17.12.2021, Colombo, Sri Lanka: Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu spoke at an event to mark Human Rights Day 2021. Among the topics touched on were the increasingly authoritarian and ethno-majoritarian policies of the incumbent government, and the challenges faced by civil society activists under the current socio-political climate. Watch the […]
December 17th, 2021, Colombo, Sri Lanka: Violent extremism, especially amongst youth has persisted all over the world, carrying with it the potential to destroy the socio-political, cultural and economic fabric of societies in a trail of death and destruction. One feature of all this stands out […]
December 17th, 2021, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The COVID-19 health crisis has posed a range of unprecedented legal, political, economic and social challenges for Sri Lanka since March, 2020. While the government was successful in containing the first wave of COVID-19, the pandemic response has since unravelled, revealing issues with the heavily militarised and politicised approach […]
Twenty-Five Years! It has been a long journey of patient plodding and frequent frustration and then, in the memory, a shorter and exciting one too, of upholding principles in public interest litigation, electoral violence and malpractice, the ravages of war, a constitutional […]
November 29th, 2021: The right to protest, as manifested in the freedom of assembly, association, and expression, is an important feature of a democratic society that facilitates civic engagement in political processes beyond just voting at elections. This right is vital for the healthy functioning of a democracy, and while it is recognized that the […]
18th November, 2021, Colombo, Sri Lanka: Two years ago, after campaigning on a pro-nationalist platform promising a wide mandate, Gotabaya Rajapaksa took oath as Sri Lanka’s 8th Executive President. To mark two years of his term in office, the Centre for Policy Alternatives looks back on some of the defining moments of his presidency […]
15th November, 2021: The 20th amendment to the Constitution that was passed into law on the 22nd of October 2020 provided wide sweeping powers to the executive that further endangered the crippling democratic space prevalent in the country. Furthermore, the pandemic and its limitations have enabled the government to continue with its autocratic rule and […]
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 17 December, 2021