The hour for political maturity - EDITORIAL

The people have spoken, as they say. Local Government Elections, like any election, are a test of the regime’s popularity. Well, the people have delivered their verdict: Not up to mark...

70 years of Independence and way forward

Driving on the streets of Colombo a day before Sri Lanka celebrated its 70th Independence Day, I noticed wayside vendors attempting to sell national flags to passers-by. These sellers used a noval...

ELECTION ANALYSIS WHILE RESULTS ARE BEING RELEASED

All those that bought crackers, can burst them justifiably, but it will not sound musical to the ears’ of any of the leaders,’ as the message is clear none will be elected through an election as President or...

Celebrating Independence with pomp and pageantry: A post script

We celebrated 70 years (not 30, by the way!) of Independence last week with the  attendant  pomp and pageantry ;  Yet it matters little whether it is 70 or 30 years since independence  as....

Japanese Academic: Sri Lanka needs a good balancing act

Sri Lanka, a country strategically positioned in the Indian Ocean, is well in the spheres of attention of the world powers. China, on the one hand, has linked up with Sri Lanka for Strategic Partnership Cooperation.

Top women professionals need to come into politics

In today’s crucial and countrywide elections to 341 local councils, a significant feature will be the 25% representation for women for the first time since Sri Lanka achieved universal adult franchise more than 80 years ago. While acknowledging this as a positive first step towards gender equality which is vital for the evolution of a just and fair society most people and social analysts complain they are still not aware who the women repre

Will Trump break international law over North Korea?

We are soon going to have a clash between President Donald Trump and international law. This is predictable when one examines the presidential discourse over what to do about North Korea and its possession of nuclear-tipped rockets. He has threatened “fire and fury” which doesn’t sound like the opening words of the UN’s Charter: “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save 

Square pegs in round holes

As Sri Lanka, conducts its biggest ever local council elections today, we need to reflect on the fact that poverty, unemployment, youth disillusionment, social and institutional degradation and disintegration, and environmental despoliation continues relentlessly to haunt the world and our country.  

Events in Tamil Nadu in 2017 show how power undermines ethics and shame in politics Politics in Koll

The rapidity of the turn of events in Tamil Nadu, the southern State of India during the past one year, after the death of Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the powerful Chief Minister of State, is amazing and also interesting.

Whither independence without its spirit

Freedom: What a great idea it is! As we celebrated this Sunday Sri Lanka’s 70th freedom day, it is relevant to ask how free we are and what freedom meant to us then and today. 

Voting tomorrow: SL will remain SL SL would continue to be with China economically and growing Sinha

Tomorrow Saturday, February 10, 15.8 million people have been called to vote at the long-delayed Local Government Elections to establish 341 councils.   

Vital national issues involved in tomorrow’s poll

Whatever the results of the Local Council election tomorrow, one important factor is clear. The sovereign people, most of them now well informed largely because of high technology -- will no longer tolerate corrupt politicians.   

When media ride on a political wave!

Politics, elections and the media are necessarily entwined in any democracy. This intertwine has witnessed new dimensions altogether with persons who would otherwise have not got through more than a few words earlier, now having the luxury of taking in all that is churned out on media. 

How public policy failures have led to corruption

Sri Lanka has ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption. However, in 2016, Sri Lanka ranked 95 in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), dropped down the rank by 12 slots when compared to 2015, a report released by Transparency International said.

There are no lesser evils

The major political parties are poor. Their poverty is clearly indicated by the fact that all of them, without exception, are using the language of default option. We hear sentences beginning with ‘at least,’ as in ‘at least now there are no white van abductions,’ or ‘at least then we had development’. 

Cast your vote wisely

An intensive, hard-fought campaign ended at midnight yesterday. After a two-day moratorium, the four major parties go before the court of the sovereign people on Saturday for their verdict on who should control 341 local councils in all parts of the country.   

Collateral damages of a breakdown of the coalition unthinkable

Election platforms can turn men into super heroes; they can turn politicians into inspiring leaders; they can drive audiences into enraged mobs; they can also turn themselves into caricatures of comical proportions, from which empty rhetoric might resonate for a short time. Some of the rhetoric, like that of Martin Luther King Jr.,

HERE ARE SOME ELECTION RESULTS

Political parties - carry no credible second strings or alternate leadership –are calibrated according to the leaders’ needs. The problem lies in getting voters to walk a distance to a booth to vote for a dowdy politician.?

Campaign ends tonight; voting wisely is what remains

Political parties contesting Saturday’s local government elections will have to end their campaigning at midnight today marking what the Elections Commission describes as the “period of silence”. It is worth noting that the election campaign was unprecedentedly calm with there being no sign of an upcoming election in many areas, despite of these elections being considered by the three main political parties -- the UNP, the SLF

Voice of the Voiceless

Is honesty really a virtue and does anybody want to hear the truth? It makes no sense to vote for  and work for a system that makes the selfish rich and the selfless poor 

Liquor ban on women: Hypocrisy and sexism posing as morality

Now the ground reality in Sri Lanka in terms of gender equality is a scenario like this.   Women can enter prestigious professions such as law, medicine, engineering, civil service, etc. without any obstruction; in fact the number of females entering these professions far outweigh their male counterparts.

Maldives’ is a case of a young democracy’s teething troubles

The Maldives is an archipelago of hundreds of tiny, idyllic islands, many of which are luxury resorts attracting Westerners in search of a quiet retreat. But the quietness of the country appears to be restricted to its physical features.   

Battle for Artificial Intelligence (AI) dominance heats up

The primary thrust among global commentators last week was on dissecting and analysing the State of the Union address delivered by President Donald Trump. He tried to reach out to an American public exhausted by divisive politics and a waning faith in the American 

Speaker’s call for political sanity

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has reportedly urged President Maithripala Sirisena and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to tone down mutual hostility in the election campaign.   

High drama on corruption; People need to make a prudent choice

With four major political parties going into the last two days of their unprecedented battle for the control of 341 local councils, Parliament would today hold a special session to debate a vital issue. The much awaited debate will be on the lengthy bombshell reports of the Commission which investigated alleged Bond scams at the Central Bank from February 2015 to March 2016 and the Commission which inquired into allegations of 

Are we treating tourists in rightful manner? - EDITORIAL

A few days back, two Sri Lankan students studying in China returned home for holidays. During their transit in Kuala Lumpur they bumped into an elderly...

The Tamil Left and Reflection

With Independent Sri Lanka having reached the age of 70, it cannot reconstruct itself without self-criticism. As we live under the shadow of the twin forces of Sinhala Buddhist...

We need professionals to take this country forward - Chandradasa Jayasinghe

The upcoming polls have opened doors for a diverse group of individuals including professionals, youngsters and more females to contest. Representing the United National Freedom...

Dhanushka’s plan to make Maharagama a smart city: People are learned, you can’t take them for grant

Dhanushka Ramanayake, an academically qualified young professional is contesting for the Maharagama Urban Council from the United National Party....

Setting up the OMP: Delays, Dilution and Deal-Making

The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is one of the four mechanisms that the government promised in its ‘comprehensive approach to dealing with the past’. While the OMP is the only mechanism on which any formal progress has been made in the 28 months that have passed since the government