'Very little has changed' for Tamils in Jaffna IDP camp says UK Deputy HC

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Very little has changed for the community in the Sabhapathipillai camp in the year since PM Cameron's visit.

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 15 October 2014
The British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Laura Davies, said "very little has changed" for Tamils living in the Sabhapathipillai refugee camp over the past year.

Visiting Jaffna on Wednesday, the Davies met with the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C. V. Wigneswaran, local government officials, civil society activists as well as displaced persons.

"Very little has changed for the community in the Sabhapathipillai camp in the year since PM Cameron's visit," she tweeted.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Jaffna in November last year, where he visited IDP camps and spoke to residents, many of whom have been displaced for over 20 years.

Last month, Davies wrote of her experience of being followed during a visit to the East.

“[It] gradually became impossible to ignore the fact that I was being watched,” she wrote on the Foreign Office blog page. See here for more.

ஆடு நனைகின்றது என்று ஓநாய் அழுவது 

போலத்தான் இருக்கின்றது ஜனாதிபதியின் 

கூற்று!- முதல்வர் சீ.வி

[ புதன்கிழமை, 15 ஒக்ரோபர் 2014, 01:51.38 PM GMT ]

வைக்கோல் பட்டடை நாய் போல வடமாகாண சபையின் செயற்பாடுகள் இருப்பதாக ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த ராஜபக்ச கிளிநொச்சியில் வைத்துக் கூறியுள்ளார். வைக்கோல் பட்டடை என்று குறிப்பிட்டது எங்கள் வடமாகாண மக்களை, வடமாகாண சபையை நாய் என்று கூறியுள்ளார்.

இன்று புதன்கிழமை மாலை 04.30 மணிக்கு தொண்டமனாறு நீர்ப்பாசன திணைக்கள வளாகத்தில் நடைபெற்ற வடமாகாண நீரியல் ஆய்வு மையத் திறப்பு விழா நிகழ்வில் பிரதம அதிதியாக கலந்துகொண்டு உரையாற்றுகையிலேயே வடமாகாண முதலமைச்சர் சீ.வி.விக்னேஸ்வரன் மேற்கண்டவாறு தெரிவித்தார்.

ஆடு நனைகின்றது என்று ஓநாய் அழுவது by Thavam

Legitimised Anarchy?

By Elmore Perera -October 15, 2014

Elmore Perera

“A clear contradiction in terms”, as any sane person would say.

Since 1978 the Constitution which is the Supreme Law of Sri Lanka stipulated in Article 31(2) that:

“No person who has been twice elected to the office of President by the People shall be qualified thereafter to be elected to such office by the People.”

In December 1999, H.E. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (CBK) was elected to the office of President for the second time and by operation of Law, she incurred the penalty of becoming disqualified thereafter (for life) to be elected to such office.

In January 2010, H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) was elected to the office of President for the second time andby operation of law he incurred the penalty of becoming disqualified thereafter (for life) to be elected to such office.

On 9^th September 2010, Article 31(2) was repealed by the 18^thAmendment.  The result was that no person who is thereafter twice elected to the office of President, would be disqualified thereafter to be elected to such office by the People.

Clause 6(3)(b) of the Interpretation Ordinance No. 21 of 1901 as amended, stipulates that:

“Whenever any written law repeals either in whole or part a former written law, such repeal shall not, in the absence of any express provision to that effect, affect or be deemed to have affected any offence committed, any right, liberty or penalty acquired or incurred under the repealed written law”.

Clause 114, illustration (d) of the Evidence Ordinance stipulates that “The Court may presume that judicial and official acts have been regularly performed”.

In this context ‘regularly performed’ necessarily implies that such act is in conformity with the then existing laws.

The author of the 18^th Amendment was no less than the world renowned Constitutional expert, Prof. G.L. Peiris. His draft was scrutinised for legality/conformity with the Constitution, by the Legal Draughtsman, the Attorney General, the Supreme Court and by all the lawyers who appeared before the Supreme Court in favour of or in opposition to, the 18^th Amendment. It was thereafter passed by Parliament by 2/3^rd majority and certified by the Speaker on 9^th September 2010.

Except for, perhaps, some of the Members of Parliament who voted for or against the Bill, all the others viz. Prof. G.L. Peiris, the Legal Draughtsman, the Attorney General, the Supreme Court and the lawyers concerned were all very well aware of the fact that, presumably intentionally, there was no need to affect the penalty incurred under the repealed Article 31(2), by H.E. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and/or H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa.

There is no ambiguity whatsoever in the interpretation of Section 2 of the 18^th Amendment and the intention of the legislature that passed it by the requisite majority, is none other than what is clearly specified therein. It is not what they now may say that they intended at that time.

Any amendment to this Article can only be done by Parliament with the required 2/3^rd majority. The Supreme Court is not empowered to do so by re-interpreting it in any other way.

It is a matter of concern that patently subjective opinions are expressed re this matter without specific reference to the explicit and relevant legal provisions. This could only pave the way for the Supreme Court to feel encouraged to make a politically acceptable decision, disregarding the explicit legal provisions relating to this matter. Such an act will only legitimise anarchy.

*Elmore Perera, Attorney-at-Law - Founder, Citizen’s Movement for Good Governance, Past President, Organisation of  Professional Associations 

Hiru media network chief too comes under death threat from Rajapakse regime

(Lanka-e-News- 15.Oct.2014, 4.30PM) Hiru media chain chief Reno De Silva has been subjected to death threats by those in high places of the Rajapakse regime, according to reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division. The reason underlying this is the Hiru media chain during the last Uva provincial council elections carrying out its tasks unbiased and without fear or favor ( a virtue most abhorred by the vile Rajapakses in themselves and others)

When announcing the final results of the Uva elections , Hiru openly and sans bias revealed under news headlines ‘government votes decline, opposition votes grow ,’ ‘electorates of Ministers Nimal Siripala and Dilan Perera face defeat .’ Besides, Hiru comparing the results of polling of the government in Uva in the recent election and the previous one, and highlighting the government debacles have kindled the ire and fire of Rajapakses who have therefore entered into conflicts with Reno De Silva. Rajapakses have instructed Hiru chain to withdraw those news postings in its websites after they were published.

In addition , Hiru had to face charges mounted by Rajapakses because it carried advertisements of UNP’s luminous star Harin Fernando free of charge.

Reno is a UNP supporter out and out all along . The Hiru media license was revoked some time ago for publishing the news about the killings by the LTTE of groups of people in Ranmini thenne village in a jungle. During that period Hiru media chain had only a broadcasting channel. In truth the killings were done by a group affiliated to the Rajapakses in order to plunder lands taking cover under the war that was raging at that time, after frightening and intimidating the people.

Finally , the broadcasting license was validated later , only after Duminda Silva (a UNP M.P. at that time) the brother of Reno De Silva pole vaulted to the Rajapakse camp purportedly to strengthen the ‘two hands’ of Mahinda Rajapakse . Thereafter they became close pals of the Rajapakse regime. But by now , Reno had left the Rajapakses , and once again built his ties with his old party the UNP. Rajapakses who were provoked by this had held out death threats to Reno therefore.

In any case , the media personnel of the Hiru media revere and respect their chief Reno De Silva. This is because Reno does not interfere in their news postings or instructs them what should or should not be published unlike the chiefs of other electronic websites. The journalists of his say , Reno had given them full freedom but on one condition - not to attack his brother Duminda Silva. Nevertheless , with the latest murder threats directed at their chief , the journalistic staff of his are dismayed and disgruntled. 

Sri Lanka bans foreigners from old war zone amid UN probe

Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 24, 2014.

BY SHIHAR ANEEZ AND RANGA SIRILAL-Wed Oct 15, 2014

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka on Wednesday banned foreigners from a former battle zone, the government said, weeks after the United Nations began an investigation into alleged war crimes in the final phase of a 26-year conflict between the army and separatist rebels.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in August rejected entry visas for U.N. officials for the war crime investigation. His administration has said an external investigation is unnecessary and Sri Lanka can conduct its own.

"Prior permission for the foreigners to visit the north will be implemented," the government's Information Department said in a text message. "Foreigners or relevant organizations have to write to the defence ministry for approval."

It did not give any reason for the decision.

The United Nations launched its inquiry into accusations of war crimes committed by both state forces and ethnic Tamil rebels during the conflict that ended in 2009, saying the government had failed to investigate properly.

The United Nations estimated in a 2011 report that about 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final weeks of the war, mostly by the army.

Rajapaksa, who is expected to run for a third six-year term in an early election next year, and his government have rejected all the accusations.

The military last week stopped foreigners from visiting the north as a "temporary measure" because of security concerns as Rajapaksa visited the region to open a railway link that had been closed for 24 years due to the conflict.

The north of Sri Lanka is predominantly Tamil and the site of much of the fighting during the war.

The government had relaxed curbs on foreigners visiting the north after the end of the war, but many foreign visitors, including diplomats and journalists, complained of scrutiny by government security agents.

Domestic media groups and non-governmental bodies dealing with issues such as human rights say their activities have been increasingly targeted since the U.N. resolution on the investigation in March.

Media rights groups say pro-government protesters and police have disrupted at least four workshops in the last five months. Political analysts say the government might be concerned that the media could help the U.N. investigation.

A Defence Ministry body that regulates non-government organisations in July banned activist groups from holding news conferences, issuing press releases and holding workshops for journalists.

A Presidential visit up North

• by Harim Peiris 
• - on 10/15/2014

By all accounts, President Rajapakse’s unprecedented and rather controversial third term re-election campaign, though unofficial, has begun in earnest. Last week he presented the Cabinet of Ministers with a proposal to increase communal harmony in the country and implement the LLRC proposals, though a few weeks earlier the defense establishment, had facilitated a convention of an extremist religious organization, which joined hands with a convicted religious extremist monk from Myanmar to sprout the kind of vitriolic venom at minorities that most closely resembled the worst rhetoric of the Nazi political rallies in Nuremberg, Germany before the second world war. The hate speech charges of over breeding, controlling commerce, diluting the majority through inter marriage, were all charges leveled against the Jews by the Nazi’s. Today in Sri Lanka and indeed in Myanmar, eerily the same charges are leveled against the Muslim community by the self styled protectors of Buddhism, clearly more influenced by European fascism than by the great philosophy and noble teachings of South Asia’s greatest son.

This week, the president is on a visit to the North, where the best of the government’s reconstruction efforts were on display, the center piece being the resumption of the train services to Jaffna, the iconic Yaal Devi, resuming service after over two decades. The Government’s demining and infrastructure reconstruction efforts have been commendable and noteworthy successes. However in a damming indictment for the Rajapakse Administration, the Northern Provincial Council, led by Justice Wigneswaran, decided to boycott the president’s visit citing essentially the bad faith chocking of the provincial administration by the government at the center. The Rajapakse Administration having secured a dismal eighteen (18%) of the popular vote in the North, runs a parallel provincial administration in the north, through the governor, retired general Chandrasiri, who has in the best (or worst) traditions of military strongmen, shed their uniforms for civilian garb and run, a militarized parallel administration in the North. Furthermore even the very limited shared executive functions and powers devolved to the provinces and enjoyed by the other provincial councils are being denied to the Northern Provincial Council, the only ethnic minority and opposition controlled provincial administration in the country. A case in point being,  the constitutional requirement that the appointment of the chief secretary by the President be done in consultation with the Chief Minster. It is a paradox of our constitution, that the actions of the president, cannot be challenged in a court of law or even raised in parliament and that there is complete immunity from judicial review. The legal limitations on this proviso made through case law, by the likes of late Justice Mark Fernando, have since been diluted and likely will no longer prevail post the impeachment of Chief Justice Shiranee Bandaranaike.

As the Rajapakse presidency seeks an unprecedented third term. It is time to take stock of the nature of Sri Lanka’s “peace”. Five years after the war has ended Sri Lanka still deploys the military countrywide through the public security ordinance, has detention without trial or due process under the PTA and has yet to adequately deal with the effects of the war on victims including families of the missing, war widows, war orphans, amputees and those rendered homeless and destitute by the near three decades of war. Impressive large scale infrastructure alone, has done little for victims. Not returning traditional lands in the Valigamam North areas of Jaffna to their owners, is now perpetuating impoverished internally displaced communities.

The government has done little by way of implementing the LLRC proposals for reconciliation. The government’s action plan on implementation of the LLRC, is a deeply flawed perversion of the actual LLRC report, in that it ignores the key political recommendations which underpin the overall LLRC recommendations, that of a political solution with the ethnic minorities and generally takes the approach that the problems identified by the LLRC don’t really exist. As Justice Wigneswaran the chief minister of the Northern Province has pointed out in his letter to the president, explaining the reasons for the boycott by the NPC, the repeated assurances to the international community to fully implement the 13th amendment to the Constitution, shown no signs of even commencing. On the contrary the central government through its bureaucracy is stifling even the limited devolution granted under the 13th amendments.

Several attempts by the South African to assist a process of national reconciliation through facilitating a direct dialogue between the government and the TNA as the  overwhelmingly elected representatives of the Tamil people has been put on the back burner by the Government. The tired and rather hackneyed call by the government, for participation of the opposition parties in the government initiated Parliamentary Select Committee has been less frequent, as the government realizes the lack of credibility of parliamentary committees, given the farcical nature of the high profile, but allegedly deeply flawed process followed in the forcible removal of Chief Justice Bandaranaike.

Sri Lanka is in dire need of re-democratization.  Our democratic issues took a severe beating and a consequent weakening due to and a through close upon three decades of war. However with the advent of peace or the absence of war, maintaining the same ethnic policies that were in place during the war, does nothing for reconciliation amongst Sri Lanka’s people, winning the hearts and minds of war affected communities or securing and making permanent through socio political acceptance, the hard won peace we have today.

The Danger Of A Third Term And 

How To Prevent It

| by Laksiri Fernando

“The precedent against a third term for any president grew out of the same determination….a third term [is] most dangerous to the people’s liberties.” – Robert Alphonso Taft

( October 15, 2014, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) The danger of allowing a third term for the incumbent President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, cannot be underestimated. It would be the litmus test whether Sri Lanka completely goes in the authoritarian direction or whether it retains the main thrust of democratic governance. If a third term can be prevented, it sure can, then it would be the resurrection of democracy in Sri Lanka which is at present stifled under a family rule.

The Danger of a Third Term and  How to Prevent It by Thavam

No United Opposition: No Victory at Presidential Elections

[The Opposition’s rush to commit hara-kiri! ]
By Wishwamitra-15/10/2014 

“Swordsmanship untested in battle is like the art of swimming mastered on land.”
~Hanshiro Tsugumo (a warrior without a lord)-

Those who do not learn from history will be condemned to relive it. The United National Party (UNP) and the mainstream parliamentary Opposition in Sri Lanka should be condemned for throwing away a fighting chance to grab electoral victory at the forthcoming Presidential Elections. That is, if they choose to go alone without the help of the rest of the Opposition in the forthcoming Presidential Elections. Everything that could go right for the Opposition went right in the Uva Provincial Council (PC) elections. And they managed to save face and show the rest of the country that the UNP is still breathing, stirring and waking up.

In the wake of the Uva PC elections, the average UNPer, Sirisena of the South, Mohamed of the East, Theagarajah in the North and Kandasamy in the Hill Country started breaking their cobwebs; they realised that there is a chance, a fighting chance, at ousting this corrupt, nepotistic and dictatorial regime. But to their utter dismay, the leaders of the Opposition don’t seem to have realised that. Instead of prepping and motivating their supporters to achieve greater heights, challenging the three-term controversy, bringing the people to the road and exerting every ounce of pressure upon this regime and the Rajapaksas, they chose to indulge in an orgy of premature celebrations; disbursements of party positions and cake-cutting ceremonies that punctuated the days when organisation should have been the order of the day. The Party is in the hands of political tyros and the general secretary with no political acumen, is declaring party positions with no context in mind.

An acute sense of false-jubilance has set in; twenty years of intellectual infertility cannot be erased in one single stroke by the Uva voter. When options are available and thrown in by those who are not even remotely connected to the UNP, its general secretary rushed to make statements regarding the current incumbent’s ineligibility to contest the third time for Presidency. Instead of making use of each and every opportunity, where political capital could have been made and exploited to the hilt, leaders of the UNP who are responsible for every debacle it had suffered for the last two decades are once again showing their lack of class and poise when confronted by challenge and need.

The current political status is quite simple and unambiguous. The present regime could be made to look utterly vulnerable and pathetically hopeless. And I have reasons:

1.    The Uva PC elections show that incumbency-fatigue is setting in
2.    Patriotism and war-victory as a political slogan and a platform are waning
3.    Corruption has reached
monumental levels
4.    Nepotism has made even the strongest of Rajapaksa supporters within its own ranks scared and jittery; it’s making the Family Tree (Seven Years’ Scourge – ‘Hath Vasaka Saapaya’) of the Bandaranaikes look like an empty, undecorated and unlit Christmas tree.
5.    Random price-slashing of essential items such as cooking gas, electricity, petrol and diesel looks more and more akin to election gimmickry rather than alleviating hardships and the people are beginning to see through  it.
6.    Lies and more lies are getting fully exposed before they are even
being told
7.    Rampant hooliganism among government ranks as manifested in the Sajin Vaas/Chris Nonis incident is making average and reasonable men and women sick.
8.    The manner in which the regime is handling crisis after crisis is baring open the severe deficiencies and lack of professional and honest governing.
9.    The last but not the least, the serious argument that is building ahead of the Presidential Elections that Mahinda Rajapaksa is not eligible to run for a third consecutive time is gathering momentum

All this and much more is convincing enough for a regime change. The voters are getting increasingly aware of the misdoings of those who wield power and the voter-disillusionment is manifestly appearing in street corners, boutique interiors, inside three-wheelers and of course in social clubs. It’s cutting across all walks of life and more so among those who work hard each day to put food on the table. Families are being stressed out; schoolchildren are being subjected to the most uncomfortable exercises; university students are up in arms against a maniacal minister; the community of academics and professionals are increasingly getting alarmed about the ‘real’ status of the economy. Social and moral values are showing vivid and sure signs of decay. The values held aloft by the average Sirisena, Mohamed, Theagarajah and Kandasamy are being shoved aside and street fighters and ruffians who are not fit enough to be workshop supervisors are being treated and crowned; their acts of hooliganism in international scenes are being vindicated and excused by government media spokespersons.

Instead of a set of individuals who value human life and its decent ideals and principles, we have got a set of individuals for whom political power is everything and the only thing that matters.

It is crystal clear as to what ought to be done. But there is no leadership at a moral level. That is the fundamental disagreement the writer has with the current Opposition and its lackadaisical leadership. Men who should take bold and courageous action are missing. On the day of the Dedigama by-election in 1973, when confronted by thugs and thuggish parliamentarians of the then government, J R Jayewardene, the then leader of the UNP, walked alone to the Warakapola Police Station and lodged complaints; Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali, when attacked by ‘Soththi Upali’ and thugs at the Fort Railway Station, led their troops to the respective police stations and made their entries.

However much I’ve written, I simply cannot overstate the importance of showing unflappable leadership at the top of the line. Political power is not cheap nor is it easy to attain. Only those who strive would ultimately benefit. Given the current context of a divided Opposition, there is no reason why the average voter should repose faith in the Opposition.

If all signs are indicative of a voter-propensity towards a regime change and all mathematical and statistical analyses are showing a strong likelihood that a regime change is possible, that alone is still not enough. The unknown variables are many and varied. Elections are not fought on paper, are they? They are fought on paddy fields in remote villages; they are fought on street corners of urban cities and they are also fought in exalted corridors of Colombo social clubs. If the UNP and the rest of other political parties choose to play a different game, holding on to their cocoons and nests, there is no way they can defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa. Only a common opposition led by a common candidate could lead them to that ‘promised land’. There are no buts and ifs. Period. Untested field marshals cannot lead a weary battalion to victory. General Fonseka knows that well. As Napoleon said:“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.” The country is calling out for that person who could control the chaos. It’s time that such a leader emerged. Otherwise we will be merely committing collective hara-kiri.

Gota gives 50 defender vehicles to Gnanasara to carry out government’s terror contracts at Presidential election

(Lanka-e-News -14.Oct.2014, 10.30PM) With a view to carrying out the contracts of terror and villainy of the government at the forthcoming Presidential elections , Sri Lanka’s criminal defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse had allocated 50 defender vehicle to the Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) led by the hoodlum monk Gnanasara Thera . The drivers for the vehicles are from the forces and will be in civil attire. These defenders are mostly white in color and they belong to two units of the army.

Some of these 50 vehicles are parked in a land at Kirulapone forcibly taken possession of by Gnanasara Thera by force , some others are parked in the vicinity of BBS headquarters, while the remaining vehicles are parked in four temples belonging to BBS.

In other words , at the up coming Presidential elections , the terrorist BBS monk team have confirmed that they are coming forward on behalf of MaRa as a typical terror group . This notwithstanding , a group of UNP nitwits are nursing the belief that the BBS can be taken on to their laps . Instructions have come from the top not to criticize the BBS at media briefings, sources say.

Curiouser and curiouser!

Editorial-October 14, 2014,

The JVP insists that President Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot contest another presidential election. Its contention, reiterated by its General Secretary Tilvin Silva on Monday at a media briefing, is based on former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva’s claim that the inauguration of President Rajapaksa’s second term preceded the enactment of the 18th Amendment which did away with the presidential term limit and, therefore, he is disqualified to seek another term.

There are arguments for and against the former CJ’s claim, but what really matters is the opinion of the Supreme Court, which has not yet been sought. Another argument the JVP has put forth against the President seeking a third term is that the government’s two-thirds majority with which the 18th Amendment was steamrollered through Parliament is illegal. The UPFA, the JVP argues, mustered its present parliamentary majority with the help of some Opposition MPs returned by the voting public to oppose the government.

Whether President Rajapaksa is qualified to contest the next presidential polls or not remains to be determined by the Supreme Court which alone is empowered to interpret the Constitution officially. But, the fact remains that the JVP has already disqualified itself from contesting the next presidential election which it says will be illegal if President Rajapaksa enters the fray. It won’t be able to justify contesting an ‘illegal’ election, will it?

One is intrigued by the JVP’s argument that it is illegal for a government to muster a parliamentary majority by enlisting the support of MPs elected by the people to oppose it. Have JVP MPs always done what the electors want them to do? In 2004, it may be recalled, 39 JVP MPs got elected on the UPFA ticket. People first voted for the UPFA and then marked their preferences for those individual contestants. The JVP candidates were thus elected to back the UPFA government, but they broke away and even tried to bring it down by voting against a budget!

In 1982, the then UNP government craftily retained its five-sixths majority by replacing a general election with a controversial referendum which the JVP and other Opposition parties declared illegal. As such, all the laws passed by Parliament between that referendum and the 1988 general election should be considered illegal and the JVP has no moral right to take part in elections to provincial councils which were ‘illegally’ set up under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1987!

The Old Left also condemned the 1982 referendum as an electoral fraud and rejected its outcome as illegal, but curiously, it now wants the 13th Amendment which was passed by an ‘illegitimate’ Parliament, with an ‘illegally retained’ majority fully implemented!

The JVP General Secretary has urged President Rajapaksa to complete his full term without going for a snap presidential election. One is intrigued again. The JVP rejected the outcome of the last presidential election as a computer jilmaat (fraud) and refused to accept President Rajapaksa’s victory, didn’t it? It joined forces with other Opposition parties including the UNP and held public rallies where they declared the unsuccessful candidate Gen. Sarath Fonseka as ‘People’s President’ and condemned Mahinda Rajapaksa as ‘Rogue President’. So, why should the JVP ask President Rajapaksa to continue to be in office for two more years without pressuring him to step down forthwith?

The JVP says it is confident of ensuring President Rajapaksa’s defeat if he contests the next presidential election. If so, why should it ask him to complete his second term? It should dare him to hold a snap presidential election and defeat him so that it could see the back of its bête noire who reneged on his promise to scrap the executive presidency, secured a second term through a ‘computer jilmaat’ and mustered a two-thirds majority ‘illegally’ to do away with the 17th Amendment and introduce the draconian 18th Amendment.

Five Facts You Should Know About The Rajapaksa Budget

By Niranjan Rambukwella -October 15, 2014

In 2015 our government will only spend Rs.12,150 to educate the average primary or secondary school student for the entire year.[1] This is because Sri Lanka’s education budget for 2015, which pays for all teachers’ salaries, school infrastructure, and any other money spent by the Ministry of Education, will only be 364 million dollars. For some context, Sri Lankan Airlines lost 157 million US dollars in 2012[2] and building the Mattala airport cost 209 million US dollars.[3]  

Sri Lanka plans on spending over two billion US dollars on defence.[4] 1.74 billion of this sum, 12 percent of the country’s total expenditure, will be spent on the Army, Navy and Air Force alone. Much of the remainder will be spent on the coast guard, civil security, registration of persons etc. Contrary to popular perceptions only200 million US dollars, or 9 percent of the defence budget, has been allocated for development activities.

We will only spend 74 million US dollars on our foreign ministry in 2015. Sri Lanka has 51 diplomatic missions abroad[5], so that’s less than 1.5 million US dollars per mission per year – not to mention the cost of the foreign ministry’s vital Colombo operations. Despite Sri Lanka’s precarious international relations – with increasingly strained relations with the West, the OIC, other states in the Global South and possibly even India – the foreign ministry’s budget increased by only 0.5 percent. By contrast, the government budget as a whole increased by 18 percent.

40% of the 14 billion US dollar budget is controlled by the President, who is the Minister of Law & Order; Highways, Ports and Shipping; Defence & Urban Development and last but not least Finance & Planning. Just for good measure, Basil Rajapaksa controls another 6%. Therefore, the average expenditure controlled by the remaining 65 members of Cabinet is a mere 115 million US dollars per year.

Unlike all other ministries no breakdown of the Highways, Ports & Shipping ministry expenditure was provided in the Appropriation Bill.[6] This ministry accounts for 11% of all government expenditure. On the other hand a basic breakdown was provided for the tiny Ministry of National Languages & Social Integration which accounts for only 0.04% of the budget.

---

[1] The last education census, conducted in 2008, counted 3,929,234 students in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s education budget was USD 364,332,304. This means expenditure per student was USD 92 per annum.

[2] http://www.dailymirror.lk/business/other/28068-srilankan-mihin-losses-widen-.html

[3] http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/172-opinion/26974-is-mattala-airport-a-commercially-viable-project-editorial.html

[4] Appropriation Bill 2015, P.g. 11

[5] http://www.mea.gov.lk/index.php/en/missions

[6] Appropriation Bill 2015, P.g. 16

Amend the constitution before poll, or face consequences: Rathana Thero

October 15, 2014
Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero MP said that the government must implement the proposals for the 19th Amendment to the Constitution before the Presidential elections or they will take every possible measure to defeat President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The observation was made by Rathana Thero at a function held at the BMICH to release the proposal for the 19th Amendment which was prepared by The National Council for Better Tomorrow (Pivithuru Hetak Udesa Jathika Sabhawa). 

Politicians representing all the parties including opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Minister Rajitha Senaratne and Sunil Hadunneththi MP were attended the event.

Eight recommendations for the Constitution drafted by the NCBT including to abolish the executive presidency before precedential polls was presented at the event.

“The Government should move towards scrapping the Executive Presidency without holding a Presidential Election. I confess to that it was a wrong decision we contributed and voted for the 18th Amendment. We strongly recommend that the Government must hold the Presidential election after implementing the proposals for the 19th Amendment, or there will be consequences,” Thero added.

Rathana Thero also pointed out that the election should be held based on the terms of the Constitution of the country and not on anyone’s personal horoscopes.

SLBC double cabs in DG’s personal use

 

Wednesday, 15 October 2014 

The director general of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation is using two of the three Micro double cabs the institution has acquired for the personal use of his family, reports say.

Each worth millions of rupees, one of these cabs is being used by the wife of the DG.

Recently, the DG’s wife, together with her mother and children, had been using the double cab for a personal journey, when it met with an accident and was condemned as not usable.

SLBC employees are surprised the subject minister and the chairman are not taking any action against one of the top officials of the state-owned institution.

They are demanding that action be taken against the DG who continues to be in the SLBC with service extensions although he has passed the retirement age.