Presidential Elections Both sides saddled with challenges in deciding on candidates

A momentum has built up in view of the next presidential election though it is not yet around the corner. The recent ‘Viyath Maga’ programme, a confab of intellectuals, business leaders and politicians with a nationalist bent, served as the virtual launching pad of a presidential election campaign.  

Merger of UNP and JVP with NGOs

Colloquial Sinhala is an exotic dialect when phrases are enunciated in the vernacular with the input of a smattering Anglo-Saxon linguistics that, leads to-‘Broken English’. Sounds more the railcar ‘burgher-ism’ than an outpouring of intones from the Dutch Burgher Union.  

GOTABAYA’S BREAKTHROUGH

When a future historian writes the political history of the most obtuse and inept government in postcolonial Sri Lanka, he or she will doubtless identify its most myopic move as the Constitutional prevention of Mahinda Rajapaksa running for President again, t

SRI LANKA THEN AND NOW!!!

We wonder if even God can help our country now!!! Our island home was a beautiful paradise and its inhabitants were good God-fearing people!!! That was in the time of the benevolent respected leaders, who truly loved this country and its people. They fought long and hard to gain independence and they 

The two-lane ‘New York’ of Sri Lanka

If you could take a subway from the suburbs in Boston, where I live, to downtown in 10 minutes, that improves your life over sitting in a traffic jam 

STRIKING DOCTORS: GOODNESS, GRACIOUS ME!

As the daughter and granddaughter of doctors, who were leading doctors of their time, I am ashamed of the way doctors of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) are behaving and have been for some time.

War heroes and cheap political mileage

Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake has called on all concerned not to use war heroes for political propaganda, which of course is a timely advice as almost all parties, especially the two main -- the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) unofficially led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa -- use the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to gain political mileage.   

Gota plans to put country on a destructive path

 Former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa who is responsible for ruining this country by allowing his family relatives and cronies to plunder the country’s economy and allowed former Defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to unleash terror through the white van culture that isolated the country internationally, now seems to be engaged in an untiring effort to throw the cou

Proper policies needed to accelerate future journey

Should we continue to tolerate empty speeches by political leaders who are incapable of delivering and have led this country and the society into chaos and deterioration? In this backdrop ‘The n

Remembering the dead: JVP vs LTTE

Recently, there was a rather ridiculous debate after Minister Rajitha Senaratne, who as the Cabinet Spokesman has a knack for putting his foot in the mouth, equated the JVP to the LTTE. JVP MP Vijitha Herath and Minister Champika Ranawaka objected to the comparison. By any definition, both are nihilistic terroristic groups that unleashed unspeakable carnage upon this country. However, the argument goes that the JVP’s gruesome record of 1988

IS THERE A BREAKDOWN IN GOVERNANCE? - EDITORIAL

The coalition government led by the UNP and a faction of the SLFP led by President Sirisena in the so-called ‘National Unity’ government came into power in January 2015....

Demilitarisation

The end of the war anniversary this month is once again polarizing the country. The losses are again being counted along ethnic lines, reinforcing notions of “war heroes” and “martyrs”.

Good Governance and Role of Religion: Religion, Govt. need to be separated

To change or not to change the constitution does not fall within the ambit of Religion. All Religious dignitaries should be kept away from engaging directly in politics.

War crimes charges Sri Lanka Army takes battle to propaganda front

Sri Lankan armed forces have not been in the habit of talking about themselves,  even during the 30-year war,  or after, when sinister allegations of misconduct....

Time for Europe to use the stick against Trump

Don’t cry for me, Europe. The time for diminishing Europe’s self-esteem is over. It’s time for toughness and retaliation. Even a personal intervention by his favourite European head of State, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, failed to move President Donald Trump on the gravest of all policies- his decision that the Iran nuclear deal, meant to reduce its nuclear prowess, will be scrapped by the US in favour of a policy of co

What it would be without bees

Many people especially those not too concerned about environmental issues and the vital need to maintain bio-diversity may be surprised that tomorrow is World Bee Day. But the United Nations itself has declared this day on its calendar on the basis that bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, are increasingly under threat from selfish human activities.  

Positive use of AI for all - EDITORIAL

In this era when information and communication technology is playing a vital role in shaping a new world, the United Nations yesterday celebrated the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

Gaza massacre: Distorted scriptures, Zionist goons and daddy’s little ghoul

The Nakba Day massacre and the grotesque ceremony to mark the opening of the United States’ embassy in Jerusalem turned Monday, May 14, into one of the darkest days in recent history. Television footage of the massacre reminded...

Democracy development or development democracy?

Somewhere in the middle of the last century, Marxist scholars, disillusioned by the sanguine hopes they had placed on the public, began writing negatively of the working class. This grim assessment of the proletariat and....

The month of Ramadhan: The Benediction of fasting

Philosophy of fasting and the command to fast, whatever its details may be, is to be found in all religions in one form or another. Fasting is a colossal spiritual institution that helps people achieve divine as well as non-material....

Mullivaikkal The tricky side

The commemoration of those killed in the north during the war has by now been a matter generally accepted, formalized with all northern Tamil political parties except the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and the...

Reconciliation called ‘Godot’ and Mullivaikkal Week

The first public consultation by the Members of the “Office on Missing Persons” was held in Mannar a week ago, 01 year and 09 months after the law was passed in Parliament. The mood of the participants, the affected....

Gota and the existentialist threat he poses

Colombo, or rather certain powdered, lipsticked and groomed part of the political space it is taken to be, is uneasy. The unease of those who’ve seldom experienced anything but ease comes from a spectre that has haunted them for quite a while but has, since last Sunday (May 14th) become too flesh-and-blood-real for comfort. In a word (or name), Gota. That’s Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. 

Happy families will make a happy society

In the afterglow of Mother’s Day on May 13 the world this week celebrates the International Day for Families. It is widely accepted that the family is the nucleus of society, a good society depends on a good family and therefore the day is important for all.  

WHY THE POMP AND PAGEANTRY?

What was the need for all the Pomp and Pageantry??? Was it deserved in any way??? We read that over a 1,000 questions and more than 1,000 petitions had to be set aside due to the prorogation!!!

Right of reply - Rotarian replies to Muttukumaru

I am John Baskaran, a resident of Kandy and a Rotary member for over 15 years. Muttukumaru is no stranger to me. I am one of the few people who has previously taken him on. I respond to his article on Friday 27th April prominently featured in this 

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

In the fifth installment of the Hollywood Blockbuster sequel “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’’, agent Ethen Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, overcomes all odds, pulling out miraculous and daring feats to accomplish his mission which initially appears 

RTI, PEOPLE’S POWER AND INDEPENDENT OVERSIGHT

The idea of independent oversight bodies to remedy the ugly party politicization of State institutions was first mooted by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. It was a partially successful experiment as politicians refused to let go of power and the 

Shift of global economic dominance towards Asia SL should seize the opportunity

Sri Lanka should seize the window of opportunity to make the country a developed nation when the world economic dominance shifts from the western hemisphere towards the Asian region by the year 2030, former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said.   

Serbia, Sri Lanka stand great potential for cooperation

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic, who had paid a visit to Sri Lanka early this month, speaks about the latest initiative to revive historic relations between his country and Sri Lanka dating back to the days of the summit of the non-aligned movement.