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A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Sunday, September 4, 2011
Emergency withdrawn – but everyone in the dark!
Sunday 04 September 2011
By Namini Wijedasa
When a country’s cabinet is habitually uninformed, it is no surprise that its citizens also know nothing. In Sri Lanka, governance is carried out on a need-to-know basis: only a coterie at the top needs-to-know.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced in parliament on August 25 that he proposed not to extend the state of emergency. He explained that he was satisfied administration could take place under normal law. These were the closing lines of a long oration that was reminiscent of a budget speech. While its purpose was to convey the end of emergency, it did nothing to explain the logistics of such a move.
There was confusion over the many things the president did not say, including the date on which emergency would end. The government’s official website, news.lk, said emergency would end the same day. Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, cabinet spokesman said it would lapse with immediate effect. Mohan Pieris, the outgoing attorney general, told BBC it would end on September 9, “if not earlier.”
Not unnaturally, they were all wrong. President Rajapaksa said he would not extend emergency, which meant it would lapse on August 30–a month to the date on which it was last proclaimed. But the diverse theories of various official mouthpieces caused doubt. Observers began to speculate that he might issue a proclamation revoking the emergency; or that he would extend it for two weeks in order to get an alternative law in place. Read more...
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Sunday, September 04, 2011
The European Union (EU) is to press Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this month to address the issue of accountability over alleged human rights abuses committed during the final stages of the conflict.
Iulia Costea, the press officer of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, told The Sunday Leader that the EU also wants the Sri Lankan government to engage with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the contents of the report by a panel of experts, on the war in Sri Lanka.Read More »
By Namini Wijedasa
When a country’s cabinet is habitually uninformed, it is no surprise that its citizens also know nothing. In Sri Lanka, governance is carried out on a need-to-know basis: only a coterie at the top needs-to-know.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced in parliament on August 25 that he proposed not to extend the state of emergency. He explained that he was satisfied administration could take place under normal law. These were the closing lines of a long oration that was reminiscent of a budget speech. While its purpose was to convey the end of emergency, it did nothing to explain the logistics of such a move.
There was confusion over the many things the president did not say, including the date on which emergency would end. The government’s official website, news.lk, said emergency would end the same day. Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, cabinet spokesman said it would lapse with immediate effect. Mohan Pieris, the outgoing attorney general, told BBC it would end on September 9, “if not earlier.”
Not unnaturally, they were all wrong. President Rajapaksa said he would not extend emergency, which meant it would lapse on August 30–a month to the date on which it was last proclaimed. But the diverse theories of various official mouthpieces caused doubt. Observers began to speculate that he might issue a proclamation revoking the emergency; or that he would extend it for two weeks in order to get an alternative law in place. Read more...
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EU To Press Sri Lanka
Sunday, September 04, 2011By Easwaran Rutnam
G.L Peiris
The European Union (EU) is to press Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this month to address the issue of accountability over alleged human rights abuses committed during the final stages of the conflict.
Iulia Costea, the press officer of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, told The Sunday Leader that the EU also wants the Sri Lankan government to engage with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the contents of the report by a panel of experts, on the war in Sri Lanka.
