The season begins

All Sri Lankans are looking forward for the festive season and are getting ready to celebrate it. December is usually the month where the usual hectic life becomes lighter, thanks to Christmas and the New Year.

The climate also kind of helps to keep with the mood.

However, not everyone is relaxed and in a celebratory mood. There are crossovers happening. Political parties are in the process of submitting their nominations. Yes, the country is getting ready for another election, scheduled for early next year.

Beer with us, the price we pay…

There were two things that saw the limelight last week, the beer prices, and criminal groups in the North. The slash in beer prices received mixed responses from the public. Many were not happy about it, but some welcomed the move.

Maybe the price slash would help the country would help the country in bringing in money from foreign tourists. But whether it was a smart move or not is something that we have to wait and see. Sri Lankans do love their alcohol, some a bit too much. It has its effect on people.

Petrol and federal versus the government

For over 30 years Sri Lanka faced its worst woes thanks to the war. But now, despite the war being over, Sri Lanka is faced with a complex situation where the government and the stakeholders cannot agree on a durable solution to the ethnic question.

The current government which came into power thanks to the minority, is currently facing a problem of satisfying the masses through coming up with a solution that would make everyone happy.

Unfortunately, one cannot satisfy everyone.

The East cracks

Amidst developments in the Constitutional Reforms front, Sri Lanka witnessed a somewhat disturbing scenario where Tamils and Muslims were up in arms against each other in Kiran, Batticaloa early last week. The situation was so severe that Muslim traders were not allowed to bring their goods to Kiran.

Time and again, the importance of unity between communities have been written, discussed, and explained over and over again. The Constitutional reform process is of paramount importance in terms of reaching a durable solution to the country’s longstanding ethnic strife. However, corrections on paper will only heal part of the wound.

Bad wicket

This is probably Sri Lanka’s worst ever run in terms of cricket after winning the World Cup way back in 1996. Even though our team managed to win the Test series against Pakistan, our players had failed to register a win in the One Day Internationals and the one T-20 match played so far.

If you have a close look at our team, you will understand that we are a bunch of freshers. Yes, there are the likes of Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera and Dinesh Chandimal. But even they were in and out of the National team over the years and never had a permanent place in the side.

Time for Tamils and Muslims to unite

The debate on the need for a new Constitution has once again cropped up thanks to reports that a section of the Buddhist leaders had thought it was not necessary. The process of drafting a new Constitution is already well on its way and a rough draft of its content is already in place.

While some may think that the current Constitution is sufficient and there is no need to go for a fresh one, it is also important to understand why it is important too. The minorities, especially the Tamils and the Muslims have pinned their hopes on the new Constitution for the longstanding National issue to be solved.

While a segment of the country feels that the move would only divide the country, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and others who push for a new Constitution have assured that it was not the case. The TNA in particular have openly said that the new Constitution would be based on a united, undivided country.