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Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, UPFA Parliamentarian from the Ambalangoda District and Monitoring MP for the Ministry of External Affairs, has extended an unqualified apology to Opposition and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. This was for incidents connected with mobs preventing Mr. Wickremesinghe from attending funerals of fishermen in the Balapitiya area. The Opposition Leader escaped personal harm [...]
JHU’s bill on long road to law
Amidst moves to amend certain sections of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, a constituent partner of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), presented a Bill to Parliament last Tuesday, to repeal the Amendment in its entirety. The Bill was presented as a Private Member’s Bill by JHU MP Ven. Aturaliye Ratana Thera and [...]
Indian pressure forces Govt. to put off crucial amendments
Speculation that New Delhi threatens to boycott C’wealth summit if 13 A is diluted Parliamentary Select Committee to study major devolution issues, but likely to become a one-sided affair “Are you moving the constitutional amendments next week,” asked Rajavarothayam Sampanthan, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, a week ago from Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, [...]
The crooked arm of the law
My Dear Mervyn, I thought I will write to you to tell you what a lucky man you are considering recent events that have taken place. I know you will be puzzled by this but I will explain and I am sure you will then understand. The first shocking news that we heard was that [...]
Marking a shift in the national security discourse
This is a time when moderation, commonsense and basic decency have been cast to the four winds in Sri Lanka. It is a time when hatred against different communities is hailed and felicitated. And President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s appeal to the media this week not to give publicity to rampaging monks of the Bodu Bala Sena [...]
TNA, 13A and Indian dismay
From the sidelines The visit to India last week by a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and its discussions with high ranking Indian officials as usual raises questions relating to India’s role in resolving Sri Lanka’s national question. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed his ‘dismay’ to the TNA delegation over “reports suggesting [...]
Increasing food production vital for food security
Last week’s column discussed the vulnerability of the country’s food security owing to weaknesses in macroeconomic fundamentals. Imbalances in trade and large fiscal deficits undermine food security, especially of low-income households. Strong economic fundamentals, effective safety nets and increased agricultural production are needed to improve the country’s food security. Increasing food production is important in [...]