Sri Lanka’s battle for gender equality in politics has once again been marred by systemic barriers and patriarchal attitudes. The latest challenge? A new wave of obstacles facing women candidates in the…
Sri Lanka has a tradition of strong and independent civil society organisations and of professional (and organisational) autonomy within many branches of the state apparatus. By the turn of the century, it…
It is not quite a miracle. But it is certainly a very impressive turnaround. From around 1970 until 2021, Sri Lanka seemed to be on an irreversible track toward steadily worsening governance:…
By January 2022 Sri Lanka was well on its way to becoming a failed state. Bankrupt, riddled with corruption from top to bottom and at the mercy of evil leaders, the country…
At the inauguration of the first session of the 10th parliament, President Anura Kumar Dissanayake articulated the government’s vision for driving economic and social transformation in Sri Lanka. In his address, he…
Reflecting on the recent elections in both Sri Lanka and the US is an interesting exercise particularly because, as the two countries now have synchronized election cycles, comparisons and contrasts are readily…
The presidential and parliamentary elections of 2024 have clearly sent strong signals of a clear change in the political landscape in Sri Lanka. On September 21, the country elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake…
The Grimm version is known wider but the Turkish one cuts deeper. In both tales, the boy goes in search of fear and finds a crown. In the Grimm version, fear comes…
Sri Lanka stands on the brink of a transformative era. The National People’s Power (NPP), under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has secured a historic two thirds majority in parliament….
The parliamentary election on November 14 is going to be like no other in Sri Lanka’s post independence history. Like the presidential election held on September 21, it will be another ground…
The 2024 presidential election marked the first major electoral event following the aragalaya and the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The election highlighted the country’s shifting political landscape, moving away from traditional…
Leading political parties, mostly in the Sinhala speaking south, are known to loudly proclaim the need to elect more women to parliament. The reality has not caught up with that political rhetoric….
As Sri Lanka approaches the general election, the Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) polling reveals strong voter support for prioritising increased government spending on health and…
As I have previously pointed out, although IMF programmes appear to solely focus on development, they do not cater to or deal with matters that affect socio-economic justice and a fair go….
Former president Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked the voters to elect members with experience back to the parliament at the Nov 14 election. He alleges that those who have worked with him in…
