Bombing Parliament?
Posted on October 25th, 2017
Editorial Courtesy The Island
October 26, 2017, 12:48 pm
National Freedom Front leader and Joint Opposition firebrand, Wimal Weerawansa, MP, has, true to form, rattled the cage of many a government politician. He said, with his trademark grin, that a bomb should be dropped on Parliament unless at least 76 MPs opposed constitutional reforms, thereby, denying the government a two-thirds majority. The yahapalana leaders have thrown up their hands in horror, asking for protection. At least, that is what Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has told the media; he has threatened action against Weerawansa for issuing what is being described as a threat.
Most of the yahapalana politicians in the current government were part of the UNP-led UNF administration from 2001 to 2004. They never so much as uttered a whimper of protest, let alone take action, while the LTTE was perpetrating numerous acts of terrorism. Nay, they grovelled before Prabhakaran, who posed the biggest threat to Parliament, and did their damnedest to appease him. Now, they pretend to be a bunch of terrified thothttha babas (babes in arms); they would have us believe that something, uttered by a loose-tongued Opposition politician, has given them a scare!
The yahapalana politicians are baying for Weerawansa’s blood over his statement because they are pursuing a vendetta against him. Their claim of a serious threat to their lives is, not to put too fine a point on it, pure bunkum. Instead, it is they who are a threat to others. A UNP provincial councillor with underworld links has recently been arrested following a fierce gun battle with the elite police commandos! A lethal haul has also been recovered from his residence. The SLFP also has underworld characters within its ranks.
President Maithripala Sirisena has, in a bid to make a public display of his compassion, pardoned an LTTE cadre who had tried to bomb him while he was in the Rajapaksa government. So, why is the government making an issue of a mere statement a frustrated Opposition MP has made?
Weerawansa’s statement in question would have caused serious concern to us if he had made it as a member of the JVP during the second southern insurrection in the late 1980s, when a grenade was lobbed at a government group meeting in Parliament. He and other JVP cadres who dreamt of blowing Parliament sky high have now been reduced to a bunch of lackeys at the beck and call of the two main parties. His erstwhile comrades, still flaunting a revolutionary cause, are cohabiting, for all practical purposes, with the very capitalists who unleashed barbaric violence to crush their bloody uprising and, above all, had their beloved founder leader cremated even before he had breathed his last.
With the kind of members it is burdened with, Parliament needs no enemies. The recently ratified Provincial Council Election (Amendment) Bill has had on Parliament a more devastating impact than a thousand bombs, in a manner of speaking. The original Bill had only one page containing four sections. By the time it was steamrollered through Parliament, it had as many as 21 pages. The yahapalana leaders had smuggled 27 sections into it at the committee stage so as to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling which thwarted their attempt to postpone the PC polls with the help of a previous Bill. The government has not only delivered a slap on the apex court but also caused a severe erosion of public faith in the legislative process. Bombs and guns, we repeat, can’t inflict so much of damage on Parliament.
Worryingly, standards of parliamentary debate continue to deteriorate. MPs are notorious for absenteeism and dereliction of duty. The House was half empty when Parliament celebrated its 70th anniversary on a grand scale recently. More often than not slanging matches and brawls pass for debates. Billions of rupees are unflinchingly allocated through supplementary estimates for ministers’ super luxury vehicles and perks for ordinary MPs.
So, instead of trying to make a mountain out of a molehill anent Weerawansa’s statement, the government ought to take cognizance of the fact that people are extremely resentful. Public anger can be far more destructive than bombs. The yahapalana leaders talk a blue streak while doing a precious little to improve people’s lot; they are busy feathering their nests instead. Corruption is rampant and so is the abuse of power. Most of the election promises have not been fulfilled. People have been denied their fundamental right to exercise their franchise and give vent to their pent-up anger. The government keeps postponing elections on some pretext or the other as it is scared of facing the electorate.
At this rate the day may not be far off when people seriously consider doing what is seen in the dramatic scene at the climax of the action flick, V for Vendetta, where thousands of livid pro-democracy protesters, wearing the Guy Fawkes masks, march on the British parliament.
October 25th, 2017 at 8:34 pm
I agree , Yes, It should be bombed ! Surely only a few will die as no one is there ususally. They all travel outside with luxary cars and security. They should hold the new parliament under a coconut tree !
October 26th, 2017 at 5:39 am
A gutless government without a vision, a spineless leader without a backbone Yahapalanaya style that’s the situation in Sri Lanka today. Don’t cry Oh Motherlanka that is what they asked for change of governance. Gotcha?????
Two different minded jokers ruining the country in a revengeful way of governance and putting innocent public in a pathatic position without any help from this wreched Yamapalanaya government. Yamaballo robbing the public funds never seen before in our blessed country. Came to power to serve the citizens as servants of the public but before long they become masters and we the public bacame slaves and paupers.
Wimal is a true son of motherlanka who fought against tyranny and against enemies of mother lanka. Punish Ali Baba and the forty thieves in the central bank scam not a true leader who loves this nation and who fought for the poor always. Speaker should punish UNP rowdies in the parliament and the Tamil LTTE sympathisers not Wimal who always spoke the truth. True patriots are with him always. JAYAWEWA.
October 26th, 2017 at 11:57 am
State of Democracy in Sri Lanka
What Sri Lanka has is a mockery of Democracy. The real govt Opposition, the JO, has been shut out of the govt Opposition. The UNP and parts of the SLFP, the two major parties, have formed an unholy alliance to divide Sri Lanka for the benefit of the Tamil Diaspora and the foreign powers. It is as if the Conservatives and the Labor party in the UK formed a Govt. ! In this situation where is Democracy? What we have is a Dictatorship of Ranil ! The Right wing UNP was appointed by the West in 1946 to safeguard their interests when Sri Lanka was given “Independence” for the benefit of the West. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_National_Party
Our people have never had a real say in matters ever since so-called Independence in 1948. Ranil the traitor is part of the IDU (International Democratic Union) whose head is a UK citizen. His loyalty is therefore not to the people of the country but to a Foreign group. Same as CBK who is part of the Club de Madrid whose aims are the same. It is sad that the JVP which really stood for the Country and the people have now sold itself to the UNP. Ranil’s idea of Neo-Liberalism is to sell the country’s assets to the Western Corporations who will be given license to plunder the few assets we have. They will cut the trees of Sinharaja forest for profit, grow bananas in the forest reserves, make the foreigners come and live in Sri Lanka while our people have to serve them with cups of tea and other comforts, the Norweigians have already been given licence to use big trawlers to go deep sea fishing to catch all the fish in our oceans. The two major ports will be given on a plate to the major powers who use it to replace Diego Garcia and Guam. Countries like North Korea will target then Sri Lanka instead of Guam with Nuclear weapons.
Why Pure Capitalism does not work:
There is a myth that has been propagated that PURE Capitalism works. It DOES NOT. In the USA which is the epitome of the PURE capitalist economy, look at the factual situation. How many major Financial Depressions has that country gone through with the massive loss of jobs each time for very large numbers of people. It worked for a short while from 1944 onwards when Pres Franklin Roosevelt brought in the New Deal for the people. One of the main points of this period was the very high tax rate for the very higher incomes reaching up to 91%. During this time the workers were unionized and got very good wages. This was a Golden Era for the USA since it was a socialist economy. It was truly great. The University Education was covered by Pell Grants which made it virtually free. People had a lot of money in hand and were spending it thereby creating a vibrant economy. In 1980 Ronal Reagan the actor was elected as President and he brought in a number of changes which destroyed this financial greatness of America. He disconnected the US dollar from the Gold Standard and cut taxes for the rich from the 90% to 35%. He also began to dismantle most of the welfare programs for the people. This has been a Republican mantra since then and each Republican President kept cutting taxes and also cutting the welfare projects. The present govt appears to be planning to outdo all the others in removing the Social Safety net. Unfortunately the Corporate media especially Fox News keep plugging this lie that cutting taxes stimulates the economy. When George Bush cut taxes while fighting two wars in the Middle East he drove the economy into a Recession. Pres Obama had to work very hard to bail out the economy and it was the taxpayers who had to pay the losses of the too-big-to-fail big banks. When Pres Obama resurrected the Chrysler and GM factories which were crashing, the Republicans were telling him to let them fail. It would have thrown millions out of work. Now the USA prints any amount of Dollars they need and to keep the value up they have made sure the Middle East sell all the oil in US Dollars. It was the same reason Gaddafi was killed because he was going to sell oil for Gold Dinars (backed by Gold). Even MR brought in the Chinese Yuan as a reserve currency which was his undoing. If this situation changes as many economists have pointed out then the US Dollar will crash.
In terms of PQLI, the USA is way below countries in Europe which follow Socialist Economies. Almost all the people carry guns and there are many people who have no insurance for health. When they fall ill they go to emergency who treat them. The Pharmaceutical Companies are gouging the people which are allowed by the Congress who benefit in terms of contributions from them. The environment has been degraded and the present Government has removed all the restraints the Obama administration had placed on Corporations to dump waste. About 0.1% of the people have most of the wealth of the country. A large number of people have no savings in their old age and are in very sorry states. Is this what we want for Sri Lanka or should we like Bhutan measure the success of the economy by Gross Domestic Happiness?
When the Batalanda Commission had recommended RW’s civic rights be removed how is he now the Prime Minister? It is only because he is a puppet of powerful countries and is supported by them. He lost elections 29 times, then tried to come to power behind Sarath Fonseka and finally managed to come through My3 who appointed him illegally has the Prime Minister in Jan 8’15. When he was appointed illegally My3 stated that the West wants him as the Prime Minister.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was trying to go on the path of Self-Sufficiency. He had to spend money on the infrastructure since it had been destroyed and neglected for 30 years by the old hag CBK and Ponil. As soon as MR came into power he started projects to develop the infrastructure. In 2009 when he eliminated LTTE and their leader the West was livid. They send the French Foreign Minister Boucher and David Miliband Leader of the opposition in U.K. Parliament to beg for Prabhakaran’s life from MR. President Mahinda Rajapaksa stood firm and as a result, they started their plans to eliminate him. Funds were given to the opposition to mount a campaign to besmirch MR’s character and drag him to the ground. In spite of it, MR would have won if there was no large-scale cheating by the opposition.
During the last two years from Jan 2015, the මූසල ආණ්ඩුව has taken more loans than MR did in his time from 2005 to 2009. But what do they have to show for it? They go around opening buildings and hospitals etc that MR had built and they put their own nameplate on the buildings after removing MR’s name. The only thing they have done with the money is to import luxury BMWs, Mercedes Bezes and Range Rovers for the corrupt parliamentarians. The bond scam engineered by Ponil and Arjun Mahendran is one of the biggest insider trading jobs in the world.
Self Sufficiency would have given our people Dignity, Peace, and Prosperity. The farmers would have been self-employed and would have supplied the rice we needed. We could have had small-scale private operations to produce various other goods as you suggest. The Yahapalanaya killed the fertilizer subsidy to destroy the farmers. Now that Wikunanasinghe wants to convert us into an export economy as per the instructions from the IMF. They feel the time is right for the takeover of Sri Lanka by Multinational Corporations and the wealthy Tamil Diaspora. They will come and buy everything from the Trincomalee harbor, Hambantota harbors our best lands and convert the people to serfs who will have to work under these Corporations. Instead of being a dignified race of people who are self-sufficient, we will end up as serfs working for a pittance for these corporations. Wikunanasinghe and his cohorts will be very well looked after. Sri Lanka labor costs are much higher than that in India, Bangladesh etc. So these corporations will import labor who will never go back and what happened in 1815 will be repeated. The ethnic balance will be changed furthermore forever. Both CBK and Ponil will have their ultimate revenge. Ponil is a twit who mind is still in the 1950’s mindset. He thinks Capitalism works. It does not as has been shown by one of the world’s foremost Economists Dr. Richard Wolf and many others.
RW follows the script from failed pure capitalist ideas from the International powers. Most of Europe including U.K follow Socialist Systems of Governance. RW after losing elections 29 times keeps coming like the Terminator in the film. Both Ranil and CBK are like the walking dead in the film Zombies since their hearts are dead. The body and head keep going on a set program from the International powers.
We need to measure the success of the economy by PQLI (Physical Quality of Life Index which is a composite number to measure Life expectancy, literacy, infant mortality etc). Not by GDP. The only solution is for all the good well-meaning people in the country, the intellectuals, the workers, the priests and the forces to rise up against this life defeating systems and bring lasting change and prosperity for the ordinary people not the few at the top.
Sri Lanka is the Socialist Republic. Not a Capitalist Paradise for vermin from abroad to creep in and spoil our land and culture. The purely Capitalist countries have destroyed their countries and parts of the world and are now looking for new fresh lands to conquer and plunder and rape.
There are many top economists who have written on the topic. One of the most outspoken has been Dr. Richard Wolf. His famous talk Capitalism hits the fan is given below. His solution for capitalism is to have democracy in the workplace. The Mondragon Corporation in Spain is actually a large number of Co-operatives under the umbrella of Mondragon. This was set up with the blessings of the Catholic Church. In the USA there are many companies which are run as co-operatives where the employees participate in the decision making of the company affairs by being on the board. In Germany which has been very successful any company with over 2000 employees have to have at least 50% of employees on the board. This is why unlike USA Germany is very successful. In 2008 when the recession hit many companies in the USA laid off people in millions. In Germany, the Govt informed the companies not to lay off anyone. They suggested that they can reduce the number of hours of employees but keep all employed. In return, the German Govt paid the wages of the companies who had reduced the number of hours of employees so that no one lost any money. The net result was that the people had money in the pocket and were spending it thereby keeping the economy rolling. They hardly felt the recession, unlike the stupid USA.
Please watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZU3wfjtIJY ( Capitalism Hits the Fan – Richard Wolff)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WhZXhRS3F4 ( Austerity and Neoliberalism in Greece with Richard Wolff and Barry Herman | The New School)
There is a trust deficit since from Jan 15’15 the Yahapalanaya has indulged in trickery to achieve its ends.
1. It appears that the Presidential election candidates, the then Gen Sarath Fonseka and Maithripala Sirisena had contested elections in Jan 2010 and Jan 2015, respectively, on the NDF ticket under the swan symbol. The NDF symbol was headed by Shalila Moonasinghe who is a British citizen. Therefore the entire election of 2015 is null and void.
2. My3 broke the law when he appointed RW as the Prime Minister while the Parliament already had Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratna. The reason he gave was that “the West wanted it so”. I assume the West was Britain/USA nexus. In turn, Ranil changed the Cabinet when there was an existing Cabinet and appointed his own henchmen. He brought the Finance Ministry under his control and then appointed Arjun Mahendran as head of Central Bank while he was still a Singaporean citizen. He also appointed Paskaralingam whose bad reputation is well known by all Sri Lankans, as head of the Treasury. Arjun then did the Rs. 5,000 Million insider trading bond scam. Very little has been done to investigate this matter and bring the miscreants to justice. Ranil is the chief perpetrator since he appointed Arjun Mahendran. My3 could have prevented the gigantic second bond scam that took place in 2016 if he had removed Arjun Mahendran. He is too weak to say ‘no’ to Ranil.
Even in the August Parliamentary election, My3 broke the law. First, My3 brought a Court action to prevent the Central Committee (CC) of UPFA from a meeting. Then he got information from National Intelligence that UPFA is going to win 113 seats. According to his own words in order to prevent his own party SLFP/UPFA from winning and to ensure that UNP wins, he wrote a 5-page letter to MR telling him that he will not be appointed as Prime Minister under any circumstances. He then went on tv and read it out to the public to reinforce his letter. He then removed the General Secretaries of both parties (UPFA & SLFP) and appointed his own. He removed the 13 members of the CC and appoints his own. All this was done during the period where the Election Commissioner has said there should be no electioneering. Was this not electioneering by My3 for the UNP during that period? All these actions confused our voting public. On top of that many have pointed out false ballot papers, counting errors etc. Democracy is a laugh in Sri Lanka. Nowhere else in the world will the party leader work for the Opposition so strenuously. The election in January was flawed due to an unbelievable number of voter increase in North, East and Nuwara Eliya. Double voting here! As far as I can see both elections have been cheated. After the elections, the members of the gazetted National List were removed and My3 appointed people who had lost the vote to the National List.
3. Not many people are aware that Ranil has computerized the voting in the Parliament. This allows him to control the voting in the Parliament. Furthermore, no one can see who voted for what item. In the British and many other parliaments the voting is by a show of hands, I believe. Why this big rush to put in computers which can be tampered with to rig the election results. In the U.K. even the elections use paper ballots which are counted manually. I think the citizens must question the computerized voting in the Parliament and get rid of them. Ranil recently changed the security cameras in the Parliament too. Why the sudden need to spend money on security cameras of all things. The old defunct cameras were given to the Temple of the Tooth!
4. The way the 20A bill was passed in the Parliament is another example of trickery. Because the Supreme Court had rejected the 20A has being not constitutional the UNP dirty tricks department attached a 55-page amendment to an innocuous Bill and passed it. It is not possible for Ranil to do anything straight after a lifetime of games and trickery with the people of the country. Unless he is removed he will make sure the new Constitution is passed by some type of deceit. Our opposition is too innocent for these dirty tricks coming from the West for Ranil.
5. Now the latest trick is that after the Presidential Commission was closing in on Ranil he has silenced the AG’s office and essentially shut down the Presidential Commission on the Bond scam inquiry.
6. It appears that Ranil the traitor is planning to bring the new Constitution Bill to the Parliament on October 30 and then allow ONLY three days for debate before pushing it through the bought and subservient mock Parliament we have in Sri Lanka.
October 27th, 2017 at 10:41 am
A POWERLESS TOOTHLESS National Parliament that CANNOT DEFEND & PROTECT the Nation against SEPARATISM & DISINTEGRATION is NOT WORTH HAVING! The New TRAITORS CONSTITUTION makes it WORTHLESS, a MERE FIG LEAF to permit SEPARATISTS to HIDE UNDER …. MIGHT as well RAZE IT and SAVE the MONEY! THAT is the SIGNIFICANCE of what Wimal WEERAWANSA said!
Under the Proposed NEW TRAITORS CONSTITUTION of Sri Lanka, the National Government of Sri Lanka would not have the power to DISMISS a MERGED Northern and Eastern Provincial Government from DECLARING INDEPENDENCE UNILATERALLY, as the Central Government of Spain INTENDS TO DO under Spain’s Constitution to stop Catalonia from EXERCISING the independence it DECLARED UNILATERALY …. today!
Sri Lanka will not have the POWER to PROTECT ITSELF from DISINTEGRATION as Spain DOES under its Constitution! Are we PATRIOTS going to ALLOW the Yamapalanaya to ENACT this TREASON??
…………………………..
Catalonia declares independence from Spain, direct Madrid rule looms
By Sam Edwards and Angus MacSwan
Reuters•October 27, 2017
BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government moved to impose direct rule over Catalonia on Friday, stripping the region of its autonomy less than an hour after its parliament declared independence in a stunning show of defiance to Madrid.
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Although the Catalan declaration appears to be a doomed gesture, both sides’ moves take Spain’s worst political crisis in four decades to a new and possibly dangerous level.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called for calm and said the rule of law would be restored in Catalonia, where secessionists have long cherished the dream of a separate nation.
A crowd of more than 2,000 independence supporters gathered in the Ciutadella Park outside the regional parliament in Barcelona, shouting “Liberty” in Catalan and singing traditional songs as the independence vote went through.
The motion passed in the parliament after a passionate debate from advocates and opponents of independence said Catalonia constituted an independent, sovereign and social democratic state.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont left the chamber to shouts of “President!” and mayors who had come from outlying areas brandished their ceremonial batons and sang the Catalan anthem “Els Segadors” (The Reapers).
“Catalonia is and will be a land of freedom. In times of difficulty and in times of celebration. Now more than ever”, Puigdemont said on Twitter.
But immediately after news of the vote, which three opposition parties boycotted, Spanish shares and bonds were sold off, reflecting business concern over the turmoil in the wealthy region.
Within an hour, the upper house of Spain’s parliament in Madrid authorized Rajoy’s government to rule Catalonia directly — an unprecedented move in Spain since the return of democracy in the late 1970s.
In Brussels, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said the independence vote changed nothing and the EU would only deal with the central government.
The United States, Britain, France and Germany also swiftly dismissed the declaration and expressed support for Rajoy’s efforts to keep Spain united.
FIRING THE GOVERNMENT?
Rajoy’s cabinet was meeting on Friday evening to adopt the first measures to govern Catalonia. This could include firing the Barcelona government and assuming direct supervision of Catalan police forces.
“Exceptional measures should only be adopted when no other remedy is possible,” Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in an address to the Senate on Friday morning.
“In my opinion there is no alternative. The only thing that can be done and should be done is to accept and comply with the law,” said Rajoy, who has staked out an uncompromising position.
How direct rule would work on the ground – including the reaction of civil servants and the police – is uncertain. Some independence supporters have promised to mount a campaign of civil disobedience.
The main secessionist group, the Catalan National Assembly, called on civil servants not to follow orders from the Spanish government and urged them to follow “peaceful resistance”.
“Tensions are likely to rise significantly over the coming days,” Antonio Barroso of Teneo Intelligence said in a note.
“Demonstrators might try to prevent the police from removing Catalan ministers from their offices if the central government decides to do so. This increases the risk of violent clashes with the police.”
The crisis unfolded after Catalonia held an independence referendum on Oct. 1 which was declared illegal by Madrid. Although it endorsed independence, it drew only a 43 percent turnout as Catalans who oppose independence largely boycotted it.
The crisis has split Catalonia and caused deep resentment around Spain. National flags now hang from many balconies in the capital in an expression of unity.
Catalonia is one of Spain’s most prosperous regions and already has a high degree of autonomy. But it has a litany of historic grievances, exacerbated during the 1939-1975 Franco dictatorship, when its culture and politics were suppressed.
The chaos has also prompted a flight of business from region and alarmed European leaders who fear the crisis could fan separatist sentiment around the continent.
NOT EASY
“It is not going to be easy, it is not going to be free, it is not going to change in a day. But there is no alternative to a process towards the Catalan Republic,” lawmaker Marta Rovira of the Junts pel Si pro-independence alliance said in a debate leading to the vote.
After the debate, lawmakers from members of three main national parties — the People’s Party, the Socialists and Ciudadanos — walked out. Members of the pro-independence parties and the far-left Podemos then voted 70-10 in favor in a secret ballot aimed at hindering any attempt by Madrid to lay criminal charges on them.
Spain’s constitutional court said it was reviewing the vote. The state prosecutor and other parties have three days to open a case.
Montserrat Rectoret, a 61-year-old historian, was among the crowds in Barcelona.
“I am emotional because Catalonia has struggled for 40 years to be independent and finally I can see it,” she said.
(Additional reporting by Paul Day, Julien Toyer and Jesus Aguado, writing by Angus MacSwan, editing by John Stonestreet)
October 29th, 2017 at 12:29 pm
Should Sinhala Buddhists stage MASS DEMONSTRATIONS against the NEW TRAITORS CONSTITUTION, BEFORE it is DEBATED, or AFTER if it is APPROVED by a 2/3 VOTE in Parliament, the Yamapalanaya MAY NOT BE CONFIDENT of the support of the Police Force and the Armed Forces, largely manned by Sinhala Buddhists to ACT AGAINST Sinhala Buddhists!
In such an event, they would APPEAL to foreign countries for EMERGENCY MILITARY ASSISTANCE to QUELL public protests by Sinhaala Buddhists.
Is that why the US Naval Task Force is NOW offshore Colombo, and the Indian Navy has just concluded a joint Military Exercise with the Sri Lankan Navy, Maithripala Sirisena recently promoted and set-aside the Tamil head of the Navy, and appointed another Navy chief and MR went abroad to India to escape the potential violence?
Is it to PREPARE for the use Foreign Forces to PROTECT the Yamapalanaya against Sinhala Buddhist PROTESTERS? FOOD for THOUGHT! The next FEW DAYS will REVEAL the TRUTH!