Columns
Home » ColumnsPresident acts fast on child’s plea
Widely acknowledged both by ruling party as well as opposition members for his excellent public relations skills, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has for some time now embarked on a new drive. At least twice a week, he meets school children from remote areas. They take place in the lawn of ‘Temple Trees’. He asks them about [...]
Govt. faces crisis after crisis, but rides on
World attention will be on Sri Lanka again on Thursday November 1. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva will review the country’s record during a three and half hour session beginning 2.30 p.m. Like for all other 193 member countries of the UN, the event is routine. Every four or five years, [...]
Unlucky number 13
“Thaaththa,” Bindu Udagedera asked, “what is all this fuss about the Constitution?” “Some people,” Bindu’s father Percy explained, “want the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution removed.” “Why do they want to do that, thaaththa?” Bindu wanted to know. “They seem to think that it doesn’t serve any purpose,” Percy said. “Who says so?” Bindu asked. [...]
Potentially disastrous powder kegs waiting to blow
Six months ago, Sri Lankans were unpleasantly galvanized by the spectacle of Budddhist monks led by the Chief Incumbent of the Rangiri Dambulla Vihare, Inamaluwe Sumangala Thero marching onto a mosque in Dambulla that they claimed was illegally constructed. Gentle remonstrations by Muslim villagers with the marching protestors that they had worshipped at the mosque [...]
Good governance vital for export growth
When economists focus on the need for good governance, rule of law, law and order, property rights and meaningful steps to mitigate corruption, there must surely be serious problems in the polity and affairs of the state. At the annual sessions of the Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA) on ‘Export Growth for Sustained Development’, several [...]
Morally bankrupt Govt. stoops to conduct unbecoming
An adjournment debate in Parliament on Thursday, moved by Democratic National Alliance (DNA) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, on the attack on Judicial Services Commission (JSC) Secretary on October 7, turned sordid, with unwarranted attacks on senior officials of the judiciary, by Government members. The DNA MP’s motion centered on a question he had raised in [...]