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Home » ColumnsGovt. foreign policy bearing fruit? Lanka elected to two important UN bodies
The Government’s foreign policy initiatives must be doing something right, judging by the fact that it has won two consecutive multilateral elections of the United Nations recently. The Foreign Ministry has won the endorsement of the international community firstly by the election of Prasad Kariyawasam, former Foreign Secretary and one-time ambassador to the United States, [...]
Pummelled by presidency
My dear Mahinda maama, Gota maama and Basil maama, I thought I must write to you this week to congratulate you on your great achievement in finally being granted official recognition–by the highest court of the land, no less. They declared that it was you–and a few of your cronies like Cabraal and PB–who led [...]
Will Budget 2024 achieve a lower deficit despite higher expenditure?
The underlying theme of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s 2024 budget speech was that prudent management of public finances was imperative for the country’s financial stability, economic recovery and economic independence. Lower deficit Despite the much higher expenditure budgeted for 2024, the President expects the budget deficit to be reduced to below 10 percent of GDP by [...]
A court rightly affronted by Sri Lanka’s (political and other) monkeys who see no evil, do no evil, hear no evil
A ringing reminder by the Supreme Court this week holding three Rajapaksas (two former Presidents and a Minister of Finance) along with their economic tsars and a politically driven Monetary Board responsible for Sri Lanka’s calamitous bankruptcy, was that ‘the Rule of Law is not only rights and equality….(it) is also about functionality and efficiency [...]
Budget 2024: Revolutionary or a fairytale; depends on which side of the House one is in
President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe presented his government’s Budget 2024 on Monday (13) under the theme “Prelude to a Bright Future.” MPs from the government praised his budget as “revolutionary” during the seven-day debate on the Second Reading that started on Tuesday. The opposition, however, dismissed it as a “fairytale” that would not have [...]
Specious arguments should not dilute impact of landmark SC judgment
The historic and groundbreaking judgment of the Supreme Court delivered last week brought to the fore some of the responsibilities of those who govern the country from time to time. In recent times, more particularly after the introduction of the Executive Presidency office and the vesting of enormous powers in the Head of State, there [...]
The three Rajapaksa brothers nailed on Supreme Court cross
‘We must start the recovery process from those who have been held responsible by the Supreme Court,’ MP Sumanthiran tells Parliament It’s now official. Signed, sealed and delivered by the highest legal authority in the land. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, with one dissenting judge, found Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa [...]
Winter of discontent with the judiciary shining a ray of hope
Whatever smiling face the Pohottuwa displays for public consumption, it cannot be happy with President Wickremesinghe’s Christmas gift in the way of the 2024 budget. Had the Pohottuwa and its henchmen been holding the reins they would have come down the chimney playing Santa Claus. But President Wickremesinghe was more Scrooge than Santa, though he [...]
New appointments to Superior Courts: CC delays approving President’s nominees
President livid over Speaker’s letter to Chief Justice, seeking opinion on performance of judges SC judgment: Opposition proposes move to strip civic rights of Rajapaksas and others Opposition leader asks President to appoint special commission to act on the verdict By Our Political Editor The Presidency and the Constitutional Council are locked in a serious [...]
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