By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

The No Confidence Motion against Ranil Wickremasinghe taught a convincing lesson to the Joint Opposition and the people of this country that the present parliament in Sri Lanka is comprised with a bunch of shameless quislings devoid of self respect, political and democratic principles, slavish to pecuniary benefits and enslaved to foreign powers. It convinced that these quislings will blatantly intensify their anti national foreign imposed agenda of fulfilling UNHRC proposals, imposing a new constitution, sale of state properties and natural resources, action against gallant war heroes, and facilitating the hegemonic India, Singapore and the western countries to mercilessly exploit our natural resources and storm our job markets degrading the dignity of our talented professionals causing a severe brain drain.

The other point, the most important point, that was emphasized by this No Confidence Motion debate was that the people of this country will not be able to impede the anti-national schemes of this government through parliamentary procedures and it has to be done only by exercising people’s power, whih was generated by the massive eletion defeat which made the government impotent in majority of the Municipal Council, Urban Council and Pradesgaiya Sabha areas covering almost all the areas of the country except a small pocket in the North at the local government elections held on February 10^th.  Now, the SLPP has firmy established its hold throughout the country completely absorbing the SLFP driven to its abyss and oblivion by bandit queen Chandrika and hoppers-man (aappayaa) Sirisena.

Giving a wide dimension these Councils and the people coming under the areas of these councils can play a greater role to prevent the government enacting anti-national legislations, and signing treacherous agreements.  This can be done by the council members under the guidance of the JO parliamentarians of the relevant districts mustering the people and social service organisatioms to hold unceasing protest demonstrations against such enactments and agreements.  These demonstrations should be held in a careful manner without causing any inconvenience to the people of the area, without interrupting water, electricity, health and other services, transport and education etc., unlike horrendous service interruptions and destruton of state properties carried out by the JVP hooligans in the 88/89 period. Particpation of public servants may also be mustered to hold picketing in front of their work places during the lunch interval.

Cynics may question as to how such demonstrations could affect government activities and how the people could benefit?  The intensitivity of the demonstrations could obstruct enactment of such laws and signing of treachersous agreements.  For instance this method could impede the TNA’s and Indian dream of imposing an immoral, federal and secular constitution and signing of ETCA.  It also will make people oriented about these treacherous laws and make them reject government candidates in the forthcoming elections as well as create an atmosphere inimical for the government Ministers and MPs to visit their respective electorates as it was evident that Chandrika was unable to visit outside certain areas of the Gampahha district and was totally rejected in the South..

Speaking during the No Confidence Motion Debate the treacherous Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera who shamelessly betrayed this country by co-sponsoring the anti Sri Lankan U.S. resolutions even without Cabinet approvals promised to show clear progress in constitutional reforms and transitional justice process within this year.  He also stated that the government would “expedite the process and table the draft Constitutional Bill as early as possible this year”.

The former Sri Lankan Ambassadoe to Cuba and several other states and the former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva Tamara Kumanayaakam in an excellent article to Lankaweb has pointed out It is not Washington, but our own Yahapalana Government that brought this disaster upon the Sri Lankan people. The resolution is binding only because Yahapalana wants it to be binding. Two resolutions abdicating sovereignty, eternal pledges to our detractors to implement, and a plethora of reforms over a three year period would not have been possible without a minimum of complicity between the coalition partners.”

She says that the demands articulated in the US-led resolution are being fast incorporated into the law of the land through a series of radical reforms and the drafting of a new Constitution. Ever since Yahapalana was installed in power in January 2015, she says that there had been a flurry of activity in making, breaking, reforming and amending institutions of State and laws of the land.  While some reforms are known, others are being drafted and negotiated behind closed doors. Many are being hurriedly rushed through without consultation with the people or debate in Parliament, particularly when these violate the country’s Republican Constitution. She adds that the recent anti-Muslim riots provided an ideal opportunity for Yahapalana to rush through the controversial Enforced Disappearances Bill, which obliges Sri Lanka to extradite its own citizens to be tried in foreign courts.

Delving in length about the adverse implications of the resolutions Ms. Kumanayakam points out that by co-sponsoring the resolution and deviously implementing the demands therein, the Yahapalana regime has not only committed the country to wide-ranging reforms, many of them unconstitutional, without a mandate from the people or Parliament, but opened wide the door to its recolonisation.

As a solution to overcome this problem she suggests that under the UN Charter, resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, including subsidiary bodies such as the Human Rights Council are recommendations only and not legally binding on Member States. Numerous resolutions are never ever implemented she point out.  The US, for instance, has never implemented the annual resolutions calling for lifting of its criminal blockade against Cuba, nor has Israel the hundreds of resolutions on Occupied Palestine. The simple solution, therefore, is a technical one:  to ignore the resolution and mobilise the support of Sri Lanka’s natural allies to take Sri Lanka off the Council’s agenda. Concretely, this would mean ensuring there is no resolution against Sri Lanka or one that does not have an operative paragraph requiring the Council to consider the matter at a future session. The problem is that the treacherous government instead of adopting this method suggested by the learned lady will go on to implement the resolutions in its slavishness to the United States.  Compelling the government to immediately abandon the U.S.resolution is another battle that should be hurriedly launched throughout the country by the people’s forces before it is too late.  For further details of Ms. Kumanatakam’s article please visit : http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2018/04/04/sri-lanka-independent-republic-to-vassal-state/

Another important factor that came to light through the no confidence motion was that the terrorist proxy Sambandan was summoned to hegemonic India in the pretext for undergoing a heart surgery and had been promised to make the government to implement the proposed federal and secular constitution before the end of this year in return for TNA’s voting against the No Confidence Motion..  On top of this Indian assurance, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Vanni District MP Selvam Addaikalanathan has said that the UNP leader and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe had accepted ten of its proposals in return for the group’s backing for him to defeat the No Confidence Motion. I wonder how many of the 122 blokes who voted against the NCM and how many of the 26 blokes who abstained from voting know about this treacherous pledge given to TNA by Ranil Wickremasinghe to secure their 16 votes?

The ten poposals that had been acceped by Ranil Wickremasinghe are as follows:

(1) providing a political solution to the North-East problem expeditiously

2) enactment of a new Constitution with a two-thirds majority in Parliament before the next national election

3) ensuring that the military vacates all property belonging to civilians

4) a general amnesty to all political prisoners

5) probing the wartime disappearances

6) protecting of rights of those living in the Northern and Eastern Provinces

7) employment for youth living in the Northern and Eastern provinces

8) ensuring that those who are not resident in the North and the East will not be employed in the two provinces at the expense of eligible candidates there

9) appointing Tamils as Divisional Secretaries of eight Northern and Eastern administrative districts and

10) taking into consideration views of members representing Northern and Eastern Provinces in respect of development projects as well as priority for projects undertaken by the Northern and Eastern Provincial Councils.

Out of the 122 blokes who voted for Ranil nearly 100 are MPs representing rural and majority Sinhala populated areas. Do they know about these assurances that had been given by Ranil and will they be ever able to step into to their electorates with Ranil implementing these proposals? What about the so-called pseudo Sinhala chauvinist Pa. Cha, Ranawaka and commercially motivated rebellious glycophaste Rathana Thero have to say about these assurances?

Forcing the government to immediately abandon these assurances, and publicly proclaim that those assurances will never be implemented is another battle that should be forcibly launched throughout the country by the people’s forces under the leadership of the former President Mr. Mahinda Rajaaksa together with his trusted generals Dnesh Gunnawardene, Vaudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila and Prasanna Ranatunga.  The ideal formula for this purpose is to start well planned foot-walks starting from Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Ratnapura, Kataragama and Kandy to converge at Galle Face Greens in Colombo on a particular day and make publicc declarations by both Sirisena and Ranl that assurances given to TNA will not be implemented.