Columns
Home » ColumnsA last chance at redemption
My dear Uncle Ranil, I am writing to you to congratulate you on your almost unbelievable return to power – and that too to the most powerful position in the country. You have your critics, enemies, and those who really dislike you, but I think even they will concede that you get full marks for [...]
Taking oath under the gaze of presidential system architect
When it was announced that President-elect Ranil Wickremesinghe will swear-in inside the Parliament complex on Thursday, there were many speculations about the location. Some indicated it would be at the Speaker’s Office but ultimately it was selected to be a Parliament hallway where the official portraits of former government leaders are hung on the wall. [...]
Parliament vote: The run-up to Ranil’s dream-come-true moment
By Sandun Jayawardana When the United National Party (UNP) was all but wiped out at the 2020 parliamentary elections, many were quick to write off the party and its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as a spent force in politics. It took almost a year of squabbles within the party for Mr Wickremesinghe to even be appointed [...]
New President should complete Yahapalana aims
By an unusual set of circumstances Ranil Wickremesinghe ascended to the position of Sri Lanka’s eighth Executive President on July 20. In November 2019 Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the Presidential Election with a massive vote of 6.9 lakhs and followed it up with a near two third majority at the Parliamentary Elections of August 2020. Not [...]
Constitutional right to protest; a terrifying taste of state terror
Extraordinary foresight is scarcely needed to have predicted the State’s attack on Sri Lanka’s globally feted protest site at the Galle Face Green in the wee hours of Friday morning, July 22nd 2022. Why this provocative show of strength? As formidable contingents of baton wielding masked military and the police took ‘control’ of the site, [...]
Massive political economic and social challenges for President Wickremesinghe
President Ranil Wickremesinghe must ensure law and order, political stability, reduce economic hardships and revive the economy. These are monumental challenges. Can President Wickremesinghe’s government usher in a period of law and order and political stability, reduce the severe hardships of the people and revive the economy? Expectation The new President, Prime Minister and the [...]
Lotus buds bloom for Ranil
The House elects new President while protests simmer on the streets Everything comes to him who waits. Ranil Wickremesinghe had to wait for nearly thirty years for the season to arrive and lotus buds to bloom in Parliament to be chosen as the man for all reasons to lead Lanka out of its economic mire. [...]
Ranil: Finally atop the greasy pole
As young students we used to be fascinated with the 14th century tale of Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, and the spider. Apocryphal or not, it conveyed a valuable lesson. King Robert who fought the King of England and was defeated on the battlefield six times, was hiding in a cave and contemplating the [...]
Backstage moves in Ranil’s election as President
The key strategist was armed with files containing information on SLPP MPs and wanted them to vote for Wickremesinghe Split in the SJB over Sajith’s decision to withdraw candidature and support Alahapperuma By Our Political Editor Last Wednesday, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was completing his 45th year as a parliamentarian when fortune smiled on him. He was [...]
Read More