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 …
Sri Lanka’s persistent political crisis “without a government or a Prime Minister” could embolden anti-social elements to take law into their own hands, Leader of Opposition R. Sampanthan has warned. “In such a situation, the country’s minorities, especially Tamils, may become the victims,” he said. …
It is generally said that there are no genuine “Sri Lankan” Brahmins in the island today, and that those Brahmins who officiate as priests in Hindu kovils (temples) are of Indian origin with close ties with Tamil Nadu. Dr. Gananath Obeysekere, a Princeton University social …
Over the past few weeks, Sri Lanka has faced a moral and political crisis that threatens to undermine hope for democracy. On Oct. 26, Maithripala Sirisena, the president of Sri Lanka, appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa, the polarizing former president who ran Sri Lanka from 2005 to …