Russia warns US of retaliation if weapons are stationed on its borders

Warning comes after report that the US is ready to deploy heavy weapons in Baltic, Eastern Europe

PUBLISHED-June 15th 2015

An American plan to station tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries to deter any further Russian aggression in the region, would be the most aggressive action by the United States since the Cold War, Reuters quoted a Russian defense official as saying Monday.

Russia Warns US of Retaliation if Weapons Are Stationed on Its Borders by Thavam Ratna

Sudanese leader flees South Africa in private jet, avoiding arrest

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is seen during the opening session of the AU summit in Johannesburg, Sunday, June 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed) (Shiraaz Mohamed/AP)

By Brian Murphy-June 15 

Sudan’s leader slipped out of South Africa on Monday in apparent defiance of a court-ordered travel ban while judges studied an arrest order from the International Criminal Court, Sudan’s official news agency reported.

The apparent dodge by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir could bring international outcry against South African authorities. But it also allowed the country to avoid a potentially sensitive confrontation between its obligations to the ICC and opposition to the court from its African partners.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has charged Bashir with links to atrocities in Sudan’s campaign against the autonomy-seeking Darfur region. The United Nations estimates 300,000 people were killed and about 2 million displaced in the conflict, which began in 2003.

A South African court had ruled that Bashir — who was in Johannesburg for an African Union summit — must remain in the country while judicial officials study the ICC arrest demands.

But Sudan’s state news agency, SUNA, reported that Bashir left South Africa aboard a flight bound for the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

The ICC’s reach and jurisdiction is a major political issue in Africa, where many claim the court is bias against African leaders. Earlier this month, South Africa’s minister of international affairs, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said diplomatic immunity would apply to all participants at the African Union gathering.

But South African activists had gone to court to press for the arrest of Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup.

A judge examining the ICC arrest order, Dunstan Mlambo, criticized South African authorities for failing to keep Bashir in the country while the legal review was underway.

Mlambo expressed “concern” that the court order for Bashir to remain in the country “had not been complied with.”

At the ICC, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said South Africa is obliged as a backer of the court to detain and surrender Bashir.

In December, the ICC dropped charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta after the prosecution said it had insufficient evidence. Kenyatta was charged in connection with postelection violence that began in 2007, leaving more than 1,000 dead.

Brian Murphy joined the Post after more than 20 years as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief for the Associated Press in Europe and the Middle East. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has written three books.

Crimes that remain unpunished



The plight of the Rohingya today is not unlike the mass slaughter of the Tutsi tribe by the ruling majority Hutu tribe in Rwanda back in 1994

By Tariq Al Maeena, Special to Gulf News
June 13, 2015

In the chronicles of history, many crimes have been recorded that have sometimes escaped retribution. In recent times, it has been state-sponsored criminal intent and activity, some of which continues today that has gone unpunished.

Take, for instance, the state-sponsored crime of genocide against the Rohingya people in Myanmar. As the world watches, this group is under threat of extermination by Buddhist extremists who want to rid their soil of these marginalised people. While we watch and sputter a few words of meaningless protests, the Rohingya fall and die daily. At this rate, they will soon perish and become a blot in our history.

The plight of the Rohingya today is not unlike the mass slaughter of the Tutsi tribe by the ruling majority Hutu tribe in Rwanda back in 1994. An estimated one million Tutsis were massacred by a government-orchestrated genocide. It was an open season to kill, as the Rwandan army and Hutu civilians took to hacking and downing the helpless and outnumbered Tutsis.

Declassified US documents released early last year point out to the Clinton administration’s refusal to term the 1994 mass killings in Rwanda as a genocide. One such document attributed to the US State Department read: “Be careful. Genocide finding could commit the US government to actually ‘do something’.”

Seven years later, the current US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, described the US inaction in a 2001 article titled ‘Bystanders to Genocide’. She wrote: “The United States did much more than fail to send troops. It led a successful effort to remove most of the UN peacekeepers who were already in Rwanda. It aggressively worked to block the subsequent authorisation of UN reinforcements.”

Bill Clinton, the US president at the time, later acknowledged that his country’s policies towards Rwanda were mismanaged.

“If we’d gone in sooner, I believe we could have saved at least a third of the lives that were lost... it had an enduring impact on me.”

He added that if he had sent around 10,000 troops into the country, thousands of lives could have been spared. In an interview with a TV network, Clinton said that the failure of his administration to act during the genocide, which claimed the lives of around a million Rwandans, was one of the reasons behind the establishment of the Clinton Foundation.

Granted, it was not the US that orchestrated the mass genocide in Rwanda, but it was in a position to help stop it. But in another time and in another place, the US indeed has been complicit in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Such assertions come from no less than one of their own — a renowned and respected attorney who recently passed away.

Vincent Bugliosi, a former deputy district attorney for the Los Angeles County, rose to fame for his central role in prosecuting the bizarre murders that terrorised California in the summer of 1969. Those murders were at the behest of Charles Manson. He was successful in sending Manson and his groupies to prison for the murders and followed his successful stint as a prosecutor by authoring a series of best-selling books, the most famous perhaps being Helter Skelter, which was released in 1974 and provided an account of the Manson case.

In 2008, Bugliosi released a controversial book titled, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, in which he laid out a series of reasons why Bush should be held accountable for war crimes that he engineered when he took off on his adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In keeping with the prevailing atmosphere at the time, mainstream media ignored any criticism of the policies of the US president and downplayed the release of his latest novel.

In an interview with Michael Collins, a Washington DC area writer, researcher and citizen journalist who addresses subjects corporate media ignores, Bugliosi laid out his specifics against the sitting president. “Apparently, it’s okay for George Bush to take this nation to war on a lie, to be responsible, criminally responsible for well over 100,000 deaths, but it’s not okay to prosecute him. Not only isn’t it okay to prosecute him, it isn’t even okay to talk about prosecuting him. This is unbelievable what’s going on in this country. How can we have a country where they permit a president to do what he did and they do absolutely nothing to him except to try to protect him?

“This is... just absolutely terrible, and the question is how evil, how criminal, how perverse, how sick can George Bush and his people be? And yet they got away with all of this. As I’m talking to you right now, there are well over 100,000 people — some estimates go in excess of a million — well over 100,000 precious human beings who are in their cold graves right now because of it. But so far, George Bush has gotten away with murder and we, the American people, cannot let him do this. He’s gotten away with murder, and no one is doing anything.”

Vincent Bugliosi is no more among us, but his words should stir the moral fibres of those who continue to condone state-sponsored genocide and terrorism in the name of freedom or democracy. The voices from the graves cry out for retribution.

Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You can follow him on www.twitter.com/@talmaeena

The dangers of echoing propaganda on Burma’s ‘terrorist threat’

Anti-Rohingya protesters rally in Yangon last month. Pic: Michele Penna.

By Francis Wade Jun 15, 2015

A key task of any political journalist is to chip away at the propaganda of the powerful. The ability to pierce myths, to dissect and repudiate misinformation and strategic fear-mongering, is what separates good, independent journalists from those that are either lazy or captured by powerful interests. How journalists set about structuring and writing articles also helps determine the impact of their work—with the average reader rarely making it past the first few paragraphs of an article, whatever appears in the opening section is absolutely essential in setting up the tone and angle to what follows. The journalist should also know that every paragraph (and headline) must be written with the knowledge that those engaged in the art of propagandizing can cherry pick from the published piece and use the content to help spin whatever scenario or version of reality they are trying to construct.

In light of that, a recent piece in the Independent newspaper entitled “Burma’s ‘great terror’ moves a step closer as Taliban urges Rohingya to ‘take up the sword’” falls at the first hurdle. The headline makes the implicit assumption that because of a Taliban statement, Burma’s Rohingya population will inevitably become terrorists. There is however no causal mechanism in a statement urging a population to “take up the sword” and the subsequent violent radicalization of the population in question, yet the headline depicts the two as intimately connected. One could just dismiss this as the work of a lazy editor pushing for clicks, were it not for the fact that this headline, if read inside Burma, will no doubt soon make its way onto any one of a number of online platforms—Ban Islam from Myanmar, Rohingya Scam, Islam Virus—that feed off exactly this sort of fear-generating material, and will pick out and isolate content that helps them to pursue an explicitly anti-Muslim/Rohingya agenda.

The opening paragraph then repeats and expands on the headline, warning of the potential for it to become “a reality”, before the third paragraph explains how the “great terror” that ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks speak of “could prove self-fulfilling”. While the piece then goes on to discuss the contradictory nature of violence in the name of Buddhism, and to condemn the spate of anti-Rohingya protests by Buddhists, at no point does it return to disentangle the assumption that the journalist himself made—that a Taliban statement makes violent radicalisation that much more inevitable. Terrorist groups are savvy in their recruitment methods, and use statements such as this not because they think it will automatically attract newcomers, but instead to whip up fear and galvanise governments or populations into further persecuting and marginalising the target in the hope that this will drive them into their arms. A journalist shouldn’t assist with that project.

These sorts of articles that lazily equate aggrieved Muslim populations with terrorism appear all the time. For sure there is a relationship, albeit complex, between persecution and political violence—few terrorism scholars would argue otherwise—but it certainly isn’t inevitable, and shouldn’t be assumed as such. Taken individually, articles like this account for little, but together they add significant weight to an alarmist and unrestrained discourse surrounding Islam and terrorism that is used time and again across the globe for strategic purposes—whether to justify the rise of security states, to limit immigration, to launch foreign wars, or in Burma’s case, to goad attacks on a Muslim minority.

This discourse then helps to drive the kind of treatment that the Rohingya are fleeing in droves from. Speak to your average ultra-nationalist Rakhine who agitates against granting rights to Rohingya, and they will tell you that Rohingya—whom they speak of as one entity, a key strategy used to drive mass killing—are either rapists or terrorists; listen to a sermon by the likes of monk U Wirathu, and he will explain why pre-emptive action is needed. The key problem then with an article like this is that it coincides with efforts to legitimate violence by elements within the state and the local Rakhine society towards Rohingya, at a time when what is needed more than anything is to destigmatise their identity, to methodically counter the propaganda of ultra-nationalists, and to make explicit that to be Rohingya isn’t to be something nefarious—whether a rapist, terrorist or anything else—but is instead to require compassion and protection in the face of possible elimination.

Greek eurozone crisis: is time running out for Syriza? 
Paul Mason-Monday 15 Jun 2015

The Greek crisis ramped up a gear last night when, at the start of supposed “last chance” talks in Brussels, EU negotiators told the Greek delegation that “negotiations were over” and that they had no mandate to offer anything new. 

Greek Eurozone Crisis is Time Running Out for Syriza by Thavam Ratna

Venezuela’sLast Hope

Leopoldo López embodies the change his country needs. And that's exactly why he's still in jail.

BY JEFFREY TAYLER-JUNE 10, 2015

Just over thirteen months have passed since Leopoldo López, the most prominent and charismatic leader of Venezuela’s embattled democratic opposition, stood on the pedestal of the statue of José Martí in a commercial district in eastern Caracas. He had just addressed a huge crowd of cheering supporters, calling for a continuation of the nonviolent, nation-wide protests aimed at bringing down the regime of President Nicolás Maduro. He pledged never to leave the country (despite a secret offer from the government to depart into exile) and to carry on the fight for democracy in Venezuela. He announced that he would, then and there, surrender to the authorities (to face charges relating to the deaths of two protesters a week earlier), and that his “incarceration would be worth it if it woke up the people.” He closed with a promise: “Very soon, we will have a free and democratic Venezuela!” Then he waved goodbye and climbed down.

Venezuela’s Last Hope by Thavam Ratna

World leaders accused of shameful failure over refugee crisis

Scathing Amnesty report says leaders guilty of neglect as millions face misery in ‘worst refugee crisis of our era’

 
Syrians cross broken border fences to enter Turkish territory illegally. Photograph: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

Kareem Shaheen in Beirut-Monday 15 June 2015

Millions of refugees have been condemned to a life of misery in the worst displacement crisis since the second world war, a leading human rights organisation has said in a scathing report (pdf) that blames world leaders’ neglect for the deaths of thousands of civilians fleeing wars in the Middle East and Africa.

World Leaders Accused of Shameful Failure Over Refugee Crisis by Thavam Ratna

All You Need To Know About Food Allergies In Children.

All You Need To Know About Food Allergies In Children.

by James Dudley

How many Children suffer from Food Allergies?

Researchers estimate that up to 15 million Americans have food allergies and in most people, allergies first appear during infancy or childhood. Allergic disorders affect 1 in every 13 children (under 18 years of age) in the U.S. and ranks first among children’s chronic diseases. Any child may become allergic, with a majority inheriting it genetically from their parents but only some of them will develop an active allergic disease. Most developing countries have shown startling rise in allergic reactions (almost 7 fold) in the last decade.

Testing for Allergies:

If your child has a history of infantile colic, eczema, asthma, ear infections, hayfever, seasonal allergies,digestive problems (including bloating, constipation and diarrhoea), frequent colds and any behavioural or learning problems, then you should suspect a delayed food allergy.

IgG ELISA which uses a finger-prick blood sample, is considered the best to detect the problem foods. Testing is best done under the guidance of a nutritional therapist (BANTregistered) or allergy expert who can then devise a diet for your child that avoids any allergy-provoking foods and can also recommend suitable alternatives.

TOP 8 FOOD ALLERGIES AFFECTING KIDS:

1. Tree nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds): Tree nut reactions can also be severe resulting in itching, swelling on the lips, mouth, etc., gastric pain and respiratory problems to severe anaphylaxis, which include nausea, vomiting, weak or rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, confusion and loss of consciousness.
2. Soybeans: Found in baked goods and cereals, soybeans and soy are common causes of allergies. Many times, reactions to soy start with soy-based infant formula. Reading food labels is key when a child has a soy allergy.
3. Milk: Most kids post-weaning are put on Cow’s milk. Not every child’s system tolerates the new milk type. Sheep and goat milk allergies are also common. Some kids who are allergic to cow’s milk are also allergic to soy milk. A majority of them outgrow their milk allergy by the age of 3 else they should avoid milk.
4. Eggs: Allergy caused by egg white is one of the most common allergies. Symptoms usually start within a few minutes or a few hours of eating eggs or foods containing egg.
5. Peanuts: Minor reactions to peanuts in children can result in serious ones in with future exposure. Consult your pediatrician to take corrective action. Peanuts account for a significant proportion of severe allergic reactions.
6. Crustacean shellfish (crab, lobster, shrimp): Shellfish reactions can be as minor as hives and itching or severe enough to be life threatening. If you’re not sure if your toddler is allergic to shellfish, avoid it completely until you can discuss your concerns with your doctor.
7. Fish (flounder, cod, bass): Fish allergies are not the same as shellfish allergies. Kids who are allergic to fish may have reactions to some types of fish, but not to others.
8. Wheat: Wheat allergies should not be confused with celiac disease, where the gluten protein found in wheat causes an immune system reaction in the small intestine.

Who is Likely to Outgrow a Food Allergy?

Almost 26.6% children outgrew their allergies, at an average age of 5.4 years old.

• Children who were allergic to milk, egg, or soy were most likely to outgrow their allergies.
• The likelihood of outgrowing shellfish, tree nut, and peanut allergies was significantly lower.
• The earlier a child’s first reaction, the more likely that child was to outgrow the allergy.

Precautions and Care:

There is no cure for food allergies. Strict avoidance of food allergens and early recognition and management of allergic reactions to food are important measures to prevent serious health consequences:

• Take wheat and dairy products out of their diet strictly for one month and see how they feel. In any case these food groups are best not eaten frequently.
• Improve your child’s digestion by including plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, seeds and fish in their diet, which contain essential fats and zinc.
• Keep antibiotics to a minimum. These damage the digestive tract.

From communal bartering to proportional bickering:The antecedents and the expectations of 20A

by Rajan Philips-June 13, 2015

I settled on the title for today’s article before hearing about the UNP-SLFPcabinet ‘consensus’ on the total number of seats the reformed parliament will have – 237, a compromise between for Champika’s insistent 255 and Ranil’s take-it-or-leave-it 225. The title might seem tad negative when a sigh of relief might be in order since another amendment showdown seems to have been averted. But the seemingly benign ending does not easily wash away the bitter taste our parliamentarians leave on everything they touch. Truth be told, the haggling over representational numbers is not something new to our current crop of politicians. They are heirs to a tortuous a history of fights over political seats, but they have taken it, down or up, to another level. To briefly recount that history and to look ahead to what the 20th Amendment may hold is my purpose today, and so I will stay with the title.

From Communal Bartering to Proportional Bickering the Antecedents and the Expectations of 20A by Thavam Ratna

Who is blocking implementation of the 19th Amendment?

Sunday, June 14, 2015

The Government’s reported proposal this week that the Constitutional Council under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution should proceed to sit in the absence of the three non-political appointees to the body speaks to the farcical if not the frivolous intent underlying recent constitutional reforms.

Non-political appointments must be made
Pray, how different would this body then be from the Parliamentary Council which, under the maligned 18th Amendment to the Constitution, was mandated to examine nominations to key public sector positions and the constitutional commissions on public service, police etc prior to Presidential appointment? What actually happened, of course, is that the Council played only an ineffectual part. Decisions were taken solely at the whim and fancy of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

True, Presidential arbitrariness will now not be evidenced in these ‘yahapalanaya’ times. Instead, the motley political collective represented in the House would be the majority arbiter of those decisions. And as an ironic aside, one might be forgiven in reposing more confidence in the fairly reasoned decisions made so far by President Maithripala Sirisena, (as illustrated for example by the appointments made to the Presidential Commission tackling corruption), than in this quarrelsome body of parliamentarians bickering for political advantage before the next polls.

We are endlessly told that procedure should not depend on personality. But the fact of the matter is that, in Sri Lanka’s most degraded political culture, personality plays a major role in the implementation of a norm, be it constitutional or statutory. It could only have taken a Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brothers and his sons to have so ruthlessly ground the 1978 Constitution to the dust. A more enlightened ruler would have taken Sri Lanka in quite a different direction in the post war aftermath without treating the land and its people as if this were part of their personal family bounty. Even within the bounds of that problematic constitutional space that former President JR Jayawardene devised, a different Head of State would have not precipitated Sri Lanka into the crisis that it faced at the start of this year.

Misdeeds of the previous regime
That said, enough time has lapsed since the 19th Amendment was passed with all that fuss. It must now be implemented in every respect, not selectively. Prime apologists of the previous regime now sanctimoniously trying to block this constitutional amendment must therefore be treated with due contempt and exposed for who they are. This is not to say that the minority United National Party (UNP) Government is free from blame. On the contrary, as last week’s column observed, it would be hard to identify the bigger blunder in all the blunders being committed by the ruling worthies in recent times.

However, to equate these blunders with the overwhelming evils done to the country under the Rajapaksa Presidency is sheer nonsense. What happened to Sri Lanka during that period was exceptionally brutal with the prevalence of rank communalism, financial profligacy and the deliberate decimation of law and order. That those responsible have not been yet been punished indicate the political agendas at play in government as well as prevalent institutional dysfunction in regard to the police and prosecutors.

This column has repeatedly emphasized the fact that Sri Lanka’s failures of the Rule of Law are systemic. The acquittals of the accused in the horrific double murder of a mother and daughter in Kotakethana due to a flawed gathering of forensic evidence is a recent case in point. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s Anura Kumara Dissanayake is on record in stating that a political hand was behind these murders. This seems to be a reasonable inference to draw on the facts of the case. The responsibility for the failure to secure justice must rest unequivocally on the law enforcement bodies, whatever fairy tales the police may say.

Correcting politicized law enforcement
This is just one case. Similar such instances during the past decade when law and order fled to the four winds are numerous. These are not abuses committed in the heat of war (as inexcusable as these may be) but rather, cold blooded killings. Indeed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) identified the breakdown of law and order very well in its harsh observations on the disappearance of a former grama niladhari and well known community activist, Pattini Razeek.

Mr Razeek, a trustee of the Puttalam based Community Trust Fund (CTF) was taken in a ‘white van’ abduction in Polonnaruwa five years ago. His body was discovered later, buried under a half-built private house in Valaichchenai. Allegations that a key government Minister had protected the suspects implicated in the disappearance and death of Mr Razeek with the intention of claiming the monies that were in the Trust were rife during that time. Despite overwhelming evidence that should have led to the apprehension of the suspects, the criminal investigation did not go far.

In its 2011 report, the LLRC pointed out that the case highlights ‘the deplorable absence of conclusive law enforcement action.’ It expressed concern as to whether ‘political interference had contributed to lapses committed by the police,’ noting the allegations that ‘political connections’ had saved the suspects from arrest. Later, one of the main suspects was arrested but released. Earlier this year, another suspect was arrested. Again, as in the Kotekathana case, the chain of custody in regard to the DNA evidence is key but family members allege that they have not been allowed access to DNA reports or the post mortem report.

Collective responsibility of Parliament
Both in the yet unresolved Kotakethana case and the Pattani Razeek case, we have a singular absence of justice. These are direct consequences of the institutional decay that occurred under the Rajapaksa Presidency. Let the Constitutional Council be properly established, even in its truncated form, bringing in its minority of non-political appointees. Let an independent Police Commission intervene in regard to supervising the Department of the Police.

This is the collective responsibility of Sri Lanka’s current Parliament. In the absence thereof, the electorate should judge those politicians responsible with exceeding severity at the coming polls.

We Cannot Clap Our Way To The Finish Line

By Sarath De Alwis –June 14, 2015

Sarath De Alwis

An exuberant media, print and electronic, has acclaimed a fleeting and fragile observation by Master Card , that Colombo is the fastest growing tourist city in the world as a monumental achievement.

One isolated line in a 46 page document- Tracking Global Growth: 2009 -2015 became a retrospective endorsement of Gota’s second war on the urban poor of Colombo.

It is a clear reminder that the media in this country despite their avowed assertion of independence was an acquiescent partner of the Rajapaksa siblings in manufacturing popular consent of post war triumphalism, the myth of the Asian miracle and the Indian Ocean hub of 21st Century global commerce.

The once powerful and now plaintive and powerless Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa wasted no time in appropriating the credit for this imaginary accomplishment.

In his face book page, the former defence secretary and the czar of the UDA trumpeted that he was ‘truly delighted’ to see Colombo being recognized as the fastest growing city for tourism in the Global Index of Mater Card whose vision statement is ‘A world beyond Cash ‘.

The former strongman has promised to share his thoughts on Urban Development undertaken by the previous government. In a TV interview, he warned the new government not to squander the developmental success in Colombo by neglecting to maintain the parks, jogging tracks and shopping arcades. The purpose of this article is to dissuade not only the former defense secretary, but also the present heads of Sri Lanka tourism and Sri Lankan airlines from misreading the conclusions and misconstruing the reasoning of the report.

The full report “ Master Card 2015 Global Destination Cities Index” can be accessed here.

Does the survey pronounce Colombo as an exceptionally attractive destination? It does not.                                                 Read More

The people don’t want a bigger Parliament

Editorial-June 13, 2015

Although the UNP and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have not succeeded in having their way in restricting membership of the next Parliament to the existing 225 MPs according to a cabinet decision taken last Friday, it will not go up to 255 as some opposition MPs including constituents of the UPFA and some minority parties wish. The compromise which President Maithripala Sirisena had succeeded in striking is a 237-strong Parliament – something the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is not happy about having been seduced by the 255 figure that has been earlier bandied about. The president has assured that the rights of the minority communities and the small parties will be protected. Disaster Management Minister A.H.M. Fowzie was quoted in a morning newspaper yesterday saying Sirisena had told SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem that further revision would be possible later taking account of the views of the smaller parties. That is a reasonable proposition but we hope that these parties will not hold the two thirds majority gun at the head of the government to ensure a bigger Parliament than presently proposed during the committee stage proceeding of 20A.

Mr. Wickremesinghe and the UNP have understood that the thinking majority of this country does not want a larger Parliament than at present. In fact many intellectuals believe that the current legislature is too big for a country our size with a population of slightly over 20 million. There is resentment among a sizeable section of our people that the political class has been enriching itself over the years and increasing the number of MPs will certainly not pass muster in any public opinion poll. At Independence in 1948 we had a Parliament of 101 Members comprising 95 elected MPs and six nominated MPs to represent "unrepresented interests" like the disenfranchised estate Tamils of more recent Indian origin and even British interests represented once upon a time by the redoubtable Mr. Singleton-Salmon. In the early days MPs had an allowance of Rs. 600 a month, later increased to Rs. 750. They used their own cars to travel and paid for their petrol. The picture today is quite different. Apart from their number and the luxuries they enjoy in the new Parliament, the cost to the taxpayer of supporting these MPs who enjoy lavish pay, perks and pensions has increased unimaginably. None but the beneficiaries will favour increasing their number. But the need to get the two thirds majority for 20A has forced President Sirisena’s to agree to the 237-member proposal now on the table.

Judging by the pressure that is now being mounted, we do not think that even this number is ironclad. There is every possibility that the demands of practical politics will force Sirisena’s hand to up the ante to get the necessary majority. We have already seen this happening with regard to the promise of a small cabinet. The number of ministers, state ministers, deputy ministers and whoever have not yet reached the obscene proportions of the Rajapaksa era. But four new appointments made last week and the appointment of former Prime Ministers Ratnasiri Wickremanayake and D.M. Jayaratne as senior political advisors to the president is surely a writing on the wall. An educated guess will be that given their age and physical capability, they either do not want nomination to run for Parliament again although without doubt the sons will succeed the fathers. There is clearly a desire not to send the former premiers home with only their parliamentary pensions, so the resort to these newest appointment to ice their cake with the customary pay and perks at the expense of the uncomplaining taxpayer – a golden handshake no doubt.

The public certainly will not cheer. But this is the way that the game has been played for a very long time in this so-called Democratic Socialist Republic of ours. It will not be easy to break out of the habit. We live in a country where our ministers have special ceremonies at which they hand out letters of appointment to public service recruits as if the jobs come by their grace and favour. That might sometimes be the case where politicians influence selections of their supporters for positions in an already bloated public sector with no regard for merit. MPs too often regard projects under their decentralized budgets as personal bounty coming out of their own pockets. It is time that voters realize that it is their money that pays for all the goodies including the free lunches that the former president lavishly treated callers at Temple Trees in the run-up to the January 8 presidential election. Details of what was done including the distribution of sil redhi are emerging and former President CBK went public on Friday with what she’d been told about some mind boggling commission demands.

It is clear that somebody up there, for whatever reason, has become nervous about where ongoing investigations (or witch hunts as those affected brand them) is going to lead. This has resulted in the IGPs directing to the Financial Crimes Investigation Division and the CID to desist from making arrests of "a political nature." Several politicians have been/are being questioned on various matters of public concern; so does it mean they are being sent home after their statements are recorded even if there are grounds to arrest them and produce them in court? Did the IGP, who is maintaining an eloquent silence on this matter, take this decision on his own volition or was there a whisper in his ear?

Who can tell at this time when a numbers game is being played? The former president is playing coy by making fleeting appearances at some of the massive rallies the `Bring Back Mahinda’ lobby is organizing on his behalf. But he’s not mounting the stage himself and making the speeches he loves to make in various temples and other places. It is said that he’ll show up at the next rally though the public, of course, will not know whether Parliament will be dissolved by then. That scene is unfolding like an auction reaching the "going, going" stage without the hammer falling with the final "gone."

Ranil states Gotabhaya has ‘renounced any allegiance to Sri Lanka’

 13 June 2015
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa should not have been charge of the Sri Lanka’s national security as he was a US citizen who had “renounced any allegiance to Sri Lanka”, in a speech to parliament last week.

Speaking in Sinhala, Mr Wickremesinghe told lawmakers that Mr Rajapaksa “was in-charge of people who were bearing arms for the republic of Sri Lanka, while he under law, was obliged to bear arms for the United States of America”.

The Prime Minister went on to state that if the United States had gone to war with Sri Lanka, then Mr Rajapaksa would have fought alongside the Americans against Sri Lanka.

Mr Wickremesinghe, who currently faces a no-confidence motion backed by almost 100 MPs, also went on to attack Palita Kohona, an Australian citizen who was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Sri Lanka.

“An American citizen was in-charge of the national security while an Australian citizen was in-charge of the foreign service, but you had never chosen to question on these matters,” he said.

See his speech (in Sinhala) below.