by M A Sumanthiran (The writer is President’s Counsel Member of Parliament for Jaffna and spokesman for Tamil National Alliance) The Basic Structure Doctrine as developed by the Indian Supreme Court has not found favour in Sri Lankan constitutional law. However, the Sri Lankan Constitution (2nd Republican Constitution of 1978) provides a clear procedure on …
டி.பி.எஸ்.ஜெயராஜ் (This is the Tamil Version of the English Article “Life and Times of Dynamic Tamil Leader Appapillai Amirthalingam” by D.B.S.Jeyaraj in the “Political Pulse” Column of the “Daily FT” on August 26th 2020) அமிர் அல்லது அமுதர் என்று வாஞ்சையுடன் அழைக்கப்பட்ட நன்கு பிரபல்யம் வாய்ந்த இலங்கை தமிழ் அரசியல் தலைவர் அப்பாப்பிள்ளை அமிர்தலிங்கத்தின் 93ஆவது பிறந்த தினம் அண்மையில் (ஆகஸ்ட் 26) …
Continue reading ‘ஆற்றல் மிகு தமிழ்த் தலைவர் அப்பாப்பிள்ளை அமிர்தலிங்கத்தின் வாழ்வும் காலமும்’ »
By Shamindra Ferdinando President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has assured civil society groups, the National Joint Committee (NJC) and Yuthukama that the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution would be rescinded to pave the way for a new draft. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave this assurance at a meeting with Manohara de Silva, PC and lawmaker Gevindu Cumaratunga …
By P.K. Balachandran In 2005, when Gotabaya Rajapaksa took over as Sri Lanka’s Defense Secretary at the request of the newly elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s armed forces were in a depleted, ill-equipped and dispirited state. They were being outwitted and outmaneuvered by the intrepid and innovative LTTE. The Lankan Army, Navy and the …
By Kishali Pinto Jayewardena As public concern over Sri Lanka’s draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution increases exponentially since this amendment was gazetted on 2nd September 2020, so do the sheer absurdity of the justifications thereto. Cunning and deplorably simplistic explanations are put forward by some in Government ranks. The President as a ‘super-constitutional’ creature …
By Sandun Jayawardana Less than a month into its five-year term, the Ninth Parliament of Sri Lanka achieved world-wide notoriety this week when a murder convict on death row was sworn in as a member of the august assembly, amid jeers and a walkout from Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs. The swearing-in of Ratnapura …
by Professor G. L. Peiris Minister Of Education May I begin by expressing my appreciation to the Kandy Professionals Association for embarking on this very timely initiative of meeting every month, on a Sunday, to discuss in depth the issues involving constitutional reform, and the way forward in our country. I consider this an exercise …
By Sanjaya Jayasekera and Deepal Jayasekera Early this month, the Sri Lankan cabinet approved a draft 20th amendment to the constitution, which would give sweeping dictatorial powers to the executive president if approved by the parliament. President Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government is planning to ram the bill through parliament in October. …
By P.K.Balachandran When the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa got the unanimous approval of his parliamentary group for legislation to ban cow slaughter, it was not the first attempt to have the practice banned. Despite toying with the idea of banning cow slaughter from time to time, no government has thought it fit to …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake There is a clear duality in the prime minister’s decision on a ban on cattle slaughter. The cattle are slaughtered for the purpose of beef consumption. But the new slaughter ban will support beefeaters with imports of beef from abroad. This duality may be part of the Lotus Bud or Podujana Peramuna …
By Dr. Janaka Ratnasiri In an interview held in one of the TV channels on 07.09.2020 ending at midnight, Justice Minister Ali Sabry said that the National Procurement Commission (NPC), established among the several independent commissions under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, has not served any useful purpose during the 5 years of its …
By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera Military occupied lands in the North and East, which have tactical importance will not be given back to the people in view of national security as it is directly related to national economy, State Minister Sarath Weerasekara said today. He told Parliament that 90 per cent of the military …
By Maria Abi-Habib A Sri Lankan politician sentenced to death on murder charges was sworn in as a member of the country’s Parliament on Tuesday, escorted out of prison to take his oath amid jeers from opposition legislators. The lawmaker, Premalal Jayasekara, was convicted in late July of opening fire on an election rally in …
A Sri Lankan politician sentenced to death for murder has been escorted from prison to parliament to become the first convict to be sworn in as an MP, amid heckles from the opposition. Premalal Jayasekara, 45, from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party (SLPP), was convicted in August of murdering an opposition activist after …
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has proposed banning the slaughter of cattle for beef, according to the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP, or People’s Front). Addressing the party’s parliamentary group at a meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Rajapaksa — while discussing the agenda for the week — made the proposal, Cabinet spokesman and Minister …
By Kelum Bandara Apparently for the first time since the presidential election on November 16, 2019, dissension has emerged among the members or the groups of the Government. That is on the content of the bill titled ‘20th Amendment to the Constitution’ which primarily seeks to roll back the 19th Amendment. The ruling party initiated …
The Government parliamentary group which met yesterday decided to appoint a seven-member committee to study the 20th Amendment to the Constitution after constituent parties expressed reservations over some contents in the draft Bill.
By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana “If we are to advance as a united and prosperous Sri Lanka, political parties based on race and religion should be banned.” This was the rallying cry of the very pragmatic religious leader Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith. However, we should remind ourselves that this ideal was achieved, not by law but by …
By Victor Ivan Governance-wise, the 20th Amendment can be described as a regressive step. In my opinion, with the enactment of the 20th Amendment, one era of Sri Lanka will come to an end. The era that ends with the introduction of the 20th Amendment cannot be considered as an era of democracy. Similarly, the …
By Saman Indrajith Minister of State for Fisheries Kanchana Wijesekera told Parliament yesterday (09) that the Security Council and the Navy had been informed of an increase in the number of Indian fishing vessels in Sri Lankan territorial waters during the past few days, and measures would be taken to beef up security in the …
Former chairman of Arachchikattuwa Pradeshiya Sabha Jagath Samantha has been found to be the person behind the recent environmental disaster in the Anavilundawa sanctuary. The panel of specialists appointed to probe into the incident by Wildlife and Forest Conservation Minister C.B. Rathnayake, has revealed this. Jagath Samantha is also the brother of State minister r …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka The main problem with the 19th Amendment was not sourced in the legislation but in the illegitimacy of the political context: The Leader of the Opposition (from 2015 until 2019) was the TNA Leader who commanded only a minority of seats in the Opposition benches. Everything that was born in that Parliament …
By Zahrah Imtiaz (this Article was first Posted on 22 January 2016.It is being re-posted in view of its topical importance in the present context) Imagine a scenario where no one in the country would be allowed to slaughter a cow. With religious fervour firing the imagination of many to call for such a ban, …
By Chandani Kirinde All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) Jaffna District MP Gajen Ponnambalam told Parliament yesterday that people in the North and East are overburdened by loans and are caught up, not in a debt trap but a ‘death trap”, and called on the government to implement progressive policies to protect the economies of the …
By Saman Indrajith SLPP Ratnapura District MP Premalal Jayasekera, convicted of murder and sentenced to death, was sworn in as an MP amidst protests from the SJB in Parliament, yesterday. At the commencement of sittings, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced that Jayasekera could take his oath as an MP. As the announcement came, SJB Kandy …
By Asiri Fernando The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) yesterday severely criticised Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena for allowing Parliamentarian Premalal Jayasekara, who was convicted of murder ahead of last month’s Parliamentary Election, to take oaths despite strong objections by Opposition members. Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Ratnapura District MP Premalal Jayasekara, alias ‘Choka Malli’, and two …
By P.K.Balachandran There are legal grounds to seek a referendum on the proposed 20 th. Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution, says M.A.Sumanthiran, spokesman of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and a leading Supreme Court lawyer. According to Sumanthiran, the 20A seeks to change the basic principles embedded in the constitution. It gives all powers …
By Meera Srinivasan A murder convict, elected from Sri Lanka’s southern Ratnapura district, was escorted from prison to Parliament on Tuesday as he took the oath as MP amid opposition protests. Days before the August 5 general election, Premalal Jayasekara, a member of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP of People’s Front), was sentenced …
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan has written to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa alleging that a Buddhist monk, who is a member of the Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province, had threatened a group of farmers in the Thiriyai area in the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretary’s Division in the Trincomalee District. …
By Meera Srinivasan When the Sri Lankan government recently gazetted the draft 20th Amendment (20 A) to the Constitution, it was merely keeping an election promise — to repeal the 19th Amendment of 2015 that clipped the Executive President’s unfettered powers, in turn empowering Parliament. With the necessary two-third majority on their side, President Gotabaya …
By Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, President’s Counsel The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution Bill (20A) is in the public domain. If I were to describe it in one sentence — 20A seeks to take the country backwards to the 2010-2015 period. The only features introduced by 19A that would survive if 20A is passed in its …
By P.K.Balachandran Controversial and provocative statements made by the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Koottani (TMTK) MP and former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran are likely to result in a hardening of the majority Sinhala community’s stand on the contentious 13 th.Amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution. The 13 A, enacted in 1987 at India’s insistence, gives …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardena When Justice AP Shah remarked recently that, ‘India is moving towards some form of elected autocracy’, he may have been speaking for the entire region and perhaps, swathes of the world in turmoil as it were. Returning Sri Lanka ‘forward to the past’ But the fact that we are not the …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka is in the process of sending new envoys to three of its most important diplomatic stations, Beijing, New Delhi and Washington. Dr.Palitha Kohona goes to China, Milinda Moragoda to India and Ravinatha Aryasinha to the US. All three have had distinguished careers in diplomacy and administration, and all three are cerebral …
by M. A. M. H. Barry PhD, LLM, MA, LLB. BA ,Attorney-at-Law The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal (Aristotle) Although much is spoken about ‘one country and one law’ in Sri Lanka, it is not a new phrase as all the countries in the world have one legal …
By Chandani Kirinde The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday lambasted the Government over moves to introduce the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and said it is anti-democratic, destructive and does not serve the interests of the people. “With this Amendment, we will go back from civilisation to tribalism where all the power will be concentrated …
By Skandha Gunasekara India refuses to budge on its stance on the 13th Amendment despite reports of possible changes. “The position of the High Commissioner has not changed. The High Commissioner reiterated India’s longstanding position on peace and reconciliation and the full implementation of the 13th Amendment,” a spokesperson for the Indian High Commission told …
By Meera Srinivasan After the Rajapaksas’ win in the November 2019 presidential polls and the August 2020 general election, the spotlight has fallen on two key legislations in Sri Lanka’s Constitution. One, the 19th Amendment, that was passed in 2015 to curb powers of the Executive President, while strengthening Parliament and independent commissions. The Rajapaksa …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Thinking Out of the Box is the catchline of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He gave this advice to the banking sector in May this year, and to the members of parliament in his opening address last month. The need for new ways of thinking to overcome local and global challenges and revive the …
By Ranga Jayasuriya The United States last week announced sanctions on 24 Chinese State-Owned-Enterprises, including five subsidiaries of China’s construction giant, China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), the main contractor of the Colombo Port City, effectively upping the ante of an increasingly open trade war between US and China. The Chinese companies were added to ‘the …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj A concerted move by five (four+One) stalwarts of the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK) – the chief constituent of the Tamil National Alliance(TNA) – to remove the party General- Secretary K. Thurairajasingham from his post through a no confidence motion ended in a dismal failure at a conclave held in Vavuniya on Saturday August …
By Alok Deshpande, Devesh Kumar Pandey and Sonam Saigal Last year, Sushant Singh Rajput shifted to the Mount Blanc apartment on Carter Road in Mumbai’s tony neighbourhood, Bandra. The actor had always longed for a sea-facing apartment, and Mount Blanc overlooked the Arabian Sea. The move was also important for other reasons. Bandra is where …
By Mohammed Ayoob (Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Relations, Michigan State University) The treatment of the Sushant Singh Rajput case by some TV news channels is a good example of how the interrelated concerns about ratings and revenues drive news coverage in substantial parts of the electronic media. Many of the …
By Meera Srinivasan Like many Sri Lankans, academic and filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram has been struggling to come to terms with the civil war’s gory end in 2009. The graphic visuals of the bloodshed, which some “shared like trophies”, made him question what he’d thought were basic human norms. When he decided to give it creative …
By Col. R. Hariharan Earlier this month, the United States banned the Chinese government-run Xinjiang Production Construction Core (XPCC), a paramilitary and business organization, and two of its top officials for depriving basic rights to Uyghur people working in their organisation. The action was taken under the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act passed by the …
By P.K.Balachandran Sri Lanka’s 20 th., Constitution Amendment bill, which was approved by the cabinet of ministers and published in the official gazette on Thursday, attempts to take the country back to the Executive Presidency which existed between 1978 and 2015. In 2015, the 19th.Amendment reduced the powers of the Executive President although he was …
By Meera Srinivasan The Cabinet has set up an experts’ committee to draft Sri Lanka’s new Constitution, even as the government gazetted the draft of the 20th Amendment that would reverse the preceding 19th Amendment, a 2015 legislation that clipped certain executive powers of the President. The move follows the ruling Rajapaksa brothers’ poll pledge …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The “Mathiya Seyal Kuzhu” (central working committee) of the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi(ITAK) also known as the Federal Party will be meeting today (Aug 29) in Vavuniya. The committee is generally referred to as “Mathiya Kuzhu”(Central committee). The Central Working committee is the key representative body of the ITAK. It comprises representatives elected …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka A successful strategy for the Opposition will have to contain three components: a lucid grasp of present oppositional realities and past errors, the ‘best practices’ of Oppositions – and comebacks in pertinent/related fields of endeavour—in the island’s contemporary history, as well as the best practices of Oppositions in contemporary world politics. ‘Facts …
By Easwaran Rutnam The Norwegians managed to secure peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the LTTE and the peace process continued for a number of years under successive Governments. Though Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim mediated between the GoSL and the LTTE under three Sri Lankan leaders, in the end attempts …
By Sanja De Silva Jayatilleka I do not know Hejaaz Hizbullah. I have come to know of him from the several accounts published in the media over the past few months, by a classmate, a contemporary and colleague, a student and a brother. I do not know what pain of mind he must feel, isolated …
By Austin Fernando (The Writer is a Former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India) It is ‘Neighbourhood Policy, ‘Look East,’ ‘Act East.’ All deal with the Indian neighbours. A recent article motivated me to revisit this issue. The author has conveyed happenings between India, Nepal, and Bangladesh and proposed amending Indian policies and actions towards …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Today (26 August) is the 93rd birth anniversary of well-known Sri Lankan Tamil political leader Appapillai Amirthalingam, known affectionately as Amir and Amuthar. Amirthalingam served as a Parliamentarian for 20 years in an illustrious political career spanning four decades. He was a stalwart of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) known as the …
Continue reading ‘Life and Times of Dynamic Tamil Political Leader Appapillai Amirthalingam’ »
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardena Scarcely having sufficient time to properly settle into his Chair as Sri Lanka’s Parliament opened for business this week, the Speaker faced down two attempts to trespass on the ‘legislative power of the People,’ throwing up intriguing questions in regard to the country’s parliamentary process, or what is left of this. …
By Gamini Weerakoon (Gamini Weerakoon is a former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and Consulting Editor of the Sunday Leader) Sri Lanka can truly claim to be a front runner in the war against the coronavirus pandemic with 2,984 infected cases reported and only 12 deaths while the pandemic is raging across the …
by C.A. Chandraprema The government has made an official statement to the effect that it’s reconsidering the 19th Amendment but no such official statement has been made with regard to the 13th Amendment. However opposition politicians have expressed the view that the government is trying to use its two thirds majority to do away with …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardena (Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena is a civil liberties advocate, a columnist for The Sunday Times, Colombo and served on a Bar Council nominated committee in 2011 which drafted a Contempt of Court Act for Sri Lanka) The recent judgement by the Indian Supreme Court which held prominent advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake The 19th Amendment to the Constitution is the desire and goal of Pohottuva politics today. It is now more important that the economic crisis faced by the country and people, especially in the Covid19 situation. The strongest voice against 19A today is that of the highly learned Professor Gamini Lakshman Peiris, the …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The recently concluded Sri Lankan parliamentary election resulted in the defeat of several veteran politicians. Among these was well-known Northern Tamil leader Somasundaram”Maavai” Senathirajah who had been representing Jaffna district in Parliament for 20 successive years since 2000. Very often the electoral defeat of a long established political leader causes political convulsions in …
Continue reading ‘Future Course of Defeated ITAK Leader “Maavai” Senathirajah.’ »
By P. K. Balachandran The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has threatened to go to court if the Presidential Task Force on Archaeology in the Eastern Province acts contrary to the provisions of the Antiquities Act and usurps the powers of the Director General of Archaeology (DGA). The Tamils have been dismayed by the fact that …
டி.பி.எஸ்.ஜெயராஜ் (This is the Tamil Version of the English Article “Future Course of Defeated ITAK Leader “Maavai” Senathirajah by D.B.S. Jeyaraj in the “Daily Mirror” Of August 22nd 2020) அண்மையில் முடிவடைந்த பாராளுமன்றத் தேர்தலில் பல மூத்த அரசியல்வாதிகள் தோல்வி கண்டிருக்கிறார்கள். அவர்களில் நன்கு பிரபலமான வடபகுதி தமிழ்த் தலைவர் சோமசுந்தரம் மாவை சேனாதிராஜாவும் ஒருவர். அவர் 2000ஆம் ஆண்டு தொடக்கம் தொடர்ச்சியாக 20வருடங்கள் பாராளுமன்றத்தில் …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka The Presidential Policy Statement delivered at the inaugural of the new session of Parliament had three key takeaways. Firstly, the 19th Amendment is to be demolished, not rectified. Secondly, by means of the 20th Amendment, the electoral system will be replaced by one which is only secondarily that of proportional (or more …
By Hannah Ellis-Petersen As a child wandering between the legs of the aunts, uncles and family friends who filled her grandparents’ apartment in Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a young Kamala Harris grew used to being addressed in Tamil. It was the main language spoken by her grandmother, who had only …
By P. K. Balachandran Sri Lanka’s minorities, namely, the Tamils, and Muslims, who are 25% of the island’s population of 21 million, were given short shrift in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s statement of government policy at the opening of the newly elected Parliament on August 20. Ethnic issues, which had rocked Sri Lanka for over four …
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ The one word answer to the question “Did M. A. Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance win in the Jaffna Electoral district by “stealing” the preference votes cast for another TNA candidate Ms. Sashikala Raviraj? is NO! Yet the 2020 Parliamentary poll in the Jaffna electoral district comprising the Kilinochchi and Jaffna administrative …
Continue reading ‘Failed Attempt To De-legitimize Sumanthiran’s Election Victory In Jaffna’ »
-டி.பி.எஸ்.ஜெயராஜ்- ஆங்கில மூலம்: டெய்லி மிரர் ‘தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பின் எம்.ஏ.சுமந்திரன் அதே கட்சியின் இன்னொரு வேட்பாளரான சசிகலா ரவிராஜுக்கு அளிக்கப்பட்ட முன்னுரிமை விருப்பு வாக்குகளை ‘களவாடியதன்’ மூலம் யாழ்ப்பாண தேர்தல் மாவட்டத்தில் வெற்றி பெற்றாரா?’. இந்தக் கேள்விக்கான ஒரு சொல் பதில் இல்லை என்பதேயாகும். இருந்தாலும், கிளிநொச்சி நிர்வாக மாவட்டத்தையும் யாழ்ப்பாண நிர்வாக மாவட்டத்தையும் உள்ளடக்கிய யாழ்ப்பாண தேர்தல் மாவட்டத்தின் 2020 பாராளுமன்றத் தேர்தல் சசிகலாவின் விருப்பு வாக்குகளை தனக்கு அனுகூலமான முறையில் சுமந்திரன் ‘மாற்றியிருந்தார’ …
A delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called on the Indian High Commissioner, Gopal Baglay, here on Friday. The High Commissioner congratulated the TNA for its performance at the recent general elections. He reiterated India’s longstanding position on peace and reconciliation and the full implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Inexplicably and not without heavy irony, former President Maithripala Sirisena chose to dwell on crop devastation caused by monkeys in Sri Lanka when contributing to the opening debate on the Government’s Policy Statement as Parliament met this week, fresh after a sparkling polls victory by the Rajapaksa headed Sri Lanka Podujana …
A District Development Committee (DDC) Co-Chair wrote to the District Secretary this week instructing him not to implement any ministerial development programmes or authorised projects without his approval in the district. Parliamentarian Angajan Ramanathan, who was appointed as Jaffna DDC Co-Chair last week by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during the Cabinet swearing in ceremony, wrote to …
By Javid Yusuf In his policy statement presented to Parliament on August 20 President Gotabaya Rajapaksa outlined his Government’s plans for the forthcoming year. Among the measures he proposed was the one relating to the removal of the 19th Amendment as a prelude to enacting a new Constitution. The President in his satement to Parliament …
By Gamini Weerakoon (Gamini Weerakoon is a former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and Consulting Editor of the Sunday Leader) Blackouts are a fact of Sri Lankan life in this second decade of the 21st Century. At Nawala where blackouts are of frequent, if not of daily occurrence, we asked a long-standing resident …
By Meera Sriniasan After doing seven jobs in the last three years in and around Colombo, Simran Enric is now back home in Sri Lanka’s hill country. He escaped the pandemic that struck the capital, but his last job at a grocery store didn’t. “I am ready to take up any job. It doesn’t matter …
by C.A.Chandraprema It has now been officially announced by the government that parts of the 19th Amendment are to be repealed even before a new Constitution is introduced. Our present Constitution has been amended on 18 occasions and not on 19 occasions as the numbering system may lead us to believe. The 12th Amendment is …
Usually, when people speak of an electoral landslide, they exaggerate. But the word aptly describes what happened in Sri Lanka on August 5th. The island nation’s voters all but buried the grand old party that had led an outgoing coalition, the United National Party, reducing its 106 members in the 225-seat parliament to a humiliating …
(Text of Editorial Appearing in “The Hindu” of August 22nd 2020 Under the Heading “Repeal and reform: On Sri Lankan Constitution) A two-thirds majority in the legislature is indeed a mandate for constitutional change, but the winner ought to decide whether the proposed change would bring about reform or impairment; whether it would strengthen democratic …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake The new parliament has begun to function with the formal policy statement by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. There were no armed forces parading or horse-ride escorts for the President, which took some of the colour of the traditional ceremony. Maybe such decorum was considered too costly in this hugely strained economic situation. One …
(Full text of the Inaugural Address of the 9th Parliament, August 20, 2020 by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa) Honourable Speaker, Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Leader of the Opposition, Honourable Ministers, State Ministers, Honourable Members of Parliament, At the outset I would like to congratulate newly appointed Speaker Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene. I also extend my congratulations …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka The Cabinet appointments and those of the State Ministers and Secretaries, ranging in the main from the unexceptionable to the positive, nonetheless leave me analytically pessimistic about the prospects of this regime and the experiment upon which it has embarked. Despite the fact that several of the appointments are good and the …
By Jayantha Somasundaram Class, caste and the politics of destruction “… the liberal-cosmopolitan intelligentsia … supported … the UNP. Few, very few, deigned to support the SJB.” Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka The Election Result and the Intelligentsia (Colombo Telegraph August 7, 2020) “I survived once but he will finally get me killed. He will get Gamini …
By Alan Keenan Wednesday, 5 August saw the landslide general election victory of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The vote sets Sri Lanka on a path likely to bring fundamental political and social change. With 59 percent of the vote, the SLPP …
By Meera Srinivasan The outcome of Sri Lanka’s August 5 general election had few surprises. The Rajapaksa family is decisively at the country’s helm for the next five years. The fragmented political opposition is struggling to come to terms with their decimated parties and in some cases, sealed fate. In the north, the Tamil National …
By Col R Hariharan The Rajapaksa clan is back at the helm in Sri Lanka after the people gave them a huge thumbs-up in the just-concluded general election. While Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the president, his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is the prime minister. While this was not unexpected, their Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party led …
By Sandran Rubatheesan Angajan Ramanathan’s victory in the August 5 parliamentary polls is historic, firstly because he secured the most preferential votes in the Jaffna electoral district, pushing Tamil nationalist candidates behind, and secondly, for being the only first-time MP in the country elected with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the one-time grand old …
By Gamini Weerakoon (Gamini Weerakoon is a former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and Consulting Editor of the Sunday Leader) The constitutional power vested in a two-thirds majority in parliament of declaring a man to be a woman and vice-versa emanated around the heady days of 1972 when the United Front government of …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Party triumphalism following the August 5th 2020 Rajapaksa election win in Sri Lanka is reminiscent of the unfortunate fate of Humpty Dumpty before a fall. Chastened then and joyous now This is nothing new as Rajapaksa-ites gloating over the consternation of the ‘yahapalanaya’ camp may be unkindly reminded. These chastened followers …
By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya Sajith Premadasa’s newly formed Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) has managed to overcome the hurdles and booby-traps laid in its path ahead of the 2020 general election, and come out well ahead of its bête noir, the United National Party (UNP). It was clear from the outset that there was no likelihood of …
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The long awaited 2020 Parliamentary Elections has concluded with a 71% Voter turnout despite the difficulties imposed by the COVID -19 Pandemic threat. Appropriate health procedures were followed by the authorities with enthusiastic cooperation of the people. Voter feedback is generally positive about the efficient manner in which the polls were conducted. The …
Continue reading ‘TNA Suffers Electoral Setback In North and East Polls.’ »
By Victor Ivan The victory of the Government at the Parliamentary Election is huge and miraculous. Had there been a First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system that was in operation prior to 1977 instead of the current system of Proportional Representation, the result achieved by the Pohottuwa (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna – SLPP) could have been much …
With the selection of Kamala Harris to be the running mate of Joe Biden, the framework of the 2020 elections has been set. As was to be expected, the Democrats have chosen the most right-wing candidates to run the most right-wing campaign possible. There is a certain inevitability to the choice of Harris. In July …
By Sheain Fernandopulle Even though the ‘Viyathmaga’, group of professionals were given prominence during the campaign trail since the presidential election, no members have been given appointments in the Cabinet of Ministers. The group rose to prominence, with pledges to take the country forward. However, the members of the professional group have not been given …
The Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday swore-in a 64 member Council of Ministers including 25 of cabinet rank and took the portfolio of Defense himself. The Swearing-in was held at the Magul Maduwa or Audience Hall of the Temple of the Tooth here. President Gotabaya’s taking up a cabinet post has become a …
The Cabinet of Ministers and State Ministers of the new Government led by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) were sworn in before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.The swearing in ceremony was held at the Magul Maduwa (Audience Hall) of the historic Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic premises in Kandy this morning (12). The President has repeatedly …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa repeatedly made two requests of voters during his electioneering walkabouts. One was that they had given him 69 lakhs (6.9 million) of votes at the Presidential Election but now he wanted 79 lakhs (7.9 million) votes. The other was that he wants a two-thirds majority. He didn’t get his …
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ Today (29 July) is the 33rd third anniversary of the Indo-Lanka Accord. It was on 29 July 1987 that former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene signed in Colombo the agreement between India and Sri Lanka known as the Indo-Lanka Accord along with two letters described …
Continue reading ‘The Indo -Lanka Accord and the Sri Lankan Tamils’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was known earlier has faced many challenges and problems since Independence from Britain in 1948. We have had military coup attempts, communal riots, pogroms, armed revolts, external military intervention, assassinations of heads of State, terrorist violence and above all a long secessionist war that threatened to tear …
Continue reading ‘Poetry For Reflection On Sri Lanka’s Election Day’ »
By D.B.S.Jeyaraj The Rajapalsa regime is all out to get a two-thirds majority in Parliament through the forthcoming elections on August 5. The avowed objective of such a steam -roller majority is to promulgate a new Constitution or enact Constitutional amendments unilaterally. According to Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) ideologue Prof. Gamini Lakshman Peiris a strong …
Continue reading ‘Tamils Desiring a Silk “Verti” May Lose Even Their Cotton “Verti”.’ »
by C.A.Chandraprema With the seats won by the SLPP on its own, together with the seats of allied political parties like the EPDP, TMVP, and the SLFP (Jaffna) the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government easily crosses the 150 seat mark to obtain a two thirds majority in Parliament. This writer still remembers listening to the results of …
By P.K.Balachandran The Sri Lankan parliamentary elections, held on August 5, the results of which were unofficially out on August 7, have sent a number of politically significant messages. These are as follows: Getting Two Thirds Majority The results have shown that it is possible to get two- thirds majority even under the Proportional Representation …
By Meera Srinivasan For almost all Opposition parties in Sri Lanka, Wednesday’s general election spelt huge losses in the face of the landslide victory secured by the ruling party of the Rajapaksas. But one group stood out. The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), which represents Malayaha Tamils in the island’s Central, Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Western Provinces, …
By Meera Srinivasan Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa to congratulate him on his party’s big win in the recently held parliamentary polls, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, called on the newly elected leader in Colombo to congratulate him on the “emphatic victory”. “The …
By S. Rubatheesan Apparently fed up with rhetorical nationalist party politics and failure to address the urgent needs of the former war torn regions, North and East voters have sent a clear message to their main party the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) at the August 5 general elections. The TNA, officially known as the Ilankai …
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene Any one of us indulging in melodramatic weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth on Wednesday’s election victory of the Rajapaksa-led ‘pohottuwa’ (Sri Lanka Podujana Party, SLPP) must heed the admonition that this has come five years too late down the line. The sum of failed political legacies Clearly, these lamentations should …
By Lahiru Pothmulla Former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the fourth time, before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara this morning. Prime Minister Rajapaksa was sworn in at the auspicious time as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka’s 9th Parliament before the …
By Shamindra Ferdinando Civil society organisation Viyathmaga has emerged as an influential group within the SLPP (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna) parliamentary group with eight out of nine contestants gaining entry into parliament at the just concluded general election. The SLPP won 145 seats, including 17 National List slots. The parliament comprises 196 elected and 29 …
By Lucien Rajakarunanayake The voters of Sri Lanka have created the new Kingdom, the Rajapaksa Rajya. This is a very rare example of how a democracy can move into a realm ensuring the sovereignty of a single family. It will certainly be recorded in the history books of this era, documenting the vast move from …
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has secured a landslide victory at the 2020 General Election securing a total of 6,853,693 votes, which is a percentage of 59.09%. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) secured a total of 2,771, 984 votes (23.90%). The Jathika Jana Balawegaya or the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) came at third with …
By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka’s ruling party has won the recently held parliamentary elections, securing a huge majority of 145 seats, just five short of a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The Rajapaksas’ Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP or People’s Party) was widely expected to win the polls that came nine months after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa …
By Meera Srinivasan Polling for Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election concluded on Wednesday with a voter turnout of 71%. The results will be released on Thursday, the Election Commission said. After postponing the elections twice in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Sri Lanka became the first South Asian country to hold election months after COVID-19 …
By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka This column appears on the day after ‘E-Day’. It is a good time to discuss thematic political issues, including those that go beyond the elections. Most pressing are two core issues which I had flagged back in 2013, the answers to which we shall know with the results of this election. Interviewed …
By P.K.Balachandran The Sri Lankan parliamentary elections to be held on August 5 looks like a one-horse race with the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by the redoubtable Rajapaksa brothers on its way to getting a comfortable majority in the House of 225. Partly because of such an expectation or estimation, there is …
Sri Lanka National Debating Team became the first runner-up in the online World Schools Debating Championship 2020, while Canada beat Sri Lanka to win the Championship, in the final held on Sunday. Sri Lanka was also named the best ESL (English as a second language) team. Sri Lanka team’s Shalem Sumanthiran won the seventh place …