COLOMBO -- Sri Lanka's political pendulum is swinging toward a strong, centralized state in the grip of an executive president with sweeping authoritarian powers, fulfilling a goal of the Rajapaksas, the South Asian nation's most influential political clan.
The government of the ruling Rajapaksa siblings -- President Gotabya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa -- has now set the stage for an imperial presidency. It did so by introducing a constitutional amendment in parliament, where the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the brothers' political vehicle, enjoys an invincible majority.
