The politics of organized violence against the Muslim Community
Image courtesy Azzam Ameen It is an interesting phenomenon in Sri Lanka that the very same people who bristle at the very suggestion of deficiencies in the Sri Lankan State and most…
Author: Harim Peiris
Local Government election dynamics in the North and East
Photo courtesy Despite the year end holiday season, the political focus is on the upcoming local government elections scheduled for February 10th next year. With nominations closing by end December, January will…
State reforms as a domestic policy imperative
Earlier this week, Parliament debated, on an adjournment motion by the TNA, the unresolved issues of the North and East, namely dealing with the effects and the causes of the war. The…
National Unity Government after one year
Photograph courtesy Ada Derana August 19th was the first anniversary of the National Unity Government elected after the last general elections and several political issues have dominated the recent news, especially the…
Eastern Province Chief Minister and Maximising Civilian Space
The recent verbal fracas involving the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province and a Navy officer, a Captain who is the commander of the Vidura Naval Training camp, has resulted in unfortunate…
The Embilipitiya death, GSP Plus and a challenge for Yahapalanaya
Photo courtesy News1st Sumith Prassana Jayawardena would not normally be a household name. But his sudden and violent death in Embilipitiya following an altercation and clash between guests and the Police at…
Reflections on the “Maithri Palanaya” after one year
AP Photo/Sujeewa Kumar, via The Guardian Saturday 9th January 2016, will mark the completion of one year of the Maithripala Sirisena presidency and it is an opportune time to reflect on the past…
UNP creates broad front while UPFA leads a retreat to the past
Photo courtesy Fatalnews As nominations closed earlier this week, the contours of the battle lines for the general election to Parliament became clear. The two major political formations in the country, the…
President CBK – A reflection on her politics of Inclusivity and Tolerence
Photo via Club Madrid In 1994, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, at the age of forty nine years, was elected as the youngest and first ever female President of Sri Lanka. Twenty one years…
A tale of two Presidents, six years after the war
May 19th 2015, marked six years since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, which at that time had been the world’s second longest running civil conflict, after Lebanon. The end of the…
An open letter to Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva
Photo courtesy WHO Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva MP Leader of the Opposition Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha Colombo 7. My dear Honorable Sir, I thought of writing to you, due to the…
After 100 days the stark contrast between the Rajapakse and Sirisena Administrations
Image courtesy Salon The conclusion of the one hundred (100) days is a good time to compare and indeed contrast the Maithripala Sirisena Administration from the Rajapakse rule that it replaced. This…
The TNA follows JVP strategy
Image via Al Jazeera No less a person than the JHU’s General Secretary, Patali Champika Ranawaka, went on record over the past weekend, stating that every attempt at campaigning by the joint…
Maithripala, a good governance challenge from within to Mahinda Rajapakse
Photo by AFP PHOTO/ Ishara S.KODIKARA via The Japan Times This analyst has always maintained that the formulae for the defeat of the Rajapakse regime, was a divided government and a unified opposition.…
The JHU critiques the Rajapakse Presidency
Image courtesy News First The barbs and criticisms of a political ally can in politics often do greater damage than even the more forthright criticism of an opponent. The reason for this…