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Home » ColumnsLiquor licences: Who served whom?
On Wednesday, the government revealed details of liquor licences issued during the first 10 months of this year. The information was tabled in Parliament amid accusations that the previous Ranil Wickremesinghe government had used such licences as a “political bribe” to induce crossovers of opposition MPs. While statistics revealed that of the 361 liquor licences [...]
Beware the threats within
My dear Sajith, I am writing to you to congratulate you. If you are wondering why I am congratulating you when you lost two elections in quick succession, it is because you managed to retain the important job of Leader of the Opposition. Some were thinking, and others were hoping, that you might lose that [...]
“You said that…no we said that”: VOA passed amidst heated verbal exchanges
By Sandun Jayawardana The Resolution on the Vote On Account (VOA), which covers funding for the first four months of 2025, was passed in Parliament on Friday (6). Though the VOA was passed without a vote, there were intense disagreements over the allocation of funding. The opposition insisted that the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) [...]
Economy battered by floods; fresh challenges to economic management
The recent floods have worsened the economic conditions of the poor while impeding economic recovery and management. The torrential rains, floods, landslides, and collapse of buildings have worsened the living conditions of a large number of people in 20 of the 25 districts. The worst affected were the poor. The consequences of the natural disaster [...]
The JVP/NPP’S ‘system change’ and its own change
Is the much-hyped crackdown of the National People’s Power (NPP) Government against political scoundrels of past regimes confined to arresting a few politicians here for possession of illegally assembled vehicles, (which are a dime a dozen in Sri Lanka) and a few politicians there for posting news on social media alleged to ‘excite disaffection’ under [...]
Attempts to incite racism can undermine efforts to rebuild economy
Clearly the biggest challenge for the new NPP Government is to rescue the country and its people from the economic disaster that has befallen it since 2022 due to crass misgovernance by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Presidency. They are compelled to navigate the path to economic recovery within the framework of the IMF Agreement and the [...]
Parliament’s ‘shramadanaya’ begins
Parliament, once condemned as a home for the aged, assumed a new countenance on Tuesday the 3rd, as a Montessori for those hardly out of their political bassinets. But, quite apart from the initial fumbles and shambles of the newly initiated, Diyawanna’s waters glistened with hope that from the mouths of babes, the truth would [...]
Now the ‘big power’ games begin-2
As President Sahodara Anura Kumara Dissanayake prepares to call on neighbouring India, his first official visit abroad in a few days, he is taking his first step into what could well turn into a foreign quagmire in the coming years, if not months. As I said last week, it has become traditional now for Sri [...]