SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday (28) hit back at critics, claiming that a robust economy had been built under his presidency. He said the UNP-SLFP government which ruled the country during the 2015-2019 period should be held responsible for the current economic crisis. The following is the text of a statement, titled ‘the origins of […]

An estimated 10% of girls are married before the age of 18 in Sri Lanka, as the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) does not set a minimum age for marriage enabling any Muslim Quazi (judge) to even authorise the marriage of girls under the age of 12, says a report published by the World Organization against […]

by Jehan Perera The government is facing an uphill task to rebuild the country which continues to be in a state of economic and moral decline which was evident in parliamentary proceedings last week. The initial hopes of a quick transition from the economic and moral decline that accompanied the pre-Aragalaya period ended with the […]

The Lawyers’ Collective (LC) has strongly condemned what it calls President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s attempt to intimidate the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka.LC has said in a media statement: “The Lawyers’ Collective strongly condemns the recent attempt by President Wickremesinghe to intimidate the Constitutional Council of Sri Lanka. In an authoritarian move, on 23 November 2023, […...

Monday 27th November, 2023 The SJB has commenced collecting signatures for a public petition as part of a campaign to have those who are responsible for the current economic crisis stripped of their civic rights. Given public resentment, which is palpable, the SJB may be able to obtain hundreds of thousands of signatures for its […]

By GUWAN SEEYA  First, there was the China Bay airport nominated as a possible alternative to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). The advantage was that since Sri Lanka was mainly affected by two Monsoons namely the South West and the North East, during that time the opposite coast has generally had good weather. For example, […]

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By Sujeeva Nivunhella Last week in Vienna, Ambassador M.R.K Lenagala, Sri Lanka’s representative to the UNO and other international organizations in Vienna, officially became the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka, following the presenting of Letters of Credence to President Alexander Van der Bellen at the Hofburg Palace. The ceremonial event marked the initiation […]

By Capt. A.G.A. Barrie P.Eng., B.Sc (Hons)(Eng) A.M.A. Azeez’s 50th death anniversary fell on November 24, 2023. Aboobucker Mohamed Abdul Azeez, an eminent educationist, erudite learned scholar in English and Tamil, brilliant orator, efficient administrator, writer, visionary and dedicated community worker, was born on October 4, 1911 to a traditional elite family of Vannarpannai in […]

Friday 24th November, 2023 Sri Lanka’s cricket crisis has become internationalised. Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe and the Opposition insist that some Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials were behind the International Cricket Council’s decision to suspend SLC. They have produced documentary evidence to prove their claim and tabled in Parliament the copies of the letters that […]

By Uditha Devapriya There is a point in Killers of the Flower Moon where it stops becoming a film and transforms into an experience. I found myself moved to anger, sadness, and then provoked into self-reflection. This is a film that tells us everything, in one go, about the history of the West, the plight […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, yesterday said that Parliament like other institutions should bear responsibility for the unprecedented economic crisis caused during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration. Minister Sabry said so when The Island sought his response as regards the responsibility of Parliament for the developing situation against the backdrop of the cou...

The abstention from voting recently by some foremost powers of the vital UN Security Council on a crucial resolution relating to the wellbeing of the people of the Gaza Strip, helped focus on the vexatious issues central to the Israel-Hamas war which are driving the world apart. The abstention from voting by the US, Russia […]

By Rathindra Kuruwita Historically, Sri Lankan governments have failed to reduce the budget deficit, SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne says. Sri Lankan governments have consistently looked at maximising revenue but paid minimal attention to curtailing expenditure, MP Wickramaratne has said. Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had not factored in state expenditures when the latest bailout […]