by Vijaya Kumar The Lanka Samasamaja Party, the oldest political party in the country celebrates its 85th anniversary on December 18, 2020. The Party grew out of its Youth Leagues which played a prominent part in the ‘Suriya-Mal’ movement – an alternative for indigenous ex-servicemen as against the Poppy Day where funds collected were for …
By Dr.Sarath Gamini de Silva The Covid pandemic, apart from causing much human misery all over the world, has had a deleterious effect on human values as well. It appears that mankind has regressed by many decades. Freedom of movement, free association and human interaction, which were promoted as ways of a peaceful world without …
It was a crying shame that South Asia’s biggest meat processing factory had been set up in Katunayake, although Sri Lanka was called a Buddhist state, Ven. Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thera said on Thursday, addressing the media at Sri Jayasekerarama auditorium in Rajagiriya. The factory is expected to meet 10% of the world’s processed meat …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake We are clearly in an era of Twists and Turns, with Kali Amma projected as the power against the Covid-19 pandemic. What happened at the Sri Maha Bodhi earlier this week showed a very clear Kali Kovil Twist. The kapuva who made this pandemic syrup wanted to offer it to the Sri …
On December 15, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) board decided to discontinue the proposed Rs. 89 billion (approximately US$ 480 million) MCC development assistance grant to Sri Lanka due to lack of partner country engagement, the US embassy said in a statement here on Thursday. The Rs. 89 billion approved for Sri Lanka will be …
By’ Victor Ivan How can Sri Lanka overcome the crisis it is facing in a situation where the country has become a failed state with all the leaders, all political parties, and the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary has failed? The country’s political leaders still do not seem to understand the real reasons behind …
By Kelum Bandara The United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) voted to discontinue the US $480 million compact agreement with Sri Lanka, Daily Mirror learns. The MCC board took this decision at its meeting on December 15. The MCC unit in Sri Lanka will also be closed accordingly. However, a formal announcement in this regard …
By Chaturanga Samarawickrama Issuing of vehicle number plates sans provincial code indicators will come to effect from January 1, Transport State Minister Dilum Amunugama said. The proposal was made by the Transport Minister Gamini Lokuge was approved by the Cabinet yesterday. Accordingly, the characters to identify the provinces were added to the number plate when …
By P.K.Balachandran Highly placed sources in the Sri Lankan government said on Wednesday that the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has withdrawn the five-year US$ 480 million grant offered to the government of Sri Lanka in April 2019 after three years of negotiations. However, a formal announcement is yet to be …
By Meera Srinivasan The last week has been the worst yet for N.F.M. Fahim’s family residing in Colombo. The 38-year-old and his wife lost their new-born to COVID-19 on December 8, and even before they could process the devastating news from the hospital, authorities were ready to hand over the baby’s ashes to them. “I …
By Imesh Ranasinghe A cabal of state officials and their close associates in the business community have been making important government decisions bypassing the prime minister and the cabinet of ministers, National People’s Power (NPP) MP Dr Harini Amarasuriya said. These individuals are not accountable to parliament and, as a result, the legislature has weakened …
by Rohan Wijesinha & Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya “The state of the planet is broken. Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal.” – Antonio Guterres, U.N. Secretary-General, December 2020 In Sri Lanka, the current Infection Fatality Ratio (IFR) for Covid-19, as per official figures in media reports, stands at approximately 0.5%. That is 1 …
By Col R Hariharan Indian troops have brought Kailash range in eastern Ladakh under their operational control by occupying heights and thereby dislocated Chinese plans to grab territory to gain strategic advantage. For the first time, India has gained tactical advantage to disrupt any Chinese military adventure in the region. This unexpected move by India, …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Given deeply worrying abuse of power historically by the Sri Lankan State under states of emergency with national security as justification, the covid-19 global pandemic must not be employed, much like conflict in the North and the South was utilised, as a cover to trample on civil liberties. A rare and …
By Lucien Rajakarunayake It is not the upcoming solar eclipse on December 14, which will not be seen here, that has brought any new interest, but the major solar eclipse on June 1955 that is now remembered by many; especially with the “Bivva Neda Vadakaha Sudiya” baila beat and the tale of “Emali Paney” being …
By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who visited Sri Lanka last week, met with TNA leader R Sampanthan at the India House for about half an hour prior returning to New Delhi. It is learned that the two talked about the future of the provincial councils which would give some devolution to …
(Text of Speech made in Parliment by TNA Jaffna District Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran on 09th December 2020 on Budget Votes of Ministry of Justice) Thank you Honourable presiding member. I am glad to speak on the 3rd Reading, particularly on the votes of the Ministry of Justice today when my good friend at the Bar …
By Shamindra Ferdinando President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, yesterday (10) faulted the Government Analyst’s Department, the Attorney General’s Department and the Police over the simmering crisis in the ‘prisons system.’ The President’s Office quoted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as having said at a meeting summoned to discuss shortcomings and problems in the ‘prisons system’ that due to inordinate …
Detained Attorney-at-Law Hejaaz Hizbullahs’ lawyers yesterday filed a writ Petition before the Court of Appeal seeking access to Hizbullah. When the matter was taken up yesterday, Romesh De Silva PC, appearing on behalf of the Petitioner said that the lawyers have not had any access to Hizbullah since September. He said they could not obtain …
By Uditha Jayasinghe The Government appears to have changed track on scrapping the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) with moves being made to appoint new commissioners, a top official said yesterday. Following the present commissioners decision to step down after a call from Treasury Secretary S. R. Attygalle on Tuesday, the Government is …
By S.S. Selvanayagam Former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Director Shani Abeysekara (59), who is incarcerated in Mahara Remand Prison, yesterday filed a Fundamental Rights violation petition, seeking his safety and compensation of Rs. 3 million. Attorney-at-Law Gowry Shangary Thavarasha filed the petition on his behalf in the Supreme Court. She cited IGP C. D. Wickramarathne, …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “We are not living an era of change, but a change of era” – Pope Francis There is a contradiction between the needs of recovery and progress on all fronts, and the regime’s restrictive framework and retrogressive ideas. The COVID-19 proliferation and the Mahara massacre are but manifestations of the ideology of …
By Uditha Jayasinghe All five commissioners of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) stepped down yesterday following a call from Treasury Secretary S. R. Attygalle. It is unclear how the PUCSL will continue to function following the resignations of the five commissioners. The Commissioners were Prof. Kithsiri Liyanage, Prof. Kapila Perera, Chandra Ekanayake, …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara “People slide by degrees…. Each of the early steps may seem too small to be counted” – Jonathan Glover (‘Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century’) It was a day in July 2020. The Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya, presented former cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya with a bat made of Swiss chocolate. With …
By Asiri Fernando The recent move to abolish the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) by senior public officials will open the door to corruption and is contrary to the policies presented by the President, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne charged yesterday. Addressing the press at the opposition leader’s office, Wickramaratne said …
SJB Gampaha District MP Field Marshal Sarath told Parliament yesterday that it was he who had got Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera the post of Commandant of the Civil Defence Force, when the latter was without a job. Participating in the third reading debate on Budget 2021, Field Marshal Fonseka said: “When then Secretary Defence Gotabaya …
By Prof. S.Ratnajeevan H. Hoole The position of our Government is that no war crimes were committed by our forces at the end of the war. In the light of the evidence made available by the UN and world media to deny it at this point of time would be to fool ourselves. Last week …
By Victor Ivan The entire State of Sri Lanka in general and the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary in particular, i.e. the three main constituent elements of the State, are in a state of deterioration and complete breakdown caused by excessive degeneration and resulting impotence and incompetence. The entire State has reached a level …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Minister of Justice who went charging into Parliament this week to pontificate or plead for judges to be protected ‘from criticism’ may well be advised to reflect on some salutary truths. Truly remarkable Ministerial idiocy In South Asia’s less than salubrious context of the separation of …
By Namini Wijedasa WaWter Supply Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara has slammed moves by the President’s office to dissolve the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), pointing out to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa that the independent regulator is under the Premier’s purview and not the President’s. “As the Public Utilities Commission is an institution under your …
by Sujeeva Nivunhella Despite a strong protest by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in London, Ms. Saroja Sirisena to the British authorities, pro-LTTE groups in London went ahead with the planned ‘Great Heroes Day’ commemoration on a grand scale in the United Kingdom last Sunday. The High Commissioner asked the British authorities whether a proscribed terrorist …
By Suresh Perera The sacking of the president and four members nominated to the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) by the previous government has triggered an uproar, with medical professionals slamming Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi’s move as “completely flawed” and “an attempt to undermine the autonomy and independence of the apex regulatory body”. Expressing consternation …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake The Mahara Prison and its 11 inmates who have died, or were killed by gunshots or other means, is certainly in the mind of the people. As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads beyond the often declared expectations of hopes of the government, the Mahara Prison has raised the question of how Covid infected …
By Chandani Kirinde Opposition lawmakers yesterday raised questions in Parliament about the Mahara Prison shooting that left 11 dead and scores of prisoners injured as a committee headed by a retired High Court Judge began an inquiry into the incident by visiting the prison. Justice Minister Ali Sabry said that the five-member committee headed by …
By Lakna Paranamanna Last week India, Maldives and Sri Lanka revived trilateral maritime talks after six years. It was soon after the Quad nations staged the two phased Malabar 2020 exercise in the Bay of Bengal. The U.S. led alliance has upped its game against Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific waters, but the question remains …
(Twenty civil society groups have issued the following press statement on the forced cremation of COVID dead as against respecting burial by people of certain faith. The statement said that of the 124 persons dead due to COVID-19 as at 3 December, 50 were Muslims.) On Tuesday the country’s Supreme Court, by a majority decision …
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) in its interim recommendations on the incident at the Mahara Prison on 29 November said that the protests were sparked by the transfer of prisoners infected with the COVID-19 virus from Welikada Prison to Mahara and had the authorities responded to prison officials’ concerns over this proposed …
By Saman Indrajith The recent Mahara Prison riot erupted as 120 inmates afflicted with COVID-19 had been taken there from the Welikada prison at the behest of a Doctor in charge of prisoners’ health, who was a Viyathmaga member, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday. “Many explanations have been given by ministers about the …
Sri Lankan civil society organizations agitating for the Muslims’ right to bury those of them who had died of COVID have declared that they will explore options to secure their inalienable religious right to bury their dead. “The faith the victims of forced cremation of COVID-19 or Covid-19 suspected dead had in the highest court …
Hours after announcing that he would launch a political party in January 2021, actor Rajinikanth on Thursday said that political change is the need of the hour and that he was just an instrument of the people. Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, he told journalists outside his Poes Garden residence that he was thinking about how …
On Thursday, actor Rajinikanth announced that he will start a political party in January 2021 to contest in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and the date will be announced on December 31. In a tweet in Tamil, Mr. Rajinikanth said, “In the upcoming elections, we will achieve a big victory with the support of …
By Meera Srinivasan At least 12,000 residents of Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces were severely affected as heavy rain lashed the region while cyclone Burevi made a landfall on Wednesday night. The maximum rainfall — 279.8 mm in the last 24 hours — was recorded in Kilinochchi district. Incessant rainfall continued on Thursday as …
By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka The substantive foreign policy debate during this Budget was between the SLPP and the Tamil Opposition. More specifically it was between Ministers Dinesh Gunawardena and Prof. G.L. Peiris on the one hand, and Parliamentarians M.A. Sumanthiran and Gajan Ponnambalam on the other. That debate, though superficially Sinhala/Tamil, south/north, was not simply …
By Meera Srinivasan The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka on Tuesday dismissed petitions, including those filed by Muslim civil society members, challenging government regulations mandating cremation for all COVID-19-related deaths. The gazette notification issued in April, a month after Sri Lanka detected its first local case of the coronavirus, set off concern among the island’s …
By Meera Srinivasan The death toll from the recent prison riots in Sri Lanka, sparked by fears of a raging second wave of COVID-19, rose to 11 on Tuesday. Over 100 prisoners were injured when guards opened fire to contain the unrest on Sunday, as inmates at the Mahara prison, near Colombo, demanded to be …
By T. Farook Thajudeen Colombo High Court yesterday released Basil Rajapaksa and three others from a case of misappropriating public funds without calling for defence evidence as pleaded by the defence counsel. High Court Judge R. Gurusinghe acquitted the four accused, which was former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, former Ministry Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka, …
MP Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle has been appointed as the State Minister of Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID Prevention. The new State Minister was sworn in before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. The State Ministry for Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID Prevention is a new portfolio.
By Asiri Fernando The Justice Ministry, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Prisons Department are set to launch three separate inquiries into the incidents at the Mahara prison that took place on Sunday evening. The riot resulted in the deaths of eight inmates, sixty-two injured, and parts of the prison being set ablaze. The CID probe …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene As Sri Lanka hurtles down the precipice of covid-19 contagion coupled with unprecedented economic devastation, bitter and biting anger at our plight can scarcely be contained. ‘Organised propaganda’vs public opinion State health agencies tasked with handling the pandemic stamme and stutter while a militarised command continues to elbow out a professionally …
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi The head and four others of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) were sacked on Friday afternoon by Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi with the removal letters being delivered halfway through the SLMC’s monthly meeting which had started at 1 p.m. The dramatic removal of SLMC President Prof. Harendra de Silva and others …
By Ranjith Padmasiri and S. Rubatheesan In the North and East, courts have issued orders preventing any form of commemorative events to mark the ‘Maveerar Naal’ or Great Heroes’ Day, a day declared by Liberation of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to remember its cadres who died in the near-three-decade separatist war. On Thursday, the Jaffna Magistrate’s …
By Dr.Asanga Welikala With the enactment of the 20th Amendment, Sri Lanka embarks yet again down the fraught path of authoritarian presidentialism. Whether this latest adventure ends in a democratic nightmare, or is as fleeting as its two predecessors, the 18th and 19th Amendments, remains to be seen. The legitimacy of both these previous constitutional …
Hanging above the desk of Emmanuel Arnold, the mayor of Jaffna, are images of three Hindu deities, as well as the Buddha, Jesus and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. He has to respect all the religions of his city, he explains. Most Sinhalese, the country’s biggest ethnic group, are Buddhist; Tamils, who predominate …
By Meera Srinivasan Many Tamil families living in Sri Lanka’s north and east on Friday marked ‘Heroes Day’ — an annual commemoration of LTTE cadre who died in the civil war —by lighting lamps in the quiet confines of their homes, after the government obtained a court order banning the remembrance. Petitioning different courts in …
Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Courts ban events forCommemorative LTTE cadre on ‘ Heroes Day’’ »
(Text of Jaffna District TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran’s Speech in Parliament on the 25th of November 2020 during the budget vote for the Foreign Affairs Ministry.) Honourable Presiding Member, I am happy to follow the Minister himself as we discuss the votes on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Minister is an experienced parliamentarian and …
By Victor Ivan The process of the old stock of political leaders and their parties losing the recognition they have enjoyed so far can be described as an integral part of the historical process of ending the old era of the political history of Sri Lanka. The loss of recognition enjoyed by Ranil Wickremesinghe, the …
By Charumini de Silva Cinema owners yesterday described 2020 as the worst year while lamenting that they were still in the dark over reopening, as delay was piling up financial losses. On 15 October, the Government announced that all cinemas would be closed till 31 October, as a measure to deal with the COVID-19 second …
By Rathindra Kuruwita National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) and its leader Zahran Hashim supported Former President Maithripala Sirisena and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) at the 2015 elections, former Eastern Province Governor M.L.A.M Hizbullah, on Tuesday night, told the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks. Hizbullah was giving evidence before the PCoI for the second …
By Meera Srinivasan National Security Adviser will hold talks with Sri Lanka and Maldives National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will be in Colombo on Friday for trilateral discussions among India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi will also travel to Colombo, while the Sri Lankan side will be represented at …
Former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen was released on bail by the Fort Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Fort Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage released Bathiudeen on cash bail of Rs. 100,000 with two sureties of one million rupees each. The Magistrate also imposed a travel ban on Bathiudeen and said that the guarantors should be his close relatives. The Magistrate …
By K.K.S.Perera An article published in a popular Sinhala daily by a prominent political monk prompted me to respond. Verse 9 in the Yamakavagga of Dhammapada, Anikkasàvayo vattha paridahessati…., The pure are worthy of the yellow robe but not the impure. Whoever, unstainless, without self-control and truthfulness, should don the yellow robe, is not worthy …
By Prof. S.Ratnajeevan H. Hoole Australians and the world had much to celebrate. More than 26,000 Australian uniformed personnel were sent to Afghanistan to fight alongside US and allied forces against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups. Australian troops inducted into the Afghan War as allies of the US after the 9/11 attack in …
By Gehan Gunatilleke When he was taken into custody on 14 April, his friends and family, and some within his fraternity, decried the obvious injustice. They were quickly told to quieten down and ‘let the justice system do its work’. They were told not to interfere with the investigation. They were told to be patient, …
By Chandani Kirinde President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is to take over as the Minister of Defence and a newly created Ministry of Technology shortly. A new subjects and functions Gazette was issued by the President, bringing several institutions under these ministries while a new Ministry of Public Security too, has been created. State Minister of Provincial …
The Government said on Saturday a mechanism for the regulation of websites is to be implemented within the next two weeks. The upcoming move was made public by Keheliya Rambukwella during the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Mass Media. He also said the Press Council Act should be amended in a way that would protect the …
The Jaffna Magistrate Court was tense on Friday when Jaffna’s Headquarters Inspector explained to the court why the Police were seeking an order to ban commemorative events to remember the ‘war’ dead. During his submission, Inspector Prasath Fernando said that “we (government) made it possible for those who ate pittu and vadai those days to …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Out of the welter of distasteful controversy surrounding the transfer of a colossal sum of Rs. 600,000,000/= from the public fund of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), to the account of the Secretary to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to distribute ‘sil redi’ or white cloth to Buddhist devotees …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake From cremation calls, to a huge ban on imports, we are moving to the Rajavasala Vimukthiya. Those who still use the Vimukthi line in politics had better be on the watch. Amidst all the burdens of the Covid-19 pandemic that has now taken hold in Sri Lanka, there is a raging debate …
By Ambika Satkunanathan ‘…on the 18th of September (2010) the deceased was taken out of the police station at night to recover a weapon hidden in the deceased’s plantain grove…on the way the deceased had struggled with (the police officer) to snatch his rifle and he was killed as a result of a single shot …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “When I am president…human rights will be at the core of US foreign policy” – Joe Biden, The New York Times In its first year the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Presidency has made avoidable strategic blunders, tracing a trajectory which when extrapolated, indicate that it will wind up a one-term wonder, like the otherwise …
(Following is the full text of the address to the “Sinhala” nation by Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa broadcast over all television and radio channels on November 18th 2020) Ayubowan. A year ago, more than 6.9 million voters in this country elected me as your new President. It is no secret that the majority who …
By Krishantha Prasad Cooray When Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban said in September that rooting for the re-election of Donald Trump was his “Plan A”, he was probably echoing the sentiments of most of the world’s populist, autocratic leaders. They hoped for four more years of Donald Trump because he made the world a safer place …
By Chandani Kirinde *Aims at 5.5% growth in 2021 amidst COVID-19 impact *Increase Govt. revenue from 9.7% to 14.1% *Budget deficit 8.9%, up from 7.9% for 2020 *VAT unchanged at 8% for biz with turnover of Rs. 25 m or above *Personal Income Tax to apply on earnings only if it exceeds Rs. 250,000 per …
By Ranga Jayasuriya When your country is doing something totally different from what the rest of the world does, literally in exact opposition to the common sense practised and adopted by 194 countries in the world, things aren’t just right. That is what the government should reckon of its flawed policy of compulsory cremation of …
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that deforestation of the northern sanctuary of the Wilpattu National Park Forest for the re-settlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) had been made contrary to law and ordered former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen to bear the full the cost of the tree planting programme in these areas …
By S Venkat Narayan Kenya is one of China’s largest trade partners in Africa. It owes $6.5 billion to China, which is 22 percent of its total external debt. China’s interest payments represent 87 per cent of the cash used to service debt expenditure in 2019. Kenya is yet to work out an arrangement with …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene The fearsome sight of armed motorcycle riders, clad in black, complete with sunglasses and masks completely obscuring their faces conducting covid-19 temperature checks on the public in Colombo and then roaring away in a concerted cloud of darkness as it were, raises an unfortunate analogy to mind. Symbolism is important in …
By Kshama Ranawana Environmentalists, Conservationists and the political opposition are strenuously objecting to the decision by the government to hand over the management of “Other State Forests (OSF)” to Divisional/Districts Secretaries alleging the move would be disastrous for the forest cover and biodiversity in the country. It was in July this year that the Cabinet …
By Victor Ivan This is not an issue which has received adequate attention. Yet, I am of the view that one era of the history of Sri Lanka which commenced since independence in 1948 has come to an end in 2020. It simply means that the State and its associated socio-political system that was bequeathed …
By Alan Keenan and K. Mudiyanse Sri Lanka, long-plagued by political violence and near-complete impunity for crimes by the state and pro-state forces, now faces a new assault on justice and the rule of law. There is a systematic attempt to rewrite the history to make politically-connected criminal suspects into victims, and investigators and legal …
(Summary of Speech Made by Tamil National Alliance Jaffna District Parliamentarian Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran in Parliament on 12.11.2020) “Rule of law, it has been said is the bedrock of democracy. Even rule by law is undesirable. But what we have now is far worse: it is rule by executive diktats! That is what we have …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” – John (1:5) Let us remember George Floyd. Now the American people can begin to breathe. So can humanity. When Obama won, I wrote a piece from Geneva entitled ‘Barack Obama: History’s High Note’ (https://groundviews.org/2008/11/06/barack-obama-historys-high-note/) Maybe I should call …
By Tisaranee Gunasekara We are closed in, and the key is turned On our uncertainty…” – Yeats (The Stare’s Nest by my Window) What kind of government reduces expenditure on health in the midst of a global pandemic? In the first week of October, the Lankan Cabinet approved the Appropriations Bill for 2021. Of a …
By Sanja de Silva Jayatilleka A glass ceiling shattered in the United States of America just after 8:30 p.m. on 7 November, as Kamala Harris, Vice President-elect walked on stage in Wilmington, Delaware to thunderous applause to deliver her acceptance speech, just ahead of her boss, President-elect of the USA, Joe Biden. The sound of …
By P.K.Balachandran US-Lanka relations will have to be seen in the context of US-China relations because as in the case of Trump, containment of China will be Biden’s focus in his policy on Asia, including South Asia. Therefore, Sri Lanka, with its growing economic ties with China, may continue to feel the pinch. But Biden’s …
By Ranjith Padmasiri Attorney General Dappula de Livera has raised objections over ignoring senior members of his department for vacancies in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal which are to be expanded in terms of the 20th Amendment. The move came as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is now empowered to make appointments to …
By Asela Premachandra and sisters When the five-bench apex court confirmed the death penalty on Duminda Silva and his criminal cohorts for killing Bharatha Laksman Premachandra and three others, his political supporters screamed saying that they would bring “sir” to the presidency and get their leader released from prison. There was also a relentless and …
Despite Northern health authorities expressing severe concerns over the conducting of a meeting with ministers and officials visiting from Colombo, a high-level meeting was held on Friday at the Jaffna District Secretariat (DS), disregarding COVID-19 health regulations.
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene As the world watches transfixed in amazed horror, the spectacle of ‘these United States’ seemingly heading into a meltdown over the peaceful transition of power with the 2020 Presidential election racing to an unnerving photo finish, the clash here is not purely of civilizations a la Samuel Huntingdon, (Christianity versus Islamic). …
By Gamini Weerakoon It is a matter of grave doubt whether any national leader or scoundrel would have had a varied and colourful record of achievements and debasements as Donald Trump in contemporary history. Trump confounded critics when he contested the American presidency four years ago, ridiculing and slandering what had been considered the sacred …
By Tassie Seneviratne (The writer is a Retired Senior Superintendent of Police) On September 26, the President decreed: “It is the law because I say so.” And he went on to explain that his verbal orders must be considered as circulars coming from the ‘Executive President.’ Public Administration circulars that may contravene his verbal orders, …
by Dr. Ravi Rannan-Eliya The increasing COVID-19 deaths in the past few days is a sign that the outbreak may be larger than our current constrained PCR testing is able to track. As I and others warned six months ago, we needed to ramp up PCR testing to keep the virus at bay and prevent …
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) in a statement has expressed concern at reports of the continued detention of prominent human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah, under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and urged his release. “BHRC urges the Sri Lankan Government to release Hejaaz Hizbullah from detention, to uphold …
The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) on Wednesday held an advanced seminar on governance via video, strictly abiding by the health guidelines of both countries. Minister Song Tao of the International Department of Central Committee of CPC, Party Secretary Liu Cigui of CPC Provincial Committee of Hainan Province, …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake What a great nation we are! We have a Cabinet Minister – the one in charge of health – offering to sacrifice herself to the sea, to save this country from the Covid pandemic. Shouldn’t we feel safe? Is she in fact offering to make this self-sacrifice to atone for the overall …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s whirlwind visit last week has left in its trail many unanswered questions. It’s clear that for the US, this trip was all about signing up allies in its all-but-declared war against China, under the rubric of what it calls a ‘free and open Indo Pacific.’ The …
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday said it was both impractical and difficult to close down the country until a cure for COVID-19 is found and therefore the public should be ready to return to normal lives while following health guidelines. The President made these remarks while participating at the launch of a new digital platform to …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Sri Lanka is currently experiencing two crises which will trigger the third. They stem from a common source and therefore can be resolved only if rectification takes place at that source, that root. One crisis is the second wave of COVID-19. It is manifest and acknowledged but its dimensions are played down …
Never say Gotabaya Rajapaksa leaves things to chance. After decisively winning the presidential election last November, putting family in charge of important government departments, suspending Parliament and finally winning postponed elections in early August in a landslide for his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (slpp) and supporting parties, still the president insisted that “obstacles” to his …
By Meera Srinivasan Pooling their manpower and expertise in a joint overnight operation, Sri Lanka’s navy, coast guard, local volunteers and conservation experts have rescued nearly 120 stranded whales back into the deep sea. On Monday afternoon, residents of Panadura — some 25 km south of Colombo on the island’s west coast — reported sighting …
By Prof. S.Ratnajeevan H Hoole Sri Lanka’s 1978 Constitution kept the existing immoral foremost position for Buddhism and introduced a strong presidency that every government promised to abolish but once elected, never did. It allowed the Rajapaksa family – Mahinda, son Namal, brothers Basil and Gotabaya – to do egregious wrongs. Mahinda had a deal …
By Col R Hariharan Overview The month of October was an eventful one for Sri Lanka. The 20th Amendment to the Constitution (20A) empowering the President was passed in parliament with two-thirds majority. The Covid-19 pandemic made a dramatic comeback in a second wave, to boost the virus-affected numbers which stood at 9,791 with 19 …
By Harsha Gunasena US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sri Lanka after the recent visit of a high-powered Chinese delegation, led by senior Chinese leader and top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi, who is a member of the Communist Party of China’s Politburo and the Director of the Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission US …
Acknowledging the need to restrict freedom of movement and liberty of people in the interests of public health and public order during an extraordinary health emergency such as that facing the country at present, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has in a letter addressed to Health Minister Pavitra Wanniarachchi and Army Commander …
by Saman Indrajith Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa was told in Parliament yesterday not to play the race card with the sensitive issue of cremating Muslim COVID-19 victims to score political points by rousing communal disharmony. Justice Minister Ali Sabry said that the issue had been very sensitive to Muslims as cremation was in violation of …
By A Senior Lawyer (The writer is attached to the Sri Lanka Study Circle) I refer to the article appearing in the Daily FT on 22 October titled ‘History repeating – Are we going to lose MCC or not?’ by an international development expert. It is understandable if a non-lawyer does not understand the legal …
By Tamara Kunanayakam (Former Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva) In fact, a military alliance between the US and Sri Lanka already exists. By signing ACSA in 2007, and renewing it in 2017, Sri Lanka committed its strategic entry points – ports and airports, our armed forces, our military installations, food, oil, and …
By Krishantha Prasad Cooray The upcoming presidential election in the United States of America has brought the world to the edge of our seats. It has exposed the dark underbelly of the American political system and left us all wondering whether America, the world’s oldest modern democracy, will indeed prove to be a democracy at …
By Don Manu The levelled playing fields of Lanka were queered this week when two titans – one the world’s superpower, the other its regional counterpart – chose to turn the tended turf to a muddied battlefield where invective missiles against each other were fired at will from their local silos, with scant regard to …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Eyebrows are being raised over the 20th Amendment to the Constitution’s inclusion of provisions at committee stage to increase the number of judges in Sri Lanka’s superior courts of record, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. Justified by the Justice Minister on the floor of the House on the …
By Vanessa Thorpe Sean Connery, one of Britain’s greatest screen stars, has died at the age of 90. The Scottish actor, forever linked with the role of James Bond and regularly saluted as the best to play the famous part, was mourned by the entertainment industry and his many fans on Saturday as the news …