CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT BY NORTHERN PROVINCIAL COUNCIL WILL BENEFIT PEOPLE MORE--JEHAN PERERA

06 April 2015

The resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council accusing successive Sri Lankan governments of committing acts of genocide against the Tamil people came a few weeks before the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in March this year. It also asked the UN to set up an investigation into Genocide in various forms alleged to have been perpetrated on the Tamil people from the time of Independence. The resolution also called upon the UN to release the report of its investigation panel into alleged war crimes committed in the final phase of the country’s internal war, and to also set up an international process to ensure accountability for those crimes. However, the UN did not release the report of its investigation panel. It heeded the Sri Lankan government’s appeal that the release of the report should be postponed to give the new government time to make its own domestic accountability procedure more concrete. The UN report is now expected to be released later this year in September when the UN Human Rights Council gathers once again in Geneva.

The visit to Sri Lanka of the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Truth, Accountability, Reparations and Guarantees of Non- Recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, gave the Northern Provincial Council another opportunity to present its case on genocide before the UN. It is reported that the Genocide Resolution was given to the UN Special Rapporteur. However, once again, it does not appear that the Genocide Resolution has had the desired impact. The Tamil media reported that “the UN Special Rapporteur was advocating for an internal mechanism during his visit. He was urging more time and space to be given to the new regime in Colombo. However, the Tamil representatives have explained in detail on the failure of all successive regimes in Colombo in delivering internal mechanisms capable of addressing the crimes committed by the SL State itself and its armed forces in the past.”

The doubts about the viability and success of a domestic mechanism to ascertain the truth and to ensure accountability for war crimes would be shared by many of the human rights and civil society representatives who had the opportunity to meet with the UN Special Rapporteur. Those who play a watchdog role in civil society are dedicated to ensuring the highest standards on matters of human rights and governance. They represent ideals and causes, and are well positioned to push and agitate for them. However, those in government are inclined to take a more pragmatic approach about what is possible and what is not. It was likely to have been the sense of pragmatism amongst international governments that constitute the decision makers in the UN Human Rights that led to the postponement of the release of the report of the UN investigation panel.

WINNING APPROACH
The new government is taking a different approach from that of the previous government in agreeing to cooperate with the international community and with the UN system to deal with outstanding human rights issues. On the one hand it has adopted the core position of the former government in stating that the investigation into the past and the processes of accountability will need to be done domestically. On the other hand, its Foreign Minister is making pledges to the international community that it “will remedy the root causes of injustice, discrimination and prejudice that have spawned hate and violence for many decades. This government will break from this past and is deeply committed to make our vision of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual Sri Lanka based on the principles of equality, justice and meritocracy a reality for all Sri Lankans.” These commitments are being backed by actions and are getting the new government a great deal of international support.

One of the foreign government representatives to visit Sri Lanka, Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary for the office of democracy, human rights and Labour went out of his way to show support for the course of action being followed by the new government. He wrote an article to the Sri Lankan press stating that “The United States welcomes actions taken by the Sri Lankan government to rebuild trust with the Sri Lankan people; and we stand ready to support efforts in establishing a just and lasting peace. All around the world, there are countries that are going through, in their own ways, what Sri Lankans went through here. Read the headlines from Yemen to Iraq to Afghanistan to Burma, and you will see why the international community wants Sri Lanka to succeed. Not just for the country’s sake, but for all our sakes: The world needs Sri Lanka to keep showing that a society divided by ethnicity and faith can find peace through democracy and dialogue.”

The peaceful transition from an increasingly authoritarian government that appeared to be entrenched in power to a multi-party government in which there is cohabitation between a president and prime minister who come from rival parties has few if any precedents. The new government’s willingness to engage in dialogue with the international community is coupled with Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean and its large and active Diaspora in many countries. These would be two of the issues that cater to the self-interest of the international community to work in constructive partnership with the Sri Lankan government. In this context the efforts of the Northern Provincial Council to act like an opposition party to the new government is unlikely to obtain international support to it.

UNCONSTRUCTIVE FRUSTRATION
The sense of frustration that is driving the Northern Provincial Council to repeatedly try to promote its Genocide Resolution is understandable. But it is unlikely to impress the international community as being a constructive tool of problem solving, especially as it is a partisan document. The Genocide Resolution is not one that is self critical and it makes no mention of internal killings and of the ethnic cleansing of other communities. It is a document that is better suited to partisan actors such as the various Tamil Diaspora groups who are not responsible for securing the day to day well being of the masses living in the North and East of Sri Lanka, and wish to antagonize the Sri Lankan government. But it is not a document for the Northern Provincial Council to champion. They need to be championing issues of practical power sharing and the ground level concerns of the people, who wish to have livelihoods, find out what happened to their missing ones and want demilitarization.

After coming to power, and in a relatively short period, the new government has implemented several positive changes, including replacing the former military governors of the Northern and Eastern provinces with civilians with a liberal disposition, released some portion of land occupied by the military back to the people from whom it was taken, and where both the President and Prime Minister have spent several days in the North meeting with the people and getting to know their sufferings and aspirations first hand. They have done this although a general election is likely to be held in a few months, in which the opposition will utilize all the forces of Sinhalese ethnic majority nationalism to defeat the government. At a time when the new government is taking a path that is different from the previous one, it is not constructive of the Northern Provincial Council to be taking a confrontational posture.

The Northern Provincial Council is part of a countrywide system of devolved government that can contribute to the improvement of the people’s lives. When it was first established in 2013, there was positive anticipation from politicians in the other provinces that it would take the lead in fighting for more devolution of power and thereby help to empower the other provinces which were all under the control of the then ruling party. Unfortunately, the previous government denied it both political power and economic resources. As a result it could not help the victims of the war and the poor people of the province. But now there is a new government with a new approach for which the Tamil and Muslim people voted in overwhelming numbers. There were some hardliners in the Tamil Diaspora and Sri Lanka itself who urged a voter boycott, but this was not the position taken by the Tamil people. It is in the interests of the entire provincial council system, and the people of the North, and indeed in all parts of the country that could benefit from its wise leadership, that the Northern Provincial Council should work in cooperation with the central government and not in opposition to it.

GoSL must turn promises into action – US Asst. Secretary

BY SULOCHANA RAMIAH MOHAN-2015-04-06

Assistant Secretary US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, Tom Malinowski who visited Sri Lanka from 2 to 4 April briefed the media on the progress under the new Maithri Government. He also visited Jaffna and Aluthgama to see and hear the voice of the people. He met a couple of journalists before his departure on Saturday.
"He said, after following events in this country over the course of my career, I was privileged to make my first visit to this week. During my three-day trip I visited Colombo, Jaffna, Mullaitivu, and Aluthgama, where I had the opportunity to meet with government officials and members of civil society for productive discussions on a range of critical human rights and democracy issues.

GoSL Must Turn Promises Into Action – US Asst. Secretary by Thavam Ratna

The Right to Information -Editorial, Observer

06/04/2015

After more than a decade of wait since it was first proposed, the ‘right to information’ (RTI) is to be at last recognised by law in the coming weeks. Sri Lanka will be the last country in the SAARC region to enact a law on the ‘Right to Information’.

All other countries in South Asia have already enacted such laws and in some countries, there is already a rich experience of the practice of the ‘right to information’. In India, for example, where there is the best established structure that services citizens’ queries for information from the government, there is even a feature-documentary film on the successful exercise of RTI by poor peasantry of a remote village.

The Indian RTI mechanism is a shining example of how ordinary citizens are empowered and social and economic activism, business activity and individual citizens are all facilitated by the use of their right to information.

Contrary to popular belief, the ‘right to information’ is not about the ability of the news media industry to access information for its production of ‘news’. That facility is only incidental to the issue.

The ‘right to information’ is about the right of the citizens of a country to access information about the way their government uses public funds – that is, funds obtained from the citizenry in the form of government revenue through all kinds of taxation and levies and duties.

The government of a country functions on public money. In addition to the salaries of all public servants and elected representatives from the President or Prime Minister downwards, public funds are the resource for all governmental work from the maintenance of public services and institutions (recurrent expenditure) to the implementation of development projects (capital expenditure) and even the waging of war to defend the country.

In terms of financial accountability, the government, therefore, is accountable to its citizens – the taxpayers — to explain how their monies are used.

This formal ‘right to information’ is already recognised in Sri Lanka at the level of the Pradeshiya Sabhas where rate paying citizens of a PS area can ask for information regarding all Sabha activities using local rates revenue. The PS is required to regularly display the accounts and descriptions of its local programs for the information of the public.

RTI is not about the simple enshrinement of the ‘right’ in the Constitution or in law. Just as much as the ‘freedom of expression’ is of no use as a constitutional right if the news media or entertainment media cannot facilitate such free expression by people, the right to information requires a mechanism or structure to enable the provision of information to the public.

Indeed, since governments are obliged to inform taxpayers about the use of their monies, it is essential that the ‘right’ to information is accompanied by a government-run mechanism or institution to enable the provision of information to the public. Thus, it is obligatory on the part of the government to ensure that such a RTI mechanism is set up immediately on legislating the ‘right’.

This is the model in those countries that provide citizens with RTI. The success of RTI will depend entirely on the efficient functioning of the RTI mechanism.

Usually, such a mechanism will comprise a national-level ‘commission’ of department, with structures down the line to provinces, districts and at local government level. At any level, a citizen will have the facility of formally applying for specific information relevant to that level. The mechanism at that level will include an RTI monitoring officer who will receive the application for information and channel it to the relevant department or unit and monitor compliance by that department or unit.

The RTI law will provide a time limit for complying with such requests for information. The RTI law will enforce the facility by providing for punishment for the failure to provide the requested information.

The news media will also benefit from RTI, but it is the ordinary citizens of the country that are the primary beneficiaries.

The RTI mechanism will relieve the citizen from a dependence solely on the news media industry for information on government activity of relevance to her/him. In the first place, the market-based news media industry only provides information as ‘news’ to meet the interests of specific media audiences. Hence all information on government is not necessarily ‘news’ as provided by the news media.

Once citizens start obtaining whatever information that is relevant to their daily life and livelihoods, their greater knowledge of how government works will empower them with a more critical understanding of national affairs and enable them to be better judges of the performance of the news media itself in their service of ‘informing’ the public.

This in turn, will challenge the news media to improve their performance as the watchdogs of democracy.

05.04.2015

Sri Lanka to set up centre to uplift war-hit Tamil families

The Sri Lankan Government will setup a national welfare centre in the country's war-ravaged north to uplift Tamil families headed by women or the victims of the nearly three decades-long civil war in the country.

• 

Sunday, 5 April 2015

The Sri Lankan Government will setup a national welfare centre in the country's war-ravaged north to uplift Tamil families headed by women or the victims of the nearly three decades-long civil war in the country.

The national centre will be located in Kilinochchi, the former LTTE administrative centre, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said on Sunday.

The decision was taken following a request made by the northern people to set up the centre in Kilinochchi where most women had lost their husbands in the conflict.

"It is a well known fact that most suffered persons dueto a war are women and children. In the north alone there arenearly 50,000 families that are headed by women. They are madedestitute due to their inability to provide food, accommodation and educational needs to their children," Wickremesinghe's office said in a statement.

Based on a UN report on women-headed households, Wickremesinghe has appointed a committee to look at ways to uplift social and economic conditions of women-headed households. Since coming into power, the government has taken significant steps to bring normalcy in the north.

The government has returned some military-acquired land to original Tamil owners. A travel restriction for foreigners travelling to the north imposed by the previous Mahinda Rajapaska regime has also been lifted.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who defeated former strongman Rajapaksa in the polls earlier this year, received overwhelming support from the Tamil and Muslim minorities in the elections.

According to UN estimates, up to 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by security forces during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime that brought an end to the nearly three decades-long war in the country with the defeat of the LTTE in 2009.

Lasantha Lives….Happy Birthday!

By Lal Wickrematunge -April 5, 2015

Lal Wickrematunge

The 5th of April marks the 57th birth anniversary of Lasantha, murdered six years ago on the 8th of January. Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated at the last Presidential elections also on the 8th of January. 8/1 will be etched in the history of this Island for two divergent emotions. Sadness, for the loss of a life snatched away in a meaningless excercise and Joy for snatching away power from a Leader hell bent on taking Sri Lanka down a path where it would have taken generations to restore law and order within a decent and pluralist society.

Lasantha became the last bastion for most who had no other means to seek redress from a marauding government. He was prepared to “Publish and be damned” and he was. He flew too close to the sun (Icarus) yet knew no other way to practice his vocation despite the many physical and verbal assaults he encountered. Assaulted, vilified, hauled to court, offices set on fire etc, did not deter him from his quest for justice, fairplay and good governance through his writing.

His killers and those who ordered such roam free. Some of them. Some have been sent to the nether world. The very simplistic act of handing over the resultant investigation to the Terrorist Investigations Division (TID) was an indication that it was meant to be hushed up. There was absolutely no progress made by this unit and I say that it was intentional.

Most within the top echelons of the previous government are in the know as to who carried out this dastardly act. Even Joe Blog plodding the street can guess who wished Lasantha dead. Some justified his killing through media interviews. Some called him a Tabloid Editor in a tone which suggested that he did not deserve to be alive. Hate speech against Lasantha continues to this date. A politician who is now being investigated for graft and a director of a business house under the spotlight at present gloated with glee, ” Lasantha was killed on the streets like a dog….damn good.” Yes. There are such Sri Lankans.

No less a person than the previous President of this country told me thrice that Lasantha was killed by Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Remember that the previous President was the Commander in Chief of all the Security Forces, Minister of Defence, and had power to appoint all the Judges. I did question him as to why he did not share this information in the Magistrates Court of Mt Lavinia where Lasantha’s murder case was being heard. He mumbled something about the military being demoralised. Gen. Fonseka was remanded immediately after his loss at the Presidential elections which was months after Lasantha was murdered under President Rajapaksa’s watch, for speaking to politicians whilst in service and helping to purchase binoculars offered by his son in law violating tender procedure. Much later he was sentenced over the “White Flag Case”.

If the President of this Country knew that Gen. Fonseka murdered Lasantha why did he not charge him for such offence? Would he not have had greater political mileage for it than the afore mentioned superfluous charges?

I did speak of the President’s charge at the grave site of Lasantha during his fourth death anniversary which was covered and carried by the BBC and Al Jazeera. I was rewarded by being summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department. The charge was that I was attempting to bring an elected government into disrepute by making statements to the international media. Perhaps they did not know that Lasantha was an international figure and recipient of many coveted awards from across the world. But I digress. When the BBC questioned Gen. Fonseka he denied and found fault with me. The charge was made by the former President. I repeated it. Gen. Fonseka in turn accused Mahinda and Gotabaya. Previously Gen. Fonseka said that drug barons acting like politicians were behind the killing of Lasantha.

I lost a brother and had every right to question the former President. He almost lost a brother when the LTTE targeted Gotabaya, though without success and should remember at least a tad of the anxiety he felt at coming close to losing a brother. I lost one.

The family of Lasantha, on this symbolic day would wish for nothing but an investigation leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for his murder. We need closure. To build a just and law abiding society in this island, this and the solving of other such murders would be a prerequisite. Anything short of such would be a black mark against our country for all time.

Accountability is the bedrock on which reconciliation can be built upon. History will tell its tale and a precedent set for future actions similar in nature unless all killings are investigated and successfully prosecuted.

Many of the investigative articles written by Lasantha during his time, for which he was damned, have been revived. Assaulted, called a traitor, hauled before court, arson attacks on his office and finally killed, Lasantha’s writings have stood the test of time. Many have said that he was far ahead of his time for this country. So what has changed? Only a government .

Happy Birthday Lasantha.

‘Best Loser’ (Gunawardena) Method Undemocratic

by Laksiri Fernando

“If one wants to change the nature of a particular democracy, the electoral system is likely to be the most suitable and effective instrument of doing so.” –   Arend Lijphart

( April 6, 2015, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) Any electoral reform that intends to substantially alter the proportional representation (PR) in Sri Lanka will go against people’ sovereignty. Therefore, any attempt to do so should be opposed. This does not mean that the introduction of ‘first past the post (FPP) constituencies,’ within the existing or a new PR system is undemocratic. 

‘Best Loser’ (Gunawardena) Method Undemocratic by Thavam Ratna

President cracks the whip: Let’s get down to work, fulfil promises

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, April 05, 2015

JVP gives ultimatum to National Executive Council amidst growing criticism of failure to act against corrupt VIPs -- 19th Amendment to be debated in Parliament on April 10, two-thirds majority likely despite some opposition -- SLFPers meet CBK to complain UNP covering up for Rajapaksas to split the party

President Maithripala Sirisena forecast in just two words the upcoming political events. “Api bahinawa” or, we will get down to work, he declared at Thursday’s meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC), the apex body that steers the Yahapalanaya (good governance) policies.

President Cracks the Whip Let’s Get Down to Work, Fulfil Promises by Thavam Ratna

Of that hermaphrodite

Editorial-April 5, 2015, 

The late President J. R. Jayewardene, who was notorious for abusing his executive powers in every conceivable manner and setting very bad precedents in the process, once said the only task he could not accomplish was to cause people to undergo sex changes. But, today, it looks as if the unbridled executive powers he vested in the presidency have helped render lawmakers, save a few, gender confused.

Having actively backed President Maithripala Sirisena’s successful presidential bid, the UNP, the JHU, the TNA, the JVP and the DNA are wary of criticising him. The SLFP cannot be critical of its leader for obvious reasons. He has also effectively silenced the SLFP’s coalition allies; he is the leader of the UPFA and they are at his mercy.

President Sirisena promised us good governance, but, upon being sworn in as the Head of State, he unflinchingly vaporised the then government which had a majority in Parliament and installed a minority one. He decreed that Mohan Peiris, who had been functioning as the Head of the judiciary, was not the Chief Justice. Then, he appointed as the Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, whose party is not in the Opposition!

Former Constitutional Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris pointed out in a brief interview with this newspaper the other day that there had to be a clear distinction between the government and the Opposition. The SLFP was an integral part of the UNP-led government and, therefore, any of its MPs could not be the Leader of the Opposition, he stressed. Arguing that the present arrangement encouraged public cynicism, he maintained that ‘if that corrupt system was authoritatively upheld, then future governments with strong majorities could divide parliamentary membership between government and Opposition keeping sufficient members to run the government and sending the remainder to the Opposition to claim the Office of the Leader of the Opposition’. Anything is possible in this country like no other.

One cannot but agree with the law professor turned politician that the SLFP is not in the Opposition. Even a layman with an iota of common sense can see that the SLFP cannot keep the post of the Opposition Leader and what we are witnessing is the very antithesis of democracy. The sooner this farce is brought to an end the better!

What the country needs is not a slimy political hermaphrodite but a strong Opposition capable of taking on the President and the government for the sake of the public. The ongoing political polygamy only causes further erosion of public faith in Parliament and serves the purpose of anarchical forces waiting in the wings.

All yapping, no biting

Those who voted for President Maithripala Sirisena in January expected each and every rogue who had stolen public funds under the previous government to be chained, pilloried, whipped with a cat o’ nine tails and thrown into jail after the change of government. But, nearly three months have elapsed and nothing of the sort has happened. They have had to settle for a media circus replete with rhetoric and theatrics.

The people sat up last week when the government announced that information had surfaced of a mega road construction racket. At last something had been unearthed, they thought. Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told the media that the government had successfully renegotiated the Outer Circular Road Highway with the Chinese contractor concerned and cut its cost by a whopping 30 billion rupees which he said would have gone to a VVIP of the former government. But, alas, the people’s happiness was short lived; the Chinese Embassy in Colombo officially disputed his claim. It was hoped that the government would make China eat humble pie; but a red faced Senaratne meekly claimed at a subsequent media briefing that he had only repeated what Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said!

The previous government earned notoriety as a Chinese puppet and, therefore, those who voted against President Mahinda Rajapaksa may refuse to buy into China’s claim that there has been nothing shady about the deal at issue. If the government can stand its ground and prove that the cost of the aforesaid project had actually been increased by about 40 percent owing to corruption and that a VVIP was to benefit from kickbacks, it will be able to honour its pledge to expose and prosecute the corrupt who lined their pockets under the previous government; above all, it can stop the bring-back-Mahinda campaign in its tracks. The burden of proof is on the government.

The big guns of the present administration came on TV in the run-up to the last presidential election with stacks of files which they claimed contained vital information about corrupt deals under the then government. They sought a popular mandate to prosecute the corrupt. But, no one has so far been arraigned for bribery and corruption. The government worthies are still hurling allegations and groping in the dark. If they lose credibility by making claims they cannot prove, the benefit of doubt will accrue to the corrupt.

Jaffna Uni Employees Demand Inquiry Into Malpractices Of The Administration

April 6, 2015

The Jaffna University Employees Union has written to the newly appointed UGC Chairman Professor Mohan de Silva, requesting a comprehensive inquiry into the unlawful conduct of the university administration.

Jaffna VC

This is not the first instance of such complaints being made against the administration ; academics too have been repeatedly highlighting issues in the conduct of the university administration, urging both the former regime and the present government to take action against the malpractices committed by the university administration officials including the Vice-Chancellor.

In their letter to the UGC Chairman, the JUEU President S Thangarajah has listed out malpractices that have been committed by the university administration to which includes the recruitment of non-academics, tampering with the selection process for staff due to political affiliations under the influence of the former Higher Education Minister SB Dissanayake, appointment of individuals who have failed the recruitment examinations, lowering the minimum marks set for the selection process to facilitate the appointment of preferred candidates listed out by political parties, cancellation the employment registration and the arbitrary termination of casual and daily wage employees.

The JUEU has also accused the administration of engaging in favoritism and being partial in the placement of new appointees to the various departments of the university.

Below we publish the letter in full:

Prof Mohan de Silva,

Chairman,

University Grants Commission

No20, Ward Place,

Colombo7

Sir,

Comprehensive inquiry into the unlawful conduct of the

University of Jaffna administration                                                   Read More

The lobotomized political rejects who were afraid even of the animals that cannot talk in Mahinda’s home now seeking to make him P.M.

(Lanka-e-News -06.April.2015, 8.30PM) The ex president Mahinda Rajapakse who is deeply in his toils spurred by most despicable motives ,  is trying to split the SLFP party into two again. The political discards -  the dejected SLFP MPs who got on to his rejected platform , in the past were afraid even  of the animals that cannot speak in Mahinda’s house , perhaps have got their heads smashed somewhere and damaged it ,going by their current behavior , SLFP rescue organization convener , Thusitha Halloluwa bemoaned, when he was interviewed by Lanka e news. 

Hereunder are excerpts of the interview :

The Lobotomized Political Rejects Who Were Afraid Even of the Animals That Cannot Talk in Mahinda’s Home No... by Thavam Ratna

Mobitel distribution a venture under Rajapaksa

Monday, 06 April 2015 

When searching the companies owned by the Rajapaksa following his defeat it has come to light that the Rajapaksa dynasty has shown special interest in telecommunication projects. When investigating further it has being disclosed that the companies owned by the Rajapaksa’s have taken special interest in distributing telecommunication equipments and service to the North and East of Sri Lanka.

When we revealed the companies of the Rajapaksa in an earlier letter we disclosed that Chesmi Consolidated (Pvt) limited has introduced two accounts to the dialog sales agents in the North and East to debit money. A commercial Bank account was owned by the above company but the account which was in the People’s Bank at Pagoda Road (17420048000 2015) is not an account owned by the same company.
The above account is owned by Chelsey Solution (Pvt) Ltd which has a registered address of &, N.V.J Cooray Mawatha, Rajagiriya but later the address of Chelsey Solutions (Pvt) ltd address was changed to 227A/5, Stanly Thilakarathna Mawatha, Nugegoda and the company website too refer to this address.
The specialty of the company is that one of the directors found to be one Himal Lalindra Hettiarachchi whom we referred in our earlier letters is the nephew of Mahinda Rajapaksa and the son of Jayanthi Rajapaksa who is the sister of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The address 175/2 Old Kottawa Road, Mirihana is given to the company which is the house of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The other director of the company is one Mangalanath Wicramanayake Karunarathna bearing identity number 742560163V. His address refers to 49/4, Arawwala Road, Pannipitiya. At the beginning from the 10,000 shares 6,600 shares were owned by Himal Lalindra Hettiarachchi and the balance 3400 shares were owned by Mangalanath Wicramanayake Karunanayake.

Similar to the other Rajapaksa companies R & J Corporate Secretary Colombo 4 is the company secretaries and H.D. Jayathilake and company are the auditors.

The company which obtains the registration from the preliminary information in May 2007 appoints one Prasanna Manjula Wijerathna as the director on behalf of Himal Lalindra Hettiarachchi in 2011 October. The latter who bears the identity 743143701V is from 168/10 Vidyala Mawatha, Kahawattha. Again in March 2008 Prasanna Manjula Wijeratha was removed from the director post and Himal Lalindra Hettiarachchi is appointed again. In April 2009 Himal Lalindra Hettiarachchi was removed and one Pushpa Janaka Chandana Samarasinghe Dissanayake was appointed as the director. Bearing the identity number 651190142V his address is “Diyagiri” Medamulana. In May 2009 this Pushpa Chandana Samarasinghe Dissanayake’s address was changed to 11/4C, Sumanasara Mawatha, Welgoda, Matara.

In August 2009 Mangalanath Wicramanayake Karunarathna was removed from the director and one Eshana Ranasinghe Ranawaka bearing identity number 872490370V from 26A, Pangiriwatta Mawatha, Mirihana Nugegoda was appointed.

There is no doubt that the director Pushpa Chandana Samarasinghe Dissanayaka is the mothers side relative of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s (Mother Dhandina Samarasinghe Disanayaka). Samarasinghe Dissanayake’s are quite famous in politics and held high positions in the previous regime. The latter withdrew a bribery case complained to the Bribery and Corruption Commission against an officer in the Inland Revenue named Yasalal Samarasinghe Dissanayake who is a Rajapaksa relative.  

The other director is one Eshana Janith Ranasinghe Ranawaka, son of Gandini Rajapaksa who is the sister of Mahinda Rajapaksa living in Deniyaya whose husband is Thusitha Ranawaka.

The shares of this company were again distributed in October 2009 to Pushpa Janaka Chandana Samarasinghe owning 6,600 shares and Eshana Janith Ranasinghe owning 3,400 shares.

In May 2012 one Lakwijaya Harindra Wanshanath bearing identity 750410928V from 10, Sarasavi Gardens, Nawala Nugegoda became a director.

In February 2014 again one Sunil Niranja Ranasinghe was replaced as the director for Pushpa Janaka Chandana Dissanayake who was a director at the Chesmi Consolidated which we wrote earlier.

Finally in February 2014 125,000 worth 10 rupee shares were issued from which 10,100 shares were owned by Eshana Janith Ranasinghe Ranawaka, 150 shares to Pushpa Janka Chandana Dissanayake and 114,750 shares were given to Himal Lalindra Hettiarachchi.

However the final share holders of this company would be the mother’s side relative of elder and the younger sister’s three sons of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

As we stated in the beginning the specialty if Chelsey Solutions is that apart distributing telecommunication equipments and services they were providing internet solutions, external advertising and project management to government and state organizations.

With that specialty during the Rajapaksa era Chelsey Solutions were continuously engaged in distributing pre paid and mobile Simm cards in the North East. We cannot consider that Chelsey Solutions got the distributorship due to the performance in their distributorship but due to the nepotism and influence of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. Mahinda Rajapaksa who was serving as the head of state twice is attempting to come to power once for a lower position is only due to the profits he and his family made in mega business deals.

Thoughts count

by Grace Wickremasinghe 

- on 04/06/2015 

At almost two years of age I attempted to write my own story, when I ran out of words I tried to draw. It wasn’t a worthless effort however because as I was always told “It’s the thought that counts.”

At the age of four on Mothers’ Day I tried to make waffles with my older brother for my mom. It was half undone and probably tasted like shit. But she ate it anyway with happiness beaming in her eyes. Probably telling herself that “it’s the thought that counts”.

At the age of six, my Grand dad passed away. I was the last person to be alone with him. Apparently he once told that one day it would only be me who was there. I swear he wanted water. I opened my blue and red water bottle cap as he opened his mouth. I poured the last drop of leftover water after a long day at Elementary School into his mouth as he shut his eyes tired satisfied. I often wished I was old enough to understand death. Instead I ordered myself a coffin to go with my dead best friend and stood on his 6ft coffin to give a toast of Apple Juice for those who attended the funeral. Everyone thought this was sweet. I eventually told myself “it’s the thought that counts”.

At the age of 8, I had no hair, no earrings and no dresses. I was terrified of dolls and I hated the color pink. I was a ‘Tom-boy’. I made my first girl best friend and she was always dressed as a princess. I was more interested in my secret super powers but every once in a while I pretended like Barbie was cool. I guess they were told the same; “it’s the thought that counts”.

At age 10, I was going through my butterfly-caterpillar phase. If someone called me sweet or cute despite the beautiful or pretty I was hoping for, I told myself as preached before “it’s the thought that counts. ”

At the age of 12, He ran his fingers down my thigh and sniffed my hair like a blood hound. I wondered whether to feel pretty enough now.

At the age of 14, he said that I looked hot – that despite my insecure training-bra I was hot, that I was a woman.

At age 16, he grabbed me and kissed me and told me not to tell anyone. He told me I would feel good. He taught me not to enjoy a kiss. Not to have feelings. To feel completely numb. While my body was being taken over. I learned to bite in my ‘no’. I knew how to keep a secret. He told me not to tell anyone.

At the age of 18, he grabbed my boobs. He held on to them and played with them. As phrased in textbooks this is “implied consent”. For hell’s sake, I didn’t know that NO or DON’T was an option. I learned to bite my tongue and not struggle until he was done.

He instructed me to suck him off like a good girl. I didn’t have the strength to say no. So instead I murmured that ‘I am not in the mood’.

I was just starting to put the pieces of my story together. I was out of words.

I felt worthless.

In accordance to Sexual Offences Act 2003, section 01; Rape, it summarizes as follows. The actus reus (act) of rape involves the non-consensual penetration of the mouth, anus or vagina of a man or woman by a man’s penis. Penetration by any other object, i.e. hand, dildo etc. is not rape. And if the Defendant reasonably believes that the victim does consent, it isn’t rape.

Since age 12-18 I wasn’t raped. It may not even be sexual assault according to the law. I guess he, the Defendant did believe beyond reasonable doubt that me biting my tongue and me drowning my no and me waiting patiently till he was done, keeping his secret was implied consent.

I didn’t know that my choice mattered. I didn’t know that I had a choice in the first place. It was a nightmare I didn’t replay. A nightmare I tried to forget. But I failed. I still remember. Every detail, every word, every smell, every thought of disgust and anxiety. How I felt dirty. How I don’t think about it. If I don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist.

I guess if I casually brought this up some day, he would say I was asking for it.

Maybe he was taught as well, just like the rest of us, that it’s the thought that counts.