Shenali D Waduge

With Tamil populace rejected separatism & the politicians that advocated separatism while LTTE overseas fronts are sending letters continuing the same separatist/racist demands, it is interesting to see the action that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake would take given that LTTE remains banned not only in Sri Lanka but across the world as well. The focus of attention to President Anura Kumara is to see if he will continue the usual politically correct” line or he will choose to side with the majority of people who are against terrorism & the commemoration of terrorists. Maaveerar Naal week starts on 20^th November & ends on 27^th November to commemorate Prabakaran’s friend Shankar who died on 27 Nov 1982 while Prabakarans birthday was on 26^thNovember.

Let us once more put the facts out.

Mahaveerar Naal is an annual LTTE event started in 1989, mourning ONLY DEAD LTTE.

The dead of other Tamil militant groups are NOT MOURNED & their families are NOT ALLOW to mourn their dead openly either. This has been the case since 1989 & continues even after 2009.

Those who attend these commemorations are ONLY LTTE FAMILIES & LTTE SUPPORTERS. LTTE families are MAAVEERAR KUDUMBANGAL.

Post 2009 LTTE fronts continues these commemorations BUT EXCLUDES commemorating any of the other Tamil Militant Dead. Other Tamil Militant Dead are NOT HEROES in the eyes of these LTTE fronts & LTTE supporters.

Thus the dead of EROS, PLOTE, EPRLF etc are NOT HEROES & they are NOT COMMEMORATED & their FAMILIES ARE NOT ALLOWED to COMMEMORATE their dead OPENLY.

If there have been commemorations of other Tamil militant dead before 2009 or after 2009, please correct the author with evidence.

Maaveerar Naal Week starts on 20^th November & ends on 27^th November, the day Sathiyanathan (Shankar) died.

He was married to LTTE Sea Tiger leader Soosai’s sister.

The 1^st Mahaveerar Naal was held on 27 November 1989 in the jungles of Mullaitivu (7 years after Shankars death)

The week-long commemorations started from 1991 & called the Great Heroes Week with Prabakaran’s birthday also commemorated on 26^th November. They continue to be held overseas with pomp & pageantry.

Those who try to present Mahaveerar Naal as an event commemorating dead Tamils, may like to explain why these events

• Only hoist Tamil Eelam flag
• Only LTTE decorations (Red & Yellow)
• Only LTTE insignia
• Only LTTE flower Senkaanthal flower/ Kaarthigai Poo/Gloriosa Lily (flower of Tamil Eelam) is used since 2003 when it was declared LTTE official flower by Prabakaran.
• Light the Flame of sacrifice
• Prior to 2009 homage is paid to dead LTTE with their names on tombs engraved with Maaveerar Thuyilum Illangai” (abode where great heroes sleep)
• Only Maaveerar Kudumbangal (LTTE families) gather to mourn their dead sons & daughters
• Only Prabakaran makes his great speech on his birthday which always starts at 0605p.m. the time Shankar died (police statement)
• Only LTTE’s Voice of Tiger radio broadcasts it worldwide
• Only LTTE TV Nitharsanam telecasts if worldwide
• Only photo of Shankar is garlanded by Prabakaran & lamps are placed for others. Ironically even ignorant foreign MPs are participating in these foreign events & also lighting lamps for terrorist dead!

Now that we have clearly established what Mahaveerar Naal is all about, we await the reaction of the new government.

If the NPP Govt allows these commemorations in Sri Lanka it would be a slap to all NON-LTTE (Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims)

If the NPP Govt allows only LTTE dead to be mourned, it would mean the new Govt is taking the side of TERRORISTS and their TERRORIST SUPPORTERS (living in Sri Lanka & overseas)

If the NPP Govt allows commemorations of ONLY LTTE Terrorists, it means they are siding with Terrorists that killed Tamils, killed Sinhalese, killed Muslims & even killed foreigners

Why should the new NPP Govt allow ONLY LTTE TERRORISTS to MOURN THEIR DEAD?

If foreign governments with all their intel agencies in place cannot differentiate commemorations of terrorists & civilians & are unable to conclude from all evidence that Mahaveer Naal is a LTTE terrorist commemoration event happening annually since 1989, it goes to highlight whose side they are on.

However, this same mistake cannot be made by Sri Lanka & the NPP government cannot make the same mistakes by allowing commemorations of LTTE dead starting 20^th November & ending on 27^th November with 26^th November also commemorated as Prabakarans birthday. When the NPP had no official commemoration for their own party founder’s death anniversary which fell on 13^th November (killed on 13 November 1989) it would be an embarrassment to allow LTTE to mourn their day over a week!

If LTTE is allowed to commemorate terrorist dead (Mahaveerar Naal), then there must be another commemoration to mourn Tamils killed by LTTE.

Why should only LTTE be given exclusivity or exceptionalism among Tamils when LTTE’s Tamil Eelam was only for LTTE Tamils & not ALL TAMILS?

Shenali D Waduge

Vijay Prashad

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Indigenous leader Lidia Thorpe confronts King Charles III during his visit to Australia. (Screengrab from X.)

If you go to the bluff at Kings Park in Perth, Australia, you can overlook the Swan River and enjoy a remarkable view. Across the bay, there is a phalanx of steel and glass buildings that rise to the skies. Each of these buildings carries a sign that glistens in the sharp sun: BHP, Rio Tinto, Chevron, Deloitte, and others. Kings Park no longer survives merely with the patronage of the British King, who continues to claim sovereignty over Australia. Part of it is now named Rio Tinto Kings Park, needing the corporate profits from this enormous mining company to sustain its charms. Down one of the avenues of the park there are trees set apart by a few meters, and at the base of these trees are small markers for dead soldiers from past wars; these are not graves but remembrances that are crowned by Australian flags. The park brings together the three crucial pieces of Western Australia, this province of which Perth is the capital which is the size of Western Europe: the British monarchy, the mining companies and its affiliates, and the role of the military.

Of Kings

A few days before I arrived in Canberra, an aboriginal senator, Lidia Thorpe, interrupted the celebration of King Charles III to say, You are not my king. This is not your land.” It was a powerful demonstration against the treatment of Australia ever since the arrival of English ships to the country’s east in January 1788. In fact, the British crown does claim title to the entirety of the Australian landmass. King Charles III is head of the 56-country Commonwealth and the total land area of the Commonwealth takes up 21 percent of the world’s total land. It is quite remarkable to realize that King Charles III is nominally in charge of merely 22 percent less than Queen Victoria (1819-1901).

The day after Senator Thorpe’s statement, a group of aboriginal leaders met with King Charles III to discuss the theme of sovereignty.” In Sydney, Elder Allan Murray of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council welcomed the King to Gadigal land and said, We’ve got stories to tell, and I think you witnessed that story yesterday in Canberra. But the story is unwavering, and we’ve got a long way to achieve what we want to achieve and that’s our own sovereignty.” When Captain James Cook (1770) and Captain Arthur Phillip (1788) arrived on this Gadigal land, they were met by people who had lived in the area for tens of thousands of years. In 1789, a smallpox epidemic brought by the British killed 53 percent of the Gadigal, and eventually—through violence—they reduced the population to three in 1791. It is accurate, then, for Elder Murray to have said to the press after King Charles III left that The Union Jack was put on our land without our consent. We’ve been ignored.” What remained were barrangal dyara (skin and bones, as the Gadigal would have said). Given the value of the land in Sydney, the Gadigal clan would today be one of the richest groups in the world. But apart from a few descendants who do not have title to the land, the ghosts of the ancestors walk these streets.

Of Minerals

Australia is one of the widest countries in the world, with a large desert in its middle section. Underneath its soil, which has been walked on by a range of Aboriginal communities for tens of thousands of years, is wealth that is estimated to be $19.9 trillion. This estimate includes the country’s holdings of coal, copper, iron ore, gold, uranium, and rare earth elements. In 2022, Australia’s mining companies—which are also some of the largest in the world—extracted at least 27 minerals from the subsoil, including lithium (Australia is the world’s largest producer of lithium, annually providing 52 percent of the global market’s lithium).

On May 24, 2020, Rio Tinto’s engineers and workers blew up a cave in the Pilbara area of Western Australia to expand their Brockman 4 iron ore mine. The cave in the Juukan Gorge had been used by the Puutu Kunti Kurrama people for 46,000 years and had been kept by them as a community treasure. In 2013, Rio Tinto approached the Western Australian government to seek an exemption to destroy the cave and to extend the mine. They received this exemption based on a law called the Aboriginal Heritage Act of 1972, which had been drafted to favor mining companies. Rio Tinto, with substantial operations in Western Australia and around the world, has a market capitalization of $105.7 billion, making it—after BHP (market cap of $135.5)—the second largest minerals company in the world (both Rio Tinto and BHP are headquartered in Melbourne). Hastily, BHP began to reconsider its permission to destroy 40 cultural sites for its South Flank iron mine extension in the Pilbara region (and after its investigation and conversation with the Banjima community) decided to save 10 sites.

Craig and Monique Oobagooma live in the northernmost homestead in Australia near the Robinson River. They are part of the Wanjina Wunggurr, whose lands are now used for the extraction of uranium and other metals and minerals. The uranium mines in the north are owned and operated by Paladin Energy, another Perth-based mining company that also owns mines in Malawi and Namibia. There is also a large military base in nearby Yampi. Craig told me that when he walks his land, he can dig beneath the soil and find pink diamonds. But, he says, he puts them back. They are sacred stones,” he says. Some parts of the land can be used for the betterment of his family, but not all of it. Not the sacred stones. And not the ancestral sites, of which there are only a few that remain.

Of Militaries

In 2023, the governments of Australia and the United Kingdom signed an agreement to preserve critical minerals” for their own development and security. Such an agreement is part of the New Cold War against China, to ensure that it does not directly own the critical minerals.” Between 2022 and 2023, Chinese investment in mining decreased from AU$1809 million to AU$34 million. Meanwhile, Australian investment in building military infrastructure for the United States has increased dramatically, with the Australian government expanding the Tindal air base in Darwin (Northern Territory) to hold U.S. B-1 and B-52 nuclear bombers, expanding the submarine docking stations along the coastline of Western Australia, and expanding the Exmouth submarine and deep space communications facility. All of this is part of Australia’s historically high defense budget of $37 billion.

In Sydney, near the Central Train station, I met Euranga, who lived in a tunnel which he had painted with the history of the Aboriginal peoples of Eora (Sydney). He had been part of the Stolen Generation, one in three Aboriginal children stolen from their families and raised in boarding schools. The school hurt his spirit, he told me. This is our land, but it is also not our land,” he said. Beneath the land is wealth, but it is being drained away by private mining companies and for the purposes of military force. The old train station nearby looks forlorn. There is no high-speed rail in vast Australia. Such a better way to spend its precious resources, as Euranga indicated in his paintings: embrace the worlds of the Aboriginal communities who have been so harshly displaced and build infrastructure for people rather than for wars.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Vijay Prashad’s most recent book (with Noam Chomsky) is The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and the Fragility of US Power (New Press, August 2022).

Lt Co. A.S.Amarasekera.(Rtd.) Co-President, National Joint Committee.

18^th November 2024.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake,
The Presidential Secretariat,
Colombo 1.

Dear Mr. President,

The National Joint Committee (NJC) wishes to congratulate you for winning the Presidential Election and leading the National People’s Power (NPP) to a landslide victory at the general election conducted on 14^th of November 2024. The governing party (NPP) with a 2/3 majority in the National State Assembly has the mandate to implement the manifesto you have presented to the public through the NPP.

In the NPP manifesto (page 109) it is said that a new Constitution will be drafted and passed through a referendum with the necessary changes if there are any after going through a public discourse. While thanking you for this democratic intention, the NJC sincerely recommends that the power should be decentralised and not devolved from the centre to the periphery.  

On or about 1995 the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government introduced the devolution proposals that was commonly known as the Package. It was to campaign against the package and to educate the masses regarding the danger of devolving political and administrative power from the centre to the periphery that the NJC was established by retired Supreme Court Judge Mr. R.S. Wanasundera. The NJC also established the Sinhala Commission to inquire into the grievances of the Sinhala majority. Two reports were published by the Sinhala Commission to educate the international community in this regard.

The NJC advocated the view that political and administrative power should be decentralised from the centre to the periphery but should never be devolved as suggested in the devolution proposals. Many organizations including political parties such as the UNP and the JVP joined with the NJC and when these devolution proposals were tabled in the National State Assembly on 8^th of August 2000 all approach roads to the parliament were blocked by protesting masses.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga had to use helicopters to fly her MP’S to parliament. It was Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa who walked from the parliament to the Batheramulla junction to inform the people that the devolution proposals had been postponed indefinitely and for the protesting people to disperse which they did peacefully.

The NPP manifesto (page 128) says that the proposed constitutional reform will guarantee equality and democracy and the devolution of political and administrative power to every local government, district and province so that all the people can be involved in governance within one country.

The English meaning of decentralization and devolution of power seem very similar when looked at superficially. However the important fact that needs to be realized when it comes to the political and administrative power of a country is that decentralization amounts to the transfer of that power from the central government to the periphery be it a local government, a province or a district while devolution is on the other hand the removal of central government power and handing that power over to a local government, a district or a province. Therefore decentralized power if misused by a local government, a district or a province could be recalled by the central government while devolved power cannot be recalled by the central government if misused by a local government, a district or a province.

The NPP manifesto (page 128) also says that this initiative will build on the constitutional reform process started in 2015 which remains incomplete. The proposed draft Constitution of 2015 had intentions to federate a unitary state by using the word united instead of unitary in the proposed draft. The NJC objected to this proposal in 2015 and published a book to educate the masses in this regard.

The NJC is of the view that the unity and the territorial integrity of the nation that was protected and preserved for posterity by the security forces through the shedding of blood, sweat, tears and toil and some personnel even sacrificing their very life and limb should not be compromised through the proposed new Constitution if it has any intention to federate a unitary nation because federation is the first stepping stone for the division of our nation. Therefore please refrain from encouraging the separatists to win through the ballet what they failed to win through the bullet.

Yours sincerely,

Lt Col Anil Amarasekera. (Rtd.)

Co-President National Joint Committee

HONG KONG SAR

By Professor Raj Somadeva and Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge

Time
Nov 21, 2024 10:30 AM Colombo

Meeting ID
725 2642 0413


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Invite Link
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අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col), නීතීඥ. සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දෝෂ / අතපසුවීම් නිවැරදි කිරීමට ගැසට් කළ 22, ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ සමාව ගැනීම සහ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණ ඇසුරෙන් 2015 දී ගෙනා 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයේදී සිදුකර ඇති දෝෂ/ අතපසුවීම් නිවැරදි කිරීමට
මාළිමා 159 ආණ්ඩුවට සහ අනුර දිසානායක ජනාධිපතිවරයාට හැකි වෙයිද?

1. 2002 දී සහ 2015 දී 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත නමින් පනත් කෙටුම්පත් 2ක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් විය.

2. 2002 දී පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත මගින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 70වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කිරීමට අපේක්ෂා කළ අතර එය නීතියක් කිරීමට ජනමතවිචාරණයකින් ජනතාවගේ අනුමැතිය අවශ්‍ය බව ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන් 7ක් විසින් SC/SD11/2002 ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ නඩුවේදී තීරණය කර ඇත.

3.2015 දී පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත මගින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 70වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව සහ තවත් ව්‍යවස්ථා කිහිපයක් සංශෝධනය කිරීමට අපේක්ෂා කළ අතර, ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන් 3කගේ SC/SD/04/2015 ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ නඩුවේදී තීරණය අනුව ජනමතවිචාරණයක් නොමැතිව එය නීතියක් කරගෙන ඇත.

4.2015 දී පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයෙන් පසු 2018 දී මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවනු ලැබූ අතර ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන් 7ක් විසින් SC/FR/351/2018 නඩුවේදී 2015 දී පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත මගින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 70වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කර ඇති හෙයින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවීම වැරදි බවට තීන්දු කර ඇත.

5. 2024 ජූලි 19 වන දින ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ගාල්ල අධිකරණ සංකීර්ණය විවෘත කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවේදී 2015 දී 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගෙන ඒමේදී ප්‍රකට ජනාධිපති නීතීඥවරයෙකුගේ අතින් අතපසුවීමක් සිදුවී ඇතැයි අගවිනිසුරු ජයන්ත ජයසූරිය මහතා, නීතිපති පාරින්ද රණසිංහ මහතා ඇතුළු විනිසුරුවරුන් සහ ජනතාව ඉදිරියේ ප්‍රකාශ කර එයට ජනතාවගෙන් සමාව ගත්තේය.

6. එසේම ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ පවතින දෝෂයක් නිවැරදි කිරීමට ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 78වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත 2022 ජූලි 18 දින නිකුත් කළ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ නීතිපතිවරයාගේ අනුමැතිය මත පළ වී ඇත.

7. දූෂණ අක්‍රමිකතා වැ‍ළැක්වීම ප්‍රධාන අරමුණ බවට ඡන්ද පොරොන්දු ලබා දුන් අනුර දිසානායක මහතා ජනාධිපති ලෙසත් ඔහුගේ දේශපාලන පක්ෂය පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයෙන් ආසන 159ක් ද ලබා ගෙන ඇත.

8. ඉහත කාරණා අනුව ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ  83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දෝෂ / අතපසුවීම් නිවැරදි කිරීමට ගැසට් කළ 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත, ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ සමාව ගැනීම සහ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණ ඇසුරෙන් 2015 දී ගෙනා 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයේදී සිදුකර ඇති දෝෂ/ අතපසුවීම් නිවැරදි කිරීම දූෂණ අක්‍රමිකතා වැ‍ළැක්වීම ප්‍රධාන අරමුණ බවට ඡන්ද පොරොන්දු ලබා දුන් අනුර දිසානායක මහතාගේත්
මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුවේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 159ගේත් වගකීමක් වෙයි.
http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2024/11/83-22-2015-19-159.html?m=1

අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col), නීතීඥ. සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන. දුරකථන 0712063394. (2024.11

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ඉන්ධන අලෙවිය සඳහා මිල සූත්‍රයක් පැවතීම හොඳ දෙයක් බව බලශක්ති අමාත්‍ය කුමාර ජයකොඩි මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

එය සංශෝධනය විය යුතුද නැද්ද යන්න ඉදිරියේදී සලකා බලන බවත් හෙතෙම කියා සිටියේ සිය අමාත්‍යංශයේ වැඩ බාර ගැනීමේ අවස්ථාවේදී මාධ්‍ය අමතමිනි.

මිල සූත්‍රය සම්බන්ධයෙන් බිය විය යුතු නැති බවද පැවසූ ඔහු සැම විටම මිල අඩු කිරීමට රජය උත්සාහ කරන බවද හෙතෙම එහිදී කියා සිටියේය.

ඉන්ධන මිල සූත්‍රය අහෝසි කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවක් පැන නැගලා නෑ. අපි බලනවා මොකක්ද වෙන්න ඕන කියලා. ඉන්ධන මිල සූත්‍රයක් තිබෙන එක හොඳයි. ඒක සංශෝධනය කරන්න ඕනද කියලා බලනවා. අපි අලුත් විදිහට හිතනවා. අපි ඉන්ධන මිල අඩු කරන්න තමයි හදන්නේ”

3 Comments to ඉන්ධන මිල සූත‍්‍රය හොද දෙයක්.. අහෝසි කරන්න උවමනා නෑ..- බලශක්ති ඇමති”

1. වහූ පැටිය කාල කල කියපූ දේවල් කරත්තයට බැන්දම කරන්න බෑ පැටියො.. says:November 19, 2024 at 11:04 pmවහූ පැටිය කාල කල කියපූ දේවල් කරත්තයට බැන්දම කරන්න බෑ පැටියො..ඒ කාලෙ වැටවල් උලා කකා තප්පූ ලලා වතූපිටි උලා කාලා උඩ පැන්නත් කරත්තය ට බැන්දට පස්සේ ඒවා බෑ. ටිකක් ඉවසලා බලන් ඉන්නම් අපි කියල අපෙ තාත්ත අපට කියල දූන්න. ඒ වගේ කරත්ත පැයට හැටට හැටේ දූවන්නට බෑ. දැන් කරත්තෙ බර අරන් ගූටි නොකා ප්‍රවේශමින් දූවමූ ඇමති තූමෝ. බලය හා අලය කියන්නෙ දෙකක්. ටයි කෝට් වලින් ප්‍රශ්න විසදූවෙ සූද්දන්ගෙ කාලෙ.හෙමින් යන්…ජහ්…ජහ්…හොරකොටිය ගෙ වලිගෙ.Reply
2. මිල සූත්තර පුංචා says:November 19, 2024 at 11:29 pmමිල සූත්තරේ කෝම උනත් අර ඉන්ධන මත රුපියල් 50 බද්ද ඉවත් කරන්ට ඇමති සහෝදරයා.
   ඔයාගෙ සාක්කුවට එන රුපියල් 160 කොමිස් එකත් එපා කියල ජනපති සහෝදරයා කියූ ක්‍රමේට රුපියල් 10ක් ලාභ තියං පැට්‍රොල් රුපියල් 52ට දෙන්න මයේ අප්පා..Reply
3. Annonymous says:November 19, 2024 at 11:29 pmඉතිං මංගල ඇමතිතුමා ඔය සූතුය හදුන්වාදුන්න වෙලාවෙ උන්දැ ලෝක විනාසය කරන්න හදනවා කියල කෑ ගැහුවෙ ඔයාලම නේ…
   තව ටික දවසක් යනකොට මේ පුටු රස්නෙ වැඩියි ඒ නිසා A C නැතිව බැ….ආන්ඩු වෙ වාහන කම්පටබල් මදි..අලුත් වාහනයක් ඕන..ලොක්කා කියන්නෙ බස් එකෙ පාර්ලිමේන්තු එන්න කියල හොදේ..
   අතින් පෙටුල් ගහන් වාහන දුවන්න බෑ….අතේ සතේ නෑ..ඇමති පඩියකුත් දීමනාත් නෑනේ.ගෙදර ගෑනිත් කෑ ගහනවා ..සමහරැන්ට නං කන්න බොන්න යට ඇදුම් සේරම යාලුවො දෙනවා.ඔබතුමාට නං දෙන අය නැතිව ඇති..

Courtesy India Today

The Sri Lankan Army ordered the closure of its Paruthithurai camp in the Northern Tamil region returning the land to its original owners. This follows President Anura Kumar Dissanayake’s promise to return government-occupied lands to Tamils during his first public address in Jaffna.

Sri Lankan Army begins Tamil land restoration with closure of Paruthithurai camp.

Pramod Madhav

Chennai,UPDATED: Nov 19, 2024 18:51 IST

Written By: Deepthi Rao

In Short

• Sri Lankan Army orders closure of Paruthithurai camp in northern Sri Lanka
• Order mandates land to be returned to original owners within 14 days
• Move follows President Dissanayake’s promise to address grievances

Following President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory in the country’s recent presidential elections, the Sri Lankan Army ordered the closure of its camp at Paruthithurai in Sri Lanka’s Northern Tamil region. The order, issued by the Army headquarters, mandated that the camp be shut down and the land returned to its original owners within two weeks.

This decision followed President Dissanayake’s assurance during his first public meeting in Jaffna on November 11, where he promised to gradually return lands occupied by the government and military to their rightful owners. Dissanayake, who won the presidential elections with a pledge to address long-standing grievances in the Tamil community, also announced that political prisoners would soon be released.

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The Paruthithurai camp, which was reportedly established in 1995 during the height of the civil war to monitor and disrupt supply chains to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), remained operational even after the conflict ended. The Army continued to maintain the camp for monitoring potential threats, including the movement of LTTE-linked organisations and weapons supply through the sea.

Army personnel began vacating the premises on Monday evening, signalling the first steps toward fulfilling the President’s commitment.

Dissanayake is set to visit India in mid-December, as announced by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on Monday. The visit follows an invitation extended by the Indian government, with Dissanayake expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his stay.

Maria Tavernini  Courtesy Reset Dialogues

The sweeping majority secured by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s leftist coalition in the snap parliamentary election on November 14 marks a major shift in the country’s electoral landscape. Cutting across ethnic and religious differences, Sri Lankans swept the National People’s Power (NPP) front to a landslide victory, granting Dissanayake’s alliance a total of 141 seats out of 225.

This result is surprising to some extent – no political party has secured a two-thirds majority in parliament in the last two decades,” explains Ashok Swain, professor of peace and conflict studies at Uppsala University in Sweden. The NPP’s transformation from holding just three seats in the last parliament to a commanding majority is particularly remarkable: It’s great news because it means there will be no coalition politics,” adds Swain, speaking to Reset DOC.

Swain highlights the coalition’s breakthrough in the Jaffna district, traditionally a stronghold of Tamil separatists. For the first time, a party from the south, a mainstream party, has won majority support in northern Sri Lanka. This will bolster Dissanayake’s legitimacy, especially given the historical tensions.” Ethnic Tamil rebels – led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – fought a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009. The conflict, marked by atrocities on both sides, claimed over 100,000 lives and left deep scars on the island’s social fabric.

Barely seven weeks into his presidency, Dissanayake is already making history. Elected in late September as Sri Lanka’s 10th president – and the first from a third party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) – he is the most left-leaning leader in the country’s post-independence history. Historically associated with radical Marxism and ethno-nationalism, the JVP has, under Dissanayake’s decade-long leadership, shifted toward a more centrist and inclusive agenda.

Dissanayake’s election was seen as heralding a new era of renaissance” for a country that has faced its worst economic crisis since becoming independent and has defaulted on its external debt. In July 2022, at the peak of the food and energy crisis, public frustration over the economic situation, worsened by widespread shortages of essentials, reached a breaking point. Angry mobs stormed the residence of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, prompting his resignation just months after his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, had stepped down. The Rajapaksa is one of Sri Lanka’s most powerful families – or rather a political dynasty. Many of its members have held prominent positions in the state, particularly since Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president in 2005. Over the years, they have been accused of authoritarianism, nepotism, mismanagement and corruption. After two decades of dominating Sri Lankan politics, the Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party was all but annihilated in this parliamentary election, securing only two seats.

Dissanayake, a veteran politician yet an outsider to Sri Lanka’s dynastic politics, campaigned on an anti-corruption and pro-poor platform. His message resonated with millions struggling to cope with soaring costs of living, exacerbated by tax hikes and austerity measures imposed to address the economic crisis, and who had grown weary of the corruption and mismanagement of past administrations. A country of 22 million people, Sri Lanka experienced a profound economic crisis in 2022, triggered by a severe shortage of foreign currency that led to a sovereign default and bankruptcy. The economy contracted by 7.3 percent in 2022 and a further 2.3 percent last year. A 2.9-billion-dollar bailout program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has initiated a slow recovery; however, the high cost of living remains a pressing issue for many citizens.

Since the 1950s, Sri Lanka has relied on 16 IMF loans, with the most recent bailouts in 2009 and 2016. In March 2023, IMF approved a 3 billion dollars package under a new arrangement for the island. The first tranche of 330 million dollars was released soon after the agreement, with an additional 3 billion set to be disbursed by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other lenders. The Ranil Wickremesinghe administration, which led the country after Rajapaksa’s resignation, implemented many reforms in line with IMF conditions, including significant and widely unpopular tax increases. Upon being elected president, Dissanayake pledged to renegotiate the controversial IMF bailout signed by his predecessor.

The previous government did not even consider negotiating terms with the IMF. It was all too willing to grovel before the global powers and ran the economy adhering to the benchmarks and recommendations of western institutions. These economic policies benefited the elite in the country, while the burden from the rise in VAT, the market pricing of energy, the halving of real wages for many and the cost of living doubling have all hit working people,” wrote political economist Ahilan Kadirgamar, senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, soon after Dissanayake became president in September. It is Dissanayake’s strength in parliament, and the national consensus he can forge, that will determine his bargaining power with the IMF and the extent to which he can keep the elite in the country at bay”. The last elections delivered an unequivocal mandate.

What he has done after becoming president is to accept that he needs to follow whatever the IMF restrictions are,” according to Swain. His tenure will be a real balancing act; he has to figure out how he can stop the people’s dissatisfaction while following the policies the IMF has put forward. So, it is a difficult task, but he has the popular support – not only for him but also for his government, as well as from the minorities”.

On Monday, Dissanayake installed a new 22-member cabinet, which includes several young MPs, and reappointed Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya – the first woman to hold the seat in 24 years – to carry forward his ambitious reform agenda while rebuilding the country’s shattered economy. The president urged the IMF to maintain a balanced approach” that considers the hardships faced by the citizens, according a statement from his office.

The youth have been the force behind uprooting the established parties and the family stronghold of these political leaders and bringing these new people to power with such a massive majority. The youth has been very much affected by the crisis,” continues Swain. Youth were also at the forefront of the uprising [known as the aragalaya, the struggle,” Editor’s note], which overthrew the Rajapaksas, and they have been also a political force in this election and the presidential election. This happened due to youth unemployment and the economic crisis – there is a lot of aspirational youth in Sri Lanka who are looking for opportunities. And though they have supported the now-ruling party, if the economic and job situation are not addressed by the president, then they will be turning against him quite soon.”

As the Dissanayake government works to meet the IMF targets, Sri Lankans now expect some relief from the harsh austerity measures – a well-known issue in developing counties and beyond.

By Anjana Pasricha Courtesy VOA

New Delhi — 

Sri Lanka’s Marxist leaning president has won a sweeping mandate to fulfill his pledges to combat corruption and implement pro-poor reforms, but he faces huge challenges in a country whose economy is still fragile, analysts say.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s coalition, the National People’s Power, or NPP, party, secured an unprecedented two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament in snap elections held a year ahead of schedule.

SEE ALSO:

Party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning president wins majority in parliament

The parliamentary polls — held seven weeks after he emerged victorious in presidential voting — reinforced the remarkable shift in Sri Lankan politics, where mainstream parties that led the country for decades have been reduced to the margins as people put faith in a political outsider to bring about transformative change.

Dissanayake’s coalition won 159 seats — a dramatic jump from the three seats his party held earlier. However, that commanding majority may still not be enough to steer Sri Lanka along the path he has promised.

He is going to encounter bumps on all his agenda which is extremely ambitious. On the economy, there is no easy route to a more equitable and a faster-growing economy. In terms of good governance and anticorruption, they are going to run into a lot of vested interests in business, in politics, in the bureaucracy, in the police. It would not be easy for saints — it is not going to be easy for this government,” Alan Keenan, senior Sri Lanka consultant at the International Crisis Group said.

Dissanayake’s first task will be to ease the burden on millions from austerity measures imposed by a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF deal brought the economy back from the brink of collapse, but the slashed subsidies and higher taxes imposed to stabilize government finances brought hardship to millions.

They will have to provide relief to the people who have felt the tremendous rise in the cost of living. There are great expectations that this government will address that,” according to Devaka Gunawardena, research fellow at the Social Scientists Association in Colombo. But that will require some form of renegotiation of the IMF agreement. If they continue with the deal, then they will have to think of other alternative ways of stimulating the economy. This is where the new government will have to thread the needle now.”

Dissanayake has said that he is committed to the IMF program and any changes would be undertaken in consultation with the fund. An IMF team is beginning a visit to Colombo Sunday to review the reform program.

However, the room to maneuver is limited in a country that is still mired in debt.

So far, the government has marginally reduced fuel prices and distributed subsidies to farmers and fishermen. Besides delivering such small benefits, it will be difficult to make any significant shifts or show major economic benefits to people in a country that has little money to spend, according to analysts.

Little is also known about the dynamics of the NPP — the leftist coalition that Dissanayake put together ahead of the presidential polls. It consists of his Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, professionals, trade unions, women and youth groups. Many of those elected will be first-time lawmakers new to politics.

Having to appease various interests under this big-tent party” will be a challenge for the government, according to Rajni Gamage, a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. The NPP government will have to strike a balance between the … economic requirements of the IMF program and the more center-left oriented demands of trade unions and civil society groups who are part of the coalition,” she said.

Another litmus test he faces is meeting his promise to transform the country’s political culture — people widely blamed misgovernance and graft by previous leaders for driving Sri Lanka, once ranked as a middle-income country, into bankruptcy.

Thank you to all who voted for a renaissance,” Dissanayake said on social media platform X on Friday after the results were announced.

For many of his voters, that renaissance involves ensuring accountability for alleged corruption and a government that is more in touch with the masses — Dissanayake is the son of a laborer, whereas past leaders came from elite political families.

According to political analysts, this is a low-hanging fruit that could yield political dividends for the new government.

If they can make progress in either achieving accountability for big corruption cases and tracking down the assets supposedly stolen and stacked away in foreign countries, or if they can show people that they do politics differently, they are not arrogant and do not just drive around in big SUV’s with lots of security guards, that will go a long way to satisfy people, even if they don’t see their lives improve materially or economically,” according to Keenan.

However, he cautions that too may not be easy.

Even if they say they want to change things, at the end, Dissanayake’s coalition comes from the same political culture, so it remains to be seen if they can do things differently,” he said.

by Ayampillai Dharmakulasingham, Retired Sri Lankan career diplomat Courtesy The Island

The writer made a correct prediction: ‘The President’s party, the National People’s Power (NPP), is expected to win significantly in the upcoming general election’ ( The Island, Nov. 7). Similarly, the writer anticipated that the NPP would secure more than 135 seats in the parliamentary election (Veerakesari, Nov. 9). Naturally, many are eager to understand the dynamics that enabled the President’s party to make history in a proportional representation election, specifically defeating the major Tamil parties in Jaffna.

The NPP is the first political party to achieve a two-thirds majority under proportional representation, winning 21 out of 22 electoral districts. Not only has it secured a two-thirds majority in Parliament, but it also garnered 6,863,186 votes and claimed 159 seats, including those from the national list. This is indeed an unprecedented victory in many respects. However, the significant win in the Jaffna-Kilinochchi electoral district, where the NPP outperformed the popular Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party) and other Tamil parties, has become a major talking point among common masses in southern Sri Lanka, Tamil diaspora, political commentators, diplomatic and media sources.

The combined factors that contributed to the significant victory in the Jaffna-Kilinochchi district can be attributed to several politically important reasons. Tamil parties have been vocal in criticising major national parties, such as the United National Party, Sri Lanka People’s Party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and even the National People’s Power, as Sinhalese racist parties. Their primary accusation has been that these parties will not uphold the rights of the Tamil people. However, the ground situation tells a different story. Internal rivalry, infighting among major Tamil parties over issues such as the allocation of parliamentary seats, internal dominance, and the vested interests of party leaders has alienated a significant number of Tamil people from these traditional parties. Social media has played a constructive role in shaping public opinion. Additionally, some prominent Tamil leaders have been accused of secretly obtaining liquor permits from ministers and high-ranking government officials, prompting Tamil people to reconsider their political loyalties. Another important factor is that many Tamil leaders, wealthy businessmen, and members of elite services such as the Sri Lanka Administrative Service and other similar services own properties and businesses in the south, particularly in Colombo and neighbouring cities. The narrative of Tamils losing their rights contrasts sharply with the reality that a significant portion of the Tamil elite owns properties in Colombo and other cities, co-habiting with Sinhalese neighbours, undermining the ‘rights’ rhetoric. Over time, people have gradually distanced themselves from these traditional parties, though they lacked a viable alternative. The entry of the NPP, with its popular leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has offered a new option, and he is perceived as a leader who can be trusted.

The ‘rights’ rhetoric has lost its weight, and while the people of Jaffna seem to recognise that the problems created by 40 years of internal conflict need to be resolved, they also understand that the social and economic challenges faced by those in the south are not different from their own. The people of Jaffna have silently endured hardships, as the general political approach of Tamil leaders has often neglected the true suffering of the populace. Issues such as the demand for separation, the encouragement of young Tamil youths to take up arms, the resulting death and destruction, the entry of Indian troops into Sri Lanka, the widespread suffering, and the final episode at Mullivaikal with the elimination of the Tamil Tiger movement have not been critically analysed by so-called Tamil academics and reputed journalists. Meanwhile, social media has bridged the gap, and Tamils are no longer willing to accept what their leaders promote. Other factors, such as rampant corruption in the northern public service and a lack of commitment to addressing people’s needs, have also awakened public awareness. It is relevant to look back at the 1970s when the popular Mayor of Jaffna, the late Alfred Duraiappah, was assassinated in broad daylight by the Tamil Tigers, marking what is considered the first terrorist killing in Jaffna. Incidentally, Duraiappah had defeated the Tamil leader G.G. Ponnampalam in the March 1960 parliamentary election in the Jaffna district as an independent candidate. There were times when the people of Jaffna sought to align with the south, but the rise of separatist demands and other unfortunate events obstructed this inclination.

Another story within the main narrative deserves to be told: how an independent candidate with the aid of the social media, Dr. Arjuna Ramanathan, a former Medical Superintendent of the Chavakachcheri Hospital, won a single seat in Jaffna district is truly remarkable. Soon after assuming his role as Medical Superintendent, he exposed the shortcomings of the health administration in the north and how it failed to uphold the true essence of free healthcare. In other words, he was openly critical of certain members of the medical profession whose primary interest lay in building private practices rather than serving the public. This stance turned him into a local hero almost overnight, with the people of Chavakachcheri rallying behind him in overwhelming support. All in all, this was not an isolated event. It truly reflected how people had been suffering in silence amidst the empty political rhetoric of Tamil leaders who had miserably failed to address the needs of the local population. A new hero had emerged to champion the plight of the suffering people.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya have gained significant popularity among the people of Jaffna, who have aligned themselves with the populace in the south and placed their hopes in the NPP.

Courtesy The Island

… alleges constituents of alliance undermined

Row over National List positions:

UNP Leader and former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken exception to the sumbission of Ravi Karunanayake’s name to the Election Commission (EC) as one of the two National List (NL) MPs of the New Democratic Front (NDF). He has said the NDF General Secretary submitted Karunanayake’s name without the concurrence of the constitutes of the alliance.

Wickremesinghe said so at a meeting of NDF representatives in Colombo. He said the leaders of the NDF constituents were to meet on 19 Nov., to make a final decision on the two NL positions allocated to the NDF. He alleged that NDF General Secretary had acted unilaterally.

The NDF contested last week’s general election under the ‘Gas Cylinder’ symbol.

General Secretary of the NDF Shermila Perera yesterday conveyed to the EC the name of Karunanayake, adding that the name of the other NL MP would be notified later.

The NDF managed to secure a total of five seats in Parliament, including two NL slots by obtaining 500,835 votes.

In the meantime, Anuradha Jayaratne, who obtained 20,749 preferential votes in the Kandy District, former MP Rohitha Abeygunawardhana, who secured 10,204 preferential votes in the Kalutara District, and Chamara Sampath Dassanayake, who received 19,359 preferential votes in the Badulla District, are the only NDF parliamentary candidates who have secured seats in the 10th Parliament.

Courtesy The Island

The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reaffirmed its readiness to collaborate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to advance Sri Lanka’s economic recovery within the context of the mandate. Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer and the IMF delegation met with President Dissanayake and key ministers of the newly-formed government at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday (18), to discuss the next steps in the IMF program.

The IMF team congratulated the President and his government on their decisive electoral victory, expressing optimism about the collaboration. President Dissanayake, in turn, underscored his administration’s responsibility to uphold the people’s mandate, emphasizing that the success of the IMF program hinges on rebuilding public trust in governance.

Highlighting his government’s commitment to addressing the pressing needs of the people, President Dissanayake urged the IMF to maintain a balanced approach that considers the hardships faced by citizens. He assured that under his leadership, social spending allocations would be utilized effectively, with priority given to combating child poverty and malnutrition and providing better support for differently abled individuals.

The IMF delegation noted that allocations for social spending had not been fully utilized previously, prompting President Dissanayake to pledge proactive measures to ensure efficient allocation and utilization of resources.

Governance and anti-corruption were also central to the discussions. The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to the fight against corruption, a key component of the mandate granted by the people. He assured the IMF team that his government would implement stringent laws to enhance the legislative and institutional structures to uphold transparency and accountability.

The meeting marked a positive step forward in the collaboration between the government and the IMF, laying the groundwork for a coordinated effort toward economic recovery and long-term stability.

The President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Minister of Labour Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando and MP Harshana Sooriyapperuma together with representatives of the Ministry of Finance participated in this meeting.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Manila, Philiphines (19 November 2024) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a USD 200 million policy-based loan to further help the Government of Sri Lanka strengthen its financial sector, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)said. 

This second subprogram of ADB’s Financial Sector Stability and Reforms Program builds on the stabilization and crisis management measures put in place under the first subprogram approved in 2023.

Sri Lanka has made good progress in stabilizing macroeconomic conditions and improving the fiscal situation. ADB is helping the country establish long-term growth by introducing and institutionalizing structural reforms in its financial sector,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono. This subprogram reinforces ADB’s support in strengthening the governance of the banking sector and expanding financial inclusion in Sri Lanka to achieve sustainable recovery from economic crisis, resilience, and poverty alleviation.”

Policy reforms under subprogram 2 will improve the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) regulatory supervision of banks to ensure financial stability. This includes an improved early warning system that will identify weakening processes of banks and introduce corrective actions. The CBSL will implement a new stress testing model to monitor solvency issues and liquidity stresses.

Subprogram 2 will continue to strengthen the banking sector’s asset quality. The CBSL will provide guidance on credit concentration risk limits and give incentives to banks to accept guarantees and limit collateral requirements to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In addition, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, Policy Formulation, Planning and Tourism (MOF) will provide MSMEs, especially women-led businesses, incentive packages such as special loans to expand their business.

Financial inclusion of women and vulnerable groups will be further expanded through the digitization of personal information to enhance electronic transactions. The MOF will formulate a policy framework for women-led MSMEs to improve their access to finance, with the CBSL helping financial institutions identify eligible women entrepreneurs.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty,” the ADB said in a statement.

 DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA  Courtesy The Daily Mirror

olombo, Nov 19 (Daily Mirror) – While assuring the public that tackling bribery and corruption will remain a priority, the new Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ananda Wijayapala said today that he is committed to restoring the independence of the Sri Lanka Police, which he noted had been politicised under previous governments.

Ananda Wijayapala officially assumed duties as the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs today at the Ministry of Public Security in Battaramulla.

In his address, Minister Wijayapala acknowledged the steps already taken by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to free the Sri Lanka Police from political influence and reiterated his firm stance on ensuring the Sri Lanka Police remain impartial, fair and accountable to the public.

“We believe that for law and order to truly serve the people, the Sri Lanka Police must perform their duties without bias or political interference. We are committed to protecting the independence of the police and will provide an environment where they can serve the public impartially,” he said.

Addressing concerns raised during the election campaign, Minister Wijayapala assured the public that tackling bribery and corruption will remain a priority. 

“During our campaign, we promised to take action against bribery and corruption, and we will deliver on that promise,” he affirmed.

Courtesy Adaderana

The appointment of the new Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretary and Secretaries for 16 Ministries was held at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo today (19). 

The ceremony was officiated by the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

The list of appointees is as follows:

01. Mr. G.P Saputhanthri – Secretary to the Prime Minister
02. Mr. W.D.M. J Fernando – Secretary to the Cabinet
03. Senior Prof. Kapila C.K. Perera – Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation
04. Mr. K.M.M. Siriwardana – Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 
05. Mrs. J.M. Thilaka Jayasundara – Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development
06. Mr. A.M.P.M. B. Atapattu – Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
07. Mr. B.K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi – Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
08. Mr. H.S.S. Thuyacontha – Ministry of Defence
09. Mr. D.W.R.B. Seneviratne – Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs
10. Mr. U. G. Ranjith Ariyaratne – Minister of Urban Development, Construction and Housing
11. Prof. K.T.M. Udayanga Hemapala – Ministry of Energy
12. Mr. S. Aloka Bandara – Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government
13. Mr. S.M. Piyatissa – Ministry of Labour
14. Mr. K.A. Wimalenthirarajah – Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development
15.  Mr. D. P. Wickremasinghe – Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation
16.  Mr. K.M.G.S.N. Kaluwewa – Ministry of Education, Higher education and Vocational education
17. Mr. A.H.M.U. Aruna Bandara – Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
18. Mrs. Aruni Ranaraja – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism

Courtesy Adaderana

The Secretary General of Parliament, Mrs. Kushani Rohanadheera, clarified that a Member of Parliament (MP) is not paid a salary but is entitled to an allowance.

Joining the Ada Derana’s current affairs programme ‘BIG FOCUS’, she explained that currently an MP is entitled to an allowance of almost Rs. 54,000.

Apart from this, they are also entitled to an attendance allowance of Rs 2,500 for the days when parliamentary sessions are held and an allowance of Rs 2,500 for attending committee meetings held on days when the parliamentary sessions are not held.

She mentioned that the fuel allowance is based on the distance, which is calculated according to a formula.

Mrs. Rohanadheera also noted that MPs who do not have a house within 40 kilometers from the Parliament are eligible to apply for accommodations in the parliamentary housing complex in Madiwela. 

The housing complex includes only a total of 108 houses, which are allocated based on the order of requests submitted by the ruling party and the opposition.

Secretary General of the Parliament added that the MPs residing in these houses pay a monthly rent of Rs. 2,000, with electricity and water bills borne by the MPs themselves.

Furthermore, she highlighted that the Parliament and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs have facilitated the reduction of the amount from allowances by providing them the medical facilities from the Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital, and mentioned that the relevant ministry will also bear the necessary allowances for the personal staff of the MPs.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

REVISED 18.11.24

The second Yahapalana government which started with Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in 2019, followed by Ranil Wickremesinghe In 2022 came to an end in September 2024, with the election of a new President, JVP’s Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

 For the first time in our political history, a rural lad was voted into the highest position in the land.  We had ‘Tanamalvila kollek ‘on television. Now we have a ‘Tambuttegama kollek’ as our President. Anura Kumara Dissanayake is holding    a position which snobs think should be filled only by a kalu sudda”. Therefore, those who are not snobs are very happy about it, whether they voted for him or not.  Sri Lanka is still   very   keen on upward mobility”.

 NPP had the public believe that the country had gained absolutely nothing during successive governments since Independence  If so, how come an office aide’s son from Tambuttegama received free education and graduated from a state university with a science degree, and went on to become the President of Sri Lanka asked Island.

Island editorial noted, what made the NPP’s impressive electoral victories possible was the unstinting support of the ‘voters of passage’, who shift their political loyalties, based on changing circumstances, their own interests and the prevailing political climate.

There is reason to believe that most of those who helped raise the NPP’s votes from a meagre 3% to a whopping 61% and its parliamentary seats from a mere three to a stunning 159 within just four years are the ones who voted overwhelmingly for Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the 2019 presidential race and for the SLPP in the 2020 general election, concluded Island.[1]

Dissanayake won only because there was a sharp swing away from   known politicians to the totally unknown.  Voters   were fed up with the old lot and were prepared to gamble with an untested new lot. They   want ‘the good life’ back and were readily prepared to   vote in anyone who offered to provide it.

The country now hopes the new President will deliver. That remains to be seen.  With the landslide victory at the General Election, 2024 comes responsibility.  To be all things to all people, to deliver the sun and the moon as promised, with the electorate watching.

It is argued that the victory is a historic victory, because never before has a single political party won   such a landslide. Analysts speak of very high percentages, such as 70%. That is not correct. The   Jatika Jana Balavegaya, earlier known as Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, obtained 6,863,186 votes in an election where the registered voters, were 17,140,354. This means that the NPP has secured just 40% of the vote and not 70%.

It is also important to note that the NPP is not a Leftist party though the international media says it is.  The NPP was never a Marxist party and those who know Marxism are aware of this. A Marxist party approaches governance differently and uses a different political jargon.

 At the election, there was a sharp drop in voter turnout, which was between 55% and 65% in contrast to the 79% who voted as the Presidential election. [2] The voter turnout at Colombo was 65%, Nuwara-Eliya 68%, Matara 64%, Batticaloa 61%, Puttalam 56%, Anuradhapura 65% and Kurunegala 64%.

There is a clear pattern in the voting response. Those supporting Sajith Premadasa (Samagi Jana Balavegaya) and Ranil Wickremesinghe (New Democratic Front) have stayed away, ignoring the need for a strong opposition. Those supporting Jatika Jana Balavegaya and those supporting Sarvajana Balaya have loyally trotted to the polls. Both parties increased their votes and Sarvajana Balaya with its handfuls of votes (one of which was mine) has obtained a bonus seat.

 The first version of this essay was written before the new Parliament was announced. The members of the new   Parliament have since been announced and the Cabinet sworn in. 

 Critics have observed that the new government is full of novices, and most Ministers will have no experience whatsoever with governance. The experienced and knowledgeable politicians are now outside Parliament. The forces the JVP/NPP boasts of having vanquished are likely to make a comeback, critics warned.

There are several positive features in this new Parliament. Firstly, there is a notable improvement in the intellectual level of the MPs. Many are professionals, lawyers, doctors, university academics and school teachers. The landslide brought them in.  It can be safely assumed that the intelligence level and critical approach will also be high.

This means, hopefully, that these MPs will look at the matters that come up in Parliament in a responsible manner. They will, we hope, look critically at the Bills brought before them and also do some research of their own before they agree to anything.  One looks forward to high quality debates once the new MPs find their feet.

Secondly, there is the welcome arrival of a disabled MP, Sugath Wasantha de Silva, a graduate of the University of Colombo and a social welfare officer, who is visually impaired. This is to be applauded.

 Thirdly, the defeated parties have pledged to support the winning party. This shows maturity. In the old days, say in the 1950s, winners and losers celebrated the results by assaulting each other.

Critics have observed that many MPs are new to Parliament .That is not an issue. All politicians start that way. There was a first time for DS, SWRD and the rest too. What is important in this case is that these people are also new to politics not just Parliament. Some have local government experience, that is good, but many have come straight from home. They are utterly green and probably very idealistic.

Some of this landslide lot will stay and continue in politics. They will leave the NPP eventually, but will stay on in politics. NPP may in this respect have acted as a catchment area for those coming freshly into politics sans family connections. That is good.

Some will enjoy their stay. I spoke to a school mate who had been an MP and asked what it was like.  ‘Can go abroad a lot’ she said.  But some will get a rude shock when they find out what Parliament politics is like and my guess is that many will not return to Parliament once their term is over.

 The   Parliament opposition is abnormally small. They will not be able to defeat a single government Resolution. But there are dozens of experienced former Parliamentarians who are watching events from outside.

They have far more political experience and are far more politically astute than those   inside Parliament. They also have the ability to whip up opposition and squash events. They know where to look and how to find out. For instance they will know if the three agreements with America, ACSA, SOFA and MCC are to be signed secretly.

The Tamil dominated Northern and Eastern provinces have also given substantial votes to the NPP.  NPP won two seats in Trincomalee, getting 42.48% of the votes, won two seats in the Vanni district with 20.37% votes and bagged three seats in Jaffna with 24.85%. [3]Two JVPers Bimal Ratnayake and Ramalingam Chandrasekaran had taken up residence in Jaffna and carried out the NPP campaign. [4]

NPP also won 5 seats in Nuwara Eliya. Whether the NPP will be able to retain its popularity in the North and the East will depend on how it handles contentious issues such as devolution and the UNHRC resolutions against Sri Lanka, said Island. [5]

The voting system followed in Sri Lanka today needs evaluation.  There are three positive aspects in today’s system. The first is Proportional Voting. Instead of the ‘first past the post’ which existed earlier, we now have Proportional Voting .In the old ‘first past the post’ method, there was just one winner, the rest were forgotten.

 In Proportional voting, MPs are elected on the proportion of votes obtained by each political party. Proportional voting gives weight to all votes, whether they are winning votes or not. Losing parties are also assigned seats in Parliament based on the proportion of votes they got.

The second good feature is that Proportional Voting also allows the voter to vote for the candidate of this choice.  The voter chooses the party then selects the persons or persons that he wishes to send to Parliament from that party. The nominated candidates are indicated by number on the ballot paper and the vote is completed in a single visit to the polling station.

The third good feature is the Bonus Vote”.  This enables a fledgling party like Sarvajana Balaya to obtain a seat in Parliament on its total number of votes though it came sixth on the list.

There is however a serious defect in the present election system, which manages to cancel the positive aspects of the present voting system. That is the creation of huge, massive electorates instead of small manageable constituencies.

In the traditional system, which was supposed to imitate the democratic system of the Greek market place, there were electoral Constituencies,”   where the citizen directly voted for the candidate he wanted to see in Parliament. Each constituency had a seat in Parliament and the winning candidate went straight in.

 In this system,   the voters knew who their Member of Parliament was, and who to go to when necessary. The MP also, in his turn, nursed his constituency and looked after his voters, especially if he intended to return to Parliament at the next election. Even otherwise he had an obligation to look after his constituency.

From 1989 this system was abandoned. The 160 single-member, double-member and triple-member districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral districts which generally matched the administrative districts. The earlier constituencies continued as   polling divisions within the Electoral districts.

These new Electoral Districts are huge. They contain administrative divisions that have little to do with each other. The Colombo electorate   consists of the following electoral   districts. Colombo North, Colombo West, Colombo East, Colombo Central, Borella,   Dehiwela, Ratmalana, Maharagama, Homagama, Kaduwela, Kolonnawa, Avissawella, Kesbewa, Kotte and Moratuwa. Many of these districts have no connection to Colombo and are far away from each other. Avissawella is at one end, Moratuwa at the other.

 In the 1970 general election in Colombo, most of these electoral divisions were separate constituencies which sent in their own MPs. The following were separate constituencies in 1970. Colombo North, Colombo Central, Colombo South, Borella, Kotte, Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa, Kesbewa, Homagama, Avissawella. [6]

 The Kandy electorate consists today of   Galagedara, Harispattuwa, Pata Dumbara, Uda Dumbara , Teldeniya, Kundasale, Hewaheta,  Senkadagala, Mahanuwara, Yatinuwara,  Udunuwara, Gampola, and Nawalapitiya.

In 1970, these   were separate constituencies with MPs of their own.  Senkadagala, Udu Nuwara, Yati Nuwara, Galagedara, Hanguranketa, Hewaheta, Kundasale, Nawalapitiya, Teldeniya and Walapane were separate constituencies in 1970.

The style of electioneering changed to match this development .Before 1989, when it was constituency based election; there were many small rallies within the constituency. Audiences gathered at convenient outdoor locations, to listen to the candidates.  Some perched on trees, the rest stood, a few were given seats.

After 1989, this was not possible. The electorate was too large. Election campaigns consisted therefore of huge rallies in selected locations, organized as outreach events. The voters were brought in by vehicles and all were given seats.  The audience saw this as a chance to   benefit themselves in addition to a free outing. They demanded money, hard liquor and meals, if they were to attend. [7]The   same groups went from rally to rally, political party to political party. Middlemen took them there, also for money.

This new system of huge electorates violates democracy.   It violates the main   purpose of an    election in a democratic society, the direct election of       representatives. Today, instead of one MP per constituency, there is a gaggle of MPs for the whole electoral division.

Due to the huge size of each electorate, the   MPs do not know the voters and the voters do not know the MPs. There is no link between the two. Therefore elected MPs do not feel any obligation towards the voters, forgetting the fact that they entered Parliament thorugh the ballots of these voters. Critics observed that enlarging the electorate was the source of   the corruption which arose thereafter. [8]

This distortion of the democratic election was done by JR Jayewardene when he was President. He wanted to make the political party the sole focus of power in the state.    JR wanted to reduce the   voting power of the citizen.  He wanted to sever the link between the voter and MP. He wanted the voter eliminated altogether at the Presidential election. He wanted the Presidential election to be decided by an Electoral College. Chandrananda de Silva, Commissioner of Elections said No.

There was another distortion of the democratic process, by the introduction of a National List at the General election. The National List comprises 29 members who enter Parliament without contesting. The number of National List seats each party receives is based on their proportion of the national vote.

Although the National List was originally intended to bring experts and professionals into Parliament, the National List was used instead to bring in political loyalists, including defeated candidates.

Critics have pointed out that these National List nominees are not elected representatives. They violated the principle that ALL members of a House of Representatives (or a single governing assembly), must be voted in by the people. These National list   entrants are not voted in, they are not elected. They have no accountability to the people.   They never had to promise anything to the voters and never received a vote explicitly directed at them, complained critics.[9]  (concluded)

[1] 18.11.24  https://island.lk/super-mandate-and-sobering-reality/

[2] It was around 55 to 65 percent at several districts, according to their returning officers.

[3] 18.11.24 https://island.lk/new-sri-lanka-and-challenges-and-possibilities-of-super-majority/

[4] https://www.sundaytimes.lk/241117/columns/npps-unexpected-two-thirds-victory-leaves-battered-opposition-struggling-to-regroup-578153.html

[5] 18.11.24  https://island.lk/super-mandate-and-sobering-reality/

[6] https://elections.gov.lk/web/wp-content/uploads/election-results/parliamentary-elections/general-election-1970.pdf

[7] https://www.pressreader.com/sri-lanka/sunday-times-sri-lanka/20241103/281706915188254?srsltid=AfmBOopYbAradDjzNJ1FoS2XB8htVhzD5W9ug1XsGHG5RcepvFJpBPev

[8] Island fin rev. 26.8.14 p 4.K Godage

[9] https://island.lk/oddity-of-the-national-list-twins-in-a-single-body-a-commentary/

The Coalition for a Pro-Animal Protection Act – Sri Lanka

1) Draft Animal Welfare Bill

2) National Dog Spay and Rabies Eradication Programme

1) Draft Animal Welfare Bill

By 2023 when the Draft Animal Welfare Bill was taken up for its first reading in Parliament, it has been made into a legal mess, denying legal protection to animals from cruelties. 

In June 2023 our Coalition intervened and by March 2024 we got Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) to approve amendments that would make this bill exemplary, offering legal protection to all animals from cruelties, coupled with fines increased from Rs. 100,000  to 250,000- 500,000 to Rs. 5 million for animal abuse, with the fines doubling for abuse of pregnant animals. 

But even after that Constitutional intervention and clear instructions to the relevant Ministry by the SOC to include the approved amendments, the Bill was prepared by that Ministry for the Second Reading in Parliament, dropping many crucial PARLIAMENTARY SOC-APPROVED AMENDMENTS. 

Fortunately for the Animals of Sri Lanka, the Draft Bill was not taken up for the Second Reading.

The Parliament stands dissolved.  

Attention President, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Justice: This draft Bill must be presented in Parliament again ONLY after including the SOC-APPROVED AMENDMENTS. 

Anyone trying to scuttle the process to pass a Bill that comprehensively provides legal protection to animals citing ANY reason, cannot have animal welfare in their hearts and minds. 

2) The National Dog Spay and Rabies Eradication Programme

All one has to do is to travel round Sri Lanka to witness  the enormous numbers of ownerless dogs, some in shocking conditions, to judge how “efficient and sustainable  result-oriented” the National Dog Spay and Rabies Eradication Programme has been, after functioning under the Health Ministry with contract veterinarians for 15 years since 2008 till now, at a budgetary allocation ranging from Rs.100 million to Rs. 280 million annually.

Right now Rs. 200 million has been allocated to this fruitless, unmonitored, unevaluated activity, to SUSTAIN A BUSSINESS and not an accountable programme. 

The move to have this programme executed by the ONLY State Entity that is responsible for handling and eradicating zoonotic diseases, the  Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH), having recruited 500 additional veterinarians, was scuttled in 2019, and the Programme was taken back to the Ministry of Health, a State entity responsible for diseases that afflict humans and not animals and hence has no Veterinarians, for BUSINESS AS USUAL.

Attention President, Minister of Health, and Minister of  Livestock: This programme must be immediately vested in the DAPH so it can be made into a scientifically executed,  accountable, sustainable-results-generating programme that can be monitored and evaluated regularly.

Such a scientific, professional, and systematic DAPH-executed accountable programme, coupled with Owned Dog Registration will see significant results in two years towards zero dog population growth and dog rabies control towards eradication.

CPAPA – SL (The Coalition for a Pro-Animal Protection Act – Sri Lanka)

Dilrook Kannangara

Though the 2024 election outcome in the north, east and other areas of high minority population density seems promising of a united Sri Lanka, it has happened before. Yes; we have been through it before and the end was a disaster. When basic needs of minorities are challenged, they turn towards Sinhala political parties. Once they are satisfied, they turn back towards Tamil and Muslim tribal politics. NPP became darlings of minorities only because of the continuing economic hardships minorities and the entire nation go through. If or when minorities no longer have these economic hardships, Tamil and Muslim nationalist and sectarian parties become appealing again. These parties though suffered a small setback are still holding ground ready to pounce. It is a matter of time.

This can be explained through Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. 

It is a human motivation theory. It explains what drives a human from one need to another. There are 5 types of needs. They are ranked from the bottom to the top. At the very bottom are physiological needs like food, shelter, clothing and other survival needs. Once these needs are satisfied, humans tend to look for the next level needs which are safety and security needs including health, education, employment, stability of life and property/investments. If they too are satisfied, humans seek next level needs which are love and belonging needs including friends, family and society. If they too are satisfied, they move up to self-esteem needs which include social standing, respect from the society and asserting one’s uniqueness against others. These needs are also seen in communities. At this stage a community that is aware of their own identity may want to assert themselves into nationhood, if denied by then. Once these needs are also satisfied, the person moves to self-actualization needs which include searching for the meaning of life and other philosophical needs. It only occurs in individuals. This rarely happens as very few people are able to satisfy all other needs.

Sri Lanka’s entire population including minorities are struggling to meet their physiological and safety and social security needs in the current dire economic situation. Self-esteem needs are not appealing now. Survival and stability in the economic front are more important. That is why minorities, particularly Tamils, broke ranks from their past voting behavior and voted for the NPP. If or when things improve self esteem needs become more dominant and Tamil tribal political parties will become more appealing once again.

There were short spells of Tamils co-operating with Sinhala political parties when their basic needs were under threat. These times include 1915-21, 1931-32, 1941-45, 1947-49, 1965-72, 1994-95, 2001-03 and 2015-16. All these were short lived. The moment their basic needs were satisfied they dumped co-operation and took up sectarian demands.

The same can be seen in Tamil Nadu, India where 90% of world Tamils live. Only about 5% of world Tamils live in Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu sets all trends for the rest of the community to following in politics, music, styles and everything else. Tamil nationalism was highest when Tamil Nadu made steady economic and cultural progress. As economic growth rate cools and as security threats rise, they have become less demanding and more compliant.

Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it. These events will repeat; the NPP honeymoon will also end as all previous honeymoons ended. It is wise for the ruling party to be aware of this, manage expectations and prepare for the eventual fallout. If they put most development, education, social empowerment, land distribution and other eggs in the minority basket, they will lose everything and head towards an inglorious exit. It pays for the NPP to remember the community that stood by them for 57 years through trying times, made tremendous sacrifices and believed in the movement. The demise of the UNP, SLFP and SLPP can be traced to moving away from their core voting community trying to win hearts and minds of newcomers. It lost them both camps and condemned them to the political rubbish bin. The majority community is unforgiving and vicious if they don’t get the attention they deserve. Only they can and have written the epitaph of political movements of this island, not others. (ITAK, ACTC, CWC, SLMC, ACMC and the like still go strong.) Unlike minority voters, the majority will not hesitate a second to write the epitaph of their political parties including the NPP if it follows the hearts and minds campaigns of wooing minorities carried forward by the UNP, SLFP and SLPP. It must be remembered that these parties had their heyday when they were strongly aligned with the majority. That’s when they thought they were unshakable.

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

December 2nd, 2023

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.”
         Serenity Prayer – Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971).

[(A) දෙවියනි, වෙනස් (චේන්ජ්) කල නොහැකි දේවල් එලෙස භාර ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය උපශාන්ත භාවයත්,(B) වෙනස්කල හැකිදේ වෙනස් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය ධෛර්යයත්, ඒ දෙක අතර වෙනස (ඩිෆරන්ස්) දැනගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය ප්‍රඥාවත් මට ලබාදෙනු මැනව]

මිනිසා හා  පරිසරය පිළිඹද ජීවන ක්‍රමයක් වන බුදුදහම හා අනිකුත් දේවවාදී (දෙවියන් මිනිසාගේ ප්‍රයෝජනය සඳහා ලෝකය මැව්වේය යන ඇදහීම, විශ්වාසය) අතර වෙනස  ඉහතින් ඇති උදෘතපාඨයේ A කොටසින් පිළිඹිඹුවේ. ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරු රටේ ජාතියේ මුරදේවතාවුන් වූයේ මෙම මූලික වෙනස නිසා හා මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාවද නිසාය.

ඉතිහාසය කන්නද? (බුද්ධාගම අනුභව කිරීම)

ඉතිහාසය කන්නට පුළුවන්ද කියා ඇසුවේ JRJද, R. ප්‍රේමදාසද, කාදිනල්තුමාද කියා මට මතක නැත. යමෙක් රටක, ජාතියක ඉතිහාසයට භය වීම සමාන කල හැක්කේ සමහරු තමන්ගේ ජීවිත කතාවේ (biography) නැත්නම් රක්ෂාවක් සඳහා ඉදිරිපත්කරණ resume එකේ යම් තොරතුරු සැඟවීම වැන්නකටය. අමිහිරි හෝ ලැජ්ජා වියයුතු කාරණා නිසා වියහැකිය.  එහෙත් සිංහල බෞද්ධ පවුලක උපන් මාලිමාවට බරටම චන්ද වැඩකරණ තරුණයෙක් “බුද්ධාගම කන්නද” කියා ඇසුවොත් ඇතිවන්නේ බලවත් කම්පනයකි.  ලංකාවේ මෙවැනි ආකල්පයක් ඇති සමාජයක් බිහිවිමට මඟ පෑදෙන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න ඇමෙරිකාවේ ජීවත්වන මට ප්‍රශ්ණයක් වන්නේ බුදුදහම නමැති ජීවන මාර්ගය ඇමෙරිකන් සමාජය විසින් පිලිගන්නා ආකාරය  දකිමින් සිටින නිසාය.

ජනාධිපති වීමට කලින් අනුර කුමාරට හා මාලිමාවට දැනට අවුරුද්දකට පෙර මා යැවූ ලිපි දෙකෙන් දෙවන ලිපිය මෙහි පහතින් කොපි කර ඇත. මා විසින් ලියූ <කළු සුද්දන්ගේ පාලන සමය 1948-2019/24> යන පොත් දෙක pdf කර jvp පක්ෂයේ ඊමේල් ලිපිනයට යවා ඇත. එම පොත් මාලිමාවේ මන්ත්‍රීන්ට කියවීමට සැලැස්වුවහොත් ඔවුන්ට රටේ ප්‍රශ්ණ ගැන  ශාස්ත්‍රීය දැනුමක් ලබාගත හැකිවන්නේය. මීට අමතරව ලංකාවෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියේද දිනපතාම වාගේ වැදගත් තොරතුරු පලවේ. එය කලම්බු ටෙලිග්‍රාෆ් හෝ අනිකුත් වෙබ් අඩවි හෝ යූටියුබ්කාරයින්ගේ කතා මෙන් නොව අපක්ෂපාතීව හැමටම සිය අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමට අවස්ථාවක් ලබා දෙන ආයතනයකි.

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ජාතික විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ හා සිංහල බුද්ධාගම (JVP & Buddhism) – part 2

December 2, 2023

මාක්ස්වාදය හා ලංකාවේ පන්සල

ලංකාවේ මාක්ස්වාදීන් විසින් සිංහල බෞද්ධ සමාජය සමඟ ඇතිකරගත් තකතිරු ඝට්ටනය අවසාන (අවම?) කර ගැනීමට අනගි අවස්ථාවක් දැන් 2023 අගවනවිට JVP නායකයින්ට උදාවී තිබේ. නෝත් ආණ්ඩුකාරයාගේ සිටම පන්සල (සිවුර) සමඟ සුද්දන්ට තිබූ හිසරදයට සමානම මානසික ලෙඩක් ලන්ඩන් සිට ආපසු පැමිණි තරුණ මාක්ස්වාදීන්ට 1930ස් ගණන්වල සිටම ගමේ පන්සල සමඟ තිබුණේය. දලයිලාමා කෙරෙහි කොමියුනිස්ට් චීනයේ තිබු වෛරය, ඉඩම් හිමි රදළ නෂ්ටාවශේෂයක් ලෙස මල්වතු-අස්ගිරි ප්‍රමුඛ පන්සල් ඉඩම් යනාදිය පිළිඹඳවද ආරෝපණය කිරීම, නාගරික මාක්ස්වාදීන්ගේ විනෝදය (hobby) විය. ලංකාව ක්‍රිස්තියානි රටක් නොවී බේරුණේ පන්සල (මුරදේවතා සංකල්පය) නිසා නොවේද යන කරුණ පොදුවේ වාමාංශික වරිගයට අදටත් අදාල නැති බව සමසමාජ, කොමියුනිස්ට්, පෙරටුගාමි, හා ඇතැම් අරටු  JVP පිරිස් වල හැසිරීමෙන් හා කතාවලින් පෙනීයන්නේය. ඔවුන්ට හා වෘත්තිය සංගම් පස්සේ පෙලපාලි යන කොණ්ඩේ වවාගත් සිවුරු දමාගත් ලෝභ-ද්වේෂ-මෝහයෙන් පිරි පංචකන්ධ වලටද මේ ගැන කිසිම හෝඩුවාවක් නැත. 

එහෙත් තම පක්ෂය, UNP/SLFP පක්ෂ දෙකට අඩතබමින් සියේට තුනක් ලෙස චන්දදායකයින්ට දොස් කියමින් සිටියා වෙනුවට, අනිකුත් දේශපාලක පංචස්කන්ධ මෙන් කුමණ හෝ උප්පරවැට්ට්වි මඟින් බලය අල්ලා ගැනීමට ක්‍රියාකරණ පිරිසක් නොවන බව JVP විසින් රටේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ චන්දදායකයින්ට ක්‍රියාවෙන් ඔප්පු කලයුතුය. ලංකාව සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ට ලෝකයේ ඇති එකම ඉඩම් කැබැල්ල බව පිළිනොගන්නා කිසිවෙකුට සිංහල බෞද්ධ (ගෝඨාභයට දුන්නා මෙන්) චන්දයෙන් ලංකාවේ අගමැති/ජනාධිපති වීමට ඉඩක් දැනට නැත.

ලංකාවේ ගමක/ටවුමක පන්සලකට නොයන්නේ හා දරුවන් ඉරිඳා දහම් පාසැලකට නොයවන්නේ සමසමාජ-කොමියුනිස්ට් කාරයින්ගේ පවුල් යයි 1978 ට පෙර තිබූ මතය තවමත් එසේම පවතින්නේ කොණ්ඩේ වවාගෙන සිවුරු දමාගත් ජල ප්‍රවාහ හා කදුළු ගෑස් කමින් අන්තරේ පෙලපාලිකාරයින් මුළු සංඝ සංහතියටම ලබාදෙන නිග්‍රහය නිසාය. පෙරටුගාමි පක්ෂය කෙසේවෙතත් මේ අශෝභන ක්‍රියාව නවත්වන්නටවත් JVP පක්ෂයට නොසිතෙන්නේ ඇයි? මීටම ඈඳුන තවත් කරුමයක් නම් JVP/පෙරටුගාමී පිරිස් උතුරේ/නැඟනහිර හැර අනිත් විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවල ශිෂ්‍ය නිදහස මරා දමා ඒකාධිපති පාලනයක් ගෙනයනවා යන්නය. 1950, 1960 ගණන්වල තිබුණේ සමසමාජ පක්ෂයේ අධිකාරිය වුවත් අනිකුත් පක්ෂද පැවතියේය. ශිෂ්‍යාවන්ගේ ඇඳුම්, ගවුමේ පාට, රබර් සෙරෙප්පු සපත්තු යනාදිය ගැන රතු පොලිසි ඒ කාලවල නොවීය.

බත්කඩ

රටේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාල බත්කඩ වගේ බවත් (මෙම බත්කඩ-rice boutique-කතාව මුලින්ම කිව්වේ පෙරාදෙණියේ උපකුලපති සර් නිකුලස් ආටිගල විසින්ය) පර්යේෂණ නොකරණ ගුරුවරු පඩියට පරණ නෝට්ස් කියවන අය බවත් රටේ පවතින මතයය. මෙයට හොඳ උදාහරණයක් වූයේ සර් අයිවෝර් ජෙනින්ස්ගේ නම නේවාසිකාගාරයකට දමන්නට ගියවිට රතු බලකාය ඒ වෙනුවට ඉදිරිපත්කල නම්ය. ජෙනින්ස් කල සේවය ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ට අනාගාරික ධර්මපාලතුමා කල මෙහෙවර හා කිසිසේත්ම සමාන කල නොහැකි නමුත්, ජෙනින්ස් මහතාට රටේ කෘතඥතාවය පෙන්විය යුත්තේ, සිංහල බෞද්ධයින් මොන අඩුපාඩු තිබුණත්, කර්නල් ඕල්කොට්තුමාට ගරුකරණවා පරිදිමය (පානදුරා වාදයේ ජයග්‍රහණය මිෂනාරීන්ට පාවාදුන් ඕල්කොට් මෙහෙයුම, කොලට් සේනානායක, නාරද කරුණාතිලක, විනෝදනී සේනාරත්න, 2017).

නවක වදය

මේ කාරණා දෙක හා අමානුෂික නවක වදය නතර කිරීම JVP ට ඉතාම පහසුවෙන් කල හැකි වෙනස්කම් වන අතර එය හුදෙක් බලයට ඒම සඳහා කරණ ඇස්බැන්ඳුමක් නොවන බව ඊට සමගාමීව ගත හැකි ප්‍රතිපත්ති සංශෝධන මඟින් රටට ඔප්පු කල හැකිය. මෙය කල හැක්කේ දැන් අපි දිනලා යන මානසික සිරගෙට අසුනොවීමෙන් පමණය. සරත් ෆොන්සේකා හදන්නේ JVP ට හවුල්වී ආරක්ෂක ඇමතිකම ගන්නට නිසා (වෛරය/ පලිගැනීම?) ඔහුගේ ප්‍රකාශද  මේ අවස්ථාවේ JVP ට අවාසියක් විය හැකිය.

විජේවීර හා බර්ලින් බෞද්ධ විහාරය

පසුගිය දිනක මගේ මිත්‍රයෙක් කිව් කතාවක් මෙහි ඉහතින් සඳහන් කල ඉල්ලීම් තුනට පදනම විය. මගේ මිතුරා ජර්මනියේ සිටියදී විජේවීර නැවතීමට ආවේ ඔහුගේ නවාතැනටය. දිනක් ඔහු විජේවීරට බර්ලින් පන්සලට යමුයයි යෝජනා කල විට විජේවීර එය තරයේම ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කලේය. ඉතාමත් දිග වාදයකින්/සංවාදයකින් පසු දෙන්නම එකට පන්සලට ගියේය. විජේවීර, ෂන්මුගදාසන්, බාලාතම්පෝ, ඩොරික් ද සූසා, පීටර් කේනමන්ලාට වඩා වෙනස් චරිතයක්වූයේ මාක්ස්වාදයට ඔහුගේ බෞද්ධ නැඹුරුව, ආභාෂය මකා දැමීමට නොහැකිවූ නිසාය. 1935 සිට අවුරුදු 30 කට පසු 1964 දී, NM-Colvin-Leslie ලා මල්වට්ටි අරගෙන දළදා මාළිගාවට ගියේ බොරුවටය. විජේවීර, වික්ටර් අයිවන්ලා මෙන් පල්ලියේ සැඟවුනු අනුග්‍රහය  ලැබුවාද යන්න සැකසහිතය. තම දරුවන් බෞතීස්ම නොකරණ ලෙස අවසාන මොහොතේදී ඔහු සිය ක්‍රිස්තියානි බිරිඳගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියේය. උවිඳු විජේවීරගේ වත්මන් බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදා සමාජ දේශපාලන දර්ශණය එහි ඝෘජු ප්‍රතිඵලයකි. එය ලංවන්නේ විමල් වීරවංශ හා සෝමවංශ අමරසිංගේ මානසික පරිවර්තන වලටය.

(lanka C news | උවිදු විජේවීර ගැන බලගතු කතාබහක්.. ඒඩ්ස් රෝගයට පෙන්වා දුන් විසදුමට පලමු තැන..  (2019/10/03))

මෙම ලිපියේ පලවෙනි කොටසෙන් පෙන්වාදුන් JVP පක්ෂයේ ප්‍රධාන අඩුපාඩු දෙකක් වන (1) ලංකාව බහු ජාතික සමාජයක් (හෙවත් එක රටක් එක නීතියක් නැති) හා (2) පලාත් සභා දෙමළ ජනයාගේ  අයිතියක් යන මත දෙකේ ඇති බරපතල ප්‍රතිපත්තිමය වරද, අනුර කුමාර මහතා විසින් අවභෝධ කර ගත් බවක්, ඔහු 2024 අයවැය ගැන කරණ කතාවලින් පිළිඹිඹු නොවේ. මෙම කාරණා දෙක අනුව අනුර කුමාර හා රනිල්, චන්ද්‍රිකා, සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස හා දැන් අළුතින් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, චම්පික රණවක, සරත් ෆොන්සේකා යනාදීන් අතර වෙනසක් නැත.

ඉතිහාසය හා ජාති වාදය

තිස්ස ජනනායකගේ විස්තර අනුව සිතනවිට අනුර කුමාර කැළණි විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේදී ඉගෙන ගන්නවා වෙනුවට දේශපාලනය කළ ශිෂ්‍යයෙකි. ඔහු විද්‍යා විෂයයන් මිස ඉතිහාසය-භූගෝල විද්‍යාව හදාරා නැත. එහෙත් ඔහුටද පාඨලී චම්පික රණවක වගේම ප්‍රායෝගිකව එකතුකරගත් යම් දැණුමක් ඇත. ප්‍රශ්ණය වන්නේ එය අසම්පූර්ණ මාක්ස්වාදය නිසා බොඳවුන අසම්පූර්ණ ගමනක් වීමය (not a holistic approach).

මෙම පසුබිමට, ලංකාවේ භාවිතාවන දේශපාලන ෂේප් න්‍යායද එකතුවූ විට, ලංකාවේ ඉතිහාසය ගැන යථාර්ථය නොවන නිගමන වලට ඒමත්, එම නිගමන සත්‍යය වශයෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමත් හැර වෙන විකල්පයක් නැත. ලංකාවේ මාක්ස්වාදීන් කෙස් පැහෙන කල්ම මේ කරගන්නේ මේ ස්වයං හානියය. අනුර කුමාර හා උවිඳු විජේවීර යන දෙදෙනා යන දෙදෙනාගේ දේශපාලන අදහස් (විඥාණය?) සසඳන විට මෙම අඩුව/හානිය පැහැදිලිවේ. ඇමෙරිකාවට යාමට උල්පන්දම් දීමෙන් ජුලී චං JVP ට කලේ උපකාරයක්ද යන සැකය මතුවන්නේ එහිදී අනුර කුමාර කල කතා වලින් ඔහුගේ සිත තුල කිඳා බැස තිබෙන  මතවාද/තර්ක ඔහු නොදැන ඔහුටත් හොරා වරින් වර එලියට පැනීම නිසාය.

ජාති වාදය හා ජාතික වාදය යන අදහස් දෙකේ වෙනස අනුර කුමාරට දැන් 2023 අගදී වත් නොතේරෙන්නේ, 1930 1940 දශක වලදී එවකට කම්කරු පක්ෂයේ නායක A. E. ගුණසිංහ මහතා සින්ධි-බෝරා වෙළද ඒකාධිකාරයට විරුද්ධව කතා කිරීම ජාතිවාදය ලෙස එකල මාක්ස්වාදීන් විසින් හංවඩු ගැසුවා පරිදිමය (ගාන්ධි ලංකාවට පැමිණි අවස්ථාවේදී මේ ගැන ඔහු ඉන්දියන් වෙළඳුන්ට අවවාද කලේය).

ලංකාවේ දේශපාලකයින්ගේ මෙම හෘදය ශක්ෂිය පිළිඹඳ පරීක්ෂණයක් (test) මෙම ලිපි මාලාවේ මීලඟ ලිපියෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අදහස් කරමි.

කෙසේ වෙතත් මෙහිදී ඇති සතුටට කරුණක් නම් JVP විසින් නිවැරදී මාවතක් කරා යාමට දරණ උත්සාහයය (විලිරුදාව?). උදාහරණ වශයෙන්:

(1) ඔවුන් විසින් ගෙනා ජාතික ජන බලවේගය යන පියවර මාක්ස්වාදී අරටු වෙන් ඉවත්ව, පෙරටුගාමීකාරයින් අභිභවා, සමාන්‍ය ජනයා අතරට යෑමේ පියවරකි. එහෙත්, එයට එක්වී ඇති විශ්‍රාමික ආමිකාරයින් ගැන පුරසාරම් කීමෙන් චන්දදායකයා තුල භීතියක් ඇතිවන බව JVP නායකයින්ට  නොවැටහේ.  පොලිසිය හා යුද හමුදාව ඔවුන් හා එක්වන ලෙස පාරේ උද්ඝෝෂකයින් කරණ කෑගැසීමට සමානම ඉල්ලීමක් හා තර්ජනයක් JVP නායකයින් වේදිකාවලදී කිරීම මධ්‍යස්ථ චන්ද දායකයාගේ සිත චංචල කරවයි. බලය යනු බලයය, බලය බලය වර්ධනය කරයි, ආරක්ෂා කරයි” යනුවෙන් අනුර කුමාර ඇමෙරිකාවේදී දුන් පිළිතුරු JVP අතීතය සමඟ සළකණ විට ඔවුන්ට හානිකරය.

(2) තවද එසේ එකතුවීමට කැමති පිටස්තර අයට, විශේෂයෙන් පරාදයට හැකිලී සිටින අනිත් පක්ෂවල දේශපාලකයින්ට, JVP විසින් කරන්නේ සරදමක් සහිත ටොකු ඇණීමකි: අපිට චන්දය දෙනවාට අපි කැමතියි, ඒ වුනාට ඔබලාගේ යෝජනා භාරගන්නට අපි බඳී නෑ වැනි කතාය. මෙය වැරදි පිළිගත් අයෙකුට කරණ සම්ච්චලයක් නොවේද? මේ වනාහි අපි දැනටමත් දිණුම්ය යන අහංකාර මනසකි.

(3) ලංකාව දැනට වැටී ඇති නරා වලෙන් ගොඩට ගැනීම ඉතාමත් වේදනාකාරී ක්‍රියාවකි. ඒ සඳහා මුළු රටම, හැම පවුලක්ම, හැම පුද්ගලයෙක්ම සමස්ත පරිවර්තනයකට ලක්කල යුතුය. එහෙත් මෙය කල යුත්තේ හැකි අවම මානසික (mental) අගතියක් බලපෑමක් මේ සියළුම ලෝභ-ද්වේෂ-මෝහයෙන් පිරි පංචකන්ධවලට සිදුවන ලෙසටය. එහෙත් රටේ සෑම පුරවැසියෙකුටම බරපතල ලෙස භෞතික (physical-material) වශයෙන් කැපකිරීම් කරන්නට සිදුවීම වැලැක්විය නොහැකි බව  පිළිගැනීමට සිදුවේ. (උදාහරණයක් මහජනයා සූරා කන නීතීඥ, දොස්තර වෘත්ති, ටියුෂන්කාරයින්, ග්‍රාම සේවකගේ සිට ජනාධිපති ලේකම්ලා දක්වා දූෂිත නිලධාරී පරම්පරා ගැන සිතා බලන්න). මුළු රටම, දේශපාළුවා-නිලධාරියා-බිස්නස්/NGOකාරයා යන කුඩා හා මහා පරිමාණ දුෂ්ඨ ත්‍රිකෝණ වලින් මුදවා ගැනීමට නම් කඩුව හා කරුණාව යන දෙකම අවශ්‍යය.

JVP රැස්වීම් වලින් දැනට ලැබෙන සිග්නල් එක නම් එය JVP පක්ෂයේ සාමාජිකයින් විසින් ගම් මට්ටමින් සිදුකරන්නට යන බවය. අතීත 1970 දශකයේ ජනතා කමිටු, සේවක කමිටු (people’s committee/ workers councils) වල අත්දැකීම නම් එම සංකල්ප දේශපාලකයින් විසින් දූෂණය කල අයුරුය. ගැමි දිරිය නමින් දේශපාලකයාගේ බලපෑමෙන් ස්වාධීනව 2000 දී පමණ ක්‍රියාත්මකවූ  වැඩසටහන කඩකප්පල් කර දැමීමට බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ/ ඩිලාන් පෙරේරා වැනි පිරිස ක්‍රියා කලේ සමෘධි නිලධාරී හා ගම නැඟුම නම් හුචක්කුවක් අටවාය. ගම් මටටමින් සාර්ථකවූ කිරිවන්දෙණිය මහතාගේ සණස ව්‍යාපාරය මේ අතින් සර්වෝදයට වඩා ඉදිරියෙන් සිටින්නේ සර්වෝදයට යම් දේශපාලන න්‍යායපත්‍රයක් හා විදේශ ඩොලර් ආධාරයක් තිබෙනවාද යන සැකය නිසාය.

(4) පක්ෂ දේශපාලනය රට විනාශ කලේය. අදටත් පක්ෂ දේශපාළුවන් ගෙනයන ගේම් එක දියවන්නා හෝටලයේ සිදුවන නාඩගමෙන් දිනපතාම එලියට ඒ. JVP ද කාලයක් පුරා සිටම මෙම ගේම් එකේ සිටින්නේය. මේ නිසා ගම් මට්ටමින් පක්ෂ දේශපාලකයාගෙන් තොරව ජන සභා සංකල්පය ක්‍රියාත්මක කලයුතුය. මේ සඳහා යොජනා මා විසින් 2005 සිටම බලයේ සිටි දේශපාලකයින්ට ඉදිරිපත් කලත් ඔවුන්ගේ ආත්මාර්ථකාමය නිසාම එය නොසළකා හැරියේය. මේ නිසා තමන්ගේ අදහස්/මත වෙනස් කර ගැනීම JVP ට රටේ මහජන අනුමැතිය ලබා ගැනීමට හේතු උපකාර වන්නේය.

(5) මගේ යෝජනා වල එක් මූලික අංගයක්වූයේ පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් තොරව (1) චන්දයෙන් පත්කර ගන්නා ජන සභාවට, (2) පන්සල/පල්ලිය/කෝවිල හා (3) පොලිසිය හා (4) යුද හමුදාවද සහභාගී කර ගැනීමය මෙම කොටස් මඟින් ජන සභාවක කාර්ය පටිපාටිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් යම් සංවරණ හා තුලන ක්‍රමයක් නිරායාසයෙන්ම ඇතිවන්නේය. කුමණ අන්දමේ සාකච්චා කලත් අන්තිමේදී සංවර්ධන කටයුතු (1) චන්දයෙන් තෝරාපත්වු අය විසින් ඒකමතිකව සම්මත නොකලොත්, 2,3,4, කොටස් විසින් සිය නිශේධ බලය යොදා ක්‍රියාවට නගන්නේය. මේ නිසා JVP විසින් මගේ මෙම අදහස දැන හෝ නොදැන අනුගමණය කිරීමට ගත් තීරණය පිළිඹඳව රට වෙනුවෙන් මට ඇත්තේ සතුටකි.

(6)  පහතින් සඳහන් කර ඇති මූලාශ්‍ර තුනේ මගේ යෝජනා දීර්ග වශයෙන් පැහැදිලි කරදී තිබේ.

1. රට කැබලි නොකර සිස්ටම් චේන්ජ් කිරීම (බුදු දහම හා ජන සභා සංකල්ප) – 2022

2. සුද්දගෙ නීතිය අපිට එපා– 2022

3. ලංකාව: කළු සුද්දන්ගේ පාලන සමය, 1948-2019 (නොහොත් මන්ත්‍රී ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍ර (නාස් ලණූ වාදය) – ප්‍රථම භාගය (2023)

මෙහිදී කෙටියෙන් සඳහන් කල යුතු වැදගත් කරුණක් නම් යෝජිත ජන සභා බල ප්‍රදේශ දැනට පවතින ග්‍රාම නිලධාරී (GSN) වසම් 14,022 පරිසර නිර්ණායක (ජල ද්‍රෝණි) වශයෙන් යළි බෙදා, එම අළුත් GSN  එකතුකර ගනිමින් ජන සභා බල ප්‍රදේශ මායිම් කිරීමය.

(7) මෙවැනි ජන සභා ක්‍රමයක් යටතේ දැනට ඇති පලාත් සභා බොරු ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය හා දූෂිත පලාත් පාලන ආයතනන (ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා) වෙනුවට, ජන සභා- ජන සභා ජාතික සභාව- පාර්ලිමේන්තුව- යන ආයතන තුනක් බිහිවේ. දියවන්නා හෝටලය ක්‍රමයෙන් පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් නිදහස් වෙනු ඇත්තේ අනිත් ආයතන දෙක පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් තොර නිසාය.

(8) පරිසරයට අනුකූල ග්‍රාම සේවා නිලධාරී වසම් පදනම් කරගෙන රටේ සියළුම පරිපාලන ඒකක (අධ්‍යාපන, කෘෂිකර්ම, සෞඛ්‍ය, පොලිස්, උසාවි, ගොවිජන සේවා, ආපදා කළමනාකරණය, වනාන්තර යනාදී) අළුතින් මායිම් කරගත හැකිය.

(9) මෙම GSN අනුව මුළු රටේම සම්පත් හා සම්පත් පරිභෝජන දත්ත (data) හා සිතියම් (maps) වශයෙන් මධ්‍යගත කල හැකිය. GSN ඒකකයක් ලංකා සිතියමක තිතක් වශයෙන් පිලිඹිඹුවෙන අතර ජන සභා මට්ටමින් සවිස්තර ලොකු පරිමාණ සිතියම් සදාගත හැකිය.

By Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D PhD

YouTube Presentation
Organized by Dr. Vipula Wanigasekara and Team

Link ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJipXqSE8gc

Prof. Hudson McLean

Ukraine is History!

Ukraine, like an Orphan, with Democrats down the drain and Elon Musk leading Trump!
The Biggest Winner is President Vladimir Putin!

The World is Now Under Elon Musk!

Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say!
The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.

Please visit -: http://www.lankaweb.com/

Prof. Hudson McLean

Who Leads Trump today?

If Twitter Lost a few billion in one year, Musk makes USD 64 billion in one day!
Billionaires see record wealth surge following Trump victory
Elon Musk leads the charge as world’s wealthiest earn USD 64 billion in a single day!
Billionaires see record wealth surge following Trump victory

Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say!
The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.

Please visit -: http://www.lankaweb.com/

Courtesy The Island

The new Cabinet of Ministers was sworn in before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (18).

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will retain the ministerial portfolios of Defence, Finance, Economic Development and Digital Economy

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya – Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education

Vijitha Herath – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism

Prof. Chandana Abeyrathna – Minister of State Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government

Harshana Nanayakkara – Minister of Justice and National Integration

Saroja Savithri Paulraj – Minister of Women and Child Affairs

K.D. Lalkantha – Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation

Anura Karunathilake – Minister of Urban Development, Construction and Housing

Ramalingam Chandrasekar – Minister of Fisheries

Upali Pannilage – Minister of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment

Sunil Hadunnetti – Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development

Ananda Wijepala – Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs

Bimal Rathnayake – Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation

Hiniduma Sunil Senevi – Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs

Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa – Minister of Health and Mass Media

Samantha Vidyarathna – Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure

Sunil Kumara Gamage – Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs

Wasantha Samarasinghe – Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development

Prof. Chrishantha Abeysena – Minister of Science and Technology

Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando – Minister of Labour

Kumara Jayakody – Minister of Energy

Dr. Dammika Patabendi – Minister of Environment

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ජනතාව බලාපොරොත්තු වූ සියලු දේහල් ඉටු කිරීමට සූදානම් බව වෙළද වාණිජ සමුපකාර හා ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතා අමාත්‍ය වසන්ත සමරසිංහ මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

රටේ ජනතාවගේ බොටුව මිරිකමින් සිටින මාෆියාකාරයන් ඉදිරියට එම කටයුතු කිරීමට සිදු නොවනු ඇති බවද හෙතෙම පැවසීය.

ඉදිරියේදී ජනතාවට අඩු මිලට බඩු ගැනීමටත් හිගයකින් තොරව බඩු ගැනීමට හැකි වන වෙළඳපොලක් නිර්මාණය වනු ඇති බවත් ඇතිම කියා සිටියි.

රටේ ජනතාවගෙන් සොරකම් කරන ලද සියලු ධනය ගෙන ඒමටද ආණ්ඩුව කටයුතු කරන බවත් හෙෙතම තවදුරටත් පැවසුවේය.

නව අමාත්‍ය ධූරයේ දිවුරුම් දීමෙන් පසු මාධ්‍යය වෙත අදහස් පළ කරමින් ඔහු මේ බව කියා සිටියේය.

CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, November 18 (Daily Mirror) – National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa today claimed that organizations like the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) have come forward to demand racist, religious and separatist demands.

While addressing the media, he said that he believes that the extraordinary votes received in the North is not only a vote against racism but also a vote against separatism.

“By electing the National People’s Power (NPP), which includes the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), instead of the pro-separatist Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the Tamil people in those areas have demonstrated their rejection of both racism and separatism,” he said.

“Therefore, rather than catering to organisations like the Canadian Tamil Organizations, the mandate of this government is to fulfill the aspirations of all Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims equally within a unified state,” Weerawansa said.

The current administration in Sri Lanka has rejected elite politics, leading to the transfer of power to a non-elite political camp, he added.  

“We are prepared to view this development positively and are observing closely. If the government steers the country in the right direction—without pandering to external influences such as India, America or diaspora interests—and embarks on a journey to fairly address the aspirations of all communities, including the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, then we will support it with optimism,” he said.

If not, we will not hesitate to rally the people against it,” Weerawansa said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer, who are currently on a visit to Sri Lanka, have reportedly met with former President Ranil Wickremesinghe today (18) at his office in Flower Road, Colombo. 

In a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), former State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe, who also participated in the meeting, stated that they commended the remarkable efforts of the former government in recovering Sri Lanka’s economy from its worst crisis and setting it on a path toward sustainable growth.

During the discussions, we emphasized the importance of maintaining continuity in policies and programs, safeguarding the hard-earned reforms, and ensuring that these achievements are not reversed to secure stability and long-term economic development,” he added.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka has issued a Gazette notification declaring that former minister Ravi Karunanayake has been elected as a Member of Parliament through the National List of the New Democratic Front (NDF), which contested the General Election under the ‘Gas Cylinder’ symbol.

Earlier today, it was reported that the New Democratic Front (NDF) has nominated Karunanayake for one of the two National List seats won by the party in Parliament.

However, it was later reported that the leader of the New Democratic Front (NDF), former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, has informed the party representatives that the decision to nominate Ravi Karunanayake for one of the two NDF National List MP seats has been taken in an arbitrary manner without the consent of Wickremesinghe and the other parties in the alliance.

According to the results of the 2024 General Election, the New Democratic Front (NDF), which contested under the symbol of the ‘Gas Cylinder’, won three parliamentary seats and two National List seats.

The New Democratic Front was formed by the United National Party (UNP), the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the ‘Podujana Eksath Nidahas Peramuna’ to contest the election. 

Accordingly, it had been proposed to name one member each from the ‘Podujana Eksath Nidahas Peramuna’ and the United National Party (UNP) for the two National List seats while the final decision on the matter was expected to be taken tomorrow (18) collectively by all parties in the alliance. 

It is said that former President Ranil Wickremesinghe had also informed the General Secretary of the New Democratic Front, Mrs. Sharmila Perera, of this relevant position.

A proposal had also been put forward to nominate former Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, who contested the election from Matara District but was not elected, for the position of National List MP from the ‘Podujana Eksath Nidahas Peramuna’ faction.

However, despite this, the name of Ravi Karunanayake had been sent to the Election Commission today in writing by the General Secretary of the NDF, Mrs. Sharmila Perera, to fill one of the National List MP seats of the New Democratic Front.

But former President Wickremesinghe has reportedly informed the representatives of the New Democratic Front that Karunanayake’s name had been nominated for the position of National List MP in an arbitrary manner without his consent and the approval of the other parties in the alliance.

The former president has further said that this arbitrary decision taken by the party secretary cannot be approved when all the parties of the alliance are scheduled to meet in Colombo tomorrow morning to make a decision regarding the two National List MP seats obtained by the New Democratic Front.

However, the stakeholders of the New Democratic Front (NDF), including former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, are scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss the issue related to the two National List MP seats including the nomination of Ravi Karunanayake.

The NDF managed to secure a total of 5 seats in the Parliament including 2 National List seats in the 2024 Parliamentary Election, as they obtained a total of 500,835 votes from across the island.

In the meantime, Anuradha Jayarathne, who obtained 20,749 preferential votes in the Kandy District, former MP Rohitha Abeygunawardhana who secured 10,204 preferential votes in the Kalutara District and Chamara Sampath Dassanayake who received 19,359 preferential votes in the Badulla District are the only NDF parliamentary candidates who have secured seats in the 10th Parliament.

Courtesy Adaderana

The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has reaffirmed its readiness to collaborate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to advance Sri Lanka’s economic recovery within the context of the mandate. 

Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer and the IMF delegation met with President Dissanayake and key ministers of the newly-formed government at the Presidential Secretariat today (18), to discuss the next steps in the IMF program, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported. 

The IMF team congratulated the President and his government on their decisive electoral victory, expressing optimism about the collaboration.

President Dissanayake, in turn, underscored his administration’s responsibility to uphold the people’s mandate, emphasizing that the success of the IMF program hinges on rebuilding public trust in governance.

Highlighting his government’s commitment to addressing the pressing needs of the people, President Dissanayake urged the IMF to maintain a balanced approach that considers the hardships faced by citizens.

He assured that under his leadership, social spending allocations would be utilized effectively, with priority given to combating child poverty and malnutrition and providing better support for differently abled individuals, the PMD said.

The IMF delegation noted that allocations for social spending had not been fully utilized previously, prompting President Dissanayake to pledge proactive measures to ensure efficient allocation and utilization of resources.

Governance and anti-corruption were also central to the discussions. The President reiterated his administration’s commitment to the fight against corruption, a key component of the mandate granted by the people, the statement said.

He assured the IMF team that his government would implement stringent laws to enhance the legislative and institutional structures to uphold transparency and accountability.

The meeting marked a positive step forward in the collaboration between the government and the IMF, laying the groundwork for a coordinated effort toward economic recovery and long-term stability, according to the PMD.

The President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Minister of Labour Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando and MP Harshana Sooriyapperuma together with representatives of the Ministry of Finance participated in this meeting.

–PMD