THE CRISIS IN SRI LANKA – KANISHKA GOONEWARDENA

Mahinda Rajapaksa speaks to the media on November 11, 2018 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Paula Bronstein / Getty.

03/02/2019

“In the name of God, go!” Rarely have these words of Oliver Cromwell been recycled with such farce and frequency as during Sri Lanka’s recent political crisis, not least by parliamentarians addressing rivals. As far as crises go, however, it was a remarkably peaceful affair outside of parliament and unrelated to any kind of revolution. Everyday life continued as usual even in Colombo despite extra-bold newspaper headlines, which were greeted in the distant North by “near silence.”

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Did SLFP jump the gun by approving Maithri as Presidential candidate?

 BY GAGANI WEERAKOON-FEB 03 2019

 The proposal was read out by Dissanayake in the presence of the General Secretary, Dayasiri Jayasekara and Senior Vice Chairman Nimal Siripala de Silva and was seconded by former Anuradhapura District MP, Tissa Karalliyadde. Those who were present, at the electoral balamandala reorganising Convention, raised their hands in approval.

Sirisena, who is the Seventh Executive President of Sri Lanka, came to power in January 2015, defeating former SLFP Chairman and incumbent Opposition Leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

According to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, President Sirisena’s term in Office ends on 9 January 2020. However, the President can call a Presidential Election anytime after 9 January 2019. The Constitution requires that 9 December 2019 be the last day by which a Presidential Election could be held.

Although he is eligible to contest for the Presidential Post for a second time, President Sirisena had initially pledged during the 2015 Presidential Election, that he would not contest again. However, he later indirectly indicated his willingness to contest by stating that he had a zillion unfinished duties and responsibilities to fulfil and does not plan to retire until these were accomplished.

Meanwhile, on Thursday (31) President Sirisena, while declaring open an SLFP party office in the Punchi Borella area, hinted that this year will give birth to a new Government − which he said would entirely be an Election year.

The President stated that it is up to the people of the country to identify the forces and people opposing the country and ensure their defeat.

He stated that the battle to defeat corruption, which is commonly used as a slogan during election seasons, has not been successful and instead corrupt forces have been strengthened. Illegal activities such as racketeering and smuggling drugs have spread to all corners of the country, according to the Head of State.

President Maithripala Sirisena noted that he recently took over the reins of the Police and is in the process of making internal changes to strengthen the battle against corruption, which he stated cannot be won overnight.  He urged the people of the country to join hands with a group of people who truly love the nation, for the country to be taken forward.

Even though, the President and Prime Minister, both indicated, from time to time, as this year being an Election year, no party has been able to come to any agreement as to what Election should be held first.

Threatened to resign

It is in this backdrop that the Chairman of the Elections Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya threatened to resign if the Provincial Council Elections were delayed further.

Addressing the Media, at the Commission office on Monday (28), Deshapriya said that he would resign, if the PC Polls are not held before 10 November, as a means of expressing his vehement protest against the extended delay.

There is no difference between a delayed poll and a corrupt poll, Deshapriya said, criticising the Government for the undue delay. “My heart aches when I think that Elections should be held urgently,” he lamented.  The Polls in six Provincial Councils were pending, namely that of the Eastern, North Central, Sabaragamuwa, Northern, Central and Wayamba Provinces.

The Southern Provincial Council completes its term on 10 April while the Western Provincial Council will complete its term on 21 April, he said.

“There are those who said that all the Provincial Elections should be held on one day while there were others who stressed on the need to conduct Elections for those Councils which have already been dissolved,” he said, adding that the Commission was not prepared to conduct Elections to suit each and everyone’s agendas.  

Deshapriya appealed to the Speaker, the 225 Members of Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers, the President and the Prime Minister to safeguard the sovereignty of the people and their universal franchise by conducting the Polls as soon as possible.

Responding to questions as to why the Commission was not going to the Supreme Court regarding this delay, he said that they are at a loss as to who should be held responsible for the situation. He said the Commission was only able to seek legal advice on conducting Elections.

However, it is the responsibility of the voter, or civil society organization to go to Court regarding the matter, Deshapriya said.  

National Government

As President Sirisena was talking about establishing a fresh Government this year, Leader of the House, Minister Lakshman Kiriella on Friday (1) informed Speaker Karu Jayasuriya of their intention to form a National Government.

Kiriella writing to the Secretary General of Parliament requested that a resolution on forming a National Government be moved in Parliament on 7 February for approval.

The request was made under Article 46(4) of the Constitution which reads, “Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph (1) of this Article, where the recognised political party or the independent group which obtains highest number of seats in Parliament forms a National Government, the number of ministers in the Cabinet of Ministers, the number of ministers who are not Cabinet of Ministers and the number of Deputy Ministers shall be determined by Parliament.”

The letter sent by Kiriella reads, “Whereas the UNP which obtained the highest number of seats in Parliament has formed a National Government, Parliament determines in terms of Article 46(4) that the number of Ministers in the Cabinet of Ministers shall not exceed 48 and the number of Ministers who are not Cabinet Ministers and the number of Deputy Ministers shall not exceed 45.’

Currently, the number of members in the Cabinet has been limited to 30, while the number of non-Cabinet, Deputy and State Ministers is at 27. With the establishment of a National Government, 18 more Cabinet Ministers and 18 other ministerial appointments could be made.

The proposal should be debated and passed in Parliament through a vote.

Meanwhile, the JVP claimed that the UNP was shamelessly trying to increase their ministerial portfolios by forming a National Government with the SLMC which has only one seat in Parliament.

JVP Propaganda Secretary and Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath alleged that although the UNP formed a Government of its own after the end of the political coup, which took place on 26 October 2018, now there was a crisis within the Party.

“The main reason for this crisis is that their MPs cannot work without having ministerial portfolios. Every one of them wants a Ministerial post. The MPs who received portfolios are not happy about the posts they were given. There are clashes within the UNP about dividing Ministerial, Deputy Ministerial and State Minister portfolios among them,” Herath further claimed, alleging that, “As a result of these shameless and selfish fights, now there are no Secretaries for certain Ministries. There is no Cabinet Minister for Labour. There is no responsible Minister today to find a solution to the daily wage issue of the plantation sector workers”, he said.

“Just because these people cannot live without a portfolio, now they are trying to form a National Government again with the participation of the SLMC, which has only one seat in Parliament. Literary the SLMC is already inside the Government. It supports every move of the Government in Parliament.”

Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana is the only MP who was elected to Parliament after contesting directly on the SLMC ticket representing the Batticaloa District. Several other SLMC Members including the SLMC Leader, Minister Rauff Hakeem were elected to Parliament on the UNP ticket in the 2015 General Election.

Maithri disassociates

Meanwhile, President Sirisena who attended a religious ceremony in Horana on Thursday flanked by former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and UNF Minister Daya Gamage insisted that he has no idea what the new Constitution looks like or what the content would be.

He also said dragging the Constitution- making process for four years, in his opinion, was a mere political game by those involved, to distract and create uncertainty among the people in the South and cheat those in the North.
President Sirisena said if a constitutional amendment to be made for the sake of making a better country, he expects a change to strengthen Parliament and not to accomplish other motives.

He made these remarks while participating at a religious event held to offer the newly-built Uposathagaraya of the Sri Jayawardhanarama Raja Maha Viharaya at Olaboduwa, Horana to the Maha Sangha at the  historical Olaboduwa Sri Jayawardhanarama Raja Maha Vihara in Horana.

The President further said although some people talk about a new Constitution, he has not yet received such a thing, and that he wasn’t made aware of it so far. Talking about a Constitution is somewhat disturbing Buddhists of the South while on the other hand it is also deceiving the people of the North, said the President.
If a Constitutional amendment is to take place prominence should be given to establish a stronger Parliament and that he would fully support it, he added.
The negative effects of lacking a strong Parliament will destabilize the capability to make correct decisions for the future of the country, as well as taking political stability backwards, the President pointed out.

He charged that foreign forces are operating against the motherland today through different directions, and the patriotic programme which is conducted by him is often being criticized by certain parties due to such interference. If the power of foreign forces is being used to manipulate state power and to take decisions accordingly, it is not at all suitable for the independence of the country, said the President.

Furthermore, the President said it is the duty of everyone today to build a political system and a social environment that creates unity and harmony among all Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims.

SriLankan plan

State Minister of Finance and Mass Media, Eran Wickramaratne and his ten-member committee submitted their report to President Maithripala Sirisena, on ‘Policy recommendations to restructure a strategy for the loss-making SriLankan Airlines’ last week.

The President while accepting the report commended the team for submitting it in time, while noting that most other commissions and committees would call him on the last day to ask for an extension.

The report had stressed on the importance of a strategic partner to save the airline industry and has designed three viable options in moving forward with restructuring options for the overall restructuring of SriLankan Airlines, which are: Closure and Start Up, Management Contract, and the Debt Restructuring and Internal Capital Generation. The committee wanted the Government to focus on ‘Management Contract and Debt Restructuring and Internal Capital Generation’ to reap revenue.

Wickramaratne noted that rather than calling it a reconstructing report it could be adopted as a concept for SriLankan Airlines to move forward.

“Last year alone, SriLankan Airlines’ loss was about USD 185 million and we had other business from catering and engineering returning about USD 85 million profit. The net loss was USD 100 million plus.’

He noted that generating and capitalising on catering and ground handling with future engineering services could bring profits. “So the best way is to keep SriLankan Airlines with strictly financial returns,” he said.

The committee had noted that SriLankan Airlines could retain 51 per cent ownership and the 49 per cent by the strategic partner who could also invest on other business like in catering and ground handling and could also open up to other markets in the regions as well as investing in subsidiary businesses.
The recommendations also prefer that the strategic partner should be a non-competitor or to go for a non-airline partner so that the SriLankan identity would remain intact.

The Airline is currently under the President and he will soon appoint a Minister to look after the affairs of the Airline business to work on the concept paper that has been presented, it was revealed.

“This is ultimately a decision to be taken based on what the investor-appetites are, for the growth of SriLankan Airlines.”

According to the concept, there could be three investors or may be one but what matters is that SriLankan Airlines will have control of the business and ownership. “It does not have to be a Government, but a SriLankan- run business.”

‘By having an internal capital generation mechanism in place, the debt component can be reduced drastically based on scientific evaluations. By boosting internal capital generation, it can strengthen the balance sheet,’ the recommendations explain.

‘What we are thinking of trying is a viable way to align a sustainable model.

The presidential committee has produced a report containing broad policy recommendations on restructuring SriLankan Airlines. In view of time constraints, the Committee utilised information and data from secondary sources including restructuring proposals presented to the Airlines by its management and consultants covering the period from 2008 to 2018 (the period after the Government took over the management of the Airlines from Emirates). The Committee also conducted a closed stakeholder consultation with written submissions from key stakeholder groups.

The Committee is responsible to produce a report of policy recommendations to restructure SriLankan Airlines. The report must also comprise possible revisions to its vision, mission, objectives, strategies, corporate plan and action plan.
President Sirisena has requested the Committee to make their submissions within two weeks of appointment.

The Minister noted that two weeks was insufficient to talk about a crisis situation of the Airline that has had issues for the last 40 years.

Give a helping hand to Mullai flood victims

World Vision organises pop-up sale in aid of people hit by floods in Mullaithivu

 2019-02-04 

n an effort to equip and empower families to rebuild and restore their lives, World Vision has organised a pop-up sale at The Bayleaf on February 9, in collaboration with emerging start-ups.   
Titled ‘Gift Love: To Remember, Rebuild and Restore; the sale will run from10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, the organisation said in a media release.  
It said:  
40 days since the flood waters receded in the North, families in Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu are still struggling to rebuild their lives and return to normalcy.
Since the war, Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi also have a large ageing population and a significantly high number of people with a disability making it more difficult for them to find work. 

"Since the war, Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi also have a large ageing population and a significantly high number of people with a disability making it more difficult for them to find work"

With over 125,000 acres of cultivation land destroyed and over 20,000 livestock lost, the biggest struggle the families face right now is recovering their livelihood.  
The floods affected over 120,000 families in the North. Out of the 10,000 families who were affected in Mullaithivu, over 3,000 are women-headed.   
Minimal Simple, Amberry, Shoe Lace Studio, Aphrodite Designer Wear, The Moon And All Its Stars, Eco Kadé, CK Green – Pathra, Blossoms, Foodie Goodies and Design Warehouse will all be at the pop-up sale and will be contributing a part of their sales towards programmes to support families affected by the floods.
Products available for purchase will include miniature plants, body and bath products, wood-wear accessories, eco-friendly products, loungewear, string and wall art, home décor, stationery and designer wear.  

"The floods affected over 120,000 families in the North. Out of the 10,000 families who were affected in Mullaithivu, over 3,000 are women-headed"

World Vision’s immediate emergency response reached over 3,000 families.   
The funds raised at the pop-up sale will be used in World Vision’s long-term recovery response plans for 4,000 identified families in Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi Districts.   
The recovery response focuses on livelihood recovery, water, sanitation and hygiene, and health and nutrition. Disaster risk reduction will also be a high priority in the long-term recovery in making these vulnerable communities disaster-ready.  
So, treat your loved ones to a meaningful gift this Valentine’s and support families to rebuild their lives.  

President Sirisena, You Are Not Fit To Be Our President

By Soraya M. Deen –FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Soraya M. Deen

President Sirisena, 

In late October, you, took Sri Lanka by surprise. The news was terrifying and alarming. 71 years after Independence you singlehandedly threw Sri Lanka into the darkest hour of its history. You ignored and disregarded the supreme law of the country. You abruptly sacked the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, calling him inept and corrupt and in a clandestine meeting you then appointed a new prime minister: Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president who was your arch rival. When the members of Parliament opposed this, you casually dissolved Parliament. 

After many promises not honored, many deadlines not met, on December 15th you reinstated Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, ending a seven-week long standoff that crippled Sri Lanka. You vowed that you will never reinstate him, you publicly blamed and shamed him. You even said that if he is reappointed you will resign from your job and not remain in office even for an hour. Days, weeks and months have passed and you have not resigned.

Today, the country is upset not that you have lied to them, but that they are unable to believe you anymore. 

President Sirisena, 

For the past three months your words and your actions have emboldened a dangerous new growing politically corrupt leadership. You have legitimized lying and deceit. You have spoken about Buddhist values, and Sri Lanka’s rich cultural heritage. You have spoken about Mandela and the Pope. Yet, you say one thing but do something else. Perhaps you might not agree that it is better to bite ones tongue than eat ones words.

You speak eloquently about all matters that need to change, but fail to change just one thing – that is you. 

Credible leaders have integrity. They practice what they preach. They do what they say and say what they do. 

President Sirisena,

I write this letter because I believe in a Sri Lanka devoid of hypocrisy, corruption and fear. I also write this letter because I believe in a Sri Lanka that can produce visionary leaders who could restore trust, abandon hidden agendas and guide us to achieve unity, prosperity and peaceful co-existence.

Ever since we have called ourselves a Buddhist nation, the world has looked up to us to embody the teachings of the Buddha. The loving kindness and the hospitality of the majority Buddhist citizens towards the minority citizens when devoid of political manipulation has always been exemplary. But the shield is cracking. Leaders such as you who should promote unity and harmony have embarked on a very narrow path of hate and aversion, that today even our youth are no longer influenced and protected by the dharma. 

President Sirisena,

You are not suitable to lead our country until you fully acknowledge that you have lied and misled the nation. You have not only targeted Ranil Wickremesinghe, a man you said who has violated you, you have deliberately and with utmost callousness undermined truth and violated the supreme law of this land – The Constitution. 

No one is holding you accountable nor is anyone speaking the truth to you. Danish author Hans Christian Anderson in his short tale “The emperor’s new clothes,” writes about two weavers who promise the emperor a new suit that they say is invisible, while in reality they make no clothes. The emperor parades before his subjects in his new “clothes” no one dares to say that they do not see any clothes on him for hear that they will be seen as stupid.

Are the people around you afraid that they will be seen as stupid or are they truly afraid of you?

President Sirisena, 

The founding principles of our country, and the core values of our nation are held together and protected by our constitution. These values have no political and personal affiliations. They are Sri Lankan ideologies. They are sacred. They hold our nation together. They provide safety and security in upholding human rights and the dignities of our people. 

The Constitution is the safe keeper of our liberties. As an Attorney at Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, I pledged to uphold and defend the constitution. I am sure you did the same, when you took the oath of your office.

Any willful violation or desecration of the constitution must be challenged by every patriotic citizen with great fervor and urgency. Protecting the constitution is not only the function of the Executive, but that of all Sri Lankans.

Your willful refusal to respond to the concerns of the nation regarding the unconstitutional dissolution of parliament, dragged to the streets scores of women who notwithstanding the rain and sun showed up to make their voices heard. They pleaded with you to restore the status quo. They demanded the truth, because the women of Lanka mothers and sisters, verily believed that the truth is not negotiable. To some it was a value they taught their children every day and they showed up to stand up to that value, when you chose deliberately to ignore it.

Read More

Disconnect between Parliament and People: A recipe for disaster

 

One of The Island columnists has correctly pointed out that considering 'the previous attempts to introduce constitutions were undertaken by governments which secured either two-thirds or fivesixths majorities, for a minority government to even consider such an exercise is clearly morally indefensible and constitutionally wrong, without having had a mandate from the People'.

By Dr D. Chandraratna-February 3, 2019, 10:56 pm

If the gulf between the people and Parliament widens, democracy in peril. It is not only in my Fair Isle that this disconnect is putting democracy under a cloud. This state of affairs was evident in the mother of parliaments recently when those who voted for Brexit were duped by the political class in Parliament who refused to deliver. Voters in Paris protest in the streets, wearing yellow vests while in the rarefied atmosphere of the Swiss Alps in Davos the politicians who have arrived on first class fares or their private jets look down on the Parisian streets and tell them what is good for them. To go back to the people on important issues that impact on them is the essence of democracy. The British Parliament is now under pressure to go back to the people as regards Brexit, and if the reason is to clarify the issues on the British economy, which were not understood clearly by the electors, it is difficult to object though strong Brexiteers are likely to be unhappy.

Our current leaders ought to understand that holding on to power should not be the essence of a robust democracy however much you have a self belief that you alone will safeguard democracy. The majoritarian two third affirmation by our deputies adorning the seats of the August assembly, thanks to our idiocy, should not be the ultimate symbol of public assent. Mahinda Rajapaksa Rajapaksa realised this fact in 2015 and 2018. The huge majority which prompted astrologers to predict his certain victory in 2015 came crumbling down and

this should be a warning to the current rulers.

It is now talked about in the West that their democracies have been affected by a virus in the central operating system, disabling its ability to make decisions. The reason is that at the core, democracy is about choosing between contradictory policies. At most times, this is about making compromises and ironing out differences. Choices have to be made in an orderly manner and the time-tested method is compromise and negotiation. If the rulers succumb to the arrogance of power and power, that will allow mobs in the street or the autocrats to decide on our behalf.

France even a charismatic leader was brought to his knees by yellow vests. Just as much you cannot allow the elites in Parliaments to stymie the mandates given by the people, it should dawn on our deputies that pitting their power against popular will can only be the start of a poignant tale of how they took the nation on a disastrous precipice.

Wrong time for constitution making

It is my belief that the antics of TNA leader R. Sampanthan and his deputies have, no doubt, put the Sri Lankan democracy on a razor's edge

this time around. His apocalyptic visions of catastrophe is likely to destroy peace and solidarity of all. The exercise is based on anger and outrage for their own sake, trying to thwart every constitutional argument other than an unbelievable mix of a hybrid constitution, which is without parallel anywhere else in the world. It seems to be based on contradictory principles which will not hold the centre. It is likely to incite people. That is what happened in Britain. All the British major parties, the media, big business, trade unions, every quango and NGO, all supported Remain but the common people voted to leave by a clear majority. Between the people and Parliament was a wide chasm.

Any reasonable person will not oppose moves to address the grievances of minorities within a unitary state. However, we must oppose any move that will lead to the division of the country. Experts who draft constitutions will know better that federal constitutions remain as one unit only with iron clad safeguards against separatism. This must be made abundantly clear.

The majority in Sri Lanka are a people who want to live peacefully in a sovereign, independent one nation.

The 'National Government' that initiated the constitution making process has now been replaced with a minority government that survives with the support of the TNA, which was once deceitfully the recognized as the Opposition. One of The Island columnists correctly pointed out that considering 'the previous attempts to introduce constitutions were undertaken by governments which secured either two-thirds or five-sixths majorities, for a minority government to even consider such an exercise is clearly morally indefensible and constitutionally wrong, without having had a mandate from the People’.

In true democracies, the digital feedback, midterm elections and constant polling help politicians to adjust their actions in keeping with the promises, values and policies made to the voters. We seem to have drifted to the other extreme.

This is why the voters are testy, and naturally the ruling parties are full of self-doubt and frightened to face the people.

In my view the 2015 national government delivered only the 19 the Amendment, which is now found to be full of loopholes. As one of the opinion articles recently said 'the majority, if not all, of the Panel Members were and are known ardent supporters and advocates of yahapalana regime who vehemently campaigned for the regime change in 2015 both at presidential and parliamentary elections, known for their strong conviction that there is an ‘ethnic or national question’ in Sri Lanka that can be addressed only through a new constitution with provisions to ensure extensive devolution of power to provinces. MP M. A. Sumanthiran, one of self-declared experts, is a leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which supported the LTTE as the sole representative of Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka, and gave us hell for thirty odd years. Some misguided intellectuals advocate this move. Without doubt a vast segment of the population of this country do not subscribe to these ideas. So, can these self-proclaimed experts write a constitution acceptable to the vast majority of citizens of Sri Lanka?

A Pardon, and a Penalty: A Prelude to a Populist?

Featured image courtesy LankaSri

GEHAN GUNATILLEKE- 02/04/2019

As we reflect on Sri Lanka’s 71st Independence Day, many things that have political currency come to mind. Free education and healthcare, a reduced cost of living, and anti-corruption are usually among these things. But there are some stranger things that can gain currency in this country. Although they are difficult to clearly see, we can observe their presence – like one observes a gentle wind in the rustling of leaves. The actions of politicians reveal what else has gained in political currency. Their rustlings tell us of a breeze. And it is chilling.

Pardoning the Thera

The venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), is a figure of great enmity today. His words poison his followers to commit acts of grave violence in the name of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism. Then, somewhat unexpectedly, an emboldened judiciary spoilt his campaign when it incarcerated him for contempt of court. Although he continues to enjoy impunity for inciting violence, his imprisonment is important for two reasons: in principle, it signals that he is not totally above the law; in pragmatic terms, it physically restrains him from inciting further violence.

Despite the principled and pragmatic reasons for his continued internment, some Sri Lankan politicians indulge and endorse calls for a presidential pardon. The President Maithripala Sirisena recently granted the BBS an audience, and it is likely that the Thera’s pardon was on the meeting’s agenda. Last week, Buddha Sasana Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera endorsed a request for such a pardon. Some members of parliament also called for his release citing logic-defying reasons, such as his value to promoting inter-religious harmony. These politicians have an instinct for changing winds – a nose for detecting a certain kind of political currency in calling for the Thera’s pardon. They understand that investing in this currency gives them a share of political capital, which they hope to convert into popular legitimacy, and electoral gain.

Re-imposing the Death Penalty

A similar trend of political signalling and investment can be observed in the debate on the death penalty in Sri Lanka. Whenever public outrage is expressed over an appalling crime, politicians queue up to cash in; the call for the re-imposition of the death penalty appears to be the currency. The latest of these calls is led by the President himself, and is made in response to reports of increased drug trafficking in the country. Politicians and bureaucrats are seen making comically ominous near-Nazi salutes to pledge their allegiance to this deadly campaign.

The death penalty is not necessarily what is literally being sought. There are doubts as to whether this President, or any future president for that matter, would actually sign a death warrant. No, the death penalty has become a symbol. It stands for a decisive, strong, and merciless response to crime and instability, in direct contrast to the indecisive, soft, and weak response sometimes associated with the former Coalition Government. Leaders willing to wield this symbol pose as standard bearers of security and stability.

The coming of a Populist

The Thera’s pardon and the re-imposition of the death penalty may seem mutually incompatible. One concerns clemency, the other retribution. Yet together they signal a growing appetite for something different to the status quo. We know of this appetite because we observe how politicians sense it, and attempt to feed it opportunistically. Yet it is unclear as to whether they fully understand what this appetite is for: a new brand of leadership that stands in sharp contrast to the perceived pluralism and inefficiency of the establishment. It is a brand that promises to militantly advance Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism. It is a brand that promises to ruthlessly implement policies of majoritarianism masquerading as security and stability.

Gnanasara Thera is unlikely to be that new leader who transcends the fringe and assumes the mainstream helm. History, however, warns us against complacence. If he is pardoned, his transformation from the average hatemonger to the quintessential martyr of the Sinhala-Buddhist cause will be complete. Not too long ago, a dangerous man with dangerous ideas once spent a few months in jail, only to be released early, and eventually assume the leadership of the Third Reich. The toxic environment in which he spectacularly rose to power bears similar features to the context that has befallen Sri Lanka: growing frustration with the economy, local and international “liberal” conspiracies that threaten the dominant race and humiliate the military, and “prosperous” and “cunning” minorities to cast as scapegoats.

These are times ripe for the rise of a populist – a ruler with a despotic disposition, who will gladly dismantle the democratic institutions we might celebrate on this Independence Day – the very institutions that we relied on to avert the power grab of October 2018. The Thera’s pardon and the demand for the death penalty herald the coming of this populist.

Sometimes, it is difficult to predict the weather. In those times, it is prudent to observe the behaviour of creatures with natural instincts. When it comes to interpreting changes in the political climate, we should observe the behaviour of politicians. How they behave during the “calm” can help us understand the storm that lies ahead. But, like the fish and the fowl that signal impending danger, politicians are just reacting on instinct. They do not really care about the actual storm. At the appropriate time, they will seek shelter, or simply join the tide. We the citizens, however, stand to be drowned.

It is difficult to prevent the perfect storm. But, surely, not all futures are irredeemable? It is with this hope that rational citizens must vocalise contempt for contemporary populism. For these dalliances with dangerous ideas may eventually open the floodgates. The Pardon and the Penalty must be fiercely resisted. Such resistance is not merely for the sake of preventing impunity and promoting humanity. It is for the sake of preventing the arrival of the Populist and a truly dystopian future.

Editor’s Note: This is an edited version of an article that appeared in the Morning newspaper. 

'Trojans who belong in Gaza': Israeli minister slams Arab MKs visiting Turkey

Miri Regev's remarks come after Turkish president told visiting delegation that Ankara will not 'turn its back' on Palestinian cause


"Their place is in Gaza and not in Jerusalem," Regev said of the visiting delegation (AFP)

By  MEE and agencies- 3 February 2019 

 

Israel's culture and sport minister has slammed a delegation of Arab members of the Knesset and representatives from the United Arab List and Ta'al for meeting with Turkey's president in Istanbul.

Among the representatives attending were Ahmad Tibi and Talab Abu Arar who had recited the Muslim call to prayer in the Knesset in protest against a bill to limit the call across the country.
"Their place is in Gaza and not in Jerusalem," Miri Regev said of the group, according to Israel's Hadashot News.

"Time and time again, Tibi and his group insist on proving to everyone that they are not really worthy of being members of the Israeli Knesset, they are Trojans who seek the evil of the State of Israel," Regev said.

'Baseless rhetoric'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who received the representatives in a closed-door meeting lasting roughly 90 minutes at the Tarabya Presidential Campus in Istanbul on Saturday, told the visiting delegation that Ankara will not "turn its back" on the Palestinian cause or people.

Erdogan also said Turkey would share "all means available" for ending the Israeli occupation and establishing peace.

'Jewish nation state': How Israel enshrines apartheid into law

Ben White

Read More »

The president thanked the lawmakers for their service of representing the Palestinian will in the Knesset against Israel's "oppression" in Gaza as well as its "Jewish State" law and "baseless rhetoric" against Turkey.

Erdogan also encouraged the group to work in unity and solidarity, saying that the controversial law defining Israel as a Jewish state was in open disregard of Palestinian citizen's rights.

Saturday's meeting also dealt with the arrests and detention of three Palestinian citizens of Israel who arrived in Turkey for a kidney transplant.

Under Turkish law, it is illegal to receive a kidney from a donor who is not immediate family.

After the meeting, Erdogan agreed to release one of the three who was arrested and to drop the charges against the other two who were detained. 

‘The man who attacked me works in your kitchen’: Victim of serial groper took justice into her own hands

After Lauren Clark was assaulted while running in Northwest Washington in April 2013, she began to see her attacker near her home and the salon where she worked. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

By Amy Brittain and

Maura Judkis-January 31

Nearly six years ago, on an unseasonably warm April night in Washington, Lauren Clark was cooling down from a jog when she spotted a man in the distance. She quickened her pace, hurried past him and, for a moment, considered crossing the street.

The man who attacked me wor... by on Scribd

Shame on the Arabs

Many Arab rulers have revealed their moral bankruptcy by rekindling ties with Syria and embracing a war criminal.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meets with Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir in Damascus on January 12, 2008. ( LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

BY NAWAF OBAID

| FEBRUARY 3, 2019, 4:00 AM

In March, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA)—a nonprofit organization dedicated to conducting criminal investigations during wars, when there is no political will or capacity to engage existing public investigative bodies—will complete its final extensive investigation into the war crimes of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The investigation is based on CIJA’s custodianship of more than 800,000 official cables from Syria’s four main intelligence and security services, which were obtained via CIJA’s work with human rights groups in the country. These agencies were responsible for guiding the massacres of nearly half a million people in the course of military operations by Assad’s forces and their foreign allies, most notably Russia and Iran. Once the investigation is completed, CIJA will be ready to bring 10 legal cases against Assad and his government for crimes against humanity (and an additional six against the Islamic State).

Despite these horrific war crimes, it was announced recently that a group of Arab countries has begun normalizing relations with Damascus after they were cut off in 2011, when mass killings and repression became the hallmarks of the civil war. Both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates announced in late December 2018 that their embassies were reopening in Damascus. Flights between the two countries and Syria are also scheduled to restart soon. In addition, Egypt, Iraq, and even democratic poster child Tunisia have expressed support for Syria’s return to the Arab League.

Finally, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir—who has been accused of war crimes and is currently facing mass protests at home—recently visited Damascus and was greeted by his fellow war criminal Assad at the airport and then ushered to the presidential palace. According to Syria’s state-run news agency, SANA, the talks centered on restoring the relationship between the two countries “to the way it was before the war on Syria.” As for the Arab heavyweight Saudi Arabia, it cannot re-engage with Assad and his regime after the atrocities that have occurred, due to Riyadh’s unique historical connections and religious and tribal ties to the majority of Syria’s people.

The Arab approach to Syria and the latest rekindling of ties to Assad typify the incompetence and moral bankruptcy of a dozen of the region’s current rulers.The root cause of this malaise is the broken ethical compass that has long been steering the Arabs awry. A comparison between the European and Arab responses to war crimes offers a telling lesson. Pursuing the criminal warlords Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic with vigor following the Yugoslav civil war, the Europeans arrested and deported the butchers of Bosnia and Serbia, had them tried at The Hague for crimes against humanity for massacring Christian Croats and Bosnian Muslims, and sent them to die in prison. How does the Arab response to the genocide of fellow Arab Muslims in their midst compare? The butchers of Sudan and Syria, Bashir and Assad, are parading together gleefully in front of the cameras while the Arabs watch on with complete indifference.

As shameful and misguided as this about-face may be, Arab leaders have justified it on the premise that playing nice with Assad will draw him away from Iran and help curb the country’s malevolent influence in the region. The Arab countries, of course, are looking for any way they can to build a wall between Iran and the Arab world in the face of Tehran’s continued policies of destabilization through regional proxies. Iran-supported militias and terrorists have been wreaking havoc in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and elsewhere for decades now and have become the primary anti-terrorist focus of the Arab states, especially now that the Islamic State and al Qaeda are nearly defeated.

However, the experience of Lebanon, where Western and Arab Gulf states showered billions of dollars in aid in a quixotic attempt to defeat Iran, shows that such an approach has not worked and will not work. In the wake of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, U.S., Arab, and European thinking was that if the Lebanese Army could be built up, then it would eclipse Hezbollah and cause its dissolution. But the opposite has occurred. Hezbollah is stronger than ever, the Lebanese Army now basically coordinates all its operations with the terrorist organization, and Iran’s influence in Lebanon has only increased.

This quagmire is a modern-day reincarnation of the great myth of the Campbell-Bannerman report. For decades, Arab leaders and intellectuals have placed their lands and people under the self-imposed shadow of an alleged fiction that harks back to the 1907 Imperial Conference in London and its host, then-British Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. It is the classic case of the Arabs blaming others for their predicament and coming up with any number of excuses to avoid addressing underlying and difficult problems.

As the myth goes, a white paper was commissioned on the Arab people and their lands within the British realm. The report supposedly emphasized that the Arabs controlled “spacious territories teeming with … resources” and that if “this nation were to be unified into one state, it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world.” It also recommended several remedial actions to this predicament: promoting division in the region, establishing “artificial political entities that would be under the authority of the imperialist countries,” fighting against all kinds of unity, and the establishment of a “buffer state … in Palestine, populated by a strong, foreign presence that would be hostile to its neighbours and friendly to European countries and their interests.”

Yet scholars now know, thanks to the work of the University of Oxford Middle East expert Eugene Rogan, that the Campbell-Bannerman report was most likely never written. Nevertheless, the Arab leaders, who often seem to lack the ability to parse reality from fiction, have been living under its narrative for nearly a century. They seem more deeply invested than ever in realizing a false Edwardian agenda: The Arab people are deeply divided, the Arab League is an empty shell, and the Arab states are imploding or at each other’s throats.

And many still blame—if only unconsciously—that imperialist Campbell-Bannerman and his many successors, such as Lord Curzon and High Commissioner Henry McMahon, for their role in dividing and weakening the Arab world under the British realm.

 

This, of course, is part of a larger problem. A quick reality check shows that the majority of Arab states do not exist to further clearly articulated objectives but instead exist to pursue whatever path of least resistance presents itself, regardless of reputation or efficacy. There is a total absence of progress on the security front. Again and again, efforts to coalesce the many Arab states into a united defense umbrella have failed, subjecting the region to the mercy of foreign powers like Iran and Turkey. Then there is the incessant inability to take on poverty, underdevelopment, and extremism and to generate the kind of diversified economic growth that would allow the Arab world to compete in the global marketplace with more than just natural resources and tourism.

Instead of living in the past, the Arabs need to accept the present. They must settle the differences among themselves so they can establish a consistent community capable of united action.
They must work to improve, interconnect, and diversify their economies. And once unity, accountability, and prosperity have been implanted into the Arab milieu, the Arab world can start properly uniting to ward off the actual regional imperialists of today—Iran and Turkey.

For many years, Israel’s existence was said to be perpetuating Arab weakness. The country gave the Arab governments the perfect excuse to avoid the kinds of reforms necessary to become modern, strong, unified nations able to drive out foreign powers and genocidal dictators. Yet the myth of the Campbell-Bannerman report shows that the problem is much older than Israel: The Arabs have essentially embraced the myth’s defeatist, foreign, conspiratorial mindset, which strips them of any agency and places all blame abroad. The result has been a failure to build a sustainable world of their own.

Horrendous crimes have been committed in Syria, and unless the Arab world awakens from its long historical nightmare and musters the will to prosecute them in regional and international courts, it will continue to sink deeper and deeper into levels of impotence and division that only a supposed nemesis like Campbell-Bannerman could have devised.

Trump is building up the US’s nuclear firepower

 2019-02-02

The number of nuclear weapons possessed by the US and Russia is a fraction of what it was during the height of the Cold War. Successive presidents on both sides, since the time of John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, have feared their destructive power. Their supposed value, so called Mutually Assured Destruction, known by its capitals, MAD, is in fact valueless. They cannot be used, and nearly everyone accepts that. Yet they continue to exist and, as President Mikhail Gorbachev and his ally in nuclear arms control, President Ronald Reagan, both said, there is the fear of a false alarm or two errant officers in the silo entering simultaneously their keys which allows the firing of the rocket.   

Yet here we are in 2019 with a new American nuclear initiative just announced last weekend. (I doubt that US President Donald Trump is in the clutches of Russia. Otherwise, why would he be pushing for such a significant anti-Russian policy?) The Americans are planning a new deployment of nuclear rockets and the radar to go with them, this time supposedly aimed at Iran but with also the range to reach Moscow.   

Yet here we are in 2019 with a new American nuclear initiative just announced last weekend. (I doubt that US President Donald Trump is in the clutches of Russia. Otherwise, why would he be pushing for such a significant anti-Russian policy?)   

How can Iran ever be a threat is the first of many questions. Voluntarily, in an agreement negotiated with the Administration of President Barack Obama, Iran has forsaken the technical wherewithal to manufacture nuclear weapons. Even if it didn’t observe the treaty it has no rockets that could carry a nuclear or serious conventional payload as far as Europe. No wonder the Russians wonder what the Nato plans are all for, and come to a reasonable conclusion- they are meant for them.   

The initial defensive screen, according to the New York Times, “rests upon a network of early-warning satellites, a new high-powered X-band radar based in Turkey, and at least one on an Aegis-equipped US warship, deployed in the Mediterranean, capable of shooting down incoming missiles. Two land-based missile defence sites are also planned- first in Romania, and later in Poland.” When Obama decided to modify this latter part of the deployment, President Vladimir Putin expressed his thanks. But the deployment appears to have crawled on to the agenda again.   

Some Russian generals have said that Russia will deploy the nuclear-capable Iskander missiles against any Nato missile sites constructed in Poland and Romania.   

To what extent does Russia have a point? Dmitri Trenin, the Russian director of the (American) Carnegie Center in Moscow, “sees US ballistic defence plans as global in scope”. Their concern, he believes is that “strategic defence impacts upon strategic offence, devaluing the deterrent value of Russia’s own nuclear arsenal.” 

in an agreement negotiated with the Administration of President Barack Obama, Iran has forsaken the technical wherewithal to manufacture nuclear weapons. Even if it didn’t observe the treaty it has no rockets that could carry a nuclear or serious conventional payload as far as Europe

“Moscow wants both formal assurances and an insight into the system’s parameters, to be confident that the US has no intention of degrading Russia’s own deterrent power, and that the Nato system has no capability against Russian strategic missiles. Washington’s reluctance to give assurance about either raises Moscow’s suspicions.” Trenin believes that Washington must engage Moscow before both sides get entrenched with their plans.   

For all its hostile rhetoric, Russia must be somewhat relaxed as it can see that the kind of missile the US plans to use if attacked is the so-called 
Standard-3 missile.   

Professor Theodore Postol, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, America’s leading scientific university, an expert on Nato’s nuclear policy, says, “All the tests have been characterized by extraordinary efforts to eliminate all objects that could possibly confuse the kill vehicle. For these reasons and others it is overwhelmingly likely that if it is used in real combat it will be a total failure”. Of course, the paradox is that even when they don’t work, potential adversaries will treat them as if they do. This produces the worst of all possible worlds- no defence but build-ups of offensive weapons to deal with these defences. 

The missile has only been tested under non-combat conditions”.   

For those with long memories we recall Reagan’s “Star Wars” speech. He said the US would deploy weapons in space to shoot down incoming Soviet missiles. This would be a missile shield. Thus nobody would get hurt. 36 years later there is no sign of such a system working.   

At the same time Trump has threatened to withdraw from the 1987 INF treaty that eliminates short-range missiles in Europe. So far it’s been a great success. Trump says Russia is cheating. But American defence experts who have held high positions in the Defence Department and Congress argue that it would be a grave mistake to terminate the treaty.   

As for the Russians they see an overlap between the radar and missiles to be deployed against Iran and the weapons banned by the INF treaty.   
The Iran dimension of all this could be solved if Trump would recognize the treaty signed by Obama and Iran to halt Iran’s bomb research.   
Time is running out for sensible decision making.