#LGpollSL

Image:Former president Rajapaksa showing victory sign to the media after the local authority election results, (Image courtesy of Mahinda Rajapaksa face book) Sri Lanka Briefing Note 13 | February 2018.  Transitional Justice and Constitutional Reform:  Sri Lanka at the Cross Roads. Local Authority Elections,  2018 Feb. in Sri Lanka: implications for transitional justice. (Advanced copy on the […]

R.Sampanthan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought I would say a few words on this debate. The people have delivered a verdict and, in a democracy, the people’s verdict must be respected. The Hon. Member who moved the Motion and the Hon. Member who seconded the Motion have referred to various matters. I think, Sir, […]

“We were on the Titanic and everyone knew it was hitting the iceberg” – Eric Hobsbawm (Interesting Times) A defeat is not a victory. A drubbing is not an endorsement. The UNP fared badly at the local government election and the SLFP fared even worse. The JVP didn’t do as well as it hoped; nor did […]

  By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole There have been recent calls not to implement fully the legal requirement of having at least 25% women in each local government authority. A newspaper has reported that the Election Commission is to ask that the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act No 22 of 2012 to be amended to […]

Statement: Letter to the Elections Commission, Leaders of Political Parties and the Speaker of the House of Parliament DO NOT Default on Implementing the 25% Legally Binding Quota for Women. (Monday, 19th February 2018. )We the undersigned Civil Society Organisations, including women’s groups, and women’s rights advocates are writing to call on the Chairman and […]

Meera Srinivasan / The Hindu.  With a banner sporting a picture of Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) founder S.J.V. Chelvanayakam in the background, senior Tamil leader R. Sampanthan made a fervent appeal in an election rally in Jaffna. “Unity”, he said, “is the only weapon we have now.” Days ahead of Sri Lanka’s February 10 […]

Image: Rajapaksa  is waiting to capture the power to establish autocratic family rule in Sri Lanka. Kishali Pinto Jayawaradene. Those who are bewildered by the results of Sri Lanka’s local government elections a week ago need a harsh reality check if not a resounding knock to the head.. Massive public discomfiture For it must be […]

ECONOMYNEXT – A last ditch attempt by President Maithripala Sirisena to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has failed due to a constitutional hurdle and more significantly the lack of parliamentary support, sources close to both sides said. President Sirisena had agreed to continue working with Wickremesinghe, but had a sudden change of heart on Thursday […]

Image: Secretary of the Purawesi Balaya Saman Ratnapriya speaking at a public rally  to pressure the Govt to implement promises made. (c) s.deshapriya. Civil groups which backed President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential election 2015 had decided to urge strongly President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to continue with the joint government. Secretary of the […]

  By Gehan Gunatilleke. Few would have predicted the results of Sri Lanka’s local government elections in 2018. With the benefit of hindsight, we must now try to understand what happened and why. There are three lessons to be learnt from the results – one lesson for voters, one for the coalition Government, and one […]

By S W R de A Samarasinghe. Last Saturday’s Local Government (LG) Election dealt a stunning blow to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the two respective political parties, UPFA and UNP, that they lead and paved the way for the major political comeback of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Sri Lanka […]

(Tamil Guardian. 12 Feb,) Sri Lanka’s unity government suffered an electoral blow at local government polls this weekend, just three years after its surprise victory. The Sinhala people renewed their support for the former war-time president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who asked voters to use the polls as a de-facto referendum on the unity government’s constitutional reform process, […]

Mangala Samaraweera. On the 8th of January 2015, fifty one percent of Sri Lankans voted for the vision put forth to them by our unity candidate Maithripala Sirisena: that the time for dictatorship in our country was over, and that those committed to re-establishing democracy in Sri Lanka must unite to ensure that government serves […]

Image: JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva. (LT/12 Feb 2018) “The votes for the JVP have increased proportionately as well as quantitatively. JVP Members have been elected towards that had never had a JVP Member. Several JVP Members have been elected to almost every council. There are certain councils in which five or six JVP Members […]

Rohan Samarajiwa. The perception is that former President Rajapaksa’s SLPP won a great victory; that the UNP did not do as well as expected and President Sirisena’s attempt to consolidate his position in the SLFP has failed. President Sirisena’s decision to lead the SLFP’s campaign in elections for the lowest level of government has diminished […]

Image: Rajapaksa still to reach his 2015 vote count. ECONOMYNEXT – President Maithripala Sirisena’s uneasy coalition faced a major internal crisis amid finger pointing for the humiliating shock defeat at local government elections, political sources said. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe whose United national Party (UNP) performed poorly was also under pressure to accept responsibility for […]