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Home » ColumnsRanil-Karu tête-à-tête to reunite UNP
In continuing moves to thaw the frozen relations between the Opposition UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the party’s erstwhile deputies, Mr. Wickremesinghe and Karu Jayasuriya conferred privately on Friday at the Nalandaraamaya Temple in Nugegoda on the way forward for the party. The private tete-a-tete was brokered by former party chairman Malik Samarawickrama. Mr. Wickremesinghe [...]
People get onto the streets; Govt. reacts with heavy hand
Parliament’s Acting Secretary General Dhammika Dassanayake was at his office last Monday morning when his telephone rang. It was lawyer cum politician Dayasiri Jayasekera, who joined the Government ranks from the main opposition United National Party (UNP) just last week. A parliamentarian for the Kurunegala District for over 18 years, Jayasekera wanted to know whether [...]
A fiery gunslinger finally bottled by a Dirty Dozen
My Dear Malaka, I am writing to you because I was extremely shocked to hear that you had been assaulted at a department store car park in broad daylight. I know that for many it would be just another assault, but I think there is more to it than just that. I am relieved to [...]
Structural weakness in trade and external finances
Recent discussions on the trade balance and external finances have been mostly in terms of current developments and emerging problems. More important than the yearly fluctuations in the trade balance and changes in the annual reserve positions are the structural weaknesses in the economy that are the underlying causes for the country’s persistent problems in external [...]
What Noori estate and Weliweriya teach us
When will Sri Lankans take matters into their own hands and teach this arrogant if not foolhardy Government some sharp and telling lessons in just rule? Incredibly shocking pattern of events This week, one innocent teenager died and more than twenty five civilians were injured as a result of the army shooting at unarmed protestors [...]
Elections and the criminalisation of political culture
As nominations closed this week for the polls in the Northern, North Western and Central provinces, the campaign period began in the shadow of two disturbing developments elsewhere, calling into question the political context in which elections are held. One was the standoff between the military and unarmed protesters in Weliweriya, Gampaha, where residents of [...]