Columns
Home » ColumnsSamantha Power in the running to head WB
Whether or not Sri Lanka will be able to receive the much-awaited bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by March as President Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed hopes this week, securing further financing from other global lending organisations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank is going to be more challenging in [...]
An election on credit basis
Your Lordships, It is rarely that I write to you. I do so only when I feel that I absolutely must. If memory serves me right, the last time I wrote to you was five years ago. That was when Aiyo Sirisena tried to stage a ‘constitutional coup’, appointing Mahinda maama as PM until Your [...]
Postponing polls and serious Constitutional implications
With the National Elections Commission (NEC) announcing the postponement of the postal voting for the local government elections, it is likely that the entire elections may be postponed to a later date. Despite making every effort to hold the elections on the due date and even informing court that they were ready to do so, [...]
Are the protests of professionals against increased income taxes justified?
The protests of professionals against increased income taxation are symptomatic of our society being used to receiving a host of benefits from the Government without realising they have to pay for them in one way or the other. Protests The protest for reduced taxation of professionals’ incomes on February 8 is likely to continue tomorrow. [...]
Democracy in coma: will the last rites be far behind
The political shenanigans in Colombo over the last few months which suggested an intent to abandon the local government elections on excuses so amusing, remind me of the saying of the well-known politician and minister of yesteryear, I.M.R.A. Iriyagolla. Mr Iriyagolla was also a writer (translated Victor Hugo’s French novel Les Miserables into Sinhala) and [...]
Beware: Deny the right to vote at the government’s own peril
Refusal to hold March elections may drive people to anarchists’ arms If it is one of the foremost duties of any government in a democracy to hold elections on schedule, then this government has fallen at the first ditch. If it fails or is reluctant to provide the necessary financial wherewithal to the Election Commission [...]
Shock treatment in order to meet IMF deadline
Govt. raises electricity tariffs by 66 percent; hurried moves to get PUCSL approval when dissenting chairman was away Local council elections likely to be put off; opposition parties vow counteraction SJB issues blueprint for economic recovery while JVP sets up military officers’ wing Conduct of western envoy causes concern as she seeks to meet members [...]
Read More