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Home » ColumnsHappy Birthday, Mr ex-President
My dear Gota maama, I thought of writing to you when I heard that you had celebrated your 74th birthday this week. Oddly enough, it was only mentioned in passing and not announced with great fanfare. Still, considering where you were one year ago, it must be a relief that you were able to celebrate [...]
July 2022: Ranil discloses secrets of historic month
In post-colonial Sri Lankan history, events that unfolded last July were historically important for many reasons, starting from forcing democratically elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country fearing for his life due to mass protests, and the resignation of top government leaders in a move that was unprecedented in the country’s political history. However, [...]
Will to crack down corruption questioned; vote on landmark bill postponed
The Anti-Corruption Bill that was due to be passed by Parliament this week was postponed on Wednesday to a later date with both the Government and the opposition agreeing that more time was needed to introduce amendments and for MPs to further debate the landmark legislation. While both sides were in agreement on the urgent [...]
The economy in the first half of this year
There has been a degree of economic stabilisation and expectation of further improvements later this year. However, the first six months have not been a period of economic growth. Most economic activities have contracted. Unemployment has increased, poverty has risen and malnutrition enhanced. Despite this economic adversity, there is a sense of relief as the [...]
Political restructuring as important as IMF-driven economic restructuring
While the country struggles with the multiple challenges to be faced to rescue the economy from the doldrums, there are clear signs that political reforms required in the medium and long term are not receiving the priority they deserve from both the polity and civil society. After the approval of the US$ 2.9 billion dollar [...]
Boris quits in Partygate scandal: Lohan stays put after Jailgate rap
Poles apart: Two different cheese-and-chalk worlds of democracy Last year July, Britain’s Tory Party leader Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister following allegations he had known that a senior member of his government had ‘groped two men on a drunken night at a private members’ club’ but had pretended to be unaware of it. He [...]
Thick-skinned govt. and its diplomessy
Only the dim-witted would have expected the current government’s record on the political scorecard and its treatment of civil society and voices of dissent on the ground, would go unnoticed at last week’s sessions of the UN Human Rights Council. Those intelligent enough in government ranks anticipate the slings and arrows of international opprobrium—in sufficiently [...]
UNHRC indicts Sri Lanka but Govt. defends its position
Core group’s statement more passive but persuasive; President apparently given more time to deliver Human Rights Chief and core group stress on accountability; Lanka’s envoy rejects any external mechanism Tamil Diaspora group in Washington for talks with top US officials who voice support for accountability, human rights issues By Our Political Editor Contrary to [...]
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