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Home » ColumnsSpokesperson: For whom or for what is he speaking?
The role of a spokesperson, as anyone literate would explain, is to speak on behalf of a group or entity he or she represents so the collective positions are understood in a positive way. However, that is not the case for loquacious Minister Rajitha Senaratne, the official spokesperson of the Government. More often than not, [...]
Corruption continues: President must reverse the trend
Bellanwila prelate bluntly tells Sirisena the people feel let down because of continuing fraud and other misdeeds Sirisena responds strongly, assures that all bond issues will be probed and those found guilty punished Cabinet reshuffle likely soon; four UNP ministers may face change of portfolios Rajapaksa rejects plea by CMs to support SLFP at polls, [...]
Used Nugegoda pledges
My dear Mahinda maama, I thought I must write to you after seeing you come out of the shadows at Nugegoda on Friday, saying that you want to topple the government and become the boss again. There are a few questions about that, of course, but it was good to see you doing what you [...]
Recalling those old and very same failures of justice
British poet and laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s mournful call that “the old order changeth yielding place to the new…‘ is an ageless reminder of the loss of once cherished values in these uncertain times. Deprivation of voices of reason The world now steps perilously into a future in which ancient demons of racial profiling, ultra-nationalism [...]
We need to cherish and nourish our Independence
As we celebrate our 69th Independence Day on February 4, we need to ask ourselves whether we are the noble country we claim to be. We need to ask how much independence we have in our homes, villages and in the country. We cherish our life and we need to safeguard it with patience and [...]
President Trump’s uncertain and unpredictable economic policies
The economic and foreign policies of the United States of America impact globally. President Donald Trump’s changes in economic and foreign policies would have repercussions on the global economy and in turn have significant consequences on the Sri Lankan economy as the US is one of Sri Lanka’s main export markets. However President Trump’s policies [...]
The hot air just got hotter with another commission to boot
 After nearly 9 hours of Parliamentary debate on the now infamous Treasury Bond (TB) auction of February 27, 2015, what the public were treated to was the usual doublespeak from members of the ‘yahapalanaya’ Government, with their inability to speak in one voice on the subject, only lending credence to growing public perception that the [...]
Muslim boy, aged 7, made monk revolts the Buddha’s vinaya tenet
Dimbulagala chief incumbent hails it a historic event but will it be flashpoint to spark bigotry’s fires again? Perhaps it is his karmic destiny to enter the Noble Order of the Sangha and follow the path of the Buddha at so young an age. Or perhaps it is his father’s good fortune to have found [...]
Right to know and right to ignore
The gestation period of an Asian elephant is around 20-22 months. The Asian elephant we are acquainted with has taken much, much longer-some 12 years to finally get the Right to Information (RTI) law into an operational stage. One cannot blame the United National Party (UNP) which proudly flaunts its elephant symbol, for gestating for [...]