08/16/2011
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The Hindu
Two years after defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and eliminating it as a military entity, Sri Lanka is still struggling to emerge from the woods on some important fronts. Two issues are predominant. One is the nature of the peace, and the efforts by the Sri Lankan government towards a political reconciliation between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority. The military victory over the LTTE, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa's strength in parliament, gave the government an unprecedented opportunity to put in place a progressive political framework to heal the wounds of a 30-year war, and address Tamil grievances that predate the war. That it has taken only nominal steps in this direction is a matter of concern even to friends of Sri Lanka, such as India, which stood by its military efforts against the LTTE. The second issue, which has found strong voice in a recent documentary by a British television station, Channel 4, and in a United Nations report, has to do with the nature of the military operations in the final stages of the war in 2009. Both make allegations of war crimes against the Sri Lankan Army, accusing it of knowingly aiming fire at civilians such that thousands lost their lives, of killing captives in cold blood, and of possible sexual assault. It is shocking that instead of addressing these issues in the right spirit, a high-ranking official of the Sri Lankan government, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a brother of the Sri Lankan President, has chosen to vitiate the atmosphere even more with his intemperate remarks against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, and by attributing motives to the adoption of resolutions on Sri Lanka by the State Assembly.
07/07/2011
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Himal Southasian
The last two months in Sri Lanka have seen increasing international pressure coupled with domestic struggles against Mahinda Rajapakse’s government. In fact, in the post-war context, other than perhaps General Sarath Fonseka’s challenge during the presidential elections of January 2010, which split the war coalition in the south, these recent weeks have been among the most worrying of times for the Rajapakse regime. International criticism centring on questions of post-war accountability and political reconciliation has suddenly coincided with anti-government domestic mobilisations by a range of actors – from workers challenging the government’s pension schemes, estate workers calling for wage hikes, university teachers moving on strike actions and student unions opposing leadership training by the military for university entrants. While President Rajapakse’s strategy might be to wade through these difficult times until the criticism and resistance begin to subside, the question remains as to how a government that has won thumping victories in presidential, parliamentary and local government elections over the last two years has had to face such mounting challenges.
06/28/2011
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Sri Lanka Guardian
Sri Lanka president Mahinda Rajapaksa called for reforms in the United Nations alongside other international institutions.
04/06/2011
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Adaderana
A new volume, with three chapters dedicated to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, will be added to the Mahavamsa -- a historical poem written in Pali language describing reigns of Sri Lankan rulers, Cultural Affairs ministry said today.
03/14/2011
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The Hindu
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa wants the opposition political parties in the country to emulate the behaviour of the main Indian Opposition parties when national pride was at stake.
10/29/2010
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Reuters
COLOMBO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's supreme court on Friday threw out a challenge to President Mahinda Rajapaksa's January re-election by his jailed rival, former army chief Sarath Fonseka.
Fonseka garnered 40 percent to his former commander-in-chief's 59 percent at the Jan. 26 poll, which prompted the former general to accuse the president of rigging the vote and then sue to have the results nullified.
10/26/2010
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BBC
Sri Lanka's president is to appeal to Saudi Arabia's king to revoke the death sentence on a Sri Lankan maid convicted of killing a baby in her care.
10/11/2010
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The Guardian (UK)
Mahinda Rajapaksa to join Prince Edward at ceremony despite allegations of human rights abuses by Colombo government
10/10/2010
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Colombo Page
Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka President\'s second term swearing in ceremony to be held in Colombo (Sri Lanka - latest news stories and top headlines)
07/13/2010
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Sunday Leader
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Peoples Alliance and Ranil Wickremesinghe’s main opposition UNP have agreed, in principle, to alter the Constitution to create an Executive Prime Minister post. In 1978, J.R. Jayawardene used his majority to replace a British-style Parliamentary system with a French-style Parliament plus Executive Presidency. Now it seems that Mahinda is using his majority to return to a Parliamentary system and create a powerful Prime Minister’s post which he could occupy, without term limits, as long as he has party support.