Photo Courtesy of BBC News Sri Lanka is led by a man who has, by his admission, two faces. In a more democratic avatar is Gotabaya Rajapaksa the President. Here, the individual...

Foreign media have reported that the Sri Lankans have responded in a fitting manner to the world through the election results. This has explicitly displayed the rapport between the Government and the people. The foreign media attributed the Government’s development programme and the resettlement process to the election victory. All India Radio mentioned that President ...

How focused and efficacious are the current infrastructure investments in Sri Lanka, executed through a public investments programme (PIP)? Take for instance the Chinese funded Norochcholai coal fired power plant, built after obtaining a commercial loan from China, and its subsequent breakdowns resulting in power cuts that will stifle growth and earnings, on top of ...

Receipt of aid, both in the form of grant aid and concessional aid, like in the good old days, would give an impetus to development. When there are roads, power plants and power connections, water supply and sewerage facilities and such like built, that would also give a fillip to investments and therewith job creation ...

Relatives and friends of Sri Lankan Tamils who risked their lives in search of a better future abroad after the end of the war in May 2009 are desperately seeking information as to their fates. Thousands of Tamils migrated from the country to escape the violence of the 30-year civil war, which ended with Sri ...

A UN special envoy arrived Friday for talks with the new administration in the Maldives, as former president Mohamed Nasheed called for fresh elections after being ousted in what he called a coup d'etat, AFP reported. Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco reached the capital Male early Friday and was due to hold talks with new president Mohamed Waheed. “There will be a meetin...

The extrajudicial killing of civilians, surrendering soldiers and dissident journalists under the direction of the Sri Lankan government has been alleged by a former general in the Army who was extremely well-placed to comment on military activity during the island nation’s bloody civil war. The source, whose name is withheld for reasons of safety, had high-level ...

Below is an interview with Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleke published in the French Diplomatic Review – La Lettre Diplomatique (The Diplomatic Letter) Two years after the end of a three decades conflict, the lifting of the emergency rule in late August 2011 confirmed the beginning of a new era for Sri Lanka. With the recent discovery of ...

Following is the address delivered by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) Plenary Session: In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there has been a noticeable shift in economic clout, moving from the USA and the debt-plagued countries of the Eurozone, to ...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “The illusion of destiny extracts a remarkably heavy price”. — Amartya Sen (Identity and Violence) The mysterious leaking in Colombo of the Darusman (UN) Report was accompanied by a carefully choreographed outbreak of patriotic-hysteria. The President, in...

Extracts from report on Sri Lanka by advisory panel appointed by Ban Ki moon 2. Violations in the IDP Camps (a) Arbitrary detention of IDPs in closed camps 154. Civilians emerging from the conflicts zone were initially housed in a...

by Tisaranee Gunasekara "When heads of state do not pay attention to the needs of their nation, the people take over”. Turkish Presiden Abdullah Gul (During the February 2011 visit to Iran) “As he launched a series of murderous attacks...

By Dr. S. Narapalasingam PART I The baffling moves and actions on the political front of the potent government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, since the war ended conclusively mid May 2009 have been considered discretely by many analysts, ignoring...

Tribute to Lasantha Wickrematunge on Second Death Anniversary By Sunalie Ratnayake A recollection of facts Two elongated years have come into conclusion, precisely as of today (January 8, 2011), since the incongruously horrendous cold-blooded murder of one of the most...

By Kalana Senaratne Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, President of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM), recently leveled a serious accusation against the LLRC. In an unexpected manner, this has caused some embarrassment, I believe, to both Dr. Amarasekera and Prof. GL Peiris, Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs. The reason for this embarrassment is a peculiar one; for it is not only the n...

By Dushy Ranetunge Wimal Weerawansa, who survived a fast on to death outside the UN compound in Buller’s Road, amidst voodoo style devil dancing, has accused the Sri Lankan High Commission in London of failing in their duty to warn...

By Dr. S. Narapalasingam The current moves of the powerful government in post-war Sri Lanka are mainly for sustaining the wartime military strength, preventing the resurrection of the smashed LTTE and developing the infrastructures, notably the roads and rail network,...