Protest by health services union

2015-12-08
The All Ceylon Health Services Union today staged a protest in front of the Colombo General Hospital making several demands including the removal of salary anomalies. Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana 

Boko Haram Is Wounded and Dangerous

The terrorist group’s dream of an Islamic caliphate is over. But even on the defensive, the group is as deadly as ever.

BY MAX SIOLLUN-DECEMBER 8, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria — Less than a year ago, the militant group Boko Haram controlled an area of northeastern Nigeria the size of Belgium. It was “a mortuary for the uncooperative and prison for the conquered,” as one unlucky resident described it to me at the time, and it threatened to engulf ever more of the country. The brutal Islamist insurgency had sapped the morale and discipline of the Nigerian army and seemed poised to carve out a caliphate that rivaled the one it had pledged loyalty to in Iraq and Syria.

Fast-forward just 10 months and the idea of an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria seems a distant memory. Delusions of statehood caused Boko Haram’s leaders to overreach, inviting a powerful regional military response and bolstering the candidacy of former Nigerian military leader Muhammadu Buhari, who set about crushing the Islamist insurgency after winning the presidency in March. A regional military coalition led by Nigeria has recaptured much of the territory Boko Haram once controlled and driven its fighters into remote regions in Nigeria’s northeastern corner.

But if Boko Haram has seen its territorial ambitions dashed in recent months, it is hardly on the verge of defeat. In a way, Boko Haram has come full circle, reverting back to the kind of asymmetrical warfare that was once its grisly hallmark. As a result, the group poses as much of a danger to civilians now as it did when it fought to control cities and towns. In the last six months alone, Boko Haram has killed nearly 1,500 people.

What explains the rollercoaster ride of the last 10 months? Part of the answer is hubris. Last month, a senior Nigerian military officer told me that the publicity Boko Haram garnered from its 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok emboldened the group’s leaders to be more ambitious, resulting in costly mistakes. Instead of sticking to the hit-and-run tactics that it had used to successfully torment the Nigerian military for years, Boko Haram began to seize and hold territory, boldly declaring an Islamic “caliphate” in the areas it had conquered. This stretched the group’s resources too thin and forced it into a conventional war with the Nigerian military that it could not win. Boko Haram also shed its domestic focus, launching cross-border raids into neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, all of which eventually joined a five-nation military coalition against it (along with Benin and Nigeria).

The coalition has done a number on Boko Haram. Not only did it rout the group from its former strongholds, but follow-on pressure from the Nigerian military has degraded the insurgents’ ability to pull off brazen attacks on high-profile targets — such as the 2011 bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. But if the arrival of regional forces helped turn the tide against Boko Haram, so did changes to Nigeria’s own military strategy. A special forces unit under Maj. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, the commander heading up the battle against Boko Haram, has implemented an aggressive new policy of “relentless pursuit,” which has denied militants the luxury of occupying towns they attack. The Nigerian military has also increased pressure on Boko Haram by releasing photos of its most wanted 100 members, three of whom have been arrested in the past month alone.

The increase in pressure on Boko Haram helps to explain why it has shifted tactics. Unable to square off against the Nigerian military directly, the group has resorted to deploying child suicide bombers and IEDs against softer targets, like the market in Kano, Nigeria, that was hit by a twin suicide bombing on Nov. 18. But not all of the group’s behavioral changes reflect tactical decisions. Boko Haram is showing signs of battle fatigue and depressed morale. New African magazine recently reported that “the average age of Boko Haram’s fighting force keeps dropping” and that “the majority of [its] fighters are teenagers.” With its fighting cadre depleted by recent military setbacks, Boko Haram has reportedly replenished its ranks by kidnapping children and forcing them to fight.

The pressure on Boko Haram is unlikely to let up anytime soon. Nigeria’s uncompromising new president has ordered the army to crush the insurgency before the end of 2015. He has also replaced much of the military leadership, sacking his national security advisor, chief of defense staff, and the heads of the army, navy, and air force, in one fell swoop in July. Last month, he ordered the arrest of the ousted national security advisor, Lt. Col. Sambo Dasuki, for corruption, after an investigative panel accused Dasuki of misappropriating more than $2 billion of the defense budget (perhaps explaining why Nigerian soldiers have complained of being under-equipped).

But if Boko Haram is on the defensive, it would be a mistake to assume that the group is near defeat. It is more than capable of mounting devastating attacks from its current hideouts in the northeastern Sambisa Forest and the Mandara Mountains that straddle Nigeria’s border with Cameroon. It has also risen from the ashes before. In 2009, the Nigerian military killed Boko Haram’s former leader, demolished its mosque in Maiduguri, and summarily executed hundreds of its members. But instead of dying out, the group simply laid low, regrouped, and reemerged deadlier than ever in 2010.

There are reasons to think it could pull off something similar again. For one thing, the group’s methods are becoming fragmented. Increasingly, they involve acts of banditry that serve no obvious theological objective. Whereas Boko Haram’s leaders once focused on increasing the size of their “caliphate,” they are now carrying out isolated attacks on towns that they have no realistic possibility of capturing. This shift may be partly explained by the fact that Boko Haram has had to rely more heavily on forced conscripts, who lack the theological fervor of earlier recruits.

Regardless of the precise reason for the transformation, Boko Haram has come to resemble the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that demonstrated remarkable longevity as it terrorized northern Uganda, parts of South Sudan, and the Central African Republic over the last three decades. Both groups had their origins in religious doctrine, and both have evolved to the point where they employ nearly tactic-less violence — violence that is both extraordinarily difficult to counter and seemingly unrelated to the groups’ religious objectives. Boko Haram and the LRA both abduct children, use them as sex slaves and fighters, and force them to commit atrocities that sever the social bonds that link them to their communities. They both also tend to retaliate against civilian populations when they come under attack by the military. Finally, both use rape as a weapon of war. And as the startling number of released Boko Haram captives who turned out to be pregnantsuggests, the group is deliberately impregnating female captives in an effort to replenish its ranks in the future. All of these traits will make the group hard to stamp out for good.

After a year of dizzying gains and losses for Boko Haram, the conflict has arrived at a bloody stalemate. For Boko Haram at least, this is familiar territory: The group has been reduced to the level of capability it enjoyed in 2009, when it carried out sporadic attacks against civilians and routinely gave the army a bloody nose. The fact that Boko Haram is unable to seize and hold territory is not much of a consolation. If there’s one thing the group has demonstrated over the years, it’s that it can strike even when badly wounded and cornered.

Photo credit: PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / Getty Images 

FSA: Syrian rebel groups must unite to defeat Assad - See more at: 

Free Syrian Army spokesman tells Middle East Eye that summit in Saudi Arabia will build a united force from Syrian opposition groups 

A member of the Syrian government forces looks at enemy positions from the Fatima north Daraa (AFP) 

Rori Donaghy-Tuesday 8 December 2015

The Syrian opposition is gathering in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to agree a unified political position based on removing President Bashar al-Assad from power, a senior member of the Free Syrian Army has told Middle East Eye.

Major Issam al-Reis, spokesman for the FSA Southern Front, said the two day conference in Riyadh was a “positive step” that can unite Syria’s fractured military and political opposition.

“Everyone who is attending has a vision of uniting Syria,” he said, from his base in Turkey. “They will discuss the problems [between groups] and end by agreeing on a unified position. Our message is that Syrians are united and Syria has a future together.

“I think we will have a document and a statement that will serve as a platform for any future initiatives of talks. This meeting is not about financial or any other kind of support.

"This is about agreeing on one statement, one position, one vision for the opposition – this is much more important than anything else.”

The Southern Front is the largest single Syrian opposition group, with 25,000 fighters based in south Syria.

Among the other groups expected to attend the Riyadh conference are Islamist movements Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, who are supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey respectively. These two groups together have an estimated 27,500 fighters battling Assad’s forces in central and northern Syria.

First meeting of its kind

The meeting in Riyadh is the first time in five years of war that there has been an attempt to bring together all the various factions that make up Syria’s opposition. One hundred and fifty delegates will try to find common ground and agree on a public statement, but, perhaps more significantly, they will aim to form a 25-man committee to represent the opposition.

However, a Western diplomat told Reuters that the meeting was not “all-encompassing”.

“I do not expect Riyadh to be a constructive step […] the whole thing has been very acrimonious and it looks like a Saudi-Turkey wish list,” the unnamed diplomat said.  

Reis said an important reason for the Riyadh conference was to build a stronger voice for the opposition, in light of recent international talks in Vienna where international powers discussed ways to bring an end to the civil war.

“There were no Syrians in Vienna,” he said. “Everything that was decided there didn’t include our opinion. That’s why we are going to Riyadh to have one position [for any future talks].”

The Vienna talks in November saw Saudi Arabia and Iran sit together to discuss a war in which they have backed opposite sides - a move that many analysts have said may prove key in ending a conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people in five years.

After Vienna international powers announced a plan to begin on 1 January that would see local ceasefires announced, which will be monitored by the UN, and a transitional government formed that will include both President Assad and the opposition.

The plan to include Assad in Syria’s future was a marked turn for many of the participants at Vienna, including many Western countries who have repeatedly called for the Syrian president to be toppled due to his responsibility for the vast majority of civilian casualties in the war.

This policy change has come largely as a result of an increased international focus on the Islamic State group, particularly after it claimed responsibility for the recent attack in Paris that killed 130 people.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has suggested Assad’s army could be an ally in the fight against IS, a position backed up this week by Conservative MP and London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Assad 'giving support to IS'

However, the FSA’s Reis said this change of heart is the result of a successful strategy by Assad to promote the threat of IS.

“There can be no doubt that Assad is giving support to IS,” he said. “He buys oil from them, he wants to make sure they can keep going.

“The only way he can convince the international community of his worth is to make them think he is fighting terrorism. He is using IS to strengthen his position – this is the only way Assad can stay in power.”

Reis said anyone who backs Assad is betraying the Syrian people because he is “using Iranians, Hezbollah, and Russia in a war against his own people”.

“He is using foreign powers to fight for him and keep him in power. The Syrians aren’t fighting with Assad.”

Defectors from the Syrian army recently told Middle East Eye that up to 70 percent of troops fighting in southern Syria are either Iranian or from the Lebanese movement Hezbollah.

Reis said the opposition will demand in Riyadh that Assad is removed at the beginning of the transition period, contradicting the plans announced after November’s Vienna talks.

Two groups who will not be in Riyadh are al-Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front and the Kurdish YPG militia.

Reis said Nusra, who have a powerful presence in northern Syria, has not been invited to the conference because it does “not have legitimacy from the Syrians” and was full of foreign fighters.

He described the YPG as a "terrorist militia supporting Assad", in a reference to the Kurdish militia’s priority to carve out a state in northern Syria rather than join in the wider battle to overthrow the president.

While the YPG is viewed by many in the West as a key partner in fighting IS, Reis said the Kurdish militia was “not considered part of the opposition” and would not work with it despite overtures from the international community.

“The groups representing the opposition now [in Riyadh] are 10 times stronger than any other group on the ground. They are enough, they represent the majority,” he said.

War on Terrorism: Some unknown truths

2015-12-07

In the aftermath of the collapse of  the former Soviet Union in 1979, and the emergence of the United States as the most powerful military power in known human history, people worldwide dreamt that democracy would flourish and the world would be a war-free and peaceful place.

War on Terrorism Some Unknown Truths by Thavam Ratna

British, French leaders join world condemnation of Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering U.S.

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said on Dec. 7 that he was in favor of a 'total and complete' shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. (C-SPAN)

By Annie Gowen-December 8 

NEW DELHI — Donald Trump’s call for a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the United States drew widespread condemnation around the world Tuesday, including from British and French leaders and the U.N. refu­gee agency.

Citizens, politicians and refu­gee officials alike slammed the Republican presidential front-runner’s latest controversial statement, calling it hate speech and a disturbing sign of Islamophobia in a country rattled in recent weeks by large-scale terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.

British, French Leaders Join World Condemnation of Trump's Proposed Ban on Muslims Entering U.S. by Thavam Ratna

Saudi woman Gang-raped, Court Gives Her 200 Lashes And Jail Term

by Amando Flavio-November 12th, 2015

A court in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sentenced a woman who was gang-raped by seven men to 200 lashes and six months in jail after being found guilty of speaking to the media about the crime and indecency.

According to the account of the story reported by the Middle East Monitor, the 19-year-old Shia woman was in the car of a student friend when two men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area, where she was raped by the seven men.

She was initially sentenced to 90 lashes for being in a car of a man who was not related to her. Commentators say Saudi Arabia’s law dictates that a male family member must accompany a woman at all times in public.

The Press TV reports that the rapists were surprisingly sentenced to five years in prison. And it is unclear why the rapists were handed this light sentence, considering the fact that they could have faced the death penalty.

Lawyer for the woman, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, appealed to the Saudi General Court after the sentence was handed down. However, the court reviewed the sentence, increasing it to 200 lashes. The court held that the woman had spoken to the media. The lawyer was also banned from the case; his license was confiscated, and was summoned to a disciplinary hearing.

After this new ruling, court officials said in a statement published on the official Saudi Press Agency“For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media”.

The verdict has been criticized by a number of activists and human rights organizations around the world. Human Rights Watch condemned the ruling, saying it creates grounds for perpetrators of sexual violence against women to continue their crime.

“Not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators”, the organization said in a statement.

But the Kingdom replied such criticisms, faulting the woman for going out without a male family member.

The Saudi Ministry of Justice said in a statement “The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism, away from emotions”.

In September 2014, the United Nations (UN) elected Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UN, Faisal Tradas the new Chairman for the UN Human Rights Council Panel.

The UN Watch, a non-governmental watchdog organization based in Geneva, urged the US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power and EU foreign minister, Federica Mogherini to speak against, and lobby for the appointment to be reversed due to Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record.

“It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel. Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights. Saudi Arabia has arguably the worst record in the world when it comes to religious freedom and women’s rights, and continues to imprison the innocent blogger Raif Badawi”, the organization said.

Abducted Delhi girl gang-raped for 13 days


Dec 7, 2015,
GREATER NOIDA: A 19-year-old girl, who went missing from Delhi on November 22, was rescued from Salempur Gurjar village in Greater Noida on Sunday. The girl was allegedly abducted and repeatedly raped by two men, who opened fire on her as she attempted to flee from their clutches on Sunday.

The girl, a resident of west Delhi's Uttam Nagar, had gone missing on November 22. A report was lodged by her family the same night. As Delhi Police was already investigating the case, Noida Police on Sunday handed over the matter to the former.

According to Noida Police, they held her hostage in a house in Tugalpur, where they repeatedly raped her for 13 days. On Sunday, she managed to escape from the house but the abductors managed to find her. They shot at her near Salempur Gurjar village and dumped her in a well.

Villagers rescued her from the well and rushed her to a hospital. The doctors treating her said she sustained two bullets on her chest. Her condition is critical. According to the police, the family members had named a suspect who was detained by the police and questioned.

"We had detained and questioned a youth, named by the missing girl's parents as a suspect, about her whereabouts. He though had no information and was later let off, after which, we deployed more teams across NCR to search for the girl. She was found in Noida on Sunday and our investigating team has gone to the spot to verify the details," said Dependra Pathak, joint commissioner of police, south-west range.

Pathak said they have registered a case under IPC Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and the girl is under medical supervision. Further sections will be added as required, once she is able to give her statement to police, he said.

"Our teams are verifying the details as alleged by the family. The girl has also named two men responsible for the act and their identities are being probed," the official said.

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Beijing's 'airpocalypse': city shuts down amid three-day smog red alert

Children kept at home, building sites and factories closed and cars kept off roads as pollution engulfs Chinese capital

Beijing smog that triggered pollution alert. Photograph: EPA/Rolex Dela Pena

Tom Phillips in Beijing-Tuesday 8 December 2015

“Create a paradise,” urges the motto of Beijing’s Baijiazhuang primary school – a message stamped on to its front gate in bright red calligraphy.

On Tuesday morning, as China’s smog-choked capital declared its first ever air pollution red alert, the school, normally buzzing with over-energetic 10-year-olds, was almost silent. A pungent mist hung over the outdoor basketball courts and running track.

A Vimeo video showing normal life at Baijiazhuang primary school.

Beijing's 'Airpocalypse' City Shuts Down Amid Three-day Smog Red Alert by Thavam Ratna

Leytonstone attack: accused had "mental health problems"

Channel 4 News has spoken to the brother of a man who appeared in court today charged with attempted murder following an alleged terror attack at a tube station in East London.

MONDAY 07 DECEMBER 2015

Muhaydin Mire's brother Mohamed has told Channel 4 News of his sibling's history of drug taking and mental health issues and how he had bought his brother a ticket to fly home to Somalia at the weekend.

He also told Channel 4 News that before this incident happened his brother was "working as an Uber driver. He was doing a good job."

"He had drugs influenced on him. Just cannabis. It give him mental problem. Bit paranoia. He was diagnosed by a doctors and treated in 2007 for paranoia.

"He had mental issues. Mental problem. He was in hospital for three months in 2007.

Mohamed told Jon Snow how he came out of hospital and "got a bit better.

"He was working as an Uber driver and then he got back into the same thing and went a bit crazy. Started calling me and talking funny, funny.

"That started in August of this year. He started calling me up and saying odd things.

"Not radical, it's a bit like jumping around talking nonsense and sort of like talking saying he's seeing demons and stuff, people following him. Bit of paranoia.

'Tried to get help'

"I explained to the family the situation. They were aware of it. We tried to get him help. We tried to call the local authority, they could not help him because they said he's no harm to people and he's no harm to himself.

"I talked to the police and they came and looked at him and that was 22 October.

"And then I decided to move him out the country. I decided to book a ticket for him on this Sunday. He was okay as far as I know. He wanted to go."

Uber’s general manager for the London area, Tom Elvidge, confirmed that Muhaydin Mire had worked for Uber, saying: "We’re appalled by this terrible attack and our hearts go out to the victims.

"Muhaydin Mire was a private hire driver who was licensed by Transport for London. He started driving on the Uber platform in June 2015 and has not taken a trip since August."

'Pray for the victims'

Mohamed Ibrahim, Chair, London Somali Youth Forum told Channel 4 News: "We want to pray for the victims. These were people who were getting on with their lives. It could have been me, it could have been my daughter."

"But the context is we have a young man who has a mental health issue and it seems the family have alerted the authorities - the family were appealing for some urgent [medical] help."

Sahel Ali, Chairman, Darussalam Mosque and Cultural Centre says: "There is a fear among the Somali community especially...in the context of a minicab driver we are fearful that everyone else will look at us with suspicious eyes."

"I think highlighting the man's mental condition will help the population here understand that there is something behind it."

The Metropolitan Police has told this programme: "They were contacted approximately three weeks before the incident on Saturday. There was no mention of radicalisation. The conversation related entirely to health related issues and the family were therefore correctly referred to health services for help."

Penis transplant plans for wounded US veterans

Image copyright

By Smitha Mundasad-27 minutes

Surgeons are set to carry out the first penis transplant in the United States, in a bid to help wounded war veterans.

The 12-hour operation will involve stitching key nerves and blood vessels to restore urinary - and ultimately - sexual function.

It follows the world's first successful penis transplant, in South Africa, last year.

The team at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) plan to operate on 60 veterans as part of a trial.

The operation

The first procedure will involve a penis donated by a young deceased donor, with his family's permission.

And according to the team at JHU the hope for the veteran is that sensation will return within six to 12 months.

Depending on the extent of the injury and success of the operation, there is a chance patients will be able to father their own children.

But scientists say as only one successful transplant has taken place before, they will take care to ensure there are realistic expectations.

Like other major transplant surgery the operation carries risks, such as infections or bleeding during the procedure.

And the side-effects of taking life-long anti-rejection drugs will need to be weighed up too.

Patients will also be screened extensively to make sure they can cope with the psychological impacts of surgery.

There have been concerns with other complex operations - hand and face transplants for example - that patients may find it difficult to accept the donated organs as their own.

Carisa Cooney, clinical research manager at JHU, said the team had spent many years preparing for the operations and discussing the ethical issues.

She added: "For the right patients this can really improve their quality of life and help them re-enter society."

War wounds

Veterans will be monitored for five years and scientists will gather evidence to consider whether transplants should be offered more widely.

Recent research involving young military personnel suggests 7% suffer genital injuries in combat.

Many are due to blast injuries from improvised explosive devices which are being increasingly deployed.

And though protective gear exists, researchers say some soldiers choose not to wear it as it can get in the way of them moving around quickly.

Future generations

Only two other penis transplants have previously been reported.

One took place in China in 2006. Accounts suggested the operation went well, but the penis was later rejected.

The other operation took place in South Africa, involving a young man who had been left with just 1cm of his original penis as a result of a botched circumcision.

His medical team said there was extensive discussion about whether the operation, which is not life-saving in the same way as a heart transplant, was ethical.

Recent reports suggest the transplant was successful and he has had a child.

Strengthening UNP-SLFP unity is of paramount national importance

 

by Jehan Perera-December 7, 2015, 6:13 pm

The passage of the second reading of the budget by a 2/3 majority in Parliament is an indication that the National Unity Government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe continues to be strong. Although the SLFP component of the government headed by President Sirisena is divided, with a majority of the members not voting in favour of the budget, a sufficient number of them voted in favour of it giving the government a comfortable majority that exceeded 2/3 of those present and voting. The government was also able to obtain the support of the ethnic and religious minority parties to bolster its majority. This will boost the confidence of the government when it comes to the question of constitutional reform which it has flagged as its priority after the passage of the budget.

A second notable feature of the budget debate was the accommodative attitude of the government leadership to the concerns of those who felt that their interests had either been insufficiently considered or been adversely affected by the budget proposals. Both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe proposed and accepted last minute changes to the budget. The government had sought to raise revenues and to reduce expenditures to bridge the budget deficit. But both of these requirements would have been disadvantageous to some sections of the population. Therefore instead of standing firm as required by the imperatives of economic rationality, the government has sought to buy time for itself by exploring the option of a very large loan from the IMF that would help to bridge the budget deficit.

The most important need from the national perspective would be to ensure that the government stays in power in order to achieve the reforms it pledged at the presidential and general elections held earlier this year. At those elections the rampant corruption and abuse of power in the country of the previous government, and the looting of economic resources that emptied the treasury were highlighted and solutions based on the principles of good governance were promised. However, the opposition that draws its strength from the nationalist leadership of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa continues to remain a potent threat. The former president continues to have a special place in the sentiments of the Sinhalese ethnic majority on account of the military victory obtained during his period over the hitherto invincible LTTE.

VICIOUS CYCLES

The ability of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to neutralize the appeal of the former president and to keep the National Unity Government viable will be crucial to the direction that the country takes. Any rift between these two leaders or weakening of their holds over their respective political parties will threaten the stability of the government. The 2/3 majority in parliament that their unity has brought is crucial if Sri Lanka is to embark upon successful constitutional reform in order to get out of the vicious cycles into which it fell in the past due to weaknesses in the constitution and supreme law of the land. One of these was the over-powerful presidency that enabled the president to govern even outside of the rule of law. The other was the inability to ensure genuine sharing of decision making power between the ethnic majority and minorities.

The most protracted vicious cycle that the country has experienced is the ethnic conflict that led to three decades of war. Now for the first time, there is a consensus at the highest level of leadership from the two main political parties and also with the ethnic and religious minorities. This has never been the case before. On previous occasions, the political solutions that enlightened leaders of the government presented were opposed by those in the opposition, even when those solutions were a variant of what they themselves had proposed when they had formed the government. The National Unity Government headed by President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe presents a unique opportunity that needs to be taken forward to the long term resolution of the ethnic conflict. The iron frame of such a solution will be a constitutional settlement. It needs to be one that lays to rest the fears of the ethnic and religious minorities that there could be a backsliding in the future.

The government has set itself a six month time frame to reach a constitutional settlement and to promulgate a new constitution. The main pillar of the proposed new constitution would be the reform of the executive, which is currently seen as being about abolishing the executive presidency. The executive presidency has been the main instrument by which power was over-centralised and the independence of state institutions such as the judiciary and public service was undermined and in which the devolution of power to the provinces was negated. Other pillars of the new constitution would be the replacement of the present proportional electoral system with a mixed system that includes first-past-the post representation. Neither of these two constitutional changes is likely to be overly controversial with the general population as there is a consensus that fundamental changes to them are necessary.

ETHNIC CONFLICT

On the other hand, a major problem is likely to arise with regard to the solution to the ethnic conflict. On every occasion in the past beginning in 1957 when a solution was agreed to by the Prime Minister and leader of the major Tamil party, known as the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact, the solution was opposed. There was street mobilization by the opposition that led to riots and pogroms. In both 1957 and 1987 when the 13th Amendment was passed which devolved power to the provinces, there were even revolts within the government that destabilized those governments and made it difficult to implement the agreements. After the LTTE took the upper hand in the Tamil militancy, it became a formidable obstacle to a negotiated political solution.

On the present occasion, however, there are three factors that stand in favour of a political settlement. The first is the military defeat of the LTTE after which the parliamentary vote of the Tamil people went in vast numbers to the politically moderate TNA. The LTTE aimed for a maximalist solution that approximated a separate state. They opposed any solution that gave the central government power over the North and East that they claimed as the Tamil Homeland. The Interim Self Governing Authority they proposed had provision for two governments and two militaries and showed no abiding interest even in a federal solution that shared power between the centre and provinces. By way of contrast, the TNA leadership has repeatedly pledged their willingness to negotiate a solution within a united Sri Lanka based on power sharing arrangements.

The second factor in favour of a solution to the ethnic conflict is that the National Unity Government is headed by two of the most non-racist political leaders this country has ever seen. They are supported and backed by a strong group of likeminded leaders, most notably former President Chandrika Kumaratunga who has emerged as the peace builder and trusted problem solver within the government. The third factor is closely related to the second, and is based on the trust and goodwill that the leaders of the ethnic and religious minority parties have in the present leadership of the government. What exists today is a never-before-obtained confluence of factors and a unique opportunity that needs to be prioritised. In these circumstances it would be advisable to put aside anything that could jeopardize this unity. In this context, the postponement of local government elections scheduled for March 2016, which falls within the six month time frame of constitutional reform, and which pits the UNP and SLFP against each other needs to be given consideration.