A non-political citizenry for a no-politician democracy

Tilak Dissanayake and Hilmy Sally who describe themselves as ‘design engineers and concerned citizens’ have proposed a concept which they call ‘No politician democracy (NPD)’ (see ‘No politician democracy’ in the Daily FT, June 14, 2017).

Going back to the hallowed middle path

The spectacular victory of France’s new President Emanuel Macron’s Centrist Party in last Sunday’s first round of the general election and the humiliating set-back suffered by Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and the Conservative Party in the June 8 general elections there, have important lessons for Sri Lanka and the world.  

MR’s ceaseless whining and its tragic tale…

‘A real or imagined cause for complaint, especially unfair treatment’ or ‘a feeling of resentment over something believed to be wrong or unfair’, that’s how grievance is defined in our English dictionaries. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s current spell of whining fits right into that definition. And his whining has not ceased.

A costly mistake while enacting 1978 Constitution

The Nation should be grateful to Neville Ladduwahetty for enlightening us of a mystery, which, otherwise, would have been buried forever in the constitutional history of our country. Without labouring among words, I shall straight away move to a segment of events that took place on August 16, 1978 at the National State Assembly (then Parliament) of Sri Lanka (cited from the Hansard); 

The Corbyn Revolution and Sri Lanka

It was only a year ago that Britain voted to stay out of the European Union. The Far Left and the Far Right welcomed the move, albeit for completely different reasons. The former against exploitation and the latter in pursuit of regressive nativism. In fact it was the Far Right, the nativist ideology that paved the way for creating the ground work for the shock decision by the British

Beauty of Cricket

So we could not make it to the semi-finals of the ICC Champion Trophy 2017. However is that a big loss? After all aren’t we in the best company today? The ICC World number one nation, South Africa, and number two, Australia, are both out of the semi- finals along with number four, New Zealand. The sixth best team Sri Lanka therefore does not have much to crib about.

illegal migrants mainly face issues

The foreign employment sector is still the largest foreign exchange earner of the country. On an average, 250,000 persons annually migrate to foreign countries seeking better employment. Of the total number of Sri Lankans working abroad over 90% are employed in Middle Eastern countries, according to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.

The Govt. might be pathetic: But why the alternative is worse?

There is a groundswell of public discontent at the government, partly due to its own inability to deliver on high expectations it set during the election, as well as due to its own misdemeanours,

This is not good governance

Tourism Development and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga was caught in camera scolding and apparently attempting to assault a journalist at his party office in Kandana last week. Although Sri Lankans are used to seeing this kind of behaviour by politicians and high ranking officials, as if they had the right to behave in such a manner, this particular incident has not created an uproar in society.   

Are doctors wasting public money

 At the very outset, I as a direct and indirect taxpayer in Sri Lanka must say that though I do not accept the contents of Dr. Mendis’ article which are erroneous and misleading, I respect his right to hold his opinion or view on the matter as a member of the trade union of government doctors though it is called Government Medical Officers’ Association.   

disregarding their service

There are several issues brought up, also raised by many, that need to be addressed, which is the purpose of my writing again. Since they should be explained in detail, unfortunately due to space constraints, I have to restrict to only a few matters here, and the rest would be addressed in another article shortly.  

It’s time to cast out the archaic, ring in the new… it’s time to go

On April 18, Theresa May called a snap general election because she was confident the Labour party under Jeremy Corbin (a left winger) would offer her little resistance and she would win a landslide. The May 8 election result proved how wrong she was.

Colombo PRIDE: Challenge and Change

“Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.” – Harvey MilkFinally, the month of pride is here and EQUAL GROUND is ready to dazzle Colombo for ten long days with the much-loved events from past years along with a few new additions.  

May’s June Debacle and Qatar’s Quagmire

Exactly a month after French Presidential election, the British election results surprised and sent shock waves across the globe. Theresa May’s Conservative Party went for an election to further strengthen its power base within the House of Commons to strengthen the Brexit negotiation process. Instead, the general elections weakened the Tories and effectively led to the creation of a government that has no real majority in the British Parli

India eyes a stake in Colombo Port in addition to Trinco

Ravi Karunanayake’s first foreign trip as Foreign Minister, not surprisingly to India, comes at a time when much is in the balance in Sri Lanka’s relations with key stakeholders in the development process. Sri Lanka’s decisions relating to ports and their development have suddenly become a high-stakes game of balancing the interests of foreign powers engaged in a race to advance their own strategic interests in the region, on

Is a nuclear arms race becoming more likely?

It was all smiles out on the range last week when, against a deep blue sky, an American interceptor rocket took out an incoming “enemy” long-range, missile (which in a real attack would be carrying a nuclear warhead). Generals and Congressmen and women jumped for joy.   

Theresa dismayed; Conservative Party seen as a casino

During the past year the Western world has been rocked if not split apart by extremist right wing populism and liberal democracy,

Blame whom for what Sri Lanka is?

Few days ago in his “World Environment Day” message President Sirisena says, “….at present, due to the frequent occurrences of natural disasters, we have to admit that humans cannot survive without a sustainable environment. Nature reminds us of its message through landslides, devastating floods.”

The tricky issue of media and politicians during disasters

Out of the hundreds of pictures taken by journalists during the recent floods and landslide disasters and published in newspapers many would still specially remember pictures of four politicians helping disaster victims.

Saudi-Qatari rift: Submission is survival

In the sea of world politics, it is a norm that the big fish eats the small fish. For small States, sovereignty is a myth. When the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was formed in 1981, some Arab analysts saw it as an attempt by Saudi Arabia to swallow up the small emirates on its eastern borders.

Beware of the poison in imported food

One of the national government’s positive missions has been to grow the food that we need in Sri Lanka instead of busting up millions of dollars to import junk food or processed rubbish. As a tropical paradise, Sri Lanka has been blessed by being Asia’s rice bowl till recently.

Flood Recovery: Govt. mulls donor conference

As the floodwaters receded, the government encountered fresh challenges in the reconstruction of affected areas with measures for mitigation of damages from future natural disasters. All in all, the government did not face any major issue in feeding the displaced because donations out-poured from people’s largesse. Yet, the state machinery is riddled with shortcomings in the delivery of aid for people. 

Today is World Oceans Day

A couple of months ago,while under water just a few miles off the coast of Colombo, I had a chance encounter with an extraordinary being. As we meandered in and out of a coral-covered wreck, this gigantic creature appeared from the dark depth, a massive whale shark with dozens of little fish swimming gracefully by its side, like a king moving with his court.   

A Department of Happiness?

A few weeks back, India’s Andhra Pradesh became the second Indian state to open a department of happiness. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh the ever enterprising political visionary Chandrababu Naidu, who visited Sri Lanka a couple of months back, has declared that “no government can be rated as successful or achieve desired results unless happiness prevails in society”.  

A separate State, anyone?

Just before sitting down to write this morning (June 7, 2017), I received a notification on social media. It was about a panel discussion at the Public Library to be held later in the afternoon. The title was in Sinhala. It read as follows: ‘Let us defeat the Constitution, let us get rid of Ranil.’  

Monsoonal rains may signal an increase in dengue patients

The record number of dengue patients and deaths recorded up to May this year mayincrease with the onset of the monsoonal rains. According to a Daily Mirror report last month, Dr. Prachila Samaraweera of the Dengue Control Unit of Colombo, has said some 44,000 dengue patients had been reported countrywide with 115 deaths.

Sri Lanka’s social dichotomy and its micro-effects

Sunset in this arid zone is a spectacle of rioting colors, all the colors of the rainbow, from crimson red to violet and orange and blue, all dancing to a riotous order. But our farmer is woefully oblivious of that brilliant splendour. Far out on the horizon, a hazy column of clouds deters any human eye from seeing the fine line that divides land and the skies

Economics of belt and road

 By saying so, Lee Kuan Yew described Singapore, as the shrimp, could only survive by being unpalatable to the larger fish. The Australian Prime Minister said Singapore could make itself unpalatable to the larger fish, by being self –reliant and strong, as envisaged by Lee Kuan Yew.

Disaster was man-made

Change of weather is a usual phenomenon in world history and in our history as well. The way people living in Anuradhapura, Kalawewa and the suburban areas braved the severe dry weather at one time is well described in novels like “Baddegama”. 

THE MANGALA MAP

A transformed Mr. Samaraweera seemed to see himself in the mirror as the President of Sri Lanka. In his first official event as Finance Minister at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce late last month, he outlined sweeping changes which constituted a perspective for a drastic change of Sri Lanka.