Sunday, August 6, 2017

Ukraine should become a buffer state

2017-08-05

Now a few recent words from Jack Matlock who was US ambassador to Moscow under Presidents Reagan and Bush senior:

“The Ukraine crisis is a product, in large part, of the policy of indefinite expansion of Nato to the east. If there had been no possibility of Ukraine ever becoming part of Nato, and therefore Sevastopol (the ex-Soviet naval port in Crimea) becoming a Nato base Russia would not have
invaded Crimea.”

He goes on to say: “Americans have lived for nearly two centuries with the Monroe Doctrine [which forbids non-Americans to seize land or intervene in Latin America]. Why don’t we understand that other countries are sensitive about military bases from potential rivals not only coming up to their borders, but taking land which historically they have considered theirs. These are extremely emotional issues- issues that are made to order for any authoritarian leader that wants to strengthen his rule”. In a recent issue of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Lukin, vice-president of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adds a point: “It was only a matter of time before Russia finally reacted to Western encirclement”.

Matlock was the top Soviet expert in the Reagan Administration before he became ambassador. His great predecessor in this role, George Kennan, went to his grave warning that an expansion of Nato would be totally counterproductive

Matlock’s final point is that, “You have almost a clique in Washington that just can’t look at any atrocity in the world without wanting the US to get involved militarily.” [Despite Iraq and Libya which are falling to pieces, perhaps to be followed by Afghanistan.]

Matlock was the top Soviet expert in the Reagan Administration before he became ambassador. His great predecessor in this role, George Kennan, went to his grave warning that an expansion of Nato would be totally counterproductive.

Last week, by a vast majority, the US Congress passed a motion ratcheting up the economic sanctions that have been imposed on Russia. President Donald Trump appears to have no choice but to sign this motion into law.

The biggest dividing issue between Russia and the US and Europe is Nato expansion and Ukraine. As Matlock argues, they are linked.

Nato expansion is now a done deed. The imbroglio in Ukraine continues. Is there a way to repair the damage? Could Ukraine be turned into a buffer state which would abjure membership of Nato for all time? We still hear powerful voices in the West as well as in Ukraine calling for this. Could Ukraine have an economic arrangement with both the EU and the Russian-conceived Eurasian
Economic Union?

I have every reason to believe, having just been to Moscow to talk to highly-placed political experts, that this could be the route to ending the fighting and solving the problem. All sides have to push to one side what Chancellor Angela Merkel calls “old thinking”.

It is true that Ukraine matters more to Russia than it does to Ukraine and so Russia is prepared to pay a higher price than the West. The status quo while certainly not welcome is liveable with

The history of Siam and Switzerland after the Napoleonic wars and Finland and Austria after World War 2 suggests that a successful neutral state lying between two antagonists is possible. They might not have called themselves buffer states but in effect they were. Of course in Ukraine’s case the domestic policies have to bring stability and consensus at home or the outside big players will be tempted to intervene. Just repudiating Nato membership is not enough.

The Second Minsk Agreement negotiated in February 2015 by Merkel and presidents Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande provides the framework for domestic accord. At the moment Russia and the Western nations seem to interpret the Agreement separately.

According to the World Policy Journal “the West tends to support reformers rather the reform process as such, and in that way implicates itself in internal political struggles that prevail within the entrenched, corrupt, political system.”

Besides that the West- in particular some high ranking people in Nato- sometimes speak as if it believes that Putin’s next step will be to send forces right into Ukraine. Putin is no fool and would not do that. Ukraine is not Crimea where Russia had a valid historical claim, even if Putin jumped the gun with the almost instant referendum.

It is true that Ukraine matters more to Russia than it does to Ukraine and so Russia is prepared to pay a higher price than the West. The status quo while certainly not welcome is liveable with. Russian can afford to wait until the West tires of its support of a government that doesn’t get on top of corruption or its economy and that is visibly influenced by far right groups which have their roots in Nazi organizations active during the time of World War 2.

Political authority has to be decentralised and demilitarized in Ukraine. Neutrality has to be its central policy. Eastern Ukraine can have some independence to pursue its own foreign policy in limited areas (not defence) just as Scotland and Catalonia do.

The final step would be to recognize that Ukraine is a buffer zone, neither of the East nor the West, but with peaceful and economically fruitful relations with both.

For 17 years the writer worked as a foreign affairs columnist for the International Herald Tribune/New York Times.

Kathmandu revisited

by Sanjana Hattotuwa-August 5, 2017, 12:00 pm

In Kathmandu this week after over ten years, I was struck by how much worse the city looks and feels from what I recall when I visited last. Google Maps is deceiving. The mushrooming of cafes with interesting names, pubs, restaurants and gastro-bars in various districts along with a wide-range of hotels suggests, on the face of it, a bustling, well-planned and cosmopolitan metropolis. The number of apartments alone suggests a much higher density of population in the city than when I was here last, along with the vertical additions to older structures making some of the buildings bizarre Lego creations – with the rather beautiful red brick and clay forming the foundation of what are comparably grotesque mortar and steel additions on top, finished off with an assorted array of water tanks, of varying colour and size.

The roads of Google Maps snake their way in intricate patterns across the city. The citizen-generated OpenStreetMap platform is even more detailed, offering a bird’s eye view of a city, its myriad of alleys and a valley writ large that offers a lesson in the complexity of urban planning, or the telling lack thereof. At street level, in a vehicle or on foot, the cartographic appeal of urban complexity on a map soon becomes life threatening. Many routes through Yala in a 4WD would be, by order of magnitude and without exaggeration, smoother and better than navigating some of the main roads in Kathmandu – all of which seem dug up at almost every junction and turn, only to be summarily abandoned. There is a fine dust which permeates and covers everything – a mixture of earth, sand and cement.

After occasional or overnight rain and the resulting mud baked in the hot sun, the dust becomes worse. All this makes for a beautiful, Promethean haze at sunset, especially when framed with the old temples and courtyards of comparable hue, but is in fact about as unhealthy as it gets. I couldn’t quite figure out if the fresh meat on sale in road-side abattoirs were better off and preserved for a fine coating of dust, or whether one somehow and over time developed a natural immunity for the level of pollution here, in all that is consumed, touched, breathed in, or drunk. A veritable spaghetti of power, cable TV and telecommunications lines weigh down poles that hold up all three, like black and grey octopi shadowing every junction and street. To see the Himalayas in the distance at sunrise, after an overnight shower and before the pollution wakes up, is still quite magical.

Kathmandu as a city though, for the most part, is hell.

It wasn’t like this when I came in April 2003 for the first time, before full-blown democracy and during monarchy. I came before there was a single traffic light in the city, when man, machine, monk and every sacred bovine meandering and interaction took place around its own logic, and often sedate pace. There were no ATMs. No place took credit cards. The best place to exchange currency was at the airport. Dial-up internet was slow at best. There was no roaming available, even if you could afford at the time the astronomical rates for SMS and calls. The airport looked like a large red-bricked house retrofitted with a hastily constructed control tower, and a long stretch of unused road re-commissioned as a runway. You walked quite a distance from the plane to the terminal. Incredibly, all this remains relatively unchanged even today. The myriad of places I stayed in and walked around on the many occasions I came to Nepal during Sri Lanka’s ceasefire agreement, in the early years of this century, the earthquake in 2015 has wiped out. I felt tempted to go to these areas and see what they looked like now, but opted to instead go through my old photos – why replace or risk what is fondly recalled to what I may recoil from or react badly to today.

I came to interact with Nepali journalists and civil society on the role and relevance of media in a ceasefire process. Sri Lanka’s great lesson to the world at the time was around how a ceasefire could be a foundation for a just, positive peace, which was more than the absence of armed conflict. This was before smart phones and social media had been invented. The workshops we had in Nepal were under the banner of ‘conflict conscious news management techniques’, focussing on framing, intent and what in later years was embraced in the practice of data journalism – anchoring stories to verified information and visualising trends over time, instead of being first to report unverified rumour and always focussing on events. My presentations and discussion points from 14 years ago flag a serious conflict of interest – with Norway as mediator and as also head of the monitoring mission – and what even then were clear signs of deep structural flaws in the ceasefire process, including the intransigence of the LTTE and a growing disconnect between the mood of the people and a technocratic government, which risked the entire structural reform agenda.

The affable spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) at the time accompanied us, as a counterpoint to this critique. A comprehensive knowledge of spoken Hindi at the time allowed me direct interactions with some leading figures from the Maoist movement we met in closed door meetings held in secret, and also many journalists from outside Kathmandu. We flew around in Buddha Air flights, which true to their name, offered hair-raising, stomach churning journeys that were never more than a few seconds away from the possibility of rebirth on mountainside. Social polling on the lines of what had been conducted in Sri Lanka was unheard of in the country at the time, and so much of the interest was also around how civil society and media could embrace data around public mood and sentiment in their work.

So much of this is relevant even today, and ironically, for both countries. In Nepal, political stasis and large-scale corruption is clearly reflected in the state of urban decay alone – unfinished infrastructure, a lack of standards in construction, unplanned buildings, a lack of regulatory oversight leading to physical and digital congestion. In Sri Lanka, we have today the same Prime Minister as I talked about in the context of the ceasefire agreement fourteen years ago. The tendency of the present government, as it was during the CFA, is to largely ignore public sentiment once in power. Social media and smart phones are framing inconvenient narratives the governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka cannot wish away. Spoilers and extremists are using these new vectors to reach and influence younger voters. Back then as well as today, economic considerations trump interest in political reform – hunger and hopelessness fuel a growing discontent that manifests itself through apathy and violence, ripe for opportunists to exploit.

Back then, the verdant hills of Godavari, a short distance from but a world apart from Kathmandu provided the frame for our first discussions with civil society and journalists in Nepal. We came to this country to share lessons of a high-level political and military project we weren’t the architects of, had little meaningful access or insight into and were fearful would come undone – which it did. I came to Kathmandu this week with humbling lessons of how much we had gone and done wrong. The last King of Nepal once tried to isolate the country, by shutting off the Internet, literally. He’s gone. The country endures. We thought the awful Rajapaksa regime wouldn’t end. We were wrong. A healthy defiance and resilience binds the people of Nepal and Sri Lanka, and why for me, coming here will always be so interesting.

Israel moves to shut down local operations of Al Jazeera

FILE PHOTO - An employee walks inside an office of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network in Jerusalem June 13, 2017. Picture taken June 13, 2017.

Ori Lewis -AUGUST 6, 2017

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel plans to revoke the media credentials of Al Jazeera TV journalists, close its Jerusalem bureau and pull the Qatar-based station's broadcasts from local cable and satellite providers, Communications Minister Ayoub Kara said on Sunday.

The closure did not appear imminent, however, and an Israeli official said a legal process was still required to implement most of the proposed steps.

Kara said the measures were intended to bolster Israel's secuity and "to bring a situation that channels based in Israel will report objectively".

There was no immediate comment from Al Jazeera headquarters in Qatar but journalists working for the station in Israel said they did not expect imminent moves against them.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would work to shut the network's offices in Israel, accusing it of inciting violence in Jerusalem, including over an Old City site that is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Kara said he would ask the Government Press Office to revoke the accreditation of Al Jazeera's journalists in Israel, where it has about 30 staff. Cable and satellite providers have expressed their willingness to turn off its broadcasts, he said.

Kara added that he had asked Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan to use his powers to close the station's offices in Israel, although a spokesman for Erdan said he doubted the minister had the authority to do so.

"Our ministry is not the address. Try the police," spokesman Daniel Bar said.

Asked if shutting down Al Jazeera's operations would make Israel appear to oppose freedom of the press, an official close to the prime minister said the country accepted diverse opinions but not incitement.

The logo of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network is seen in one of their offices in Jerusalem June 13, 2017. Picture taken June 13, 2017.

"The prime minister is not too pleased with the constant incitement that you see and hear on Al Jazeera, a lot of it in Arabic. There is a lot being broadcast on that channel that is frankly dangerous," the official said.

"There is no shortage of free speech in this country. There are plenty of dissenting voices. In democratic countries there are also things that are unacceptable, and a lot of what Al Jazeera is saying and broadcasting falls into that category."

In his news conference, to which Al Jazeera was not invited, Kara said steps had to be taken against "media, which has been determined by almost all Arab countries to actually be a supporter of terror, and we know this for certain."

"We have identified media outlets that do not serve freedom of speech but endanger the security of Israel's citizens, and the main instrument has been Al Jazeera," Kara said.

He was referring to recent violence in and around a Jerusalem site that is revered by Muslims and Jews in which six Palestinians and five Israelis, including two policemen, were killed.

Al Jazeera said in July it would take all necessary legal measures if Israel acts on its threat. It said Israel was aligning itself with four Arab states that have severed diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar.

The Foreign Press Association in Israel criticised the planned moves.

"Changing the law in order to shut down a media organisation for political reasons is a slippery slope," association executive secretary Glenys Sugarman said.

Al Jazeera has also faced government censure in Egypt. In 2014, Egypt jailed three of the network's staffers for seven years and closed its offices. Two staffers have been released but a third remains imprisoned.

Writing by Ori Lewis, Additional reporting by Dan Williams and Luke Baker, editing by Angus MacSwan

Ian Paterson: Disgraced breast surgeon has sentence increased

Ian Paterson has had his jail sentence increased from 15 to 20 years by Court of Appeal judges

Paterson was found guilty of wounding patients at Spire private hospitals

3 August 2017

A breast surgeon who intentionally wounded his patients has had his 15-year jail term increased to 20 years.

Ian Paterson, 59, who appeared at the Court of Appeal via video link, was told his current sentence was "not sufficient" to reflect the seriousness and the totality of his offending.

Paterson was found guilty in April at Nottingham Crown Court of 17 counts of wounding with intent.

Jurors also convicted him of three further wounding charges.

'Brutal and sustained'

Explaining the decision to increase his jail term, one of the three Appeal Court judges - Lady Justice Hallett - told Paterson his victims had been, "left feeling violated and vulnerable".

She described his treatment of patients as "brutal and sustained".

"They have lost their trust in others, particularly some in the medical profession," she said.

"Some have experienced long-term psychological effects."

Representing Paterson, Nicholas Johnson QC said "his crimes are truly notorious".

He said in prison the surgeon was regarded as a "marked man" so had to be kept apart from other inmates.

Surgeon 'psychopathic like Shipman'

'He took a pound of flesh for money'

Reaction from court: BBC Midlands correspondent Phil Mackie

That decision has been met with some satisfaction by Ian Paterson's victims who have come to the Court of Appeal today.

They were hoping for at least 20 years when he was sentenced to 15 years in Nottingham at the end of May. They felt that day, that whilst they were glad he had gone to prison, that he should have been sent to prison for longer.

Paterson has appeared via video link from Nottingham Prison. He was taking notes and shaking his head occasionally.

Lady Justice Hallett said the Appeal Court judges had to impose a "just and proportionate sentence".

The judges found the exercise difficult but they did think the original sentence had been unduly lenient.

They said there had been a breach of trust and an abuse of power and took into account the vulnerability of the patients - some of whom were under his care for a decade or more.

She said ultimately the 15-year sentence just was not long enough, given the totality of all of those factors.

Paterson, of Altrincham, Greater Manchester, was jailed in May following an eight-week trial trial.

The co

urt heard from nine women and one man who were treated in the private sector at Little Aston and Parkway Hospitals, run by Spire Healthcare, in the West Midlands between 1997 and 2011.

However the case was referred to the Court of Appeal by Solicitor General Robert Buckland.

Mr Buckland argued that Paterson's offending was "so serious and so exceptional" that a jail term "significantly higher" than 15 years was required.

'I lost everything'

The trial heard Paterson, who treated thousands of patients during his career, exaggerated or invented cancer risks and claimed payments for more expensive procedures in some cases.

Jurors were not told Paterson also carried out hundreds of unnecessary operations on NHS patients, with a hospital trust paying out £17.8m in damages and legal costs.

In October, more than 500 of Paterson's private patients who had unnecessary operations will seek compensation at the High Court.

Linda Millband from Thompsons Solicitors, which is representing them, said: "Many of our clients were subjected to significant harm at the hands of Mr Paterson and some have been left with life-long conditions.

"While no length of sentence can undo this harm, it seems right and fair that this otherwise lenient sentence was revised, and extended by the courts."

Diane Green, who was given two unnecessary double mastectomies by Ian Paterson, said: "I lost everything - my home, my job, my marriage - as a result of what that man did.

"While no amount of jail time can repay or make up for what he did, a sentence 15 years... was never going to be enough for maiming and butchering hundreds of women like me."

"It is encouraging to see the Court of Appeal listening to victims like me and extending the sentence to 20 years."

Convicted breast surgeon Ian Paterson has sentence increased

Published on 3 Aug 2017

He deliberately preyed on his patients' worst fears, wrongly telling them they had cancer, before he carried out unnecessary operations on them.

So when breast surgeon Ian Paterson was jailed for fifteen years, THEY said that sentence was nowhere near long enough. Today, an appeal judge agreed. Calling his treatment 'brutal and sustained' - she increased it to 20 years.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Army chief says no mercy for murderers in military

Saturday, August 5, 2017

New army chief Lt.Gen Mahesh Senanayake yesterday vowed he will not protect any “murderers” in the military trying to take the cover of war heroes to avoid prosecution.

In the clearest distinction between war heroes and murderes, the army chief said he will not allow criminal elements taking the cover of war heroes to tanish the image of the security forces.

“During the war, or thereafter, if anyone has used the military uniform and committed any offence, he is not a war hero. It is such people who claim that war heroes are being hounded.

“Those who fought the war will not be punished. Not a single soldier who fought bravely has been punished, nor will they be allowed to be penalised because we have not committed any offences,” he said.

The army chief was speaking to reporters after worshipping at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and calling on the chief priests of the two main chapters there.

“Even if I have done something wrong, I must be punished. I want to say, there is a difference between ‘mini maruwa’ (murderer) and ‘rana viruwa’ (war hero). The people should know the difference, especially the military.

“If a rana viruwa has become a mini maruwa, he must be punished,” he stressed.Army Chief Senanayake made it clear that security personnel had no special immunity.

“We are subject to both the penal code and the military law,” he said. “Therefore we have to be a highly disciplined force. (Economynext)

Tearful prayers on Day 150 of Mullaitivu mothers of the disappeared protest

05 Aug 2017

Mothers of the disappeared protesting in Mullaitivu marked 150 days since they began their campaign on Friday.

The 150th day was marked with prayers at the historic Vattrapaalai Kannagi Amman Kovil in Mullaitivu.

The mothers say they will continue to protest until they receive answers about the whereabouts of their children, most of whom were surrendered at the end of the war.

The Mullaitivu protest is one of many across the Tamil homeland in which families of the disappeared have been protesting, including in Kilinochchi, Trincomalee and Vavuniya.

A Disunited Government But United Against Accountability, Justice & Reconciliation

By Kumarathasan Rasingam –AUGUST 5, 2017

Kumarathasan Rasingam

The coalition Government of United National Party [UNP] – Sri Lanka Freedom Party [SLFP] calling itself as a Government of ‘Good Governance’ took office in January 2015 with Mithiripala Sirisena [SLFP] as President with Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister [UNP]commanding 105 members of Parliament and Mithiripala Sirisena [SLFP] holding 97 members. Two major political parties who were battling against each other in all parliamentary elections joined to form a historical Government giving high hopes and optimism to all sections of the people in Sri Lanka particularly for the Tamils. Plenty of vote catching promises were made. The most important being the elimination of bribery and corruption and prosecuting past corrupt politicians particularly the former President Rajapaksa clan, who amassed wealth unprecedented in the history of Sri Lanka. The other promise was to offer a just, and permanent political settlement to the 70 year old ethnic problem with promises to take steps to redress the other grievances due to war and after the war. Another important promise was to replace the old JR Jayewardene’s constitution with a new constitution engaging the public from all walks of life with a consultative process. The mandate of the people was obtained to carry out the above commitments with the approval of 6.3 million voters during the elections, including the majority of Tamil and Muslim voters.

The Government acted on the promised steps to set up a Constitutional Council, independent Police Commission, and independent Judicial Commission while clipping some powers of the President under the 19th Amendment. The extent of independence and impartiality is far from satisfactory when looking back at some of these Commissions’ past conduct of functions which appear to be falling in line with the ruling Government’s thinking.

The Government after more than 30 months in power is still grappling with power struggle, inner divisions and personal clashes in and outside the Parliament particularly between the UNP and SLFP ministers and high ups. Doubts as to who runs the Government, President or Prime Minister also are cropping up due to lack of co-ordination and consultation or even personal communication. The recent meeting of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and Counter Terrorism with the Tamil political prisoners in Anuradhapura irked President Mithiripala Sirisena who was unaware of it until knowing the UN Rapporteur’s scathing comments on Sri Lanka made by him in a Press Conference.

The Joint Opposition Group initiated by Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has also become a veritable irritant threatening to scuttle the Governments move to enact a new constitution, not to mention his venomous opposition to increased devolution of powers to Northern Provincial Council, a permanent political weapon used to sway the Sinhalese voters. PM Ranil is also accused by some in the Maithiri’s quarters for the soft approach in the prosecution of Mahinda Rajapaksa associates as a check mate to SLFP’s electoral ambitions and gains. The net result is a government which is running only to survive and last until the next Parliamentary Elections. This corroding instability has resulted in many failures for the ‘GOOD GOVERNANCE’ which has progressed to a Government of “NO CONFIDENCE’ and ‘NO GOVERNANCE’ hoping to survive until the Parliamentary Election in 2020.

1. All the recommendations of the UNHRC Resolution 30-1-2015 remain unimplemented except the Office of Missing Persons Act which was passed in August 2016 without adequate powers to ensure culpability for the offenders but only ensuring impunity for them. The Internal Judicial Mechanism is yet to be conceived and with the declared statements of President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister not to prosecute any security personnel for war crimes, even holding investigations, the principles of justice and accountability have got their good byes in no uncertain terms, while burying the reconciliation process.

2. The proposed new constitution could be an aborted or child of miscarriage. The all powerful Maha Sanga with its three Chief Prelates landed their knockouts for any new constitution, calling on the Government to look after the existing constitution with suitable amendments which should be confined to reduction of Presidential powers and electoral reforms, with Buddhism and unitary system remain as it is. The government has also yielded to the demands of Maha Sanga by declaring that any changes or amendments to the constitution will be submitted to Maha Sanga for their pre approval. This is nothing but a slap on the face of the 6.3 million voters who gave the mandate for a new constitution and who only have their right to exercise either to approve or reject it based on the sovereignty of people over everything else.

The statement of the Joint Opposition Group “No one should act against Maha Sanga and its stand”. And the statement of UNP member Kajantha Gunawardene “Consent of two parties is required to enact a new constitution, one is the consent of Maha Sanga and the other is the consent of people. Without these consents a new constitution cannot be enacted”. These statements are the writings on the wall as to the fate of a new constitution.

It appears that Sri Lanka holds the unique distinction of having two states with the veto power, being vested with the Maha Sanga.

Sri Lanka, in dire need of a New Constitution

Saturday, August 5, 2017

The former Finance Minister is not bending or yielding. Anybody concerned can go to courts. This Yahapalanaya has brought him before a powerful commission and he gave his answers; those concerned or the government as a whole can go on correcting the situation if that is necessary. Today, even at village level, people desire the truth and leaders to account.

The President took a tough decision, may be in the greater interest of the people, and he and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should decide now without delaying further. However decisions on crimes committed by fascistic elements are pending in courts of law. Firmly committed anti racists should have the right to demand to take him before the law before damaging his personality. This meant Yahapalanaya taking correct decisions in the greater interest of people.

People were anxious during the oil strike. Suffering of the poor was terrible. There were no trade union demands but so called patriotic demands put forward by the fascistic front. Several organisations of workers, fishermen and peasants commended the decision taken by President Sirisena to declare fuel distribution as an essential service when petroleum workers were on strike.
It is tragic that finally, after the military took over, the fuel distribution issue came to an end. TU leaders responsible, made a terrible mistake by yielding before deployment of army. They should not have started anti-poor action in the first place. Of course it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen. The President used to consult all sides for the past couple of years. It has brought nothing much, but sudden anarchy.

Market economy

In a country where market economy is functioning; it is foolish to expect bourgeoisie to send their children to fight for a share in the free education basically meant for the not so wealthy. In Lanka already there are many private universities for other subjects such as engineering, accountancy, management etc. In this context it is crazy to claim that private medical college, SAITM should be demolished. Of course it should be up to the standard as estimated by the Medical Council.

Investors are responsible to put more money and resources for that purpose. Of course private investors expect a profit. However those can be regulated by the grants commission. Thus, it will be open for bright students with means or scholarships, but unable to enter the state medical faculties, as an option to pursue their medical studies. This is the solution offered by the President.

With these interventions many activists believe that the SLFP should stand together with the President if it is to form a government led by their party. They all should come under one leader. One minister said “the President should be our leader. If we stand in the middle of the road, we would be knocked down by the vehicles moving from both sides. We should be on the side. He should be able to think on behalf of his party. Unless it is done, the SLFP would go from crisis to crisis. It would entail a series of defeats at the hands of the UNP.

There were decisions taken by the Finance Minister earlier on which were detrimental to the country. He introduced a Super Gain Tax. Though it was not implemented, it antagonized people against us. Then, a Capital Tax was proposed. It was not implemented too. Yet, it alienated local entrepreneurs from us.” So now we know who were against the anti-capitalist proposals of Ravi Karunanayake!
Judicial independence

President Sirisena quit the previous rule as he could not stand corruption, as explained by himself. Of course there were other more criminal issues involving the Rajapaksas. Apparently he protested in all that. Ranil helped him to come out and people rallied behind him. They sought a government which is not burdened with corruption, but offers democracy and good governance.

Constitutional reforms, electoral reforms and judicial independence are all linked with the change expected. However removal of Executive Presidency and devolution of power put together was the main demand. During the first term, the President was able to do away with some of his Executive Powers considered draconian. Besides, he managed to get the 19th Amendment enacted making way for independent commissions to be set up.

Constitutional change

Picture by Sudam Gunasinghe

However people are expecting fundamental changes. President has not spelled out his proposal for constitutional change.

Nevertheless he was able to build up Sri Lanka’s image in the international arena. As mentioned above, the controversy surrounding the Bond issue turned out to be the first affront to this government; with much publicity, it became so injurious to the government only a couple of months after its formation in 2015. Some claim that it caused a multi-billion rupee fraud to the country. Yet, the Yahapalana was elected not for the sole purpose of rooting out corruption, though it had to grapple with the same charges.

The President started with dealing with those responsible. He was supported by the Prime Minister. Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran was removed. After that, the Presidential Commission was appointed to look into the charges. Today, it is public knowledge that those responsible for mass scale corruption are exposed. The President said in a recent meeting that he had no way forward with corrupt elements. He vowed to form a government without corrupt elements.

No one has accused Ranil for corruption. So, this new Yahapalanaya could come out with the support of the UNP. It should happen, undoubtedly. President can consider the fact that Minister Tilak Marapana resigned from the Cabinet once because he was just accused of something. He was the lawyer retained in the Avant Guarde case by the defence.

This policy will be continued says the UNP General Secretary. There are accusations against prominent UNP leaders. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe is accused of safeguarding these people. The UNP cannot remain mute in this regard. Obviously prominent politicians either from the UNP or the SLFP should make up their minds to go home if their names are tainted with corruption allegations.

In the meantime Mahinda claims that he could form majority in the parliament and form a government. Can he do that without the help of the President? President already said that he will not help any corrupt person to come to power.

Hence Mahinda cannot say anything like that exactly. First, he has to secure a simple majority by getting 113 MPs on board. It is the second move to secure two-thirds. Currently, the UNP has 106 seats. SLFP front has 95. The JVP has six and the TNA with 16. There are contradictions and confusions within the pro SLFP front. On the other hand Parliament cannot be dissolved for four and-a-half years. If the President wants to form a new government he has to decide whether to form a government using the members in the present coalition or proceed to make a new political front within the parliament, with it as it is.

Mahinda group

On the other hand there was a dispute about the manner in which economic affairs were handled. The suggestion to form an economic council were both the President and the PM participate is a way out. Both have to find a solution to the economic problems. Two years have passed now; according to economic pandits it is a period that is long enough for a government to turn around the economy. It is true that Lankans have a debt burden.

Today, Mahinda group say the economy is collapsing with the rising cost of living and the unemployment rate. They are accusing Yahapalanaya for the debacle; but who is responsible for leading the country on such a downward spiral? Of course one can blame the Mahinda regime, but this government is responsible to revive it. However, the greater problem is forming a constitution acceptable to all nationalities in the country. Except Mahinda group all are united for a democratic constitution that could satisfy all nationalities in the country. Hence we must together go forward.

His future linked to solving national question: Sampanthan

2017-08-05

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political future and the future of the country largely depend on resolving the national question and bringing about economic development, Opposition Leader R Sampanthan said.

He said this during the ceremony in Parliament to felicitate Prime Minister Ranil Wickrmesinghe's 40 years as a parliamentarian.

“Premier by nature is calm and stable person and a person who cannot be ruffled easily. We are felicitating him on his outstanding achievement of being 40 years in Parliament but the concern is his future. He and President Maithripala Sirisena should work together to come up with a political solution to the national question,” Mr. Sampanthan said.

“Economic development and the national question are closely associated. Much needed economic development could be achieved only if the national question is resolved,” he said. (Yohan Perera)