By Vishvanath
Sri Lanka is no stranger to election promises, which usually range from the improbable to the outrageous. Its politicians have got making promises down to a fine art. The polity is strewn with broken promises after every election,...
By Vishvanath
This is the season of pledges. With the next presidential election fast approaching, the contenders for the presidency are making all kinds of promises ranging from pay hikes to constitutional reforms. It looks as if they were taking...
by Vishvanath
A billboard carrying a picture of a gas cylinder, which is President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election symbol, has been erected on the frontage of UNP headquarters, Sirikotha, at Pita Kotte. The display of any party symbol other than the Elephant...
By Vishvanath
What is unfolding on the political front in Sri Lanka is unprecedented. Never have so many MPs crossed over en masse either before or after an election. More than 90 MPs have broken ranks with the SLPP to support President...
By Vishvanath
SLPP National Organizer Namal Rajapaksa’s entry into the presidential fray has triggered a social media feeding frenzy, which, however, will fizzle out with the passage of time whenserious issues crop up and distract the public. JVP/NPP stalwart, K. D. Lalkantha, has created...
By Vishvanath
The Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) had a meteoric rise in politics. Founded in 2016, as an offshoot of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which turned hostile towards the Rajapaksa family, it swept the local government...
by Vishvanath
The Sri Lanka Podujana Permuna (SLPP) is now facingsomething it did not bargain for when it entered into an alliance with the United National Party (UNP) in 2022 and elevated Ranil Wickremesinghe to the executive presidency. Their union doubtlessly stood both sides in good...
By Vishvanath
The break-up of the political marriage of convenience between the SLPP and the UNP has come as no surprise. That uneasy union was doomed from the very beginning, and what held it together so long was adversity as...
By Vishvanath
The Election Commission (EC) has at long last decided to hold the next presidential election on Sept. 21, 2024. It has thus ended months of speculation that the government might do something to delay the crucial poll. However,...
By Vishvanath
What is happening in Sri Lankan politics is a textbook case of irony. The SLPP government, under President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s stewardship, is busy undoing what it pledged to do in its election manifestos or did after being voted...
By Vishvanath
The incumbent SLPP-UNP government is a contradiction in itself. It is doing exactly the opposite of what those who voted the SLPP into power expected. This fact became manifestly clear from a statement President Ranil Wickremesinghe made...
By VishvanathThe dynamics of the ongoing presidential race are undergoing radical changes with new political alliancesemerging and intra party rivalries and conflicts coming into the open. Political leaders have had to adapt theirstrategies accordingly.It is a mistake for anyone...
