Features

Reform and bridging finance needed soon to avert another blow up

Published

4 years ago

2022/05/31

By Jehan Perera

The 50th day anniversary of the Aragalaya took place in a generally calm manner. There were special events organized on Saturday, including a march from Independence Square to the Galle Face protest site. I met a veteran Colombo-based Tamil journalist who was one of those who made the trek, along with his teenage son. They had come to express their solidarity with the protestors and not to engage in confrontation with the government. So they did not join the smaller group that decided not to stop at the Galle Face protest site, but went on to try and forcibly enter the President’s House. They were pushed back by the police who tear gassed them to prevent their entrance to the road that led to the President’s House.

My journalist friend was part of the many who came, like me, to join out of a sense of duty to demonstrate public support for those who had brought about major changes in the country. During the past 50 days all ministers of the government had tendered their resignations, including the Prime Minister. Those government officials who had been most responsible for the economic catastrophe that has been the proximate cause of the concerted public protest campaign against the government were the first to be forced out. The revelations made before the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) gave an indication of the horrendous negligence and mismanagement that took place akin to economic crimes against the nation, which required the Aragalaya to bring to light.

The achievements of the past 50 days and the general environment of safety and non-violence at the protest site may give a sense that the protest movement may have peaked. Indeed, the crowd that was present at the protest site on the 50th day anniversary was less than a half of what it had once been. Many of the slogans shouted in those early days, and the blaring of horns to the tune of “Kaputu, Kaak Kaak” were not much to be heard. Several of the speakers seemed to realise the need for a long term and sustainable approach to continuing with the struggle in the face of government intransigence and refusal to bow out voluntarily by calling for early elections.

ARAGALAYA’S SPREAD

At the same time, it would be a mistake to believe that the Aragalaya has not spread and is alive in the hearts and minds of the larger community everywhere. The support in the country has not diminished and it should be remembered that on May 9, the day of the unprovoked assault on the protest site by government goons, the rush of people to the site following the assault indicated public support for the cause. The political leaders of the government with their ears to the ground, and capable of rational thought and deductions, are aware that the appearance of calm hides a powder keg. They feel fear to move around in public and even fear to go for obligatory social events such as marriages and funerals. The economic hardships that will be with the country for the foreseeable future are painful enough that they can lead to an explosion any minute as it did on May 9 when government goons launched unprovoked attacks on the peaceful demonstrators.

The manner in which homes and properties of those associated with the government were torched and attacked makes members of the government realise that a second round is but a moment away. The build-up of anger of the people will continue in the face of the increased economic hardships they will be encountering in the days and months ahead. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been forthright in stating that the economic situation will get worse before it improves. It is therefore important that the government takes actions that can mitigate the anger of the people and prevent it taking destructive forms. Statements by farmers against the possible compensation for burnt houses of government members while not providing for their agricultural losses on ground due to the government’s foolhardy fertiliser ban, and the bitterness at the parliamentarians taking their issue as the prime one parliament was very much in evidence. Providing economic relief by getting international assistance until such time as the economy recovers will be one way in which the government can seek to restore its credibility with the people. Engaging in political reform that ensures practices of good governance will be the other.

The continuing economic hardships which are likely to increase and not decrease make it imperative for the government to demonstrate to the people that it is serious about reforms. Prime minister Wickremesinghe has shown himself to be more willing than his predecessor to speak the truth to the people and the fact that there is not going to be a short cut solution to those problems. It is reasonable to believe that this is the general sentiment in the wider society also, of which the Aragalaya protestors are but a visible manifestation. The main slogans of the Aragalaya protestors are that the President steps down and the government steps down. A new slogan that has been added is that the new Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, also steps down and with him the government also goes.

MANDATE WITHDRAWN

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has presented a whole slate of reform proposals that sound promising, including setting up a National Council which would consist of the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the major parties with authority to oversee national policies. The importance of securing the passage of the 21st Amendment to the constitution arises in this context. It will be evidence of the government’s seriousness in proceeding with reform. The amendment that has been proposed is a compromise and appears to have the consent of the majority of political parties. It will not be the end of the reform process, but its beginning. There are reports that sections within the government which see themselves as being targeted by some of its provisions are seeking to scuttle it. This would be most unwise as it can unleash the demons of grievance and hatred on the government members once again, especially on those who are seen to have opposed the attempted reform.

The 21st Amendment comprises three important components on the lines of the 19th Amendment, even though it does not replicate it. The first is the establishment of a constitutional council that will ensure fairer and more non-partisan selection of those who will head state institutions which are part of the system of checks and balances. The 21st Amendment will ensure greater independence for those appointed to head the higher judiciary, the bribery commission, the election commission, the human rights commission, and the national audit and procurement committees. These will all provide important checks and balances against corruption and abuse of power. The second important component is the prohibition on dual citizens from contesting elections and holding elected office. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was a citizen of the United States gave up his US citizenship in order to contest the presidential elections. There is no reason why others who wish to serve Sri Lanka cannot follow a similar course of action if they wish to serve the country through elected office.

The third important component of the 21st Amendment is that the President retains the power to appoint ministers and to hold ministries. It is by using this power of appointment that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was able to appoint UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister although his party has only a single seat in Parliament. The appropriate time to transfer the President’s powers to appoint ministers to a Prime Minister, selected by the Parliamentary majority, as advocated by the Bar Association and many civil society organisations, would be after the next general election when Parliament will once again represent the mandate of the people. The sooner the General Elections are held the better it would be for Sri Lanka. The slate of candidates contesting the elections should exclude aspirants who have enriched themselves and contributed by their actions and inactions to the country’s economic downfall. In the meantime, it is to be hoped that the government led by the Prime Minister will succeed in obtaining the bridging finance required to prevent a failed state for the people.

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Features

Proactive peacemaking becomes a paramount need

Published

19 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wasting wars: Some war-displaced people in Lebanon. BBC

It may be some time before the full impact of food inflation is felt in the West. Until such time the world would continue to keep itself in suspense over whether the Trump administration is in earnest when it seeks to convey the impression that it is backing a negotiated solution in West Asia.

As is usually the case, consumer stress would be one of the final determinants of political change. To the degree to which the average US consumer somehow ‘muddles through’ and puts the food on the table, to the same extent would the Republican sections of the US public in particular be tolerant of the Trump administration’s inconsistent handling of the West Asian war and the main issues stemming from it. That is, there would be no grave popular disaffection and a demand for political change in the short term.

However, the indications are that the Trump administration’s support base is suffering some erosion in the wake of the current economic crisis. While reports indicate that Democratic sections are firming-up their opposition to the political centre, Republican support for Trump is also showing signs of waning, we are given to understand.

The above developments are probably why Trump is on record as having given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘dressing down’ recently on his seeming intransigence on the question of giving negotiations a chance in West Asia. The show of displeasure could be really aimed by Trump at containing the impatience of the American public.

However, the current ground situation in the Middle East, particularly the uncontained bloodshed, is likely to impress on the thinking sections of the world that more than temporary political change is needed in West Asia and the US.

A well thought out political solution that addresses all the contentious issues at the heart of the Middle East conflict is what enlightened opinion would demand, and very rightly. Right now, the ‘peace efforts’ initiated by the Trump administration give the impression of being piecemeal solutions at best.

There have been, of course, numerous initiatives in the past aimed at bringing permanent peace to the Middle East. These failed mainly because they did not address in full the root causes of the conflict.

At bottom the Middle East conflict is mainly about race and religious hate bred by socio-economic and material inequalities. For instance, if the Palestinian people were not displaced and deprived of land occupied by them at the time of the founding of the Israeli state, ethnic enmities would not have grown to the current unmanageable proportions.

When addressing the above questions, though, it must be remembered that the Israelis too were a displaced people who were entitled to land and a state of their own in the Middle East. Basically, out of these seemingly irreconcilable and conflicting demands have grown the Middle East imbroglio.

Middle East peace is considerably about reconciling these demands and arriving at a solution that would ensure the creation of two states that would opt for peaceful co-existence thereafter.

As long as the US does not see the need for a non-partisan solution that addresses the needs of both ethnicities and religions and goes all-out, as it were, to have it implemented, the Middle East would continue to bleed.

However, staunching the blood flow through the creation of two states would be only half the job done, though a very important part of it. More pernicious, pervasive and difficult to remedy are the inter-ethnic and inter-religious hatreds that have been unleashed over the decades.

However, if substantial, long-lasting peace is to be fostered in the region the latter ‘demons’ would need to be exorcised from the hearts and minds of the communities concerned. No doubt an uphill task but one that must be undertaken by those who wish the region well.

The UN would need to put its ‘best foot forward’ in such undertakings but it is time that it dawned on the international community and other caring quarters that Middle East peace, and all other such uphill challenges, require proactive peacemaking on the part of all civilized sections for their effective management. That is, public involvement in peacemaking too is a must.

Since hatreds are harboured in the human consciousness the enmities embedded in the latter need to be managed and defused judiciously alongside other undertakings in a peace process. In the case of West Asia, such enmities could be even spread globe-wide besides being multi-dimensional. For instance, it ought to be thought-provoking that Iran is insistent on a peace initiative that would also include Lebanon.

Besides security considerations it is also ethnic and religious affiliations that account for Iran making this demand. For instance, the Shias are a numerically important religious community in Lebanon and they provide a significant number of Hizbollah fighters, who are in a vital sense carrying out a ‘proxy war’ for Iran. It also needs to be factored in that Iran is a Shia-majority country.

Thus trans-border religious affiliations could add to the complexities and enormity of ethno-religious conflicts. However, the task of managing centuries-long enmities needs to be launched and prodded on with by peacemakers since a downing of arms alone would not guarantee substantive peace.

It is not realized sufficiently that the process of ending hatreds begins with mutual apologies by antagonists to a conflict for the harm inflicted on each other. This would be anathema in some ears but there is no getting away from the requirement. It is the vital first step to permanent peace anywhere.

In fact there could be no reconciliation worth speaking of without such mutual apologies. It is a point worth re-iterating in these times when even the government of Sri Lanka is voicing the need for national reconciliation. Well, without the words, ‘I am sorry’, there could be no permanent end to enmities – they would do well to remember.

The above requirements may not go down very well with governments, but they resonate in the hearts and minds of most people, since they are inheritors of religious traditions of some kind.

This is a principal reason why peacemaking works well when publics too are involved in them. The effectiveness of such campaigns increases several fold when they have a Mahatma Gandhi or a Jawaharlal Nehru at their helm. A strong proactive involvement by the public in peace could lead to the emergence of such leaders at some point in these campaigns.

Features

Dialog Brings Sri Lanka’s Largest Digital Vesak Experience to Matara

Published

19 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

From left to right: Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, and Lasantha Theverapperuma experience the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered VR tours.

Official Digital Partner of the 2026 ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s #1 connectivity provider, collaborated with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs to bring one of Sri Lanka’s largest and most technologically advanced Vesak experiences to the ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone. The three-day celebration, in Matara attracted more than hundred thousand visitors, who engaged with a series of innovative digital activities powered by Dialog 5G Ultra, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, digital pandols and a Data Dansala. The opening ceremony was attended by Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development and Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Minister of Women and Child Affairs, along with distinguished guests and Dialog’s senior management.

One of the key attractions at the venue was the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered Virtual Reality (VR) experience, which attracted more than 35,000 participants. The activation enabled devotees to virtually visit and pay homage to sacred Buddhist sites, including the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in India and the Atamasthana in Anuradhapura, directly from the Vesak zone in Matara.

Visitors receive complimentary mobile data through Dialog’s QR-powered Data Dansala.

Dialog also conducted an AI Digital Vesak Greeting Card Competition from 21 May to 01 June 2026, attracting numerous entries from across the country. The shortlisted designs were showcased across 20 large LED screens throughout the venue and across Matara City, and were also made available for download via mobile devices. Further, through the use of AI, traditional Jathaka Katha were reimagined in a digital format, demonstrating how technology can be used to preserve and enhance cultural and religious heritage. Together, these initiatives blended traditional Vesak celebrations with emerging technologies, offering visitors a unique and immersive way to engage with Vesak traditions.

Extending the spirit of Vesak through connectivity, Dialog conducted a special Data Dansala powered by its QR Reload platform, enabling visitors to receive complimentary mobile data by scanning QR codes placed across the venue. In addition to the Matara National Vesak Zone, similar Data Dansala activations were also conducted at the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones in Colombo.Visitors also had the opportunity to create personalised Vesak-themed digital photos through an AI Photo Booth, generating AI-enhanced portraits using their own photographs and adding a contemporary digital element to the Vesak celebrations.

Visitors watch AI-generated Jathaka Katha

Commenting on the initiative, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, said, “The 2026 Dakshina Prabha Vesak Festival marked the first time AI-powered digital innovations were incorporated into a National Vesak Festival in Sri Lanka. Presenting Buddhist stories and teachings through technology created a new and engaging way for visitors to connect with these traditions. We thank Dialog for supporting this initiative and for working closely with us to bring our vision to life. Their contribution played an important role in making this first-of-its-kind event a reality.”

Lasantha Theverapperuma, Group Chief Marketing Officer of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “We thank the Government of Sri Lanka for the opportunity to support the 2026 Dakshina Prabha National Vesak Festival and for embracing technology as part of this year’s celebrations. As the Official Digital Partner, we were privileged to contribute through our Dialog 5G Ultra and AI capabilities, creating new ways for visitors to engage with Vesak traditions while preserving their cultural significance for future generations.”

Beyond supporting the National Vesak Zone in Matara, Dialog also enhanced the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones through a range of digital activations during the Vesak season. The company additionally continued its sustainability initiatives, including the Thirasara Aloka Poojawa, which illuminated rural places of worship through solar-powered lighting solutions.

Features

Beauty, elegance and talent…for women

Published

19 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Universal Woman is an international pageant focused on “beauty, elegance, and talent” for women, positioning itself as a platform to shape global ambassadors. The 2026 edition will be held in Cambodia, and Sri Lanka will be there, as well.

According to reports coming my way, contestants, at the international event, will work with industry trailblazers, under international standards.

Sri Lankan supermodel, runway and pageant trainer Chulpadmendra Kumarapathirana, is the National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026.

With over two decades in the industry, Chula was crowned Miss Sri Lanka 2006, and has since shaped the next generation of titleholders through her Colombo-based Chulpadmendra Catwalk Studio, widely regarded as one of the country’s leading modelling academies.

The team behind Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026

A former host of Derana Miss Sri Lanka for Miss World 2008 and a judge for Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2025, Chula now serves as National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026, leading the franchise’s search for Sri Lanka’s delegate to the international final in Cambodia.

Applications for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 are being taken, via WhatsApp: 077 659 4994, says Chula.

The judging panel for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 includes Senaka De Silva, Pageant Aesthetic Advisor & Chairperson of the Judging Panel, Angela Seneviratne, Caroline Jurie, Rozelle Plunkett, and Suraj Mapa.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 officially began its journey with a first round of auditions, held in Colombo, marking the start of an exciting new chapter in Sri Lanka’s pageant industry.

Launching the first round of auditions

The platform aims to empower women while selecting an intelligent, confident, and inspiring representative to compete at the Universal Woman International Pageant 2026 in Cambodia, this September.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka now moves forward with the vision of creating one of the country’s most prestigious and empowering pageants while preparing to crown a queen who will proudly represent Sri Lanka on the international stage.