Over the past 50 years or so, every Sri Lankan president has followed a non-rational approach to the formation of government. This prompted Verité Research to draft a “blueprint for rational government” and present it to the major candidates (or

While media coverage is largely on the Presidential Election which is to be held on September 21, today marks an important day on the calendar– that is the International Day of Charity.

Campaigning at this year’s presidential elections is now in full swing. The candidates who matter have all produced their manifestos of things they will do in the event they do succeed at reaching that all- important 50%+1 votes at the poll. It is

At Sri Lankan presidential elections, the Northern and Eastern provinces where Tamil and Muslim minorities are concentrated matter a lot. The vote base in all seven provinces outside the North and the East is dominated by the majority Sinhalese

India has a highly publicised, shocking rape case (or rape and murder) once every few years.

The Colombo High Court on August 27 sentenced former Minister A.H.M. Fowzie for two years of rigorous imprisonment and suspended it for 10 years after he pleaded guilty over the charge of misusing a vehicle belonging to the Disaster Management Minist

First it was Sri Lanka, and then, after two years, the same sequence of events in Bangladesh. One can argue that, having learnt lessons from its neighbours, Indonesia avoided the calamity within days.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was established on September 2, 1951. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike left the United National Party (UNP), following his resignation from both his Cabinet portfolio and the UNP’s unofficial deputy leadership in July 1951,

Large infrastructure projects of the government are often financed by foreign loans and grants. When the amount exceeds USD 100,000, the law requires information about the projects to be disclosed to the public online.

Ours is a special country. We have many firsts to our name. We gave the world its first woman Prime Minister -Ms. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

The eagerly anticipated 2024 presidential election is scheduled to be held on September 21, 2024. Initially, 39 candidates were in the fray.

The September 21 Presidential elections different from the past eight such elections held since 1982, in some aspects.

In early 2022, Sri Lankans started experiencing 12-hour rolling power cuts and shortages of basics such as food, fuel, cooking gas and medicines to name a few. Desperate fathers and mothers searched hither and thither for infant food. Even vegetables

When the civil war concluded in 2009 there were makers of short films who captured footage of celebrations on the street.

While political leaders are promising heaven on earth in their intensified campaign for the Presidential Election on September 21,

Sri Lanka is a country where we see the occasional individual rise from poverty and then lift the rest of the clan out of misery.

As a voter and a stakeholder in the country’s governance and electoral system /process, the writer was enlivened by a clarion call in the press by a group of lawyers, academics and civil rights activists to abolish the Executive Presidency.

A rhetorical question: What difference would it have made if Sajith Premadasa delivered the speech Thalatha Athukorala did last week?

Our country is heading to the polls. On 21 September all of us eligible voters will be making a choice for one of the thirty-eight candidates whose name and symbol adorn the ballot papers. Some of these candidates will canvass only in particular dist

This document has been compiled by members of religious and civil society and the academic community from all parts of the country after extensive discussion and consultations conducted over a period of several months. It is to be presented to the pr

Myanmar’s military junta, facing powerful armed insurgencies in the North Eastern part of the country, has decided to use Buddhist symbolism to defeat the enemy.

The only lifeline for Sri Lanka for the recovery from the current economic crisis and achieving long-term economic development seems to be the programme sponsored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) initiated by former President Gotabaya Rajapak

‘I Am Ready for the Challenges; … We always believed in nationalism, and we need to protect that. We believed the policies that suit our country were not addressed by the government.’ – Namal

It has been three years since the unexpected passing of my friend Mangala.

On 22 August this month, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled the President in his capacity as Finance Minister had infringed the rights of the people by postponing the 2023 Local Government (LG) elections.

The process leading up to the presidential election has commenced. With the death of one contestant on Thursday and the withdrawal of another thirty-eight out of forty candidates who placed their deposits will be contesting the elections.The ballot p

The Election Commission on August 16 announced the maximum amount of money that could be spent by candidates who contest the September 21 Presidential election for their campaigns, by an extraordinary gazette.

Sri Lanka decides. Nor really. Geopolitics also decides for Sri Lanka. Elections are not entirely won and lost based on the people’s verdict. Yes, outsiders are interested in Sri Lanka’s election and work to ensure the party or candidate they fav

There is much uncertainty in the air as to who’ll be the winner as Sri Lanka gets ready for the 9th presidential elections.

Sri Lanka needs rapid economic growth to overcome the current crisis. At the Public Finance Lounge hosted by Verité Research on July 5, 2024, I highlighted that such growth is difficult to envision given the limited balance sheet capacity in the ba