The focus of the media and civil society organizations is again on the prevailing culture of impunity following State Minister Lohan Ratwatte’s violent behaviour in two prisons. He resigned as the State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation,...
Issues crop up so fast on the political front in this country that neither the people nor commentators can keep track of them. Something of great political significance has therefore not received the attention it deserves. Last Monday’s landmark...
One man’s loss is said to be another man’s gain. The 100%cash margin deposit for what the Central Bank (CB) considers non-essential goods has left importers reeling in shock. Among the commodities listed by the CB are imported garments....
The government finds itself in what may be called ‘a holy mess’. Religious leaders who once supported it have turned against it, claiming that it has reneged on its promises to them.Prominent among the erstwhile friends turned critics of...
A firestorm of protest erupted in August 2019 following the publication of some pictures of an emaciated elephant brought to Kandy to take part in the Dalada perahera. The protests yielded the desired results; the animal, Tikiri, was withdrawn...
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) celebrated its 70thanniversary on 02 September. There were some fiery speeches,and several orators waxed eloquent on what they called the achievements of the party, and made various promises. They, however, said nothing new....
The government is coming under increasing pressure to extend the current lockdown as the pandemic continues to snuff out lives at an alarming rate, and infections are mounting. The cost of living is soaring and some essential commodities are...
Former IGP Pujith Jayasundara is on the rack due to the failure on the part of the police, under his stewardship, to prevent the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 in spite of being forewarned. He is facing legal action....
Newly appointed Media Minister Dullas Alahapperuma has said a mouthful. Ridiculing those who have resorted to superstition tocontrol the Covid-19 pandemic, he has said that science, and nothing else, is the solution to the health crisis we are faced...
People envy their rulers, who seem to have all the luck, but there occur times when the latter bemoan their much-coveted positions, just like the title character in Shakespeare’s play, ‘Henry IV’. The English King says, “Uneasy lies the...
All Cabinet ministers are equal in rank, technically, but not all their portfolios are equally prestigious. Cabinet reshuffles, therefore, invariably lead to disgruntlement among those who lose their previously held plum portfolios and others who fail to secure them....
Last week’s government Gazette Extraordinary on the special commodity levy triggered a media feeding frenzy. It was widely thought that the government had done an upward revision of taxes on food items such as sprats, dried fish, butter, salt,...
