Trump attacks Assad: Wither America First?

As Firecrackers, fireworks lit Sri Lanka up from its surface and the sky, United States joined by the United Kingdom and France unleashed a barrage of missiles...

Chemical weapons: Reaction, rhetoric and rethink

The war rhetoric the United States and Russia are firing at each other over allegations that the Bashar al-Assad regime regularly uses chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war has brought into question the efficacy of the campaign to eliminate the use of chemical weapons.  

UNP: Repair roof when the sun is shining The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining – J

The sun is slated to pass from House of Pisces to the House of Aries in the celestial sphere in a few days’ time heralding another Sinhala and Hindu New Year.

NCM not totally defeated; it is still yielding

It goes without saying that the Joint Opposition (JO) somewhat spoiled the local government election victory of its official political party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) with its no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

Thank God for party politics!

The UNP is in shambles. The SLFP is in a mess. The Joint Opposition has won a majority of the seats and has voted more mayors than any other party.

An incomparable leader who never pleaded for leadership

Daily Mirror on March 23, 1968, exactly fifty years ago reported, ‘The jungles of Binntenna turned festive with green flags, lion flags, Buddhist flags and coconut leaves to greet Dudley Senanayake, 

SLFP headed for a split?

A section of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) backed the move to bring the no confidence motion in the hope of unseating Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The Prime Minister survived the motion with the support of his party men and the main opposition Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

Good Governance, Democracy and the Opposition Leader

What is the worst thing this Government has done? Well, one could make a long list and shake it up many times. One could do a compare-and-contrast exercise with the first three years of previous regimes going back to Independence and play that familiar game of suppressing the bad, inflating the 

May the New Year herald peace and harmony

The National New Year is being observed this week-end in the aftermath of the biggest political crisis since the historic presidential election of January 8, 2015. The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe -- submitted by the joint opposition and supported by 16 SLFP 

MAHINDA’S MOVE

The no-confidence motion must be judged more by its consequences than its intentions. In an interesting speech on April 4, former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa made the studied observation that the Parliament had witnessed 46 such motions over the decades, of which only ONE was carried — 

What the sun is to the solar system, the mother is to society

As we celebrate the National New Year which marks the new journey of the sun from Pisces to Aries, in many parts of the world there are also events to mark the National Safe Motherhood Week. What the sun is to the Solar System including our Planet Earth, so is what the mother is to society.  

The inside story of Welikada jail riot

The CID last week took into custody the Commissioner of Prisons Department (Rehabilitation) Emil Ranjan Lamahewa and Police Anti Narcotics Bureau inspector Newamal  Rangajeewa on suspicion over the alleged shooting incident within Welikada Prison which occurred on the 09th of November 2012.

Amendment of LG Elections’ Act, the need of the hour

Nobody would contest the view aired by President Maithripala Sirisena on the need to amend the Local Government Elections Act again in order to reduce the number of local government members from 8,000 to 4,000. Speaking to the Editors and heads of media institutions on Friday, the President had said that the present number of LG members is an unbearable burden for the country.   

The last chance for the UNP

Sri Lanka is making another first in the world. This is the only government on the whole planet, of which the ministers and MPs who voted for a no confidence motion against its own prime minister, and by extension the government, can stick to their portfolios after the vote was defeated. Anywhere else they would have resigned, or got sacked, but not here. In that sense this is no longer a government, but a farce.  

Bathiya and Santhush: The awakening of a new sensibility

If there’s really nothing ‘new’ to be ‘discerned’ in the recent popular culture here, it’s not because the artistes don’t want to try out something new, but because audiences are so easily captivated by the familiar details and the technical veneers of their work. In Sri Lanka, for the most that is, once you come up with something 

If health is put in the market, the poor will be left to die - EDITORIAL

The World Health Organisation (WHO) celebrated its landmark 70th anniversary on Saturday with World Health Day events being held in almost all...

Punishment of Julian Assange is political, not legal

Recent reports that the Ecuadoran government has blocked internet / phone access and disallowed visitors to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange – who has....

NO CONFIDENCE MOTION: On whom should we place our confidence?

The 3rd no confidence motion in the Sri Lankan legislature ended up with the Prime Minister  winning , perhaps the most difficult obstacle in his....

Universal Health Coverage: Promise of healthier, more equitable, secure SE Asia Region

The promise of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is bold: that all people can access quality health services, when and where they need them, without....

No-Confidence Motion winners and losers…

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~Sun Tsu, Ancient Chinese Military strategist  

World Health Day 2018; Shifting Focus from Disease to Patients

World Health Day is celebrated worldwide, every year on April 7. This day, initiated and funded by the World Health organization, has the main intention of raising awareness on important topics in the global health, throughout the world. This year, the theme is, ‘Universal Health Coverage: everyone, everywhere’. The Health Capsule talked to two of the giants in Sri Lanka’s health system, to get more information about the celebra

Restoration of Trust vital for Lanka’s Future

Addressing the first media conference after Wednesday’s no-confidence motion which produced conflicts within conflicts, divisions within divisions and crises within crises, President Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday he did not get directly involved in the motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.   

Death of a hero in France

Personally I’m a coward. I’m unlikely ever to be a hero. (I have rescued on different occasions three young children from drowning, but I didn’t risk my life.) I certainly would never have done what Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, the French policeman, did. He asked the terrorist who had taken over a supermarket if he could substitute himself for the female hostage he held. The terrorist agreed and then murdered him. Last Wednesday Bel

‘GSLF’s purpose is to prove that the OISL report is false’ -Sunil Chandrakumara

Sri Lanka Forum (GSLF) President Sunil Chandrakumara in an interview with the  spoke about the UNHRC process. 

What is the real Opposition?

The union of the two major parties or rather coalitions led by the two major parties that have ruled the country since Independence was a first when it happened in January 2015.

Large-hearted women seek acknowledgement

Dr. Chandima Wijegunawardena is a visiting lecturer at the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh. She was a student of Anula Vidyalaya, Colombo and did her higher studies as a medical student in Manipal, Malaysia. 

Dogfight politics Finding principled politics through LG Councils and the NCM

The messy situation arisen in many Local Government bodies after the February 10 elections for them had so far been eclipsed by the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) presented by the Joint Opposition against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Gaza: The cry from the wilderness

Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore of Fahrenheit 911 fame once advised the Palestinians to give up violence and adopt non-violence as a means of protests.

Now that the Diyawanna Reality Show is over…

The Diyawanna Reality Show came to a happy ending for UNP and PM Wickremesinghe two days ago on the night of Wednesday 04 April 2018.

Let the youth not be provoked again

Tomorrow April 5 is the 47th anniversary of the 1971 youth insurrection by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and it came in the aftermath or afterglow of the tumultuous parliamentary debate yesterday on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Many analysts believe the JVP insurrection was crushed and the youth prophets crucified possibly because it came too early.