IT WAS three years ago that the Aragalaya people鈥檚 movement in Sri Lanka made the international headlines. The world watched a celebration of democracy on the streets of Colombo as tens of thousands of people of all ages and communities gathered to demand a change of government. The Aragalaya showed that people have the power, and agency, to make...
THE United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva have regularly been a focal point of controversy for Sri Lanka. Since 2009, the year the thirty-year internal war ended, the country has been the subject of multiple resolutions aimed at addressing human rights violations and war crimes committed during and after the war. These resolutions have been met...
DONALD Trump in the United States is showing how, in a democratic polity, the winner of the people鈥檚 mandate can become an unstoppable extreme force. Critics of the National People鈥檚 Power government frequently jibe at the government鈥檚 economic policy as being a mere continuation of the essential features of the economic policy of former president...
THE virtually overnight suspension of the US government鈥檚 multibillion dollar foreign aid programme channelled through USAID has been headline news in the US and in other parts of the world where this aid has been very important. In the US itself the suspension of USAID programmes has been accompanied by large scale loss of jobs in the aid sector without due...
THE government has given emphasis to finding new ways of boosting Sri Lanka鈥檚 economic growth. Among these would be the need to improve the country鈥檚 utilisation of digital technologies. The government has taken pride in the number of Sri Lankan experts it has mobilised to this cause. Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, who made Dialog a household name in Sri Lanka...
PRESIDENT Anura Kumara Dissanayake is showing the change for the better that a single individual can bring by challenging old ways of doing things by those who have traditionally governed the country. According to the news media and first person accounts by commentators contacted in Jaffna, the president鈥檚 visit to the Jaffna peninsula last...
THE government is reported to be preparing legal amendments to ensure the conduct of long postponed provincial elections. Elections to the nine provincial councils have been postponed since 2017 when the government at that time decided to amend the law pertaining to the conduct of provincial elections. But they never completed the process, which...
SRI Lanka鈥檚 president Anura Kumara Dissanayake鈥檚 statement that the government will not permit the erosion of its mandate for accountable government in the context of the resignation of the speaker of the parliament is on track with the promises made during the course of the elections that brought the National People鈥檚 Power to power. The president...
PRESIDENT Anura Kumara Dissanayake is scheduled to make his first international visit to India this week. This is expected to be followed by a visit to China in close order.聽 The president, and the country itself, is walking a tightrope between these two Asian giants, one which is the world鈥檚 second largest economy and other it鈥檚 fifth largest...
DELIVERING his inaugural policy statement to the parliament, Sri Lanka鈥檚 president Anura Kumara Dissanayake dealt mostly with the economy and, in particular, the IMF agreement. The problem that he faces is that the previous government agreed to terms with the International Monetary Fund that did not consider the impact on the people but gave priority...
THE government is being very rational in its actions whether in dealing with the economy, the travel advisories or the reconciliation process, and is reaping the rewards. Its victory at the local council election in Elpitiya is an indication that its popularity after a month in power is continuing and that it is not confined to president Anura Kumara Dissanayake...
PUBLIC support for the government after the presidential election is on the rise. The first actions of the government have been appreciated by the general public. These include the exposure of former presidential advisers and their vehicles, the investigation ordered into the visa and passport controversies not to mention the peaceful conduct of the...
THE extraordinary events that took place during 2022 have reached their denouement at the recently concluded presidential election. The Aragalaya protests that lasted for over three months in the middle of 2022 that were spearheaded by youth and became a mighty protest movement by tens of thousands of people from all walks of life and all parts of...
AS THE final lap of the presidential election campaign comes to its close at midnight on September 18, there is no certainty about the outcome. The only certainty is that it will be one of three candidates 鈥� incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa or NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The other 35 candidates...
WITH little more than a month before presidential elections are due, the speculations about elections not being held have come to a halt which is a testament to the democratic spirit in the country. The election commission has invited Commonwealth and EU election monitors to observe the elections. Political parties and parliamentarians alike are...
GOVERNMENT leaders appear to be considering all options for remaining in office beyond the constitutionally mandated periods of five years for the presidency and parliament. The United National Party general secretary, Palitha Range Bandara has announced that the government is considering postponing both the...
