Protection for the army soldiers who killed Ekneligoda

- Aug 20, 2015

The Island newspaper reported the ongoing investigations has been halted due to the protection given by few security chiefs for the four soldiers who are pending arrest for alleged murder of the disappeared journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda.

Despite the police has informed the army to submit these four soldiers they have not given them so far until yesterday the 19th.

 

Earlier the Criminal Investigation Department arrested two soldiers attached to the army intelligence and a retired army sergeant major for the abduction and killing of the journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda. During the investigations many information’s with regard to the abduction was revealed. Later they were released.

 

Jounalist Prageeth Ekneligida was abducted and detained in the Girithale army camp and questioned for three days. The four army soldiers who are pending arrest are the main suspects of the murder of Prageeth Ekneligoda who has been identified during the investigations.

9 years after disappearance of Fr. Jim Brown & Mr. Vimalathas

• by Ruki Fernando 
• - on 08/20/2015 

9 years ago, on 20th August 2006, Fr. Jim Brown and Mr. Vimalathas disappeared after having been last seen at a Navy checkpoint in Allaipiddy, Jaffna[1]. Few days before, Fr. Jim Brown had been threatened by a Navy officer. There had also been tension between him and the Navy, as the Catholic Priest had pleaded with the Navy to allow injured civilians leave Allaipiddy, during the fighting between the government military and the LTTE. Earlier on, many civilians were killed and injured on an attack on the Allapiddy Church, to which Fr. Jim Brown had welcomed desperate civilians seeking a place of refuge from the fighting.

9 Years After Disappearance of Fr. Jim Brown & Mr. Vimalathas by Thavam Ratna

Up From The Ashes, A Public Library In Sri Lanka Welcomes New Readers

The Jaffna Public Library, destroyed in 1981 and rebuilt twice since, once sat in a no man's land between warring forces. It's been fully restored and become a haven for readers young and old.

Julie McCarthy/NPR-AUGUST 19, 2015

Rising two stories and capped by three domes, the Jaffna Public Library looks a bit like a stately wedding cake. Gleaming white under the Sri Lanka sun, the building's classical lines and beautiful proportions make it one of the architectural standouts of the South Asia region.

That it survived at all is a testament to resilience. The fact that it was restored to such pristine condition, including its lush gardens, and modernized (it now offers Wi-Fi) makes it all the more remarkable.

The library's renovation is as exquisite as its history is turbulent. The building sits in the heart of the provincial capital that was wracked not so long ago by battles and bullets.

A three-decade civil war pitted Sri Lankan forces against rebels fighting a brutal campaign for a separate homeland for ethnic Tamils. The rebels, known as Tamil Tigers, were crushed in 2009, in the closing months of the fighting.

Incinerated History

At the library's front entrance, a statue of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, beckons visitors inside.

Past the lobby, on the left, oversized teak windows frame an airy reading room that pulls in an Indian Ocean breeze and patrons who pack the place on Sunday afternoons.

Perhaps it's not unexpected in a country with a 92 percent literary rate.

This framed picture depicts the library in 1981, after it was destroyed in a fire that Sri Lankan Tamils suspect was set by government police.

Julie McCarthy/NPR

Looking at the library today, you wouldn't know that this landmark was gutted in a mysterious fire in 1981.

"It was completely destroyed. And at that time, nobody knows who was inside the library," says S. Thanabaalasinham, the retired chief librarian. He says six rooms full of material — 97,000 volumes — were turned to ash.

S. Thanabaalasinham, the library's retired chief librarian, says 97,000 volumes were lost when the library was destroyed in 1981.-Julie McCarthy/NPR

"The history of the Tamil people" was incinerated, he says, including "valuable books of Hindu philosophers, irreplaceable ancient texts, scrolls written on palm leaves," as they had been for centuries. Previously, these works had been housed in Hindu temples, which in some ways served as the precursor to libraries on the island.

Sri Lanka's mainly Hindu Tamil minority suspects that police from the mostly Buddhist Sinhalese majority set the 1981 library fire. It foreshadowed the bigger conflict to come between the government and the Tamil Tigers.

With donations from well-wishers around the world, the library was fully renovated in 1984.

But within a year, Jaffna was engulfed in the civil war. With the newly refurbished library at ground zero, shells careened over the roof. Thanabaalasinham says it wasn't long before the building was assaulted head-on, targeted because Tamil insurgents took up residence "in what was left of the lending room."

"It became the place where the rebels billeted themselves," he says.

From No Man's Land To New Beginning

They operated just yards from where the government forces were stationed in an old Dutch fort that sits along the coast.

"The un-man zone," the former librarian calls it.

It would remain a no man's land through much of the 1990s, when fighting intensified and civilian casualties in the war climbed into the thousands.

In 1990, Thanabaalasinham, who had studied at the Jaffna library as a young man, returned as its librarian. With the main building shuttered, he struggled to fill the gap by setting up five smaller branches around the city.

Burned, rebuilt and then bombed into ruins, the main library improbably rose again a second time. Beginning in 2000, blackened floors were hauled away and gutted rooms repaired in a $1 million face-lift, financed by the central government and international donors.

When political rivals could not decide on the size of the reinauguration, Thanabaalasinham took matters into his own hands and personally threw open the doors in February 2004.

Library patrons fill the main reading room on Sundays.

Julie McCarthy/NPR

"The students came every day to the gate and said, 'We need to get in; we have exams coming up and we need to study,' " recalls the 67-year old public servant.

According to the National Library of Sri Lanka, there are some 1,135 public libraries for the country's 20 million citizens. A small municipality can house its modest collection in the town hall. The country's only two major libraries are the Colombo Public Library, in the capital, and the library in Jaffna.

Today, Jaffna's shelves groan under the weight of books on computer science and mathematics, along with best-sellers from Peter Wright's Spycatcher to Bill Bryson'sMade in America.

The library once at the heart of so much turmoil teems today with the young and the old. Fifteen and wide-eyed, Shareeq Ahmed marvels at the historical collection. "I got to see what happened on the day I was born," he says. "I've never seen a library like this."

Shareeq is too young to remember much of the war years. But for another patron, 75-year-old Rajenthiran Selvanayagam, spending time at the library is a peaceful contrast to that era. He lost his wife to the war. His son went mad.

Selvanayagam visits the library three times a week. "Having a book in my hand," he says, "is more than meditation to me."

August Elections: A Display Of Electoral Maturity?

By C. Narayanasuwami –August 20, 2015

C. Narayanasuwami

Some of the distinguishing features of the recently concluded parliamentary elections are worthy of review. We have witnessed a democratic revolution wherein the Sri Lankan citizens have exercised their right to vote in a cautious but optimistic and mature manner as never seen before. Both in the South and in the North people have overwhelmingly supported democratic reforms and good governance. However, the level of support obtained by UPFA signals that it is not a spent force and that it will survive to ‘fight’ another day. It is here that the new government, both in form and structure, will have to prove its capabilities to deliver development, peace, tranquillity and above all reconciliation and good governance.

An analysis of election results shows that there was more than ordinary interest in voting, judging by the large turnout estimated at over 70%-something that has happened sparingly in electoral history. Substantial increase in the vote base for UNP suggests that a larger turnout was in its favour while UPFA retained its vote base of over 4.8 million (2010) with only a marginal reduction of around 100,000 votes in 2015. A significant increase in the UNP vote base from 2.3 million in 2010 to 5.1 million, more than double that of 2010, signifies that the younger generation opted for change and that there was interest among the rich and the poor to create a stable government that would offer durable peace and economic development.

UPFA’s retention of its vote base, particularly in the southern and north central electoral districts, suggests that a key section of the Sri Lankan population continue to support pseudo nationalistic and divisive policies. There is a danger that this may be used as a rallying point to stir up discontent and communal disharmony at the slightest efforts towards devolution, reconciliation and development. Some statements made after election victory by elected representatives suggest that a watchful eye would be kept to portray benign attempts to devolve as separatist endeavours. There is therefore a need to watch out for breakdown of law and order and legislate against hate mongering and racism. There should be adequate recognition that Sri Lanka is wedded to pluralistic democracy respecting the sovereign rights of all communities. Using the communal bandwagon for achieving success in elections would most likely disappear in the future if the right policies and legislative measures are adopted to ensure that fair play, justice and equality in treatment remain as essential ingredients for nation building.              Read More               

Roadmap to reconciliation: 4 challenges for Sri Lanka after polls

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. (AFP photo)

Erik Solheim and Mark Salter-

Updated: Aug 20, 2015

These are critical times for Sri Lanka. This week the country completed its second round of elections this year. A coalition led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe scored a narrow victory. By contrast, presidential elections held in January ended in a surprise victory for Maithripala Sirisena, a veteran government minister who broke ranks with Mahinda Rajapaksa.

A notable feature of the latest election was Sirisena’s decision effectively to back the opposition coalition running against his own party, while also refusing to countenance Rajapaksa’s return to power under any circumstances. In many ways the campaign was a referendum on continued Rajapaksa rule. He lost, however, and Sri Lanka can now look to its future rather than its past.

While the Sirisena-Rajapaksa standoff may become less prominent, in another sense it will remain a critical factor. The muscular nationalism Rajapaksa cultivated among majority Sinhalese still poses a potentially serious challenge to reforming ambitions. It will be hard, for example, to achieve political reforms to address the legacy of conflict with minority Tamils without securing majority – Sinhalese – support for them.

Nor is this the story’s end. In September the UN Human Rights Council will consider a report into war crimes committed during the final years (and beyond) of the country’s civil war. Colombo won a deferral of the UN report’s release after it asked for more time to establish a domestic accountability mechanism. This means putting the legacy of the Tamil Tigers as well as Rajapaksa and his coterie on the spot. And it forces difficult choices on Wickremesinghe and Sirisena.

Almost six months on, they have pushed the real decisions forward, preferring to avoid moves that will upset parts of their support base. The real obstacles to movement – from Rajapaksa, from sections of the military – should not be underestimated. With its new majority, and with the UN soon to hand over its report, however, the government needs to begin providing clear indications of plans for addressing wartime accountability and, in the longer term, reconciliation.

The challenges confronting the new government are considerable. They include:

Corruption and restoring rule of law

Crony capitalism, mega-corruption, family fiefdom: many terms are used to describe the system Mahinda Rajapaksa put in place and – with help from brothers Basil and Gotabhaya – used to run the country for a decade. There’s no doubt, moreover, that much of the legacy of that misrule remains either still in place, uninvestigated – or both. As the recent election campaign made equally clear, however, corruption, impunity and good governance are very high on the public agenda.

Over the last half year the interim government has taken a number of important initiatives, notably establishing a Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID). At the same time, efforts to clean up corruption have been stymied by its past beneficiaries’ continued hold on power. That said, there is often talk of the billions the Rajapaksas are supposed to have stashed away abroad. Exposure of this abuse would undoubtedly assist in stabilizing the new government.

Reconciliation

Beyond accountability issues there is a vital need to address reconciliation. One consequence of the triumphalist nationalism trumpeted by Rajapaksa is that relations between Sinhalese and Tamil communities have not been given the needed space – or support – to heal. On a raft of other aspects of the war’s legacy, too, there is likewise a pressing need for action. A few months ago a reconciliation office headed by former President Kumaratunga was established. That can potentially play an important role.

Security sector reform

One of the first things ordinary Sri Lankans noticed following Rajapaksa’s ouster was a new atmosphere of public freedom. The result of Sirisena’s dismantling of security apparatus elements responsible for controlling and – all too often – terrorizing the public, it is unquestionably the most important reform to date. At the same time the use of forcible abduction, torture, rape and other forms of physical abuse appears to continue among sections of the military. While uprooting this culture, and more broadly restructuring civil-military relations will be assisted by Rajapakasa’s latest electoral loss, it will still not be an easy task. Ultimately, however, the success of attempts to build new relations between communities may depend on it.

Constitutional reform

The legislative success of the past half-year has been the 19th Amendment, fulfilling Sirisena’s campaign promise to abolish executive presidential powers installed by Rajapaksa in 2010. Beyond that, parliamentary gridlock has kept reforming aspirations in check. In a new legislature containing a government majority, however, now is the time to return to the constitutional reform agenda.

Add the need for rapid growth and inclusive development to unleash the Island’s true potential, and a recipe for challenging, but exciting times presents itself. All with Sri Lanka’s best interests at heart will be wishing the new government every success in charting the way forward.

Erik Solheim is former Norwegian Minister of International Development and Environment and currently Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee. Solheim led Norwegian peace mediation efforts in Sri Lanka from 1999 onwards. Mark Salter is author of To End A Civil War: Norway’s Peace Engagement in Sri Lanka (Hurst, 2015).

Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka’s veteran reformist premier

SRI LANKAN Prime Minister-elect Ranil Wickremesinghe and his wife Maithree wave to the media at their Temple Trees residence in Colombo on Wednesday.—AFP

AFP — PUBLISHED ABOUT 19 HOURS AGO

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s prime minister-elect Ranil Wickremesinghe is a champion of free enterprise who has managed to win economic and political support from both the West and India in his eight months in office.

The 66-year-old was handpicked by President Maithripala Sirisena to lead a minority government after the shock ousting of the country’s long-time leader Mahinda Rajapakse in January.

His United National Party won Aug 17 general election, thrusting the party back into power and giving him a fourth stint as head of government.

The veteran politician could be more powerful this time around, with Sirisena promising to return the Indian Ocean nation to a parliamentary democracy.

Under reforms pledged in January, Sirisena wants to transfer many of the president’s executive powers, amassed by Rajapakse during his decade-long rule, back to the premier.

Wickremesinghe, a nephew of Sri Lanka’s first executive president, Junius Jayewardene, almost became a reporter.

But a government takeover of his family’s newspaper in 1973 deprived him of a journalism career and he went into politics instead.

He rose to be prime minister in May 1993, when a suicide bomber assassinated president Ranasinghe Premadasa.

A similar incident arguably cost him the presidency in December 1999 when Chandrika Kumaratunga, the daughter of the country’s well-known Bandaranaike dynasty, was wounded in a suicide bomb attack.

The attackers struck just three days before the presidential election and Kumaratunga went on to win narrowly on a wave of sympathy.

Wickremesinghe got his second chance in 2002, when he was credited with pulling the country out of its first ever recession and boosting economic growth to 4.0 per cent.

In his campaign for a fourth term in office, he has pledged to overhaul Sri Lanka’s dismal human rights record and create a “brand new country in 60 months”.

Sri Lanka came in for strong criticism over its rights record under Rajapakse, who resisted UN calls to investigate allegations that at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by government forces in 2009 during the final stages of the decades-long war against Tamil separatist guerrillas.

Wickremesinghe has taken a more accommodating stance, pledging at his final pre-election press conference to address the issue.

“What I promise is a new country in 60 months [the term of parliament],” he said.

But he faces a tough task in coming months, with the UN Human Rights Council set to publish a long-awaited report examining alleged atrocities during the war.

The report is likely to reopen old wounds in Sri Lanka and lead to a push for greater reconciliation between ethnic minority Tamils and majority Sinhalese.

On the international front, Wickremesinghe is expected to continue to foster closer relations with neighbouring India and steer Colombo away from China in a rebalancing of relations after Rajapakse spent years cultivating close ties with Beijing.

He is also likely to keep pushing to attract foreign companies to start manufacturing their products in Sri Lanka for export abroad.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015

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General Elections & Our Future

By Thanges Paramsothy –August 20, 2015 

Thanges Paramsothy

What do we learn from the parliamentary election held on the 17th August of 2015? In my opinion, which is shared by some other political analysts as well, the voters have questioned the divisive politics promoted by some narrow nationalist political parties. Exclusivist ethno-religious nationalisms have posed a threat to social harmony in the country. They have divided the people along lines of ethnicity, religion, language and territory. Viewing every single problem in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country solely through the lens of ethnicity and nationalism creates tension, disharmony and resentment and often instigates individuals and communities to act against one another. We now live in a society where the differences between communities in terms of religion, language and culture need to be respected. One culture or identity is not in any sense inferior or superior to another culture or identity. All the communities on the island need to be treated equally and their dignity should be protected.

To emphasize the importance of singular imagination does not mean that we disregard the plural character of our polity and embrace the “Sri Lankan identity” (which is often equated with the Sinhala-Buddhist identity by Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism). The Sri Lankan state cannot be associated exclusively with “Sinhala” or “Tamil” or “Muslim” or “upcountry Tamil” or “any other ethnic group.” Sri Lanka a rich mosaic of all and one should not use this identity to create divisions within the people of Sri Lanka. We need to see this identity as common to all even though there are differences in the numerical strength of the different communities and different historical texts state that a particular community or some communities came to this island before others.                        Read More

Rallying call by Ranil



Thursday, 20 August 2015

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• Premier designate hails ‘new chapter’ in Sri Lankan politics
• Calls for political consensus; Says no more divisive politics
• UNFGG to obtain Parliament endorsement of its national plan
• Ranil, Maithri in coalition talks to take the 8 January revolution and the culture of good governance forward
• First address to reporters on Temple Trees lawn similar to Presidential addresses in the White House rose garden

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe waves as he arrives to make a special address to the media yesterday on the lawn of the Temple Trees along with his wife Maithree Wickremesinghe – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

By Dharisha Bastians
Premier designate Ranil Wickremesinghe issued a rallying call for political consensus and an end to the politics of division and partisanship, in his first address since winning Monday’s crucial Parliamentary poll.
With the stage set to resemble presidential addresses in the White House rose garden, Wickremesinghe addressed the media for the first time since his party claimed victory in the election on the lawn of his official residence Temple Trees. His wife Maithree Wickremesinghe stood beside him during the address. He invited all parties in Parliament to help him to build a coalition and hailed the beginning of what he called a ‘new chapter in Sri Lankan politics’.
“I want everyone to come together now. Think of the country. Think of the people. We can achieve unity, progress in this development in this country even for two to three years,” he urged.
Wickremesinghe said he would take oaths as Prime Minister and said he had already held discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena about the need to take the 8 January revolution and the culture of good governance forward.
“Together with the President and all party leaders, we look forward to a new era of politics and Government in this country,” he said.
The Prime Minister designate told reporters that his first priority was to have a cabinet of ministers sworn in and for Parliament to accept his policy statement. He was already in talks with the President to build a coalition, after the UNP won 106 seats in the 225 member House, just seven seats short of a simple majority.
Wickremesinghe said his Government would take a ‘Lichchavi’ approach’ to governance, which requires all parties to work together.

“They can do this either in Government, holding ministerial positions, or in Parliament through the oversight committees,” Wickremesinghe explained.
Wickremesinghe said his Government would seek Parliament’s endorsement of the UNP’s 60-month plan for the country, which the people endorsed on 17 August.
“We must build a consensus on our national policy. I have got a mandate to put before Parliament our plan so that we could arrive at a consensus and build a national framework, within which we will do our politics,” he added.
Wickremesinghe said the people had indicated their preference. “Let’s work together. I don’t think anyone can opt out or go back to divisive politics – we will not allow that,” he said.

- See more at: http://www.ft.lk/article/460115/Rallying-call-by-Ranil#sthash.3ZOQf5DS.dpuf

Sri Lankan Politics – Good, Bad and Ugly

We have also seen the results of this 2015 election that some of those who have been well-known for indulging in their own appetites, desires, selfishness, greed, covetousness and avarice have been re-elected and are now in Parliament.

by M. Zulkifli Nazim

( August 20, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Countries all over the world have their assortment of citizens – the good, the bad and the ugly. The “ugly” here refers to the demeanour, deportment and behavioural attitudes of certain individuals.

It is the shared psychological attributes of humankind that are assumed to be shared by all human beings -The good, the bad and the ugly, will support , praise and vote for their respective counterparts; and this is what we have seen in this 2015 General Elections in Sri Lanka. A complete hotchpotch of a motley assortment of political candidates who have been selected and elected to represent the people in our legislative assembly.

The United National Party, their representatives and their supporters have gone through formidable opposition in achieving what they have accomplished today. There are also good people and statesmen material from other political parties as well, who have been elected in this parliamentary election. It now becomes the imperative duty, obligation and responsibility of His Excellency, The President, Maithripala Sirisena, as well the Honourable Prime Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe to see that this victory bears fruit – This Victory is a meaningful triumph on the road to Good Governance.

We have seen in the past decade or so, the elected Members of Parliament, who were supposed to improve the economic growth of a country and its people – agriculturally, industrially, educationally, utility of natural resources, etc, had totally misinterpreted, misconceived and misconstrued that they were elected for the purpose of improving their own personal economy and wealth.

We all know how those abominations tried with all their power to pass the blame of all their crimes, usurpations and violations on to the temporary government and its ministers nominated by the President in January this year and carried out their accusations and false propaganda relentlessly.

We have also seen the results of this 2015 election that some of those who have been well-known for indulging in their own appetites, desires, selfishness, greed, covetousness and avarice have been re-elected and are now in Parliament.

It is indeed bewildering and has struck all of us dumb with amazement as to how certain low calibre individuals disgustingly dirty, imprisoned for murder, characterized by obscenity and filthy mouths were able to receive over a couple of 100,000 votes and more? It is a logical conclusion that certain numbers on the voters’ list had been pointed out to innocent and illiterate people and were asked to place their cross on them and and those people who voted were totally unaware as to whom they were voting for.

It is also blatantly quite clownish, to note that the former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has issued a statement to the effect that he has come to rectify certain issues and serve the people. He could not and did not implement anything decent, legal or just when he was in power. This statement he has made now is laughable indeed.

So all in all, it, therefore, becomes an arduous, formidable and laborious task for the President and Prime Minister to weed out the undesirables and appoint good, dedicated, devoted and committed members to forge ahead for a better future for all the people of Sri Lanka. We know it is no picnic, we know it is hard, burdensome and demanding; it is like getting blood out of a stone – nevertheless it is an absolutely necessary task, indispensable and vitally necessary.

Everybody whether within the parliament or without, are well aware of those culprits who were in the previous regime and who misbehaved with total indecency and impropriety in every conceivable and inconceivable manner within the august premises. They should be kept on a tight leash and such improper and inappropriate behaviour should be severely punished, and the punishment should be deterrent, so that nobody else would repeat the offense.

The Most Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero, had repeatedly enlightened the people, on a daily basis, that the people who will be chosen for the establishment of good governance has to be free of all blemish, free from evil and guilt. Under no circumstances, should those who are under investigation by the FCID, the Bribery Commission and any and all Law Enforcement Agencies – special, local or state Criminal Investigation Divisions, should be even considered for any position. They should be delegated and assigned as the proverbial back-benchers.

Such a goal cannot be effective without leaders who have dedicated themselves to fight corruption.

In addition, the President and the Prime Minister must see that sacrifices must be made by the elected members of parliament. The Vehicles and security personnel provided to MPs in Sri Lanka have put to shame the Security provided to Emperors of the world. This facility should be discontinued immediately – what they need for their protection, if at all they need protection, will be a couple of armed constables to accompany them on official visits in their own vehicle.

The wastage of food, which consumes a large part of the economy, in the parliamentary complex should be terminated. The members should be made to bring their own meals – only beverages (non-alcoholic) drinks should be served – for this operation, a decent canteen would be more than sufficient. Just to mention a few.

All the government departments, corporations, boards and public offices including the judicature are entrenched with corrupt officials – they should be identified and stubbed out, uprooted and replaced with non-corrupt individuals, otherwise, they will never allow the government to function under the slogan of “Good Governance”. They will always be an impediment and a hindrance for the progress and implementation of Good Governance.

Karu Jayasuriya, speaker of the new parliament!

Aug 20, 2015

The UNP is ready to name veteran politician, UNP deputy leader, Karu Jayasuriya as speaker of the 14th parliament that will have its first meeting on September 01, say sources at Sirikotha.

It was him who had led the committee that was responsible for ensuring victory for the UNP at the general election. Also, as head of the UNP leadership council, he chose up-and-coming leader Harin Fernando to fulfil the challenging task of democratically toppling the murderous Rajapaksa regime through the Uva provincial council in September 2014. Jayasuriya fulfilled the responsible task of taking the party to victory within a year by working shoulder-to-shoulder with the young membership, while the party’s young leaders were confined to their districts.

 

He had intended to retire from politics after the general election, but he told Lanka News Web that he would remain committed for a few more years on behalf of the UNP and to establish democracy in Sri Lanka. Thereafter, he will retire from political in an honourable manner, he said.

Maithri manages well ;UPFA and UNF to sign MOU tomorrow- Ranil is new P.M.

(Lanka-e-News- 20.Aug.2015, 5.30PM) The president Maithripala Sirisena has concurred in the proposal for a national government with the SLFP joining with the victorious UNF , and the  memorandum of understanding between the parties  is to be signed tomorrow.

A Central committee meeting was convened this morning , and at the meeting the issues of the secretaries and those revolving around the  national list and Mahinda Rajapakse were ironed out. The ex secretary Susil Premajayantha has agreed to step down from the post of UPFA secretary, and Mahinda Rajapakse has informed he will not come forward to be the opposition leader, while Anura Yapa has consented to hand over the secretary post to Duminda Dissanayake.

In the circumstances , with this concurrence , the national list which was held back has now been forwarded to the elections commissioner. The latter is scheduled to announce the list , and publish the gazette notification.

‘Tomorrow, the UPFA and UNF are to sign the memorandum of understanding , and thereafter Ranil Wickremesinghe will take oaths as the new prime minister at 9.00AM. The Cabinet of ministers will be named subsequently. May be the  new cabinet of ministers will take  oaths next Monday.’

Based on unofficial sources , President Maithripala Sirisena has requested  the prime minister to grant ten ministerial portfolios , deputy minister posts and 15 non cabinet ministers to the opposition. 

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by     (2015-08-20 13:06:54)

Compulsory Age Of Retirement For Politicians

By Somapala Gunadheera –August 20, 2015

Somapala Gunadheera

Organized employment systems have a set age for retirement. That is but a natural outcome of the basic rules of biological decay. The compulsory age of retirement for public servants is 60. The judicial service has its own limit for retirement which falls a few years later. Even the private sector is governed by a predetermined limit to a service. Of course the self-employed have no such compulsion. They decide when to call it a day intuitively, depending on such factors as physical fitness and returns on investment. In any case, politics is not self-employment. It is supposed to be a service rendered to the nation by public-spirited volunteers. If they mean well, they owe it to their conscience to quit when they are no longer physically fit to do their job satisfactorily, particularly in the presence of thousands, fiddle fit to take on.

Politicians are not governed by retirement limits. Most of them keep returning until they are finally thrown out by the electorate. That happens only after the voters reach the end of their tether. In the meantime, public interest does not receive the optimum benefit from the investment of public funds to keep such hangers on tottering. It was only the other day that Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the Leader of the JVP, remarked that some members of Parliament need the assistance of their colleagues to reach the seats assigned to them. When we joined the public service, in the prime of our youth, we had to submit a certificate of fitness from a qualified doctor but the most decrepit candidate is not called upon to produce an MC with his nomination papers.

Of course there are politicians who started young but they had not got a proper chance to get involved with the administration of the country, as their Party had been in the opposition for quite a long time. They were not inactive during that period but age has overtaken them by the time they got a chance to govern. It is unfair to write them off now ignoring their past contributions to the Party. But accommodating them at the expense of efficiency is unfair by the people. This dichotomy presents a challenge to political leadership. It is for them to devise a method by which both ends could be served satisfactorily.

The last regime tried to solve the problem by creating a cadre of senior ministers, ostensibly, to accommodate the seniors but the devise did not benefit either the country or the seniors themselves who had to vegetate in a glorified asylum. All members in the pool were not equally old, while there were much older members remaining in the House. Presumably, it was a devise of convenience. The real challenge today is to create space for the veterans to be in the limelight without detriment to the national interest.           Read More