Boko Haram Steps Up Attacks After Buhari’s Vows to Defeat the Group

 

BY SIOBHÁN O'GRADY-JULY 2, 2015

The former general and strongman ruler of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, won his country’s March election in part by promising to defeat the Boko Haram militant group and restore security to the country’s turbulent northeast. A month into his time in office, a string of Boko Haram attacks indicates the group isn’t backing down in the face of Buhari’s sabre rattling.

 

On Wednesday night, reports out of Borno State claimed dozens of civilians were gunned down by Boko Haram militants in a string of attacks in the extremist stronghold. By Thursday, the death toll from the attacks reached150 and may continue to rise.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a hospital in Borno State’s capital of Maiduguri, just as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo arrived in the city to visit Nigerians displaced in temporary camps there.

 

Both bombers were killed, and two passersby were injured. The hospital was the site of another bomb attack last Saturday, when three were reportedlykilled and 16 injured.

 

Before his ouster in March’s presidential elections, then-President Goodluck Jonathan launched an aggressive military campaign, backed by Chad, to take back stretches of territory controlled by the group. 

 

By election day, the government claimed that regions controlled by Boko Haram had been largely retaken by government forces, and that most Boko Haram militants had either fled into the bush or been killed.

 

But recurring bomb attacks in Maiduguri and other cities in northeast Nigeria are a reminder that Boko Haram has not been dismantled, and that the group still poses a real threat to the communities in that region. For the some 1.5 million Nigerians displaced by the group, returning home remains impossible as their towns are still considered too unstable.

 

Boko Haram also launched a number of attacks in Chad last month, including twin suicide bombings that killed 23 and injured more than 100 in N’Djamena, in the first attack of its kind in the Chadian capital.

 

Buhari is slated to come to Washington, D.C., on his first official visit to the United States on July 20, when he will meet with President Barack Obama to discuss what the White House has described as “strengthening” and “expanding” the relationship between the two countries.

 

In June, the United States committed $5 million to the African Union for the multinational task force fighting Boko Haram, comprised of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

 

But Washington has long faced restrictions on the amount of military support it can provide to Nigeria because of the Nigerian army’s history of human rights violations. Although the United States has provided military training in recent years, it is legally prohibited from providing arms.

 

Buhari, who won by 2.5 million votes in March, last came to power in Nigeria through a 1983 military coup. Now a “reformed democrat,” he gained the confidence of voters by pledging to prioritize the defeat of Boko Haram. His predecessor was considered largely ineffective at combatting the extremists.

 

A month in might be too soon to jump to any conclusions, but so long as Maiduguri continues to fall victim to these attacks, Buhari has a lot left to prove.

 

Photo credit: MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP/Getty Images

Through the eyes of a holocaust survivor



By Tariq Al Maeena, Special to Gulf News-June 20, 2015

The collective guilt of holocaust has been used successfully for more than 60 years to condone the subjugation and extermination of Palestinian people

The independent news media is often silenced into submission with howls of ‘anti-Semitism’ whenever a writer criticises policies or tactics of the Israeli government. Such howls have increased in tempo and volume recently, given that the aggression by Israeli forces against the Palestinians and the illegal building of colonies have multiplied.

 

The leading cheerleader for wailing away these charges is none other than the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, himself. He recently rejected United Nations’ critical view of his country’s aggressive conduct against helpless children during last summer’s conflict in Gaza by bleating out that the UN was two-faced when it came to Israel. “It turns out there’s no limit to hypocrisy,” Netanyahu said.

 

Such retorts from Israelis and their sympathisers is proving to be nothing more than a smokescreen to thwart any real investigations into the illegal activities of the Netanyahu government against Palestinians. It has also successfully silenced or coerced into submission many activists whose conscience saw through the maze.

 

Last month, more than 250 members of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JWP) Academic Advisory Council demanded that the US State Department revise its definition of anti-Semitism in order to prevent the charge of anti-Semitism from being misused to silence critics of Israel. JWP is a national, grassroots organisation inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine.

 

The letter to the US State Department was addressing rising Israeli tactics to silence debates on US university campuses over Israel politics with charges of rising anti-Semitism. It also asserted the crucial need to distinguish criticism of the state of Israel from real anti-Semitism and takes issue with provisions in the US State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism that refer to “demonising”, “delegitimising” and “applying a double-standard to the state of Israel”.

 

Simona Sharoni, an Israeli-American professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at Suny Plattsburgh, says that “Such prohibitions that are so vague that they could be, and have been, construed to silence any criticism of Israeli policies.” Sixty such incidents have taken place in US to silence activists for Palestinian rights in the first four months of 2015 alone! Jewish Voice for Peace flatly states that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism.

 

This month, a noted American author and icon Noam Chomsky added his own thoughts to the subject. An 86-year-old Jew and an individual who lived through the holocaust of the Second World War, Chomsky said: “I thought 40 years ago and I think today that people who call themselves supporters of Israel are, in fact, supporting its moral degeneration, its increased international isolation and possibly its ultimate destruction,” he said. “I think these policies are suicidal and immoral.”

 

Chomsky rejected the notion that Israel’s security was threatened by its Arab neighbours. “To the extent that Israel is threatened, it is Israel’s own choice. For the past 40 years, Israel has pursued a policy very consciously of preferring expansion rather than security,” he asserted.

 

Sifting back through time, Chomsky insisted Israel could have had almost complete security 40 years ago, if it had the desire for peace.

 

“In 1971, Egypt offered Israel a full peace treaty, just in return for the occupied Egyptian territories. Israel refused, preferring to expand,” he said.

 

Five years later, Egypt and Syria tabled a resolution to the UN Security Council, calling for the establishment of two states using the internationally recognised border, the so-called ‘Green Line’. Chomsky elaborated that the resolution would place guarantees for the right of an Israeli and a Palestinian state to exist within secure and recognised borders.

 

“Accepting that would have radically reduced the security problem,” he asserted. “The US vetoed it. Israel was furious, refused even to attend the session. Didn’t want to hear about it. And it continues like that. As long as Israel continues to take over the occupied territories, we’re not going to have peace.”

 

Noam Chomsky, who in a 2005 poll was voted as the ‘world’s top intellectual’, is no lightweight critic of Israeli policies. With his background and credentials, he cannot be accused of being unfair or ‘anti-Semitic.’ He is a Semite himself and he is not the only one who sees through Israeli deception. What he and others say is what the Israelis desperately camouflage under thundering charges of ‘anti-Semitism’.

 

The collective guilt of holocaust has been used successfully for more than 60 years to condone the ongoing human misery of a new holocaust, which is the gradual subjugation and extermination of the Palestinian people. Most political pundits including many intellectual Jews believe that the current Israeli policies will eventually spell their own doom.

 

The world is getting increasing weary of this country that is becoming a pariah among nations.

 

Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The Chinese Communists Are Not Confucianists

by Yu Ying-shih

The following is an unauthorized translation of an excerpt from an interview with Prof. Yu Ying-shih [via Skype] during a symposium in November 2014 marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of Hong Kong’s New Asia College (新亞書院).  Statements in parenthesis have been added, and endnotes provided, by the translator for clarity. – The Editor
Ying-shih Yu, Princeton’s Gordon Wu ’58 Professor Emeritus of Chinese Studies, has been named the co-winner of the third John W. Kluge Prize for lifetime achievement in the study of humanity. Here he is seen at his home near Princeton. 12/21/06 JERRY MCCREA/THE STAR LEDGER

Chen Duxiu (陳獨秀). Photo: https://twitter.com/CraigClunas/status/595198956201713664

( July 2, 2015, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian) Question: Senior Chinese Communist leaders have visited the Confucian Temple in Qufu [In November 2013]. Also, recently-held national meetings in China have praised the Confucian values of traditional culture, urged a return to these values, and stressed the significance of developing these values in the future. In our recent conversation, I have admired your continuation of the “New Asia spirit” of Prof. Qian Mu (錢穆，1895-1990)[1], and your attitude of reclaiming Chinese culture for the world. Looking at Hong Kong’s development, the influence of China on Hong Kong is after all quite strong, so how do you see China’s senior leaders presently promoting a return to China’s traditional culture affecting what you have referred to as “cultural ecology?” What do you think we can expect from this generation of China’s leaders for the ten or so years that they will be in power? How will Chinese leadership developments affect Hong Kong and in what way? I’d like to hear your opinions on these matters.

The Chinese Communists Are Not Confucianists by Thavam Ratna

Greek court clears way for referendum that could shape country’s future

People line up outside a National Bank branch to receive part of their pensions in Iraklio on the island of Crete, Greece, on Friday. (Reuters)

By Griff Witte-July 3

ATHENS — Greece’s highest administrative court ruled Friday that a referendum planned for Sunday is constitutional, clearing the last serious hurdle before Greeks go to the polls for a vote that could set the country’s direction for decades.

Supporters of Greece's bailout terms have taken a thin lead over the "No" vote backed by the leftist government, according to an opinion poll. This comes 48 hours before a referendum that may determine the country's future in the euro zone. (Reuters)
Greek Court Clears Way for Referendum That Could Shape Country’s Future by Thavam Ratna

Malaysian State Investment Firm Denies Funneling Funds Into PM's Accounts

Najib Razak, Malaysia's prime minister. Photographer: Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg

by Shamim Adam-July 2, 2015

1Malaysia Development Bhd. denied it had funneled funds into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts, rejecting reports saying investigators believed they had found such a money trail.

About $700 million of funds may have moved through government agencies, banks and companies linked to state investment company 1MDB before apparently appearing in Najib’s accounts, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing documents from a government probe. The Prime Minister’s Office said Friday the claims were part of a “political sabotage” campaign by some individuals seeking to remove Najib from office.

Malaysian State Investment Firm Denies Funneling Funds Into PM's Accounts by Thavam Ratna

Mass arrests in The Hague as clashes over death in police custody continue

Officers arrest about 200 people for breaching ban on public assembly after fourth night of protests over death of Aruban tourist Mitch Henriquez

Dutch riot police clash with protesters in Schilderswijk, The Hague. Photograph: Marten van Dijl/EPA

Gordon Darroch in The Hague-Friday 3 July 2015

About 200 people have been arrested after the fourth night of unrest in The Hague following the death of a Caribbean tourist at the hands of police.

The arrests were for breaching a ban on public assembly in the inner-city district of Schilderswijk after three nights of clashes led to the arrest of 61 people, mostly teenagers. Police chief Paul van Musscher said protesters pelted officers with stones and fireworks and threw petrol over them.

The violence first erupted on Monday night after demonstrators gathered outside a police station to protest at the death of Aruban holidaymaker Mitch Henriquez. The 42-year-old father of three died in hospital on Sunday, a day after he was pinned to the ground in a chokehold by officers at a concert in Zuiderpark.

A postmortem examination ordered by the Dutch prosecution service found he died of asphyxiation, apparently as a result of police handling.

Five officers from the city’s police division were suspended from duty on Wednesday after being identified as suspects in the case.

The incident has ignited tensions in Schilderswijk, which contains three of the 10 poorest postcodes in the Netherlands and where about 85% of the population is made up of first- or second-generation migrants.

Police stations in the area have been at the centre of allegations of brutality and discrimination by officers, claims senior officers have denied.

A report by Amnesty International in 2013 found ethnic minorities were disproportionately more likely to be stopped and searched. But police have rejected claims of systematic discrimination and pointed to research by Leiden University that concluded there was no evidence of ethnic profiling.

The city mayor, Jozias Van Aartsen, dismissed any attempt to draw comparisons to community relations in cities in the US. “If I thought that was the attitude of the police in The Hague I wouldn’t stand here for another second,” he said.

 

A fire breaks out during the fourth night of demonstrations. Photograph: EPA

However, the national chief commissioner of the force has urged officers to tackle discrimination. In an internal blog that appeared in the media in February, Gerard Bouman said police attitudes towards Muslims had hardened and warned that “the poison of exclusion is seeping into our organisation”.

The family of Henriquez have distanced themselves from the protests and called for the clashes to stop. Alex Dijkhoff, a cousin of the dead man, told NOS news he did not believe the police handling of his relative was racially motivated. “One of the officers who was involved in the arrest was Aruban. So if you ask me, I don’t think so,” he said.

Henriquez, a self-employed businessman, was visiting relatives in The Hague when he was arrested as he left a UB40 concert. Police said he repeatedly claimed to have a gun and resisted arrest, but later confirmed he was unarmed.

One witness wrote on Facebook that Henriquez had been set upon by at least six officers, one of whom beat him on the head and legs with a baton.

An initial statement by the prosecution service said Henriquez had fallen ill in the police van and officers tried to revive him. But within hours videos were circulating on social media in which the Aruban appeared to be unconscious as three officers lifted him into the vehicle.

The government of Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, appealed to minsters in The Hague for a full investigation into Henriquez’s death.

The Dutch prime minister denounced the riots and said he had no plans to visit Schilderswijk. “I’m not planning to go in person to every neighbourhood where backward lilies are stirring up trouble,” Mark Rutte told journalists.

Prostitution: Thailand’s worst kept secret

Sex workers wait for customers in a red light district in Bangkok. Pic: AP.

Footage of a bargirl giving performing fellatio on a customer in Pattaya has upset a lot of people this week. Image via MCOT.

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Jul 03, 2015

By James Austin

You could be forgiven for thinking if you were new to Thailand that prostitution was a market aimed solely at foreign tourists and fund-dumping expatriates. The garish lights, garish hook-ups, and garish whispers in the night have become iconic, a thing of holiday myths, books, films, and for many who don’t live here deceitfully representative of an entire culture. But Thailand’s lusty epithet of a land of salacious, often mendacious smiles, is a foreign concoction, and within these borders most citizens I think don’t taint themselves with that brush.

Prostitution Thailand’s Worst Kept Secret by Thavam Ratna

Simple Home Remedies To Relieve Acid Reflux Naturally

Simple Home Remedies To Relieve Acid Reflux Naturally

The Digestion Process:

by Cristina Jurach
Ingested food passes down the oesophagus (food pipe) into the stomach. Stomach cells produce mucus which protects the stomach lining from damage from digestive acids and chemicals, produced by the stomach itself. The oesophagus cell linings are more delicate and have little protection from acid.

A sphincter (a ring of muscule that contracts to close an opening) called lower esophageal sphincter (LES), is present at the junction of the oesophagus and stomach. This valve relaxes to allow food into the stomach and closes preventing food and stomach acid leaking up (refluxing) into the oesophagus.

This can cause symptoms such as heartburn, burping, chest pain and in severe cases acid reflux disease, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

What Causes Acid Reflux Disease?

• In some cases the upper part of the stomach and LES move above the diaphragm, negating the diaphragm’s blocking of stomach acids moving into the oesophagus. This abnormality is called Hiatal hernia.
• Eating a heavy meal and lying on your back or bending over at the waist
• Snacking close to bedtime
• Eating certain foods, such as citrus, tomato, chocolate, mint, garlic, onions, or spicy or fatty foods
• Drinking certain beverages, such as alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, or tea
• Smoking
• Being pregnant
• Taking aspirin, ibuprofen, certain muscle relaxers, or blood pressure medications.

 What Are the Symptoms of Acid Reflux Disease?

• Heartburn: A burning sensation upwards towards the chest and throat.
• Bloating, burping and nausea.
• Dysphagia — a narrowing of your esophagus, which creates the sensation of food being stuck in your throat.
• Continual Hiccups.
• A persistent cough, particularly at night sometimes occurs. This is due to the refluxed acid irritating the windpipe (trachea).
• Mouth and throat symptoms such as gum problems, bad breath, sore throat, and hoarseness.
• Severe chest pain.

Natural Home Remedied For Fighting Acid Reflux:

Check out the Natural and Simple Home Remedies that you can help you prevent and quickly fightback episodes of Acid reflux:

THE MIRUSUVIL CASE: WHY SEARCHING REFORM IS URGENT AND NECESSARY

Image courtesy Daily News

• by Niran Anketell 
• - on 07/02/2015 

The High Court Trial at Bar’s recent conviction and sentencing of Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake to death for what has come to be known as the ‘Mirusuvil massacre’ was met with the entirely expected and bellicose outrage of extremist nationalist Sinhala Buddhist elements. But a more interesting and nuanced response emerged from within the state apparatus. A military spokesman claimed that the judgment demonstrates the capacity of Sri Lanka’s legal system to deal with human rights violations – a view echoed by many others including officers of the Attorney General’s Department who handled the prosecution.

The Mirusuvil Case Why Searching Reform is Urgent and Necessary by Thavam Ratna

Sirisena, Wickremasinghe & Rakapaksa Dilemmas

By Sarath Wijesinghe –July 2, 2015

Sarath Wijesinghe

Political maize in Sri Lanka has further complicated after the dissolution of the Parliament without passing 20A which is a demand and a promise by Sirisena to the people agitated for a change. Whose decision was the snap elections and who runs the country is a mystery and known to few. Some say people now need a change for the changes made due to dissatisfaction and disappointment of the state of affairs today. Sirisena is in a dilemma sandwiched between UNP SLFP (m) SLFP(R) and other minority parties and may have realized that trying to satisfy all stake holders is impossible. Sirisena’s amazing and unexpected victory on 8th January 2015 and the sudden decision to call for snap elections on 17th of August 2015 has given no opportunity for any politician or a political party to amply plan for the future which is more advantageous to the UNP.

UNP wanted to avoid five no- confident motions against the PM FM and others and more importantly the COPE report in which central Bank Governor is accused of. Central Bank Governor Arjun Mahindran is accused of allowing his son in law to transect 10 billion bonds for 30 years with unusually high interest rates in unusual circumstances losing billions of the ordinary tax payer’s money. He may have accepted the bids as the Governor and may not be able to absolve from responsibilities of the transections of his own son in law, though Wickramsinghe vehemently defended him and even volunteered to make representation to COPE as the line minister leaving a serious and series of doubts as when the COPE committee appointed by the Parliament made adverse findings on this mega scam. Sudden dissolution of the Parliament and calling for early elections has placed the electorate Politicos and political parties in a dilemma.

Read More

Rajapaksa’s swansong

A comparison between Slobodan Milosevic and Mahinda Rajapaksa

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

Slobodan Milosevic was the President of Serbia from 1989 to 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000. Yugoslavia was established in 1918 and in 1946 after World War II it was renamed the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia under communist rule of Josip Broz Tito who ruled the country as President until his death in 1980.

Rajapaksa’s Swansong by Thavam Ratna

Hambantota White Projects Eat Up Economy

By Nirmala Kannangara-Thursday, July 02, 2015

Multi-million rupee white-elephant mega projects in Hambantota, the constituent district of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, are now idling and have become a massive burden to the country’s economy.

Hambantota White Projects Eat Up Economy by Thavam Ratna

Bond Scam: I Was Asked To Head Central Bank – Dr. Wijewardena Responds To Senasinghe’s Allegations

July 2, 2015 

“Suffice to say that COPE report was written by the staff at COPE and not by me. I helped them to check on technical accuracy in the report which was a must given the complexity of the subject involved. I was one of the vocal critics of the wrong economic policies of the previous government as an independent analyst. One may just go to the archives of Colombo Telegraph and Daily FT to verify this fact.” Dr. W. A Wijewardena, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, told Colombo Telegraph.

Dr. W. A Wijewardena

Former Deputy Justice Minister, Colombo District UNP MP and COPE member, Sujeewa Senasinghe, in a scathing attack, has alleged that former Central Bank Governor Ajit Nivard Cabraaland Deputy Governor W.A. Wijewardena had drafted the contents of the COPE report on the now infamous Treasury Bond scandal.

Responding to a query made by Colombo Telegraph regarding the allegation leveled against him, Dr. Wijewardena said; “The actual fact was that the new government approached me first on 9th January itself before full election results had been out when they were searching for a person to head Central Bank as its Governor and the former Deputy Minister would not have been privy to that information. I politely declined since I didn’t have intention to return to a government career since it would have compromised with my independence as an economic analyst. In this capacity, I provided my service to many authorities of the new government as a consultant free of charge including the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the preparation of a comprehensive economic plan which DrHarsha de Silva too had acknowledged in a public event relating to CIMA as had been reported by Daily Mirror.

“When I was requested by Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs on instructions from the Prime Minister to assist the Pitipana Committee I did so willingly because I thought that it was my duty by the country. When the Committee wanted to pay me, I declined and provided my expert services free of charge.

Sujeewa Senasinghe

“The same issue had arisen in the case of COPE sub committee too because the members had not been conversant with the the complex matters involved in bond dealings and could not proceed with the inquiry without guidance of expert advice. Enlisting such expert advice is the normal situation in Legislative inquiries including the U.S. Congress since legislators are not supposed to be technically literate on every matter. The members of COPE sub committee appreciated my clarification of many technical issues that had come to light in the course of their inquiry. The former Deputy Minister was a member of the Committee and he would have protested at that time if he felt that the advice was biased. My services are not free as an international consultant but I served COPE without asking for any remuneration.

Prof. Rajiva Wijesingha

“It is sad that political expediency has driven a Deputy Minister representing a government standing for good governance to such a low level. It appears that the members of the good governance government too need tuition on what is meant by good governance.”

Meanwhile one of the 13-member Special Parliamentary Investigation Committee that probed the alleged insider trading and favoritism in the recent treasury bond issue, former State Minister of Education and the leader of the Liberal party of Sri Lanka, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha said; “The UNP seems to have gone completely mad in trying to escape from its guilt over the Central Bank Bond scam. Sujeewa Senasinghe claims that the COPE report was written by former Governor Nivard Cabraal and former Deputy Governor W A Wijewardena, whereas the latter has often been critical of the former in his writings. I believe they have different views of the role of the state, with the Deputy Governor less inclined to intervention. But even he, when he appeared before us as an expert, pointed out that you could not rely wholly on auctions, because using Direct Placements was necessary to discipline the market.                                                             Read More 

‘We’ve incriminating info about 25 MPs of last parliament’

Dangerous Drugs Control Board to deprive narcotic suspects of nominations

‘Of 225 members, 95 have failed  GCE O/L and 145 GCE A/L’

by Shamindra Ferdinando-July 2, 2015

The National Dangerous Drugs Control Board yesterday urged all political parties contesting the Aug. 17 general election to clear all nominations lists with it before being submitted to the Election Secretariat.

The 10-day nomination period commences on July 6.

The NDDCB head Dr. Chamira Nilanga Samarasingha yesterday told The Island that letters had been delivered to general secretaries of all registered political parties seeking their co-operation.

The official said that once political parties had shared proposed nomination lists with the NDDCB, they would be able to brief them as regards those whose names had transpired in investigations into narcotics trade.

Responding to a query, Dr. Samaratunga said that they had information regarding some members of the previous parliament.

The National Dangerous Drugs Control Board had never shared information with political parties as regards those politicians allegedly involved in the narcotics trade. Dr. Samarasinghe revealed that they had incriminating evidence/information on two dozen members of the previous parliament.

Asked whether he was confident of receiving political parties’ cooperation in this regard, Dr Samarasinghe emphasised that it was the responsibility of major political parties to field clean candidates. The much touted good governance and accountability could begin immediately if all political parties resolved to deny nominations to those who had been engaged in nefarious activities.

Responding to a question, Dr. Samarasinghe said that they had had an opportunity to examine educational qualifications of those who had been in last parliament. Of 225 members, 95 had failed the GCE O/L, whereas 145 hadn’t passed the GCE A/L, Dr Samarasinghe said, adding that the vast majority of those engaged nefarious activities didn’t have higher educational qualifications.

"Perhaps, political parties should take into consideration educational qualifications of those seeking nominations from respective political parties. The electorate, too, should be mindful of those seeking their vote," Dr. Samarasinghe said.

Emphasising the pivotal importance of changing Sri Lanka’s political culture, the NDDCB Chief said: "I have a simple message. Don’t exercise your franchise for those violating laws. August 17 general election can give us a good start. If we succeeded in forcing political parties to deny nominations to law breakers, it’ll help clean up Provincial Councils as well as local government authorities."

The official said his move was meant to bring political parties to act without further delay. He regretted that successive administrations failed pathetically to take tangible action. Their failure caused a catastrophic situation; he said, adding that if Sri Lanka was to survive, the nexus between politicians and organized crime should be severed.

Even the newly passed 19th Amendment to the Constitution wouldn’t be able to achieve expected results unless criminal elements were denied re-entry or entry into parliament, he said.