8th Jan: Eelam Tamils Make A Choice Take A Stand
By C P Thiagarajah -December 30, 2014
Dr C P Thiagarajah
Uthayan newspaper reported that Mannar Catholic Bishop Rev Rayappu Joseph in his Christmas night mass had stated that what the country needed was a President who would be sympathetic or supportive of the political aspirations of the Tamils. We could infer from this sermon that a Tamil cannot be a president in the near future and that Tamils have to depend on the good sympathies of a Sinhala president. With all my 30 years government service in Sinhala areas I have my serious doubts that such a Sinhala president will ever be found for another fifty years. The two main contestants in the forth-coming election in Jan 2015 are unsympathetic to Tamil problems and any solutions. Their manifesto simply exposes this fact. The manifesto are Sinhala/Buddhist centric. They are fighting for family dominations and wealth creation for the Sinhalese only.
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Now that the shine is coming off the so-called opposition, we must credit the father of the common candidate proposal himself, Kumar David, who was first in line to call Maithri a ‘renegade’ and all that. Can he and others make use of this belated wisdom to argue the case for something new – a proposal for the building of a new mass alternative? Maithri never even pretended to be in the camp of those who want real change. So it’s pointless to call him names now. He lives up to what he is – a loyal servant of Sinhala nationalism and a brutal face for capitalism. This is in fact one of the main faults of the proposal itself. None of these candidates can be trusted to deliver on our behalf which we pointed out time and time again.
Strike While The Regime Is Weak
By TU Senan –December 30, 2014
TU Senan
If Sri Lanka’s next president were to be decided purely on the basis of electoral arithmetic, then Mahinda is a goner – as the excellent article byKusal Perera (How will the SL electorate behave?) outlined. But events cannot always be relied upon to follow an expected route. Among many other factors, the organisational strength of the masses can be a vital factor in determining an outcome that will be in service to the masses. Unfortunately in Sri Lanka no mass organisation has participated in the process. It is for this reason that we argued against all the would-be illusionists who wanted to paint a picture of a common opposition crushing the monster with one blow to the executive presidency.
Now that the shine is coming off the so-called opposition, we must credit the father of the common candidate proposal himself, Kumar David, who was first in line to call Maithri a ‘renegade’ and all that. Can he and others make use of this belated wisdom to argue the case for something new – a proposal for the building of a new mass alternative? Maithri never even pretended to be in the camp of those who want real change. So it’s pointless to call him names now. He lives up to what he is – a loyal servant of Sinhala nationalism and a brutal face for capitalism. This is in fact one of the main faults of the proposal itself. None of these candidates can be trusted to deliver on our behalf which we pointed out time and time again.