UK Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mark Field told the UK Parliament that it is vital that all sides refrain from violence and make efforts to resolve the situation peacefully and as soon as possible. He said that he met with …
Sri Lanka’s travel industry is starting to suffer the fallout of a political crisis in the middle of its peak tourist season, as uncertainty prompts cancellations by both business and leisure visitors. Tourism makes up about 5 percent of the Indian Ocean island’s $87-billion economy, …
When a United States Department of State official reacted to the dismissal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe by Sri Lanka’s president Maitripala Sirisena installing the former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place on October 26, the issue raised was could Sri Lanka accommodate two prime …
During former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s 10-year rule in Sri Lanka, democracy was cosmetic, a veneer intended to make authoritarianism more palatable. Rajapaksa dismantled constitutional provisions that were meant to check his power. He allowed the military to commit rampant human rights violations with impunity. Freedom …
It is with an eye on the forthcoming provincial and national elections, that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) are opposing Mahinda Rajapaksa’s bid to remain Prime Minister tooth and nail. The TNA and the TPA are acutely aware that …
The mounting pressure of an impending Supreme Court verdict on his dissolution of Parliament, and the lack of majority support for his hand-picked Prime Minister might prompt President Maithripala Sirisena to end Sri Lanka’s political crisis this weekend, The Hindu learns. President Sirisena held two …
In 2015, when Sri Lanka received relatively rare mention in discussions of world politics, then-President Mahinda Rajapaksa suffered a shock election loss. At the time, I outlined lessons that rising powers like China could learn when developing insights into smaller countries like Sri Lanka, including …
China and India are both keeping a close eye on the political situation in Sri Lanka. The island nation plunged into a constitutional crisis with two men claiming to be the lawful prime minister. Sri Lanka owes more than $50bn to foreign lenders, which is …
Sri Lanka’s deposed prime minister secured control of a key committee in parliament Friday, dealing a blow to the country’s president in the latest twist in a month-long political crisis. Sri Lanka has been politically paralysed since October 26 when President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Ranil …
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday it had delayed discussions on Sri Lanka’s next loan tranche due to the country’s political crisis. The IMF has disbursed over $1 billion out of a $1.5 billion three-year extended fund facility (EFF) loan it agreed in …
