Parliamentary Elections and the Political Emancipation of Sri Lanka
As, in private life, the distinction is made between what a man thinks of himself and says, and that which he really is and does, so, all the more, must the phrases…
Elections
Resurrecting a Supremacist
Photo from If there is a man in this country, apart from Mahinda Rajapaksa, with a conscience more impervious to ethical and moral considerations, a conscience so thickly armour plated that it…
THE VISION THING: WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY ARE WE VOTING FOR?
Photo AP Photo/Sujeewa Kumar via The phrase ‘regime-change’ is often used to describe the dramatic result of the presidential election on 8th January 2015, both in the sense of a democratic change of…
Citizens should decide carefully after weighing the pros and cons
The Parliamentary election is getting closer. The submission of nominations has been completed. Voters look on with surprise at the antics of some candidates. Some people are confused due to views expressed…
General Election 2015 Pre Election Opinion Poll – Top Line Report
Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives conducted an island wide pre election opinion poll with the objective of identifying Sri Lankan voter perceptions and attitudes on…
Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot become Prime Minister
The question whether ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa is eligible to be appointed to the Prime Minister’s post if he has the support of a majority of members in Parliament following the August 17…
The Freak Show Returns
Image courtesy The UPFA’s election campaign is based on Four Ignoble Lies: Sri Lanka and all true-born Lankans are suffering; the reason for this suffering is the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa on…
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…
A Fifty of a Hundred Days to Few, or too Many?
Image courtesy A former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson made the oft- quoted remark that a week is a long time in politics. What then of fifty days, not to mention a…
Beating the Communal Drum by Hardcore Sinhala Nationalists
Photo courtesy Daily FT Yesterday’s rally in Nugegoda organised by the hard-core Sinhala nationalists, i.e. Weerawansa, Dinesh, Gammanpila and Vasudeva with the blessings of former President Mahinda Rajapakse and their pseudo intellectual…
Deconstructing Independence Day Discourse 2015: A Response to Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, via South China Morning Post The 2015 Independence Day celebration was invested with the dignity of understatement – a complete departure from the showmanship and bravura performances which characterized…
Sri Lanka’s Political Moment: Part 2
Photo by REUTERS/Stringer, via Al Jazeera A transformation of the political agenda Despite many detailed analysis of Sri Lanka’s present political moment by a myriad experts, two of its significant aspects have so…
Who rules?
Image courtesy Yamu The media of the 13th Friday had two very different statements on the fate of the ‘Port City “ project. The Daily Mirror reports The Government of Sri Lanka…
Expectations and the Disappointments of the New Government
Photo courtesy Asia One The new coalition government formed on January 9, 2015 has just completed its first month, and this leaves only a little more than two months before the parliament…
THE POLITICS OF HATE, THE POLITICS OF HURT, AND THE POLITICS OF THE HAUGHTY: THREE THREATS TO CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN SRI LANKA
Photo courtesy Maithripala Sirisena website “” – Edmund Burke (1790) With just over a month after the installation of the new government and its commencement of the 100-day reform process, the situation…