Why don’t the whole nation rises up and force the Government to scrap these 9 Piggeries called Provincial Councils at least now before everything run out of control
Posted on May 27th, 2016
Dr Sudath Gunasekara 26.5.2016
When one watches the behavior of the Chief Ministers of most PCC like EP and NP by what better name you can call these ‘Monkey cages’
Why don’t the whole nation rises up in one voice against these white elephants to scrap these 9 Pigsties called Provincial Councils packed with the worst scum on earth, infested with thugs, rogues, pimps and uneducated, uncivilized idiots who do nothing other than carrying firewood and water, providing props for their party leaders in Colombo and robbing and ruining the whole country. This is the curse and the atom bomb planted by India to destroy this country in 1987. Where are those politicians who demonstrated against it then in Petta. Unfortunately we didn’t have a single statesman for the past 30 years who could understand the imminent danger behind this conspiracy by India. We also don’t have patriotic legal luminaries like my good friends Raja Wanasundara and S.L. Gunasekara to take the leadership in the legal front to fight this battle.
The nine Provincial councils, an infested deadly appendix in our body politic is taking the nation down the gadarene slope for a no return situation. Of the nine Councils the NP C and the EPC are only fighting for two things. That is to consolidate the political power of its politicians and to brake away from the Sri Lankan State and establish their own communal territories. While the Tamils want both North and East Muslims want the East. But the Muslims lead by Hakeem and others strategically support the Tamils, on the pretext that they are one in Tamil speaking, with the tacit hope to get the East for themselves later. In all other 7 Provinces the incumbent politicians wants only to enjoy the luxuries of this windfall for which they have to serve their masters in Colombo. The only job they have to do in return is to attend weddings, pinkamas, funerals. Coming of age ceremonies, school prize givings, opening roads, culverts and buildings etc constructed with public funds, either by themselves or their commission agents as if they are done with their own money and above all collect votes for the party and take people for their party meetings in Colombo. On the other hand they do nothing for the development of the country. Day to day administration in the Districts is still done through the Kachcheries, though not efficiently as it was in the olden days. The only thing the PC do in this area is disorganizing, duplicating and creating confusion in the districts for which the Government spent billions of tax payers money annually just to keep this corrupt and wasteful useless system going. You just take a list of Governors and Chief Ministers and look at their past records, background, education, character and behavior and what not. They symbolize the whole system.
The question I ask is as to why we maintain a corrupt and useless system like at the expense of tax payers when we can run the country more efficiently, economically and honestly with better and lesser people by doing away with about 700 scum politicians who not only rape our girls but the whole nation leaving no room for any foreseeable redemption.
This why I suggest that we scrap the very Provinces, created by the British to divide and rule, and the Provincial Councils the bane and curse of the nation and go back to the time tested indigenous and unique Tun Sinhale which formed the solid corner stone of the political system of this country from 427 BC to 1815
The following article I had written long time ago shows the alternative to this disastrous Provincial curse. I am reproducing it for the benefit of those who may not have seen it in 2012 and who are looking for a better model to replace the deadly virus that is Provincial Councils.
Home grown Tun Sinhale in place of Externally imposed disastrous Provincial Councils?
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2012/11/01/home-grown-tun-sinhale-in-place-of-externally-imposed-disastrous-provincial-councils/
Posted on November 1st, 2012
Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS) Former Permanent Secretary and President Senior Citizens Movement Mahanuwara. 24.10.2012.
3 Rata Sabhas (Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya) with 3 Governors and 3 Chief Ministers and 150 Ratasabha members, Instead of 9 Governors and 9 Chief Ministers, and 638 parasitic Provincial Councilors ?
And saving nearly Rs 600 Billion a year for the development of the country,
Currently wasted just to upkeep Provincial Councilors, their kith and kin and this monstrous and wasteful system (absolutely no benefit to the country) that take the country and the nation down the Gadarene slope for total disaster?
Many readers of my articles on Tun-Sinhale proposal- have requested me to show the proposed Tun Rata” Divisions on a map and the details of the proposed machinery of governance I propose to replace the present 9 Provincial Councils. I am herewith attaching a map showing the Tun Rata and the 27 Administrative Districts suggested along with other details.
Tun-Sinhale- The world’s oldest and most appropriate Political Division
The moment I say Tun Sinhale, the Tamil and Muslim communal politicians will cry Sinhala chauvinism and Sinhala Buddhist extremism. But I must emphatically say that their assertion is absolutely baseless. Because there is evidence to prove that the word Sinhale had been used to designate this Island even long before the arrival of Vijaya and it has nothing to do with the Sinhala ethnicity as against Tamil or Muslim ethnicity. This country has been known by three names from very ancient times, namely Lanka, Sinhale and Tambapanni and the people who inhabited it were known as Lankans or Sinhalese.
From times immemorial it treated the whole country and its territorial waters as one State ruled by a King, with a strong government at the centre supported by three semi-independent regional political entities. Thereby simultaneously it preserved both the territorial integrity of the Island nation and the regional identities of each region of the Island. It took in to account regional variations in both physical and cultural factors. It is also important to note that the early rulers of this Island were obviously fully aware of the vertically arranged resource dependency, in addition to regional cultural variations, between the different altitudinal zones of the country and also the inseparable relationship between natural environment and development, which the present generation of politicians and administrators has miserably failed to comprehend. That is why the ancient people perhaps guaranteed that each Rata extends from the high hills up to the very sea thereby ensuring integrated and balanced development. Each of these Ratas also had its own physical and cultural individuality that warranted separate treatment. The boundaries between these Ratas were also natural and fixed on the ground and as such there was no room for boundary disputes either.
Tun Sinhale is the world’s oldest political division in the world. It had been permanently marked on ground in 427 BC by King Pandukabhaya with village boundaries laid all over the Island, though the divisions had been conventionally accepted for millennia even before. The 427 political division of the Island , consolidated in the latter part of Anuradhapura period, continued for 2242 years up to 1815 AD as the three political Divisions of this Island with minor changes in size and boundaries, with the latest political division, from 1505 to 1815, as the Kandyan Kingdom and the Maritime Provinces identified with the advent of the Europeans.
Ancient Snskrit writings and works such as Puranas have used the word Lanka and Sinhale to refer to this Island. Lanka denotes beauty or serendipity. It also connotes the meaning centre. Harhsadeva wrote…”raman teshyamiti Lanka.” Thus according to Harshadeva it was called Lanka owing to its beauty. Vahnipuranaya also compared it with the Amarawathi of Sakka full of all wealth and happiness. It also says Yakkas are the chief inhabitants of this Island. Terms like Serendib, Ojadeepa, Waradeepa (The noble Island) also mean more or less the same thing. On the other hand Lanka also means the centre. For example ancient Indian astrologers wrote Lankiyati Bhumadye ankiyatiti Lanka” which means it is so called as it is situated at the center of the earth. Among other writings that support this notion are Garudapuranaya, Bhagawath Champu Ramayanaya and Magha Ramayanaya. Garudapuranaya and Jotistathvaya have used the word Sinhala. These sources referring to the people on the Island had said thath dviipavasin Sihalan”- those who live on that Island are Sihala. Terms like Zyilan, Ceilan, Ceilo Ceylon, Salike, Silan, Siladib, Silan, Singaldib and even Ilam (in Tamil) are all derived from this name. All this means the land of the Sinhala people.
This I think is irrefutable evidence to say that this country had been known both as Lanka and Sinhale long before the arrival of legendary Vijaya in 543 BC and also to prove that all the people who lived here were called Lankans or Sinhala. Thus from time immemorial this land had been known as the Land of the Sinhala people and Lankans. Lastly the term Taprobane in Ptolemy’s work owes its origin to Tambapanni. The word Tambapanni had been used in Garudapuranaya and also in Valahassa Jatakaya.
Tun Sinhale is therefore not a new concept or a new proposal either. In fact this political division goes far back in to antiquity to about 5000 BC. According to Utarakanda of Ramayanaya the first wave of immigrants who belonged to the Yaksha tribe came to Lanka from north-west India. They were supposed to be a group of people who left Mohenjodaro (5000 BC) due to Aryan invasions. Malyawantha, Sumali and Mali, the three sons of Sukesh a Yaksha tribal leader, were the first three rulers who consolidated their power in Lanka. Malyawantha the eldest ruled as the king over the Pihitirata with his capital at Lankanpura. Sumali ruled over Ruhunu Rata as a sub-king with his capital at Mahiyangana or Nagadeepa and Mali ruled as a sub king over Mayarata Rata with his capital at Tambapanni may be under different names. This geopolitical division of the Island got permanently established on ground from 427 BC with Pandukabhaya marking the village boundaries over the whole Island and it continued up to 1815 AD in one form or the other.
This is how Mahavamsa records this episode.
”Dasavassabhisitto so gamasiima nivesayi Lakadeepamhi sakale Lankindo Panukabhayo’ (MV.X.103). King Pandukabhaya attained the throne in 432 BC.
Therefore this could be considered as the oldest geopolitical division in the world. This idea also tallies with the notion that the first Democratically elected King” (Mahasammata) Manu was sworn in, in Lanka with his capital at present Mannarama. The Yaksha tribe was later joined by others like Raksha, Deva and Naga, together who formed the Sivhela which was subsequently became Sinhala. Heladiva appears to be older than both Lanka and Sinhale It comes from haleo-Sun. In this sense Heladiva means the Land of the Sun. Siv+Hela means the four tribes of the Sun Island. Probably after the arrival of Vijaya-a Prince of the Sinha clan from India they would have adopted the word Sivhela which later became Sinhale-meaning the land of the Sinhala people.
It is within this geopolitical framework (Tun Sinhale) we reached the zenith of civilization in the post 427 BC period with fame that spread in all corners of the orient as well as the occident. The destinies of this Island nation have been shaped during the twenty-four centuries prior to 1815 within this geopolitical framework. I do not think any other country in the world can boast of such unbroken political continuity or stability within one single political map. As such arguably it is a time tested geopolitical division and therefore today, under the present situation too, it presents the ideal model of geopolitical division for the country for effective, sustainable and just governance.
Under this system, even though persons belonging to different ethnic groups were resident in different parts of the Island throughout history, the whole country was treated as one Kingdom and one nation with three political Sub-Divisions, which were called Ratas. The country was known as The Sinhale” or Lanka. Those who came to the Island from time to time as traders (especially Arabs) and descendants of invaders and captives (South India) got permanently acclimatized and absorbed in to the local socio-cultural milieu as Lankans or Sinhalese.
This was the position up to the 2nd March 1815. The Rajarata continued to be the main seat of power almost four 20 centuries until it was shifted to Gampola in the mid-14th century. The King of Anuradhapura was usually acclaimed as the King of Lanka. While he directly ruled Rajarata, the viceroys or sometimes Regional Kings who swore allegiance to the King of Anuradhapura and paid their dues as well ruled over the other two. Under this system Sri Lanka was one Kingdom and one nation with maximum devolution of power to the Sub-Kingdoms, as they were known then. For those who cry for a federal system of government for this country this could be cited as one of the earliest examples of a federal state” known in the world. So why not adopt it now.
The Best Devolution Model for Sri Lanka
It is in this backdrop the following proposal is made with the best of intentions with a view to rescuing the country from this tragic situation by bringing all communities together as one nation. In order to achieve this noble goal, it is suggested that we go back to the re-establishment of the ancient Thri-Sinhale with boundaries as shown in this map. This division will ensure equitable distribution of resources among the three units (land, water, coast line and even people), restore ethnic integration and firmly establish a permanent geopolitical framework that will once and for all put an end to the present political crisis and lay the foundation for re-building a strong and vibrant nation state.
This, I am confident will provide the golden key to the portals of a prosperous and peaceful future Sri Lanka.
Tun-Sinhale
Under this proposal the Island will be divided in to three regions called Rata, namely, Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya. Each Rata will have nine districts. There will be a Rata Sabha for each Rata headed by a Governor appointed by the President of the country. The Administrative Capital of the country could be located in Mahanuwara on a ground carved out from the three Ratas with the present Mahanuwara city as the nucleus. Mahanuwara Division could be taken as the 28th District. But it will be independent from the other 3 Ratas. However this District will also have its representation in the National Assembly. The number of representatives assigned to this district will be 6. It will also have one senator. Three members will represent this district in the 3 Rata Sabha. This arrangement will strengthen the inter-state relationships. Each Rata Sabha will have a council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister and it will have bout 50 MPP elected by the people to represent the districts. (This can vary).
The Executive Presidential system could be abolished under this system, if the people wish to do so. An Elected Prime Minister shall be the head of the Cabinet and a Cabinet of Ministers not exceeding 15-will advise and assist him. It is proposed that the three Chief Ministers of the three Rata Sabhas should also be included in the national Cabinet as Ministers without portfolios of the central government to ensure better coordination between the center and the Rata Sabhas. The Parliament shall not have more than 125 MPP to represent the 28 districts. Provision could be made within this system to accommodate representation in respect of minor ethnic groups. The Commissioner of Elections to determine the allocation of seats for different districts based on population and area. The Parliament of Sri Lanka should be vested with the supreme power of governing the whole country. Devolution of power to Rata Sabha should be confined only to running their local affairs.
No one should be immune under the law of the country. Everybody should be equal before the law like any other citizen.
In addition to the House of Representatives and the three Rata Sabhas there shall also be a Senate of 31 members, 28 representing the 28 Districts and 3 to be nominated by the Head of the State represent the 3 Rata Sabha in order to enlist the services of the best talented men in the country to run the affairs of State. This will make the total number of politicians 310 for the whole country instead of nearly 900 at present. This 310 will include The President, The Prime Minister, and 14 Cabinet Ministers, including the 3 Chief Ministers, Rata Sabha Ministers, MPP of Parliament, Rata Sabha Members, three Governors and the 31 Senators. Drastic reduction of politicians and superfluous political and administrative institutions in this country is a crying need to reduce waste and cost of governance. It is important to note here that even the United Kingdom has decided to reduce the strength of its Parliament by 100 members.
At present there are 225 Members of Parliament, 109 Ministers of the Central Government (as at today), 638 Provincial councilors, 9 Governors, 9 Chief Ministers, 882 politicians.(Add Pradesiya Sabha members here ).Under the new proposal this will be brought down to 310 as stated before, and as such there will be a reduction of 572 politicians. These 572 parasitic politicians thereafter could engage in some productive work that will benefit the country. This will reduce the maintenance cost of politicians at least by 65 %. One can just imagine the amount of money that could be saved as a result. Pradesiya Sabha Members and Members of other local bodies like Municipal councils and urban councils who will be retained in any case, even under the new system are not counted in this context.
This of cause is only an outline proposal. Details of the demarcation of boundaries and the modus operandi of the system have to be worked out in the event of this proposal being accepted by the authorities. The most important thing here is the acceptance of the concept of the Tun Rata Division in principle in place of the existing disastrous Provincial system as the best solution to unite all Sri Lankans as one nation. It also entails a new Constitution that should be based on the indigenous traditions, customs, values and governing patterns where rulers, statesmen and public servants of the Dharmasokian tradition will be enthroned in the seats of power.
The proposed model will benefit the country in the following manner.
The proposal will,
- Firmly establish a sound geopolitical framework that will consolidate the political map of the Island that conforms to regional physical and cultural differences and lay the foundation for re-building a strong and vibrant nation state.
- Provide a framework for maximum devolution of political power to the periphery that will bring about better democracy to the people and ensure balanced development.
- Stop ethnic segregation and promote ethnic and regional harmony that leads to national integration. It will also put an end to all agitations for separate and independent Tamil and Muslim political entities and induce them to think and behave as full citizens of this country without allegiance to India, Arab or any other country.
- Do away with the Provincial Council white elephant and reduce the number of politicians and superficial politico-administrative institutions and so-called public servants to a workable and economic minimum that suits the country, thereby saving billions wasted at present to maintain a ceremonial, corrupt and wasteful system.
- Drastically cut down the Government expenditure and make available more funds for national development that will improve the standards of living of the common people.
- Put an end to colonial administrative and political legacies that nurtured ethnic polarization and a divide and rule policy that seriously hampered the forward march of the post-independent Sri Lanka and open up new vistas for a united and prosperous new Lanka.
- Ensure fair and equitable distribution of resources among the regions and promote maximum regional development.
- Provides a political framework where all people will begin to think firstly, as members of a Rata (either Ruhunu, Pihiti or Maya), and secondly, as one nation instead of the present tendency of thinking as Sinhalese (Low country and Kandyans), Tamils or Muslims etc.
- Restore the lost core historical, political, cultural and economic heritage of the people of this Island nation and lay the foundation for future political stability and socio-economic prosperity.
10 Put an end to the curse of provinces that were designed by the British to divide this country on ethnic grounds and the Provincial Councils forced on us by India to achieve its sinister objective of creating a Tamilnadu within this country.
May 26th, 2016 at 7:28 am
Those Battaramullo are uneducated,ignorant and bloody cunning paaharayos including all those party leaders. They are paracites, blood suckers, womanisers, kudu mudalalis vertually useless a… holes. Born to rob the nation. Anything and everything they want free including sex. Bloody hell exterminate these paracites. Over and above all these Rana wants two luxury and free cars per a dog plus Rs20000 per sitting dumb in addition to the bloody allowances. Pigs, bloody shameless BATTARAMULLO. Punch the Ba.t.r.ds thice a day.
May 26th, 2016 at 8:06 am
MATTAYOS and DRAWIDAYOS have ganged up to bash SINHALAYOS. My Lanka needs a man like Malaysia’s Mhathir who introduced the BHOOMI PUTRA LAW. I call MR a con artist. MR please leave us alone. You will never become the President or the Prime Minister again. CM? May be. Can you please do us a favor: retire gracefully with you synthetic sons.
May 26th, 2016 at 10:45 am
Sudath,
On what basis the Rata Sabha boundaries are demarcated?
I think we could go with the ancient system by adjusting it to fit with new ecological concerns. For example, how does the Kelani Ganga Basin divided under your system?
Meeting with modern local and world geopolitics a better system is what was first proposed by Prof. Madduma Bandara in the 1990s and presented by me to the LLRC with an implementation strategy to meet current messy political corruption challenges in the island.
Any solution has to start from the village level and for this GSN divisions must be re-demarcated using ecology as the basis. This way the present 14,000 GSNs will be reduced and each new unit will have a people’s committee selected on non-political party basis.
Once this new units are demarcated they could be agglomerated to create 7 River Basin Regions. Your Tun Sinhale will have these basins. Your Rata Sabha will consist of these GSN units.
I request you to go to the link below and read details. I stopped writing on this subject after years of labor. Once MahindaR was willing to work on this but Basil and LalithR sabotaged it. Todat MR and the country bot are on logs (kota uda)
http://harimaga.blogspot.com/
You, Siv Sinhala, Ravaya, BBS, Nalin de Silva, Gunadasa Amarasekera etc. etc. who are living in SL should get together under on umbrella and take this idea to villages, with a booklet with maps and facts.
There will be thousands like us abroad who will help if writing is followed by some practical action.
Remember this Lankaweb is the only outlet we have for this kind of ideas and how many in SL can read it?
Awaiting a reply from you. cwije7@gmail.com
May 26th, 2016 at 5:02 pm
Friends,
Regarding the Patriotic Real Estate Company Proposal that I had floated, I have an earth-shattering announcement to make!
As you may know, in response to expressions of interest from about six of you in joining that effort, I created a password-protected blogsite called PatrioticSriLankanInvestors.blogspot.com and asked those interested to send an email message to me at PatrioticSriLankanInvestors@gmail.com requesting a password to be sent to them. We were going to discuss and plan how to proceed to implement the idea at this site.
After 10 days of waiting for your responses, I am ready to PROUDLY ANNOUNCE the result: IT WAS A MONUMENTAL FAILURE; NO ONE …. ZERO, ZILCH, NADA …. responded!
As such, I will NOW ABORT the PROJECT before it is BORN at the end of this month of May, 2016.
While thanking those who supported the idea in principle, I have MIXED emotions of both DISAPPOINTMENT and GREAT RELIEF about this RESULT.
Thank you all for your very kind attention.
May 26th, 2016 at 6:30 pm
First it was NPC governor and now it is EPC governor acting as if they already got their separate states. This is what happens when we have a puppet president and a puppet PM as they have to please these scum as the government came to power with the help of Tamil diaspora and their Indian and western backers.
Mahinda must take most of the blame for this current situation for his lack of vision and judgement and trying to please the Tamils and the Indians by not repealing the 13th amendment and banning all the race based political parties. As soon as he won the war, he should have had a referendum to scrap the 13th amendment and ban the Tamil and Muslim political parties. No other civilised states encourage religious and ethnic political parties.
This is a good lesson for all our politicians, You can never ever please the Tamils and Muslims unless you give them the whole country.
May 26th, 2016 at 6:32 pm
This is the first time I came to know about PREC proposal by Ananda-USA!!! What was it?
May 26th, 2016 at 6:37 pm
You are worsening the situation by the Tun Rata system.
Ethnic percentage of Sinhalese can be estimated of the Tun Rata as follows.
Maya – 85%, Pihiti – 51% and Ruhunu – 58%.
This means Pihiti and Ruhunu will go to Tamils/Muslims. Tamils and Muslims vote as a block vote to TNA/CWC and SLMC respectively whereas Sinhalese are divided. That will make sure Pihiti will have a massive Tamil control and Ruhunu will also have a Tamil/Muslim controlling majority.
At the moment Tamils and Muslims have only 2/9 provinces. Under Tun Rata, they will have 3 times more. They will have 2/3 of Ratas.
In comparison, at the moment, except for north, east and central, all other provinces have more than 81% Sinhala majority which is healthy. Central province has only 66%. In your proposal, even strategically important Ruhunu will have less than that (58%).
It is completely unacceptable. It worked in the past when there were no Tamils or Muslims in Ruhunu rata and a very small Tamil population (if at all) lived in Pihiti Rata while a large Sinhala population lived in Pihiti Rata. Maya Rata was Sinhala only. This is not the case today.
Some have proposed a District system, which is also detrimental to Sinhalese than provinces. Under a district system, Sinhalese will lose all the districts in the north and east (as now). In addition, they will also lose Nuwara Eliya and Puttlam districts too! Although Puttlam district has a Sinhala majority, it has a Buddhist minority (43%). As Christians tend to join minorities at elections, Puttlam will be lost to Buddhists.
The best solution is to abrogate 13A.
If not, it is better to introduce the Indian federal model with existing provinces to start with. A special arrangement is needed for upcountry. At least 300,000 Tamils must be displaced from the upcountry to Vanni or Batticaloa due to catchment area pollution and misuse, illegal migration and land reclamation by rightful Kandyan peasantry. This will raise Central Province Sinhala percentage to a healthy 75%. Unprofitability of the tea industry, floods and drought also support this case. It can also prevent Indianisation of the upcountry.
Loss percentage to Sinhalese in terms of territory under province, district and Tun Rata systems are 37%, 45% and 67% respectively. Province is still the best unit (if at all demarcations are needed).
May 26th, 2016 at 7:37 pm
Wije, appreciate your more pragmatic approach. However, that too will not resolve the political side of things. Based on 2012 census and my allocation of DS divisions into your map (unless you provide me a list of DS divisions coming under each unit), the following are the Sinhala percentage estimates.
Wanni – 3%
Deegavapi – 34%
(These two will be outright lost to us as now).
Dambadeni -86%
Kelani – 85%
Rajarata – 77%
Ruhuna – 95%
Mahaweli – 67%
Ethnic composition of Mahaweli is worrying. It will be similar to the Central Province at the moment. It will have enormous Tamil and Muslim clout. Higher upstream and lower downstream will be Tamils trapping Sinhalese midstream. Since Mahaweli is the most important river flowing through some strategically crucial cross sections of the country, this model is unacceptable.
Overall Sinhalese will have outright control of only 4 out of 7 units which is 57%. This is lower than the province based clout of 67%. Therefore, province is still the best demarcation.
GSN divisions without any other units are a very good suggestion. Don’t mix it with river basins. The two are contradictory.
May 26th, 2016 at 9:16 pm
Each of the above proposals can only be considered based on ONE assumption. That is Battara Mullas want to do something for the country than to themselves.
Therefore, at the moment THER IS NO HOPE of doing ANYTHING that will get rid of Palaath Sabha ( the main obstacle to that is MR+JO group). When they realise they cannot survive anymore, then we can discuss this again.
Dr. Sudth, Prof. C,Wije please study how Singapore manipulates to keep the country at the hand of its majority, not to give in to any 400 million Muslims surrounding it. Only Dilrook understands this.
Whatever divisions, demarcations you do, basic RULE TO FOLLW is to make sure at least 70% Sinhalese percentage is kept in each division. If that means joining Kurunegala and Yapanaya we should do it, to HELL WITH JUSTIFICATIONS, old traditional homelands, river basins whatever excuses you could find
You divide 70 by 2 = 35 > 30% (minorities).
May 26th, 2016 at 10:18 pm
Dilrook,
I hope we can have a useful discussion on this subject.
First I made a mistake on Sudath’s Rata Sabha system. I wrongly called his districts Rata Sabha. He has only 3 Rata Sabhas and not 28. I hope Sudath will excuse me for this mistake and begin communication via Lankaweb or through my e-mail address.
In response to your comments, my proposal, developed based on Geography Prof. Maddumabandara’s original map is a different kind of animal. Actually, Maddumabandara’s map is similar to the hydrologic zone maps of the soil conservation department. He polished the map.
My idea is a result of combining three subjects Geography, Law and the Buddhist concept of the Middle Path. The doctrine of reasonableness in modern law is the Middle Path in Buddhism. Geography as spatial science discovers and uncovers spatial variations and diversity on earth indicating the necessity to act with reason. This means any violation of geographic reasonableness brings disaster sooner or later. Floods, droughts, landslides, soil erosion etc are results of violating ecological/geographical norms.
Discrimination with reasons, doctoral dissertation of Devanesan Nesiah (now living in Australia) shows how in USA, India and Malaysia, social geography necessitated special protections to some people by law. This means Sec 29 (2) was not a problem if Sinhala politician DS Senanayaka acted wisely before saying there is Refuge in Buddhism called Aanduwa Saranam Gachchami to Ven. Henapitagedara Gnanaseeha.
I wrote all this as a background to show that my proposal is based on geography, law and Buddhism and not on language or ethnicity. The only way we can defeat the corrupt black-white political crooks in SL and their masters in USA/UK/EU/Canada/India is by presenting an ecology-based approach to administrative/spatial division of the island, a language-blind approach. This is the only way US Congress or Canadian junkies can be silenced. Or Jehan Perera, Pakiyasoothy or even Dayan Jayatilaka can be answered. So far I did not receive any objection to my proposal from any Tamil. Even DBS Jeyaraj wrote to me then that the proposal merits consideration.
We cannot just oppose 13-A without offering a 21 Century solution. We have a country rotten to the core on everything. So as the LLRC suggested empowering people at the village level is one major solution.
How do we select the village? RPremadasa increased 4000 GSNs to 14,000. Lunatic work to give jobs to UNP dog catchers!
Therefore we need to correct this mess by re-demarcating GSNs using ecology-based criteria. In New Zealand this is the law. Once this is done (whether we create People’s Committees free of political party influence or not is a different matter) then one can go upward agglomerating new GSN units to create districts or provinces. This is because, once demarcation based on hydrology/ecology/geography is accepted it can go up to 7 major river basins or 28 river basins depending on the decision of the people, not the politician crook.
Or same GSN unit can be used in creating electorates too. Actually all kinds and types of spatial administrative units can have this basis. Medical, hospital, educational etc etc.
I do not know what is your educational training is, but the link between the lowest level civil admin units of GSN, when it is demarcated on the basis of meeting global warming, floods and landslides, garbage disposal etc etc with the highest level of hydrologic hierarchy, is a given, a bonus.
The answer to separatism is to remove the language/race based demarcations. The answer to 21 Century physical and social issues is embracing ecology-based spatial admin units.
Even the World Bank has recognized that it was spatial inequity that must be redressed.
This is a long reply but I hope it could be useful.
Two or three Sinhala kuhakayas wrote against this idea in the past, but Sri Lanka’s future depends on this kind of scientic approach which is also the Buddhist approach. Unfortunately, BBS did not listen to this reasonable path and concentrated on other issues.
wije
May 26th, 2016 at 11:29 pm
Dilrook,
I completely agree with you that the Tun Rata proposal of Sudath Gunasekara is asking us to jump from the frying pan into the fire.
It goes in the opposite direction to the direction that we should go, namely
1. CREATE & STRENGTHEN a SINGLE central government
2. AVOID Setting up of sub-regional governments that are SO LARGE that they can effectively OPPOSE the centre and SECEDE from Sri Lanka.
Historically, the division of the nation into Three Warring Regions amplified the weakness of Sri Lanka and made it vulnerable to foreign invasions. Only a few Sri Lankan monarchs, like Parakramabhahu and Dutugamunu, and shall we say Mahinda Rajapaksa also, were able to unify the Tun Sinhalet and usher in periods of peace, security and progress.
3. Therefore, the units of Regional Administration should
3.1 Be sufficiently small (like a District) so as to not pose a threat to the writ of the Central Government, and
3.2 Be administered by District Governors (like the GA’s during the British Raj) APPOINTED by the Central Government. These District Governors MUST NOT BE ELECTED by the residents of the Districts.
4. The exercise of the people’s franchise should be through their Representatives ELECTED to the NATIONAL Parliament. That is FRANCHISE ENOUGH for all LAW-ABIDING citizens. Only POTENTIAL SEPARATISTS demand more franchise.
5. In addition, Village Headmen for villages, and Mayors for towns and cities can be elected by the residents of each village, town and city.
5.1 The laws of the land will legislated, implemented and adjudicated by the Central Government.
5.2 Some suitably circumscribed local ordinances can be enforced, and some local taxes particularly related to property values and improvements can be raised, but the local taxes should be collected together with the national taxes and disbursed to the village, town or city by the National Government.
Villages, Towns and Cities interact directly with the District Governor and the Members of Parliament. The Members of Parliament of each District are automatically members of the District Governors Cabinet which may have other appointed officials as well. Their reauests are included in the District Governor’s submissions to the Central Government through the District Governor. The detailed modalities of this arrangement must be defined at an appropriate level.
In this way, the Nation as a whole defends the nation, controls the borders against illegal people and goos smuggling, maintains law and order and an independent judiciary, conducts foreign policy, maintaims the citizenship and land registries, and maintains regional security without multiple layers of Bureaucracy burdening the people, and operates an efficient single system for the collection of taxes and revenue.
Such a system PREVENTS the raising of funds by regional separatists, bars their conducting independent foreign policy, but yet enables local control over some aspects of legitimate control over property and facilities improvements and attending to their voters needs.
May 27th, 2016 at 12:02 am
Ananda,
You are correct there. However, province is still better than the district in the Sri Lankan context. There are 4 districts that will go the ‘north-east’ way if district is the unit. These are Colombo, Nuwara Eliya, Puttlam and Badulla. Due to economic reasons, the first two must be protected in their demographic influence. The latter two border separatist areas and to remain as buffer zones must be prevented from collapse.
It is obvious in the case of Nuwara Eliya. With only 40% Sinhalese, if Nuwara Eliya district becomes a unit of administration, Tamils will run the show and possibly harbour separatist aspirations. As it is firmly tucked into Central Province with a 66% overall Sinhala population, no such danger is posed.
Badulla is a similar case. With just 72% Sinhala population and hemmed in between Ampara and Nuwara Eliya, it can also go the wrong way due to the division of Sinhalese. These effects are nullified by its merger with Monaragala as a province.
Puttlam is a strange case. Although it has a healthy 74% Sinhalese, Buddhists are only 43%. If religious minorities join together (there is a strong possibility when the political battle heats up), it will go against national interests. Kurunegala district prevents it happening within the province.
Colombo district, needless to say, is on the verge of collapse. Buddhists are only 71% and by 2021 will be less than the significant 70% (Dham is correct in his assessment). Western province boosts the overall Sinhala percentage to 84%.
As we cannot allow any room for any of these districts to go the wrong way, the district must not be the unit. Those who support district as the unit are unaware of these critical issues. To understand this easily, consider PC election results of the relevant provinces (Central, Uva, North Central and Western). You will see what I mean.
Province is still the best unit. Of course Gam Sabha are a notch above all these and electorates are even better. If Sri Lanka goes back to electorates in electing its parliamentarians, we don’t need any devolution of power. There will be a responsible MP for each electorate. All this problems are because the electorate was not strengthened as a unit of governance after 1977. No additional elections are necessary.
May 27th, 2016 at 12:20 am
Dham,
I agree with your calculation. Unfortunately we are divided and that buffer is needed for some leverage. If a unit has less than 70% Sinhalese, it is in danger of minority manipulation. By the next census, Buddhists in Colombo will be less than 70%. It is unfortunate as Buddhists were the largest religious group in Colombo City including Thimbirigasyaya DS division (let alone the district) even until 1981. The damage done in just 50 years is horrifying. If the trend continues, Colombo district will be alien to Sinhala Buddhists in a few decades. As the heart of economic, administrative, education and real estate capital, that will be a body blow to Sinhalese. The need to prevent it by whatever means necessary is felt today stronger than ever.
Ironically Colombo is the only district to consistently elect patriots (Wimal, Udaya, Dinesh, Bandula, Champika the last time) yet they have been unable to stop the minority creep.
May 27th, 2016 at 1:30 am
Dilrook,
In your most recent reply to me, you did not take into account that in my proposal the District is NOT A UNIT OF POWER DEVOLUTION, but only a unit of NATIONAL GOVT ADMINISTRATION by a District Governor and his administrative officials who are members of his District Cabinet.
To empower the National MPs ELECTED from the District to serve their voters, and to keep them leashed to and under control of the DISTRICT GOVERNOR, they are automatically made a minority of the members of the District Cabinet. I STRESS HERE: the MPs are a small minority in the District Cabinet, and the role is consultative, not executive.
They say keep your friends close, your enemies closer still. The above structure of the District Cabinet is a way of doing that.
Most importantly, it does not DEVOLVE POWER to an independent ELECTED DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION as in the current Provincial Councils. The administrative power in the District lies with the DISTRICT GOVERNOR appointed by the National Government, not the ELECTED MP’s. The latter serve in a compulsory consultative capacity to fulfill the needs of their constituencies, and not an executive capacity like the District Cabinet members.
May 27th, 2016 at 3:08 am
Ananda,
Makes sense but for that PCs must be removed. Otherwise more money will be spent. This was the plan with Divineguma but while keeping PCs which doubles expenditure.
Such an administrative unit has particular significance in the north, east, Nuwara Eliya, parts of Colombo, etc. It can bypass minority held communities and promote national politics therein.
May 27th, 2016 at 4:01 pm
Dilrook,
Yes, the above approach to governance requires DEVOLUTION of POWER to sub-national entities to be HALTED AND ELIMINATED by REPEALING the 13A and DISSOLVING the Provincial Council System entirely.
Empowering unrepentant separatists and local warlords by DEVOLVING power in the name of increasing electoral democracy will only disintegrate the nation and make it UNGOVERNABLE.
There is another name for UNLIMITED DEMOCRACY, and that is called ANARCHY.
We see such UNLIMITED DEMOCRACY in action today in SOMALIA and LIBYA with all the chandiyas completely free to do their own thing! And who set those ANACHIES in motion ….. the self-appointed Global Champions of Democracy …. the Neocolonialists Western Powers of course!
Everything, even DEMOCRACY, pushed to extreme limits results in UNCONTROLLED ABSURDITY. In everything there should be moderation, a Middle Path, if you will to control the worst impulses of the human species.
That is also the Lord Buddha’s teaching summarized thus by the ancient Greeks: “Pan Metron Ariston” meaning “In All Things Moderation Is Best”.
May 28th, 2016 at 12:18 am
Sudath Gunasekara QUITE CORRECTLY highlights the lack of ORDERLY & EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE in Sri Lanka.
The PRIMARY ISSUE I want to FOCUS ON are the CONFLICTS that this jury rigged power sharing arrangement will INEVITABLE CAUSE because the ULTIMATE GOALS of the Northern & Eastern Provinces are FUNDAMENTALLY COMMUNAL and are geared to the ULTIMATE AIM of gaining FULL SOVERIGNTY SECEDING from Sri Lanka.
To that end, Chief Minister of the Northern Province Wigneswaran colludes with the Tamil Diaspora, Western Powers who supported the EELAM Project, and the LTTE proxies within Sri Lanka. Chief Minister Nazeer Ahmed is following suit now to acquire a Muslims o Only homeland in the East for his community. To that end, he is flexing his muscles, appealing to his ELECTsition as a Chief Minister and is pushing the envelope for more and power.
Meanwhile, the armed forces that defeated the LTTE terrorists and reunified the SYSTEMATICALLY OUSTED from their bases under the pretext of returning land to refugee owners, while ethnically cleansing these areas of their Sinhala Buddhist residents and the are SYSTEMATICALLY DEMONIZED and hounded on War Crimes Allegations on the defensive.
All this time, the Yamapalana Government chants the MANTRA OF RECONCILIATION with unrepentant terrorists while DISMANTLING Sri Lanka’s defenses. Soon, Sri Lanka will be also be BANKRUPT and totally unable to resist the pressure from West Nations to accede to the demands of the SEPARATISTS and BALKANIZE our Motherland into a patchwork of WARRING COMMUNAL BANTUSTANS!
Make no mistake, if that happens ….. it is the Sinhala Buddhist majority of Sri Lanka that will be RE-ENSLAVED to a FOREIGN YOKE as we were in 1815 due the TREACHERY of our own GULLIBLE leaders!
PLEASE READ the article below that was published in the New Indian Express. Even this Indian author recognizes UNWORKABILITY of the system of the TWO SYSTEMS of GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL & PROVINCIAL, in Sri Lanka given the well established ULTIMATE AIM OF FULL AUTONOMY of the Tamils, and NOW the same EMERGING aim of MUSLIMS!
The SOLUTION IS OBVIOUS to ALL WHO ARE NOT DEAF, BLIND and DUMB!
POWER SHOULD NOT BE DEVOLVED ATT ALL to SUB-NATIONAL entities in Sri Lanka, because given the AIMS and COMMUNAL ATTITUDES of our ;peoples, it is TOO DANGEROUS to the INTEGRITY of our shared Motherland, and the SURVIVAL of our peoples, and the HOPE we have of REACHING PARITY with the DEVELOPED WORLD together!
Therefore, we MUST REPEAL the 13th Amendment, DISSOLVE the Provincial Councils, RETAIN & STRENGTHEN the EXECUTIVE PRESIDENTIAL FORM of Parliamentary Government, and to STREAMLINE GOVERNANCE EFFECTIVE CONTROL institute a DISTRICT system of ADMINISTRATION with Officers APPOINTED by the NATIONAL GOVERNMENT as I have elaborated on elsewhere, and FORGET ABOUT RECONCILIATION … it will NEVER HAPPEN as long as the SYSTEM in PLACE ENCOURAGES SEPARATISM & DIVISION!
We have LOST enough TIME already; DO IT NOW!
……………………….
Roots of Governor-Chief Minister conflict in eastern Sri Lanka
Fri, May 27, 2016, 08:51 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 27 (NIE) COLOMBO- The on-going conflict between Eastern Province Governor Austin Fernando and Chief Minister Naseer Ahamed, which has led to the Sri Lankan armed forces declaring an indefinite boycott of the Chief Minister, is rooted in the way Centre-Province relations have developed in Lanka and the nature of Muslim politics in the island nation.
According to sources in the East, last Friday’s spat in which CM Naseer Ahamed publicly accused Governor Austin Fernando of insulting him and “the entire province”, in cahoots with the Lankan navy, could not be seen as an isolated incident.
They say that it is a part of a larger problem, rooted in the nature of Muslim politics in Lanka and the way power is shared between the Sinhalese-dominated Central government in Colombo and the elected governments in the Northern and Eastern Provinces where the minority Muslims and Tamils are strong.
The Incident
The Colombo-based private company Richard Peiris, in collaboration with the Lankan navy, had organized a function at Sampoor last Friday, to gift a science and computer lab to the Sampoor Mahavidyalaya, and had invited the Governor to be the Chief Guest.
Thinking that it will be good to have the CM and the visiting US envoy Atul Keshap also at the function, the Governor, on his own, invited them. But when CM Naseer Ahamed asked the Governor if he could go with him in the helicopter provided by the organizers, Fernando said that there was no space and asked him to go by road. The slighted CM felt further insulted when a naval officer prevented him from mounting the stage at the function as he was not billed to be there. In a fit of anger, the CM called the naval officer an “idiot” and asked him to “get out”. The CM suspected that the Governor had instigated the naval officer and launched a tirade against him saying that he has been unnecessarily interfering in the functioning of an elected provincial government.
When the video of the spat went viral, the vast “pro-war heroes” segment in the majority Sinhalese community sought stern action against the CM for insulting a member of the heroic armed forces. The Defense Secretary felt compelled to order a Security Forces boycott of all meetings and functions of the CM and declare that the CM will not be allowed to enter any Security Forces camp. For further action, a detailed report is to be presented to President Maithripala Sirisena on his return from Japan.
The Governor denied the charges made by the CM. But he has been telling his confidantes privately that Naseer Ahamed is trying to run the administration as he pleases and that he has been telling him that he cannot do so. Sources in the East confirmed that the chemistry between Fernando and Ahamed has been bad for some time.
Power Rivalry
Under the 13 th.Amendment of the Lankan constitution, elected provincial governments have very little power. For example, the provincial public service is in the hands of the Governor. The elected Provincial administration has to get the sanction of the Governor before tabling a statute in the Provincial Council. Over the years, Provincial Governors, as representatives of the all-powerful Centre, have had their way vis-à-vis elected CMs.
While this has not been an issue in the Sinhalese-majority provinces, because there has been no thirst for autonomy in these provinces, it has been an issue in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, where the Tamils and Muslims are in a majority. The minorities have been demanding autonomy or asking for rights enshrined in the 13 th Constitutional Amendment. Naseer Ahamed, for example, has been asking for rights over land which is still vested with the Centre.
In the Tamil-majority Northern Province, Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran has been having a running battle with successive Governors. In the East , there was no problem to begin with because the first two CMs belonged to the party which was ruling the Center also. But problems began to crop up when a coalition comprising the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Tamil National Alliance (TMC) came to power in the East.
Though, unlike the Wigneswaran’s regime in the North, the SLMC-TNA alliance regime in the East is not asking for “self-determination” it is demanding freedom to act as an elected administration.
Muslim Politics
Further, the Muslims in Lanka have traditionally striven to make use of state power for the benefit of their community, and this has led to confrontations with the powers-that-be. In the East, Governor Fernando has stalled some of Naseer Ahamed’s schemes, including some which in his view needlessly discriminated against other communities. The Eastern Tamils charge that Muslim-led administrations have not been giving them their due and praise Governor Fernando for standing up for them.
Reluctance To Devolve Power
On their part, Lankan Central governments and their agents, the Provincial Governors, have been wary about yielding to the demands of the elected provincial administrations especially if they are in areas dominated by ethnic minorities.
Certain personal attributes of the main actors are also relevant for understanding the current scenario in the East. Governor Austin Fernando is an influential person enjoying the patronage of the Lankan President and Prime Minister. His challenger, CM Naseer Ahamed, is an ambitious go-getter, who will brook no interference.
Read More:: NIE (Source)
May 28th, 2016 at 12:48 am
CORRECTED VERSION (Editor, Please delete the previous version of this comment).
Sudath Gunasekara QUITE CORRECTLY highlights the lack of ORDERLY & EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE in Sri Lanka.
The PRIMARY ISSUE I want to FOCUS ON are the CONFLICTS that this jury-rigged power sharing arrangement will INEVITABLE CAUSE because the ULTIMATE GOALS of the Northern & Eastern Provincial Councils are FUNDAMENTALLY COMMUNAL and geared to the ULTIMATE AIM of gaining FULL SOVEREIGNTY and SECEDING from Sri Lanka.
To that end, Chief Minister of the Northern Province Wigneswaran colludes with the Tamil Diaspora, Western Powers who supported the EELAM Project, and the LTTE proxies within Sri Lanka. Chief Minister Nazeer Ahmed is following suit now to acquire a Muslims-Only homeland in the East for his community. To that end, he is flexing his muscles, appealing to his ELECTED status as a Chief Minister as justification, and is pushing the envelope for more and more power.
Meanwhile, the armed forces that defeated the LTTE terrorists and reunified the nation are being SYSTEMATICALLY OUSTED from their bases under the pretext of returning land to refugee owners, while ethnically cleansing these areas of their Sinhala Buddhist residents. The armed forces are being SYSTEMATICALLY DEMONIZED and THREATENED with War Crimes Allegations to force them on the defensive.
All this time, the Yamapalana Government chants the MANTRA OF RECONCILIATION with unrepentant terrorists while DISMANTLING Sri Lanka’s defenses, and allowing the GRADUAL ACCRETION of POWER into SEPARATISTS hands.
Soon, with the BUNGLERS at the HELM & THEIVES LOOTING the Treasury, Sri Lanka will be also be BANKRUPT and totally unable to resist the pressure from Western Nations. Sri Lanka will be so helpless and dependent on handouts from Western Powers that it will be forced to accede to the demands of the SEPARATISTS, and commit suicide by BALKANIZING our Motherland into a patchwork of WARRING COMMUNAL BANTUSTANS!
Make no mistake, if that happens ….. it is the Sinhala Buddhist majority of Sri Lanka that will be RE-ENSLAVED to a FOREIGN YOKE as we were in 1815 due the TREACHERY of our own GULLIBLE leaders!
PLEASE READ the article below that was published in the New Indian Express. Even this Indian author recognizes UNWORKABILITY of our jury-rigged dual system of GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL & PROVINCIAL, given the well established ULTIMATE AIM OF FULL AUTONOMY of the Tamils, and NOW the SAME EMERGING AIM of the MUSLIMS!
The SOLUTION IS OBVIOUS to ALL WHO ARE NOT DEAF, BLIND and DUMB!
POWER SHOULD NOT BE DEVOLVED AT ALL to SUB-NATIONAL entities in Sri Lanka, because given the AIMS and COMMUNAL ATTITUDES of our peoples, it is TOO DANGEROUS to the INTEGRITY of our shared Motherland, the SURVIVAL of our peoples, and the HOPE we nurse of REACHING PARITY with the DEVELOPED WORLD in the future!
Therefore, we MUST REPEAL the 13th Amendment, DISSOLVE the Provincial Councils, RETAIN & STRENGTHEN the EXECUTIVE PRESIDENTIAL FORM of Parliamentary Government, STREAMLINE GOVERNANCE EFFECTIVE CONTROL by instituting a DISTRICT system of ADMINISTRATION with Officers APPOINTED by the NATIONAL GOVERNMENT as I have elaborated on elsewhere, and FORGET ABOUT RECONCILIATION which will NEVER HAPPEN as long as the SYSTEM in PLACE ENCOURAGES SEPARATISM & DIVISION!
We have LOST enough TIME already; DO IT NOW!
……………………….
Roots of Governor-Chief Minister conflict in eastern Sri Lanka
Fri, May 27, 2016, 08:51 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 27 (NIE) COLOMBO- The on-going conflict between Eastern Province Governor Austin Fernando and Chief Minister Naseer Ahamed, which has led to the Sri Lankan armed forces declaring an indefinite boycott of the Chief Minister, is rooted in the way Centre-Province relations have developed in Lanka and the nature of Muslim politics in the island nation.
According to sources in the East, last Friday’s spat in which CM Naseer Ahamed publicly accused Governor Austin Fernando of insulting him and “the entire province”, in cahoots with the Lankan navy, could not be seen as an isolated incident.
They say that it is a part of a larger problem, rooted in the nature of Muslim politics in Lanka and the way power is shared between the Sinhalese-dominated Central government in Colombo and the elected governments in the Northern and Eastern Provinces where the minority Muslims and Tamils are strong.
The Incident
The Colombo-based private company Richard Peiris, in collaboration with the Lankan navy, had organized a function at Sampoor last Friday, to gift a science and computer lab to the Sampoor Mahavidyalaya, and had invited the Governor to be the Chief Guest.
Thinking that it will be good to have the CM and the visiting US envoy Atul Keshap also at the function, the Governor, on his own, invited them. But when CM Naseer Ahamed asked the Governor if he could go with him in the helicopter provided by the organizers, Fernando said that there was no space and asked him to go by road. The slighted CM felt further insulted when a naval officer prevented him from mounting the stage at the function as he was not billed to be there. In a fit of anger, the CM called the naval officer an “idiot” and asked him to “get out”. The CM suspected that the Governor had instigated the naval officer and launched a tirade against him saying that he has been unnecessarily interfering in the functioning of an elected provincial government.
When the video of the spat went viral, the vast “pro-war heroes” segment in the majority Sinhalese community sought stern action against the CM for insulting a member of the heroic armed forces. The Defense Secretary felt compelled to order a Security Forces boycott of all meetings and functions of the CM and declare that the CM will not be allowed to enter any Security Forces camp. For further action, a detailed report is to be presented to President Maithripala Sirisena on his return from Japan.
The Governor denied the charges made by the CM. But he has been telling his confidantes privately that Naseer Ahamed is trying to run the administration as he pleases and that he has been telling him that he cannot do so. Sources in the East confirmed that the chemistry between Fernando and Ahamed has been bad for some time.
Power Rivalry
Under the 13 th.Amendment of the Lankan constitution, elected provincial governments have very little power. For example, the provincial public service is in the hands of the Governor. The elected Provincial administration has to get the sanction of the Governor before tabling a statute in the Provincial Council. Over the years, Provincial Governors, as representatives of the all-powerful Centre, have had their way vis-à-vis elected CMs.
While this has not been an issue in the Sinhalese-majority provinces, because there has been no thirst for autonomy in these provinces, it has been an issue in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, where the Tamils and Muslims are in a majority. The minorities have been demanding autonomy or asking for rights enshrined in the 13 th Constitutional Amendment. Naseer Ahamed, for example, has been asking for rights over land which is still vested with the Centre.
In the Tamil-majority Northern Province, Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran has been having a running battle with successive Governors. In the East , there was no problem to begin with because the first two CMs belonged to the party which was ruling the Center also. But problems began to crop up when a coalition comprising the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Tamil National Alliance (TMC) came to power in the East.
Though, unlike the Wigneswaran’s regime in the North, the SLMC-TNA alliance regime in the East is not asking for “self-determination” it is demanding freedom to act as an elected administration.
Muslim Politics
Further, the Muslims in Lanka have traditionally striven to make use of state power for the benefit of their community, and this has led to confrontations with the powers-that-be. In the East, Governor Fernando has stalled some of Naseer Ahamed’s schemes, including some which in his view needlessly discriminated against other communities. The Eastern Tamils charge that Muslim-led administrations have not been giving them their due and praise Governor Fernando for standing up for them.
Reluctance To Devolve Power
On their part, Lankan Central governments and their agents, the Provincial Governors, have been wary about yielding to the demands of the elected provincial administrations especially if they are in areas dominated by ethnic minorities.
Certain personal attributes of the main actors are also relevant for understanding the current scenario in the East. Governor Austin Fernando is an influential person enjoying the patronage of the Lankan President and Prime Minister. His challenger, CM Naseer Ahamed, is an ambitious go-getter, who will brook no interference.
Read More:: NIE (Source)
May 28th, 2016 at 1:03 am
The Yamapalanaya BUNGLERS who inherited a Nation in GREAT FINANCIAL SHAPE from the previous government on Jan 8, 2015, have RUINED the ECONOMY in 15 short months!
ONCE AGAIN, after 7 years of PROUD EXISTENCE, the WESTERN WORLD is MOCKING Sri Lanka after HELPING to Engineer the REGIME CHANGE!
This has ALWAYS BEEN the DISMAL PERFORMANCE of governments led by the UNPatriotic Party who help the minorities PROSPER at the expense of the Motherland!
Those few Sinhala Buddhist LOTUS EATERS who helped assorted enemies of Sri Lanka to EMPOWER this set of CONGENITAL IDIOTS, must ACCEPT THE BLAME for their GULLIBILITY & IDIOCY!
……………………………..
Fixing Sri Lanka’s Mess
Sat, May 28, 2016, 09:14 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
May 28 (Economy Watch) Sri Lanka’s balance of payments is in dire straits. The country’s mounting foreign and domestic public debt, a huge fiscal deficit and a severe foreign exchange shortfall have led to potentially calamitous economic circumstances.
Sri Lanka’s balance of payments is in dire straits. The country’s mounting foreign and domestic public debt, a huge fiscal deficit and a severe foreign exchange shortfall have led to potentially calamitous economic circumstances. Sri Lanka has not yet secured the means to meet its upcoming foreign loan repayments — US$4.5 billion is due over the next year, to be followed by another US$4 billion in the subsequent year.
Credit rating agencies Fitch and Standard and Poor’s downgraded Sri Lanka’s international sovereign rating in early 2016 in light of its rising fiscal deficit and foreign debt — the highest among Asia’s emerging markets — compounded by sluggish growth prospects.
While excessive public debt has been accruing over generations, the debt trap that the country is experiencing today is principally due to non-concessional commercial loans taken out between 2009 and 2014 by the previous government, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa. The loans, which went towards infrastructure development projects, roughly doubled the country’s external debt.
The current administration, led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, manifestly worsened the country’s fiscal conditions in 2015. Outstanding domestic debts rose by over 12 percent due to excessive government spending and foreign debt had increased by 25 percent by the end of that year, albeit primarily to finance the previous government’s loans.
Sri Lanka’s foreign currency earnings and reserves are insufficient to meet its external financing requirements. The depletion in reserves is a consequence of large foreign capital outflows, reduced exports due to the global economic downturn, and falling remittances from migrant workers employed in the distressed Middle East region.
As temporary measures to avert a foreign exchange crisis, the government initiated a US$1.5 billion currency swap with the Reserve Bank of India and a US$1 billion currency swap with the Central Bank of China in March. Sri Lanka’s Central Bank also plans to raise up to US$3 billion through the issuance of international sovereign bonds this year.
Sri Lanka has resorted to extended foreign borrowing to counteract the rising fiscal deficit and strengthen foreign reserves. An IMF loan of US$1.5 billion has been granted on a 36-month Extended Fund Facility program, subject to formal approval by the IMF’s Executive Board in June. The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has said that the country hopes to obtain an additional US$5 billion in loans from other sources, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, once the IMF loan — a mark of international confidence — is in effect.
The IMF loan has come only as the Sri Lankan government has agreed to tough conditions, including restrictions on budget deficit sizes and tax-to-GDP ratio requirements. The government has since proposed a range of structural changes to its fiscal policy. On 8 March, emergency tax measures were announced.
The changes include widening the tax base by increasing corporate income tax, increasing value-added tax (VAT), reintroducing income tax on capital gains, and removing certain previous exemptions on VAT and the Nation Building Tax (a consumption tax introduced in 2009 to fund security forces and rebuild infrastructure damaged by terrorism and war). A Share Transaction Levy was reimposed on all share transactions. The government also shared its plans to introduce a carbon tax on vehicles with the IMF delegation in mid-April.
Two primary aims of the Sri Lankan government are to attract foreign direct investment and encourage the private sector to invest more. However, the government’s sudden changes to the budget — including unplanned and ad hoc tax policy changes — have dented investor sentiment, causing capital outflows. These post-budget policy changes have led to a state of economic uncertainty. Predictability and consistency in economic policy are key to a positive business and investment environment.
Downward economic momentum is expected in the short term, as the proposed higher taxes will negatively affect low- and middle-income consumers, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and organisations importing raw and intermediate materials (which include those in the already ailing export sector).
While it is necessary to increase tax revenue to meet growing public debt and stabilise the economy, higher tax rates discourage business and investment and reduce consumption, leading to less growth. With more than half of the registered taxpayers in Sri Lanka known to be evading taxes, the country should focus instead on developing an efficient and comprehensive tax collection mechanism.
To reduce public debt, the government is looking to privatise state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that are currently running at a loss. These SOEs account for more than 80 percent of domestic debt. Sri Lanka has invited Chinese companies and others to invest in these SOEs, proposing a debt-equity swap. Chinese companies have not yet responded to these proposals.
Despite the deterioration in its balance of payments, Sri Lanka showed growth momentum last year. There is hope for an economic turnaround in the medium term, following the IMF loan. As an emerging market, Sri Lanka has many lucrative areas for investment, including the booming tourism sector, construction and infrastructure development.
That said, some commentators believe the country lacks a clear sense of direction on economic policy and suspect that the government may not be able to effectively manage the widening balance of payments gap.
This scepticism stems from the fragmented political landscape marked by the tense alliance between arch political rivals, the right-leaning United National Party and a segment of the more socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party. The unpredictable economic management of the Ministry of Finance adds to this cautionary mood.
Such a coalition causes paralysis and a lack of debate around policy implementation. The gloomy short-term economic forecast is bound to test the strength of this coalition. In managing painful economic reforms, the government’s hard work is only beginning.
Read More:: EW (Source)
May 28th, 2016 at 2:17 am
Ananda,
I agree with you that we don’t need any devolution of power in such a small island. However, the question is feasibility. Sri Lanka simply cannot ignore India’s dictates.
I know this sounds arrogant and unreasonable. But this is the reply I received from a prominent advisor to the politician you respect most. I reluctantly agree with him. Sadly this is the state of Sri Lanka. Thanks to our slavery based economy, high debt, our total dependence on the west for exports and the dislike to face dire consequences of going against India have caused this situation. I think it is unfeasible to change this in the short term. Even in the long term it is extremely difficult to change.
That is what made me look for alternatives to save only what needs saving most – Sinhalese, not unitary (before 1987) Sri Lanka. Going back to unitary Sri Lanka (before 1987) is unfeasible today. If a feasible method can be devised to bring back real unitary character of Sri Lanka, I’m for it. However, until then it is important to save Sinhala interests; the little that is left for saving.
May 28th, 2016 at 2:52 am
Dilrook,
In that case we have take the biggest risk than obey the master. What guarantee you get by obeying the master that Sinhala interests are saved ? None. Fear has been planted in the evil people to take the maximum advantage of knowledge of the evil. They way our is to get a blameless instead and take on India. By the way the adviser may be the biggest liar in the world.
May 28th, 2016 at 3:29 am
Dham,
He said so in an email forum in which others including Charles are in. I don’t agree with him on his proposed solutions but I agree with his feasibility argument. It is not obeying the master. It is about avoiding confrontation with a very powerful country. Sri Lankans are unwilling for a long drawn confrontation (mostly diplomatic and another proxy war) with India. We must understand the very precarious economic, political, military and geopolitical context of our country.
There is a huge difference between pandering into Indian demands and not confronting India.
There is no guarantee that not confronting India will save Sinhalese. But it is guaranteed that Sinhalese will not survive if we confront India. So which option gives us a chance to survive until the regional order changes?
I agree with the possibility of planting undue fear as an extortion mechanism. However, on the other hand there is genuine concern over India once again destabilising Sri Lanka as it did. It is not a fear but a genuine concern. Which option prepares us better; outright rejecting these concerns, assessing a reasonable and likely risk or panic?
May 28th, 2016 at 3:36 am
Ancient tamil kingdoms in Sri Lanka. Proofs are everywhere. We can’t walk 10 feet in the north and the
east without bumping into these guys’ ancient buildings (virtual). The actually exist in www and books only.
Everyone know the oldest building in jaffna is the old dutch fort. It is a fact. Dutch brought them from tn to work in tobacco
plantations. British brought them from tn to work in tea plantations in the up country. The rest are kallathonis
who swam to safety during the severe famine in tn in the 1960s. Thanks very much for saving their lives?
No chance of every being grateful! We don’t hesitate for a second to kill you Sinhalese.
If tamils had kingdoms we should be able to see remains of ancient building like in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa
etc. We can’t see an ancient tamil brick anywere in the country. That should be proof enough for this Sinhalese-murdering ungrateful, never happy, never enough traitor lot. Probably their kings used cowboy builders.
Need more proof. Please use the following link.
Treacherous cancer took less than 300 years to tamilise all Sinhala villages!
Their heart and loyalty is in tn. They should leave
for the hell hole to get their drealam. Is Colombo also included in their drealam or they will happily leave
Colombo? Traitor chief pigneshwaran, Traitors Northern Alliance aka TNA any comments?
http://jaffnahistory.com/Northern_Province/Sinhala_Villages_of_Jaffna_1695.html
May 28th, 2016 at 5:45 pm
aloy,
You said “No need to write volumes on this subject”, but I strongly DISAGREE.
It took 30 years of writing VOLUMES on this subject by thousands of PATRIOTS to help a Patriotic Government to RISE UP in Sri Lanka and DEMOLISH the attempt of the Tamil Separatists to create an EELAM militarily.
TODAY, those very same Tamil Separatists who were DEMOLISHED on the battlefield are attempting to achieve what that goal they FAILED to ACHIEVE by WAR by REGIME CHANGE in PEACE.
It will REQUIRE writing MANY MORE VOLUMES on this subject by PATRIOTS to SOUND THE ALARM and MARSHALL the Patriotic Forces of Lanka to HALT, DEFEAT, UTTERLY DEMOLISH and ELIMINATE THIS THREAT FOREVER.
You say “Kamalika Peiris’s articles on this subject, if free hand to the armed forces were given any idiotic leader would have defeated the invading Tamils”, but the FACT IS that NONE OF OUR IDIOTIC LEADERS did that until Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected on the platform of defeating the separatists, and proceeded to keep his promise to the people TO THE LETTER!
JR blinked in the face of INdian aggression, and agreed to the 13th Amendment that bedevils us to this day, albeit under military coercion by India.
Premadasa did what he could to get rid of the military occupation of Sri Lanka by the IPKF, but he did not build up our armed forces to take over and defeat the LTTE CONVINCINGLY upon the departure of the IPKF.
CBK half heartedly launched a military campaign (Jayasikuru) with her uncle RAtwatte leading it, but as soon as she ran into military setbacks lost heart. When she lost her eye to an LTTE bomb, all of her courage and duty to her people vanished in a puff of smoke; she became a PEACENIK blaming the Sinhala people for discrimination against the Tamils. The damage she did then, she is still continuing now. She never did enough to marshall all of the resources of the island to support the military effort.
Ranil Wickramasinghe came in promising to SOLVE the problem, but very nearly would have given Prakaran and the LTTE the sovereign EELAM they thirsted for. Luckily, CBK as Presidenty did the ONLY GOOD THING she did in her entire political career in Sri Lanka when she DISMISSED Ranil’s UNP government and called for new elections rather than allow an autonomous EELAM to be created in Sri Lanka with Norwegian assistance.
That election in 2006 brought Mahinda Rajapaksa to power, and Gothabhaya to office as Defence Secretary. THat single event COMPLETELY CHANGED THE SITUATION and the MARTIAL spirit of our people and their WILL TO FIGHT BACK. The new DEMONSTRABLY PATRIOTIC government and their EFFECTIVE MILITARY LEADERSHIP helped to recruit tens of thousands of new soldiers, sailors, airmen, coast guard and police whereas in the past under lackluster vacillating-oscillating leadership they had deserted by the thousands!
Don’t tell me that ANYONE could have done it! CERTAINLY NOT the GANG OF FAILED LEADERS OF THE PAST who have returned to power in Sri Lanka with Foreign REGIME CHANGE assistance and are dragging down our Motherland to DESTRUCTION EVEN AS WE SPEAK!
Like those who mocked Columbus saying ANYONE could have discovered America if only they sailed far enough to the West, NO ONE DARED to do that for the fear of falling off the edge of the flat-earth!
Likewise, we Patriots know very well that NO ONE DARED to SUMMON the ENTIRE NATION to ARMS, CONFRONT the Foreign Backers of the Tamils, and RISK their entire family’s future in the caise of saving their Motherland like the Rajapaksa Family and their supporters in the UPFA.
Together with Dham, Susantha and other assorted NAYSAYERS, you can MOCK & DERIDE the achievements of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Family until the COWS COME HOME, but the FACTS & TRUTH will prevail in the hearts and minds of miilions of Sinhala Patriots as to who rescued our Motherland from ABJECT MISERY and DISINTEGRATION!
You say “I think MR is a big opportunist. He is still showing the true colours. If not he and the family could have moved away from politics and given the leadership to a worthy person.”
And you think that CBK, RW and Mangala Samaraweera are not opportunists?? CBK, a British citizen now, comes hotfooting to SL to connive with her former enemy RW, and to hatch a plot to recruit the PAMBAYA Sirisena as a figurehead President while she plays on the puppet strings? It is EXTREME personal jealousy and animosity against the revered war-wiiing liberator of our Motherland Mahinda Rajapaksa that drove her to do it. She will destroy herself through her own jealousy.
Need I say more about RW than point to his SERIAL failures, and his ASTOUNDING LACK OF PATRIOTISM displayed throughout his catreer? A man who could not EVER lead his own party to VICTORY, found a way to become the Prime Minister through the back door through a Foreign Orchestrated REGIME CHANGE plot. It was NOT HIS INTELLECT that allowed him to make frequent visits to the US, but his role as the Ahmed Chalabi (Would be President of Iraq who conned George Bush into invading his Motherland) of Sri Lanka. RW is fast converting Sri Lanka into a vassal state of the NeoColonial Western Powers and a satellite of India, and into a Patchwork of ETHNIC COMMUNAL BANTUSTANS. Have you examined the ethno-religios composition of his Cabinet? Most of the major Portfolios are held by Christians, Muslims or Tamils while powerless portfolios are held by Sinhala Buddhist who have sold their community for a handful of gold coins! This, in a nation with an overwhelming Sinhala Buddhist majority.
Mark my words …. there is a TSUNAMI BREWING, and when THAT TSUNAMI hits ALL of these TRAITORS will be swept away into the sea, and into refuge with their foreign benefactors to enjoy the money they have looted from our Motherland!
You say” You have traveled to US on your own steam and enjoyed te life there with the credentials you gained through the free education system provided by our country.”
Yes, although I did receive my education up to high school at S. Thomas College in Sri Lanka, and my BSc(Eng) degree at the Univ. of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya, I acquired my graduate education entirely in the USA without additional help of Sri Lanka through winning Teaching and Research Assistantships and Fellowships. This includes an MS degree, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. My subsequent employment was at universities, major industrial companies, and national defence laboratories of the US Government. I taught myself to invest my savings in the US stock market and real estate and this accounts for the bulk of my assets, not my employment earnings per se.
However, ever since I left Sri Lanka, I have continuously assisted my very large extended family living in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan charities, and other unrelated Sri Lankan people in many ways, amounting to sending more than 50% of my lifetime earnings to Sri Lanka. Even today, I am extensively involved in patriotic, charitable and business activities to help Sri Lanka prosper and its most vulnerable people survive. This is something that makes me very happy.
I would NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO SO MUCH for Sri Lanka’s benefit had I remained there without going and working abroad. I too have sacrificed, being away from my loved ones most of the time. MY POINT is, I think I HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT to be CONCERNED ABOUT Sri Lanka as much as any other Sri Lankan, irrespective of where I have worked for most of my life, for I HAVE HEAVILY CONTRIBUTED and I AM HEAVILY CONTRIBUTING TO THE WELFARE OF MY PEOPLE.
You say “So, I wonder how you got involved in this bring back campaign?. Please give it up and help the present lot to clean up the mess created by the last two presidents.”
How I got involved is very simple: ALMOST ALL that I LOVE, VALUE and TREASURE is in Sri Lanka, and I want to PROTECT, DEFEND and PRESERVE those things for my beloved people to enjoy in SriLanka. A simple term for that desire is PATRIOTISM!
My involvement and concern did not begin today; it was in existence and THRIVING when I arrived as a graduate student in the US almost 45 years ago.
For me, the FACTS as I have stated above and often elsewhere, are that Mahinda Rajapaksa stands heads and shoulders as the Greatest Leader we Sinhala Buddhists have had in 500 years, and certainly since INDEPENDENCE in 1948. He not only defeated the TERRORISTS and REUNIFIED our country, but also sdeveloped a VISION to transform our Motherland into the New Wonder of Asia and was well on his way to achieving it perhaps within a decade if not for the JEALOUS TRAITORS who collaborated with our nation’s enemies to OUST HIM in a REGIME CHANGE operation.
Was he PERFECT? Almost, but NOT QUITE! Among his failures were not REPEALING the 13th Amendment, NOT DISSOLVING the Provincial Councils as INIMICAL to Sri Lanka’s Survival, placing TOO MUCH EMPHASIS on RECONCILIATION with UNREPENTANT DEFEATED TERRORISTS guilty of MASS MURDER & TREASON, and allowing SOME disreputable people such as Mervyn Silva to damage the reputation of his Government.
I understand his REASONS for not getting rid of the 13A & the PCs immediately. He had given assurances to implement a modified version of it, and could not completely back away from it until he had done two things: 1. shown the people of the North & East that he was committed to reconstruct and develop those regions impartially. He hoped improvements in economy and quality of life would defuse the communal demands. But, he didn’t have enough time to see whether it would work. 2. Developed and made SriLanka’s economy immune to Western and Indian sanctions he knew would come if he repealed the 13A. For this too he did not have the time.
One approach to getting rid of the 13A MR could have adopted was to have put it to a Nationwide Referendum after Sri Lanka had almost become a DEVELOPED NATION. With the Sinhala Buddhist majority votes, 13A would be repealed, and MR as the President of a DEMOCRACY would have to bow to WILL OF THE PEOPLE and REPEAL the 13A and DISSOLVE the PCs. In that way, he woyuld not have to break any promise made during the conduct of the way to fend of LTTE’s WEstern Supporters.
A Nationwide REFERENDUM may still be the way to DEFEAT and REPEAL the13A.
You say “No body will get directly involved in SL. It is too far from europe or US and the Indians got their hands burnt once. We should be non aligned until we have the the DETERRENT.”
I DISAGREE TOTALLY that NO ONE will INTERVENE in Sri Lanka. Indians ALREADY DID, and may do it again ESPECIALLY iof they feel that Sri Lanka has been SUFFICIENTLY WEAKENED through internal political dissension.
Also, Western Nations have shown UTTER DISREGARD for National Sovereignty of other Nations, but fiercely protect their own. The United Nations is a PUPPET of these Western Nations; only China and noe increasingly Putin’s Russia stands in the way. The LTTE/Tamil Diaspora is LINING UP THEIR CHESS PIECES across Europe to get UN support for a Unilateral Declaration of Independence for Eelam, including the Support of ALL Tamil Nadu Political Parties.
We are at a VERY DANGEROUS JUNCTURE with a TREACHEROUS Western Puppet Government in Power in Sri Lanka that DOES NOT CARE AT ALL about the FATE of the Sinhala Buddhist majority of our Resplendent Motherland. ALL of the ACTIONS they have taken since coming to power through the BACKDOOR, including DESTROYING THE NATIONAL ECONOMY to deliver it as a HOSTAGE to the NeoColonial West, is to UNDERMINE, SUPPRESS and ENSLAVE Sri Lanka’s long suffering Sinhala Buddhist Community.
May 31st, 2016 at 5:49 am
We do not need provincial councils which only promotes separatism. The provincial councils only duplicate the already existing system of ministry, district secretary, divisional secretaries, grama niladhari system which has functioned for decades. In addition, there are the municipal, urban councils and pradeshiya sabhas who elect their officials to ensure that there is local government representation and to ensure that local matters are dealt with. The ministry, district secretary, divisional secretaries, grama niladhari system is how government plans get implemented at the district, divisional and the grama niladhari level. The only thing the provincial councils do is duplicate this already existing system and is totally unnecessary. Since Sri Lanka is a small country. Therefore what is agreed at the parliamentary level in terms of plans can be implemented islandwide via the ministries. If anyone in any province wants to suggest anything innovative, they can do so via their MP at the parliamentary level. A small country such as Sri Lanka needs a strong central government and just one plan for the entire island to move forward. For this the existing ministry, district secretary, divisional secretaries, grama niladhari system is sufficient. At the local level there are the municipal, urban councils and the pradeshiya sabhas to take care of local matters.