TRIBUTE TO A TITAN – BY: KRISHANTHA PRASAD COORAY Photo 1 Caption: Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Foreign Minister for Sri Lanka, right, confers with Minister of Information and Media, Source: Times of Sri Lanka FB The loss of Mangala Samaraweera is a devastating blow to statesmanship in Sri Lanka. In the words of theologian James Freeman Clarke, “the difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.” In that way, Mangala always put the truth and his moral convictions, his principles, before any election. Despite being a master political tactician instrumental in bringing three of the last four presidents into office, Mangala always thought first about the people of Sri Lanka, and second about politics and how to win elections. “What is saddest is that he passed just as more and more Sri Lankans were beginning to wake ...

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2017: A make-or-break year for the government by Krishantha Prasad Cooray President Maithripala Sirisena was brought to power in January 2015 by a need for change. It was not just a change of government that was called for, but a change of governance. An end to the way things had been done, not just by the regime at that time, but by successive governments over several decades. I remember the moment when it was confirmed that Maithripala Sirisena had won. I felt immense satisfaction for having been part of the effort that brought about the spectacular victory. But more than that, it was a sense of relief and hope. Things would be better because things would be different. Systems, not personalities. Rule of law instead of rule of discretion. I told myself that a powerful few will no longer be able to impose their will on the people. Sri Lanka ...

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