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 ...
Photo courtesy of The Leader The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent for August 2024 show NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa led in voting preferences of all adults ahead of the September presidential election. None of the four major party presidential candidates had ...
Photo courtesy of womenforpolitics It is an enduring stain on Sri Lanka’s democracy and gender equality that only 4.8 percent of parliamentarians are women despite their high literacy rate and educational levels. To correct this imbalance, proactive action is needed by women and men. Women had the right to vote when universal franchise was granted to all males and females ...
Photo courtesy of Aithiya In first half of 2024, the most notable changes in voting intent were the rise in support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe as a potential presidential candidate at the apparent expense of support for likely candidates from the NPP, SJB and SLPP. In Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Multilevel Regression and Post-Stratification (MRP) model projections, support for ...
Photo courtesy of Ama Koralage The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged Sri Lanka to break from the past and chart a new course. Addressing the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on September 9, he warned of “renewed threats to fundamental freedoms – including regressive laws and the erosion of democratic checks and ...
Photo courtesy of lankanewsweb Gun violence is a prevalent issue that has challenged many countries around the world including Sri Lanka. Guns, a weapon mainly used by armed forces to maintain the peace and security of a country, have now become a weapon which threatens the people’s lives and national security. According to Numbeo 2024, Sri Lanka is placed towards ...
Photo courtesy of moneycontrol The most recent Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey for July 2024 shows a tight race in the upcoming presidential election. NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa are neck and neck, each garnering approximately 37% and 36% of voting intent respectively but neither candidate has secured more than 40% support ...
Photos courtesy of Saskia Fernando Gallery Hema Shironi’s solo exhibition Families ‘Not’ in the List at the Saskia Fernando Gallery delves into the complex and often painful histories of colonization, civil war, displacement and migration, all of which are intricately woven into the fabric of Hema Shironi’s art practice. By drawing from personal stories and lived experiences, Shironi crafts a ...
Photo courtesy of Sri Lanka Brief “The road to power is paved with hypocrisy and casualties.” Frank Underwood, House of Cards With a record number of candidates (38) contesting Sri Lanka’s presidential election, voters are yet to witness what new stories (and old stories) these 38 players bring to the table. After all, from rival lookalikes in slanderous advertisements to snakes ...
Photo courtesy of Sri Lanka Guardian As Sri Lanka approaches a critical election many citizens, disillusioned with the incumbent government and the economic crisis, are pinning their hopes on the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance. The NPP, particularly its driving force, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has attracted support from those seeking “system change” and improved governance. However voters should ...
Photo courtesy of Mirak Raheem As news of a mass grave breaks on television in a household in the North, its residents, a family of the disappeared, try to find ways of coping with this information. A little girl goes to sleep with her father’s sarong under her pillow. Her mother overcomes her reluctance and approaches a lawyer as to ...
Photo courtesy of MSF Former High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, said there were no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems because what they required were political solutions. When states and governments fail their citizens, endangering their lives and making living conditions unbearable, the humanitarian agencies step in. The humanitarians are there because all else has failed and desperate people need ...
Photo courtesy of DW The latest estimates of general election voting intent from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model show the SJB and the NPP/JVP leading with 34% and 32% of voters’ support respectively, followed by the SLPP with 13%, the UNP with 7%, and ITAK with 5% in July 2024. Voting intentions in July have not changed ...
Photo courtesy of Daily Mirror In Part 1, we explored the JVP’s evolving rhetoric and policies regarding ethnic relations, highlighting a shift from a more homogenous vision of Sri Lankan identity towards recognizing and accommodating diversity. However, this shift is not without its contradictions and limitations. This second part examines the persistent unclear positions surrounding their stance on devolution, the ...
Photo courtesy of Daily Mirror The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent for July 2024 show NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa leading neck and neck (37% and 36% each within the margin of error) but with both at less than 40% of all ...
Photo courtesy of Economic Times As the 2024 elections approach in Sri Lanka, the National People’s Power (NPP) is positioning itself as a major contender. However, the JVP, the dominant party within the NPP, carries a legacy closely associated with Sinhala nationalism. This raises critical questions for voters, especially those from minority communities, about how the JVP now approaches the ...
Photo courtesy of LankaTruth In Institute for Health Policy (IHP) SLOTS polling in July 2024, the net favourability rating of NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake rose 29 points from June to reach +3, and President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s favourability improved 40 points to -24 surpassing SJB leader Sajith Premadasa. Sajith Premadasa’s favourability rating changed little from -42 in June to -44 in ...
