It's Too Late to Turn Off Trump

We can't change the channel on the culture he's exposed

"Trump represents something of a quandary for the media," says an article recently published by the 'LA Times.' Mark Peterson/Redux"

BY MATT TAIBBI-December 9, 2015

Some people in the news business are having second thoughts this week about their campaign strategy. They're wondering if they created a monster in Donald Trump.

The LA Times published a piece about how the tone of Trump's TV appearances has changed, now that's he's fully out of the closet as an aspiring dictator, with his plans to ban all Muslims and close the Internet and whatever else he's come up with in the last ten minutes.

The paper noted that the candidate had unusual trouble on Morning Joe, a show that usually doubles as Trump's weekly spa treatment:

"Typically, the billionaire TV personality is able to bluster his way through morning talk shows. But Trump had an unusually contentious appearance Tuesday morning on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' where co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski grilled him on his proposals to keep Muslims out of the U.S....

"'It certainly puts the burden on the people conducting the interviews to be tougher the more controversial his comments are,' Scarborough told The Times after the exchange."

The paper went on to dig in to the ethics of covering Trump:

"Trump represents something of a quandary for the media, especially TV networks. Privately, TV news producers acknowledge that Trump has turbocharged their ratings…" 

Essentially, TV news producers are wondering: "How do we keep getting the great ratings without helping elect the Fourth Reich?"

In the same piece, Joe Scarborough said the problem was that Trump gives such great access to the media, just like John McCain did in 2000. "When John McCain was letting members of the press on his Straight Talk Express bus," Scarborough explained, "other Republicans always said he got the benefit of the doubt."

In other words, Trump is so open and accommodating with the press that it makes it hard for reporters to hammer his insane ideas. Scarborough doesn't seem to realize it, but that's a pretty damning admission.

There are some people now who are urging the media to ignore Donald Trump, and simply not cover him. But it's a little late for that.

The time to start worrying about the consequences of our editorial decisions was before we raised a generation of people who get all of their information from television, and who believe that the solution to every problem is simple enough that you can find it before the 21 minutes of the sitcom are over.

Or before we created a world in which the only inner-city black people you ever see are being chased by cops, and the only Muslims onscreen are either chopping off heads or throwing rocks at a barricades.

This is an amazing thing to say, because in Donald Trump's world everything is about him, but Trump's campaign isn't about Trump anymore. With his increasingly preposterous run to the White House, the Donald is merely articulating something that runs through the entire culture.

It's hard to believe because Trump the person is so limited in his ability to articulate anything. Even in his books, where he's allegedly trying to string multiple thoughts together, Trump wanders randomly from impulse to impulse, seemingly without rhyme or reason. He doesn't think anything through. (He's brilliantly cast this driving-blind trait as "not being politically correct.")

Mark Peterson/Redux

It's not an accident that his attention span lasts exactly one news cycle. He's exactly like the rest of America, except that he's making news, not following it – starring on TV instead of watching it. Just like we channel-surf, he focuses as long as he can on whatever mess he's in, and then he moves on to the next bad idea or incorrect memory that pops into his head.

Lots of people have remarked on the irony of this absurd caricature of a spoiled rich kid connecting so well with working-class America. But Trump does have something very much in common with everybody else. He watches TV. That's his primary experience with reality, and just like most of his voters, he doesn't realize that it's a distorted picture.

If you got all of your information from TV and movies, you'd have some pretty dumb ideas. You'd be convinced blowing stuff up works, because it always does in our movies. You'd have no empathy for the poor, because there are no poor people in American movies or TV shows – they're rarely even shown on the news, because advertisers consider them a bummer.

Politically, you'd have no ability to grasp nuance or complexity, since there is none in our mainstream political discussion. All problems, even the most complicated, are boiled down to a few minutes of TV content at most. That's how issues like the last financial collapse completely flew by Middle America. The truth, with all the intricacies of all those arcane new mortgage-based financial instruments, was much harder to grasp than a story about lazy minorities buying houses they couldn't afford, which is what Middle America still believes.

Trump isn't just selling these easy answers. He's also buying them. Trump is a TV believer. He's so subsumed in all the crap he's watched – and you can tell by the cropped syntax in his books and his speech, Trump is a watcher, not a reader – it's all mixed up in his head.

He surely believes he saw that celebration of Muslims in Jersey City, when it was probably a clip of people in Palestine. When he says, "I have a great relationship with the blacks," what he probably means is that he liked watching The Cosby Show.

In this he's just like millions and millions of Americans, who have all been raised on a mountain of unthreatening caricatures and clichés. TV is a world in which the customer is always right, especially about hard stuff like race and class. Trump's ideas about Mexicans and Muslims are typical of someone who doesn't know any, except in the shows he chooses to watch about them.

This world of schlock stereotypes and EZ solutions is the one experience a pampered billionaire can share with all of those "paycheck-to-paycheck" voters the candidates are always trying to reach. TV is the ultimate leveling phenomenon. It makes everyone, rich and poor, equally incapable of dealing with reality.

That's why it's so ironic that some people think the solution to the Trump problem is turning him off. What got us into this mess was the impulse to change the channel the moment we feel uncomfortable. Even if we take the man off the air, the problem he represents is still going to be there, just like poverty, corruption, mass incarceration, pollution and all of the other things we keep off the airwaves.

How Cuba is, and isn’t, changing, one year after the thaw with the U.S.

A look at the island nation in the year after presidents Obama and Raúl Castro announced that their countries would begin normalizing long-broken relations.

By Nick Miroff-December 15

HAVANA — No event in decades shook up Cuba like the announcement last Dec. 17 by presidents Obama and Raúl Castro that their countries would begin normalizing long-broken relations. In the 12 months since, Cubans have witnessed scenes few expected to see in their lifetimes, or at least in the lifetimes of Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul.

A year into renewed diplomatic relations between U.S. and Cuba, the island has been attracting a greater number of American tourists and students. (Reuters)

How Cuba is, And Isn’t, Changing, One Year After the Thaw With the U.S. by Thavam Ratna

Record high Arctic temperatures in 2015 having 'profound effects' on region

Latest Noaa report reveals 2015 temperatures were in some cases 3C above long-term average and 70% of ice pack in March was made of first-year ice

 A skinny polar bear is isolated on fragments of sea ice at the start of the Arctic summer. Photograph: Jonnie Hughes/BBC/Silverback Films/Jonnie Hughes

Oliver Milman in New York-Tuesday 15 December 2015

The Arctic experienced record air temperatures and a new low in peak ice extent during 2015, with scientists warning that climate change is having “profound effects” on the entire marine ecosystem and the indigenous communities that rely upon it.

The latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) report card on the state of the Arctic revealed the annual average air temperature was 1.3C (2.3F) above the long-term average – the highest since modern records began in 1900. In some parts of the icy region, the temperature exceeded 3C (5.4F) above the average, taken from 1981 to 2010.

This record heat has been accompanied by diminishing ice. The Arctic Ocean reached its peak ice cover on 25 February – a full 15 days earlier than the long-term average and the lowest extent recorded since records began in 1979. The minimum ice cover, which occurred on 11 September, was the fourth smallest in area on record.

More than 50% of Greenland’s huge ice sheet experienced melting in 2015, with 22 of the 45 widest and fastest-flowing glaciers shrinking in comparison to their 2014 extent.

Not only is the ice winnowing away, it is becoming younger – Noaa’s analysis of satellite data shows that 70% of the ice pack in March was composed of first-year ice, with just 3% of the ice older than four years. This means the amount of new, thinner ice has doubled since the 1980s and is more vulnerable to melting.

The report card – compiled by 72 scientists from 11 countries – noted sharp variations in conditions in the northern part of the Arctic compared to its southern portion. The melting season was 30-40 days longer than the long-term average in the north but slightly below average in the south, suggesting that changes to the jet stream, causing colder air to whip across the southern part of the Arctic, are having an impact.

Noaa said warming in the Arctic is occurring at twice the rate of anywhere else in the world – a 2.9C (5.2F) average increase over the past century – and that it is certain climate change, driven by the release of greenhouse gases, is the cause.

“There is a close association between air temperature and the amount of sea ice we see, so if we reduce the temperature globally it looks like it will stabilize the Arctic,” said Dr James Overland, oceanographer at Noaa.

“The next generation may see an ice-free summer but hopefully their decedents will see more ice layering later on in the century.”

Overland said if the world hits the 2C (3.6F) warming limit agreed by nations in the recent Paris climate talks, the Arctic will experience a 4C (7.2F) to 5C (9F) increase in temperature by 2050. The Chukchi Sea, by Alaska, is warming the fastest of any of the Arctic waters while the overall minimum ice extent has slumped by 13.4% a decade, on average.

The changes in the Arctic are also causing “major challenges” for the indigenous communities in the region, according to Rick Spinrad, Noaa’s chief scientist. Warmer-water fish such as cod are moving north, displacing Arctic species, while an increase in sunlight reaching the upper layers of the ocean triggered widespread blooms of algae in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Russia, in 2015.

This altered environment is causing severe problems for walruses, with unprecedented “haul outs” of the animals occurring in 2015. The large marine mammals traditionally use sea ice for mating and nurturing young but in recent years have been forced to congregate on land in north-west Alaska. This behaviour has led to stampedes that have killed calves and hampered walruses’ ability to find food.

“Females now have to make 110-mile (177km) treks for food. We just haven’t seen haul outs in these numbers before,” said Kit Kovacs, biodiversity research program leader at the Norwegian Polar Institute. “I don’t think there is much uncertainty here. We have a dramatic situation in the north Pacific with walruses.”

Hathawariya – Queen of herb – valuable medicinal plant

Hathavariya plant growing in a garden – Mackay

Roots and tubers
by Dr. Lalith Gunasekera

The information written in the article is provided for educational purpose only

Plant Family: Asparagaceae
Botanical name: ASPARAGUS RACEMOSUS
Common names: Shatavari (India), sangavari (Tamil), kurilo (Nepal), wild asparagus (English)

( December 14, 2015, Queensland, Sri Lanka Guardian) The plant originated in Australia, India, Sri Lanka and the Himalays (Nepal). The only Asparagus species native to Australia is Hathawariya. It is grows in Queensland, Northern Territory and North parts of Western Australia (tropical climate). But there are two other weed species that can be easily mistaken for hathawariya.

Hathawariya – Queen of Herb – Valuable Medicinal Plant by Thavam Ratna

Hate Speech Bill: Ruki Fernando Complaints to HRCSL

14/12/2015

Ruki Fernando, A prominent human rights defender has written to Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on imminent violation of his  rights guaranteed under article 14 (1) (a) of the constitution, through some provisions in the alleged two bills tabled by the Minister of Justice on 11 December 2015, to bring hate speech law. One provision appears to be almost copy and paste from PTA – article 2(1)(h), in a context that the government has committed to reform and repeal the PTA.

His letter to HTCSL is reproduced below:

14th December 2015

The Secretary

HRCSL

Colombo 

Dear Sir / Madam, 

I’m writing to make an urgent complaint about imminent violation of my rights guaranteed under article 14 (1) (a) of the constitution, through some provisions in the alleged two bills tabled by the Minister of Justice on 11 December 2015, to bring hate speech law. One provision appears to be almost copy and paste from PTA – article 2(1)(h), in a context that the government has committed to reform and repeal the PTA. 

Article on it appeared yesterday, http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-112054-news-detail-hate-speech-ban-soon.html

The two bills are attached 

My concern is also in understanding that this a provision used to convict journalist J.S. Tissainayagam, and arrest and detain opposition politician Azath Sally, both under section 2(1)(h) of the PTA. 

My fear of further curtailment of my freedom of expression and opinion and publication rights also comes due to the fact that very similar language has been used in ongoing court order against me, obtained at request of TID, after my release under PTA, in March 2014 – which essentially limits my freedom of expression – my court order copy is at https://rukiiiii.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/court-order-restricting-freedom-of-expression-on-ruki-20march2014.pdf 

Such provisions were also used to arrest my colleague and fellow human rights defender (HRD), Rev. Fr. Praveen Mahesan in March 2014. The arrest receipt is at https://rukiiiii.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/court-order-restricting-freedom-of-expression-on-ruki-20march2014.pdf

Both our cases are still pending and in my case, the TID / AG has refused to close the case or remove the gag order, despite written submissions to that effect by my lawyers in 2014 and 2015

As I and some other HRDs see it, there is no need to bring this law in, as there’s provision under ICCPR Act, 3(1) – what is needed is action to prosecute cases where there is ample evidence; not new laws replicating the PTA, which has been used in past and still used (against me) to clamp down on dissent. 

When emergency regulations were withdrawn in 2011, provisions were exported to more permanent regulations under the PTA, which unlike ER, is not even subject to parliamentary review. 

I also request the HRCSL to consider this law as one that will negatively affect my work as an HRD and writer (and many others expressing legitimate dissent). I see fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the fundamental rights chapter, based on international human rights standards and norms, as key to function as an HRD and writer. 

I kindly request the HRCSL to take this matter up urgently, as a personal complaint as well as matter of public interest, and provide directives and recommendations to the government and also to educate the public. 

Thanks 

–

Ruki Fernando

Advisor

INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre (www.ihrdc.wordpress.com)

Will the Commonwealth finally step up in Sri Lanka?

In Sri Lanka, the Commonwealth has a unique opportunity to restore its place on the global stage. But will it work?

Demotix/Tharaka Basnayaka (All rights reserved)

The newly formed government, led by President Sirisena (pictured above) and Prime Minister Wickramasinghe, has made admittedly symbolic gestures to rekindle hope and optimism in Sri Lanka, especially within the minority communities.

TRINANJAN RADHAKRISHNAN 14 December 2015
The 2015 edition of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was held in Malta from November 27 to 29, marked the 50th anniversary of the Commonwealth’s reincarnation as an intergovernmental association. In the five decades since the modern Commonwealth, the association has displayed its fortitude in times of crises; its firm opposition to apartheid in South Africa and the refusal to be complicit in the political oppression in Zimbabwe are some shining examples of its moral courage. However, in recent years the Commonwealth’s credibility has been bruised and its influence has diminished.

Will the Commonwealth Finally Step Up in Sri Lanka by Thavam Ratna

Eknaligoda Murder Probe Intensifies

by Nirmala Kannangara-Monday, December 14, 2015

Prageeth Eknaligoda

The Habeas Corpus and ‘B’ report cases filed in Court of Appeal and Homagama Magistrate’s Court respectively in the disappearance of Lanka e-news journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda are to be taken up for hearing this week, Sandya Eknaligoda, the wife of the journalist said. The Habeas Corpus case will be taken up Friday (18) in Colombo Court of Appeal while the ‘B’ report case filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is to be taken up Thursday (17) at Homagama Magistrate’s Court.

Meanwhile, reliable sources from a law enforcement authority told The Sunday Leader that few more military intelligence officers are to be arrested for the abduction of Eknaligoda while five more are now held in Welikada remand prison. Eknaligoda, abducted January 24, 2010, is alleged to have murdered by certain military intelligence members and thrown away to the deep seas off Trincomalee on the directives of a high rank official at the Defence Ministry during the previous regime. It is alleged that Eknaligoda had been killed at the Trincomalee Plantain Point Army Camp and buried in a marshy land closer to the beach. However, a flash flood had caused the body to emerge, and later the body had been allegedly thrown to the deep seas off Trincomalee.

Suda arrested

Following the arrest of former LTTE cadre Suda, who was taken into custody for the killing of former TNA parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj, the CID detained 11 suspects for Eknaligoda abduction on evidence that Suda gave during the CID interrogations. It was on Suda’s information, two former LTTE cadres were arrested and they later revealed who were behind Eknaligoda’s disappearance. These two, Sumathipala Suresh Kumar and Sathya Master, were attached to the LTTE intelligence unit, and it was on their information, Sergeant Major Ranbanda, of the Military Intelligence Corps was arrested at Kurunegala. This was followed with the arrest of two colonels of the Military Intelligence Corps along with seven others.

The two LTTE intelligence carders were attached to the Karuna faction, and they had allegedly abducted Eknaligoda at Rajagiriya on January 24, 2010 and had dropped him at the Giritale Army Camp. Later he was transferred to another camp before his murder was carried out. Amongst the arrested members of the Military Intelligence Corps are Lieutenant Colonel Kumararatne, Lieutenant Colonel Siriwardena, Staff Sergeant Rajapakse, and Corporal Jayalath. According to Sergeant Major Ranbanda, who was attached to the Giritale Camp at the time, Eknaligoda was taken away after rigorous interrogation by Major Jagath Wijesuriya. Ranbanda has further confessed that a colonel attached to the same army camp was aware of Eknaligoda’s fate.

Friendship promotion

Major Jagath Wijesuriya, who was in charge of the Giritale Army Camp, had been promoted to the rank of Major General by the then Defence Secretary although there were allegations levelled against Wijesuriya of a cattle theft. This promotion is said to have been effected because on the friendship the former Defence Secretary had with Wijesuriya.

However, according to the latest information, Lieutenant Colonel Shammi Kumararatna is also accused of abducting Eknaligoda. He was taken to his farm at Dambulla and later to the army intelligence headquarters at Giritale in the Polonnaruwa District. It is alleged that Eknaligoda was rigorously interrogated by Lt. Col. Ratnayake and his staff for several days before his fate was decided. According to reliable information, Eknaligoda was detained one week in Giritale and taken to the Sorivila Army Camp at Manampitiya in the Dimbulagala Police Division. The landmines in Sorivila are yet to be cleared. Further reports state that Eknaligoda is alleged to have been transferred to the Plaintain Point Army Camp in Trincomalee where Eknaligoda is believed to have breathed his last. It is also reported that the CID who went to the Giritale Army Camp carrying the suspects had recorded statements from army personnel at the camp and had gone through all the documents to get more details to know when Eknaligoda was brought to the camp and by whom.

The CID officials have also obtained the relevant details of those who visited the Giritale Army Camp at the time Eknaligoda was brought in there. Details of the camp attendance register and those who were on leave and the registration numbers of the vehicles that had entered the camp during this period also have been taken.

Attempts to know contacts

The CID is said to have taken mobile phone details of certain army intelligence officers to know about whom they have contacted and from whom they received calls during these days. Those who have worked in the camp at that time had also been questioned to get more details, it is learnt. It is believed that Eknaligoda, who was a critic of the Rajapaksa regime, was abducted and murdered for compiling ‘The Family Tree’ – a book on Rajapaksa and his family members in politics and on those who held high posts in the government. He had also produced a 40-minute documentary portraying the former presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka titled ‘Secrets of winning the war’.

Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the CID is now conducting an investigation to retrieve an audio tape – a conversation that the LTTE intelligence cadres who worked hand-in-glove with the Military Intelligence Corps had with Eknaligoda at his farm at Dambulla.

Meanwhile, the military connection with the murder of former MP N. Ravirajah has now surfaced because the weapon used for the murder had been given to the killer by one of the colonels arrested for Eknaligoda’s disappearance. According to the information received, it was this particular colonel, now in custody, who had allegedly given the weapon to Pillayan – the former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, who in turn had given it to Ravirajah’s assassin.

What of Attacks on Journalists in the North? -TNA MP

14/12/2015

The owner of the Uthayan newspaper, Tamil National Alliance member and parliamentarian E Saravanbavan queried as to why the Government was only investigating the murder of editor Lasantha Wickrematunga and disappearance of cartoonist Pargeeth Eknaligoda and not the attacks on scribes in the North.

While addressing Parliament yesterday, he commended the Government’s move to make sound progress on the two incidents but cited that there must also be a concerted effort to investigate incidents of attacks on journalists from the North and East.

He said several such incidents had taken place in the North during the former regime where there was a strong military presence.

The International Federation of Journalists last year inquired about the attack on journalist Sinnarasa Sivakumaran who was targeted at Kilinochchi in September last year. Other notable incidents include Aiyathurai Nadesan, a journalist for the Virakesari newspaper, was shot dead in Batticaloa in 2004. Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan (Sugitharajah), a journalist for the Sudar Oli newspaper, was shot dead in Trincomalee near the governor’s secretariat in January 2006.

Suresh Kumar (B. G. Sahayathasan) and Ranjith Kumar, two employees of the Uthayan newspaper, were killed on May2, 2006 when armed men burst into the newspaper’s offices and opened fire indiscriminately.

Chandrabose Suthaharan (Subash Chandraboas), editor of the Nilam magazine, was shot dead at his home in Thirunavatkulam near Vavuniya on April 16, 2007. Selvarajah Rajivarnam, a journalist for the Uthayan newspaper, was shot dead in Jaffna close to a military checkpoint on April 29, 2007. P. Devakumaran, a journalist for News First, was hacked to death in Navanthurai near Jaffna in May 2008. (RR)

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2015/12/13/new32.asp

TUs temporarily suspend strike

BY Ruwan Laknath Jayakody-2015-12-15

The State, private sector and Semi-Government Trade Unions Collective yesterday temporarily suspended strike action they were to embark on today.

Yesterday's talks between the trade unions and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe broke down with no agreement made on TU demands. Wickremesinghe also made a special statement in Parliament relating to demands made by the TUs urging him to reconsider pension and other proposals in Budget 2016. Saman Ratnapriya, convener of the State, Private and Semi-Government Trade Unions Collective and Trade Union Movement Collective for Social Justice said "We have been able to win a large number of victories for the trade unions and the working class. The demands that have been met by the government will be announced by the Collective soon. "

Besides the strike over budgetary issues schedule to have been begun today, the State, Private and Semi-Government Trade Unions Collective had also decided to conduct a two-day strike if the government failed to provide satisfactory solutions to trade union demands.

Ratnapriya said they wanted the budgetary proposal scrapping the pension scheme withdrawn and the Rs 10,000 allowances presently being given to the State sector to be added on to their basic salaries.
We asked the government to also give us a definite date by which the Rs 2,500 salary increase for the private sector would be given, he added.

We also wanted to know about the fate of the Employees' Provident Fund and Employees' Trust Fund matter along with the manpower issue, he said adding the government had said nothing conclusive about its plans to weaken the State banks by removing money spinning leasing and pawning services and facilities from these banks and passing them on to private pawn broking shops.

In the past the government merely said evasively that it would discuss the matter if we had alternate proposals, Ratnapriya said.
"On the evening of 12 December we had a discussion with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake, officials from the Ministry of Finance and Ministers, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Dr. Harsha de Silva and Ranjith Madduma Bandara. The Ministry of Finance was of the view that they could do nothing more about these demands. From 12 midnight yesterday the strike was to be launched beginning with the SLCTB and Railways Department and health, postal, banking services, technicians and printers," he said.

Budget 2016 and education and health expenditure: Playing numbers games isn’t in accord with good governance principles 

Chief of the IMF Mission to Sri Lanka, Todd Schneider, has questioned the accuracy of some of the figures presented in Budget 2016 - AFP

Controversy over education and health numbers

Monday, 14 December 2015

A controversy has arisen relating to the education expenditure vote in Budget 2016. A section of Opposition Parliamentarians has accused the Minister of Finance of adding some fictional numbers to the budgetary expenditure under the education vote.

Budget 2016 and Education and Health Expenditure Playing Numbers Games Isn’t in Accord With Good Governance... by Thavam Ratna

‘Real Action’ Nihal Sri Ameresekere ‘Out Of Action’ On Accusations

December 15, 2015

Highly vocal anti-corruption activist and well-known public litigant Nihal Sri Ameresekere has remained surprisingly silent on charges that he wrangled a Rs 100 million ‘urgent’ overdraft from the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) using powerful connections in the Treasury.

Nihal Sri Ameresekere

Ameresekere, told the BoC that the Treasury owed him money and therefore he would be able to repay the amount within a month is yet to do so, according to a complaint filed by Western Provincial Councillor Asanka Ranwala with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption and with the Financial Crimes Investigation Department.

Ranwala claims that the transaction took place in early December 2014. Ameresekere, at the time, secured and submitted a ‘no-objection’ letter to the BoC signed by S.R. Attygalle, Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, where Attygalle alluded to an imminent ‘final settlement’ in favor of Ameresekere that would enable repayment.

Colombo Telegraph wrote to Amarasekera requesting clarification on this issue. Strangely, Ameresekere, who on occasion emails submissions to Colombo Telegraph, is yet to repond to the questions.

Read More

Keeping to the agenda for change

By Jehan Perera-December 14, 2015

The role that civil society played in the change of government that occurred in January at the presidential elections, and which was reaffirmed at the general elections of August, was celebrated at two events held last week. One was on World Anti Corruption Day which fell on December 9. This event was actively supported by the newly independent Commission against Bribery and Corruption, and especially by its Director General, which has a giant task before it given the extent to which corrupt practices took place in the past, and whose legacy cannot be immediately terminated. The other was International Human Rights Day which fell on December 10. Both of these events drew large numbers of civic activists from all parts of the country. They also attended by government leaders, including President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The role of civil society has been a controversial one, and was under serious threat during the period of the former Rajapaksa government. Those who wish to undermine the legitimacy of civil society describe those who act on its behalf as NGOs. The term NGO crow was in common use by government leaders and has become part of the ordinary language of those who do not agree with the political stands and work done by sections of civil society. The term connotes the alleged characteristic of NGOs to live off any problem in society utilizing foreign funds and engaging in anti national activities. This interpretation was particularly strong within the former government which projected itself to be the sole representative of the national interest.

During the period of the Rajapaksa government the NGOs that spearheaded campaigns for human rights, good governance and peace building obtained publicity that was disproportionate to their size. They were routinely assailed on government platforms and abused in the government media as being anti-national money making machines and traitors. This antipathy to NGOs carried over to sections of the private media which shared the nationalist sentiments of the Rajapaksa government. The crucial role that they played, and which the former government did not wish, was to keep alive an alternative way of looking at the political and social issues that troubled the country. They offered a vision of a different future to that of the former government.

LARGER UNION

With few exceptions such as the internationally renowned Sarvodaya Movement, which does not describe itself as an NGO, most NGOs are small and consist of less than 10 full time staff members. While there are reported to be a few hundred of them that actually raise funds and do work, it was only a relatively small number of them that came forward during the period of the former government and earned its enmity. This was on account of their public affirmation of values of universal human rights, good governance practices of rule of law and checks and balances and the peaceful resolution of conflict through dialogue and negotiation. The former government’s response to this was to call them names and restrict the space for their work through police surveillance and not giving permission for their activities. Some were even subjected to physical attack by thugs with the police unwilling to intervene.

However, the mistake made by the former government was to misunderstand what civil society was, and to under estimate its strength. This was on account of their narrow identification of civil society as being limited to NGOs. There is a great amount of academic writing to show that NGOs are only a sub-set of a much wider category of organizations. Civil society also includes other self-organised expressions of people’s social, political, economic and cultural interests. It includes trade unions, associations of artistes and media personnel, groups formed on the basis of religion, such as inter-religious associations, and also chambers of commerce when they come together to promote the collective interests of their own sector or the larger society.

The significance of the last two national elections was that they catalysed a union of this lager civil society grouping, which far exceeded the strength of NGOs working by themselves. The Movement for Social Justice which was headed by the late Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha Thero was an umbrella group that brought together university academics, artistes, trade unionists, lawyers and other professionals, in addition to those from NGOs. This was the large collective of organizations and individuals that took to the streets in the months before the presidential election to argue their case for a change of values in the body politic, including a change of government.

DISTINCT ROLES

However, years before the establishment of the Movement for Social Justice and its emergence as a mass movement for social and political change, there was an earlier initiative which provided the model for what followed. This was the Platform for Freedom in which NGO leaders such as Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Dr Nimalka Fernando, Brito Fernando and Sudarshana Gunawardena played a key role. When the Rajapaksa government was the height of its power, and abuse of power was widespread, this small group invited opposition political parties to join them on a common platform that transcended narrow politics. In order to maximize their appeal, and minimize their differences, the Platform for Freedom focused on two basic freedoms: the Right to Life, and the Right to Free Speech. With the prevalence of the White Van culture, in which those who dissented could be bundled into them and made to disappear, the relevance of this slogan was compelling.

The two public events held on December 9 and 10 reiterated the commitment of civil society to continue with the struggle that had led them to oppose the former government. The presence of government leaders and the President and Prime Minister at those events was their reaffirmation that they too remained committed to the values of human rights and good governance. The close and friendly relations that existed between the government and civil society are a reversal of what existed in the past. The new media images of the government and civil society partnership in upholding the values of human rights and good governance is important in undoing the years of negative propaganda which prevailed in the past.

Civil society is defined as the "aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens." Civil society includes the family and the private sphere, referred to as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business. Sometimes the term civil society is used in the more general sense of "the elements such as freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, etc, that make up a democratic society." On the other hand, politics is about power which corrupts. Civil society will aware that its role is distinct from that of the government and the two cannot be one. This however does not preclude the possibility of some of its members from joining the government to undertake specific tasks and achieve specific objectives. US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power who visited Sri Lanka recently is an example. She was a human rights activist who joined the Obama administration, and after President Obama’s term is over, she is likely to revert to her role of being a human rights defender from civil society again. This may also be the case with some of Sri Lanka’s own civic activists. At the same time it is necessary to keep in mind the distinction between government, business and civil society.