The 51 sessions of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council is underway. Sri Lanka is again in the focus with Western powers and their lackeys targeting the war-winning Sri Lanka military. Successive Sri Lankan governments, including the incumbent administration, failed to address core issues. Their failure to counter accusations that over 40,000 Tamil civilians […]

Unlike in the past, Japan has been very slow in responding to Sri Lanka calls to help it financially, analysts say.

On Friday July 22, lawyers and judges stayed away from courts around the country protesting against the alleged threat to the Magistrate of Mannar over the telephone by Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Trade and Commerce.  Also connected to this allegation is the attack on the Mannar courts complex by a mob said to be in ...

Ranil Wickremasinghe and his UNPers preparing for elections are like medieval knights going to war without body armour, swords, lances and even horses. Elections in the 21st century are fought with the media – press, radio, TV and now on Internet – but Ranil’s faction of the UNP which is the main body of the ...

Last week there were more stories making the rounds on contemplated decisions made outside the cabinet meeting than decisions made inside. Of course, the usual briefing on cabinet decisions were spelled out, Thursday afternoon. For a regime that still wants to boast it has popular support, comparing itself to an opposition fractured and quarrelling red and green, it is ...

Last week Mervyn Silva was on the run. The foul-mouthed thug switched off his phones having purportedly declared that he would not speak to the media. No small wonder there. Given that Silva was under fire from men not only within his own constituency but from those very persons he had handpicked to perform local ...

The occasion was the annual Budget Speech in Parliament. Unlike in the Westminster- system days, and in terms of age-old traditions of parliamentary practices, the Finance Minister, in this instance His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka (as he could not trust to give this vital portfolio away to any other member of his sixty one-strong ...

The Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets Bill that is to be presented to parliament soon has in it economic and political objectives that spell doom for Sri Lankan democracy as well as the economy. It would vest in the Sri Lankan government Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC which owns the Colombo Hilton that has ...

OCTOBER 17, 2011: Status: Not Free Legal Environment: 23 Political Environment: 30 Economic Environment: 18 Total Score: 71 Despite the end of the government’s long-running war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group in May 2009, media freedom remained restricted in Sri Lanka, with journalists subject to myriad forms of legal harassment and physical intimidation. Altho...

by Frederica Jansz Bejing has considerable leverage in post conflict Sri Lanka.  Chinese involvement in the defence sector has not reduced after the war, and the Chinese are seen diversifying from being just suppliers of defence equipment to infrastructure and capacity building. The Chinese have used North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and subsequently the state owned ...

President Rajapakse has said that that the Kokavil transmission tower is a symbol of mutual relations between communities.   The nation had the right to be aware of what was happening in the world as well as the country. Such a Tower has been installed mainly for communication. It will expand the friendly and mutual ...

Sarath Kongahage, Chairman Rupavahini Corporation, lawyer, political activist, media personality and now ambassador-designate to Germany, spoke to Faraz Shauketaly on his impending  appointment and work at Rupavahini Corporation. He dispelled rumours that he was being replaced at SLRC due to consistent internal dissent. Excerpts: Q:  On what merits were you appointed as Chairman, Rupavahini Corpor...

Youth Affairs Minister and senior SLFP member, Dullas Alahapperuma has said that the main opposition UNP has abused state resources. Alahapperuma has told the media that the UNP while accusing the government of abusing state resources has in fact been the largest abuser of the resources. He has said that UNP parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera owed ...

by Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka A quarter of a century ago, the Summer of ’85. Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. I was at the Pugwash Conference, hosted by Senator Fernando Henrique Cardoso, famous ‘dependency theorist’, later to become President of Brazil. I was...

By Sarath Fonseka An Open Appeal Issued by Former Army Chief and Presidential Candidate 2010 Dear Sri Lankans, The time has now come for us to stop being complacent and start taking an active role in shaping our future and...

By Rohini Hensman Sri Lanka’s claim to be a democracy has been tenuous for years, but the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution by parliament on 8 September 2010 dealt it a fatal blow. It changed Sri Lanka...

by Kusal Perera Latest news on Mervyn caught every one off guard and in total surprise. There were frantic calls on Tuesday night by many who wanted to know, if the news was right. Some one left a comment for...

Latest news on Mervyn caught every one off guard and in total surprise. There were frantic calls on Tuesday night by many who wanted to know, if the news was right. Some one left a comment for an online news on Mervyn’s removal that said, “Don’t do this. This would rob us, of our popular ...

By Sumanasiri Liyanage Why do we need laws? If all of us are law-abiding citizens, laws may become redundant. Someone has remarked that laws are needed to restrict and limit the actions of the heartless people....

Unp Leadership Battle Moves Up A Gear:  Shows No Sign Of Abating The battle for the UNP leadership has been slowly gathering momentum with the membership across the country calling for a change. A number of players have yet to throw their hats into the ring. Senior UNP stalwarts Ravi Karunanayake and Sajith Premadasa have ...

By Dayan Jayatilleka What is the ‘main contradiction’ in Sri Lanka today? It is that between the very broad national base of support and sacrifice for the war and the resultant peace on the one hand, and the increasingly narrow character of the beneficiaries of the dividends of that popular peace, on the other. The war was national but the peace dividend and its distribution appe...

The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) reportedly incurs a Rs. 10 million loss per day after Namal Rajapaksa had taken over Channel Eye for his political work.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is encouraged to learn that Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered an inquiry into the alleged political victimisation and interdiction of eight media workers in the state-run broadcaster, the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC).