This is not the time to write a new Constitution for Sri Lanka .
Posted on January 12th, 2016

By Charles.S.Perera

To day Sri Lanka is not  socially, politically and economically in a settled state for this Government to decide on  writing a new Constitution.  The Communities are divided as it had never been before, the Tamils are acting as  if they are already a Community apart.  Sampanthan who is critical of the  Sinhala majority, and fights  for the recognition of Tamils as a separate entity  cannot possible be recognised as the leader of the Opposition. In the mean time the Muslims are claiming a separate administration in line with the Tamil Community.

Normally the Opposition in a democratic system is a government in waiting ,  to replace the government in place in case of its defeat in Parliament, or as an alternative at the next Parliamentary election.  Is the opposition with Sampanthan as its leader and Anura Dissanayake the Chief Opposition Whip suitable for an alternative government ?

Bikkhus Ratana ,  Omalpe, (and Late Sobhita) are political monks, who were interested in the  political aspect of the country ,  can they therefore  be expected to look after the interest of Buddhism, because they helped Maitripala Sirisena and Rani Wickramasinghe mess up Sri Lanka?

Under the present government,  Sri Lanka has lost its independence. Whatever the President Maithripala Sirisena says about an existing good governance, the people knows that Sri Lanka is unrecognisably  changed from what it had been before.  There is no governance at all where the people could place their confidence. Sri Lanka is being shaped into a banana State” of  foreign domination for the benefit of USA , the West and India. 

Sri Lanka is not being ruled according to the decisions taken by the Parliament of Sri Lanka, and its government,  but according to the dictates of USA , the West, India and Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein. Ranil and Chandrika are the Agents representing the interests of the USA and the West.

UK is reorganising the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka in the North. India dictates whether Sri Lanka needs fighter planes or not. An agreement signed between Sri Lanka and Pakistan  for the purchase of fighter jets has been turned down by Sri Lanka on a demand made by India :

However, mere days after the deal was reported…. the deal had been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation of the deal is revealing of current diplomatic dynamics in South Asia. According to the Indian Express, the Sri Lankan government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, cancelled its plans to purchase the JF-17s after a diplomatic missive” from New Delhi suggesting that Colombo should refrain from adding these aircraft to its fleet.”

It has already been reported by the Reuters that,  an unidentified  European Investor has agreed to park  US$ one billion to help Sri Lanka  to  sore up forex-reserves and defend its currency.

Is Sri Lanka being sold to foreign interests ?

Security of Sri Lanka has completely broken down,  Maithripala Siriseana acts in his own interest to boost his ego since he has already lost his Presidential  powers to Ranil. He   releases lands for the Tamils, and releases terrorists who had been imprisoned.  He gives into the demands of the Tamil politicians, Wigneshawaran, and the Tamil diaspora for devolution of political power.

Maithripala Sirisena who says that wearing a trouser or a white shirt does not make a gentleman, is not a gentleman himself,  having stabbed his leader on the back to fulfil his political ambition and join a set of politicians completely opposed to the development of Sri Lanka as an independent Sovereign State. Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil and Chandrika are all self seeking individuals, full of personality belief(sakkaya ditti). 

Therefore, they cannot be depended  as patriots who will act in the interest of the country. We cannot depend on them  to preserve Sri Lanka’s Sinhala  Buddhist cultural tradition, which is what is special about Sri Lanka.  It is what which distinguishes Sri Lanka from India, or  a Muslim or a Christian Country.

The existing Constitution had served Sri Lanka through its  most difficult period of time and it should not be shelved in preference to a patch up” Constitution to satisfy the wants of only a selected  group of people of Sri Lanka or USA or the West. At the time JR Jayawardhana wrote the Constitution of 1978, the country was still not divided as it is today and there was at least a semblance of unity amoung the Communities.  The same cannot be said of Sri Lanka under yahapalanaya.

The present government with Sirisena –Ranil and Chandrika at its head has one thing in its mind , which is to make the people of Sri Lanka forget what Sri Lanka was under Mahinda Rajapakse from 2005 to 2015 (a peaceful vibrant  developing country)

It is only a popular government of the people which  could write a new Constitution if  it desires, but the present government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil wickramasinghe, is not a popular government. They have  just  managed to group together self interested,  bought over political individuals from few other political  parties and call themselves a national government. 

President Maithripala Sirisena did  not  get the popular vote of the people of Sri Lanka as a whole. Sirisena  was elected President   because the Tamils  in the North and East, and the Muslims and Catholics elsewhere voted en block for him, and Ranil formed his government after the Parliamentary elections  with the TNA-which got the majority Tamil votes from the North and the East.

Yahapalanaya government of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasingha is not a popular government of the people, therefore this government has no mandate of the people to write a New Constitution to Sri Lanka

The people of Sri Lanka has other hides to beat than think of a new Constitution.  The cost of living is unbearably high, prices of consumable articles have risen beyond the reach of  the people, unemployment is  soaring, there is dissatisfaction in the hearts of the people,  they do not want the Yahapalanaya government any more, but they have no alternative and are therefore forced to put up with it.

Yet Maithripala has overlooked every thing to dump a new Constitution on the people.

A steering Committee has been named by the Prime Minister for the purpose of the preparation of the New Constitution.  The members of the Committee had been selected by Ranil Wickramasinghe- the Prime Minister and they do  not represent the  political view of all sections of the people.  There is doubt about the honesty of the man selected to write the Constitution  Dr. Jayampati Wickramaratne.  Abeyrata.com reported as follows:

Will President’s Counsel Dr.Jayampathi Wickramaratne reveal to the public why he was suspended from Peradeniya University in the final year (1972), just before he could sit for the Bachelor of Science Special Degree in Chemistry?  Wickramaratne is the Presidential Advisor on Constitutional Affairs  and also one of the members of Yahapalana  Sirisena’s much publicized Special Commission to Probe Corruption.”  Apeyrata has reliably unearthed Wickramaratne’s history: he  allegedly has cheated at exams by illegally obtaining question papers.   Report says Finally, he got caught and got suspended”.Wickramaratne has been accused of  conveniently erasing his entire 4 years at Peradeniya from his CV.  After being thrown out of Peradeniya, he went to Law College” the report says.  Did he continue with his cheating ways at Law College too?  Did he buy question papers before the exams?We also ask: Is someone who got suspended from the nation’s highest institution of education for cheating fit to serve on such a commission or even get any type of government position?….” http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/02/28/suspended-exam-cheat-is-on-sirisenas-special-commission-to-probe-corruption/comment-page-1/

If there are even rumours of the honesty of a man selected  to write or be a member of a team to write the Constitution, should he be considered suitable to write the Constitution of Sri Lanka ?

This government has appointed to important places people on whom people cannot place their confidence , such as the Governor of the Central Bank. The Yahapalanay Government falsely accuses the personnel of the previous government of Mahainda Rajapakse, without investigating the offenders on their side.

In the case of the Journalist Eknaligoda, army officers are being taken for questioning, when there are doubts of involvement of even one of the important Ministers of yahapalanaya about a letter written by Ekneligoda to  lankaenews website on 8th December, 2009 exposing the Minister’s private life. Has the FCID investigated  the issue ?

Both the President Sirisena and his Prime Minister RanilW gives much publicity that Sri Lanka which  was sidelined by the International Community , has been brought back into its fold.  Of course the International Community was enemies of Sri Lanka during  the period of terrorism against which the previous President Mahinda Rajapakse was fighting.  

But at what a cost did Maithripala Sirisena, and Ranil Wickramasinghe bring  Sri Lanka back into the fold of the International Community ? 

This is how they did it, first they started pacifying India giving it every thing it demanded, such as distancing Sri Lanka from China, allowing CEPA or ECTA agreement to extend Indian services employment  sector to Sri Lanka, building a tunnel and a road to join Tamil Nadu to North of Sri Lanka, and very thankfully accepting USA and UNHRC Geneva Resolution to set up a hybrid  court with foreign lawyers, judges, and prosecutors to try  the Armed Forces for war crimes.

Under these circumstances, can this Government of Sirisena and Ranil still be trusted to write  a new Constitution to Sri Lanka ?

It was the International Community which discouraged Sri Lanka under President Mahinda Rajapakse from taking a military solution against terrorism, and demanded that the government come to a peace settlement.  If Sri Lanka Government under President Mahind Rajapakse was bootliking the USA and the West, like Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasinghe and accepted the demand of the West, we would  have never been able to eliminate terrorism from Sri Lanka.

Another fallacy the yahapalanaya government and its supporters, are  vociferous about  is the democratic  right the journalists now have under yahpalanaya to write, say or criticise this government without fear of being killed or taken in a  White Van.  But the fact was that   there was neither a white van culture, nor a censure of free speech in Sri Lanka under  President Mahinda Rajapakse, and if there was one it cannot be put as imposed by Mahinda Rajapakse.  

So called democratic freedom to speak  under yahapalanaya is utterly  false.  In the Parliament to-day the real opposition to government is the 53 Parliamentarians led by Dinesh Gunawardhana.  But their right to speech is drastically reduced to about 8 minutes to each.  They are unable to stand up and speak freely about this government’s  undemocratic activities which have affected  the Sovereignty of Sri Lanka.  The Government of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramsinghe has become a Police State, though they keep saying that there is  democratic right to free speech under yahapalanaya government.

It seems even the  speaker of the Parliament is not  free to make an independent ruling in the House ?  It is the Prime Minister who decides for him.  As it is any Constitution written under the aegis of this government of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasinghe will not be a suitable Constitution acceptable to the people of Sri Lanka. Therefore the writing of it has to be stopped.

Ranil Wickramasinge speaking at the ceremony to mark the One year of Yahapalanaya, said …. Parliament will convene tomorrow (9) to prepare a constitution for the creation of a Constitutional Assembly and that good governance will be confirmed from there onwards”. 

He stated that there are those who oppose the proposal being brought tomorrow as well as those who agree with it. I think it is an attitude difference.”

Tomorrow we have to decide whether we change our attitude to go forward in the path of good governance or whether we continue to remain stuck in the same old politics which was rejected by the public, he said. We who have come this far will not give up the fight.” 

But where then is the democratic right of consulting other parties as to the wisdom of writing a Constitution now ?

It is in the interest of Sri Lanka that they- Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasinghe   change attitude  to go forward in the path of good governance”, because with a police force, a bribery commission and a Commission of Presidential Inquiry the country is not free and all those who had contributed to make this country what it was until the 8th January,2015, are being constantly put into embarrassment by being arrested and questioned  on false charges, and the government since 8th January,2015 has not gone one inch forward on the path of progress and development. 

Maithripala Sirisena the President says , if people want to keep the executive presidency because it helped to win the 26 year war, then what it means is that they expect another war.  He has got it all wrong because the threat of  terrorism raising its ugly head again cannot be ruled out under the present climate of the government surrendering all its rights to the North and East, and allowing the Tamil separatists to openly canvass for separation.

Sirisena cannot be assured of the Tamils giving up their demand for separation now, because he has  reduced the military in the North and East and released lands to the Tamils and allowed former terrorists to leave the prison.   C.V.K Sivagnanam the Chairman of the NPC has said in an interview, ….. as citizens of this country we want equal opportunity and on devolution, we should have particular rights to administer ourselves within our North and Eastern territory. Of course there are those who feel that the North and East cannot be merged and certainly they are entitled to say that. We are also on the other hand entitled to say that we want it” .

Sri Lanka  has lost its Sovereignty and has become  a  colony of   USA, the West and  India.

 Ranil said referring to the former Government of President Mahinda Rajapakse ,  as rejected by the public, which is not true as it was only a small population of the Sinhala Buddhists  along with the Sinhala block vote of UNP who voted for the yahapalanay, but the Maithripala Sirisena and UNP was really elected by  the Tamil votes of the North and East and the Muslim votes. 

Therefore, this Government is not a popular government of the people of Sri Lanka. It has no  confidence of the people of Sri Lanka.  Therefore Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasinghe have not the mandated of the people to write a new Constitution to Sri Lanka. They should stop it without adding further to the mess into which they have pushed Sri Lanka.

6 Responses to “This is not the time to write a new Constitution for Sri Lanka .”

  1. PRIYAN WIJEYERATNE Says:

    Well written article and it is full of credible facts!

  2. NeelaMahaYoda Says:

    Even an uneducated village farmer can see what is happening in Sri Lanka now.

    As Suranganee Seneviratne says ‘Corruption’, cronyism, and nepotism and ‘democracy’ have become the war cry of regime change makers even prior to the events that have resulted in deadly consequences in the middle east and elsewhere an ‘Arab Spring’ was sprung upon the people.

    The regime change makers have successfully applied the same strategy In Sri Lanka, and now, a well-structured procedure is in place to destabilise the country first by abolition of executive presidency, which is the primary stumbling block that prevent fragmentation of the country into a number of ethnic based regions’ and then by introduction of a new constitution taking away unitary nature of the country. Sri Lanka President hints a federal Constitution (http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/01/11/sri-lanka-president-hints-a-federal-constitution/)

    Police dictatorial powers are fully guaranteed to prevent any political opposition to this plan which is very conspicuous now with recent incidents happened in Colombo University Students clash, Handling of the Kotadeniyawa child kidnap case and the Ambilipitya youth assassination case by the local police. Police now openly says that, at any time, gathering of more than five people can be considered as Unlawful Assembly even if the persons do not have an illegal purpose or if their meeting will not breach the public peace of the community.(This has been stated by the Police Spokesman in an interview held by a TV Channel)

    Majority Buddhist Sinhala people will have no say until the “Yahapalanaya” politicians dismember the whole country into ethnic enclaves with majority land mass acquired and controlled by the Tamils and Muslims while Sinhalese people are being cramped into the highly populated southern and Western part of Sri Lanka.

    Ranil’s infamous economic policy of “Capitalism without Capital” will force taxation as the primary source of Capital required by the government that will, in turn, inevitably force living standard of the country to go down to the lowest forcing the intellectual capital of the country to be completely destroyed to facilitate foreign investors to exploit the cheap labour of the poor population for ever.

    They have already taken the decision to remove Buddhism and Ceylon History from the school curriculum so that future generation will not have self-esteem and pride in themselves.

  3. Fran Diaz Says:

    NMY has summed it all up very well.

    Yes, Lanka is fast becoming a Fascist ultra-Capitalist state – the worst combination ever. RW/CBK dreamland ! But even to collect huge taxes, successful enterprises are not allowed to exist – e.g. Avant Garde.

    As for Tamil Eelam, they will be ruled by Tamil Nadu and their ‘wonderful’ crowd controlling CASTE SYSTEM !

    No one wins. All will lose their freedoms. There will be no Democracy and no religions/philosophy. Only a Police state. What an achievement by RW/CBK, with an out of depth Prez !

    This is all because the Root Causes of the problems in Lanka have not been addressed.

  4. Lorenzo Says:

    There is only ONE solution.

    Maru Sira is using his powers to destroy SL. Maru Sira has to be removed soon.

    Otherwise we will be crying over SL.

    IF there are no one to do it in SL it has to be OUTSOURCED to a capable foreigner. I can think of a few options.

    According to 19 amendment RUN-NIL can’t be president. Karu J will be acting president for a few months. A new election has to be called. That’s when we can push GOTA to become president.

    That is the ONLY solution.

  5. Fran Diaz Says:

    NYM,

    “A gathering of five people can be considered an unlawful assembly ….” This sounds silly, does it not ? More than 5 people gather in most households in Lanka, 24/7 !! Imagine gatherings in schools, workplaces galore – Yahap sounds
    Sillier by the day.
    ————

    There must be a limit to silliness. Most of it is to cause Fear so that People will cower down in abject fear.

    Yahap : “Oluwa athgala Toku uninawa, or, Bada athagala pihiyen anninawa”. Yahap is a cross between Andare, Kekille Raju & Yama with Pissankotuwa thrown in.

  6. LANKAPUTHRA Says:

    Your absolutely right. Mother Lanka is a colony of USA. who did it? The Muslim OBAMA. Will Obama get a chance to read your article? I have my doubts.

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