Appointment of defeated candidates as NL MPs

BASL intervention sought to ask for fuller SC bench

Over 100 lawyers sign petition

by Shamindra Ferdinando-July 12, 2017, 12:00 pm 

Attorney-at-law Kodituwakku (left) handing over a petition signed by over 100 lawyers to Randeniya, Secretary to the BASL on Wednesday

More than 100 members of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) have signed a petition requesting the association’s President U. R. de Silva, PC, to summon a Special General Meeting to request Chief Justice Priyasath Dep to appoint a full bench comprising ten Supreme Court judges to decide on the constitutionality of appointing defeated candidates through respective National Lists of political parties.

Special General Meeting can be summoned by BASL President or five members of its executive committee or 100 members of the association.

Nagananda Kodituwakku, Attorney-at-Law (Sri Lanka) & Solicitor (UK) yesterday handed over the petition to Amal Randeniya, Secretary, BASL.

Having handed over the petition, Kodituwakku told The Island that he had received an assurance that the matter would be taken up next Saturday (July 15).

He said he had sought the intervention of the BASL membership after having failed to convince office bearers to intervene.

Kodituwakku has asked for the BASL’s backing against the backdrop of Chief Justice Dep and his predecessor K. Sripavan rejecting his pleas made following the last parliamentary general election in Aug 2015.

In a petition filed in the Supreme Court, Kodituwakku named Deputy Speaker Tilanga Sumathipala, Mahinda Samarasinghe, S.B. Dissanayake, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Angajan Ramanathan, A. M. H. M. Lebbe, Vijith Wijayamuni Zoysa, M. H. M. Navavi, Sunil Handunetti and Bimal Ratnayake as those who had been defeated at the last general election but accommodated through the National Lists of the UPFA, UNP and the JVP.

Kodituwakku in a communiqué to members of the BASL alleged that the enactment of the Article 99A (National List provision) of the Constitution on May 4, 1988 through the 14th Amendment by fraudulent means had deprived the people’s sovereign right of franchise as it enabled the appointment of defeated candidates.

Alleging that the due process hadn’t been followed in the enactment of the controversial Article 99A, Kodituwakku asserted the Executive and the Legislature had compelled the judiciary to act according to the Executive’s wishes.

The BASL bid was meant to revisit the circumstances under which the Supreme Court during Parinda Ranasinghe’s tenure as the Chief Justice had received a request from the then President JR Jayewardene seeking its determination of constitutionality of a different distorted 14A submitted in place of Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)-approved 14A that made no reference to defeated candidates.

According to records available in Parliament, the 12-member PSC appointed on July 6, 1983 under the then Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa’s leadership hadn’t recommended appointment of those who were rejected by the electorate to parliament under any circumstances.

Bench of five judges namely, H D Tambiah, O S M Seneviratne, H A G De Silva, G P S De Silva and M Jameel appointed by CJ Ranasinghe to determine the constitutionality of the distorted 14A, decided that it didn’t require endorsement at a referendum.

 PM Premadasa had, according to parliamentary proceedings on May 4, 1988, raised the issue of two bills on 14 in circulation in House.

Premadasa pointed out that the one that had been sent to the Supreme Court was different from what was approved in parliament that didn’t make any reference to defeated candidates.

Kodituwakku has, in a detailed communiqué requested the BASL to take up National List issue with the CJ as soon possible in accordance with its own Constitution. The copies of the same letter has been forwarded to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission and UK’s Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP

Violence Is The New Nonviolence

Photo credit – Maithripala Sirisena’s Facebook

By V. Kanthaiya –JULY 13, 2017

A Group of GMOA members and the medical faculty undergraduates were on their way to pelt stones on SAITM building in Malabe. On the way, they saw Lord Buddha meditating under a ‘Bo’ tree. They all went to him and told ‘Oh, Most Venerable! We are on our way to pelt stones at SAITM in order to protect the standard of the medical education of our beloved motherland. Please bless us’.

Lord Buddha opened his eyes and said calmly. ‘My dear children, Although, I have said to follow the path of nonviolence to resolve the conflicts, I have realized that it is not practical in this country. Therefore I ask one thing from you all. You can pelt stones on SAITM, with one condition. The first stone should be thrown by a member of GMOA who had not received his education from public money and does not engage in private practice. The first one should be the one who arrives to the hospital on time to see the patients and does not charge more than Rs. 1000. He or She should be someone who does not receive any commission from the pharmaceutical companies to promote a particular brand when there are cheap generic alternatives. And should be….”

Suddenly Lord Buddha was interrupted by an irritated GMOA member in the group saying that Buddha should properly educate himself on the affairs of the country and the international conspiracies against it. Meanwhile an undergrad in the group started to call Buddha as an agent funded by capitalists. Another called him as someone funded by NGOs. And then the group started to chant slogans calling Buddha as a traitor of the Motherland.

Hearing this, Buddha returned to his meditation and the Anti- SAITM, Anti – capitalism and the Anti – public convenience patriotic movement started its procession.  ~ An extract from the book to be written by V. Kanthaiya.

After two and a half years, now it’s proven beyond any doubt that Yahapalanaya is a complete failure. It is an open secret that Yahapalanaya is a model government promoted by the international well-wishers of Sri Lanka and implemented by the minority of the Majority community and the Majority of the other minority communities. The key reason is nothing new and unusual. This is the typical reaction of the internal factors when and where a strong authoritative power is removed and replaced by more democratic system.

Sri Lanka has been under monarchy for more than two millennia and like all old world countries, we grew up listening to and reading stories beginning with ‘once upon a time, there was a king’. The reality is most of the old world civilizations including Sri Lanka are not culturally and psychologically ready for democracy.

This is the argument told by one of my highly educated, well – mannered friend and a mentor who proudly identifies himself as a ‘Sinhala Buddhist’.

This is not the view of this only individual. This is shared by millions of people in Sri Lanka who clearly identify themselves as educated, polite, refined, cow loving, urban, middle – class professionals and also ‘unique Sinhala – Buddhists’. They also believe that their race is on the verge of rapid extinction due to an unidentified international conspiracy.

The reason of this psychological phenomena is very deep. It all started in 1956, when S.W.R.D Bandaranaike discovered and informed the masses that Sri Lanka indeed belongs only to the ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ ethnic group as they are endemic to this island who do not exist any other part of this universe. This discovery forced the other ethnic groups who also started to believe that they are endemic to this island. What happened next until now is the post – independence history of Sri Lanka. However, that history will vary based on whose version you are reading.

What S.W.R.D Bandaranaike used was just a marketing technique which was first tested and proven by Adolf Hitler. The suspicion and hatred towards the minority ethnic groups by Sinhalese gave S.W.R.D a competitive edge over his rivals back in 1950s to establish himself as the guardian of them, and once the other Sinhalese political parties realized the power of this technique, they also started to adopt this at a higher degree, just to get more votes.

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Sri Lanka needs a selfless Mandela

2017-07-13

Next week on Thursday, July 18 we celebrate the 99th birth-anniversary of South Africa’s first coloured President and legendary freedom fighter Nelson Mandela who is widely regarded as one of the noblest leaders of modern times.  

It is one of the rare events where the United Nations celebrates the birthday of a world leader for his heroic battle for freedom, justice and democracy.  

“It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build,” the United Nations quotes Nelson Mandela as saying.  

The UN says everyone has the ability and the responsibility to change the world for the better, and Mandela Day is an occasion for everyone to take action and inspire change.

For 67 years, Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the service of humanity — as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected President of a free South Africa.  

The Nelson Mandela Foundation is dedicating this year’s Mandela Day to action against poverty, honouring Nelson Mandela’s leadership and devotion to fighting poverty and promoting social justice for all.  

In December 2015, the UN General Assembly decided to extend the scope of Nelson Mandela International Day to also be utilized to promote humane conditions of imprisonment, to raise awareness about prisoners being a continuous part of society and to value the work of prison staff as a social service of particular importance.  

The UN General Assembly not only adopted the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, but also approved that they should be known as the “Nelson Mandela Rules” to honour the legacy of the late South African President, who spent 27 years in prison in the course of his struggle for freedom, justice and democracy. The UN General Assembly proclaimed Mandela’s birthday, July18, as “Mandela Day”, marking his contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle. It called on the people to donate 67 minutes to doing something for others, commemorating the 67 years that Mandela had been a part of the movement.  

Essentially Nelson Mandela was a servant leader. After decades of a battle against the white supremacists he was elected President in 1994 for a five-year term. He was so respected by the people that he could have gone on for two or three terms. Yet he decided to quit after one five-year term in office, giving a lesson to world leaders.  

In Sri Lanka former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was elected in 2005 amended the Constitution to give him the power to go on for more than two terms or for a lifetime. The former President was so confident of his position or popularity that in November 2014 he called an early presidential election, two years before schedule. Perhaps he did not foresee the dramatic crossover that took place in November 2014 when the then Health Minister and Sri Lanka Freedom Party General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena crossed over to form what was described as a rainbow coalition.  

In the presidential election on January 8, 2015, Mr. Sirisena’s rainbow coalition soared to a spectacular victory. As a result we today have a national unity government between the two major parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
 
President Sirisena in one of his first speeches from the Dalada Maligawa pledged he would be a servant leader and work for the abolition of the wide-powered Executive Presidency. He and other government leaders also committed themselves to work towards the mission of a peaceful, just and all inclusive society. We hope that in our country also we would see a Nelson Mandela who is sincerely ready to go beyond personal gain or glory and work for freedom, justice and democracy.

Sri Lanka: No baffling confusion on nation building

The Government needs to appoint qualified, high calibre personnel, who are very much available in the land, and not political rejects and other such like, to represent Sri Lanka abroad as ambassadors and attend to all the affairs that need official attention.

by Fr. Augustine Fernando-Jul 13, 2017

( July 13, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Almost fifty percent of all politicians, as they are far too uneducated, lacking in intellectual depth and foresight on national destiny and uncaring of it, are incapable of understanding the complicated problems confronting the Nation, which have been left as an unenviable legacy by the corrupt regime of the Rajapaksas. The other fifty percent seem to be so self-absorbed that they are more interested in power and privileges that they too are blinded by present enjoyment, even though the people are made to face present and future calamity due to the government’s bad governance, negligence and the ministerial and bureaucratic administration’s incompetence and inefficiency.

It is shocking that the government has made itself a ruling clique that is taking the people for granted. They are not connected to the people. They seem to be hoping to hang on to power in spite of their forgetting the promise given to the people to punish those lambskin wearing wolves clothing and posing as patriots, who have swindled the wealth of the people and banked the money abroad. They are also ignoring the rascals in their own midst, as the scale of robbery and corruption is supposed to be a few percentages less. They are foolishly banking on the 62% of the vote that brought them to power. They do not observe that the people are getting increasingly disappointed by the day, not only about the major issues and problems facing the country, but because these problems are getting more complicated due to the ineptitude, indecisiveness and blatant favoritism that Government ministers indulge in. They are unable to uphold law and order as they are beholden to their erstwhile friends who are indeed national fiends; some ministers do not have the ability to act justly and fairly. The way they act and direct their subordinates disqualify them from governing. Thereby, they show that they are also clumsy and gawky individuals foisted on the people who have a right to a better deal.

Leaving people frustrated

In the meantime, the people are getting harassed in their day to day dealings with government departments, provincial councils and pradeshiya sabhas. Those who are to serve the people – the clerks and officials may be under-qualified chaps who may have been politically recruited. They do not seem to know their job and are incompetent. They seem to have a queer mentality, thinking they are there to forestall the people and send them from pillar to post and not to serve them. They seem to think that the people who come to them are possible cheats, intent on outwitting them. Getting things done in a government department has become an unending annoyance to the people ever since the brown sahibs took over. They do not think that people come to the bureaus of the government to get things done properly and according to law. They do not facilitate matters for the people; they complicate them and lead people to frustration and disgust.

The general opinion among the people is absolutely powerless and helpless – except at the polling booth – that to get anything done, even legitimately, you have to know somebody working in a particular office or know someone who knows someone in that office. If that someone that you know happens to be a minister you can even rob an elephant and keep it in your backyard, barge into a ministry and create mayhem, or destroy a house of prayer and worship or break any law and go scot free. That is because, in this Country, whichever party governs, the ministers are not only above the law, they can bend the law, kick the law and make the law an ass, thereby making even a minister one who begets asses. One can be sure that all of it will also end up as a negative vote to the government at any election that may come, if the Government does not look sharp.

Stop gallivanting

Decent governments – we haven’t had one for sixty years – do not need water canons, baton charges and gunshots to govern. What is necessary is for each and every member of the government to be honest. People should not elect thugs and louts, even though they have gone to Law College and scraped through, to govern. Governing should be by wise people, not swindling rogues. Any peoples’ government needs to put before the people its long term and short term policies and programmes of government. Both main parties have been messy in this regard, making their manifesto declarations a wordy, meaningless one, intended for propaganda purposes and to fool the people, and one they never pay attention to after the election. Even a former PM has admitted to that.

The Government needs to appoint qualified, high calibre personnel, who are very much available in the land, and not political rejects and other such like, to represent Sri Lanka abroad as ambassadors and attend to all the affairs that need official attention. After all, they are well paid, well assisted and are accredited with great ceremony just for that. Then there will be no need for ministers and MPs to leave the country and gallivant to all the five continents on the slightest pretext. They should attend to their duty at home.

It is because of their inability to do so that what needs to be done is left undone, gets neglected and hundreds of telephone calls and documents ranging from documentary evidence of acts of parliament, property deeds, Grama Sevaka’s certificates, water-electricity-telephone bills, identity cards, to get a just and fair consideration of a citizen’s request. People begin to question, ‘What the hell is this?’ President Premadasa, who could be met by the people at ‘Sucharitha’ at 4 o’clock in the morning, answered all letters and tried to see that the government bureaucracy assisted the people without harassing them unnecessarily.

Make FCID strong, permanent

If the President, Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers do not have the capacity to understand that due to the present debt crisis the country faces, it is not right, just and fair to import luxurious vehicles for the ministers when the people are facing many a problem in their day to day living, then the Cabinet does not have persons of common sense who know the sentiments and the feelings of the people, and the meaning of the democratic option they made at the last presidential and parliamentary elections. Importing seems to be postponed for a more opportune time!

In this context it needs to be asked as to what happened to the many Mercedes Benzes that were imported for the CHOGM event only a few years ago. What has happened to the luxury vehicles used by the President, Prime Minister and Ministers and their deputies of the ousted regime? Did they take them home? If they did, why not get them to account for those vehicles? Or, is the ruling government indifferent to these matters and soft-peddling on them, and acting in collusion to protect fellow political wrong-doers? The Government needs to not only not abolish but to have a permanent and strongly empowered FCID to monitor and fight corruption; it should be strengthened to bring the wrong-doers to book and punish public criminal activities, and thereby clean up the structures of government. Failure on these matters shows that the Government itself is tolerating corruption because of corrupt elements in its own ranks.

Follow up public declarations

Besides, the members of the government need to speak in one voice and communicate a common policy to the people. Let the people be listened to and heard. Let your policies be tailored to the democratic options of the people, and not to a vociferous minority with their naked wish of bringing back and reinstalling the ousted far more corrupt regime, to disregard the people and continue to indulge in corruption and ruin the future of this country

Before giving good direction to the country, the President and Prime Minister should show a strong bond of solidarity and hold out a common vision to the people. The Government needs clear thinking to do a thorough clean up and restate its policies, not in ambiguous and partisan political strategies but in flawless bi-partisan statements that make policies clear and show they are all prioritizing the Nation before their respective political parties. That is how it should be, always. Then it needs to meet the people and in unity communicate the message to all of them. Ask all the people to be truly patriotic and think of all of Sri Lanka first; and not just power-seeking egotistical individuals, parties, provinces and parts of it. No doubt support will follow if government members do exemplify what they proclaim to the people. They have a right to and need a sane, just and stable government that indeed governs. There will then be no baffling confusion over Nation Building.

Hate Talk Continues: Those from whom we expect the least outdo those we expect more from

By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole
A Liberal Civic-Minded Army Commander-July 12, 2017, 12:00 pm 

The argument from the top of the Sri Lankan government that war crimes against Tamil civilians need not be prosecuted puts our government’s pronouncements in the same category as Gnanasara Thero’s. While his rowdy tirades are against Muslims, the Prime Minister’s and President’s dehumanise Tamil civilians murdered in Mullivaikal.

Against this backdrop, it is refreshing that our new Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake (Colombo page, 5 July, 2017), says that he rejects the war crime allegations against the Sri Lanka Army but supports the investigations. He said he will not protect the guilty parties: "No one can commit a crime, especially a soldier. […] If anyone has committed any crime, he should be brought before law."

Our PM and President should understudy him on the rule of law. It is rarely that the military does better than civilians. Thank you, Lieutenant General Senanayake.

Liberal, Trotskyite Tissa Vitharana

In Jaffna on Saturday 8 July 2017, former Minister and Joint Opposition big-gun Dr. Tissa Vitharana, at a discussion at the Jaffna Managers’ Forum, practically, admitted that war crimes had occurred. He argued that even the West never prosecuted its criminal soldiers at war and Sri Lanka should never be held to a higher standard.

How absolutely wrong he is! Western powers may cover up when they are wrong but will never make the right-wing argument that soldiers who kill civilians in war are heroes who must never be charged as our PM and President have done. Once evidence of crime is presented, however reluctantly, soldiers are prosecuted in western democracies. For example, US troops were arrested in Afghanistan in 2010 in what prosecutors described as a conspiracy to kill civilians for fun. Andrew Holmes was among those convicted. He just finished his reduced term for turning a state witness. Corporal Jeremy Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs was sentenced to life in prison.

We have several other examples. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who pleaded guilty to slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians inside their homes, was sentenced by a military jury in August 2013 to spend the rest of his life in prison.

In the 2007 massacre of civilians, Blackwater security contractors in Iraq were convicted of killing 14 unarmed Iraqis in what prosecutors called a wartime atrocity. Another convicted war criminal, former Pfc. Steven Dale Green, received a life sentence without parole for raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, and then leading a group of soldiers in killing her family in 2006.

This is all stuff I teach my engineering ethics class in a US classroom to US students for lessons on managing disasters. That I can do so, is evidence of how mistaken Vitharana is about the West, despite all its faults. We must learn that testimony from lower level offenders is the way to nail the big chaps.

One American fault is mentioned by a US Death Penalty Information Centreinformation brief. Quoting Gary D. Solis, who teaches military law at Georgetown University, it says,

"History and experience would seem to indicate that (court-martial) convening authorities will more readily send a case to trial as a death-penalty case if the victims are Americans than they would if the victims are [foreign] civilian noncombatants."

If our President and PM are true Sri Lankans, they should be offended that Sri Lankan citizens were massacred in Mullivaikal. All we are asking for is a credible investigation. Why fear one if there was no crime? When American soldier-jurors can send their colleagues to prison for life, I expect better from our civilian leaders.

Vitharana’s about turn

After arguing at the Managers’ Forum that soldiers killing civilians in battle must be accepted as it is everywhere, on Sunday 9 July, Vitharana did a volte-face. Facing Jaffna journalists at a press conference, he denied the truthfulness of the Report of the UN Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka(the Darusman Report). He argued that for 40,000 civilians to die as alleged in the report, two lakhs must have been injured. He was fudging casualty figures for collateral killings during war with deliberate carpet-bombing of civilians in Mullivaikal.

We have in Lieutenant General Senanayake, a rare instance where the military has a kindlier, more rational, civilised face that our civilian leaders lack. It is good to note that in the American murders, the convictions were by military juries. We have a lot to learn.

Layman Vs Clergyman

As the military showed itself to be capable of higher thought than civilians, in Jaffna a layman showed he can do better than clergymen.

The truce between R. Sampanthan and C.V. Wigneswaran is coming unglued. The Rev. Fr. SVB Mangalarajah (Chairman, Jaffna Diocese’s Peace and Justice Commission) had distributed an anti-FP letter dated 16 June, 2017 at various parishes saying the action to remove CVW was anti-democratic because CVW had the people’s mandate. Mangalarajah argued that after the presence of corruption in the Northern Provincial Council had been demonstrated, de-weeding was necessary. He called on the people to support CVW’s efforts at cleaning up. He ignored CVW’s attempt to be rid of those cleared by the inquiry.

Responding to Mangalarajah was a letter from the Administrative Secretary of the FP, S. Xavier Kulanayagam, who was once the Secretary of the Commission. His letter of 5 July 2017 was to the Rt. Rev. Justin Gnanpragasam, Bishop of Jaffna, who had negotiated the truce between Sampanthan and CVW (although others had their names added to give religious balance and make the truce less Christian-influenced).

Kulanayagam argued that any standing CVW has is because of the FP and CVW’s votes were because the FP and the TNA backed him. He argued that it is wrong for CVW to go on a path of vengeance against the FP taking action beyond the recommendations of CVW’s own inquiry. He said that Wigneswaran’s mandate was to work with the TNA. He regretted that neither Mangalarajah nor the Church’s Paathukaavalan newspaper had given any attention to CVW’s anti-Christian positions and that it is the need to keep civilized discourse that prevents his elaborating on CVW’s anti-Christian attitudes. Kulanayagam condemned the Paathukaavalan newspaper for its articles, as he put it,for hiding the truth in the Sampanthan-CVW dispute. He called on the Church to be politically neutral and for the Peace and Justice Commission to be "truly for the truth."

Supreme Court Judge’s Followers

That same Sunday 9 July, Mannar Ondriyam organized its Jaffna seminar at a Roman Catholic Church’s Kalaikoothu Mandapam (Jaffna) calling for over-turning the Tamil leadership. Sampanthan came under severe attack for, in their words, giving up on Theseeyam (nationhood) and pursuing cooperation with the Sinhalese. Father Ravichandran opened the meeting with his blessings. Speaker after speaker lambasted Sampanthan even for not thanking UNHRC for its resolution though there is no evidence he has not. As always at meetings for CVW, one of the keynotes was by a Jaffna academic who was detained by the police for using a child servant for his sexual pleasure. He was, at the time, saved by the LTTE because its own reputation was being tarnished as one of the main movers of its Pongu Thamil meetings.

The only two soft-spoken, balanced speakers were Prof. R. Sivachandran and Prof. VP Sivanathan. Sivachandran was physically threatened by a member of the audience who went up to him shouting and shaking his fist asking why he had not come out of the FP. The day was saved only by Sivachandran’s calm response that he only wanted more democracy in the FP. The seemingly violent man who was seated next to sacked Minister Ainkaranesan, returned to his seat to be congratulated through a massage on his upper back and a hand shake from Ainkaranesan.

Sivanathan quietly wanted the FP to move away from "stage-speeches" to economic policies. At comment time, a speaker emotionally declared that Tamils worldwide earn billions more and can easily put the Sinhalese down.

One speaker invited from Batticaloa said Tamils vote for an alliance so they must all get together against the FP as a new alliance. An elderly gentleman next to me whispered in support of the FP,

"They are united against Sampanthan. But if they stand for elections, they will have no policy. They can only make noise. They cannot command support. Next time, we must all contest separately. Then after elections, we should talk about an alliance. Remember – GG Ponnambalam wanted a no-contest pact with Chelvanayagam. Thanthai Cheva wisely replied, ‘Let’s do a pact after the elections.’ The need never arose because GG was wiped out. Today’s Bicycle fellow [i.e., Gajendrakumar] knows all this. They will never leave the TNA. The TNA must be rid of this unholy lot. Vigneswaran should have been sacked the moment he refused to campaign for the TNA in Aug 2015."

If we, Tamils, are serious about more devolution, we need to get our act together and show that we can run what we have, the NPC and the university, free of their rampant corruption. Not that the Sri Lankan state is any better!

Over two years ago Kosgama armory was reduced to ashes –this is about a group of the forces still not compensated.

(Lanka-e-News -12.July.2017, 8.00AM)  Following the explosion at the Kosgama armory , the headquarters of the army voluntary force that was situated there was  reduced to ashes. Though compensation was paid to a majority of the civilian victims with  the intervention of the army , yet the  forces have failed to provide relief for the last two years to the  soldiers and officers of the voluntary force who were employed there , and were victims.   

The main issue revolves around the inability to retrieve important documents so far including educational certificates , marriage certificates , degree certificates ,   birth certificates and important personal documents of the voluntary officers and soldiers that were in the armory headquarters , and were destroyed. 

This is a most grave issue to officers who have gone on retirement during the last 2 years and those who are to retire. These officers need these documents after retirement to secure another job, but sadly they are now ‘address-less’, and in a sorry plight.

The commander in chief of the army voluntary force is  passing the ball into others’ court while singing bailas with a different tune to suit different occasions  for the last two years , thereby wasting time in respect of this serious issue faced by the victims.  The abysmally suffering  officers  are nursing hopes that at least the new army commander will take appropriate measures. 

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by     (2017-07-12 02:50:02)

Dayan Jayatilleka’s Diatribe On Premadasa’s Israel Policy

By Bandu de Silva –JULY 12, 2017

Bandu de Silva

I was more than amused by reading Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka’s article which is by and large an eulogy on President Premadasa’s foreign policy in relation to Israel. Dayan makes use of my comments on the evolution of Sri Lankan foreign policy towards Israel under successive governments ending with my short addendum published in the Island of 10th July 2017 which he calls “a speculative caricature” as the opening gambit to express his own views on the situation under President Premadasa. He sees my interpretation of reasons for appointment of the Mossad commission as gunning for Minister Gamini Dissanayake as a (mere) local reason which he seems to be inclined to dismiss in preference to a much vaulted interpretation of Premadasa’s understanding of the book “By Way of Deception” by former Mossad operative Victor Ostrovsky. Ostrovsky disclosed that Israel played a double game in Sri Lanka by supporting the government on one hand and the Tigers on the other hand. The situation, true or not, was not unusual with Israel. In the Iran-Iraq war, Israel was reputed to have supported both sides despite Iranian regime’s anti-Israeli posture, the Iranians with intelligence. Obviously, Israel wished to see both their opponents destroyed in a self-consuming war.

I am not inclined to attribute such high profile thinking to President Premadasa such as a deep understanding of Ostrovsky’s book for him to be motivated to pursue his Israeli policy. Nor was there anyone around him who could have translated the book’s significance to him. (My apologies to Secretary K.H.J. Wijeyedasa). There was none in the Foreign Office I knew of. There was, of course, Bradman Weerakoon, Presidential adviser but I doubt if he had any role as he was appointed the Chairman of Air Lanka with its multifarious problems. If one reads Dayan’s article carefully, one would see him according a place to his late father, Mervyn de Silva, outside the bureaucratic circle, in proffering advice to the President. Mervyn was my good friend and we worked closely from the days of Mrs.Bandaranaike on issues like non-alignment. I did not see him getting any close to Mr. Premadasa with whom I had close rapport. (I shall comment later on Premadasa appointing him to the FASG and report on reforms to the Foreign Service).   

Dayan has expressed an opinion which I do not see valid enough to reject the idea that Premadasa was motivated by local factors even if the latter was considered another opinion. Holding on to Ostrovsky theory alone can be flowed and incomplete in interpreting Premadasa policy on Israel.

What was the need for Premadasa institute a second report on reforms at the Foreign Office when he had already appointed a Committee with Bradman Weerakoon as Chairman and W.A.P. Menikdiwela, former Secretary to the President and Dr. Ananda Guruge as members. He engaged another Committee presided by Ambassador N. Balasubramanium, myself, and two other senior Foreign Service men to comment on the Bradman Committee report and to implement what was accepted? Was Premadasa and Mervyn de Silva working on another agenda? 

In final analysis, I have to reject Dayan’s position that it was the understanding of Ostrovsky’s book which made President Premadasa to appoint the Mossad Commission. Sugeeswara Senadheera, Director General of Media Affairs at the Presidential Secretariat, in contrast to my view, has opined that Premadasa was gunning for Minister Lalith Athulathmudali rather than at Gamini Dissanayake through the appointment of the Mossad Commission. I have pointed out how close Gamini was to President J.R. Jayewardene and he was part of the President’s negotiating team on an arms deal in Paris with Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

Premadasa adopting a counter strategy after the disclosure of double dealing by Israel of sending a team headed by Ranjan Wijeratne to Iran, Iraq and Libya to procure arms from these countries is incomplete in detail. Army Commander Wanasinghe did not accompany this mission. It comprised Ranjan Wijeratne, Foreign Trade Minister, A.R. Mansoor (a Muslim!) and myself as the first resident Ambassador in Iran. I arrived a few hours before the arrival of the other two and presented credentials to the Iranian President just in time to join the delegation. We could not proceed to Iraq and Libya because Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait took place at that time. Arms negotiations which followed were carried on by a Brigadier who sought my assistance in negotiating prices. The air craft loads of arms which followed every month which Dayan speaks of, was a later development following the visit of Defence Secretary Cyril Ranatunge. There were no “monthly ” aircraft loads but only a single one which was negotiated by me with the Iranian Defence Minister. The call signs of this single aircraft were conveyed by me in code to General Ranatunge at his residence at Kegalle at midnight. 

As for the formation of FASG (Foreign Affairs Study Group) under President Premadasa with Gamini Corea as Chairman and Mervyn de Silva as Deputy Chairman, whose report was handed over after President Premadasa’s (untimely) death. Gamini Corea was a senior adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1985 but I do not recall him in a role as Chairman of FASG. Not while I was in the Foreign Office till 1990 before appointment as Ambassador to Iran. I recall, however, a few people headed by Major General Anton Mutucoomaru, former Army Commander and Ambassador, after his retirement in 1969 forming a study group in foreign relations along with and a few others including Mervyn de Silva. That was during the regime of Mrs.Sirima Bandaranaike in 1970s.

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Is Chandra Jayaratne supporting corrupt CA Sri Lanka?

Thursday, 13 July 2017

The deception of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) to cover up egregious professional misconduct within sections of its membership must be condemned.

In the midst of the open and shut case of appalling professional misconduct by the Sri Lankan affiliates of PwC and Ernst & Young (EY) in the fraudulent privatisation of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) confirmed by the Supreme Court, Parliament’s COPE, the Attorney General and even the CA Sri Lanka Ethics Committee itself and the reluctance/refusal of CA Sri Lanka to hold the partners concerned accountable, Chandra Jayaratne writes to the President of Sri Lanka informing him inter alia:

1.The Code of Ethics … of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka … has been revised to include a specific set of stipulations governing their expected response to situations of Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations

2.You are kindly requested to support and facilitate the professional accountants in their initiative to effectively respond to situations of Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations

What is really hilarious is that Jayaratne refers to this piece of unprecedented duplicity by CA Sri Lanka as “groundbreaking, courageous and highly-professional commitment”!

It is disgraceful that CA Sri Lanka has still not concluded its purported investigation of my complaint made as far back as 8 August 2005 over the professional misconduct of PwC and EY in relation to the fraudulent privatisation of SLIC. It has reneged on all of its undertakings given to me and kept me the complainant in the dark. This is notwithstanding several written reminders. The undertaking includes “to complete the investigation early and transparently” (Ref. CA Sri Lanka e-mail of 13 March 2006).

While PwC (Indonesia and Sri Lanka) functioned as Consultant, Investment Banking and Legal Advisory Services to the Government of Sri Lanka, EY (Sri Lanka) were the auditors to SLIC.


Supreme Court

The professional misconduct of PwC and EY, even confirmed by the Supreme Court, has not prodded CA Sri Lanka to fulfill its statutory obligation. The Supreme Court (SC FR Application No. 158/2007) in its landmark judgment delivered on 4 June 2009, held the SLIC privatisation to be “illegal and invalid ab initio” and had ordered the removal “forthwith” of the auditors, EY.


COPE

The COPE Report to Parliament dated 12 January 2007 as recorded in the Hansard inter alia states as follows: (emphasis mine)

 i) Ernst & Young auditors and PwC Consultants were directly involved in the said fraudulent conduct.

 ii) The said sale has taken place on unaudited accounts and thereby it was not possible to enter into any kind of share transaction. It also appeared the accounts have been surreptitiously and intentionally adjusted.

 iii) Deva Rodrigo, Senior Partner of PwC has been a member of the Steering Committee selecting PwC as Consultants to the Government, and continuing thereafter as a Steering Committee member supervising the work of PwC and approving payments to PwC.

(iv) Chairman, PERC who handled this SLIC transaction and later Secretary to the Treasury, Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, has been a senior policy advisor to Ernst & Young, and had failed and neglected to act in the interest of the Government in this matter.


Attorney-General

The Attorney General through his letters dated 11 April 2005 to PwC (Sri Lanka & Indonesia) and EY (Sri Lanka) served notice of instituting legal action for professional negligence in relation to the SLIC divestiture.


Ethics Committee

The CA Sri Lanka Ethics Committee almost 10 years ago endorsed the findings of its Investigating Panel of a prima facie case of professional misconduct by PwC and EY and all their partners.


Act of Incorporation

The Act of Incorporation of CA Sri Lanka as per Section 17 (2) (b) clearly stipulates that when an Investigating Committee appointed by the Council «reports to the Council that a prima facie case of professional misconduct has been made out against a member, the Council shall appoint a disciplinary committee for the purpose of inquiring into the conduct of such member” (emphasis mine).

What rational reason could there be for inaction by CA Sri Lanka other than a blatant cover-up? Why is this being tolerated?

The Auditor General H.M. Gamini Wijesinghe will enhance his credibility and moral authority if he uses his membership in the CA Sri Lanka Council to demand accountability for this open and shut case.


Open challenge to

CA Sri Lanka

In the context of the Partnership Law in Sri Lanka where all partners are jointly and severally liable for any wrongdoing, will CA Sri Lanka:

1) Forthwith disclose in the media, including Daily FT, the identity of those who were partners of PwC and EY at least three years prior to 11 April 2003, which is the date on which the fraudulent SLIC privatisation took place?

2) Forthwith specify in the media, including Daily FT, the disciplinary action it will take on the partners concerned.


Conclusion

There is no way large-scale corruption initiated by politicians and corporate bigwigs can take place without professional complicity. This particularly includes professionals at the Treasury, Ministry of Finance, Central Bank and Securities and Exchange Commission.

How could anyone be sincere in combating corruption when they ignore professional complicity and only focus on the role of politicians while being tardy over the involvement of corporate bigwigs?

For example, the alleged terrible corruption and abuse of power at SriLankan Airlines reported with banner headlines in the media, glaringly omits to identity its longstanding auditor – Ernst & Young. This is also avoided by purported good governance activists! Why?

(The writer is a public interest activist.)

JVP claims govt. attempting to cover up corruption

By Roosindu Peris-July 12, 2017 

 Propaganda Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Vijith Herath stated that the government has decided to close down the Anti Corruption Committee Secretariat, to cover up acts of corruption, bribery and theft carried out by the government.

Addressing a media briefing held today (12), he added that many of the politicians in the current government have multiple accusations of corruption and bribery made against them, all of which have been recorded by the secretariat.

Herath further stated that although many of the officials working at the secretariat were condemned for the role they played, including retired CID officers; all parties were willing to put their lives at risk to make sure that their role as workers for the Secretariat was done. 

He went onto say that when the Secretariat, which was the only place in the country to lodge complaints regarding bribery and corruption offences was closed down, they claimed that there were no allegations made against the government, stating that an investigation process was not required. 

Furthermore, Herath stated that the loss of the Secretariat would mean that the FCID would close down in the future as well. 

Herath concluded by adding that while the previous government committed fraud as a family, members of the present government are committing fraud as a group. 

Anti-corruption drive left for dead now

2017-07-13

The future of the Anti-Corruption Secretariat, which primarily directed complaints to be investigated by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), still remains uncertain as the government leaders could not see eye-to-eye on it at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.  

The Secretariat, established after the new government assumed office in 2015, was entrusted with the task of referring cases of corruption and frauds to the FCID for investigation and prosecution.

Its period lapsed. Amidst uncertainty over its future, President Maithripala Sirisena took a swipe at the law enforcement authorities saying the cases involving mass scale corruption and frauds were being swept under the carpet due to political influence. Also, he charged that the law enforcement authorities were acting with political interests in mind when dealing with allegations of corruption and frauds involving the higher-ups of the former rule. Instead, he charged that some people responsible for minor or negligible offences, were taken to task for political ends.  

• Law enforcement body acts with former rulers’ whims
• Sprats netted; sharks at large
• Anti- Corruption Secretariat - a white elephant?
• FCID, AG’s Dept should have been sharper in dealing with cases involving former regime 
• WHO stresses swift, tangible action to curb spread of dengue
• Dengue affects tourism industry 
• SLFPers to quit Govt.?
• NFF wants JO to quit Constitution-making process

In this instance, President looked perturbed over action initiated against State Ministers A.H.M. Fowzie and Priyankara Jayaratne.

The President’s prime concern was the failure on the part of the FCID and the Attorney General’s Department to dispense with cases involving his erstwhile colleague and predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family members. A week after the presidential tirade, a Cabinet paper was presented to the meeting on Tuesday seeking the extension of the Anti-Corruption Secretariat to function further under the purview of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

President Sirisena is reported to have refused to grant his nod to this move. He took the position that the investigative authorities like the Bribery Commission would be able to proceed with the current lot of cases referred to them, and therefore there was no need to have the Anti-Corruption Secretariat. Most Cabinet Ministers subscribed to this stance of the President.  

The President remarked that if the Anti-Corruption Secretariat were to function under the PM further, it would give rise to the perception that the anti-corruption drive of the government had been politicized.  

The paper, presented by the PM, was deferred to the next week for consideration. According to sources close to the President, the Anti- Corruption Secretariat would die a natural death as most viewed it as a white elephant not serving the intended purpose.  

Dengue stings Cabinet 

With the spread of Dengue viral flu reaching alarming proportions, the govt is grappling for containing the escalation of it. The situation is so alarming that the representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) made a presentation to the Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday detailing out the current trend and stressing for action forthwith.

According to statistics available with the hospital system, there are as many as 83,000 cases reported so far. However, the WHO representatives said the number could be much higher. In fact, they said it could be well over 100,000 with cases not reported to the hospitals so far.  
The hospitals are packed with Dengue patients in the Colombo district. In some instances, the hospital authorities refuse to admit patients for treatment during the initial days of the disease.  

After the presentation, the President stressed the need or a continual, concerted effort to curb the spread of Dengue. Finally, it was decided to declare a Dengue eradication week. The President suggested that all the politicians should be actively involved in the clean-up operations to destroy mosquito breeding grounds. The Cabinet decided to focus more on abandoned or unoccupied premises as they could have unattended mosquito breeding places.

For this purpose, the health authorities initially conducted fogging operations. It has not worked properly as transpired during the presentation, because Dengue larvae can thrive in tiny covered spots. It stings during daytime, and as such, precautions taken after nightfall are also not effective.  

Dengue hits tourism industry 

The Dengue crisis has hit the tourism industry with cancellations of hotel bookings by some foreign nationals. It has triggered fears as to whether the govt would be able to reach the target of 2.5 million arrivals this year.  

Tourism is a thriving industry. Despite setbacks due to the flood disaster and Dengue outbreak, over one million tourists have already visited Sri Lanka so far this year.  

“I learnt that some foreign nationals have cancelled their hotel reservations. We believe it is due to Dengue. We have to curb the spread some way or the other. Otherwise, the industry would suffer,” Tourism Promotion Minister John Amaratunga said.  

SLFPers to quit Govt 

The unity government will be completing two years in September, outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed for the purpose. Ahead of it, the fissures between the UNP and the SLFP have widened on most issues. It is more so with regard to the anti-corruption drive and the constitution-making process. In fact, some of the SLFP ministers, deputy ministers and state ministers are so disillusioned with the govt that they insist on quitting it on the earliest available day for the move.  

These MPs have already held several rounds of talks with the Joint Opposition at different levels. The exodus from the government is planned on three possible occasions. One is the completion of the two year period outlined in the MoU for the unity government. They believe such a moment can justify their action for parting ways with the UNP. Or else, they contemplate on leaving the government to join hands with the opposition in the event of declaration of any election - be it the local authorities or the provincial council polls.  

As the third option, they believe there would be a point for them to part ways with the govt when it presents the draft of the proposed Constitutions. That is bound to have areas for disagreement between the UNP and the SLFP. Then, it would offer the chance for them to decide whether to be with the government or not. In this manner, these MPs await any of these justifiable moments to make the political move.  

National Freedom Front (NFF), led by MP Wimal Weerawansa, has taken the position that the JO which it represents should stay away from the constitution making process. On behalf of the JO, its parliamentary group leader Dinesh Gunawardane and MP Prasanna Ranatunga participated in the deliberations of the Steering Committee appointed for working out proposals for the new Constitution.

NFF wants JO to quit Constitution-making process 

Wimal Weerawansa announced his stance to the country at a recent press conference. Afterwards, it came up for discussions by the leaders of the JO this week. MP Jayantha Samaraweera who attended the meeting said the govt had worked out an interim report on constitutional proposals regardless of what was discussed at the Steering Committee. Also, the NFF believes that the Mahanayake Theras of the three chapters stressed that there should not be a new Constitution, and their position should be honoured. The JO has not taken a final position in this regard as yet, it would be taken up for consideration next week.  

Dinesh Gunawardane, who is the parliamentary group leader of the JO, said the Constitution- making process was in an utter mess with the govt leaders making contradictory statements. Alongside, he said that he had noted the position taken by the Mahanayake Theras in this regard.

“We are considering our position seriously. The final decision will be taken after discussion with all the parties of the JO,” he said.  Besides, he said the JO would not cooperate with the govt on any matter if they kept postponing elections over and over again.