An Uneven Playing Field
The implementation of a 25% quota for women’s representation in local councils at Sri Lanka’s 2018 Local Government Election was a welcome move, and the result of years of advocacy and activism…
Elections
Sri Lanka’s Gradual Return to ‘Normalcy’
Featured image courtesy IndiaTimes The local government election of 10 February 2018 marked a triumphant return of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Though the polls were meant to elect representatives for local government…
A Plea for Sanity in a Time of Uncertainty
AFP PHOTO / Ishara S. KODIKARA courtesy The Wire The on-going political crisis following the local government elections of February 10 raises an issue about the constitutional and political propriety of presidential…
Making Ripples in Public Political Space: The Entry of Women into Local Government in Post War Batticaloa
Featured image by AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena via WTOP Yesterday, the day before one of the most historic elections of post-independence Sri Lanka, I sat with a friend who is standing for local…
The Significance of the 25% Quota for Women in Local Government
Photograph courtesy IPS Context The next round of elections to local government in Sri Lanka is scheduled for February 10, 2018. The election is significant for many reasons. It is being held…
Namal Rajapaksa, bots and trolls: New contours of digital propaganda and online discourse in Sri Lanka
Image courtesy Congress is investigating how Twitter bots may have influenced the US election, by Quartz Late 2017, the Twitter account of Groundviews was getting trolled – or in other words, had…
Local Government election dynamics in the North and East
Photo courtesy Dhaka Tribune 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,…
Sri Lanka’s current political impasse: Some additional thoughts
Photo courtesy News In Asia Editors note: Read in conjunction with Sri Lanka’s deepening political crisis: Not losing an opportunity to lose another opportunity by the same author. Sri Lanka has entered…
Blood-and-Faith Populism and Sri Lanka’s Future
Image courtesy Today Online This month, the populist wave suffered two critical defeats. In France outsider-candidate Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen. In Iran, reformist president Hassan Rouhani trounced Ebrahim Raisi, a…
US And Them
Featured image courtesy Associated Press Editor’s Note: This is the revised edited version of an article published on Roar.lk The United States and Sri Lanka both call themselves democratic societies. Like most of…
What Trump’s Win Teaches Sri Lanka
Photograph from NBC News Donald Trump’s surprising electoral victory last week gives us Americans a lot to think about. One takeaway is particularly relevant for Sri Lanka. Over the last eight years,…
Regaining Paradise with Donald Trump
Featured image courtesy Associated Press …the issues you fought the election on resonated far beyond the borders of the USA. With your election…we look forward to a new world order based on…
Looking for the Human factor in this “Rainbow Revolution”
Featured image courtesy Washington Post Two things trouble and pain me. The Mullivaikkal “remembrance” on 18 May, of the dead and missing people due to war, whose families are still agitating to…
Rajapaksa’s Retreat: Temporary Truce or Political Imposture?
Photography courtesy International Business Times The active politician is a creator, an initiator: but he is neither creates from nothing nor does he move in the turbid void of his own…
One Year Of Yahapaalanaya: The Highs And Lows
Featured image courtesy Youtube On January 8, 2015, thousands flocked to Independence Square to watch Maithripala Sirisena take his Presidential vows. With his promise to promote yahapaalanaya or ‘good governance’ the atmosphere…
