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Home » ColumnsPresident consolidates position as SLFP leader ahead of local polls
One-on-one meetings with SLFP stalwarts; dissidents to be replaced with youth leaders Central Bank’s latest report of the economy calls for corrective measures With local government polls now ahead, President Maithripala Sirisena has embarked on an ambitious project to consolidate his position as leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Last Thursday evening, he [...]
Now we think back
My dear Mahinda maama, I haven’t been writing to you for some time now but I thought I must do so now, especially because you somehow seem to find a way of being in the news even though you are not in power. When you hit the headlines, it is invariably linked to one court [...]
Inability to attract higher foreign direct investment serious constraint on economic growth
If there is one economic issue on which there is little or no controversy, it is the country’s need for foreign direct investment (FDI). As non-controversial is the fact that FDI inflows into the country are extremely inadequate. This inability to attract higher amounts of FDI is a serious concern and constraint on economic growth. [...]
A trial-at-bar in Jaffna and a governance muddle in Colombo
In midst of an impossible muddle of governance in Colombo, the handing down of the death sentence to the accused in the Sivaloganathan Vithya rape and murder case by a trial-at-bar in Jaffna this week is one tentative indication that, (to borrow from Longfellow) the mills of justice in Sri Lanka have started grinding again, [...]
Cabinet approves purchase of Rs.24 billion Russian frigate on credit line
Sri Lanka will sign a deal with Russia to procure a Gephard 5.1 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Navy, the Cabinet of Ministers decided last Tuesday. The unanimous decision came on a recommendation from President Maithripala Sirisena who is also the Minister of Defence. As reported in the front page lead story of the [...]
Rohingya refugees fall from Burma’s pan of terror into Lanka’s fires of hate
Forget their race, forget their creed and forget that they were born as Muslims in the land of Buddhist Burma, now Myanmar. Just hold them in your hearts for awhile as human beings, as victims of circumstances beyond their control, as innocent sufferers of another’s wrong, a nation’s crime, who must now cry in pain [...]
National carrier or a plaything of the board
From where does the UNP, the major partner of the yahapalanaya government, produce such wunder kinder? Since King Kekille made his remarkable contributions to jurisprudence we have not seen much original thought except perhaps in our great institution by the Oya which will soon be celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is until now. Today we [...]