A Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency will have serious repercussions for both Sri Lanka’s internal governance as well as its international partnerships. by Ana Pararajasingham, ‘The Diplomat,’ Washington, DC, October 23, 2019 On November 16, Sri Lankans will go to the polls to elect their next president. Although more than 30 candidates have nominated themselves, the contest… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
In Simple Terms, the Choice is Between Dictatorship & Democracy
Presidential election 2019 by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Sunday Observer, Colombo, October 19, 2019 With the presidential election campaign now well underway, it appears that the contest is between the two main candidates, Sajith Premadasa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In the absence of scientific polling in Sri Lanka, no credible voter sentiment analysis is available. Therefore we are… Read more »
World Bank: Making (De)centralization Work
by World Bank, Washington, DC, October 13, 2019 See Chief Economist for South Asia video summary here Full report here In a focus section, the report highlights how, as their economies become more sophisticated, South Asian countries have made decentralization a priority to improve the delivery of public services. With multiple initiatives underway across the… Read more »
Sri Lanka Presidential Hopeful Says Won’t Honor Deal with UN
by Krishan Francis | AP in The Washington Post, October 15, 2019 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A former Sri Lankan defense chief who is a front-runner in next month’s presidential election said Tuesday that if he wins, he won’t recognize an agreement the government made with the U.N. human rights council to investigate alleged war crimes during… Read more »
Identity, Choices and Crisis
A Study of Muslim Political Leadership in Sri Lanka by ARM Imtiyaz, Journal of Asian and African Studies 48(1) 47 –63, 2012 Identity_Choices_and_Crisis_A_Study_of_M Abstract This study attempts to understand the choices made by Muslim political leaders in general, and after independence in particular. Muslim leadership has been broadly classified into two categories based on their… Read more »
Tamil Parties in North-East Stipulate ‘Acid Test’ Terms to SL Presidential Candidates
by TamilNet, October 14, 2019 The demands translated from Tamil to English follow: New constitutional processes that uphold unitary system of rule should be rejected. The Tamil national question of Ilangkai [Ceylon] must be resolved through a federal framework with the realisation that Tamils constitute a nation with distinct sovereignty and that nation is entitled… Read more »
Came Forward for the Rights of Minorities
– M.K. Sivajilingam by Morning Leader, Colombo, october 13, 2019 Sivajilingam told The Sunday Morning that it is high time a candidate was put forward to fight for the rights of the minorities. Below are excerpts of his interview with The Sunday Morning: What made you decide to contest the presidential election? This is the… Read more »
Do You Think The Tamil Ethnic Question Would Ever Be Solved?
by C.V. Wigneswaran, Colombo Telegraph, October 14, 2019 C.V. Wigneswaran Someone asked: Do you think the Tamil Ethnic question would ever be solved and all Sri Lankans could travel along a common path to peace and prosperity? My response was: Yes of course! The time is ripe now for the resolving of the so called… Read more »
Why was Ranil Politically Assassinated by Prabha in 2005?
by KKS Perera, Daily Mirror, Colombo, October 14, 2019 Prabhakaran gambled hoping for an easier challenger Ranil’s meek reaction to Dissanayake rhetoric on Karuna and unreliable nature during the peace-talks The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) effectively chose the President of Sri Lanka in 2005. Yes, the Tigers did it – a few… Read more »
The Role of Emerging Technologies in Military Conflicts
by Izumi Nakamitsu, Inter-Press Service (IPS) Izumi Nakamitsu is UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs* STOCKHOLM, Oct 10 2019 (IPS) – Throughout history, technology has transformed armed conflict. The carnage of First World War battlefields is a stark example of what happens when advances in weaponry outpace the normative frameworks around its use. Today, we are experiencing… Read more »
Historicizing Nationalist Discourse of the Origins of the Communities of Sri Lanka among the Contemporary Sinhalese
A qualitative analysis by Jeyaseelan Gnanaseelan, (periodical unspecified), Melbourne, Australia, November 29-30, 2017 Historicizing Nationalist Discourse Abstract In the post-war reconciliation context, the Sri Lankans need to develop constructive discourse on political harmony, cohesion and co-habitation to make a positive impact on legislative changes towards post-conflict reconciliation, sustainable peace and justice. Ideological discourse constitutes power… Read more »
Is Federalism a Solution?
by Bhimraj M, NUJS’ International Journal of Legal Studies and Research, Vol. 7, No.1, West Bengal, March 2018 Is Federalism a Solution Abstract The change of power in 2015 and Maithripala Sirisena becoming the President of Sri Lanka is said to have sowed hopes for a political solution to the ethnic conflict. But the President… Read more »
Reflection on the 13th Amendment
To the Constitution in light of settlement of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka by S. Dinesan, Jaffna, June 2016 Reflection on the 13th Amendment ABSTRACT Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religion and multi-language country even though it is a unitary state. The ethnic conflict is a major issue in the era. As with many civil… Read more »
Ignorance and Populism Puts Sri Lankan Muslims in the Crosshairs
by Farzana Haniffa, East Asia Forum, Australia, October 4, 2019 There is no locally-relevant social or communal cause that could explain the Easter Sunday 2019 attacks in Sri Lanka. Christian–Muslim relations are largely cordial. Mobilisation of Buddhists through anti-Muslim rhetoric after the war’s end in 2009 led to several incidents of anti-Muslim violence with large-scale… Read more »
ITJP: The Sri Lankan Navy
A Collective Blind Eye by International Truth and Justice Project, South Africa, October 20192019 http://www.itjpsl.com/reports/thenavy-a-collective-blind-eye ITJP_navy_reportfinal-2-SINGLES This report on the Sri Lankan Navy’s alleged involvement in torture and enforced disappearances compares documents from a decade-long police investigation inside Sri Lanka into the disappearance of 11 men in the Trincomalee naval base, with eyewitness testimony from survivors and… Read more »
ICG: After Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings
Reducing Risks of Future Violence The devastating ISIS-inspired attacks last Easter targeting Sri Lanka’s Christians have triggered a dangerous backlash against the country’s Muslims. Colombo urgently needs to correct the intelligence failures that led to the Easter attacks and curb discriminatory practices and policies that further harm innocent Muslim communities. What’s new? Easter Sunday’s bombings produced… Read more »
Presidential Election 2019
Its relevance and worthiness for Tamils By: Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka The seventh Presidential election is due to be held on November 16, 2019. The presidential system was introduced by Late J. R. Jayawardena in 1978 with the passing of a new constitution. An executive style… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Implementation of UNHRC Res. 40/1
Sri Lanka’s Defiance & Delaying Tactics in Implementing UNHRC Resolution 40/1 by Kumarathasan Rasingam, Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org. Tamils in Sri Lanka have undergone grave injustice: Pogroms, Torture, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Forced Disappearances and Genocide. Tamil mothers in Sri Lanka fight daily to learn what happened to their missing… Read more »
ITJP: Terrorism Investigation Division – Sri Lankan Police
by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa,September 18, 2019 ITJP_TID_report_final This is the first report to examine the extensive use of torture over the last decade by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan police. It identifies 58 alleged torturers based on investigation and research, including those who bear command responsibility. The… Read more »
Follow-up on the visits of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
to Peru and Sri Lanka https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/42/40/Add.1 Summary This document contains information supplied by Governments, authorities, civil society and other stakeholders, relating to the follow-up measures to the recommendations made by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, following its visits to Peru and Sri Lanka in 2015 (A/HRC/33/51/Add.3 and A/HRC/33/51/Add.2. II. Sri Lanka Follow-up… Read more »