The Writing Is On The Wall: How Sri Lanka Is To Be Dismantled
Posted on February 15th, 2015
Dayan Jayatilleka
If a woman files a formal complaint or publicly accuses a man of repeated conjugal rape, attempted murder and the serial killing of her children over the years, it is hardly likely that she plans to reconcile with him and remain within the marriage. On the contrary it is a sure sign that she is intent on leaving him and wants the authorities to intervene.
If the charges are untrue, then we would conclude that the woman is wittingly maligning the husband and causing damage to his image and harm to his standing in society, to the maximum extent possible.
So it is with an elected body which passes a resolution claiming historic and recent genocide”. That is not a step taken by any group that wishes to say within a single sovereign state or envisages itself doing so. It is a step on a roadmap to political exit from the state.
To those like my critic and friend Sarath de Alwis who not merely see nothing wrong with Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran’s political behavior and indeed admire him (‘Justice Wigneswaran-Smarter Than The Smart Patriot’), I would commend the opening paragraph of the Editorial of the respected newspaper The Hindu, which summarizes the recent ‘Genocide’ resolution of the Northern Provincial Council and its implications, thus:
‘The Tamil question has been brought centre-stage with the elected council of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province passing a resolution accusing successive governments in Colombo of carrying out genocide against the minority community over six decades. Moved by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in the Provincial Council, the resolution demands that the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights investigate historical” and recent” instances of genocide and submit its report at the session of the Human Rights Council next month. It also asks the UN Security Council to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court. Thirdly, it asks courts in countries with universal jurisdiction over the alleged events and perpetrators, including but not limited to the United States”, to prosecute the crimes. The resolution roundly rejects any domestic investigations.’ (‘Playing Poker in Sri Lanka’, Editorial, The Hindu, Feb 13, 2015).
Mr. de Alwis remonstrates that I have not debated him directly and have not engaged with the points he has made, including the one in which he invokes Immanuel Kant. I plead guilty. Many of Mr. de Alwis’ points are speculative ones about my motivation, evolution etc. while the rest are intellectual digressions. A reply to those would mean venturing into autobiography and the history of ideas. In the words of a movie hero addressing a leading lady, which were often quoted with a chuckle by his former editor and mentor -and my father- Mervyn de Silva, I have both the ability and the inclination, but sad to say, not the time”.
Though the product is assembled from planks of my political and polemical platforms of over twenty years, my urging of a Smart Patriotism centered on a New Nationalism takes place in the context of ‘a clear and present danger’ to the Sri Lankan state, the project of a Sri Lankan nation and the Sinhala community. Dumb patriotism and the old nationalism have lost; have been beaten, and inevitably, perhaps deservedly so. I have already practiced with success, most conspicuously in Geneva, the Smart Patriotism and New Nationalismthat I preach. It has passed the test of competition in the global arena. It is by no means an ethnic chauvinism and I regard a great exemplar of smart patriotism to have been the late Lakshman Kadirgamar. (As for nationalism, readers might recollect that Mr. Kadirgamar thought better of Wimal Weerawansa than of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s CFA, and appeared on the same platform as the former at the Town Hall grounds, addressing an audience in Sinhala, against the Wickremesinghe government).
I refuse to be diverted by my intellectual ego, from the task of warning the nation and fulfilling my duty to my country and the state. Thus I shall not play Mr. de Alwis’ game.
I am not enough of an egoist and far too much of a political scientist, not to connect the dots of what’s happening and discern the bigger picture.
- Step One: As a definitive election analysis by experts proves, Mahinda Rajapaksa gets 58% of the vote of the Sinhalese who comprise 74% of the country’s populace, and only 13% of the vote of the minorities, and loses. Maithripala Sirisena gets 41% of the vote of the Sinhalese and 85% of the vote of the minorities and wins. (‘Deconstructing the Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2015 through Data Analysis’, Dr. Ranjiva Munasinghe and Ruwanthi de Silva, Daily FT, Friday Feb 13, 2015.
This stark, structural asymmetry of both voting pattern and domestic geopolitics would not matter except that quite a high percentage of one of the minorities concerned is represented by the Northern Provincial Council which just accused the Sri Lankan state of historical and recent genocide”, which means that their commitment to Sri Lanka is dubious; questionable. Thus President Maithripala Sirisena’s victory is owed mainly to votes from areas and communities that are quasi-separatist; ambivalent about their commitment to Sri Lanka and have their feet in two places: Sri Lanka and the once and future Tamil Eelam.
- Step Two: The President appoints as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of the UNP, who promptly appoints a Cabinet which is almost totally UNP. Thus a person and a party which have neither won a national election nor demonstrated that they enjoy the confidence of the majority of the House, forms the government. This is unprecedented in a democracy.
- Step Three: A signature appointment by the new Government is that of the Governor of the Central Bank. The post is given to someone who is not a citizen of Sri Lanka (not a dual citizen) and has been for thirty years, right up until his appointment, a top executive of foreign private banks.
- Step Four: The unelected government and an ex-president push a draft of Constitutional reform which will overturn the executive Presidency and replace it with a parliamentary/Prime Ministerial Government, in which the President has to act ALWAYS on the advice of the Prime Minister and can be removed by a two thirds majority of the parliament—which is easily obtainable courtesy funding from the next Raj Rajaratnam who comes down the pike.
As a perceptive piece on the Draft Proposals for Constitutional Reform by political scientist Prof S. I. Keethaponcalan notes:
…These provisions suggest that the government wants to revert to the parliamentary system of governance, which existed in Sri Lanka until 1978…The constitutional changes proposed will transform the president into a ceremonial head…Another noteworthy aspect is the proposed mode of removal of the president from office. According to the present proposals, it will require only a no-confidence motion approved in the national legislature with a two-thirds majority to remove the president. The current constitutional requirement of impeachment will be removed…The very essence of the proposal does not suggest that executive presidency will stay. …The spirit of the present proposal does not suggest that removal of the impeachment provisions is a problem because the executive presidency will not be retained.”
Thus the roadmap and agenda is the weakening of the Sri Lankn state and the dismantling of a strong center. When the presidency is weakened there will emerge a multiplicity of power centers, which when added to the provincial councils, will result in a pluri-centric, weak and centrifugal state. The base and mainstay of the Sri Lankan state, the majority Sinhala community, would have been subject to fissiparation, atomization. They would be divided, so as to be easier to rule. They are already being lobotomized and turned from a proud, successful and martial nation of the last decade, into nation of selfish consumers, individual citizens and spectators.
- Step Five: When the North makes its inevitable push, in line with its strategy of incremental separatism, the Presidency would have been deliberately, consciously enfeebled while a parliamentary government and cabinet resting on Northern political support, will be unable to successfully resist that effort, besides which an economy whose commanding heights are dominated by non-national elements (including the pro-secessionist Diaspora) and whose direction is dependent upon the Western institutions (we’ve already gone to the IMF), will be unable to withstand its impact.
While the usual coalition of Sri Lankan liberal and pseudo-left rootless cosmopolitans” would doubtless denounce my scenario as Sinhala nationalist hysteria or delirium, I wish to draw the readers’ attention to the following paragraphs, not from a Sri Lankan ‘Smart Patriot’ or pro-Mahinda Rajapaksa Sinhala ‘New Nationalist’ but from a well-known Marxist intellectual of Greek-American roots who was close to the Latin American revolutionary Left from the days of President Salvador Allende’s Chile. James Petras, one of my old professors from my Fulbright days at the State University of New York, spelled out the script for Western endorsed secession in the Third World societies in this manner:
…separatist movements follow a step-by-step process, beginning with calls for ‘greater autonomy’ and ‘decentralization’, essentially tactical moves to gain a local political power base, accumulate economic revenues, repress anti-separatist groups and local ethnic/religious, political minorities with ties to the central government… The attempt to forcibly usurp local resources and the ousting of local allies of the central government results in confrontations and conflict with the legitimate power of the central government. It is at this point that external (imperial) support is crucial in mobilizing the mass media to denounce repression of ‘peaceful national movements’ merely ‘exercising their right to self-determination’. Once the imperial mass media propaganda machine touches the noble rhetoric of ‘self-determination’ and ‘autonomy’, ‘decentralization’ and ‘home rule’, the great majority of US and European funded NGOs jump on board, selectively attacking the government’s effort to maintain a stable unified nation-state. In the name of ‘diversity’ and a ‘pluri-ethnic state’, the Western-bankrolled NGOs provide a moralist ideological cover to the pro-imperialist separatists.’
Petras goes on in the same text to caution against federalism, pointing out with concrete examples, that the shift from ‘autonomy’ within a federal state to an ‘independent state’ is based on the aid channeled and administered by the imperial state to the ‘autonomous region’, thus strengthening its ‘de facto’ existence as a separate state”. (Petras James, June 2008, Separatism and Empire Building in the 21st Century, Centre for Research on Globalization, available here )
We in Sri Lanka are now living under a minority government in two senses: a government that does not have a majority of votes or seats in parliament and a President who did not secure the confidence of a majority of voters of the majority community, but won with an overwhelming majority of minority votes.
Anomalous in a democracy, it is turning out to be a government of the (social) minorities, for the (social) minorities, and by the (social) minorities.
Sri Lankan society today is divisible not only between those who regard Mahinda Rajapaksa as a hero and those who regard him a villain, but also between those who regard Mahinda Rajapaksa a villain and Chief Minister Wigneswaran quite an acceptable fellow. Clearly Mr. Sarath de Alwis is not merely in the latter category, but in a sub-category which cheers Chief Minister Wigneswaran while jeering Mahinda Rajapaksa. He is not unique in this. There are those who regard a possible Mahinda Rajapaksa comeback or revival of his political influence as a greater danger than anything that Chief Minister Wigneswaran is liable to do. They would regard an SLFP or a new nationalist formation which is pro-Mahinda Rajapaksa as a greater threat than a restive Northern Provincial Council. I am manifestly not of that category and am proud about it.
I readily admit that though I have the abiding satisfaction of having seen the defeat of the LTTE and Prabhakaran and having fought in the battle of ideas” against that fascist enemy, the side I supported at the recent election—Mahinda Rajapaksa and the patriotic camp–lost, and worse still, the side I opposed in 2001-2003, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s CFA-UNP, has won. Moreover, the causes I have opposed from 1994 seem to be winning or about to win—CBK’s Constitutional Revolution” abolishing the executive presidency, and her federalizing package”. The outstanding contemporary Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek entitled one of his anthologies of essays, ‘In Defence of Lost Causes’. Simply because a cause has been or is lost, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t and isn’t worth fighting for, or indeed that it will not win in the future.
As Fidel Castro pointed out in a speech in December 1986 marking the 30th anniversary of the landing of theGranma on Cuba’s shores and the founding of the Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), winning or losing is no criteria of being politically, historically and morally in the right. He pointed out that the revolutionaries, including Che Guevara could have been wiped out during the Granma landing itself but this wouldn’t have proved them wrong any more than it would have proved their pro-US reactionary enemy right. Fidel concluded that any true revolutionary must have a bit of Don Quixote in him; must have a little craziness.
February 15th, 2015 at 12:47 pm
Is it really so?
We should STOP and THINK before jumping to conclusions.
NO ONE is going to DIVIDE SL. Certainly NOT My3. Executive presidency will REMAIN. Only some powers will be reduced.
Lets wait and see shall we?
February 15th, 2015 at 1:05 pm
DJ !!! LET US NOT FEEL KINKY OVER VITRIOLIC STATEMENTS BY THE TNA THAT SRILANKA WILL CROUCH BY THEIR THREATS. THE LION WILL GRRRROAR WHEN IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. LET THOSE WHO WISH TO BREAK SRI LANKA INTO PIECES, WAIT AND SEE. THEY WILL SURELY BE IN SHIT STREET, PERIOD. THEY HAVE THREATENED THE SINHALA NATION, FROM INSIDE AND OUT. THEY DID THAT FOR 30 LONG YEARS. WHERE DID THEY END UP ? NANDIKADAL FOR SURE. THIS TIME THEY WILL TAKE MUCH MORE TO THEIR LONGED FOR DESTINY. THAT IS ANOTHER LAGOON BIG ENOUGH TO ACCOMODATE THEM.
February 15th, 2015 at 4:43 pm
Sirisena-Modi Talks: Lankans Urge Cautious Approach to Ties With India
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 15 (NIE) COLOMBO- As Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena prepares to have talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday, opinion makers in Lanka have urged him to be cautious in his bid to improve ties with India, even as they endorsed his policy of recognizing India’s pre-eminent position in the South Asian region.
“President Sirisena’s visit must essentially be a goodwill visit. It must be devoid of joint statements which the Indian MEA will draft. They see things with their heads, not their hearts. It is too early for the Sri Lankan government to get into the crux of substantive bilateral issues on such a visit. This can be left to a subsequent visit by the Prime Minister or during a reciprocal visit by the Indian PM to Colombo,” said Sunday Times.
Pointing out that the Indian side will raise the issue of fully implementing the 13 th.Amendment (devolving power to the provinces), the paper said that India should not be allowed to treat the Tamil areas of the North as an Indian “enclave” or “colony”.
Saying that the MEA is “led by southern Indians” the paper urged the Lankan mission in New Delhi to go above them and cultivate the Central political leaders to stop Tamil Nadu trawlers from massively poaching in North Lankan waters.
The paper charged that Indian taxes block the entry of Lankan goods into the Indian market, despite the existence of a Free Trade Agreement. It also pointed out that while India had stated its agenda for the talks, Lanka had not.
Sunday Leader urged India not to push for further devolution of power to the Tamils as that might “create a conflagration”. Ceylon Todayappealed to Delhi not to do anything that might upset Sirisena’s plans to usher in a new order in Lanka.
The Tamils have urged Sirisena to firmly reject the Indian proposal to repatriate 100,000 Lankan refugees from Tamil Nadu.
“There should be no repatriation till all the lands appropriated by the Lankan armed forces are returned to the people,” said Suresh Premachandran, spokesman of Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
February 15th, 2015 at 4:44 pm
Ado Yakko “Facebook” Lorenzo! You say
“We should STOP and THINK before jumping to conclusions.
NO ONE is going to DIVIDE SL. Certainly NOT My3. Executive presidency will REMAIN. Only some powers will be reduced.
Lets wait and see shall we?”
Is that WHY you danced a KOLAM at LankaWeb to UNDERMINE and OUST MR with ALL of your AVATARS in TOW … to STOP the Patriots and THINK for them
TOO?
Aiyooo Sirisena is a WEAK DROHIYA and a HELPLESS CAPTIVE of the Anti-National Forces who Engineered an Electroral Coup-de-Etat to seat him as a
PUPPET in the Presiddency of Sri Lanka.
His ASININE 100 DAY PROGRAM is in TATTERS and FAR BEHIND SCHEDULE; HIS MAJOR PROMISES BROKEN and the Nation’s DEFENSES being FAST DISMANTLED, and
TRAITORS being APPOINTED to the MOST CRITICAl PLACES!
Pray tell me … WHAT IS THERE TO WAIT FURTHER & SEE for Patriots??
Ah, I KNOW … you don’t want ANY OPPOSITION TO BUILD UP & SCUTTLE your BEST LAID PLANS for an EELAM? That WILL HAPPEN …. SOON … DEPEND ON
IT!
BEGONE …. BUGGER OFF …. HYPOCRITICAL EELAMIST SNAKE!
February 15th, 2015 at 4:45 pm
REFORMATTED VERSION:
Ado Yakko “Facebook” Lorenzo! You say
“We should STOP and THINK before jumping to conclusions.
NO ONE is going to DIVIDE SL. Certainly NOT My3. Executive presidency will REMAIN. Only some powers will be reduced.
Lets wait and see shall we?”
Is that WHY you danced a KOLAM at LankaWeb to UNDERMINE and OUST MR with ALL of your AVATARS in TOW … to STOP the Patriots and THINK for them TOO?
Aiyooo Sirisena is a WEAK DROHIYA and a HELPLESS CAPTIVE of the Anti-National Forces who Engineered an Electroral Coup-de-Etat to seat him as a PUPPET in the Presidency of Sri Lanka.
His ASININE 100 DAY PROGRAM is in TATTERS and FAR BEHIND SCHEDULE; HIS MAJOR PROMISES BROKEN and the Nation’s DEFENSES being FAST DISMANTLED, and TRAITORS being APPOINTED to the MOST CRITICAl PLACES!
Pray tell me … WHAT IS THERE TO WAIT FURTHER & SEE for Patriots??
Ah, I KNOW … you don’t want ANY OPPOSITION TO BUILD UP & SCUTTLE your BEST LAID PLANS for an EELAM? That WILL HAPPEN …. SOON … DEPEND ON IT!
BEGONE …. BUGGER OFF …. HYPOCRITICAL EELAMIST SNAKE!
February 15th, 2015 at 4:47 pm
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaa … We WILL HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE for DISARMING our Motherland!
…………………..
Sri Lankan government to release 1,000 acres of lands in the Northern high security zones
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 12, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has decided to release lands extending to 1,000 acres in the Northern high security zones (HSZs) in several stages to civilians.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by President Maithripala Sirisena as the Minister of Defense.
As a first step 220 acres of land in the Valalai Grama Niladhari Division of the Valikamam East Divisional Secretariat Division is to be released to establish a pilot village for the resettlement of 1,022 families displaced by the War. Each family will get 20 perches of land and financial assistance to construct a house.
It has also been proposed to establish a school, a pre-school, a hospital, religious places of worship, community centers and build other infrastructure activities.
The remaining 780 acres of land will also be used in the future to resettle the people displaced by the war.
While a large extent of land from the 11,639 acres were under the control of the security forces during the period of the war, 6,152 acres in the Palaly area is being maintained by the Sri Lanka Army and the Sri Lanka Air Force as an HSZ.
Cabinet has also decided to release the lands under the control of the Sri Lanka Air Force in the Panama area in the Eastern Province to landless people in the area except the land in an extent of 25 acres in which buildings are now being constructed.
February 15th, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaa … We WILL HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE for DISARMING our Motherland & DELIVERING her BOUND HAND & FOOT to her ENEMIES!
……………………………
Northern Provincial Council’s resolution on ‘historic genocide’ echoes in TN
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 12 (Hindu) The resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka seeking a probe into 60 years of ‘genocide’ against Tamils in the island nation found support among some political parties in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.
While the ruling AIADMK had no immediate reaction, the DMK and the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) felt that more time should be given to the new administration of President Maithripala Sirisena to foster ethnic reconciliation.
DMK spokesman T.K.S. Elangovan said the resolution reflected the position that his party had consistently taken ever since the conclusion of the civil war in 2009. However, as a new government had just taken over, some time had to be given to assess its commitment towards resolving the Tamil question.
Coming out strongly in favour of the resolution were the MDMK and the VCK, parties that traditionally espouse the Tamil nationalist line.
Speaking to The Hindu, MDMK general secretary Vaiko said the action of the Northern Province was commendable at a time when governments of both India and Sri Lanka were trying to undermine the investigation by the United Nations into atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan forces against the Tamils.
“I urge the Tamil Nadu government to pass a resolution reiterating what has been sought by the Tamil provincial government. This is a monumental resolution which has clearly established that Tamils have been subjected to genocide for more than six decades,” he said.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chief Thol. Thirumavalavan said the Union government should support the resolution and ensure that the tabling of a status report on Sri Lanka during the U.N. Human Rights Council session in Geneva next month was not postponed.
However, the Tamil Manila Congress took a cautious stand. While favouring punishment for anyone involved in war crimes, party leader B.S. Gnanadesikan said the Sirisena administration had showed some positive signs in taking forward the process of reconciliation. These included the replacement of a military governor for the Northern Province with a civilian and the appointment of a Tamil as Chief Justice of Sri Lankan Supreme Court.
“Nothing should be done that would strengthen the hands of those working against the interests of the Tamil population. This is very important since the parliamentary election in Sri Lanka is due very soon,” he said.
Refugees divided on resolution
Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu are divided on the resolution passed by the Northern Provincial Council.
While one group of refugees says the resolution may have been an outcome of pressure applied by the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora on NPC Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, another group feels that it is a reflection of the sentiments of representatives of the Province.
A long-time refugee, who does not want to be identified, explains that diaspora members living as refugees in Western countries were possibly sensing the possibility of returning to Sri Lanka, an eventuality which they may not like in view of economic considerations. This is in the wake of steps being taken by the new government in Sri Lanka, the refugee says.
However, T. Pathinathan, a Tamil writer and a refugee living in Madurai, feels that the move of the Council deserves to be welcomed. In a democracy, the popular will, as represented by members of the Council, has to be accepted. When the new government is not in favour of any international probe with the continued presence of the army in Tamil-speaking areas, there is every justification for the council to come up with such a resolution.
Kasi Anandan, poet and president of the Centre for Indo-Eelam Tamils Friendship, calls upon the Indian government and other countries to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government and support the “fair and just demand” of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
S.C. Chandrahasan, founder of the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfFER), refused to comment on the development.
February 15th, 2015 at 4:59 pm
An IMPECCABLE, UNDENIABLE CONCLUSION by Dayan Jayatillaka, to wit:
Thus President Maithripala Sirisena’s victory is owed mainly to votes from areas and communities that are quasi-separatist; ambivalent about their commitment to Sri Lanka and have their feet in two places: Sri Lanka and the once and future Tamil Eelam.
Emba Sinhelayeni!
Apey Maubima desha-drohinta pawadena Maithripala Sirisena “Yamapalana” Rajaya April, 2015 athiwana Mahajana Mathiveranayedee untha parajayakata pathkaramu!
Mey deshapremi aramunata oba saama denagey sahaya, apey rata hathurangen beraganeemata, api aradhana karamu!
February 15th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
Yamapalana Sudiya!
Biwwa Neda Yahapalanaya?
Biwwa Neda Yahapalanaya?
Aney Magey Sirisena Paney,
Kiyannako Attha Aney,
Apita Pewwa Neda Yamapalanaya?
Apita Pewwa Neda Yamapalanayaaa ….?
February 15th, 2015 at 5:12 pm
In Addition, there is now a Tamil Chief Justice presiding over the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, READY, ABLE & WILLING to RUBBER STAMP ANY & ALL Proto-Eelam Devolution Proposals placed before him by Ranil’s UNP GOSL.
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaa …. We will HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE for the DISINTEGRATION of OUR MOTHERLAND!
………………………
The FIVE STEPS to EELAM by Dayan Jayatilleka!
Step One: As a definitive election analysis by experts proves, Mahinda Rajapaksa gets 58% of the vote of the Sinhalese who comprise 74% of the country’s populace, and only 13% of the vote of the minorities, and loses. Maithripala Sirisena gets 41% of the vote of the Sinhalese and 85% of the vote of the minorities and wins. (‘Deconstructing the Sri Lanka Presidential Election 2015 through Data Analysis’, Dr. Ranjiva Munasinghe and Ruwanthi de Silva, Daily FT, Friday Feb 13, 2015.
Step Two: The President appoints as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of the UNP, who promptly appoints a Cabinet which is almost totally UNP. Thus a person and a party which have neither won a national election nor demonstrated that they enjoy the confidence of the majority of the House, forms the government. This is unprecedented in a democracy.
Step Three: A signature appointment by the new Government is that of the Governor of the Central Bank. The post is given to someone who is not a citizen of Sri Lanka (not a dual citizen) and has been for thirty years, right up until his appointment, a top executive of foreign private banks.
Step Four: The unelected government and an ex-president push a draft of Constitutional reform which will overturn the executive Presidency and replace it with a parliamentary/Prime Ministerial Government, in which the President has to act ALWAYS on the advice of the Prime Minister and can be removed by a two thirds majority of the parliament—which is easily obtainable courtesy funding from the next Raj Rajaratnam who comes down the pike.
Step Five: When the North makes its inevitable push, in line with its strategy of incremental separatism, the Presidency would have been deliberately, consciously enfeebled while a parliamentary government and cabinet resting on Northern political support, will be unable to successfully resist that effort, besides which an economy whose commanding heights are dominated by non-national elements (including the pro-secessionist Diaspora) and whose direction is dependent upon the Western institutions (we’ve already gone to the IMF), will be unable to withstand its impact.
February 15th, 2015 at 5:28 pm
This POWER TRANSMISSION PROJECT should NOT GO AHEAD!
It will
1. UNDERMINE the DRIVE to DEVELOP Sri Lanka’s own national power generation projects and assist India to FURTHER INCREASE its NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS in Tamil Nadu for sale of that power to Sri Lanka!
2. It will DISCOURAGE EMERGING INVESTMENTS in INDIGENOUS Renewable Power Generation within Sri Lanka, gutting the rapidly increasing demand for solar and wind energy, and the LOCAL HIGH PAYING JOBS they create,
3. It will EXACERBATE Sri Lanka’s BALANCE OF PAYMENTS. Why IMPORT energy when we can generate it from RENEWABLE sources like Solar and Wind in PERPETUITY?
4. It will GIVE India ANOTHER HOLD on Sri Lanka’s ECONOMY and the ABILITY TO HOLD ELECTRICAL POWER AVAILABILITY to RANSOM should Sri Lanka oppose India’s other policies such as support for DEVOLUTION of Power to Eelamists!
Bad IDEA, advanced NO DOUBT by Eelamists seeking to INCREASE India’s FOOTPRINT in Sri Lanka for FUTURE LEVERAGE!
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaaa …. What an ABSOLUTE MUTT you are!
…………………..
Power, Transmission projects to get a push during Modi-Sirisena meet
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 15 (BS) NTPC’s 500 MW coal based power project at Sampur, Trincomalee and PowerGrid Corporation’s over and under-sea transmission line project connecting India and Sri Lanka are expected to get a much needed push during meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.
The power project, which NTPC had proposed in June 2005, entails an investment of Rs 2,000 crore has yet to get various clearances from the Sri Lankan government agencies.
Similarly, the transmission project proposed in 2007-08 to transfer 1,000 MW of power from India to Sri Lanka needs an investment of Rs 3,000 crore. However, both the governments and PowerGrid Corporation and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) have yet to settle various technical and non technical issues before reaching at a formal agreement in this regard.
NTPC spokes person told Business Standard, ”The coal based project is a joint venture between the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and NTPC. Currently, the company has initiated process to get environment clearance from the Sri Lankan government. The public hearing will be held in a months time.” Already NTPC’s team is stationed in Sri Lanka and pursuing the project development.
According to the spokes person, governments of Sri Lanka and India entered into an Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in October 2013 to develop a coal power plant in Trincomalee as a joint venture between CEB and NTPC. The initial plant capacity will be 500 MW which can be extended up to 1000 MW. Further, power from the Sampur plant could be exported to India, as part of an interconnected grid.
As far as PowerGrid Corporation’s transmission project is concerned, 300 km of overhead transmission line has been proposed between Anuradhapur in Sri Lanka and Madurai 300 km. This apart, there will be marine link of 1,700 km.
PowerGrid Corporation official said, ”Technical and financial issues are being discussed between PowerGrid Corporation and CEB. Besides, there are religious place at the connecting centres and the local community needs to be taken on board. Two high voltage, direct current (HVDC) terminal stations are to be set up at the two ends of the link, connected to Sri Lanka’s national power grid. ”
Meanwhile, Neelam Deo, former diplomat and director, Gateway House, a foreign policy think tank said traditionally, India and Sri Lanka have shared close relations.President Sirisena’s visit from 15-18 February will contribute positively to the bilateral and expand opportunities for economic engagement.
”India has investments worth over $1 billion in Sri Lanka, and trade between the two countries stands at $5 billion. India will need to strike a difficult and delicate balance between its economic interests and the need to emphasize the concerns of the Sri Lankan Tamils. India must advance pending projects with Sri Lanka, particularly the $270 million project to build housing units in the North and a 500-megawatt coal power plant in the Eastern province,” she noted.
February 15th, 2015 at 6:00 pm
Dayan Jayatilleke is absolutely right on all issues he has written. 1. Susantha Wijesinghe, first answer the question why we should not feel KINKY? Dayan Jay explains it well. Did you read the full article? Who pays you KAPPAN for Dis-Information?
2. Ananda-USA thanks for taking on the dis-information Writers.
February 15th, 2015 at 6:06 pm
Aiyoooo Sirisenaaaa … What ARE YOU DOING to OUR MOTHERLAND?
We will HOLD YOU PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for the DISINTEGRATION of our Motherland!
…………………..
Sri Lanka Tamil party seeks New Delhi’s help to push for the implementation of the 13th Amendment
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 14, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s major Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is seeking New Delhi to push the new government to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Senior Tamil Leader, TNA MP R. Sampanthan has said that New Delhi must continue pushing Colombo towards the implementation of the 13th Amendment.
Sampanthan, speaking exclusively to The Hindu on Friday said that he wished both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena well for “successful talks” in New Delhi.
Observing that the northern Tamils had made “a substantial contribution for regime change”, Sampanthan has said they looked upon President Sirisena, “who is not extremist or nationalist in thinking” to bring about some “radical changes.”
The political solution that the TNA contemplates is within the framework of a “united, undivided Sri Lanka”, Sampanthan has noted.
The TNA MP after decades attended the country’s Independence Day ceremony on February 4, a gesture that drew strong criticism from some within his party. New Delhi should continue engaging with Colombo constructively, he has said.
President Sirisena is scheduled to leave for India on Sunday on his first State visit after assuming office on January 9. The TNA supported Sirisena in the presidential elections, in a rare convergence of diverse political forces, including Sinhala-nationalist and Muslim parties.
February 15th, 2015 at 6:11 pm
LANKAPUTHRA,
Thank for the support. It helps to know that I am not alone, because I hate what I HAVE to do; it goes against my basic personality. But, my Love of my Motherland COMPELS me as it has other Sons of Lanka throughout our history.
February 15th, 2015 at 7:23 pm
Well done Ananda. Love your work. Brilliantly done as always. Thanks for exposing the traitors.
February 15th, 2015 at 10:55 pm
As Dayan says, dismantling is in the cards. Hopefully, the country has been educated into the wiles and ways of politics during this election as during no other, or rather we dare to hope.
Democracy has been turned on its head and as in the old “anna hora” story, lots of finger pointing and harassment through CID questioning etc while they are busy with some looting themselves. Parsky is back in town….what happened to the monies he took off with?
Hopefully what is happening in the Ukraine will not descend on us when IMF moneybags arrive here…
Read story at this link…
Michael Hudson: Has the IMF Annexed Ukraine?
Video & Transcript
Michael Hudson makes clear that the loan to Ukraine is wildly out of line with IMF rules, making it painfully obvious that this “rescue” is all about propping up the government so it can continue to wage war rather than economic development.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41004.htm
February 17th, 2015 at 10:50 am
(Quote) Step Two: “The President appoints as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of the UNP, who promptly appoints a Cabinet which is almost totally UNP. Thus a person and a party, which have neither won a national election nor demonstrated that they enjoy the confidence of the majority of the House, forms the government. This is unprecedented in a democracy.”
This is what I call a constitutional coup d’état that wouldn’t be possible without the help of parliamentarians of the SLFP. So the coup had begun much earlier than we can think. It is sad that MR and his supporters never had a clue of what was going on behind the scene. India and the western embassies have executed it in complete secrecy.
(Quote) Step Three: “A signature appointment by the new Government is that of the Governor of the Central Bank. The post is given to someone who is not a citizen of Sri Lanka (not a dual citizen) and has been for thirty years, right up until his appointment, a top executive of foreign private banks.”
Appointing foreign minister, finance minister, secretary of finance and the governor of central bank must have been part of the deal of west and My3s. This is the same trap that was laid when MR came into power in the second term. The trap has its tentacles not only in political arena, but also in economics. So the obvious result we can expect in the near future is the repetition of Greek scenario in Sri Lanka.
(Quote) Step Four: “The unelected government and an ex-president push a draft of Constitutional reform which will overturn the executive Presidency and replace it with a parliamentary/Prime Ministerial Government, in which the President has to act ALWAYS on the advice of the Prime Minister and can be removed by a two thirds majority of the parliament—which is easily obtainable courtesy funding from the next Raj Rajaratnam who comes down the pike.”
Buying representatives in cabinets of countries and parliaments has been used everywhere in the world by neo-liberal forces. Raj Rajaratnem can be the face but he is only the tip of a massive iceberg of financial institutions run the world.
However sad part is that all these things can get done entirely by traitorous locals. That is the miserable situation you have to live in when you are living in a postcolonial society. You have to live in the midst of so many soulless bastards. Many of them are now in parliament.