Deane

[Murtaza Jafferjee @murtazajaff]

The case of electricity prices

[Deane @DeaneJ]

@CricCrazyJohns England is not an Olympics team. Similarly the West Indies is also not. Who will get their medals if they place ?

[Dinidu de Alwis @dinidu]

I have just submitted a complaint through the online system to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) against corruption by Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the President, for using his official vehicle for his wife's grocery run.

[Lihini Fernando @LihiniFernando]

"Sri Lanka’s Presidency at Risk: The Blurred Line Between Public Duty and Private Life"

A President of a country cannot separate his private life from public life. The moment one assumes the office of Head of State, he ceases to be a private individual. His security, movements, and even his day-to-day engagements are under the control of the State.

The Presidential Security Division (PSD) is duty-bound to accompany him at all times, whether he is attending a state meeting, a private function, or even traveling abroad. A specific budget is allocated for this purpose, and his security detail has no discretion to abandon him simply because he is engaged in a personal activity.

Even if a President attends a private wedding, funeral, or visits a sick relative, the PSD must accompany him. His official vehicle too is part of the security protocol. Therefore, in practice, there is no clear distinction between public and private life for a sitting President.

This brings us to the case of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

After completing an official tour in the United States, he stopped over in London to attend his wife’s graduation. The expenses incurred for the days spent in London including the tickets of the security personnel who were constitutionally required to protect him as Head of State were later treated as misuse of public funds, and he was remanded under the Public Property Act.

If that is the yardstick, then the same principle must apply to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD).
👉He has, on multiple occasions, used his official vehicle and security detail for activities that are not strictly state-related. For instance, he has visited his mother in his official vehicle with his security team in attendance.
👉During the local government elections, he attended NPP political meetings using his official vehicle, state-provided fuel, and presidential security to safeguard him.

If the argument is that Ranil Wickremesinghe misused public funds because his security detail accompanied him to a private function, then by the same reasoning, President AKD too has committed misuse of state resources. His so-called "private" or "political" activities have been conducted with the full use of state property and personnel.

Therefore, if one President can be prosecuted under the Public Property Act for such actions, then justice demands that the same standard must apply to President AKD once his term ends. Selective accountability undermines the rule of law. Either the law applies equally to all, or it is reduced to a political weapon.

The reality that President Anura Kumara Dissanayakke never understood

👉By convention, every movement of the President, official or private, is accompanied by the PSD.

👉This is not optional; it is considered a state duty because the President represents the sovereignty of the people.

What this has ultimately done is set a dangerous precedent for the office of the President in Sri Lanka. By criminalizing the unavoidable overlap between public and private life inherent in the presidency, future leaders will constantly face the risk of prosecution for performing even the most ordinary personal functions while in office. This undermines the dignity of the highest office in the land and reduces it to a position perpetually vulnerable to political reprisals.

[Ajith Fernando @n2addict]

Weaponizing the law is worse than breaking the law!

[Sayuri Serasinghe @SayuriYuri20]

For the zillionth time, protectionist policies may protect some businesses, often leading to the creation of monopolies, but they undermine long-term competitiveness & economic growth. We all know what happens to an economy when monopolies run the show.

https://t.co/u4lQgXd4BN

[Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @Noahpinion]

Free-market policies aren't always good, and they certainly aren't a cure-all. But as Milei is showing in Argentina, we've underrated their importance.

https://t.co/IcfVU2QONJ

[Alec Stapp @AlecStapp]

Maybe one day Europe will catch up to Singapore's level of development

[will o’brien @Willob]

Software creates soft men
Soft men create hard times
Hard times create hard men
Hard men create hardware
Hardware creates good times
Good times creates software

[Rohan Samarajiva @samarajiva]

JVP rolled back the 2002 electricity reforms for which we all suffered. Repeat in 2025: "National Transmission Company minimum state ownership has increased from 51% to 100% forcing it to completely rely on state borrowing. In contrast, the Power Grid Corporation of India, the owner of India’s inter-state transmission system, has 49% of its shares listed in the stock market, and periodically issues bonds to fund expansions."
https://t.co/yiwjgn04CQ

[Sayuri Serasinghe @SayuriYuri20]

Wow! A classic show of waste just days after the President promised to be accountable for taxpayers’ money. Meanwhile, taxpayers are footing the bill for this loss-making SOE. It’s time to stop the waste, cut our losses and sell this sinking ship.

[Harsha de Silva @HarshadeSilvaMP]

While the JVP violently protested against Free Trade Agreements and through their unions blocked every effort to reform the #SriLanka economy #Vietnam did the exact opposite. At least now Prez @anuradisanayake better understand how they destroyed our development potential.

[Deane @DeaneJ]

'Bro, cut the tariff to zero' is solid policy advice. This is how think tanks should do policy briefs.

[Appu @Appu42069]

We all know who is this clueless President seeking advice from @chamath 🤣 Even comedians are calling out the lack of preparedness by NPP jokers🤦🏻‍♂️ Winning an election isn't the same as developing policy 🤡

[Dinidu de Alwis @dinidu]

Clearly the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security is busy; no wonder they're losing passports and mixing up dead people.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Best economist ever

[Daniel Alphonsus @danielalphonsus]

Trump's tariffs expose long-standing weaknesses in Sri Lanka's exports. A few economist friends and I explain how how to fix them. Slash tariffs, sign FTAs, do the tough reforms and build export-infrastructure.

We've done it before (1978 -2005), we can do it again. (1/2)

[Advocata Institute @advocatalk]

The recent imposition of tariffs on trade by the United States on Sri Lankan exports is a wake-up call. - Advocata Institute
#SriLanka #Economy #TrumpTariffs

[Thomas Sowell Quotes @ThomasSowell]

President Ronald Reagan's radio address to the nation on free and fair trade on April 25, 1987.

Here's what he had to say about tariffs.

[Dinidu de Alwis @dinidu]

This is the story of how hackers stole data from Cargills Bank and dumped it on the internet, and how the bank hid it from the wider public, and of zero mainstream media reporting.

This is Sri Lanka's biggest ever cybersecurity incident.

Brace yourself.
https://t.co/E3h6r9clOF