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Home » ColumnsJaffna High Court dismisses Devananda’s defamation case against Uthayan
The Jaffna High Court on Friday dismissed a defamatory case filed by Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda against the local Tamil daily Uthayan for republishing a WikiLeaks article on its platform. Minister Devananda filed the case in 2011 seeking Rs 1 billion as damages for republishing the WikiLeaks entry, which claimed that his party Eelam Peoples’ [...]
What lies ahead
My dear Sri Lankans, I am writing to you at a crucial yet most exciting time. As you read this, most of you would have voted and would be in front of your television sets now listening to the results as they trickle in, electorate by electorate, district by district, until the final outcome is [...]
Formidable economic challenges for the president elected today
Whoever is elected the ninth executive president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka will face unprecedented challenges, including formidable economic challenges. The recovery of the economy from its current fragile state has been compounded by the extravagant promises given in the election manifesto of whoever is elected president. The next executive president and [...]
‘We will let them know that we exist’
On a dusty road from Monaragala to Siyambalanduwa in the Uva Province where scenes of extraordinary natural beauty contrast with the extreme poverty of the population, a man sitting idly by his small tea shop tells me a few days ago that, ‘…these Presidents and Ministers in Colombo do not even know that we exist. [...]
Hark now hear the people sing a new president is born this day
As the nation awaits to join the chorus singing hosannas to a new president—whoever that may be—to be announced in the course of the day, he will be instantly coronated with the thorny crown of the collective despair of a nation in the gutter of economic bankruptcy. He will be expected to lead the people [...]
Last man standing but who would it be
When this column appears this morning, it is quite unlikely we would know who the country’s president, elected by the people instead of a dubious collective of representatives with an even more questionable mandate, would be. Not that it really matters. A few more hours spent in speculation would hardly make a difference. But if [...]
Presidential election 2024 and the morning after
By the time this paper goes to print the voting at the Presidential Election of 2024 would have been completed and the country’s citizens would have given expression to their choice of the Head of State for the next five years. However, who succeeded in getting the majority of votes will probably be known only, [...]
Close fight among three candidates; winner faces tough challenges
Sajith meets diplomats and, in controversial request, urgesthem to push for a curfew International Crisis Group believes the winner won’t get a majority vote and highlights the importance of eradicating bribery and corruption The first challenge for the newly elected president will be the budget and fulfilling pledges in his manifesto By Our Political Editor E asily, it [...]
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