January 6, 2025 – January 19, 2025 | Vol.15, #02 & 03
Event: On January 3, 2025, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake marked the milestone of completing the first 100 days of his presidency.[1][2][3] On the same day, the president’s media division released a video through social media titled ‘A hundred days for a hundred years’ highlighting key appointments and discussions held during this period.[4][5]
Over the past two weeks, as part of the 100-day review, media coverage has focused on several key events in its analysis of the government’s ongoing actions, including the following:
On January 8, 2025, Minister of Trade, Commerce and Food Security Wasantha Samarasinghe stated in parliament that the current red rice shortage emerged as a result of former president Ranil Wickremesinghe’s pre-election initiative, which indiscriminately distributed 20 kilograms of red rice per family.[6][7][8]
On January 14, 2025, Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena announced in a statement that the Clean Sri Lanka initiative would formally commence only on February 1, 2025. He explained that January is the period to raise public awareness about the initiative.[9][10]
Key insights At the 100-day milestone of President AKD’s tenure, the media subjected the government to an evaluation of its...