Grave Implications of Gun Violence
Gun violence is a prevalent issue that has challenged many countries around the world including Sri Lanka. Guns, a weapon mainly used by armed forces to maintain the peace and security of…
Politics and Governance
The Hard Truth: Supporting Ranil Now Could Trigger the Next Crisis
moneycontrol The most recent Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey for July 2024 shows a tight race in the upcoming presidential election. NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake and SJB…
Media During Elections: Watchdogs or Wheeler-Dealers?
With a record number of candidates (38) contesting Sri Lanka’s presidential election, voters are yet to witness what new stories (and old stories) these 38 players bring to the table. After all, from…
The NPP, the JVP and the Realities of Communist Party Governance
As Sri Lanka approaches a critical election many citizens, disillusioned with the incumbent government and the economic crisis, are pinning their hopes on the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance. The NPP, particularly…
The Search for the Disappeared: Struggle, Recovery, Resolve
As news of a mass grave breaks on television in a household in the North, its residents, a family of the disappeared, try to find ways of coping with this information. A…
The Need for Humanitarianism is Greater Than Ever
Former High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, said there were no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems because what they required were political solutions. When states and governments fail their citizens, endangering their…
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 the SJB and the NPP/JVP leading with 34% and 32% of voters’ support respectively,…
The JVP and Ethnic Relations: Walking a Tightrope to 2024 (Part 2)
In Part 1, we explored the JVP’s evolving rhetoric and policies regarding ethnic relations, highlighting a shift from a more homogenous vision of Sri Lankan identity towards recognizing and accommodating diversity. However,…
Support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe Surges in Presidential Election Voting Intent
The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent for July 2024 show NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith…
The JVP and Ethnic Relations: Walking a Tightrope to 2024 (Part 1)
As the 2024 elections approach in Sri Lanka, the National People’s Power (NPP) is positioning itself as a major contender. However, the JVP, the dominant party within the NPP, carries a legacy…
Digital Partisans: Dissecting Facebook Sentiment Towards Wickremesinghe, Premadasa and Dissanayake
Last month, I studied over 4,000 tweets linked to the three main presidential candidates – Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW), Sajith Premedasa (SP), and Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) – in order to study how…
The Erasure of the Palestinian
During the final stages of the 30 year war in Sri Lanka there was a perception held by the West and its allies, and reiterated like a mantra ever since, that it…
Culture of Impunity Enables Grave Human Rights Violations to Continue Unchecked
Despite ongoing pressure from the international community, reforms to advance human rights and reconciliation, especially in institutional and security sectors, have not occurred. On the contrary, there are renewed threats to fundamental…
Economy, Inflation and Unemployment: Most Pressing National Issues
Sri Lankans overwhelmingly cite the economy and inflation as their biggest concerns going into the September presidential election in the latest Institute for Health Policy (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS)…
Criminalizing Sexual Harassment: Are We Doing Enough?
The law criminalizing sexual harassment could change very soon. A bill, which proposes to amend S. 345 of the Penal Code, has been gazetted. This is a welcome development. Yet amendments to…
