Tuesday, May 29, 2018

20th Amendment can lead to new partnership within Government

By Jehan Perera-May 28, 2018, 8:37 pm

The sudden recommencement of the constitutional reform process after a break of over six months coincides with the JVP’s proposed 20th Amendment to the constitution which would abolish the executive presidency in its present form. The parliamentary steering committee which is headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is reported to have instructed its experts committee to submit a paper for consideration within two weeks. If the 20th Amendment were to become law it would mean the diminishing of the president’s role in governance and a corresponding enhancement of the prime minister’s power. It would also do away with the need for a national election for the presidency, as the president would be elected by parliament. This would present a scenario that could see the evolution of a new partnership between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The problem with the present constitutional arrangement under the 19th Amendment is that both President and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe are constitutionally vested with power that they can use to counter each other. The health of the national unity government is determined by nature of the relationship of these two personalities who head their respective parties. At present they are both contenders for the position of executive president when elections fall due in November 2019. Such a scenario was not foreseen in 2015 when President Sirisena was the common opposition candidate who pledged to be a one- term president. In the absence of a new partnership agreement, their relationship is likely to deteriorate further to the detriment of the government. The failure of the president and prime minister to arrive at a mutually satisfactory accommodation is the worst-case scenario for the government.

The electoral setback encountered by the government parties at the local government elections of February 2018 has made them acutely aware of challenges that will confront them at the forthcoming presidential and general elections in the next 18 months. They are also aware of the need for actions that would restore the trust and confidence of the electorate in their ability to deliver positive results. But so far despite the passages of three months since the local government elections little appears to have changed. On the contrary the government has increased the prices of petrol and gas which has directly increased the economic burden on the people who were already complaining about the paucity of economic dividends to them from the government. How the leaders of the government address the 20th Amendment would give an indication of whether they will work together or not and will have implications for unity at other levels of society.

Two challenges

There are two challenges that the government needs to overcome. One is that the processes of change it has initiated are too slow. Although land is being returned, those to whom it is returned need economic resources, housing and livelihoods which is not forthcoming. Although the government has committed itself to increasing the number of Tamil speaking police personnel in the Tamil majority areas, in some of them there is hardly a single Tamil speaking officer. Although the Office of Missing Persons has been set up, and has started public meetings, it is not yet equipped to deliver on its mandate of locating the missing persons. Due to this the moderate Tamil parties who are allies of the government are losing ground in the north and east to the more nationalistic ones as witnessed at the local government elections.

The second challenge to the government is to communicate to the people and explain to them what it is planning to do and what it actually is doing. In his speech to Parliament after it recommenced sittings on May 8, the president pointed out to the plethora of achievements of the government which have gone unnoticed. These included passing the amended Act to establish a National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol in March 2015, the National Drugs Act adapted in March 2015, and the 19th Amendment to the Constitution adapted in May 2015 which reduced the powers of the presidency. In addition, the Right to Information law to empower the citizens and the establishment of the Office of Disappeared Persons and the Witness Protection Act to ensure transitional justice and co-existence are also in place.

The president also pointed out that on the tangible economic front, during the period 2015 to 2018, a land area of 40,475 acres has been released from the use of the military and this amounted to 85 percent of all the land occupied by the military during the war period in the Northern and Eastern provinces. In addition, there is an ongoing programme to provide ownership of one million land plots to people and to restore and repair 800 small tanks in the North Central Province, 1,400 small tanks in the Northern Province, and 350 small tanks in the Uva Province. Another 18 laws related to economy were adopted with the desire of effectively managing the inherited Rs.10 trillion debt burden and enhancing state revenues.

Cross community

Many of these achievements are not common knowledge to the general public. The failure to communicate on the part of the government is due to the disunity within the government which resulted in three government spokespersons being appointed, who often spoke differently on the same topic. The opposition is also utilizing the democratic space that the government provides to widen the pre-existing rifts between the religious and ethnic communities by stoking up nationalist fears. The growing dissatisfaction of the general population towards the government could be attributed to the lack of unity within the government when it comes to problem solving. By way of contrast the opposition parties are united in denouncing whatever the government does.

The problem for the government is that due to the internal divisions, the processes they have commenced continue without delivering anticipated outcomes. These include the strengthening of the judicial system to take on corruption cases but without decisive action that show the government’s political commitment to put an end to corruption. Another example would be the national reconciliation process in relation to the ongoing constitutional reform process. Although the government is returning more and more land to those who were displaced during the war and has set up the Office of Missing Persons to address that burning issue, this has not satisfied those who want to see evidence of the government’s political commitment to the political rights of the ethnic minorities to self-government and to the greater devolution of powers.

The political space opened up by the government over the past three years has enabled political parties and civil society to engage in public activities without restriction. On the one hand, this has increased the divisions in society, as manifested in the public activities that commemorated the last day of the war on May 18. On the other hand, one of the most positive features of the present time is the interest that civic groups at the community level have in working for social issues. The marked improvement in the human rights situation and the opening of political space has meant that they are no longer afraid to mobilise their energies on behalf of their communities whether in the north and east or elsewhere in the country. It is unfortunate that they are not receiving messages and direction from those at the top of the political hierarchy that reaching out to those of other communities is also a priority. The political leadership at the national level need to set an example of being united so that the work for ethnic and religious unity is more powerful than the work for disunity.

NO REASON TO OPPOSE 20A – DR. JAYAMPATHY

by Maneshka Borham-27 May, 2018

In spite of being favourable to the draft of 20th Amendment to the Constitution, presented by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) last week, Member of Parliament and Constitutional expert Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne says the United Left Front (ULF) and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) majority group which he represents is still supportive of formulating a new Constitution for the country.

“I believe it is still a possibility though the JVP says it is unlikely,” he said, adding that if the two main political parties can support the process it is a task that is still achievable.

Meanwhile, commenting on the draft presented by the JVP, Dr Wickramaratne said he has no reason to oppose it. “The proposed amendment has also taken into account the interim report of the steering committee,” he pointed out.

According to him, the JVP had taken up the suggestion made by the interim committee to not curtail the President’s powers over Provincial Councils. “This shows they have responded to the interim report,” he said.

While claiming the draft is a step in a positive direction, Dr Wickramaratne said the amendment seeks to achieve certain aims which were not possible through the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. “The wishes of the public which were expressed on January 8, 2015, did not translate into a Constitutional amendment in full, as the government did not have the needed simple majority at the time,” he said.

According to him, facing pressures from certain factions of the SLFP and other parties supportive of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was not keen on reforming the executive presidency, the 19th Amendment had to be diluted before it was gazetted and thereafter, as well.

“Because of the lack of a two-thirds majority we had to give in, in Parliament at the Committee Stage,” he recalled, adding that it caused great disappointment for the late Sobitha Thera who championed the abolishment of the Executive Presidency.

The draft presented last week by the JVP on the 20th Amendment to the Constitution seeks to abolish the position of an elected Executive President. According to the amendment, the President will be appointed by Parliament through a secret ballot and by obtaining a simple majority vote instead of an electoral process.

The President, during his tenure, will also not be able to be a member of a political party or hold any positions in one

Open Letter To HNB: Infringement Of Fundamental Rights Of Tamils & Insulting Tamil Culture

By Murali Vallipuranathan –MAY 29, 2018

Dr. Murali Vallipuranathan

Mr. Jonathan Alles

Chief Executive Officer

Hatton National Bank PLC

479, TB Jaya Mawatha, Colombo-10

Infringement of Fundamental Rights of Tamils and Insulting Tamil Culture

We are dismayed to learn that your bank had punished two employees of Kilinochchi Branch for commemorating the deaths of their relatives and beloved ones. Anniversary commemoration of the dead has been an important part of the culture of the Tamils and Sinhalese for several centuries. In fact one of the oldest Tamil moral text Thirukural dated 3000 years back in stanzas 42 and 43 stated the importance of humans to perform their duty towards manes. In this context we see your ill-conceived action against your employees who were involved in commemoration of their dead relatives as not only a grave insult to the Tamil culture but also a serious infringement of their fundamental rights.

Article 14 (1) (f) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka stated “Every citizen is entitled to the freedom by himself or in association with others to enjoy and promote his own culture”. Notably no restrictions are placed in this freedom by any other articles of the Constitution under any circumstances. From the medical point of view commemorating the dead is very important for a grieving person to recover and promote his mental health. In the Sri Lankan context this has become more important especially because neither compensation was given to most of the affected persons nor perpetrators responsible for the holocaust were brought to justice.

Kilinochchi is a place where very large number of residents belonging to this region suffered heavy causalities in 2009. Therefore your bank which intend to promote business relationships with Tamils in this area should have tried to understand the feelings of the people in the area and itself organized the cultural event of commemorating the dead anniversary on 18thMay. Instead of this goodwill action your bank along with irresponsible southern racist media had gone to the level of portraying the peaceful commemorative event as an event sympathizing with the LTTE. We strongly condemn this oppressive action by your bank. I am sure that you are fully aware for several decades Tamils had preferred Hatton National Bank to other state banks for obvious reasons. Now since your action against the Kilinochchi staff is published in the media several Tamils have started closing their accounts and your bank is rapidly losing popularity among Tamils.

Therefore if you wish to continue your business successfully with Tamils in future I suggest the following:

Reinstate the interdicted officers without delay and pay compensation for the mental suffering and humiliation they have faced by the interdiction.
Withdraw the statements in Facebook and other media portraying the commemorative event as an event threatening peace and harmony in the country.
Open apology to all Tamils for your action which had insulted all the Tamils and assurance that your institution will not obstruct participation of your employees in the death anniversary commemoration of Tamil civilians in the years to come in.

If you agree with my suggestions please respond within 2 weeks so that I can publish your response in media and will try my best to minimize the damage to the bank. But if you fail to respond I am afraid that this issue will get escalated by spreading to all the branches in the North and East, local and international human rights organizations, media and become a strong campaign to defend the fundamental rights and the dignity of Tamils.

Anticipating your early response.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

Dr. Murali Vallipuranathan

MBBS, PGD (Population Studies), MSc, MD (Community Medicine), FCCP (SL), FRSPH (UK)

Board Certified Specialist Community Physician

23B4/4, Vanderwart Place

Dehiwela

(On behalf of all the citizens of this country believing in Fundamental Rights, Human Dignity and Equality between races)

Further demonstrations in Jaffna as Tamils condemn violence against Tuticorin protesters

27May 2018

Another demonstration was held in Jaffna on Friday as Tamils expressed solidarity with protesters in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu and condemned the police violence against them.

The protest, organised by the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) took place in Jaffna town.

Nine people were killed and 65 injured on Tuesday in Tamil Nadu after police opened fire at protesters in Tuticorin, who had been seeking a ban on Sterlite Industries' copper plant.

The protesters, who launched their protest many months ago, accuse Sterlite Industries of releasing pollutants from its plants and have been demanding the plant be closed.

Posted by Thavam

Sly shameless moves to deliver suspended sentence on incorrigible debauched Gnanassara ! Whither laws ?

(Lanka-e-News -29.May.2018, 8.05AM) Attempts are being made to rescue the infamous Galagoda Athe Gnanassara the hooligan monk who is charged under sections 386 and 486 of the Penal code for intimidation and criminal harassment and now found guilty . Groups of president Gamarala and several other groups are moving heaven and earth to save the criminal rascally monk who is a scourge to society and a disgrace to Buddhist monkhood. These groups are exerting pressure to avert the sentence to be delivered on this disgraceful monk . It is owing to these dastardly moves that the sentence which was to be delivered on him was postponed and for no other reason , based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

It is former Human Rights Commission president Pathiba Mahanama who is playing the main role providing the necessary legal advice in this conspiracy , it is reported .

Believe it or not ! This is the first time in legal history , a judge after announcing the sentence will be delivered on a particular date had changed that decision on that date to postpone the final verdict by 20 days.

Ordinarily , the sentence is passed on the date announced by court on the earlier date of the case , and if it is decided the accused has committed the crime , he/she is handed over (with the punishment order) to be imprisoned. If it is alleged following the verdict that the accused has been wronged , he /she can file an appeal while the accused is in prison.

The appeal of Duminda Silva in the Baratha Lakshman case is being heard while the accused is in jail. To illustrate this point there are a plethora of cases.

In the recent case, the Homagama magistrate had given 20 more days freedom to criminal Gnanassara who was found guilty by the same court instead of punishing him on the due date. Much worse ! Ganassara had been provided with the necessary background to file an appeal before the 14 th of June – the day the sentence is to be delivered against him in order that he can escape from imprisonment, according to reports reaching Lanka e News inside information division.

Gnanassara the notorious rascally monk after coming out of court again spoke contemptuously of the court . Speaking to the media, he disparaged the courts saying, ‘ no matter what decision is delivered by the court , we shall not stop our appearing on behalf of the war heroes’

It is obvious there is no connection between the charges and guilt of his ,and the war heroes. It is therefore very clear irrespective of what punishment is meted out , he would continue with his criminal actions which the court decided as wrong. This is absolute contempt of court.

It is the view of legal experts , Gnanassara’s enunciations are tantamount to a murderer who had been found guilty by the court coming out and saying , he will murder some more.

If Gnanassara had stated he is filing an appeal against the verdict , that is certainly showing respect to the law , whereas Gnanassara did not say that. Instead he insulted the courts .

An individual who had been found guilty of contempt of court after a long inquiry , if he again behaves in the manner afore noted and commits contempt of court , because punishment has not been meted out yet , the accused can be summoned to court and it is possible to revise the earlier verdict ( not to reduce the punishment) against the accused and mete out a greater punishment taking into account his second contempt of court charges.

Shockingly , what is happening now on the contrary is , the punishment to be meted out is going to be changed into a suspended sentence , to allow Gnanassara the rowdy robed monk to continue committing his crimes as usual, based on reports reaching Lanka e news inside information division.

It is only the judiciary that can safeguard its dignity .

---------------------------
by (2018-05-29 02:45:08)

Possibility of a snap presidential election anytime after 9 January 2019

Common candidate Maithripala Sirisena after casting his vote at Jan 2015 presidential poll

By C.A.Chandraprema-May 27, 2018, 9:24 pm

As the month of June approaches, we realise that the incumbent President now has only 18 full months in office before the last date by which a presidential election should be held and a new president declared elected.

According to Article 31(3) of the Constitution, the poll for the election of the President has to be held not less than one month, and not more than two months before the expiration of the term of office of the President in office. Going by this constitutional requirement, the last day by which the presidential poll will have to be held, is the 9th December 2019 because President Maithripala Sirisena’s term in office ends on 9 January 2020.

According to Section 2(1) of the Presidential Elections Act, No. 15 of 1981, when the Commissioner of Elections is required by the Constitution to conduct a presidential election, he has to fix a date for the nomination of candidates which is not less than sixteen days and not more than one month from the date of publication of such Order. The date on which the poll is taken has to be a date not less than one month and not more than two months from the date of nomination. Thus, when we work backwards from the last day on which the next presidential election should be held that is, 9 December 2019, we find that the latest that nominations for the presidency can close will be 9 November.

Since there has to be a period of at least 16 days for nominations to close after the election is declared, we see that the presidential election will have to be declared at least by the third week of October 2019 if the 9 December 2019 Constututional deadline is to be met. There has never been a dull moment in Sri Lanka after the yahapalana government came into power and in the midst of all the natural disasters and political crises, the next eighteen months will fly by and before we know it, the next presidential election will be upon us.

In the meantime, there is yet another hurdle that the government has to clear before they come to the next presidential election – that is the provincial council elections which are now long overdue in three PCs. The Sabaragamuwa, North Central and Eastern provincial councils ceased to exist around the beginning of October last year. This year in September, three more including the northern provincial council will stand dissolved. Even though nobody was heard saying anything much about the dissolved PCs in the past few months, since of late we have begun hearing calls for the PC elections to be held. The former chief minister of the east Naseer Ahmed has been quite strident in his demand that the elections to the dissolved PCs be held without any further delay.

North will soon join the fray

Memebers of the joint opposition have also been making noises anout the need to hold elections to the dissolved PCs. The real campaign to demand the holding of PC elections will begin only in a few months when the northern PC stands automatically dissolved. These PCs were set up mainly for the benefit of the north and east and the people of the south are largely indifferent towards the provincial councils. Had it not been so, with there being no provincial councils in three provinces, the people would have been out on the streets demanding that the elections be held.

Those in the eastern province have been generally quiet during the past few months, but that too is probably due to the fact that the powers that be of the province are in the government and are responsible for passing the amendments to the PC elections law which has caused the delay in the elections.

However, once the northern provincial council stands automatically dissolved in September this year, the cries for the election to be held expeditiously will begin to dominate political discourse. The Tamil National Alliance may be willing to play along with the government and delay the elections because they are now under siege by new political formations in the north. But those new political formations which tasted blood at the last local government elections will want the PC elections to be held because that may be the way they can dislodge the TNA from its preeminent position in northern politics.

However, if the government does hold elections to the six provincial councils that will stand dissolved by September, there is the danger that the political parties in government will fare even worse than they did at the local government elections in February. If they hold the presidential elections after another drubbing at the PC elections, that will make the result of the presidential election a foregone conclusion. It has to be borne in mind that the number of votes that the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Party actually got at the last local government elections may not be representative of the actual number of votes it should have got.

The local government election was a kind of trial run for the SLPP. That was the first time in the history of the democratic world whereby a third force overwhelmed two established political parties to become by far thes ingle largest political formation in the country. Now we have a two party system in the country once again – the SLPP and the UNP with all the others including the SLFP becoming minor parties. When we went into the LG election, that was in the midst of a lot of uncertainties. Nobody knew what kind of an impact established, seven decade long political loyalties vis a vis the SLFP will have on the newly formed SLPP. Then there was the fact that governments in power have never lost local government elections and so many other factors which left a question mark over how the SLPP will perform.

MS between a rock and

a hard place

So it’s really at the next election – the PC election - that the proper contours of the newly realigned SLPP/UNP two party system will become apparent. So the probability is that the PC elections will be even more detrimental to the SLFP and (to a lesser extent) to the UNP as well.

Furthermore, there is the added complication that if the provincial councils elections are held in two stages, with elections to six councils being held at the end of this year and the last three PCs next year just before the presidential elections, all these repeated defeats could have a cascading effect on the presidential election.

Going by the results of the local government elections, the parties in the yahapalana coalition with the help of their minority party allies will be able to win only the northern and eastern provinces and they will most probably lose all the other provinces. So the chances are that President Sirisena will try to head off the provincial council elections by holding the presidential elections before they are due.

According to Article 31(3A)(a)(i) of the Constitution, the President may, at any time after the expiration of four years from the commencement of his first term of office, declare his intention of seeking a mandate to hold a presidential election, for a further term. President Sirisena will complete four years in office on 9 January 2019 and a Presidential election can be declared at any time after that in terms of Article 31(3A)(a)(i). If President Sirisena holds an early Presidential election, he will be able to face it with only one defeat in the background. However if he waits until he completes his full term, he will be facing a presidential election after a two or even three defeats depending on whether the PC elections are staggered or not.

If however he calls for a presidential election before any of the PC elections are held, he will be able to go to the polls with only the LG election defeat in the background. Of course it is obvious that even in this scenario, he will be at a disadvantage, because he will be going for a presidential poll without functioning provincial councils in the north and east in a situation where he depends on those two provinces for the bulk of his votes. Both provinces had functioning provincial councils under the Rajapaksa government and it’s not going to look good if Maithripala Sirisena goes to them asking for a second term without the provincial councils that the Rajapaksas had given them.

President Sirisena is very dependent on the north and east, as can be seen from the fact that he held the SLFP’s May Day rally also in the east. So there is a question mark on whether he can even think of going in for a presidential election without functioning PCs in the north and east. If he does that it may undermine even his allies like Messers Hisbulla and

Athaulla in those provinces. So the coming months, the question whether to hold the PC elections or to go for a Presidential election straightaway, will be the difficult choice that President Sirisena will have to make.

Sri Lanka: Holding the flock together or what

Whatever be the current phase of their discussions on a common symbol, the UNF partners do not have much time to decide, either way, if they are serious about doing it ahead of the next presidential polls – due by 9 January 2020 but may well be held a month or so earlier, in end-2019.

by N Sathiya Moorthy- May 28, 2018

( May 28, 2018, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Reports that ruling UNP ‘Leader’ and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe held at least one round of talks with the existing allies of the loosely-knit United National Front (UNF) part of the present government combine makes for interesting reading. If the talks were to lead to the UNP-UNF obtaining a holistic character with a common election symbol and all, as reported, then it should make news. Whether such a course, if it came to that, is good for the nation, or work on the ground is another matter.

As is known, the UNF now comprises desperate parties who have shown a singular, common intention to stay on in power, whatever the political environment, electoral circumstances, reasons and justification. Barring the UNP, every other party in the UNP, including the ‘moralistic’ JHU, were partners in the predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa Government, led by the UNP’s SLFP rival at the ideological and national level.

If some of the Upcountry Tamil parties had stayed away from the Rajapaksa regime, possibly not that they did not want a share in power (all in the name of ‘serving our people better’, as was the slogan of others), but only because the parent CWC’s Arumugan Thondaman would have them, if at all, only on his terms. And the Rajapaksas were in no mood to get involved in another intra-ethnic political feud that it entailed.

Yet, the real ideological breach came when in 2015, the UNP happily joined hands with a new-found Sirisena faction of the rival SLFP, and formally so. There are few political leaders in the country who have not crossed over from the UNP to the SLFP, or in the reverse direction. Present-day President Maithiripala Sirisena was one, and he did it in 2015, and became what he is today.

That way, the SLFP as a party owes its formation and existence to a similar split in the parent UNP very long ago that none of them even seem to remember and recall that the latter was an umbrella organisation, for all Sri Lankan (then, Ceylonese) nationalists worked for the nation’s Independence. It could not have split, post-Independence, be it on ideological lines or on personality-lines, but the fact it that the pre-Independence UNP did split, as was only to be expected under the circumstances.

The same can be said of the SLPP, as it exists now, a breakaway faction, if any, of the SLFP. Earlier, too, the SLFP had split when founder S W R D Bandaranaike’s daughter, Chandrika Bandaranaike-Kumaratunga, walked out of the party, to float one of her own. She would return later, to claim back the party and also to become the nation’s President, almost at one go – the latter, still it was through democratic elections.

Common symbol

For the UNP now to try and form a new party – and it would be one if they were to choose a new, ‘common symbol’ – is as much intriguing as it is interesting. It remains to be seen if down the line whether ‘UNPer families’ for three and more generations would want to accept such a character-change. For, any change in the election symbol from the existing ‘Elephant’, could well have to be accompanied by the party having to give up its ‘Green’ standard with which it has been identified for long.

It is not as if the UNP would have to give up both the Green standards and the ‘Elephant’ symbol all at once. But if they were to contest under a new symbol, under a new scheme registered with the Election Commission, then they cannot confuse their old and new, collective voters, whether in the South or North, East or West, with their old symbol. The ‘Elephant’ would have to put to rest, at least for a time.

If nothing else, this is what happened to the SLFP rival when they tried to give a common character and symbol to the UPFA that they founded. No one talks any more about the SLFP’s ‘Hand’ symbol, but have settled for the UPFA’s ‘Betel Leaf’ poll brand.

It is interesting yet that the non-existent SLPP’s ‘Flower Bud’ symbol defeated them all, by sheer identification with just one man – Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa. That way, the Rajapaksas and the SLPP-JO could not have asked for more, in the form of 10 February local government elections, nation-wide.

The SLPP-JO combine did sweep the polls in the Sinhala South, yes, but even without it, they could reach out their new electoral identity and branded symbol to their electorate at one go. The question thus arises if the SLPP-JO’s LG poll-sweep owed to the new symbol or the personality of President Rajapaksa? The answer to this one question could well hold a message for the UNP and allies as they discuss the prospects of a new ‘symbol’ for them.

Splits & defections

The question then arises what benefits could the UNP-UNF partners get by opting for a new, common election symbol? The obvious possibility is that the smaller partners may then find it difficult to walk out of the alliance at will, and thus upset the UNP’s election and post-election strategies. Splits may become difficult, but that is not going to stop individual defections – or, will it be so?

It is not without reason. Today, the SLFP-UPFA is the parent organisation, but a substantial number of their MPs and almost all of their voters nation-wide is with the ‘breakaway’ SLPP-JO. The irony of the present situation is that SLFP boss Sirisena is also the President of the country, but then he controls the party even less than he controls the nation, or the ruling ‘GNU’ (Government of National Unity) combine.

The other major question in context is the interest and willingness of the non-UNP partners in the UNF partners to agree to a common symbol. True, as with the UNP, they all may retain their current name and symbols, but then with a common symbol floating around, they cannot hope to keep their afloat for too long.

The existing example of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) doing it in select regions and districts of the nation, whenever contesting in UNP’s company, cannot work on a larger plane. Here, the SLMC is using some other symbol, where they do not really have the winning votes on their own. That would not be the case if they were to surrender their electoral identity in the East, or even Colombo city and the larger Western Province, where their flag can continue to fly high, even after so many splits in the parent party.

It could well be so in the case of the different Upcountry Tamil parties, now in the UNP’s company. Who knows, some of them may want to consider an SLFP option, and still others, an SLPP choice as well. Their problem is not the Rajapaksas per se, as with the Sri Lankan Tamils (SLT) and their TNA. Their problem is not even with the parent CWC. Their problem is only with Arumugan Thondaman. The Rajapaksas were too busy with themselves that they preferred to leave the Upcountry Tamil parties in their company to themselves. It need not be the case anymore, as they have to make every vote count – for them.

Ego trip and all

Barring the post-split JHU (the other faction is in the SLPP-JO camp), the multiplicity of political parties that are UNP’s partners in the UNF broadly represent either the Muslim or Upcountry Tamil communities. They are there not because of any ideological differences or political reasons. They owe exclusively to ego clashes among leaders who think larger-than-life of the self.

For the UNP to hope to manage them under a larger umbrella, using the common symbol as an enticement and threat at the same time could only re-introduce the forgotten faction-feuds of the pre-2015 in the party, but in ways that the leadership is unaccustomed to handling. From their independent view, it is not unlikely that they may be apprehensive about handling the Ranil leadership, which has always successfully contained rebellion within the UNP, by playing Peter against Paul – or Ravi K against Sajith P, or whatever.

The last time a smaller party added substantially to the vote-share of the purportedly larger alliance leader, the JVP contributed to CBK’s record, 62-per cent vote-share in the presidential poll of 1994. Other factors and constituencies, including the SLT, were known to have voted her in at the time. But the point is that when the JVP quit CBK’s SLFP-UPFA combine a decade ago, after the latter had come under Mahinda’s command, the party found itself in the dumps.

The JVP is yet to recover from that shock and the vote-loss. It is anybody’s guess if any of the UNP partners in the UNF would want to try their luck at it. This is more so in the case of the Muslim parties, which have enjoyed autonomy and freedom to walk across, from the SLFP combine to the UNP’s, and the reverse, all through their existence. If they are going to lose their electoral identity and base, then why try their luck with a scheme that could cut either way, and for good?

Whatever be the current phase of their discussions on a common symbol, the UNF partners do not have much time to decide, either way, if they are serious about doing it ahead of the next presidential polls – due by 9 January 2020 but may well be held a month or so earlier, in end-2019. Under the law, they would have to register the new symbol with the Election Commission, as per the routine, in a few months time.

The last time someone talked about a ‘common symbol’, the TNA was trying to grabble with it, post-war. The non-ITAK partners of the Alliance would flag it ahead of every election since, but settle for the party’s ‘House’ symbol, in return for more and some of their choice seats. Today, the TNA is split, the EPRLF, which anyway did not bring in too many votes to the pool, or to the self, is out.

Independent of all these, the TNA has weakened between the post-war presidential polls, when they made the Tamils vote for war-time army commander, Gen Sarath Fonseka against incumbent Rajapaksa – and, now the LG polls of February 2018. Independent of all these, the TNA is also at odds with itself, even in the Alliance-ruled Northern Provincial Council.

The Alliance inherited a strong vote-base, but is losing it to itself, and because of the self. Who then said, a common symbol can help diverse and desperate groups that now constitute the UNF, and that the UNP can hold the combine together – in the absence of a Rajapaksa-like personality at the helm, or an LTTE’s Prabhakaran-like character directing and dictating the TNA constituents?

(The writer is Director, Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation, the multi-disciplinary Indian public-policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi. email: sathiyam54@gmail.com)

Sri Lankan president showers praises on the military

By K. Ratnayake -26 May 2018

President Maithripala Sirisena devoted his speech at a ceremony celebrating the 2009 defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to eulogise the military and issue Sinhala chauvinist appeals.

Sirisena, who is also the commander in chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces, presided over the so-called national war heroes’ day on May 19, marking the ninth anniversary since the end of the bloody 26-year communal war.

Sirisena’s craven praise for the military is a measure of his dependence on it. He is leading a politically fragile government with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and facing mounting social opposition by workers and the poor. A rival group led by former President Mahinda Rajapakse is challenging his coalition government.

Standing in front of army, navy and air force commanders, Sirisena declared: “Because of the great war heroes, we are enjoying freedom today.” He added: “The brave soldiers sacrificed their lives to defend the unitary state, territorial integrity, democracy and independence of the motherland from the brutal LTTE terrorists.”

Sirisena’s rhetoric echoed that uttered by Rajapakse after the military ruthlessly completed the war in May 2009, killing tens of thousands of civilians and maiming many more.

It is a lie that the end of war produced “freedom, peace and democracy.” Tamil people in the north and east still live under military occupation and intelligence surveillance. The devastation of living and social conditions for all working people continues.

Rajapakse ultimately lost office in 2015 because of the mass opposition to his authoritarian rule during and after the war. Once the conflict ended, he declared “now we must wage economic war” and began to impose the burden of the massive military expenditure and the economic crisis produced by 2008 global financial breakdown.

Sirisena exploited the opposition to Rajapakse’s regime with the help of a right-wing “good governance” movement led by Wickremesinghe’s United National Party, supported by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and a host of pseudo-left groups and NGOs.

Within months of taking office, the cash-strapped Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government dumped its promises to address the issues of war victims and improve social and living conditions. Instead, it imposed austerity measures dictated by the International Monetary Fund. For all the rhetoric about democracy, the struggles of workers, the rural poor and students have been suppressed by police and military violence and the draconian essential services order.

Sirisena’s claim that “LTTE terrorists” were responsible for the war is another lie, seeking to cover up successive governments’ role in instigating the conflict.

President J. R. Jayawardene’s government started the war in 1983, while preparing a major assault on living conditions in order to implement pro-market economic policies. The military conflict was the culmination of decades of systematic discrimination against the Tamil minority by the capitalist class since formal independence from British colonial rule in 1948.

Anti-Tamil discrimination is used to divide the working class along ethnic lines and defend capitalist rule. At every stage, whenever the Sri Lankan capitalist class faced economic and political crises, its governments intensified the communal provocations and attacks.

The 1964 betrayal of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in joining the capitalist government of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party gave a free hand to the ruling class to mount its communal attacks. The LSSP abandoned socialist principles and adapted to Sinhala nationalism.

The capitalist class conducted the war to preserve its rule. The Tamil elite responded by waging a communal campaign for its interests, not for the democratic rights of workers and the poor. The LTTE’s separatism sought to carve out a tiny state for the Tamil elite with the help of the imperialist powers. It also used attacks on Sinhala people to divide Tamil and Sinhala workers.

A major part of Sirisena’s speech was devoted to insisting that the military committed no war crimes. He declared that a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution, adopted after he took office, had not mentioned military war crimes “as certain media and extremists depict.”

In reality, the UN estimated that at least 40,000 people were killed during the final months’ offensive against the LTTE alone. The security forces were also implicated in numerous abductions and disappearances, carried out in association with paramilitary groups.

Washington fully backed the war, turning a blind eye to the human right violations. Only during the final months of the conflict did it begin criticising the security forces. After war ended, the US sponsored UNHRC resolutions against Sri Lanka, not out of any sympathy for democratic rights but to pressure Rajapakse’s regime to distance itself from with China. When that failed, Washington supported a regime-change operation, via the January 2015 presidential election, to help install Sirisena.

Sirisena shifted Sri Lanka’s foreign policy in favour of the US and its regional ally India. In return, the US backed another UNHRC resolution in September 2015, hailing his government’s “contributions to promoting democratic governance.” The government, the TNA and US State Department together dumped an international investigation into the Sri Lankan war crimes, on the pretext that a local judicial investigation would be conducted.

No such investigation has eventuated. Instead, Sirisena and Wickremesinghe vowed not to allow any security force members to face court, thus appeasing the military, the Buddhist clergy and the chauvinist groups.

Sirisena casually dismissed the possibility of counting civilian deaths but the overall toll would be 100,000. He announced that, according to the security forces, 28,708 soldiers were killed and 40,107 disabled. Far from being “war heroes,” these troops were economic conscripts, mainly from rural areas, who joined the forces because of poverty and unemployment.

Sirisena castigated those “who can’t identify terrorists and war heroes.” They included, he said, “politicians in the government, as well as in opposition, and NGOs here and abroad.”

The president was referring to Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne who made a passing remark at a press conference that people in the north had a right to commemorate their dead. Senaratne was not opposed to the war but tried to claim that people enjoyed freedom under the present government.

The opposition, chauvinist groups and media outlets immediately seized upon Senaratne’s statement to step up their propaganda, insisting there was no right to commemorate LTTE cadres and civilians who died during the fighting. In his speech, Sirisena lined up with this campaign to appease the chauvinists and stress his allegiance to the military.

Though Sirisena hailed the military, Rajapakse and his supporters attacked the government for allowing “massacre commemorations” in the north and east and criticised the lack of pompous military pageants to honour “war heroes.” Rajapakse is seeking to resume power by appealing to the military, while organising Sinhala-Buddhist extremist groups.

Every faction of the ruling elite is mired in Sinhala chauvinism and subservient to the military. Their nervousness is deepening as the objective conditions develop to unite the working class across ethnic divides. Increasingly besieged by the political crisis, Sirisena wants to keep the military on side as his government lurches toward dictatorial rule.

Only the Socialist Equality Party is advancing an alternative perspective for the workers and oppressed, based on Leon Trotsky’s theory of Permanent Revolution. The working class, organising independently of every capitalist faction, must rally the oppressed and poor, and fight for a Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Eelam as part of the struggle for a Socialist Federation of South Asia and international socialism.

‘VIYATHMAGA’ AND ZUCKERBERG

27 May, 2018

At long last, the gauntlet thrown down during the recent hoopla at the Shangri-La has been taken up. Minister of Finance and Mass Media, Mangala Samaraweera has not only taken it up but has decided to run the gauntlet. The metaphor is appropriate. It describes the painful but necessary task of confronting something or someone that is intrinsically abhorrent.

Mangala Samaraweera is perhaps the only Minister in this Government who is ideologically alert to the menace in the form of the former strongman Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

‘Viyathmaga’ is not what it claims to be, says Mangala. Instead, the name of the movement that seeks to instal the former Defence Secretary as President of the Republic is a ‘Vipathmaga’ he asserts.
It is not, as the ‘intellectual movement’ seeks to posit, the erudite path traced by professionals, entrepreneurs and academics. It will be ‘vipathmaga’ or a path of pitfalls and peril.

The intimidating history experienced in the decade 2005 -2015 has begun to breathe down our collective necks again. It sends cold shivers down our collective spines, warning of a return to the dark days of abductions, disappearances and unexplained and inexplicable executions.
Mangala Samaraweera presented a catalogue of reasons explaining why he feared the former strongman’s current attempt to recapture state power and gain control over its machinery.

While welcoming his forthright opposition to a return of unbridled tyranny, it is important for Minister Samaraweera to remember that the purpose of inventing the clock was not only to tell the time but to remind us that time does not stand still. Tick tells us that time is ticking. Tock tells us that time has passed. We are fast approaching the sound of ‘tock’!

Soon after the Presidential Election, Mangala Samaraweera complained to the police of a conspiracy hatched on the historic night of January 8, 2015 to prevent a peaceful transfer of power. The case fizzled out after a few inquiries were made. Nobody knows why.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris has warned us of a Rajapaksa restoration on the lines of the return of Dr. Mahatir Mohammed in Malaysia. The parallel the learned Professor seeks to draw is a bit of a stretch. That said, there are some lessons to be learnt from recent developments in Malaysia. Anwar Ibrahim has revealed how a distraught Najib called him in his prison cell and what advice he offered Najib in return.

What passed between the outgoing President and the then Leader of the Opposition who went to see him at Temple Trees at dawn on January 9, 2015, the morning after the Presidential Election, remains shrouded in mystery.

While applauding the Minister of Finance for his principled stand against the looming tyranny we must remind him and through him the powers that be, that oligarchic collective that masquerades as the ‘Viyathmaga’ is a hydra-headed monster with a massive war chest at its disposal.

Viyathmaga ideologue Nalaka Godahewa treated us to a homily on Facebook founder Zuckerberg’s genius in amassing billions by innovational excellence. It was intended to impress our young entrepreneurial talent that his boss Gotabaya was the man who will offer a level playing field for the country’s youth.

It would have been more helpful if he had expanded on his own entrepreneurial achievements under the solicitous shadow of his Godfather.

His masterly presentation on behalf of his master described the times we live in. We live in the age of facts, alternative facts and negotiated truth.

Godahewa’s success trajectory was as spectacular as that of Zuckerberg if we locate him in context. Each toad is destined to thrive in its respective pond.

On August 28, 2012 he spoke to an English daily on the possibility of his succeeding Tilak Karunaratne as the SEC supremo.

It was then widely reported that he would move from his perch as Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) to be the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission following the resignation of Tilak Karunaratne.

Godahewa told the journalist that despite speculation he had not yet been appointed. What he told the paper then gives an insight into the psychology of the charlatanry in the charade that describes itself as ‘Viyathmaga’ .

“Yesterday alone, I received more than 100 calls congratulating me for the new appointment as the SEC head. But I have not been communicated about this appointment so far,” Godahewa said.
Now that is Orwell’s Oligarchic collective in its embryonic stage.

He expanded on his strategies as an investor.

“Yes, as any investor, right throughout, I was buying and selling shares. Also, like any normal investor, I was leveraged and given the present high interest rate scenario, sold some of my holdings. Apart from that, certain shares were disposed because I didn’t want them in my portfolio,”

The news report then informed readers of its business pages: “Among other investments, Godahewa is the 7th largest shareholder of Colombo Land & Development PLC, where he sits as the Chairman, and 10th and 16th largest shareholder of Waskaduwa Beach Resort PLC, a subsidiary of Citrus Leisure PLC.”

Let us not reinvent the wheel. The newspaper report is widely available on the internet.
What is relevant to this discussion on the oligarchic character of ‘Viyathmaga’ is that at the time at which the interview was published, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the patriot who was steering the activities of the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and Godahewa served on the board of UDA, Liberty Holding (Pvt) Ltd, and Liberty Plaza Management Corporation and Agrispice (Pvt) Ltd.
He also served as the Chairman of Divasa Finance, a company controlled by advertising tycoon Dilith Jayaweera.

The newspaper report explains that Divasa Finance was later renamed George Steaurt Finance and received preliminary approval from the Colombo Stock Exchange to list its shares by way of an Introduction.

The hoopla at the Shangri-La was a professional job executed by the best in the business of image engineering. It had the sure professional touch of the creator of ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ who once also admitted at a press conference that the then Secretary of Defence had been kind enough to help him by calling the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. That the then SEC Chairman left his job soon after is a matter that is neither here nor there in the context of our man’s discovery that we need upright men in the public service.

Interestingly, the fascination with Zuckerberg is not confined to Godahewa alone. The self-made Ogilvy who claims to have amassed his fortune by sheer gut and grit in the post-war years tells journalists quizzing him “The CSE is a place where perception takes a huge role. Mark Zuckerberg thought his Facebook share was going to be 100 plus per earnings ratio. it is a belief. “

We like to think that we fight injustice. But in the last three years and four months, we have done little to change an unjust system. A brazenly predatory system of state capture was put in place by the Rajapaksa regime by leveraging patriotism to create a plutocracy that was committed to advance their hold on power. It has not only survived the regime change but has brilliantly succeeded in coopting pivotal players of the successor Government.

Unjust systems cannot be changed in the absence of a focused and determined effort. The complacency of an indifferent citizenry and a Government impervious to the lurking danger are the main factors contributing to perpetuate unjust systems and a corrupt social order.

When this Government assumed office, we were assured that the pumping and dumping deals in the Colombo Stock Market would be probed and fraudsters exposed.

Dear Mangala, the opposite of memory is not forgetting. The opposite of memory is justice.