Image courtesy Hilary Burage Let me begin by thanking Prof P.S.M. Gunaratne for inviting me to deliver this keynote address. Interestingly however, despite being a Sri Lankan university insider for nearly twenty…
On November 8 President Maithripala Sirisena called the irregularities around the Central Bank bond issue a (a huge destruction) and said that those behind it must accept responsibility. He was speaking at…
To the outside world, the Maldives is known as a “Paradise on earth” with its white sandy beaches and crystal clear lagoons. However, its troubled political realm is little recognised. Political tension escalated back…
October 30 marks the beginning of a Parliamentary debate around the recently released draft interim report on constitutional reform by the Steering Committee in the Constitutional Assembly. In order to better inform the…
At this moment in Sri Lanka, ‘the abortion debate’ has sprung up once again; with the cabinet purportedly attempting to pass a bill which would legalize abortions for women under two circumstances[1]…
I ordered, he says, as if those two words would suffice. Perhaps they do, in his eyes. ‘I’m the state,’ Louis XIV declared, according to Carlyle. Mahinda Rajapaksa sees himself as the…
On August 28th, Groundviews hosted a Twitter chat themed around corruption, using the hashtag #anticorruptlka. Participants included Executive Director of Transparency International, Asoka Obeysekere, Research Director at Verité Research, Gehan Gunatilleke, Chilaw…
Discovered through a tweet this morning that the article ‘Champika, Rathana Thera responsible for Gnanasara Thera’s actions’, published in print and on the website on 16th June 2017, has been deleted. No…
The 15th of June 2017 marks the 3rd anniversary of the orchestrated anti-Muslim violence in Dharga Town, Aluthgama and several other areas in the south. After a steady buildup of hate sentiment…
I enjoyed reading Laksiri Fernando’s article and endorse most of his comments under policy areas 1-7, but not those under policy area 8 for reasons that I will elaborate later on. I…
Image courtesy This month, the populist wave suffered two critical defeats. In France outsider-candidate Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen. In Iran, reformist president Hassan Rouhani trounced Ebrahim Raisi, a religious hardliner…
Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old leader of the fledgling En Marche! (On the Move!) party, soundly defeated Marine Le Pen, the ‘unsinkable’ stalwart of the right, by 66% to 34%. Le Pen’s harsh…
Image courtesy Al Jazeera Prof Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an eminent Indian Political scientist shared his insights into incorporating socio-economic rights in the new constitution in Sri Lanka recently. Speaking at a public…
The giant hand gripping a telephone has become a landmark on Lotus Road. Just beyond it loom the offices of Sri Lanka Telecom. Look closer, though, and you will see banners. “Enough…
Earlier this week, Parliament debated, on an adjournment motion by the TNA, the unresolved issues of the North and East, namely dealing with the effects and the causes of the war. The…
