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Home » ColumnsEx-polls chief takes polling booth staff to task
Former Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, who went to cast his vote at his down south polling booth, initially went unnoticed until he reminded the senior presiding officer who he was, or had been, and that he was one who strictly handled elections in the recent past. The former EC chairman was wearing a mask [...]
Out with the old: Seasoned politicians fail to make the cut
By Tharushi Weerasinghe With a record number of new faces entering Parliament a large number of political personalities that have been in the space for decades have been voted out at the polls this week. A total of 88 parliamentarians from 2020 that contested in the election this year failed to secure the votes to [...]
A shramadana
My dear Anura sahodaraya and the ‘maalimawa’ team, I am writing to congratulate you on what has been a massive victory at Thursday’s election. It is being described as ‘historic’, ‘unprecedented’ and being a ‘landslide’ win. I suspect even you didn’t expect such a strong mandate coming your way after Anura sahodaraya’s hard fought win in [...]
After Thursday’s electoral deluge; Sri Lanka’s re-imagined dawn
‘We have changed’ announced the ‘Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’ (JVP)’s General Secretary Tilvin Silva on Thursday, addressing an intently listening audience comprising President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and JVP cadre at the 35th annual commemoration of party heroes killed during state and counter-state violence during two Marxist inspired insurrections in Sri Lanka’s South (1970′s and 1980′s). [...]
Economic recovery and development: Focus on new Govt.’s economic policies
As a new parliament has been elected with a two-thirds mandate, the new government’s economic policies will be of paramount importance for the nation’s future. Policies The new government’s policies to resolve the formidable economic challenges of the country would be of pivotal importance to achieving economic stability and growth. Described as “knife-edged” by the [...]
NPPs sweeping victory a powerful message for national unity and change of political culture
The landslide victory of the National Peoples Power (NPP) at Thursday’s parliamentary elections no doubt took the whole country by surprise. Not that an NPP victory was ever in doubt except that the extent of confidence reposed in the NPP by returning 159 of its members to Parliament would have hardly been expected by even [...]
NPP given ‘powerful mandate’ to fulfill people’s great expectations
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake awoke on Friday morn to find the country painted red, and that he had been thrust with a thumping two third majority in Parliament much against his wishes. After casting his vote on Thursday morn, President Dissanayake told the media: “We do not want a two-thirds majority. A strong Parliament [...]
AKD’s triumphant run makes our trumpet blowers bite the dust
It is all over bar the shouting and predicting the day when an egg will cost a thousand rupees under an NPP government. But to that a little later. But right now, one must dig out those great economists, thinkers, and dregs that hovered around the last leader and his cabinet, raucously singing hallelujahs to [...]
NPP’s unexpected two-thirds victory leaves battered opposition struggling to regroup
President Dissanayake to address newly elected MPs next week; plans visits to India and China in coming weeks Phenomenal support for NPP in Jaffna SJB drops from 54 to 40 seats UNP faces a tough task in taking the party to the grassroots By Our Political Editor For the first time in Sri Lanka’s political history, [...]
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