Examining the aftermath of Bangladesh’s elections, marred by violence and a boycott by the opposition, other countries in Asia have also been failing democracies, wrote Victor Mallet in the Financial Times this week.

Citing the cases of Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, Mallet said,

“From Sri Lanka to Cambodia by way of Thailand, parliamentary democracies have fallen prey to the diseases of authoritarianism, violence and strident populism”.

The Sri Lankan government has urged the United States to reconsider its position on Sri Lanka, reports Colombo Gazette.

Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem reportedly asserted that the international community, including the US, should look to supporting mechanisms like the Truth Commission instead of 'polarising' the country.

The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence has said it is seriously considering admitting Ananthy Sasitharan, a prominent and popular member of the Northern Provincial Council, to a rehabilitation centre, to prevent her from propagating separatist ideas, reported The Island.

Sri Lanka's Joint Chambers of Commerce have called for an investigation into allegations that the government has manipulated statistics in order to boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers.

The statement, released last week, noted that doubts had been cast over the credibility of the figures released by the government on the country's GDP. It stated,

A police spokesperson has told media that all investigations of incidents at protests and demonstrations in regards to religion will be handed to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs.

Police Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that the ministry will be informed of this today.

The ministry is responsible for all affairs relating to Buddhism, the religion given the foremost place by the Sri Lankan constitution.

British MPs and local councillors of the London constituency Ilford North met with members of the Tamil community today to discuss the issue of seeking ‘Justice for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.'

Left to Right: Jim Murphy, Wes Streeting & Mike Gapes                                                     (Photo:John Howard)

Labour’s candidate for Ilford North, Wes Streeting chaired the event with local councillor T Jeyaranjan, the Shadow Secretary for International Development , Jim Murphy and Ilford South MP, Mike Gapes joining his panel.

Opening the event, Mike Gapes outlined that the continued subjugation of Tamils by the Sinhala majority had been the main cause of the ethnic conflict which ended with the brutal atrocities committed against Tamil civilians. Gapes went on to stress that recent documentaries and credible reports proved that an international investigation into war crimes was required as the Sri Lankan government did not have the capacity to perform their own. Arguing that calls for an international investigation should be immediate Gapes said,

“Sri Lanka do not deserve to be given yet more time to perform an independent inquiry by March.”