Saturday, March 31, 2018

120th birth anniversary of Thanthai Chelva marked in Mannar

31Mar 2018

The 120th birth anniversary of S J V Chelvanayakam was marked at his memorial statue in Mannar today.

Fondly referred to as Thanthai (father) Chelva, he is remembered across the Tamil nation for spear heading the Vaddukoddai resolution which remains a cornerstone of the Tamil movement for self-determination in Sri Lanka.

Tackling On-Line Hate Imperative: But Banning Social Media Counter-Productive!

By Mohamed Harees –MARCH 31, 2018

Lukman Harees

The role of social media has surfaced and often criticised in national discourses, especially in the Post war period when a vicious wave of anti-Muslim hate and animosity, began to blow across the length and breadth of Sri Lanka, on the heels of the end to a bloody 30 years of an ethnic war waged against the State by the ruthless Tigers. This discourse became sharper, especially during Aluthgama communal violence in the latter phase of MR’s tenure of office and also during the more recent Ampara/Diganaspate of anti-Muslim violence, for a mixed bag of reasons-both good and bad.

Ironically, Aluthgama mini-1983 style Anti-Muslim violence in 2014 was the culmination of a well-orchestrated hate campaign carried out by extremist hate groups whose patron saints were in the higher echelons of the MR government. Although the scale and violence during 1983’s anti- Tamil pogrom was by no means an equal comparison, the Muslim community in Aluthgama and even beyond, in 2014 felt the same way how the Tamil community then felt, and arguably still feel today close to four decades later. Similar sentiments were reportedly echoed in a documentary titled Demons in Paradise”, directed by Jude Ratnam mostly reflecting on Tamil militancy during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Thus, after many such similar spate of hate attacks from Gintota to Digana, even under this government which came to power to set the climate right, an unbeatable sense of fear and insecurity overwhelms Muslims in particular and minority communities in general, not knowing when they will next be targeted by the hate groups or attacked. People of all communities feel that this is no way to live and no way to reconcile. Yet, with the escalation of hate speech especially anti-Muslim hate, in the public domain(+social media) and resultant hate attacks, with a laid back Government in denial, the signs are clear that such hate peddling is moving from being a fringe activity to mainstream. It will therefore be relevant to review the role of social media in this context. Firstly, in order to initially look into its’ beneficial role , how both the government as well as the mainstream media acted for example, during the Aluthgama violence, to keep away the relevant details from the country and the international community, would prove useful.

It should be recalled Ven Gnanasara of BBS, in an inflammatory speech in Aluthgama when previously a tense situation had arisen, hit out at the Muslim community as well as the government for ‘betraying’ the Sinhalese people.He was heard speaking at the gathering adding that that both the government and minorities need to remember that the country had still a Sinhala police and a Sinhala army – statements that gave way to cheers from the assembled crowds. This fiery speech undoubtedly acted as a catalyst to these well-planned attacks (or ‘Aba Saranai’) to many Muslim areas in and around Aluthgama. An unofficial ‘news blackout’ was imposed by the government on mainstream media with regard to reporting on the anti-Muslim violence that erupted in the area. Highly placed officials informed editors of news and print media in Sri Lanka to desist from reporting the ground situation prevailing in Aluthgama, Instead, the media were told to only inform the public about the curfew imposed due to a “tense situation”. Even a blanket media blackout was ordered on the meeting that was held between Muslim organisations and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was widely considered as having given patronage to BBS.

Mainstream newspapers thus falling line with the government’s desire to hide the truth, refused to fully report on the Aluthgama reports, giving it very little prominence , citing reasons ‘born of a desire to refrain from inflaming communal tensions further in the light of the incidents’. The editorial of the State newspaper, Ceylon Daily News (CDN), on 17 June 2014, downplayed the incident by claiming it was ‘isolated’ and was being exaggerated. Keheliya Rambukwella, the then Minister of Mass Communication and Information made a statement that was carried in the CDN directing the media to ‘act with responsibility’, also insinuating that the incident was being sensationalised. Colombo Telegraph reported that CDN built a conspiracy theory around the violence that erupted in the area, blaming a ‘foreign hand’ for orchestrating the anti-Muslim violence. Daily News then Editor Rajpal Abeynayake, also drew comparisons between the violence that erupted in Aluthgama and Beruwala and the covert operations carried out by the US to create a regime change in Cuba. He also heavily criticized social media users who updated the ground situation in Aluthgama and Beruwala in the wake of the clashes that Sunday onwards, describing them as ‘social media vultures’ while accusing them of carrying out a ‘vicious misinformation campaign’ while commending the mainstream media for ‘sensibly releasing the news through a filter’.

Privately owned newspapers such as the Island and the Daily Mirror too presented very little information on the incident. In fact, the Island’s editorial on 16 June 2014 insinuated that the blame lay with the Muslim community, as it claimed that participants at the BBS ally were attacked first. The Daily Mirror newspaper edited by Champika Liyanarachchi also failed to report on the violence for over five days and then thought it fit to publish a series of pictures in its newspaper of Sinhala homes that had been damaged in the violence while Minister Champika Ranawaka was on a visit to a Sinhala settlement in the Dharga Town area in its weekend edition. The report came under the title US creating another Taliban in Sri Lanka – words of Champika who claimed the US was not taking a stronger stance on Muslim extremists operating in Sri Lanka. Journalists of the newspaper told Colombo Telegraph; ‘It was a grave miscarriage of justice to fail to report on the fate of Muslims while attempting to portray the victimisation of the Sinhala community alone. It has exposed our prejudice. We are standing for aggressors of minorities we will stand up for the majority community but never ever for the minorities. “We could have balanced it and written about it but we just stayed silent”. Thus, the mainstream media’s version of events ultimately began to resemble quite closely the government’s official version. The online journals like Colombo Telegraph and Ground-views in contrast, played a constructive role.

It was to the credit of the social media which then emerged as an alternative channel of information. Independent journalists were instrumental in reporting—in real time—the events in Aluthgama , and were freely sharing information and updates to produce raw and unedited version of events as they unfolded using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The extraordinary controls that the government exercised over the mainstream media did not appear to extend to social media. Such information was thus ultimately instrumental in generating public awareness of the Aluthgama riots both within the country and beyond as well. This intervention was called for, as the Defence Ministry even instructed all civil society organisations to refrain from holding press conferences, workshops and training for journalists. Workshops on investigative journalism organised by Transparency International Sri Lanka were subsequently called off following protests and disruptions by organised mobs. Although the Defence Ministry’s letter did not possess the force of law, it intimidated organisations and even appeared to endorse the disruption of civil society events. The Defence Secretary observed: ‘The final threat to Sri Lanka’s national security is the emergence of new technology-driven media, including social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and other websites…..Those with vested interests can exploit social media, causing problems in Sri Lanka or any other country, by circulating certain ideologies online and mobilizing and organizing people. This can be done with a minimal physical presence, and therefore constitutes a threat that is difficult to contain through the traditional tools of national defence’. The timing and terminology of the defence establishment’s campaign thus had obvious links to its anxiety over how independent journalists reported on the Aluthgama riots.

It is relevant to mention that it was also the social media platforms which were instrumental in advancing Maithripala Sirisena’s campaign, framed as a campaign for good governance to promote national reconciliation and a clean administration, which led to the remarkable regime change in 2015, due to MR’s government’s inaction and collusion with respect to religious violence in the post-war era. Social media was thus able to successfully counter -balance state control over the mainstream media as well as help in fighting a corrupt and racist regime. It is also perhaps the only unrestricted channel through which state -sponsored religious attacks can be documented and reported on to inform the public of ongoing attacks and prompt resistance. Moreover, social media platforms were crucial to ‘counter-messaging’, which helped defuse the build up of hate speech in the public domain to a certain extent, although insignificant in the face of organized hate. Thus, the positive power of social media cannot be overemphasized in today’s digital age particularly in the context of tackling hate in a society.

The Majority Must Commit itself to unite all Citizens

Dr A.C.Visvalingam-March 31, 2018, 8:21 pm

Of the innumerable ingredients that adversely influence Sri Lanka’s efforts to achieve its full potential as a flourishing, progressive, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society, the most destructive is undoubtedly the desire of "Sinhala" Buddhists to be, and to remain, the pre-eminent group in Sri Lankan society and to relegate the rest to a lower status. The violence that is resorted to from time to time by extremist groups to assert this dominance is very damaging when it is not dealt with impartially and efficiently by recourse to existing laws and an independent Police. The negative social and economic fall-out from these barbarous outbreaks, coupled with the harm done to Sri Lanka’s international image as a tourist destination and investment target, is incalculable. Blind religious and cultural indoctrination from early childhood onwards, followed by separatist educational streaming on the basis of language, is the fuel that feeds the ethnic, religious and cultural clashes that began to grow from the mid-1950s up to 1983 and have begun to pick up once again since 2009. It is up to "Sinhala" Buddhists, as the majority, not to alienate other groups but to take the initiative in drawing them together to work as the children of one Motherland.

The four criminally stupid Muslims who fatally assaulted a Sinhalese lorry driver a couple of weeks ago were taken into police custody and were expected to be charged with murder. Unfortunately, the death of this driver proved to be a welcome development for a few extremist "Sinhala" Buddhist groups that have been spewing out increasingly vicious anti-Muslim propaganda since 2009. These groups have been growing bolder with the overt and covert support of certain politicians, religious figures and others. They had been waiting impatiently for an excuse like this incident to put into action the plans that they had been refining assiduously after having carried out the Aluthgama attacks a few years earlier.

The attackers in the Ampara and Kandy Districts recently had mostly been outsiders. Moreover, a large number of Police and Special Task Force (STF) officers have been widely reported to have encouraged, supported and participated in these atrocities, and had even been seen laughing at the plight of the victims. This type of behaviour is by no means a recent phenomenon. The non-performance of their obligatory duties by the Police, mostly "Sinhala" Buddhists, began to gather momentum slowly but steadily from as far back as 1956 when some Tamil politicians were manhandled and thrown bodily into the Beira Lake because they sought to carry out a non-violent "satyagraha" outside the old Parliament.

It would be prudent to re-visit the concept of "race" before going any further.

Dr E.W.Adikaram has explained forcefully that there can be no race that can properly be called Sinhala or Tamil or Moor or anything else. CIMOGG went a little further a few years ago and explained that, scientifically, the origin of all human beings can be traced back, by DNA tracking, to a single woman from a small tribe in East Africa. In short, all human beings on this planet are related by blood through one common ancestor and cannot sensibly claim to belong to a particular (imaginary) race. Indirectly confirming Dr Adikaram’s position in the local context, a highly-vocal, leading "Sinhala" Buddhist academic revealed in a newspaper interview some months ago that his ancestors had come to Sri Lanka from central India in or about the 12th century and that they had only subsequently metamorphosed into "Sinhala" Buddhists.

How is it that Vijaya and his followers, who were of North Indian origin, spoke some Indian language and married brides imported from South India, have come to be considered as the founders of the "Sinhala" race? When did they become "Sinhala"? Was it by learning to speak whatever form of the Sinhala language was extant in Sri Lanka at that time? If, on the other hand, only those who are the direct descendants of the alleged union of a lion and a human princess are to be considered to be genuinely "Sinhala", surely it is only Vijaya himself and his direct descendants who could be classified as such? How many self-styled "Sinhala" citizens would be able to trace their direct genealogical connection to Vijaya? Our confident guess is that there are no such individuals. In the circumstances, it seems to us that the most practical way of defining a Sinhalese would be to say that it is someone whose mother tongue is Sinhala.

Especially over the past century, contrary to the implications of the analysis given above, the "Sinhala" Buddhist priesthood, politicians, teachers, writers and elders of "Sinhala" Buddhists have carried out years of inculcating their self-centred beliefs in homes, schools, daham paasalas, temples and elsewhere. The children of "Sinhala" Buddhists have been taught that it is they who are the original and legitimate owners of Sri Lanka and all its resources. Consequently, even the most liberal and generous "Sinhala" Buddhists believe openly or subconsciously that they have a superior claim on Sri Lanka despite sincerely fighting for democracy, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, equality and so on for every citizen.

Politicians, Buddhist priests and many other categories of citizens revel in referring to Sri Lanka as a "Sinhala Bauddha Rata", which means that others who are not "Sinhala" Buddhists do not have the same intrinsic right to be termed "Sri Lankans". Most of them also refer to the Sinhalese as the "Maha Jaathiya" ("great race"). Even President Maithripala often refers to this country as a "Sinhala" Bauddha Rata, ignoring ungratefully the "Sri Lankanness" of more than half of those who voted for him.

Thanks to the opportunistic chauvinism of our politicians, the majority of whom are "Sinhala" Buddhists, no policies have been adopted so far that would, by their inclusive nature, induce the minorities to work with total commitment with the majority for the common good.

Gautama Buddha has, inter alia, preached metta, karuna and non-attachment to worldly things. Why parents, teachers, religious instructors, priests and politicians cannot appreciate these teachings and impart the right values to children as they grow up is a matter for the greatest sadness. The vociferous attachment of the "Sinhala" people to "their" Sri Lanka is no more rational than the attachment that they have to their personal material possessions.

The push to strengthen "Sinhala" Buddhist claims of priority at the expense of all the other communities in Sri Lanka has had other negative consequences. The declaration of Sinhala as the state language led to the abandonment of English, which could have served not only as a link language but also as an efficient tool to keep up with the better developed countries. Most deplorably, educational policies were allowed to develop in such a manner that children of the different ethnicities are not able to interact on a daily basis so as to help forge a common Sri Lankan identity for all of them. Sri Lankans of the different language, cultural and religious backgrounds now have very little occasion to mix socially. The resulting paucity of social intercourse between the different peoples of this country has already done untold harm and will continue to destroy whatever sense of a common Sri Lankan identity that we have been able to preserve to date.

Apart from this, the reality is that violent hate speech attracts and holds audiences better than any sober expositions on the equality of all citizens, human rights and so on. It is no secret that there are a few highly popular "hate" speakers who are invariably given a special place on political platforms because they are guaranteed "crowd-pullers". These individuals, mostly "Sinhala" Buddhists and other extremists, are given top publicity by the media whereas whatever peace-loving citizens have to say gets drowned instantly.

Lest readers get the idea that CIMOGG is placing all the blame for ethnic violence on "Sinhala" Buddhists, we should like to state that, in this article, the concentration on the "Sinhala" Buddhists is to emphasize the fact that it is they, being the numerical majority, whose actions are of far more importance than those of any of the minority groups. The principal responsibility for uniting all the peoples of Sri Lanka is unquestionably in the hands of the "Sinhala" Buddhists. If they succeed in uniting everyone to work for the advancement of Sri Lanka, by treating everyone equally, it would be a 100% effective effort. If, on the other hand, the 30% minority have to spend their time trying to defend themselves against discrimination and violence, Sri Lanka would be working at a maximum of 70% efficiency or probably very much less.

(The writer is president of CIMOGG, Citizens’ Movement for Good Governance)

www.cimogg-srilanka.org

acvisva@gmail.com

Constitutional expert says NCM is against the entire government, not only against the PM

Sat, Mar 31, 2018, 12:05 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Mar 31, Colombo: Constitutional expert and Member of Parliament Dr. Jayampathi Wickramaratne says that the no-confidence motion (NCM) presented by the Joint Opposition (JO) is not only against the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe but targeting the whole government.

He pointed out that according to the Constitution, the head of the government is the President.

Speaking to Rupavahini English Service Dr. Wickramaratne said the no-confidence motion presented to parliament by the Joint Opposition is not only against the Prime Minister but it was also against the whole government.

Quoting the last paragraph of the NCM, which says that the "parliament resolves that there is no confidence in the Ranil Wickremesinghe's ability to function as Prime Minister and as a minister of the cabinet as well as the government in which he holds office of Prime Minister any longer," Dr. Wickramaratne said the NCM is against the entire government.

Under Article 30 of the Constitution, the Head of the Government is the President, and the President is the Head of the State, head of the Executive and also the chairman of the cabinet of Ministers, he pointed out.

The parliamentarian reiterated that the NCM is not only against the Prime Minister but against the entire government, the cabinet of ministers and the President.

Did Maithri-Ranil meeting actually take place?

02:00 AM APR 01 2018

With the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe all set to be debated in Parliament on Wednesday (4) media reported that the Government has decided to beef up security in and around Parliament.

According to reports, even the MPs will be frisked thoroughly on the day of the no-faith motion as part of the strict security measures put in place for the occasion.

A senior Police source added that the Special Task Force and the Riot Police will also be deployed near Parliament in an effort to thwart any untoward incident taking place on the day of the debate.

According to sources, the division by name will be called at the time of the vote.

Meanwhile, stating that they will vote in favour of the no-confidence motion moved by the Joint Opposition against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the Unity Government have demanded Premier Wickremesinghe’s resignation.

Brushing aside concerns expressed by the Tamil National Alliance, Muslim political parties and various other interested groups that the no-confidence motion was moved in order to destroy the consensus Government, SLFP Ministers said: “The motion is not against the Government. It is against the behaviour of the Prime Minister.

It is the Prime Minister who is intentionally behaving in a manner which causes disruption of the continuity of good governance and this Unity Government.

We in the Government, the United National Front, other parties in the Government, and the public, primarily the latter, have clearly expressed displeasure about his behaviour. If he still plans to continue despite all odds, it will only jeopardize the stability of the Government.”

Addressing the media at the SLFP Headquarters in Colombo, the SLFP Ministers also said that they could appoint a new Prime Minister, from the United National Party, the SLFP or any other party in the Unity Government.

They are scheduled to further solidify their stance at a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena on 2 April.

Minister Premajayantha added that the public’s vote as demonstrated at the recent Local Government elections was proof that the public was in favour of the motion.
This was said with reference to the total percentage of votes garnered by the SLFP, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

“The total percentage of the votes garnered by the SLPP, the SLFP and the JVP reflects 65 per cent of the public opinion. If these parties support the motion, I think we can assume that the public is in favour of the motion,” he emphasized.

Moreover, Premajayantha also spoke of misinformation that has been spreading with regard to the Speaker heading the Government in the event the motion is passed.

“Article 48 (1) of the Constitution clearly states that if the Prime Minister ceases to hold office, the President may appoint a Minister to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions of the Prime Minister. Therefore, all of this talk that the Speaker will be talking charge is false,” he added.

He further declared that they had no option but to vote in favour of the motion as it included 13 of the points mentioned in the SLFP’s Committee Report on the Central Bank Treasury Bonds scam.

SLFP Media Spokesman, State Minister Dilan Perera added that if Wickremesinghe was to however resign prior to 4 April, which is when the debate and vote on the motion is to be taken up, the Unity Government would continue to prevail.

Furthermore, Perera said that there was no mandatory requirement to obtain 113 votes for the motion to be passed, adding that the votes from the majority of the Members of Parliament who attend on that day would be sufficient.

The only option to prevent the removal of the Prime Minister on a no-confidence motion and protect the Yahapalana Government was for Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to step down before 4 April, he added.

He said the UPFA, SLFP and the UNP wanted to protect the Government and continue till 2020 but the only roadblock was the Prime Minister and therefore he should resign from the post and save himself, President Maithripala Sirisena, the Government and the country from embarrassment and indignity.

The State Minister told a media conference no one wants an election or to topple the Government but for more than two and half years the SLFP did its best to minimize the damage caused by the Bonds scam to the economy, country and to good governance but the PM blocked them all.

“The constituent partners of good governance like the TNA, the SLMC, the ACMC, the National Union of Workers and the Democratic People’s Front must vote for the motion if they want to save the government,” the State Minister said.
“We wanted political and legal measures against perpetrators of the Bonds scam and the damages recovered. Nothing happened. Then we proposed to the President to appoint a committee and the result was an 11-Member Committee headed by Minister Nimal Siriripala De Silva. We submitted a report after a thorough inquiry of the Bonds scandal.
Most of the allegations in the motion against the Prime Minister were based on the findings of this report. Legal and political remedial measures on the Bonds scandal have started now.”

Meanwhile, the SLFP denied media reports that President Sirisena met Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on Thursday (29) and pledged support to the latter.

Speaking to media at the Party Headquarters, State Minister of Public Enterprise Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said that such reports were completely false, adding that even the website that had published the news had since taken it out.
“There was no such agreement.”

Minister Premajayantha added that these reports were being spread to dissuade those who will vote in favour of the no-confidence motion brought by the Joint Opposition against Wickremesinghe.

This came out following reports that President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe having a lengthy discussion on the political developments on Thursday night.

The meeting has taken place at Minister Rajitha Senaratne’s residence in Colombo. The meeting had lasted four hours, past midnight, according to UNP sources.

The duo had discussed about the no-confidence motion brought against the Prime Minister and on how they could continue the Unity Government after 4 April, 2018.

The UNP sources also leaked information as to how Minister Senaratne’s wife Sujatha Senaratne served Prime Minister Wickremesinghe his favourite special coffee brand imported from Brazil several times during the meeting which went past mid-night.
This development comes despite statements made by some SLFPers including Minister S. B Dissanayake that it is difficult for the party to oppose the no-faith motion while some UNPers have expressed concern, about the conduct of Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala, during the past few days.

It is in the midst of this that United National Front (UNF) MPs have decided to stage a walk out on 4 April, if Deputy Speaker Sumathipala takes the Chair when the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is taken up for debate and vote.

Leader of the House, Minister Lakshman Kiriella said that UNF MPs had informed him that they would stage a walkout as a show of opposition to Sumathipala, who they claim was conducting himself in a manner unbefitting of someone holding the office of the Deputy Speaker.

Kiriella added that the MPs had requested him to take steps to ensure that Sumathipala does not take the Chair.

According to Kiriella, it had been clearly shown at the party leaders meeting that Sumathipala had at a press conference held at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headquarters along with Minister S.B. Dissanayake, criticized Wickremesinghe in a fashion unsuitable to the office he held.

Kiriella further said that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had also approved of the facts presented by him regarding Sumathipala’s behaviour.

The United National Party (UNP) Working Committee (WC) on Thursday (29) unanimously passed a resolution to back Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and defeat the no-confidence motion.

Speaking to the media after the WC meeting, UNP Deputy Secretary and Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said that if a UNP Parliamentarian voted in favour of the motion by any chance, that person would be expelled from the Party.

“Disciplinary action will be taken against those if someone from the UNP does not attend the debate. But, I can say with confidence that all the UNP MPs will participate in the debate.
Those who previously said that they would vote in favour of the motion have also agreed to defeat it. Even State Minister Palitha Range Bandara took that stance,” he added.

The UNP Working Committee has, however, not put emphasis on Party reforms. Minister Sagala Ratnayake earlier this month said Party reforms will take place before 31 March.

“We will start the reforms from 5 April. After defeating the NCM against the Premier, a meeting will be called for further discussions on the matter.
We hope to finish implementing the reforms before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. However, nothing about changing the Party Leader’s post was taken up for discussion during the meeting,” Minister Kariyawasam said.

State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe told the media that restructuring of the Party will take place as soon as possible. “The aim of it is to prepare for the 2020 Presidential and General Elections under a new leadership,” Senasinghe added.

“The duration of the existing office bearers of the Party has been extended until 30 April and a new team will be appointed for the posts before that day,” State Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said.

“Furthermore, the WC also came to an agreement to implement the recommendations of the committees headed by MPs Sajith Premadasa, Ruwan Wijewardene, and J.C. Alawathuwala on reorganizing the Party,” he elaborated.

However, all developments during the UNP Working Committee meeting have not been peaceful as was projected to the outside. Several UNP seniors like Minister Daya Gamage had criticized Wickremesinghe for keeping the Party in the clutches of a certain ‘club’ of the latter.

In another major blow to PM Wickremesinghe, President Sirisena took measures to transfer Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) which was under the Prime Minister to the Finance Ministry through a Gazette Extraordinary.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was also under the Prime Minister, has also been brought under Finance Ministry by the President through Gazette Extraordinary.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who is also Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs, took the Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission under him in January 2015 after President Sirisena was elected.

Meanwhile the Insurance Corporation of Sri Lanka and its subsidiaries and associated companies excluding Litro Gas Lanka Ltd have been gazetted under the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs.

Litro Gas Lanka Limited has been gazetted under the Ministry of Public Enterprise and Kandy Development.

Litro Gas, the largest importer and supplier of LP Gas in Sri Lanka, is a fully-owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) which was under the purview of the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development.

Putin Gotabaya In Context – Pun Intended

By Sarath de Alwis –APRIL 1, 2018

Sarath De Alwis

I support Putin, just as I support Mahinda, and with more caution and caveats, am willing to support Gotabaya if the need arises, because I remember what context gave birth to them, what they stand against, and the causes which made/are making/may make the masses turn to them as alternatives. – Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

Gotabaya is our Putin – Udaya Gammanpila

‘Don’t forget that we are living in Russia, the land of the tsars … the Russian people like it when one person stands at the head of the state’, and ‘The people need a tsar, i.e. someone to revere and in whose name to live and labour.’ – Joseph Stalin

This fundamental fact implies that in time of revolution it is not enough to ascertain “the will of the majority” — you must prove to be the stronger at the decisive moment and in the decisive place; you must win’ (V.I. Lenin, ‘Constitutional illusions’)

Ironies abound. Three years in to his presidency on 15th July 1979, Jimmy Carter made his famous speech about a crisis of confidence that his nation faced. He spoke of how the isolated world of Washington politicians set a nation adrift. When a nation hopes, dreams and vision of its future are muddled, it becomes a crisis of confidence. It was a decade later that that indomitable soldier and patriot Lieutenant Colonel Gotabaya Rajapaksa permanently migrated to that country of Thomas Pain who wrote the treatise – The Rights of Man.

Such a Crisis of Confidence engulfs us in Sri Lanka today. Governance is in a near state of paralysis. The Economy has registered a dismal growth rate of 3.4 percent. Policy planners are adrift, and the people are treated to a deluge of empty rhetoric from both sides of the power barricade.

This missive is penned on Thursday 29th March. Within the week, we will surely learn the details of the denouement of the no confidence motion against the Prime minister. He is wounded. We will discover soon enough how deep and dangerous his wounds have been.

Other momentous happenings have been overshadowed by the predicament of the prime minister. The Indian Express – the prestigious print broadsheet has published one on one interviews with the Former President Mahinda, his heir apparent Namal and most importantly the pretender to the throne – former secretary to the ministry of defense Gotabaya who plans to be a deep statesman of a deep state.

This writer owes an unconditional apology to the author of Gota’s War the humorously Homeric account of the end of the civil war that is brazenly adulatory of the then Defense Secretary. On several occasions I have described him as a sycophantic profiler of the former Defense Secretary. What can the poor man do, if that was what was told him by the self-proclaimed war hero- the subject of his tome?

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a self-possessed man who loves to possess his self. The man is sincerely convinced that he and he alone ended the war. He tells Arun Janaradanan of the Indian Express “In Sri Lanka, I didn’t create the war, I ended the war.” The word ‘we’ is not in the vocabulary of our hero, patriot and nation builder.

He is a man with opinions and a committed sense of purpose. With the Indian Express’s Arun Janardanan he unfolds his road map.

“You have to understand that peace doesn’t come overnight after three decades’ long war. There are people who were brainwashed ideologically. I won’t say wounds are healing now, as I don’t know what has happened in the last three years. But I strongly believe that what is important is economic freedom for people, before talking about political freedom. Political freedom is necessary, but what they are talking about is devolution and all that. That is secondary. What people needed was food, employment and basic necessities to rebuild their lives… But Tamil politicians put their political interests above these essential needs of people.”

I do not know how many readers will agree with me. The man is not a villain. He is a moron. He simply does not understand that the Tamil people do not demand food. They demand dignity. The Tamils demand self-respect.

The guy asked Stephan Sakur of BBC ‘Who is Lasantha” That probably explains why Arun Janaradana did not broach the subject of dignity and self-respect. What is dignity? Why do the Tamils want self-respect? Aren’t roads and electricity good enough?

That Sri Lanka needs a strong leader with a clear vision is the tantalizing, seductive myth of our times. The imperative of strong decisive leader is intrinsically twined to a virulent nationalism and a reading of a faith that is lightyears removed from the universal values of the flawless dharma that made emperor Ashoka to embrace it and spread it around the then known world.

Nationalism per se is not a harmful or adverse sentiment. But when it is deployed as an instrument of partisan power play in an already fragile democracy, it assumes the ugly character of group incest, idolatry and tribal insanity. When it is adopted as dogma by a deranged control freak it erodes the principles of truth and justice. It becomes a love affair with an imagined nationhood above humanity. Nationalism of this kind is the inevitable precursor to the ‘national security state’.

This sickening humbug is threatening to overpower our pursuit of self-realization, our search for fairness, our thirst for freedom and our desperate attempts to appease our collective hunger for equity in social relations.

The exuberance of democracy experienced in the last three years is quietly receding. A forbidding sense of an impending apocalypse is noiselessly nudging in.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is, today a man ready for his tryst with destiny. He is inflamed with that peculiar kind of passion that drives narcistic people who enjoy the means irrespective of the urgency or the necessity of the ends. After several successes in gerrymandering the legal process to delay proceedings against him, he is confident that he can amputate the long arm of the law by the time we face the next presidential and parliamentary polls.

He has mastered the art of capturing headlines in electronic media with biting, bitter voice cuts . He gives them to waiting media teams outside cort rooms where he regularly appears to mark his attendance or to seek remedies in the form of writs and restraining orders to prevent or delay proceedings against him. They are all politically motivated witch hunts.

Emerging after a Court hearing, two days ago, he gave an ominous warning. We will do it the way Ranil was made Prime Minster and Shirani Banadaranayake was made the Chief Justice he promised.

Clearly buoyed by the LG polls results he is convinced that victory is round the corner. ‘Look how they voted for the Bicycle and the Naya. We will even use a Mapila and reach our goal’ he chuckles. His choice of the reptile Mapila has a Freudian connotation. There is a local folk belief that this snake is highly poisonous, which it is not. It is also falsely believed that the snake sucks out the blood while inducing the victim in to deep sleep.

THE NO CONFIDENCE MOTION AND ITS POLITICAL STAKES

1 April, 2018

Is there a low - cost way out from the present crisis boiling within the Maithripala Sirisena - Ranil Wickremesinghe administration? During the past few days, a number of well - wishers of the present government posed this question to me in personal conversations. All of them are people who have contributed in a variety of ways to the political change of January 2015. They are now deeply worried about the inevitable disintegration of the yahapalanaya regime, with two other inevitabilities – rendering irrelevant the reform mandate of 2015 and the returning to power of the unreformed Rajapaksa camp with a plainly authoritarian political agenda. Still there are no signs of a new option emerging, embodying the democratic and humanistic ideal of our society.

In these conversations, I have also been repeatedly reminded of a bitter political truth. We as citizens who are seriously committed to social and political change may bring politicians of various hues into power through the democratic process. That we do with the hope that politicians and their parties would be truthful to the mandate we, and our fellow citizens, frame and give them. In power, they pay no heed to the concerns of the citizens who authorized them to rule. With scant regard for the popular trust placed on them, the politicians have the habit of running away with political power. At times, they might even get into self-destructive power fights among themselves, as it is happening now, fully ignoring why the people placed their trust on them. Worse still, they show no understanding of why they have been entrusted with political power to begin with. This is the stuff that causes disillusionment with democracy.

Negotiated solution?

While I was thinking about this dacoit behaviour of our political class, another friend queried whether it would be possible for some prominent sympathizers of the regime to talk to the two leaders, the President and the Prime Minister, and persuade them to work out a negotiated settlement before April 4. That is a proposal coming out of a genuine concern about the consequences of the no confidence motion (NCM) against the Prime Minister, whether it gets through or not. In whatever way the NCM ends, the ultimate winner would be the Joint Opposition (JO), as long as Sirisena and Wickremesinghe are locked in their continuing power struggle as adversaries.

Meanwhile, at the risk of giving too much political credit to the JO, one has to still acknowledge the plain truth that the JO has succeeded through this NCM to turn the two power centres of the yahapalanaya government into enemy camps.

They have been working on this strategy for some time and it has finally succeeded. The JO’s success is due to a variety of reasons, both external and internal to the regime. Key among the latter is the fact that neither of our two leaders had a sincere understanding of why the majority of Sri Lankan voters in 2015 gave them a mandate, not just once, but twice. Not being faithful to the popular mandate, they allowed the government to degenerate into what it is now.

Escalation

Given the intensity with which the conflict between the two camps of the government has been escalating during the past few days, there is hardly any political space for a third party – even that of a group of sympathizers -- to intervene and de-escalate the unfolding power struggle.

What we are witnessing in Sri Lanka at present is an unusual power struggle. It is one between two centers of power within the same government that are elected on the same popular mandate and therefore are expected to work in cooperation and mutual trust. With all its shortcomings that are coming to the surface now, the spirit of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution also expected the President and Prime Minister to work in unison.

Some conflicts have a tendency to develop slowly over a time and then escalate rapidly and end in a big-bang type finale, with destructive consequences for all. The present conflict within the yahapalanaya regime seems to be of that type. Its intensity and escalation seem to rest on two dimensions of the conflict – political and personal.

The minds of both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe seem to be so closed on each other that the political rivalry and personal bitterness between them are closely intertwined.
It is quite revealing that in this simmering crisis, neither of them has so far uttered a single word of support or sympathy for the other that could have made de-escalation of their rivalry even faintly possible.

Thus, this is such an unusual instance of political and personal betrayal and enmity being played out in the public arena, and at the level of state power, that one has to turn to Roman History or feudal monarchies to see some parallels. It is a modern version of the conflict between the King and his Prime Minister, with courtiers poisoning the mind of the King to serve their own agendas.
Meanwhile, the NCM is scheduled for April 4. There is hardly any time now for the two leaders to realize that their on-going power struggle will only devour them.

Choices made

The conflict between the President and the Prime Minister has some specific features. The behaviour of the two sides so far suggests that the conflict has been maturing over a period of two years. Its transition to an open power struggle probably occurred towards the end of last year and it exploded openly during the local government election.

Meanwhile, the escalation of the conflict and setting up the goal of a unilateral outcome appeared to be the strategic choice first made by President Sirisena and his team. In contrast, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s response during the local government election campaign has been a low-key and measured one, probably expecting a turn towards de-escalation. However, the intervention made by the JO through its NCM altered the conflict trajectory, redrawing the battlelines. Now, the whole conflict revolves around, and is reduced to, a single issue: Should or shouldn’t Ranil Wickremesinghe continue as the Prime Minister? President Sirisena’s stand seems to be very firm that Wickremesinghe should not.

What will happen if the NCM is passed by a majority of MPs on the day of its debate and voting? We still do not know whether the NCM is against both the Prime Minister and the government.

The Constitution does not provide for an NCM in the Prime Minister as such, but against the Cabinet of Ministers as a whole. Thus, if an NCM was passed against a PM, it would not have constitutionally binding consequences. Nevertheless, it would be difficult, politically and ethically, for a PM who has lost the confidence of the majority of members of Parliament, to continue.

In such a scenario, Wickremesinghe would be forced to resign due to political and ethical reasons, rather than mandatory constitutional consequences.

Only an NCM in the government will have constitutionally binding outcomes. Once a majority of MPs passed such an NCM, then, the consequences can be gleaned from Clause 48 (2) of the Constitution. It says that, “the Cabinet of Ministers shall stand dissolved” and “the President shall … appoint a Prime Minister, Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministers who are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers, and Deputy Ministers.” Then, the Cabinet being automatically dissolved, the Prime Minister can only be deemed to have resigned too.

With regard to the Prime Minister, there seems to be some ambiguity in this clause. Perhaps, in order to avoid this legal ambiguity, the JO may have drafted the NCM as one against both the Prime Minister and the government.

In the event of the passing of the NCM in the government and the Premier and if the NCM drafted as one directed against both the PM and the government, it would have some drastic political consequences. The President would be under pressure to appoint a new Prime Minister from the SLFP, and that is most likely to be his first choice too. That will alter the balance of power between the UNP and SLFP in the coalition Government decisively in favour of the President. If the President wants to play a slightly Machiavellian game, he can even appoint a UNP front runner as the replacement for Wickremesinghe.

In such an eventuality, President Sirisena’s own political project, which suffered a setback at the local government elections in January, will get a new boost too. A bruised and weakened UNP will certainly see an escalation of its internal power struggle. Thus, a successful NCM will herald a new phase for (a) the yahapalanaya regime with the UNP as a chastised partner, and (b) the UNP as a political party without Ranil Wickremesinghe as its leader.

If NCM defeated

Now, what would be the consequences if this NCM was defeated? The scenario would be more than interesting, because of the fact that President Sirisena appears to be backing the NCM proposed by the JO. Several SLFP Ministers who are close to President Sirisena have already stated that they would vote in favour of the NCM. They have also indicated, without being contradicted, that they represent President Sirisena’s position.

Thus, if the NCM, backed by the President’s SLFP, was to be defeated, it would certainly weaken the position of President Sirisena within the coalition government and bring the UNP back to the reckoning as the key power centre of the government. President Sirisena’s bargaining power with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the breakaway party of the SLFP, will also diminish.

It would also be a serious setback to President Sirisena’s new project of emerging as the new ‘national leader’ of the country with a new political vision different from that of both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. Meanwhile, if there is cross voting in favour of the Prime Minister, another internal division within the SLFP led by President Sirisena cannot be ruled out either. A few UNP MPs might also opt for cross voting.

UNP

Even if Prime Minister Wickremesinghe escapes parliamentary censure, his position as the UNP Leader seems untenable. Many disgruntled UNP MPs might vote against the NCM on condition that Wickremesinghe would give way to a new leader and a new set of party managers immediately.

His old practice of procrastination by appointing party committees in times of crisis and waiting for committee reports until he could reconsolidate his position is unlikely to work this time around.
What is likely to be most significant is that whatever the outcome of the NCM, the class and cultural character of the UNP leadership is set to change, and change decisively. The Royal College Old Boys will be forced to take a backseat in the party affairs.

Given these discernible political consequences, we can assume with confidence that the stakes on the NCM are quite high. Therefore, many surprises can spring over the next three days. Three days that could prove a very long time in politics.

What likelihood of Ranil and Mahinda conniving to end the executive presidency?

No April Fools for PM. Can Easter help him?

"What an anomalous position! The Prime Minister and other Ministers are collectively responsible to Parliament except one member of that Cabinet, the chief whose policy the whole Cabinet is carrying out. The Prime Minister and the other Ministers can be pilloried and thrown out for no fault of theirs, but the fountain-head of the faults and deficiencies in question will escape scot-free immunized by the Constitution itself."

- N.M. Perera, 1979. Critical Analysis of the New (1978) Constitution

by Rajan Philips-March 31, 2018, 8:13 pm

Today is April Fools’ Day. For Christians, it is also Easter Sunday. Skeptical wags will relish the coincidence, which occurs only three or four times a century. Here at home, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe may have been wishing the Joint Opposition’s No Confidence Motion (NCM) to be nothing more than an April Fools’ prank, or, failing that, in the week of the risen lord he (PM) too could rise from the near-death ordeal that he has been going through over two months and as many moons. Alas, there is no April Fools for PM. The NCM is no prank or pickle. The man is in a real predicament. Nor can Easter save him. The Christian message of Easter is that - one who sacrifices one’s life for one’s faith will live on even when dead. In politics and in public life, if you sacrifice your honesty for ill-gotten gains, you are spiritually dead even if temporally alive.

What likelihood of Ranil and Mahinda conniving to end the executive presidency.docx by Thavam on Scribd