Photo courtesy of Sharmini Boyle September 25 was the first anniversary of the death of the writer Richard Boyle at the age of 72. Richard was a prolific writer, perhaps best remembered for the multiple articles he wrote on a wide range of subjects in the Sunday Times, Serendib magazine and numerous other publications, and for his two books, Knox’s ...
Photo courtesy of Indian Express Sri Lanka’s 2024 presidential election has marked a historic shift in the political landscape with Anura Kumara Dissanayake securing a decisive victory. The election is seen as a resounding rejection of the established political elites who have long dominated Sri Lankan politics and a clear demand for reform, transparency and an end to corruption. This ...
Photo courtesy of Advocata An analysis of the results of the recent presidential election can be approached in different ways with different political purposes. This short piece is based on my interest in conflicts. I am also aware that while conflicts relating to state-minority relations within the Sri Lankan state received attention at international level, conflicts associated with the politics ...
Photo courtesy of Asanka Abeyrathna The Colombo Port is an economic hub of Sri Lanka. In this densely populated area, a group of people are digging a pit during the day; it is not a gem pit or an oil well but a grave containing remnants of people who were victims hidden from the law and their relatives. This was ...
Photo courtesy of CNN Democracy in peril! Democratic backsliding!! Populist democracy! Political polarisation! Electoral authoritarianism! Following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 American presidential elections, these and many similar ideas about “democracy under threat” have dominated public and private conversations among democrats globally. There is a real basis for these concerns. The 2024 Democracy Report from the V-Dem Institute in ...
Photo courtesy of Crisis Group Incidents of election violence escalated significantly in September, culminating in a murder and a potential second incident. Ninety six violations were recorded on September 15 alone. Arson, assault, threats and the misuse of removing restrictions on vehicle imports right before the election were some of the violations highlighted in a report by the Centre for ...
Photo courtesy The Hindu I write this two days before Sri Lanka elects its 9th executive president. Whether it will be NPP, SJB or Ranil Wickremesinghe who comes into power is to be played out in what all expects to be a close call. The citizens will be forced to pick a symbolical figurehead from the long litany of candidates. ...
Photo by Ama Koralage None of the three leading presidential candidates have directly addressed the issue of enforced disappearances despite the fact that Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappeared people reported to the UN. Successive governments have shown no political will to bring about truth, justice, accountability and guarantees of non-recurrence fearing to displease military leaders who ...
Photo courtesy of NPP Anura Kumara Dissanayake, AKD as popularly known, is currently leading National People Power (NPP) movement for a system change and social renewal from the bottom up including economic, political, cultural and ideological change, quite effectively. He is an unusual leader with a comprehensive knowledge and understanding about how the system works, its fundamental weaknesses, how we need ...
Photo courtesy of NPP Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS Multilevel Regression and Post-Stratification (MRP) estimates using interviews conducted to September 13 indicate that Anura Dissanayake would have won the presidential election on a count of second preference votes if the presidential election had been held in early September. In the MRP estimates of the views of all adults, Anura Dissayanake ...
Photo courtesy of JVP As Sri Lanka approaches the 2024 presidential election, the NPP is positioning itself as a major contender. In the previous articles (part 1 and part 2), we explored the JVP’s historical trajectory and its evolving stance on ethnic relations. This third analysis looks at the NPP’s current manifesto, “A thriving nation, A beautiful life”. Riding the ...
Photo courtesy of Kumanan A recent UN Human Rights Council session raising grave concerns about the situation in Sri Lanka, including a report by High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, was the focus of a recent article I wrote. Issues mentioned included the government’s much-criticised plans for a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation and what the Director General ...
Photo courtesy of Advocata The presidential election scheduled to be held on September 21 is likely to mark a significant milestone in Sri Lankan political history. The popular sentiment that dominates the public psyche during the election run up clearly shows that the NPP has emerged as a leading force during the election campaign. It would not be an exaggeration ...
Photo courtesy of IFES The latest estimates of general election voting intent from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model show no substantial changes in August compared to the previous month. The SJB and NPP/JVP led and were in a statistical tie with 29% and 28% of voter support respectively followed by the SLPP with 19%, the UNP with ...
Photo courtesy of Factum The presidential election is just six days away. It is said that three candidates are leading among the contenders – Anura Dissanayake, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa. All three claim that they will win the upcoming presidential election. This is a characteristic of an election. The results of these efforts are determined by the will of ...
Photo courtesy of Anadolu Agency The US and Sri Lanka are in synchronized election cycles. Eight years ago I wrote an article called “US And Them” about certain correlations which were then observable. So much has happened in the interim. Terror attacks, accusations of election stealing, a catastrophic global pandemic, economic crises and attempted coups. Democracy is on a flight, ...
Photo Courtesy of Daily News Based on my previous study of looking at how Sri Lankan partisans on Twitter perceived their favoured presidential candidate, and opponents, I wanted to establish how mainstream media (MSM) accounts on the platform presented (and, in a thinly veiled manner, promoted) candidates as well. Undergirding what’s now called information disorders, Sri Lankan mainstream media is, ...
Photo courtesy of Tamil Guardian “Have you learned nothing from history?” Freud (The Future of an Illusion) “Wrath” is the opening word of The Iliad. Wrath is a key driver of the upcoming presidential election. People are angry at political leaders for bankrupting the country. Hopefully, the anger is accompanied by reason, not just pointing fingers outward but also looking ...
Photo courtesy of Adaderana What is the executive presidential system under the 1978 Constitution? A President directly elected for a fixed term is the Head of State and the Head of Government who exercises the executive power of the state. The President exercises executive power with a Prime Minister and a Cabinet of Ministers drawn from Parliament and responsible to ...
Photo courtesy of The Borgen Project As Sri Lankans head to the polls, most voters want the government to increase spending on health and education according to the latest findings from the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS). Since September 2022, as the economic crisis forced the government to rethink budget priorities, SLOTS has regularly asked survey respondents to identify ...
