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 …
MDMK leader Vaiko on Thursday opposed the Madras High Court order directing the destruction of over 1,700 copies of a pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) book Tamil Eelam Sivakkirathu — a compilation of speeches delivered by Tamil Nationalist Movement leader Pazha Nedumaran. He said …
Sri Lanka has been reeling from a turbulent political crisis for almost a month, when President Maithripala Sirisena on October 26 abruptly sacked then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and installed the now-ousted Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s former President, as the new premier. The power struggle has …
A group of British parliamentarians have written to UK’s foreign secretary warning that “Sri Lanka’s political stability is at grave risk” and called for discussion on the suspension of trade concessions to Colombo. The seven parliamentarians, who are part of the All Party Parliamentary Group …
The U.S. Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka hosted a briefing on security sector reform in Sri Lanka. The co-chairs of the Caucus, Representatives Bill Johnson (Republican – Ohio) and Danny Davis (Democrat – Illinois), gave opening remarks about the need …
In November 2014, Maithripala Sirisena, who was then a cabinet minister and member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, broke ranks with his leader, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and agreed to be the common presidential candidate of the Opposition, led by the United National Party. Sirisena …
Sri Lankan plantation unions have aligned themselves with different political factions in the bitter conflict raging inside the country’s ruling elite and are now attempting to suppress the plantation workers’ fight for a 100 percent increase in their daily wage. On October 26, President Maithripala …