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Home » ColumnsParliamentary impunity for sexual innuendo: unrepentant SLPP MP escapes censure
The low depths to which some MPs in the current Parliament have fallen was yet again in evidence this week as a female Opposition MP was subjected to verbal sexual harassment by a male Government MP, who then escaped punishment. There were several elements to the disgraceful saga surrounding the actions of Badulla District Sri [...]
Token protests are not enough!
My dear Sajith, I thought I must write to you when I saw that you and your party, the ‘telephone’ chaps, had finally staged a protest against Gota maama and his ‘pohottuwa’ camp. It was good to see some kind of dissent, even if it was not on the scale of the ‘Mahinda sulanga’ that [...]
Two top officials given marching orders; who runs the show these days?
The religious ceremonies to unveil “Sanda Hiru Seya,” the newly constructed temple in Anuradhapura to mark the victory in the three decade long northern insurgency, was held last week under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. From the President’s office, a top official was making his way to attend an [...]
Kinniya ferry tragedy a reflection of apathy in governance
The recent tragedy in Kinniya where several passengers including schoolchildren lost their lives when the ferry carrying the passengers toppled over highlights one of the biggest drawbacks in governance—a misplaced set of priorities. Last Tuesday, a ferry which was carrying at least 25 people, including children, toppled drowning six people including four children. The children [...]
Does the 2022 budget address key economic concerns?
The 2022 Budget was passed by a two-third majority this week with 153 MPs voting for it.The debate on the second reading of the 2022 Budget followed the familiar pattern of Government MPs praising the budget and Opposition MPs condemning it. Neither the Budget nor its debate addressed the key economic problems and financial predicament [...]
The evil that our constitutions do, live after those who gave them life
Has the law been forgotten to such an extent in Sri Lanka that individuals who happen to antagonise the politically (or militarily) powerful are being summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on the basis that they have offended repealed laws? Does no one know what laws are in force in the country and what [...]
The Reversal of Revolution
It is becoming increasingly clear that the promised vistas of prosperity and splendour are rapidly moving further distant with the government habitually reversing gazettes that proclaim major policy decisions at the drop of a hat. This ridiculous trend has led to loss of governmental credibility beyond measure whilst these vacillations, these turnarounds faster than the [...]
Lanka’s comic opera ends, so one hopes
That long running comic opera has reached its denouement. Or so, one hopes! For hope is all that is left for a public that lies battered by a pandemic on one side and problems in governance on the other that have brought a people to their knees with no one left to raise their hopes [...]
SLPP-SLFP spat deepens as ship of Govt. veers off course
Sirisena comes under attack by Govt. ministers; questions over whether his party will remain in coalition SLPP General Secretary Kariyawasam tells coalition partners, if they can’t stand by Govt., they must depart NPP leader Anura Kumara sees policy reversal on chemical fertiliser ban as an exercise to do away with free fertiliser The Second [...]
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