When the Crisis Deepens
Sri Lanka’s politico-constitutional crisis has begun to show signs of deteriorating into an open struggle for state power, ensuing extra-parliamentary causes of action for its resolution. This path to potential violence and…
The Constitutional Coup
Taking A Stand
On November 4, 2018, a group of people gathered at the Liberty roundabout in Kollupitiya. For some, it was their fifth day of standing in protest. Following news that President Maithripala Sirisena…
Questions of Freedom: Problems in Sri Lanka’s Constitution, Laws and Institutions
Citizens of Sri Lanka should heed this warning to the framers of the US constitution. The Sri Lankan Presidency was, until recently, a fixed executive, not dependent or answerable to parliament and…
INFOGRAPHIC: The cost of an MP – Who pays the price?
On October 29th, UNP Member of Parliament and State Minister of Defense Ruwan Wijewardene tweeted the following: Offers to party leaders Rs.500 million, ministers Rs 300 million to crossover and support MS and…
On the Speaker’s inaction: “Flimsy, unforgivable excuses”
Photo via News1st On 4th November 2018, a tweet by Indi Samarajiva noted that the Speaker wouldn’t act to reconvene Parliament. Constitutional expert, Lecturer in Public Law, Edinburgh Law School & Director,…
The Political Is Personal – An Essay In Despair
“ In his explanation of why he removed Ranil Wickremesinghe from the office of Prime Minister, President Maithripala Sirisena cited policy and personal differences between the two. An analysis of his speech…
What, to the minority, is democracy?
Photograph courtesy Maithripala Sirisena violates the constitution, stands to destroy democracy itself. Liberals, overwhelmingly Sinhalese, are aggrieved, appalled, aghast. As a minority, I laugh. Not the happy laughter of someone enjoying a…
Losing a Paradise We Never Had?
Asanga Welikala titled the preliminary note that he published on October 27 ‘Paradise Lost’. I agree with Welikala’s analysis and his subsequent publicly stated views as well. However, I do not think that…
The Constitutional Crisis: A Round Up
On October 26, news broke that the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had withdrawn from the coalition government. Shortly after, SLPP MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as Prime Minister by President…
Nailing Canards: Why President Sirisena’s Actions Remain Illegal, Unconstitutional, And Illegitimate
There have been intense public debates over the meaning and interpretation of the Constitution, and especially the far-reaching changes introduced by the Nineteenth Amendment in 2015, since the dramatic and ongoing attempt…
Paradise Lost? Preliminary Notes on a Constitutional Coup
There were three dramatic announcements on the evening of Friday 26th October 2018 from the Presidential Secretariat, which occurred in the following order: (a) the announcement of the withdrawal of the UPFA from…
A constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka | Updates, analysis & insights
Photo courtesy The Business Times Sri Lanka was plunged into a constitutional crisis on Friday, with the announcement that President Maithripala Sirisena had removed PM Ranil Wickremesinghe from his office, and swore…