11/19/2010
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The Economist
THE re-inauguration of Sri Lanka's powerful president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, on November 19th was accompanied by impressive displays of drumming, artillery fire and flag twirling—not to mention an enormous rice pudding. Some residents of Colombo grumbled about unusually lavish spending on the event (and closed roads that caused snarl-ups for much of the week). After hearing out the president's ceremonial speech, a local think-tank called for him to use his second term to seek reconciliation with the Tamil minority.