Is 13 A to go along with 19 A?

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna led by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa wants a political blank cheque from the people, in the form of two thirds majority Parliamentary power, at the next Wednesday’s election. It would be a blank cheque because the party has not specifically told the people as to what they would do with that special power.

Family traditions in politics - EDITORIAL

The Parliamentary Elections are just five days away and those whose franchise is labelled as floating votes would be thinking hard about whom to vote.

Protect democracy and walk tall on the world stage

It is a foregone conclusion that the August 5 general election will be won by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Mahinda must update himself!

We like Mahinda Rajapaksa for many reasons. The veteran politician can turn the tide when the ships are down.

UNP turns hard on SJB ahead of polling day

The election campaign has reached its tail end. The Election Commission is in full swing laying emphasis on arrangements for the conduct of polls....

Covid-19 escapee not infectious after all - EDITORIAL

This year`s election originally to have been held on April 25 but postponed to June 20 would be finally held on August 5 under unusual circumstances with the COVID-19....

Let’s wish Yasmin Sooka truth and justice (for a change)

Some years ago, the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon appointed ‘a panel of experts’ to advise him on Sri Lanka’s....

Why EC needs to come clean on its working arrangement with FB

In the run up to last year’s Presidential Elections, Facebook visibly increased its interactions in Sri Lanka. Officials from the social media platform were in the island meeting with government officials as well as those working outside of government.

COVID-19 pandemic: The mafias behind it

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues with an upsurge mainly in the United States and largely because of President Donald Trump’s callus or dangerous mishandling,

TNA; the toast of opposition parties

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main Tamil party amalgam in the North has been putting forward the same manifesto with few changes in wordings at every election since 1977. Every time they demand especially the right to self-determin

‘We cannot afford to have an unstable Government’-PM

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in an email interview with the Daily Mirror spoke about what he intends doing if his party wins the General Elections to be held on August 5. He spoke at length about forming a stable Government.

A case against 2/3 majority

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and the fellow travellers of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) are asking for a two-thirds majority in the general election. For what? They want to abolish the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, one

‘Sri Lanka might remain stuck in a minus growth’ Ranil Wickremesinghe

Warning that Sri Lanka together with the Asian region will have a minus economic growth this year as a result of COVID-19, former Prime Minister and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed that his Party’s campaign has reached a high tempo

govts came and went, but JR’s Constitution remains - EDITORIAL

In August 1978, then Premier JR Jayawardene ushered in a new Constitution, which introduced the concept of an Executive President with sweeping powers.

Electing “patriots” without solutions to socio-economic crisis

Elections are just over there, a little over a week away. What is nevertheless lacking is the discussion as to what sort of a country we wish to have, post elections.

TNA Must Seek India’s Help To Protect 13th Amendment

The Rajapaksa regime is all out to get a two-thirds majority in parliament through the forthcoming elections on August 5. The avowed objective of such a steam-roller majority is to promulgate a new Constitution or enact Constitutional amendments unilaterally.

Friendship: In a gentle way you can shake the world

It is a time-tested and time-honourned truth that a good family is the foundation of a good society. If society or the world is in turmoil today with the Covid-19 pandemic causing an unprecedented health and economic crisis we need to reflect deeply and go to the roots of what is going wrong and where as we mark the United Nations International Day of Friendship next Thursday.

STAYING YOUNG AND HAPPY

In the complicated world we live in today, it is essential to concentrate on some important aspects of our lives and staying young and healthy emerges as paramount. A friend very kindly sent me a video on what is believed are essential attributes to staying young and healthy; and I am sharing it with you.

What is in store for the UNP/SJB?

It might not be ethically correct to predict result of any election, especially of a tightly contested election as it might influence the constituency.

United we stand, Divided we fall

The party brought independence to the nation. The party revived agriculture, brought free education, and started providing free text books and free midday meals to school children. The party introduced the Suwaseriya ambulance....

Tamils and their representatives in Parliament - EDITORIAL

The Sinhala lawmakers coming in their numbers to pay respects to the late Ceylon Workers’Congress (CWC) President Arumugan Thondaman remind us of something that needs to be changed in this country.

Polls apart, Lanka sitting on world geopolitical volcano

Sri Lanka seems to be caught in a storm in the troubled waters of the Indian Ocean as the United States and China lock horns on several fronts. With the US-China rivalry escalating in recent months, the Millennium Challenge....

Ranil will be remembered as best President Sri Lanka never had - Mangala

Former Foreign Minister and former Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera made a surprise decision not to contest the Parliamentary election.Various claims were made over his surprise move....

Voting is serious business so vote wisely

We focus today on the twice-postponed general election, which is just round the corner, at touching distance as it were amid the fear,,,,

Whither Gota and the SLPP?

Even the staunchest opponents of the Government would concede that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is more than likely to secure a clear majority at the parliamentary election in August.

Election manifestos and humbugs

This is a time when people with a franchise to vote must question politicians about not implementing what they boasted about in past manifestos.

SLPP wants to see the back of SLFP

As polling day approaches, intra-party forays over preferential votes rage within the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). The SLPP is contesting the polls in alliance with likeminded parties such as the National Freedom Front, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) and Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP).

PCoI criticised for entertaining complaints from private businessmen

Questions have been raised as to why the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that was appointed by the President to probe political victimisation of public officers....

Thunder over the blunder of Colonial plunder - EDITORIAL

Amid the Corona pandemic, social analysts are also noting how catastrophe is being turned into a blessing with a historic worldwide movement.....

TNA’s demand for Federalism: A Manifesto of faultlines

The Election Manifesto recently issued by the TNA for the August General Election makes it unequivocally clear that the political aspirations....