Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2015 Interim Statement 

Statement by: Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group

10 January 2015

The Commonwealth Observer Group commends the people of Sri Lanka for the spirit in which they participated in this important election. The high voter turnout of 81.52 per cent reflects positively on the Sri Lankan people’s strong commitment to the democratic process.

Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2015 Interim Statement by Thavam Ratna

MR Plots To Prevent His Regime’s Corruption From Being Revealed

January 11, 2015

In a desperate attempt to prevent the disclosure of their corrupt engagements, Mahinda Rajapaksa has formulated a plan to get Leader of the House, Nimal Siripala de Silva appointed as the Prime Minister.

It has been revealed that defeated Mahinda has been making plans since his departure from Temple Trees on Friday, to get the assistance of the UPFA MPs to oust Ranil Wickremesinghe from the position of Prime Ministership on grounds that he lacks the majority in parliament. The Constitution states the PM should receive the majority support of the parliamentarians in the house and therefore, Wickremesinghe has to get the support of at least 30 more MPs.

He has instructed the UPFA MPs to gather signatures of all UPFA parliamentarians and to submit the document to the Speaker when the parliament convenes this week in order to appoint Silva in Wickremesinghe’s place.

Mahinda Rajapaksa had come up with this plan in order to evade the exposure of his corrupt acts as well as the rampant corruption and plundering carried out by the Ministers of his regime, as per one of the pledges that has been made in the 100-day program that was promised by the new President.

However, during a press breifing held by the UPFA last afternoon Nimal Siripala de Silva said that they accept the new Prime Minister and assured they would not raise any technical issues on the matter. He also ensured that the UPFA would not hinder the 100-day programme of the common Opposition.

Meanwhile, reports also indicate that an alternative plan is being hatched to bring in Mahinda Rajapaksa as the ‘alternate’ Prime Minister.

All these various schemes that have been laid out to sabotage the common Opposition plan forward and bring Mahinda back to parliament, corroborate with the fight he put up to remain in power even while the election results clearly indicated that the majority of the people had decided otherwise.

As Colombo Telegraph reported on election night, as the poll results started indicating his defeat, Mahinda had laid out plans to dissolve the parliament in the next few hours. He summoned an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss this possibility. As hours passed by and his defeat became more obvious, he had made plans along with his brother Gotabaya to declare emergency and annul the poll results.

It was only when the Attorney General refused to prepare papers to declare emergency that he had called for Ranil Wickremesinghe and informed of his willingness to leave peacefully and requested for safe passage.

This plan to involve the military in annulling the poll results were confirmed by former Minister and frontliner of the common

Opposition movement Rajitha Senaratne during a press breifing today, who said that the military had refused to follow orders to deploy troops in Colombo.

A Time for Reconciliation and the TNA Joining the Cabinet

by S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

January 10, 2015, 5:25 pm 

Congratulations

Warm congratulations to the Common Opposition, especially Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mangala Samaraweera from all Sri Lankans for democracy. Through their leadership they have restored democracy to a land where many of us thought it was dead.

A Time for Reconciliation and the TNA Joining the Cabinet by Thavam Ratna

Diaspora Seek Engagement

By Easwaran Rutnam-Sunday, January 11, 2015

The Tamil Diaspora have called on the new Government and President Maithripala Sirisena to engage with the Diaspora in good faith and in a meaningful and constructive way.

Reacting to the defeat of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the election, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) said that the Tamils and Tamil speaking Muslims had rejected the way the minority communities were treated under former Government by coming out and voting unprecedentedly in high numbers.

“Final results show, although President Sirisena had support in the South, the overwhelming support he gained from people in North, East and Up-country reversed any majority that Mahinda Rajapaksa won in other parts of the country and made him the victor,” GTF spokesman Suren Surendiran said.

He said the GTF hopes President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and their coalition government will reciprocate the support rendered by these communities.

“We hope that they will be honourable and reverse the many historic injustices served upon our people by engaging the elected representatives of Tamils and Tamil speaking Muslims as a matter of urgency. We also hope that the new administration will engage the Diaspora in good faith and in a meaningful and constructive way,” he said.

The GTF said it will continue to work with the international community to ensure that this new beginning also entails obtaining long overdue justice for past violations of international law and international humanitarian law.

Meanwhile the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) said that it should be noted that the Tamil people have always used the elections to use their votes tactically on issues that mattered to them.

“Their active participation in this ballot should be seen as a vote for elimination of a leader they despised rather than as an expression of their preference for or a faith in the new leader. The true desire of the Tamil is for an opportunity to express their right to self-determination and their nationhood. So, if the 6th Amendment to the Constitution is rescinded and the right space created for a vote, that will be when the Tamil people will truly demonstrate their preferences,” TGTE leader V. Rudrakumaran said.

He also insisted that the ouster of Rajapaksa in itself does not mean anything for Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka.

Ask Maithri To Comply With UNHRC Resolutions: BTF Urges British Govt

January 11, 2015

British Tamils has called upon the government of UK to immediately request the new government of Sri Lanka to take steps to resolve the core issues that have burdened the Tamils of the island nation.

Issuing a statement, the British Tamils Forum (BTF) has pointed out that the defeat of the Rajapaksa regime has not resolved the immediate issues faced by the Tamil people since the election manifesto and policies of the new President have also indicated that his stance is the same as the Rajapaksas with concern to giving autonomy to the Tamil people, demilitarization and cooperation with the UNHRC international inquiry.

They have noted that these core issues can only be addressed through a political solution that recognizes the right to self determination of the Tamils and has added that the immediate existential problems of the Tamils regarding their daily lives can only be relieved by international pressure.

To that end, the BTF has urged the government of UK to immediately request the new government in Sri Lanka to:

• comply with the UNHRC resolutions
• removal of military establishments from the civilian population
• reverse all land grabs perpetrated by the Rajapaksa regime
• form an interim civilian governing structure in the North and East of Sri Lanka

We publish below the statement in full;

British Tamil Forum response to the election results and the new government in Sri Lanka

The presidential election in Sri Lanka has just concluded and the present government has lost the elections, but this will not still resolve the immediate issues faced by the Tamil people nor address the fundamental issue that has affected the Tamils in Sri Lanka for a very long time.

As stated by the newly sworn in president in his election manifesto, the policy towards giving autonomy to the Tamil people, de-militarisation of the Tamil areas and cooperation with the UNHRC’s international inquiry will remain the same. The fundamental issue that has fuelled this conflict for well over 60 years since the independence of Sri Lanka or Ceylon is the nature of the state, which needs to be structurally reformed.

Only a political solution recognising the right to self-determination of the Tamil nation in Sri Lanka can address these core issues. The immediate existential problems of Tamils with respect to their daily lives can only be relieved, and justice for the people who have suffered immense hardships can only be delivered, by international pressure.

As both sides’ campaigns during the presidential elections have highlighted, neither candidate has the appetite to offer respite or justice to the Tamil people. Both candidates have rejected the ongoing UN Human Rights Council mandated international investigation and both have refused to put a stop the continuing structural genocide of the Tamil people and reduce the influence of the Sri Lankan military on the daily civilian life of the Tamil people.

BTF urges the UK government to immediately request the new government in Sri Lanka to comply with the UNHRC resolutions, to request the removal of military establishments from the civilian population and to call on the new government to reverse all land grabs perpetrated by the previous regime and form an interim civilian governing structure in the North-East of Sri Lanka.

Post Election: Real Vs Perceived Risks

by Dr. Dilshani Sarathchandra 

- on 01/11/2015 

The election of Sri Lanka’s new President Maithripala Sirisena has undoubtedly marked the dawn of a new era in Sri Lanka politics. Around the country and across the world we have witnessed a heightened level of optimism and hope, among many Sri Lankans. When the election results started to pour in, I joined hundreds of other over-caffeinated, adrenaline-high Sri Lankans living abroad, desperately searching for ways to feel connected and be part of the change. I spent long hours glued to my computer, maddeningly refreshing webpages, and scrolling up and down my Twitter feed. The excitement in the air was palpable.

Post Election Real vs Perceived Risks by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka’s Victory For Democracy

Alyssa Ayres-1/09/2015 
In a stunning upset today, Sri Lanka’s Maithripala Sirisena defeated ten-year incumbent strongman President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sirisena is a former member of President Rajapaksa’s cabinet who defected, with more than 20 other members of parliament, to lead an umbrella opposition coalition just two months ago. Rajapaksa conceded with the vote count still underway; at the time of his concession early on Friday morning, the election results posted showed a nearly 52% lead for Sirisena against almost 47% for Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka’s Victory for Democracy by Thavam Ratna

Abandon the Executive Monstrosity: The People Are The Only True Guardians Of Liberty

By Kumar David -January 11, 2015

Prof. Kumar David

You will know the final results when you read these lines. Trends at the time of writing show Mr Sirisena comfortably ahead; this piece assumes it will be sustained. While celebrating the fall of the Rajapaksa monster we should not pull the wool over our eyes and loose sight of the reality that so long as an executive presidential monstrosity remains, the new government is liable to go the way of previous ones and Maithripala decline into a carbon copy of Mahinda.

I will touch on two topics, one practical and the other philosophical today. The practical matter is, what are we going to do now that Mr Sirisena has won the Executive Presidency (EP) for six years? I do not expect him to honour the sacred pledge he made before the nation at Vihara Maha Devi Park to abolish it in wholly; unless of course he is compelled to do so by the people. This is the ‘What Next’ question.

The proposition to which I devote the final paragraphs is that the thesis ‘The people are good, but misled by corrupt and power hungry politicians’, is superficial and false. This is simply not true; there is a symbiosis between masses and leaders, but the truth mostly is the other way round; sham leaders rise to the helm when the mass is corrupt. My assertion skews a two way interaction a little in one direction, but it is important to refute the false thesis at this juncture. The relationship between masses and leaders is not an exclusively Lankan matter, it is ubiquitous across nations and time.Read More

President Sirisena assures Mahinda of state protection , calls for peaceful celebrations

Police will arrest anyone resorting to violence - Ranil

by Zacki Jabbar-January 9, 2015

The National Democratic Front headed by the new President Maithripala Sirisena has assured former President Mahinda Rajapaksa that he and his family would receive the full protection of the law.

Informed sources said that the comforting words had come after UNP and Opposition leader and Prime Minister in waiting Ranil Wickremesinghe had called on Rajapaksa early yesterday morning, when the former President had indicated that he would be leaving Temple Trees after having facilitated the swearing in of Sirisena as the new President last evening. Rajapaksa dressed in a casual red shirt left his residence of nearly ten years, a short while after his meeting with Wickremesinghe.

Rajapaksa congratulated Sirisena over the telephone and the latter in turn assured his former leader and friend for many years, until they fell out recently, that the former and his family need not worry about security since maximum state protection would be provided to them, sources revealed.

Sirisena, who was declared duly elected as President by the Polls Chief Mahinda Deshapriya around 12 noon yesterday having secured 51.28 percent of the votes cast at Thursday’s Poll appealed to all his supporters to celebrate the occasion in a peaceful manner without causing any hindrance to others.

Wickremesinghe, when asked at a press conference he gave around 10.30 a.m at his official residence in Colombo what had transpired during the Mahinda-Maithripala telephone conversation, replied "I don’t know. I do not have bugging equipment."

He declined to take further questions saying that the purpose of his briefing was to drive home the message that anyone resorting to violence in the process of celebrating the occasion would be arrested by the Police and depending on the situation even the army could be called in to maintain law and order.

"We have asked the Inspector General of Police to enforce the law strictly and not to leave room for any violence whatsoever," Wickremesinghe noted, adding that they were on a mission to change the violent political culture and absence of good governance which was a feature of the post-war administration run by the Rajapaksas.

"In keeping with the NDF’s policies it is essential that the new President take oaths in a peaceful environment. We call upon all Sri Lankans to join us in our efforts."

Wickremesinghe said that Rajapaksa was the President when the war against the LTTE ended and he had to be given credit and a rightful share in the combined efforts of past political and military leaders.

New Sri Lanka President moves in to negotiate and form cabinet 

Sri Lanka's main opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena gestures as he leaves after casting his vote during the presidential elections at a polling station in Polonnaruwa, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. (Source: AP)

Written by Arun Janardhanan | Colombo | Posted: January 11, 2015 6:17 am | Updated: January 11, 2015 3:45 pm

A day after being sworn in as the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday began to negotiate and finalise his new cabinet, likely to be announced next week.

Unlike the previous government of Mahinda Rajapaksa which had a total of 67 ministers, sources close to Sirisena said he may limit his cabinet to 30 ministers.

The cabinet formation will be based on a criteria to fulfil his plans and reforms promised in the next 100 days, which includes major constitutional amendments, strong anti-corruption bills, war-foot measures in the energy sector and a number of long-pending settlements demanded by Tamil and Muslim minorities, who played a major role in his victory.

At present, a secretary to the President said, the United National Party (UNP) headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which had defected from the Rajapaksa government, are actively engaged in the negotiations.

Reliable sources confirm that the UNP is likely to get at least 15 portfolios while SLFP may garner seven or eight ministerial berths.

Sources add that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) may not be accepting a portfolio as they had earlier decided to support the government from outside while being ready to negotiate and work on issues.

Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) or the National Heritage Party, the country’s main party representing Buddhist monks, may get two portfolios while two Muslim political parties — Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the largest Muslim party that switched allegiance to the opposition a few days before the election and the All Ceylon Muslim Congress — may gain one portfolio each.

Senior leaders of both Muslim political parties confirmed that they have been offered one portfolio each. “We are offered a portfolio but we are not part of the negotiations so far. We will wait for the government decision,” said a senior leader of the All Ceylon Muslim Congress.

Major negotiations will be on assigning key portfolios such as defence and finance, usually held by the President, and foreign affairs, port-shipping-aviation, highways, health and industry and commerce. The name of Mangala Munasinghe, a former foreign minister known to have close links with Chandrika Kumaratunga, is doing the rounds in the initial list of candidates for the foreign affairs ministry.

Two names being considered for the finance portfolio are that of Harsha de Silva, UNP MP and an economist who was loud in his protests against the economic policies of the Rajapaksa government; and Eran Wickramaratne MP, also a banker and an expert in corporate affairs.

Official sources denied reports of appointing Sarath Fonseka, former Lanka army chief, as defence secretary, a continued…

post which was earlier handled by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, as he needs further clearances in terms of his civil rights. Fonseka had been imprisoned for nearly two years after he ran a campaign against President Rajapaksa in the 2010 elections. After his failed campaign, he was again sentenced to serve a three-year imprisonment for “military offences”.

Meanwhile, former captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team and an MP from Kalutara district, Arjuna Ranatunga, may be selected for the sports portfolio. Ranatunga was with Sirisena during the crucial stages of the election and he was seen standing next to the President and the Prime Minister during the swearing-in ceremony on Friday at the Independence Square in Colombo. 

With the coalition partners angling for vital portfolios, a senior UNP leader said Prime Minister Wickramasinghe will be playing a major role in the selection of ministers as he will be heading the cabinet. “He will be handpicking people he wants with the consent of Sirisena,” he said. 

Sri Lanka needs a true human being, not a king – Maithripala

January 11, 2015  03:43 pm

Newly-elected President Maithripala Sirisena today invited all political parties in parliament to unite in forming a national unity government.

“I invite all political parties in parliament to join the all-party government to create good governance and drive the country towards expected aspirations,” he said, delivering his first address to the nation.

He also pledged that the unlimited powers vested with the Executive Presidency will be transferred to the Parliament, Cabinet and Judiciary.  

The President addressed the nation from the Paththirippuwa (the Octagon) of the Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) in Kandy.

Sirisena stated that the first step of his new government would be to eradicate poverty from the country and also pledged to promote religious coexistence and communal harmony in the country by ensuring the freedom and rights of every religion.

He further said that the new government would take every measure to also eradicate corruption, fraud, irregularities and bribery within the country.

He added that: “The country needs a true human being, not a king” and vowed to serve as a true worker to the people.

President Sirisena also reiterated that he will not seek a second term as President in Sri Lanka, saying Friday’s poll was the first and last Presidential Election he would contest.

Prosecution To The Full Extent Of The Law

By Emil van der Poorten –January 11, 2015

Emil van der Poorten

I know the campaign of Maithripala Sirisena for the Presidency of Sri Lanka was based primarily on getting rid of that obscenity of modern governance in Sri Lanka, an Executive Presidency gone stark raving mad.

However, what emerged as the campaign progressed was a huge surge of anger and resentment about the massive corruption with which theRajapaksas had swamped the country and the fact that people realized that this was not something “out there” but something that had already proven to have major implications for every Banda and Biso and in which ocean of filth their progeny and the progeny of those progeny would surely drown if permitted to grow.

Yes, the implications of the wanton spending and lining of political nests with ermine of unbelievable value had become evident to every man and woman in Sri Lanka’s rural regions. And as Sir John Kotelawela and his UNP discovered in 1956, this could generate a political wave of Tsunami proportions. Yes, while it is the tenth anniversary of that terrible event hammering a large part of Sri Lanka’s coastline, this political tsunami promises to wreak havoc even more widely in our island nation, from its beaches to its highest mountains. The difference, though, is that it is a benign storm.Read More

Sri Lanka's new president welcomes dissidents home

Newspapers for sale are seen at a stall in Colombo on January 10, 2015, featuring headlines about Sri Lanka's new president Maithripala Sirisena ©Lakruwan Wanniarachchi (AFP)

By AFP-10 January 2015

New President Maithripala Sirisena invited exiled dissidents back to Sri Lanka and promised to end censorship Saturday as he began to turn the page on the authoritarian rule of his toppled predecessor.

Sri Lanka's New President Welcomes Dissidents Home by Thavam Ratna

A(n) (un)Presidential Swearing in?

Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images via Huffington Post

by Dr. Chaminda Weerawardhana 

- on 01/10/2015 

A presidential swearing in ceremony, in a polity with an executive presidency, is a moment of tremendous solemn national pride. In the case of a presidential inauguration (investiture) in France, for example, a common pattern is followed, with limited scope for variation. It is customary for the outgoing president to enter the Elysée palace through a back entrance (the side of the gardens), and receive the president-elect at the footsteps of the main entrance. It is also customary for the two leaders to hold a confidential meeting upstairs in the Presidential Office, after which they come down together, at which point the outgoing president departs, a symbolic juncture of the transfer of power, to which leaders add their own personal touch. When Jacques Chirac left office after two mandates in 2007, for instance, President-Elect Sarkozy, from Chirac’s own political party, accompaniedChirac out to his car and bid a warm farewell, clapping until Chirac’s car left the cour d’honneur. At the power transfer of 2012, François Hollande and his ex-partner Valérie Trierweiler said adieu to the Sarkozys at the main entrance, and went in soon after to continue the ceremony, with not much ado. Despite such inclinations to add a minor personal touch, the key elements of the ceremony are never avoided or convoluted. Once the President-Elect goes back in, the official transfer of responsibility over theLégion d’honneur is followed by the central part of the ceremony, when the President of the Constitutional Council reiterates the election results, declares the new head of state, and highlights the vital aspects of the presidential office. This is followed by the inaugural presidential oration. As the commander in chief of the armed forces, the new President receives a guard of honour, which normally takes place at the back lawn of Élysée.

The above prelude is deemed timely in the aftermath of the swearing-in ceremony of President Maitripala Sirisena on 9 January 2015. One of the key concerns raised by this writer and thousands of observers in Sri Lanka and beyond is that of President Sirisena’s marge de manoeuvre as head of state, given the risk of being overshadowed by Chandrika Bandaranaike and more importantly perhaps, by Ranil Wickremesinghe.

If one goes by the symbolism of the swearing-in ceremony, an observer of Sri Lankan politics familiar with presidential systems could be left somewhat bemused.

The only comparison with local precedents was indeed the presidential swearing in ceremony of J.R. Jayewardene, which took place outdoors, in the aftermath of the proclamation of the 1978 Constitution of the Second Republic. The Sirisena swearing in ceremony differed considerably from those of his other predecessors. When a new head of state is elected, the primary focus is on the president-elect. In the case of Mr Sirisena, however, the primary focus was very much a shared one, at least between himself and Ranil Wickremesinghe.

A number of logistical flaws in the swearing in ceremony may leave one questioning if they were caused by the constraints of hasty planning within a limited period of time, or rather deliberate steps taken to obliterate the overarching primacy of presidential authority. When the oath was read, for instance, there was no microphone facility for the new President. A presidential oath is a written text with symbolic value, which adds much to the solemnness of the ceremony, and especially in an open ceremony such as the Sirisena swearing-in, the people (especially those who took the time to be present in person at the Independence Square) have a right to listen to the presidential oath. In the jam-packed and noisy atmosphere of the ceremony, it is doubtful if even Justice Sripavan heard the oath loud enough.

The biggest omission was a presidential guard of honour. A crucial gesture that symbolises the arrival of a new commander-in-chief of the armed forces, a presidential swearing-in/inauguration/investiture is incomplete in the absence of a military guard of honour. If all his predecessors were customarily entitled for one soon after swearing in, why scrap it for the Sirisena inauguration? If it were deliberately avoided, whose idea was it? If the choice of venue, sound logistics, and the avoidance of a guard of honour were the consequence of an overarching influence, are we just about to start witnessing a Manmohan Singh cycle à la Sri-Lankaise, with a powerful hand wielding more power and influence than the democratically elected leader? President Sirisena’s voters ought to seriously raise these questions, as the swearing in did not include the basics, which could, God forbid, symbolically suggest an impeding power imbalance in the Maitripala Sirisena administration.

The above points could be refuted by stating that Mr Sirisena campaigned for presidency on an anti-executive presidency platform. True, but until it is constitutionally abolished or modified, the Presidency, as stipulated in the 1978 Constitution of the Second Republic, is the erstwhile office of the Head of State Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and not of a ‘head-of-the-state-subordinate’.