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Home » ColumnsThe curtain comes down on Budget debate and a resounding “aye, aye” as finale
By Sandun Jayawardana The National People’s Power (NPP) government showed off its overwhelming 2/3 Parliamentary majority on Friday (21) evening to pass its inaugural budget by a thumping majority of 114 votes, with 159 votes in favour and just 45 against. All 158 of the NPP’s MPs voted for Budget 2025 and were joined on [...]
Uneventful six months
My dear Anura sahodaraya, I thought of writing to you after listening to your 100-minute speech concluding the budget debate. As usual, you managed to hold the attention of your audience who listened to you without a whimper. That is despite this being a hectic week for you, what with the comings and goings of [...]
Maintaining a simple president is costlier than maintaining extravagant predecessors
Former Minister Champika Ranawaka evoked the oft-quoted words of a leading figure in the Indian independence movement, Sarojini Naidu, to illustrate that the maintenance of public figures who outwardly appear simple may cost the taxpayer more than those who are actually outwardly extravagant. Ms. Naidu had famously commented that keeping Mahatma Gandhi in poverty was [...]
Dispute resolution mechanism in health sector a must to protect poor and marginalised
The recent wave of trade union action by doctors and other medical personnel has once again brought to the forefront the fragile state of labour relations in the health sector. While grievances between healthcare professionals and the government are not new, the latest dispute once again raises significant questions about governance, negotiation mechanisms, and the [...]
Consolidating the economic recovery to achieve economic growth
The critical economic challenge for the country is to sustain the economic recovery that has been achieved and propel it on a higher trajectory. Achieving such an economic takeoff is, however, a formidable challenge due to severe economic constraints, political compulsions and uncertain and unpredictable international economic developments. Floods, droughts and animal damage are setbacks [...]
The political distraction of the ‘Batalanda crucible’
As predicted, the combined result of an enterprising Al Jazeera journalist hunting for a sensational angle to trip the target of his interrogation and the eccentric ramblings of an ex-President of Sri Lanka on a twenty seven year old human rights atrocity that is the ‘Batalanda torture camp,’ has created an eagerly applauded diversionary red [...]
Adani’s winds of power blow cold
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s billion dollar project to set up a network of power windmills in northern Lanka was first inked by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, with the power purchase price set at 8 dollar cents per unit for twenty years. The Adani Group had first made a backdoor entry during the Gotabaya years in 2022, [...]
AKD presidency 6 months on, concerns over progress on anti-corruption front
No major case has come to court, save two against Namal and Yoshitha Rajapaksa; the much-hyped ring of corrupt persons remains unexposed Economy on growth path; Govt. strategy wins accolades from IMF and business community Catholic Church vows protest march over lack of a breakthrough in Easter Sunday massacre probe; Govt. springs into action, but [...]
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