By Yusuf Ariff Courtesy  Adaderana

State Minister Dilan Perera says that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will never agree to the stripping of civic rights of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa or anyone else.

He stated that as long as President Maithripala Sirisena is the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, nobody will be allowed to do so as it is not the policy of the party.

Speaking at a SLFP press briefing in Colombo today (1), the State Minister of Highways also claimed that a massive political conspiracy is being carried out by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the United National Party (UNP) behind the scenes in order to weaken the program being carried out to strengthen the SLFP-led alliance, before the election.

Therefore the ‘act’ is not between the President and the Prime Minister, but between some in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and the United National Party, the state minister said.

Ajith Siriwardana Courtesy The Daily Mirror

United National Party (UNP) MP Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday whatever the President or the Prime Minister said during this election period should not be taken seriously.

He said that was a matter to be considered after the election.

What is said by the President or the Prime Minister during election time should not be taken seriously. We will have to consider these matters in the future,” he told journalists during an election campaign at Bloemendhal.

He said this in response to a question about the Marapana Committee recommendations about assistant leadership of the UNP. ()

Editorial Courtesy The Island

The Tilak Marapana committee, appointed by the UNP to study the presidential bond probe commission report, has claimed there are no findings against UNP members including former Minister Ravi Karunanayake, UNP General Secretary and Minister Kabir Hashim tells us. No one with a modicum of intelligence expected a different outcome!

Minister Hashim, however, says the Marapana committee has recommended that Karunanayake desist from functioning as the Assistant Leader of the UNP ‘until a finality is reached by the Attorney General and/or the Bribery Commission that no legal action is to be filed against him’. Whom is it trying to fool?

What we have seen is the first part of the Bond Farce. The presidential commission report has been referred to the Attorney General and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to consider whether legal action should be instituted against those named therein, we are told. One may recall how Mervyn Silva, who got into trouble over ‘check kiting’, under the previous government, had an escape route opened via the AG’s Department. He got away with his crime by reaching an agreement with the victim of the fraud! It was only a few weeks ago that an indictment against State Minister Palitha Range Bandara, who had been accused of obtaining money from a businessman in a controversial vehicle deal, was withdrawn. The AG’s Department told the Colombo High Court that the prosecution and Bandara had reached a settlement. That was the end of the case! The UNP wing of the government is peddling an argument that there is no need for anyone to worry because the losses due to bond scams can be recovered from Perpetual Treasuries, whose assets have been frozen. Will some pundit at Hulftsdorp claim that there is no need for legal action as well?

The stage is being set for the Bond Farce II, whose ending is not difficult to guess. It is highly unlikely that anybody will go to jail over the bond scams and only a fraction of the ill-gotten funds will be recovered. For, if the bond racketeers were made to stand trial and thrown to the wolves they wouldn’t take it lying down; they are bound to retaliate by exposing their political masters who masterminded the bond scams and got away with it by blatantly abusing their powers to manipulate the investigative processes.

Meanwhile, doubts have been cast, in some quarters, about the credibility and independence of the institutions, tasked with taking action against the perpetrators of the bond scams. First of all, it needs to be asked whether the Attorney General or the CIABOC has taken action against any prominent yahapalana minister. How many complaints have been made against the incumbent ministers to the CIABOC? And, how many of them have been entertained and/or investigated? Before venturing to consider whether there are grounds for the bond racketeers to be prosecuted, will the AG reveal what has become of the criminal file (No: C/187/161/2015) his department opened on June 30, 2015, on the basis of the findings of a CID investigation into the first bond scam? Will he explain why no criminal action was instituted and the criminal file was subsequently converted into a confidential one (CF/08/2015) before being caused to disappear? How can any person in his or her proper senses be expected to repose his or her trust in the AG’s Department?

Above all, it needs to be found out whether any members of the outfits that probed the bond scams have had links to the UNP and/or provided professional services to that party in the past and, if so, whether their political connections led to a conflict of interest on their part and affected their neutrality and impartiality in carrying out the task assigned to them. Their observations, findings and recommendations smack of a bias and make one wonder whether they have compromised their professional integrity and gone out of their way to clear certain politicians of wrongdoing. These are some of the issues that need to be raised in Parliament when it takes up the bond scam report for debate next week. But, we know we are only hoping against hope in that the cantankerous Opposition notables, pretending to be carrying out frontal attacks against the beleaguered UNP over the bond scams, are also compromised beyond redemption. They themselves have skeletons in their cupboards, which look like catacombs. They and the UNP are like President Donald Trump and the Rocket Man of North Korea threatening to push the much-dreaded nuclear buttons on their desks but baulking at doing so for fear of MAD (mutually assured destruction).

By Shamindra Ferdinando  Courtesy  The Island

Chairman of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday said that the UNP was engaged in last minute face-saving measures ahead of the Feb. 10 countrywide local government polls to avert defeat.

The former External Affairs Minister, who is also a top spokesman for the Joint Opposition (JO) said so in an exclusive interview with The Island yesterday. Prof. Peiris emphasized that the much delayed decision to suspend Karunanayake from exercising his duties and responsibilities as the Assistant Leader of the ruling party was nothing but a desperate bid to deceive the electorate. A smiling Prof. Peiris asserted that the Sirikotha decision wouldn’t have the desired impact on the electorate aware of the colossal losses caused by 2015 and 2016 treasury bond scams.

The JO contests the forthcoming LG polls on SLPP ticket.

Pointing out that the decision had been taken more than three years after the first bond scam perpetrated by the UNP on Feb 27, 2015 and several months after the Colombo District MP lost his ministerial portfolio over shocking revelations of receiving substantial benefits from Walt and Row Associates also run by disgraced Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL), Prof. Peiris said that Sirikotha couldn’t have made the decision at a worse time for the party.

Responding to another query, Prof. Peiris emphasized that in the wake of Karunanayake’s suspension the debate of Bond Commission report scheduled for Feb 6 was irrelevant. Prof. Peiris said that the UNP hierarchy was well aware the fallout of its decision and the crisis caused by the move, especially in the Colombo electoral district.

Prof. Peiris admitted that he himself had declared that the UNP wouldn’t take disciplinary action against Karunanayake fearing retaliation. Asked whether the JO/SLPP appreciated Karunanayake’s temporary suspension pending investigations/ judicial measures by the CIABOC and AG, Prof. Peiris said that the UNP did everything in its power to derail inquiries. “Don’t forget, President Maithripala Sirisena, too, engaged in damage control exercise before he was forced to condemn the UNP recently. President Sirisena stepped up attacks in a bid to attract SLFPers.”

The SLPP chief alleged that there had been last minute efforts to save Karunanayake from humiliating disciplinary action taken on the basis of recommendation made by a three-member committee headed by Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, PC. Prof. Peiris described Sirikotha action as too little, too late.

The SLPP Chairman said that even after Marapana’s recommendation was made known to the UNP parliamentary group, Karunanayake represented the party at a meeting chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Tuesday (Jan. 30) in parliament. Prof. Peiris expressed surprise Karunanayake was allowed to represent the party at Jan. 30 meet called especially to decide on a date for the debate on Bond Commission report and the other presidential commission (PRECIFAC) reports. Among those who had been present at the meeting chaired by Speaker Jayasuriya were Deputy Speaker Tilanga Sumathipala (UPFA), Lakshman Kiriella (UNP), Mahinda Samarasinghe (UPFA), Dinesh Gunawardena(UPFA/JO) and Vijitha Herath (JVP)

Prof. Peiris pointed out that Karunanayake had represented the UNP at the previous party leaders’ meeting on Jan. 24 when the UNP, SLFP and the TNA decided to have the debate on Feb 20 and 21.

Prof. Peiris said that the UNP had been forced to issue a statement in respect of Karunanayake’s suspension under the hand of UNP General Secretary Kabir Hashim, who is also under a cloud over his participation at a meeting at the Central Bank on the day before the first treasury bond scam. The former Law Professor said that the meeting that had been held ostensibly for the purpose of examining cash flow requirements of the government were attended by UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema and Karunanayake, in his capacity as the Finance Minister. It would be pertinent to mention that Samarawickrema hadn’t been at least a National List member of parliament at the time he participated in that meeting.

Alleging that the UNP until the very end had tried to save treasury bond thieves, Prof. Peiris said the Sirikotha project should be presented to the public in the right perspective. Prof. Peiris said that in the wake of Jan 8, 2015 presidential election, President Sirisena appointed Singaporean Arjuna Mahendran as the Governor, Central Bank. Having had assumed office on January 26, 2015, Mahendran, on the specific instructions of Wickremesinghe abolished ‘auction cum direct placement method’ ahead of Feb 27, 2015 first treasury bond scam.

“President Sirisena dissolved parliament on June 26, 2015 to thwart presentation of COPE report on the Feb 27 scam. Following Aug 17, 2015 parliamentary poll, Karunanayake was reappointed Finance Minister. Then they perpetrated the second scam on March 29, 2016. Arjuna Mahendran continued regardless of massive public outcry. Mahendran was replaced on June 2, 2017. Presidential Commission was announced on Jan. 27, 2017, one month short of two years from the first scam. President Sirisena received the report on Dec 30, 2017, though law enforcement authorities were yet to produce at least one person in a court of law”, he said.

Mahendran is still at large, Prof. Peiris said, emphasizing that the UNP couldn’t absolve itself of the responsibility by suspending Karunanayake. Referring to Hashim’s statement, now that Sirikotha had recommended that Karunanayake be prevented from exercising duties and responsibilities as the Assistant Leader pending further investigations, the UNP owed an explanation to the party as to what his duties were.

Prof. Peiris said that the UNP should explain the circumstances under which Hashim and Samarawickrema had attended Central Bank meet on Feb. 26, 2015 on the eve of first bond scam. In fact, the UNP would have had to explain its COPE members relationship of PTL owner Arjun Aloysius, son-in-law of Mahendran.

The former Rhodes Scholar asked whether Karunanayake would continue to attend party leaders’ meeting in the wake of the Sirikotha decision.

Asked whether curbs on Karunanayake would help the investigation, Prof. Peiris said that the UNP action shouldn’t be construed as such under any circumstances. Sirikotha statement was meant to pull wool over the eyes of discerning public, Prof. Peiris said. Obviously, the UNP, obviously after deliberations at the highest level had taken damage control measures at the expense of Karunanayake. The former minister said that further action couldn’t be taken against any other UNP parliamentarian without endangering Premier Wickremesinghe’s own position, Prof. Peiris said, adding that JO/SLPP would go flat out against yahapalana government in the remaining LG polls campaign period.

Prof. Peiris said that Hashim’s statement hadn’t dealt with those responsible for treasury bond scams. Instead, Karunanayake had been penalized over what had transpired in Justice Chitrasiri’s Commission leaving the scam mastermind still safe, the former minister said, adding that obviously the culpability of Sri Lanka’s biggest post-independence fraud didn’t stop at Karunanayake.

Perhaps, the UNP had consulted President Sirisena in this regard and to pave the way for a joint defence in the face of SLPP making significant progress. “Their poll campaigns are in disarray with yahapalana partners pulling in different directions much to the chagrin of their foreign sponsors,” Prof. Peiris said.

Chaturanga Samarawickrama Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

Ports and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe is day-dreaming of abolishing the civic rights of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, General Secretary of the Ravana Balaya, Ven. Iththekande Saddatissa Thera said.

Speaking to media he said if some one tried to interfere with the civic rights and political future of Mr. Rajapaksa, they would have to face the consequences.

Being the only person who saved the country from the 30-year civil war, this government is planning to infringe his Democratic rights,” the Thera said.

He said that Minister Samarasinghe had told that Mr. Rajapaksa could be jailed for seven years.

We challenge the Minister to abolish the civic rights of former president or send him to jail for at-least one day if he could. On that day, the Buddhist monks will take to the streets in the Colombo city,” the Thera said.

If Mr. Rajapaksa’s civic rights are to be abolished, in that case, all those who were involved in the Central Bank Bond Scam should be stoned in the open at the Galle Face Green,” he said. ()

By Faizer Shaheid Courtesy Ceylon Today

Elections are only a few days away and the politicians are at it again trying to tear each other apart. The political rivalries have stood the challenge of time, continuing to appeal to summon the inner hopes of the people despite their anticlimactic approach.

Two weeks ago, a fresh saga unveiled when President Maithripala Sirisena marched out from a Cabinet meeting in disgust that Members of the United National Party (UNP) were slinging mud at him regularly. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had to make a statement requesting UNP members from casting aspersions at Sirisena. Still, the cracks began to show.

Although Sirisena had warned the UNP against expressing any dissent to his actions, the President’s own Party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) continued to express anti-UNP sentiments. Especially following the Bond Scam revelations, Sirisena had asserted that he would take the finance related ministries under his wing and maintain control of the economy through a special economic council.

Going even further than this, rumours had been flying around that President Sirisena also wished to replace Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with a new person at the helm. UNP Parliamentarian Chaminda Wijesiri expressed his outrage with an out and out challenge. He stated that if President Sirisena did replace Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, the UNP will prepare to impeach President Sirisena in Parliament.

Procedure of impeachment

Impeachment can be considered the only check that Parliament maintains to counter the extensive powers of the Executive President. It is far-fetched and nearly impossible to execute given the odds. To impeach the President, a Member of Parliament will have to follow the procedure laid down in Article 38 (2) of the Constitution.

Article 38 (2) (a) states that any Parliamentarian may give a notice of resolution to the Speaker on the grounds that the President is unable to execute his functions due to mental or physical infirmity, or if the President is found guilty of certain acts. These actions include intentional violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, misconduct or corruption involving abuse of power of the President, or any offence involving moral turpitude.

Under Article 38 (2) (b), the Speaker cannot entertain the resolution unless the resolution is signed by not less than two-thirds of the Members of Parliament. If the resolution cannot obtain two-thirds of the signatures, then at least one-half of the Parliamentarians should have signed it and the Speaker must be satisfied that the allegations warrant an enquiry.

Practicality of resolution

The primary challenge in executing an impeachment is to find an allegation that is sufficiently promising. President Sirisena does not appear to have any mental or physical ailments. Therefore, the UNP can only charge him on merit of guilt for a particular offence.

As of now, Sirisena has not been guilty of treason where he has betrayed the country so blatantly. Therefore, treason will not weigh for much. Bribery is a possible charge considering the allegations that have been levelled against President Sirisena for his affiliation with a prominent electronic media organization. The Australian allegation of corruption, also known as the SMEC scandal, which was never investigated, was alleged to have occurred prior to Presidency and therefore cannot be accounted for in an impeachment.

Misconduct or abuse of powers of the office of the President is also a fairly absurd charge unless the UNP can make startling revelations of corruption by the President. However, this too will not stand at the moment. President Sirisena has also not found himself involved in any offence of moral turpitude, nor is it likely to happen, judging by the general calm of President Sirisena.
However, President Sirisena may be charged with intentional violation of the Constitution on multiple counts. Firstly, for the action of appointing Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister in 2015 without formally removing D.M. Jayaratne in writing first. This was an express violation of the Constitution which states in Article 46 (2) (Article 47 of the Constitution prior to the amendment) that the Prime Minister shall continue until he is removed in writing.

The President is also guilty of removing the former Chief Justice, Mohan Peiris from office without having impeached constitutionally. Every Judge holds the right to stay in office until and unless he is impeached in Parliament in accordance with the procedure laid down in Section 107 (2) of the Constitution.

Likewise, there are a few other Constitutional violations that may warrant an investigation, for which President Sirisena may be impeached. Apart from these, there are no charges at present against Sirisena that may draw the interest of the Speaker. This is unless the UNP can reveal a few of the secrets that may still lay hidden to the general public.

Presenting the resolution

While the UNP may continue to have a definite 106 Parliamentarians in office, this is still short of the simple majority required as a minimum requirement to present a resolution to the Speaker. Even if 106 members stand united with strong allegations in hand, they may still require a further seven members of Parliament. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) will not be willing to align with the UNP unless the allegations are strong, while the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) appears to be much more in favour of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. The Joint Opposition is far less likely to support either of the two factions, as they would gain from neither.

However, if the UNP can gain a simple majority and hold strong allegations against the President, the Speaker is likely to consider it. This is especially considering that the Speaker is also a stalwart of the UNP.

The problem, however, lies in the fact that there does not appear to be too many allegations against the President that could potentially have Sirisena considered as being unfit to be President. If the allegations are vague, they will need the support of the Joint Opposition, so as to form a two-third majority. However, to imagine this, given the current circumstances is to be delusional.

Further constitutional requirements

If all of the requirements of presenting an impeachment motion against the President is satisfied, then the Speaker will have to act on it by forwarding the allegations to the Supreme Court for investigation. At that juncture, it will matter if the allegations were true or merely an ambitious plot to oust the President from office.

Once the Supreme Court has considered the case, the President will be summoned to appear in person or with an Attorney-at-Law to present his case. The Supreme Court will only make its determination after this. Even after the Supreme Court determination has been made, the resolution will once again stand for voting in Parliament. It must pass with a positive votefrom two-third of the Parliamentarians, and only then can the President be ousted.

The likelihood of failure

During the interim period, the President will continue in his capacity undeterred and he will be very much capable of negotiating with parties or Parliamentarians to alter their vote. He could appoint 30 new ministers and 40 deputy ministers from the opposing lot, so as to keep them on his side or promise them luxuries like never before.

Even if he refuses to do so, the allegations are likely to be vague at best and will most likely fail in the Supreme Court. Even if it could be successful, the President could utilize his powers of appointment as a Judge to influence a decision.

In spite of everything, the President will also have powers of prorogation according to Article 70 of the Constitution. He could prorogue Parliament for a period of up to two months at a time, and using this he could intentionally delay the impeachment proceedings.

The only time that Parliament had drawn closer to impeaching the President was during the time of President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Politicians of the calibre of Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake moved to pass an impeachment motion with two-thirds of Parliament in favour of it. However, President Premadasa used his powers of prorogation to delay proceedings and thereafter dissolved Parliament.

At present, the power to dissolve Parliament has not been availed until and unless four years and six months have been completed. Yet, President Sirisena will have plenty of tricks up his sleeve to play around with so as to detract his detractors and keep them at bay.

Conclusion

If any such move is made to impeach the President, the move is very likely to fail. Impeachment is a mere illusion designed by a foxy President to appear as though Parliament had a check over the President. It is not! It is rather a complete waste of time. The probable result will be an eventual no confidence motion against the government, or a failure of a budget vote which would then empower the President to dissolve Parliament earlier than four years and six months.

In any case, Parliamentarian Chaminda Wijesiri is isolated in most of his comments to date. Most UNP Parliamentarians are aware of what such tomfoolery can earn them in the long run.

About the author:

The writer is a Political Analyst and an independent researcher of law. He holds a postgraduate degree in the field of Human Rights and Democratization from the University of Colombo and an undergraduate degree in Law from the University of Northumbria, United Kingdom)
faizer@live.com

Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) today said there was an attempt to arrest MP Ravi Karunanayake prior to the parliamentary debate on the Bond Commission report and then release him after the Local Government (LG) elections were over.

Former provincial councillor Ajith Prasanna claimed at a news conference that the MP’s consent had been obtained to arrest him.

Both the President and the Prime Minister are playing to the gallery by calling for a debate on the Bond report prior to the elections. We have received information that Mr. Karunanayake has been persuaded to be arrested to save the party and the unity government. During the debate, the government leaders will score points by saying that this is ‘good governance’ and that they have even arrested a former minister. However, once the election is over, he will be released,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

එක්සේසත් කරපු රට කඩන්න දෙන්න බෑ – මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ

President and PM should act responsibly (English)

Punsara Amarasinghe

In his classic work Franz Fanon has stated the most deplorable agony of colonialism is not the despicable ways used by colonial rulers to expand power in colonies through ruthless manners, but the real tragedy of colonialism is the people who have been subjected to colonial occupation are mentally reluctant to detach their bond with colonial experience as they tend to cherish them. Mainly British Empire which was known as the empire which the sun never sets was built on the series of treacherous acts they tactfully culminated in Asia and Africa. Indeed the panegyric poets like Rudyard Kipling justified the diabolical acts of British rule in colonies as a part white man’s burden” to civilize the oriental nations which Englishmen considered their moral mission in the East. Nevertheless the real mission that British carried out was built on blood and lust for power. Today in post Braxit world Britain has been torn between protecting her aged old pride and securing her crippled economy from a limbo, moreover Britain is still looking to common wealth countries with which British share a shameful memory in the past. In the backdrop of such a context it is evident Britain does not rule the waves as she used to be and ironically modern Britain’s purchasing power has been outnumbered by India as an emerging world power. Indian MP Shashi Tharror who is well known for his vehement criticism in British colonialism in Indian has recently stated that in the process of dealing with Britain in bi lateral trade India is no more in a position to have a chip on the shoulder.

In preparing for the 70^th independence of Sri Lanka Yahapalanaya” government is eager to put a good show by inviting a member of British Royal family as the chief guest of Sri Lankan Independence Day celebration on 4^th of February. In fact this is an act which proves the above stated Fanon’s analysis on how detrimentally colonialism can affect the psyche of the people even after the detachment of the imperial rule. An interesting question arising from government decision to invite the youngest son of Queen and Duke of Edinburgh is that how meekly still we are bound to put British royalty on the pedestal albeit it has been seventy years since British left the island. However perhaps inviting a member from British royal family is not a reason for a big surprise in a country where its leaders took nearly three decades to get liberated from the nominal allegiance to Crown in Britain as a dominion state and the same leaders of the past were outlandishly signed a treaty called Anglo-Ceylonese defense pact in the dawn of Dominion independence to gain further protection of the British. None of South Asian state venerated British as Ceylonese leaders opted for such a cowardly position in pampering the colonial roots and as an example Burma got rid of the nominal influence of British empire within a short period of gaining independence and constituent assembly of India under BR Ambedkar drafted the republican constitution which terminated the Indian Independence Act passed by British Parliament in 1947.

Yahapanaya government may have forgotten that Britain happened to be a worst critic of Sri Lankan military victory over LTTE and often accused Sri Lankan military for committing genocide. It was David Milband who happened to be the foreign secretary of former Labor government of Britain attempted to curtail Sri Lankan military operations in the last moment. On the other hand it is a fact that we cannot simply ignore the so called Independence Day chief guest Prince Edward or Earl of Wessex carries the darker heritage whose ancestors exploited the wealth of this country more than a century.  The fighting for the freedom for own land was considered a treason in British rule during Ceylon and national heroes like keppitipola dissawe and Weea puran appu were sent to gallows as traitors who conspired against the British monarch and today Yahapalana government has been much obtuse to invite a prince from British Royal family whose ancestors were the pioneers of oppressing the both national liberation struggles in country’s history in 1818 and 1848.

Secondly the independence we glorify on every 4^th of February is not such a glorious occasion to celebrate because when it was granted to Ceylon in 1948 Britain was in a bay of its power after facing the Second World War. Mainly British were compelled to grant independence for most of their colonies and especially in Indian they realized that British rule in India is not further possible when Indian mariners openly showed their anger against colonial rule in Mumbai in 1946. In Ceylon British had set a favorable class to continue their legacy and their fear of spread of communism was consoled after DS Senanyake’s UNP upheld the power in 1947 general election. Many still blindly  believe that independence was won by DS, Sir Oliver and other national leaders in a more amiable way unlike India where the partition  of the country did coast many lives, but in truth British had no fear since the rule of Ceylon was about to fall for a set of leaders inspired by British ideals. As a matter of fact the day we are eagerly celebrating as the Independence Day was chosen by Sir Ivor Jennings the architect of 1947 constitution of Ceylon and 4^th of February was his choice since it was his wedding anniversary.

Having analyzed the colonial atrocities committed by British in past and exploitation which was more akin to theft, government should be able to present a missive or a report to Prince Edward on how his ancestors captured the sovereignty in this island by most foul strategies. Indeed even prince may have not studied the truth about colonial history at Cambridge because erasing the bitter truth of colonial history from British archives has been conducting thus far. Perhaps after facing a gala ceremony prince may be secretly happy by witnessing how solidly still colonial influence works and how pathetically Sri Lankan politicians struggle to cherish British rule in the country as a blessed memory.

Champa Fernando Secretary, KACPAW (Kandy Association for Community Protection through Animal Welfare)

Increasingly we see in Sri Lanka celebratory events that send up thousands of sky lanterns, which MUST fall down back to the earth, some burning, some burnt out, endangering human and animals life and causing air travel and fire hazards and power failures. They cause more harm than charm.

Sky lanterns offer a brief blaze of glory. These lanterns, literally unattended fire balls, are taken miles before they fall back onto land or seas, causing long term hazards to man, animal and the environment.  Sending these fire balls into the sky is nothing but an irresponsible act of some selfish human beings.

Harms and Hazards

Misleadingly called ‘biodegradable” by the manufacturers and termed earth friendly” these lanterns are far from that. These paper lanterns have a thin metal wire and a bamboo frame.  According to the manufacturers the wire takes 9 months to degenerate. Apparently it takes years, unless it does not get chopped up into tiny needle-like pieces and gets mixed with hay and silage consumed by livestock who die a slow and excruciatingly painful death from internal bleeding and injuries, including puncturing of the oesophagus etc.

Pets, birds, fish as well as many land animals, including wild animals get entangled in the wire and die a slow death, unless they are rescued. Children have got burnt, some fatally, while wild fires as well as fires to homes, institutions, infernos on garbage piles have been caused. They have also caused power failures. They are also mistaken for distress signals.

A Potential Act of Arson?

Technically and in reality sky lanterns are unattended balls of fire that are being released. People who set fire to buildings and land and those who cause wild fires are charged with arson. Why not this??

So many accidents from sky lanterns around the world have made a lot of countries BAN the use of sky lanterns. Some countries ban them before popular events and many other countries are considering banning the use of them. Calls to ban them come from farmers, average civic-minded citizens, Fire Departments, Police, Local Councils, Power Plants, livestock industry, animal welfarists, environmentalists, navy, etc.

Ignorance

It is amazing that the a particular District’s President Scouts and President Guides Association organized one of these fire-hazard events in December and went ahead with it despite some of us trying to enlighten them and asking them to desist from sending thousands of unattended fires up into the sky. Sending sky lanterns are against the fundamental scouting safety principles related to fire management where fires are to be attended to at all times!!

And were the organizers and the scouts and guides there to clean up the hazardous mess and the environmental pollution they caused? Should not they be charged with littering, and more so with littering hazardous material?

Ban their Use in Sri Lanka

Now a Hotel in Mount Lavinia is organizing a sky lantern event to celebrate Valentines’ Day! Those who love animals and the environment and love each other will not attend this event.  May be organizers of such events and the participators are not aware of the full impact of this activity. Hopefully, now they do.

Like most countries, we need to ban the use of sky lanterns in Sri Lanka.  

Over to you Mr. President, Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers to bring in a ban on the use of sky lanterns in Sri Lanka.

Champa Fernando

Secretary, KACPAW (Kandy Association for Community Protection through Animal Welfare)

Dr Sudath Gunasekara 31.1 2018

This is an urgent appeal to all patriots to read the small booklet Kauda Hora” compiled by Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta  of Irida Divayina immediately. Your special attention is drawn to the last two Chapters, 1 based on a presentation by Ajith Nivad Cabral (former Governor CB) and Dr Nalaka Godahewa, 2 by Presidential Counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya. After reading it, I now confirm my opinion that Ranil Wickramasinha is the number one accused and architect behind this national crime as I have said even before. (See my article The Commission Report says the Prime Minister should not have appointed Arjuna Mahendran as the Governor of the Central Bank”) Lankaweb 5^th Jan 2018.

Under these circumstances there is no doubt as to who the Hora is and this book also reveal as to who the other main actors in this fraud are. Thanks to clever and comprehensive media coverage now the whole world knows who the culprits of this biggest bank robbery are (perhaps the biggest in Asia if not the whole world). As the President himself said few days ago no one responsible can hide from this mega robbery by trying to hide either in the mid sea, infinite universe or mountainous wilderness.

I reiterate that the President also cannot be absolved of this crime as I said in my article on 5th Jan. He is only trying to pass the ball to someone else’s court and trying to hide his head under sand like an ostrich and trying to be a sacrosanct hero pretending to be clean and innocent. In my opinion he is also equally responsible as much as His Prime Minister who was illegally appointed by him on Jan 9^th 2015.

Under these circumstances citizens should, I think immediately start a national campaign demanding that,

1 First Ranil Wickramasingha should immediately resign as PM

2 Second, if he does not do so the President should sack him with immediate effect (for his own safety at least) and appoint an interim Government under someone else who can command the majority in Parliament. In this regard he should take care not to make the same mistake he did on Jan 8 2015.

3 Third direct the Attorney General to immediately institute legal action against all others involved directly or indirectly in this scam.

4 Thereafter even the President should resign for failing to exercise his powers and fulfill his duty by the country as the Executive President so that people of this country can elect a new President as well as a new Government who could

First, restore normalcy in this country by taking it out of the present state of total anarchy.

Second, convert this Island nation in to a fully free, independent, vibrant and robust country free from internal minority separatist movements, particularly in the NW, North, North East, East and the plantation sector right at the center of the country and external interference by neo-colonial enemies and to and economically prosperous country.

Finally restore the pristine economic and cultural glory protect the Sinhala Buddhist civilization that was there in this country before the 11^th Century.

The need for a massive countrywide public agitation movement is immediately called for to get the above objectives realized, as any delay will end up in utter confusion and chaos beyond anybody’s comprehension and imagination?

By Sanchith Karunaratna Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

The committee headed by Minister Tilak Marapana made a recommendation today (31), that former Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake should not exercise his duties as the Deputy leader of the UNP until further notice.

UNP General Secretary Minister Kabir Hashim stated that the UNO committee headed by Minister Marapana made a recommendation to Ravi Karunanayake to abstain from acting as the Deputy head until the Attorney General or the Bribery Commission finalizes legal action that should be taken against him in relation to the Bond scandal.

The statement issued by Minister Kabir Hasim is provided below,

In the Report of the Commission of Inquiry on the issuance of Treasury Bonds, there are no findings against any member of the United National Party including Mr Ravi Karunanayake in regard to the issuance of Treasury Bonds. But, however, the Commission of Inquiry has decided that the Attorney General and the Bribery Commission should determine whether action should be taken against Mr Ravi Karunanayake, MP, under the Bribery Act or other appropriate legislation in respect of their findings that he had derived a substantial benefit from the lease payments made by Walt and Row Associates (Pvt) Ltd., which is an associate company of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd., which is owned and controlled by the same persons who owned and controlled Perpetual Treasuries Ltd.

The Commission has also stated that the Hon. Attorney General or other appropriate authorities could also consider whether the evidence given by Mr Ravi Karunanayake is shown to have been incorrect and in that case whether there are grounds for prosecution under Section 179 and or under Section 188 of the Penal Code or other relevant provisions of the law, read with Section 9 the Commission of Inquiry Act No. 17 of 1948.

In view of this, the Committee appointed by Hon. Leader of the United National Party has recommended that until a finality is reached by the Attorney General and/or the Bribery Commission that no legal action is to be filed against Mr Ravi Karunanayake or if such action is instituted, until the conclusion of such action, steps should be taken to ensure that Mr Ravi Karunanayake should not exercise any duties as an Assistant Leader of the United National Party.

The Report will be presented to the Working Committee to be held in mid February.

– Hon. Kabir Hashim,
– General Secretary – United National Party 

Sheain Fernandopulle  Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

Referring to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s statement that it was only proper for MP Ravi Karunanayake to step down from his post as the UNP’s assistant leader, Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Executive Director Keerthi Tennakoon today said the major bond scam miscreants had used Mr. Karunanayake as a scapegoat.

Speaking with the Daily Mirror, Mr. Tennakoon said the Tilak Marapana-committee which was appointed to look into whether any UNPer was involved in the scam, had also recommended that Mr. Karunanayake should step down from his post as the assistant leader of the party and refrain from national political activities on behalf of the party.

Although it is evident that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) report has revealed that Ravi was answerable to the allegation that the Aloysius Family and their Walt and Rowe Company had paid the rent for the penthouse apartment occupied by Mr. Karunanayake, his role in the bond scam was minute. We are not trying to wash Ravi’s clothes. What we are pointing out is that the major bond scam offenders including the PM are attempting to use Ravi to escape from the allegations levelled against them,” Mr. Tennakoon said.

He claimed that the Prime Minister had carried out a shrewd plan to rob the Central Bank by appointing Arjuna Mahendran as the CB Governor and the whole exercise culminated in the plunder of public funds. ()

Kelum Bandara Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe reportedly told his Cabinet Ministers that he would implement the recommendations of the Tilak Marapana committee on the bond scam.

It is learnt that the Committee has recommended that MP Ravi Karunanayake should step down from his post as the Assistant Leader of the party and refrain from national political activities on behalf of the party.

The Prime Minister informed this to the Cabinet Ministers representing the UNP.

He convened them for a meeting at Temple Trees yesterday.

However, it is learnt that Mr. Karunanayake is refusing to adhere to the request by the party hierarchy. ()

Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon Executive Director/CaFFE

 බැදුම්කර වංචාවේ මහ මොළය හා සැලසුම්කරුවන් සියලු දෙනා එකතු වී තිලක් මාරපන කමිටුව හරහා රවී කරුණානායක බිල්ලට දී, තමන් බේරී ඇතැයි කැෆේ සංවිධානයේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා පවසයි.  රවී කරුණානායක මහතා අර්ජුන ඇලෝසියස් සමග සබදතා පැවැත්වූ බව කොමිෂන් වාර්තාවේ දැක්වෙනවා.  ඔහුට යම් ප්‍ර‍තිලාභයක් ඒ මගින් ලැබෙන්නට ඇති බව අනුමාන කරන්නට පුළුවන්.  නමුත්, බැදුම්කර වංචාවේ මහ මොළය හා සැලසුම්කරුවන් එජාප නායකයා හා ඔහුගේ ගජ මිතුරන් බව ඉතා පැහැදිලියි.  තිලක් මාරපන කමිටුව සැබෑ හොරුන් බේරා එජාප උප නායකයා ‘බිල්ල’ ට දී තියෙනවා.  මේක පැහැදිලි මැතිවරණ ඇස්බැන්දුමක්’ යැයි ද පැවසීය.

මාතර සරසි හෝටලයේ පැවති රැස්වීමක් අමතමින් තවදුරටත් කථා කළ තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා,  අද වන විට ලංකා දේශපාලනය ඇත්ත හොරුන් හා ගජ මිතුරන් එකතුවී හොර පූසන්,ගෙන් තමන් ව්‍යාග්‍ර‍යින් බවට පත් කොට ‘හොර පූසන්’ බිල්ලට දෙන ක්‍ර‍මයක් බිහි කර තිබෙනවා යැයි ද පැවසීය. 

බැදුම්කර වංචාවට සම්බන්ධ සැබෑ පුද්ගලයින්ට දඩුවම් කළ යුතුයි.  මහ බැංකුව තව දුරටත් අගමැති අතේ තියාගෙන ඉන්නට ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඉඩ දි ඇත්තේ අගමැති රනිල් වික්‍ර‍මසිංහ මහතා කෙරෙහි විශ්වාසය තිබෙන නිසා ද? කියා මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා පැහැදිලිව ප්‍ර‍කාශ කළ යුතුයි යැයි ද පැවසීය.

චාල්ස්  එස් පෙරේරා විසින්

ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ දේශපාලන උපාය මාර්ගය මාක්ස් වාදී න්‍යාමයන් අනුවත් කාලෝචිත නොවේ. ඔවුන්ගේ උපාය  එක්සත් ජතික පක්ශයත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයත්, මහින්ද  රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති තුමා ඇතුලු ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුනත් රට විනාශය කරාගෙන ගිය, ගෙන යන,  මහා පරිමාන හොරු ඔවුන් රටට කරපු දේකුත් නැ ඉදිරියෙ දී කරන දේකුත් නැ කියන ප්‍රචාරයක් මිනිසුන් අතර පැතිරවීමයි.

ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ කියනවා ඔවුන් විතරයි  හොරකම් කරලානැති රජයේ මුදල් වංචාකර නැති පිරිසිඳු දේශපාලන පක්ෂය කියලා. ඒ නිසා ගම හදන්න  පළාත් පාලන චන්දයේදී ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට චන්දය දෙන්නයයි ජනතාවගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.  නමුත් ඔවුන් නිවැරදි කියලා හිතනවා මිස  දිග දුර බැලීමක් නෑ. ජනාතව දන්නවා දේශපාලකයෝ හොඳ පිරිසිඳු දේශපාලන චරිත වී සිටින්නේ හොරකමට  වංචාවට දුෂණයට ඉඩ ප්‍රස්තා නැතිවීම නිසයි කියල.

එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය ගත්තොත් අවුරුදු 20 කටත් වැඩිය පාලන බලය නැතිව සිටි කාලයේ හැමෝම  කීවේ  එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයෙ නායක රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ  මැතිතුමා බටලන්දෙන් ගෑවුණු ලේ පැල්ලම් ටිකක් ඇරුණු කොට  වෙන හොර මැර  වංචා දුෂණ යන්ගෙන් කිලිටි නොවුන හොඳ පිරිසිඳු දේශපාලකයෙක් කියලා.

නමුත්  2015 ජනවාරි මාසේ  ලංකාවේ අගමැති පදවිය ලබාගෙන ලැබුනු අවස්ථාවෙන් උපරීම ප්‍රයෝජනය ගැනීමට  කටයුතු කරලා  ඒ අවුරුද්දෙම පෙබරවාරි 27 වනදා මහා බැන්කුවෙන් බිලියන ගණනාවක් හොරකම්කරන්ට  ඍජුව හෝ වක්‍රව ස්මබන්ධ උනා. කිරිඇල්ලේ කිසිම පැකිලීමක් නැතිව කියනවා  ඔහුට උදව් කල 45 දෙනෙකුට ඔහුගේ අමාත්‍යාන්සේ  එකෙකුට මාසෙකට රුපියල් 85නස්  දාහක පඩියකට රස්සාවල් දුන්න කියල.

ඉතින් මිනිස්සුන්ට අහන්ට පුළුවන් නේද මේ ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ උන්නැහෙලත් අවස්තාවක් ලැබුනොත් මොනවා කරයිද කියලා ? ඒ හින්දා ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ පවතින පිරිසිඳු නොකිලිටි  බව හුවා පෑමෙන් දේශපාලන වාසියක් ලබාගන්නට පුළුවන්කමක් නැ.

ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට පළාත් පාලනය දිය යුතුද නැද්ද හොයා බැලීමට  වෙනත් මිනුම් දඬු  තියෙනවා. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මාක්ස්වාදී විප්ලවයකට සුදුසු වාතාවරණයක් තියෙන රටක් නොවේ. ඒ බව ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ දේශපාලකයන්ට වඩා දක්ෂ නිහතමානි ලංකාවේ සිටී  මාක්ස්වාදී ප්‍රභුවරුන් දැනසිටියා.  ඔවුන් ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ මුල්  අවස්ථාවේ කල විනාශකාරී මෝඩ සංහාරයන් කලේ නැ.

ඔවුන් කථාකල සිත් ඇදගන්නා කථා පිළිවෙලත්  ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ කලහකාරී ද්වේෂසගත වාග් ප්‍රහාරයන්ට  වෙනස්. බලන්න ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ කථිකයො ලාල් කාන්ත, අනුර කුමාර  දිසානායක, විජිත හේරත්, විමල් දිසානායක, මේ හැමදෙනාම කතාකරන්නේ යක්ෂයෝ වගේ තරහෙන් වයිරයෙන්, මහින්ද  රාජපක්ස ජනාධිපතිතුමා ගැන කතාකරනකොටවත් කිසිම ගෞරවයක් හැදියාවක් නැතිව කථා කරන්නේ.  කෙනෙකුට හොරා කියන්න බැ නීතියෙන් හොරකම් කලායය් තීන්දුවක් නැතිව. කියන දේ මිනිස්සුන්ට අහගෙන ඉන්ට කැමති පිළිවෙලට සිනහ මුහුණින්  යහපත්ව කතාකරන්න අනුර කුමාර  දිසානායක ආදී ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ නායකයින්ට බැ.

රටක දේශපාලන බලය ගැනීම හිතන තරම් පහසු නැ.  එ නිසයි මාක්ස්වාදින් අතර සමහරෙක් කීවේ එකපාරට විප්ලවයක් කරන්නට බැරි නම් හෙමිහීට කල් අරගෙන,  රටේ ජන්ප්‍රිය සමාජවාදයට නැඹුරු දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් වේනම් එ පක්ෂයෙ එල්ලිලා ඒ පක්ෂය ඉඳන් තමන්ගේ මාක්ස්වාදී දේශපාලන අදහස් මිනිසුන් අතර ගෙනයමින් ක්‍රමවත්ව මාක්ස්වාදී දේශපාලන ක්‍රමයක් ඇතිකිරීම සඳහා  ක්‍රියාකරන්න.

නමුත් ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ වැටවල් කඩාගෙන බිඳගෙන දේශපාලනය උදුරාගන්න කරන  අසොභන  ව්‍යායාමය ජනතාව පිළිගන්නේ නැ,  එයින්  ප්‍රයෝජනයක් ලැබෙන්නෙත් නැ.

කථා කරන්න ඕනෑ තමන් බලයට පැමිණියොත් මොනවාද කරන්නෙ. කරලා තියෙනවැරදී මොනවද ඒ වැරදි නිවැරදි කරන්නේ කොහොමද කියල.  එ පිළිබඳවයි  ජනතාව දැනගන්න කැමතී.  අරය හොරා, මෙය හොරා කියා කියා තමන්ගේ නොකිලිටී  සුද්ධභාවය  ප්‍රකාශ කරන්න ගන්න ව්‍යයාමය උපන් තැනම මැරී යන ක්‍රියාදාමයක්.

මෙයින් පෙනේනේ ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ දේශපාලන බංකලොත් භාවයයි. මෙවැනි හේතුන් නිසා ජනතාව හිතන්නේ  ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ සිටින්නේ තරහෙන් මොරදෙන දේශපාලන ගැටයෝ මිසක, වගකිවයුතු නිරහංකාර  පළපුරුදු හොඳ දේශපාලන හැකියාවක් ඇති දේශපාලකයන් කොටසක් නොවන බව.

එහෙව් ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනට දෙන චන්දයෙන් රටට සේවයක් නොවනන්නේය. අද දේශපාලන වෙදිකාවෙ පේන මාන්නයක මේ රට කඩා වැටී  විනාශවී යෑමෙන් බේරාගැනීමට පුළුවන් එකම දේශපාලන නායකයෙක්  නැත.  නමුත් ඒ අයෝමය ක්‍රියාවලිය  කල හැකි,  රට වැනසු ත්‍රස්තවාදය මුලිනුපුටා  රට දියුණු කල, එකම දේශපාලන නායකයා මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති තුමන් බව ජනතාව පිළිගෙන හමාරය. ඔහුට කොපමණ හොරා  යයි හංවඩු ගහන්න තැත් කලත් ජනතාව ඔහු ඔවුන්ගේ  ආදර නායකයා බවට පිළිගෙන ඇත. .

ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුන විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ශිෂ්‍යයන් දේශපාලන වශයෙන් සංවිධානය කිරීමද පිළිගත නොහැක. මේ ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුන විසින් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ශිෂ්‍යයන් දේශපාලන වශයෙන් සංවිධානය කිරීමෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ අද්යාපනයට මහත් හානියක් සිදුවෙනවා මෙන්ම එයින් ඔවුන්ගේ අනාගතයටද භාදක ඇතිවෙයි. යුරෝපයේ රටවල්වල විශ්වවිද්‍යාලීය ශිෂ්‍යයන් දේශපලන පක්ෂ මගින් සංවිධාන කිරීමක් නොමැත.

ප්‍රන්සයෙ  ප්‍රසිද්ධ ශිෂ්‍ය නායකයකු වූ කොහෙන් බෙන්ඩිට් කිසිම දේශපාලන පක්ෂයකට සම්බන්ධවුවෙක් නොවේ. ඒ රටවල විශ්වවිද්‍යාලීය ශිෂ්‍යයන් තමන්ගේම ශිෂ්‍ය සංගම් පිහිටුවාගනීයි. ලංකාවේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලීය ශිෂ්‍යයන් ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුන විසින් සංවිධානය කිරීම පිළිගත නොහැක. ඒ   ශිෂ්‍යයන්ගේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලීය අධ්‍යාපනය විනාශ කිරීමකි.

විශ්වවිද්‍යාලීය ශිෂ්‍යයන් මුලාකර ඔවුන්ගේ අනාගතය ගැන නොසිතා ඔවුන් ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ දේශපාලන අවශ්‍යතාවයන්  සඳහා යොදාගැනීමට විරුධව මෙවර පලාත්පාලන චන්දයෙදී ජනතා  විමුක්ති පෙරමුනට ඔබේ චන්දය නොදීය යුතුය.

අද පළාත් පාලන චන්දය සඳහා ඉදිරිපත්වී සිටින මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන ඇතුළු සියලුම දේශපාලන පක්ෂ නායකයන් කියන එකම දේ  හොරුන් ඇල්ලීමයි ඒ සඳහා ඉලක්කය වී ඇත්තේ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති තුමා හා ඔහුගේ හිතවතුන්,  හා බැඳුම්කර හොරකමයි. බැඳුම්කර හොරකම සම්බන්ධයෙන් උවත්  දැන් ගෙනයන උත්සහය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති තුමා ඒ වංචාවට කොහොමහරි පටලවා ගැනීමයි..

එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයෙ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ  හා ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණේත්  චන්ද ව්‍යාපාරයේ එකම තේමාව හොරුන් ඇල්ලීමයි. මේ තේමාව මේ සියලු බංකලොත් දේශපාලන පක්ෂවලට අවශ්‍ය නමුත් මේ බොරු ප්‍රචාර ජනතාවගේ  පිළිකුලට හේතුවී තිබේ.

ඇත්තවශයෙන්ම මොවුන් කතා කලයුත්තේ  ඔවුන්ගේ දේශපාලන දර්ශනය, ගම සංවර්ධනය කිරීමට ඔවුන් ගන්න වැඩපිළිවෙල  කුමක්ද ආදී දේවල්. නමුත්  ඒ වෙනුවට  අනිත් දේශපාලනවල හොරකම් දුශිතකම් පිළබඳව චෝදනා එල්ලකරන එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයටත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයටවත්, ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුනටවත් පළාත් පාලන චන්දයේදී චන්දය නොදිය යුතුය.

මාර්ක්ස්වදියෝයි කියාගන්න ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුන සමජවාදියට බර ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය පැරදවීම සඳහා බටහිරට ගැති ධනවාදී එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයත්  හා ජාතිවාදී දෙමළ ජාතික සන්දානයත් සමග එක්වීමෙන්ම ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ වන්චනික නිරුවත ජනතාවට දැකගැනීමට හැකිවිය.

ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුන බටහිරට ගැති ධනවාදී එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයත් සමග එක්වීමෙන්  ඔවුන් කරන දේශනාපලන ප්‍රෝඩාව නිසා පෙනීයන්නේ ඔවුන් ඔවුන්ගේ දේශපාලන වාසී සඳහා මාක්ස්වාදය පාවාදෙන බවයි. එබැවින් මේ මර්ක්ස්වාදීන් යයි කියාගන්න එක්සත් ජාතික පස්සයත් සමග සම්බන්ධකම් පවත්වන ජනතාව මුලාකරන ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුනට ඔබගේ චන්දය නොදිය යුතුය.

හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා සහභාගී වූ ‘සලකුණ’ වැඩසටහන හිරු නාලිකාවේ ඊයේ රත‍්‍රියේ විකාශණය විය.

දෙපැයකට ආසන්න කාලයක් තිස්සේ සිදු කරන ලද සාකච්චාවේදී රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා විසින් කිසිදු දේශපාලඥයෙකුට මඩ ගැසීම් අවලාද කිසිත් නොනැගූ අතර මනා සංයමයකින් සිය අදහ් නිරවුල්ව ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමටද කටයුතු කලේය.

හිරු නාලිකාව විසින් එය යූ ටියුබය යෙත මුදා හැර දිනක් ගතවන්නටත් පෙර ඒ වෙත පිවිසුම් 16,000ක් ඉක්මවා ඇත.

එම සාකච්චාව අගය කරන හා සුබවාදී ප‍්‍රතිචාර අන්තර්ජාලවාසීහු බොහෝ දෙනෙක් පල කර තිබේ.

සම්පූර්ණ වීඩියෝම මෙතනින්

– චාමින්ද කරුණාරත්න lanka C news

ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන මහතා රාජ්‍ය ණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් පසුගිය සතියේ මාධ්‍ය අමතා කල ප්‍රකාශය සම්පූර්ණ අසත්‍යයක් බව ආචාර්ය නාලක ගොඩහේවා මහතා පෙන්වා දෙයි.

දේශප්‍රේමී වෘතිකයින්ගේ සංසදය විසින් කැඳවා තිබු ප්‍රවෘති සාකච්ඡවකදි ඒ මහතා මෙය පැහැදිලි කලේය.

‘පසුගිය රජය රුපියල් ට්‍රිලියන 10 ක ණය ලබා ගෙන ඇති බවත් ඉන් පොත්වල සඳහන් කර ඇත්තේ ට්‍රිලියන 1 ක් පමනක් බවත් ට්‍රිලියන 9 ක් අවභාවිතා වී ඇති බවත් පසුගියදා රාජ්‍ය නායකයා කීවායැයි මට අදහා ගන්නවත් බැහැ. මොකද එය සම්පුර්ණයෙන්ම පදනම් විරහිත ප්‍රකාශයක්..

ට්‍රිලියනයක් කියන්නේ කෝටි ලක්ෂයක්. 2014 සමස්ථ රාජ්‍ය ආදායමත් රුපියල් ට්‍රිලියනයක්. එහෙමනම් එමෙන් 9 ගුනයක් අවභාවිතා කරන්නා එසේ මෙසේ විශ්වකර්මයෙක් වෙන්න බැහැ.

ජනාධිපතිතුමත් අගමැතිතුමත් දෙදෙනාම කතා කරනව පොත්වල සඳහන් නැති ණය ගැන. පොත්වල සඳහන් නැති ණය තිබෙනවාන්ම් ඒ ගැන කවුරුවත් කලබල විය යුතු නැහැ. නිසි පරිදි ලිපි ලේඛණ සකස් නොකර එවැනි සුවිශාල ණයක් කවුරු හෝ දුන්නානම් ඒ ආපසු ගැනීමේ කිසිදු බලාපොරොත්තුවකින් විය නොහැක. ඇත්තෙන්ම කියනවානම් මේවා විහිලු කතා.

2014 අවසන් වන විට රටේ සමස්ථ රාජ්‍ය ණය බර රුපියල් බිලියන 7400 ක් වූන. ඒඅතර මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ යුගයෙ ගත් ණය වඩිවීම රුපියල් බිලියන 5200 ක්.

කෙනෙක් ණයක් ගන්න කොට බැංකුවක් වුනත් බලන්නේ ණය ආපසු ගෙවීමේ හැකියාවයි. මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ යුගයේ රාජ්‍ය ණය රටේ ආර්ථිකයට සාපෙක්ෂව ක්‍රම ක්‍රමයෙන් පහතට එමින් තිබුනා. 2005 දී දල ජාතික නිශ්පාදනයෙන් 90.6% පමන වූ රාජ්‍ය නය 2014 වන විට 70.8 % ට අඩුවෙලා තිබුනා.

නමුත් එදාට වඩා වේගයකින් වත්මන් රජය ණය ගනිමින් ඉන්නවා.

2017 දෙසැම්බර් වන විට රාජ්‍ය ණය බර රුපියල් බිලියන 10,400 ඉක්මවන බව අපට අනුමාන කල හැකියි. ඉන් රුපියල් බිලියන 3000 ක්ම එක්කොට තිබෙන්නේ වර්ථමාන රජයයි.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමා වසර 9කදි ගත්ත ණය වගේ 60% ටත් වැඩිය මේ අය අවුරුදු තුනකදී ඇරගෙන. හැබයි බෝක්කුවක්වත් හදලා නැහැ.

මෙහෙම තව අවුරුදු දෙකක් ගියොත් ආයි ගොඩ එන්න බැරි ණය උගුලක මේ අය අපිව පටලවනවා”

අරුන උනවටුන

සිංහල බිල්ලන් සහ ඉංග්‍රීසි ජාතිවාදීවන් රටේ ජනතාවට හංගන ඉතාම වැදගත් ‍දෙයක් තියෙනවා. යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව එනම් මෛත්‍රී-රනිල් ආණ්ඩුව විසින් සිදු කළ මහ බැංකු මුදල් වංචාව සම්බන්ධ ජනාධිපති පරීක්ෂණ කොමිෂන් වාර්තාව ඉදිරිපත් කරල තියෙන්නේ ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන්. ඒ කියන්නේ ලංකාවෙ බහුතර ඡන්දදායකයන්ට බැදුම්කර වාර්තාව කියවන්න බෑ.කියවල තේරුම් ගන්න බෑ.. එනම් බැදුම්කර වාර්තාව මගින් කියල තියෙන දූෂිතයන් සහ වංචාව ගැන සිංහලෙන් කියව ගන්න ලංකාවේ බහුතර ජනතාවට නොහැකි වෙන්න තමයි ඒ වාර්තාව ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් දුන්නේ….

නමුත් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුව සමයේ සිදු කළ දූෂණ හා වංචා හොයන්න පත් කළ බරපතල වංචා දූෂණ කොමිෂන් වාර්තාව අගේට සිංහලෙන් තියෙනවා. ඒ නිසා මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුවට එරෙහිව කොමිෂන් වාර්තාව අගේට කියවන්න, තේරුම්ගන්න සිංහල ජනතාවට පුළුවන්. ඒ කියන්නේ සිංහල ජනතාව මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ කණ්ඩායමට එරෙහිව යොදවන්න, සිංහල ජනතාව මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ කණ්ඩායමෙන් කළකිරවන්නඒ වාර්තාව සිංහලෙන් දුන්න. නමුත් රනිල්-මෛත්‍රී යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව සිදු කළ වැරදි සම්බන්ධව සිංහල ජනතාවට සිංහලෙන් වාර්තාව නෑ.

ඒ නිසා මේ කොමිෂන් වාර්තා ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නේරාජපක්ෂලාට එරෙහිව සිංහල වාර්තා…. රනිල්-මෛත්‍රී යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුවට එරෙහිව ඉංග්‍රීසි වාර්තා…..

කොහොමද මේ කොමිෂන් සභා මහත්තුරු සහ කොමිෂන් පත්කරන මෛත්‍රී ජනාධිපති සිංහල ජනතාව අන්දන ඇන්දිල්ල…

මේකට තමයි කියන්නේ ඉංග්‍රීසි ජාතිවාදීන්ගෙයි…සිංහල බිල්ලන්ගෙයි ටිකිරි මොලේ කියලා…..

Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

Being deceitful gets you nowhere and telling half-truths will always backfire on you! Be careful who you hurt, it could ruin your life.”
~ Quotes and Thoughts

• Sirisena may have committed a political blunder that might entail more severe consequences to himself and his party
•  UNP, the political party that was principally responsible for his victory in 2015
• MR made monumental blunder by opting to hold Presidential polls before it was due
• Though DS, Dudley born to wealth, local elite class, emerged as selfless political leaders

The Bond-scam Report is the trump card any politician would like to have against his opponents. In a wildly chaotic political scenario, the Bond-scam Report was released by its authors, not to the public or Parliament, but to President Maithripala Sirisena. In rushing to make political capital out of a financial scam of severe consequence to his own government, Sirisena may have committed a political blunder that might entail more severe consequences to himself and his party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). If it is true, the answer to that question requires careful consideration.

President Sirisena, after receiving the so-called Bond-scam report from the Presidential Inquiry team, decided to make a statement relating to the findings of the Report, without any assistance from the lawyers who would have advised him to be more careful when attempting to gain any advantage over his coalition partner, United National Party (UNP), the political party that was principally responsible for his victory in 2015. However, he may have been advised by some lawyers whose primary aim was to create a political turmoil instead of making amends to bring about a harmonious coexistence between the UNP and SLFP.

Playing politics with a report that could have political consequences is the prerogative of the party that is billed to gain such advantages. Yet, one has to go beyond the local government elections in which context these moves and countermoves are being contemplated and extended towards a satisfactory conclusion. Any politician who plays ‘Politricks’ with an explosive issue after coming to power, especially against the backdrop of a coalition-governing structure, does it at the risk of losing credibility in the long-term footings. Whatever the substance of a Report that has been the outcome of a Special Presidential Inquiry, addressing publicly on an un-debated part or the whole of the said Report by any political leader who happens to be the person who has exclusive access to the Report, is not fair nor is it wise. The parliamentarians of the UNP, including the Prime Minister, who were not informed of this public statement by President Sirisena, might feel quite hopeless and doomed about this. That is the crucial blunder that the President may have committed, if he has done so.

However, the veracity of the assumption that what President committed was, in fact, a blunder, can be confirmed or denied, only in the event the SLFP and its contestants do well at the forthcoming local government elections. Many blunders have been committed by even great leaders. Mahinda Rajapaksa, albeit he does not belong to the ‘great leaders’ category, made a monumental blunder by opting to hold Presidential Election before it was due. Expressing his views, before the Bond-scam Report was released to Parliament, falls into the classification of ‘jumping the gun’. Political moves and countermoves are, more often than not, made on instincts of leaders whose allegiance to power they hold overshadows long-term effects of such decisions. The clever ones make calculated decisions which would have either suppressing effects on the people under whose name those decisions are purported to be made or benefiting results on both the country at large and its leaders.
Such clever ones, Sri Lanka had. Among them DS Senanayake and Dudley Senanayake loom large. Bother these leaders; father and son; though born to wealth and the local elite class, emerged as selfless political leaders who made timely decisions without any concern or care for personal loss or gain. If their badge was class and dignity, their inner craving was service of their people. Never resorting to using political power to enrich themselves and abuse it to punish their rivals, they made decisions of policy and programs, whether considered right or wrong by their peers, to suit the needs of the hour. Both believed in capitalistic economic structures and philosophies that had a human face and social justice. Some of their programs may have failed in the face of mighty opposition launched by their respective opposition gangs at the time, but never could any person point a finger of corruption and personal degeneracy as is manifestly visible in most of the politicians of today.

The difference between the father DS and son Dudley was, whereas DS could read the pulse of the people fairly well, Dudley was woefully deficient in that art and craft. The only other leader who could be mentioned with DS and Dudley is another leader of the UNP, JR Jayewardene. JR had a scientific approach to politics. His mastery of mathematical calculations in politics, sometimes, dictated his policy and philosophy. A greater student of history than DS and Dudley, JR made his political calculations with the patience of a crafty tiger approaching a kill of an unprepared antelope. But when it came to reading the pulse of the people, especially the most underprivileged class, none could match R. Premadasa, as his world was different. However, his elemental desire to serve the déclassé was overpowered by an avaricious need for permanency in power – an unforgiving creed of all narcissistic authoritarians.

Against such a disjointed yet tradition-rich backdrop of historical facts, Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the UNP which was earlier led by DS, Dudley, JR and Premadasa, is confronted with a dilemma. How can he respond to the public criticisms by his own President, who is in power mainly because more than 80% of the votes were delivered by his party, the UNP. Observation of aloofness and decorum at this juncture is very much in need. Post-independence history reveals that all coalition governments suffer splits in three to four years. SWRD Bandaranaike’s Mahajana Eksath Peramuna regime, UNP/FP (Federal Party) government, Sirimavo-led coalition in the mid-70s, all had no more than a shelf-life of four years. It is the nature of political dynamics.

The marriage between Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremasinghe ended up in an uncomfortable living-together between the two most dominating political entities in modern Sri Lanka. UNP and SLFP are the two ultimate rivals in today’s political show-ground. While the UNP had been out of power since 1994, the SLFP has been in the unenviable status being in power, barring a short time in between 2001 to 2003, ever since, if one considers them to be an equal partner in the current government.

The average UNP supporter would estimate and gauge the intent and motivation behind the public utterances of the President only in that light. That again is the reason why I posed the question at the very outset of this column whether Maithripala Sirisena used his trump card in this game of political bargaining too soon. The UNP and its Ministers, in this short run of three years may have committed many a mistake; they may have been deficient in transparency and accountability which elements of government President Sirisena wants established and sustained. But the criminal corruption committed by the Rajapaksa regime is far too wide and more deplorable.

Nevertheless, such lofty ideals and ideas like transparency and accountability may not have penetrated into the thinking and response of the average UNP supporter/voter. Rotting away in the Opposition benches for twenty long years is a good enough reason for them to safeguard the electoral gains they made both in Presidential and Parliament Elections in 2015. That alone is good enough to drive them to the polling booth on February 10, 2018. On the other hand the voter fatigue would set in against the SLFP which has been in power for more than two decades. All these elements would have their own inner propensities to lead a fairly manageable situation into a chaotic crisis.

If the current impasse reaches a critical mass, breaking down of a carefully put-together coalition is inevitable. Many a politician might end up without portfolios and new faces would replace them. A crisis of unmanageable proportion is no alternative to an inscrutable convergence of political parties which hold diametrically opposite views. However unstable, the present coalition should not be bartered for vitriol of short-term value. When the pillars fall, the structure and its roof would collapse in no time. That won’t leave any room or time for anyone, big or small, right or wrong or good or bad to escape. The collapsing pile will bury whatever is underneath it. That is the unkind truth about coalition governments. After the collapse of each coalition-government, the Opposition came to power. In 1960, 1970 and in 1977 it happened. History doesn’t tell lies. It only reveals them. We all will have to turn our searchlights inwards.

In ‘The Discovery of India’, Nehru writes thus: A civilization decays much more from inner failure than from external attack. It may fail because in a sense it has worked itself out and has nothing more to offer…”My earnest wish is that the current coalition government has not reached that frontier.

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com 

By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

Where a class abdicates its moral right to leadership, it is already doomed and must surely die.”   -Mervyn de Silva, Ceylon Observer Magazine Edition, May 1967   

The UNP Establishment has just raised the stakes. It is proclaiming from every platform that if it wins the upcoming local government election it will form a UNP government perhaps with TNA and SLMC participation, launch its own Presidential candidate next year and that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will definitely be that candidate. The PM and front-line ideologues Mangala Samaraweera and Eran Wickremaratne are declaring the policies that will be adopted after Feb 10th, and all those policies involve a qualitative leap in neoliberal globalization or more simply, foreignization.

The strident public threat of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, Champika Ranawake and Rajitha Senaratne that Mahinda Rajapaksa and/or Gotabaya’s civic rights are likely to be removed in accordance with the (alleged) recommendation of PRECIFAC will not only be counter-productively polarizing, it simply cannot hold. Mahinda is vastly more popular and stronger than Madam Bandaranaike was when her civic rights were removed (1980), while today’s UNP government is vastly less popular than its predecessor of 1977. The economy in 1980 was growing at 8%. With low growth, and a Presidential election inescapable next year, hawkishness will blow-back at the Provincial Council elections of 2018, and at all subsequent elections. An invulnerable Mahinda proxy candidate (Chamal, Dinesh?) can sweep the Presidential election next year on the promise of restoring MR’s civic rights in 24 hours –rather like the slogan of ‘Sinhala Only in 24 hours’, which did the trick in 1956. As the Parliamentary election follows, not precedes, the Presidential election, Mahinda will have his civic rights back in time to run for Prime Ministerial office in 2020. The anti-UNP backlash after the eclipse of Neoliberal Democracy in 2019-2020 won’t be pretty– remember 1970 and its aftermath. So don’t even think about it.

The UNP has lost the moral right to lead. President Sirisena, the head of state and government, and leader of the official SLFP, the coalition partner of the UNP, has given several devastating reasons why.  Coming on the heels of the bond scam revelations which was the first massive loss of legitimacy by the UNP leadership in government, the President’s whistleblowing leads inexorably to the conclusion that it would be unethical, immoral and unforgivably stupid to cast a single vote for the UNP. The Daily Mirror headlined the page one lead story as follows: President says State revenue given to private firms on political links during past 3 years”. The story goes on to say:   …President Maithripala Sirisena said yesterday the government incurred a major loss of revenue during the past three years because it had been channeled to private companies on political connections.

A populist anti-Establishment movement of a nationalist character, it has the advantage of being led by a mainstream national leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is making a comeback just as Churchill, de Gaulle, Indira Gandhi and Vladimir Putin did

Amid this unscrupulous trading practice, tea of inferior quality was imported to Sri Lanka for value addition before being re-exported as tea of Sri Lankan origin. It has brought Sri Lanka’s tea trade into disrepute. In addition to tea, even pepper, dry arecanuts called karunka and pineapples were imported to be re-exported in this same manner,” he said.

The President said there was a huge price difference between the actual cost and the retail prices of various items sold in the local market and that he had raised this matter on more than 100 occasions in the Cabinet though little or nothing happened.

The President said though this government was elected to eliminate corruption, the ‘General Treasury’ was plundered barely two months after it assumed office and asked how he could remain passive…in the face of such massive frauds…” ( Feb 27th 2017, pp. 1 & 2)

Wouldn’t the UNP’s Big Rip-Off continue or expand, if nothing changes decisively?

The Pohottuwa”, an amalgam of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (the SLFP’s populist wing) and the parliamentary Joint Opposition (JO), is the fastest growing political movement I have seen in this country in my lifetime, surpassing even the growth rate of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) led by Vijaya Kumaratunga in the 1980s and the DUNF of Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanaike in the early 1990s. It operates on the grid superbly built from bottom up by Basil Rajapaksa for his brother Mahinda.

Interestingly and uniquely, this political phenomenon is commonly referred to by its symbol: ‘Pohottuwa’. This means it has seized the public imagination. A populist anti-Establishment movement of a nationalist character, it has the advantage of being led by a mainstream national leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is making a comeback just as Churchill, de Gaulle, Indira Gandhi and Vladimir Putin did. None of those leaders headed a populist movement, but classic Third World comebacks have been of nationalist or patriotic leaders heading populist movements, be they radical or umbrella movements containing right, left and moderate-centrist camps. The classic comebacks have been Latin American: Argentina’s Juan Peron, the paradigmatic populist, and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, heading the Sandinista Front.

The populist opposition movement seems to have erupted out of the earth itself, with massive crowds enthusiastically participating, vocally interacting and urging on Mahinda Rajapaksa to defeat the government. Mahinda himself departs from his script and responds spontaneously to the promptings and suggestions of the massive crowds. In my political memory (which goes back to 1964 and includes seeing Madam Bandaranaike addressing the Senate) the country has never witnessed such a powerful comeback by a political leader.

I wager that when this column reappears on February 14th the electoral outcome would have shocked the UNP and the country’s pro-UNP, pro-Western elite. This has happened more than once before. In a two-part think-piece entitled 1956: The Cultural Revolution That Shook the Left” and The Left Awakens from Romance to Reality”, in the Ceylon Observer Magazine Edition, May 16th & 23rd, 1967, my father Mervyn de Silva, aged 37 at the time, reflected retrospectively on 1956, prospectively shed light on the anti-UNP Opposition front that crystalized at Bogambara, Kandy, in 1968 and prophetically signaled the fall of the rightwing government in 1970 (three years after his essay’s publication). The present Prime Minister’s parents, the most influential bosses in Lake House at the time, scoffed at his warnings, marginalizing Mervyn for his critical insight:

The singular characteristic of a genuine mass movement is not only that it becomes the physical expression of the mass mind in action but that the popular will continuously impresses itself on the leadership, pushing and patterning it to the often inarticulate though feverish needs of the masses…
…In the course of one century, this English-educated class was totally alienated from the people, uprooted from the soil. This apartness deepened the cleavage to a point where a Disraeli might have said there were two nations. The gap between the one percent (or what Mr. Mettananda was to call ‘the microscopic minority’) and the rest was never bridged even with Independence.

It was a class therefore destined for a rude shock…Meanwhile the masses lay dormant; watching, waiting, resentful. By 1956 the equation was complete, the issues, the new class, the leader, the political alignments, the socioeconomic forces which would jet-propel the masses into action. In 1956 they moved: they moved with such a terrific momentum that it shattered the Right (temporarily) and shocked the Left. For both it was a traumatic experience.” (Mervyn de Silva, Ceylon Observer Magazine, May 1967)

In this country, History moves in cycles. The present PM’s parents were the ideologues-cum-strategists of the insensitive, myopically arrogant rightwing elite that was ousted by the nationalist-populist ‘Silent Revolution’ of 1956. Today, the Second ‘Silent Revolution’ against the UNP-driven government is led by five sons of two iconic patriarchs of 1956, DA Rajapaksa and Philip Gunawardena: Mahinda, Basil, Chamal, Gota and Dinesh. History is about to repeat itself.

Sheain Fernandopulle Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

President Maithripala Sirisena has been attempting to protect the major bond scam offenders since the beginning of the first bond scam on February 2015, Joint Opposition MP Prasanna Ranatunga said today.

Addressing a news conference, he said the bond scam should have been nipped in the bud if President Sirisena had not dissolved the parliament when the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) report in connection with the Central Bank bond issue was presented to parliament by its chairman D.E.W. Gunasekera, after the first bond fraud on February 2015.

President was well aware that the COPE report had envisaged the responsibility of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in relation with the bond scam. Having known that Premier was one of the major culprits of bonds fraud, President Sirisena dissolved parliament without debating the COPE report in order to protect the Premier,” MP Ranatunga said.

He further said that President Sirisena appointed Arjuna Mahendran as the Governor of the Central Bank knowing that he was not Sri Lankan citizen. Thus, he asked whether we need any evidence other than this to say that President Sirisena protects rouges. ()   

Lahiru Pothmulla Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) today accused President Maithripala Sirisena of having violated election laws by saying funds won’t be allocated to the Local Government (LG) bodies that are won by the SLPP.

It said Minister Lakshman Kiriella had also said the funds would be distributed through Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to the LG bodies.

This is a threat made to discourage SLPP voters and to collect votes for the SLFP and UNP. Council funds belong to people and they should be distributed among LG bodies irrespective of the political party which governs it. Funds are not handouts or the private property of either the President or the Premier,” SLPP Chairman G.L. Peiris told a news briefing.

He pointed out that threatening to cut off funds to a LG body was a violation of election law as well as depriving the fundamental rights of the people.

Apart from issuing threats, he said the government continues to mislead the masses.

The government says action will be taken against those who are responsible for the bond scam. However, Arjuna Mahendran is still in Singapore. No action will be taken against him as it was he who helped and facilitated the ‘Singapore meetings’ which helped this government to come to power,” he said.

Meanwhile, MP Bandula Gunawardana said the joint opposition had been critical about the inefficiency and fiscal mismanagement of the United National Party for years although the President had only taken notice of it just as an election was pending. ()

කැෆේ සංවිධානය

එසේ කළ නොහැකියි.  ඔබගේ සිතාසියට අනුව කටයුතු කළ යුතුයි – කොමිෂන් සභාව කියයි.

ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා මහියංගනයේ රැස්වීමක් සදහා පැමිණෙන හෙයින් මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂන් සභාවේ විසින් නිකුත් කළ සිතාසියට අනුව පෙබරවාරි 1 දින සාක්ෂි ලබාදීමට පැමිණිය නොහැකි බැවින් වෙනත් දිනයක් ලබා දෙන ලෙස ඌව ප්‍ර‍ධාන අමාත්‍ය චාමර සම්පත් දසනායක කොමිෂන් සභාවට ලිපියක් යොමු කර ඇත.

එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයේ ලුණුගල හා හපුතලේ රැස්වීම් පැවැත්වෙන බව ද ඒවා පෙර සුදානම් කළ රැස්වීම් බව ද, මහ ඇමති ලිපියේ සදහන් වේ.

”ගුරුවරිය දණ ගැසු මහඇමතිවරයා තමන් විසින් වරදක් කර නැති නම් ඒ බව තහවුරු කිරීමට ඇති හොදම අවස්ථාව මග හැරීමට උත්සහ දරන්නේ මේ වන විට මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂන් සභාවේ විමර්ශනවලදී සත්‍ය හෙළිදරව් වී ඇති නිසා බව හොදින්ම පැහැදිලි නිසා යැයි” ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රයේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ, මෙම විමර්ශනයේ පැමිණිලිකරු කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා පවසයි.

ප්‍ර‍ධාන අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ ඉල්ලීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ප්‍ර‍තිචාර දක්වා ඇති මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂන් සභාව පනතේ 20 (3) වගන්තිය යටතේ ප්‍ර‍ධාන අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ ඉල්ලීමට ඉඩ ලබාදිය නොහැකි බව ප්‍ර‍කාශ කර පිළිතුරු ලිපියක් යවා ඇත. යම් පුද්ගලයෙකු තමන් සන්තකයේ ඇති සාක්ෂි ලබාදීම පැහැර හරින්නේ නම් ඔහු මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂන් සභාවේ අධීකාරීත්වයට හානි කරන පුද්ගලයෙකු ලෙස සලකා කටයුතු කිරීමට මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂන් සභාවට හැකිය.

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කැෆේ සංවිධානය/2018 ජනවාරි 30

By A Special Correspondent

The University of Kelaniya Alumni Association Canada (UKAAC) celebrated its fifth anniversary in Brampton, Ontario, on January 13 with a get-together. More than 100 university graduates and their family members attended the function.

The proceedings began with the lighting the traditional oil lamp by President Dhanapala Gamage, Secretary Anura Kumara Munasinghe and Treasurer Keerthi Hettiachchige, Committee members Nihal Anthony, Rashanthi Hettiarachchi, Prasad Hewagama, Mahen Mudalige, Raveendra de Silva and Weerasiti Nanayakkara.

From left Secretary Anura Kumara Munasinghe, President Dhanapala Gamage and Treasurer Keerthi Hettiachchige)

Making the welcome speech President Dhanapala Gamage described the events of the past year and the development of the association. The most important event of the year was the organizing of the inter-alumni cricket tournament which the UKAAC hosted last year. The other important programme was the screening of the film Aadaraneeya Kathawak to generate funds for community events. The successful dansela the UKAAC held to coincide with the Vesak festival was a resounding success, he said.

The celebrations featured several local dance items by Sri Lankan girls trained by alumni committee members Rashanthi Hettiarachchi. A special feature of the UKAAC is many members are excellent singers and even an ordinary committee meeting ends with a singsong. Some members sang popular classical and pop numbers to entertain the guests at the get-together. Some children also sang with their parents.

In his Vote of Thanks Secretary Anura Kumara Munasinghe said the launching of the association website during this year’s get-together was special. In response to a suggestion by Weerasiri Nanayakkara to organize the annual get-together in the spring or summer to avoid bad weather, he said the committee would look into the matter.

The association is also paying special attention to the scholarship fund to help the deserving students, he said, urging the members to take a keen interest in the programme.

Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is reported to have indicated that it will be proper if UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake steps down from his post as the assistant leader of the party.

This was revealed by the Prime Minister, when he presided over a meeting with the leaders of the parties aligned with the UNP.

Meanwhile it was also revealed by UNP sources that the commission appointed to look into the action that had to be taken against any UNP member found to have been involved in the bond scam had also recommended that Mr Karunanayake should be removed from his post.

The committee headed by Minister Tilak Marapana was appointed to look into whether any UNPer is involved in the scam and to advice the party leadership on what action should be taken against those who are involved.

By Kelum Bandara Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

Former MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, who served in the COPE during the previous Parliament, in an interview with the Daily mirror  spoke about the bond scam in the Central Bank and of other happenings in the political front. Following are excerpts of the interview done with Prof. Wijesinha. 

We were given an unusual task as members of the COPE in 2015, but despite limitations I think we did a good job. This was despite COPE being unable to question Ministers – typically Ranil declared that he was willing to give evidence, but we had not invited him, though presumably he knew full well he could not be summoned.   

I think former President Rajapaksa has now realized the appalling nature of the most culpable of those to whom he gave excessive powers. Sajin de Vaas Goonewardena and Mohan Pieris, had nothing to recommend except be obsequious and ambitious. I can only hope that President Sirisena is equally perceptive

QYou were among the few members who defected from the then Government along with current President Maithripala Sirisena. How do you feel now?

It’s noteworthy that this time they left Eran Wickremaratne out of the COPE, perhaps realizing that he is too honest to defend shady behaviour. He would make a good Finance Minister perhaps, which is the post he should have had

QThe UNP maintains that no loss has been caused because there are enough and more financial assets of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd that have been frozen. What is your response?   

 The various positions taken up by the UNP is pitiful. Malik says there is no loss to the country, while Ranil says there is a loss, but the frozen assets of Perpetual Treasuries will cover the loss