Sri Lanka

The Parliament of Sri Lanka has 225 member seats. The 22 electoral districts elect 196 seats. Each party receives seats in proportion to the votes it received in that district. The remaining 29 seats are the “national list”. Each party receives national list seats, in proportion to the votes it receives islandwide. At first glance, […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves at his supporters as he leaves, after the presidential swearing-in ceremony in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka November 18, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte. As was widely predicted, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), decisively won Sri Lanka’s presidential election on November 16. His opponent, Sajith Premadasa, of the United National Party […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s new president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, gestures after addressing the nation during his swearing-in ceremony at the Ruwanwelisaya temple in Anuradhapura on Nov. 18. LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES. Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka People’s Front was sworn in as president of Sri Lanka on Monday, after defeating Sajith Premadasa of the United National Party […]

“Accepting our request and rejecting the call to boycott or to vote for a Tamil candidate and by voting for Mr. Sajith Premadasa the Tamil people have sent a clear message to the leaders of our country and to the international community, that the Tamil people are firm in achieving their rights, within a united […]

The Universal Children’s Day, celebrated on the 20th of November every year, is dedicated to recognizing the joys and innocence of childhood, and improving and protecting the lives of children. It calls for International corporation to strengthen and acknowledge the rights of every child in the world. The significance of the Universal Children’s Day of […]

Sri Lanka’s eighth presidential election held last Sunday has produced an outcome that has surprised the winners, the losers as well as the observers. The most obvious, and arguably disquieting, and utterly unanticipated trend that became immediately visible is the re-sharpening of the majority-minority divide in the citizens’ electoral choices across the country. Mr Gotabhaya […]

Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government must demonstrate that they will uphold human rights and rule of law, and ensure that Sri Lanka sustains its international obligations and commitments to justice and accountability, said the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) today. Gotabaya Rajapaksa faces credible allegations of involvement in war crimes […]

People’s democratic choices must be accepted, says the senior Tamil leader. Meera Srinivasan./The Hindu. It is unfair to attribute a “racist” dimension to the Tamil vote in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, according to senior Tamil leader R. Sampanthan. His remark comes a day after the results of the country’s biggest election were declared. The winner […]

“To help, without asking whom…” – Henry Dunant International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is a part of International Law and commonly understood as a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict.  The accepted doctrine has been that IHL governs armed conflicts as lex specialis to Human Rights Law. […]

Asian Election observers faulted both private and State Media organisations for favouring their chosen candidates during the elections and suggested they should self-regulate themselves. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), an international election observation organization based in Asia, observed that while the presidential election ended in a largely peaceful and orderly manner, it witnessed […]

(By Jon Lee Anderson ,January 9, 2011/ NewYoker) Gotabaya Rajapaksa received James Clad and me in a sitting room of hishouse, a British-era villa in a large garden compound in Colombo. The room was impersonally furnished with fifties-style blue settees and abstract geometric paintings, all government-issue. The Defense Minister was casually attired in a T-shirt, […]

With Gotabaya Rajapaska claiming victory in the presidential elections, how does one understand the Northern vote? The Northern electoral districts of Jaffna and Vanni with just around 5% of the population of the country are marginal in determining electoral outcome except in very close electoral races. Nevertheless, for a country that has gone through a […]

The people have spoken. President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been given a mandate by the people to govern the country for the next five years. The Elections Commission, public employees, Police and the voters deserve credit for the conduct of a free and fair Presidential Election where a record number turned out to exercise their franchise. […]

Image: Gotabaya Rajapaksa is one of the nine Rajapaksa brothers who have dominated Sri Lankan politics. Photograph: Eranga Jayawardena/AP. Even his own family nickname him “The Terminator”. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the 70-year-old retired lieutenant colonel who will be Sri Lanka’s next president, has built his reputation on being efficient and ruthless, whether that was in his role in […]

In the wake of his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory in the presidential election 2019, former strong man Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a statement on their immediate plans. They include (between the lines  reforming or removing the 19th amendment,  action to deliver justice for the persons persecuted for  corruption  and human rights violations since 2015 and steps to stop Tamil […]

Image: Gotabaya Rajapaksa released an interview with Iraj on 14th November. Tough all campaigning for the 2019 presidential election came to an end at midnight on Wednesday (13), election propaganda activities continued widely over social media during the so-called “silent period” in direct violation of election laws. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter were […]

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who spearheaded the brutal crushing of Tamil Tigers a decade ago, stormed to power Sunday but promised to be a president for all Sri Lanka’s races and religions after a divisive election. Seven months after Islamist extremist attacks that killed 269 people, Rajapaksa was elected on Saturday on the back of a nationalist […]

Image: A protest against the attack on Lasantha Wijeratne. Freelance journalist Lasantha Wijeratne became the recent addition to the long list of Sri Lankan journalists who has faced intimidation and threats in the line of duty. Just three days prior to the country heading to yet another decisive Presidential poll, Wijeratne was attacked on Thursday […]

Sri Lanka goes to the polls on Saturday to choose its next president, with the winner expected to steer the ship of state for at least the next five years. The winning candidate in this strategically located South Asian nation can be an indicator of the outcome in parliamentary elections that follow early next year, […]

5th November, 2019. Statement Condemning Threats, Harassment and Reprisals against Human Rights Lawyer and Jaffna University Senior Lecturer, Kumaravadivel Guruparanly. We, the undersigned individuals strong condemn the recent threats, harassment and unfair treatment against human rights defender, Kumaravadivel Guruparan, by the Sri Lankan military and University Authorities. Guruparan, is a prominent human rights lawyer and […]

Editorial, Daily FT. The Election Commission is one of the key institutions central to Sri Lanka’s democracy. Sri Lankans have stayed true to their power to exercise their franchise for over 70 years and for this reason the country is categorised as one of Asia’s oldest democracies. Therefore efforts to discredit the Election Commission, especially […]

Voters still reeling from the devastating Easter Sunday attacks must choose between two powerful political families. Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent./theguardian. What is happening? Sri Lanka goes to the polls on Saturday for a presidential election that will be a decisive moment for its future. The country is still reeling from the Easter Sunday bombings […]

In Sri Lanka, a Tamil MP has requested the Election Commission and the Inspector General of police to investigate into a news report published by three newspapers and also sent a defamation notice to the newspapers. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson MA Sumanthiran was quoted saying that Tamil people should vote for Sajith Premadasa in […]

Image: Inmates on the roof of Welikada prison in Sri Lanka display a banner calling for a pardon similar to that granted the murderer of a Swedish teen at the weekend AFP/Lakruwan WANNIARACHCHI. COLOMBO: Hundreds of inmates at Sri Lanka’s biggest high-security prison staged a second day of protests on Tuesday (Nov 12), demanding their freedom […]

“At times media freedom is used to forget what is necessary for the country, what should be done for society… Similarly if we do not get the support of the courts we cannot do this. Every institution must realise this…. ‘Human Rights’, ‘Media Freedom’, various ideas such as these are given to us by The […]

The Presidential election to elect the 7th Executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is to be held on the 16th of November 2019. The deadline for candidates and political parties to campaign for the Presidential Election, including electronic and print media, ends at midnight today. However, all the candidates that are contesting […]

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A Sumanthiran has sought a criminal investigation against fake news published in three local newspapers. In a letter to the Acting Inspector General of Police, Sumanthiran says three articles published in three local newspapers had falsely reported that he called on the Tamils to vote for New Democratic Front Presidential […]

‌“We see only Muslim villages have been developed. but not the Tamil villages. The only way for Catholic and Hindu villages to get developed is to vote for Gota.” Namal Rajapaksa in Mannar. “We have to act against Muslims. We Tamil youth have to think and act.” – leaflet by Kiran youth front for SLPP. […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s elections chief Mahinda Deshapriya displays ballot boxes that will be used in the upcoming presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Thursday, October 31, 2019. The voting is scheduled to be held on November 16.  © 2019 AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena. (New York) – The winner of Sri Lanka’s presidential election on November 16, 2019 will face enormous challenges to […]

 The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) urges Tamil people from the North-East and throughout Sri Lanka to freely exercise their franchise at the November 16 Presidential Election, giving careful consideration to the political formations and agendas of the major contenders.  After playing a decisive role in the political change of 2015 and experiencing disappointments on the […]