( December 18, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Opposition party central figures have voiced concern that Common Opposition presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena could have been the target of two claymore mines found in a cemetery in Nittambuwa as he was to address an election rally at the Gampaha Urban Council ground on Wednesday.
The public rally had to be cancelled owing to the funeral of Maithripala’s mother-in-law which took place at nearby Weliweriya.
Following the discovery of the explosives it has been decided to increase Maithripala’s security.
The two claymore mines were found by police on a tip off by a member of the public who takes his cows to the cemetery area to graze.
The bombs were defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad.
The first member recruited to National Progressive Congress, recently formed by minister Arumugam Thondaman, is Karupiah Ganeshamurthi, a number of fraudster.
When the NPC hosted dinner for Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at Colombo Hilton, Ganeshamurdhi had collected around Rs. 03 million from the Tamil businessmen present, purportedly to buy a memento for the defence secretary. But, he had given Gotabhaya a memento that is worth less than Rs. 100,000, which has left the businessmen very angry.
Ganeshamurthi has tricked the defence secretary in order to get him to cover up the ongoing CID investigation against him.
The investigation pertains to Ganeshamurdhi’s having defrauded Rs. 110 million from a British-based Muslim businessman in Dubai Ahmed Khan.
An inquiry by Modera police last November into the fraud has found that Khan, the complainant, had deposited the money at a joint account being maintained to Ganeshamurthi’s name at the Nation’s Trust Bank Panchikawatte branch. Ganeshamurdhi was aided in defrauding the money by an employee of the bank branch by the name Thilini, who is a closest companion of his.
In order to escape from the charge, Ganeshamurthi has told Modera police that he was a close friend of the president and a close relative of minister Thondaman. Rohini Devi, a confidential secretary of the minister who was also involved in the fraud, has fled to Canada on tourist visa and has sought political asylum there.
Since the mention of the Ceylon Workers Congress links the party to estate labourers, Thondaman has formed the new party, NPC, in order to attract professionals, businessmen etc, and a membership costs Rs. 10,000 per person. The first member is this fraudster Karupiah Ganeshamurthi, say CWC sources.
A petitioner has requested the Court of Appeal to issue a writ to the Elections Commissioner to suspend the Presidential polls, on the basis that the opinion delivered by the Supreme Court on the legal validity of President Rajapaksa seeking a third term is bad in law.
The petitioner – Nagananda Kodituwakku submits in his application that since the extant President was in office in his second term when the 18th amendment was implemented – the new changes do not have a retrospective effect and thus, is only applicable to those elected into Presidency after the adoption of the constitutional amendment.
Naming the Elections Commissioner, UPFA General Secretary Susil Premjayanth and defacto Chief JusticeMohan Pieris, CJShirani Bandaranayake and the Attorney General as the respondents., Kodituwakku has stated in his petition that the EC is obligated to act as required by the law and ought to have rejected the nomination of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He also points out that the ‘opinion’ delivered by the Supreme Court is not worth, as any verdict delivered by a bench of judges appointed by defacto CJ Mohan Pieris becomes void at its very inception since he is holding on to the position through the power of Executive Presidency.
Kodituwakku has supported his claim on the basis that the CJ’s impeachment became null and void when the Supreme Court delivered on January 1, 2013, that the PSC has no power to investigate allegations made against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and is therefore unconstitutional. He has further supported his argument by referring to the Court of Appeal verdict that found the PSC unlawful and quashed its findings. Hence he has noted that Peiris’ appointment to the office of the CJ is nullified and the decisions made on his initiative have no legal effect.
He also points to the Supreme Court case SCFR/536/2010 that reveals credible evidence of dishonesty and misconduct of Pieris and argues that President appointing him as CJ has undermined integrity of the judiciary. So, a change of government would mean his removal from the position with no impeachment process as his occupation itself is unlawful, Kodituwakku submits.
Stressing therefore, that Pieris’ opinion is only a private opinion and bears no legal force, he has pointed that the EC has failed to comprehend the facts appropriately and reject the nomination submitted for the incumbent President.
Furthermore, the petitioner has pointed out the President seeking a Supreme Court opinion on the constitutionality of him seeking a third term under Article 129, is outside the jurisdiction of the Courts as the law clearly states the question referred to must be one of ‘public importance’.
Since the question is related to the President’s individual capacity and no one else’s, the constitution does not oblige the Courts to give an opinion and Kodituwakku points out that it ought to have said no. The petition has furthermore noted that Article 129 (1) implies for the necessity of a hearing and does not warrant the Courts to dispense with a hearing altogether.
Instead he states, the Court has followed an ad hoc procedure and denied the citizens the opportunity to express their views.
Therefore, the petitioner has also requested the Courts to:
Issue a mandate to quash the Elections Commissioner’s decision permitting the extant president to contest at the upcoming polls
Issue a writ instructing the Elections Commissioner to reject the nomination tendered for Mahinda Rajapaksa, pointing out the decision of the Elections Commissioner to permit him to contest is unlawful, inapt and an abuse of process and power.
LSSP leaders at Horana with Bracegirdle, circa 1937 by Vijaya Kumar-18/12/2014
The 79th Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s oldest political party, the Lanka Samasamaja party (LSSP) falls on December 18th. The party of NM, Colvin, Leslie and Bernard not only played a major role in the anti-imperialist struggle but was also responsible for fighting for and obtaining many of the benefits enjoyed today by the working class and the ordinary people of Sri Lanka. Most of them have been diluted and even been made irrelevant on World Bank and IMF advice by successive governments in their quest for growth and high per-capita GDP, economic objectives which do not appear to trickle down to improve the standards of living of ordinary people. 79th Anniversary the LSSP of Today is No More the Party of NM, Colvin, Leslie and Bernard by Thavam Ratna
"Winston Churchill is credited mostly with the victory during World War II. But at the subsequent general election, he lost. In 1948, D.S.Senanayke brought freedom to our country. But by 1956 people were not voting for the UNP anymore. So times change."
In this interview, Gampaha district SLFP parliamentarian Wasantha Senanayake who recently crossed over to the opposition speaks to C.A.Chandraprema about the prospects of the common opposition candidate at the forthcoming presidential election.
The joint Opposition yesterday rallied opposite the Election Commissioner's office and shouted slogans rajakari pehera herala Meko indan bulath kanawa – Jolly siyage malli wage, janathawata bana kiyanawa. This protest was launched by the election monitoring unit of common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
JHU General Secretary, Champika Ranawaka said yesterday that the Election Commissioner is not exercising his powers to prevent election law violations and repression directed at Opposition political parties by the government. He appealed to the commissioner to take prompt action to prevent such illegal actions. Meanwhile, UNP Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva strongly rejected Election Commissioner's recent public statement that he would resign his post if he was unable to hold a free and fair election. "It is the bounden duty of the Election Commissioner to hold a free and fair election," he said.
He expressed these ideas at a Satyagraha held in front of Election Secretariat by common Opposition Party leaders demanding justice for all at the forthcoming election. The picket named, 'Street protest against vengeful repression' was attended by several political and civil society leaders. A report on election law violations committed so far was handed over to the elections secretariat under the signatures of Champika Ranawaka, Attorney-at-Law Shiral Lakthilaka, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe and Attorney-at-Law Nanda Muruththettuwegama.
Opposition Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena while addressing an election rally expressed that he has no faith or belief in astrologers or personal horoscopes.
He also accused the astrologers of scaring the general public by spreading false rumors. “Now some astrologers attempt to tell omens on me. They would tell you nothing, but lies,” he added.
Maithripala also challenged President Mahinda Rajapaksa for an open debate on the topic ‘Good good governance principles and democracy.’ “I invite the President to have the debate with me on 1 January, 2015” he said.
Quoting some news stories published in media recently, he also pointed out that he never said he would restrict President Rajapaksa from leaving the country. “My point was that no one who engaged in frauds, misuse of government property, or corruption would not be allowed to leave the county, under our ruling,” Maithripala added.
Responding to a recent allegation raised by the President of his failure to probably maintain the Health Ministry, he accused the President of appointing his (President’s) allies and friends to the higher posts of the Ministry, what he explains as an alleged conspiracy to sabotage his works.
An irked President Rajapaksa fiercely defended his sons’ private choppers and royal horses, adding that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones at others.
Addressing a rally in Chilaw, President Rajapaksa seemed extremely upset as he spoke about the comments made by the Opposition about the luxurious lifestyles led by the Rajapaksa sons to which included details of their private helicopters and a specially imported horse from the Royal mews of the Buckingham Palace.
“They (the opposition) are defaming us. . .They seem to be extremely concerned about the helicopters I bought for my children and the horses. I would much rather my sons grew a liking to horse riding than for attempting to ride a DIG’s wife in Pasikudah,” he said in clear reference to assault allegations that were leveled at Maithripala Sirisena’s son few yes ago.
Despite claiming he is not one to sling mud at his opponents President Rajapaksa continued to say, “If I had such sons, I would be in deep trouble. . .”
Meanwhile, speaking at a gathering of lawyers he rejected allegations of his regime interfering with the judiciary.
“We have never interfered with the judiciary at any point. There is no Court in Sri Lanka that dances according to my tunes. We have never protected perpetrators of crimes,” he added.
Nihal Ratnayaka alias Bunty, a 40 year old father of three from Yaya 4 of Rajanganaya has been mysteriously murdered and his body dumped in Lunu Oya say reports. The deceased was a supporter of former Minister Duminda Dissanayaka who resigned from the government to support the common candidate Maithripala Sirisena.
The deceased had gone to the field on a message received by two persons who had come on a motorbike saying they were from Kandy Police. Residents who had gone in search of him as he had not returned had found his body in the stream. The relations have made a complaint to Thambuththegama Police.
The latest announcement from the Central Bank reveals that foreign trade is completely breaking down despite Mahinda Rajapaksa faction talks about an economic development on its propaganda stages.
The announcement reveals information of trade in the month of October. The trade deficit in October last year was US$352 million while it has drastically gone up to US$852 million in October this year.
Also, the export income during October last year was US$1041.3 million. However, it has come down to US$898.5 million in October this year. Meanwhile, the export expenditure in October last year was US$1393.7 million while it has increased to US$1750.2 million in October this year.
The cost of imports for consumer items has increased from US$286.2 million in 2013 to US$411.5 million this year.
16 December 2014
Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has said he realises that he may be the last to hold the title.
But he told the BBC it would be better that the centuries-old tradition ceased "at the time of a popular Dalai Lama".
The Dalai Lama suggested the UK had taken a soft line with China over Hong Kong's recent student-led pro-democracy protests for financial reasons.
He also said the international community needed to do more to encourage democracy in China.
"China very much wants to join the mainstream world economy," he said.
"They should be welcome, but at the same time the free world has a moral responsibility to bring China into mainstream democracy - for China's own interests."
'Moral responsibility'
The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet.
Beijing views the Nobel Peace Prize-winner as a "splittist", though he now advocates a "middle way" with China, seeking autonomy but not independence for Tibet.
In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC's Newsnight programme, during a visit to Rome for the 14th World Summit of Nobel Laureates, the 79-year-old spiritual leader conceded that he may not have a successor.
Whether another Dalai Lama came after him would depend on the circumstances after his death and was "up to the Tibetan people", he said.
He pointed out that the role no longer included political responsibilities; in 2011 the Dalai Lama handed these to an elected leader of the Tibetan government in exile, Lobsang Sangay.
The move was seen by many as a way the Dalai Lama could ensure the Tibetan community would have an elected leader in place outside the control of China.
China has said repeatedly that it will choose the next Dalai Lama.
"The Dalai Lama institution will cease one day. These man-made institutions will cease," the Dalai Lama told the BBC.
"There is no guarantee that some stupid Dalai Lama won't come next, who will disgrace himself or herself. That would be very sad. So, much better that a centuries-old tradition should cease at the time of a quite popular Dalai Lama."
Tibetan Buddhism's second-highest figure is the Panchen Lama - a figure who is meant to play a key role in the choice of the next Dalai Lama.
A young boy was named as Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama in 1995, but China rejected this and chose its own candidate. The whereabouts of the Dalai Lama's choice are unknown.
Communist rebels in the Philippines say they will attack government forces conducting peace and development operations despite the unilateral order of President Benigno Aquino III for the suspension of military and police operations (SOMO) against the New People’s Army.
In press statement, Jorge Madlos a.k.a. Ka Oris said, “We wish to point out and clarify that the NDFP-Mindanao considers the COPD and other similar military operations as part of the offensive military operations of Philippine Army units, and are, therefore, legitimate military targets of the New People’s Army (NPA).”
Ka Oris is the Mindanao spokesman of the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political umbrella of the NPA and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which is marking its 46th anniversary on December 26.
Madlos was reacting to a statement from the spokesperson of the 4th Infantry Division who allegedly said community organizing for peace and development (COPD) operations of military units will continue in the countryside during the month-long SOMO.
The rebel spokesman did not identify the military spokesperson.
Aquino on Wednesday ordered a unilateral ceasefire that will begin midnight Thursday (December 18) and will end midnight of January 19, shortly after Pope Francis leaves the country following a 4-day official visit.
Limited rebel ceasefire
The CPP on the other hand also announced a limited ceasefire which will cover from12:01 am of December 24, 2014 to 11:59 pm of December 26, 2014; 12:01 am of December 31, 2014 to 11:59 pm of January 1, 2015; and 12:01 am of January 15, 2015 to 11:59 pm of January 19, 2015.
Madlos earlier said Mindanao is now bearing the brunt of wide-scale military operations in the countryside.
“In Mindanao, 60 battalions of the Philippine Army and Marines have been deployed, including the Light Reaction Battalion,” Madlos said.
He also claimed that 60 percent of the armed strength of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is now deployed in the island, majority of it in known NPA strongholds.
NPA stronghold
Heavily affected by the military operations is the Davao region where armed encounters between the military and the NPAs have been occurring over the last two months, according to Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Aurelio Balabad.
Lt. Gen Baladad said 53 percent of the 4,600 NPAs throughout the country are in Mindanao with the eastern part of the island – particularly in Caraga and Davao regions – hosting the most number of NPA guerrilla fronts and armed regulars.
The Eastmincom chief said eastern Mindanao alone has 1,996 fully armed rebels “as of the third quarter of this year”.
Baladad also disclosed that there are 33 NPA guerrilla fronts under his area of responsibility, or more than 63 percent of the rebel fronts in Mindanao.
Naw Eh Ywa Paw was nine years old when government soldiers attacked her village in eastern Burma in March 2006. The young girl and her family, members of the Karen ethnic minority, hid in a nearby gully before rushing for the hills. Her father hoisted his ailing 80-year-old mother onto his back as they clambered up a steep ravine towards a clearing in the wilderness.Where the Executioners Sue Their Victims by Thavam Ratna
Scuffles break out in Kenya’s parliament in Nairobi
David Smith, Africa correspondent-
Fistfights and scuffles broke out in the Kenyan parliament on Thursday as members approved sweeping anti-terrorism laws that rights activists warn pose a draconian threat to civil liberties and freedom of speech.
The parliamentary speaker, Justin Muturi, was pelted with books, documents and other objects by opposition MPs as emotions ran high over the bill, while on the streets of Nairobi police fired warning shots and eight demonstrators were reportedly arrested.
The president, Uhuru Kenyatta, has claimed that the legislation is needed to tighten national security and combat Islamist militants responsible for last year’s Westgate shopping mall siege and more recent massacres. But critics say the government is exploiting fear of terrorism as a pretext for cracking down on dissent in civil society and the media. They argue that existing laws are sufficient and the true scourge is corruption within the police.
“It’s not an anti-terror bill, it’s an anti-media, anti-activist, anti-citizens bill,” said Boniface Mwangi, an activist and photographer who fears he will be a target. “They can arrest me without evidence or a warrant. We are going back to the days of dictatorship.”
The stakes are high in east Africa’s biggest economy. Kenya is widely seen as a beacon of freedom and democracy but could be tempted to emulate regional models such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda, where civil liberties have arguably been sacrificed in the name of security. Ethiopia has little political freedom and imprisons more journalists than almost any country in Africa; it has also suffered far fewer terrorist attacks than Kenya despite fighting alongside it in Somalia.
Kenyatta’s government has been under pressure since last year’s attack by the extremist group al-Shabaab on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, in which 67 people were killed. Earlier this month the interior minister and police chief were fired after al-Shabaab murdered 64 people in two attacks in the north-eastern Mandera region.
The bill includes proposals extending the time police can hold terror suspects from the current 90 days to nearly a year, increasing sentences, and giving investigators more powers to tap phones. Landlords would be compelled to provide information about their tenants. Journalists could face up to three years behind bars if their reports “undermine investigations or security operations relating to terrorism,” or if they publish images of terror victims without permission from the police.
Kenyatta, whose charges at the international criminal court were recently dropped, has said: “There is nothing to fear about the bill unless you have been engaging in criminal activities.”
Many fear a return to the climate under president Daniel Arap Moi, who ruled from 1978 to 2002, when opposition parties were banned and dissenters silenced and jailed. Ababu Namwamba, an opposition MP, described the bill as a “return to the past … that we thought had been buried in the dustbin of history.”
More recently Kenya has been seen as a crucial democratic bulwark in east Africa, with a vibrant media, a hub of international agencies and civil society organisations and a flourishing internet sector. Yet this week alone the government announced it was shutting down more than 500 non-government organisations and influential blogger Robert Alai was charged with undermining the presidency after a tweet in which he called Kenyatta an “adolescent president”.
Matters reached a head in parliament on Thursday where MPs traded blows before TV cameras. Opposition members shouted, sang and shredded copies of the bill, warning that Kenya was becoming a police state. Government supporters hit and tore the clothes of an opposition senator in the public gallery. Amid the chaos the legislation eventually passed, with journalists barred from the vote and TV feeds discontinued.
Campaigners said it defied the popular will. Ndungi Githuku, an artist and activist, said: “It is a draconian law that the majority of Kenyans are against. It means we are going back to the dark days when you could be arrested at any time and the police think you are a threat to national security. You cannot express yourself freely. You cannot sing a song that is a ‘threat’ to them. It’s like 1986 when people were thrown into torture chambers.”
The threat of al-Shabaab should not be used as an excuse, he said. “I’ve got friends who died at Westgate but we really feel terrorism is being used as a ploy to control people. If we are able to tighten the loopholes of corruption we will have fewer people sneaking over the border or bribing cops.”
The laws were also condemned by Abdullahi Boru, a Kenya analyst and researcher for Amnesty International. He said: “It speaks to the paranoia of the government when they can’t control the narrative. It’s not the media’s fault if the police are corrupt. The elephant in the room is Kenya’s lack of a plan regarding Somalia.
“Kenya and Kenyatta are trying to model themselves on Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia, but all these three regimes are a function of the way they came to power. These are governments that were formed in the bush and are principally military governments. Kenyans need to be cognisant of that. There are better ways of fighting terrorism than rolling back the freedoms of the past 20 years.”
Nittambuwa claymores targetted Maithri Sirisena?
The first member recruited to National Progressive Congress, recently formed by minister Arumugam Thondaman, is Karupiah Ganeshamurthi, a number of fraudster.
By Niranjala Ariyawansha-
