Hope
I drove past Temple Trees this morning at sunrise, a few minutes after the first SMS from a major news service proclaimed Mahinda Rajapaksa would step down as President. I couldn’t believe…
Elections
The Chandrika Bandaranaike factor in Sri Lankan politics, Part I
Photo courtesy DBS Jeyaraj A Gaullist executive presidency for Sri Lanka was an idea that J.R. Jayewardene cherished since the early years of the Dominion state. Having won a spectacular majority against…
Voting for Lasantha Again, 26 Years Later
Photo courtesy CNN A quarter century ago, as an eager first time voter, I cast my maiden vote for a young journalist friend who had recently taken to electoral politics. Lasantha Wickrematunge…
Why people seek a change
Photo courtesy IPS Today, January 8, approximately 15 million Sri Lankans will seek to elect the island’s next president at a tightly-contested presidential election. The chosen day is a special one. It…
The Moment, Opportunity and the Possibility for Change
Photo via The Republic Square The moment and opportunity have arrived! Sri Lankans are going to the polling booths across the country on this 8th day of January 2015 to elect their…
#IVotedSL infographic: How to vote
Voting is an important civic responsibility and one way all of us exercise and enjoy our Sovereignty. This responsibility becomes particularly important during a Presidential Election, because of the immense power vested…
#IVotedSL infographic: Voter turnout in the region
Voting is an important civic responsibility and one way all of us exercise and enjoy our Sovereignty. This responsibility becomes particularly important during a Presidential Election, because of the immense power vested…
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES – My reflections
Photo by REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte, via Channel 4 I belong to a generation of Sri Lankans who witnessed many missed opportunities. Opportunities to stand proud as a nation, to grow politically and socially as…
Towards an Enlightened Nation: An Epiphany Reflection
Photo from Nuklearfishing Epiphany is the festival of enlightenment. It commemorates the visit of the wise-persons from the east to the Christ child and is observed on the 6th of January. The…
How is this development?
A few months ago I travelled to Jaffna. I saw a very different, ‘developed’ Jaffna than the one I had visited just a few years previously in 2011; a mall, 3D cinema,…
Political Dynamics: Presidential Elections 2015 and beyond
Photo courtesy The Malaysian Insider You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. Introduction The current presidential election in Sri…
January 8th: Another opportunity for change
Photo by REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte via Voiz For the first time since Mahinda Rajapaksa ascended the Presidency in 2006 he faces a strong threat to his office. This was not the case when he…
Presidential Election 2015: Projection of Probable Results
Photograph via Colombo Gazette Further to the initial forecast I made in my previous article (, 1st January 2015), in this article I make several projections about the possible result in the forthcoming…
Karma and Politics
Photo from Api Sri Lankan – French-Russian Philosopher Joseph de Maistre in 1811. Politics the world over is going through its test of time, as most “democratic” governments are now influenced either…
#IVotedSL infographic: Voter turnout at Presidential Elections in Sri Lanka
Voting is an important civic responsibility and one way all of us exercise and enjoy our Sovereignty. This responsibility becomes particularly important during a Presidential Election, because of the immense power vested…