Open letter to the President Maitripala Sirisena
Posted on January 24th, 2015
Charles.S.Perera
Your Excellency the President,
My felicitations for your election as the President of Sri Lanka,
Some voted for you and some against you. That is understandable as it is how democracy works. Therefore when you became the President some people were happy, while those whose candidate lost at the election were sad and dejected. Now that you have won the elections and sworn in as the President of Sri Lanka you should be generous and graceful in victory, and request your entourage to be like wise.
You cannot denounce or allow your partners in victory to stamp their feet on the lost candidate and invent accusations with a view to make him unpopular, because it would any way be a vein exercise as a little more than 49 percent of the whole voting population, and 53 percent of the Sinhala Buddhists voted for him.
However much your partners in government are raking up all dirt to find out whether they can bring up some thing to nail the former President Mahinda Rajapakse they will find nothing against him or against his family members. The people of this country who voted for the former President Mahinda Rajapakse cannot be deceived to believe by false allegations without any substantial proof against him, that he was corrupt and robbed the country.
Mahinda Rajapakse or his brothers did not come to rob and accumulate ill earned wealth to lead a comfortable life. As you know very well Your Excellency Mahinda Rajapakse had a clear objective when he contested the Presidential election in 2005. You know without my having to remind you the state in which this country was in 2005. Mahinda Rajapakse had two main objectives when he was elected President in 2005.
One was to defeat the terrorists and eliminate them. The second was to give back to Sri Lanka and its people the development of the infrastructure-roads bridges, railway, irrigation system, and provide financial and social progress they had been deprived for 30 long years. He mad it his principle objective to develop the North where the people ” he thought” suffered most from terrorism.
In the latter Your Excellency, the former President Mahinda Rajapakse made a mistake , because the Tamils in the North got the best they could from him, and voted against him. The Sinhala in the South would have voted for him any way, but he could have taken half the funds spent for the development of the Tamils in the north to spend it in the south,because the Sinhala people also suffered from terrorism. But the former President Mahinda Rajapakse treated all people without a difference, but it would have been natural if he expected the Tamils to show their gratitude by voting for him.
Your Excellency, it has been reported that you have since your swearing in as the President of Sri Lanka made three good speech. They are perhaps of general interest. But the time has come for you to make more frequent speeches and on policy matters and the comportment of your Ministers to remind them of their moral duty to be kind and generous to the vanquished-Maitri Palanaya demands just that.
You have to tell the people Your Excellency, why this intolerable witch hunt to inculpate the President and his family for crimes they have not committed. The Police Force is sent to investigate their homes and homes of their friends and neighbours immediately complaints are made on flimsiest matters.
All your Ministers are out raking so much of dirt in search of evidence against the Rajapakses some people say sarcastically you have not appointed Ministers to your cabinet but sanitary inspectors.
Your Excellency, the Ranil Wickramasinghe , Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Champika Ranawake the most important people in your government today want to remove your executive powers. But Your Excellency you are today already without any power despite being an Executive President. It is Ranil Wickramasinghe, as the Prime Minster who decides for you . He wants the 13th Amendment implemented.
Is it not wrong to do so and allow the Tamils eventually create a separate Tamil Eelam State in the north, which Prabhakaran the terrorist wanted ?
Ranil Wickramasinghe could be a dangerous Prime Minister to work with . You remember what happened when he became the Prime Minister under President Chandrika Kumaratunga ? He signed the CFA with Prabhakaran and it took a President like Mahinda Rajapakse to rectify that great error. This time he is trying to do the same thing and it appears that you cannot have your say on the matter.
You are hedged in between Anura Kumara Dissanayake with the powers of the National Executive Committee, then with Champika Ranawake of the JHU, Ranil Wickramasinghe your Prime Minister and Mangala Samara Samaraweera who is building an unholy alliance with India and trying to sell off the Sovereignty of Sri Lanka inviting the UN and an International Commission to inquire into what happened during the last phase of the war against terrorists. They all stand tall over you and plan and arrange things without even consulting you from what we see from far.
Worse things are on the pipe line Your Excellency, and one begins to wonder whether it is wise for you to divest yourself of your Executive Powers.
Your Excellency, Our Constitution is the supreme law of the land . “The Constitution sets out a regular procedure for enacting Constitutional amendments, and that procedure gives citizens an opportunity, albeit a brief and limited one, to challenge proposed amendments before the Supreme Court. Citizens have this same right with respect to any proposed new law. ”
Your Prime Minister Your Excellency is proposing to bring Amendments to the Constitution within the 100 days of your interim government under the Urgent Bill provision. It is wrong to bring any amendment to the Constitution without a serious debate. No amendments should be made to the Constitution in a “hurry” resorting to the Urgent Bill Provision.
“The “Urgent Bills” provision allows the president and the Cabinet to bypass the normal procedure for enacting new laws, which means citizens do not have a chance to challenge the proposed law, at the Bill stage, even to the limited extent they are normally allowed. All that is needed to pass an “urgent Bill” is an endorsement by the Cabinet that the Bill in question is “urgent in the national interest,” and a two-thirds majority in Parliament on the day the vote is taken on the Bill.
With regular legislation (i.e. proposed laws other than Constitutional amendments) the law in question, even if it is passed as an “Urgent Bill” it can be repealed later with just a simple majority in Parliament. So, for instance, if a law passed as an “Urgent Bill” becomes obnoxious to the people later on, it can be repealed by a simple majority in Parliament, and that’s the end of the matter.
With a Constitutional amendment, if it becomes obnoxious later on, a simple majority in Parliament cannot repeal it. One has to obtain a two-thirds majority, which is obviously much more difficult.
So, in essence, what using the “Urgent Bill” provision to enact Constitutional Amendments does is, it deprives the citizen of even the limited chance he or she has to challenge the proposed amendment before it becomes law, and makes it more or less impossible to repeal the new amendment were it to become obnoxious later on. It is a thoroughly dangerous invention, to say the least. ” (Dharshan Weerasekara –
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/07/09/the-fatal-flaw-in-the-sri-lanka-constitution/ The Fatal flaw in the Sri Lankan Constitution’.)
Your Excellency there are many things taking place in your Interim Government which you should personally look into, as otherwise Your Ministers including the Prime Minister Your Excellency have their own Agendas some times distantly controlled by foreign governments. Therefore it is time that you come out of your silence and make your self heard, and stop any action which is not in the larger interest of the country and the people.
Your Excellency we are still not ready to implement the whole of the 13Amendment ,nor are we still ready to reduce the Armed Forces in the North. The TNA should not be allowed to make North an entirely Tamil region without allowing Sinhala people to settle down where ever it pleases them, as it is happening in the South with the Tamils.
Thank you, Your Excellency,
Charles.S.Perera
January 23rd, 2015 at 10:13 pm
Thank you Charles for writing something like this at this critical period to a person who promised us Yahapalanaya and a good future. I dont think this mixed team of his could be trusted. They all have different views of each other. Once Mangalaya had a press conference and told that MY3 “was not fit to be a President and he was just an ordinary clerk in the past but today this guy is the spokesman for him. What they were doing now all unconstitutional. They grabbed power by force and they want to destroy the reputation of the former President and kill him in cold blood. They know if he wakes up again that it will be their end. He is the most popular politician we have at the moment.Nobody can break his popularity at any time. People loves him dearly for his views and kindness. These baboons are afraid of this lion and that’s why they want to destroy him completely. What is good about MY3 or Chandrka or Ranil? They were all corrupt and traitors to our Motherland before. Our ungrateful stupids forgot all the good things we got in the past so soon.
This great coup was arranged by the western Mafia and the Tamil Diaspora nobody else. They must first investigate the dollars and Euros which was found in MY3’s relative house.Then about the Rajitha’s tape conversation about the coup plotters. Then Champakas’ Photo gimmick with Lestor’s picture. We have to stand up against this witch-hunters before they bring back the dark days of our history. Who were the people happy with Rajpaksa’s downfall. First the western Govts then Tamil Diaspora,then India and lastly our own Tamils and Muslims. Who got the most benefits during Rajapksa’s time?Tamils and Muslims and those ungrateful people let him down at the end. Never mind the past let’s get together and forget all the differences and chase out the corrupt UNPer’s to hell in this coming General elections.
January 23rd, 2015 at 10:37 pm
Actually open letter must be written to MR, asking him,
1. Where are all the vehicles ?
2. Why didn’t he do a proper hand over and just took a helicopter to the South suddenly ?
3. Most important is the National Security and why did not he, as the commander of tri forces, asked his brother to hand over everything to incoming official ? This is a grave betrayal of motherland. No one who loves his country will do that.
4. Latest finding
Who nicked Rs.19000 million from BOC?
Saturday, 24 January 2015 08:19 Lankatruth
A serious issue has come up as to who had obtained a loan of Rs. 193,757,482,076 from Bank of Ceylon and had avoided settling it.This information about the unsettled loan has been discovered by the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) in Parliament.
BOC is the prime state bank and is under the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa was the minister of finance and during his tenure 33,675 persons who have obtained loans from the bank have not settled their dues.
According to the findings by COPE not a single instalment has been paid and this is revealed in the COPE report issued on 23rd July, 2013.
The senior management of BOC confirms that there hasn’t been any recoveries despite 2 years have gone by since the exposure by COPE. It is further revealed that such large scale loans have not been settled as such loans had been obtained using the authority of the former President.
January 24th, 2015 at 1:14 am
Thank you to Charles S.Perera for making an effort to convince His Excellency the President, Maithripala Sirisena of the current situation of the country and where the His Excellency the president should stand to protect the citizens who voted and not voted for his victory.
The 57 hundred thousands who did not voted him are not his enemies but are the people who wished a unitary Sri Lsanka with no more wars in this land and who still have a good faith on former Presdident Mahinda Rajapaaksa as hero who they could trust on.
His Excellency, as you were a part of former president’s government at the time the war was on board you know very well that the people who tried to condemn and sabotage your attempts and who were willing to betray the country to LTTE are now with you.
They now try to achieve their targets through you simultaneously with condemning the former president who has done a great service to our country.
We now understand that former President has done a biggest mistake as such that he has believed his closed people and supporters and has protected them knowingly or unknowingly they did severe damages to the society. Now he is paying for the mistake he did to the society. He safe guarded his Prime Minister and Ministers knowing they were wrong.
Now the power is in your hand. You could be misled by your supporters too.
January 24th, 2015 at 2:14 am
Did the previous Govt in 2005 hand over everything and went like decent Gentlemen? How many days Chandrika was in her palace without leaving the premises? Did Mahinda pushed her out? Did they hand over or explain the corrupt practices they were doing at that time? People just talk nonsense. When Mahinda lost he went home like a Gentleman calling Ranil and so on. Did these misled people saw the crowds who were thronging to his home after the election was over?
These people can say thousands of corruption in the previous Govt but they must prove it then only people will believe. These Yahapalanaya regime is treating Mahinda and his team like criminals which is disgusting. Those vehicles,money and other things were not Mahinda’s private property. They were all belongs to the Govt of Sri Lanka. So the new Govt can take over by themselves and later on they can find out whether these are actually Govt property or not. If somebody is involved in something fishy then they can investigate and do something without giving press conferences in every five minutes for each item they find on the road. They do business like selling fruits on the road side. All barking HORA,HORA in chorus while they were the real Horas. Nobody will believe these Regime beggars. Ranil is the biggest culprit followed by Rajitha,Awamangal,Champika and Rathanaya. They are going to sell our country to Indians and push China to a side. Already we can see Tamil Palanaya not Yahapalanaya in the Horizon.
January 24th, 2015 at 3:42 am
Charles
Was Mahinda Rajapakse magnanimous in his 2010 Presidential Election victory?
Without carrying out a witch hunt the new Govt must pursue vigorously the recovery of tax payers money obtained fraudulently by the previous regime. We can certainly assume all politicians have skeletons in the cupboards but the amounts involved under the previous regime is unprecedented and amounts to colossal amounts never seen in Sri Lankan history.
It is the duty of the New Govt under its stewardship to traced recover these funds for the nationals coffers.
Ranil W is perhaps the best to lead this exercise but he appears to take a softly softly approach typical of his style. He is too much of a gentleman.
Charles appears to be in the small minority when he says there will be nothing against MR & his family.
Why even one Minister of MR (Amaraweera) conceded that wealth creation was the name of the business under the MR regime.
Where was Charles when MR was breaching the Supreme Law of the Land?
18th Amendment was passed as an Urgent Bill but i would say it was not in the national interest but in the interest of MR.
The impeachment and the appointment of the Chief Justice as we all know was a complete sham.
With regards to the pet topic at Lankaweb, 13th Amendment, did MR repeal the 13th using his 2/3rd?
It was MR who stated in 2009 that the 13th plus plus will be implemented.
AS much as i believe the 13th is a total waste of money, do majority of citizens even know or care about the implications of the 13th?
It was MR who benefited the most out of the 13th by appointing his drug crazed thugs as PC members.
Charles further adds that the development of the North was a waste of money as it did not yield any votes for MR.
How about Colombo ? Did it yield votes for MR?
Was MR the President for the South of Sri Lanka only? I can see the same argument picked up by Tamil separatist saying if that is the case why not a separate state and President for the N & E as thy did not vote for MR.
Total hogwash.
Sri Lankan citizens should be allowed to live anywhere in the Country. The resettlement must be based on a fair system not a forced settlement with a ulterior motive to change the demographics of an area.
January 24th, 2015 at 3:58 am
In Sri Lanka did we have a ruling system that there is one law applicable to every citizen?
January 24th, 2015 at 5:47 am
Dear Mr. Charles: Where are you LIVING? OR are you still in “DAZE” after the rejection of your much “advertized” candidate.? You still dabble in this vote analysis by indulging in “Tamil”, “Sinhala”, “Buddhist”,”Christian”, classification of votes and voters without getting to know that citizens of the country called Sri Lanka have equal right and “Freedom” to “choose” and vote the candidate whom they want.
Your knowledge and understanding of “Constitutional Law” is very useful to us. Yes, we need an “URGENT BILL” in the “Public Interest” to SET FREE the “Police Services”, “Civil services”, “Judiciary”, “Election Proceedings”; “Bribery and Corruption Investigations”, “Audit Services” from the existing POLITICAL GRIP and set up “Independent Commissions” so that “RE BUILDING” a “NEW POLITICAL CULTURE” could commence without further delay. That was clearly stated in that “100 Day” pledge that PEOPLE of this country endorsed and voted.
As you very correctly pointed out DON”T you think all of the above are, in your won words; “Urgent in the national interest” and done in a “hurray” ? All of the above subjects were our CONSEQUENTIAL LOSSES when that 17th Amendment was removed and brought in the 18th Amendment as an “Urgent Bill”.
Thank you for your very educative and constructive input as regards that “Urgent Bill” subject.
January 24th, 2015 at 6:08 am
It is amazing that this group of residents of foreign countries do not see what normal citizens of the country see and condemn.
Citizens are completely devastated to find out how this writer’s pet politicians left the country in complete disarray, yet the writer continuing with his complete absurd argument of glorifying racism above all the needs of the country.
Don’t these people have some brains to think properly ?
January 24th, 2015 at 6:26 am
Continued: Dear Mr Charles: I should have given you at least one or two examples as to why I and the people of this country decided those Independent Commissions are an URGENT NEED in the PUBLIC INTEREST.
1. The COPE of Parliament in its report in July 2013 reported that Rs. 193,757,482,078.00 given as loans from the Bank of Ceylon remain unsettled. Another 33,000 people who have obtained loans from the same bank have not paid even a single repayment. Please remember, this financial institution was under the Minister of Finance, no lesser person than the Ex President Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse. The COPE, Chairman Mr. Dew Gunasekera publicly stated that he and the committee were not given the “TEETH” to initiate action against the defaulters. So this among other colossal financial losses and waste of public funds have to be investigated and brought back to the PUBLIC TREASURY and that is an URGENT NEED and of PUBLIC INTEREST.
2. It is now established by own admission of our “CHIEF JUSTICE” that he visited Temple Trees, at 3.00 a.m, to meet the President who “apparently” lost in the election. Why? because he is not “INDEPENDENT” and “HOLDS AN OBLIGATION” to a “Political Leader”. We WANT a Judiciary headed by a Chief Justice “INDEPENDENT” and “NOT OBLIGATED” to any Political Leader or a Politician. That is an URGENT NEED and of PUBLIC INTEREST.
Many more “URGENT” and of “PUBLIC INTEREST” matters are there and I hope you will “JOIN” us to get those through. thank you.
January 24th, 2015 at 6:52 am
Charles
You appear to have a factual error with regards to the CFA being rectified by Mahinda Rajapakse.
You are right that Ranil W signed the CFA under CBK but it was Mahinda Rajapakse who continued with the CFA longer than RW and never rectified it or repealed it.
Many believe that it was the failure of LTTE to adhere to the CFA that brought about the support of the International Community to eliminate the LTTE once and for all.
January 24th, 2015 at 7:01 am
You are wrong to assume that President Sirisena is without any power. He enjoys the same Executive powers that Mahinda Rajapakse enjoyed except that unlike MR who at times exceeded those powers and used such powers not for the betterment of the Country. (post 18th Amendment).
January 24th, 2015 at 8:29 am
Marco Says:
January 24th, 2015 at 3:42 am
“Sri Lankan citizens should be allowed to live anywhere in the Country. The resettlement must be based on a fair system not a forced settlement with a ulterior motive to change the demographics of an area.”
The biggest forced demographic change in Sri Lanka happened when the British brought Tamils as indentured labour to work on the plantations. The descendents of the UP country peasants who were displaced still suffer as landless citizens.
The most recent forced demographic change with not so ulterior motives was when the Tamil terrorists evicted both the Sinhala and the Muslim people from the North; those people are still IDPs.
The so called ‘Thesawalame’ apparently still reserves the ownership of land in Jaffna to Tamils.
The government government of a country has the right to resettle people as required for the nation whether it appears fair or not.
January 24th, 2015 at 8:54 am
The resettlement of Sinhala & Muslims IDP evicted by the LTTE is a necessity and must be done expeditiously.
What exactly is the requirement and reasons for the Government to resettle others to change demographics.?
Perhaps dispersing ethnic conclaves or regions to avoid the “homeland” concept?
There are better ways to establish a unitary system of government.
Sri Lanka belongs to all Sri Lankans regardless of ethnicity, race or religion and all citizens should be treated equally and by fair means.
January 24th, 2015 at 9:51 am
True. it should not be personal. But every major corruption some beyond belief considering to the extent they subvert law and order must be investigated. This should go beyond MR administration. Taking huge bank loans and not paying them as well as other crimes like Ranil’s gonawala sunil and Premadasa’s murders and Chandrika’s financial dealings, have been going on for ever. Investigation is specially important because with every dishonest act the memory of war heroes (who were mostly poor rural youth) is descrated
January 24th, 2015 at 10:49 am
Marco & Sena: I appreciate your input in this complex problem of “resettlement”. My thoughts on this:
1. As all of us know we continue to live with this embedded ideology of “my land and home” unlike those living in foreign countries who think “my land and house” is an “investment” that appreciate in its “Asset Value”.
2. Everyone wants to pass on the ancestral property from generation to generation and continue to have roots to his/her generation and as a result developed this concept of “homeland”.
3. Because of this embedded ideology of establishing roots to family, and generation, a deep rooted attachment to land has become a “social order” of the population irrespective of ethnicity , and also, though I hate to mention, “caste” system too. That concept of “caste” still very much prevail in the North and East.
The above is only a “glimpse” into the social order that needs to be taken into very much consideration in deciding the “settlements” or “re-settlements”. This problem needs a very constructive national dialogue among the stake holders and compile a National Policy Plan on “settlements” and “re-settlements. It should not be “rushed” through at all by politicians to do any “patch work” to cater to the needs of few power hungry political leaders.
January 24th, 2015 at 12:24 pm
The content of this letter is depressing for it addresses an issue that I feared. If the first agenda of the day of the Sirisena coalition is to accuse and charge Rajapakse in order to bring him to trial, I sense Sirisena is doing this to avoid Rajapakse ever coming back to power.
I also sense that it is the worst thing a new President can do. Instead of leading the nation to more prosperity Sirisena is dragging the nation into a open ended catharsis between those who admired Rajapakse and those who wanted him to go and to resurrect Elam.
This letter echoes what many fear and that is the electoral defeat of Rajapakse was not sufficient. the complete destruction of this man is what Sirisena is after. If not the content of this letter would have a different meaning. It is a plead for Sirisena not to do what we see is happening: a Purge.
January 24th, 2015 at 1:45 pm
In Sri Lanka did we have a ruling system that there is one law applicable to every citizen?
The so called ‘Thesawalame’ rule that reserves the ownership of land in Jaffna to Tamils only is ridiculous and this rule itself is a force that pushes Tamils into a situation to demand separate estate for them within Sri Lanka. This is one of the worst policy introduced by British in Sri Lanka.
If any government sets legislation or a National Policy that allow any citizen to live any part of Sri Lanka the Thesawalame rule has to be no more applicable in this land.
January 24th, 2015 at 2:36 pm
Marco has come back to recite his mantra copied from India and LTTE
” The resettlement must be based on a fair system not a forced settlement with a ulterior motive to change the demographics of an area.”
A good answer has been given by SenaD
“The biggest forced demographic change in Sri Lanka happened when the British brought Tamils as indentured labour to work on the plantations. The descendents of the UP country peasants who were displaced still suffer as landless citizens. ”
Not only this. These “not so forced” settlement of foreigners, who speak a different language, has created a biggest problem to people. Their descendants have spread to North and East and to Colombo and changed the demographics of those areas too.
Only way to correct this is to actually do encouraged settlement of Sinhalese in “Tamil crowded” areas, which is very fair. The country is for all of its people and these “demographics” shall be rightfully balanced to run a trouble free country properly.
Marco’s this statement proves who he is.
January 24th, 2015 at 2:41 pm
Similar to those stupid Sinhalese who started war drums after war was finished, not those Thuppahis have started to work towards fulfilment of their ulterior motives. They do not know there are powerful forces within this government opposing those motives.
January 24th, 2015 at 3:01 pm
Sena and Nanda,
“The biggest forced demographic change in Sri Lanka happened when the British brought Tamils as indentured labour to work on the plantations. The descendents of the UP country peasants who were displaced still suffer as landless citizens.”
Well said! But you are better off talking to VP himself than to his janitor.
The BEST way to REVERSE British forced settlement of SOUTH ENDIANS IN SL is STATE SPONSORED SETTLEMENT OF SINHALESE IN THE NORTH.
Best example of the SUCCESS OF STATE SPONSORED COLONIZATION is none other than MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA. His family is from MIRIGAMA but as patriots they joined DSS’s colonization plan an RELOCATED to Polonnaruwa. Now a son of STATE SPONSORED SINHALA COLONIZATION SCHEMES has become the president of the country! How great. Hope he will CONTINUE the good work.
January 24th, 2015 at 3:09 pm
A few years ago I had a long conversation with a well known head of a Tamil family in relation to the Thesawalamai who was able to shed some light to this mystical custom which many consider it as law.
Firstly it’s not a Law in the true sense but a Pre-emption Ordinance very similar to the Kandyan Law (Ordinance).
I believe it was the Dutch who first introduced it as Law, but now it is certainly not part of the Law
This all stems from the Tamil Caste system and the Kandyan Caste system primarily and more commonly used for Marriages and the succession and inheritance of wealth, property to ensure it remains within the same caste/society. Matrilineal system of society.
Thesawalamai Ordinance (Law) works very similar to the Kandyan Succession Ordinance(Law).
Both of these system introduced pre-emption rights where there was no succession or none to inherit.
The Law in Sri Lanka cannot (openly)discriminate against a willing buyer. The seller has every right to refuse an offer without giving reasons. ( As I did on a small plot of land to a developer)
January 24th, 2015 at 6:29 pm
MR also did not allow a fair election. govt media never allowed the opposition candidate. It was all Mahinda Rajapakse. Because of that, most of the rural vote that MR got would not have come if the election had been fair, because rural people did not know who real MR was,
January 24th, 2015 at 7:05 pm
This big after war band wagon consisting of utterly foolish , mainly foreign, MR slaves headed by a headless thief did so much harm for the country and lost great advantage gained at the sacrificing of lives, limbs , blood and pain of real life heroes. Now almost back to zero and the same buggers not blame UNP and My3
What actually should have been done was a real Maithree Palanaya to the North,East and Yahapalanaya to the South could have been properly executed
MR did a really good job by re-settling and rehabilitating Tamils, developing the North (overly though) etc. etc. But he mad use of the war for his own, greedy, selfish intentions by conducting a third class government with no proper policing, judiciary and governance creating a major mess, disorderly and more or less and Anarchy. What a waste and shame.
He should never come to politics.
January 24th, 2015 at 7:07 pm
Typo there “not blame” intended to be “blaming”.
January 24th, 2015 at 7:22 pm
For the sake of national integration, Thesawalamei Law must be repealed.
It is a tribal and uncivilized piece of law suitable for the medieval ages. It’s original name of it is Marukattayam and it came from Kerala. When the Dutch brought down Malabar slaves from Kerala for tobacco plantations, they brought this tradition with them.
January 24th, 2015 at 7:35 pm
If not for Mahinda’s courageous leadership we would have been still at war with those butchers. From 83 to 2005 what those traitors did everyone knows. How come suddenly they were patriots of Motherlanka? This time too they will help those who destroyed our country. Just look at the Sri Lankan map and see who has given them their votes to MY3 and this vicious clan? They were all from North and East (Tamils & Muslims) and few in the middle and the Colombo rich. Do not think at anytime to put Mahinda aside,it will never happen. Sinhala majority is still with him. Those who are barking from outside the country can see pretty soon how these Yahapalanaya gang keep their promises. Already people are fed up with their lies and mud slinging.
Gamampila,Weerawansa,Dinesh and some leading parties in Sri Lanka still with the Opposition and they will never support this Yahapalana gang. Why should they support a party which never supported while they were in the Govt? Should not support at anytime. They never supported Mahinda’s budget and why should they support Ravi’s bogus budget which will be presented to the Parliament on 29th the day he has to attend the courts for 390million fraud case? They should answer first for their crimes while they were in power. People aren’t fools to believe every word these Gobbels tell in public. Just give some time and everyone can see for themselves the results.
January 24th, 2015 at 8:05 pm
Ranil Wickremasinghe IS GOING FULL SPEED AHEAD to deliver our Motherland bound hand and foot to the Eelamists by Implementing 13A in FULL before the General Election later this year!
This is what those TREACHEROUS EELAMISTS “Facebook” Lorenzo and his servile LAPDOG Nanda were STRIVING to ACHIEVE ALL ALONG!
Is it for THIS that Tens of Thousands of Patriotic Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Policemen sacrificed their lives as the FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION to their Motherland?
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaaa …. What are YOU DOING in CAHOOTS with UNREPENTANT TRAITORS ENABLING the DESTRUCTION of our Motherland!
Your name will go down in BLACK LETTERS in Sri Lanka’s history as its GREATEST TRAITOR!
……………………
Lanka reaches consensus to implement 13A: Wickremesinghe
Zeenews.India.com
January 24, 2015
Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday said political parties have agreed to implement the thirteenth amendment as a solution to end the country’s over three-decade-old ethnic conflict involving the Tamil minority.
“All parties have agreed to solve the ethnic problem within the framework of the thirteenth amendment. We are continuing our talks,” Wickremesinghe said while addressing a gathering at Deniyaya in the south.
He further said that all provincial councils will have equal powers now that the Tamil National Alliance has said that they are for a solution within an undivided Sri Lanka.
Provincial Councils became part of the Sri Lankan statute as a direct result of the landmark 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka accord, popularly known as the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord, after its architects ? Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Lankan President J R Jayewardene.
He also blamed the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for failing to resolve the thorny issues concerning the Tamil minority despite having ended the two-and-a-half decade-old civil war with the LTTE in 2009.
On the UN’s human rights investigation on Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe said it was the result of Rajapaksa’s mishandling of the issue.
“They (the Rajapaksa government) agreed with the UN Secretary General to have an investigation after the war ended. Later confirmed it at the UN Human Rights Council. But the investigation did not happen, so came the appointment of an investigation panel,” Wickremesinghe said, referring to the March 2014 UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka.
Rajapaksa government had resisted to cooperate with the investigation meant to probe the human rights abuses by both the LTTE and the government during the final days of the battle in May 2009.
Wickremesinghe said the new government’s policy on the investigation is that all criminal charges will be probed through a local mechanism.
“Only Sri Lankan courts will have jurisdiction for criminal investigations,” Wickremesinghe said.
The new Maithripala Sirisena government which succeeded Rajapaksa rule was urged by a section of the international community to cooperate with the UNHRC investigation and resolve the issues concerning the country’s minorities.
January 24th, 2015 at 8:32 pm
This Cabinet of Minister headed by Ranil Wickramasinghe is a cabinet of exigence. It is iterim to carry out functions until a general election is held. It has no right to make any amendments to the Constitution, or implement the controversial 13th Amendment. It has no right to discuss policy matters with foreign countries or reduce the Armed Forces from the north as they will be putting into peril the hard won freedom and supporting the separatist program of the Tamils.
The Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was appointed by the President, and not elected by the people to form a government. He was a leader who had been rejected by the people on several occasions and for him to implement the 13th Amendment he should have the consent of the people.
In reality they are there to carry forward the Mahinda Chintanaya from where it was to stopped by the Tamils and the Muslims voting en mass to elect Maitripala Sirisena and defeat the President who was taking the country forward towards progress and devdelopment, trying his best to bring the Tamils into the political stream to build a united unitary Sri Lanka.
January 24th, 2015 at 8:38 pm
Oh My God, MORE STEPS BACKWARDS as Ranil Wickremasinghe by DESTROYING Sri Lanka’s National Investments to APPEASE his Wesytern REGIME CHANGE sponsors by SUPPORTING of their CHINA CONTAINMENT POLICY at Sri Lanka’s EXPENSE!
This DESTRUCTION of Sri Lanka’s National Investments WILL NOT END until Sri Lanka is again REDUCED to a Colonial Backwater!
These MYOPIC IDIOTS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE in the FUTURE for this DESTRUCTION of Sri Lanka’s FUTURE ECONOMIC GROWTH and ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE! They want us to REMAIN VASSALS of the NeoColonial West FOREVER!
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaaaa …. What HAVE YOU DONE to our Motherland!
……………………….
Sri Lanka PM to decide whether to continue port city project with China
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that a final decision will be taken within the next two weeks on whether to continue the Colombo Port City Project launched by the previous government in partnership with China.
Mr. Wickremesinghe earlier said the government is reviewing the Colombo Port City project launched during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Sri Lanka last year.
The government has not yet seen the reports of feasibility study and the environment impact assessment, he said.
“We will have to look into the environmental and feasibility aspects,” Mr. Wickremasinghe said.
The Prime Minister’s Office said that 3 reports called for by the PM have been received so far. The Ports Authority, Board of Investment (BOI) and Coast Conservation Department have submitted reports but the Central Environmental Authority has not submitted a report as their views were not obtained at the time the project was launched.
During his visit to Sri Lanka in September 2014, President Xi and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa launched the US$ 1.5 billion Colombo Port City Project to build a modern city on land reclaimed from the sea.
Construction of the port city was to be carried out by China Harbour Engineering Company under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Sri Lanka Ports Authority with China Communication Construction Company (CCCC).
Concerns have also been raised on the agreement since under the deal signed with the CCCC, the company is getting land on a freehold basis in a high security zone.
The proposed city will be built on 233 hectares (583 acres) of land reclaimed from the sea between the Colombo South Port and the Galle Face Green and under the agreement 20 hectares of land will be given to the Chinese firm on an outright basis.
Sri Lanka’s new Investment Promotion Minister Kabir Hashim said the land in a high security zone cannot be given to another country and project needs to be completely reviewed.
Sri Lanka’s neighbor, India has also raised security concerns over the project as a large portion of cargoes bound for India are transshipped through Colombo port.
January 24th, 2015 at 9:41 pm
MORE UNDERMINING of Sri Lanka’s PATRIOTIC SPIRIT, and DISMANTLING of Sri Lanka’s DEFENSES!
While the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) is an UBIQUITOUS FEATURE on the UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES of that Champion of Democracy engineering REGIMES CHANGES across the World, Sri Lanka DISMANTLES her the training of her future Defenders in her Officer Corps!
MUNTA HENA GAHANDA ONEY!
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaaa …. What are YOU DOING to our Motherland!
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Sri Lanka terminates military leadership training in education sector
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Jan 24, Colombo: The new government of Sri Lanka has decided to terminate a mandatory military style leadership training program initiated by the previous government for school principals and university entrants.
Sri Lanka’s new Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said the government is ending the program that was compulsory for the students entering the country’s universities under the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration.
Similarly the government will call-off the leadership training for the school principals and awarding brevet military titles to them.
Previous government’s mandatory leadership training program for undergraduates was highly unpopular among the students and parents, and has been seen by intellectuals as a militarization of the education sector.
Sri Lanka’s Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), affiliated student union had charged that the leadership training was a part of the government strategy of militarizing the society.
The new government installed earlier this month under President Maithripala Sirisena has pledged to reduce the military’s role in the society, especially in the education sector.
The Education Minister said the military training is not necessary for school administrators or students adding that the Education Ministry is in the process of preparing a circular announcing the discontinuation of the program and it will be sent to the President for approval soon.
Over 4,000 school principals have received military titles through the physically demanding program.
The three-week long, physically demanding program was given at military camps to provide leadership training and enhance positive attitude in new university entrants. The rigorous fitness training had resulted in deaths of three students and a principal also died while participating in a training program in 2013.
January 24th, 2015 at 10:59 pm
Charles you better write more and more letters like this for the ungrateful people to read. We missed Shenali’s writing these days. I haven’t seen anything from him for sometimes maybe there’s nothing to write about these Golubellas.
We have to fight back to get the freedom we used to have. They were blaming the previous Govt for everything just see what they are doing now in few days they were in power. All media is with them.Nothing about Opposition.My3’s cutouts are everywhere. In Bus stand, in buses, trains, three wheelers, Light posts etc. Already Tamils were dancing according to Ranil’s tune and showing their power. Just look at the Rivira newspaper and see the Sri Lanka map how the Tamils have voted in the North. Why they vote to him like that because of the sweet goodies they promised them otherwise why should they do that. It’s going to be like in those days when Ranil / Chandrika Bonny & Clyde was in power. It’s the truth which some stupids do not understand. They just simply support blindly without knowing the danger ahead. Somebody is suggesting to have a MY3 Palanaya in North. It’s a joke.Mahinda showed them Maitri but these ungrateful Tamils voted against him. They do not want any Yahapalanaya except to build their own kingdom. Their dream to have a separate Kingdom will be only a dream for ever as long as we true Sinhalese live in this great country.
They want to stop most of the good work Mahinda started, like this leadership training,Mahindayodaya, some big projects and many more. They recall Ambassadors,they want to sack the Chief Justice. Is this the Yahapalanaya they were talking about? Who gave them the power to do all that? Did we give them as voters? This is not Democracy but Dictatorship of some sort. They do everything by force. People have already realized their mistake for voting this crazy,mixed thieves to power.
January 25th, 2015 at 2:42 am
I can not remember where I Saw the article, probably in Lankaweb.
One writer had successfully argued, it is not because of Tamil vote that Mahinda Rajapakse lost. He had shown numbers to prove that in every province Mahinda Rajapakse got less and less from Sinhala people Tamils vote against Mahinda Rajapakse even in 2010 and Sarath Fonseka received that Tamil vote.
It is the not voting by Sinhala people in Every province that made the difference.
So, it is unwise to think that Tamil vote made the difference.
January 25th, 2015 at 4:19 am
Charles Says:
January 24th, 2015 at 8:32 pm
” He was a leader who had been rejected by the people on several occasions and for him to implement the 13th Amendment he should have the consent of the people.”
During the campaign both MS and his spokesmen said there were no secret agreements with the TNA, meaning that the TNA was giving unconditional support.
There was not even a single word in the 100 day programme about implementing the 13th amendment in any manner whatsoever and now RW who became the PM through the largesse of the president is going to implement the 13th amendment.
People can clearly see what had been in the secret agreement that did not exist as some steps are already being taken.
January 25th, 2015 at 8:00 am
It is not without any reason that the 13A which was forced on us has not bee implemented by by successive presidents. It is not good for the unitary Si Lanka. Ranil who was not elected by the voters is trying to do just that for his own reasons. Do not make in vane the the sacrifice of life the brave members of our services made in order to eliminate the LTTE, in additions to the billions of dollars wasted.
People must protest for the implementation of 113A will not bring peace. It will only give control to the separatists controlled by India.
January 25th, 2015 at 11:06 am
dingiri bandara said “13A will not bring peace. It will only give control to the separatists controlled by India”!
HERE is MORE Indian INVASION into Sri Lanka to CEMENT & EXERT THAT CONTROL you FEAR!
While WE DON’T WANT EXCESSIVE Indian Involvement, with tens of Thousands of Indians SETTLING in Sri Lanka, ASK WHY this MOVE FOCUSES on JAFFNA alone??
BECAUSE, the THIN END OF THE WIDENING EDGE is USUALLY INSERTED into the EXISTING CRACK which is Tamil Eelamist dominated Jaffna … THAT IS WHY!
There will be NO CONTROL, NO LIMITATION of these moves by the GOSL now!
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaaa …. What are you DOING to our Motherland DELIVERING HER BOUND HAND & FOOT to her ENEMIES?
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India to promote investment, joint ventures in Jaffna
Sixth Edition of Jaffna International Trade Fair launched
by Zacki Jabbar in Jaffna
January 24, 2015, 6:45 pm
With around 50 percent of the companies participating in the ongoing Jaffna International Trade Fair(JITF), being Indian affiliated, India says that more of its industrialists and entrepreneurs would participate at next years edition of the exhibition.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the sixth edition of JITF at the Jaffna Library auditorium, India’s Consul General in Jaffna, A. Natarajan, Friday said that he would encourage more businessman from his country to individually or in partnership with their Sri Lankan counterparts, invest in the Northern Peninsula.
The three day exhibition is being held at the Municipal Ground, which is in close proximity to the Jaffna Library.
Natarajan said that they were also working towards strengthening the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement which would be mutually beneficial for both countries.
Commending the organizers of JITF, the Presidential award winning Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (LECS), for hosting the event for the sixth consecutive year, he observed that it had become a one stop shop for servicing industries in sectors ranging from construction, hospitality, food and beverage, packing , automobile industry, ICT, financial services, apparel, agricultural ,consumer goods and many others.
Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council C. V. K. Sivagnanam said that he welcomed more manufacturing and trading partnerships between the North and South of the country and even with India in the conducive environment that had been created by the installation of a new government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena.
President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Yarlpanam, K. Vignesh urged the northern industries and its people to make maximum use of the vast opportunities that JITF had presented them with.
Managing Director of LECS, Arjun Dharmadasa said that JITF had made great strides since it was first launched six years ago. “We, are happy that this exhibition has contributed to the development of Jaffna and are working towards taking it to a higher level.”
Founder Chairman of JITF, Kosala Wickremenayake, recalled that when they launched the exhibition, the infrastructure in the region including the main road leading to Jaffna was in a poor state. But it had since improved and one of the reasons for that was the demand caused by the large number of people and material that had to be transported the region.
India, he noted, had at that time contributed Rs.100 million for initial infrastructural development.
Chief Executive Officer of LECS Asim Mukthar said they were happy that many of the pioneer exhibitors at JITF continued to come back year after year, which indicated that they had received a good response.
The Kalvi or Education Pavilion at the JITF had contributed to many campuses and educational institutes being established in Jaffna, he added.
The exhibition had been organized with the prime objective of helping various industries to make inroads into the peninsula, Mukthar observed. “The doors are wide open for entrepreneurs and established businesses to operate in an environment which is conducive for long and short term investments.”
With a clear mandate and a road map for development, there were many opportunities for a wide range of industries to thrive in the northernmost tip of the country , General Manager of LECS Husine Rauff noted, adding that the over 200 exhibitors offering their wares and services at JITF included around 100 Indian affiliated businesses representing various sectors.
The event is being supported by the Consulate General of India in Jaffna, Federation of Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Institute of Builders, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, and the Jaffna Municipal Council. It has been endorsed by the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board.
January 25th, 2015 at 11:23 am
HELL NO! CJ SHOULD NOT GO!
Furthermore, Chief Justice Mohan Pieris …. Please do not TRADE your post for a DIPLOMATIC POST; it smacks of the WORST KIND OF HORSE TRADING, and DEMEANS your High Office and your Personal Dignity!!
A Chief Justice is SUPPOSED to DISPLAY HIGH CHARACTER; summon your COURAGE NOW, dig in your heels and DO YOUR DUTY!
“BASL “Losing Patience”?? When was the BASL appointed as an Arm of the GOSL?? Why should the CJ GO to PLACATE the BASL, an organization FLOODED with Anti-Nationalists whose National Name BELIES its DEVIOUS BIAS!
These are the VERY SAME Anti-National AGITATORS who PROTESTED the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake’s dismissal; why are they complaining now??? Is their no FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPAL, beyond Party Politics, they wish to uphold??
What is GOOD for the GOOSE, should be GREAT for the GANDER as well!
BLOODY HYPOCRITES!
………………………..
CJ 44 won’t go; Govt and BASL losing patience
Peiris’ security pruned, lawyers to hold special meeting
View(s):
Chief Justice 44 Mohan Peiris is refusing to relinquish office and now demanding a plum diplomatic posting in return for vacating his post despite a demand by the country’s lawyers that he step down.
His choice is either as Ambassador to the UN in New York or as High Commissioner in London, but Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has offered him Brazil, a National Unity Government source said yesterday.
“We are losing our patience. By deliberately delaying he is precipitating a serious situation that could hurt him the most”, the source added.
The development over the week came as Public Order Minister John Amaratunga told the Sunday Times he had ordered the pruning of the Chief Justice’s security detail from ten police officers to two.
“This is in accordance with his entitlement,” Minister Amaratunga said.
On Friday, Mr. Peiris was questioned by detectives of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over his presence at Temple Trees around 4 a.m. on January 9
when Presidential election results were being released by the Elections Commissioner. The National Unity Government maintains that there was an attempt at suspending the count and that the Chief Justice was providing legal advice to the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has called for the Chief Justice’s resignation on the grounds that he has failed to maintain his impartiality as required by the Constitution by his pre-dawn presence at ‘Temple Trees’.
Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaskshe told the Sunday Times the Chief Justice had agreed to resign to three separate audiences. He was present at all three, he said.
“He agreed three times, once in the presence of the President and myself, secondly when the Premier and I discussed the matter with him, and thirdly when all three of us were present. He was negotiating with us for a diplomatic posting, and we finally agreed on Rome,” Mr. Rajapakshe said.
According to him, Mr. Peiris was expected to submit his resignation letter as Chief Justice and collect the appointment letter for his new posting last Wednesday evening. Although Mr. Peiris had come while the cabinet meeting was being held, no resignation was tendered or the appointment letter collected, Mr. Rajapakshe said.
“He later called the Presidential Secretary for an appointment and was scheduled to meet the President on Thursday at 8.30 a.m. at the Presidential Secretariat. But he did not turn up. We were waiting till 9.45 a.m. No further communication has been received from the Chief Justice since then,” he said.
During the week, Cabinet spokesman and Minister Rajitha Senaratne announced that the Chief Justice had told the Prime Minister he would resign but did not mention anything about being offered a diplomatic posting. The next day, a person claiming to be a spokesman for the Chief Justice, a Ratnapura lawyer, Wijeratne Kodippili denied that Mr. Peiris had offered his resignation.
Commenting on that incident, Minister Rajapakshe said that the Chief Justice had never been allocated a spokesman, nor had the recruitment of such personnel been approved by anyone. According to the Minister, the Government knows nothing about the person who issued a statement on behalf of the Chief Justice.
“We don’t even know if he is a Sri Lankan or not,” he said.
The BASL’s Executive Committee met again last afternoon and decided to summon the association’s 500 strong council members for a special meeting next Saturday to discuss the deadlock. The BASL Ex Co, the governing body of the country’s lawyers, will also meet the Bar seniors today and request an appointment with the President and Prime Minister next week, BASL President Upul Jayasuriya said.
He said the Chief Justice was contacting junior lawyers and seeking their support to sign a petition in support of him.
“The questioning of the Chief Justice by the CID — in his chambers — is the worst insult the country’s judiciary has faced in its more than 200-year history. The CJ 44 has now resorted to canvassing, lobbying and applying pressure on junior lawyers. This is unheard of. We will discuss the possible courses of actions when the council meets,” Mr. Jayasuriya said.On Friday, when the Sunday Times contacted Mr. Kodippili and asked him what the Chief Justice had to say about his presence at ‘Temple Trees’ on the night the Presidential election results were being released, he said he was not authorised by the Chief Justice to speak on that matter.
January 25th, 2015 at 11:40 am
CORRECTED Version!
……………….
HELL NO! CJ 44 SHOULD NOT GO!
It is PRECISELY to PREVENT the CRIMINAL CHANGES to the CONSTITUTION now being CONTEMPLATED that Cjief Justices of the SUPREME COURT are granted PERMANENT & IRREVOCABLE TENURE on the bench! DO NOT ABANDON your DUTY to the Nation NOW!
Furthermore, Chief Justice Mohan Pieris …. Please do not TRADE your post for a DIPLOMATIC POST; it smacks of the WORST KIND OF HORSE TRADING, and DEMEANS your High Office and your Personal Dignity!!
A Chief Justice is SUPPOSED to DISPLAY HIGH CHARACTER; summon your COURAGE NOW, dig in your heels and DO YOUR DUTY as Providence has given you the WIT to DO, and the Nation has GIVEN YOU its TRUST to DO! Don’t be a MOUSE CJ 44; be a MAN!
“BASL “Losing Patience”?? When was the BASL appointed as an Arm of the GOSL?? Why should the CJ GO to PLACATE the BASL, an organization FLOODED with Anti-Nationalists whose National Name BELIES its DEVIOUS BIAS!
These are the VERY SAME Anti-National AGITATORS who PROTESTED the former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake’s dismissal; why are they
complaining now??? Is there no FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE here, beyond Party Politics, they should uphold??
Ultimately, What is GOOD for the GOOSE, should be GREAT for the GANDER as well!
BLOODY HYPOCRITES!
………………………..
CJ 44 won’t go; Govt and BASL losing patience
Peiris’ security pruned, lawyers to hold special meeting Chief Justice 44 Mohan Peiris is refusing to relinquish office and now demanding a plum diplomatic posting in return for vacating his post despite a demand by the country’s lawyers that he step down.
His choice is either as Ambassador to the UN in New York or as High Commissioner in London, but Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has offered him Brazil, a National Unity Government source said yesterday.
“We are losing our patience. By deliberately delaying he is precipitating a serious situation that could hurt him the most”, the source added.
The development over the week came as Public Order Minister John Amaratunga told the Sunday Times he had ordered the pruning of the Chief Justice’s security detail from ten police officers to two.
“This is in accordance with his entitlement,” Minister Amaratunga said.
On Friday, Mr. Peiris was questioned by detectives of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over his presence at Temple Trees around 4 a.m. on January 9 when Presidential election results were being released by the Elections Commissioner. The National Unity Government maintains that there was an attempt at suspending the count and that the Chief Justice was providing legal advice to the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has called for the Chief Justice’s resignation on the grounds that he has failed to maintain his impartiality as required by the Constitution by his pre-dawn presence at ‘Temple Trees’.
Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaskshe told the Sunday Times the Chief Justice had agreed to resign to three separate audiences. He was present at all three, he said.
“He agreed three times, once in the presence of the President and myself, secondly when the Premier and I discussed the matter with him, and thirdly when all three of us were present. He was negotiating with us for a diplomatic posting, and we finally agreed on Rome,” Mr. Rajapakshe said.
According to him, Mr. Peiris was expected to submit his resignation letter as Chief Justice and collect the appointment letter for his new posting last Wednesday evening. Although Mr. Peiris had come while the cabinet meeting was being held, no resignation was tendered or the appointment letter collected, Mr. Rajapakshe said.
“He later called the Presidential Secretary for an appointment and was scheduled to meet the President on Thursday at 8.30 a.m. at the Presidential Secretariat. But he did not turn up. We were waiting till 9.45 a.m. No further communication has been received from the Chief Justice since then,” he said.
During the week, Cabinet spokesman and Minister Rajitha Senaratne announced that the Chief Justice had told the Prime Minister he would resign but did not mention anything about being offered a diplomatic posting. The next day, a person claiming to be a spokesman for the Chief Justice, a Ratnapura lawyer, Wijeratne Kodippili denied that Mr. Peiris had offered his resignation.
Commenting on that incident, Minister Rajapakshe said that the Chief Justice had never been allocated a spokesman, nor had the recruitment of such personnel been approved by anyone. According to the Minister, the Government knows nothing about the person who issued a statement on behalf of the Chief Justice.
“We don’t even know if he is a Sri Lankan or not,” he said.
The BASL’s Executive Committee met again last afternoon and decided to summon the association’s 500 strong council members for a special meeting next Saturday to discuss the deadlock. The BASL Ex Co, the governing body of the country’s lawyers, will also meet the Bar seniors today and request an appointment with the President and Prime Minister next week, BASL President Upul Jayasuriya said.
He said the Chief Justice was contacting junior lawyers and seeking their support to sign a petition in support of him.
“The questioning of the Chief Justice by the CID — in his chambers — is the worst insult the country’s judiciary has faced in its more than 200-year history. The CJ 44 has now resorted to canvassing, lobbying and applying pressure on junior lawyers. This is unheard of. We will discuss the possible courses of actions when the council meets,” Mr. Jayasuriya said.On Friday, when the Sunday Times contacted Mr. Kodippili and asked him what the Chief Justice had to say about his presence at ‘Temple Trees’ on the night the Presidential election results were being released, he said he was not authorised by the Chief Justice to speak on that matter.
January 25th, 2015 at 1:39 pm
Charles in your comment you say that RW has no authority to implement the 13th Amendment without the consent of the people and in the next sentence you “suppose” that the current Govt should be carrying forward the Mahinda Chintanaya and the promises made by MR.
Actually, MR did promise the implementation of the 13th and go beyond.
So, Charles you are right in your supposition that RW is really carrying out the wishes of MR.
As much as I dislike the 13th (waste of money and serves no real purpose) I’m intrigued that not many (in fact none) are making a hue and cry in Sri Lanka when it was announced that the 13th was to be implemented.
There is not a murmur from the usual culprits of JHU, JVP, BBS and even Wimal Weeransa.
Is it a pet subject to thrash around ?
January 25th, 2015 at 2:04 pm
Ananda-USA Says:
January 25th, 2015 at 11:40 am
“BASL “Losing Patience”?? When was the BASL appointed as an Arm of the GOSL?? Why should the CJ GO to PLACATE the BASL, an organization FLOODED with Anti-Nationalists whose National Name BELIES its DEVIOUS BIAS!
The BASL is like a trade union affiliated to the UNP.
Wijedasa Rajapakse, while being a sitting MP from the UNP held the post of president of BASL and at the same time claiming BASL is apolitical. Later he was compelled to give up the post.
He became a national list MP and now heads the Ministry of Justice.
Such a ‘qualified leading lawyer’ failed to distinguish the difference between ‘being nominated by the SLFP’ and being nominated by anther party and declared that the current president would automatically get the chairmanship of the SLFP because he won the election.
So much for his qualification and experience!
January 25th, 2015 at 3:40 pm
Old saying:
” HOPE FOR THE BEST, PREPARE FOR THE WORST”. Problem. We are only “hoping for the best” and NOT preparing for the worst.
January 25th, 2015 at 7:20 pm
douglas said to Charles
“You still dabble in this vote analysis by indulging in “Tamil”, “Sinhala”, “Buddhist”,”Christian”, classification of votes and voters without getting to know that citizens of the country called Sri Lanka have equal right and “Freedom” to “choose” and vote the candidate whom they want.”
Now, in trying to educate Charles on voters right to decide whom to vote for, you are teaching your grandmother to suck eggs!
Charles LEARNED WELL before you learned your graduated from wearing nappies; he dos not need to be given a lesson on that.
But, what YOU HAVE TOTALLY MISSED in what Charles was SAYING, is that there is an issue here that goes beyond individual voter rights, that is related to how they VOTED EN BLOCK as COMMUNITIES.
You made the same CRITICISM when I pointed out the BLOCK VOTING PATTERN on the day after the Presidential Election. Unfortunately, I did not CALL YOU ON THAT THEN, but I am DOING SO NOW!
So douglas, my man, READ & LEARN why BLOCK VOTING by Communities is COMMUNAL and IS A PROBLEM for the cohesion of Sri Lankan Society and the future integrity of our Nation!
The Sinhala vote was SPLIT nearly 50-50, whereas the minority vote was OVERWHELMINGLY against the war-winning PATRIOTIC President who DEFEATED the SEPARATISTS, REUNIFIED Sri Lanka, and DEVELOPED it at a RAPID PACE never seen before in INDEPENDENT Sri Lanka …. all achievements that are UNDENIAL+BLY in the best interest of ALL Sri Lankans!
On the surface, the exercise of the freedom of choice by the minorities seems innocous but, here is the KEY POINT: If the MINORITIES were NOT COMMUNAL, they too would have voted nearly 50-50 for the two candidates. just like the majority community.
Why didn’t they? What drove them to vote SO DIFFERENTLY? If they feel and act like the majority community exercising their right to vote as they choose, why was that vote so lopsided and not spilt nearly 50-50 like the Sinhala majority?
Therefore, WE MUST CONCLUDE that BLOCK VOTING PATTERN is INCONTROVERTIBLE PROOF that they don’t SHARE THE SAME GOALS and ASPIRE TO A COMMON National DESTINY as the MAJORITY COMMUNITY! Does it mean that the Sinhala peoople are MORE BROAD MINDED, while the MINORITIES are NARROW MINDED looking to always enhance ONLY THEIR OWN COMMUNITY’s NARROW INTEREST? SELFISHNESS at PLAY, shall we say?
If so, we must ask, what DIFFERENT GOALS do they espouse?
If those goals are CONTRARY to those of the majority community, then are they patriotic or anti-national in the sense that they are INIMICAL to the Majority Vision of ONE Sri Lankan Nation, of ONE Sri Lankan People, sharing ONE Sri Lankan National DESTINY?
CLEARLY this Presidential Election showed that ALL MINORITIES, Tamil, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, VOTED in LOCKSTEP with each other to OUST President Mahinda Rajapaksa supported by the VAST MAJORITY of Sinhala Buddhists!
With that INCONTROVERTIBLE CONCLUSION, what can the Sinhala Buddhist community, against whom ALL MINORITIES are ganging up, DO?
In my view, there are SEVERAL IMPORTANT THINGS the Sinhala Buddhist Community should do:
1. CONTINUE TO ESPOUSE the VISION of ONE Sri Lankan Nation, of ONE Sri Lankan People, sharing ONE National Destiny with EQUAL RIGHTS and EQUAL RESPONSIBILITIES for all, irrespective of COMMUNITY. This is consistent with our Dharmishta Mindset as Buddhists, and will find acceptance throughout the world as both Just and Fair.
2. Recognize that it is the SPLITTING of the Sinhala Buddhist vote that ROBS US OF VICTORY, and RESOLVE: TO NEVER LET OUR VOTE BE SPLIT AGAIN, and THUS get ELECTED TO POWER again in the near future, and to DISMANTLE & REVERSE ALL STEPS CURRENTLY BEING TAKEN by current GOSL to undermine and weaken the governance of our Motherland.
In particular,
2.1 RESTORE the Executive Presidency as the MOST STABLE FORM of government for Sri Lanka threatened by a host of external enemies.
2.2 REMOVE Term Limits on the Executive President subject to 6-year Presidential Elections. A term limit is NOT NECESSARY to remove a non-performing president; an election is both NECESSARY & SUFFICIENT. STAGGER the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in time for GREATER Stability,
2.3 REPEAL the 13th Amendment and DISSOLVE the Provincial Councils replacing the PCs with Districts Administered by GOSL Appointed Government Agents. Provincial Governments ONLY serve as CENTERS of REBELLION against the Central Government, FRUSTRATES the National Will on National Development Programs, and CONSTITUTES another layer of USELESS Bureaucracy burdening the people. The FREEDOM to ELECT One’s Candidate to the National Parliament is SUFFICIENT FRANCHISE for any Law Abiding Citizen!
2.4 STRENGTHEN the Laws against TREASON and PROSECUTE Traitors to the Fullest Extent of the Law including those who CONNIVE with Foreign Powers to undermine the elected government of Sri Lanka, and to promote separatism within the country.
2.5 BAN ALL Political Parties and Organizations with Communal Separatist Agendas in their constitutions, party names and election platforms, WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
2.6 BAN ALL NGOs from accepting foreign funds, or collaborating with foreign powers, for ANY POLITICAL or RELIGIOUS MISSIONARY PURPOSE. We don’t lessons on “Human Rights” and “Democracy Building” from the GREATEST Violators of Human Rights, Destabilizing and Overthrowing POPULARLY ELECTED Governments across the world to sere their own National Agendas.
3. ENACT and ENFORCE Laws that INTEGRATE the Nation into ONE INDIVISIBLE SOCIETY, IGNORING the DIVISIVE SEPARATIST DEMANDS of the Minorities designed to convert Sri Lanka into a PATCHWORK of ETHNO-RELIGIOUS BANTUSTANS.
The GOSL should ENCOURAGE settlement by ALL Citizens in the North and East by every means possible, with the OBJECTIVE of achieving a UNIFORM DEMOGRAPHY throughout the Nation as the ONLY PERMANENT Solution to SEPARATISM. What the Tamils enjoy in the Western Province TODAY, the Sinhala People MUST be able to enjoy in the North & East. What is GOOD for the GOOSE, should be GOOD for the GANDER as well.
Anything else is RACIAL & RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION against the Sinhala People!
January 27th, 2015 at 11:53 pm
Therefore, if “Tamil Nationalism” does not accept FULL IMPLEMENTATION of the 13th Amendment as a Lasting Solution, what would satisfy “Tamil Nationalism”?
The ANSWER TODAY is the SAME AS THE ANSWER I GAVE 30 years ago in my article “Devolution .. A Recipe for National Suicide”: What the EElamists want is FULL SOVEREIGNTY as a separate country followed by UNION with Tamil Nadu of India!
In other words, the REALIZATION of the Greater Tamil Nadu Dream of Karunanidhi as shown in the MAPS he has already published!
Therefore, whisper to me softly Effendi Aiyoooo Sirisenaaa if my lips do not UTTER THE TRUTH when I SAY you are ENABLING Karunanidhi’s Greater Tamil Nadu Dream with your promise to FULLY IMPLEMENT 13A INSTEAD of FULLY REPEALING IT?
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaaa …. What are you DOING to our Motherland???
………………
Tamil Nationalism has Never Accepted that a Lasting Solution Could be Arrived at Through Full Devolution Within a Unitary State.
BY DR DAYAN JAYATILLEKA
DBSJeyaray.com
January 27, 2015
PRE-INDEPENDENCE DAY THOUGHTS 2015: THE FUTURE STATE OF THE NATION
In the run-up to Independence Day 2015, we must thank God for Mr. Sumanthiran. He is indubitably a moderate and an intellectual. Let us give thanks also for the Sunday Observer, which is a state-run newspaper not given to running stories or distorting them in a manner inimical or embarrassing to the government of the day. Therefore, when Mr. Sumanthiran says something to the Sunday Observer, I take it seriously because I know I am on safe ground. Mr. Sumanthiran tells the newspaper that the TNA doesn’t expect much movement on addressing the Tamil political question during the Hundred Day program. That is realistic –and anyway, who’d want to affect the UNP’s chances at the General election by pressing home Tamil political demands? He also says that the full implementation of the 13th amendment would be a good first step. Then comes the bottom-line: “The PM said that devolution will now be given under the 13th Amendment which the previous government was blocking. But we have clearly said that the full implementation of the 13th Amendment is no lasting solution.” (‘Current political trend signals harmony among communities’ – M.A.Sumanthiran MP, by P.Krishnaswamy, Sunday Observer, January 25th 2015)
MA Sumanthiran MP
MA Sumanthiran MP
There’s always that ‘but’ isn’t there? There’s always that ‘but’ even for a moderate Tamil nationalist intellectual. The truth as disclosed or rather, reiterated by the cosmopolitan, Colombo based Mr. Sumanthiran is that the proposed removal of the roadblocks to the full implementation of the 13th amendment just isn’t enough. This is because “full implementation of the 13th amendment is no lasting solution”.
Some readers may think I am making something of a mountain out of a molehill, but interestingly and appropriately the caption of the interview when reproduced on the website of veteran (expatriate) journalist DBS Jeyaraj reflected what was most newsworthy about the story: “Full Implementation of the 13th Amendment is No Lasting Solution- MA Sumanthiran, MP”.
Now this also goes some way in explaining why the 13th amendment was never fully implemented. That’s because successive Southern leaders understood that if it was fully implemented, matters would not stop there. That would not put a cap on it. The full implementation of the 13th amendment would be but a stepping stone for more. Why? Because “we have clearly said that the full implementation of the 13th amendment is no lasting solution” and therefore “we” would strive to push beyond it. Worse still, that “we” would not try our very best to make the 13th amendment work because if it did, “we” would not be able to prove “our” dogmatic, politically fundamentalist point that “the full implementation of the 13th amendment is no lasting solution”.
This shows that even on the morning after a democratic renovation, the most moderate of Tamil nationalists isn’t willing to settle for what the most moderate Sinhalese political leader is willing to implement. The deficit or gap still exists as far as the desirable goal; the final status agreement goes. Why so? What is at the root of this?
To answer this we have to ask ourselves what Sri Lanka would be if the 13th amendment were fully implemented under the existing system. To my mind it would be a unitary system with full devolution or, to put it slightly differently, it would amount to the maximum devolution possible within a unitary system at full stretch. Why then does the moderate Mr. Sumanthiran reiterate the consistent stand of democratic Tamil nationalism, namely that even “the full implementation of the 13th amendment is no lasting solution?”
This is simply because Tamil nationalism has never accepted that a lasting solution could be arrived at through full devolution within a unitary state. It has always held that a lasting solution is not possible within a state that remains basically unitary. Even moderate Tamil nationalism holds the view that a lasting solution lies somewhere beyond the unitary state; even one endowed with the most generous devolution.
Mr. Sumanthiran’s answer may be that Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed to consider going beyond the 13th amendment. He did, but the distance he was willing to go even in theory was a quantitative, not a qualitative one; it was for a Second Chamber and another look at the concurrent list for the purpose of redistribution of powers between center and periphery. It would not have entailed a referendum. In any event, going quantitatively and incrementally beyond the 13th amendment within a strong Presidential system and explicitly unitary framework is drastically different from going qualitatively beyond the 13th amendment within a system divested of a strong executive Presidency.
Quite apart from the debate on desirability, there is one of feasibility. Any such “lasting solution”, indeed anything beyond the 13th amendment, would require an island-wide referendum. How does the TNA propose to win a referendum for a qualitative shift beyond the 13th amendment? Not even the help of its current political partners in the South would be able to secure such an outcome.
So far, so bad– but it is about to get worse. There is a brand new element in the mix. While the old element remains, namely that the TNA envisages the full implementation of the 13th amendment only as a first step which it intends to push beyond in its striving for a lasting settlement, the new element that arises is the proposed downsizing and downshifting of the executive Presidency. So, while the Tamil nationalists hope to stretch the relationship between center and periphery by means of a settlement beyond the full implementation of 13A, the center itself is about to diminish.
The TNA is not unaware of this. Indeed the TNA presented this as the main reason for its support for the common candidate of the Opposition. Now we have the hitherto un-contradicted Tamilnet report that the abolition of the executive Presidency and its replacement by a parliamentary system of government was agreed upon in 2013 at a meeting in Singapore, organized by a South African peace NGO and attended by, among others, Messrs. Mangala Samaraweera and MA Sumanthiran. The abolition of the executive Presidency was, according to the report, point 4 of the agreement. (‘Singapore Principles of 2013’, TamilNet, January 22, 2015).
The story is prefaced in DBS Jeyaraj.com in the following manner:
‘The “Tamilnet” website long regarded as the mouthpiece of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization has in a news report revealed details of an alleged “understanding” involving among others the current Foreign Affairs minister Mangala Samaraweera and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) national list parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran that was arrived at in Singapore in the year 2013. The “Tamilnet” website claims that the understanding reached in 2013 formulated a conceptual framework on abolishing the executive presidency based on ten basic principles described as the “Singapore principles”.
The news report further states that current Presidential adviser Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, Colombo University Law professor VT Thamilmaran and unnamed representatives of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) along with a lawyer from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress also participated in the conclave. The conference was organized by South Africa and funded by two European countries alleges the “Tamilnet”. Quoting an unnamed participant in the meeting the “TamilNet” says “Mangala Samaraweera came as a ‘beggar’ urging Tamil support for regime change and abolition of the executive presidency. It was 2013.
The Tamilnet report also outlines the ten ‘Singapore principles’ described as “hitherto unrevealed Singapore Principles of 2013” ’. (“Tamilnet Reveals Ten Point Accord for Regime Change and Executive Presidency abolition reached in 2013 at Meeting in Singapore Involving Mangala Samaraweera”, http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/37635)
Mr. Sumanthiran is fully conscious of the relationship between the Executive Presidency and the issue of devolution. In his Sunday Observer interview he states as follows:
“…the Governor is a chief executive officer possessing executive powers. This means that there is no power devolution. The governor is appointed by the President and holds powers during his tenure. The President in the centre nominates him and gives powers and says I have devolved powers. That is no devolution. Practically it is the President who is exercising power through the governor. We want that radically changed so that power is actually given to a body or people who have been elected by the people. So that is the arrangement that we will seek to go beyond the 13 th Amendment and make it meaningful.” (Ibid.)
This brings us to the question–what is the TNA’s real problem with the 13th amendment? Is it the less than full implementation? No, because if that were the case, it would not take the view that full implementation is not a lasting solution. Is it perhaps that the concurrent list is too thick and that the provincial unit should have some of the powers listed therein? Not really because that is not mentioned. The real problem the TNA has is elsewhere—with the role and powers of the Governor, and inter alia, those of the executive president.
What does the existing arrangement as critically described by TNA moderate Sumanthiran mean? It means that the executive Presidency, as that office which rests on the elected consent of a majority of voters on the island taken as a single unit, is the repository of the sovereign power of the citizenry and is the fount from which from which power is devolved to the periphery.
Thus the TNA’s objection is to the fundamental principle that power is devolved to the periphery from a strong center resting upon the broadest possible basis; a presidency that represents the nation as a whole. The TNA’s problem is with the mediatory role of the Governor, who acts as the elevator between the devolved peripheral unit and the presidential apex of the system. The TNA objects to a strong presidency representing the totality of the nation, which is raised above the peripheral unit. The Tamil moderate, Mr. Sumanthiran’s underlying objection is to the very principle that the institution that represents the totality, the whole, should be raised above the part; that the center should be above the periphery and that power should be devolved, i.e. flow downward.
In the TNA’s vision, power should flow from a center outward to the periphery, but not from an apex, downward to the unit. No wonder then that the TNA wants the Executive Presidency abolished. This means that the system is transformed—I would say debauched—from a pyramid to a flat circle, with the parliament at its center. This means the minority parties are able to influence government formation at the center, through coalitions in parliament, as well as push beyond the unitary framework which would have been weakened by the decapitation of the executive presidency and the severance of the “neck” that links the executive head with the devolved peripheral unit, i.e. the Governor.
Who will appoint the Governor under the arrangement the TNA seeks: the Parliament, the Cabinet, the PM, or the enfeebled essentially non-executive President? Or will there be no Governor at all? Or will there only be a ceremonial Governor, representing a largely nominal presidency?
With the TNA intent on moving beyond the full implementation of the 13th amendment, and pushing together with its Southern allies (now in power) for the abolition or radical weakening of the Executive Presidency, what will be the future power relations within Sri Lanka be like, especially between the weaker center and a stronger periphery historically and currently subject to the ideological and politico-strategic pulls and emotional-psychological osmosis from their 70 million co-ethnics across a narrow strip of water, in neighboring Tamil Nadu?
The TNA is strategically very lucid about what it is about. It is pushing for something beyond even the full implementation of the 13th amendment while it has simultaneously advocated and agreed upon the abolition of the Executive Presidency and thereby the radical diminution of the strong center.
The division of labor is clear: the governing Sinhala elite (fronted by a non-elite political leader) weakens the center by dismantling or eroding the centripetal executive Presidency, thereby loosening the systemic ties between center and periphery, while the Tamil elite for its part, presses on far beyond the parameters of the unitary state.