Insensitive leaders be aware that history can repeat!

Sri Lankans are very concerned about the much looked forward to Presidential Elections and the proposed tax reforms by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Both are factors which will shape our futures. Though we cannot be proud of the post D.S. Senanayake era, we did have a past where Sri Lanka, or Ceylon then, was very much on the world map for all the good reasons. Other than the nation’s port facilities, ‘Ceylon’ was known for its Kings and prospe

Every minute, 20 people are forced to flee as refugees

Sri Lanka is one of the countries worst affected by the refugee crisis largely due to the civil war that lasted about 25 years. The root causes for this included political, educational and economic issues with the United National Party governments working according to the globalised market economy system. This was aggravated by the Executive Presidential system which was introduced by J.R. Jayewardene government on February 4, 1978. Since then, t

Political literacy and just recurring rhetoric

Election time is around the corner. A galore of promises, political grandstanding and conspiracy theories are only natural in the times ahead. The trend is already visible. The political literacy of the people who are supposed to decide, ultimately, matters more than ever during this time, to sift truth out of the mess for informed decisions to be made when casting ballots. Another broken promise? Once again, promises for constitutional amendment

Flooding the Court of Appeal with Tax Appeals A Recipe for Disaster?

It was reliably made to understand that the Government is about to bring some radical changes to the existing tax appeal procedures on the pretext of expediting the appeal process and reducing the undue overtime consumed for its finalisation at pr

Dudley Senanayake Statesman ‘Par Excellence’

The late Dudley Senanayake remains unforgettable to all those who had the privilege of knowing him. We think of him more than ever on June 19 which was his birth anniversary. What was it that made him different from other politicians of his time or thereafter? He was both an internationalist and a liberal in his political thinking. Although there were political giants like the late Dr. N. M. Perera, the late Dr. Colvin .R. de Silva, the late Phi

Queers for Palestine, Professionals for NPP and irrational quest for self-validation

Those who follow the worldwide pro-Palestine protests against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza in response to the slaughter of Israeli civilians by terror group Hamas might not have missed its moment of magic realism: Queers for Palestine.

Stop playing ducks and drakes with people’s lives

During this past month, hardly a day has passed without a page one story of large numbers of our former soldiers and officer-ranked military personnel being ‘duped’ into fighting in the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. Let’s face it, ou

‘Fortress Europa’ against incoming flood of immigrants

“We do not want to become fortress Europa,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech....

Taiwan overcomes political barriers to build economic ties with South Asia

Though its very existence as a sovereign country is challenged by its giant neighbour, the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC),Taiwan....

Haphazard solutions wouldn’t work for a deep-rooted problem - EDITORIAL

After the recent floods in some areas in Colombo and downstream of Kelani Ganga authorities were heard speaking.....

The IMF knife threatening democracy

The IMF after much fanfare released its third tranche from its Extended Fund Facility program for Sri Lanka amounting to US$ 336 million. These tranches that are released....

Presidential elections and changing global economic realities - EDITORIAL

We are entering the second half of this election-charged year. All major presidential candidates are now presently directing their political campaigns....

TheVersatile and multi-faceted Nissanka Wijeyeratne

Nissanka Parakrama hailing from a prominent Sabaragamuwa province family was born in Colombo on June 14,1924. He was the second son of Sir Edwin (EAP) and Lady Leela Wijeyeratne of Buddhenipola Walauwa, Kegalle. Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne served as Home Minister in the first post-independence Cabinet of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake and was later Colombo’s envoy to London and New Delhi. Nissanka’s elder brother Tissa was a barrister and diplomat who

Dwindling hydro, petroleum resources makes nuclear power viable

The world’s resources of petroleum and natural gas are running out. On the other hand, the world’s population is growing. The global human population reached 8.0 billion in mid-November 2022 from an estimated 2.5 billion people in 1950, adding 1 billion people since 2010 and 2 billion since 1998. It has been estimated that known oil deposits will run out by 2052. While, there may be new wells discovered in the future, what is certain is that the

13A conundrum: A shared legacy of SJB

As some politicians in the North are vigorously debating whether to boycott the forthcoming presidential election or to field a common Tamil candidate the interest among the main presidential contenders in the Northern voters seems to be growing. President Ranil Wickremesinghe who seems to be undecided on his candidature has toured the Tamil-dominated Jaffna peninsula thrice this year, in his capacity as the President but with an ostensible elec

Should we ‘kill’ the postman?

Sri Lankans believe in resorting to strike action to resolve grudges related to employment. And the government plays dumb till then; in other words the state has to be told that workers have a problem. Just a day ago, postal workers commenced strike action citing existing job vacancies not being filled.

Hajj and Gaza: Waiting for the ram that saved Abraham’s son

As millions of Hajj pilgrims and Muslims around the world celebrate Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifice, on Sunday, their focus should be as much on Gaza as it is on Prophet Ibrahim or Abraham.

Youth to the forefront in combatting hate speech

While the crime rate all over the world is intensifying with US President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, recently being found guilty on three charges related to his possession of a weapon and using it under the influence of drugs, and Former President Donald Trump being convicted of numerous criminal charges with other cases to come, there are also crimes that the world talks little about, and one of them is hate speech. With the elections due to

How can the National Policy for Day Care Centres be made successful?

The National Policy for Child Day Care Centres will soon be received by the Cabinet. The policy is guided by the vision of providing high-quality, affordable and accessible day care services that protect the rights and well-being of all children and enable parents (particularly mothers) to take up or return to employment due to the availability of day care services. This vision represents a welcome shift in the policy discourse, which has for to

Child labour: It’s time to CLEAR supply chains

When 16-year-old Jude Kumar Ishalini from Dayagama succumbed to severe burn injuries while being employed at a former Minister’s residence, it exposed the harrowing consequences of child labour. Subsequent arrests and two

A voter’s alternative to Preference Voting and Mixed Member Voting system

The historic amalgam of “People’s uprising’’ through the ‘Peaceful new generation Aragalaya-2022’ and the Country’s declared ‘Bankruptcy’ has provided overwhelming and glaring evidence that cannot be matched by any measure of research, regarding the weaknesses in our Electoral system which has over the last several decades allowed power-hungry, mediocre and nepotic politicians to rule the roost in our Parliament. Thus, the following

Presidential pardons shouldn’t encourage impunity - EDITORIAL

The Supreme Court’s June 6 reversal of the order of President Maithripala Sirisena to grant a pardon to Jude Shramantha...

Sri Lanka is now well on the way to harnessing nuclear energy

Having taken a firm decision to include nuclear energy in its mix of energy sources, Sri Lanka is now well on the way to harnessing....

Poverty and homelessness stare elders in the face - EDITORIAL

Not many decades ago, our country was held up worldwide for its welfare state policies. Today, unfortunately, such praises ....

UK centre-right media gearing up for a Third World War

Social media is agog with fears over a looming Third World War. According to the centre-right Daily Telegraph of the UK....

The Ranil-Chandrika Debate of 1999 that never occurred

Following the articles ‘Sajith-Anura debate, that never happened’ and ‘Mahinda-Ranil 2005: That never was,’ let us revisit the ‘Ranil-Chandrika....

The right to strike and motivated strikes

For over the past 35 days, the non-academic staff of government universities in the country has been on strike. There is no doubt that the working class of this country is burdened with low salaries. In some instances, workers’ wages were reduced during the economic melt-down. On June 6 the Locomotive Operating Engineers’ Union of Sri Lanka Railways suddenly decided to go on strike. The trade union action according to the Union is being carried o

Presidential election: Good and bad foreign meddling

What a big fuss would have been made by the embassies of Western countries had the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong met with the members of the Election Commission (EC), as American Ambassador Julie Chung and several other Western diplomats had done recently? Also, can we at least imagine a meeting between the Sri Lankan or Indian Ambassador to the United States and the election officials of the US, including those of the Federal Elect

Why people shouldn’t fear ‘Mr. Talent’ - EDITORIAL

These are days when people are working hard to make ends meet; even when the spouse is employed too. With regard to those frequenting the corridors of power, they too are working immensely hard to be in power when the next government is formed.

Slaughter of the Gaza lamb: Israeli Pharaoh’s crimes against children

On Tuesday, June 4, the day the world was supposed to mark the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, the silence of the pro-Israeli world powers was deafening. In Gaza, the day had little meaning as there was no let-up in the slaughter of Palestinian children.