Elephants, Egos and Rain
It is in these months of Esala and Nikini, when the drought reaches its maxim that the first rain making festivals began. Rituals to appease the rain gods were initiated by the…
Politics and Governance
Debt Restructuring, Austerity and the IMF: a Panacea or an Exacerbation? Part 5
The IMF agreement with Sri Lanka emphasises fiscal consolidation, which requires the government to achieve a budget surplus within two years. It also conditions its funding on increases in energy tariffs and…
Rise in Support for Ranil Wickremesinghe in Potential Presidential Poll
The Institute For Health Policy’s Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP estimates of presidential election voting intent in July 2023 confirms a steady rise in support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe to…
Many Voters Uncommitted in General Election
In the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) polling for July 2023, support among likely voters for the major parties remained with little change from the previous month. The SJB and NPP/JVP…
Pyromaniacs on the March
“Patriotism,” wrote Ambrose Bierce in is “The combustible rubbish ready to the torch of anyone ambitious to illuminate his name.” Patriotism is not the last refuge of the scoundrel, as Samuel Johnson…
Debt Restructuring, Austerity and the IMF: a Panacea or an Exacerbation? Part 4
The implication of debt on human rights is of significant concern. Many countries in the world are either already in a debt crisis or approaching it. This is not a new phenomenon….
Support for A.K. Dissanayake Down, Sajith Up
In the latest Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) polling, the net favourability rating of NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake fell 15 points to -44 points in July while SJB leader Sajith Premadasa’s…
A Strategy to Address Child Abandonment
Child abandonment, a distressing issue with far reaching consequences, has reached alarming proportions in Sri Lanka. Within this year, ECPAT Sri Lanka’s media monitoring team has recorded 10 incidents of child abandonment…
Debt Restructuring, Austerity and the IMF: a Panacea or an Exacerbation? Part 3
Long term survival of an entity depends on developing a culture of innovation. This needs to be an organizational priority. Fostering such a culture consultatively and inclusively needs a free flow of…
Building a Future: the Young People who Chose to Stay
Last year saw a record number of passports issued – nearly 875,000; they were not for people going on holiday but for workers escaping an economic meltdown and an unstable future. According…
Human-Elephant Conflict Continues Unchecked
There are less than 500,000 wild elephants in the world. These comprise of just three families, the African Bush (Savannah) Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant; all are classified…
Tracing Roots and Winning Rights: the March of the Malaiyaha Tamil Community
Two hundred years ago, the first groups of women and men were brought from southern India by the British colonial rulers to Sri Lanka to work in the hill country plantations. They…
Debt Restructuring, Austerity and the IMF: a Panacea or an Exacerbation? Part 2
Neo-liberalism is not a solution, but the principal cause of the problem. I would like to offer some personal insights here from my working life with regard to the manner a non…
An Alternate View of the People’s Struggle Through the Camera Lens
A short documentary film, The People’s Voice Is Louder, featuring the works of four lens-based practitioners from different parts of the country captures the energy, passion and desperation of the people’s uprising…
Debt Restructuring, Austerity and the IMF: a Panacea or an Exacerbation? Part 1
Post-independent Sri Lanka has suffered from recurrent economic crises; the more notable ones being in August 1953, in the late 1970s and most pertinently the current crisis that essentially bankrupted the country….