Govt. succumbs to pressure from Britain:President fails to prevent recall of military attache

Brig. Priyankara Fernando

by Shamindra Ferdinando-February 23, 2018, 11:14 pm 

The government has, under heavy pressure from the UK, carried out its decision to recall Sri Lanka’s military attache in London, Brig. Prinyankara Fernando, despite a presidential intervention. When the government announced its decision to recall the brigadier, following an incident where he allegedly made a throat slitting gesture in front of a group of British LTTE supporters of Sri Lankan origin, in London, on Feb. 04, President Sirisena, ordered that he be reinstated.

Sources said the UK had called for swift action again the military attache.

The LTTE supporters protested near the Sri Lankan High Commission in London while Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex were in Colombo for Sri Lanka’s 70th Independence Day celebrations.

Sources said that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office had informed the influential Global Tamil Forum (GTF) of immediate measures taken by the UK following the incident.

Brig. Fernando returned on Thursday (Feb. 22) hours after the GTF was informed of the specific measures taken by the British government against over the Feb. 4 incident.

Suren Surendiran, on behalf of the GTF on Feb.10, complained to Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Boris Johnson of the incident. The GTF urged the UK to declare the officer persona non grata.

Responding to the GTF’s plea, the South Asia Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Feb. 22 assured Surendiran that the UK took the incident ‘very seriously’ and Minister for South Asia personally got in touch with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana.

SRI LANKA POLICE COVER UP IN EDITOR LASANTHA WICKREMATHUNGA MURDER EMERGE AFTER KEY ARREST

Image: From to left to right – Lasantha, alleged killer squad leader Handavitharana and their boss Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

22/02/2018

ECONOMYNEXT – The arrest of a retired senior Deputy Inspector-General has revealed how the police scuttled its own investigations to protect military intelligence men who carried out the assassination of editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.

Senior DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara who is currently in remand custody has allegedly instructed his juniors to not only botch the investigation, but also destroy evidence gathered from the crime scene, according to a confession by Senior Superintendent Hemantha Adhikari.

It was Adhikari who led the investigation into Wickrematunge’s assassination in January 2009 under the immediate supervision of DIG Nanayakkara who at the time was in charge of Western Province (south).
Fearing his own arrest, Adhikari, who is currently serving as a security officer of the Dhammika Perera-owned Hayleys Group, made a length statement to the Mount Lavinia magistrate who is inquiring in the murder.

The court has already been told that the military intelligence was involved in the killing and that the then head of military intelligence Kapila Hendavitharana was heading a killer squad and he reported directly to then defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Several former Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) officers who are currently serving in the army as well as two retired Inspectors of general are also likely to be arrested shortly, according to sources close to the investigation.

These arrests should have been made in July 2016, but official sources said political interference held up progress.

However, with consensus that the February 10 local council election defeat was due to the government’s failure to arrest high profile killers, there is new urgency in the Wickrematunge case.

A former minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, Mervyn Silva, had publicly accused Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of killing Wickrematunge, a charge he has denied.

Wickrematunge had told colleagues as well as many others that he planned to take “Gota to the cleaners” over an allegedly corrupt deal in purchasing four MIG jet fighters for the air force.

The so-called MIG deal is currently being investigated by the FCID and Lasantha was killed a few days before he was due to disclose details of the transaction at the Mount Lavinia courts.

Investigators have been told that Nanayakkara ordered his men to hand over to him some vital evidence found inside Wickrematunge’s car.

Wickrematunge had noted down the registration numbers of the motorcycles that followed him on the morning of January 8, 2009, the day he was killed. The assassins came on motorcycles.

Police scene of crime officers recorded their observations, senior officers had wanted them removed from the books maintained at the police station. Wickrematunge’s note book had been handed over to DIG Nanayakkara who in turn had passed it on to his superiors.

Eventually, the note book had disappeared after the case was handed over to the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). A former head of the TID is also likely to be arrested shortly for tampering with evidence, official sources said.

Despite the police top brass making a valiant attempt at the time to conceal evidence, junior police officers had surreptitiously made photo copies of Wickrematunge’s note book as well as their own observations in the Grave Crime Information Book (GCIB) which have since been destroyed as part of the cover up.

These photo copies of the original police entries in the GCIB and a copy of Wickrematunge’s note book are now with the CID after almost nine years and the fresh evidence has given a new impetus to the investigation, according to sources close to the investigation. (COLOMBO, February 22, 2018)Sri Lanka police cover up in Lasantha murder emerge after key arrest

By Our Police Correspondent

Feb 22, 2018 17:02 PM GMT+0530 | 1 Comment(s)

ECONOMYNEXT – The arrest of a retired senior Deputy Inspector-General has revealed how the police scuttled its own investigations to protect military intelligence men who carried out the assassination of editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.

Senior DIG Prasanna Nanayakkara who is currently in remand custody has allegedly instructed his juniors to not only botch the investigation, but also destroy evidence gathered from the crime scene, according to a confession by Senior Superintendent Hemantha Adhikari.

It was Adhikari who led the investigation into Wickrematunge’s assassination in January 2009 under the immediate supervision of DIG Nanayakkara who at the time was in charge of Western Province (south).

Fearing his own arrest, Adhikari, who is currently serving as a security officer of the Dhammika Perera-owned Hayleys Group, made a length statement to the Mount Lavinia magistrate who is inquiring in the murder.

The court has already been told that the military intelligence was involved in the killing and that the then head of military intelligence Kapila Hendavitharana was heading a killer squad and he reported directly to then defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Several former Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) officers who are currently serving in the army as well as two retired Inspectors of general are also likely to be arrested shortly, according to sources close to the investigation.

These arrests should have been made in July 2016, but official sources said political interference held up progress.

However, with consensus that the February 10 local council election defeat was due to the government’s failure to arrest high profile killers, there is new urgency in the Wickrematunge case.
A former minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, Mervyn Silva, had publicly accused Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of killing Wickrematunge, a charge he has denied.

Wickrematunge had told colleagues as well as many others that he planned to take “Gota to the cleaners” over an allegedly corrupt deal in purchasing four MIG jet fighters for the air force.

The so-called MIG deal is currently being investigated by the FCID and Lasantha was killed a few days before he was due to disclose details of the transaction at the Mount Lavinia courts.
Investigators have been told that Nanayakkara ordered his men to hand over to him some vital evidence found inside Wickrematunge’s car.

Wickrematunge had noted down the registration numbers of the motorcycles that followed him on the morning of January 8, 2009, the day he was killed. The assassins came on motorcycles.

Police scene of crime officers recorded their observations, senior officers had wanted them removed from the books maintained at the police station. Wickrematunge’s note book had been handed over to DIG Nanayakkara who in turn had passed it on to his superiors.

Eventually, the note book had disappeared after the case was handed over to the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). A former head of the TID is also likely to be arrested shortly for tampering with evidence, official sources said.

Despite the police top brass making a valiant attempt at the time to conceal evidence, junior police officers had surreptitiously made photo copies of Wickrematunge’s note book as well as their own observations in the Grave Crime Information Book (GCIB) which have since been destroyed as part of the cover up.

These photo copies of the original police entries in the GCIB and a copy of Wickrematunge’s note book are now with the CID after almost nine years and the fresh evidence has given a new impetus to the investigation, according to sources close to the investigation. (COLOMBO, February 22, 2018)

Who Was The Architect Of ‘Rate Asthawarathwaya’?

By Mass L. Usuf –FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Mass Usuf

‘Rate Asthawarathwaya’ is a Sinhala term. ‘Rate’ means, the country’s. ‘Asthawarathwaya’ means, instability. This is what Sri Lankans experienced the past week with the closure of the local government elections. The dollar equivalent of the rupee shot up to an unprecedented Rupees 155/-.  Hopefully, a short-term volatility caused by the Asthawara (unstable) climate that seems to be easing off gradually. If not, it may portend disastrous consequences to our fragile economy overall – import/exports, loan repayment etc. Sadly, how many of those who are governing us are aware of this?  And, from among those who are aware, how many are truly and sincerely concerned about the good of the country? 

Power brokering for self-survival takes precedence over the country’s survival. Let the country be damned!  No one says so but their behaviour clearly tells us so. Of course, the country would come first for any of these shameless folks if they can score a point over the other. Thus, there is stark selfishness there too.

‘Mona Waida’

Today, every other person in the street is speaking about the instability in the country. There is a growing sense of apprehension given the uncertain political climate that is prevailing. ‘Mona Waida’ (what will happen) is a question to which answers are not coming forth that easily. Earlier citizen Perera was not so much bothered about what was taking place within the confines of Diyawanna Oya or in the air-conditioned offices and residences of the ‘elite’ lot, who call themselves as politicians. Citizen Perera was burdened with enough worries of his own thinking how to make ends meet. This poor fellow is now additionally burdened and is in mortal fear wondering what is in store for him when he wakes up the next morning. The Directors of the drama are directing it and redirecting it and re-redirecting the scenes too very often that Citizen Perera’s mind is befuddled. Thus, the question from the petit bourgeois ‘Mona Waida’. 

From whence did this instability rise is a question the answer to which may be perceived as hydra headed. The epicentre of this tremor was undoubtedly the recent local government election. The catalysts were the pre-election scavenging of rotten flesh by all sides and the post-election greed to savour the unripe fruit by the Pohottuwas and opportunists of the SLFP/UPFA.

Lambasting the UNP

The rumblings on the side of the Pohottuwas in the run up for election day is explainable and can be discounted. After all they are not in government. What was unexpected was the idiosyncratic behaviour of President Sirisena which greatly upset the equilibrium. This situation may be the result of downright lack of foresight on the part of the President.

In the days following the declaration of the local government elections, there was a gradual increase in the President’s rhetoric lambasting the UNP. This was found to be absolutely out of the normal. Everyone in their proper senses knows that if not for the UNP and its meticulous strategy Maithripala would not have become the President. Of course, much credit is due to President Maithripala for his bold decision to come out of the government and contest. As admitted by him, he would have been six feet under had he lost.

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Dual dilemma of Govt.

 

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending 
~C. S. Lewis

 2018-02-24 

Local Government Elections were held. The results baffled many a political activist; especially those who were backing the coalition Government consisting of the United National Party (UNP) and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The most surprising element of the whole enterprise was the miserable performance of the official SLFP, the political party which had its birth, growth and full fruition during its turbulent journey in the socio-political seas in the country; the political party that was founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike as an alternative to the then UNP; the political party that introduced a nationalist shade into the fabric of national conversation, was shattered and reduced into dust and debris.

The official SLFP, although was headed by the President of the country, who deserted his party and defeated its candidate, which was visibly hijacked by those who introduced a very damaging culture of corruption into the body politic of Sri Lanka, looks a doomed and utterly pathetic political entity.
The vastly liberal mindset of Bandaranaike (SWRD) has been set aside for narrow populist nationalism and rejection of minority rights and their legitimate grievances.

The base of the SLFP has been thoroughly desecrated and debased. Satisfaction of its base, which amounts to an astonishing 32% to 35% of the total population, seems to bear fruit with the increasing escalation of cost of living playing right into the hands of a shrewd politician, who knows how to exploit the meandering and wretched psyche of a trusting voter.

It is utterly futile and meaningless to present another set of corrupt set of politicos as an alternative. The Rajapaksas cannot be outdone in the field of corruption, fear-mongering and authoritarianism.

The 44%, those who voted for the Pohottuwa (Lotus bud symbol), in the just concluded Local Government Elections, consisted of that 32% - 35% and the usually floating vote which is about 7% - 10% of the electorate.

The Rajapaksa-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has totally swallowed the traditional Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Maithripala Sirisena’s loss of its control seems absolute and final.

The electorate has shown unmistakable signs of vulnerability. The populist slant it shows could well be accepted as an alternative to a more rational way of governance. That populist wave, if it continues to grow in numbers and strength, could overwhelm all rational thinking and conversation.

Populism in its stark and transparent veil is concealing beneath its veneer of welfare fabric a corrosive dynamic of power-dealing and is attracting more and more followers. 

If Ranil Wickremesinghe chooses to ignore these propensities, the vote-drain that is taking place in his party, the UNP, would continue to its next logical station- disappearance.

Reins of the UNP should be in the hands of non-politicos
Forget about Maithripala Sirisena and his loss of control of the SLFP. The UNP’s destiny should not rest on what the leader of the SLFP says or does.

The UNP leader has a political textbook before him. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s own Uncle J. R. Jayewardene and its leaders such as R. Premadasa have provided that book and it has been proven right over and over again.

Hand the running of the party, specifically the posts of Chairman and Secretary, to non-politicos, thoroughbred professionals.

If neither is ready for a radical change, they are both committing political hara-kiri. They must realise that the way they had been going has not produced favourable results. Leaders who are ready for radical changes have always been successful while those who don’t have dug their own graves. Ranil and Maithri must choose the former.

JR did it the moment he became the leader in the wake of the demise of Dudley Senanayake. He made Ananda Tissa de Alwis the Secretary of the party and the moment Ananda Tissa announced his intent to contest at the General Elections which were scheduled for 1977, JR removed him from the Post and appointed Daham Wimalasena, a non-politico, to the post.

After the election victory in 1977, N. G. P. Panditharatne, a well acclaimed private sector professional, the senior partner of a reputed accountancy firm, was appointed as Chairman of the Party and Daham continued as Secretary.

The day-to-day affairs of the party belong in the hands of non-politicos. When such posts are held by politicos, in the present context, Malik Samarawickrama as Chairman and Kabir Hashim as Secretary, abuse of such powers is inevitable and could be damaging in the short, mid and long-runs.

Ministers hardly have sufficient time to run their Ministries, then how can they manage the party-affairs is unthinkable.

Ranil Wickremesinghe may be feeling a treacherous sense of insecurity, but his personal insecurities need to be subordinated to the major interests of the Party. Whereas JR has left a recipe for success, Ranil seems to be wallowing in a recipe for disaster.

Ranil’s successor
Furthermore, the results of the recently held Local Government Elections prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Ranil’s modus operandi has failed.

He needs to realise that it is his fatal flaw, and sooner he does it, more beneficial for his party and its future successes. The second issue is centred on another vital factor: the successor to Ranil as leader of the Party. Ranil Wickremesinghe is, to be gentle with him, in a very unenviable position today. 
He needs to avoid another eruption, as it happened in the 2012 to 2014 period, within his own party, among the UNP Parliamentarians for a change in leadership.

In such a confrontational context, Ranil has to refer to his Uncle JR again. Just prior to the General Elections of 1977, JR summoned all UNP organizers to Sirikotha. He did not give any particular reason for the meeting. However, he instructed Daham Wimalasena, the Party Secretary at the time, to prepare ballot papers. When all the organisers were in, JR stated that he intended to appoint a special committee to direct the affairs of the forthcoming General Elections in 1977.

He distributed the ballot papers among the participants and asked them to name the first ten UNPers in their preferential order to man this committee.

That was how R. Premadasa became the virtual successor to JR. Gamini Dissanayake was a close second to Premadasa. (Premadasa received 118 votes while Gamini D got 112).

Ranil must follow this example without any delay. The country needs to know who would succeed him as party leader, a winner at the elections so that the country at large and the party, in particular, could know whether there was a future for the UNP! The Party will remember who won his electorate and who lost.

Rural Vote
Thirdly, when one looks at the way the rural folks seem to have left the UNP, it is of utmost significance that Ranil pays close attention to the fact that, ever since the demise of Premadasa, Gamini and Lalith, ever since 1994, the rural population and the so-called déclassé remain divorced from the party and no conscious effort has been made to get a remarriage working.

Over-dependence on the minority vote might help in the context of the Presidential elections, where the elections are held on a national level.

Parliamentary and other local elections are held in each grassroots area where the prevalence of minority votes is minimal and negligible. The UNP’s performance among Sinhalese-Buddhist vote-bloc is abysmal.

The UNP-content of the rural vote seems not to exceed 25%-30%. That is simply not sufficient to win Parliamentary Elections.

Why not institute a separate Ministry for Rural Development with substantial appropriations and hand that Ministry to a young Minister with a set of civil servants, who possess an unblemished record and reputation?

The alarming genre of the civil service under the Rajapaksas deserves special attention. The culture of corruption and nepotism has swallowed our society head, body and foot.

That culture has been embraced by our civil service and the rural folks have come to terms with it.
As a result, each and every politician and civil servant has been tarred with the same brush. Honesty and financial integrity have become obsolete and those who are being served by the government servants have accepted bribes as a norm.

There is no alternative to this culture other than a radical approach that could be adopted and make the rural men and women shed their fear of politicians by an efficient and honest group of politicians and civil servants.

It may well be a tall order to expect our politicians and Government Servants to hold on to such lofty ideals, but there is no alternative. The only alternative is Rajapaksian culture of corruption.

It is utterly futile and meaningless to present another set of corrupt set of politicos as an alternative. The Rajapaksas cannot be outdone in the field of corruption, fear-mongering and authoritarianism.
The alternative must seem as a radical substitute; a departure from what was. Is the current UNP capable of confronting and be successful in handling such a heavy and arduous challenge?

This is the dual-dilemma confronting the coalition. Maithripala Sirisena has to come to terms with the reality of the SLFP being out of his grip and Ranil Wickremesinghe is facing a draining of votes from the UNP.

If neither is ready for a radical change, they are both committing political hara-kiri. They must realise that the way they had been going has not produced favourable results. Leaders who are ready for radical changes have always been successful while those who don’t have dug their own graves. Ranil and Maithri must choose the former.

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com

Six member Court of Inquiry to probe bus explosion

Camelia Nathaniel-Saturday, February 24, 2018

Army Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake has appointed a high level six-member Court of Inquiry comprising senior Army officers to investigate the grenade explosion incident on board a bus travelling from Jaffna to Diyatalawa. The Court of Inquiry is headed by Major General Rukmal Dias, Commander, Security Forces - Central (SF-Cen) and Colonel Commandant, Military Intelligence Corps (MIC) and has been appointed by the Army Commander.

This Court of Inquiry is expected to investigate all aspects of the incident and submit its findings to the Commander within a few days, Military Spokesman Brigadier Sumith Atapattu said.

Brigadier Sumith Attapattu however, refused to comment further on what course of action will be taken with regard to the the soldier who is suspected of having had the grenade in his possession, adding that a separate investigation into the incident has been commenced by the Police.

Meanwhile, the Military Spokesman speaking to the Daily News confirmed that the names of the other serving members in the Court of Inquiry are Brigadier E.R.P Weerawardane, Brigadier Administration and Quartering, SFHQ-Cen, Brigadier P.M.L Chandrasiri, Commandant, Marksmanship and Sniper Training School (MSTS), Colonel P.P.A Perera, Colonel General Staff, Sri Lanka Army Training Command (ARTRAC), Lieutenant Colonel H.D.J.P Weeratunga, Commanding Officer, 7 Sri Lanka Signal Corps (SLSC) and Major N.A.B.M.S Nishshanka, Research Officer, Nuclear Biological and Chemical Wing at the Centre for Research and Development.

Meanwhile, the Police stated that the Government Analyst had confirmed that the fire aboard the bus in Diyatalawa was caused by a grenade explosion.

Among the 19 injured passengers were seven Army personnel, five Air Force personnel and seven civilians, according to the Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara. A fire, followed by an explosion occurred in a private passenger bus travelling from Jaffna to Diyatalawa on February 21 around 5.45 am while it was plying in the general area of Kahagolla, Diyatalawa.

The police noted that after reaching Bandarawela town passengers bound for Diyatalawa were transferred to another private bus before the incident took place. However, the Police and Army denied any terrorist involvement in the incident.

In the end, there was nothing

“A lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Storm

Saturday, 24 February 2018 

Much more than a storm in a tea cup! To a non-discerning person, it all seemed like the final battle of the counter revolution. President Sirisena was up in smoke trying to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for no articulated reason. He asked good old Karu but Karu said, “Nope!” He asked Sajith but Sajith said, “Nope!” The JO boys thought they at last, were seeing a political Nirvana as the cases against them are sure to fall. “Government must resign!” they cried. “Prime Minister must resign!” The mandate is given by the people unmistakably. Ranil-critic Dayan Jayatilleka thought he found gold and eureka. “Ranil is a tactician in infighting,” Dayan theorised. Dayan always spins theories like that. They never work as they are not derived from factual study of events but by an unquenchable passion to see the last of Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Joking

What eventually has turned out now? The UPFA Spokesperson Minister Mahinda Amaraweera seems to be saying he never wanted to quit the Yahapalanaya unity government ever? “You guys are joking!” President Sirisena smiles and he is seen back again with the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in apparent cordiality. Susil Premajayanth has not yet come out; but he will, surely, speak in the same refrain. The SLFP will remain in the fold. The Government was never in threat. JO jubilancy was not real. Perhaps, they will have to wait for another day.

Ranil’s emotional management

There were many contributors to the return of the facade of unity that is the “national” or “consensual” government. But one man stands out and that is Ranil Wickremesinghe who won in the end as he kept his absolute cool.

JO brethren will say he is no longer Mr. Clean; most certainly he is Mr. Cool. (I am not borrowing from our cricket hero Arjuna Ranatunga). Dayan Jayatilleka’s theory flattened again as Ranil – far from being an infighting expert – had been in this entire stormy saga, the great moderator and peace-bringer.

The reason is, he had knowledge of things that were in place and things that were to come and he had extraordinary emotional management. In all my column writing, I have often shown Ranil Wickremesinghe’s emotional management at play. In the entire twenty or so years in Opposition, he displayed that in the hardest of instances: when Mahinda Rajapaksa used his enormous power- gravity and resources to win over as much as 19 UNP ministers in one shot and was threatening to do fatal damage; when some of his very party men challenged his leadership; when all the odds seemed stacked against the comeback of the Grand Old Party. Ranil never lost his cool and he never castigated his political opponents except on policy.

Since the seminal work of Daniel Coleman published in his bestseller, “Emotional Intelligence,” (1955) the concept of emotional management has become a buzzword in management study.

Goleman pointed out that IQ is not as much as we think a decisive factor in our thinking and decision making and that our emotions play a far greater role than is commonly acknowledged. The characteristic of emotional management is what defines a successful leader in business management.

In his emotional management and political savviness, Ranil’s political enemies see in him the danger to their plans. He is their number one enemy and so all guns are on him. “He is a loser,” they cried. He must go from the UNP leadership. Of course, he must go at some time in the near future, but if that is this time the collapse of the UNP would be imminent. Had he gone during the days of his Opposition, the UNP would have been like the SLFP today: in pieces. Against all the myriad and vehement thrusts to bring him down, and against all the insults hurled against him by his political opponents, Wickremesinghe remained calm like the elephant in the Dhammapada.

Mr. Cool in action again

Now again, in this senseless storm that appeared to bring down the Government and even the country, Ranil kept his cool. Remember how he faced a hostile media recently? The mandate for the Prime Minister and his Government comes, he explained unruffled, from the general election of 2015 and that has to keep until 2020.

Local government elections cannot cancel that mandate; it is a mandate for the constitution of local bodies. “I will continue as Prime Minister under the provisions of the Constitution and the Government will continue,” he said. “Yes, we have learnt lessons from the local government elections and we will make necessary changes in our approach.” That put everything in a nutshell. “Now, it is tea time and let us all go for tea!” Can you beat that? Observers knew Ranil had things under his grasp.

With President Sirisena, Ranil was never provoked into escalation of conflict. He admonished his other party men not to “drag in the President,” in their public criticism. Throughout the elections process he never uttered a word as reaction to Sirisena’s criticism of himself and the UNP as a corrupt party.

This crisis had been created when the President – so good and sensible until then – decided to launch himself into a separate force under an SLFP banner. He has to blame his rotten advisors for that disastrous adventure. It all landed himself and his major partner into a mess; more himself than the partner. Maithripala Sirisena, who had positioned himself well in the credibility ladder, suddenly sank into zero.

And after the election and the consequent political fracas, Wickremesinghe took slow, gracious steps in dealing with Sirisena – always leaving a respectful space for the latter to discern the reality. Ranil was strong and he was quiet. He stuck to his guns. He knew the law was on his side and that the political reality hadn’t transformed.

Central Bank Chief intervenes

The nation is safe for another period of political life. In a timely intervention, Central Bank Chief Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy gave warnings: Charumini De Silva reports to the Daily FT: “Dr. Coomaraswamy delivering the keynote address at the AMCHAM Business Luncheon meeting held in Colombo yesterday stated: “The headline message one could give is until a week or so ago, there was a degree of stabilisation that was taking place as far as the economy was concerned. Now we have got to convince the politicians that they have to ‘stay the course’, make adjustments that need to be made to meet some of the urgent needs of the people, within this overall framework that has been carefully put in place.” Justifying the degree of stabilisation that has taken place, Dr. Coomaraswamy said up to November 2017, for the first time since 1953 there has been a primary surplus in the Budget and this year they are expecting a surplus in the current account of the Budget for the first time since 1987.”

This is also an indirect accolade for the Government’s economic management thus far. Those in the fold of the Yahapalanaya Government should be self-conscious of this progress, which is more than words can measure. Effective media management is required. With two years left, the Government should focus on fulfilling the promises given to the people in 2015. If it fails, today’s sound and fury will be a real predictor.

An Open Letter To Those Who Wish To Deny Or Delay Their Marriage In Sri Lanka

By Kulani Abendroth-Dias –FEBRUARY 23, 2018

Kulani Abendroth-Dias

Even in the advent of social media, the newspaper remains an important source of information in present day Sri Lanka. According to a Central Bank’s Economic and Social Statistics report, 538.82 million newspaper copies alone were sold in 2016, up 6.06% from 2015 (“Newspapers Still the King in Sri Lanka,” Daily Mirror, 2017, August 30). Being one of these many readers, I came across a “case” of sorts in the Daily Mirror, against the denial or delay of marriage in Sri Lanka, directed at our supremely beautiful, supremely patriarchal nation’s women specifically.

Why do I care about one poorly written article, with no concrete “sociological,” or “biological” references to back it up?

One article is not the problem. What is important is what the article perpetuates: norms of femininity that are based on motherhood, subservience, and dependence. While a number of the claims that the writer makes (such as all women having a pseudo-biological yearning to be a mother, which has no sociological, biological or anthropological basis behind it), his point on the societal taboos of “waiting too long” to get married is indeed an issue faced by dozens if not hundreds of families around the island (just take a look at the matrimonial sections in any newspaper!)

The solution is not to push women – indeed, a “female past her adolescence” no less – into marriage.

If we want to discuss the “sanctity of marriage,” and the religious and traditional roles of this type of communion, we need to first answer the question: What is marriage?

While there are dozens of definitions of marriage worldwide, across religions and traditions, one can argue that overall, marriage is a commitment one makes to another, to live as their partner, for better or for worse, till death (or abuse) does them apart.

So how can we force our daughters, “young ones with no experience” as we say in Sri Lanka, into such a commitment without any discussion, or consent, of their own? Isn’t it possible that a woman may have career goals of her own, that may allow her to delay her marriage given her specific circumstances? Isn’t it possible that a woman simply hasn’t met a man whom she wants to spend the rest of her life with? By pushing women into marriages of convenience in the fear of “delaying or denying” a marriage, aren’t we quelling a workforce that can help our country move forward?

Marriage is not the institution to be fought here. Whether one chooses to marry or not, have children or not, have a career or not, is one’s own choice — regardless of whether you are a male or female. As a trained social psychologist, I can list hundreds of studies by Deborah Prentice, JaneMaree Maher, Lise Sauggeres, Jean Baker Miller: sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, etc. from around the world who discuss the various reasons for subduing the female workforce: threat, procreation, intergroup relations, evolutionary biology etc. Spewing that research from the ivory tower is not going to change anything. What we need to influence, to bring about change, are the norms surrounding marriage in Sri Lanka.

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Crisis spontaneous or stage-managed?

Why President Sirisena paved way for such a mess allowing his group to take such a course of action

Shows the depth of the predicament of the Government, especially the President

What, the President called last month the “Unholy alliance of elite robbers” might even impeach him

The two weeks old political impasse in the country since February 10 could have been averted had President Sirisena acted with restraint

2018-02-23

The Government and the Opposition wasted a whole fortnight just for their power struggle leaving many Government institutions at a standstill following the February 10 Local Government Elections. One can imagine the situation considering the usual lethargy and incompetence prevailing in the State institutions.

It was the Joint Opposition which contested the Local Government elections under the name of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) that initiated the mess by a totally irrelevant demand for the Government to resign. It made this demand as it had swept the Local Councils in the Sinhalese dominated areas in the country in an election that produced a disproportionate result in the name of “proportional representation.”
And the parties in the Government, the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) on their party aggravated the situation with their announcement on their plans for the formation of new Governments with new political party alignments.

This ultimately turned into a numbers game rather than to be an effort to find an alignment of parties on a policy basis.

One cannot expect anything else in an opportunistic power struggle where all major parties pursue the same basic policies and all individual politicians in them use politics for making money by hook or by crook.

The demand by the SLPP for the Government’s resignation was irrelevant in terms of morality as well as legality.

It was morally invalid as the number of votes collectively received by the two main parties in the Government at the local election exceeded that received by the SLPP, in spite of the number of votes polled by those two parties declining only by 5,000 while the UNP losing its vote bank by 1.5 million compared to what they had polled in 2015. If morality matters in elections as they claim, the Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists should have resigned from the Parliament after the defeat of their leader, at the Presidential Election in 2015.

On the other hand, in terms of the law, the result of one election does not nullify that of another.  Nor does it invalidate the mandate given to a party at another election, as argued by the Joint Opposition/SLPP. 

Hence, even after the defeat at the last Presidential and Parliamentary elections the Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists continued their administration in Local Government bodies.

It was with President Maithripala Sirisena signalling his displeasure to run the Government with the UNP and especially with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that the Joint Opposition’s demand for a regime change was strengthened.

And this gave new vigour to the Mahinda loyalists in the Government such as Minister Susil  Premajayantha as well to try their hand in a patch-up between the groups led by the President and the former President.

One cannot expect anything else in an opportunistic power struggle where all major parties pursue the same basic policies and all individual politicians in them use politics for making money by hook or by crook

It is incomprehensible as to why President Sirisena, as a seasoned politician, having well known that only the UNP was in a position to win a confidence vote or a no-confidence vote in the Parliament, paved way for such a mess allowing his group to take such a course of action.
The upshot was so ridiculous that the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) decided to quit the UNP-led Government in the evening only to announce in the morning next day that the Unity Government would continue.

The UNP has 106 seats in the Parliament, while the combined strength of the two groups of the UPFA led by the President Sirisena and former President Rajapaksa stands just at 95. It is the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan that would be the deciding factor in the formation of a new Government by any of these two groups. 

Needless to say, the TNA would side with the UNP in such a scenario. Any sane person would understand this simple arithmetic.
It is against this backdrop that the President allowed his Ministers to negotiate with the Joint Opposition on the possibility of forming a new Government.

The JO took advantage of the situation and suggested to form a minority Government by the UPFA with their supporting it from the outside.
The former President seems to have not preferred his group to take Ministerial posts as it would be difficult for him to pull the carpet under the feet of the UPFA at a time of his choice. 

On the other hand had the UPFA agreed to that option it would have been suicidal for it as the former President would have taken the Government hostage.

We have seen such political hostage taking especially in India. The Janatha Dal led by V.P. Singh which won only 143 seats in the 515 seat Lok Sabha at the 1989 election formed the Government with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had 85 seats.
When the Government stopped a procession called Ram Rath Yatra by BJP leader L.K. Advani against the existence of a 450 year old mosque, Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in October,1990, the BJP withdrew its support to the government. 

Singh’s Government was defeated at the subsequent vote of confidence in November in the same year.

On the other hand, in terms of the law, the result of one election does not nullify that of another.  Nor does it invalidate the mandate given to a party at another election, as argued by the Joint Opposition/SLPP

Then Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress Party pledged outside support to Chandrasekar whose Samajwadi Janatha Party had only 54 seats to form the Government. However, that Government also collapsed when the 197 members of the Congress Party withdrew their support to the Chandrasekar Government following a row over two Police officers allegedly spying near Gandhi’s home.

While the JO was attempting to destabilise the Government after the LG elections, President Sirisena allowed or has been instrumental to a speculation that he wants to replace Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya or somebody else.

There were rumours that he had even sought Attorney General’s opinion if there were provisions in the Constitution to remove the Prime Minister, which had been denied by the Attorney General.

However, all of a sudden both groups in the Government settled everything in no time and announced in Parliament on Tuesday that the Unity Government would continue.

In fact, the two weeks old political impasse in the country since February 10 could have been averted had President Sirisena acted with restraint.
He should have understood that he has no option other than to put up with the UNP until February 2020, irrespective of the differences he has with his partner in governance over action against corruption or the latter ignoring him in matters of concern.

The President was accusing since 2016 that the UNP had been defending the corrupt leaders of the former regime and instrumental in delaying and stalling of high profile corruption cases against those leaders. Media reported last year that he had lamented at a meeting with the leaders of the UNP that it was he and not the latter, who would have to face the consequences of these delays, in case of a comeback by the Rajapaksas.
Also, he seems to have been furious over the Central Bank bond scam, which many UNP leaders had been attempting to cover-up while defending the culprits.

Apart from these, he seems to have given vent to his frustration over some of the UNP Ministers taking decisions ignoring him.

He reversed some of those decisions such as the one to allow women to work at liquor shops and buy liquor, using his Executive Powers.
However, the situation would have been the same had the two groups of the UPFA taken the mantle.

The corruption cases and cases against crimes such as Thajudeen murder over which the President had accused the UNP would have been swept under the carpet under a UPFA-JO Government as well. After that what, the President called last month the “Unholy alliance of elite robbers” (Chaura Prabhu Sandanaya) might even impeach him.

If the whole episode was not one stage-managed by the President in order to put a bridle on the stubborn UNP, it shows the depth of the predicament of the Government, especially the President.

Corruption in Sri Lanka: Why have MTV / Sirasa been blind to this?

(February 23, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The COPE Report of 2005 as per relevant Pages attached discloses that Mercantile Credit Ltd., had owed the Central Bank Rs. 4,700 Mn., in December 2004, which today would amount to over Rs. 9,000 Mn. This is a massive loss caused to the Central Bank and is public money.

Whilst MTV / Sirasa, a Colombo based television channel,  carried out an offensive campaign on the alleged Bond Scam, they have covered-up this massive loss cause to the Central Bank by Mercantile Credit Ltd., which is a family Company of Milinda Moragoda, who had also been a Director as reported by COPE. This Company had obtained Rs. 1,742 Mn., from Central Bank in 1991, when the Company had a negative net worth of Rs. 124 Mn., as per the COPE Report. Whilst suppressing such massive loss caused to Central Bank, MTV / Sirasa whitewashes Milinda Moragoda to cover-up.

The hypocrisy is well shown!

2005-COPE-Report-on-Mercantile-Credit.pdf by Thavam on Scribd

Udayanga on the run, passports impounded in Dubai

Camelia Nathaniel-Saturday, February 24, 2018

Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga and his wife are reportedly on the run after Sri Lankan authorities had taken measures to have a red warrant issued against him.

However, a source closely associated with this investigation said he did not have a passport as his passport had been impounded by the Dubai Police.

Responding to posts by Weeratunge on social media, stating that there is no red alert issued against him, this legal source said, “From last year INTERPOL does not display the red alerts on their website due to various human rights issues.Therefore, although the red notice is issued for his arrest, it is not displayed on the INTERPOL website. The team from Sri Lanka went to Dubai and extensive discussions were held with the Dubai authorities.Udayanga Weeratunga had also been questioned at length by the Dubai authorities and released on the assurance that he would not leave the country and that he would make himself available for questioning when required by the Sri Lankan authorities.”

However, after the red alert was issued and the Sri Lankan authorities had obtained a warrant for his arrest, he was asked to report to them for a statement. However, he had not reported to the Dubai Police and has been on the run, together with his wife. It is also evident that if he is to leave the country, he has to take the sea route, which is risky. But the source said he may even try to escape that way. However his escape is not going to be easy.

Meanwhile, issuing a statement yesterday, Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said Weeratunga still has the opportunity to return to Sri Lanka and present himself to the court in order to prove his innocence, instead of making statements on social media.

The Police Spokesman said, “Weeratunga is a citizen of Sri Lanka.Therefore he must respect and adhere to the laws of this country. Instead of declaring his innocence through social media, he has the opportunity to return to Sri Lanka and prove his innocence before a court of law.The Sri Lankan Police have not restricted or prevented him from doing so.”

A complaint was received by the FCID on March 10, 2015 regarding a financial embezzlement that had taken place in 2006 during the purchase of four MiG aircraft and the overhaul of the four aircraft that belonged to the Sri Lanka Air Force. Accordingly, an investigation was initiated and findings were presented to court under case number B639/15.

During this investigation Weeratunga’s involvement in this deal was revealed and it was also disclosed that he had received large sums of money to his bank accounts from overseas which was highly suspicious. He was wanted to record a statement in this regard.

Although the summons for him to appear in court were issued through his close relatives and diplomatic channels, he had chosen to disregard it.

Taking into consideration the fact that Udayanga had no intention of cooperating with the investigations willingly, an open warrant was issued for his arrest on October 20, 2016. Further court issued an order to freeze 16 bank accounts operated by him. At the time there was around US$ 1.7 million in his bank accounts.

On the basis of a Blue Notice obtained by Interpol Sri Lanka on Weeratunga, Sri Lanka authorities had been working through mutual legal assistance with a number of countries to trace his whereabouts and subsequently a red alert was issued.

His diplomatic service ended on February 28, 2015 but instead of handing over or cancelling the diplomatic passport D3643585 that was issued to him, on March 6, 2015 he had obtained a normal passport from the Immigration and Emigration Department in Sri Lanka. Investigations have revealed that he had used this passport and travelled to the UAE on October 4, 2016.

Subsequently, the Colombo Fort Magistrate issued an order to impound the passport bearing number D3643585 and passport number N 5400885.

However, the former Ambassador had tried to use his diplomatic passport bearing number D3643585 and travel to the USA via the UAE when he was intercepted in the UAE on February 4,2018.

In a social media post on February 20 Weeratunga had stated that he had requested the investigation team that had gone to Ukraine to record a statement from him there, but they had failed to do so. However, investigations have revealed that at the time the Sri Lankan team was in Ukraine on October 4, 2016, Weeratunga had been in the UAE and not in Ukraine.