8 January 2015: Memories from a Future-Past
By the evening of January 08th 2015, I had a slight headache. It was a headache of excitement and uncertainty fueled by an inability to eat or sleep. It was also a…
Year: 2019
Rehabilitation
The outgoing president of my former country just pardoned Jude Jayamaha, murderer of the young Yvonne Jonsson, who had dual Sri Lankan and Swedish nationality, bludgeoned to death in an apartment at…
The Aftermath
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena via Yahoo News Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Interview with the ITN – 24.2.2010) If Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins the presidency, he and his family will have two priorities: secure the premiership for…
Bearing Responsibility for Evil: A Note on Electoral Choices and Burdens
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena via Yahoo News As the presidential election heads into its final stretch, handwringing over the lesser of the two evils is reaching its tortured apex. The most terrible strain…
Abiding by Sri Lanka’s Democracy
Photo courtesy A Presidential election is a unique opportunity for Sri Lankan voters to have a direct say in our constitutional democracy. At this time, the way in which we exercise our…
Boycotting an election: Can we afford it?
Photo courtesy Verite Research The Tamils won the 2005 Presidential election – for Mahinda Rajapaksa. They did so not by voting for him. They did so by boycotting the election. In 2005…
How (not) to vote: A letter to the dejected progressive
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena via Yahoo News On the morning of 9 January 2015, I shed a few quiet tears. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who sought an unprecedented third term for the highest office, had…
Helping Gotabaya to murder democracy?
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena via Yahoo News Gotabaya Rajapaksa (Interview with Chris Morris of the BBC) In 2015, a majority of Lankans voted to give themselves a democratic government. Do we vote to…
A week that will shake Sri Lanka’s future
Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe via PRI Who is winning? This seems to be the question many people these days are keen to find an answer to. Whenever this question is put to…
Is Sajith slowly pulling ahead as Gota fails to gain traction?
The 2019 presidential election, rather predictably is shaping up politically, very similar to its precedent in 2015. On that occasion, the then ruling Rajapakses’ sought an unprecedented third term and was rebuffed…
Addressing the Multiple Crises in Sri Lankan Education: For the Attention of Candidates in the Presidential Election 2019
Photo from Sri Lanka’s entire system of education, at pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary levels, has been facing multiple crises. Attempts made in the recent past to address some aspects of these…
Who will watch the watchdog?
Photo courtesy Iromi Perera’s Flickr album on 2018 constitutional coup Many of us were hoping for a new dawn in 2015. The hope for a “Yahapalanaya” government now leaves ashes in the…
The probe for a prudent political order: A Reflection
Photo courtesy Iromi Perera’s Flickr album on 2018 constitutional coup The more visible euphoria that precedes the coming presidential election, is accompanied with a deeper, solemn realism that the country is unlikely…
Sri Lanka resumes deportation of asylum seekers
Photograph courtesy “Please save my family, please” was the message I received from a Pakistani friend last weekend. It was about her family of seven, including 3 children, who had fled Pakistan…
Is the Deep State Involved? Reflections on the PSC Findings & Implications for the Future
Photograph courtesy We are presently witnessing a whirlwind of activities in the lead up to Presidential Elections due on 16th November with an unprecedented number of candidates and election hype. It was…
