Sirisena family’s murder contract : Life of illicit lover of Chathurika at stake !

(Lanka-e-News - 18.Feb.2018, 8.25PM)  While president Maithripala Sirisena is begging  for a 4 %,  and is desperately trying to cover up his  fiascos even by plunging the country into unprecedented chaos and calamities , his own family members too are leaving no stone unturned in their desperation to conceal their own stormy  problems in the domestic front- they  are even getting ready to sacrifice the life of an individual ! It is very unfortunate Lanka e news that  has received this information  is most reluctantly compelled to reveal  this to the public.

This most shocking news is ,the legitimate husband of  Chathurika Sirisena the daughter of ‘president father’  has given a contract to the underworld members to murder her paramour.

It is not the aim or motive of Lanka e news to peep through keyholes which it considers as unprofessional . But when the murky and illicit activities within a room turns into a threat to the life of  any individual , it becomes necessary that we expose the details however lurid , and no matter who is planning it. Besides , in the palaces of rulers where there are love tangles in which for true love lives have been sacrificed , if there is one ‘Dascon’ in SL  that is more than enough . Another  ‘Janaka Liyanage’ is not necessary.

The background story .. 

….. the name of the  illicit husband of Chathurika Sirisena is Janaka Liyanage. The latter’s illicit sex relationship with Chathurika had begun during the last presidential election . That is after Liyanage entering the house of Maithripala Sirisena as his video publicity producer . Thereafter he was a regular visitor and moved freely within the house.

After Maithripala became the president , Liyanage had been frequently visiting the house and meeting Chathurika  very often. Coincidentally , Thilina Suranjith, the   legal husband of Chathurika and Liyanage had been classmates , and therefore the frequent visits of Liyanage were considered as a matter of routine.

After Maithripala became ‘president father’, Chathurika had started an advertising business with this Casanova the one we are speaking about. 

As the  joint business was growing so was Chathurika’s illicit affair . Unfortunately,  while  that has plumbed new depths of bad taste , and the bud deep down was  blossoming , Thilina had caught them red handed. Chathurika however has not behaved like a wife guilty of infidelity , instead she has begun dealing blows to the legal husband. This was because Thilina is noted as an  all  Olympic records breaker ’ in the game  of hurdle jumping’ . 

Dematagoda Ruwan ….

No matter what , right now Chathurika and Thilina are not living in the same house. She has been provided with a house in Empire super luxury housing complex in Colombo  by Kili Maharaja , while another businessman has provided her with a super luxury house at the Liberty Plaza .  However Thilina the legal husband is barred from entering any of these houses. 

Only Janaka Liyanage who plumbs the depths has permission to enter. If by chance legal husband Thilina visits Chathurika’s residence , he is told by her ‘ Thilina please go away , as Janaka will be coming any moment.’ To that extent legally married daughter of the president enjoys ‘women’s lib’. 

Thilina had  made umpteen complaints to ‘president father ‘ as son in law , but without avail. This is because it is indecipherable whether the daughter is cast in the mold of the father or vice versa. 

Thilina who is now left high and dry by the infidelity of Chathurika and the indifference of the father in law , has as a last resort given the contract to the underworld group to assassinate his friend Janaka , the illicit lover of Chathurika . An assistant of Dematagoda Ruwan  , an  underworld leader who is currently in jail had undertaken the contract . Janaka the modern Casanova ( one who serves the purposes of  women who are ‘kasanavas’ ) who got wind of this is now leading a secretive  life .

In any event if any harm befalls Janaka , it is the son in law of the president who will be  directly answerable . Indirectly the family of the president too will be liable.

Murder contracts – free and simple ..

Lanka e news is exposing this murder contract ahead because we are fully aware of  the monumental dangers besetting  such contracts in SL.

 A business family - friends of Lanka e news were residing  in Kaduwela at one time. That  family was involved in politics  and  had three brothers who were toughies. 

Two of those brothers and a  youth who assists  them of the family were shot and killed on the same day by  a single  hired assassin.

Later , when the killer was getting exposed he had been met by the hired assassin who was paid Rs. 5000.00 and offered a  Sri Pada pilgrimage.  Are three lives that cheap ? In other words what was proved is , in SL  contract killing is that simple.

In the circumstances , Lanka e news is therefore most gravely concerned about  Janaka Liyanage whom it had never known  , yet what is most paramount in this context is,  a most precious life  is in peril .

(Special correspondent of inside information service of Lanka e news )

Translated by Jeff 

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by     (2018-02-18 15:11:14)

UNSG GUTERRES HAILS LANKA’S DISARMAMENT CONFAB EFFORTS

Monday, February 19, 2018

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has welcomed a decision adopted under Sri Lanka’s Presidency to advance work of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) presided over by Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha on Friday adopted a decision to establish five subsidiary bodies to discuss all items in its agenda, with a view to advance the substantive work of the Conference, the Sri Lankan mission in Geneva said in a statement.

The decision described as a “well-brokered balance between flexibility and safeguards and offered a framework for a more focused and continued debate on core issues”, seeks to bring the CD back to its original mandate of negotiating disarmament instruments.

Since its negotiation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, the CD is yet to negotiate any new treaty.

In a statement released the same evening in New York, the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said “the Secretary-General welcomes the decision adopted today by the Conference on Disarmament to take forward its substantive work.

“The Secretary-General commends the Members of the Conference for achieving this positive step, which he hopes will lead to resumption of negotiations on effective measures for disarmament and arms control. The current international security situation underscores the vital need to restore disarmament as an integral component of our collective efforts to prevent armed conflict and to maintain international peace and security”. It added that “the Secretary-General urges Member States to make use of this opening, redouble their efforts and forge a new consensus for disarmament” the statement from the Secretary General’s office said.

In his concluding remarks at the CD, Ambassador Aryasinha observed that “the adoption of the decision was an important moment in the collective efforts to bring back the Conference to substantive work and negotiations. It represented a compromise between differing positions in the Conference which had for too long hampered its proper functioning. This decision would represent the beginning of a new phase which would allow the Conference to move forward through a search for commonalities and technical substantive work”.

The President “urged the Conference to be guided by the Rules of Procedure, but not to use those Rules to inhibit itself”. The Sri Lanka delegation to the CD included Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Mrs. Samantha Jayasuriya and First Secretary Mrs. Mafusa Lafir.

Highlighting the elements of the Decision, the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG) in a media release on noted that “the subsidiary bodies would pursue the following areas, and any other areas agreed to in accordance with the Rules of Procedure: reach an understanding on the areas of commonalities in the Conference on Disarmament by taking into consideration all relevant views and proposals past, present and future; deepen technical discussions and broaden areas of agreement, including through the participation, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, of relevant experts; and consider effective measures to advance the substantive work of the Conference, including legal instruments for negotiations”.

“Each subsidiary body would be chaired by a coordinator appointed by the Conference, under the guidance of the President on the basis of equitable regional distribution”.

Reporting on the earlier lengthy negotiations that culminated in the decision, the UNOG, while noting initial concerns expressed by some delegations, said “other delegations had agreed that the initiative would be the first progress on substantive work of the Conference in twenty years, and urged the adoption of the text especially as there were not many other options at the table. The proposal was a well-brokered balance between flexibility and safeguards and offered a framework for a more focused and continued debate on core issues. Delegates urged trust, compromise and flexibility, stressing that the initiative was not an end product and that its outcome and final results should not be prejudiced”.

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, was a result of the first Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly (SSOD-I) held in 1978, and constitute of 65 Members, including the five Permanent Members of the Security Council. 

Directions To Be Seen

By S. Sivathasan –FEBRUARY 19, 2018

S. Sivathasan

Sri Lanka witness to periodic elections with unerring regularity missed that opportunity for three years. On that score there was no loss in quality of governance. The polity however lost its ability to assess the force of the sub currents and the magnitude of the iceberg developing underneath. With elections now behind us, it is not the statistical exactitudes that press for relevance. In what direction is the polity moving and at what point will it stop in two years are the critical questions.

Disparate Groupings

What did January and August 2015 bring forth? Two national parties in the same harness. A third major one in search of a safe arbour slithering along, skidding the wheels of government in negative mode. Two minority entities exulting in having tilted the balance at the hustings. An ethnic formation of Tamils, eternally averse to handling power, yet in dalliance with the government though leading the opposition as well. Through policy and programme Tamils made no forward movement. The religious formation of Muslims noted for its pragmatic approaches secured some success on top of its 62 years of progress. Hill country Tamils with their new leadership grew in strength. The minor groupings lumbered along. No nation could have crafted a more amorphous arrangement for nation building. An amalgam of dissatisfaction was waiting for expression.

Great Expectations

In the years preceding 2015, the passion for Life and Liberty were exceedingly stronger than the fondness for Pursuit of Happiness. Elections called for then, had the fullest resonance with the polity. Expectations grew high and fulfilment was anticipated. Some sacred rights were restored. Right to life was secured and the spectre of fear had been dissipated. liberty was ensured restoring multiple rights to the citizens. Among them freedom of expression being the most significant. By any measure undreamt of achievements. A tribute to Maithri-Ranil stewardship. Yet impediments to happiness were many and little mark was made on the constituents of happiness.

Disaffection Afflicting All

Public debt which was at ever growing levels and now at unpayable Rs trillions, took away the sheen from much professed good governance. Benefits of monetary infusions were more than negated by inflation. Economic growth did not translate into income distribution through new employment avenues. Education failed to have the budgetary support that government’s professions emphasized. Neither did health get the finances needed. Tamils had their hopes on military withdrawal dashed; land release never done; devolution not even attempted and expectations of economic revival ever frustrated. Fears of the Muslims were not assuaged and a recrudescence of violence against them continued to be glossed over. Hill country Tamils benefitted a little because the previous coterie was bypassed in favour of the new leadership. The innervating failure at crafting a constitution displayed supreme ineptitude. Three years in the making, it has the appearance of an unformed pudding. Dissatisfaction everywhere, hope nowhere is the polity’s summation.

Referendum-like Election

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Sirisena abysmally ignorant of laws seeks AG’s advice only after LeN report ! It is time he resigned….

(Lanka-e-News - 18.Feb.2018, 8.25PM)   It is Lanka e news always first with the news and best with the views, which  exposes the truth fearlessly, forthrightly and frankly  come what may that  revealed under the caption  ‘an impeachment motion against president Sirisena for intentional violation of the constitution !’ that the president cannot change a prime minister under the 19 th amendment of the constitution according to his whims and fancies based on name lists of his buffoons and baboons  , and an impeachment  motion against Sirisena is therefore ominously  staring in his face .It is thereafter   president Sirisena alias Sillysena had come to his senses and sought the advice of the Attorney General (AG) , according to reports of other media of SL. 

Kumara Welgama M.P. following discussions with the President told the media ,the president had obtained AG ‘s advice and the former disclosed that to Welgama. 

The P.M. who made a  special statement ,responding to queries raised by the media  confirmed  what was reported by Lanka e news  by revealing,  changing a P.M. is a role of the Parliament. At any rate the eagerness of the president to change the P.M. had wilted  by this afternoon.

Going by the attempts and ardor of the president in the wrong direction ,it is evident  he has only betrayed his abysmal ignorance  of the 19 th amendment of the constitution that was passed during his own tenure of office as president under his very nose. Little wonder he is now dubbed Sillysena  , a nickname supported by both  rhyme and reason.

It is a pity , it is the people of SL who have to face the debacles and despair after putting on the throne of president , an uneducated  nitwit and nincompoop who does not know how many years ago his own country gained independence ;  does not know how many millions make a trillion ; waits  to sing praises and proses after going on retirement; and utters whatever that comes to his mouth after protruding out his unbridled tongue (thinks only after leaping). 

It is therefore best if  president who has by now  proved beyond any doubt he is also the worst enemy of the nation  by kicking out the mandate of 6.2 million people who reposed implicit faith in him , and therefore now reeling under  a 4 % popularity resigns of his own  volition immediately  without waiting any longer before his last vestige of honor too has evaporated.  

Connected report ..
‘An impeachment motion against president Sirisena for intentional violation of the constitution !’ 

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by     (2018-02-18 15:31:12)

Coalition crisis conundrum

i

•  Speaker Karu Jayasuriya plays peace-maker in fresh President-PM meeting as Govt crisis deepens
• Thilanga says SLFP to quit Govt. 
• Other SLFPers say no decision yet
•  Speaker urges President, PM to work together
• Two leaders must start new journey, deliver on 8 January promises says Speaker
• Up to President to convince SLFP now: UNP sources
•  Major reshuffle on Wednesday
•  Law and Order, Justice, Highways, Foreign Affairs portfolios likely to be shuffled

By Dharisha Bastians- Monday, 19 February 2018 

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya launched last-ditch effort to save the beleaguered ruling national unity coalition yesterday,  the SLFP continued to play hardball by threatening to quit the alliance as a crippling political crisis precipitated by stinging defeat for both main parties in the government entered its eighth day.

After a relatively quiet weekend, Speaker Jayasuriya accompanied Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to President Maithri-pala Sirisena’s official residence at Paget Road last evening for last ditch talks to resolve the crisis and restore stability following the week of political chaos and turmoil.

Following discussions that aides said lasted just over an hour, the President and the Prime Minister had reached consensus on a major cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday (21), Daily FT learns. The present status quo, of a national unity government with Premier Wickremesinghe at the helm, was likely to continue, following the Speaker’s intervention at this crucial juncture, highly placed sources told Daily FT.

However soon after President Sirisena met with the Speaker and the Premier, he also met with UPFA ministers. Soon after the meeting Deputy Minister Thilanga Sumathipala reportedly told the media that the SLFP has decided to quit the national unity government. The President would seek the Supreme Court opinion on dissolution of the National government, Sumathipala said. A decision of the SLFP will make its decision known today, other reports said.

Daily FT learns that during his meeting Speaker Jayasuriya told both leaders that they had to stick by each other and work together in order to deliver on the promises made to the people on 8 January 2015. Big changes could be made in light of the recent verdict of the electorate at the local government elections, Jayasuriya had conceded, while a change in the Prime Minister would precipitate further crisis at this juncture, he had warned.

The Speaker told President Sirisena and Premier Wickremesinghe that once radical changes in the Government that would restore the people’s confidence had been made, both leaders must resolve to make a fresh start, it is learnt.

Among these ‘radical’ changes would be a major reshuffle of cabinet portfolios, probably by midweek, authoritative sources told Daily FT. The ministries of Law and Order, Highways, Foreign Affairs, Justice and several others are likely to see changes, the sources added.

 Minister of Law and Order Sagala Ratnayaka, who is also the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, has already agreed to give up the portfolio in the reshuffle.

Now that the Speaker has managed to achieve some compromise, it would be up to President Sirisena to persuade his party to back the changes and continue to work within the coalition, a senior UNP member told Daily FT on grounds of confidentiality. It remains unclear if the SLFP will agree to the proposals discussed and stay in the Government, sources said. The political situation remains uncertain since developments occur every hour, the sources added.

The crucial talks between the first, second and third citizens of the country was a sign that the crisis in the Government ran very deep, political observers noted. The talks came as sources close to the President claimed he was mulling a suspension of Parliament sittings until the crisis in the Government was resolved satisfactorily. However, after the high-level discussions last night, the decision has been shelved for the moment, Daily FT learns.

The Speaker's decision to mediate to bring about resolution to the crisis has been hailed by senior UNPers, including the leadership, UNP sources said.  Jayasuriya, whose name has repeatedly been suggested as a replacement after the SLFP refused to work with the current Prime Minister, would have played a vital role to end the deadlock that has affected investor confidence, the stability of the rupee and the stock market over this past tumultuous week.  

Now is the time for ‘all good men’ to come to the aid of govt.

by N Sathiya Moorthy-February 18, 2018, 11:15 pm 

Now that the integrity and sincerity of the two major Sinhala partners to keep the coalition government going have come under greater stress more than at any time in the past three-plus years, they need ‘external players’ to help them sort out their mutual differences. It does not mean foreign powers that were behind this ‘unholy mess’ in 2015 but the domestic underwriters of the government and the larger coalition that made Maithiripala Sirisena the democratically-elected President of the nation and Ranil Wicrkemesinghe, the not-so-democratically selected Prime Minister.

It is not without a reason that the domestic allies of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe combine should come forward and take the responsibility for creating this mess in the first place. They have no real powers to change this government. Under and after 19-A no one really has. That includes the ‘Executive President’ in the pre-19-A era. It also includes Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, who can quit office if he so desires (!) but cannot guarantee that President Sirisena cannot and would not muster a majority then – and only then – and have another government under another prime minister.

The real problem with the nation’s polity in this past week after the local government (LG) polls is that the man who can make a government that works, does not seem too keen to make this government to work, either. If only Mahinda Rajapaksa had sent out clear signals, if not open calls, for forming a new government at the centre, defectors not only from Sirisena’s SLFP-UPFA but even other parties, including Wickremesinghe’s UNP would have begun thronging to his side. But he is not doing it.

The Sirisena camp thought the President had the inherent power still to sack the Prime Minister at will, which he does not have owing to 19-A; he also does not have any powers to deny the seat to Rajapaksa, if the latter is inclined to stake his claim after engineering defections. It could become a messier affair than already, if with a majority of MPs on his side, Rajapaka was to move a no-faith motion against the government in Parliament successfully. Ranil would lose, but that would still not give Sirisena powers to dissolve Parliament, if the latter did not want to work with his former boss of a decade.

The moment the SLFP-UPFA MPs fully understand this constitutional reality, their own preferences could shift from Sirisena to Rajapaksa. It is not about policies, but about politics. They want to win another parliamentary election each, and Rajapaksa not Sirisena is their better bet just now. Even in the parliamentary polls of 2015, Rajapaksa, not Sirisena, won them their individual seats, on his personal charisma even after losing the presidency.

Tall leader...

Today, when Maithiri and Ranil are playing the cat-and-mouse game without learning their lessons from the LG poll; their outside underwriters are sitting where they have become comfortable with over the past three years especially and are issuing statements, urging them to remember the mandate of 2015. Truth be acknowledged, it was not a mandate that Sirisena and/or Ranil secured in January 2015. It was a mandate that the smaller parties, starting with the minorities’ parties, that gave the other two.

The results of the presidential polls very clearly showed that the Tamil votes and the Muslim votes that made the real difference. Yes, the JHU, JVP and much of the Upcountry Tamil votes also gave a more respectable margin to Sirisena than others. It is thus not only their right, but also responsibility, to make the mandate work. The reverse is also true. It is their right as much as responsibility, to make Sirisena and Wickremesinghe behave.

Tall leader, yet...

If there is one leader who could rise to the occasion and play peace-maker between the ‘Big Two’ in Government, it is TNA’s R Sampanthan. He is among the most experienced parliamentarian in the country, who has worked alongside a succession of presidents and prime ministers in the country. He is not a Sinhala, does not belong to either of the Sinhala majors. Nor has he any love for other Sinhala parties, especially the JHU and JVP, the centre-right and centre-left peripheral parties, which have backed the duo in the presidential polls, yet swear by their ‘Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist’ credentials.

On limited issues of national politics, Sampanthan the leader and TNA the party can hope to carry the Muslim and Upcountry Tamil parties with them, as long as they do not start talking their North-East re-merger cause in the process. If at the end of it all, Sampanthan grows taller than at present, maybe other parties and leaders from other Tamil-speaking communities may have a cause to hear him more intently than at present – and listen to him with real regard, without pretensions.

Today, sitting in Jaffna yet after the LG polls, Sampanthan has been issuing appeals for Sirisena and Ranil to remember their collective mandate of 2015 and work towards it. JHU Patali Champika Ranawaka, too, has been saying similar things, but the Muslim party leaders are conspicuous by their silence. The JVP, as with the Rajapaksa days, itself has forgotten the 2015 mandate, for which it backed Sirisena in the presidential polls.

It is also their collective strength. Each of these minor parties, drawn against each other on specifics all the time, came together in the ‘larger, common good’, going beyond their narrow, ‘nationalist politics’ of specific ethnic constituency and methodology. The Muslim parties alone had their heart in one place and mind elsewhere until the heart began ruling the mind. Today, again, their studied and stoic silence seems reflecting their continuing dilemma than levels of political maturity. The dilemma includes existential crisis from within their united community and a divided polity.

Reading the ‘riot act’

Continuing this ruling coalition in the same form after all the bickerings of the past years, heightened by the high drama in these days after the LG polls, would be a farce, a Greek tragedy at its worst. Yet there is no alternative to continuing with it unless Sirisena and Wickremesinghe agree to Rajapaksa’s proposition for ordering fresh parliamentary polls, if required through special legislation.

If the ruling duo could do with a 19-A for self-preservation against each other than anything else, the nation could require a 20-A here and now, on the lines mentioned. Already, the President and Prime Minister have become lame-duck authorities, as their writ may not run even outside of their compounds anymore – and possibly not inside, either.

The nation just cannot afford a long period of hibernation, going beyond three years of non-governance and mis-governance. If one includes the last years of the Rajapaksa regime, it is even more. If not corrected early on, it could become a national past-time, a national habit and part of a nation’s character, where already there is a perception that nothing moves, or nothing moves without something else moves somewhere else.

It is time Sampathan and the TNA took the initiative to rein in Sirisena and Wickremesinghe, and read them the ‘riot act’ loud and clear. It is another matter that there is no ‘riot act’ for them or anyone to read to anyone else, but there is no harm in pretending, for the nation’s stake that one does exists and they do persist. Already Sampanthan & Co have acted irresponsibility through the past three-plus years, they lost all moral authority and perfect timing to intervene in the affairs of the coalition government, but again, it is better later than never.

The chances are that any initiative of the kind by Sampanthan could still fail, and fail miserably. It may still not be a loss of face if the participant-parties are able to rise above their narrow ethnic differences as they did in 2015. It could well be a warning bell to the so-called bigger Sinhala parties, namely, the SLPP, UNP and the SLFP (?), that a coalition of minor parties, cutting across majority and minority ethnic sentiments could still be a possibility to check their political misadventures, going beyond the one that they all worked together in 2015.

Short-sighted

There may still be a hitch. While not seemingly showing any interest in staking prime ministerial claims, Rajapaksa seems keen on having the Leader of the Opposition tag for him. The ruling duo and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya were even more short-sighted in naming Sampanthan the Leader of the Opposition when the infant JO under Rajapaksa was staking claims to the position. It was a constitutional joke that the JO should still want to be in government and demand the position, but it was worse for Sampanthan to be given the title.

Personally and from the stand-point of Tamil politics, Sampanthan did not earn the position as his mentor Appapillai Amirthalingam had done in 1977, when the losing Sinhala government party in Sirimavo-led SLFP ( 8 seats) came a poor third, after the UNP (140) and the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF-18 seats). Now that SLPP is an electoral entity with a proven majority in local government authorities, and the Speaker can delay, not deny, their claims to the post of Leader of the Opposition post, Tamil hard-liners, who have been enthused even more after the LG polls in the North, would misinterpret it all as yet another ‘Sinhala conspiracy’ if Sampanthan were to be stripped of the position. Worse still, they would also charge Sampanthan as becoming a part of the conspiracy – and without batting an eyelid.

(The writer is Director, Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation, the multi-disciplinary Indian public-policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi.

Looking Beyond The Current Political Gridlock: Future Of Tamil Nationalist Politics

By Sara Dissanayake –FEBRUARY 18, 2018

Dr. Sara Dissanayake

The landslide victory of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in the recently concluded local government (LG) elections naturally attracted much attention to assessing the future trajectory of the domestic political landscape. The heavy focus on the political gridlock in the South has inevitably diverted our attention from the prevailing political trend in the North, which would potentially have a ripple effect to the dynamics of future Tamil nationalist politics in Sri Lanka. This piece intends to shed light on a different, yet a crucial dimension of the election outcomes.

The victory of the ‘lotus bud’ signifies many things, one of which could be the (mis)interpretation as a specious return of Sinhala ultra-nationalism. In a press conference held on 12 February, the SLPP de facto leader Mahinda Rajapaksa proudly pointed to the Sri Lankan map, expressing how the maroon colour spread across the country to the extent that even the territory of ‘Eelam’ had also been minimised. The Eelamists would quite naively interpret this in simplistic terms that the South voted for the SLPP in order to prevent the concession of power to the Tamils under the incumbent national unity government. For the Eelam apologists, Rajapaksa’s re-emergence implies that the window of opportunity to pursue Tamil self-determination would be indefinitely shut. Such line of thought can further push them to pursue its separatist agenda. To this end, Colombo needs to anticipate and prepare against a force multiplication of the Tamil question in the immediate future, which is likely to come in two fronts: a) Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) pivot to a hardline stance; and b) intensification of anti-Sri Lanka propaganda by the global pro-LTTE Diaspora entities.

At present, the TNA’s political survival is at stake. Although the TNA was overall numerically successful, it fell short of an absolute majority in all councils across the their stronghold, and especially in Jaffna- the heart of Tamil nationalism. The LG polls this time demonstrated an unprecedented level of support to anti-LTTE Douglas Devananda’s Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), capturing Kayts and Delft Pradeshya Sabha. Similarly, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam- led Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), a breakaway faction known for its less compromising commitment to the Tamil struggle, came second after TNA in Jaffna district. They captured in Point Pedro Urban Council and Chavakachcheri Pradeshya Sabha, as well as Poonakary Pradeshya Sabha in Kilinochchci district.

The support for TNA is gradually waning, as opposed to their confident prediction of bagging 46 councils in early February. Although EPDP has offered its support to provisionally back the TNA in forming administrations in the LG bodies in the North, the TNA’s overall electoral setback may push them to take a hardline stance on the Tamil nationalist issue, which can be attributed to both domestic and external factors: first, in a bid to outdo its local political rivals; and second, to garner further support from the larger Eelamist groups abroad. The increasing support for the EPDP and the TNPF is a testament to the rising frustration among the constituents against TNA’s failure to deliver results, despite enjoying its status as an opposition party of the incumbent regime.

 TNA-Diaspora Nexus

For the TNA to assume leadership and build a bridge between the clash of ideologies among its political rivals would be a challenge, and not quite possibly their immediate goal. Instead, their focus is likely to retain their political survival by echoing a more forceful tone on the Tamil issue and actively reaching out to their counterparts in the foreign governments, in an attempt to appease the pro-LTTE rump abroad who is their largest benefactor. As a proxy of the Tiger terrorists during wartime, they managed to juggle between its two political masters in the post-war setting: that is, the pro-Tiger Diaspora outfits and the Sri Lankan state. Their malleable political positioning has enabled its survival thus far by strategically interchanging its Eelamist and Unitarist masks. While finding much comfort as an opposition party in the incumbent regime today, the TNA does not forget to pull political stunts at critical junctures to appease its sponsors abroad. This was once again evident in the run-up to the recent elections.

For instance, the TNA leader R. Sampanthan declared to boycott the 70th Independence Day celebrations, and at the same time, the Northern Provincial Council Chairman CVK Sivagnanam openly expressed that the ban on the LTTE should be lifted within Sri Lanka. Further, in the immediate aftermath of the incident involving the throat-slitting gesture of the Defense Attaché in London, Sampanthan was quick to make a calculated move of joining the Eelamist bandwagon in demanding the British government to declare the said individual as a persona non grata.

The TNA-Tamil Diaspora nexus has always been asymmetric in nature, where the former is very much dependent on the latter, both financially and politically. The TNA needs the Diaspora for its survival, not the other way round. Sampanthan and his cohorts are also pawns of factional rivalry among the pro-LTTE Diaspora parties, and are repeatedly put in its place whenever their agenda seems to derail from its foreign masters’ predilections. 2017 witnessed failed assassination attempts of M.A. Sumanthiran carried out by ex-LTTE cadres, under the directive of the radical Nediyawan faction in Norway. In a recent report, the US based Diaspora group ‘Tamils for Trump’ called for a probe on the TNA for its inaction in pursuing the Tamil Homeland issue by failing to engage with the West and India, and instead getting into bed with the Sinhalese.

Read More

Northern Elections and Tamil Politics

2018-02-19 

The Local Government elections have sent tremors through the body politic of Sri Lanka, and the fall out of the shaken Coalition Government is yet to unfold. With the muscular re-emergence of Rajapaksa populism, nationalist political strategies are again gaining centre stage. Even as economic failures of the ruling Government gain attention, the golden opportunity in 2015 for a constitutional political solution have for all purposes been shut down.
 The elections in the Northern Province, on the other hand, point to possible changes in Tamil politics in the years ahead. This article focuses on the worrying new face of Tamil nationalism as well as some progressive signs in northern Tamil politics.

Campaign Trail

 The election campaigns in the North this year were comparatively subdued compared to the Provincial Council elections in 2013 and the two national elections in 2015. The ward system and women’s quota encouraged many more people to contest. However, many of the contestants in this election were making calculations about their likelihood chances of getting elected with a certain party as opposed to party ideology and programmes. But without political mobilisation – notably the lack of women’s political parties – the diversity of issues and candidates did not come to the fore, except in the case of the few parties championing anti-caste politics.
 While there was a considerable door to door campaigning unlike in the other post-war elections in the North, the larger election campaign meetings did not gain the expected enthusiasm and crowds.
The media campaigns of the contesting parties were focused on mud-slinging and attempting to delegitimize the party considered to be its main threat or rival.    The Interim Report for Constitutional Reform, aspects of a political solution and corruption were the main topics of debate in the election campaign, rather than local economic and administrative issues that come under the purview of Local Governments. 
The heated political rhetoric of the campaigns in Jaffna became a contest for Tamil nationalist legitimacy, between the “house” the historical symbol of the Federal Party, now the TNA led by Sampanthan, and the “bicycle” the historical symbol of the Tamil Congress, now the TNPF led by Ponnambalam. The TNPF campaign, in particular, drew on the legacy of the LTTE and its politics, claiming to be its rightful heirs.

"Just as the LTTE’s suicidal politics helped elect Rajapaksa in 2005 by forcing a boycott of the Presidential elections in the North, the current brand of narrow Tamil nationalists is pleased about the recent gains of Rajapaksa in the South.  "

Vote Share

In this environment, how did the Tamil vote pan out in Jaffna and Northern Province more generally? The Jaffna District where a majority of the population of the Northern Province resides, the TNA saw a considerable decline with only 35% of the vote share. On the other hand, the TNPF had made considerable gains capturing 21% of the votes. The EPDP with an oppressed caste base also made a good showing with 19% of the votes.
 In the predominantly Tamil districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu, the TNA got 47% and 42% respectively. Both the TNPF and EPDP in those districts received only 5% of the votes. However, Chandrakumar who had broken away from the EPDP a year ago, made an impressive showing leading independent groups, which as a whole got 30% of the votes in Killinochi.
 The results in Mannar, with a multi-religious politics of Christians, Muslims and Hindus, and in Vavuniya with the Sinhala constituencies, was more complicated. In those districts, the TNA got 28% and 26% respectively. The national parties, including the UNP, SLFP and SLPP, made considerable gains in these districts with close to 50% of vote share. These national parties also polled about 10%, 15% and 30% of the votes in Kilinochchi, Jaffna and Mullaitivu respectively.

Political Fallout

 The outcome of the elections is such that in most Local Governments in the North, no party has an absolute majority and they are forced to form coalitions. I draw the following points from election outcomes in the North.
The TNA is in decline; both in terms of its vote share and in terms of the enthusiasm for its election campaigns. It continues to be led by an older generation of Federal Party loyalists who lack vigour. The TNA’s confidence that the Tamils in the North will always vote for them by default has been shaken.
The TNPF have recruited some active young cadres who have been mobilised with a virulent Tamil nationalist politics. They continue to rely on their urbanised professional base and support from extreme sections of the Tamil diaspora; they managed to beat the TNA in the Pointpedro and Chavakacheri Urban Councils. They are setting the agenda for extreme nationalist politics including with the discourse of genocide and Tamil victimhood, even though they do not have a base in the Vanni where the people met with the tragic fate at the end of the war. If the TNPF is able to reach the rural constituencies that have thus far rejected them that would lead to a dangerous shift in Tamil politics.
The EPDP has remained a significant actor in Tamil politics. It has broken the myth that it is dependent on state patronage for its electoral politics. It has a steady oppressed caste base in different parts of Jaffna and has won significantly in the islands off Jaffna.   A number of independent groups have done well for various reasons including anti-caste politics. In Karainagar an independent group working for the social development of oppressed caste communities formed a year ago, have won three seats equivalent to the TNA. In Puttur, where a powerful anti-caste struggle around cemeteries took place last year, leftists backed by the New Democratic Marxist Leninist Party have won four seats. In Chavakacheri, the newly formed Social Democratic Party of Tamils, which came out of the EPRLF, has managed to secure 2 seats. And in Kilinochchi, progressive independent groups led by Chandrakumar, have proven a major challenge to the TNA and won nineteen seats. Chadrakumar’s support base includes the long marginalised Up-Country Tamil population that had been displaced to the Vanni over the decades.

"In this environment, how did the Tamil vote pan out in Jaffna and Northern Province more generally? The Jaffna District"

Local to Regional

If these local elections are any sign of the future of Tamil politics at the regional level, then there are clear dangers of a downward spiral of polarising Tamil nationalist politics led by the TNPF. On the other hand, the pockets of progressive politics which have eschewed narrow Tamil nationalism are a glimmer of hope to re-chart Tamil politics. 
As the economic frustrations in the North mount, the status quo, led by the TNA, may crumble. But the alternative could just as well be the consolidation of the right-wing elite nationalism of the TNPF, which has no qualms about opportunistically peddling the LTTE’s imagery and politics. On the other hand, anti-caste politics silenced during the war is now emerging as the politics for various smaller parties, as the excluded and marginalised people seek a political voice. Beyond elections, these progressive political movements can become an effective check on any aggressive street politics of the extreme Tamil nationalists; who in recent times with the support of Chief Minister Wigneswaran are also introducing a dangerous Hindu element to their Tamil nationalism.
Just as the LTTE’s suicidal politics helped elect Rajapaksa in 2005 by forcing a boycott of the Presidential elections in the North, the current brand of narrow Tamil nationalists is pleased about the recent gains of Rajapaksa in the South. They see the rise of their Sinhala Buddhist nationalist twin as the route for international legitimacy for Tamil nationalism, regardless of the dangers it poses to the larger Tamil population.
The urgent need today is for solidarity among the various ethnic communities to arrest the march of nationalism and to build a broad movement for democracy and social justice.   I will end with an anecdote. When I asked a woman from a rural oppressed-caste constituency about whom she had voted for, she first said for the “house”, or the TNA. On pressed why, she said, she actually voted for the “veena” the symbol of the EPDP. Then she went on to say: “they helped us get electricity, they built our road, they are the reason we are getting housing… we tell people we vote for the house because that is what Tamils are expected to do, but we actually vote for those
who help us.”  

An economic crisis worsened by a political crisis: Time is running out for Sri Lanka

Warning against

political instability

 Monday, 19 February 2018

The Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy, while announcing the Bank’s monetary policy stance for the next two months, is reported to have emphasised on the need for a quick resolution of the ongoing political stalemate in the country (available at: http://www.ft.lk/top-story/CB-chief-calls-for-political-stability/26-649568 ). Coomaraswamy, according to reports, has rung “an alarm bell over Sri Lanka’s political leaders calling for a quick end to the political standoff triggered by the Local Government poll results before it affected growth, warning there was no scope for loosening fiscal policy”.

An economic crisis worsened by a political crisis Time is running out for Sri Lanka.docx by Thavam on Scribd

What the poll portends

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Sanajana Hattotuwa-February 17, 2018, 6:10 pm 

Since results of last weekend’s local government election were released, Hindu kovils were vandalised in Mannar, Muslims were subject to violence in Veyangalla and Uguraspitiya and an ebullient Mahinda Rajapaksa has commanded the media gaze. Much to unpack here.

The election result itself is an indication of many things that were foretold and forewarned, and a re-run of the technocratic gaze that ultimately ousted the Wickremesinghe-led UNF government back in the days of the ceasefire agreement. Lessons unlearnt then, remain unheeded now. The lack of any official press release from the PM or President after the election and the inability to even convene a press conference suggests the ferocity of the SLPP’s electoral sweep took even them by surprise. The former President on the other hand, ever the mediagenic genius, had no problem whatsoever commanding the headlines. While the UNP and SLFP descended into a kindergarten mode of you said, they said, he said, I’m never speaking to you ever again, here’s a toffee so be my friend style politics, and in full display of an already disgruntled and disgusted voting public, the SLPP’s media blitz was on par with its electoral performance – excellently executed, and for the most part, effective.

The mainstream media’s frothing fascination with every titbit of political gossip since last Sunday has been to the detriment of more sober reporting and reflections on the result and its aftermath. Lost in the melee of updates was reportage on the license some felt, as a result of the SLPP victory, to act violently against religious and ethnic minorities, with memories of guaranteed impunity. When this was flagged on Twitter, a barrage of insults and bitter invective followed by self-styled champions of the SLPP, reminiscent of the violence online that mirrored the awful censorship offline under the Rajapaksa regime. The fact that the SLPP swept the local government poll is not surprising. This was the government’s election to lose, not the SLPP’s to win. What’s disturbing as a consequence are the immediate and distinct markers of extremism and violence, now pent up that lie in wait within the SLPP’s constituent socio-political make-up, salivating at the chance to take and be in power again.

Revealingly, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s celebratory messages on Facebook, just after the result and during the week, are only in Sinhala and English. Tamil, even a hint of it, doesn’t feature. This speaks to a singular mindset unchanged in the three years since we last felt its megalomaniacal impulse. Tamils still continue to be marginal, at best, for the SLPP. And by extension, any democratic impulse to recognise and accommodate legitimate Tamil grievances is moot. This was evident in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statement at the SLPP’s press conference. Pointing to a map of Sri Lanka and the wards the SLPP had won, Rajapaksa noted that even the territory of Eelam had reduced. This is a remarkable statement, even as a Freudian slip. For the former President, the North and East of Sri Lanka are still, predominantly Eelam – or as a reflection of popular Southern imagination, partial to and under the influence of, to date, the violent separatism of the LTTE – militarily defeated nearly ten years ago. The former President continues to frame citizens in these areas as terrorists, violently separatist by nature. What is more interesting is the support he gets for this viewpoint. Over Twitter, Rajiva Wijesinha averred that the reason Rajapaksa declaring Eelam was reduced was because "the people [in these areas] supported a range of viewpoints including the SLPP, not just [a] UNP/TNA combine". The defence is a curious one, even by Wijesinha’s standards. If the North and East vote for the TNA or UNP, they are justified in being called a territory of Eelam. By contrast, the argument goes, only if they vote in Rajapaksa or now the SLPP do they demonstrate they have eschewed violent separatism and are truly part of Sri Lanka.

This essentially racist mindset is not surprising to associate with the JO and SLPP. It is far more violent when one encounters it in the present government, and soon after last week’s electoral drubbing. No less than Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, a senior member of the UNP and close to the PM, believes that the party’s poor performance at the local government election was because the Sri Lankan anthem was sung in Tamil on Independence Day. News reports suggest that Marapana believes the Sinhala-Buddhist vote base of the UNP lost fifty-thousand votes every time the Tamil version of the national anthem was sung. How this precise figure was arrived at is anyone’s guess. Couple Marapana’s ridiculous assertion with Government spokesperson Rajitha Senaratne’s view that 55% voted against Mahinda Rajapaksa and that the key take-away for him from the local government election was that the 8th January 2015 mandate was strengthened, and you find a government as I noted on Twitter that doesn’t know what they’ve lost, how they’ve lost or in fact, that they’ve lost.

Thus, it isn’t the potential resurgence authoritarianism and violence that is worrying – or what Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda calls a ‘democratic setback’ in the event the President and PM fail to agree on a reform agenda moving forward. It is the fact that the political huddle within the SLFP and UNP, to consolidate power, block the other party and stop the haemorrhaging of votes will in intent, focus and execution, match the SLPP’s huddle to consolidate electoral gains. Southern polity’s chief focus henceforth will be driven by a fear of losing more votes in the South, or the interest of recapturing what was lost. Even with the best of outcomes in the form of continued cohabitation and an extension of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration, the window of opportunity for meaningful reform is now comprehensively gone. It is unclear to what degree even incrementalism can succeed, given what will be a deep, enduring hesitation to promote anything radically different to the status quo that can be used or perceived to be ripe for exploitation by the SLPP to whip up angry opposition.

The fun and games have already begun. The SLPP, perhaps privately embarrassed by the violence meted out by the party’s supporters and interested, temporarily, in not alienating a minority vote, now wants an investigation into the anti-Muslim communal riots in Aluthgama, from June 2014. It also distances itself from the BBS. The chutzpah of G.L. Peiris to want an investigation now into events Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, despite promises of redress and robust investigation at the time, didn’t deliver on, is perhaps lost on the majority of who voted for the SLPP. Memories are short, and the existential burden of living under a government that hasn’t delivered on its promises perhaps outweighs what was known and even reviled about the previous regime.

And that’s precisely the point. The SLPP won for the same reason Sirisena was elected to power three years ago. It was a vote in opposition to the incumbents - a score card on their inability to deliver what was expected or promised. It was much less a vote in support of a party or individual. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe 2015 mandate, in reality, was less about constitutional reform writ large or transitional justice. It was more about bringing to justice those who were corrupt, and visibly eschewing the political culture that defined the Rajapaksa regime. It was about the abolition of the Executive Presidency. In all these efforts, the present government has failed miserably. The SLPP won not because Mahinda Rajapaksa gained new fans. It won because the present government comprehensively lost many who believed in it and voted for it, three years ago, and offers nothing by way of a compelling vision anchored to ground realities. It is pathologically unable to communicate. If voters see no difference between government today and what they endured in the past, it is likely they will go with the known devil, instead of present day leaders who cannot even agree amongst themselves.

It matters little to me therefore about what the President and Prime Minister will say and do in the weeks ahead. The consolidation of power and its negotiation will be whatever the end configuration, to the detriment of genuine reform, the Tamil national question, accountability, meaningful constitutional reform and justice. The jolt of fear around a Rajapaksa resurgence will most likely only result in pandering to the fears of Southern polity and society, instead of crafting public opinion and mature political leadership, that demonstrates by example what it is to not be racist, reductionist or retrogressive. My disappointment with the local government result is not that the SLPP won so much. It is that the government, three years into power, has won so little.