Discrimination in 2018

It’s the little things that matter the most

Sanjana Hattotuwa-January 13, 2018, 4:48 pm 

Google in Sri Lanka now defaults to Sinhala. Whenever you access a Google Form, the interface by default is in Sinhala. Whenever you use Google Maps, road, place and now even names of famous buildings, are rendered in Sinhala. Search for Chunnakam, close to Jaffna, and Google Maps translates the place name, in Sinhala, to ‘Hunugama’ - wrong on so many levels. There is no Tamil place marker either. Jaffna gets a Sinhala label as ‘Yapanaya’, but no Tamil place name, whereas Nallur, just a stone’s throw away, does feature a Tamil place name. Enter a destination – even in Colombo - on to Google Maps. See the driving instructions to get there. From where I live to get to a location in Colombo, for example, the instructions are often a bizarre mix of English and Sinhala – one road I am asked to go on is in English, and the instruction to turn to another is rendered completely in Sinhala. Users on social media who aren’t fluent in reading Sinhala script have expressed their frustration as to why this is the case, with no option to change language.

There appears to be no discernible reason or pattern behind what is a systemic discrimination across Google apps, services and platforms to give primacy to Sinhala, and with no option for the end user to switch to English or Tamil. And it’s not that Google is unable to accurately render Tamil and non-English scripts – just across the Palk Strait, in Tamil Nadu, all place names are in English and Tamil. Just North of this, in Bengaluru, the place names are in English and Kannada. Further up, in Hyderabad, it’s in English and Telegu and above that, in English and Hindi. Someone at Google in India has taken the time and effort to render information in the language spoken the most in a region, as well as English. In Sri Lanka on the other hand, the language on Google Maps now defaults to only Sinhala and English across the island, with comparably just a few locations in the North and East available in Tamil.

But it’s not just Google. As a Microsoft user, whenever a code is requested via my mobile to access one its key services – called two-factor authentication – the accompanying instructions sent with the code over SMS is delivered exclusively in Sinhala, not even in English.

It goes to prove that Google and Microsoft in Sri Lanka are engaged in systemic and sustained discrimination against Tamils and the Tamil language in Sri Lanka, across a range of their key products and services. That there isn’t really any pushback against or greater awareness around this suggests the normalisation of language and ethnic discrimination in Sri Lanka – prejudice is so ingrained, it is invisible, accepted and excused as a minor inconvenience, since the majority are just fine with the way things are.

The problem is compounded when government itself, in 2018, promotes Sinhala only. A case in point – a new website by the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) set up for the local government elections, called ‘Nidahas Yugayak’. The website was ceremoniously launched by President Sirisena last week in a ceremony to open a ‘Free Media Centre’, which in the official news report is flagged as the propaganda arm of the party. A revealing conflation between free media and propaganda exposes the underlying, deeply problematic mentality of government. But I digress. The first paragraph on the home page of the new website notes that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in 1951 was started by Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim individuals as a party that treated everyone with respect and did not discriminate against race. The new UPFA website is the official campaign platform for local government elections that will be held across the country this year. The website is exclusively in Sinhala. There is not a single word or section on it in English or Tamil. All featured videos are in Sinhala. All the related social media accounts are in Sinhala. All the President’s speeches are in Sinhala.

Lest we forget, we have a government with numerous even competing line ministries, agencies and departments that deal in national integration and reconciliation. Late last year, Cabinet approval was granted to put up a television studio in the Northern Province to host a television channel to promote reconciliation. The President himself has repeatedly come out in favour of reconciliation in local and international fora. All this makes it much more outrageous that what the President and government says and promises is so far removed from what it actually does and really is.

But where is the outrage? Social media is largely silent about the discrimination against the Tamil language and Tamil peoples by Google and Microsoft. The Southern electorate, to whom all of Sri Lanka is, in the main, a geographic and imagined projection of what the South is for them, don’t even recognise the violence of a Sinhala-only website. Post-war ethnic and language discrimination is thriving, present at the highest levels of government and even in the corporate domain, so often projected and celebrated as being the engine of growth of a more equitable, prosperous and just future.

Where do you start to flag

and fight this?

By naming and shaming. Google and Microsoft need to do better. Companies that have clear public policies against discrimination are enacting Sinhala-only policies across a range of key products and services. This needs to be condemned, ceased and corrected. President Sirisena and his party should be hounded by journalists as to why in 2018 they see fit to have a website and all of its content only in Sinhala. The heinous legacy of 1956 mustn’t be countenanced in 2018. To fight against it, language and ethnic discrimination needs to be rendered visible and arguably in a manner that is focussed on and raises the empathy of those in the South around those who cannot read, speak or understand Sinhala. From bad weather alerts and emergency evacuation warnings to vital announcements in government offices, from officials at immigration and emigration counters to invitations and cards sent out by government ministries, from the language of the courts to what the Police use when taking down a statement, the Sinhala-only policy that prevails in practice is a daily, stark reminder of how far post-war Sri Lanka has to go to even begin to address, leave aside completely erase, ethno-lingual discrimination.

Instead of promoting the worst practices, Google and Microsoft should be at the forefront of what can and should be done to address discrimination, with the vast technologies they command used as Rosetta Stones for seamless language translation and transition. But above all, our leading politicians should walk the talk. A Sinhala-only UPFA website that literally celebrates a President who is made out to be a ‘conservative, wholesome, true, agrarian Sinhala Buddhist’ suggests the maddeningly parochial, insular, majoritarian mind-set that got us into a 30-year-old war is still alive. That’s disturbing, if the keys to our democratic potential lie not with racial superiority, but with equality and non-discrimination.

Tackling ‘Clownish’ Political Culture: ‘Social Media’ Activism Paramount!

By Mohamed Harees –January 13, 2018

“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke” –Will Rogers

Only this week, we saw the disgusting scenes inside the well of the parliament with both sides of the House disrupting proceedings with the constant chorus of ‘Hora’- a classic case of pot calling the kettle black. Regrettably, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe too set a bad example by leading this chorus at one point and even using another un-parliamentary P word ‘Pi..piya’(p..mp) in his speech while the Speaker stood speechless. It was in 2015 that Vasudeva Nanayakkara, called RW a P word ‘Pak..ya’, during a heated exchange of words in Parliament. This type of vulgar vocabulary and debates are much frequent in Hansard records. It therefore shows something that has come to be quite common and ordinary in the day-to-day experience in Sri Lanka. The use of dirty words (kunuharapa) and lack of respect for the rule of law by those in power, are all too common things people have all got used to. It all reveals what has come to be today’s political culture in the country- degraded and debased. As for Kunuharupa and vulgarism, who really expects any polite conversations in political discourses in the public domain anymore? Only few days ago, narcissist Trump never tired of calling racist names, chose to refer to Haiti and some African countries sh.t hole countries; didn’t’ he? TV political debates and discussions are just eyesores to say the least. 

Now, in a classic case of ‘Ali Madhiwata Koti’ (one disaster following another), the country is being asked to elect their local representatives from among the same breed. Despite representations made by several civic minded bodies, mainstream parties have got emboldened to still field candidates with corrupt track records and low morals at the forthcoming LG elections. Only few parties such as JVP and NFGG have reportedly kept to their promise to field candidates with proven clean track records.      

The March 12 Movement, a collective of civil society groups said that a total of 25 candidates fielded by three leading main stream political parties were lawbreakers with some having pending court cases against them and have warned that it will seek court intervention to get those ‘black hats’ expelled from running for Local Government elections in February 2018. The PAFFREL also handed over the details of the candidates who had corruption charges against them to IGP. However, according to Sri Lanka’s election law, once the District Returning Officers accept the nomination lists from political parties, there is no way of disqualifying the candidates. Therefore, going by the past, most of these shady characters will get elected, thanks to the electorate well known for its’ political amnesia and fend for themselves at the tax payers’ expense.

Despite idle boasts of  this Yahapalana government to ensure good governance and fairness to all, President Sirisena’s sword of Damocles only appears to fall on politicians on a selective basis, ignoring many macro scale corrupt deals which happened in the MR era and also were allegedly committed by many bigwigs hiding within the present government too. All main characteristics of good governance – Good governance is accountable, is transparent, follows the rule of law, is responsive, is equitable and inclusive, is effective and efficient and is participatory – are largely mere mirages to hoodwink the masses.

Globally, the consequences of stagnation on control of corruption cannot be greater. The failure of governments to create merit-based systems in their societies subverts innovation, the most sustainable source of economic growth, and state capacity, which leads to political instability and distrust in government. Societies with the greatest corruption scores fall victim to en masse desertion. People flee countries where advancement in both the public and the private realms depends on connections rather than work, seeking instead merit-based societies where their talents will find recognition. Indeed, half the brain drain in the world can be traced to the absence of merit-based systems in one’s society, a factor as powerful as poverty itself.

This process of political degeneration and emergence of political clowns got accentuated specially after 1977. A ‘Creepy Clown Craze’ is thus taking over the country. It is very alarming. To be honest, this craze also happens in US, Europe, Middle East, or SE Asia too; political comics and cheats being elected to office through democratic channels, Trump being an ideal example. In Sri Lanka, political powers that be  continue to ignore civil society’s calls for better governance of the public sector. Political and administrative corruption are as widespread as ever. Nepotism, cronyism, embezzlement of public funds, bribery and vote buying persist. Not just politicians, even rampant corruption prevails among high public officials too. The much hyped about the ‘Anti-Corruption Commission’ has also become another farce It is the citizen who pays the price, as demonstrated by the recent multiplication of scandals reported in the media.

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AG strips nude before president’s greed for an extra year in office; Sirisena’s drama with only knickers on..!

(Lanka-e-News - 13.Jan.2018, 4.55PM)   The inquiry made by president Sirisena whether he can continue as president for six years , was heard by a panel of five judges of the Supreme Court (SC) 11th. It is to be noted  it is this same president who reduced the term of his office by a year earlier who is now seeking to grab back that one year period unscrupulously  to increase his term to 6 years again based  on villainous objectives  best known to him.  It is ironical the Attorney General (AG) who was accused by cabinet spokesman yesterday that he proffered wrong advice to the president was the one who was 11th addressing the SC and misleading the latter by claiming that the 19 th amendment does not govern the president , and he can be the president for 6 years.

If the contention of this clown of an  AG is tenable , president Sirisena can   appoint ministers without the consent of the P.M.; ministries can be taken over at his whim and fancy ; after two years dissolve parliament and so forth meaning that he can do anything without abiding by the 19th amendment.  Moreover he will be able to continue for many terms without limit as president in much the same way  as deposed corrupt Mahinda Rajapakse , while also contesting many presidential elections.

The AG 10th by advising the president that the Bond Commission report need not be made available to the parliament only demonstrated he acted to conform to  the needs of the president  , on 11th ,it is the same AG who confirmed beyond doubt he is a despicable henchman of the president.

Section 49 of the 19th amendent specially  stipulates , ‘to dispel doubts’,  while section 49 (b) states , the persons holding office respectively, as the President and Prime Minister on the day preceding April 22, 2015 shall continue to hold such office after such date, subject to the provisions of the Constitution as amended by this Act (19th Amendment). 

And when section 3 of the Act further states very clearly the president of the Republic shall be elected by the people and shall hold office for five years , still the mendacious AG had no qualms when he  told in court the 19th amendment does not state unambiguously that the president can hold office for five years only. 

It is unfortunate the AG despite holding such an exalted position in the legal sphere had to   utter this damn lie thereby degrading himself before the public and disgracing the legal profession. Hence it will be  of immense worth in the best interests of the nation to subject him to an examination by a psychiatrist .

A number of organizations have come forward that vehemently insist  that the president can hold office for 5 years only . Strangely  , nobody from the UNP side had come forward on this account. 

The five judge panel of the SC comprised the CJ ( the head of the panel) , Eva Wanasundara , Buwaneka Aluvihara , K.T. Chitrasiri (reported by LeN already)  and Sisira De Abrew .They have conveyed their decision in writing to the president and until  12 th noon  objections , if any could be raised. 

Conspiracy – its length , breadth and depth …

Based on the views of  political analysts , the president is harping on this obnoxious ‘ game’ with ulterior motives. That is , in the event of  the Maithri group and the Rajapakse group together poll more percentage of votes at the upcoming elections  than the UNP , it is the aim of president to betray the UNP , use his executive presidency powers , and take over the government into the hands of the SLFP and Flower Bud brigand.

It is with this ulterior motive , the president while pretending that he is an infant and ignoramus is seeking an order from the SC to obtain a decision  in his favor regarding the term of presidency only. Right now , under the prevailing laws , Sirisena is not empowered  to take over ministries , appoint ministers according to his whims ,  dissolve the government if necessary or go for elections. Therefore without exposing these handicaps he had sought an answer from the SC only on the presidential term so that  he can use that as a precedent.

If the decision of the court is , the president is not governed by the 19 th amendment ,Sirisana’s  villainous aims and anti national  agendas can automatically be achieved thereafter  . That is, he can  appoint SC judges, take over ministries ,convert the independent Commissions into his own Commission replete with his henchmen , and appoint not only ministers but even  a P.M. whom he fancies.  In addition , he can even dissolve parliament ,and the SLFP can jointly with the Flower Bud go for elections . In short he can become  a devil incarnate and an apparition of discarded dictatorial corrupt Rajapakse. 

Even when Sirisena is  being chased away by all the people from all sides and being attacked  , still if Ranil Wickremesinghe  without having faith in the masses who are steadfastly with him , is to continue in the consensual fold and dance with aunties , sooner or later people can witness a repetition of the drama of 2002 when  he was unconscionably and ungratefully  stabbed in the back on  stage .

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by     (2018-01-13 11:48:58)

SLFP airs LTTE songs at Jaffna rally in bid to win Tamil voters

12Jan 2018

The president's Sri Lankan Freedom Party aired Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) songs at its campaign rally in Jaffna on Friday in a bid to win over Tamil voters. 

The SLFP's airing of the songs comes despite the ongoing arrest and detention of Tamils under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) who are accused of shared LTTE related photos and other materials. 

Parties across the political spectrum contesting in the North-East have frequently employed Tamil nationalist or LTTE related imagery within their campaigning in order win over Tamil voters. 

 Related Articles: 

17 September 2013 : TNA sets out to win support of the masses

11 August 2015 : UNP candidate vies for Tamil votes in Jaffna

President Maithri’s future political decisions will depend on SC ruling on his term

BY GAGANI WEERAKOON-2018-01-14


President Maithripala Sirisena last week asked the Supreme Court whether it is Constitutional for him to serve a full six-year term, from January 2015, when he was elected, to January 2021.The President, in terms of Article 129 (1) of the Constitution, has asked; "In terms of the Provisions of the Constitution, I, as the person elected and succeeding to the office of President and having assumed such office in terms of Article 32 (1) of the Constitution on 9 January 2015, have any impediment to continue in the office of the President, for a period of 6 years from 9 January 2015, the date on which results of my election to the office of the President was declared."

President Maithri’s future political decisions will depend on SC ruling on his term.docx by Thavam on Scribd

In Praise Of President Sirisena

By Sarath de Alwis –January 13, 2018

“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”  ~ George Orwell, 1984

Who made Maithripala Sirisena, President of our republic? Was it Ranil who claims that he made a great sacrifice by deciding not to contest as the UNP’s candidate? Is it the executive committee of the UNP that decided to endorse Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate that the party should support? Or did the majority of people who voted for the common candidate make him our president?

Let us cut to the chase. Let’s avoid obfuscation. Let’s get to the point. This missive is in praise of Maithripala Sirisena’s handling of the Bond Commission report.

 

And further, more specifically it is in praise of his unhesitant referral to the Supreme Court for a precise ruling on his current tenure in office. 

This writer is relieved to discover the new bold and decisive ‘Sirisena’, who has abandoned his ‘little Bo peep has lost her sheep’ demeanour. One hopes he will gradually shed his ‘Apey Hamuduruwane’-‘ upsaka’ mask  and also his ‘Ranaviruwas have done no wrong’ disorder as well,  in his remaining years in office.

The immediate purpose of this dispatch is to congratulate him on his discovery of the precise mandate he received on 8^thJanuary 2015. The people did not vote for him to replace Mahinda Rajapaksa in office.

He was not elected to implement the agenda of the UNP. He was not tasked to reform the SLFP. He was tasked with halting corruption, punishing past offenders and deterring present offenders.

No one expects him to draft a new constitution all by himself. If he cannot persuade parliament to enact the required legislation, let the people decided the composition of the next parliament. He was not elected to name ‘flyovers’ after Sobitha thero. Had he lived he would today, urge him with all his might to fly away and not even fly over the cuckoo’s nest presided over by Ranil Wickremesinghe.

 

Those who saw the movie or read the novel by Ken Kesey would know the parallel between the three years of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s premiership and the psychiatric ward described as the Cuckoo’s nest.  The story is about a psychiatric facility run by an obstinate matron. The narrator calls it a combine. The kind of combine that today runs our country. Ranil, Malik, Charitha, Pasky etc. The combine adopts a mechanistic attitude towards their charges. They manipulate the process and methods. Their system was to offer rewards to the pliant and shame the resisters. What was horrific about the story is that the victims failed to realise that they were being controlled at all.  The novel that satirically mocks the consumer society damns the powers that be for emasculation of the defenceless.

The Bond Commission report should be made available to parliament, people and the Prime minister concurrently.

The manner in which the President has handled the report of the Bond Commission has made politics of our island something far more compelling than politics.

That the issue of the Bond Commission report coincides with the local government elections is not a matter of concern but a propitious eventuality for democratic discernment.

This writer is not surprised by the derisive comments and tasteless fun made of the Presidents referral to the Supreme Court.

Maithripala Sirisena does not belong in the elite crowd. We do not extend to him the kind of deference that Ranil or Mahinda claims as their due in status and power. In both camps – Mahinda’s and Ranil’s he is the outcast. How dare he consult the Supreme Court was an elite reaction. It was not a popular discussion and created no mass embroilment.

Maithripala Sirisena has finally decided to do what he was elected to be President of the Republic. Not a lame duck head of state bound by the advice of the Prime minster whose personal bonds of friendships are now subject to a public probe and for the curious – an exciting look see! 

   

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Bond fallouts: President goes to court, PM provokes brawl in parliament

Rajan Philips-January 13, 2018, 4:46 pm 

Is it the beginning of the end? The end of what, you may interject. As Doric de Souza did when colonial sleuths asked him if he was a member of the Fourth International. "I teach English", Doric snapped, "International is an adjective. International what?" The police had no answer to Doric. But there are multiple-choice answers to today’s question: the end of what; especially after last week’s developments. The unexpected was the President’s unilateral and undisclosed (till the court documents bared it) referral to the Supreme Court to clarify if there is any ‘impediment’ to his serving out six years from the date of his election on January 8, 2015. Then there was the fracas in parliament when the Prime Minister made his pre-emptive and self-justificatory statement on the Commission of Inquiry report on Central Bank bonds. The President’s move was seen as calculated and pre-meditated. But no less calculated and pre-meditated, it would seem, was the UNP’s hand in convening parliament to debate the bond report without ‘anybody’ tabling the report, and the Prime Minister insistently making a statement and provoking a brawl between his MPs and Mahinda’s.

Is the Sirisena-Ranil cohabitation over? Is it the end of the national-unity government? Is it going to be the end of SLFP disunity? Or is the politics of the seven provinces getting permanently polarised into three political alliances – the UNP, the SLFP and the SLPP? There have been screaming headlines about the end of yahapalanaya. It is as if the scribes have been waiting for this to happen. There are quite a few who want to prove the point that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government was never serious about yahapalanaya. But they miss the point that the people, at least a voting majority of them, identified with what that term stood for and voted in a new government to change the way governments are run in Sri Lanka. The lesson from the bond saga is not that yahapalanaya was doomed to fail. Rather, it was made to fail. It is not ‘yahapalanaya’ that deserves derision, but those who failed yahapalanaya politically deserve political punishment. But there is no mechanism to inflict punishment on the political wrongdoers.

The developments last week were efforts to avoid responsibility and shift blame in the wake of the bond report. That was/is clearly the stratagem of Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP. On the other hand, President Sirisena, while asserting zero involvement in the scam and claiming credit for the commission of inquiry, is clearly frustrated that he is not getting much by way of political dividends – either for his tenuous presidency or for his beleaguered party. The SLPP as the de facto opposition party in parliament should be the real beneficiaries of the troubles of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government. But it is stuck in the same place where it was in January 2015. The Nugegoda acclamation to bring back Mahinda did not get traction as many predicted it would. Instead of Mahinda, it is Basil who has returned to pick up from where he left after the last defeat.

The truth of the matter is that none of the three leaders and their alliances has shown any capacity to offer anything new or different that will resonate with the people and win their support. Instead, the three groups are pulling at each other and no one seems capable of striking out a palpable political lead. Without it, a long stalemate in national politics seems increasingly inevitable. It is doubtful if the local government elections will light a spark in an otherwise gloomy political night. Unless something dramatically ignites the situation, no party is unlikely to emerge a clear winner on February 10. In point of fact, none of the three parties deserves to emerge a clear winner in the local elections. Even allowing for the relative appeals of the three alliances, the main determinant of the results will be the voter turnout. Historically, local government elections register the lowest turnout. It was 65% in 2011 and anything lower could be seen as protest apathy against all three parties.

As well, regardless of the results in February, national political institutions and actors will be stuck where they are for another two years, or for three years, depending on what the Supreme Court will tell the President today. ‘Stability’ is what Sri Lanka is supposed to have gained from the JRJ (1978) constitution and the presidential system. Never mind there has been far greater instability in Sri Lanka, politically and otherwise, after 1978 than before. What is obtaining now is not stability but immobility. The promises to reform the constitution including the abolishment of the presidential system and the experiment in national-unity government are all stuck in the existing constitutional straight jacket. President Sirisena’s Supreme Court referral is the result of an incomplete constitutional reform, not to mention the fact that the constitutional involvement of the Supreme Court to decide political questions is one of the chief defects of the JRJ constitution. This is according to NM Perera and AJ Wilson, not table talk.

President’s panic attack and PM’s counter-attack

The bigger political question is what prompted President Sirisena to ask the Supreme Court for clarification about the length of his term. Why did he do it unilaterally without consulting his national-unity partner, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe? Why now? He has naturally come under criticism for going back on the Nineteenth Amendment’s reduction of the presidential term from six year to five years, and his own commitment to not only reduce the term of executive presidency but also abolish it. What is striking, more than the retraction, is the absence of any reference to 19A in his court referral, going by what was published in the media. He asks the court if there is any ‘impediment’ without mentioning the only impediment, i.e. 19A, by name! Speaking at Akuressa on Friday, the President once again was in promise-mode: that he would abide by the Court’s ruling (is there a choice otherwise?), and played the sacrificial card that he is prepared to step down from office on Friday itself.

Given his growing estrangement with the Prime Minister and the frustration of his efforts to strike an electoral alliance with the SLPP/JO, President Sirisena’s only political safe-space is his office. Extending it even by one year would make sense from his standpoint. He will at least have one additional year to try some of his old and failed maneuvers, or even entirely new ones, to strengthen his position and that of his bifurcated party. Asking the court now will also help set the stage for another run for a full second term. If the Court says that there is no impediment to his completing a six-year term, it could bolster his and his party’s chances at the local elections. It could also backfire at the elections if the court were to determine that 19A is indeed an insurmountable impediment.

The President’s choosing not to consult the Prime Minister about the court referral speaks volumes of the state of the relationship between the two men. Equally, the President chose not to share the report of the Commission of Inquiry with the Prime Minister before he made his public statement on the report. A handful of non-elected government officials have copies of the report, but not the PM, the Speaker, or Parliament itself. On the one hand, the President may be thinking that he is sending a message to the public that he is keeping at arm’s length and more, the PM and everyone else directly or indirectly associated with the bond scam. On the other hand, it may be that the President has lost both his official and personal camaraderie with the Prime Minister to have a free and frank discussion on the bond scam, the Commission’s report, and the almost daily fallouts from it.

Ideally, if President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe were to salvage anything from/for yahapalanaya after the bond fiasco, they should have engaged in face-to-face talks on the matter and decided on a course of action that would have included at the minimum: unimpeded legal proceedings against those criminally implicated; the relocation of the Central Bank to the Ministry of Finance; and the removal of Ravi Karunanayake from the public face of the government and even that of the UNP. The President’s unilateral actions show that either he did not want to deal with the Prime Minister, or he was not hopeful of getting the Prime Minister to agree to any of the minimum action items.

The Prime Minister’s and the UNP’s response to the Commission report would seem to vindicate the President’s unilateral actions. Rather than showing even a pretence of remorse and willingness to take corrective actions, the PM and the UNP leadership would seem to have decided to use the party muscle and go on the counter-attack. Notwithstanding the Commission’s strictures against him, Ravi Karunanayake remains the public face and the physical bulwark of the UNP. If the brawl in parliament was not an accident, its real purpose was to rile up the UNP base to defend the party politically against the fallouts from the bond scam of its own making. The fisticuffs and the orchestrated catcalls, apparently led by the Prime Minister himself, clearly show that when push comes to shove the UNP will not hesitate to fall back on its time-honoured thuggish traditions – yahapalanaya or no yahapalanaya. With a riled up base and a strong campaign, there can be a good showing at the local elections. And a good showing there will help sweep away the fallouts from the bond scam. If that is the thinking, it is a betrayal of good governance.

It is worse. It brings to nought all the efforts on constitutional reform expended over the last two years. It puts the TNA in a quandary, having little to show to a skeptical electorate after two years of reconciliation. It has no answers to the survivors of victims of murders after two years of tantalizing promises. It will also be bizarre after the local elections and the people’s vaunted exercise of their sovereignty this time through the local version of the franchise, the stable JRJ constitution will ensure that the country will have the same President and the Prime Minister. Thanks to 19A, the President cannot easily, or not at all, fire the Prime Minister. And the Prime Minister will have to work with the same President at least for two more years, and potentially three, depending on what the Supreme Court decides. And the parliament, given all the crisscrossing movements across party lines over 20 years, will remain one large extended and dysfunctional family. There will be governance. But is there an adjective suitable enough to describe it?

Sirisena makes an exhibition of his dishonesty to all ! Conceals report requested by Parliament ; members exchange blows !(Video)

(Lanka-e-News - 13.Jan.2018, 4.40PM)  As was  revealed by Lanka e news previously so was president Sirisena’s probity  put to the litmus  test when the parliament had a special session  on the 10 th.  Sirisena on the 10 th not only demonstrated his dishonesty and unscrupulousness but also dodged an urgent  request  made by the legislature , thereby creating a conflict between the legislature and the executive for the first time. 

It were the Joint Alliance including the UPFA’s Rajapakse group, JVP and UPFA’s   Maithri group M.P.s. that requested a debate on the Bond commission report . Accordingly , following a request made  by the  Prime Minister , the speaker summoned an emergency parliamentary session.

In fact this emergency session was to debate on  the Bond Commission report as well as the 34 grave corruptions report forwarded to the president . Strangely , neither the Bond Commission report nor the report pertaining to the 34 grave corruptions were in the custody of the parliament to conduct a debate.  Those reports were with the president.

The speaker therefore through the parliament secretary sent a letter to the president’s secretary requesting to forward copies of  the reports to Parliament on the 10 th (morning) 

Lanka e news  a few days ago reported , if the president is honest ,reports relating to the SLFP  culprits involved in 34 grave frauds shall be made available to parliament on the 10 th .  Based on reports however , president Sirisena had concealed those  and is to forward  only the Bond Commission report to parliament .

Shockingly , president Sirisena for most mysterious reasons had not  forwarded  the Bond Commission report to Parliament , the supreme legislative body ! Obviously this is because Sirisena will not be able  to score political mileage during the run up to the upcoming elections exploiting  that report (if revealed, the world will know the truth) to conduct  his mudslinging campaign. 

Unbelievably the president who should act most responsibly had most irresponsibly furnished no valid reason for this grave omission, to parliament when it began its sessions  . The explanation offered was  : the Bond report shall be forwarded on the 17 th , and the reports on the 34 grave corruptions shall be furnished subsequently – no date was given . In other words the president who should be the first if he is honest to take action against the culprits  is behaving like their  accomplice . He is procrastinating until the elections are over thereby  denying  the public the right to identify the criminals before  the elections. 

The Joint opposition alias Rajapakse  UPFA group and the JVP after the parliament sittings commenced  went on asking for the Bond Commission report from the speaker . When it was revealed  that the president’s secretary has intimated , the report will be made available in a week , the JVP and the JO argued  an official cannot override the directive of the parliament , and the secretary should be immediately summoned to parliament for  questioning.

In the agenda on 10th , the debate on the Commission reports was  mentioned . The second item in the agenda was the special statement to be made by the P.M. who requested a special parliamentary  session yesterday. As the president has not complied with the first request in the agenda , when preparations were being made to take up the second item in the agenda –P.M. ‘ s special statement, the JO alias UPFA Rajapakse group started screaming ‘P.M. is a rogue’ while carrying posters with that slogan . These MPs who opposed  then moved to the front shouting hoarse  , and entered into a brawl .

The conflict between Gamini Lokuge and S.M. Marikar of the government took a turn for the worse. After UNP M.P. Kavinga Jayawardena fainted he was taken to hospital for medical treatment .

Amidst the melee , the P.M. continued with his speech with great difficulty. After the conclusion of his speech  , raising the voices and hands like in a procession the members  asked  ‘who is the rogue?’ when  everyone started screaming ‘Mahinda is the rogue’. However when P.M. asked others to shout with him and  since this request was clearly heard via the microphone , allegations were made,   that  request of Ranil was untoward .  But when the UPFA Rajapakse group hoodlums turned the August assembly into a bedlam shouting hoarse and conducting themselves worse than protestors at   Lipton Circus , no attention was paid to that hooliganism . 

In any event when considering the behavior of the third world parliament prime ministers , our P.M.’s conduct is not unsurprising  . Nevertheless Ranil’s  behavior in any event  cannot be approved. 

However , after the speaker adjourned sessions , parliament  resumed to hold the party leaders’ meeting. By that time many of the members  except Dinesh Gunawardena of the UPFA had left to attend a meeting of the Flower bud party on that day.

Soon after the parliament session was  resumed , the speaker read a letter sent by the president to parliament . It is  then the  cat was out of the bag of the president .The president had been mudslinging while hiding the Bond Commission report  making use of the Attorney General as a pawn. In president’s letter it was stated,  after the AG’s advice was sought  , the AG had advised that the report shall only be made available to those mentioned in it and not to the Parliament. However , the AG in order to save his own skin had again in  another sentence said  , the president can act   according to  his discretion.Accordingly , the president without releasing the report to the Parliament - the supreme legislative body , sent copies thereof to the Central bank,  the AG, Director General of  Bribery and corruption Commission and the Department of archives. 

This step   came in for a lot of flak from the parliament , government and the opposition . It was the opinion of the P.M. , the AG had not only transgressed the laws but even the parliamentary traditions. 

The chief whip of the opposition Anura Kumara Dissanayake said,  3 copies of the Bond report were   to be released , and at least one copy should have been made available to the Parliament.  He pointed out vehemently ,before the report is made available to the Bribery commission , AG , Central bank and the Archives department , the president should have released a copy to the parliament which is responsible for the State finance. 

The view of the TNA including its leader   Sampanthan was , a report of the Bond Commission  should be released on the first occasion at the same time  to Parliament too.

It was minister Hakeem who made a most important announcement. When there is no difference of opinion between  the government and the opposition , and there is nothing to conceal in the report , each individual seeking to exploit that report to gain political mileage at the forthcoming elections is absolutely wrong. Obviously he was indirectly pointing an accusing finger at the president though he did not mention the name.

With regard to  the issues sparked in relation to the Parliament owing to the dastardly actions of the president  , the speaker making his comments said , he has no desire  to create a conflict between the Executive and the legislature. Since the president had stated , a copy of the report will be forwarded to Parliament within a week , the speaker urged the members to be patient. 

However , in the letter of the president no mention was made of the date on which the report pertaining to the 34 grave corruptions will be released to the Parliament. The  letter stated , that report is not with the president , and the Commission has to be notified to collect that report . This is a wonder of wonders !  Can a responsible president the highest in the hierarchy say the 34 reports handed over to him on  grave corruptions are not in his custody ? It is crystal clear from this the president is wantonly  concealing those reports to shield and support the SLFP culprits until the elections are over. In other words the president despite his exalted position has proved he is  an accomplice of the crooks and the corrupt. 

Finally it was decided by the speaker  to summon AG to parliament to question him. Accordingly  a directive in that regard was sent  to the AG .The P.M. pointed out  , this gives an opportunity to the party leaders to question the AG.

The final outcome: It is only the baser instincts and unscrupulous nature of the president that came to be clearly  known to  all members of the parliament including those of the  government and the opposition , not to mention all the citizens.

A condensed version of the actual incidents that occurred in Parliament are in the video footage hereunder

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by     (2018-01-13 11:34:41)

Over 300 houses destroyed as strong winds rip through Gampaha

January 13, 2018

Strong winds that developed into a storm ravaged several areas within Gampaha yesterday (12), causing severe damage to over 300 houses in the area. 

Very strong winds were reported at 5.45pm yesterday in Walpita, Katukirinda, Sirikampatha, Diklanda and Alugolla. Residents of the area attempted to flee as large trees uprooted while thundershowers followed. 

Reports confirm that over 300 residencies in the area were damaged by falling trees and debris. The CEB has also reported that the power supply from Kotadeniyawa to Dedigama has been disrupted by the incident. 

Local authorities sent relief to the affected areas with the aid of the Police and special units from the Sri Lanka Army.

The Department of Meteorology issued a statement that the strong winds are yet to be identified as a tornado. The Director of the Department stated that a special team has been deployed to gather further information to make an accurate classification. 

Term reference to Supreme Court misinterpreted, will abide by ruling - President

Appointment of Presidential Commission on SriLankan, Mihin Air this week

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by Zacki  Jabbar-January 13, 2018, 7:44 pm 

Pledging to wipe out corruption regardless of personalities, President Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday in Akuressa that his reference to the Supreme Court to determine the exact duration of his term in office had been misinterpreted by  some.

Addressing a public meeting, the president  said he had sought a ruling  from the Apex Court due to differing opinions that had been expressed .

Some experts maintained that since  the 19th Amendment  was enacted after the last Presidential Election, the term of office should be six years, while others were of the view that it should be five years, he explained.

"That is why I referred the matter to the Supreme Court. I am prepared to abide by whatever the ruling is," he said.

Srisena revealed  that a  Presidential Commission to investigate the loss making SriLankan Airlines   and Mihin Air, would be appointed this week ,

SriLankan which was a profit making entity under the management of Emirates Airlines nosedived after  former President Mahinda Rajapaksa terminated the contract since the then CEO Peter Hill refused to offload fare paying Business Class passengers to accomodate members of his family who wanted to fly from London to Colombo .

 Sri Lankan President to appoint a commission to probe Mihin Lanka and SriLankan Airlines

Sat, Jan 13, 2018, 09:26 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Jan 13, Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said he will appoint a commission next week to probe the alleged fraud and corruption taken place in Sri Lanka's national carrier SriLankan Airlines and the now nonoperational budget carrier Mihin Lanka.

President Sirisena made this statement while speaking at an election rally held at the Gam Udawa Stadium in Dambulla today to garner support for the candidates of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in Matale district.

Without giving any details, the President said when he appoints the Presidential Commission on Mihin Lanka and Sri Lankan Airlines, more revelations will be made, and many more corrupt politicians will be exposed.

Speaking at the rally, the President said the true nature of the previous government's so-called development will be revealed to the public in the future and whatever the challenges, he will change the corrupt political culture to win the challenge of building the country.

President Sirisena noted that it was he who, through the 19th Amendment to the constitution abrogated the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed the president to remain in power for life.

The President said that he was the only leader who acted to curtail the powers of the executive presidency and hand over the powers to the parliament and no other leader of the world has done that.
Recalling that in the past the president appointed the IGP, Attorney General, Chief Justice, all Supreme Court judges and Independent Commissions, the President said he is the who changed the system and handed over those powers to parliamentary Constitutional Council.
He said the people will not forget how the courts gave orders in the past according to the orders received from the Temple Trees.

Noting that he is the one who changed the system of Army shooting the innocent people of Rathupaswala crying for drinking water, the President reminded that those, who are accusing the government of hunting war heroes, imprisoned the military leader who led the war to end terrorism.
"If they are speaking according to the conscience, they did not have the Bandaranaike philosophy or the SLFP policy that values the freedom and democracy. While committing fraud, corruption and exploiting the people they destroyed the honor of the party (SLFP) as well as its policies," the President said.

The people are now realizing the true situation and stressed that at the February 10 local government election Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would become the party with the highest people's power.

Expressing his views regarding the development of the agriculture sector in the area and the development of the economy of the farmer community, the President said that the Dambulla Economic Center would be physically developed and its administration will be properly managed by halting the existing frauds and corruptions and distributing its benefits to everyone.

Rajagiriya flyover, Moragahakanda -- Rajapaksa must be day dreaming: Thalatha

2018-01-13 

Foreign Employment and Justice Minister Thalatha Atukorale yesterday rejected claims made by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa that the Rajagiriya flyover and the Moragahakanda Multi-Purpose Development Project (MMDP) were planned by his government.

She told a gathering at Ratnapura that Mr. Rajapaksa had also made similar claims during the construction of the Mahaweli Development Project.

“Mr. Rajapaksa must be day dreaming,” the minister said.

She said it was uncertain whether Mr. Rajapaksa was aware of the construction of the Rajagiriya flyover but might have been planning how to earn his portion of the commission from the projects which had been carried out under his government.

“Several people are asking us about the work we have done for past two years. The country has been destroyed by these people during the past ten years,” the minister said and added that some political parties were attempting to label Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as a thief and said she was prepared to give up her portfolio if any such allegation was proved in the court of law. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)

GRAMA SEVA OFFICERS YET TO BE GIVEN TABS AS PER BUDGET PROPOSAL

 13.1.2018  LANKA NEWS WEB  

The 2017 budget (supplementary estimate) proposed to provide 2-in-1 tabs for all Grama Seva officers. Through an advertisement on the 25 August 2017 issue of Daily News, bids were invited to supply the tabs. However, reports reaching Lanka News Web say the authoritarian decisions by officials of the Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Ministry are taking the procurement in the wrong track.

In violation of all state procurement regulations, the lowest bidders have been ignored and a company that made a high bid has been given the tender in order for the officials to pocket something for themselves out of it. A pre-bid meeting was held on 08 September 2017, led by ministry secretary Wasantha Deshapriya and also attended by ministry and ICTA officials. On September 21, six bids were opened. The lowest was Rs. 683 million, followed by Rs .731 m, and the highest was Rs. 854 m.

Normally, a technical evaluation committee evaluates the bids to find out if the bidders are qualified to be selected to supply the intended item. The tender board and the technical evaluation committee should act in a manner that ensures that the public money is spent properly without any wastage. Within 14 days of the submission of the bids, the ministry secretary informed all bidders that V S Information Systems has been chosen, and to submit any objections to the presidential appeal board. Accordingly, one bidder made an appeal, which was taken up by a three-member committee on October 27. Deshapriya, two members of the technical evaluation committee and the appellant participated. 

It is now 79 days since that inquiry. But, nothing is yet known about the outcome. Also, the project has come to a standstill. Had the authorities acted properly, the Grama Seva officers should have had their tabs with them by now. There is evidence that the tender board and technical evaluation committee members have close connections with V S Information Systems. In the picture given below, ministry secretary Deshapriya is posing with Kasun Warnakulasuriya of EZY, which supplies computers for V S Information Systems. Also, ICTA has close connections with EZY. The other pictures were taken by their employees in Los Angeles.

No state official has any right to misuse public money in this manner. The result is that the tabs due for Grama Seva officers are yet to be given to them.