The people have spoken. In a historic verdict, Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as the ninth Executive President of Sri Lanka. The results, declared on Sunday, was not without its share of drama: a count of preference votes for...
By Kassapa
Arguably Sri Lanka’s most eagerly awaited presidential election-and potentially its last- reaches a climax on Saturday when the country goes to the polls in which the contest is realistically between President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Opposition Leader and Samagi Jana...
By Kassapa
A familiar theme from President Ranil Wickremesinghe when he hits the campaign trail now has been to suggest that his erstwhile deputy Sajith Premadasa is in third position in the presidential stakes and will lose out on even...
By Kassapa
With just over two weeks remaining of the presidential election campaign, the latest question is whether the United National Party (UNP) and its breakaway faction the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) will arrive at a compromise in the face...
The resignation of Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Thalatha Atukorale from Parliament is not the mere resignation of one MP, it deals a stinging blow to the presidential aspirations of SJB leader and candidate Sajith Premadasa.
Atukorale walks away from...
By Kassapa
Spare a thought for Namal Rajapaksa. A few years ago, he was the heir apparent of a seemingly invincible dynasty, being groomed to take over after the senior Rajapaksas retired. Today, he is a political orphan struggling to...
By Kassapa
Forming political alliances are part and parcel of Sri Lanka politics, especially at election time. The main opposition party in Parliament, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) launched what it called the Samagi Jana Sandhanaya (SJS) last week...
By Kassapa
It was a fortnight full of seemingly surprising political developments, especially in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). Its likely presidential candidate changed, first from President Ranil Wickremesinghe to business magnate Dhammika Perera and then, at the eleventh...
By Kassapa
Two much awaited announcements- whether Ranil Wickremesinghe will run for President and whether the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) will support him- came this week and caused raised eyebrows in many quarters and led to confusion on all fronts.
Wickremesinghe’s...
By Kassapa
The marriage of convenience between Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Rajapaksas which earned the former the sobriquet ‘Ranil Rajapaksa’ is at breaking point now and is bound to be tested even more in the coming weeks, as dates for...
By Kassapa
We wrote in these columns about the circus enacted by an individual identifying himself as C.D. Lenawa who emerged from virtually nowhere and challenged the validity of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution, pleading in the Supreme Court that...
By Kassapa
Last week, the corridors of power were buzzing with yet another constitutional conspiracy theory. That was after a hitherto lesser-known individual by the name of C.D. Lenawa submitted a Fundamental Rights (FR) application to the Supreme Court asking...
