On Vice Chancellorships and Diplomatic Postings

by S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

Motivation and Reluctance

( February 4, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is a lot being said about how VCs and diplomats were being appointed under the previous regime. My experience is relevant to understanding how it was done. I will share that although I am reluctant to publish this personal information which will be twisted for devious ends. I will nonetheless share my experience because it is instructive for guarding against a repetition.

A nationalist friend who has not been in touch with me for a while asked me “Who appointed you VC in Jaffna?” He had swallowed the propaganda that I was brought from nowhere by the backdoor and made VC by Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2006. I told him what was true then: that every VC is appointed by the President by the normal process – public advertisement by the then relatively apolitical council, election to the slate of three by the Council and final selection by the president from the three names forwarded by the Council.

That appointment by the President is something that selectively bugs some people as if no independent Tamil person should wish to serve as a VC to avoid appointment by the President. It is a position that only expatriate Tamils who have no stake in Sri Lanka can afford to take. By that reasoning, the VC post should be left to stooges and Tamil students abandoned to the care of those without any skills.

VC Appointment
I felt I had a vision and skills to offer University of Jaffna and applied for the post of VC In 2006. The Jaffna Council voted for me and, having the most experience and qualifications, I was appointed. The LTTE opposed my appointment. My family and I were threatened with death. However after operating from Colombo and the US my appointment was terminated as the government felt the university was suffering as a result of my absence.

In 2011 also I applied and this time I was actively opposed by Douglas Devananda who now controlled the Council. Nonetheless enough of his appointees broke ranks and I got into the Council’s short list of three. Again I had the best case in terms of credentials. President Rajapakse called me up and, as is the custom, after verifying that I would accept, instructed his secretary Lalith Weeratunga in my presence to send me the letter of appointment the next morning. That letter never came. I was told by Sinhalese friends that it had been signed but was still at the President’s office. It was never transmitted because Douglas Devananda, as he himself had told Tamil pressmen, had informed the President that if I am appointed against his wishes he would quit politics.

Diplomatic Posting
The matter then dragged on with no appointment. At this point the government was having problems in London over Tamil political activism and was looking for a Tamil who as High Commissioner would state that there is no discrimination against Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Secretary for Higher Education, Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne, contacted me and asked if I would, instead of the VC position, accept a high commissionership. He said the request came from the President.

I replied that I am trained well to be a good Vice Chancellor but have no idea of how to be a good ambassador. I added that as a teetotaler I did not even know how to propose a toast at a diplomatic function. I declined. Subsequently Chris Nonis was appointed to the Court of St. James and Douglas Devandanda’s nominee was made VC Jaffna.

Eastern University of Sri Lanka – EUSL
Subsequently while I was still in Jaffna, I suppose there was some residual sense of obligation in the regime over my appointment as VC not having been made. As a result the then UGC Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake informed me that there had been problems at Eastern University, and Prof. N.R. Arthenayake who had been sent as Competent Authority, wanted to be relieved of his duties and had recommended that I should be appointed.

The Chairman said they would advertise the post of VC and I should apply. I respectfully declined saying I did not know the people at Eastern University and would stand no chance of getting elected. I was aghast when he responded, “You do not worry. You apply and we will make sure you are elected.” The game played in Jaffna by Douglas Devananda was being extended to Eastern University. I declined saying that commanding council members how to vote would not be ethical.

The post was advertised after my return to the US. A large group of senior academics at EUSL implored me to apply. I declined. In thanking the group, this is what I wrote:

“The President called me up to seek my consent before the VC/Jaffna appointment and promised me the letter the next day. But that is all history now. I do not want to be up for any consideration before him after that. … I certainly [do] not want any manipulation of the vote as Douglas did to me in Jaffna.”

I trust that this information is for the public good.

How keep our Army clean..? No Politicize, Be Professionalize..!

(Lanka-e-News- 03.Feb.2015, 11.30PM) The present Sri Lanka Army is highly politicized and qualified, experienced, most suitable officers do not get their due places unless they have political influence. At the same time those who do not have any qualifications, any experience or other pre-requisites are given important appointments and other privileges with the blessings of politicians. Therefore many corrupt officers hold important appointments due to their political affiliations. As such following suggestions are made for consideration;

1.     Army officers should not be attached to any politicians/ministers whilst they are serving in the Army. (At present many ministers have serving Army officers as their Principal Staff Officers / ADCs / Security Officers)

2.    All those officers who served under various ministers during the last few years should be sent on compulsory retirement. There has to be a proper system to ascertain their wealth and those who can not provide reasonable explanation for their sources of income should be dealt as per the law of the land.

3.      All those officers who served under various ministers during the last few years should not be allowed to enter any Army camps/ installations in the future.

4.    All those officers who held various top level appointments in various government institutions with the blessings of politicians should be sent on compulsory retirement.  There has to be a proper system to ascertain their wealth and those who can not provide reasonable explanation for their sources of income should be dealt as per the law of the land.

5.    All government politicians should be educated to not to interfere into the appointments, promotions and other assignments of Army officers.

6.    The Commander of the Army should be given the opportunity, freedom and authority for the Command, control and all administrative matters in the Army. 

7.    All those serving Army officers who got involved in politics during the Presidential Elections in 2004, 2010 and 2015 should be sent on compulsory retirement. This is including the Army officers who appeared on TV programmes during the Presidential Election in 2010 in favour of then President of the country. These officers should not be allowed to visit any Army camps/installations in the future.
 
8.    All officers who got involved in politics in favour of present President and also opposition candidate during the recently concluded Presidential Election should be Court Martial and they should be jailed if found guilty.

9.    Escorts / Drivers / Buddys of all retired Major Generals / Lt Generals should be withdrawn if they have got involved in politics. Colonel Commandants of all Regiments should be held responsible to ensure that such officers do not keep any Army personnel. They should be prohibited to enter any military camps / establishments. 

10.    Present CDS who has played a key role in planning certain unacceptable / unethical / illegal acts on the day of Presidential Election should be sent on compulsory retirement after a Court Martial. He should not be allowed to keep any Drivers / Escorts after leaving the CDS appointment.  

Above mentioned suggestions are made with a view to change the existing unacceptable practices in the Sri Lanka Army and to make it a professional Army.

-Retaired Major Jeneral -

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No Letup On UN Probe

By Easwaran Rutnam-Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Jayantha Dhanapala, Senior Advisor on Foreign Affairs to President
Maithripala Sirisena and Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The swearing in of a new Government has not released the pressure on Sri Lanka for a UN led investigation over the war, with human rights groups insisting that it is the only way forward.

The Government had last week dispatched Jayantha Dhanapala, Senior Advisor on Foreign Affairs to President Maithripala Sirisena, to meet the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in Geneva, and briefed him on the policies of the newly elected Government.

No Letup on UN Probe by Thavam Ratna

The 100-day programme 

By Neville Ladduwahetty-February 3, 2015

We have witnessed the initial workings of the 100 - day programme. One of the most significant acts was the manner in which CJ Mohan Peiris was removed and former CJ Shirani Bandaranayake was reinstated. If, as the Prime Minister stated in Parliament the reason for removing CJ Mohan Peiris and reinstating former CJ Shirani Bandaranayake was that the process by which she was removed was "flawed", the manner in which CJ Mohan Peiris was removed did not involve any process at all – not even a flawed process. The only process at work was intimidation and thuggery in the form of street demonstrations demanding his removal. This appears to be the process at work under the brand name "yahapalanaya", considering similar demands for the removal of persons such as the Chairperson of the UGC, Bribery Commissioner, Chairman of Pradeshiya Sabhas and others.

The 100-Day Programme by Thavam Ratna

All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils and the BTF host annual Dinner

Tuesday, 03 February 2015
Activists, journalists, religious leaders, politicians of all parties and prominent members of the British Tamil community arrived at the Royal Horseguards Hotel in London on the 29th of January 2015 for the annual dinner of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT).

The event began with a minute silent to remember those killed in the conflict in Sri Lanka and a traditional Bharatanatyam dance performance and welcome speeches by Mr V Ravi Kumar, General Secretary of BTF, and Lee Scott MP for Ilford North and the chair of the APPGT who apologised to the Tamil Community for not heeding their cries in 2009 and failing to prevent the genocide.

All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils and the BTF Host Annual Dinner by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka: Hope for Minorities?

Any optimism felt by the country’s beleaguered minorities remains tempered.

By Neha Sinha

February 03, 2015

A new president, Maithripala Sirisena, has brought a new wave of hope to Sri Lanka, yet it is still a moment of somewhat tempered optimism for the minorities who constitute almost 30 percent of the population of this post-conflict country. Sirisena, with his election motto of ‘”compassionate governance,” is walking a tightrope of balancing different political parties whilst aiming to fulfill several ambitious objectives, which include addressing war-crimes allegations through an independent domestic mechanism, establishing independent commissions to secure the impartiality of the judiciary, and cracking down on corruption.

Sri Lanka Hope for Minorities by Thavam Ratna

Dominion Status, The Lost Independence

By H.L. Seneviratne -February 4, 2015

H.L. Seneviratne

Nationalism, especially in its manifestation as anti-colonialism, is of universal appeal among those who have endured colonial domination. This is legitimate, but a proper understanding of this requires a closer look. Two dimensions are of particular importance. First, not all colonialisms are equal. The severity of their oppression varies according to the particular political cultures of the colonizers, which themselves have varied according to time. In general, early colonial rule has been more oppressive and more characterized by atrocities than late colonial rule. Second, different strata of the colonized feel its hegemony differently. Typically it is the elites among the colonized who feel the burden colonialism. Sections of these elites could adapt and become local agents of the colonialist, but large segments of elite populations will remain alienated and become fertile ground for the cultivation of nationalisms. The ordinary people who constitute the majority are oblivious to colonial domination for the simple reason that they have been always oppressed, making little difference as to whether the oppressor is colonialist rather than indigenous. Indeed, for them the colonial oppressor could well be the lesser evil.

A particular feature of anti- colonialist nationalism is its inability to recognize the beneficial effects of colonial rule, irrespective of the interests and motivation of the colonizer in bringing about such effects. Typically the colonized nations, at the time of colonization, have exhibited social and political features that are culture-bound and “pre-modern” in the sense of being untouched by modern ideas about the individual and society. Our contemporarily fashionable ideas about diversity notwithstanding, it is necessary to introduce value judgment and state, for example, that individual freedom is more valuable than its absence. Using this criterion and continuing the same example, we can say that wherever colonialism sought to institutionalize the idea of individual freedom it was engaging in a beneficial act.Read More

How We Can Once Again Become A Truly Independent Nation

By Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe -February 4, 2015

Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe

The New Year dawned for Sri Lanka with a sigh of relief, with much needed respect for justice and freedom. Currently it seems to be an environment of less and less restrictions, fear psychosis that engulfed the minds of people has moved a side, people are receiving almost daily, the benefits that they had been crying out for many years, fingers are pointed in the direction of the former regime and individuals who ruled the roost, during that period and of course with a sense of relief praises are sung and flowers are offered to the leaders of the new regime. There is definitely a feeling of ‘achievement’ on the part of the simple majority of people. There is also a sense of urgency in respect of many other issues and concerns connected with the people. The cry for good governance, abolition of the executive presidency, actions on those who have been responsible for corruption and interference in the state machinery, establishment of the rule of law, justice and fair play, punishment for those who have been involved in drug trade and other illicit scams and on the whole, the implementation of the one hundred day programme, are very much on the cards.

Sri Lankans have suddenly become very alert and watchful. The media is involved in a very creative competition to make sure the administrators deliver the promises made. The media too appears to be experiencing more freedoms and unrestricted access, enjoying the fearless arena to be truly exercising their right to provide the information for the people. We take the opportunity to thank God for all what we have been able to achieve through the franchise and the peaceful transfer of power that has been ensured, by the creative and faithful actions of some of the administrative hierarchy.

Read More

Obama, Sri Lanka and the Chinese equation

By Samir Kalra-February 04, 2015

Now that President Obama has concluded a historic and highly successful three-day visit to India, he needs to turn his attention to another South Asian nation, where recent political events have gone largely unnoticed.

At the beginning of January, India’s southern neighbor, Sri Lanka, held presidential polls that saw the surprising election of opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, a former member of the ruling government. Growing discontent amongst incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa’s traditional Sinhalese Buddhist (the majority ethno-religious group in the country) power base and a coalescence of ethnic and religious minority support propelled Sirisena to an unlikely victory.

The new political order that emerged from the elections will likely result in significant geopolitical implications that reverberate far beyond Sri Lanka and may provide a unique opportunity for Obama in Asia. 

While much of the attention surrounding Obama’s Asia pivot has been centered on East and Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean makes it an important part of a larger continental strategy. This is particularly critical given that China has exponentially increased its influence in South Asia over the past several years.

Under the previous Rajapaksa regime, Sri Lanka and China moved increasingly closer through strengthened economic and military ties, at the expense of the U.S. and India. 60 percent of the military equipment used by Sri Lanka’s Air force and Army is Chinese in origin, and China is now the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment into the island nation. Moreover, between 2012 and 2014, China committed more than $2.18 billion in assistance to Sri Lanka, while the two countries enjoyed more than $3 billion in bilateral trade in 2013, reflecting a 368 percent increase since 2005.

Sri Lanka has also provided China with coveted access to sea lanes and ports in the Indian Ocean and ushered in an era of unprecedented maritime cooperation. In 2014, for instance, Rajapaksa and Chinese President Xi Jinping formed a Joint Committee on Coastal and Marine Cooperation, and Sri Lanka became the first country to back Chinese plans to create a Maritime Silk Road. Sri Lanka has even allowed China to dock its submarines at Sri Lankan ports, much to the chagrin of India.

And most importantly, China has ignored Sri Lanka’s human rights violations and unequivocally stood by Rajapaksa in the face of international censure.

Rajapaksa’s electoral defeat thus has the potential to dampen Sri Lanka-China relations and put a dent in China’s broader regional strategy to become the sole dominant economic and military power in Asia.  As C. Raja Mohan, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Non-Resident Associate, recently noted, “[T]he exit of Rajapaksa, the architect of Sri Lanka’s tilt towards China, is a diplomatic problem in the near term for Beijing.”

Although a change in leadership will not necessarily alter the Chinese equation overnight, it may slowly lead to a loss of influence and lessen dependence on Chinese economic and military investment. In fact, according to Mohan, Sirisena indicated prior to the election that his government would “review some of the Chinese projects that Rajapaksa had approved and restore Sri Lanka’s traditional policy of maintaining balanced relations with all the major powers, including India, China, and the West.”

This could provide an opening for the U.S. to move beyond its previously thorny relationship with Rajapaksa and reset relations with Sri Lanka.

The U.S. had been at odds with Rajapaksa over his failure to address alleged war crimes committed during the final phase of the country’s civil war between the Sinhalese-majority government and ethnic Tamil separatist groups that ended in 2009. Deteriorating religious freedom and human rights conditions, including the suppression of Tamil political and religio-cultural rights and an upsurge in attacks by Sinhala Buddhist nationalists on Hindu, Christian,and Muslim minorities, had also become a source of friction between the two countries. This led to an American sponsored United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution in 2014 calling for an independent investigation into the final phase of the war and an inquiry into ongoing human rights abuses.

Although it is still unclear whether Sirisena will curb human rights abuses, reign in Sinhala Buddhist nationalists, and take meaningful steps towards accountability and reconciliation, he may be better positioned to do so given his support from both ruling-party parliamentarians and minorities.

And the U.S. can help play a constructive role in this regard by utilizing quiet diplomacy to nudge Sirisena in the right direction on human rights issues, while simultaneously engaging him on bilateral trade and defense cooperation. American and Indian geopolitical interests also converge in Sri Lanka, and they should work closely together to marginalize Chinese influence with the new government.

Obama should therefore seize on this opportunity and move quickly to develop a positive relationship with the new Sri lankan government. Failing to do so would be a strategic miscalculation.

Kalra is the director and senior Human Rights Fellow at the Hindu American Foundation.

Getting Real about Rights and Justice in Sri Lanka

:

 02/03/2015

Sri Lanka's brutal civil war ended in May 2009, but there are still many concerns regarding accountability for alleged wartime atrocities and persistent tension between the country's various ethnic groups. Increased authoritarianism from recently ousted President Mahinda Rajapaksa and institutionalized impunity have meant that the country's wounds of war remain unhealed and that a return to violence in the medium- to long-term is not out of the question.

Getting Real About Rights and Justice in Sri Lanka by Thavam Ratna

If Maithri to establish good governance, corrupt officials should be removed

Wednesday, 04 February 2015
The officials who outrageously tried to bring Mahinda Rajapaksa to power for the third time is continuing to work in their official positions and started to give their support to president Maithripala Sirisena.

If Maithri to establish good governance, doctors such as K.T. Ereiwan the deputy director medical supplies a stooge who always appeared behalf of Mahinda Rajapaksa and politicized the Lanka Hospitals should be removed and appoint suitable people for the positions.

Few misappropriations of Dr. K.T Ireiwan
1.Joining with the procurement team and purchasing of medical equipments without following tender procedures.
2.Monopoly the cardiac clinical unit under his control and hindering all who oppose against. This causes immense hardship to the patients who attend the cardiac clinic.
3.Having extra marital affairs with other women’s working in the same hospital where his spouse is working. (Offering foreign tours to these women’s)
4.Slandering the director board and creating troubles in the hospital to sustain his position.

A Precarious Transition And National Government?

By S. I. Keethaponcalan -February 3, 2015

Dr S.I. Keethaponcalan

The last time Sri Lanka had a president and cabinet of ministers from two different parties was in the 2001 – 2004 period: the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP), respectively. PresidentChandrika Kumaratunga (SLFP) was re-elected in 1999 and in 2001 the coalition headed by Ranil Wickramesinge (UNP) won the general election. The expected cohabitation between the two failed because the president used her constitutional powers and prematurely dissolved parliament in 2004. The UNP government collapsed with the dissolution of parliament.

Sri Lanka has been forced into a SLFP-UNP combination again following the recently concluded presidential election. Chairman of the SLFP Maithripala Sirisena is now the president and the cabinet is headed by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinge. The combination seems to be sailing smoothly and the cohabitation between the two will not be a problem, at least in the short term. The main difference this time around is the fact that President Sirisena was elected mostly with the UNP votes in January 2015. Therefore, he will not allow his party men to topple the government until the 100-day reform program the government has announced is completed. This reform program is President Sirisena’s election promise.Read More

Sri Lanka: Will China help Mahinda to topple government?

by Upul Joseph Fernando

( February 4, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The first official statement issued by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, after his defeat, appeared in the print media last week. The statement looked to be a sad note from the former President. 

Sri Lanka Will China Help Mahinda to Topple Government by Thavam Ratna

Can you beat that ? Tissa victim of Sumane’s predictions ordered a chair worth Rs. 1.2 million to sit in his 20 days old ministry !

(Lanka-e-News- 04.Feb.2015, 7'30PM) Believe it or not ! the first thing Tissa Attanayake  did after becoming the health  minister and to hold  that portfolio for just 20 days is , indulging in unalloyed self glorification and self aggrandizement   at the expense of public funds within that short period  ,faithfully following in the footsteps of his mentor the equally perfidious and a most profligate  ex President Mahinda Rajapakse to whose camp he pole vaulted just before the recent Presidential elections. 

Tissa , a former senior UNP member  (now in custody) who switched allegiance lured by  filthy lucre in many millions offered to him , not only betrayed the opposition and the people of the country at the crucial hour but had also committed a most grave crime of forgery by forging the signatures of the incumbent President Mathripala Sirisena and the prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe , and in addition produced a spurious document bearing their forged signatures. In other words Tissa had even beaten Judas , for Judas was only guilty of betrayal , but  Tissa is not only guilty of betrayal but even forgery  and perfidy.

And now , according to reports reaching Lanka e news , when Tissa secured the post of health minister under the previous Rajapakse regime which was earlier held by Maithripala Sirisena, within that brief  20 days period of  self exultation foolishly  in that post , in keeping with his puerile traits and feeble mindedness , like a mentally retarded child craving and crying  for toys had ordered first and foremost a chair as  soon as he assumed duties  while claiming that the chair that  was used by his predecessor (Maithripala ) is not good enough. 

The price of  this chair he ordered is Rs. 1.2 million !! It is a special luxurious chair which when the weather  is hot , it cools itself , and vice versa.

However to Tissa’s  dismay , his fanciful order had been turned down by the officer in charge of expenditure of the health ministry . She had told him it is impossible to get him such a chair at that cost . Finally his childish whim was gratified by providing him with a chair priced at Rs. 170,000.00 .

Finally ,puerile Tissa’s hopes of self glorification  and grandeur went up in smoke .  He could sit in that chair only for a few days .Like a child destroys  his toys , puerile Tissa destroyed his whole political career . Tissa who went from Disneyland to dreamland ultimately ended in  the place he truly deserved for all his perfidious and cut throat activities– within the four walls of the prison ! 

There is a most intriguing and interesting aspect to this drama . Lately , Tissa had depended on Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena ,the royal astrologer of Mahinda Rajapakse to make the astrological forecasts for him too. This ‘Sastra Sumane ‘ had prepared the auspicious times for him and predicted to puerile Tissa that after he crosses over , that party of his will become victorious “kings” . This ‘Sastra Sumane’ of ‘Kumanthara Mahinde’ had also gone so far as to give instructions to Tissa the ‘ puerile Pissek’ about the auspicious times to assume duties and the direction in which his chair costing Rs. 170,000.00 should face!!

No matter what anybody said ,or even if  no soothsayer , or Sumane or Mahinde  could   predict puerile Tisse’s imprisonment , Lanka e news always first with the news and best with the views , predicted well ahead on 10 th January that Tissa Attanayake going to jail is inevitable.
 

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No-faith motion against Amaratunga in Parliament:  SLFP seeks victory before April

By Shamindra Ferdinando-February 4, 2015
 
 SLFP General Secretary and Kurunegala District MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa yesterday said that the Opposition expected Public Security, Community and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga to resign if he lost a no-faith motion to be moved against him over the recent violent incident at Wattala Pradeshiya Sabha.
 
 MP Yapa alleged that Wattala Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman R.A. Thyagaratna Alwis and several other PS members had been assaulted at the behest of Minister Amaratunga within the Pradeshiya Sabha premises on the morning of Jan. 30. The police had been present, though they failed to bring the situation under control, MP Yapa said.
 
 “We’ll be collecting signatures soon. The Opposition will seek an early date for the vote.”
 
 MP Yapa said that the UPFA commanded more than double the number of UNP members in parliament. “Therefore Minister Amaratunga couldn’t avert a heavy defeat. The SLFP parliamentary group at a special meeting in Parliament on Monday decided to move a no-faith motion. The UPFA group in Parliament comprises about 130 with over 120 odd SLFP members. We have a clear majority and our support to President Maithripala Sirisena’s 100-day project doesn’t mean the SLFP will tolerate high handed actions of UNPers.”
 
 Asked whether the parliamentary group had consulted President Maithripala Sirisena, who is also the Chairman of the SLFP before deciding to move against Minister Amaratunga, the SLFP General Secretary acknowledged that the party leader hadn’t been consulted. However, the party was determined to move the House against Minister Amaratunga, MP Yapa said, adding the police should obtain video evidence available with television stations.
 
 Responding to another query, MP Yapa admitted that there was no parliamentary law to compel Gampaha District MP Amaratunga to give up his portfolios in case of defeat at a no-confidence motion. However, the Opposition would continue to question his right to retain ministerial portfolios after having lost a no faith motion.
 
 With both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announcing plans to dissolve Parliament soon after April 23, 2015, the SLFP is preparing for next parliamentary polls.
 
 MP Yapa said that there hadn’t been a previous case in which a minister/member of a minority government faced a no-faith motion since the introduction of JRJ’s Constitution in 1978. Successive political parties in the Opposition had unsuccessfully moved no-confidence motions against ruling party members, though there had never been a case similar to that of Minister Amaratunga’s, MP Yapa said.
 
 Meanwhile, Wattala Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Alwis on Monday led a protest campaign against minister Amaratunga after having addressed the media. Alwis and several local government members said violence had been unleashed by a gang acting on the instructions of Minister Amaratunga.
 
 Recollecting a statement attributed to Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe at a recent meeting also attended by President Sirisena, MP Yapa said that the UNP leader declared his intention not to give nominations to those engaged in post-polls violence.

Arjuna threatens Anura !

 Wednesday, 04 February 2015

Following the complain made by the leader of JVP Anura Kumara Disanayake against the Cricket Board secretary Nishantha Ranathunga to the commission of bribery and corruption, it is reported that the ports and naval minister Arjuna Ranathunga has threatened the JVP leader Anura Kumara.

Arjuna who has called Anura and asked has he got evidences against his brother to produce in the bribery and corruption and told him not to do false allegations.

Further he has told he is planning to contest in the coming election in the Cricket Board.

Nishantha Ranathunga who is currently the secretary of the cricket board is ready to contest the same position if his elder brother is contesting for the chairmanship.

However there are plans to appoint the younger brother Dammika Ranathunga to the Chief Executive Officer of the Cricket Board.

What The Hell Is Going On?

By Emil van der Poorten –February 4, 2015 

Emil van der Poorten

In a previous column I raised the issue of what, if anything, some of the recently-appointed members brought to the Sirisena/WickremesingheCabinet and its subsidiaries.

While some of those appointments were obviously driven by the political compulsions of a broad coalition, many of them were inexplicable in the context of a government laying claim to any degree of democratic morality and supposedly dedicated to cleaning out the Augean stable of violence and corruption that they had inherited from the Rajapaksa rabble.

Already, the man who had a well-documented track record of being purchasable for the occasional air ticket – John Amaratunge – has effectively proven that he should NEVER have been appointed to any position of prominence. Will the Sirisena/Wickremesinghe cabal even now divest themselves of this guy, when, of all things, he stands accused of being involved in thuggery of a kind that was the very forte of the Rajapaksa bunch and the elimination of which was the avowed intent of the new government? I know that what is invoked every time a suggestion of this kind is made is the tired old saw, applied particularly to criminal conduct, that a person is innocent until proven guilty. However, given the moral foundation that the current government lays claim to, I would suggest that if there is even the hint of unacceptable conduct, those so accused should stand down, at least temporarily, until the issue is resolved. This is not some revolutionary principle that some Sri Lankan genius invented. It is a time-honoured practice that has proven its worth over and over again in countries that practice the governing practice called democracy.

*There are at least a couple of glaring examples in Australia, one of which was simply an attempt to salve the hurt feelings of a woman jilted by one of the Royal Family, the exercise requiring accommodation (and designation befitting an experienced diplomat) for, not only herself, but her family as well!

Read More