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Home » ColumnsPresidential Secretariat puzzled over ghost vehicle, calls for probe
Presidential Secretariat Officials have been stumped by a “ghost vehicle” that is supposed to have been imported for their use. The vehicle – a hybrid Toyota Prius — was imported in 2013. Customs records show that the Presidential Secretariat had been listed as the consignee of the vehicle and had paid more than Rs. 1.8 [...]
O justice where art thou fled
Watching Sri Lanka politics unfold, it would surely go down in our 2500 year or more history as an unending comedy, had it not been so serious. Well certainly for the people of this country like no other who have been severely battered and bruised, if not in their stomachs in their heads with weapons [...]
A sense of déjà vu
My dear JR, I thought I must write to you, though it has been over a quarter of a century since you left us, because your name is being mentioned frequently these days. That is after your nephew began doing the job you did 45 years ago. What we have now realised is that his [...]
Mini polls laid to rest amid presidential presence and opposition protests
The controversy over alleged attempts to prevent the upcoming local council elections from going ahead overshadowed all other Parliamentary business this week, as angry Opposition MPs staged protests inside the chamber. Opposition MPs from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the recently formed Freedom People’s Alliance (FPA) which consists of breakaway factions of the ruling [...]
Can the country place all its investment hopes in the Colombo Port City
The Colombo Port City project is increasingly being referred to as one of the main hopes with regard to the much needed foreign direct investment that the country is desperately in need of in the long run. Although the project aroused a great deal of controversy when it was first mooted in 2014 by the [...]
Economic recovery derailed by political unrest and social upheavals
The economy that was showing signs of recovery is being thwarted by strikes, protests, political unrest and social upheavals. The course of these actions and the counter actions of the Government could result in a malfunctioning of the economy and serious economic consequences. These drawbacks would be to the country’s external finances and the production [...]
Circuses, parades and a paradoxical president
What is the message that President Ranil Wickremesinghe conveys to Sri Lankans when he asserts (as he did in Kandy a few days ago) that the date of the local government elections can be ‘decided by court but you cannot save the economy by going to court even if all the judges – including the [...]
How grieving parties kept the wake for Demo’s soul
Pontius Pilate would have been proud of the way the SLPP’s Sagala Kariyawasam has mastered the art of washing his hands of sin after his party had flayed the hopes of millions for a local government election on March 9. After the President vowed his priorities will be ‘first the economy, second the economy, thirdly [...]
Govt. meets IMF’s 15 conditions, prospects good for EFF programme
Top expert says Extended Fund Facility could be given even if China does not give financing assurance Controversy and confusion over who did what to delay local council polls President accuses PUCSL chairman of delaying the IMF package; otherwise the country could have got it six weeks ago Concern that European Union’s GSP Plus concessions [...]
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