Tuesday, November 20, 2012

TNN Nov 18, 2012, 05.14AM IST

TRICHY: "An independent international mechanism should be in place to probe war crimes and gross human rights violation against Sri Lankan Tamils. India should also raise the voice to bring about a political change to the Lankan Tamils," said D Raja, national secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), here on Saturday.

Raja addressed the media prior to a party meeting in the city. He was accompanied by CPI state secretary D Pandian and senior CPI leader R Nallakannu. He spoke about their participation and the resolutions passed in the 'Global Tamil Conference' held in London on November 7, 2012. Raja took strong exception to the Sri Lankan government for not obeying any resolution passed by the international community against the genocide of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

During the war against Sri Lankan Tamils, representatives from United Nations Organisation (UNO), volunteers of Red Cross Society and international and national media had been denied permission to enter war zones. The Rajapakse-led government had hidden a lot of war crimes perpetrated against the Tamils. Further, Lanka did not abide by any objective of the resolutions passed in United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last year to probe the war crimes. Hence, an independent international mechanism must probe the war crimes and human rights violations. The secretary-general of the United Nations should raise the issue in the Security Council before the next human rights council meeting in Geneva, he said.

"The discrimination against Sri Lankan Tamils still continues in Lanka and most of the areas habited by Lankan Tamils have been occupied by military and Sinhalese after the war. India, so far, supported the Sri Lankan government in the name of geopolitics, but now it should change its foreign policy towards Lanka," he added.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Common/Parl/Images/ParliamentHome.en-CA.gif

41st PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 180

CONTENTS

Monday, November 19, 2012

Sri Lanka

[Table of Contents]

Mr. Corneliu Chisu (Pickering—Scarborough East, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, the report of the United Nations Secretary-General's internal review panel on Sri Lanka released last week details a litany of human rights violations endured by the Sri Lankan people, particularly during the final stages of the conflict.

While the UN report reviews and acknowledges its own failures identified in the report, the government of Sri Lanka continues to fail in its responsibility to make progress on reconciliation, accountability and respect for human rights in post-conflict Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister and our Minister of Foreign Affairs have taken every opportunity to raise Canada's concerns with the government of Sri Lanka.

Our government will continue to reiterate the need for tangible sustained progress on the ground.

Gaza Redux

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh Salem-News.com

It was and remains a difficult propaganda task to hide the scale of atrocities against natives especially when all human rights groups and the UN describe such actions as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Israelis are massacring children and their mothers in Gaza with the backing of the U.S. government.

(BETHLEHEM) - Israel forces have been attacking Gaza, destroying power grids, destroying infrastructure and killing civilians. They intensified the brutal attack after two home made rockets landed in Tel Aviv. Hospitals in Gaza are at the breaking point trying to deal with casualties while under siege for years.

Israel is a child murdering government.

Israeli authorities are caught lying to their own people about the extent of damage coming from the resistance (e.g. saying the rockets were intercepted and did not fall while Israeli citizens see them fall, fires breaking and ambulances rushing in. I myself heard the sirens blaring in the settlements of Gush Etzion and heard the thud of one largeb rocket (presumably of the long range Fajr type). But now for an analytical comment.

Is history repeating itself? The Israeli attack on Gaza this week is happening between the US Presidential elections and the Israeli (early) elections. The attack on Gaza four years ago also happened after the US elections and before Israeli elections. Some Israeli citizens thus put an advertisement in an Israeli paper titled "No to the election war!"

Netanyahu and company today are trying to repeat what Olmert and company tried to do four years ago: pound Gaza into submission while gaining right-wing votes. This attack could also be a test of preparedness for a coming war on Iran (Gaza is weaker than Lebanon or Iran).

Early results show that the Israeli hasbara spin machine failed to make the attack on Gaza appear as "self-defense" and will fail at all its other goals just like happened in 2006 and 2008. During the last attack on Gaza four years ago Israeli forces murdered 1400 Palestinians including nearly 400 Children in a period of just three weeks.

In Gaza just in the last 48 hours, the martyred Palestinians included two babies 10 and 11 months old. Netanyahu hopes the Zionist media network and his bombing campaigns succeed in 2012 at what they failed to achieve in 2008.

Israel as an occupier/colonizer hopes to get away with murder while labeling any resistance from the occupied people as "terrorism." In the age of instant communication it is difficult. After repeated aggressive wars (e.g. in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1982, 2000, 2006, 2008, and now 2012), the world is finally waking up.

People of the Arab world who engaged in real democratic revolutions now demand real change. It is symbolically significant that high level officials from Egypt and Tunisia traveled to Gaza during the current attacks.

People know that Israeli lobbies like AIPAC (whose website was hacked by Anonymous this week) keep pushing for wars including an illegal war on Iran in the same way as they pushed for the illegal war on Lebanon and Iraq before. The latter war was foisted on the Western public using lies (connections of Iraq to terror actions of 11 September 2001 and weapons of mass destruction).

The war cost thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, and $3 trillion in direct cost to US taxpayers. People know that Gaza is still under occupation per international law as the UN itself reported.

Even Israeli spokespersons and an Israeli document released by court order showed Israel is engaged in collective punishment of Gaza population, a crime against humanity per international law. The UN warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if the Israeli siege of Gaza continues. Israel also continues to target any and all humanitarian ships trying to break the siege.

Israeli politicians find it convenient every few years to launch a massive war to keep the "home-front" scared and united and hope to bolster their political careers. "Rooting out terrorism" and keeping "Israeli citizens safe" are now seen even by Israelis as simply propaganda.

Israeli intelligence reports submitted to the Israeli government showed that Hezbollah became even stronger after the Israeli attacks of 2006 and that Hamas came out stronger after the Israeli attack in 2008. Impoverished Gaza is teaching all lessons.

Olmert and Livni discovered that war crimes do not necessarily translate into votes. A more important lesson that may take longer to sink in is that safety does not come from oppression and ethnic cleansing, the two pillars of Zionism. Safety comes from justice. Israel is a racist apartheid and militarized state that caused the largest remaining refugee population on earth (7 million of the 12 million Palestinians are refugees or displaced).

Peace can come by acknowledging wrongs and engaging in restorative justice. After the return of the Palestinian refugees (including the one million in Gaza) to their homes and lands occupied in 1948, we can all live here regardless of religious or other backgrounds in one secular democratic state. I suspect the Israeli immoral and cruel attacks on Gaza will hasten this inevitable outcome.

*Anonymous pulled AIPAC website down (this is the website of the third column that is destroying the American economy for the sake of Zionism) http://www.aipac.org/

The Kudankulam: Questions Of Ideological Horizons, Strategic Orientation And Urgent Practical Tasks

By Surendra Ajit Rupasinghe -November 20, 2012

Ajit Rupasinghe

Introduction:

First of all, we hail the heroic masses who are braving intense repression in order to sustain and build the people’s resistance to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project-KNPP- in India, and extend our revolutionary solidarity across the sea. For our part, late as we are, we shall do all that we can to build the people’s resistance movement and struggle here in the Land of Lanka. We share our views on the above matters since it is increasingly clear that building sustained mass resistance to the KNPP is of foremost priority in defending the right to life, livelihood, homeland and heritage of millions of people which the KNPP considers and calculates to be expendable, or a reasonable risk, compared to the astronomical margins of profit and commissions to be robbed and shared among the shareholders and stakeholders, the eternal power and glory conferred upon the architects and executors – the bloated political and corporate luminaries of Russia and India, and the possibilities of opening up the market and subjecting human labor power to even more degrading and life-denying exploitation, and offering the Land and resources to even more plunder, ravage and ruin.

Political concentration of the KPM:

This article is to contribute towards clarifying and sharpening our ideological horizons and strategic orientation. This is to open up friendly debate and discussion on how to view the political essence and ideological content of the KPM, – what its goals and objectives are, and the strategic orientation, program and plan that can identify immediate, short and long-term tasks. This is so we may develop an internationalist perspective of our responsibilities, duties and tasks, and begin to unite forces across the sea and throughout South Asia, and internationally, as a single front of struggle against the marauding rule of corporate profit and plunder, which the KNPP embodies. This is so together we may do our utmost to save Mother Earth and Humankind from these devouring, marauding dominators who care not for life, joy, beauty and harmony, but for accumulating profit and corrupt gain. The is the universal political content and concentration of the people’s resistance and struggle to dismantle and demolish the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

The Turning the Dialectic of History: Read More

All signatories to impeachment motion must declare assets

– Ven. Sobitha Thera

Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera

addressing the media.

Pic Nishan S. Priyantha

November 19, 2012, 10:19 pm

by Dasun Edirisinghe

All parliamentarians, who had signed the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake and members of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to probe the charges levelled against her, should first declare their assets, Convener of the National Movement for Social Justice Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha thera said yesterday.

He said Dr. Bandaranayake had shown a clear record on her financial transactions through her lawyers, but most of ministers and MPs had yet to declare their assets.

The Thera made the observations at a media conference held at his temple, the Naga Viharaya in Kotte yesterday.

Mahanayake Theras of three Nikayas and the Catholic Council, including the Cardinal, had already requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to withdraw the impeachment motion and no one had a good word about, Ven. Sobitha Thera said,reminding President Rajapaksa how he had acted when the J. R. Jayewardene government tried to impeach then CJ Neville Samarakoon. Young Rajapaksa had opposed that move, he said.

"We observed that MPs of the Sri Lanka Communist Party and Lanka Sama Samaja Party have not signed the impeachment motion," Sobitha thera said, adding that even a government minister, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, had criticised it.

There were 11 members on the PSC and of them seven were from the government. It was clear that their decision would be final, the Thera said.

Attorney-at-Law J. C. Weliamuna said that the government used the Standing Orders 78 (A), adopted by the J. R. Jayewardene government, to impeach present CJ Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.

According to the impeachment motion, the CJ had been given only one week to file explanations, but a murderer got over one month to file answers in Court, Weliamuna said.

That move was not against Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake but against the judiciary Hereafter, no Judge would dare give a judgement against the government and that was what the government’s wanted, Weliamuna said.

"We asked other civil organizations to join us to pressure the government to withdraw this impeachment motion," Weliamuna said.

SRI LANKA: Justice must be served: An appeal by lawyers on impeachment process

November 19, 2012

Lawyers for Democracy

Lawyers for Democracy (LfD), raises serious concerns with the process that has commenced to impeach the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Hon. Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake. The impeachment follows in the wake of several other attempts in recent times to interfere and intimidate the judiciary, most recent incident being the attack against the Secretary of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) in October 2012. These incidents, now culminated with the attempt to impeach are a direct attack against maintaining an independent judiciary, a fundamental element in a functioning democracy. LfD urges that the process to impeach meets basic principles of rule of law and natural justice and ensure that the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka be provided with a due process and there be justice.

LfD is also dismayed with the recent developments in the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which has been appointed to inquire into the 14 charges brought against her by 116 Members of Parliament (MPs). While desisting from commenting on the charges and terms of the PSC at this present moment, LfD is though concerned with reports indicating that the PSC is to exercise judicial powers in its deliberation in the impeachment process. Based on the limited information publicly available, LfD believes that the impeachment procedure provided by Standing Order 78 of Parliament contravene natural justice and is incompatible with the Constitution of Sri Lanka. LfD therefore supports and aligns itself with the view of the Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, that the present procedure to impeach the Chief Justice is incompatible with both the principle of separation of power and Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

LfD wishes to point out at the outset that with a two third majority, the government has caused a Motion for impeachment to be forwarded, signed by 117 of members of Parliament, all from the government side. This process begins with this Motion and ends when the Parliament takes a vote to decide on the Chief Justice's fate on a simple majority. Therefore the 'proof' of any misconduct has to be decided by a body that can look at the allegations objectively, impartially and not politically. But the composition of the Parliamentary Select Committee is also lop-sided with 7 members for the government and 4 members for the opposition, raising a fundamental issue of bias and fairness.

In addition to the political dimension of the impeachment and irreparable damage such an exercise will have on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Sri Lanka, LfD is also alarmed with developments in the PSC last week. Media reports have highlighted the speed with which the PSC has commenced its sitting, with the Speaker appointing 11 MPs (7 Government MPs and 4 Opposition MPs) to the PSC at 10.00am on 14th November 2012 and having its first sitting on the same day at 4.30pm. At 6.00 pm on the same day, the Chief Justice was personally served with the resolution containing the 14 charges. While such efficiency is to be applauded in any inquiry and investigation, it is unfortunate that such speed is not evident in other such processes. The unprecedented speed in constituting the PSC and commencing proceedings is also evident in the extremely short time of one week provided to the Chief Justice to show cause for the 14 charges. Such speed within the first few days of commencing proceedings begs the question whether the Chief Justice and her counsel will be provided sufficient time to adequately prepare and respond to charges made against her.

LfD is also dismayed with the lack of due respect shown towards the highest sitting justice in Sri Lanka. Reports indicate that the PSC has attempted to limit legal representation for the Chief Justice to one counsel, a limitation not provided in any known law nor the Constitution. LfD was also informed that although the Chief Justice through her counsel had requested for a six week period to respond to the charges, at the time of issuing this statement, this was not agreed to by the PSC, with correspondence informing her of her need to personally present herself at the PSC on 23rd November.

As practicing lawyers in Sri Lanka, we hold that the general practice is for court to grant approximately six weeks or more for any Respondent to reply to allegations. Further, disciplinary inquiries against public officials are conducted generally after a preliminary inquiry is completed. LfD also notes that there is no limitation regarding the number of counsel that can appear for a client in a court of law. LfD is dismayed that the present PSC did not examine previous PSCs, in particular the one established to investigate into allegations made against the then Chief Justice Hon. N.D.M Samarakoon Q.C., where several counsel marked appearance. LfD is shocked that the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka is not provided with basic legal protections, raising further concern of independence and impartiality of the entire impeachment process.

On behalf of LfD
Singed by
Lal Wijenayaka, Chandrapala Kumarage, E. Viwekanandan , K.S. Ratnavale, J.C. Weliamuna, Sudath Netthisinghe ,Sudarshana Gunawardana, Lakshan Dias , Sunil Jayaratne, Harin Gomas, S.G. Punchihewa

Lawyers of Democracy (LfD) is a representative body of legal practitioners throughout the island. Conveners include Lal Wijenayaka, Chandrapala Kumarage, E. Viwekanandan , K.S. Ratnavale, J.C. Weliamuna, Sudath Netthisinghe ,Sudarshana Gunawardana, Lakshan Dias , Sunil Jayaratne, Harin Gomas, S.G. Punchihewa. It was established on 10th December 2009.

Lawyers for Democracy, C/O, 24/13, Nawala Road, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka-

lal.wijenayake@gmail.com- Tel-077-781 2010

Ranil wants standing orders amended-Impeachment Motions

November 19, 2012, 10:25 pm

By Saman Indrajith

Parliamentary Standing Orders pertaining to impeachment motions were outdated and should be amended to ensure that justice prevailed, Opposition and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday.

Participating in the third reading stage debate on Budget 2013, Wickremesinghe said that the Sri Lankan Parliament had to take examples in this regard from other Commonwealth countries, such as India and Australia. "We must invite three experts from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to visit Sri Lanka and recommend necessary amendments to the Standing Orders," he said.

The House had powers of both the legislature and the judiciary, he said adding that those responsible for the attack on Judicial Service Commission Secretary Manjula

Tillekeratne had not been brought to book. If there was a serious and genuine need to arrest the culprits, they could have been brought to justice, the Opposition Leader said, adding that the attackers were still at large.

Those responsible for the attack on the UNP Party Headquarters, Sirikotha, arrested and produced before the Courts had been later released, Wickremesinghe said.

The UNP leader said that it was not wise to have a crisis situation between the judiciary and the legislature. The two institutions of democracy should operate with a mutual understanding of each other. "None of us need to influence or involve in the process of the judiciary. These three institutions must coexist without influencing each other".

"We are duty bound to safeguard the judiciary but we are not here to protect individuals; we fight for what is right and not for who is right,"he said.

Will The Predictions About The Judiciary Come True?

By Basil Fernando -November 20, 2012

Basil Fernando

In an article entitled ‘Once judiciary is broken the Rajapaksas will use the court to destroy every remaining right or freedom’, Tisaranee Gunasekaramakes the following prediction:

If the impeachment succeeds without wounding the Rajapaksas, that will become the judicial norm in Sri Lanka. Once the judiciary is turned invertebrate, it too will begin to act like the current Attorney General’s Department (which was taken over by the President in 2010), all the time. And instead of a magistrate issuing an arrest order against Duminda Silva, a magistrate will declare him innocent, on the orders of the Family. The Siblings and their kith and kin will decide who are guilty and who are innocent. The courts will be reduced to pronouncing Rajapaksa judgements and Rajapaksa sentences.

I think any thinking person should give serious consideration to this prediction. The time that is still left to prevent the prediction from coming true is indicated by the ‘if’ with which the prediction begins. The basic issue is as to whether soon it will be the executive who will decide the distinction between what is legal and what is illegal. That is whatever the executive (which has come to mean the three Rajapaksa brothers) wishes to do will be treated as legal. We are dealing with the Otto Adolf Eichmann view of the law. In his defence when he was tried by a court in Israel, Eichmann took up the position that in Germany whatever the Führer ordered was the law. Hannah Arendt, who watched and reported on this trial, termed this as the ‘banality of evil’.

That is why that ‘if’ is of such paramount importance. There is still a very short time for testing the prediction. Those few weeks are in the hands of Sri Lanka’s higher courts. They could either begin to cause the beginning of the reversal of submission to the dictates which more or less started with the four fifth majority of the UNP and continued with the borrowed two thirds majority of the present regime.

The legality of much of the 1978 Constitution could have been challenged by the Supreme Court at that time. However, this document called the Constitution of Sri Lanka which, in fact, in the history of constitutions is one that could without any hesitation be termed a joke, was allowed to be the paramount law of Sri Lanka only because the judiciary refused to exercise its role as the final arbiter of what is legal and illegal within the territory of Sri Lanka. In my book, Sri Lanka Impunity, Criminal Justice and Human Rights (2010) I devoted a whole chapter to illustrate that the distinction between legality and illegality has been lost in Sri Lanka.

After 31 years of the 1978 Constitution, it is not even possible to recognize what is law and what is not. When the executive president placed himself above the law, there began a process in which law gradually diminished to the point of no significance. This is unsurprising. The constitution itself destroyed constitutional law, by negating all checks and balances over the executive. When the paramount law declares itself irrelevant, its irrelevance penetrates all other laws. Thereafter, public institutions also lose their power and value……..When there is a loss of meaning in legality, terms such as ‘judge’, ‘lawyer’, ‘state counsel’ and ‘police officer’ are superficially used as if they mean what they did in the past; however, their inner meanings are substantially changed. Those who bear such titles no longer have similar authority, power and responsibility as their counterparts had before, when law still had meaning as an organizing principle.

It was that failure which led to the creation of continuous ambiguity about what is legal and illegal in Sri Lanka in recent decades. Even things like abductions and enforced disappearances are not clearly defined as illegal in Sri Lanka. If such acts were defined as illegal and the law was enforced, how many would now be in jail for committing that crime? This is just one example. How many other things which would have been considered illegal in a country that has the rule of law came to be considered as legal? The list would be a very long one.

The proverbial last minute

Still, all the space was not lost. At least an appearance of courts exercising some authority has still remained. The recent judgements on the Diviniguma Bill and the Criminal Justice Provisions Bill are just some examples which showed that still there is room for the judiciary to act as the arbiter of what is legal and illegal.

It is that which has been challenged now by way of the impeachment. The procedure under which the impeachment proceedings are to be held under the Standing Orders as they stand now is clearly unconstitutional. If through this unconstitutional process the Chief Justice is removed with that the power of the courts will be finally removed.

The test is as to whether the courts will exercise their authority against an illegal process for the removal of the Chief Justice and thereby retain in their hands the final power of deciding what is legal and illegal within the territory of Sri Lanka. The Indian Supreme Court has clearly kept their authority and, in the last few years, the Supreme Court of Pakistan also has reasserted its power to be the final arbiter of declaring what is legal and illegal within their national territories.

A court that does not exert the power it has will have no one to blame but itself. But there is still time before that ‘if’ may come true. So we are in that proverbial last minute.

Rule of Law and Independence of the Judiciary –By Elmore Perera

(Lanka-e-News -20.Nov.2012, 1.00P AM) The Preamble to the 1978 Constitution sets out the Mandate given by the Sovereign People to assure to all peoples FREEDOM, EQUALITY, JUSTICE, FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS and THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY, as the intangible heritage that guarantees the dignity and well being of succeeding generations of the Peoples of Sri Lanka. Significantly “Justice” and “the independence of the Judiciary” are given particular emphasis.

Article 4(c) has brought about a functional separation of Judicial power from Executive and Legislative powers. The domain of Judicial power (except for the limited area specifically assigned to Parliament) has been entrusted solely and exclusively to the Judiciary, to be exercised strictly upholding the solemnity and sanctity of the Rule of Law.

In 1215, after armed rebellion by his barons, King John acceded to the Great Charter of Runnymede, the Magna Carta which indelibly enshrined that “the Rule of Law shall be upheld with utmost commitment, with the words “To no one we will sell, to no one deny or delay right or Justice.”

In 1688, Judicial Independence was at stake. People staged a revolution, ousted King James II from the throne and accepted his successors William and Mary on condition that they shall “guarantee the tenure of the Judges, essential to their true Independence of mind and action.”

In 1701, the People’s goal of ensuring that brutal intimidation of the Judiciary would not occur again in England, was achieved by the enactment of the “Act of Settlement.”

The 7th President of the USA, Andrew Jackson (1829 -1837) stated that “all the rights secured to the Citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing and a mere bubble unless guaranteed to them by an Independent and Virtuous Judiciary.

Bertrand Russel observed that “Government can easily exist without law, but law cannot exist without Government.”

Michael Tamplet stated “We have a problem when the same people who make the law get to decide whether or not they themselves have broken the law.”

When British imperialism was at its peak in 1937, Abrahams C.J., Maartensz J and Soertsz J, Colonial Judges who sat in our Supreme Court in the Bracegirdle case, upheld the Rule of Law in an exemplary manner. They held that the Supreme Court was entitled to inquire whether the conditions necessary for the exercise of the power in the Order-in-Council have been fulfilled, and quashed the order made by the Governor.

Sir Winston Churchill said “Our aim is, not to make our Judges wealthy men or women, but to satisfy their needs to maintain a modest and dignified way of life suited to the gravity, and indeed the majesty of the duties they discharge.

Referring to the Judiciary in the UK recently, Lord Phillips said “The media is not slow to attack the Judiciary, but I am not aware that it has ever accused a judge of political bias, and I am not even aware of the politics of my colleagues in the Court.

Mahatma Gandhi said “There is a higher Court than the Court of Justice and that is the Court of Conscience. It supersedes all the other Courts. Whatever any one may say or interpret, I dare say that “when independence of the Judiciary is lost or endangered, people do not own anything in that country.”
Full story >>

Appropriation Bill unconstitutional - Eran

by Zacki Jabbar

The second reading of the Appropriation Bill, which was passed by Parliament on Saturday, was unconstitutional, the UNP said yesterday.

National List UNP MP Eran Wickremeratne told The Island that Clauses 2(1)b and 7 (b), which dealt with Public Finance, had been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and it was the duty of the government to explain to MPs on what basis they had been called upon to vote for the Budget.

The claim that amendments would be made at the Committee Stage was not tenable, since the Appropriation Bill was not just any other piece of legislation as it dealt with the country’s finances for one whole year, Wickremeratne said.

Wickremeratne said the first clause, that violated the Constitution, dealt with the ability of the Finance Minister who was also the Executive President to withdraw and move monies voted from one Ministry to another.

The second clause referred to approval of limits of borrowing by the Finance Minister, without specifying the sources of debt, repayment period and parliamentary supervision, he said.

The MP said that article 76(1) of the Constitution stated that Parliament shall not abdicate its supervisory role over the country’s finances.

"When I raised the question as to how I can be called upon to vote for the Appropriation Bill, of which two clauses had been deemed by the Supreme Court to violate the Constitution, the leader of the House said that amendments would be made at the Committee Stage. But, this is not just any other Bill as it dealt with the future of the country. Therefore, it was the duty of the government to have explained before hand, as to the basis on which the legislature was being asked to vote on a matter of crucial importance," Wickremeratne noted.

The MP said that the UNP did not agree with the Speaker’s ruling on the Appropriation Bill, but nevertherless abided by it, he said.

Sri Lanka orders top judge to attend impeachment case

President Mahinda Rajapakse (left) presents a letter of appointment to Shirani Bandaranayake who became Sri Lanka's first woman chief justice in May 2011. Sri Lanka's ruling party lawmakers have submitted a parliamentary motion to impeach Bandaranayake. (AFP/File - Presidential Secretariat)

Click to enlarge

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President Mahinda Rajapakse (left) presents a letter of appointment to Shirani Bandaranayake who became Sri Lanka's first woman chief justice in May 2011. Sri Lanka's ruling party lawmakers have submitted a parliamentary motion to impeach Bandaranayake. (AFP/File - Presidential Secretariat)

19 November 2012 COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's parliament has ordered the country's top judge to attend an impeachment hearing on Friday after rejecting her appeal for more time to prepare a defence.

An 11-member parliamentary panel dominated by members of President Mahinda Rajapakse's coalition declined Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake's request for six weeks to respond to 14 charges in the impeachment motion.

"The PSC (Parliamentary Select Committee) in a majority decision asked the Chief Justice to be present at the opening of a hearing on Friday at the parliament," an MP who declined to be named told AFP on Monday.

The 54-year-old chief justice has already denied financial wrongdoing alleged in the impeachment case brought by the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance. She has vowed to remain in office and defend her name.

The charge sheet, first presented to parliamentary Speaker Chamal Rajapakse who is also the president's eldest brother, was formally handed over to Bandaranayake last week.

Legal sources said she has refused to step aside pending the end of the impeachment process.

The impeachment move followed a decision last month by the Supreme Court to effectively scupper a bill giving more powers to the economic development minister, who is the president's younger brother Basil.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, last week urged Colombo to "reconsider" the impeachment of Bandaranayake, the island's first woman chief justice.

"I urge the Sri Lanka government to take immediate and adequate measures to ensure the physical and mental integrity of members of the judiciary," Knaul said.

The United States has also raised concerns over the impeachment while Sri Lankan lawyers have united in urging the authorities to ensure "due process" in any action against judges.

Rights groups have said the impeachment motion was the latest sign of efforts by President Rajapakse to tighten his grip on power after crushing the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in 2009 at the end of a decades-long war.

The ruling party has more than the required 113 votes in parliament to sack the chief justice.

- AFP/lp

13th Amendment to be amended again

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

The government is trying to introduce a news amendment in place of the 13th Amendment to the constitution, which is now the focus of the international community, reliable sources said.

Land powers that are listed under the provincial councils are to be removed in the new amendment. Hence, land powers would be kept under the central government. Land powers including rural development and matters related it is to be kept with the central government. The new amendment would not repeal the police powers currently vested with the provincial councils.

The other matter that is to be amendment under the new amendment is the clause that legislation needed to be unanimously approved by all provincial councils in order to be adopted. Under the proposed amendment, a piece of legislation would need only the approval of a majority of the provincial councils. Therefore, if five out of the nine existing provincial councils approve a piece of legislation, it could be adopted.

The government believes that this system would be the most practical since it is similar to what is practiced in India when getting the approval for a piece of legislation from states in India.

Sources said the government is looking at setting up the parliamentary select committee to formulate this amendment as soon as work on the impeachment motion is concluded. Political analysts say this amendment is being drafted with India’s knowledge.

* Sri Lanka removes restrictions on trading vehicles imported under tax relief

Nov 18, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has decided to remove the ban on the sale of duty-free vehicles imported by senior public servants to another party.
The restrictions imposed on the resale of vehicles imported under duty concessions were eased as proposed in the 2013 budget.
A spokesman of the Ministry of Finance said that the decision was informed in writing to the Director General of Customs on November 16.
The regulation is valid for the vehicles already imported under tax relief.
Accordingly, the public servants can now sell their vehicles at any time after importation. So far, they could not transfer its ownership to a third party for three years.
However, the vehicle market sources say that the cars imported under tax relief were traded underhand bypassing the restrictions.

Made in Canada

by Daniel Johnson, Deputy Executive Editor-Nov-19-2012

I didn't write this letter, but it's an open letter to Stephen Harper, our conservative Prime Minister

Proud to be Canadian.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - I didn't write this letter, but it's an open letter to Stephen Harper, our conservative Prime Minister

Dear Mr. Harper,

Please find below our suggestion for fixing Canada's economy.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to banks who will just squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, we suggest the following plan. You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 10 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them 1 million dollars each, severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Ten million job openings - unemployment fixed

2) They MUST buy a new car. Ten million cars ordered - Car Industry fixed

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed

4) They MUST send their kids to school/college/university - Crime rate fixed

5) They MUST buy $50 WORTH of alcohol/tobacco a week ..... And there's your money back in duty/tax etc

It can't get any easier than that!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back their falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances.

If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.

Also: Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in nursing homes.

This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.

They'd receive free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying it out.

They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education.

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJs and legal aid would be free, on request.

Private, secure rooms for all, with an outdoor exercise yard, with gardens.

Each senior could have a PC, a TV, a radio and daily phone calls.

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised. Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room and pay $300.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out.

Think about this (more points of contention):

COWS Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Alberta years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the barn?

And, they even tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 125,000 illegal immigrants wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

Also; Think about this ... If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -- YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM! It is time for us grumpy old folk of Canada to speak up!

For my American neighbors: Consider the numbers proportionately and it might just work south of the border as well.