Evolution, Not Revolution
I have a few comments to make about the rather inevitable and predictable recent attempts on social media to try and attack and diminish Dr. Harini Amarasuriya’s authority via comments about her…
Issues
Remembering Richard Boyle
September 25 was the first anniversary of the death of the writer Richard Boyle at the age of 72. Richard was a prolific writer, perhaps best remembered for the multiple articles he…
A New Dawn for Sri Lanka’s Democracy and Future
Sri Lanka’s 2024 presidential election has marked a historic shift in the political landscape with Anura Kumara Dissanayake securing a decisive victory. The election is seen as a resounding rejection of the…
Election Result – A Particular Understanding
An analysis of the results of the recent presidential election can be approached in different ways with different political purposes. This short piece is based on my interest in conflicts. I am…
Monitoring Mass Grave Excavations
The Colombo Port is an economic hub of Sri Lanka. In this densely populated area, a group of people are digging a pit during the day; it is not a gem pit…
Democratic World to Sri Lanka: Thanks for Your Election
Following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 American presidential elections, these and many similar ideas about “democracy under threat” have dominated public and private conversations among democrats globally. There is a real…
The Challenges in Ensuring Free, Fair and Peaceful Elections
Incidents of election violence escalated significantly in September, culminating in a murder and a potential second incident. Ninety six violations were recorded on September 15 alone. Arson, assault, threats and the misuse…
Towards a Programmatic Politics
Photo courtesy The Hindu I write this two days before Sri Lanka elects its 9th executive president. Whether it will be NPP, SJB or Ranil Wickremesinghe who comes into power is to…
Presidential Candidates Ignore the Scourge of Enforced Disappearances
None of the three leading presidential candidates have directly addressed the issue of enforced disappearances despite the fact that Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappeared people reported to the…
AKD and the NPP Campaign for System Renewal
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, AKD as popularly known, is currently leading National People Power (NPP) movement for a system change and social renewal from the bottom up including economic, political, cultural and ideological…
Election Eve Presidential Voting Intent Estimates
NPP Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS Multilevel Regression and Post-Stratification (MRP) estimates using interviews conducted to September 13 indicate that Anura Dissanayake would have won the presidential election on a count…
The JVP and Ethnic Relations: Walking a Tightrope to 2024 (Part 3)
As Sri Lanka approaches the 2024 presidential election, the NPP is positioning itself as a major contender. In the previous articles (part 1 and part 2), we explored the JVP’s historical trajectory…
Truth, Reconciliation and Interim Secretariat
A recent UN Human Rights Council session raising grave concerns about the situation in Sri Lanka, including a report by High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, was the focus of a…
Collapse of the Traditional Two Party System
The presidential election scheduled to be held on September 21 is likely to mark a significant milestone in Sri Lankan political history. The popular sentiment that dominates the public psyche during the…
SJB and NPP/JVP Lead in General Election Voting Intent
The latest estimates of general election voting intent from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model show no substantial changes in August compared to the previous month. The SJB and NPP/JVP…