Sri Lanka’s Democratic Transition: Can Substance Match the Talk?

With two elections, all signs point to a real democracy emerging in Sri Lanka, but much work needs to be done for the transition to succeed. The Sirisena government has promised a new era of transparent government to tackle corruption and advance economic and political reforms, but can the government fulfill its promises? Our panel of Sri Lanka experts assessed the depth of democratic change that has occurred in Sri Lanka and the challenges as well as opportunities that the country faces moving forward.

Panelists

• Ambassador Teresita C. Schaffer, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute
• Nishan de Mel, Executive Director, Verite Research
• Taylor Dibbert, Freelance Writer; Consultant to the U.S. Counsel on Sri Lanka and Penn Kemble Fellow, NED
• Marc Schleifer, Regional Director for Eastern Europe, Eurasia and South Asia, CIPE (discussion moderator)