UPFA supporters paste stickers on Moneragala buses by force

Wednesday, 03 September 2014 

United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) supporters have forcibly pasted election stickers on over 60 private buses in Moneragala, Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) has informed the Commissioner of Elections. The election monitor also sent a large number of photographs of such buses as evidence to election officers.

A number of drivers and conductors  have informed CaFFE that these stickers were pasted by force. Displaying election stickers on public transport services is not only an election law violation but is also a breach of the motor traffic act.

Meanwhile all the main bus stands and most of the bus halts in both Badulla and Moneragala districts have been covered with illegal election propaganda material. Although the Department of Elections have given millions of rupees to the police to remove election propaganda material, nothing has been done to remove these materials.

Incidents of violence continue to rise in Uva as a group of men travelling in a Defender Jeep have assaulted Mohammad Ajmal, a supporter of United National Party (UNP) chief ministerial candidate Harin Fernando and Badulla district candidate Jayantha Kannangara yesterday around 3.30 pm.

 CaFFE has received 178 election related complaints out of which 129 have been reported from Moneragala and 40 from Badulla. There are nine complaints common to both districts.

Ukraine, Russia agree peace moves but fighting rages on

Ukrainian soldiers sit in a military vehicle in the southern coastal town of Mariupol, September 2, 2014.

BY GARETH JONES AND VLADIMIR SOLDATKIN-KIEV/ULAN BATOR Wed Sep 3, 2014

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine could be reached this week, a clear attempt to show the West he was trying to deescalate the conflict despite renewed shelling.
Ukraine, Russia Agree Peace Moves but Fighting Rages On by Thavam

David Cameron warns of 'appeasing Putin as we did Hitler'

British dilemma over Russian president's actions in Ukraine likened to conduct of Neville Chamberlain in 1930s Munich
Owen Jones on the cynicism of comparing Putin to Hitler

David Cameron addresses members of the Nato parliamentary assembly at No 10 on Tuesday. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

Ian Traynor in Brussels and Ewen MacAskill

Tuesday 2 September 2014

David Cameron has told European leaders that the west risks making similar mistakes in appeasing Vladimir Putin over Ukraine as Britain and France did with Adolf Hitler in the run-up to the second world war.

In a heated debate about the crisis behind closed doors in Brussels on Saturday, the prime minister told an EU summit that Putin had to be stopped from seizing all of Ukraine, according to La Repubblica, the Italian newspaper, which obtained details of the confidential discussion.

Downing Street declined to confirm the prime minister's remarks, but did not contest the accuracy of the report.

Cameron likened the west's dilemma with Putin to the infamous conduct of the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, with Hitler in Munich in 1938, when Anglo-French appeasement encouraged the Nazi leader to invade Poland the following year, sparking the second world war.

"We run the risk of repeating the mistakes made in Munich in '38. We cannot know what will happen next," Cameron was reported as saying. "This time we cannot meet Putin's demands. He has already taken Crimea and we cannot allow him to take the whole country."

EU leaders held the summit to decide on who should be running the union for the next five years, but the session was quickly overtaken by discussion of Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

The European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, told the summit that Putin had told him his forces, if ordered to do so, could conquer Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, in a fortnight.

According to La Repubblica, Barroso said he asked Putin about the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. Nato says there are at least 1,000 Russian forces on the wrong side of the border. The Ukrainians put the figure at 1,600.

"The problem is not this, but that if I want I'll take Kiev in two weeks," Putin said, according to La Repubblica.

The Kremlin did not deny the remarks but complained loudly that the Russian president had been misquoted and threatened to release the tape of the conversation on Friday between Putin and Barroso.

Senior Russian officials confirmed that Putin had made the remarks. Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy adviser, said the Russian president's remarks were taken out of context. "This is incorrect, and is outside all the normal framework of diplomatic practice, if he did say it. This is simply not appropriate for a serious political figure," he said of the Barroso leak, according to the Russian Interfax news agency. Putin's comments "had a completely different meaning".

Vladimir Chizhov, Russian ambassador to the EU in Brussels, said he was prepared to release the phone conversation tape.

Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian president, attended the EU summit on Saturday and painted an apocalyptic picture of the conflict, with EU leaders in private dropping their usual public poise.

Dalia Grybauskaite, the Lithuanian president, declared that Russia was "at war with Europe". The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the main mediator with Putin, was said to be furious with the Russian leader, warning that he was "irrational" and "unpredictable".

Merkel pointed to the dangers for the Baltic states on Russia's western borders, home to large ethnic Russian minorities. She warned that Estonia and Latvia could be Putin's next targets, La Repubblica said.

Defence of the two countries – both are Nato, EU and eurozone members – is the centrepiece of this week's Nato summit in Wales and the alliance is said to view that defence as a red line that Putin dare not cross. Barack Obama is to deliver a speech in Estonia stressing that message.

The main decisions at the summit in Newport are to deploy rapid response Nato spearhead units to the Baltic and Poland if need be, to stockpile arms and equipment in the region, and to strengthen the international Nato presence in the east.

The plans call for brigade-strength units of up to 4,000 forces to be deployed within two to five days, according to a senior military official at Nato.

To try to avoid a legal dispute with Russia, the Nato basing in the east will not be called "permanent" – proscribed under a Nato-Russia pact from 1997 – but back-to-back rotation of alliance forces will mean that there is a "persistent presence", according to a senior Nato diplomat.

If the Balts and Poles are reassured by the Nato moves, there will be little short-term comfort for Ukraine at the Nato summit, which Poroshenko is also to attend.

"It's not actually Nato's job to be the policeman of Europe. Nato is not the first responder on this," said the diplomat. "Nato's planning is all about how to defend allies, not partners like Ukraine."

Grybauskaite demanded at the weekend that the west armed Ukraine. That is highly unlikely. "Nato is not going to launch a defence capacity-building mission in Ukraine," said the diplomat. The summit is expected to take Nato membership bids by four former Soviet states "off the table" to avoid antagonising Putin.

Mikhail Popov, a Kremlin military official, said the plans were "evidence of the desire of US and Nato leaders to continue their policy of aggravating tensions with Russia" and Moscow's military posture would be adapted appropriately.

Islamic State murders US journalist Steven Sotloff

TUESDAY 02 SEPTEMBER 2014
Islamic State militants release a video apparently showing the beheading of US hostage Steven Sotloff - just days after the killing of American journalist James Foley.

His murderer spoke with a British accent, like James Foley's killer. It is unclear if it is the same man, who has been nicknamed Jihadi John.

The masked killer in the video also issued a threat against a hostage he said was British and said: "We take this opportunity to warn those governments that have entered this evil alliance with America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone."

He added: "I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State."

'Disgusting, despicable act'

The White House said it could not confirm the authenticity of the video. Prime Minister David Cameron said the video was an "absolutely disgusting, despicable act", and he would be making a statement later.

State Dept spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US intelligence services would "work as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity", adding: "If the video is genuine we are sickened by this brutal act taking the life of another innocent American citizen. Our hearts go out to the Sotloff family."

The last moments of James Foley, a journalist like Sotloff, were also uploaded to the web. Sotloff featured in the Foley video, with his killer warning that his life was at risk.

'Second message'

Sotloff, 31, was abducted in northern Syria a year ago while reporting the civil war there. His mother Shirley appealed on 29 August in a video message to Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, for her son's release.

Before he went missing, Sotloff posted a number of messages about the turmoil in the country, but also about his favourite US basketball team, Miami Heat.

The video showing the killing of Foley, 40, was released on 20 August and featured Sotloff kneeling in an orange jumpsuit.

It ended with a warning to President Obama that his fate "depends on your next decision". Since then, the US has continued its air strikes against IS in Iraq.

The Foley video was titled A Message to America, while the Sotloff video is called A Second Message to America.

Sotloff's university friend, Josh Polsky, is quoted in the New York Times as saying: "The guy lit up a room. He was always such a loyal, caring and good friend to us."

Steven Sotloff BEHEADED by isis - american journalist killed Islamic State release Video 9/2/2014

Steven Sotloff's Murder Proves the Islamic State Isn't Interested in Negotiating -- and Never Was
BY SHANE HARRIS , KATE BRANNEN-SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

In releasing a video showing the murder of a second American journalist, the militants of the Islamic State made clear that they have no interest in negotiating with Barack Obama's administration or its allies over the fate of other missing Westerners despite implying that they'd release those prisoners if Washington stopped its intensifying air campaign against the group.
Steven Sotloff s Murder Proves the Islamic State Isn t Interested in Negotiating and Never Was by Thavam

Obama to Islamic State: ‘We will not be intimidated’

Speaking during a news conference in Estonia's capital city of Tallinn on Wednesday, President Obama said the U.S. "will not be intimidated" by Islamic State militants' executions of American journalists and "justice will be served." (WhiteHouse.gov)
By Katie Zezima September 3 at 10:23 AM

TALLINN, Estonia — President Obama pledged Wednesday that America would rally its might to ``degrade and destroy’’ the Islamic State and said its latest beheading of a U.S. journalist only served to galvanize forces seeking to punish the militants.
Obama to Islamic State ‘We Will Not Be Intimidated’ by Thavam

British Ebola nurse released from UK hospital

The first Briton to catch the Ebola virus during the current outbreak in west Africa says he feared he was going to die as he leaves the London hospital where he was treated.

WEDNESDAY 03 SEPTEMBER 2014
William Pooley, 29, a volunteer nurse from Eyke, Suffolk, was flown back to the UK for treatment on 24 August after contracting the virus in Sierra Leone and has made a full recovery.

He was cared for in an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, from where he was discharged on Wednesday.

At a news conference, he praised the "world-class care" he had received at the hospital - "a world away" from what was available to ebola sufferers in Africa - and thanked the government and RAF for getting him home so quickly.

He said he had feared for his life after being diagnosed with the virus and woken by doctors in protective clothing.

'Worried I was going to die'

He said he had been "wonderfully lucky" and "was worried I was going to die", adding that he had no plans to return to Africa. "They incinerated my passport, so my mum will be pleased to know I cannot go anywhere at the moment."

The vast majority of people who contract Ebola die as a result. Mr Pooley was treated with the experimental ZMapp drug and poses no risk to members of the public.

He said his symptoms "never progressed to the worst stage of the disease - people I have seen dying horrible deaths". He did not vomit, but suffered high temperatures and stomach problems.

Ebola vaccine trials begin

Trials have begun to test a vaccine designed to prevent Ebola, which has been developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US and Britain's GlaxoSmithKline.

The trials in Maryland involve healthy adults who are not infected with Ebola and are designed to see if the vaccine is safe and generates an adequate immune response.

At the same time, America's National Institute of Health and Britain's Medical Research Council and Department for International Development have formed a consortium to test the vaccine on volunteers in the UK, Gambia and Mali.

More than 2,000 people have died in the recent outbreak, which began in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

On Wednesday the World Health Organisation (WHO), said that more than forty per cent of the Ebola cases in west Africa have occurred in the last 21 days. According to the WHO there has been a fatality rate of 51 per cent overall: in Guinea 66 per cent of those who contracted the disease have died, as have 41 per cent in Sierra Leone.

The Tzar of the working class celebrates 65 years in the CMU

February 2, 2013

A gathering at the May Wickremasuriya hall at the CMU where Comrade Bala Tampoe addressed the membership.

Comrade Bala Tampoe gestures to drive a point as he mesmerizes the gathering in his signature stylethe vernacular

by Maheen Senanayake

Given a platform to mark his 65th year of service to the CMU, veteran trade unionist Bala Tampoe of Friday used the no frills occasion to trace the progress of the union rather than his own.

The Tzar of the Working Class Celebrates 65 Years in the CMU by Thavam Ratna

ஒரு தமிழ் தேசிய சமூக ஆர்வலரான என் தந்தை பற்றிய நினைவுக் குறிப்புகள்

ஒரு தமிழ் தேசிய சமூக ஆர்வலரான என் தந்தை பற்றிய நினைவுக் குறிப்புகள்

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 01, 2014

"மகன் தந்தைக்கு ஆற்றும் உதவி இவன் தந்தை என்னோற்றான் கொல் எனும் சொல்" - திருக்குறள் 

சிறு வயதில் இந்தக் குறளைச் சொல்லி வளர்த்த எனது தந்தை இப்போது இயற்கை எய்தி விட்டார். சில தினங்களுக்கு முன்னர், கடுமையாக நோய் வாய்பட்டு யாழ் மருத்துவமனையில் அனுமதிக்கப் பட்டிருந்த நிலையில், தனது 79 ஆவது வயதில் காலமான எனது தந்தைக்கு, தமது இரங்கலையும், அனுதாபத்தையும் தெரிவித்துக் கொண்ட அனைவருக்கும், முதற்கண் எனது நன்றிகள். 

சின்னர் தர்மலிங்கம் ஆகிய எனது தந்தை, யாழ்ப்பாணத்தில் எங்களது கிராமத்திலும், அதைச் சுற்றியுள்ள பகுதிகளிலும் பிரபலமாக அறியப் பட்ட ஒரு சமூக ஆர்வலர். அவரைப் பற்றிய வரலாற்றுத் தகவல்களை இந்த இடத்தில் பகிர்ந்து கொள்வது, ஒரு மகனாக தந்தைக்கு செலுத்தும் அஞ்சலியாக இருக்கும்.

ஒரு தமிழ் தேசிய சமூக ஆர்வலரான என் தந்தை பற்றிய நினைவுக் குறிப்புகள் by Thavam Ratna

Colombo International Film Festival: Six Days That Would Change Your World

இலங்கை ரசிகர்களுக்கு இயக்குனர் லெனின் எம் சிவத்தின் விஷேட செய்தி !

A Gun And A Ring திரைப்படம் கொழும்பில் திரையிடுவதாற்கான ஏற்படுகள் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ள நிலையில், இப்படத்தை பார்க்க இருக்கும் ரசிகர்களுக்கு இயக்குனர் லெனின் எம் சிவம் அவர்கள் விஷேட செய்தி ஒன்றினை விடுத்துள்ளார் !

• by Vangeesa Sumanasekara 
• - on 08/29/2014

It is possible that one may find my title to be exaggerated: this is not the first time that we are hearing the words ‘international film festival’ in a Sri Lankan context. Over the years, we have had many events of this nature where films made by non-Sri Lankans were shown together. 

Colombo International Film Festival Six Days That Would Change Your World by Thavam Ratna

The Uncommon Candidate

By Upul Kumarapperuma -September 2, 2014

Upul Kumarapperuma

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has already declared that he will contest at the next Presidential Election as the candidate from the United National Party.

Wickremesinghe has made this declaration in the midst of holding a dialogue with other socio-political forces to put forward a common candidate for the Presidential Election with a minimum mandate on a common agenda, where they would agree to the abolition of the Executive Presidency and introduction of a new Constitution. It is believed that these slogans would be best to challenge the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime at the next key election.

The same declaration has also been made by Mahinda Rajapaksa who has also declared he would contest as the candidate of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) at the next Presidential Election. Given the political parties, groups and personalities allied with the UPFA, one could argue that Rajapaksa would also be a common candidate of sorts for his crowd. It could also be argued that Rajapaksa would be the best candidate because of his flexibility in working with different political ideologies represented amongst his own party.

The Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, which is the driving force of the UPFA government, is protected and maintained by parties like the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), National Freedom Front (NFF), and organizations like the Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) and Ravana Balaya. The political mechanism of the Rajapaksa government is based on this ideology and the above mentioned movements provide a significant contribution in carrying this message to the four corners of the country.

Although the leftist groups who cooperate with the government do not align with this ideology, with their anti-western sentiments and anti-capitalist slogans they are able to stand in line with Rajapaksa wherever they share the same views. Irrespective of the criticism against the JHU over anti-Muslim campaigns, and allegations leveled by the JHU and other Buddhist organizations against Muslim political parties, all these parties are  capable of working together and Rajapaksa is capable of working with the ideologies of both parties.                                                                Read More       

Rajarata students take to the streets

TUESDAY, 02 SEPTEMBER 2014 20:03 

Students of University of Rajarata engaged in an agitation at Pambahinna Junction today (2nd) afternoon demanding the reestablishment of the Students Union and Faculty Unions, the withdrawal of suspension of classes on 7 students that denies students’ right for education and to establish freedom and democracy within the University.

The Students Union accuses the administration of the University of acting arbitrarily and unleashing repression on students. Police riot squads were deployed where the students are carrying out the peaceful agitation.

பிக்குகளின் வற்புறுத்தலினால் 4 முஸ்லிம் இளைஞர்கள் கைது 

01 செப்ரெம்பர் 2014, திங்கள்

பிக்குகளின் வற்புறுத்தலை அடுத்து தர்ஹா நகர், வெல்பிட்டி பிரதேசத்தைச் சேர்ந்த நான்கு முஸ்லிம் இளைஞர் களை அளுத்கம பொலிஸார் கைது செய்துள்ளனர்.

சிங்கள மற்றும் முஸ்லிம் இளைஞர் குழுக்களுக்கிடையில் ஏற்பட்ட கைகலப்பை அடுத்தே இவர்கள் நேற்று முன்தினம் கைதுசெய்யப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

இந்தச் சம்பவம் தொடர்பில் மேலும் தெரியவருவதாவது:

முஸ்லிம் இளைஞர்கள் சிலர் கால்பந்தாட்ட போட்டியயான்றில் கலந்து கொண்டுவிட்டு தமது பிரதேசத்தை நோக்கி வந்துள்ளனர். இவர்களுடன் அண்மையில் அளுத்கமவில் நடந்த கலவரத்தில் காலை இழந்த அஸ்கர் என்பவரும் இருந்துள்ளார்.

இவர்கள் வரும் வழியில் வத்திராஜகொடை என்னும் இடத்தில் வைத்து சிங்கள இளைஞர்கள் சிலர் கால் இழந்த நிலையிலுள்ள அஸ்கரை கேலி செய்து அவமானப்படுத்தியதுடன்இ தாக்குதல் நடத்தவும் முயற்சித்துள்ளனர்.

இதையடுத்தே அவ்விருஇளைஞர் குழுக்களுக்கிடையிலும் கைகலப்பு ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. பின்னர் இரு தரப்பினரும் அளுத்கம பொலிஸில் முறைப் பாடு செய்துள்ளனர்.

இதுதொடர்பாக அளுத்கம பொலிஸ் நிலைய பொலிஸ் அதிகாரி இரு தரப்பினரையும் பொலிஸ் நிலையத்துக்கு அழைத்து சமாதானப்படுத்தியுள்ளார். பின்னர் முறைப்பாடுகளை அவர்கள் வாபஸ் பெற்று சமரசமாகச் சென்றள்ளனர்.

இந்நிலையில்இ சம்பவதினம் இரவு பிக்குமார்களுடன் குழுவொன்று அளுத்கம பொலிஸ் நிலையத்துக்குச் சென்று முஸ்லிம் இளைஞர்களைக் கைதுசெய்யுமாறு பொலிஸாரை வலியுறுத்தியுள்ளது.

இதனையடுத்து பொலிஸார் வெல்பிட்டிக்குச் சென்று சம்பவத்துடன் தொடர்புடைய முஸ்லிம் இளைஞர்கள் நால்வரைக் கைதுசெய்துள்ளனர். பின்னர் அவர்களில் மூவர் விடுதலைசெய்யப்பட்டனர்.

பொலிஸாரினால் கைதுசெய்யப்பட்டவர்களில் அளுத்கமவில் இடம்பெற்ற கலவரத்தில் காலை இழந்த அஸ்கரின் சகோதரரும் அடங்குகிறார் என்று தெரியவருகின்றது.

- See more at: http://onlineuthayan.com/News_More.php?id=431643385102822090#sthash.R13ui2B0.dpuf

CBK, Ven. Sobitha, the Uva Polls and the Presidential Stakes

by Harim Peiris 

- on 09/02/2014

The Uva provincial council elections campaign in the Badulla and Moneragala districts, are taking on an intensity that was missing even in the recent Western and Southern Provincial Council elections, not least because the UNP’s young firebrand Chief Minister Candidate former MP, Harin Fernando has breathed some new life into an otherwise anemic UNP opposition effort. No one expects the UNP or the young Harin to win, but a strong showing especially in Badulla will rather publicly confirm the fact that the Rajapakse Administration is hemorrhaging public support, slowly but surely. If the UNP gets its act together and can get Sajith Premadasa appointed as deputy leader and to campaign for it in Uva, as he did in the South, the concerted unity will translate into higher UNP turnout and votes. Complementing the main opposition UNP’s efforts is the much more energetic grassroots level campaign of both General Fonseka‘s Democratic Party and a rejuvenated JVP under its new leader and emerging national figure, Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Who since assuming the leadership mantle is seemingly trying to pull the JVP back from being a JHU wanna be, under the influence of its former heavy weight Wimal Weerawansa to a modern new left party in the opposition political space. Since other left parties are all in government, albeit with publicly stated reservations.

The Presidential Stakes 

Conventional wisdom, political insiders and media speculation is rife that the Uva provincial elections are a precursor for early presidential and general elections to be called next year, somewhere in the first quarter, accommodating both astrological recommendations and a papal visit, the Pope never visiting a country in the midst of an election campaign.  November 2014, marks four years since President Mahinda Rajapakse won reelection in 2010 and with the 18th amendment to the constitution eliminating term limits on the presidency, thus enabling him to seek a third term in office, President Rajapakse has the luxury of choosing when to go to the polls. Even in the likely event of reduced public support for the Administration demonstrated in Uva, it would still make sense for the President to go for polls sooner rather than later, when voter support will only slip further.

The Challenge

The Rajapakse Administration has governed now for two terms and within the Sinhala southern constituency there is certainly some erosion of support from its highs of the post war euphoria. Persistent and widespread perception of high level corruption, concerns over democratic governance, rule of law and economic management is all contributing to a slow but steady loss of support for the Rajapakse Administration. This steady drip loss, may not yet be sufficient for an electoral defeat for the government, not least because the political opposition has not got its act together. A defeat for the Rajapakse Administration requires a Sri Lankan political landscape where there is a united opposition and a divided government, rivern by internal dissent. Currently there is some internal dissent within the Administration basically between its extreme ethnic Sinhala nationalists, the JHU and the NFF on the one hand and the old left, CP, LSSP and NSSP together with the Muslim parties on the other hand. But the opposition is certainly also not yet united either. So now we have a divided government and a divided opposition. Whichever political formation, government or opposition which manages to coalesce will probably emerge winners in national elections. Certainly the political opposition is better off now, than the doldrums it was in several years ago and two factors have largely contributed towards this.

A common opposition front 

Firstly, working hard towards a common opposition front and acting as a catalyst for a unified opposition has been the Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero and his Peoples’ Movement for a Just Society. The venerable Thero brings into the next national elections, what General Fonseka brought into the last elections, a challenge to the Rajapakse, not on their weaknesses but on their strength, an appeal to its Sinhala Buddhist core constituency. Now Venerable Sobitha Thero has operated with a political shrewdness which has matched the Machiavellian capabilities of the Administration. He has succeeded in almost coalescing the opposition around abolishing the executive presidency, charging that office with being the cause of many of the ills of society, in much the same way as representative democracy challenged absolute monarchies in eras gone by.  The abolition of the executive presidency, by  a unified opposition, makes a clearer path for a Ranil Wickramasinghe executive premiership as head of a coalition government. It also opens the political space to attack the presidency without too directly attacking the still publicly popular incumbent in that office. The response to the political criticism that the TNA and the SLMC could not persuade, Tamils and Muslims in the North and East to vote for a Buddhist monk is untenable when one considers that they succeeded in getting the ethnic minorities to support a Sinhala General en bloc right after the war.

Moreover, when the 18th amendment to the constitution was adopted as part of the basic law of our land, it also eliminated the term limit mandated ineligibility of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to run for President. Busy in a new international role as a senior stateswoman, associated with both the Clinton Global Initiative and the Club de Madrid, an exclusive association of former heads of state or government, the former President has also been actively engaged in local issues at an academic policy level through her regional think tank, the South Asia Policy Research Institute (SAPRI), which most recently has been examining and engaging on the emerging issue of religious tensions and communal violence. Despite repeated denials, speculation that the former president would be a challenger to the incumbent, persists.

However, the Rajapakse Administration has considerable factors stacked in its favor. It is entrenched in power like no predecessor ever was, with a totally sympathetic supreme court, (post the CJ impeachment), a pliant bureaucracy, a subservient police force and post the 18th amendment, zero institutional checks and balances on absolute power. Whether the young Harin Fernando can come close to what Amarasiri Dodangoda, did under Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1993, by defeating the then UNP Administration in the Southern Province and heralding the end of a seventeen year run of governance by the UNP, we shall know in a few weeks time.