ISAS Insights

Sri Lanka is in the midst of an unprecedented constitutional and political crisis. The Supreme Court’s final verdict on the legality of the move to dissolve Parliament, expected on 13 December, and how parties respond to it, will have deep implications for the country’s democratic future. Meanwhile, an unexpected outcome of this crisis has been the equally unprecedented level of citizen engagement and civil society activism, fuelled to a large extent by social media. The ferocity and level of citizen engagement and critical discourse online and offline has taken political actors and observers by surprise, and has played a key role in shaping political discourse and collective actions. Although it is too soon to tell whether the citizen upsurge can effect real political change, its significant role in upholding democratic traditions at this critical juncture in Sri Lankan history must be acknowledged.