Would you like to be on a Zero Hours Contract?

Imagine being bullied by the employer, on the pretext that to work is a privilege, to earn a living wage is no longer a priority, to be on flexi hours is an advantage bestowed by a benevolent employer. Imagine not being offered even a seat in a workplace but having to stand all the time during the hours of work assigned.

by Victor Cherubim

( March 28, 2015, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Jeremy Paxman in his first TV Election Debate with David Cameron, 42 days before the May UK Parliamentary Election, addressed this question to the Prime Minister yesterday. Sheepishly, the Prime Minister avoided a direct answer, but said it was the choice of each person. Labour Leader Ed Miliband. instead, has vowed that a future Labour Government, will force employers to provide steady and secure work with access to employment law and rights, to all who are currently on zero hours contracts, after serving 6 months or more on these contracts.

Labour Party’s Ed Milliband, has officially kicked started his election campaign ahead of the Tories from the Olympic Park, Stratford in the Newham constituency in East London, the home of the vast majority of immigrant workers from the Asian Sub continent, assuring not only secure investment in the future of the National Health Service (NHS) by stopping privatisation, equally investing the future of younger generation with a virtual end to Zero Hour Contracts.

Zero Hour Contacts or the Casualisation of labour market allowing employers to hire staff with no minimum guarantee of working hours, conditions or pay, has been a thorn in the side of Unions and opposed by the Labour Party. Employees are taken on work when they are needed by employers, often at very short notice. Their pay depends on how often they work, they are unable or unwilling to access existing employment rights, and they are unable to predict how much they will earn a week, unable to budget for their minimum needs.

Imagine receiving a call from an employer to start work at 0630 hours and told at 11.30 hrs that their day’s work is over as there was no work. Could you believe the stress and the uncertainty of the zero hours, as employers use any excuse to lay off staff, on the pretext of fluctuating demand for their services. Employers have conveniently used this method of hire and fire, an import from US, to avoid paying fixed overheads for their work places, flexibility at their discretion over their work force and coercion over their employees to turn up for work at will and doing away with labour who are not able to attend when “summoned” for work.

Imagine having worked a lifetime on a salary, then going on Zero Hours Contract and their take home pay being cut to half their normal salary. Imagine having to maintain a home and family on half a normal minimum salary to £300 a month. Imagine having been used to the usual terms and conditions of employment, then warned all the legislation enacted over centuries on working conditions are all rescinded overnight under the Zero Hours Contract.

Imagine being bullied by the employer, on the pretext that to work is a privilege, to earn a living wage is no longer a priority, to be on flexi hours is an advantage bestowed by a benevolent employer. Imagine not being offered even a seat in a workplace but having to stand all the time during the hours of work assigned.

It appears we are going back to the days of the Industrial Revolution, where work was tedious, the employer was supreme, and seeking financial stability and security was a thing of bygone times. Is this another form of worker exploitation in the 21 century? The Trades Union Congress maintains workers on Zero Hours Contracts are at risk of exploitation with majority of workers earning less than a living wage. However, the Conciliation Service (ACAS) says that the breaks in their contracts are not tantamount to abrogation of employment rights as regular workers. Zero hours workers are entitled to annual leave, rest breaks and national minimum wage but not redundancy pay or statutory minimum notice period.

Do you know that 583,000 people or 2% of UK work force are now signed up involuntarily or voluntarily to work on zero hours contracts. A Survey by the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development, has put the number of zero hours contracts at more than one million, which if analysed is a third of all volunteer sector organisations, along with a quarter of public sector employers and 17% of all private sector firms in the UK – all use Zero Hours Contracts.

The Advantages of Zero Hours Contracts

Employers maintain that Zero Hour Contract is a boon to employees. It gives them flexibility to work hours suitable to their state of requirement/ needs. They welcome flexibility of zero hour’s contracts for some type of employees, who cannot work full time due to personal reasons. Besides, certain employers, like catering and food industries use the highest proportion of Zero hours contracts, as it also suits their trades.

But the Government has come in for criticism for threatening to take away job seekers allowance benefits for three months or more if people / workers refuse to take jobs and roles with zero hours contracts. Imagine a professionally qualified person assigned to work as a Gardener, refusing to work outdoors, any hours, as directed? What is fairplay?

All in all, if Labour wins the next election, we can be sure it will introduce more rights for workers, compensation if shifts are cancelled at short notice and fixed hours contract, after 12 months with an employer.

If the Conservatives win the next election, they will hope to review these zero hours contracts, but perhaps, may not altogether do away with this way of working. They maintain that the flexibility is enjoyed by both the employer and the employee. Does anyone deny that?

5 Steps Women Should Consider Making to Take Control of their Financial Future

Some tips on gaining your financial "peace of mind"

Mar-30-2015

(WESLEY CHAPEL, Florida) - When it comes to women and money, there is some good news, says Lance Drucker, ChFC, CLU, a veteran financial professional.

On average, women are more independent and financially literate than ever before, he says. On the other hand, Prudential’s eighth biennial study titled Financial Experience & Behavior Among Women recently revealed that women are no more likely to make sound financial decisions today than two years ago – or even when the study began 10 years ago.

“When women are more involved with their own finances, they feel more in control of their independence and are generally happier, but many seem to suffer a disconnect between what they want in their financial future and their spending habits,” says Drucker, CEO and president of the New York City-based Drucker Wealth Management, (www.DruckerWealth.com), a firm that specializes in empowering women to make sound financial decisions.

“While most American women say having enough money to maintain their lifestyle throughout retirement was very important, only 14 percent of those polled said they were very confident that they’d achieve that goal.”

Drucker, author of “How to Avoid Bag Lady Syndrome (BLS): A Strong Woman’s Guide to Financial Peace of Mind,” offers some guidance on the steps women can take to help them not only feel empowered about their money, but actually take control of their financial future:

• Figuring out the cause of your Pain: Too many women really don’t want to look too deep as to why finances cause them so much stress – kind of like not getting on a scale because we really don’t want to see how much we weigh. Before we can come up with a solution to your financial problem, we need to figure out what the problem actually is: lack of income, growth, financial illiteracy...
• Budgeting vs. Louis Vuitton handbags: We all need to do or buy things that make us feel good, but we need to factor our indulgences into our overall life plan. Establishing a necessary budget (what we need just to get up in the morning) as well as an Aspirational budget (more of a wish list) will help guide your decision-making process as to what you can or can’t afford to do (including buying that “to die for” item).
• “I don’t know what I have”- Why a Balance Sheet is essential: Too many times our women clients have no idea what they have as far as financial resources, how their assets have performed, and how much they are paying for someone’s help. Creating a balance sheet, collecting all of your statements, and taking an accounting of your life gives you the data to start making smart decisions.
• Developing a Plan vs. the Wine and Dark Chocolate approach: Hoping things will just get better, or the chocolate-and-wine approach to life, does have its benefits (as my wife has explained to me on numerous occasions). Developing a written plan that lays out what you want financially and when you want it goes a long way toward peace of mind. The wine wouldn’t hurt while writing the plan though.
• The Gym Commandoes: There are two types of people who succeed at the gym: those do-it-your self folks who walk around with a little notebook like Rainman tracking their progress, or those who hire a coach/trainer. Both work. People who show up at the gym with a vague sense of “I’m gonna ride the bike, hit some weights, then take a really long steam,” typically don’t last. By now, you have done the work. You’ve figured out your pain, budget, balance sheet, and a plan...

Now you have to implement the strategy, and this is where the fun begins!

'I travelled across the world to finally meet my real mum' - Girl finds her family after 18 years of waiting

Poppy Royal, 21, always knew she was adopted. Then two years ago she decided she needed to find out the truth about the family she’d never met

Finally reunited with her birth mum Kalinga

By Rachel Tompkins- 29 March 2015

Growing up, Poppy Royal’s life was happy and secure. Her parents Cliff, now 68, and Jenny, 58, had adopted her at five weeks old, and never kept a secret of where she actually came from – Sri Lanka.

"Mum and Dad adopted me and another Sri Lankan child, Joshua," says Poppy.

But growing up in a comfortable home in Oxfordshire was a world away from the life of her birth family, who toiled on tea plantations for desperately low wages.

Cliff and Jenny took Poppy and Joshua to Sri Lanka when they were little, but Poppy was too young to ask questions about her roots. It wasn’t until she was 18 and studying anthropology at Manchester University that she felt the desire to trace her birth mother.

Poppy with her adoptive parents Jenny and Cliff

"As I grew older I wondered whether I looked like her," explains Poppy.

Her mum and dad were supportive, so in April 2013 she flew to Sri Lanka with friends. "The only thing I had to go on was the name of the tea plantation where she used to work, and her name – Kalinga."

Poppy didn’t even know if her family had survived the brutal civil war that had torn the country apart for 25 years, which ended in 2009. But her luck changed when she met a local man at her hotel who spoke English and offered to translate.

After a five-hour journey to a remote village, Poppy walked into the foyer of a guest house and a small woman dressed in a sari came running towards her, crying.

"She threw her arms around me," says Poppy. "It was my birth mother. It was such an emotional moment. It was one I couldn’t share with my own mother, but this was something I needed to do on my own."

Through the translator, Kalinga explained that her husband had died of alcoholism, leaving her with two young daughters, Pushpalalitah, now 24, and Manila Khanti, now 28, while she was pregnant with Poppy. Unable to cope financially, she’d given Poppy up for adoption.

With her sisters Manila and Pushpalaitah

"Kalinga always wondered if she’d ever see me again," says Poppy. "Any time a British couple with a Sri Lankan child visited the plantation, heartbreakingly, she always wondered if it was me."

Poppy then travelled to Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, and met Pushpalalitah, who was working in a tea factory. "It was shocking how similar she and I looked," explains Poppy. "I felt a bond with her straightaway. Until I was adopted, she’d helped to look after me, and she remembered that."

Pushpalalitah was studying to become a teacher, but she couldn’t afford computer classes and didn’t even own a laptop to teach herself the basics. So Poppy came back to see her in August 2014, bringing her spare laptop.

"I felt so excited, because I knew this was the opportunity to help my birth sister fulfil her dreams," she says.

Now, Poppy’s launched a charity to collect old laptops to donate to Sri Lankan women who come from tea estates.

"I think about my birth family every day. We contact each other regularly on Facebook or by email, and later this year my whole family will be going out to visit them. I can’t believe we met each other again. It’s like a miracle."

• Poppy’s charity, Laptops For Ladies, aims to empower women like her sister through education. She says, "No matter how much money is raised, even one laptop will change somebody’s life and that change will be forever appreciated and remembered."

Pablo de Greiff to visit Sri Lanka today

March 29, 2015

UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations, and Guarantees of Non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, will arrive in Sri Lanka for a six-day visit, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Sunday (29).

“Greiff will arrive in Sri Lanka today. He plans to meet with senior officials of the Government and political parties. He looks forward to discussing with Sri Lankan leaders on various issues of mutual concerns,” the Ministry sources said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera addressing the 28th Regular Session of Human Rights Council in Geneva said “the government has invited the UN Special Rapporteur, Pablo de Greiff, to visit Sri Lanka for consultations at the end of this month.

The government will also receive the Working Group on Involuntary and Enforced Disappearances and having invited expects the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also to visit the island. The government will also invite other special procedure mandate holders as well on a needs-based manner.”

Wiggy snubs Ranil

By Ananth Palakidnar-2015-03-28

Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran and the Northern Provincial Councillors boycotted a visit by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to Jaffna yesterday, following an exchange of views over the military presence in the North and the views expressed by the PM in an interview with an Indian TV station. 

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, State Ministers Rosy Senanayake, Vijayakala Maheswaran and V. Radhakrishnan are on a three-day visit to the North, beginning yesterday.
Minister Maheswaran said Chief Minister Wigneswaran and the NPC Councillors should not have snubbed Wickremesinghe as the purpose of the visit was to address the humanitarian issues in the North.

NPC sources said the invitation sent to the Council on the Prime Minister's visit was "not properly delivered".
However, the sources closer to the Chief Minister said the 'cold war' between Wigneswaran and Wickremesinghe emerged following an exchange of views over the military presence in the North and the views expressed by the PM in an interview with an Indian TV station in which he had said the Chief Minister was not being supportive of the Central Government.

EPDP Leader, Douglas Devananda, MP, accompanied the Prime Minister.
Wickremesinghe will be visiting the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu Districts today to attend various meetings and is expected to launch several humanitarian programmes. He is also expected to meet several TNA parliamentarians representing the Northern Province in Kilinochchi.

Giving ear to the public roar in January 2015

• Sunday, March 29, 2015

Admitting that the passionate ‘yahapalanaya’ breast-beating of the Maithri campaign in the run-up to the January 2015 presidential poll was nothing more than an election slogan has become inevitable in the wake of the recent formation of a so-called ‘national government.’  What else is one to say when one-time Rajapaksa loyalists of exceeding ill fame are welcomed into a grotesquely swollen Cabinet as United National Party Ministers turn all shades of quite unbecoming purple trying to justify these happenings?

Chaotic process of constitution-making
Truly, Sri Lanka’s perennial tragedy has not been the absence of fortitude on the part of its people but rather, the betrayal of public expectations by its leaders elected to political office. And in the dilemmas that confront the Sirisena Presidency in fulfilling an ambitious electoral mandate, ethical considerations seems to have been abandoned to the four winds in favour of the ‘end justifies the means’ argument. Hopefully the end result will justify the high price that this Presidency will have to pay in this regard.

Regardless, the continuing lack of far-sightedness shown in this Government’s policy-making and law-making efforts is troublesome. We hear numerous claims that laws promoting good governance have been passed or are being finalized. However, the sheer extent of confusion attendant thereto beggars understanding. Most worrying is the chaotic process of constitution-making. The gazetted 19th Amendment Bill is now awaiting hearings in the Supreme Court even as we hear almost daily, reports of further amendments and revisions being made to the text. Certainly this is not how constitutional amendments ought to be drafted, discussed or enacted.

Indeed, the level of obsessive secrecy regarding the process equals if not surpasses past unhealthy practices. And this attitude is immediately at odds with a proposed law securing the Right to Information which aims to dislodge the culture of secrecy in government. Surely there is no point in having laws pronouncing on rights in theory if the administrative process and the workings of government actively conspire to defeat that very purpose?

Learning little from history
We seem to learn little from history. In some respects, there is indeed a feeling of déjà vu about the secretive nature of the process. The unhappy fate of the Constitution Bill of 2000 hurriedly gazetted as an urgent bill and referred overnight to the Supreme Court by the Kumaratunga Presidency is an unwilling reference. The urgent bill mechanism was rightly not followed in the case of the 19th Amendment by President Maithripala Sirisena due to public pressure. Notwithstanding, the secrecy associated with the 2000 constitution-making exercise continues.

The 2000 Constitution Bill tried to replace the Executive Presidency with a ceremonial head of state assisted by two vice presidents from two different communities and a return to the Westminister system of government. The appointment of members of the Cabinet, (by the President acting upon advice of the Prime Minister), was made subject to the need to ensure the representation of all major communities.

Though some provisions of the Bill had been put before the people, the country remained unaware of the Constitution Bill in its entirety. When the draft finally became public, its backdoor provisions relating to the duality of the powers bequeathed to a Presidential incumbent led to a storm of protests by citizens’ groups, monks and the opposition. Though legal challenges to its constitutionality (predictably) failed in the Supreme Court under the stewardship of ex-Chief Justice Sarath Silva, public agitation resulted in the government withdrawing the Constitution Bill from Parliament. The Constitution Bill was sought to be passed with indecent and tumultuous haste. If this was not the case and a wiser process followed, the Bill might have enabled a healthier constitutional balance of powers and averted many of the disasters which later befell the country as a result of extreme Presidential authoritarianism.

Troubling aspects of the 19th Amendment
In contrast, the 19th Amendment has been generally welcomed. Yet a secretively changing text together with certain of its clauses relating to the balance of powers between the Presidency and the Prime Minister invokes concern. Ideally the 19th Amendment Bill should, in its final form, have been published in the major newspapers in all three languages to enable informed debate, consensus and support. Meanwhile, the withdrawing of immunity afforded to the President only in regard to the limited province of fundamental rights violations, (along with the previous limited exceptions of electoral petitions and the like), remains a fatal flaw.

This is troubling at several levels as pointed out previously in these column spaces. First, the government ought not to be allowed to get away with its trumpeted boast that it has, in fact, abolished presidential immunity. Second, the explanations that government front-rankers give, when challenged on this ground, are far from convincing.

We are told variously that the President should not be liable to being dragged before court for each and every frivolous ground and that in any event, with the delegation of powers to the Constitutional Council and the independent constitutional commissions, the extent to which the President will be responsible before the law will not be as wide ranging as before.

The public roar for change
Both these explanations lack legal force. The argument that abolishing immunity wholesale will result in frivolous actions is just plain nonsense as seen in other jurisdictions where presidential immunity does not prevail. There is little precedent to support this simplistic argument. Moreover, there is no rationale as to why immunity has not been relaxed also for writ applications at least. Again, to say that the Constitutional Council and the constitutional commissions now bear the burden of governance has little credibility in view of the significant powers that remain in the Presidency. Further, actions of the Council themselves have also been afforded that same immunity, except in the niggardly exception of lodging fundamental rights challenges.

Secrecy and immunity must yield in all instances to transparency and accountability before the law. This was the public roar emanating from the peoples’ victory this January. We are still awaiting its realization, albeit less expectantly than before.

The Proposed 19A – A Critique

By Nihal Jayawickrama -March 29, 2015 

Dr. Nihal Jayawickrama

The Bill for the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution has been drafted, published in the Gazette and placed on the Order Paper of Parliament without any opportunity for public consultation. Once more, a government has arrogated to itself the sole power to draft a constitution, ignoring the fact that the constitution belongs to the whole country and all its inhabitants. It is a social contract between the citizens and the state, whereby the people agree to submit themselves to the power of the state, and agree to the manner in which that power will be distributed, exercised and limited among the institutions of government. A constitution should not be the product of political bargaining between competing political parties; nor should it result from the application of the party whip.

The proposed Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution appears to have been drafted with care to reflect some of the commitments made in the common programme of the common candidate for the presidency which received the overwhelming support of all ethnic and religious groups of this country. However, a reading of the Bill reveals several provisions which, if enacted, could impede the governance of this country, and interfere with the lives of ordinary Sri Lankans as well.

Access to Information

The proposed new Article 14A seeks to introduce a new fundamental right, namely, the right of access to information, notwithstanding the fact that the right to seek, receive and impart information is an element of the “freedom of speech and expression including publication” which is already guaranteed in Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution. What is now required is a substantive law that gives practical effect to that fundamental right. Instead, what is being offered is a constitutional provision that reflects a serious misunderstanding of the concept of access to information. Article 14A seeks to grant every citizen the fundamental right of access to any information held by “any other person”, “being information that is required for the exercise or protection of that citizen’s rights”. As far as I am aware, there is no legislation in any country in the world that gives a citizen the right of access to information in the possession of another “person”.

The draftsman has apparently borrowed this provision from the 1996 Constitution of South Africa which was drafted in the context of the “secretive and unresponsive culture” that had prevailed under the apartheid regime. The draftsman appears to have ignored the fact that when substantive legislation was enacted in that country, that error was rectified and the term “private bodies” was substituted for “persons”. In the absence of any such implementing legislation in Sri Lanka, will my neighbour now acquire a constitutional right to intrude into the privacy of my home in search of information (perhaps my research material !) that may be useful to him for the purpose of vindicating his rights in a court of law?Read More

On the bond fracas and on 19A

Self-inflicted wounds of bourgeois democracy

When money is parked for longer terms a higher return is expected as a premium for risk taking.

by Kumar David

March 28, 2015, 12:00 pm 

Understandably the public is ultra sensitive, having survived a corrupt morally decadent regime, to any and every shortcoming of the new one. Fair enough and I encourage vigilance after a long period in which Rajapaksa putrefaction fed on the cowardice of the populace. That’s the truth. Edward Saeed remarked that the intellectual must "Speak truth to power" but he forgot to add the same injunction about speaking truth to the people. I devote this piece to two hot issues. First, what the numbers say about the Central Bank bond issue. Second, roadblocks in 19A speak truth to friends and comrades whose speechless, spineless dumbness when Candidate Sirisena was twofaced about abolishing the Executive Presidency, has created to an impasse. Those who stayed silent then, that is the 99% on "our side," are now necessarily speechless when Champika Ranawaka declares that Candidate Sirisena never promised to abolish EP.

On the Bond Fracas and on 19A Self-Inflicted Wounds of Bourgeois Democracy by Thavam Ratna

‘Naya Qanoon’ and the 19th Amendment

by Reeza Hameed 

- on 03/28/2015 

The draft 19th Amendment reminds me of the story ‘Naya Qanoon’ (New Constitution) written by the late Saadat Manto, regarded by many as the finest writer of short stories in Urdu and as the greatest South Asian writer of the 20th century. Set in pre-independence Lahore of the 1930s the main protagonist of the story is a tongawalla called Mangu.

‘Naya Qanoon’ and the 19th Amendment by Thavam Ratna

The Man and the Hour: An Interview with the Elections Commissioner

Pic & striy by Maheen Senanayake.-29/03/2015

I had tried several times to meet him. He too, in all fairness, made a valiant effort to make time for me. It had been almost a month since we set out to meet. Finally the day had come. I arrived 15 minutes early at his office on a public holiday. Shown into his room, my attention was drawn to the huge map mounted on a wall below the pictures of his predecessors. Seated at his desk, the man most called Maco – short for MethiwaranaCommasaris (Elections Commissioner in Sinhala) – Mahinda Deshapriya sat at his desk, fountain pen in hand, running through a file. He was busy. Genuinely busy. Every so often his staff would interrupt him for this and that. None were kept out. His door appeared to be open to all. Despite the continuous interruptions, he continued to work and talk with me unfazed. His ability to switch from an interruption back to our discussion maintaining the discussion thread fascinated me. Here is his story.
Q: Many say that the election hinged on your performance. How would you comment on that?

A: I see this differently. Do you think that people would be praising me if the result had been different? Do you think that the people could have separated themselves from their emotions and have said `he did all he could to conduct a free and fair election but the people have spoken?’ I am not so sure. My department worked as it did at previous elections. The only difference is we took an active interest in promoting the activities of the department. For instance we had a padayathra from the Divisional Secretary’s office to my office in Rajagiriya promoting the activities of the department. We wanted to engage the young and we wanted the people to exercise their franchise. We had to reach the people and increase awareness of the fact that we would look after the elections if only they would take the trouble to go out there and vote. Our campaign centered on several issues. We told the people that their vote was their right. We ensured that people knew that no one could trace how they voted. We also told them to go early to the polling stations. Ultimately we managed to garner the biggest voter turnout in the history of this country.

Q: Did anyone praise you before the election?

A: Well a few party leaders including from the UNP, the JVP and a few other members met me before the elections and thanked the department and me for our efforts to conduct a free and fair election. But then again, not everyone was happy.

Q: You have tried to name some those key people who assisted the department since we started this discussion. Who were they?

A: Actually there were a lot of people. This was a team effort. But some people, I have to name. I would like to thank Mr. Gamini Dissanayake, DIG Legal, DIG P B Nikahetiya, DIG LHG Cooray, Commmandant Field force HQ. and my team of Additional Elecitons Commissioners who were like pillars to me; Mr. Amaradasa, Ananda Ratnayake, and Usman Mohamed. I must also mention here the one and only female Assistant Commissioner, Ms. Chinta Dissanayake. She is the only female Asst. Commissioner since 1947.

Q: What was so significant about 1947?

A: Well in 1947 we held our first parliamentary elections but then there were two departments – the Department of Parliamentary Elections and the Department of Local Government Elections. Ultimately in 1956 there was an amalgamation of the two departments. And next year we will be celebrating the diamond jubilee of the department.

Q: Can we talk about the challenges you faced? What do you intend to do about all the violations that we experienced during that period?

A: As you know I together with my team believed that we had to do whatever that we could within the powers vested in me and the department to conduct a free and fair election. We took hitherto unimaginable decisions. For instance we took over the public parks when the then government attempted to deny the opposition public spaces for political meetings. But sadly there is no mechanism available to me to deal with the issues that we were not able to deal with during the elections.

So the consultative committee on election law reform which met yesterday is taking decisive action against election violations reported during the last presidential election held on January 8, 2015. We have to do this to ensure that the lessons learnt from the last election effectively contribute to make future elections better. Towards this end the Elections Department is giving leadership to the Consultative Committee on Election Law Reform to take decisive action against those who violated election laws during the last election. The permanent committee which is represented by five of the six recognized election monitors and representatives of the currently active political parties out of the 64 registered parties has regularly met every Friday during the last few months.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the chief violator of election laws, during the last election is also represented in the committee which is first taking action against those involved in the more serious violations including the engagement of Ministry Secretaries and state property for election work. As regards the Ministry Secretaries we are hoping to seek an amendment to the service minute as applicable to them with the support of the Ministry of Public Administration to ensure that even politically appointed personnel to such posts are governed by the Establishment Code.

Q: Can you give me a specific example of a challenging situation you had to face?

A: For instance when ITN – as you know is a state owned television channel, was being very unfair by the then opposition I wrote to the chairman. He was one person who was obstructing the conduct of free and fair elections. I instructed him to stop slinging mud at the opposition candidate in particular. He wrote back to me asking me what authority I had (to make that directive). On one hand (the reply) is reflective of the kind of person he is and his ignorance. But on the other hand, to deal with this type of activity the committee has decided to refer this matter to different authorities. For instance the Human Rights Commission and the Auditor General can do a lot in this area.

The mandate of the Human Rights Commission is to address issues dealing with fundamental rights. As the Supreme Court has ruled, ‘Franchise’ and anything relating to Franchise is also a fundamental right. So these matters may very well fall within the purview of the Human Rights Commission.

For instance it is Parliament which has control authority over the consolidated fund and the Auditor General is the individual who is entrusted with the control of its proper management. Therefore, violations, especially misappropriation of funds, could be dealt with through the Auditor General’s Department’s involvement. The Auditor General is expected to account for expenses from the consolidated fund as well as review from where and whether the right inputs to the consolidated fund has taken place.

Q: You mentioned how the police supported you in the discharge of duties of your department. Is there an individual that you can name whose contribution you would say was paramount?

A: Yes, I would say Senior DIG Gamini Navaratne’s contribution was exemplary. He did a thankless job. He was responsible for all the successes but no one ever thanked him. So I would say his service was truly remarkable. Everyone mentions my name, the IGP and several others but he remained in the background where media was concerned but was in the frontline where the job was concerned.

Another Police Officer, DIG (Legal) Gamini Dissanayake rendered great service during the last election. Then there was DIG P B Nikahetiya. These gentlemen together with my Additional Commissioners, U. Amaradasa, Ananda Ratnayake, Usman Mohamed rendered a silent service to this nation. And it is my duty to name them personally. However, I must say though I am naming a few here, everyone in the public service contributed immensely to make this election a success.

Sirisena Is A Conspirer: Anura K

March 29, 2015

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake charges President Maithripala Sirisena is a conspirer who is plotting to prevent the smooth passage of the 19th amendment despite the promises made.

Speaking at an event organized by the People’s Movement for Democracy, Dissanayake recalls the main slogans that were deployed during the past elections that have resulted in major regime changes. “Elections that resulted in major regime changes were held in 1970, 1977, 1994 and 2015. The main slogans deployed during the first three elections were to do with hunger; but this year the election took a completely different turn. It was about democracy, freedom and bringing those accused of corruption to book.

He also points out that in elections where all other regimes were defeated; the electoral movement was strong and stable enough to challenge the prevalent government unlike at the recent Presidential election.

“In 1977 JR Jayewardene’s electoral campaign stood strong against Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s campaign. In 1994 CBK was a strong contender against the UNP regime. . . But at the recent elections, the opposing movement was not comparatively strong enough to challenge the Rajapaksa regime. The actual work done within the electoral movement in President Sirisena’s campaign was very limited,” he said.

Anura K also notes that all the candidates who led the campaigns for major regime changes were charismatic figures that included CBK who was known as Viharamahadevi and Rajapaksa as a ‘son of Ruhuna’.

“But the role and the background of President Sirisena as a candidate were not that strong. This is not a criticism but he was only perceived as a humble figure and not through the eyes that masses usually saw the leaders. Therefore, as an individual the contribution Sirisena made to the electoral campaign personally, was comparatively very limited,” he added.

But with all those wining factors missing in the election campaign of the Opposition, what prompted the victory that defeated the Rajapaksas? “Because for the first time in Sri Lanka, the masses voluntarily and actively engaged in the electoral system without any inducement of the above mentioned genres,” he said emphasizing on the fact that it is not due to any action of President Sirisena himself or any party, of the common Opposition movement.

He went on to criticize the statement made by Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva of the decision made to allow the passage of 19th amendment only if it is introduced simultaneously with the electoral reforms .

“When a draft bill is presented before the Parliament, the accepted procedure does not involve a discussion of it soon after it’s read out. But for the first time n history, the Opposition Leader stood up and said he would not support it unless the 19th amendment is introduced together with electoral reforms. This is uttered by Jacob but the voice is Aesop’s,” he said.

The JVP Leader points out that MP Nimal Siripala has not made any statements with regard to pushing for electoral reforms during the past few years and points out he never pushed for any such action even when the government in which he was part of, was equipped with a two thirds majority.

“He hasn’t expressed any interest in electoral reforms even while he served as the Chief Government Whip. So then why express a sudden interest now?” he questioned while adding the truth is that a conspiracy is being formulated from the topmost positions of the government to disrupt the passage of the 19th amendment.

He said if that is not the truth, MP Nimal and the President should clarify as to why the former has been suddenly interested electoral reforms. “How is the cabinet being subjected to the whims of a person who doesn’t have a major people’s mandate? Why is a person who never had any interest in electoral reforms suddenly making negotiations with concern to its passage? If President Sirisena is not behind this issue, he should speak up and clear himself,” he said.

Anura Kumara went on to state that it is only then the JVP would decide whether or not to remain in the National Executive Council chaired by the President. “The JVP is not ready to discuss with conspirators at the helm. It is our responsibility to reveal such conspirators!” he remarked.

"If Ranil leaves, the SLFP will step in and continue"- Rajiva Wijesinha 

March 29, 2015, 9:24 pm

Parliamentarian Rajiva Wijesinha is no stranger to controversy. A State Minister in the yahapalana government that took office in January, he was the first to cross the floor and rejoin the opposition. Though he has fallen out with what he describes as a UNP government, he remains combatively loyal to president Maithripala Sirisena. In this interview, Rajiva speaks to C.A.Chandraprema about the difference between RW and MS.

Q. How would you briefly describe your experience of the yahapalana government in the short time that you were in it?

If Ranil Leaves, The SLFP Will Step in and Continue- Rajiva Wijesinha by Thavam Ratna

Dissolution likely after Vesak, General 

Elections in late June

Udayanga Weeratunga

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, March 29, 2015

• Ruling troika agrees on 26 posts for SLFPers, but party split with significant number still backing Rajapaksa
• Shocking details of Udayanga Weeratunga’s alleged arms deals with Ukrainian rebels; but former ambassador still missing
• FCID says progress being made in probe of multimillion dollar MiG deal also involving former President’s cousin

The Lodge, once known as Queen’s Cottage, in the cooler climes of Nuwara Eliya, often referred to as ‘Little England’ was once home for British Governors and the ruling elite. Since independence in 1948, it became the holiday resort of the Governor General, later Prime Ministers and now Presidents.

Dissolution Likely After Vesak, General Elections in Late June by Thavam Ratna