Photo courtesy The Malaysian Insider You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. James Madison, 4th President of America Introduction The current presidential election in Sri Lanka is mainly focused on making a pathway towards good governance by assuring the victory of the […]
Photo by REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte via Voiz For the first time since Mahinda Rajapaksa ascended the Presidency in 2006 he faces a strong threat to his office. This was not the case when he called the election two years before it was due, confident of re-election owing to a deeply fractured opposition. But that has changed dramatically. […]
Photograph via Colombo Gazette Further to the initial forecast I made in my previous article (Groundviews, 1st January 2015), in this article I make several projections about the possible result in the forthcoming presidential election based on previous election results. I primarily use percentages from the 2010 Presidential election result, 2005 Presidential election result and the […]
Photo from Api Sri Lankan “Every country has the government it deserves” – French-Russian Philosopher Joseph de Maistre in 1811. Politics the world over is going through its test of time, as most “democratic” governments are now influenced either by corporations or China. These outside interests encourage a concentration of political power leading to an […]
Voting is an important civic responsibility and one way all of us exercise and enjoy our Sovereignty. This responsibility becomes particularly important during a Presidential Election, because of the immense power vested in this office. With just a few days more for the 2015 Presidential Election, follow and support #IVotedSL, a trilingual campaign launched by […]
Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press, via The Washington Post The Pre-election scenario For the last eight months I have been living in a village in the Kalutara district. The village is situated about 10 kilometres south of Kalutara the district capital and a kilometer or so east from the sea.. The village economy is based […]
Photo courtesy IPS A few days ago, I listened to a speech made by the great artiste Mr Dharmasiri Bandaranayake. Although there were several connotations in his speech, and it contained much food for thought, one incident he related created a sense of deep disgust and sorrow in me. He described a scene in his […]
Photo courtesy Maatram Lankans are awaiting the island-nation’s seventh presidential election with a renewed belief in the power of their vote. According to the latest opinion survey by the Centre of Policy Analysis (CPA), 86.9% of Lankans think that their vote can make a difference in the outcome of the presidential election. In August 2014 […]
Photo by The Picture Press, featured in 30 Years Ago As I emphasized in my previous article, never in our lifetime will we be presented with ideal alternatives. However, as citizens of Sri Lanka, we have a moral responsibility to vote pragmatically on the 8th of January. To this end, having read Presidential candidate Hon. […]
Voting is an important civic responsibility and one way all of us exercise and enjoy our Sovereignty. This responsibility becomes particularly important during a Presidential Election, because of the immense power vested in this office. With less than one week to go for the 2015 Presidential Election, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) officially […]
Photo courtesy Al Jazeera I just returned from a two-week stay in Sri Lanka with a mix of very different experiences. Since I have never done a proper meditation retreat in Sri Lanka, I stayed at Kanduboda International Vipassana Meditation Centre for six days, waking up at 4am to follow a well articulated daily routine […]
Photo courtesy News First Generally, I do not use social media to present my opinions about social, political or economic matters relating to Sri Lanka. However, having seen the avid debates on both camps of the Presidential campaign during the past weeks, I think the time has come to detach myself from this attitude of […]
Photograph Colombo Gazette As we approach the final week of campaigning for the Presidential election, the political messages of both coalitions are becoming clearer. So are the strategies of both coalitions and trends in voter sentiment as revealed through some surveys and public attendance in political rallies. Defections from the ruling coalition have dominated the […]
Photo courtesy Indian Express Dear Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez, It was probably not your intention to be in the middle of this embarrassing political controversy. Clearly, all you wanted to do was visit your old friend Namal and distribute some spectacles in order to boost your charity. But, I must say, you two… the […]
Image courtesy Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) Use of thugs ‘chandiyas’ or ‘marayas’ by those in authority has its roots in the colonial period. Later, Sinhalese politicians adopted this method in village level politics spreading into urban locales. It is a method used to control public opinion and behaviour, more importantly to submerge alternative […]