Military intelligence  members remanded over theft of magistrate’s purse

By Hemantha Randunu and Lal Gunasekera-December 3, 2012

 Three suspects, including two members of the military intelligence, who allegedly stole the wallet of the Vavuniya Magistrate Alex Rajah, near the Fort Railway Station, were arrested by the police yesterday morning.

The Magistrate had arrived in Colombo by train at about 5. 30 a.m. to attend a Judges’ meeting Chaired by Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake later in the day

The wallet, which was inside a bag, had been stolen while the magistrate was getting into a bus after disembarking from the train in Colombo Fort, police spokesman SSP Prishantha Jayakody said.

The loss was discovered when the magistrate who had boarded a bus in front of the station to go to a friend’s place at Wellawatte attempted to pay the bus fare. He immediately phoned the police emergency and reported the loss.

A team from the Police Emergency that rushed to the scene checked two suspicious characters that were in the vicinity and were able to nab the culprits.

Out of the three suspects arrested two are members of the military intelligence while the third is a labourer. The police were also able to recover the foreign currency that was in the magistrate’s purse, The Island learns.

The suspects were remanded till Dec. 17 by the Fort Magistrate.

SC allows BASL petition against impeachment

MONDAY, 03 DECEMBER 2012

The Supreme Court today granted leave to proceed with the fundamental rights petition filed by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) seeking a declaration against the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani A. Bandaranayake

The Bench comprising Justices N.G. Amaratunga, Priyasath Dep and Eva Wanasundera granted leave for the alleged infringement of the fundamental right to equality and equal protection of the law. The matter is fixed for hearing on January 21 next year.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) in its application said the decision by Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) members to proceed with the inquiry into the charges against the Chief Justice without awaiting the pending interpretation of the Supreme Court was an infringement of fundamental rights.
The petitioners are BASL President Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Secretary Sanjaya Gamage, Treasurer Rasika Dissanayake and Assistant Secretary Charith Galhena.

Ikram Mohamed PC with the BASL Past Presidents Shibly Aziz, Ananda Wijesekera PC, Upali Gunaratne PC and Ajantha Athukorale appeared for the petitioners.

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, PSC Members Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Nimal Siripala de Silva, A.D. Susil Premajayantha, Rajitha Senaratne, Wimal Weerawansa, Dilan Perera, Neomal Perera, Lakshman Kiriella, John Amaratunga, R. Sampanthan and Vijitha Herath and the Attorney General were cited as respondents. Additional Solicitor General Bimba Tilakaratne appeared for the Attorney General.

The petitioners it was the Supreme Court and not the Parliament which was vested with the sole and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question relating to the interpretation of the Constitution.(SSS) (Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana)

The HC judge who sent illicit threats via SMS is MaRa’s naughty ‘Chooty nangi’ -caught red handed
(Lanka-e-News-03.Dec.2012, 11.50PM) 


Following the notification to all judges Island wide yesterday about this meeting , illicit threats cum SMS messages had been sent to the judges. The message is thus : The CJ is trying to use all the judges as her shield . Hence it is appropriate that you do not participate in this meeting.(in English) . There is information that you can be vulnerable to attacks by goons ( the last sentence is in Sinhala) 

A majority of judges who received this SMS message believed that this was a hidden threat and that this message has been sent by someone who is closely associated with MaRa’s goons and who is aware of the violence they unleash. However when the messages were probed individually it was discovered that these messages have emerged from the mobile phone No. 077 3316361.

When Lanka e news tracked down this number ,our journalist Pradeep spoke to the person at the other end of this phone Number. A lady who answered said , she is a judge but did not reveal her name, and told us to find it out ourselves. Later when we investigated we found it was the Puttalam High court judge S D Arfa Thassim. Her native town is Hambantota and maintains very close ties with the Rajapakse family. In fact , Despotic MaRa addresses her fondly as ‘ chooty nangi’

Our full discussion with her can be heard by clicking on the button we have introduced on the front page of this website, or follow the link at end of this news. The words she used were not in par with the status of a judge however – it was pavement market language .

She claimed that she received information about death threats which she communicated to her friends. When we questioned her if there were death threats , why didn’t she inform the security divisions, she asked , ‘who am I to pass information ?’ In other words she had forgotten that she is a judge. Anyway , she was fighting shy of revealing who informed her of the death threats . When she was asked , is there anything wrong in the CJ convening a meeting ? , and who else does she expect the CJ or the Judges Association to summon for a meeting otherwise than judges ? she was dumbfounded.. She who talked about death threats, in the same breath denied there were such threats.

Doesn’t this MaRa bred High court Judge know that threatening via SMS messages deliberately or otherwise is a punishable offence ? It is well to recall , an Editor of Lanka e news was arrested on a frame up when he spoke on the phone for just ten seconds and inquired from the brother, of an arrested alleged arsonist (an underworld criminal) whether Lanka e news was set on fire. The Editor was remanded for 7 days on the flimsy ground that he held out threats. By that same token the judge Thassim had committed an even worse offence. Moreover she being a judge she should respect the laws much more than an ordinary layman. Is the MaRa regime practicing double standards ?: one set of laws for the Editor and another for their ‘chooty nangi’ Thassim? Readers can get a clear picture by accessing the link below to listen to the dialogue mentioned in the earlier paragraph . It gives an idea of the already prevailing truly lawless situation in the country created by the despotic Rajapakses desperately seeking to safeguard its moribund Govt. supported by these shameless sordid judges of the ‘chooty nangi’ caliber who are a disgrace to the sacrosanct judiciary prostituting their exalted official positions merely to ingratiate into the favor of the political bigwigs to solely and wholly achieve their ulterior , self seeking and unscrupulous motives betraying their own brothers and sisters in the profession. Listen this  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ge5YfdNoyI&feature=youtu.be

GSL Constructed A War Memorial In Pudumattalaan, Its Purported Design Is Similar To Maaveerar Naal

By MA Sumanthiran -December 2, 2012

M. A. Sumanthiran MP

November 27, 2012 was a busy day for the Government of Sri Lanka. Government agents prohibited routine rituals in temples across the North and East, attacked and arrested peacefully assembled university students, invaded a female hostel, beat a newspaper editor, vandalized the vehicle of a Member of Parliament, abused political prisoners in captivity, injured a journalist and several University Media students, patrolled a cemetery, and found time to scout private properties so as to extinguish lamps lighted for the Hindu festival of lights Karthiaai Vilakkeedu.

What could spark such drastic measures? On November 27, 2012 all it took was a lamp.

This year the religious holiday Karthiaai Vilakkeedu and the Tamil remembrance day Maaveerar Naal both fell on November 27. Both occasions are traditionally commemorated by the lighting of lamps. The Karthiaai (Karthikai) lamps symbolize peace and harmony and mark the full-moon culmination of the Festival of Lights.

The Maaveerar Naal lamps pay homage to those Tamils who died in the War and symbolically mark the day of the first Tamil causality. Both annual activities are non-violent. This year both activities were forcibly or violently suppressed.

Both holidays were deemed guilty by association –Karthiaai Vilakkeedu for its association with lamps and Maaveerar Naal for its association with the LTTE. Under those pretenses the government determined that the activities of the day, namely the lighting of lamps, were unacceptable.

The Law of the Land

The Constitution enshrines the fundamental right of all Sri Lankans to the freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 10) and the freedom of speech, assembly, association, and movement specifically the “freedom, either by himself or in association with others, and either in public or in private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice or teaching (Article 14(1)(e)”. Thus, to ban an ancient Tamil Hindu tradition demands a higher standard than symbolophobia.

To ban the ancient Tamil Hindu tradition of lighting lamps for Karthiaai Vilakkeedu requires a Constitutional rewrite.

The Government attempt to legally justify their action on November 27 relies on a perverse hermeneutic. The Government relies on the provided restrictions on the fundamental rights of speech, peaceful assembly, and association described in Article 15, specifically that these rights can be restricted by law in the interests of racial and religious harmony. On its face, it is apparent that this restriction can not be used to limit a non-exclusive, non-violent and non-adversarial religious practice. One cannot protect religious harmony by inhibiting religion.

The fully realized right to peacefully exercise religion is religious harmony’s most basic sine qua non. In fact, Article 14(1)(e) which protects the right to manifest religion is not specifically subject to the restrictions as pertaining to law in the interests of racial and religious harmony. Instead this Article is subject per citation to the more general restrictions of Article 15(7) which include the priority “interests of national security, public order and the protection of public health or morality, or for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others, or of meeting the just requirements of the general welfare of a democratic society.” Of these, the Government appeals to the broad interpretation of the general welfare clause to justify their actions.

The same Articles that vindicate the religious practice of lighting lamps also vindicate it as a cultural practice and the same aforementioned restrictions need not apply. Article 14(1)(e) guarantees each citizen “the freedom by himself or in association with others to enjoy and promote his own culture and to use his own language.” In similar fashion, racial harmony is impossible to achieve if people are prohibited on racial or ethnic grounds from commemorating the loss of their loved ones. Even so far as these fallen family were soldiers in a separatist movement, their enduring posthumous identity remains primarily ethnic and familial.

It is important to remember that the conflict itself was drawn along similar demographic lines. The cultural practice of honoring the dead by lighting lamps can not be legitimately described as a threat to national security and the Government must appeal to the same General Welfare Clause found in Article 15(7) to which Article 14(1)(e) regarding cultural expression is indeed subject.

Suppression as Self-Destruction

The crux of the matter both legally and otherwise is whether the lighting of lamps in the tradition of these two holidays meet “the just requirements of the general welfare of a democratic society.” (Because Karthiaai Vilakkeedu was condemned soley by association to lamps, the real issue is as applied to Maaveerar Naal.)

This question can be answered theoretically and demonstrated practically. Absent the ‘Thought Police’ of an Orwellian dystopia, every person enjoys a de-facto right to remember what they want. An organic extension of that memory is the memorial. If a community or culture posses collective memories, it will be reflected in their desire to express these memories collectively. This expression can threaten those who are insecure about the past and the effect those memories might have on the future.

In the modern Sri Lankan context, certain memories are suppressed out of fear that these memories will rally people to a previously suppressed cause. The tragic irony is that the act of suppression removes the painful memory from the past and places it firmly in the present. We will never forget our past, but suppression insures that we will also never escape it.

The suppression of memories and memorials is similar to commanding someone not to think about a particular thing. The command and every reiteration of it generate the very thoughts the command seeks to preclude! Similarly every time the memories of past political realities are suppressed they are only displaced from the public to the private imagination where they can be neither checked nor measured only stirred.

Furthermore if violence is used as means of suppressing memories of violence, then not only does that memory get internalized, it gets updated. It is no longer confined to the past. In this manner whenever the Government uses violence inappropriately, as they did on November 27, 2012, they are replacing scars with fresh wounds.

Two Hands

The Government constructed a war memorial in Pudumattalaan in 2008. Its purported design is similar to Maaveerar Naal in that it seeks to commemorate fallen soldiers albeit through a more imposing and persistent method. The immense Government fixture features a soldier in uniform hoisting a gun in his right hand and the Sri Lankan flag in his left. As an enduring symbol of civil conflict, this image is troubling.

Open conflict may be over but the current battle for national identity cannot be won with a gun in one hand and flag in the other.

If Sri Lanka bought peace with violence only to sustain it with more violence then perhaps what Sri Lanka purchased wasn’t peace but a mere pit stop. The government is at a crossroads. If Sri Lanka is to realize something better than what we all remember the Government must take their finger off the trigger and leave their gun hand empty, open and outstretched.

No matter who we are we cannot disown our dead. We should not forget their mistakes, grievances, victories, defeats and sacrifices. Instead we should hope for ourselves what they hoped for us: that Sri Lanka will realize something better and brighter.

Can the UN Learn From Its Own Grave Failures?

December 2012

In early November a damning internal United Nations report into the organisation’s actions at the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War was leaked. The document, in uncharacteristically unequivocal terms, stated that the UN had shown “a grave failure” in its mandate to protect the lives of civilians as the conflict trudged towards its appalling climax.

For more than a quarter of a century the island nation found itself crippled by war as the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) fought for independence in the north and east of the country. Over this 25-year period the war is estimated to have claimed far in excess of 100,000 lives and it is widely believed that the final death toll will significantly eclipse this. Some recent estimates suggest that as many as 50,000 people died in the final months of the war before the cessation of hostilities midway through May 2009.

In spite of the self-deprecation of the UN, the underlying concerns of international human rights groups remain unanswered

Since then human rights groups have highlighted accusations of crimes against humanity that occurred on both sides of the conflict. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have drawn attention to the aerial bombardment of hospitals by government forces and to the use of civilians as human shields by the LTTE. Such actions occurred in contravention of the laws of war, while a seemingly redundant United Nations failed to stop these tragedies. A well-publicised Channel 4 documentary entitled ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ sought to raise public awareness of such issues drawing both praise and criticism for the manner in which it depicted executions and the shelling of supposed ‘safe zones’.

Yet in spite of the self-deprecation of the UN, the underlying concerns of international human rights groups remain unanswered. As Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the statute of the International Criminal Court it remains highly unlikely that any representatives of either of the combatants will be duly referred and therefore held accountable. Instead, the report has descended into the customary flurry of bickering, riposte and counter-riposte that has become all too synonymous with United Nations crises.

Instead of becoming a symbol of an organisation willing to learn, develop and improve as it faces future challenges, immediate responses were largely exercises of blame exoneration. Former humanitarian chief John Holmes pointed to the “difficult dilemmas” that the UN faced, arguing that the nature of the conflict was such that it would have been impossible for the situation to be ameliorated. Meanwhile the Sri Lankan government rejected the accusations of human rights abuses made in the report as both folly and unsubstantiated.

With an abundance of crises currently unfolding around the globe the UN must seek a means of being able to effectively address the ensuing humanitarian challenges

Whilst all these reactions are typical of the post-crisis rhetoric that tends to engulf the UN, the severity of the report was far less expected. The report lays bare the fundamental flaws of an organisation that seeks to offer hope in conflict situations but all too often finds itself rendered redundant. It suggests that the UN not only failed in its duty to protect civilians from the perils of conflicts but that there were also “systematic” failures in the organisation of UN operations in Sri Lanka.

All of this has wide-reaching consequences for the future. With an abundance of crises currently unfolding around the globe the UN must seek a means of being able to effectively address the ensuing humanitarian challenges. As conflicts such as those currently on view in Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to manifest, the organisation requires a method of learning from the lessons of past failures. A key part of this is its capacity to adapt, both on a practical and policy level. There are merits to publishing a scathing report, however, if this descends into the usual games of blame and denial, long-term progress will become blurred with political gesturing.

The Sri Lankan Civil War is one of several notable failings of the UN and in order to maintain any form of legitimacy the incidence of such shortcomings must decrease. The primary obstacle to this is that it will also be constantly restricted by the power of its member states. In the absence of an army, the UN will ultimately be powerless to stop such atrocities. Similarly in the absence of universal legal authority no action can be taken against a multitude of war criminals. Evidently the establishment of either of these are beyond the realms of possibility and consequently the UN is forced to operate in a state of ambiguity. On the one hand it has a mandate to protect civilians yet on the other it can never realistically protect every civilian on the planet. As a result, the best that there is to be hoped for is that the body steadily learns to maximise its own utility. Under the current system this is the only way to prevent 40,000 more civilians losing their lives in a four-month period.

The Unmet Task Of The Political Opposition

By Jehan Perera -December 2, 2012 

Jehan Perera

The government appears determined to go ahead with the impeachment of theChief Justice.  So far the attempts to broker a mutually acceptable solution have not yielded success. Not even the messages sent by the highest religious dignitaries or their joint statements have had their desired impact.  There have also been civil society initiatives to find a way out of the growing confrontation.  They have sought to convey to the government leadership that it has lost the intelligentsia’s support on the matter of the impeachment and that any good society needs checks and balances as exemplified by an independent judiciary.   But it appears that the peacemaking efforts of civil society groups have also come to naught.

It also seems that the parliamentary members in Sri Lanka, including both government and opposition, are very concerned about the powers and privileges of Parliament and do not want those to be compromised. There is an emphasis on issues of sovereignty of the people and of Parliament.  It is argued that no judicial powers have been entrusted to the Parliamentary Select Committee that is investigating the charges against the Chief Justice, and so the Supreme Court cannot issues notices on them.   There is a focus on the powers of Parliament while there is an even bigger issue that needs to be addressed. This is the fact that the impeachment threatens the effective collapse of judicial independence.  What an impeachment of the Chief Justice will mean to the rest of the judiciary in relation to political interference has to be the greater priority.

The main challenge in society today is to safeguard and strengthen the system of checks and balances to control the abuse of power that comes from having absolute power.  The main political features in Sri Lanka are the ongoing concentration of power in the hands of the government leadership.  This gives an impression of stability, especially when opposition members are constantly joining the government and eating out of its hand. The opposition parties have so far not shown themselves able to mount a challenge to the government.  At this time the opposition parties and civil society are marginal actors.  The opposition is fragmented without much appeal to the people. There is also a culture of fear that keeps people from mobilizing against the government.  There is also co-optation that needs to be struggled against.

Larger Consequences 

As the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said, “I think we have to accept the sad fact that people are attracted by power. I have found that perfectly decent [people] are flattered when the ruling governments bathe them with some attention, makes a fuss over them, and this is true for Burmese people as well as for non-Burmese people who come to Burma. And this attraction that power and influence has over humanity in general works against those who are in the dissenting faction because we are who are dissidents, we don’t have the power, and people tend to think that those who are in power must be in power for good reasons when actually there can be very, very horrible reasons for people being in power. So I think what we have to do is to raise people’s awareness as to where it leads to in the long run – if you support those who should not be supported.”

Although the war ended more than three and a half years ago, Sri Lanka has not yet become a stable, democratic country.  The disappearances, abductions and killings that took place during the war time are very much less today.  But there continues to be a large military presence in the North and East, and the military intrudes into civilian life more than is necessary now that there is no more war or militant activity. The increase in the level and brutality of violence, despite the large security presence and sometimes due to it, is an indication that our society has still not healed from the war.  Robberies and thefts have always been a problem.  The real and imagined fear of the White Van is there to reduce the activism of those who are trying to even criticize and reform the government.

It is significant that the violence we see is happening despite a massive investment being made in security and security forces.  The Chief Justice of Pakistan recently made a speech that has relevance to us in Sri Lanka.  He said, “Gone are the days when stability and security of a country was defined in terms of numbers of missiles and tanks as a manifestation of hard power available at the disposal of the state.” Therefore, he said “A heavy responsibility lay upon Supreme Court judges for being the guardians and protectors of the constitution to uphold the canons of the constitution’s predominance and its supremacy over all other institutions and authorities.”  The role of the judiciary in maintaining the integrity of the system of democracy, and its necessary checks and balances, cannot be underestimated.

Unmet Task

So far the Supreme Court appears to be standing firm in upholding its constitutional position. However, the political position of the government in the unequal contest appears to be unassailably strong.  It has a 2/3 majority in Parliament and a popular President heading the executive branch of government.  The even greater strength of the government is its ability to get a substantial majority of people to agree on its course of action.  In terms of using the state and private media, the government voice is much more powerful than any other.  Government leaders, exemplified by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, also have an exceptional ability to put across the government’s point of view in a manner that is comprehensible to the masses of people.

In the absence of a strong opposition that is equally competent at taking its message to the people, it is unlikely that the explanatory powers of either the judiciary or lawyers can match that of the government when it comes to winning the support of the people.  The fact that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has at last decided to file action before the courts objecting to the manner of the impeachment is an indication of how the larger part of the intelligentsia in the country thinks.  They are deeply concerned about the weakening of the democratic system and its checks and balances.  But they are unlikely to be the ones to win the debate for the hearts and minds of the people.  This is the unmet task of the political opposition.

Whether in Pakistan or Egypt, where powerful governments also took on the judiciary, it was not civic or legal action by themselves that halted those governments.  Those powerful governments were forced to step back by mass movements in which hundreds of thousands of people participated.  Those mass movements were led by opposition political parties, which had both leaders and party machineries that were equal to the task.  However, in Sri Lanka, the political opposition has not mobilized a mass movement of protest against the impeachment.  Instead it seems to be more interested in fine tuning the role of the legislature in relation to the judiciary.  This needs to change and there needs to be a larger vision.  The way is through increasing the level of political awareness of the people.

Core inflation moves up

* Headline inflation impacted by rising food prices
* Questions remain on monetary policy easing

December 2, 2012, 7:52 pm 

Core inflation, which excludes food and fuel prices, has increased in November the Central Bank said.

Core inflation is used to gauge underlying price movements in an economy with food, fuel and other sensitive items being excluded from the index although some economists argue that core inflation is not an accurate measure of price movements because it leaves out food and fuels.

Core inflation in Sri Lanka has increased both on an year-on-year and annual average basis to 7.2 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively in November 2012, the Central Bank said, from 6.8 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively the previous month.

Meanwhile, headline inflation increased due to increases in food prices.

"Inflation, as measured by the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) (2006/07*100) computed by the Department of Census and Statistics, increased to 9.5 per cent in November 2012 on a year-on-year basis from 8.9 per cent in the previous month mainly due to the increase in food prices. Moreover, the inflation rate on an annual average basis increased to 7.2 per cent in November 2012 from 6.8 per cent in October 2012," the Central Bank said.

"The CCPI increased by 1.3 per cent in November 2012 over the previous month, with the Index increasing in absolute terms to 167.1 from 165.0 in October 2012. The contribution to the monthly increase in the Index came mainly from price increases in the Food category (by 2.4 per cent).

"The prices of many varieties of vegetables, red onions, big onions, potatoes, coconuts, wheat flour and bread increased during the month. However, a decrease in the prices of eggs and some varieties of fresh fish, dried fish and fruits was reported.

"Within the Non-Food category, prices increased in the sub-categories of Clothing and Footwear (by 0.4 per cent); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (by 0.4 per cent); Furnishing, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (by 1.0 per cent); Transport (by 0.2 per cent) and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (by 0.4 per cent).

"Meanwhile, the prices in the sub-categories of Health; Communication; Recreation and Culture; and Education were unchanged during the month," the Central Bank said.

Market interest rates continued to be high and analysts said the Central Bank could reduce policy interest rates from their current level of 7.75/9.75 if inflation moderates next year. However, the government’s domestic borrowings would also impact on domestic interest rates.

The average weighted prime lending rate of the domestic banking system reached 14.15 percent last week, up from 9.83 percent a year earlier. This rate applies to high net worth individuals and institutions. The average weighted lending rate stood at 15.38 percent as at end September (latest available), up from 13.62 percent a year ago.

"In 2013, the (monetary) policy focus is likely to shift to supporting growth from tracking high inflation and credit growth," Standard Chartered Bank said in a recent report.

"The most recent central bank statement expressed a clear intent to ease monetary policy given that credit growth has slowed, the trade balance has improved and inflation is expected to moderate by the second quarter of 2013. We think this will the give the central bank sufficient room to cut monetary policy rates by 25 basis points in the first quarter of 2013," it said.

However, economists have cautioned that the government’s spending pattern would determine monetary policy direction.

"Non bank borrowings will be high next year. This means more funds would be mobilised by selling Treasury bills and bonds to the public and borrowing from EPF, NSB and Sri Lanka Insurance," Institute of Policy Studies Executive Director Dr. Saman Kelegama told a recent forum.

"For such borrowings to be effective interest rates would have to be attractive and this, among other factors, implies there is limited space for a reduction in policy interest rates," he said.

According to 2013 budget proposals the government will not seek foreign commercial loans next year after borrowing Rs. 109.5 billion in 2011 and Rs. 128 billion in 2012.

With the budget deficit estimated at Rs. 507.4 billion next year, the government hopes to raise Rs. 86 billion from foreign sources to finance the deficit, a sharp decline from Rs. 205.6 billion estimated for this year, while domestic borrowings are estimated at Rs. 421.4 billion, almost doubling from 259.6 billion in 2012.

Non bank domestic borrowings are expected to carry the weight of the deficit, surging to Rs. 289.4 billion next year from 84.6 billion this year.

The Central Bank is concerned as well.

"The expansion of credit to the public sector, which includes the government and public corporations remains a concern. Being less sensitive to changes in interest rates, net credit to government depends on the budget deficit and the government’s strategy to finance the deficit, while credit to public corporations depends mainly on the operational losses they incur," the Central Bank said in its recent report ‘Recent Economic Developments: Highlights of 2012, Prospects for 2013’ released earlier this month.

"It is essential that public sector borrowing from the banking sector is restricted to the budgeted levels, in order for the monetary authority to maintain monetary expansion at the targeted level, which is essential for the success of monetary policy implementation," the bank said.

Public movements will support the protest. People will massively gather

Monday , 03 December 2012

Condemning the attacks against the Jaffna university student, and appealing for the release of arrested students, a massive protest is organized tomorrow, and variety of social movements has ascertained their support.

 

Tamil National Alliance and Tamil National Front have jointly invited the society to partake in this demonstration. Hence many public movements informed to "Udayan" yesterday night that they will attend without party discrimination.

 

Forces on the heroes’ day illegally intruded into the Jaffna University students’ hostel and threatened the students. Condemning this act, a protest was held by students next day, and forces blindfold attacked them. Unceasingly those belonging to the students’ association were arrested by police.

 

Condemning the brutal attacks against the students and appealing for the release of the arrested university students, a massive protest is organized jointly by the Tamil National Alliance and Tamil National Front   in front of the Jaffna bus stand tomorrow Tuesday from 11.00 a.m to 12 noon. Meanwhile many public movements and political parties have given their support to this demonstration.

 

Jaffna District Business Chairman Jayasekaram stated that the Federation will grant its entire support for this protest. However he did not mentioned about the closure of the business centers on the day the protest is held.

 

 Jaffna District non-government networks Chairman C.V.K.Sivaganam said, “We are giving our entire support for the protest which is held condemning the attacks against the university students, and the release of arrestees. However the membership movements should take a decision for their participation was mentioned by him.

 

Many marine movements have come forward to give their support to this protest. “It is much essential those who have concern towards their children education and the interest towards their welfare should give their support”.

 

However in today's critical crisis atmosphere an environment is prevailing of not able to show our support freely, but representatives from our movements will attend the protest and will voice for the release of the university students was mentioned by the representatives from a marine movement which did not wish to reveal its identity.

 

University students fought with courage in the aspect of democracy against government's suppressions were brutally attacked. Fours students were arrested by the government; clearly establish that democracy is frozen in the country.

 

It is much essential to record our resistance to a government which does not preserve democracy.

 

Democratic People’s Front will give its utmost support for this struggle was mentioned by party's vital member and Colombo Municipal Council member Baskaran.

 

Meanwhile religious movement and many public movement will participate this protest is according to information. Further a large quantity of university students and public would attend this protest and show their abhorrence.

 

 

It is much expected that thousands of peoples will gather for this massive demonstration and voice for the students. 

EASTERN UNIVERSITY PROTEST AS WELL...

Student from the Eastern University of Sri Lanka staged a protest earlier today demanding the release of the four university students arrested in Jaffna recently. The inquired whether repression is the Miracle of Asia. 

On 26 November, police officers had entered the University of Jaffna, due to some lamps being lit. Police suspected the students of holding a Remembrance Day for the LTTE. 

A protest was organized later against the police intervention. The students were then dispersed, and some arrested.

Jaffna University Tamil students boycott classes

By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo

Students at Jaffna University in northern Sri Lanka have started a two-day boycott of classes after clashes with security forces on Wednesday.Continue reading the main story

They say they do not feel safe after several were beaten and injured in the worst political disturbances since the civil war ended in 2009.

The campus was the scene of the worst political disturbances since the war ended in 2009

Security forces entered the university, disrupting students marking a commemoration of dead rebel fighters.

The army said it had to restrain people who were throwing stones.

But some staff at the university accused the security forces of starting the violence, saying they believe the police baton-charged a group of students who had begun a planned march through the streets.

Only after that did some students throw stones, they said.

One staff member told the BBC the aftermath of the clashes was "like a battlefield". And on Thursday, reports said there was little activity on the campus.

There were Sinhala and Muslim as well as Tamil students on the campus, one staff member emphasised.

Tension in the north

Across the former war zone in northern and eastern Sri Lanka there is a higher military presence than usual.

Asked by the BBC why the students in Jaffna should not be allowed to march in the streets, Jaffna's military commander, Maj-Gen Mahinda Hathurusinghe, said the students have been "categorically told not to" because "they would become violent".

He said that "for the betterment of the country", "Martyrs' Day" - which commemorates dead Tamil Tiger fighters - should not be observed by people.

The tensions arose as some students marked the death of Tamil Tiger guerrillas at small candle-lit memorials, while well-produced pro-Tiger posters appeared in various parts of the formerly Tiger-held territory.

Since the end of the war this had hardly happened within Sri Lanka, where the Tigers and their separatist ideology are strictly banned - although Tiger sympathisers in the diaspora call 27 November "Martyrs' Day" and mark it as such.

The clashes point to simmering tensions three-and-a-half years after the mainly Sinhalese security forces crushed the Tamil separatists, and as the army maintains tight control over the whole of the north where the war was fought most bitterly.

In a Jaffna suburb, a petrol-bomb was thrown at the offices of a small Tamil political party on Thursday. There were no reports of injuries. It is unclear who did it or whether it was related to the campus trouble.

Rajapaksa Determined To Appoint A New Chief Justice And A New Prime Minister In The New Year

By Colombo Telegraph -December 2, 2012 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa determined to appoint a new Chief Justice and a new Prime Minister in the New Year the Colombo Telegraph reliably learnt.

PM And CJ

Considering the Prime MinisterD.M. Jayaratne’s physical incapacity to report to office, PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa is expecting his resignation. Last week government spin doctors officially sent Jayaratne’s photographs to media which show his inability to attend office. The photographs were taken by a cameraman attached to the Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington, DC . The move drew a howl of protests from the Prime Minister’s family who said it did not do well for the Government and was in bad taste.

“A cabinet reshuffle is going to happen early in the New Year because once the Prime Minister resigns, the cabinet will be dissolved until the President names a new Prime Minister and cabinet of ministers”, a source close to Rajapaksa told Colombo Telegraph.

Political analysts say Supreme Court notices served on members of the Parliamentary Select Committee have united the Government and the opposition. In one voice, they have concurred that Parliament is supreme. It is likely that the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, which was accepted by the Speaker, will  result in the her being found guilty by 7-4 votes in the PSC.

Although the Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, asked the Speaker to follow Anura Bandaranaike he wanted Parliament to give more time to Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. He told the Speaker  “You should act according to the ruling given earlier by Hon. Anura Bandaranaike. We should also send these details to the courts. Someone has said that the process (regarding the impeachment motion) will end on December 8. That is a wrong concept. There are 14 allegations in the Impeachment motion and we should give at least one day per allegation and therefore it cannot be completed on the 8th. We should remember that there are other serious issues for the public such as education-sector problems, and balance of income and expenditure. Therefore, they do not expect a crisis between the judiciary and the parliament. Our stand is that we should remain with the stance taken by Hon. Anura Bandaranaike. If necessary, Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, in the capacity of the President of the Bar Association could further explain this. Our stand is that the late Anura Bandaranaike’s decision stands. There is no question about the petitions being filed in Courts. But, do not challenge our powers or do not issue notice on us. Continue to hear the cases and give the judgments. The privileges and powers of Parliament and its members should be protected by the Speaker. We do not want to lose democracy. We want to safeguard democracy. Also there should be protection for the independence of the judiciary.”

The President of the Bar Association, Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, made no objection. JVP members kept mum on the issue. TNA MP, M.A. Sumanthiran argued the MPs should honour the notice served on them by the Supreme Court.