at times as the government defended itself against opposition attacks over [...]
Govt. should reassure all communities to make national reconciliation more meaningful
The legitimate cry of the Catholic community demanding the expediting of the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks and identification of the mastermind has set off ripples, or more appropriately waves, in political circles. The continuing agitation by the Catholic community for justice sparked of a full scale attack on the Cardinal by three hard-line [...]
Dwindling foreign reserves, widening trade deficit and deteriorating balance of payments
The nation’s external finances are in a perilous state. At the end of the first seven months, foreign reserves had fallen to US$ 2.8 billion, the trade deficit has expanded to US$ 4.9 billion and the balance of payments deficit widened owing to net capital outflows and lower remittances in recently. Downgraded This state of [...]
On white roses and the presidential power to heal, not otherwise
As President Gotabaya Rajapaksa accompanied by his spouse paid tribute a few days ago to Americans slain in 9/11, both with white roses in their hands at the memorial in New York, it is hard not to imagine how powerfully symbolic that gesture would have been if replicated on this country’s soil for countless victims [...]
Spate of resignations in September plagues Govt
The resignation of a Consumer Affairs Authority’s Executive Director on Tuesday marks another addition to the growing list of top officials who have handed in letters citing ‘personal reasons’ and left their vital post while the nation battled a war of survival on many fronts. The September spate of resignations was triggered off by the [...]
The winter of our discontent
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is mostly bluster, braggadocio and baloney. He has blundered along and right now he is brandishing his Etonian elitism around even as the country is on the brink of a crisis with sharply rising energy prices and cut backs in social welfare threaten to throw several millions of the country’s [...]
No political column today
The Sunday Times Political Editor’s column is not published today as he is on leave.
Read More