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 of court will have a ‘chilling effect’, a term used authoritatively by the Warren Court to protect First Amendment rights of speech and expression in the US, beyond India.

It has grave resonance in countries like Sri Lanka which have a history of stifling dissent through the device of contempt.

Continue reading ‘Recent judgement by the Indian Supreme Court which held prominent advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court will have grave resonance in countries like Sri Lanka which have a history of stifling dissent through the device 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 GL swinger in governing politics in Sri Lanka; whose leaps to and from political parties and policies is a display of political manoeuvre with hardly any matching.

The two-thirds majority the Pohottuva government obtained, thanks largely to the UNPs disastrous leadership and party breakup, stands against the 19A, which is shown by GL and anti-19A players as the biggest threat to democracy today.

Let’s take a look at how the parliament at the time – in April 2015 – voted for 19A. In a 225-member parliament, it was passed by 215 voting for. One voted against, One abstained, and seven members were absent. That shows a huge parliamentary majority, much more than the small and shaky majority the UNP-SLFP – Maithri-Ranil – government of the day had.

The 19A was a constitutional amendment that obtained the huge support of the then opposition, who are now the leading and even hanging on members of the current Pohottuva regime, the hurray and hosanna ranks of the Rajavasala.

Continue reading ‘The strongest voice against 19A today is that of the highly learned Professor Gamini Lakshman Peiris whose leaps to and from political parties and policies is a display of political manoeuvre with hardly any matching.’ »

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 the Presidential Task Force has no Tamil or Muslim members, though the Tamils and Muslims together outnumber the Sinhalese Buddhists in the Eastern Province. However, TNA spokesman, M. A. Sumanthiran MP, said a legal issue would occur only when the Antiquities Act is violated or if the Task Force usurps the powers of the Director General of Archaeology as defined in the Antiquities Act.

“Therefore, we will have to wait and see how the Task Force functions,” he said.

Continue reading ‘TNA Spokesperson MA Sumanthiran MP Says Party Will Go To Courts Against the Presidential Task Force on Archaeology in the Eastern Province if it acts contrary to the provisions of the Antiquities Act and usurps the powers of the Director General of Archaeology (DGA).’ »

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 correctly, proportionate) representation and primarily that of a first-past-the-post mechanism. Thirdly, there will be a totally new Constitution.

A five-person committee has been named to draft the 20th Amendment. It comprises Ministers Ali Sabry, Prof. G.L. Pieris, Dinesh Gunawardena, Udaya Gammanpila, and Nimal Siripala de Silva. (Hopefully they’ll avoid the Felix Dias Bandaranaike path – and destination). There isn’t a single Tamil, and therefore no Tamil perspective, though the Tamil Question has been at the heart of constitutional reform efforts for four decades (since late-1983) and Douglas Devananda would have been an obvious choice.

Meanwhile the President added four senior members of the Buddhist clergy to the Task Force on Eastern Archaeological Heritage.

The strength of a state lies in avoiding the extremes of excessive loosening and tightening. The 19th Amendment and its precursor the 17th Amendment were the result of social shift against an excessively powerful presidency. More importantly they strove to rectify the partisan politicisation of the institutions, including the public service, identified by the post-1980s insurrection Youth Commission Report as a cause of revolt.

By eliminating rather than correcting the 19th amendment, the State is riskily re-installing two of the factors for revolt: an autocratic presidency and a re-politicised State apparatus.

Continue reading ‘Survival requires the Tamil-speaking parties to initiate a single-issue ‘bloc’ in defence of the 13th Amendment cutting across the Govt.-Opposition divide and isolating the Alt-Right ultranationalists.’ »

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.

Senator Kamala Harris

It was the main language spoken by her grandmother, who had only fragmented English, and over the years of Harris’s childhood trips from California to Chennai – which back then was called Madras – to visit her mother’s side of the family, she slowly learned to understand, if not speak, the mother tongue of her Indian relatives.

Standing at the Democratic convention podium last week accepting her historic nomination for US vice-president, Harris made a passing but significant nod to this aspect of her heritage. She said her mother had “raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage”, adding: “Family is my uncles, my aunts and my chithis.”

Continue reading ‘“Chiththi”: With One Tamil Word In Her Acceptace Speech, US Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris Warms The Hearts of Millions pf Tamils in India and Throughout the World’ »

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 decades, were not even mentioned in the speech. On the contrary, certain general announcements hinted that the rights and aspirations of the minorities, as visualized by them so far, will have no scope for realization under the current regime.

The Tamils’ 72 year old demand for a federal constitution was shot down with the declaration that the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had a got a massive mandate to retain the constitution’s unitary character. The Muslims, who have been refusing to amend their personal laws despite an internal progressive movement, were told that the country will have a uniform law for all people.

In the constitution to be drafted, “Priority will be given to the concept of one country, one law for all the people. As representatives of the people, we always represent the aspirations of the majority. It is only then that the sovereignty of the people can be safeguarded. In accordance of the supreme constitution of our country, I have pledged to protect the unitary status the country and to protect the Buddha Sasana during my tenure,” he said.

Giving the Buddha Sasana a role in the governance of Sri Lanka, the president said: “I have set up an advisory council comprising leading Buddhist monks to seek advice on governance.” To buttress the historical claims of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, the president said he has set up a “Presidential Task Force to protect places of archaeological importance and to preserve our Buddhist heritage.”

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Tamils and Muslims who are 25% of the island’s population given short shrift in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s statement of government policy at New Parliament Opening’ »

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 which had created elected Provincial Councils in the nine provinces of the island nation with a modicum of devolved powers.

The 13A came as a result of the India-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987. Though elected councils came into being as part of the Accord and the 13 th., Amendment, the powers that the councils should have got as per the 13A have not been devolved. Powers over land and police are still not devolved.

Speaking to newsin.asia, the TNA spokesman and Jaffna district Member of Parliament, M.A.Sumanthiran, said that High Commissioner Baglay assured the delegation that India has a “strong commitment to the principles underlying the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord and that the Accord cannot be viewed as a mere piece of paper.”

Continue reading ‘If Sri Lankan Govt Attempts to Jettison the 13th Amendment There would be “interactions at the highest level” between India and Sri Lanka Says Indian Envoy Gopal Baglay at Meeting with TNA Delegation’ »

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 Party (‘pohottuwa’) alliance.

The dark comedy of our Parliament

Led by the alliance of which Sirisena is an unremarkable part, the House includes two parliamentarians on death row, several indicted for criminal misappropriation of public funds and yet others for assault. ‘Pohottuwa’ parliamentarians who threw chilli powder and chairs at the former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya in the unholy fracas during the unsuccessful grab for power in late 2018 are back and in leadership positions. A prime instigator who lobbied a chair at the former Speaker is a senior Minister and the Chief Government Whip.

This is an unmistakable message that party loyalty, despite rowdiness, intimidation and thuggery, will be rewarded in the new dispensation. Perhaps the country’s non-human primates may take umbrage at any comparisons to august parliamentarians elected through public will. Certainly the destruction caused by monkeys attacking crops is far less than the constitutional mayhem brought about by the human species. But was there any symbolism at all in the former President holding forth on these imperatives during the policy debate? It is hard to say given other absurdities that we were privileged to witness.

Continue reading ‘A leading Buddhist prelate proclaims that ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Dhamma, a religion and a philosophy’ while the Rajapaksa faithful cheer and the depleted if not pitifully de-legitimised Opposition whimper.’ »

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 the Jaffna District Secretary on Tuesday.

In the letter, seen by the Sunday Times, Mr Ramanathan requested the details of projects currently under the implementation process in the District’s Divisional Secretariats.

Continue reading ‘Jaffna District Development Committee Co-Chair Angajan Ramanathan Orders District Secretary not to implement any ministerial development programmes or authorised projects without his approval as All Projects and Schemes Must be Implemented With his Co-sponsorship; Appoints Father Sathasivam Ramanathan as his direct representative and coordinating officer’ »

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 expressed his intention in the following words:

“The basis of the success of a democratic state is its constitution. Our Constitution, which has been amended 19 times, since 1978, has many ambiguities and uncertainties, presently resulting in confusion. As the people have given us the mandate we wanted for a constitutional amendment, our first task will be to remove the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. After that, all of us will get together to formulate a new constitution suitable for the country. In this, priority will be given to the concept of one country, one law for all the people.”

“An unstable Parliament that cannot take firm decisions and succumbs to extremist influences very often is not suitable for a country. While introducing a new constitution, it is essential to make changes to the current electoral system. While retaining the salutary aspects of the proportional representation system, these changes will be made to ensure stability of the Parliament and people’s direct representation.”

One of the proposals made by the President which can have far reaching and dangerous implications for the country is the statement that in drafting a new Constitution “priority will be given to the concept of one country, one law for all the people.”

Continue reading ‘A move to implement a “one country, one law” principle is at variance with the beautiful mosaic of diversity that the world has recognised Sri Lanka to be.’ »

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 and legal pundit if anything positive can be done about it and he rejected it outright. Its Jus naturale (law of nature) in these parts for long years was his sardonic comment.
However, a six-hour islandwide blackout is rare and a much more serious thing, even a staunch supporter of the SLPP (Pohottuwa) Party admitted over the phone during the blackout.

Last Monday’s blackout will certainly have a negative fallout in many aspects, including the economy. We have looked at the political fallout on this new Rajapaksa government which is now revving up to take off to the promised ‘Vistas of Splendour and Prosperity’.

We see it not as a hiccup but a big dent in the sleek supposedly shatterproof political structure of the SLPP that arrived unscathed after going through two gruelling tests — presidential and parliamentary elections. After the two victories, the supporters of this party were convinced of the invincibility and the ability of their leaders to sail through hell fire and brimstone. Their hopes and emotions had risen to cocky heights.

Continue reading ‘Belief that everything that ‘Gota does works to clockwork precision’ was blasted by Sudden Six -Hour Power Black-out’ »

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 which city, what work or how much they pay,” says the 19-year-old. He began working after dropping out of school before his Ordinary Level examination. His parents’ stagnant wages, from tea production on an estate in Maskeliya in the central Nuwara Eliya district, was not enough for three square meals for their family of five, including Enric’s two schoolgoing sisters. His Colombo income, they hoped, would support household finances. It barely did, but the family couldn’t afford to lose any additional source of income, however meagre, as they tried to cope. Over a period of time, Enric’s small savings proved valuable. And then the deadly virus arrived.

In Sri Lanka, though, the novel coronavirus didn’t seem all that deadly, going by the official data. While COVID-19 case numbers in the region and in powerful western countries increased rapidly, Sri Lanka stood out, drawing high praise, including from the World Health Organization, for containing the virus. To date, Sri Lanka has reported 11 deaths and fewer than 3,000 cases, of which only 127 are active.

After a stringent lockdown for two months and the efforts of the country’s efficient public health sector, aided by the military, Sri Lanka felt relatively fit to hold the twice-postponed parliamentary elections on August 5. Over 16 million of the country’s 21 million-strong population could vote in the elections, held with elaborate health guidelines mandated by the Election Commission. The turnout was 71%.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan rural households across the country have been living off borrowings after exhausting their savings and struggling with severe economic hardships while grappling with a pandemic-induced crisis’ »

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 a dud entry and there is no such Amendment in the Constitution. Among the 18 actual amendments that we have had, some are useless like the 6th Amendment which was supposed to stamp out separatism, but has proved to be abysmally ineffective when compared to the piece of legislation it was supposed to modeled on – the 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution. Some like the 15th Amendment which facilitated the fragmenting of political parties on ethnic and religious lines were counter-productive. Some like the 17th Amendment were ill conceived, confused and even comically tautological, being designed to take powers over high state appointments out of the hands of the politicians and give it to unelected individuals nominated by the political parties in Parliament. But by far the least well thought out Amendment of all was the 19th Amendment.

Ironically, at this moment when its repeal has been placed on the agenda, the biggest problem in the 19th Amendment which had a serious impact on the day to day governance of the country during yahapalana rule, has become largely irrelevant under the Rajapaksas. The problem most often mentioned with regard to the 19th Amendment was the creation of dual centers of power with the Prime Minister also having a share of executive power. During the five years of yahapalana rule, the effect of these provisions of the 19th Amendment were amplified by the fact that the President and Prime Minister were leading their own political parties and working to their own agendas. The way the 19th Amendment bifurcated executive power was by article 43 where the President was to have the power to determine at his discretion the number of Cabinet Ministers and the Ministries and the assignment of subjects and functions to such Ministers, but in the appointment of individual MPs to those ministerial positions the President was mandatorily required to act on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Thus the Prime Minister’s hold on power depended on his role as the effective appointing authority of Ministers. This was all that remained of the attempt made in the original 19th Amendment Bill which had sought to make the Prime Minister the head of the Cabinet of Ministers and to give the Prime Minister the power to determine the number of Cabinet Ministers and the assignment of subjects and functions to them. Such provisions were struck down by the SC on the grounds that they will require a referendum in addition to the two thirds majority in Parliament. All that remained standing was Article 43(2) which said that the President has to act on the advice of the Prime Minister in appointing MPs as Ministers.

Continue reading ‘Our present Constitution has been amended only 18 times and not 19 times as the numbering system may lead us to believe Because The 12th Amendment is a dud entry and there is no such Amendment in the Constitution.’ »

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 total of exactly one.

They instead awarded a commanding 145 seats to a relative upstart, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, or People’s Party (slpp), a vehicle for the powerful Rajapaksa family. With smaller parties now flocking to their support, the Rajapaksas have grasped the two-thirds majority they need to rewrite the constitution to their liking, something they have said they intend to do. One of Asia’s oldest and most durable democracies has in practice entered a period of one-party, one-family rule.

Continue reading ‘With the Landslide Victory of the SLPP Led By The Rajapaksas, One of Asia’s oldest and most durable democracies has in practice entered a period of one-party, one-family rule. -The Economist’ »

(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 institutions or weaken them. In his first address to the newly elected Parliament, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has predictably declared his intention to repeal the landmark 19th Amendment to the Constitution, and, thereafter, to work towards a new Constitution.

The party he belongs to, the SLPP, has just garnered a historic two-thirds majority along with its allies in the parliamentary polls — unprecedented in an election based on proportional representation. Few would doubt that the party led by the President’s elder brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has the requisite mandate to overhaul the constitutional and electoral system. The abolition of the 19th Amendment was indeed the party’s major poll plank. However, does it necessarily mean that the gains of the 19th Amendment should be thrown out lock, stock and barrel?

The legislation that introduced it was also based on a popular mandate for change in the 2015 presidential election, and received more than the required two-thirds support in the previous Parliament. It not only curbed the executive President’s vast powers, by restoring a two-term limit, and making it difficult for the legislature to be dissolved at the President’s whim, but also sought to protect the independence of oversight institutions.

It would be a travesty of democratic principles if the independence of institutions such as the Election Commission is now curbed in the name of undoing the 19th Amendment. After all, it is now recognised that the largely peaceful and orderly polling was only because of the EC’s autonomy. If not for nothing else, but as an acknowledgement of the free election that enabled it to get a massive mandate, the ruling party should seek to prove its detractors wrong by preserving the democratic gains of the amendment.

Further, the plan to rewrite the Constitution under the rubric of a ‘one country, one law’ principle should not be at odds with the urgent need for a new inclusive Constitution that would put the country on the path of equality and reconciliation. The President’s address was also notable for the absence of any reference to ethnic minorities. For long, Sri Lankan leaders have maintained that they can give little by way of constitutional concessions to the minorities without the consent of the majority Sinhalese.

Given the dependence of the Rajapaksas on the majority, it is possible to look at the President’s remarks on the proposed Constitution in the portentous sense of moving away from the concept of devolution. While the abolition of the executive presidency appears no more realistic, it will be retrograde if the idea of sharing more power with the provinces is abandoned altogether.

Courtesy:The Hindu

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 MP from Kotte came to parliament by boat on the Diyawanna Lake, with promises of the new government taking action to have a complete waterway transport system to overcome traffic jams and road blocks in the Colombo region. Sailing should soon be a daily delight to our people, if that becomes real.

Amidst all the celebratory MPs in the House, there was one large missing image. It was the elephant, pushed out of the House for the first time since 1947, when Mr. D. S. Senanayake led the first government. It was the stunning shame suffered by the UNP led by Ranil Wickremesinghe; and also contributed to by the SJB team led by Sajith Premadasa, whose louder call was to capture Sri Kotha and not a majority in parliament. There is a bigger worry whether this absence of the elephant in parliament, is a pointer to the larger national issue of the crisis faced by the elephants in our jungles. Can any government that is elected to serve the people, do much to save the elephants? The current thinking on democracy is people centred and not jumbo focused! Will we be soon coming to a political reality of letting the elephants be part of our 2,500 plus history? Are we to begin exporting them to strengthen the economy and have more jungle land for people? Can a revived UNP and the SJB-led Opposition launch a proper Elephant Save politics, with sufficient influence on Pohottuva Power?

Continue reading ‘Power Play of Parliamentary Politics’ »

(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 to Deputy Speaker Hon. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Deputy Chairman of Committees Hon. Angajan Ramanathan as the as well as all the elected Members of Parliament.
The election held on August 5th marked a turning point in the history of Parliamentary Elections in Sri Lanka. We asked the people to give us a 2/3rd majority to form a stable government.

August 20, 2020

First of all, I would like to thank and extend my gratitude to all the patriotic Sri Lankans for giving Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and its allied parties a historic and resounding 2/3rd majority for the first time in the history in an election held under the Proportional Representation System.
Universal suffrage is a democratic right that we must all respect and uphold. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Sri Lankan voters who exercised their voting right in this election.

During the Presidential Election held last November, over 6.9 million people gave me a decisive mandate, placing a very high confidence in me. So far through my actions, I have proved that I will uphold the promise that I will not violate the trust they placed on me.

The period between the Presidential Election and the Parliamentary Election has been very challenging for us. What we inherited was an economy that had collapsed. Since we did not have a majority in Parliament we were compelled to function with a minority government. In addition, we had to face the COVID-19 pandemic that disabled the entire world during that period. At a time when even the most powerful countries in the world were left helpless in the wake of COVID – 19 catastrophe, we were able to successfully face the challenge. Even foreign nations praised our efforts to prevent the spreading of the pandemic.

The historic mandate received by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna has proven that people are impressed with the way we have governed the country during the past 9 months despite various obstacles.
People appreciate the change taking place in the political culture of this country.

Continue reading ‘“Our first task will be to remove the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. After that, all of us will get together to formulate a new constitution suitable for the Country In Which priority will be given to the concept of one country, one law for all the people” – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’ »

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 rest aren’t too bad—with a few exceptions—the reasons for my pessimism are not those of personality, but of structure and strategic direction.

It has been noticed that the strikingly successful election results of 2019-2020 are very close to the twin results of 2010 under the leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Those results were reversed but not due to the reasons that either the Rajapaksas or their opponents think. The Rajapaksas think they left too many loopholes which they are determined to block by means of constitutional amendments followed by a new Constitution. Their opponents think that it was they, together with civil society and some foreign friends, who “flipped” the 2010 victories. Neither perspective is accurate.

I say this because the failure was predicted to me in 2010 itself, by one of the most intelligent people I have had the privilege of a discussion with, Singapore’s Foreign Minister at that time, Dr. George Yeo, a former Brigadier-General and former Chief-of-Staff of the elite Singapore Air Force, and a diamantine intellect. What he said held true then, and holds truer still of the Gotabaya administration.

Continue reading ‘“In the 21st century, it is impossible for the Sinhalese to maintain a centralised, non-secular, unitary state in a conflicted, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society on a small, geo-strategically vulnerable, economically-dependent island.”’ »

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 Dissanayake killed. Then I am sure he himself will get killed.” Lalith Athulathmudali (The Print 27/12/17)

“An attack upon a King is considered to be parricide against the state, and the jury and the witnesses, even the judges are the children. It is fit on that account that there should be a solemn pause before we rush to judgement”
Lord Chancellor Thomas Erskine

According to Karl Marx, history repeats itself, appearing the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce. This adage is very fitting when we look at last week’s Parliamentary election results, the political fate of the United National Party (UNP), and at events that occurred 30 years ago.

First the context: South Asia is a feudal society and is, therefore, subject to caste stratification and caste bigotry. And in Sri Lanka, too, caste consciousness and discrimination is pervasive. It determines political alliances, political fortunes and political history. The Sinhala Govigama elite did not see the other major castes, even after they had acquired wealth and education, as mere inferiors. They viewed them as lacking legitimacy because, as Professor K.M. De Silva explains in The History of Sri Lanka, “recent immigrants, from South India, and their absorption into the caste structure of the littoral, saw the emergence of three new Sinhala caste groups – the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava. They came in successive waves into the eighteenth century.”

When an elected-Ceylonese seat was introduced in the Legislative Council, in 1911, the Govigama leadership united behind the Tamil Vellalar Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan in order to defeat his opponent, the Karawe Sir Marcus Fernando, whose candidature was proposed by Sir James Peiris. This led Governor Sir Hugh Clifford to say that the election “was fought purely on caste lines … caste prejudice providing a stronger passion than racial bias.”

The UNP, founded in 1946, reflected this mindset. “D.S. Senanayake had entered independence with a basically Sinhala-Govigama and Tamil-Vellalar administration” observed Janice Jiggins in Caste and Family in the Politics of the Sinhalese. Inspector Malcolm Jayasekera, who was attached to Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake’s security detail, recalled that when ministers travelled to the provinces, Sir Ukwatte Jayasundera, the General Secretary of the UNP, would, at their Rest House stops, join the security detail for lunch, because, as a member of the Navandanna caste, he didn’t feel welcome at the table of his ministerial colleagues.

Continue reading ‘Targeting of R. Premadasa by Govigama Elite, Political Revenge of Sajith Premadasa and Total Annihilation of the UNP At Elections’ »

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 won enough seats – together with allied parties – to achieve the two-thirds parliamentary majority they requested from voters in order to change the constitution. With executive power shared between the Rajapaksa brothers, the family and their party have the power to reshape Sri Lanka’s political institutions in fundamental – and potentially dangerous – ways.

The Sinhala nationalist ideology the Rajapaksas and the SLPP promote has long structured Sri Lankan politics, marginalising Tamils (about 15 percent of the population) and, in different ways, Muslims (who make up ten percent). The explicitly pro-Sinhala and anti-minority rhetoric of the SLPP’s campaign, the Rajapaksas’ demonstrated commitment to centralised and authoritarian rule – Mahinda’s presidency from 2005-2015 saw widespread human rights violations and numerous well-documented atrocities – and the comprehensive defeat of the political voices supporting a more liberal, pluralist and tolerant vision of Sri Lanka – together these threaten to entrench a more dangerously intolerant form of majoritarianism than Sri Lanka has seen before.

Following Gotabaya’s decisive victory in the November 2019 presidential election, and in light of the continued popularity of his elder brother Mahinda, few political observers doubted the SLPP would win a big victory. Given the mostly proportional nature of Sri Lanka’s electoral system, however, few expected it would win a two-thirds majority, something no party had achieved before in a single election. That it was able to cross this threshold is due in part to the long and bitter infighting that hobbled its main rival, the United National Party (UNP), which eventually split it in two just before the election campaign began. The historic decimation of the UNP – it gained just one seat from two percent of the vote, while its splinter formation, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), won 24 percent and 54 seats – was a public rebuke for the party’s disastrous incompetence when in power from 2015-2019.

Continue reading ‘Landslide Victory in Sri Lanka Gives Rajapaksa brothers, the family and their party the power to reshape Sri Lanka’s political institutions in fundamental – and potentially dangerous – ways.’ »

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 Alliance (TNA), which almost solely represented Tamils living in the north and east for a decade since the country’s civil war ended, is swallowing a bitter pill. Its presence in the 225-member Parliament, where the Rajapaksas have just garnered a formidable two-thirds majority, has diminished from 16 to 10 seats.

Tamil voters in the north not only chose three candidates from hard-line Tamil nationalist groups critical of the TNA, but also elected four candidates from parties aligned to the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP or People’s Front) of the Rajapaksas. In fact, they gave Angajan Ramanathan of the SLPP-aligned Sri Lanka Freedom Party the highest share of votes in Jaffna.

While the TNA has ceded ground to rivals on either side, political observers have read the outcome as an unmistakable shift. Voters, they note, have moved away from their chief political concerns — which the TNA sought to foreground — to their growing economic distress that the TNA is accused of ignoring.

Continue reading ‘The Tamil voters’ message to both national leaders and their own elected representatives has been unambiguous in every crucial election post-war, about their political and socioeconomic priorities’ »

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 Mahinda won 145 seats, 15 more than what they had forecast. This was 59.09 percent of the votes cast. With three minor allies adding six to the tally, the SLPP alliance will be 151-strong, which is two-thirds of the 225-member house. A distant runner-up was Samagi Jana Baalawegaya (SJB), led by Sajith Premadasa, former deputy leader of the United National Party (UNP) and son of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa. It secured 54 seats, polling 23.9 percent of the votes. Then came the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) winning 10 seats, but polling only 2.82 percent votes. It was followed by the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power alliance and other parties which could count their seats in single digits only.

As the headline of an article by former diplomat Dr Dayan Jayatilleke said, it was a “Battle of Breakaways”. Both the SLPP and the SJB had broken away from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the UNP, which had dominated national politics from the early years of independence. The SLPP came into being after the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential poll in 2015 after his long-term acolyte Maithripala Sirisena deserted him to become a challenger, and ultimately the victor.

Continue reading ‘Marginalising the old war horses of the SLFP and SLPP while accumulating power within their clan could lead to discontentment against the Rajapaksas.’ »

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 party now in decline.

“I think people in the north have accepted me as a moderate politician, recognising the work I have done in the recent past and my future plans to develop the region,” Mr. Ramanathan said.

“They didn’t give importance to the national party they were voting for [the SLFP] but to the individual.”

He stressed that he had received a clear mandate for his progressive politics and for development of the region, which has seen little infrastructure boom in the post-war period.

Continue reading ‘“As a Tamil from Jaffna I’ve also got Tamil nationalist sentiments in me but I know what is possible and what is not” Says Angajan Ramanathan the First SLFP Elected MP From Jaffna’ »

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 Sirima Bandaranaike and Marxist parties commenced drawing up the second constitution for this country, having scored a two-thirds majority in the 1970 General Election.

Continue reading ‘The monk and the temple are the strongest political bond the Rajapaksas have forged. Will that be more powerful than the power of a two-thirds majority?’ »

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 glowered in sullen dismay when victory of an unknown contender Maithripala Sirisena in 2015 upset confident election predictions of a return of then incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In fact, this rude joy on their part now reminds me of an incident when a bare month or two after that Sirisena win and when the Mahinda ‘sulanga’ (wind) movement had just had its inaugural rally in Nugegoda.

An idle conversation with an uncritical follower of the Wickremesinghe-led United National Party (UNP) Government threw up the question of a possible return to power of the Rajapaksas. This was in the background of whispers circulating even so early, of the first Central Bank bond scam perpetuated by an inner circle of the UNP but in regard to which, no dissent was expressed by the party faithful as well as ‘independent’ corruption crusaders who should have known better.

My foreboding was that this ‘yahapalanaya’ win, if not managed properly, will result in disaster worse than the return of Mahinda Rajapaksa to the seat of the Presidency in 2015. That view was not taken kindly to. ‘Never’ said my interlocutor in resolute if not aghast tones, ‘they will never be elected to Government again… they are finished.’ This sadly shortsighted assessment had with it, all the elements of the same monumental stupidity with which loyalists of the present regime crow in delight over their ‘stunning’ win.

Continue reading ‘Governance and the Rule of Law within a democratically structured Constitution is a fundamental condition for the development of any country to take place,’ »

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 winning against the SLPP juggernaut – the immediate challenge, and the more realistic goal for the SJB, was to win over UNP constituents. This task was no doubt made easier by conduct of the UNP itself which had, for a long time, been writing its own obituary. The UNP leadership’s mean-spirited treatment of Premadasa’s camp was on full display latterly, helping to tip the scales for undecided voters.

On the face of it the SJB’s electoral performance seems to suggest a clean break with the old order, with the rebel faction outperforming the UNP comprehensively. The numbers need to be examined more closely though, to observe that some things haven’t changed. One is that seats secured by the SJB have been won with heavy dependence on parties representing minorities that contested on the SJB ticket, within the coalition. This is not immediately visible in the official election results because these candidates are listed as ‘SJB’ with no indication of their party affiliation.

Continue reading ‘The SJB will need to re-position itself, both organizationally and policy-wise, in a way that is distinct from the UNP, if it is to assert itself as a credible political entity in its own right.’ »

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 greater than the result achieved by the United National Party (UNP) in 1977.

The landslide victory of the UNP at the ’77 election resulted in weakening the Opposition movements in the Sinhala south to a maximum and creating a single party hegemony. The political outcome of the result of the recent election is more or less similar to that of the ‘77 election.

The repressive economic policy followed by the People’s Front Government which was in power prior to 1977 and the divisions between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the SLFP and the Leftist Parties which constituted the People’s Front Government have had a significant impact on the victory of the 1977 Parliamentary Election by the UNP. Similarly, the current split of the UNP was an important factor that has led to the enormity of the victory of Pohottuwa this time.

The massive victory of the UNP in 1977 changed the overall trajectory of the country, for better or for worse. It changed the parliamentary system of governance; created a presidential system in which all the powers of the State were concentrated in the President. Plundering of public property was made a regular feature of State administration. The economy was opened up. Despite the rapid economic development, Sri Lanka was turned into a country of incessant bloodshed on a large scale.

Continue reading ‘J.R. Jayewardene, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chandrika Kumaratunga can be considered as courageous leaders who had acted bravely in spite of various limitations when all the odds were against them But Sajith is not a leader who has exhibited yet a feat of such bravery.’ »

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 of last year, the World Socialist Web Site—based on a survey of who would be the worst, most reactionary and at the same time most suitable choice for second spot on the Democratic Party ticket—predicted that Harris would most likely be named the vice presidential candidate if she failed to win the nomination. She had all the ruthlessness, narcissism and careerism requisite for the job, plus the ethnic background to suit the Democrats’ obsession with racial and gender identity.

Kamala Harris is a dyed-in-the wool political reactionary.

This year has seen mass demonstrations throughout the country in response to the police murder of George Floyd. As a direct result of the policies of the ruling class, nearly 170,000 people have died to date in the coronavirus pandemic, with the daily death toll now at more than 1,000. There is growing anger in workplaces over the homicidal back-to-work campaign and broad opposition among teachers to the efforts to reopen the schools. Tens of millions of people are unemployed, and they have been cut off from federal benefits and face being evicted from their homes.

In the midst of this monumental political, economic and social crisis, and against the backdrop of so much suffering, the American people are to be offered the “choice” between the fascistic Trump, the conman from New York, and a Democratic Party ticket headed by a corporate shill from Delaware and an ex-prosecutor from California. This says everything about the degraded state of American politics.

Following the announcement by Biden on Tuesday, the media leapt into action with its nauseating effusion of state propaganda. The selection of Harris has been universally proclaimed to be “historic,” a watershed moment.

Continue reading ‘Selection of “Dyed-in-the wool political reactionary” Kamala Harris as Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Joe Biden’s Running Mate is Indicative of the Degradation of American Politics.-WSWS’ »

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 due distinction as expected.

‘Viyathmaga’ is a network of academics, professionals, and entrepreneurs who contested the General Election with expectations to render their utmost service for the betterment of the country.

Continue reading ‘Nine “Viyathmaga” Professionals Comprising One Appointed and Eight Elected MP’s Enter Parliament but None Made Cabinet Minister ; Four Sworn in as State Minister and Two Become District Coordinating Committee Chairmen.’ »

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 contentious issue with opposition lawyers arguing that the 19 th.Amendment of 2015 precludes him from taking up any cabinet portfolio.

But there are other legal experts who say that the relevant constitutional provision has to be read with Art 4 (b) which says that the directly elected President exercises the sovereign power of the people through the Executive and therefore he can take up any cabinet post including defense.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer and MP from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), M.A.Sumanthiran, said that the President has violated the constitution which says that the Cabinet of Ministers shall be Members of Parliament and the President is not a member of parliament. He is directly elected by the people, but he is not a member of parliament. He is the Head of the Cabinet, appoints its members and presides over it, but he himself is not an MP and therefore cannot take up a cabinet or any ministerial portfolio.

Continue reading ‘Despite Nineteenth Constitutional Amendment Provisions President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Becomes Defence Minister;Legal Opinion Divided Whether Such Action Violates the Constitution’ »

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 stressed the requirement of an efficient Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to build a prosperous nation in the future.

According to “Saubhagyaye Dekma” (Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour) policy statement the composition of the Cabinet has been formulated in a pragmatic and a realistic manner to implement the national programme. Special attention was paid to the areas of national security,economic development, infrastructure facilities, education, health and sports in the process of formulation of the ministerial structure.

The new Cabinet of Ministers comprised 25 Ministers including the Prime Minister. There are 39 State Ministers. 23 Members of Parliament have been appointed as District Coordinating Committee Chairmen.

Continue reading ‘President Rajapaksa Swears in 25 Cabinet Ministers Including Prime Minister Rajapaksa, 39 State Ministers and 23 More MP’s as District Coordinating Committee Chairpersons at Temole of the Tooth in Kandy; President Holds Defence Ministry Portfolio While Premier takes Charge of Finance,Buddha Sasana, Urban Development, Housing and Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministries’ »

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 first wish, but has surely got his second and strategically more significant.

He got 6.8 million votes which is a fraction less than that which he polled in November 2019. His personal best remains the ruling party’s ceiling. The voters are certainly not dissatisfied by his performance but aren’t sufficiently high on the ‘Corona-superhero’ hype to boost their endorsement.

Five years ago, in 2015 August, Mahinda Rajapaksa had lost the presidential and parliamentary elections, was not the leader of the SLFP, had been denied the Leadership of the Opposition and did not lead a political party of his own. Five years later, Mahinda Rajapaksa is the ‘Rocky’ of South Asian politics.

Significantly, for the first time in four, he was sworn in as PM at a Buddhist temple, which was also a first for any Lankan PM. The new times are the very old times.

Continue reading ‘“Gotabayan” Sinhala ultra-nationalism will find itself no less out of joint with emerging, evolving international reality’ »

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 the 1977 election over the radio as a 13-year old. The results of every electorate as they were read out seemed to go to the UNP. At that time, what constituted a landslide was for one party to come out on top in a large number of electorates. However, as a proportion of votes, the J.R.Jayewardene led UNP got only a modest 50.89%. To a generation used to the proportional representation system, that would seem almost disappointing. However at that time, it was an epoch making victory because no political party had ever got more than 50% of all valid votes since Independence. Until 2010, the UNP’s victory of 1977 was what was referred to as the mother of all electoral landslides.

The Mahinda Rajapaksa led UPFA got 60% of the popular vote and 144 seats at the Parliamentary election of 2010, thus eclipsing 1977. Now, the Parliamentary election of 2020 eclipses both 1977 and 2010 as the mother of all electoral landslides. The yahapalana conspirators presented the political divide in this country to the people as ‘everybody else’ against the Rajapaksas. Now the people treat ‘everybody else’ as one party and the Rajapaksas as another party. As the results were rolling in on Thursday evening one thing that was glaringly obvious in almost every polling division, was that the total number of votes polled by the ‘everybody else’ political formation was less than half of that of the Rajapaksa led SLPP.

Rajapaksas emerge stronger than ever

This marks the conclusion of a remarkable journey that began in January 2015 at the point that the Rajapaksa triumvirate led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa was literally thrown out onto the street by means of a well-orchestrated conspiracy hatched by elements both local and foreign. This is a story straight out of the history books. A successful and popular government ousted from power by foreign conspirators and local traitors with the people rallying around their fallen leaders to restore them to power is a recurring theme in the history of politics, not only in this country but worldwide. We have just seen this historic theme being played out in Sri Lanka to a picture perfect finish.

Continue reading ‘SLPP’s mother of all landslide Victory Gives President Gotabaya Rajapaksa an Opportunity to Remint Sri Lanka’ »

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 System (PRS) which facilitates the entry of a number of parties, even small ones, into parliament, preventing efforts by a big party to form a government of its own without the support of small parties.

The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, has got 145 seats, just five short of 150, which is the two-thirds mark. But it has allies like the Eelam Peoples’ Democratic Party (2 seats); the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (1 seat); the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (1 seats) and the National Congress led by Athaullah (1 seat) which will enable it to muster two thirds. Thus in total, the SLPP has got 150 in the House of 225 or two thirds. Few believed that two-thirds was possible. Party organizer Basil Rajapaksa was himself aiming only at 135.

Continue reading ‘New Rajapaksa Government Will Centralise Power Through Constitutional Change But is Not Likely To Abolish Existing Provincial Council System’ »

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, retained all six seats in Parliament. While the number is small compared to the coveted two-thirds majority that the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) secured in the 225-member House, it is not insignificant.

How did the TPA’s MPs make it, despite being part of Sajith Premadasa’s weak Opposition alliance and despite a contest with powerful rivals in the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) aligned to the ruling SLPP?

Continue reading ‘Tamil Progressive Alliance Representing Hill Country Tamils Retains all Six Seats From Colombo, Kandy, Nuwara – Eliya and Badulla Districts Held by TPA in the Last Parliament’ »

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 strong mandate received by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa provides a fresh opportunity for the two countries to enhance bilateral engagement, including mitigating the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Indian High Commission here said in a statement following the meeting.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s ruling party secured a two-thirds majority in Wednesday’s polls.

Continue reading ‘Indian Envoy Gopal Bagley Calls on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and reiterates the strong desire and commitment of the government of India to work very closely with the new government and Parliament in Sri Lanka for further strengthening comprehensive bilateral cooperation.’ »

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 Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), suffered a big set back by winning only ten seats, including one on the national list. The TNA had won 16 seats in the former Parliament.

In the Jaffna district the TNA’s seats were reduced from five to three, and in the Vanni district its number was reduced from four to three. In the Batticaloa district the TNA won only two seats compared to three at the 2015 elections.

Continue reading ‘Tamil National Alliance Tally of MP Seats Decreases From Sixteen in 2015 to Ten in 2020’ »

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 have been evidenced when the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe alliance commenced betraying key electoral promises in its 2015 upset win which was hailed as ‘stunning,’ in much the same way that editorialists gush over the Rajapaksa comeback in 2019 and 2020. Then we had lame justifications as to why corruption cases against fraudsters of the Rajapaksa regime were not progressing, a whitewashing of the Central Bank bond scams under its own watch and a constitutional reform initiative influenced by political jockeying as much as a spluttering transitional justice process.

By all this, it must not be thought that no democratic gains ensued. On the contrary, there were significant advances. Regardless, the whole was undercut by the sheer inability of the ‘yahapalanaya’ alliance to reach out to the pain and travails of the electorate, from Devundara to Point Pedro. Instead, a debilitating elitism persisted, becoming the persistent stamp of that administration.

The ‘yahapalanaya’ elite believed condescendingly that Colombo could dictate what was good to the great unwashed and could pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes. When the Central Bank financial scandal erupted, some Ministers were heard to say that villagers would probably mistake James Bond for the bond scams.

Continue reading ‘Our history is replete with politicians who were stripped of their seeming invincibility. Two-thirds majority or not, there is no reason to think that the impermanence of power will be different this time around.’ »

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 President and President’s Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundare amidst Pirith Chanting and blessings by the Maha Sangha.

President Rajapaksa paid his respect to his elder brother, the newly appointed Premier, and the two brothers embraced each other before paying homage to The Buddha at the Temple’s shrine.

The Maha Sangha led by Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara Chief Incumbent Venerable Professor Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera chanted the Jaya Piritha to bless the new Premier, the President and the newly elected members of parliament.

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the fourth time, before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara’ »

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 appointed members.

Of the winners, retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera (328,092) and Dr. Nalaka Godahewa (325,479) polled the highest preferential votes in Colombo and Gampaha electoral districts, respectively.

Continue reading ‘Group of “Gotabaya Golayas” From Viyathmaga and Yuthukama Enters Parliament as Both Elected and Appointed MP’s From the SLPP’ »

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 universal franchise to a grand revival of the royal or Rajya Rule of the past.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and all others in this realm of power have reached the peak of their power, just as the Royal rulers of the past. Hail Rajapaksa!

Having very comfortably won 145 seats from electoral voting, the SLPP only needs five more seats, from its Nominated Members totalling 17, to make the 150 for two-thirds of the Parliament. It is a political saga that has beaten all previous political leaders. Getting two-thirds from an election based on proportional representation is certainly bigger than JR Jayewardene’s 1977 five-sixth majority in the old parliament, with fewer seats and elected on first-past-the-post.

Continue reading ‘Rajapaksa Rajya! Vandana, Vandana! Voters of Sri Lanka Have Through Their Franchise Handed Over the Sovereignty of the People to the Rajapaksa Kingdom’ »

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 445,958 votes (3.84%) and the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) came at fourth with 327,168 votes (2.82%). However, the UNP only managed to secure 249,435 votes (2.15%) and will be entitled to a single seat from the national list quota.

Accordingly, the votes garbered and number of seats secured by the main parties including National List Seats are as follows :

Continue reading ‘SLPP in Landslide Win with 145 5eats Including National List; Sajith’s SJB Comes Second with 54 Seats; TNA Third with 10;JVP gets 3; UNP Loses Badly with only One National List Seat; Other Parties Together Gain 12 Seats’ »

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 rose to power.

His elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the caretaker government as Premier, will be sworn in as Prime Minister.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna In Landslide Win is Just Five Seats Short of Two/Thirds Majority; Parliament to Convene on August 20th;Mahinda Rajapaksa to be Sworn in as “New” Prime Minister.’ »

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 struck, claiming 11 lives in the island. However, the country’s public health sector managed to contain the numbers — 286 active cases as of Wednesday — with support from the Army, drawing international praise, including from the World Health Organization.

Following health guidelines stipulated by the Election Commission, masked voters queued up in polling stations that were equipped with hand washing facilities. They maintained physical distancing with fellow voters, as they elected representatives to the new Parliament, in which the ruling Rajapaksa administration is seeking a two-thirds majority.

Continue reading ‘Polling Concludes for Sri Lanka;s Parliamentary Election with 71% Voter Turn Out Despite COVID -19 Pandemic Threat’ »

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 at length by this newspaper in 2013, I stated (in response to a question posed by Chamitha Kuruppu) that: “…there has been an intra-regime change. The centre of gravity is shifting from the pragmatic populism of Mahinda Rajapaksa to a harder, harsher neo-conservatism which is more visibly represented by Gotabaya Rajapaksa… ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ is in danger; it is increasingly overshadowed or overtaken by the ‘Gota Chinthana’…Sri Lanka cannot successfully manage relations with its minorities and also with the neighbourhood and the world as a whole with a bunker mentality.” (‘We are on the road to losing the peace’, Daily FT, Friday 10 May 2013, pp. 11, 15)

This election will show how far that process has gone towards irreversible completion.

In the same category is the question of the UNP in particular and the Opposition in general. Also, in 2013, Ceylon Today ran an interview with me captioned with the quote “UNP has no future with Ranil”. (Thursday, 26 September 2013).

We shall see presently whether that proposition has proven correct.

Real story of 19A

The crisis of the 19th Amendment is the issue foregrounded in the campaign and most directly impacted by the election. The commentaries for and against, ignore the very context and real dynamics of its passage and aftermath.

The Yahapalana victory contained within itself an inherent contradiction which blew it up eventually. The problem was that the candidate had signed two agreements, one which committed him to abolition of the executive presidency, and the other, to the elimination of its surplus power.

Continue reading ‘“The Gotabaya project is one of ultra-nationalist, polarising, supremacist Counter-Reformation. It does not stand or fall with today’s election result”’ »

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 a palpable lack of public enthusiasm about the polls, in contrast with past polls in which political activity was manifest, noisy, colorful, and in places, violent.

However, notwithstanding the ennui, the expected results indicate major systemic and political changes and challenges in the island nation.

The style and nature of governance under a regime led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and backed by a strong SLPP presence in parliament, will be markedly different from the preceding Yahapalanaya regime which was marked by inactivity stemming from internal ideological and political differences between President Matripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. At least partly, these conflicts stemmed from the infirmities in the 19th.Amedment (19A) brought in by the Yahapalanaya government soon after it assumed office in 2015.

Continue reading ‘Aug 5th Parliamentary elections 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’ »

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 in the best ESL Speakers’ category.

The 2020 World Schools Debating Championships scheduled to be held in Mexico this year was postponed until January 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the postponement, special online events known as the ‘Online World Schools Debating Championships 2020’ was held from 17th July – 2nd August 2020 with all the debates conducted through zoom.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka is First Runner-up in 2020 World School Debating Championship; Canada wins Competition where 68 Nations Participated ;Sri Lanka Named Best English as a Second Language Team.’ »

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has summoned the newly-elected parliament to meet on August 20, 2020 (Thursday) following the General Election to be held on August 5.

The President made this decision under the powers vested in him by the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Parliamentary Election Act. The Extraordinary Gazette notification announcing the summoning of the new Parliament was issued on the night of August 3, the Presidential Media Unit said in a release.

Courtesy:NewsIn.Asia

by Arjuna Ranawana

Sri Lanka’s Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, internationally renowned Human Rights Defender Dr Deepika Udagama has tendered her resignation, a Parliament spokesman said.

Director Media of the Parliament Shan Wijetunge told EconomyNext that Udagama’s letter of resignation reached them today and that she will function in her office until September 1.

The Constitutional Council has accepted the resignation and issued a statement deeply appreciating her work and “elevating the work of the Council.”

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission Chairperson and internationally renowned Human Rights Defender Dr Deepika Udagama Tenders her Resignation with Effect from Sep 1’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

The August 5, 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections are likely to be a one-horse race with the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) being streets ahead of its rivals in popular estimation. Nevertheless, the election campaigns of the various parties have thrown up key issues which will determine what Sri Lanka will be like in the immediate and mid-term future.

The SLPP’s unassailable position is partly because of the splintered opposition and partly because of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s success in containing COVID-19. Given the manifest failure of the previous Yahapalanaya government, the United National Party (UNP) led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Samagi Jana Balawewgaya (SJB), led by the former Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa, are on a weak wicket.

The SLPP is hoping and working for a two-thirds majority to bring about vital and far-reaching constitutional changes. But this is not easy to attain under the present election system. However, as in 2010, the government could make for any shortfall by getting opposition MPs to crossover. The on-going poll campaign has thrown up critical issues which could determine Sri Lanka’s future.

Continue reading ‘A post-election SLPP regime will try to consolidate its Sinhala-Buddhist voter base by primarily servicing the latter’s material, political and ideological needs’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

A week ahead of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections R.A. Karunavathi, a farmer in Chandana Pokuna village in Polonnaruwa, located in the island’s North Central Province, is looking for a reason to vote. “Why not boycott? We are forced to think like that,” she says, obviously fatigued with polls and politicians.

Polonnaruwa district is known internationally for its evocative rock-cut Buddha sculptures and ancient city — now a UNESCO World Heritage Site — that one strand of popular history traces to the Cholas. It is also the country’s rice bowl, with the district’s farmers producing the highest amount — 3 lakh metric tonnes last year — of paddy in the country.

Trapped in debt

As droughts, floods and pests took turns in affecting their crop over the last few years, nearly 60 women farmers in Ms. Karunavathi’s village are neck-deep in debt. “It began with one loan to cope with a failed crop.” And then led to another loan to cope with the first loan. And soon, to a third. “Today, we’re trapped in four, five loans each with no way to repay,” she says, speaking of the stifling impact of microfinance loans that came to their doorsteps, with the exorbitant interest rates hidden in fine print.

“We didn’t know or understand the terms when we signed up for these loans. But now, we realise we are paying up to 200 % interest in some cases,” says K.A. Irangani Siriyalatha.

Continue reading ‘Disillusioned farmers in Sri Lanka’s “Rice Bowl” Polonnaruwa district ask why they must vote when their suffering persists amid unkept electoral promises’ »

M. S. Sellasamy (94), a former Minister and veteran politician and the former General Secretary of Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) passed away following a brief illness at his residence in Colombo, yesterday.

Continue reading ‘Veteran Trade Unionist and Long-standing General Secretary of CWC, M. S. Sellasamy who also Served as MP and Minister Passes Away in Colombo at the age of 94’ »

By

Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

On the eve of a General Election that promises to be (ominously) portentous for Sri Lanka, the inglorious jostles with the plainly ridiculous.

Incredulous attempts to deflect responsibility

A prominent criminal investigator long in the crosshairs of this Government and once in the forefront of majorly controversial cases ranging from massive corruption scandals to enforced disappearances, is arrested. And a Commission of Inquiry probing the 2019 Easter Sunday jihadist attacks is told by the former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) that an ‘unusual increase of Muslim law students’ to Law College in 2012 had led to ‘concern’ reported in 2015 to the ‘appropriate authorities.’
Let us be very clear at the outset. This claim is, by far, the most incredulous attempt to sidestep responsibility by an intelligence officer heading the country’s premier intelliegence service which had been sleeping on the job when hundreds of innocents were killed in April last year, that we have seen so far.

The fact that the intelligence service ignored direct warnings both on the ground in Sri Lanka and from overseas that a major attack was imminent by ‘home grown’ islamists is established beyond a doubt. In that context, the enormous lapse in responsibility thereto cannot be brushed aside by intelligence officers burbling of an increase in law students.

The increase, incidentally, had been determined as ‘unusual’ by the intelligence service reportedly by comparing students in 2003 to 2012 and atrociously, inferring that this was due to infiltration by suspect elements without a shred of evidence to substantiate that claim.

Continue reading ‘We are positioning Sri Lanka for the potential explosion of communal and ethnic hatreds that may even surpass all that this country has experienced so far.’ »

By Gamini Weerakoon

(Gamini Weerakoon is former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and Consulting Editor of the Sunday Leader)

Politicians and lovers have a common failing: Politicians fighting for survival at elections and lovers during ecstatic moments make rash promises which they haven’t the foggiest notion about fulfilling when the time comes.

Lankan politicians and lovers are more fortunate on this issue than their Western counterparts. In Western democracies, big election pledges are taken seriously and if elected to office, unless the promises are not kept are thrown out at the next election. So, it is with Western women. Making a false promise is considered ‘cheating’ and if not kept, they are out by the ear in next to no time. Lankan lovers are blessed by more tolerant women who value the sanctity of marriage than the credibility of the Lotharios.

General Election 2020 is bound to be a tougher proposition for any party that is elected to office. Levels of the Treasury reserves have hit rock bottom. A near three-decade ‘war’, the JVP insurrection, elections — provincial, parliamentary and presidential elections — the tsunami, looting of government funds by VIPs, money laundering, luxury vehicles for politicos multimillion dollar rackets in addition to the billion-dollar narcissistic projects for perpetuating immortality of some rulers and finally Covid-19 have left the country bankrupt. All that happened without a single significant income generating development project being installed after the Mahaveli project was completed.

Continue reading ‘Nationalism, determination, self-confidence and the belief in the capabilities of one’s own people will not be enough to get the Sri Lankan economy going again.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

The Hindu epic Ramayana has had the unusual function of providing rallying points for two contradictory and clashing nationalisms, namely, Hindu-Indian nationalism in India, and Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism in Sri Lanka.

While the Hindutvic forces in India have been assiduously turning the Ramayana and its protagonist, Rama, into a rallying point against Indian Muslims seen as an “outside force,” Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism has been fostering the epic’s antagonist, Ravana, as a rallying point against outside forces like India and the West threatening the island’s sovereignty.

The Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi issue helped the forces of Hindutva prevent the separation of the Backward Classes from the upper castes when the V.P.Singh government implemented the Mandal Commission’s report to give 27% reservations in jobs and education to the Backward Classes, thus “jeopardizing Hindu unity”. Later, the demolition of the Babri Majid and the demand to build a Ram temple in its place, helped defeat the forces of secularism represented by the Congress and the Left parties.

Continue reading ‘While Hindu Nationalists Use Rama as Rallying Point Against Muslims in India ,Sinhala Buddhist Nationalists in Sri Lanka Use Ravana as Rallying Point Against “Outside Forces”like India and the West’ »

From Meera Srinivasan in Jaffna

As Sri Lanka gears up for the August 5 parliamentary election, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) — the main grouping representing minority Tamils living in north and east — is facing its biggest test yet in its constituency, since the war ended a decade ago.

Though the Tamils have repeatedly given a huge mandate to the TNA, whether in the 2013 Northern Provincial Council election or the parliamentary polls of 2015, the Alliance — which secured 16 seats in the 225-member Parliament in 2015 — is contesting this election amid what seems a growing disenchantment among voters.

“No matter who gets elected nothing changes in our lives. We vote because it’s our duty, not in eager anticipation that our situation will get better,” said Yesudas Jenova, seated outside her small home just outside Pallai town in Kilinochchi district. Jaffna and Kilinochchi together form one of the two northern electoral districts, while Vanni — including Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya — is the other.

Ms. Jenova’s sentiment, echoed by many across the Northern Province, stems from many reasons. Eleven years after coming out of a war that resulted in huge losses to life and property, the Tamil community is still demanding justice and greater political powers that much of the Sinhala polity does not want devolved to them. The TNA bears the additional baggage of the failed promises of the previous Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe government that it backed, especially on delivering a constitutional settlement.

Meanwhile, the Tamils’ economic distress has only grown, with governments in Colombo and their own TNA-led Northern Provincial Council failing to revive a war-ravaged economy by creating jobs and livelihoods. Registering their disappointment over the TNA’s governance record in the north, they gave a sizeable vote to candidates from the competing Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) in the 2018 local authority polls.

Continue reading ‘Tamil National Alliance Faces Biggest Challenge in Parliamentary Elections in Ten Years After the War Ended.’ »

By

Prof.S.Ratnajeevan H.Hoole

(The writer is a member of the Elections Commission. The opinion expressed is his own and not necessarily reflective of the Commission)

EDR Jaffna

The Election Dispute Resolution Unit under the Election Commission (EC) is key to conducting clean elections. I believe it is to gain control of the unit that the Government moved in 10 Government Agents, removing experienced and honest hands like Jaffna’s N. Vethanayagan – who was near retirement, and prompted by the insulting transfer, sent in his retirement papers.

A good example of how GAs and Additional GAs are used to cheat is that, in Jaffna for example, when a complaint of an illegal meeting arrives at the EDR Unit, a call goes to the organiser from the EDR and when the police go there, there is no one to implicate or, catch.

Another example is that when donors sent in supplies to the Kachcheri for those in COVID-19 shelters, the supplies were sent from the EDR Unit to an SLFP MP, whose Youth Front distributed them as from the MP.

As a result, considering the avalanche of complaints, the EC decided to remove the EDR Chief in Jaffna, but he pleaded that he would not be able to function as an SLAS officer after that. So out of sympathy he was allowed, in the Chairman’s words, to “be the non-playing captain.”

Continue reading ‘SLFP Chief Candidate in Jaffna Angajan Ramanathan Allegedly Violates Election Laws on Massive Scale With the Connivance of the Election Disputes Resolution Unit Head Who was Allowed by the Election Commission to be “the non -playing Captain”’ »

By

Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy

(written for the 21st Death Anniversary of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam)

This is the time to remember Neelan and Sithie Tiruchelvam. Along with Kumari Jayawardena, their living rooms were spaces where scholars and activists from all over Sri Lanka, South Asia and the world came to think, discuss, break bread and just laugh. They helped build institutions that brought together the best of young people from all over world with inquiring minds and a thirst for justice. This was the 1980s and the 1990s. It was a time when ideas were important. Today we are all implementers. Along with people like Charles Abeyesekere, Suriya Wickremesinghe, Savithri Goonesekere and Gananath Obeyesekere they created a sense of solidarity and a space for the “community of the sensitive” to be protected and warded off from the brutality that was taking place outside.

Neelan and Sithie Tiruchelvam

I met Neelan and wife Sithie when I was an undergraduate in the United States. Then followed a pattern that I have come to recognize with countless young intellectuals all over the world. Neelan and Sithie opened their living room and made it the centre for debate and discussion for South Asians, creating a sense of an intimate community that, though scattered, lingers even today. For years after Neelan’s death, Sri Lankan members of the intimate community would meet on the day of his death anniversary and paint the place on the street where he was assassinated. Reclaiming the space that was our motto. The paintings were erased in the name of beautifying Colombo.

Committed to the ideas of excellence in scholarship combined with activism for social justice, Neelan and Sithie were a nucleus around which scholars of South Asia, young and old, gathered. Neelan would awe us and Sithie would challenge us so that we became better human beings and better citizens. It was a Camelot moment in the history of research centers in Sri Lanka and came at a time where a desperate Sri Lanka was searching for anchor with regard to political, social and economic identity.

Continue reading ‘Committed to the ideas of excellence in scholarship combined with activism for social justice, Neelan and Sithie were a nucleus around which scholars of South Asia, young and old, gathered.’ »

by Zacki Jabbar

Former Prime Minister and leader of the UNP Ranil Wickremesinghe is hoping there will be a high voter turnout at the forthcoming general election, which, he believes, will prove advantageous to the UNP.

“The higher the number of votes cast, the better for the UNP,” Wickremesinghe said in an interview with The Island, while travelling across the country to address a series of public meetings.

Asked how the UNP would perform with the Samagi Jana Balawegaya vying for a share of its vote base he said, “We are the largest party. It all depends on how many come to vote. No party is sure of that. If there is no fear of the Coronavirus, more people will go to the polling booths. We hope a large number of persons would cast their votes. The higher the percentage, the better for the UNP.”

Wickremesinghe said the people, in a short period of eight months, had got fed up with the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, due to the problems they were facing on many fronts including the home economy, as a direct result of leaders in what he called the Family Party––Podujana Peramuna, pulling in different directions.

Continue reading ‘Economic mismanagement by Gotabaya Rajapaksa govt is the main cause for the suffering people were undergoing and not the Coronavirus pandemic says UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’ »

( Text of a Media Release Issued by the ” FRIDAY FORUM” on 29th July, 2020 Under the Heading “VOTING IN THE ELECTIONS 2020: FOR PUBLIC OR RULERS’ WELFARE?)

On August 5th 2020, we as citizens will choose the people who may join the President in governing this country for the next five years, if a Parliamentary system of governance under the present 1978 Constitution continues. Parliament has not functioned for 4 months- well beyond the limit set by the Constitution- so we do not know what will happen after the elections, and how or when Parliament will meet.

We have exercised ‘people power’ and cast our votes at Elections many times. It is our experience that those we elect to public office tend to forget us and our needs and concerns soon after they take office, often with fanfare and publicity. This election is a defining one, conducted at a time when the country is facing the double crisis of a debilitating debt burden, and an unprecedented economic and public health crisis. It is therefore important to reflect on our current situation, and cast our votes to help achieve the kind of governance that will hold our rulers accountable to us, and provide primacy of place to citizens’ well-being, when they exercise their powers.

The Friday Forum identifies the following issues as of critical concern to all of us:

Continue reading ‘“Do we want this ‘new normal’ of unchecked power, ‘authoritarian leadership’ and militarisation to facilitate or ensure economic growth and the sustainable development of our country? – Friday Forum.’ »

By Shekhar Gupta

The coronavirus pandemic has also unleashed a rash of viral memes. My favourite is one which has a patient asking a doctor when he thinks the scourge will end. “I don’t know,” says the doctor. “I am not a journalist.”

It is with that sobering thought that I dare to wade into the story of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, and what it tells us about Bollywood. Now, I know you could turn around and confront me with that same meme: You think you can hold forth on cinema just because you are a journalist?

I speak from experience. One reason I love my job is the diversity of experiences it provides, and the fascinating people I interact with.

I have hardly ever written about a film, except for the sociology of the odd remarkable one like Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and Lagaan (2001). But, having to shepherd India’s premier film awards (Screen Awards, owned by The Indian Express Group when I also functioned as the company’s CEO between 2000-2013, besides editor-in-chief) exposes you to this incredible universe.

Incredible, because for something so public, open, and dependent on the wishes of crores of ticket-buying people, or ‘bums-on-the-seats’ in the insiders’ language, it is also the most opaque business you can find. Any outsider would find it impregnable and suffer many heartbreaks, as even one as successful as Sushant probably did.

Continue reading ‘It’s a dirty picture — that’s what Sushant Singh Rajput’s death reminds us about Bollywood’ »

The Sri Lankan government should end the targeted arrests, intimidation and threats against the lives and physical security of lawyers, activists, human rights defenders and journalists, 10 international human rights organizations said today. A campaign of fear has intensified since the 2019 presidential election, and has cast a shadow over the 2020 parliamentary election campaign.

The United Nations, as well Sri Lanka’s partners and foreign donors, should immediately call for full respect, protection and fulfillment of the human rights of all Sri Lankans, and particularly to halt the reversal of fragile gains in the protection of human rights in recent years.

Numerous civilian institutions, including the NGO Secretariat, have been placed under the control of the Defence Ministry. Serving and retired military officers have been appointed to a slew of senior government roles previously held by civilians. The authorities have recently established military-led bodies such as the Presidential Task Force to build “a secure country, disciplined, virtuous and lawful society,” which has the power to issue directives to any government official. This represents an alarming trend towards the militarization of the state. Many of those in government, including the president, defense secretary, and army chief, are accused of war crimes during the internal armed conflict that ended in 2009.

Continue reading ‘” Sri Lankan authorities Must end all forms of harassment, threats, and abuse of legal processes and police powers against lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists”- Joint Statement by Ten International Human Rights Organizations.’ »

By Asiri Fernando

The United National Party (UNP) yesterday expelled 115 members, after its Working Committee affirmed a pervious decision to terminate the membership of those who sought nominations from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) for the upcoming General Elections.

UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said the Working Committee which met yesterday decided to strip party membership of 54 persons out of the 102 who were suspended.

“The Working Committee, which met on Tuesday morning, decided to revoke the party membership of 54 of the 102 who were suspended after the findings of an investigation was discussed,” Kariyawasam told journalists yesterday, pointing out that several decisions regarding the Party’s future were also taken at the meeting.

Continue reading ‘UNP Expels 115 Members Following Working Committee Decision: 54 Out of 102 Previously Suspended for Seeking Nominations From SJB and 61 Local Authority Members Axed’ »

By

Ranga Jayasuriya

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and the fellow travellers of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) are asking for a two-thirds majority in the general election. For what? They want to abolish the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, one of the few progressive constitutional provisions to be adopted in the independent history. (It moderated the excesses of the executive presidency). Mr. Rajapaksa also wants to introduce a new constitution. But, he has not said what would be in it. The sheer absence of detail is disturbing. The arbitrariness with which it would be deliberated is terrifying. Its implications for the democracy of the country would be crippling.

Except in a democratic decay, you don’t canvas for a new constitution, the mother of all laws of the land, without telling your voters about its basic tenets. ( This is not altogether new, though: the Parliamentarians of the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa administration placed their signature in a blank paper that would later become the impeachment motion of the then chief justice)

Information is crucial in making an educated decision, not least when it pertains to the Constitution of the country. Responsible political leadership would have presented an elementary draft of the key elements of the purported new constitution. Instead, Mr. Rajapaksa and his coterie are prodding the public to vote for something that would make fundamental changes to the fabric of the Republic, without telling as to what those changes would look like.
The Rajapaksas seem to think they could decide for the country of 22 million people. This manifest strongmen obsession with the state as the personal fiefdom is extremely deleterious for the country. One should not mistake the nation’s constitution to your family heirloom. The Middle East and Africa are ripe with cases full of that misfortune.

Continue reading ‘Rajapaksas are Canvassing for a Two-thirds Majority to Introduce a New Constitution Without Telling the People Anything About What is Going to be in it’ »

By

Prof.S.Ratnajeevan H.Hoole

(The writer is a member of the Elections Commission. The opinion expressed is his own and not necessarily reflective of the Commission.)

Old and new attitude to laws

The old style of election management is to use the army to scare voters from areas not friendly to the Government. Chamal Rajapaksa brought General Boniface Perera to Jaffna last week and introduced him as our next Governor. That sent chills down my spine, bringing back memories of how a Vanni Special Forces commander ethnically cleansed areas surrounding Vavuniya (S.R.H. Hoole, Democracy Undermined by Discrimination, Colombo Telegraph, 15 March, 2019. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/jaffna-hate-crime-leadership-by-northern-chief-c-v-wigneswaran/)

However, some things have changed positively under our commission. The old style of election management was to do favours to all and be in their good books. An egregious example is the 2005 Presidential Election result being certified despite the victor’s agents bribing the LTTE to prohibit Tamils from voting. This Commission took the hard decision to implement the law strictly. That is why we no longer see notices and banners placed all over. Old habits linger, however.

The contrast between old and new styles of enforcing laws is exemplified by the law on carrying pictures of candidates on any vehicle. §74(1) (a) of the Parliamentary Elections Act of 1981 prohibits any flag or banner on any vehicle, except that used for the conveyance of a candidate. In §74(1) (d) it is explicitly stated that the photograph of a candidate is prohibited in any vehicle except in one used for the conveyance of a candidate. While subsection d is explicit, the old style is to say pictures of another candidate on a car carrying a particular candidate comes under the flag or banner of subsection (a) and look the other way when a vehicle carries pictures of multiple candidates. It ignores subsection (d) which allows only the picture of the candidate. Indeed, other pictures do not cover flags and banners of subsection (a). As a result, some of our Assistant or District Commissioners of Elections (ACEs/DCEs) have been impounding cars and arresting their drivers violating the law. Where the ACE/DCE likes to be nice to everyone, such offending vehicles are let off saying the pictures are like the permitted flags and banners.

Continue reading ‘Chamal Rajapaksa Brings Retd Gen. Boniface Perera to Jaffna and Introduces him as the Next Governor of the Northern Province’ »

By Tisaranee Gunasekara

This week, 27 years ago, Sri Lanka was burning.

During Black July, Sinhala mobs murdered not just Tamil men, women and children; they also killed prospects of peace and stability. They torched not just Tamil property, but also to prospects of economic development.

Black July was the darkest episode in the post-Independent history of Sri Lanka, a colossal failure in morality, decency and civility. It also constituted a critical abnegation of reason, sanity and intelligence. The orgy of violence gave wings to the separatist cause and to the LTTE. It opened the floodgates of war and insurgency (the JVP was proscribed in its immediate aftermath, to provide the UNP government with a scapegoat).

The opening up of the economy in 1977 had caused a massive surge in growth and employment and income generation. Like with every such radical transformation, it had also resulted in huge socio-economic dislocations. By the early 1980s inflation was skyrocketing and economic inequality has reached alarming levels. Faced with growing discontent in the Sinhala South, the government adopted the time-tested method of scapegoating the minorities.

Blaming Tamil businesses for Sinhala poverty and Tamil professionals for Sinhala unemployment was not limited to rank racists such as Cyril Mathew. Even relative moderates like Ronnie de Mel saw a use value in racism. “The Tamils have dominated the commanding heights of everything good in Sri Lanka,” the then Finance Minister opined in the immediate aftermath of Black July. The solution was to “restore the rights of the Sinhala majority” (The wages of envy – The Economist – 20.8.1983).

In the eyes of its perpetrators and defenders, Black July was a necessary measure of political chastisement and socio-economic recalibration. For many a Sinhala supremacist, it epitomised the ideal Sri Lanka, a land where even the most poorest and marginalised Sinhalese was more potent than the richest, the most highly placed non-Sinhalese. The same mindset was evident in the attacks against Christian churches in the early 2000s and in the recent mini-riots targeting Muslims.

Continue reading ‘How can there be peace or stability, if the guiding ideology of the state sees a potential enemy in every non-Sinhala-Buddhist?’ »

By Gamini Weerakoon

(Gamini Weerakoon is a former editor of The Sunday Island, The Island and Consulting Editor of the Sunday Leader)

War is a continuation of politics by other means’ is a saying of a Prussian general, Karl Von Clausewitz around two centuries ago.
In recent times in this country, the use of this Prussian military and political wisdom is observed in the reverse. Politics, it appears, continues to be subject in multiple ways from the outcome of a ‘war’ that ended 11 years ago.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the defence secretary and Mahinda Rajapaksa the president of the government that won ‘The War’ against terrorism and they were proclaimed the leaders and victors of ‘The War’. General Sarath Fonseka, the Army Commander who led the forces and staked a claim to the title of the ‘Leader and Victor’ of the War, found himself behind bars. The Duumvirate of Mahinda and Gotabaya gained acceptance as the Leaders and Victors of ‘The War’. The resilient Sarath Fonseka, undaunted too took to politics and is now running in the General Election for a seat in parliament while holding the rank of Field Marshal.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s 72-year-old democracy is being Transformed into some sort of military regime with the appointment of military and ex-military officials to key posts in civilian administration’ »

Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

There is a measure of dreadfully coincidental irony in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa determining this week that Sri Lanka’s pre-colonial Antiquities Ordinance must be amended in order to reverse ‘destruction caused to antiquities’ following a meeting held by his Buddhist Advisory Council even as public outrage grew over a 13th century ‘Kings Court’ in Kurunegala being summarily torn down by the town’s ruling party mayor.

Antics in regard to ancient history

The bulldozing of what is touted to be King Buvenekabahu’s ancient assembly hall by a Rajapaksa local authority acolyte had been justified on the basis of road development. We were treated to the unseemly spectacle of the embattled mayor loudly protesting to all and sundry that the site had been used for activities of ‘ill repute.’ His opponents however alleged that its demolition was to unearth buried ‘kings gold.’ As militant Buddhist monks waded into the melee and a committee of officials from the Archaeology Department concluded in interim findings that this was an archaeological site with no permission given to demolish, considerable sound and fury resulted.

Judging from the antics of the Government as well as the Opposition, it was almost as if this was the sole topic afflicting the nation. Indeed, the tactical parry and thrust of ruling ‘pohottuwa’ politicians in responding to a controversy which may otherwise have been only of passing interest, revealed the selective reading of history which has become their distinct political stamp. Its district leader and a former Minister strutted and shouted that he would not allow a ‘hair to be touched’ on the mayor’s head. Almost on cue, a ‘pohottuwa’ political ally disagreed, claiming that this was not the ‘difference’ expected from the Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Presidency and that the law would take its course.

Continue reading ‘Amending the Antiquites Ordinance Through a Committee Including the Maha Sangha May Lead to the Fashioning of an Exclusivist Political Narrative that Further Marginalises Sri Lanka’s Minorities.’ »

By

Lucien Rajakarunanayake

Electoral politics has taken a huge leap back into history. King Buvenakhabahu II and the Kingdom of Kurunegala are big players in the politics of 2020, pushing the realities of economic and social hardships of the country and people into a holding bag among the key opposition players.

The Pohottuva Players in the current political drama must be having great pleasure in seeing how the electoral politics have moved away from the call of the people to a shout from a little known history. The roles of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa are suddenly taken by the Commissioner General of Archaeology, the Road Development Authority and the Mayor of Kurunegala. What Karuna Amman did with his story of killing thousands of Sri Lankan soldiers for the LTTE, and Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s con talk about cricket match fixing for an Indian victory have been pushed far behind, as the opposition players are looking for victory through King Bhuvenakhabahu and the Kurunegala drama of calculated disaster.

With just a couple of weeks to go for the August 5 general election, the main opposition players – the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) led by Sajith Premadasa and the UNP led by Ranil Wickremesinghe are displaying the realities of loser politics. The SLPP of the Rajapaksas will keep calling for a two-thirds majority in parliament, in their campaign to regain political power and supremacy in the country. But the current twist of politics is the rise of Buvenakhabahu II and Kurunegala into heights of the opposition campaign, which brings more than a big laugh to the Rajapaksas, whose hands await the grab of a parliamentary majority.

Continue reading ‘Names of Dutugemunu and Parakramabahu Eclipsed by Buvanekabahu as Electoral Politics Takes a Great Leap Backwards Into History’ »

By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya

The government’s recent move to do away with an important land circular, announced by the Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Bandula Gunewardena on 02.07.20, has opened up a can or worms that can tunnel into many areas of government policy. Circular 5/2001, issued in August 2001 by the Ministry of Forest Resources and Environment at the time, was intended to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of forest cover that were not regulated under existing Acts of Parliament by bringing them under the Forests Department. With the impending revocation of the circular, these forests will lose this protection and revert to the control of District and Divisional Secretaries, who will not be bound by the strict conditions spelt out for the release of these lands for ‘other purposes.’

The rationale given by the Cabinet Spokesman who claimed that activities of chena cultivators were being hampered by the circular, is extremely disingenuous. It presents the revocation of circular 5/2001 as a move to help poor farmers, whereas it is part of a much larger ongoing project that seeks to do just the opposite – by releasing land to private investors for large scale commercial agriculture (‘economically productive purposes’). This is a policy that has long been pushed by the World Bank and western governments, that many analysts say will harm the interests of Sri Lanka’s farmers, who are mainly smallholders. Environmentalists have with one voice deplored the move to do away with circular 5/2001.

Continue reading ‘Govt Revoking Circular 5/2001 Will Lead to Hundreds of Thousands of Forest Cover Lands Being Released to Local and Foreign Investors for Large Scale Commercial Agriculture That Will Harm Small Farmers’ »

By

Victor Ivan

From 1948 to 1978 Sri Lanka had a parliamentary system of government. A fully-fledged parliamentary system of government on British Westminster model was established by the Soulbury Constitution, which gave Sri Lanka the Dominion status. The position of the Governor General under the Soulbury Constitution and that of the President appointed under the Republican Constitution of 1972 was more or less similar to that of a Constitutional King. The Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, who is accountable to parliament, served as the centre of power.

This system worked well, performing an optimal role until it was turned upside down in 1978. Up to then everything went well and smoothly except the issue of protecting the Constitution and acting in conformity with it. The citizens had the opportunity to change governments from time to time through elections. Usually in most elections there occurred a change of government. High standards were maintained in Parliamentary proceedings. The Parliamentary debates were of high standard and the attendance at Parliamentary sittings and Working Committee Meetings were satisfactory. Legislation was done well and the monitoring role was fulfilled satisfactorily.

The Members of Parliament came under close scrutiny and the laws restricting election expenses were strictly enforced. A system of tracking election expenses was in operation. There was also a system in place which deprived those who violated election laws, of their parliamentary seat. The old parliamentary system faced a military coup in 1962 and a violent uprising in 1971 successfully.

Continue reading ‘President JR Jayewardene Created the Infamous System Which Enables MP’s of the Ruling Party to Enter Into Business Transactions With the Government and PLunder Public Property’ »

By

Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

Democracy in Sri Lanka came to rest on stable two-party system much before it did in India. When Yahapalanaya distorted that system by hooking the moderate-(statist) nationalist SLFP up with the neoliberal-globalist UNP, a breakaway from the SLFP was inevitable.

With the UNP failing to produce an elected leader of the country for 30 years, a breakaway from that party was long overdue. This situation has given birth to two ‘breakaways’, the older, nationalist, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the younger, populist, Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB).

The August 2020 election is shaping up primarily as a fascinating clash of these two newly-emergent forces.

Continue reading ‘SLPP vs SJB: The 2020 election is a Battle Between the Breakaways’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

Campaigning for Sri Lanka’s August 5 general elections, the country’s main Tamil party has foregrounded the promise Colombo made to New Delhi on power devolution, the need for greater connectivity to India from the northern Palaly airport, and the need to expedite the return of Sri Lankan refugees living in India.

Releasing its poll manifesto in Jaffna on Saturday, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) — an amalgam of three parties with the largest representation from the Tamil-majority north-east in the last Parliament — said that during the Mahinda Rajapaksa presidency, the Sri Lankan government “repeatedly assured” the Indian government that it would “implement the 13th Amendment in full and build upon it so as to achieve meaningful devolution”.

While the promises are yet to be fulfilled, the TNA manifesto pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the Sri Lankan Parliament in March 2015, when he observed: “When we accommodate the aspirations of all sections of our society, the nation gets the strength of every individual. And, when we empower States, districts and villages, we make our country stronger and stronger… I am a firm believer in cooperative federalism.”

Continue reading ‘Tamil National Alliance Releases Election Manifesto Emphasising Mahinda Rajapaksas Repeated Assurances to the Indian Govt that it would “implement the 13th Amendment in full and build upon it so as to achieve meaningful devolution”.’ »

By P.K.Balachandran

Sri Lanka’s tiny community of Malays (40,189 as per the 2012 census) had an overwhelmingly dominant position in the island’s military and police in the colonial period, thanks to the trust the Dutch and the British had in this immigrant group in the context of hostility from the indigenous Sinhalese.

But come independence in 1948, political and State patronage shifted wholesale to the majority Sinhalese community which affected the composition of the forces also. Only one Malay, Brig.T.S.B.Sally, rose to the highest position in the army and that too as an Acting Commander. However, the Eelam Wars in the 1980s and 1990s led to an expansion of the army and police, and a handful of Malays came to hold important commands. In the police, three Malays rose to Deputy Inspectors General level.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s tiny community of Malays (40,189 as per the 2012 census) had an overwhelmingly dominant position in the island’s military and police in the colonial period,’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

Sri Lanka’s Civil aviation authority has said it will lead a research project to study the mythological character Ravana’s “aviation routes”.

In a recent newspaper advertisement in Sinhala, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka has sought any relevant documents and literature from the public, asking them to contact an email ID and phone number to research the topic “King Ravana and the ancient domination of aerial routes now lost”.

When contacted, an official at the Authority said the project sought to bring out an authoritative narrative about King Ravana as “there are many stories”.

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority Wants to Officially Research the Aerial Route By Which Mythological Demon King Ravana Brought the Abducted Sita in his “Pushpaka Vimaanam” or “Dandu Monara”’ »

Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne yesterday told the CID that it could investigate and institute legal action against journalist Dharisha Bastians if they are able to find evidence that she had sought to obstruct investigations into the alleged Swiss Embassy abduction case.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate indicated this after lawyers for Bastians clarified to Court that the journalist’s computer had been seized on 10 June. At a previous court date, Attorney at Law Shiraz Noordeen, who represented the journalist, indicated to court that the laptop may have been seized by the CID on 4 June, because the Police had visited the reporter’s private residence on two occasions without a warrant.

Continue reading ‘Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne yesterday Tells CID that it Institute legal action against journalist Dharisha Bastians if they are able to find evidence that she had sought to obstruct investigations’ »

By
S Ratnajeevan H Hoole

We have the police to uphold law and order, and to support democratic institutions. Unfortunately, there are dangerous signs that they, the police, are a tool in the hands of the government in power. It is as sad an indictment as it is ominous to our democracy.

There is ample evidence that criminal activity by those aligned with the government in power have no investigations going on against them. And then, with the change of government, there is sudden interest in such long forgotten cases. We bystanders are never sure if the police cleared the suspects after investigation and the new government suddenly finds evidence as a vendetta, or there was really a crime and the police suppressed investigations and after the change of government a proper investigation is being launched. Such a state of affairs is bad for democracy and an indictment on the police as a political tool.

Continue reading ‘Why Cannot the Police Which Waited fo 15 Months After April 2019 Bombingds Wait Two Weeks More Until Elections Are Over And Summon ACMC Leader Rishad Bathiuddin for an Inquiry?’ »

By Gamini Weerakoon

Higher Education Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena in the current election campaign has been promising to establish so many universities reminiscent of politicians in the past promising to open public toilets in towns where they were addressing political rallies.

We have been unable to keep an accurate count of the promised universities but we can recall promises made to Kalutara, Matara, Badulla (or somewhere in the Uva), Nuwara Eliya, Anuradhapura (or somewhere in the district) and more.

In the initial stage of university education, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) had only one university that produced world class graduates who shone in international academia and fora. Now we have 15 state-run universities but internationally recognised graduates in this country are hard to find.

When Bandula Gunawardena speaks of ‘universities’ we are wondering whether he is speaking of ‘tutories’ of which he is an acknowledged authority having made a name for himself as a tuition master (Tuition Sir) before his entry into politics. Bandula G should know that establishment of a university requires massive investments — land, buildings, equipment and non-academic staff and more importantly, academic staff with doctorates. But the brain-drain is continuing. Graduates, who have been granted scholarships abroad, are reluctant to come back home. Perhaps Viyath Maga thinkers of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa may say that this country has a surfeit of intellectuals and no more are needed.

Continue reading ‘To Sinhala hardliners rallying round the Pohottuwa Party, the mirage of Sinhala immortality remains and Gota is the flag bearer.’ »

By

Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

If Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany and the unfolding multiple crises in the United States teach us anything, it is that a country is lost not by a spectacular turn of the coin in a single event but by a series of challenges to the moral resistance of a people, each one a little deadlier than the last. Silence as the response to the first transgression of an autocrat, an authoritarian is papered over by the reassurance offered to oneself that this is only a small evil. But as the extent of that evil gets bigger and bigger, it finally overcomes everyone and everything in its path.

The slave mentality and the ‘unfree citizen’

Thus too, the human mechanism of coping with evil is not only to ignore its cruelty but also to applaud it wildly. As the Nobel Laureate Boris Pasternak, once driven close to suicide by the Soviet regime’s repression of his critical writings, said when writing on the terrors of the October Revolution, ‘the unfree man always idolises his slavery.’ Nothing changes very much, it seems, regardless of the era, the people or indeed, the country. The devices of propaganda remain the same throughout; repeat a lie enough times and eventually the people will believe it to be the truth.

These are reflections that are not out of order in this nation where the mantra of patriotism, the worship of the ‘Ranaviru’ (warriors) and the myth of the Sinhala Buddhist master race has been hideously warped into an ideology that is the very opposite of what the Gautama Buddha taught. But regardless, the adoring faithful fall for this propaganda as much as hard core supporters of United States President Donald Trump continue to beat his drum even as Americans struck by covid-19 die like flies in a country which boasts the best medical health experts who are routinely ignored. What drives this slave mentality, one can only wonder?

Continue reading ‘The mantra of patriotism, the worship of the ‘Ranaviru’ (warriors) and the myth of the Sinhala Buddhist master race.’ »

By

Victor Ivan

After the Presidential Election, it became evident that there were two centres of power within the ruling party. One power centre was built around President Gotabaya. The other was centred on the President’s brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa

The confusion caused by the COVID-19 epidemic has not yet disappeared. In the circumstances, the Parliamentary Election is compelled to be held amidst a growing threat of a second wave. This situation will act as a factor that might dampen the election fervour and enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the election will serve as a gauge that tests the strength of the ruling party and the Opposition.

The ruling party may win the election. But, if it fails to produce an impressive result, it will have an impact on weakening the strength of the Government. The Government was able to secure 6. 9 million votes in the Presidential Election. How many votes will it be able to secure in this election?

Continue reading ‘Two Rajapaksa Centres of Power in Ruling Party After Presidential Electionsl One is Around Gotabaya and the Other Aroound Mahinda’ »

By

Lucien Rajakarunanayake

We have come to the Manifesto stage of the current election campaign. The Samagi Jana Bala Balavegaya and the UNP have now issued their manifestos, on meeting the challenge of the Podujana Peramuna.

The Manifesto was a declaration of importance in world and local politics in decades gone by. There was the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels in 1848, the October Manifesto by Nicholas II (1905) in an effort to cease the Russian Revolution, the Fascist Manifesto of 1918, Mein Kampf – Hitler’s manifesto in 1925, the Oxford Manifesto in 1947 giving the basic principles of Liberal Internationalism, and many more such political documents in the decades that followed.

This country saw the importance of manifestoes with the rise of the left parties – the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party (CP) and the later breakaways of the Left Movement. The LSSP and CP manifestos did bring out and present new political thinking in the country, which saw important changes such as Free Education, the extension of Free Health, the early nationalizing of the Bus Services and the Port of Colombo, and the pro-socialist political thinking for decades to follow.

The manifestos of today are not the stuff of good politics. The Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and UNP have displayed their party divisions, rather than policies to meet the needs and demands of the people. It is a Premadasa vs Wickremesinghe rivalry rather that a Janatha Sevaya or Service to the People thinking. The Pohottuva has the Gotabhaya Rajapaksa pledges for his election last November, and hardly anything new to meet the current and possible post-Covid situations.

Continue reading ‘We Have Come to the Manifesto Stage of the Election Campaign but the Real need is for a truly new manifesto for progress, honesty and Service; and not the Pipe Dreams of glory for Political families, crooks and catchers.’ »

A group of responsible citizens have come together in a citizen’s collective, ‘Nidahasa,’ to upholding and defending Sri Lanka’s most valuable political legacy and hope – democracy. The movement was launched on 8 July in Colombo ahead of Sri Lanka’s crucial elections scheduled in early August.

At a press briefing held in Colombo on 15 July, the movement stressed the crucial responsibility of the government to safeguard the citizens amidst fears of a second wave of COVID-19, with increasing numbers tested positive within few days across the country.

Continue reading ‘Citizen’s Collective Named “Nidhahasa” (Freedom) launched by Group of Responsible Citizens on 8 July in Colombo ahead of Sri Lanka’s crucial elections scheduled in early August’ »

Former Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Shani Abeysekera, who is under suspension from service, yesterday filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking an order reinstating him to his previous position.

He cited the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Kamal Gunaratne, Acting Inspector General of Police C.D. Wickramaratne, Chairman K.W.E Karalliyadda and other members of the National Police Commission (NPC), and Attorney General Dappula de Livera as Respondents.

Continue reading ‘Former CID Director Shani AbeysekeraSays who was suspended from service for seven months with no formal inquiry so far has filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court seeking an order yo reinstate him to his previous position.’ »

By
Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka

An attitude of arrogant myopia; rejection of the outlook of scientific rationality; regarding intelligence-gathering as sufficient and downgrading scientific medical investigation/data collection/analysis (hence the Sri Jayewardenepura pullout); ignoring the Chief Epidemiologist-led, medical specialist-driven, globally acknowledged best practices constituting the managerial model of successful COVID-19 suppression; brusque contradiction of the warnings of the GMOA; a pandemic decisioning and command-and-control hierarchy in which medical expertise comes second to military/ex-military expertise; a personality cult of absurd exaltation (“world’s best anti-corona leadership”); a “Chosen People” ideology and absolutisation of the regime’s regionally relative success (“come to a corona-free country”); the deification of the military, attributing omniscience and conferring omnipresence (administrative and armed); and frequent executive placement of square pegs in round holes – with the squarest in the roundest – have cumulatively permitted a preventable, pluri-provincial proliferation of COVID-19, with army personnel figuring disproportionately as corona-afflicted/agency in the new wave or round.

Who will be accountable?

Opposition politicians who urge postponement of the election have it more wrong than right though, while the Chairman of the EC has it more right than wrong when he declaims: “Every day without the election is a day without democracy! No election, no democracy! No election equals dictatorship!”

Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is hoping for the rest of the Infinity Stones on 5 August 2020. They will ensure supreme and absolute power. His brothers are on an electoral expedition, assiduously seeking to acquire them for him. Supreme and absolute power will enable GR to redirect the destiny of the island, remoulding it by imposing his vision upon it.

Continue reading ‘Sinhala-Buddhist supremacism/supremacists will weaponise the Presidency and ‘Palestinianise’ the Tamils and Muslims who will have neither autonomy at the periphery nor equal, non-discriminatory citizenship in practice.’ »

By

Austin Fernando

With the General Election campaign warming up, reference is made to the 19th Amendment (19A) in positive and negative forms. The positive form was highlighted recently by the civil society actors, supporting the 19A. The negativity of the 19A is highlighted mostly by Government politicians led by the Prime Minister (PM). The demand made by the former is to refrain from giving a two-thirds lead to the Government to nastily meddle with the 19A. The latter demands a two-thirds lead to abolish the 19A.

What is so wrong with 19A to abolish it? A simple answer from an anti-19A exponent is ‘because it reduced the much-required executive power, especially for the President’. A 19A supporter would say ‘because abolishing is demanded by persons who want politicisation of institutions, which is detrimental to administration and democracy’.

If the incumbent President and PM win the forthcoming General Election, certainly they will, as openly admitted, attempt to erase the 19A for several reasons. Is it because they are disinterested in depoliticising? Usually, they are interested to depoliticise when in Opposition; when in power they politicise everything. Humorously, the day when the 19A is abolished there will be parliamentarians who voted for 19A in 2015 to depoliticise, raising their hands to abolish it now, to politicise. Similarly, some raised their hands for 19A intending depolarisation, who earlier raised their hands for 18A to politicise. One common factor in both is they did and do so in the name of “strengthening the hands of the Executive”. This is sham and shameless politics in Sri Lanka!

Continue reading ‘Though Mahinda Rajapaksa Says He is for Abolishing the 19 A , Will The PM Opt to Get His Wings Clipped by Doing So Or Prefer to Enjoy Full Prime Ministerial Powers Granted Under 19 A?’ »

It is astonishing how rapidly the pandemic has spread, despite all the efforts to stop it. On February 1st, the day covid-19 first appeared on our front cover, the World Health Organisation counted 2,115 new cases. On June 28th its daily tally reached 190,000. That day as many new cases were notched up every 90 minutes as had been recorded in total by February 1st.

The world is not experiencing a second wave: it never got over the first. Some 10m people are known to have been infected. Pretty much everywhere has registered cases (Turkmenistan and North Korea have not, though, like Antarctica).

For every country such as China, Taiwan and Vietnam, which seems to be able to contain the virus, there are more, in Latin America and South Asia, where it is raging.

Others, including the United States, are at risk of losing control or, in much of Africa, in the early phase of their epidemic. Europe is somewhere in between.

Continue reading ‘Covid-19 is here to stay. People will have to adapt. The world is not experiencing a second wave: it never got over the first -The Economist’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

With the campaign for Sri Lanka’s August general election heating up, India and its role in resolving the lingering national question have begun figuring prominently in the election discourse, especially in the Tamil-majority north and east.

Addressing a recent public meeting, the Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) former parliamentarian S. Shritharan said: “India is watching us closely, pointing to inadequacies in our campaign, they tell us you should be a formidable force, and work with hill-country Tamil leaders, only then we [India] will be able to pressure Sri Lanka.”

To be such a “force”, the TNA needs to garner at least 20 seats, he said. His remark comes at a time when the alliance is grappling with visible tensions within. India has not commented on Sri Lanka’s general election.

Continue reading ‘Tamil National Alliance Leader R.Sampanthan Tells Tamil media that the International Community and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are “Standing Behind Us”’ »

By

Prof. Tissa Vitarana

President Gotabhaya Rajapakse had requested the Cabinet of Ministers to submit their opinions on the Prof.Lalithasiri Gunaruwan Report on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement with the USA. This has now been extended for a further two weeks. Though not a Cabinet Minister, but as the leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which is a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Podujana Alliance (SLFPA), I wish to express the opinion of the LSSP on this controversial proposal.

The LSSP views the MCC agreement, and the two other related agreements (ACSA & SOFA), as totally opposed to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and that the SLFPA Government should not sign any of them if it wishes to safeguard the real interest of Sri Lanka and its people.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had correctly opposed the MCC agreement while in the Opposition as it would divide the country and have other ill effects.

Accordingly the President had appointed the Gunaruwan Committee to submit a report. In this Report the Committee has pointed out the dangers of the MCC agreement to our sovereignty and territorial integrity and that it violates our Constitution and Laws. It also mentions the fact that the American company that would be preparing the digital register of all land holdings in the North and other areas would be able to get possession of a huge extent of land for foreign exploitation. The entire profits could be sent abroad. The Gunaruwan Committee is to be congratulated for producing a factual and comprehensive document which highlights the dangers to the country.

The passing reference in the Committee Report to the fact that they had come across some references to USD 10 million in some documents which needed to be looked into, was pounced upon by the US Embassy in Sri Lanka and by the USA’s political agent in Sri Lanka, UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, to be used as a red herring to discredit the report. Whether this sum was paid or received in advance is irrelevant to the charges made by the Gunaruwan Report, which nevertheless retains it validity. There are several countries that have suffered badly as a result of MCC agreements. Some of these are also mentioned in the Gunaruwan Committee Report.

Continue reading ‘Lanka Sama Samaja Party Strongly Opposes The MCC, ACSA and SOFA Agreements With the USA’ »

By

Meera Srinivasan

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka is “closely monitoring” the situation following a recent spike in coronavirus cases, and “hopes and prays” that the general election — that was postponed earlier — could be conducted on August 5 as scheduled, its Chairman said.

Postal voting for the island nation’s parliamentary election began on Monday — with some 700,000 officials eligible to vote — amid heightened security, after health authorities reported a spike in COVID-19 cases on Friday.

Continue reading ‘Recent Spike in Coronavirus Cases in Sri Lanka Makes Election Commission “hope and pray” that the general election could be conducted on August 5 as scheduled Says its Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya’ »

By

Kishali Pinto Jayawardene

From a photojournalist being frogmarched by a suspect cop implicated in Sri Lanka’s 2012 Welikada prison massacre in the very premises of the High Court this Friday as aghast bystanders scuttled out of the way to lawyers being obstructed by members of the Special Task Force (STF) from conducting confidential consultations with their clients when visiting prisons, the signs are becoming quite unmistakable.

A perfect storm of the law being mocked at

This is a return of the big, bad wolf with a hideously familiar politico-police-military nexus, perhaps with more ferocity than before in this Covid induced nightmare. Add to this, the phenomenon of lawyers being arrested without reasons being given and we have the perfect storm of the Law and the Constitution being rendered a palpable mockery. For those less acquainted with the tortuous details of our impunity culture, it must be said that the Welikada prison massacre was no ordinary case. Indeed, this was more grisly than other killings given its occurrence within the walls of a state institution mandated to protect its inhabitants.

As the testimony of witnesses revealed in the High Court trial last year, following studied silence for eight years, the arrival of seven hundred and ninety eight STF and army commandos with automatic weapons, ostensibly on orders ‘from above’, at the Welikada Prisons on November 9, 2012 to ‘clean’ it of ‘undesirables’ soon intensified into a cold-blooded massacre of 27 prisoners. Gruesome accounts of how the killings took place, how teargas was flung into padlocked cells and how prison officials hid in horror, unable to stop the massacre, were recorded during the trial. Some officers testified that even now, they could hear the screams of the murdered echoing in their ears.

Continue reading ‘No Action Taken Against Suspect Policeman Implicated in Welikade Prison Massacre of 2012 Who Frogmarched Photo Journalist Within High Court Premises’ »

By

Prof. S.Ratnajeevan H.Hoole

(The writer is a member of the Elections Commission. The opinion expressed is his own and not necessarily reflective of the Commission)

Elections are soon due in the Syrian Arab Republic, Sri Lanka, Belarus, Montenegro, Iran and New Zealand.

From responses solicited by ACE, the Electoral Knowledge Network (with several heavy-weight affiliates like the UNDP, IFES, etc.), most of the experts are in agreement that the military in an electoral process should be used sparingly; limited to security issues and not interfere in the electoral process. It is also important that voters and other stakeholders have sufficient trust in the military if their role is to be seen as legitimate.

Several experts also stress that where the military is employed in an electoral process, it is imperative that it falls under the command of the electoral management body (EMB). The example of the 2006 Venezuelan presidential election is given as one where there was friction over the chain of command and soldiers did not always follow civilian orders as they should have.

Although the military was used extensively in the 1994 South African elections, no norms for its use were established by the Independent Electoral Commission. One practitioner sees the Bangladeshi military’s leading role in a massive voter registration effort as justified because of its unparalleled logistical capacity and good reputation.

Writing of ‘Election as Warfare: Militarization of Elections and Nigeria’, Dr. Azeez Olaniyan and Olumuyiwa Babatunde Amao of Ekiti State University and University of Otago, respectively, have an important paper in International Affairs Forum (Spring 2015). They state that one major issue emerging from the governorship elections conducted in the Ekiti and Osun States of Nigeria is the presence of heavy security forces during their conduct.

Continue reading ‘Being a military man, our new President inducted the military even for traffic regulation in Colombo. Many unthinkingly found it praiseworthy little realising the doors they were thereby opening widely to the detriment of our democracy.’ »

By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham

Many of Sri Lanka’s Leftist leaders began their political life in the early part of the last century with the laudable intention of bringing about radical changes in the politics of the country. But within two decades, they had become prisoners of the very past they were trying to break out of.

The lure of power and privilege that came with ministerial and other high level positions in government made them embrace the politics of class compromise and collaboration.

Their reliance on opportunistic shortcuts in the name of “tactics” to attract votes in parliamentary elections had severely damaged the integrity and the future of the Left movement in Sri Lanka.

However, there were a few exceptional leaders on the Left who never succumbed to opportunistic tendencies. Among them was Nagalingam Sanmugathasan, one of the leaders of the country´s communist movement, popularly known as ´Shan´. His birth centenary fell on July 3, 2020.

Continue reading ‘Remembering Nagalingam Sanmugathasan, Sri Lanka’s first and only hardline communist’ »

By

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

Quite recently in a town in Germany—significantly in what used to be West Germany, not formerly communist-run East Germany—a statue of Lenin was erected after a court battle, and made world news. Having been a bit of a Lenin buff myself it reminded me of a Lenin quote which ran “…one crucial event, one critical lesson of the past few weeks…was like a flash of lightning which threw more of a glare upon reality than anything else.” (27 March 1921)

That is a perfect definition of the ‘fake news’ of match-fixing and the questioning of Kumar Sangakkara for nine to 10 hours.

Two cricketing greats were questioned during that week. One, Aravinda de Silva, who was named by Wisden as the World’s Greatest Batsman at a certain point in time. He was questioned for six hours. The other is of course Kumar Sangakkara, whose distinctive contribution to cricket made him the first-ever non-British citizen, and I might add, non-white, to be elected the President of the venerable MCC. (Very few Sri Lankans have broken such glass ceilings—Prof. A.J. Fernando, my maternal uncle, elected the first-ever non-white President of the World Confederation of Physiotherapists, was one).

Sangakkara is the world’s most popular and respected Sri Lankan. He is also someone most of us Sri Lankans are proud of, and that’s one of the few things we can agree upon.

Continue reading ‘Why Couldn’t the President or Prime Minister Intervene and Stop the Nonsense of Kumar Sangakkara Being Grilled For 9 to 10 Hours By the Police Over an Unsubstantiated Complaint by a Minister?’ »

By

Neil Perera

(former Honorary Secretary BCCSL and Manager of several Sri Lanka Cricket teams)

The outburst of Mahindananda Aluthgamage, about alleged match fixing in the 2011 Cricket World Cup final, has received wide publicity in the sporting world, so much so that an article has appeared in a newspaper of a relatively unknown cricket playing country, Kenya. An extract of a news item that appeared in one of the Kenyan newspapers, reads as follows: “Headline – Sangakkara grilled in World Cup probe” – “Sri lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara was questioned for nearly 10 hours by detectives probing explosive allegations that the 2011 World Cup Final was fixed under his captaincy. Sangakkara, 42, was called into the Police Special Investigating Unit examining the conduct of the Final, which Sri Lanka lost to India in Mumbai.”

“I came here to give a statement because of my responsibility to the game and respect for cricket,” Sangakkara said after his questioning by the detectives. “I hope that at the end of this investigation the truth about the allegations, made by former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, will come out”.

Continue reading ‘President Rajapaksa must get Mahindananda Aluthgamage to apologise in his presence to at least the three senior cricketers, Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara for the damage Caused by this Shameless Politician’ »

By

Arjuna Ranawana

A Nationalist organisation is saying that if President Gotabaya Rajapaksa signs the controversial Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) he will “be committing political suicide.”

Addressing a press conference in Colombo, on Tuesday, July 7, the General Secretary of the Patriotic National Movement Dr Wasantha Bandara said it is clear the President will not enter into this agreement.

The press conference held in Colombo was organized by the Federation of National Organisations, of which Bandara is a member.

Bandara told EconomyNext today July 8 that the committee the President appointed to review the United States funded MCC agreement comprised people who vocally opposed the deal when the former government was moving towards signing up.

He said Professor Lalithasiri Gunaruwan who headed the committee reported correctly about the agreement that it violates the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Continue reading ‘“If President Rajapaksa signs the MCC agreement he will commit political suicide” – Federation of National Organisations’ »