Are Sajith and Gota thinking like professionals?

The election results in Elpitiya a few days ago underscored the fact that politicians can obtain benefits from investments if they’re done wisely. Many moons ago the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime invested heavily on the Southern Expressway. Political analysts point out that the people of Elpitiya, a village in Galle District, benefited immensely by this facility; largely because the

THE 3 EX-EX-EXS!

Life consists of 3 Ex+Ex+Ex’s– Yesterday was ‘Experience’ Today is ‘Experiment’ and Tomorrow is ‘Expectation’ our political morons have not yet learnt to use the Experience of their Experiments to achieve their Expectations!!! We should learn to treasure the Experience of Yesterday, in order to learn from it and add value to Today’s Experiment which should jointly fortify

‘Sarath Fonseka’ sleight of hand: Sajith’s jump on the ‘national security’ bandwagon

Two things would have startled the Rajapaksa clan in relation to the Galle Face inaugural rally held by the DNF on October 19 in support of their candidate Sajith Premadasa. First, obviously, was the unprecedented numbers who flocked to the green surpassing anything that any politician or political party has managed, including the glory days of the Rajapaksa dynasty.

Healthy diets for a zero-hunger world

For the past few decades of the globalised capitalist market economic system most of us have chosen to follow the western models in areas ranging from fashion to food. Now most highly qualified nutritionists agree that western food models have failed because at least 40% of the people are suffering from obesity mainly because of the excessive quantities of fatty and fast

Election Promises

Deputy Leader of the United National Party (UNP) and Presidential Candidate of the United National Front (UNF) coalition, Sajith Premadasa who is contesting under the Swan symbol of the New Democratic Front (NDF) promised at his maiden election campaign rally at the Galle Face Green- among other things- to appoint former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as the Law and Order Minister under his future Presidency. His main rival, former

LTTE arrests in Malaysia. What is Colombo doing?

During the weekend, Malaysia’s Special Counter-terrorism Unit arrested 12 suspects, including two lawmakers of the ruling coalition over alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Subsequent investigations have uncovered a trail of financial transactions among the suspects, allegedly to fund the LTTE related activities, according to the Malaysian Police. Assemblymen G. Saminathan and P. Gunasekaran who are currently held in detenti

A nation through the eyes of the MILITARY

According to the Marxist theory of the state, the army is the chief component of state power. Whoever wants to seize and retain state power must have a strong army. The Sri Lankan state had a strong Army, Navy and Air Force led by a strong Three Forces Commanders, managed by strong Defence Secretary and backed by strong Political Leadership. These leadership levels along with sacrific

Why was Ranil Politically Assassinated by Prabha in 2005?

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) effectively chose the President of Sri Lanka in 2005. Yes, the Tigers did it - a few empty ballot boxes from Omanthai moaned their way back to the counting centres.

Why we continue electing corrupt politicians?

According to our Constitution, Sri Lanka is a democratic socialist republic. In my opinion, ours is currently not a democratic state but only a constitutional republic.

US and the betrayal of Kurds - EDITORIAL

In the aftermath of US President Trump okaying the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, ‘Kurds’ are in the news. The Kurds, an Iranian ethnic group native to a mountainous region.....

Presidential Poll: Whither Sri Lanka in the world

The Presidential Elections campaign is in full swing in Sri Lanka, with a record number of candidates and two promising candidates from the two mainstream parties. The election battle is clearly heading for an epic showdown...

How Karu and Malik Helped Ranil and Sajith Make Peace

The political spectacle“Ekwa Idiriyata” (Forward Together) that unfolded on October 10 at Galle Face Green has elevated the morale of the green party to ecstatic heights. A mammoth crowd -- estimated by some of being in the range of six digits – gathered on the shores of the Indian ocean to see, hear and cheer the United National Party (UNP) leaders. A festive mood was much in the air as the DNF’s presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa launched

Girl Force: Unscripted and Unstoppable

For thousands of years, male chauvinism has played the dominant or dictatorial role in world affairs. Even in most religions, males are given the primary role with most major religions not giving an equal place. This is seen even in families where the husband is considered the chief householder and often plays an authoritative or domineering role. Fortunately in recent decades women’s groups and human rights activists have been carrying out stron

Peace and reconciliation depend on the truth not lies

If Kusal Perera (KP) had a better education in history to grasp the diverse dimensions and the multifarious factors that interact and mesh to determine its winding, zig-zagging course in time, he would not have written the bilge he wrote last Friday (DM – 4/10/19) blaming only the Sinhala- Buddhists for everything that has gone wrong and goes wrong in Sri Lanka.

SLFP’s desperate struggle for self-liquidation

Two weeks ago, we said one of the options left with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by President Maithripala Sirisena, after former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa....

Elections not meant to replace one ‘failure’ with another

Monday last saw 35 presidential candidates queueing up for the race on November 16. Six others who deposited money had withdrawn. One among them was the eldest in the Rajapaksa family, former Speaker in Parliament...

Even jumbos have tears and fears! - EDITORIAL

The rate at which elephants are killed in this island has raised eyebrows in many. Though this is a Buddhist dominant country and those practising this philosophy promoting non-violence, the cruel ways in which jumbos...

Elections and media: Hi-tech hijacking of the people’s sovereignty

If any election does not reflect the will of the people, it is a sham. Whoever tries to distort the will of sovereign people is committing an act of treason. Identifying the rogues before.....

Afghanistan-Sri Lanka: Natural Partners in Democracy and Development

The past four decades have hardly been kind to the peace- and freedom-loving people of Afghanistan. But despite the many destructive conflicts imposed on the country, Afghans armed with a steel willpower have persevered to survive and thrive in what is an increasingly complex and dangerous world. Since the fall of the Taliban in the wake of this century, the people of Afghanistan have made many strides towards sustainable peace, democracy, and pr

When religious euphoria blurs legal judgement

There was once a time in Sri Lanka when even despite the dictatorial rule of the Rajapakasas there was a glimmer of hope for the people because a law operated in the country. Continuing from that dark era, when democracy was virtually nonexistent, people saw the law receiving its deserving status as one of the three pillars on which democracy exists.

GOTA, Sajith try to cash in on same topics

As the presidential candidates came out of the Election Secretariat after handing in nominations for the elections, they spelled out what they intended to do if elected to office at the polls to be conducted on November 16, 2019. Of course, unrealised aspirations of people turn out to be electoral slogans every time. It is quite a number, but their relative significance varies from

A revisit to the Premadasa Yugaya

Sajith Premadasa has promised to take us back to the ‘Premadasa Yugaya (Era)’. He has not said ‘I mean, only the good parts of that time’. I mean, he hasn’t acknowledged anywhere that there was any wrongdoing under his father’s watch or the time when his father was the Prime Minister in J.R. Jayewardene’s government.

let there be a level playing field for campaigning

Almost every significant breakthrough is a courageous break from the traditional ways of thinking, says Stephen R. Covey On Monday, the 7th of October 2019, 35 candidates -- some representing recognised political parties, some from newly formed political alliances and some others as independents -- vying for the presidency handed over their nominations for the

Sajith has an unfinished job to finish

Standing before the entire country and being counted is not a task for an ordinary man; making undeliverable pledges and making every serious attempt to deliver on them is no ordinary mission and wiping away tears from a million pairs of eyes of ordinary men and women is not destined for an ordinary man or woman. Nor is carrying those ordinary men and women on one’s

QUESTIONS AWAITING ANSWERS…

Our country is politically bankrupt; poised on the brink of presidential election but who should the people vote for? A million dollar question that has no answer! This horrendous business of family-owned politics should be done away with; where kith and kin are appointed to key positions and legitimate appointees overlooked. You young ones are the new genre politicians of this

Social media: A big concern in runup to #PresPollSL

On the day the nominations closed, Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya read the riot act as he usually does, on responsible election campaigning. Sort of that is.

UK Garbage

What happened to the container loads of garbage that were lying at the Colombo Port? Did the Medical Research institute and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Council submit their respective reports to the Government Analyst pertaining to the above consignment of garbage? What was the outcome of the inquiry by the Director of Customs? Was any punitive action taken by the

When drought walks side by side with deluge...

The value of water and paddy farmer continues to be eclipsed from the radar of policy makers as drought-parched fields in the dry zone waited for a drop of water while torrents of rain lashed the wet zone non-stop for nearly two weeks. The flash floods in wet zone are followed by inter-monsoon rains which hit Colombo and suburbs late in the afternoon these days. On the other

Presidential Election 2019 reaches new heights

A record number of 41 persons had placed their deposits with a view to tender nominations for the November 16 presidential election. Yet, only 35 nominations were tendered yesterday. Six people who had placed deposits including former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and Parliamentarian Kumara Welgama did not submit their nominations.

Voters and not the judges should decide the President

The liberal elite and their chattering classes share a common trait with their nemesis in despotism. They both are at times contemptuous and in others paternalistic of the average folks and consider that it is their prerogative to preve