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Home » ColumnsThais rebuff Western diplomats and insist on trade talks with Sri Lanka
Eyebrows were raised among a segment of the diplomatic corps with the resumption of talks on the Thai/Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) earlier last week. At the recent diplomatic briefing organised by the Foreign Ministry, an official of that institution happened to overhear an extraordinary inquiry by some of the Western diplomats from the [...]
Helicopter to disaster
My dear Maithri, Dullas, Wimal and Anura Priyadarshana, I thought I should write to you this week after seeing all of you get together and launch yet another alliance of political parties. There are so many of them these days that we have lost count, but seeing all of you on the same stage the [...]
National Election Commission comes of age
The current spotlight on the holding of the local government elections has brought to the forefront several important home truths. With the Government and the Opposition trading accusations over the holding of the elections, the role of the National Elections Commission has gained added significance. Constitutionally the power and duty to conduct free and fair [...]
Could we expect an improvement in our external finances?
The country is looking forward to an improvement in what is popularly known as the “dollar hingaya” (dollar shortage).The billion dollar question is: Are we getting the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of US$ 2.9 billion? Also, will there be an improvement in the country’s external finances this year? CBSL statement Last week’s statement by [...]
A hard judicial knock on an ex-president and his (not so) merry men
Thursday’s judgment by a Divisional Bench of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court unanimously finding that a former President and his intelligence, defence and police heads grossly neglected imperative duties of safeguarding the nation with the consequent order to pay millions in compensation to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, asks a fundamental – and yet [...]
Supreme Court strikes stunning blow for political accountability
LAW LORDS LANDMARK JUDGEMENT Alarm call for all politicians and public officials as Sirisena is shorn of immunity and fined Rs.100m for neglecting Easter blast warning Seven Supreme Court Law Lords came out in full force on Thursday to deliver a stunning historic judgement that places all in the political and government establishment on [...]
O judgment! Such alarums shake the state and the errant
Last Thursday’s historic judgment of the seven-member bench of the Supreme Court in favour of the fundamental rights petitions filed by the aggrieved and the concerned over the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attack is a stark lesson to politicians and the bureaucracy that they are not immune from responsibility and accountability for their actions. Politicians, [...]
Suspense over local polls: EC Chief says not worried over obstacles
This week crucial, as nomination day draws closer and many candidates pay deposits Talks between govt. and Tamil parties on the brink of breakdown; five demands put forward by TNA Canada deals blow to Sri Lanka, sanctions imposed on two former presidents besides two military officers; Mahinda says no evidence against him By Our [...]
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