service exacts from itself a higher standard because it recognizes that the state is entitled to demand that its servants shall not only be honest in fact but beyond the reach of suspicion of dishonesty” – Colvin R De Silva- no confidence motion against Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike
Chief Justice Asoka De Silva recently retired and took up a position as advisor to President RajapaksaWhen one achieves something in life, throwing a party is a normal thing. When a judge is promoted to the Supreme Court, he or she, like any layman, would want to celebrate it. But an unusual celebration took place two weeks ago on Friday July 1st, at the Gregory’s Road residence of the newly appointed judge to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, Sathya Hettige.
Full Story>>>
Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake
and Former Chief Justice Sarath N.
Silva holds up a copy of the Ravaya
newspaper
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SRI LANKA: Northerners go to the polls
humanitarian news and analysis a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Security has been beefed up ahead of the polls
COLOMBO, 22 July 2011 (IRIN) - Voters in northern Sri Lanka go to the polls on 23 July in what could prove a litmus test of public sentiment in the former conflict zone, say experts.
The crucial local elections are the first in the area since the government declared victory in 2009 over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.
"This is a real opportunity for the people of the north to have a voice; to let the government know how they are feeling," Soosaipillai Keethaponcalan, head of the department of political science at the University of Colombo, told IRIN.
The last elections to be held in the north were the presidential and parliamentary elections of January and April 2010.
Of the 65 local administrative bodies to be decided nationwide, 20 will be determined in the north, including 16 in Jaffna District, three in Kilinochchi and one in Mullaitivu.
More than 440,000 people are eligible to vote in the three northern districts, according to Sri Lanka's Department of Elections, many of them displaced in the final days of the conflict. Full Story
The crucial local elections are the first in the area since the government declared victory in 2009 over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.
"This is a real opportunity for the people of the north to have a voice; to let the government know how they are feeling," Soosaipillai Keethaponcalan, head of the department of political science at the University of Colombo, told IRIN.
The last elections to be held in the north were the presidential and parliamentary elections of January and April 2010.
Of the 65 local administrative bodies to be decided nationwide, 20 will be determined in the north, including 16 in Jaffna District, three in Kilinochchi and one in Mullaitivu.
More than 440,000 people are eligible to vote in the three northern districts, according to Sri Lanka's Department of Elections, many of them displaced in the final days of the conflict. Full Story
Sri Lanka: Is The Government Really Ready to Face its Past?
By Anissa Haddadi | July 22, 2011 3:23 PM GMT
Minority Tamil candidates hope a weekend election in their heartland in northern Sri Lanka will give them a mandate to demand self-determination, as tensions between the Tamils and the government are still mounting.Analysts however warn that the country's ruling coalition has put a lot of work in the campaign for the local council races in Saturday's vote, benefitting from more resources and influence.
The campaign is extremely important for the coalition, which hope to prevent other countries from reiterating their call for an international war crimes investigation and vindication of the harsh tactics that killed thousands of Tamil civilians in this area in the final months of its quarter-century civil war. Read more
Reuters
wo boys walk past local government election campaign posters in Jaffna
wo boys walk past local government election campaign posters in Jaffna
