C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.

19-A, passed on April 28, 2015 was the last step of a series of strategic cheating of people before the final act to balkanize Sri Lanka, murder by a legal pen. Unfortunately, only one MP out of 224, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara (Ampara District), realized this impending danger, and voted against it. Subsequently, with UNP+TNA influence, JVP tried to expedite it with a 20-A. The real one, the final orumitthanadu thing, was supposed to come before the MP lot in mid-November. On Oct. 26, 2018 president Sirisena, bombed his yahapalana prison demolishing this balkanization plan, hopefully killing it forever. But international king makers (IKMs) do not give up that easily. They will be really happy if some serious street fighting take place so that the UN could become a three-sided affair. Already UN agents are in the speaker’s lobby, in response to dismissed PM RanilW’s written appeal and speaker Karunasena’s verbal begging bowl before white European embassies in Colombo. The purpose of this essay is to list the historical record to show the link between the current 19-A debacle and the balkanization plan floated by local agents of IKMs. The reader could then fathom the gravity of the case before SLSC. Several secret, dishonest acts (marked in red color) had happened in this game of bogus democracy.

The source of this summary is an essay written in Sinhala on this balkanization plan with maps, printed on LankaWeb (6/15/2017).

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/06/15/%e0%b6%9a%e0%b7%85%e0%b7%94-%e0%b7%83%e0%b7%94%e0%b6%af%e0%b7%8a%e0%b6%af%e0%b6%b1%e0%b7%8a-%e0%b7%80%e0%b7%92%e0%b7%83%e0%b7%92%e0%b6%b1%e0%b7%8a-%e0%b6%bd%e0%b6%82%e0%b6%9a%e0%b7%8f%e0%b7%80/

1. The Christian-led plan to balkanize India was reported in detail in the book, Breaking India: Western interventions in Dravidian and Dalit fault-lines,” by Rajiv Malhothra and Aravindan Nilakandan (2011). This century old plan got buried under new geopolitical developments and propped up surprisingly again by way of Indira Gandhi’s plan to destabilize JRJ for his pro-American overtures. She used tiger terrorists as cat’s paws with suicidal consequences for her son. Later, Indian leaders realized that Prabakaran would be a threat to India itself, and helped SL govt. to get rid of P. But white IKMs had better ideas. They wanted to break SL so that (1) Trinco etc. will be under their control with a Tamil puppet regime (like what is happening now in the newly installed South Sudan) and (2) the only brain-challenge to Western Christian hegemony coming from the principles of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka could be eroded or demolished (Islam fundamentalism is violence). The latter idea can be called CBK-Rosy Senanayaka wish.
2. Bandaranayaka-Chelvanayagam Pact in 1957 accepted for the first time, that there is a Tamil homeland in N & E. This was given a further boost by the Dudley-Chelva Pact in 1965. JRJ was fully behind this secret pact with federal state party. Unlike B-C P, D-C P was a secret agreement. JRJ and Dudley marched up to Gampaha against B-C pact in 1958 but killed a monk in 1966 when their UNP+FP govt. decided to implement what SWRD tried to implement in 1958 about the use of Tamil language. It was people who got fooled by politicians’ tricks.
3. Sir DBJ, DSS, SWRD, Dudley, JRJ, RP, CBK or MR did not understand that the 1832 Colebrooke decision to divide Ceylon into five provinces and later into nine was an artificial one and should be changed to fit in with the natural environment and geography of the island. Maithipala S was the first president to say publicly that this province-based division is something the white man forced on us and we are still fighting for land boundaries based on this basis. Only now we know that MS had no power to go beyond giving public talks in such important matters.

If JRJ had any national or patriotic vision for the country, he could have linked his Mahaveli project with moving the capital city to Raja Rata, instead of a new parliament built less than 10 miles on a marshy land blocking the natural drainage pattern and creating annual flooding all over Colombo.

Since 1935 Marxists in Ceylon/SL behaved as strangers to the island’s history and geography. So is JVP today.

4. In 1987, with 13-A, Sri Lanka was forced to accept a traditional homeland in N & E, and the island came under a federal setup. The danger of this got exposed with Vartharaja Perumal’s UDI in March 1990 and Rpremadasa used his presidential power to chase him away with IPKF help. The federal nature of 13-A was hidden from people’s mind until N province was given on a platter to the so-called educated Tamil moderate with two Sinhala daughters-in-law, Wignesvaran in 2013 by MahindaR, most probably because of IKMs influence, rather than due to any love for TNA’s demand for democracy. NPC began passing resolutions favoring separatism and hating Buddha statutes! This mentality became worse after the yahapalana deal, but after 19-A in 2015, what Rpremadasa did to Vartharaja in 1990, has become an impossible action for an imprisoned president.

13-A did not receive people’s mandate by way of a referendum, and a sharply-divided SC declared it legal because of the executive powers given to a president by the constitution (powers of governors as P’s agents).  It is sad that today nobody speaks about this aspect of the damage done by 19-A. 13-A was passed using intimidation against MPs, kept in a hotel before they were brought down to parliament by busses. MPs gave undated letters of resignation. If challenged 13-A could be declared as a law passed improperly.

5. 13-A has been a white elephant in the South and it is a death-trap. But for separatists or federal-separatists it has become a gold mine of hope. Their slogan became give us 13-A+. Once 13-A+ is given new slogan will be give us 13-A++ until separate state is carved out. Thus, actually, 13-A, not the dead paper tiger Prabakaran, that has become the real tiger’s tail.

It must be noted that RPremadasa and Chandrika, on two separate occasions, offered NP to Prabakaran for ten years like a sale of a private real estate. Fortunately, for Sri Lanka P was insane or stupid on both occasions to reject this golden key to his Eelam kingdom. He did not follow, little now, more later policy of Chevanayagam.

6. Chandrika’s 1995-2000 package deals were attempts to expand 13-A to create a union of regions in the island plus a mono Tamil N-E region, Oluvil nadu and a Malaya nadu. These package deals (August 1995, Jan 1996, Oct 1997 & August 2000) and 19-A (2015), all have one person behind it. That person is the hardcore Marxist Jayampathy W. He is known as a cheater of the chemistry honors exam at Peradeniya. How difficult would be for a person of that caliber to act dishonestly in public affairs, even if it is about a sacred task like constitution-making? Of course, there was aiding and abetting by other politicians then and now.

The well laid out balkanization plan covered in the Oct 1997 package deal was removed from the final draft presented to parliament in August 2000. It became a secret known only to a handful of politicians behind it (Chandrika, Neelan Thiru, G L Peiris, JayampathyW, [RanilW?]).  By accident I found this plan in the book written by an Indian, Partha Gosh (Ethnicity vs Nationalism, 2003) on pages 163-65. Please read the essay written in Sinhala mentioned above for details and maps. This Oct 1997 secret is not mentioned even in the new UNP-TNA-JVP orumitthanadu draft that (Jayampathy-Sumanthiran constitution) they planned to present to parliament in November which got derailed due to Oct 26, 2018 bombing of the Yahapalana prison. This yahapalana TNA authored constitutional scheme is full of contradictions and false statements.

7. RanilW as PM went along with Chandrika’s package deals until he realized that Chandrika has a plan to become the executive PM. Then he got it burned in the parliament. He made his own attempt to get a 19-A, enacted to escape from Chandrika. However, in 2002 SC decided that he must have a referendum if he wants to change the basic framework of the 1978 JRJ constitution. Ironically, RanilW got Jayampathy and Sumanthiran, to get that plan re-incarnated, and a stupid parliament of 224 approved this racket.  Only one MP opposed it. No wonder now politicians of green, blue and lotus bud are all trying to kill each other.
8. IKMs found that 13-A path is the best approach to reach their target of balkanizing Sri Lanka. Both Chandrika and Ranil were in their bag since the 1990s. What Ranil realized after 2002 was that a 19-A kind of change is a short cut to curb president’s powers and grab executive control. If parliament is taken out of P’s control on national and political matters, then MPs could be manipulated with bribes etc. to pass any law and even the draft orumitthunadu one. This is why Ranil said in the parliament that 19-A (2015) is only a temporary arrangement until a new constitution is presented soon. The speaker was behind this plan supporting a pro-govt. ‘opposition’ of TNA and JVP. The real nature of the speaker got exposed after Oct 26.
9. The common candidate game is IKMs plan to deceive and defeat Sinhala Buddhists without any extra effort. If it is possible, to get a ‘puppet’ president elected (first attempt they failed, second effort successful for nearly four years), the colonial plan tried in 1921-24 to make majority, a minority could be achieved to a great extent under such scheme. In 2015 P Sirisena won for two reasons: Sinhala Buddhist vote was divided, and minority vote went to him. In 2010 SF got Tamil vote. In addition to this the electoral system makes the two majority parties depending on minority party support in the parliament. 19-A is an attempt to capitalize this situation. If parliament is a permanent body for 5 years, no matter how crazy or criminal it behaves, then speaker, UNP, TNA+JVP leadership could manipulate MPs to run a dirty show as they did in the past 4 years. Few people know that according to the 19-A original draft, parliament could not be dissolved before four and half years unless all its members asked for a dissolution! This means even if one of the members disagree it cannot be dissolved. If one member had to wait for five years to become eligible for the pension that is it. Can there be a parliament free of any constitutional check under a democracy other than a self-check by itself?

• The gross errors found in 19-A are not accidents, mistakes. They are deliberate acts done by Ranil-Sumanthiran-Jayampathy trio to trick SC or one or two MPs with brain, such as Rajiva Wijesinha and Dinesh G. Thus, 32 (2)c was added so that there was no contempt of SC by 70 (1). This may be why Sripavan CJ was silent when senior lawyer Gomin Dayasiri asked him if 70 (1) was not a violation of the constitutional balance requiring a referendum.
• During 2014 common candidate saga, two monks led the election campaign from the Sinhala Buddhist side. (1) Ven. Sobhitha wanted executive presidency abolished. He was foolish, unreasonable and left this world a saddened political ghost. He admitted to Gevindu Kumaratunga that he was deceived by Ranil, CBK and the NGO dollar agents. (2) Ven. Rathana and JHU wanted only the arbitrary powers in the presidency removed. The yahapalana crooks signed for both these demands. President S said he will accept changes that do not require a referendum. Therefore, 19-A, allowing a stupid, criminal and corrupt crowd of MPs to decide for themselves to have a free-lunch hotel to continue for five years without any control by people via their elected president is an immoral act.
• A reduction of arbitrary powers of the presidency, possible without a referendum, should not be used in a confusing and crafty manner to destroy the reasonable and necessary powers given to a president to act in the interest of the country, when such action is needed. One reason given was that the president wanted to prevent the yahapalana plan to present the secretly prepared orumitthanadu papers in the parliament, because in the past the yahapalana speaker and UNP+TNA+JVP manipulated parliamentary standing orders to get such laws passed. This and the selling of the country to foreigners, piece by piece are good enough reasons to dismiss a parliament, which is not really a representative of peoples’ democratic right. MPs are job applicants of Colombo party bosses.
• The yahapalana crowd agreed in general that, before, with or after 19-A, they will bring 20-A to clean the electoral system, to make it a real representative method like before 1977, which was not fulfilled before the August 2015 parliamentary election. Using MPs who got elected under a stupid method hated by all, to pass laws in strange and secret ways cheating even the SC rulings (a one-page bill becoming a 30-page law) must be condemned as immoral
• People did not expect, the reduction of president’s power means giving that power to 225 MPs. The best example on how speaker, PM, TNA and JVP cheating people in the name of a new 225 MP democracy comes from the way how 19-A ‘sanitized’ the so-called constitutional council. Seven of this council are members of these 225 (more specifically from the ruling cabal). The other three are known supporters of TNA+UNP+JVP politics. So what independence one can expect from such top-level council as a safeguard from a kind of bad president under 18-A in the past?

A court can interpret a law in either way. It can go blind on how a law was enacted, which in legal parlance known as ‘constitutionalism.’ No matter how rotten the mud in which law originated, how immoral or undemocratic the process and procedures followed, how obvious the deliberate attempts made to confuse legal clauses, a court can still decide any way it likes. This is what SWRdeA Samarasinghe is asking from SC, hiding behind phrases like letter of the constitution, spirit of democracy and rule of law to save democracy (Colombo Telegraph Dec 7, 2018)

But in this 19-A debacle, it is very clear that people’s intentions or aspirations are not appropriately handled by those who enacted 19-A. People’s sovereignty was betrayed by 224 MPS when they passed 19-A. In April 2015 Sripavan, CJ evaded resolving this issue, by not answering Gomin Dayasiri’s question. May be Sripavan acted as a politician-judge or politicians’ judge, then. May be, he thought 32(2)c will take care of any possible vagueness dispute in future.

Now in 2018, it is very clear the issue is not legal. It is a political issue. The SC can put the country in political turmoil if it thinks there is a legal issue and defeat P’s decision to dismiss parliament. The highest court in the country exercising people’s judicial power has a duty to serve the long-term interests of the people. There are more than enough facts and reasons for the SC to shape its decision in favor of people, allowing them to vote at a new general election, irrespective of the fact who are the culprits who created this mess. (cwije77@outlook.com).