Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

International Monetary Fund head, Kristalina Georgieva, claimed Sri Lanka as a debt restructuring ‘success’ story at the Annual Meetings in Washington last month.[i]  Left unsaid was the fact that the geostrategic county’s debt had ballooned from $ 26 billion to a purported whopping $100 billion during two years of debt restructuring under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF), reforms![ii]

Nor did Georgieva dwell on the BRICS summit held earlier that week in Kazan, Russia, where there were renewed calls for reform of the Bretton Wood Twins (IMF and World Bank), amid talks on de-dollarization. The US dollar had been weaponized in multiple forms, not just sanctions, against many emerging Global South economies, particularly those caught in post-Covid-19 debt traps that are subject to the lender of last resort’s bailout business.

The IMF Managing Director did however call for more information on the BRICS new payment system, which was discussed as an alternative to the current US controlled SWIFT international trade settlements and payment system in Kazan. SWIFT leaves countries vulnerable to brow beating and US exchange rate manipulation in the context of hybrid economic proxy wars on China’s Belt and Road (BRI), partner countries as well as, sanctions hit Russia, Iran, Venezuela etc.

At this time the United States has sanctioned an Indian firm which is in a consortium with a Russian firm to manage Sri Lanka’s Mattala Airport, official data showed.[iii] This was to develop and run the Chinese build Mattala International Airport in Hambantota. The project in the geostrategic Indian Ocean island would bring much needed investment and showcase enhanced collaboration among the BRICS big three Asian powers- China, India and Russia- but is now on ice. Sri Lanka remains in the cross-hairs of big power rivalry.

BRICS Challenge to the IMF’s Savior Image

Sri Lanka formally submitted an application to join BRICS and the New Development Bank at the meeting in Kazan, where President Putin hosted China’s President Xi and Indian Premier Modi along with other Global South leaders.

The new Government in Colombo led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake would be hoping to leverage regional growth and support from the Global South in the Asian 21^st Century”. However, no senior Minister from Sri Lanka attended the meeting in Kazan, perhaps in deference to Washington.

Nevertheless, the rise of the BRICS has clearly challenged the claim that ‘there is no alternative’ to the IMF.

Indeed, around the world and in Sri Lanka skepticism about the IMF’s claims to be a ‘Savior’ are growing since under IMF Debt Restructuring Agreements (DSA), and principles the debt seems to deepen, rather than reduce. The IMF’s principle of ‘compatibility of treatment’ of private International Sovereign bond (ISB) creditors regardless of whether they charge predatory interest rates seems particularly odious.

Pumped and Dumped into a MIC Trap?

Sri Lanka has been pumped and dumped before by the Washington Consensus and related rating agencies. Although the country was declared bankrupt” due to an apparent shortage of exorbitantly privileged dollars, the country remains South Asia’s wealthiest in Real Terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). It is second to Maldives in GDP per capita, and has the best regional human and social development, and Physical Quality of Life (PQLI) indicators in the region. 

In 2019 the island was pumped and dumped into a Middle Income Country (MIC) trap by the World Bank. MIC status forces countries to borrow from private markets at high interest rates, rather than access concessionary multilateral or bi-lateral loans even in times of crisis.

In the wake of a series of dramatic exogenous economic shocks, such as, the mysterious 2019 ISIS claimed Easter terror attacks on the tourism dependent economy, followed by two years of Covid-19 lockdowns, and a series of hybrid war maritime disasters like the MV Pearl episode, the county was forced to a staged its first ever sovereign default in 2022—into the waiting arms of the Washington Consensus.

Default was staged amid international Lawfare by the shadowy off-shore Hamilton Reserve Bank of St Kitts and Nevis, which filed a court case in New York, while distracting Araglaya protests and a US-backed soft regime change operation was ongoing in Sri Lanka. The latter brought to power the Ranil Rajapakse government and its local and diaspora economic hitmen to negotiate with the IMF and ISBs.

Economic hit men” wrote John Perkins in his best-selling book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man’, are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars” in the name of Development assistance.

At this time, Government of Sri Lanka negotiations with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), made up of the colonial Club de Paris and London Club that represent ISBs, under the IMF aegis have resulted in a massive increase in the island’s US dollar denominated debt numbers –if the governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), Nandalal Weerasinghe is to be believed.

As well, there have been draft agreements with the OCC and other bondholders that many national economists have pointed out are detrimental to the Sri Lanka people’s and national interests, as these would soon result in another default.

Meanwhile, proposals by the representatives of ISBs for Macro-economy linked bonds have turned debt restructuring into ‘rocket science’ replete with jargon filled numbers games in the absence of debt data security, while enabling the predatory private creditors sweetheart deals.[iv] MLBs would ensure that Sri Lanka continues to borrow at predatory rates from the same ISBs that are principally responsible for the debt trap in order to pay them off—for decades to come!

It is hence too that de-dollarization has become a necessity for countries caught in US dollar ISB Debt traps, and subject to IMF economic reforms and debt restructuring principles such as the ‘compatibility of treatment’ of creditors, regardless of whether they charge predatory interest rates. Moreover, IMF reforms include crippling austerity measures that shrink national economies and penalize working people whose retirement funds are looted to pay anonymous ISB bond holders, the largest being BlackRock, along with the sale of valuable National Assets, resources and infrastructure.

A Mandate for Debt Justice: ISB-IMF Mission Creep and Economic Sovereignty

At the General Elections last week, the new left-leaning government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National Peoples Power (NPP) party swept to power on a mandate to fight corruption– from by citizens tired of the permanent ‘polycrisis’ in the geostrategic island.

This week an IMF team from Washington, led by Peter Breuer is due in Colombo for the 3^th review of the EFF. Various booby trap draft agreements with bondholders and their Official Creditor Committee (OCC), made by the previous unelected Ranil Wickramasinghe regime, implicated in bondscams at the CBSL would also be discussed.

Particularly egregious was the appropriation of the pension funds of working people, the Employment Provident Fund (EPF) to benefit unnamed ISB holders. This was accomplished through IMF and ISB mission and mandate creep into domestic debt restructuring, now euphemistically called denominate debt optimization (DOO).

DDO effectively violated the country’s economic sovereignty and policy autonomy. The IMF’s mandate is to deal with External US-dollar denominated debt and not the local currency debt of sovereign states.

ISB macro-economic linked bond and IMF mission and mandate creep into Sri Lanka’s domestic debt restructuring enabling appropriation of EPF funds was legitimated on the basis that the county is an Upper Middle Income Country (MIC) and must pay off the Odious debt.

This is in lieu of the debt cancellation and significant haircuts sought by Sri Lankan and international experts in an open letter to the IMF[v], the representatives of the ISBs have claimed that either national banks must pay the  creditors, or the EPF must be plundered for the same.

This is fundamentally a false choice: A narrative riven with bad faith and moral hazard that violates core principles of Debt Justice. It has also served to distract from and enable the unethical ISB appropriation of retirement funds of working people, the Employment Provident fund (EPF) to benefit unnamed ISB holders, the largest of which is BlackRock.

President AKD and his new government would be hence called upon at this time as part of their fight against corruption to roll back the IMF and ISB’s mission and mandate creep into DDO, that has caused the ballooning of debt from USD 26 billion to a whopping $ 100 in the past 2 years, which sets the country up for another Default. DDO has eroded Sri Lanka’s Economic Sovereignty, policy space and autonomy and must be rolled back.

Likewise, restoring exchange controls against the parking of foreign currency which is due to the county, particularly review of the tourism sector in the context of a massive land grab would be another high priority for the new government.

Compounding Odious Debt and Economic Hit Men: International networks of Financial Corruption

National experts and economists who have long demanded outright Odious Debt cancellation instead of backroom sweetheart deals masked as ‘haircuts’ linked to Macro Economy linked Environment, social and governance (Green and Blue Bonds), Club have been sidelined. The debt and development industry’s neocolonial power/ knowledge hierarchies are clearly visible in the fact that the Government of Sri Lanka was compelled to hire expensive foreign consulting companies rather than draw on national experts and advisors in its negotiations with the IMF and ISBs. That is aside from selected NGO think tanks like Verite Research.

Sri Lanka’s massive debt increase amid endless negotiation with bondholders has been accomplished by a veritable gravy train of international accounting and legal firms, advisors and Economic Hitmen. Prominent among these are; Lazard, and Clifford and Chance that are supposed to represent the debt trapped citizens of Sri Lanka. The organized and coordinated nature of the process which protects the bondholders and keeps their names secret are suggestive of corruption racket.

While national political and business corruption in bond trading and derivaties may be seen as the ‘demand side’ of corruption and Odious Debt, the supply-side of compounding Odious debt is clearly ISBs holders– whose names are kept secret.  The latter stand to benefit from sweetheart debt restructuring deals under the IMF-DSA between government officials in debt trapped countries. This also accounts for the dramatic increase of Sri Lanka’s US dollar debt in the past 2 years of IMF EFF which has enabled neocolonialism and extended Washington’s tentacles and grip on the geostrategic island nation that is perpetually in the cross-hairs of big power rivalry in the Indian Ocean.

The explosion of debt numbers games in the past two years was done in cahoots with the previous unelected President Ranil Wickramasinghe regime which was implicated in a series of bondscams at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in 2015. The subsequent chilling murder of the principle witness in the Court case against Wickramasinghe, Mr. Dinesh Shaftter in December 2022, effectively shut down the case against Wickramasinghe just as IMF-ISB debt restructuring commenced, and remains a mystery.

It is increasingly evident that while the demand side of Odious debt may be corrupt politicians and their business crony networks, the supply-side of Odious debt is primarily predatory private Eurobond creditors and un-named International Sovereign bond (ISB) holders, whose interests the IMF appears to represent and their networks and gravy train of consulting firms.

However, the IMF never talks about ISB corruption. However, it may need to do a corruption diagnostic of ISBs, particularly, BlackRock if its claims to fight corruption and promote good governance are to be taken seriously.

Meanwhile, for the new anti-corrupt government in Colombo, updating and reinstating the Exchange Control Act No. 24 which was repealed in November 2017, leading to the US Dollar shortage and staged Default in 2022, would be high priority for the new government. This is necessary also in the context of increased Digital Colonialism in key Sectors such as Tourism, where funds due to the country remain parked overseas.

Finally, de-linking Debt Justice and Climate Justice, along with reversing and containing and ISB-IMF mission and mandate creep in the form of DDO that has eroded Sri Lanka’s Economic Sovereignty while magnifying external debt would no doubt be a priority for the new Government led by President AKD at this time–to ensure Debt Justice for Sri Lanka.

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[i] https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/10/25/sp102524-annual-meetings-plenary

[ii] https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2024/10/25/sri-lanka-met-with-bondholders-aims-to-exit-default-as-soon-as-possible-central-bank-governor-says/

[iii] https://economynext.com/us-sanctions-indian-firm-involved-in-deal-with-sri-lankas-mattala-airport-186347/

[iv] https://indepthnews.net/wealth-of-nations-and-the-poverty-of-theory-debt-restructuring-as-rocket-science/

[v] [v] https://ipe-sl.org/sri-lanka-debt-justice-collective-writes-open-letter-to-imf-on-ddo/

Shenali D Waduge

In an unprecedented & unexpected vote, Northern Tamils not only have voted for a predominantly Sinhala party but have rejected the Tamil politicians who have claimed to represent them over the years. This is not only a slap to Tamil political separatist quest but ushers a new beginning & opportunity for goodwill that could not be forged as a result of opportunistic political maneuverings. If the Southern voters decided to reject most of the old faces & bring in fresh faces, the Northern voters have decided to do the same. This certainly has unified the entire Island nation to the point where all destabilizing agents must now be wondering how to manipulate the current impasse. It also means that in wanting a fresh start, the new government cannot flirt with the old players & the strings they were pulling to divide the people & separate the Nation. The new government cannot make the same mistakes that the previous governments made in not taking the side of the majority who wanted to live in peaceful coexistence but sided with the minority who promoted division & separatism.

How Tamils lived under LTTE & how they live now will show that life has changed dramatically. Unfortunately, it is those whose lives changed dramatically for the better going overseas under LTTE who wish to continue to have their own suffer back home. Even after provincial councils were created in 2013, what difference did the Tamil politicians voted to the PCs do for ordinary Tamil people? Nothing much except writing genocide letters to all corners of the world or going on foreign trips complaining against the Sri Lankan military. How many of the lands they managed to get released on bogus claims & political bribery actually went to Tamils who were without lands or did they fall into hands of LTTE family members living overseas!

How has increase in links with South India helped Tamils? The number of drug addicts have increased. Women indulging in smoking, drugs, drinking have also increased. Domestic violence has increased – the entire social fabric of the North that were proud of their cultural past & upheld traditional values is dithering. The fact that the LGBTQIA launched its first Pride Parade in the North & first transgender operation are signs how society has deteriorated over the years. These have now added to the caste differences that haunt Tamils on a daily basis.

These are the issues that impact & affect Tamils – not 13^th amendment, not Mullaivaikkal commemorations which are only for dead LTTE, not provincial council system for it has not uplifted ordinary Tamils in any way, not separation of Sri Lanka or federalism as advocated by ITAK, TNA & LTTE fronts over the years. The Tamils have been fed the notion that the more racist demands they make, they can gain better opportunities for themselves. However, statistically we cannot see this trickled down to the vast majority of Tamils who are essentially low caste & poor. Racism has only leveraged the upper class & caste Tamils. This is the sad reality.

The result of the Parliamentary elections takes us back in time where the Tamils had better ties with Mrs. Bandaranaike & Mr. Hector Kobbekaduwa while it was SWRD Bandaranaike who in 1957 via the Social Disabilities Act enabled low caste Tamils to gain education. It was the upper caste Tamils who sailed to UK & complained to the British to repeal the Act. This is an excellent example of how divided the Tamils are due to caste while to the world their politicians project the Sinhalese as the enemy. These are ugly ground realities that cannot be brushed aside.

In May 2016 Tamil youth declared We want homes, not merging of North-East”

99% Tamils want to live in peace with Sinhalese, 1% Tamils want a piece of Sri Lanka

However, in giving the NPP government a thumbs up, the Tamils have signaled they want to see a fresh start. This necessarily entails the need for the new Government not to peddle the same divisive policies and rhetoric followed by previous governments & politicians.

Therefore, whatever letters the LTTE fronts dispatch from foreign shores, whatever promises made to them prior to elections, whatever funds they gave to assure that divisive politics would continue, whatever henchmen they use to protest or start skirmishes, the new government must realize that the voters voted against these demands. They voted against divisive politics & the division or separation of Sri Lanka. This is how the new Government & President must interpret the vote. This means they should not make the same mistake of ignoring the message in the vote by continuing to flirt with the extremists and separatist elements who are pulling the strings from their very comfortable abodes on foreign shores. Why would those in foreign shores need to be promoting separatism, federalism or any other notion in Sri Lanka, when they should be more worried about political affairs in the nations they live in.

Unfortunately, the foreign media, even foreign political analysts are only comfortable chirping the same song that they hear & do not delve into finding out what the real problems of the Tamil are, primarily because they know it is not the one’s they love to articulate. Their commentary revolves around geopolitics & geopolitical agendas which have nothing to do with wanting to give Tamils in the North anything other than use them as bait.

The recent protest outside the Buddhist Tissa Vihara by a countable number of people headed by G Ponnambalam who received just 15,135 votes out of 593,187 registered voters. That is nothing Ponnambalam can be proud of! It also means that Sumanthiran would not have even got 10,000 votes from the Tamil people. These are very clear messages from the Tamil people that their separatist rhetoric has been rejected.

If that is the case, the new government must desist from honoring letters from LTTE fronts living overseas which would mean that the new government is ignoring the mandate given to them in favor of satisfying letters sent by LTTE fronts.

This would be a huge mistake made by the new government & will only serve to fasten the distrust that would build up against the new government not only amongst Tamils but other communities as well.

A golden opportunity has been given to this new government. New faces & new opportunities should not be compromised by continuing old failed policies and political bargainings.

Shenali D Waduge

Courtesy The National Post

Food banks in Toronto reported a record-breaking 3.48 million visitors between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024.

As it has annually since the pandemic, the number of people visiting Toronto food banks for the first time soared again over the last year, and newcomers to Canada are among the largest cohort of new users.

This is an astonishing 222 per cent increase in new food bank clients compared to just two years ago,” the report reads, noting that the figures are an underestimate as they don’t include data from anonymous visits.

Overall, the facilities had a record-breaking 3.48 million visitors over the year, one million more than the previous and almost four times as many recorded before COVID-19.

• Monthly food bank use soars to record 2 million, driven by cost of groceries, housing
• ‘How to get free food in Canada’: YouTubers criticized for encouraging international students to use food banks

The report notes it took 38 years to surpass the one-million visit mark, two years to pass the two-million and just a year to hit three million.

Based on our projections and the worsening level of poverty in our communities, we expect to exceed four million visits by this time next year.”

Shenali D Waduge

Parliamentary elections in recent years had never seen what resulted in nothing short of a tsunami on 14 November 2024. The silver lining was that virtually all of the old brigade who had entered parliament from different parties were voted out. A single party for the first time gained a majority in Parliament sans any alliance king-makers. Even JR Jayawardena would have been amused at the outcome. His nephew can be credited with paving the way for this landslide victory though we cannot ignore the 6million who did not vote echoing a growing dissent & distrust for people’s representatives. Ironically, this 6m contributed to the landslide victory. The manner that a virtually unknown group merged with a party who had over the years propped other parties to power & thereafter pulled their legs making governance impossible, had suddenly got the thumbs up to rule Sri Lanka, and entered history books alongside their preferential votes that have also broken records.

To understand this tsunami, the mainstream political parties must hold themselves accountable. People placed their trust in them but they had failed to deliver. Part blame must go to the general public as well who had after 1977 settled into a capitalist culture that involved importing everything & anything ignoring the inflating cost required to import while people & politicians never bothered to question the widening balance sheet as each government was happy to take more loans, pass the burden of repayment on the general public & the general public never questioning that it was their artificial lifestyle that was attributing to the increasing loans plus interest that they were paying. This reality was always hidden behind the hora hora” campaigns.

The state of the State coffers together with wastage & Public Sector corruption was always ignored & will continue to be until & unless the root cause of the issue is identified first. The public sector apparatus is where the problem prevails. However, where the people and the present government would clash is the moment any comforts are reduced. This is what took place in 2022. Therefore, the government while unable to continue the same formula followed by previous governments will be walking a tight rope in the changes they have to make for their own survival. They cannot give excuses as previous governments have. The people cannot expect changes unless they too are willing to change.

The AKD NPP have to deliver & take drastic actions that other governments dared not. Voters demand change & want to see change. How AKD NPP will make the drastic changes while keeping its popularity is left to be seen.

In such a scenario, previous governments who were hard pressed to take decisions that were unsavory to the people always ended up introducing new carrots to divert attention. Thus, it is more than likely that this government too would come up with a new constitution”. The economic embargo Nepal suffered as a result of not including clauses India wanted into Nepalese new constitution suffices AKD & NPP not to tread on similar paths given Sri Lanka has buried itself too much into the Indian sphere of influence.  It is equally important to see the dangers of who is asking for new constitutions” – the first to congratulate & clearly articulate a new constitution has been a Canadian LTTE front! AKD NPP must remember that Canadian LTTE did not vote them to power! The People of Sri Lanka did. They voted for a UNITARY Sri Lanka not a DIVIDED ONE.

Geopolitics & NPP

AKD & NPP must be mindful of not compromising the sovereignty of Sri Lanka for international popularity as these are all camouflaged to eventually bring them down. Becoming popular with the so-called international community cannot come at the sacrifice of the local communities. If gaining popularity requires AKD-NPP to weaken the armed forces, police & intel, integrate Sri Lanka to foreign systems, these only will quicken another political tsunami. Therefore, the assurance given to protect State assets & resources cannot result in handing these over to the enemy. AKD-NPP should not create grounds for another regime change therefore a well-planned diplomatic balancing act is necessary.

With American nationalism coming to the fore resulting in President Trump taking over, his emphasis will turn to making America great again & will desist from creating new wars or continuing unnecessary conflicts. This is welcome news for Sri Lanka & most nations of the world. A major part of his campaign was concentrated on traditional values & the manner the woke agenda/LGBTQIA had broken up families, children, youth & adults & he has promised to end this agenda & allow children to lead normal lives without being surgically operated to turn girls into boys & boys into girls. This agenda, that Dolawatte initiated in Sri Lanka & being promoted by the NPP PM also needs to be shoved aside & not allowed to be implemented in Sri Lanka. President AKD like Trump must protect the child & youth from this global woke agenda.

Tamils & NPP

The reason why Tamils voted for NPP & not the traditional Tamil political parties need to be audited as it would necessarily negate & reject what Tamil political leaders have been seeking via their representations in Parliament. Previous two occasions that Tamils voted for anyone other than Tamils was in 2010 (in favor of Fonseka at the Presidential Elections & 2015 (in favor of Sirisena at the Presidential elections) when India influenced the vote. Whether North & Central Province was equally influenced by India in 2024 is left to be seen. However, an expert on South Asian geopolitics claims US diplomatic influence is what brought AKD NPP to power.

Exclusive: America Drove AKD’s Rise to Power — S.D. Muni

Presuming that Tamils have rejected demands of Tamil politicians, this negates the Tamil political demand for release of bogus political prisoners” which invariably are hard core LTTE in prison. State land cannot be categorized as occupied land” & to be released. In fact, the NPP must remove the Thesavalamai laws that deny other Tamils from owning land in Jaffna except the Vellala Tamils. This poses a bigger restriction to majority of Tamils. No one who has no deed to lands cannot use protests to demand state land be given to them.

The NPP government should not be foolish to accept Mullaivaikkal genocide” as this is nothing but mourning dead LTTE when none of these ceremonies mourn any of the other Tamil militant dead & their families are not even allowed to mourn their dead by the LTTE supporters. NPP should not continue the mistakes of previous parties by being held to ransom with these bogus chants which are not the voice of the majority of Tamils in the North. All of these demands are coming from pro-LTTE living in mostly western nations.

Similarly, NPP should not repeal the PTA. Only those who wish to commit terror want this Act to be repealed. Before making any decision to abolish the Executive Presidency, it is important to answer who are those who wish to abolish it & why do they want to abolish it. The answer will give the reason why it should not be abolished!  When demands are coming from overseas LTTE fronts, the people are curiously watching what President AKDs & NPPs response are.

The President cannot forget the thousands of JVP youth who died sacrificing their lives against India, the 13^thamendment & the PC System. The President would realize what a burden the system is on the state & find a new way to ensure efficiency of the system instead of it becoming a stepping stone to federalism & thereafter separatism. How separatism follows federalism is something for the new MPs of the Parliament to quickly study & appraise themselves of before taking any rash decisions.

The caste factor is such that voting a Sinhalese is considered better than voting lower caste Tamils contesting! Then again like the voters from the rest of the country, the Tamils would have also wanted to get rid of the aging MPs who have been coming in & out of Parliament & doing little for the Tamil people & decided to give fresh faces a chance.

The President & NPP must be quick to identify what the majority Tamil people actually want & dismiss what the self-serving ITAK demanded. This is where NPP can build a better rapport with the people of the North & South.

Muslims in NPP

Despite the links to Ibrahim & the suicide bombers of Easter Sunday, appointing a Muslim as Governor Western province was a clear signal that the Muslims had decided to throw their eggs into the NPP basket. This was seen by the many social media propaganda steered by supporters with Muslim names. Moreover, the visit by the President on election day to Panchikawatte was another signal whom to vote. Would this support, prevent action against those guilty of money laundering, smuggling, drug peddling & defaulting state taxes!

Catholics & NPP

The Cardinal did not mince his words after casting his vote & very openly declared who the Catholics should vote for in what has to be considered a violation of election laws. As a controversial figure, the Cardinal continues to live on extensions using the Easter Sunday justice” as ruse which AKD & NPP are now well aware of.

The forgotten Sinhala Buddhists

Sadly, majority of politicians & political parties including the JVP & NPP enjoy only advocating the so-called grievances of the minorities. Never have they spoken a word about the difficulties the majority Sinhala Buddhists undergo especially those who live as a minority in areas where the minorities are the majority.  It is unfortunate that historically, too it is members of the minority who have come forward to speak on behalf of the Sinhalese. It was Lakshman Kadiragamar who was the architect of UN celebrating Vesak! Likewise, it was SWRD Bandaranaike & the 1957 Social Disabilities Act that allowed low caste Tamils to go to school which the high castes had denied them.

Who are the NPP? 

When regime change took place in 2015 orchestrated by US & India bringing yahapalana to power, AKD & JVP played a pivotal role. Part of the regime change was the breakup of the main political parties – thus SLFP was broken to form SLPP, UNP was broken to form SJB & JVP was broken to form NPP. These were to become the new faces of politics.

As expected, SLPP swept local government elections in 2018 & brought GR to power in 2019 with a 2/3 majority given in 2020. GR proved himself a weak leader & a well-choreographed peoples revolt took place in 2022, entrusting power to the person whose loans taken between 2015-2019 were the reason for the economic crisis! Nevertheless, he ended up doing SLPP a favor by transferring all the tarnished MPs of SLPP into his cylinder camp thus cleansing the SLPP & given it a chance to resurrect itself with proper people’s vision. How they will do so is left to be seen & would spell the fate of the party & its leaders.

The fate of the SJB looks more or less clear but politics is a game of possibilities & one may never know the NPP PM may be tasked to merge the UNP & SJB & become its leader as a future challenge to NPP. Politics is a game of chess & political pawns are moved by unforeseen forces!

Post-2022 revolt, the NPP embraced all of the aggrieved people in SLPP, UNP, SJB & many other parties. More than a political party, NPP comprised people who were angry and had some sort of settle to score. This pent-up emotions suffices to build political momentum and the expats overseas who also wanted to settle scores were only too happy to join.

Thus, the so-called pseudo-Leftist Marxist JVP merged with a neo-colonial liberal thinking set of people whose ideology was to bring CHANGE”. Ignoring or not taking lessons from history will ink their future & deliver hard lessons that they will only learn from experience!

The Parliament is cleansed of the old brigade of all shades. This is welcome news.

The new faces cannot commit or repeat the same mistakes.

The wish-list of those who voted & those who did not vote is long & demanding.

This places the President & the new Government on a very tricky footing. The President & NPP leaders will be haunted by the promises they made.

The NPP has a clear majority. There are no king-makers to bribe & prevent their decisions. The people are expecting magic. The NPP & President have to deliver. What they chose to deliver will decide their fate. Now that the people have realized that they don’t need to wait 5 years to overthrow governments, the people (those who voted & those who didn’t) will be ruthless in their expectations while geopolitically, pressure will be exerted to weaken Sri Lanka’s ability to rise & making Sri Lanka further vulnerable. Across the Palk Strait, the rise of a new face will see emergence of new Tamil nationalism which will prove counter to India’s Arkhand Bharath agenda. Both are dangerous scenarios for Sri Lanka & require AKD NPP to take stock before making internal decisions.

Are NPP politicians atuned to the geopolitical historical scenarios, as they cannot be frogs in the well especially in a Parliament full of freshers who are vulnerable to fall for all sorts of traps including those coated in honey!

Shenali D Waduge

e-Con e-News

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’

e-Con e-News 10-16 November 2024

• US and Indian warships – the Indian submarine INS Vela and the USS destroyer Michael Murphy – sail into Colombo, one after the Presidential election, and one after the Parliamentary election, a week apart. Our innumerable political and economic crystal-ball gazers (drunk on dollar stipends) fail to tell us what this belligerence truly portends… Leaders and media have to deploy ‘strategic ambiguity’, in their pronouncements, which are then amplified during elections. Some hedge their analysis with the hack placebo of geopolitical rivalry, etc. We apparently have to balance 500 years of European piracy to affirm that whites still have the right to ‘rule the waves’ far beyond Washington & London. Perhaps they seek to remind us what they ultimately mean by ‘democracy’. These symbolic shows of force, meant to project power, betray weakness as well. Do these benefactors feel the ROR (rate of return) on their investments is insufficient, and they need some symbolic muscle-flexing too?

     And what does all this have to do with that kerfuffle about supposed threats to resting & pro-creating dollar-pampered murderous Zionazis in Arugam Bay?

     Capitalist elections & wars are never far apart. Take former Australian PM Scott Morrison, a frequent visitor to Colombo’s innermost security sanctums. It turns out Morrison lost an election and had to retire despite arranging for a ‘refugee ship’ from Sri Lanka to be sighted over the great divide at the very moment he voted. Morrison & Trump’s former CIA Director, Mike Pompeo (who even Trump now considers unreliable) are ‘strategic advisers’ to US asset management firm DYNE Maritime, which funds technologies related to AUKUS, the white-only club (honorary whites like the Japanese & slightly tanned Indians have to settle for the more ‘inclusive’ Quad, see ee Sovereignty).

     The Indian & US splashing about, also relate to the recent B-2 bomber attack on Yemen, on what the US called 5 Houthi ‘hardened underground weapons storage locations’, launched from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri via Diego Garcia. These bombers, which have bombed both Afghanistan and Iraq, have ‘far more than half again the range to enable it to hit any target in Iran’, if they take off from Diego Garcia, which Indian and Mauritius have apparently allowed the US to operate from for another 99 years. Most stories about Diego Garcia ignore the eviction of the original residents there and instead talk of the ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ who were somehow allowed to claim refugee status on a US base!

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‘The 99-year term of the agreement, and of the treaty that will enshrine it, should

be especially worrying to Tehran…the new agreement enables B-2 bombers &

their successor aircraft to strike at Iran for more than twice as long…”

     (see ee Random Notes)

*

Yet the message conveyed is: they can bomb Afghanistan & Yemen and Iran, and they can surely attack Sri Lanka & India too. We are being told to be patient, that the latest dispensation is still being weaned (off which breasts we can imagine) though no such matter of an Indian Ocean Zone of Peace, a cumbersome fantasy, can as yet be broached. And yet encroach farther they do. And it is within this scenario of the ongoing massacres in occupied Palestine, that the poor beleaguered Zionazis were apparently disturbed of their rest, on vacation from their chosen land of stolen milk & honey.

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Like baby birds twittering out the same songs from loud mouths wide open begging to be fed, the merchant media in Sri Lanka, which so likes to whine about corruption, is the swindle personified. ee goes to a lot of needless trouble – as we are often reminded by critical friend & foe alike – to reproduce much of the fake & fatuous headlines of the English media. Despite their claims to ‘diversity’, it is a work of wonder how this poodle media repeat the same bilge over & over again. If readers examine our news compendium, they will note how boring press releases from the white embassies & corporations & their so-called NGOs are repeated over again. Meanwhile Iran’s clear objections to being implicated by the US & Israel are given little saturated play in an obsequious media.

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• Was the new government forced to promise they would lift the Import Ban on Automobiles? This ee Focus reproduces Dhanusha Pathirana’s Sleepwalking into Disaster: ‘Having saddled the nation with a disastrous International Sovereign Bond (ISB) restructuring that ballooned debt repayments by billions [see last ee], the Central Bank Governor (CBSL) now pushes for lifting the import ban on personal vehicles – a blatant kowtow to the IMF’s imperialist agenda.’ Pathirana asserts ‘the Governor, with zero role in generating foreign exchange, is dictating its fate’. The Governor claims, the country can be flooded with gas-guzzling automobiles, instead of building industries that foster employment that requires scientific learning, as opposed to repetitive manual labor with life-consuming work hours of our manufactured exports. Pathirana says, it’s the IMF that ‘demands this ‘liberalisation’ – a euphemism for enriching foreign corporations at the expense of Sri Lanka’s future stability & development. Conveniently forgotten is the IMF’s own 2022 assessment under Article IV consultation, partially blaming our economic collapse on the very consumerism they now endorse!’

*

This ee Focus also reproduces ‘Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva’ Tamara Kunanayakam’s questions on the new JVP/NPP Government’s decision in October to ‘strongly reject’ the US-England draft resolution at the recent UN Human Rights Council, extending the mandate of an ‘external evidence-gathering mechanism’. Yet, on the following day, the resolution that the Government had ‘strongly’ rejected was adopted without a vote, ie, by consensus. ‘Consensus resolutions necessarily involve the explicit or implicit consent of the country concerned’. Then again, colonized countries depend on such badgering to provide an excuse for their inability to advance the country.

    Kunanayakam explains, ‘Country-specific resolutions are a weapon used by Washington to impose its hegemonic agenda on non-Western countries. ‘Consensus is only advantageous to the one who wields the weapon’. The resolution on Sri Lanka is ‘precedent-setting’, giving ‘legitimacy to the controversial ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine that permits Washington to exercise its domination over other states on the pretext they are ‘unwilling & unable’ to protect their own citizens, thus undermining the UN Charter-based multilateral order & its sovereignty principle. She adds:

‘In the case of Sri Lanka, the initiator has always been the US.

The drafting is done in Washington & the text imposed in Colombo,

with the US Ambassador playing a crucial role. The regular

one-to-one meetings between US Ambassador Julie Chung

& Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, and between

the Ambassador & the President, is now an open secret.’

(see ee Focus)

*

    Kunanayakam also claims the JVP/NPP government treated the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, ‘with disdain… BRICS is viewed by Washington as a threat to its global hegemony’. She also queries, ‘why did the JVP/NPP government publicly lie that BRICS had rejected its application to become a member?’ However, the JVP/NPP and Russia have responded to the general allegations, saying, ‘Sri Lanka’s BRICS membership was not rejected’.

The growing of the BRICs alliance is truly welcome for countries like Sri Lanka. We have to shamefully endure sermons about ‘rights’ from global outlaws, suffer their sanctions to enable their extractions, while depending on the dubious benevolence of the USA’s triplets, World Bank, IMF & WTO. Much needs to be done, minus the capitalist media’s exaggeration of BRICS’ powers when their hacks tire of casting doubt on its aims. ee Focus also reproduces the Indian economist Prabhat Patnaik’s sober examination of the recent BRICS Summit in Kazan. The recent summit created a new category called ‘partner nations’ as a step toward full membership, and accepted 13 such new ‘partner’ countries, among whom were Cuba & Bolivia. He points out how BRICS has come out ‘against unilateral economic sanctions that the US-led imperialist powers have been imposing on countries that dare to assert their independence from imperialist hegemony’. BRICS also suggests ‘a program of reform for the International Monetary & Financial System’. He points out that the ‘free trade argument upon which the WTO is founded, is itself flawed’, of the injustice of ‘the WTO rule that a country cannot give price support to farmers’. He also offers suggestions beyond just de-dollarization, to eliminate the hegemony of finance. He also understands its limits: ‘BRICS remains a heterogeneous bloc that cannot be expected to adopt a radical agenda’. He then details the need for a truly radical agenda.

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________

Contents:

US & Indian Warships in Colombo to Sink Democracy

KAMALIKA PIERIS

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”.

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 Eelection, 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 this 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%.

 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. [1] 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 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. [2]

 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. [3]The   same groups went from rally to rally, party to 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.

This distortion of the democratic election was done by JR Jayewardene when he was President.  JR wanted to reduce the   voting power of the citizen. He wanted the Presidential election to be decided by an Electoral College.  He wanted to make the political party the sole focus of power in the state. This had unanticipated consequences.  Critics observed that enlarging the electorate was the source of   the corruption which arose thereafter.

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.[4]

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

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

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

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

Chanaka Bandarage

The essence of democracy is that representatives are elected by the people.

If those who are rejected by the public in the election are later allowed to sit as MPs in the parliament through the National List, that will be directly in conflict with the concept of democracy. Effectively, it is  making a mockery of our democracy.

People did not vote for them because they did not like them. Sometimes, people wanted to punish them.

Once people have stated ‘No’, that should be the end of it.

Then, why should the defeated candidates be allowed to enter the parliament?

This provision creates an unhealthy environment. It is a fertile ground for mischief. By vying for the available MP spot/s, lots of corruption/bribery, violence, and other vices can take place.

Notorious thugs, corruptors, cheats, and drug peddlers can enter the parliament this way.

Allowing those who are rejected by the people to come to the parliament through the backdoor is a slap in the face of the voters.

Voters can get extremely dejected thinking that their vote has no value.

Surely Sri Lanka must be the only country in the world where defeated candidates can come to the parliament through a (dubious) National List.

Through this election the whole world is impressed with us. We have shown to the world that we are an advanced society – an achievement even the developed world could not achieve. So, why we now add a smidgeon of dung to our pot of fresh milk?

The honourable thing for the Defeated candidates to do is to withdraw their candidature for the National List MP positions. 

The Election Commission is bound by laws. Surely, it has made the ruling upon reviewing the prevailing laws and perhaps case law.

Thus, one cannot criticise them/Courts.

This is an area where the law needs amendment.

Over to the new Government!

Re. the National List – this is fundamentally contrary to the principles of democracy. No matter how educated or clever a person is, if they want to enter the parliament, they must come by the pubic ballot. This is the universal principle of democracy (Westminster style). In the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Singapore and Malaysia; they do not have a National List.

Since the National List was introduced in 1988, there have been hundreds of such MPs. How many have made substantial contributions to the country? Only a handful.

There are 29 National List MPs – over 8% of the total MPs. This is far too many.

In the next (22^nd) Amendment to the Constitution, steps must be taken to abolish the extremely undemocratic National List.

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

ආසන 159ක් ලැබූ පමණින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ පවතින දෝෂය / අතපසුවීම නිවැරදි නොකර අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන ගෙන ඒමට මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුවට හැකිද?

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ ඇති දෝෂය / අතපසුවීම නිවැරදි කිරීමට ගෙනා 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය සම්මත නොකර, ආසන 159ක් ලැබූ මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුවට අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන ගෙනා හැකිද යන්න මෙම කෙටි ලිපියෙන් විමසා බැලීමට අදහස් කරයි.

මාළිමාවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන 159ක් 2024 පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයෙන්  ලැබී ඇත.එනම් 2/3 ටත් වැඩියෙන් ලැබී ඇත. මෙය 1977 ජේ ආර්. ජයවර්ධන ආණ්ඩුවට තිබූ 2/3 ට වැඩි ආසන සංඛ්‍යාව මෙන් ය. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ඉන්නා විපක්ෂයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරු 66 දෙනාට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කතා කරමින්, වරප්‍රසාද භුක්ති විදිමින්, තේරීම් කාරක සභාවල අසුන් ගන්නත්  හැකිය.  මොකද පනත් කෙටුම්පතකට 2/3 ලැබෙන එක වළක්වන්න විපක්ෂයේ ආසන 66කට නොහැකිය. විපක්ෂයට ආසන 76ක් තිබ්බානම් පනත් කෙටුම්පතකට 2/3 ලැබීම වළක්වන්න හැකියාව තිබුණි.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දැක්වෙන ජනමතවිචාරණයක් අවශ්‍ය ව්‍යවස්ථා හැර අනෙක් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන ඕනෑම එකක් කිරීමටත්, පවතින නීති අහෝසි කිරීමටත්, අලුත් නීති පැනවීමටත් මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුවට ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක බලය ලැබී ඇත. එය වැළක්වීමේ හැකියාවක් විපක්ෂයට නැත.

විපක්ෂයට සහ මළිමා ආණ්ඩුව පවතින ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුවම ක්‍රියා කළ යුතුය. ජනමතවිචාරණයකට යා යුතු ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් ගෙනා අවස්ථාවකදී විපක්ෂය කළ යුත්තේ එය හිතකරනම් ජනතාව සමඟ එකතු වී එය ජයග්‍රහණය කරන්න ක්‍රියා කරන එකය.

1977 පාර්ලිමේන්තු ඡන්දයෙන් පසු එක් පක්ෂයකට පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන 2/3 වැඩියෙන් ලැබූ පළවන අවස්ථාව මෙයයි. ඒ අනුව මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුව අනිවාර්යයෙන් අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ගෙන එනු ඇතැයි අනුමාන කළ හැකිය. ඒ ජනමතවිචාරණයෙන්ද ජයගැනීමේ අපේක්ෂාවෙනි. ඒත් එයට අවුරුදු 2කට වැඩිය කල් ගතහොත් ජනමතවිචාරණයෙන් පරදින්න වැඩි ඉඩක් ඇත්තේ ජනතාවගේ ප්‍රශ්න විසඳීමට මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුවට නොහැකි වුවහොත් ය. ඒ නිසා හැකි ඉක්මණින් වසරක් හෝ වසර 2ක් ඇතුළත අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ගෙන ඒම මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුව සිදුකිරීමට වැඩි ඉඩක් ඇත.

විපක්ෂය සහ ජනතාව කළ යුත්තේ  මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුව ගෙන එන අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව කෙසේද යන්න අවධානයෙන් විමසා බැලීමයි. එමෙන්ම ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව ගැන හොඳ අවබෝධයක් ගැනීමය.

එසේම පවතින ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව දෝෂ සහිත බව නීතිපතිවරයාද මේ වන විට පිළිගෙන ඇත. ඒ 2015 දී ගෙනා 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය අවස්ථාවේ සිදුවී ඇති දෝෂයක් / අතපසුවීමක් හේතුවෙනි.

එකී දෝෂය / අතපසුවීම නිවැරදි කිරීමට ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයකටද නීතිපතිවරයා 2024 දී අනුමැතිය ලබා දී ඇත.ඒ අනුව 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය 2024.07.18 දින අතිවිශෙෂ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 78වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව පළකර ඇත.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ පවතින එකී දෝෂය / අතපසුවීම නිවැරදි නොකර පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන 159ක් ලැබූ පමණින් අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් ගෙන ඒමට මාළිමා ආණ්ඩුවට හැකිද යන්න විසඳිය යුතුය.

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අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col), නීතීඥ. සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන. දුරකථන 0712063394. (2024.11.15)

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Dubai and Singapore are remarkable examples of how strategic vision, innovation, and determination can transform regions with limited natural resources into global hubs of trade, finance, and tourism. Here’s why we should learn from their success stories

1. Visionary Leadership

• Dubai:

 In the 1960s and 70s, Dubai’s rulers, such as Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, foresaw the limitations of oil reserves and planned for economic diversification. Investments were directed toward infrastructure, tourism, and trade.

• Singapore:

 Under Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore transformed from a poor, resource-scarce island into a modern, high-income nation. Policies focused on attracting foreign investment, maintaining stability, and fostering education.

2. Economic Diversification

• Dubai: Instead of relying solely on oil, Dubai invested in tourism, aviation (e.g., Emirates Airlines), and real estate (e.g., Burj Khalifa and Palm Islands). It also became a hub for logistics and trade through Jebel Ali Port.

• Singapore: Singapore’s focus on finance, technology, and manufacturing created a diversified and resilient economy. Its port is one of the busiest in the world, and it’s a global financial center.

3. Infrastructure Development

• Dubai:

 Massive investments in world-class infrastructure, such as skyscrapers, airports, and public transit, turned the desert city into a global destination.

• Singapore:

 Thoughtfully designed urban planning, an efficient transport system, and green spaces ensure a high quality of life for its citizens.

4. Global Connectivity

• Both cities became global hubs by leveraging their strategic locations.

• Dubai serves as a gateway between East and West, connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa.

• Singapore plays a similar role in Southeast Asia, facilitating trade and commerce in the Pacific region.

5. Innovation and Adaptability

• Dubai: Focused on futuristic projects like smart cities, renewable energy, and space exploration. The government actively supports startups and innovation.

• Singapore: Known for its emphasis on research, technology, and education. It consistently ranks as one of the most innovative nations.

6. Social and Cultural Integration

• Both cities attract talent from all over the world. Their ability to integrate diverse cultures into their workforce and society has fostered creativity and global perspectives.

7. Lessons for Others

• Invest in human capital: Prioritize education, skills development, and innovation.

• Strategic planning: Diversify economies and prepare for future challenges.

• Sustainability: Focus on long-term solutions, such as renewable energy and environmental conservation.

• Global mindset: Leverage geography, culture, and connectivity to integrate into the global economy.

While Dubai rose from a desert inhabited by Bedouins and Singapore overcame colonial challenges and resource scarcity, their journeys are testaments to how determination and vision can overcome adversity. These lessons are applicable to any nation or city aiming for transformation.

Lessons for Sri Lanka 

Sri Lanka indeed has immense potential, given its strategic location, a rich cultural heritage dating back millennia, and a generally mild climate. Additionally, its people are known for their talent and adaptability. However, realizing this potential has been a persistent challenge. Here are some factors that may have contributed to its slower progress compared to cities like Dubai and Singapore:

1. Leadership and Visionary Governance

• Lack of long-term planning: Unlike Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew or Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Sri Lanka has often lacked leaders with the foresight to implement comprehensive, future-oriented policies.

• Political instability: Frequent changes in government, coupled with policies driven by short-term gains rather than sustainable development, have hampered progress.

2. Ethnic and Political Strife

• The 30-year civil war (1983–2009) severely disrupted economic growth and social cohesion.

• Post-war reconciliation and regional development efforts have faced challenges, slowing national integration and equity in progress.

3. Economic Mismanagement

• Dependence on imports and insufficient investment in value-added exports have created chronic trade deficits.

• Over-reliance on foreign debt for infrastructure projects without adequate return on investment has strained finances.

4. Missed Opportunities in Strategic Location

• Sri Lanka’s location is ideal for trade, but unlike Dubai, which positioned itself as a global business hub, Sri Lanka has not fully capitalized on its maritime advantages.

• Ports like Colombo are significant but could play a much larger role with better management and international collaboration.

5. Underutilization of Skilled Workforce

• Brain drain has been a recurring issue, with skilled professionals seeking opportunities abroad due to limited prospects and political instability at home.

• Education and vocational training systems need modernization to better align with global market demands.

6. Weather and Tourism Potential

• While the mild weather and scenic beauty are significant advantages, the tourism industry has faced setbacks due to instability, poor infrastructure, and inconsistent policies.

7. Cultural and Historical Strengths

• The rich culture and history of Sri Lanka are unmatched but have not been adequately leveraged to enhance global soft power or as a cohesive element of nation-building.

Lessons from Dubai and Singapore

Both Dubai and Singapore faced their own challenges but succeeded due to:

• Stable, visionary leadership.

• Strategic investments in infrastructure and human capital.

• Creation of business-friendly environments to attract global investment.

The Path Forward

Sri Lanka can still turn its fortunes around with:

• Clear, consistent policies.

• Strong investments in education and innovation.

• Promotion of national unity and inclusive growth.

• Leveraging its strategic location to become a regional trade hub.

The key lies in embracing a long-term vision and fostering unity to harness its full potential.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

VFM RADIO 107

එලවනවා, ෂර්ට් එකෙන් අල්ලනවා, පොලේ ගහනවා අගමැති ආරක්ෂකයින්ගේ චණ්ඩි පාට් කැබිනට් මාධ්‍ය හමුව රත් කරයි ඇවිල්ලා මාසයක් නෑ – මොනකක්ද මේ මර්දනය ආ..

Courtesy Adaderana

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by its Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer, has arrived in Sri Lanka this evening (17).

The team will remain in in the country until November 23 and during their stay will conduct the third review of Sri Lanka’s economic reform program supported by the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The team, led by IMF Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer, will assess Sri Lanka’s economic policies, progress on ongoing reforms, and the implementation of previous agreements with the IMF.
 
Upon successful completion of the review, the IMF is expected to release the next tranche of the bailout to Sri Lanka. The IMF had approved a 2.9-billion-dollar Extended Fund Facility for Sri Lanka over a 48-month period in tranches to help its economy recover from the economic crisis.
 
Accordingly, the first tranche of USD 333 million was released on March 21, 2023, followed by a second of USD 337 million on December 13, 2023. The third tranche, totaling USD 337 million, was released on June 13, 2024. 

As of now, the IMF has provided more than USD 1 billion to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the country’s worst economic crisis.

Senaka Weeraratna Justice for Animals and Nature

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

We remember with appreciativeness your active participation at a meeting held at the Open University premises in January 2020, convened & presided by Dr. Dileepa Witharana – an academic with compassion for the voiceless living beings, with the intention of mapping out a strategy to enact the long-awaited Animal Welfare Bill.

Now that you are on the saddle being the no.2 most powerful person in the Government, we trust that you will do the needful.

A New Animal Welfare Act is long awaited.

Same time we hope you will take immediate steps to stop the decimation of innocent wild animals in their habitats and their homelands by humans who are rapidly encroaching on their territory with guns supplied by the Government to clear the wilderness for growing crops.

Wild animals also have a right to life. A right to co–habit in their territory.

Cattle and other animals which have served the human species must be treated with compassion in their old age even though they are useless from an economic point of view.

Gratitude defines your humanity.

This is the difference between an enlightened civilized society and a primitive society.

Sri Lanka must endeavour to be on the right side of history.

We stand for peaceful co–existence between humans and non-humans.

Pl make that a cardinal policy of your government.

If you do that the world will stand up and give you a standing ovation for your moral leadership.

A quality sadly lacking among leaders in Sri Lanka until now.

The Indian Constitution recognizes the sanctity of animal life and lays down the protection and treatment of animals with dignity as a fundamental duty of its citizens.

Article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution states that Indian citizens have a duty to “have compassion for living creatures”:

• Article 51A(g): “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures”.

These provisions should also be in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

As you embark upon your new responsibilities, we look forward to you and the Government to work for the cause of welfare of the voiceless animals and promotion of animal protection education in schools.

Below picture was taken at a meeting held at the Open University in January 2020.

Left to right –

Senaka Weeraratna (Justice for Animals and Nature), Dr. Harini Amarasuriya (Senior Lecturer, Open University), unknown, Convenor of the meeting – Dr. Dileepa Witharana (Senior lecturer, Dept. of Mathematics and Philosophy of Engineering, Open University), unknown, Dominic Jaliya Perera (Justice for Animals and Nature).

Many other animal welfare activists were

present at this meeting.

Justice for Animals and Nature

Courtesy The Daily News

United National Party (UNP) Chairman Vajira Abeywardena stated yesterday that, for the first time, the people in the North have shown unprecedented trust in a party from the South, which he views as a positive development.

This is a very special occasion in the election history of the country.

The people in the north have placed trust in a political party in the South even though different political parties with various forces are operating in the North and East, he said.

He said that the representatives of the people in the North will join in the governance actively by becoming Cabinet Ministers which is a good sign.We, as Sri Lankans see this as a

victory achieved by Sri Lanka.We express our happiness regarding this,” he said.

Abeywardena said that although various Tamil leaders represented the Cabinet after independence, they were elected from their own parties.

He said that Minister Douglas Devananda was in the Cabinet but he did not represent a party from the South.

He said that they held discussion about contesting the upcoming Local Government election under elephant symbol as the United National Party without any coalition with others.

We must remember two things when contesting. One is that the people of the country have largely refrained from voting. A vast majority are mainly members of the defeated political parties. They may have expectations regarding certain factors. Also, the government led by the current President has achieved a historic victory. We commend them for that. And this is a special opportunity for Sri Lanka,”he said.

He added that the government led by the current President has a lot of changes to make. Now they cannot say that it cannot be done.From this moment on, the current President and the government have the challenge of how to use that powerful weapon for the good of the 22 million people.

According to the political philosophy we believe in, the current government should win the challenges they have undertaken economically as well as domestically both here and abroad. We

as Sri Lankan people should not hinder them in that. We as Sri Lankans have to wait and see how they will give the Sri Lankan public the amount of hope they gave the Sri Lankan people.

Excerpt from Hiru News

In the 2024 Parliamentary Election, the National People’s Power (NPP) launched its campaign under the theme “Clean the Parliament,” securing 159 out of the total parliamentary seats. Among these, 157 MPs who were not in the previous parliament have been newly elected, with a significant majority of them being fresh faces.

Additionally, 9 out of the 40 MPs elected from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) are new members. From the 8 MPs elected from the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), 4 are also fresh faces.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) saw one out of its three elected MPs entering parliament for the first time. Similarly, four MPs elected from other parties and independent groups are newcomers.

From the Colombo District, 13 newly elected MPs have entered parliament, while 16 are newcomers from the Gampaha District. Kalutara and Kandy districts each have 9 first-time MPs.

Additionally:

• Matale District has 4 new MPs,
• Nuwara Eliya District has 7,
• Matara District has 6,
• Hambantota District has 5, and
• Jaffna District has 4 new MPs.

From the Vanni electoral district, 4 new MPs were elected, while Trincomalee District has 3. The Kurunegala District elected 12 newcomers, Puttalam District has 7, and Anuradhapura District has 8.

In Polonnaruwa District, 4 new MPs have been elected, Badulla District has 6, Monaragala District has 5, Ratnapura District has 9, and Kegalle District has 7.

In total, approximately 176 out of the 225 MPs elected to parliament this year are first-timers.

Meanwhile, 92 former MPs who contested the election failed to secure seats. Additionally, over 75 prominent political representatives did not contest this election, resulting in 167 previously active political representatives not being granted parliamentary privileges this time.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

2024 පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයේදී පාර්ලිමේන්තුව සුද්ද කරමු” යන තේමාව මූලික කරගනිමින් ජාතික ජන බලවේගය සිය මැතිවරණ කටයුතු ආරම්භ කළ අතර ඒ අනුව සමස්ත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මන්ත්‍රී ආසන 159ක් හිමි කරගැනීමට සමත් වුණා.

එම ආසන 159 අතුරින් ගියවර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ නොසිටි මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 157 දෙනෙකු මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරි පත් වී ඇති අතර එම පිරිස අතරින් අතිශය බහුතරයක් නව මුහුණු වීම කැපී පෙනෙනවා.

එමෙන්ම මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයෙන් සමගි ජන බලවේගයෙන් තේරීපත් වූ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 40 දෙනාගෙන් 09 දෙනෙකු නව මුහුණු වන අතර ඉලංගෙයි තමිල් අරසු පක්ෂයෙන් තේරීපත් වූ මන්ත්‍රීවරු 8 දෙනාගෙන් 4 දෙනෙකුද නව මුහුණු වීම විශේෂත්වයක්.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණෙන් තේරීපත් වූ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් තිදෙනාගෙන් එක් මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරී පත්ව ඇත්තේ පළමු වතාවට වන අතර මන්ත්‍රී ආසන හිමි වූ අනෙක් පක්ෂ සහ ස්වාධීන කණ්ඩායම්වලින් ද තේරී පත්වූ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් අතරින් සිව් දෙනෙකුම පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නවකයින් වනවා.

ඒ අනුව කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 13 දෙනෙකු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නවකයින් ලෙස තේරී පත්වී ඇති අතර ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 16 දෙනෙකු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නවකයින් ලෙස තේරී පත්වී සිටිනවා.

කළුතර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 9 දෙනෙකු මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පළමු වරට තේරී පත් වී ඇති අතර මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් නවකයින් 9 දෙනෙකු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරී පත්වී සිටිනවා.

මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයේදී නවයින් ලෙස මාතලේ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 4 දෙනෙක්, නුවරඑළිය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 7 දෙනෙක්, මාතර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 6 දෙනෙක්, හම්බන්තොට දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 5 දෙනෙක් සහ යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 4 දෙනෙකු තේරීපත්වීමද විශේෂයක්.

මීට අමතරව වන්නි මැතිවරණ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 4 දෙනෙකු, ත්‍රිකුණාමල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 3 දෙනෙකු, කුරුණෑගල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 12 දෙනෙකු සහ පුත්තලම දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 7 දෙනෙකු මෙන්ම අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 8 දෙනෙකු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නවකයින් ලෙස තේරී පත්වී සිටිනවා.

පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 4 දෙනෙකු, බදුල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 6 දෙනෙකු, මොණරාගල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 5 දෙනෙකු සහ රත්නපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 9 දෙනෙකු මෙන්ම, කෑගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් 7 දෙනෙකු මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නව මුහුණු ලෙස තේරී පත්වුණා.

සමස්තයක් ලෙස මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන හිමි කරගත් මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 225 දෙනා අතුරින් 176 කට ආසන්න සංඛ්‍යාවක් පළමු වරට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරීපත් වීම විශේෂත්වයක්.

මේ අතර පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වූ හිටපු මැතිඇමතිවරුන් 92 දෙනෙකුට මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ආසන හිමි වී නැහැ.

එමෙන්ම පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නියෝජන කළ ප්‍රභල දේශපාලන නියෝජිතයින් 75කට අධික පිරිසක් මැතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් නොවූ අතර ඒ අනුව සමස්ථයක් ලෙස දේශපාලන නියෝජිතයින් 167 අධික සංඛ්‍යාවකට‍ මෙවර පාර්ලිමේන්තු වරම් හිමි වන්නේ නැහැ.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Nineteen candidates from the National People’s Power (NPP) and two from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) have been elected to Parliament this time.

The elected NPP Members of Parliament are:
• Muthumenike Rathwatte (Digamadulla)
• Ambiga Samuel (Badulla)
• Nilanti Kottahachchi (Kalutara)
• Oshani Umanga (Kalutara)
• Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne (Colombo)
• Samanmalee Gunasinghe (Colombo)
• Dr. Harini Amarasuriya (Colombo)
• Saroja Paulraj (Matara)
• Nilusha Gamage (Ratnapura)
• Sagarika Athawuda (Kegalle)
• Geetha Rathnakumari (Kurunegala)
• Hiruni Wijesinghe (Puttalam)
• Chathuri Gangani (Moneragala)
• Thushari Jayasinghe (Kandy)
• Hasara Premathilaka (Galle)
• Deepti Wasalage (Matale)
• Anushka Thilakarathna (Nuwara Eliya)
• Krishnan Kalaichelvi (Nuwara Eliya)
• Hemali Weerasekara (Gampaha)

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB)

• Chaminthra Kiriella (Kandy)
• Rohini Kumari Wijerathna (Matale)

The two SJB women MPs are Rohini Kaviratne from Matale and Chanindrani Kiriella and

The number will increase if these parties nominate a few more women members on their National Lists.

KELUM BANDARA  Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) has sent an official letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and  the National People’s Power (NPP), congratulating them on their resounding and historic victory in the recent parliamentary elections.
 
In the letter, the CTC extended heartfelt congratulations on behalf of Tamil Canadians, acknowledging this landmark mandate as a reflection of the Sri Lankan people’s trust in the NPP’s vision for transformative governance. The CTC commended the NPP’s pledge to establish a transparent, accountable, and inclusive government, as outlined in its manifesto, and expressed optimism that this administration would honor its promises to the people.
 
The CTC’s letter highlighted the historic opportunity before the NPP to dismantle the executive presidency and introduce a new constitution that prioritizes democracy and the protection of the rights of all communities, including the Tamil people. Drawing from the manifesto, the CTC urged the government to ensure justice, inclusion, and equality for all, while taking immediate steps to address long-standing grievances.

In its letter, the CTC proposed the following critical actions:

 Release of Political Prisoners: The CTC urged the government to release all remaining political prisoners as an important step toward reconciliation and national unity.
 
Repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA): Emphasizing the longstanding injustices associated with the PTA, the CTC stressed the importance of repealing this act as promised in the NPP manifesto.
 
Restoration of Land Rights: The CTC called for the return of privately-owned lands in the Northern and Eastern provinces that are currently occupied by the military, as well as a cessation of illegal land acquisitions, to rebuild trust and restore rightful ownership.
 
Protection of Religious Rights: To preserve the cultural and religious heritage of the Tamil community, the CTC urged the government to prevent the encroachment of Tamil worship sites and to halt the construction of new Buddhist temples in predominantly Tamil areas.
 
Implementation of the 13th Amendment and Provincial Elections: Until a new constitution is ratified, the CTC stressed the importance of fully implementing the 13th Amendment and conducting provincial council elections to ensure local representation and empower regional governance.
 
Reform of the Security Sector: The letter emphasized the need to align the military presence in the Northern and Eastern provinces with the rest of the country and to discontinue military involvement in commercial ventures such as farming and hospitality, which hinder local businesses and farmers.
 
The CTC expressed its belief that these actions would not only demonstrate the NPP’s sincerity in fulfilling its promises but also lay the foundation for a more equitable and inclusive Sri Lanka. With the overwhelming mandate entrusted to the NPP, the CTC urged the government to act swiftly on these issues to build trust and confidence among all communities.
 
The Canadian Tamil Congress stands ready to support initiatives that promote justice, reconciliation, and sustainable development in Sri Lanka.

Courtesy Adaderana

The leader of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), former President Mahinda Rajapaksa claims that the party received the exact number of votes they had expected.

Speaking to the media today (16), he expressed that the victory of the National People’s Power (NPP) is a positive development, noting that freshers should be given the opportunity to see if they can succeed.

Commenting on the significant rise of the NPP from 3% of total votes in the previous general election to 61%, the former President said: It is the people of this country who voted, not outsiders. I think we should respect the public mandate… Maybe [they will] succeed, maybe [they will] collapse.”

In response to a question raised by a journalist, Rajapaksa also added that the SLPP will never give up and that he will not retire from politics, asking, Which politician retires from politics?”

Furthermore, he confirmed that no discussions are currently ongoing with former President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the future politics of the party. 

When asked about his thoughts on what happened to Wickremesinghe in the recent elections, Rajapaksa said: I’m feeling so sorry for him, that’s all.”

Courtesy Adaderana

The Colombo District has seen a profound shift in voter dynamics in the 2024 General Election, with the leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Sajith Premadasa suffering a significant decline in support.

Premadasa, who garnered an impressive 305,744 votes in the 2020 parliamentary election, managed only 145,611 votes this time—marking a loss of 160,133 votes.  

Meanwhile, the rise of the National People’s Power (NPP) has made significant inroads into areas traditionally dominated by the United National Party (UNP) and subsequently the SJB as well.

Historically, constituencies such as Colombo-North, Central, East, and West have been strongholds for the UNP, boasting a long history of electoral victories. In 2020, Premadasa’s SJB managed to wrest control of these areas, consolidating its power. However, the tide has turned in this election, with the NPP claiming dominance in these constituencies.  

This shift signals a major political realignment in the Colombo District, often regarded as the heart of the UNP’s support base. 

For the first time, the sweeping mandate received by the NPP led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake also included surprise backing from the North and East of the country which is dominated  by the Tamil-speakinh community and had often been secured by the UNP, SJB or other Tamil political alliances.

However, SJB leader Premadasa was placed second in the Colombo District preference votes list in the 2024 General Election with 145,611 votes while fellow party members Dr. Harsha De Silva, Mujibur Rahman and S.M. Marikkar have also secured seats from the district.

Also, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) became the main opposition party of the tenth Parliament after polling over 1.9 million votes (17.66%) and thereby obtaining 40 seats including 5 bonus seats in the House.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Commissioner General of Elections Saman Sri Rathnayake states that there has been a significant reduction by 10% of the voter turnout in 2024 General Election, in comparison with Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election which was held in September 21.

The Elections Commissioner General also confirmed that 5% of the ballots casted have been rejected, which is 667,240 votes in total.

The total number of votes polled is 11,815,246 which amounts to a 68.93% of total registered votes out of which 11,148,006 were considered valid, according to the Election Commission.

Furthermore, Mr. Rathnayake clarified that only a candidate who contested the General Election and was defeated or a person whose name has already been mentioned in their party or independent group’s national list can enter the Parliament as an MP for the national list seats.

He also emphasized that all candidates who contested the election must submit their expenses reports to the Election Commission within 21 days.

According to the Elections Commissioner General, over 3.5 million citizens who were eligible to vote had not casted their votes during 2024 Presidential Election. The figure was 21.54% of the population that were eligible to cast their vote.

He had previously clarified that out of 17,140,354 registered voters, a total of 13,619,916 had cast their votes in the Presidential Election which was 79.46%, while 3,520,438 (21.54%) did not vote.

Courtesy Adaderana

Ambika Samuel, the newly elected female representative to Parliament, has expressed confidence in the potential of the youth in plantation community and beyond to take an active role in politics. 

Speaking about her journey into politics, Samuel, the first female Tamil MP to have been elected through a major political party from the plantation community, emphasized that her entry into the political sphere is not just a personal achievement but a stepping stone for others, especially young people from the plantation sector, who she believes have been confined to outdated frameworks.

I am the first to enter politics from here, and my brothers and sisters will undoubtedly follow. These are young individuals with immense talent and a genuine desire to serve the country. For too long, they have been trapped within certain limitations, but now that those barriers have been broken, we can expect a new wave of leadership emerging from the hill country and from other districts,” she added.

Samuel particularly highlighted the role of women, who she believes have long been restricted to traditional roles, particularly in the household. 

Women were often confined to the kitchen, but many of them are capable of much more. They possess great potential, and their influence, until now, has been limited by societal expectations. With the first step I’ve taken in politics, we will undoubtedly see more women rising to leadership positions, both in Parliament and beyond,” she added.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 16: In the November 14 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections, the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) swept the Sinhala-dominated areas of the island, as predicted by many. The Sinhalas are the majority community in Sri Lanka and the NPP had the reputation of being a Sinhala nationalist party.

What came as a surprise was the NPP’s sterling performance in the Tamil and Muslim-dominated areas of North and East Sri Lanka.

Breaking with a seven-decade tradition, Sri Lankan Tamils flocked to the all-island National Peoples’ Power (NPP) party in preference to ethnic Tamil parties. Concern for good governance appears to have outweighed interest in traditional political issues like autonomy and accountability for alleged war crimes.    

The NPP put the Tamils’ favourite party, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), in the shade, and emerged as the number one choice in most of the electorates in the Tamil and minorities dominated Northern and Eastern provinces.

The NPP’s performance was impressive especially taking into account the fact that the party was a total outsider” to the area. It was a Sinhalese” party which had no presence at all in the Tamil-dominated North ever before.

The NPP was also contesting in an area which had an enormous number of candidates vying for votes. In the Jaffna constituency for instance, there were 44 parties and Independent groups in the fray.   

NPP’s Dominance

In Vaddukoddai, in Jaffna district, which had been an ITAK stronghold, the NPP came first, getting 21.5% of the votes; the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) came second with 13.48%; and the ITAK came third with 13.39%. The rest went to the Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) and Independent groups.

In Kankesanthurai also, the NPP was in the lead with 13.37% of the votes. The ITAK got 12.57%; and the ACTC 7.15%. In Manipay, the share of votes had NPP at the top with 30.94%; and ITAK at number two with 13.49%. In Koppai, the NPP secured 29.86% and the ITAK 12.63%. The score in Uddipiddy was NPP 20.16% and ITAK 15.07%.

In Point Pedro too, the NPP came first with 21.89 % and the ITAK second with 19.71%. In Nallur, a Hindu stronghold, the NPP came  first with 31.44% and ITAK third with 11.49%. In Jaffna proper, NPP came first with 41.46% and ITAK second with 11.81%.

However, in Kayts and Chavakacheri, the NPP got less than the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) and an Independent Group. In Kilinochchi, the ITAK President S.Sritharan’s pocket borough, the ITAK bagged 43.79% of the votes and came first. The NPP came second with 16.39%.

In Kalkuda in Batticaloa district in the Eastern province, the ITAK was the top scorer with 28.10 %. But in Batticaloa town, the NPP was first with 27.11% with the ITAK and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress were slightly behind. In Paddiruppu, the strong hold of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puigam (TMVP), the NPP stood third.

In Trincomalee District, which is ethnically mixed, the NPP got the largest percentage of votes in both Seruvila and Trincomalee town, cornering 56% and 40% respectively. In Mutur, the NPP came second to the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

In Digamadulla (Amparai) district, the NPP was the top scorer in Amparai town, Sammanthurai and Kalmunai. It was second to the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) in Pottuvil.

Devoid of Ethnic Nationalisms      

The election results show that the rhetoric of divisive Sinhala nationalism and Tamil nationalism did not dominate the discourse.

Sure, the usual Tamil nationalistic demands for federalism, accountability for alleged war-time atrocities, vacation of occupied military lands and the full implementation of the 13 th.amendment for more power devolution, were voiced by the Tamil contestants. But a substantial section of voters overlooked those issues and pitched for better governance, less corruption and more people-centred development promised by the NPP.

Tamils voted for the NPP despite the fact the NPP’s election manifesto had nothing to say on the Tamils’ issues as such. It promised a new constitution, but left its contents vague, leaving the matter to the parliament to be elected.

This was neither here nor there. And yet, the Tamils voted for the NPP because their attention was elsewhere, on their deteriorating economic circumstances created by the COVID 19 pandemic and the economic crisis of 2022. They were desperately in need of a government which will give them some relief.

It is not clear as to how the NPP government will bring relief to the people given the lack of financial resources, the dependence on foreign aid and debt repayment obligations.

Ahilan Kadirgamar, a professor at the University of Jaffna told Frontline magazine that the lands released from military occupation in the Northern Province could be developed by local cooperatives with a local village level official drawing up plans for their development and use. Development then will be bottom up” and top down” as is the case now. It will therefore be more effective. Fisheries could also be decentralised, Kadirgamar added.

Most importantly, the NPP, being a hard core Sinhalese or Sri Lankan nationalist party with no blemishes, can take bold steps to bring about ethnic reconciliation because it cannot be accused of being anti-Sinhala or anti-Sri Lankan.  

The Tamils should make use the window of opportunities which is open now to realize their reasonable demands within the frame of Sri Lanka’s constitution.

END

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

What happened was after the war we had a bloated military, and no government had the guts to start a national discussion about the need to slowly demilitarise after the war

If they can have that forthright vision and try to work out these issues about militarisation, the release of land, about ensuring that the state structures work in each region for the benefit of those communities, that would go a long way

 In terms of where Sri Lanka stands now, I would say it’s at a historic conjuncture. Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since probably the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the huge social and political changes we are seeing are related to this crisis. So it’s definitely at a pivotal moment

Ahilan Kadirgamar, who teaches sociology at the University of Jaffna and has been a long-time human rights activist, has a keen eye on developments in Sri Lanka. Less than two months since the new President, Anura Kumar Dissanayake was elected, Sri Lanka held  parliamentary elections on November 14. The sociology professor and activist says the new government needs to meet the aspirations of not just the singular people, but minorities as well and he discusses Sri Lanka’s political and economic crises, highlighting the youth’s demand for change and challenges of ethnic reconciliation. In an interview with Amit Baruha of Frontline, Ahilan Kadirgamar talks about the elections, Sri Lanka’s future and more. Excerpts:  

Q: Do you think Sri Lanka is at a pivotal moment in its history?

In terms of where Sri Lanka stands now, I would say it’s at a historic conjuncture. Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since probably the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the huge social and political changes we are seeing are related to this crisis. So it’s definitely at a pivotal moment.
It’s also significant here in Jaffna because it has been 15 years since the end of the war. Just as there have been major changes in politics in Sri Lanka’s south who would have imagined that a coalition led by the JVP would come to the helm of state power? They tried twice through armed struggle and insurrections to capture state power, and now they’ve achieved it through democratic means. What they will do and can do is, of course, the big question.
Similarly, Tamil politics is finally going through tremendous changes. Tamil nationalism started to gain ground in the 1950s, particularly in reaction to discrimination by the Sinhala elite who held power and played divisive politics. The Federal Party first took forward the demand for federalism, and eventually they backed various militant groups. As we know, the LTTE then wiped out all other militant groups, claimed they were the sole representative, and in my view, took the Tamil community on a disastrous, suicidal path which ended in that cataclysmic end to the war in 2009.
The year 2009 should have been a moment of reckoning for the country. After a 26-year civil war, what do you do? In the south, the Rajapaksas decided to use it for their own consolidation. They strengthened Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and further militarised the country, particularly the north, in a very humiliating way towards minorities. But there wasn’t also the kind of self-criticism that was necessary within the Tamil community. The political elite here whether parliamentary parties or militants and eventually the LTTE owe some responsibility for where they have brought the Tamil community. There should have been self-criticism about the strategies needed to move forward. That didn’t happen.

Q: And why do you think it didn’t happen?

One thing the LTTE systematically did was wipe out the entire second-rung leadership. They not only wiped out all other militant groups, but as we all know, they murdered Amirthalingam, Sivasithamparam, Yogeswaran all of them were gunned down. Even the second-rung leadership and the left here were completely decimated. So there weren’t enough people left.
A number of them were put forward as LTTE proxies. When the LTTE disappeared from the scene, these proxies decided to hold on to the parliamentary mantle and politics without really mobilising or engaging the people. Their claim was that with support from the international community, using the diaspora and with support from New Delhi/India, they would be able to deliver some kind of solution. But it was clear to many of us that when you have a political leadership that cannot mobilise the people, no solution is going to be real if they are negotiating that way.

Q: So are you trying to say that there’s been a delayed churn in Tamil politics in the North?

Yes, this should have happened, in my view, 10-14 years ago. Then we could have moved on. This has kept things on hold, and in a way, the kind of unravelling we are seeing might immediately mean there is no clear Tamil political voice. But it’s a necessary change we are confronted with, just as there is this long-overdue change in the south as well. Whether these changes will lead to something lasting, something progressive, something that the people are looking for is yet to be seen. On the other hand, we are facing the biggest crisis in our independent history. Poverty has more than doubled. Sri Lanka, along with Kerala and Cuba, was considered a development model in the 1970s. Our human development indicators were extremely high, even though our per capita income was very low, because of our policies—free education, free healthcare, food subsidies. Now all of that is at risk because of the economic crisis. For the first time in our history, we defaulted on our debt two years ago in 2022. The IMF and creditors have us by the throat, saying we should repay. All these crippling austerity measures are being pushed down on us so we can repay the creditors.

Q: How much can a new government do to address this suffering? Will it lead to other uprisings because of this economic situation? 

There’s a lot at stake now because when a new government like this comes, and if they fail, there’s also the chance of a much more polarising chauvinist regime coming to power. So there’s a lot at stake in terms of the need for this new government to succeed in meeting the aspirations of not just the singular people, but the minorities as well.
What we’ve seen over and over again in Sri Lanka is that when things go wrong, the ethnic card is used. First, the discrimination against Tamils which ended up in that horrible civil war. But what happened in the last 15 years? When the Rajapaksas started to realise they couldn’t manage the economy or meet the aspirations of the Sinhala people, the next round was against the Muslims. In 2012-2013, riots against Muslims started, constructing them as the new enemy with all kinds of fabricated stories. You see similar things even in India—it’s a regional and global phenomenon.

Q: Enemies are important.

Yes, enemies are important. And building up those enemies is important.
And trying to gain power on the basis of constructing these new enemies. So there are some dangers. But at the moment, there is also a hopeful moment in Sri Lanka.

Q: So basically what you’re saying is there’s hope, but also the fear of a mischance again. From the little that I see in the campaign for your parliamentary elections, at least that rhetoric of Sinhala nationalism or even Tamil nationalism is not dominating the discourse. So do you think that’s a good thing, a welcome thing?

That’s definitely welcome. I think it’s important that we build on that because in the history of nationalisms here, I always say they are objective allies the two extremes are good friends, they need each other. When one starts to sink, the other becomes even louder trying to wake them up. Right now they have both been disrupted, and this is an opportunity for the North to work with the South.

Q: Which is quite rare in Sri Lanka, isn’t it?

A rare one. But there have been opportunities in the past. I should mention here one of my mentors whom you might have known, Kethesh Loganathan. I worked very closely with him.

Q:A real towering intellectual.

Yes. Sadly, he was assassinated in 2006. If people like him were around today, NeelanTiruchelvam and so on, the Tamil community would be much stronger for having these kinds of intellectuals. One of Kethesh’s books is titled Lost Opportunities because Sri Lanka has also been a history of lost opportunities. Hopefully, we would use this opportunity to its fullest and try to take it forward. There’s huge enthusiasm, particularly among the younger generations both in the south and north they want to see change in politics.
But at the same time, because of the grave economic crisis, there’s this push to migrate, to run away hoping to find better pastures. I don’t think that’s the case. Even the West is in turmoil with anti-immigrant mobilisations, whether in Europe or North America. Nevertheless, a section of the youth feel their future is outside.
I know it’s still early days as far as the government is concerned. It was only in September that Anura Kumara Dissanayake, or AKD as he’s known here, was elected. It’s barely been two months. But how would you assess some of the decisions he’s taken, especially appointing a Citibank appointee to head the Bank of Ceylon? Is he trying to signal to the business community and the rest of the world that he’s not going to rock the boat? Is that the signal he wants to send out?
We have to keep in mind that he was elected president when they only had three parliamentarians out of 225. So after dissolving parliament soon after, saying they need a majority to be able to govern, the entire focus has been on winning the parliamentary elections.
Having said that, they were worried about what forces would disrupt their possibilities. Certainly, the Colombo elite are very wary of what they see as an outsider having taken power. I think to some extent the international actors, the global actors, the West and so on, are also wary about the election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake. What we saw even in the days before the presidential election, as the wave became clear that they might win, was rhetoric saying here’s a Marxist who’s going to head this country.” That they won’t be able to manage the economy, that they would disrupt any attempts to rebuild it. So this kind of messaging in the Western press in particular was almost like blackmailed saying okay, if you’re not a Marxist, then you should stick to the IMF programme.

Q: Like there’s nothing in between.

Nothing in between. Even though they had come a long way to the political mainstream I characterise them as a left-of-centre party. So that kind of pressure… And keep in mind, the election was on September 21st. We go into what we call a blackout in terms of campaigning on the 18th. On the 19th, the former president Ranil Wickremesinghe announces he has sealed a deal with Sri Lanka’s creditors, the bondholders. Then immediately the Western press goes into this hyper discourse saying, Will this president continue with this?”

Q: So he was presented with a kind of fait accompli.

Yes. Within a week of being inaugurated, the IMF arrives in Sri Lanka, and within 10 days the Finance Ministry announces they will accept this bond deal. You can imagine how he was muscled into accepting, which of course for people like me, we see this as an unsustainable deal.
In 2027, when the IMF program ends and the IMF has been the arbiter of this deal when we start repaying our creditors, we are going to be paying 4.5 per cent of our GDP in external debt servicing. That’s about 30 per cent of our revenues. But not only is it 30 per cent of our revenues, it’s about 30 per cent of our exports. So we have to collect that 30 per cent as revenues, convert it into dollars using our exports.
This whole push to increase taxes and claiming that we need to increase our exports all of it is so we can repay the creditors and the IMF. People talk about this as an IMF bailout, and I’ve written about it as the myth of the IMF bailout. The IMF is only giving us $3 billion over four years. There’s no bailout because $3 billion over four years amounts to $60 million a month. Sri Lanka’s foreign earnings from the garment sector, tea exports, rubber, coconut, migrant remittances every month is 30 times that amount: $1,800 million. So there’s no bailout. But because we defaulted and the IMF is the arbiter, they are able to impose these huge austerity measures. The IMF is giving us $3 billion, but over the next 10 years, we will be paying them $2 billion in interest alone.

Q: So it is a trap.

It’s a trap. I think we are learning it the hard way. At some point this government will have to find a way out of this IMF program if they are to implement the kind of people-friendly policies they have promised.
Coming back to the issue of ethnic politics in Sri Lanka and the delayed churn we were talking about earlier you rightly pointed out that an entire generation of Tamil leadership was wiped out by the LTTE, which already weakened the leadership. But what is your sense now? When the LTTE was around, the 13th Amendment wasn’t even considered a basis for discussion. When President Chandrika Kumaratunga presented her proposals to Parliament, it was a tragedy it was never put to vote. Even if it were defeated that was my view when I was a correspondent here she should have put it to vote. Even if it fell through because of the UNP and RanilWickremesinghe, at least she would have proved a point that she was a president who moved in that direction.
We saw this bloody civil war, the insurrection, human tragedy at an unimaginable scale. Now, would it be that the hope Anura Kumara Dissanayake has generated, which was visible to some extent even in his political rally in Jaffna, might attract more people? His party got 27,000 votes, I think, during the presidential election. Is it your sense that many more people will come out in his support now?
I think so. There is a wave towards the NPP. It’s partly his charisma, but more than that, people want change. People want change in the south, people want change in the north. They are ready to give the NPP a chance. So in that sense, I think more people in the north and east will also vote for them. But going back to this question of…

Q: A political settlement or agreement…

Yes, our demands have changed with time. In 1956, it was mainly a language issue. Then it eventually became a question of territorial devolution. Now there are minorities living all over the country, so I’m not sure how much we can rely on territorial basis alone. We probably also need power-sharing at the centre, like what you have in India a Senate or a second chamber to be able to check all of that.
But I think at a very basic level, having gone through this tremendous destruction, when people talk about a solution, first they are looking for an acknowledgement from the south that something horrible has happened here. Let’s all come together as a country and say these people have suffered so much there needs to be a solution.
Now, what that solution means… Sometimes lawyers think they have all the solutions. It’s not about this clause or that clause. I think people are open to see and they’re practical about it. The economy has changed what we thought in 1987 is not what the Sri Lankan economy is today in terms of what we want to do with devolution. Even though we sometimes stick to the same slogans, there are certain realities.
For example, I am the chair of a provincial-level federation of cooperatives called the Northern Cooperative Development Bank. It’s a very positive thing that cooperatives are a devolved subject under the 13th Amendment. So if we want to sort out a problem, we can go to the commissioner here; we don’t have to go to Colombo. And cooperatives are very local institutions, so there it makes sense. We have to think where it makes sense, what is possible, and work that out. So we can use the experience of the 13th Amendment.
There’s a lot at stake now because when a new government like this comes, and if they fail, there’s also the chance of a much more polarising chauvinist regime coming to power. ”
So what you’re saying is that if there’s goodwill, more than clause A or clause B, it’s how you go about the process. And what kind of political leadership emerges in the north would also be important.
Because we don’t want one arrogant elite in Colombo to control politics and then just transfer power to another arrogant elite in the north, if you’re serious about democracy. There is also the problem of caste here, the problem of other minorities. The northern Muslim community, who in 1990 were evicted from the North within 24 hours, are now trying to return. There are people from the plantations who, during the riots in the south, were displaced to the north many of them are still landless or feel discriminated against. So there are many things we need to sort out in the North as well. But nationally, there has to be a recognition. We need to come to terms with this long conflict and the war and give people confidence.
When you say there are some voices from within the Tamil community, including in the University of Jaffna, which came out in open support of the NPP would you say that this is perhaps for the first time in many decades? I’m not so familiar with your history. Is it the first time that even a section of enlightened Tamil leaders are wanting to work with a political party which is based in the South?
It is a new opening. There have been openings from time to time. In a way, I would say in 1994, when Chandrika came to power on a peace platform after the UNP ruled for 17 years, that was also a fresh moment and she was broadly welcomed.
And till the LTTE literally torpedoed the whole process in March of 1995, I think.
So there have been moments like this, and with the LTTE, people did not have the space to express that. That to some extent continued. There are virulent sections of the diaspora who would use their financial and political clout even today to try to label anybody who says we need to work with other communities in the south, because they’re very wedded to this notion. But I think the last month or two has been a major change. This opening has made even shutting down people, shutting down voices difficult because I think just like the mainstream Sinhala leadership has been exposed, the Tamil political leadership has also been exposed.

Q: Recently the government announced that the Jaffna-Achuveli Road will be opened. And at his public meeting in Jaffna the other day, the president spoke of returning lands and a number of other issues. Can you explain what would be the outstanding issues as far as day-to-day living of people here in Jaffna, in the peninsula, is concerned?

The Jaffna and Northern Province is still very rural. People’s mainstays are agriculture, fisheries, livestock and so on. So the land question is central. There was no reason why the previous governments after the war could not release all these lands, there’s absolutely no excuse for it in my view. In fact, they used the Forest Department, the Archaeological Department, various ploys to even take over more land. When Sirisena became president, a substantial amount was released, but still so much more should have been done. So in that sense, the land issue is crucial.
If they can release these lands and then get the existing government machinery working Sri Lanka has a very extensive state structure in every village. In India what you call a Gram Sevak, here we have a Samurdhi officer, an economic development officer. The state reaches deep down, so you can do a lot with that or you can also curtail the people by using the state structure.
Take fisheries there is the Fisheries Department which is controlled by the central government and the Fisheries Ministry. A fifth of our population depends directly or indirectly on fisheries. They could be an enabling actor or a stifling actor. Unfortunately, I must say they’ve been a stifling actor. Whether this government can have that vision and work with actors in the north to address that remains to be seen.
These are the ways in which they can address the day-to-day concerns of the people. Some issues are also due to external conditions the economic crisis has meant that fuel costs have gone up, which has had a huge impact. So I think not only in the north but in the entire country, how they deal with the rural sectors and the food system is going to be crucial for this government’s survival. In terms of the North, I think it’s high time demilitarisation takes place.

Q: Are there a lot of camps here?

Yes, if you go to Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and so on, large swaths of land are still controlled by the military. There’s absolutely no need for that, and it continues to be a humiliating presence for the local people. What happened was after the war we had a bloated military, and no government had the guts to start a national discussion about the need to slowly demilitarise after the war.
Actually, the Rajapaksas really thrived on militarisation.
They further militarised even Colombo, for example. It’s the way in which they embraced neoliberal policies, urbanisation, financialisation and so on. We know that neoliberalism works well with a certain kind of securitisation and an authoritarian state. That was their model.
Now the NPP and the JVP, coming from a very strong Sinhala base in my view, are the kinds of actors who can also bring about these changes because they can’t be labelled as traitors to the Sinhala cause, so to speak. If they can have that forthright vision and try to work out these issues about militarisation, the release of land, about ensuring that the state structures work in each region for the benefit of those communities, that would go a long way.
But there is also the political question of how, after these long decades of polarisation, you bring the country together politically. You have to show some goodwill by bringing about changes in the way things are run in the north as well.

Q: And the structures as well?

Right. And that will also depend now on if they are to bring about a new constitution. That would of course depend on the kind of strength they have in parliament to be able to do that, but either through that or through passing different kinds of laws to show their goodwill.
But it’s pretty tough to amend your constitution. I mean, your new president has even promised, or his party had promised, the removal of the executive presidency. That’s a pretty long shot.
That’s a long shot because you need a two-thirds majority in Parliament and also a referendum. So those challenges remain, but whether they can step by step build the confidence in that direction… I think people have been waiting to see what they will do after the parliament election because their whole thrust was to try to be able to govern by getting a majority in Parliament. And if they do get it, what they will then do after that is what people are waiting to see.
Courtesy Frontline
(Amit Baruah is a former diplomatic correspondent of The Hindu and foreign editor of Hindustan Times. He has reported from Delhi, Colombo, Islamabad, and Southeast Asia).
(This article was originally published in the Frontline on November 13, 2024)

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, Solicitor in England and Wales, former Ambassador to UAE and Israel and President Ambassador’s forum UK/SL

War is bitter dangerous and distractive.

There is no dispute or argument that President Trump is the most powerful world leader who can create wars or settle with his good office, strategy, of bad intentions backed by power struggle greedy for power. He is one of the richest in USA and the most powerful person on the Globe with the nuclear button in hand that could destroy the world in minutes. Obviously he could be a sensible, educated, and a man who loves the human and humanity. USA is the richest country with direct and indirect control over the world body UN, world finance and international order with strategies and world machineries. His re emergence has a direct and indirect impact and relevance to Sri Lanka and world over in various ways.  President Trump declared at the inception of the taking over power at the speech of the policy document generally given special attention by the world powers that he is anti-war unlike many others. He is the centre of power Including the world economy, safety and security of the world and states whose actions and policies are paramount to the world peace as well as economy. President Trump’s   policy on  ‘’NO WAR’’ has been a given   a sigh of relief to many including Sri Lanka and many peace loving nations, as the world has experiences two major wars previously  with deaths destructions and irreparable losses still felt by many parts of the world which are documented as sad memories out of which the memories of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the destructions at Vietnamese Middle East  Wars and more  before and  after after two world wars. are cruel and and given rise to a path of peaceful and co existence with the advent of the United nations Organisation gave  high expectations for the  peace world with peaceful world order despite conflicts and running wars. International  or national wars will bring disastrous results by using  the most powerful and sophisticated weaponry backed by modern scientific inventions. Any war is destructive bitter and will cause deaths and will cause wanton damages to the properties and nations.

United Nations Organization

It is after the unfortunate events of the second worldwar that the  world leaders formed the United Nations Organization replacing the League of Nation they felt insufficient. Mainly to maintain the world peace and avoid any possibilities of any other war wars in future. United nations Organization consist of  five world powers as a supreme body with Vito powers to overpower any resolution with no reasons,  and the five powerful nations are rich and  deals in Arms deals and engage is the industry which is very profitable and lucrative depending on arms supply to the parties on war. No war and peaceful world is no business for them. Sri Lanka is a country battered by bitter  war over thirty long years with unlimited destructions of property, of reputation, human lives and has taken the country many  decades back to the history  for revival. The wars have  been so fierce and powerful that even USA – the world policeman said that war on LTTE in Sri Lanka is not a winnable war as it has spread as cancer  and fully internalized and rooted with the powerful network that has  shaken the world. Sri Lanka is credited to win the war and aware of the bitter consequences   USA  got directly and indirectly involved in many wars in the past having tasted bitter lessons of war yet continues to engage in war strategies and arms industry deals and as a part of security, business, as a part of there  foreign policy they have given to spread the international network on positioning military worldwide. priority to.

USA as a military power base world over

Currently USA is engaged in 114 military conflicts world over, having deployed 173000 military personal in 159 countries with the potential to spark a war with the slightest move by either party is an indication how sensitive and dangerous the world is when considering the causes of previous worldwar with the loss of millions of lives and properties to the states individuals and to the history. Largest war continued for 781 years and the destruction of the bombing to Japan still haunts with the warning that a future war will last only few minutes for complete destruction of the globe, indicates the need of peace at any cost. It shows that way to war is a one-way drive by USA and the termination too is with them as other countries backed by the United nations Organization is completely on a NO WAR path shows the gravity of the situation and the sensibility of the path taken by the new President of the USA backed by the world over and UN Organization.

Worrying factor for Peace and Peaceful coexistence

Worrying factor for a peaceful world are some ruminants of fire under the ashes in areas such as Israel- Gaza issue and the Ukraine issue ignited by interested parties on the current disputed areas which is sensitive and easy to ignite.Despite wanton losses and destructions there are some parties who will be benefited on the war front and the sensible statements and steps taken by president Trump has sealed any possibilities to re-emerge the ugly head  repetition of the previous wars that still as bitter memories and wrong decisions taken by some leaders who led he strategy and destructions during the calamity. The sad part of the truth is the part played by USA in almost every conflict in some capacity in all corners of the world that gives negative effects by using the war machinery to earn on arms deals. In this context the position taken by President Trump is historical and creditable considering the joint operations of Bush, Tony Blair rules to promote the Middle East War in the guise of finding for nuclear armaments on nuclear war which never found yet caused destruction and distribution of Middle East including Iraq, and many other.

Significance of the USA foreign Policy based on the foreign policy declaration of President Trump and formulation and implementation of Sri Lankan friendly Sri Lanka foreign policy.

Foreign policy of USA  is the foreign policy of president Trump who was given a clear majority by the American people as a peace candidate for a peaceful,happy, prosperous USA based on peace and friendship the president proved immediately by extending friendship immediately the tradition fractions  and leaders of ongoing warring fractions which has the potential for the third world war if ignited leading  a wrong warring path and the world citizen will credit president trump for taking the citizen in the path of peace and peaceful coexistence unlike some of his predecessors.

USA interfering undiplomatically on internal affairs against the UN convention?

Considering the involvement of USA on economy welfare banking and all other areas in all corners of the world his election will have a direct and indict impact on a villager in ‘’Moaragala’’ to a citizen in Nigeria equally as the banking system, economy, politics and militarization is spread digitally and by AI world over and it should be the attempt and duty of the right minded technicians and educated to take it to the right direction without letting to the wrong hands and war mongers aiming at money making and acumination of wealth and power. All religions preach and prey for peace and peaceful co existence, and it is time for them to get together educating the politician south and educated to be on the path of peace and not the war path as some aspiring for for power and wealth at any cost. Wars are fought for watered, boarders, oil, resources,economic and power and supremacy over countries or regions  in the absence of a proper and effective foreign policy , diplomacy, tact, and want of peace and peaceful co existence which is the reason states give special attention and priority to foreign policy formation and implementation to suit the respective nations.

Sri Lanka friendly foreign policy for Sri Lanka

Unfortunately the newly and popularly elected new government in Sri Lanka has still not formulated a proper foreign policy to suit and compatible with the world leader and world power, it is the duty of the new governance to give top priority for the formulation and implementation of foreign policy which is the duty of the leader of the government currently performing an excellent job in meeting 67 world leaders within a space of few days with the able foreign minister usually delegated to assist the President. Today the current governance has been given an exceptional mandate from all communities in all parts of the nation with unprecedent power with over 2/3rd majority to bring necessary changes to drive the nation on the correct and best path by wiping away inefficient and ineffective traditional, and communal politicians and political systems with honest and young vigour approved by the entire nation as one unanimously few days ago. It appears the young governance has proved the efficiency and honesty by deeds and conduct approved and believe by the majority giving way to the CGANGE the nation was agitating and expecting to exercise.

Promised CHANGE?

Change he promised was echoed when he was intertied by the media at the day he won election were mainly maintain law and order, goo governance, econimic stability and reforms, rule of law eradicating of corruption and bribery which are allegations to the rejected politicians wiped out by the masses at the general elections with one voice in the bloodless revolution that revalorised the econimic and political outlook of the nearly failed nation nation emerging victorious with new vigour and rejuvenate with the new victory with the election victory. Relevance and impact of President Trump’s victory has direct relevance to Sri Lanka as he as the most poerful man on earth who is in a position to influence the UN, IMF, and other nations and international organization to be inline with the USA foreign policy and the interests including her political and econimic agendas directly supervised by the powerful diplomatic missions carefully operating the network of diplomatic, econimic, and military missions and network installed d worldwide. Therefore Sri Lanka will have to mind steps at every steps carefully with political maturity. Sarath28dw@gmail.com

Prof. Hudson McLean

The President-elect Donald Trump has laid down the

Rules to Stop the Russian-Ukraine War in One Day!

Neither the Russians Nor the Ukrainians Or Europeans Or the

Members of EU are Expected to Accept the Proposal.

Furthermore Trump Expects the Europeans & the Members of

the EU to Finance and Operate a Peace Keeping Force of

European troops, with 800-mile Buffer Zone.

The Reaction from All Parties has been Negative!

The Russian – Ukraine War can only be Brought to a Halt

by both parties Accepting a Fair Solution.

One option is to Submit a Non-Aggressive, Non-Military,

Inclusive, Commercial Plan Mediated & Operated by an

Independent Non-USA, Non-EU, Non-UK, Non-European

Credible Statesman, acceptable to both Russia – Ukraine!

Such a Plan Exists!

———ENDS———

12

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Dasatha News

Dilrook Kannangara

The 2024 General Election is a watershed moment in Lankan history. Interestingly the total number of votes won by NPP still falls short of the number of votes Gotabaya won in 2019. It is not the quantity but the quality. NPP won around the country from all communities and creeds. No party has ever won the north and the south both, let alone the east, west and the hill country too. This unity across the island was last seen during the rein of King Parakramabu the Sixth. Since his demise 557 years ago Sri Lankans across the island were never united politically until NPP won the election in 2024.

In 1994 Chandrika Kumaratunga won all but one electorate at the presidential election but the north didn’t vote in meaningful numbers. Besides it was achieved with the help of sectarian parties including SLMC, CWC and TULF. It is not unity, but disunity. None of that polluted NPP’s historic landslide victory.

Winning a war only consolidates land and power over land, not the people. Elections are the only way to unify people for one national plan. It never happened in Sri Lanka in over 550 years. Forced unity under the British was based on slavery, genocide, plunder and other evils of colonialism. It’s no voluntary unity. The moment the British colonial rule eased divisions erupted.

With 159 seats the first task of the NPP regime must be to replace the Constitution which is plastered 20 times so far but still falls short of defending national interests and fundamental rights of citizens. NPP government must also reach out to the main opposition SJB to join the effort. This is because the next ruling party may well be the SJB. Sri Lanka needs a Constitution that works for all, not just for one clan or political party. Other parties are irrelevant.

With great power comes great responsibility. It is expected that the ruling party will focus on long term peace and prosperity of the nation instead of short-term enjoyment, appeasement and indecision. People have vested substantial power in it for decisive action, change and visionary rule. It is possible to achieve with sensible and educated people in the government, inside and outside.

President Dissanayake must not forget what happened to Gotabaya – people will punish anyone if their economy is not looked after well. On economic matters the government must seek advice from educated economists and not from laymen or religious texts.

Old and outdated foreign policy disasters like middle path, non-aligned and India First” policies must not be repeated. All those who followed these policies had their rule cut short due to local and international pressure. Instead, Sri Lanka must follow a Sri Lanka first” foreign policy opportunistically aligning with economically beneficially countries and give a low priority to countries that have little economic worth to Sri Lanka.

Similarly, imposing majoritarian or minority beliefs on others is a disaster. No community accepts any other as any better or historic than them. It may be unpalatable for some outdated political elements but this is the hard truth and the path to coexistence.  

Another pitfall that awaits is the charity trap. Disproportionate government investments in the north, east and plantations must not be made out of compassion or due to other non-economic reasons. These are bankrupting activities. If economic returns for the government is less than the investment value, it leads to national bankruptcy and further indebtedness. It is also a recipe to lose both the north and the south. People are unforgiving. Instead, private investors must be encouraged to invest on their terms.

In conclusion, people must shed their centuries-old divisive ethnic and religious dogma and support the regime achieve national (not party political) outcomes. This is a very rare opportunity that dawned on the island 557 years later and it must not be missed. If this fails, people will be compelled to look for alternative national structures that works for them.  

Courtesy Daily Mirror

Leading member of Ilankai Tamil Arachcu Katchchi (ITAK) M.A. Sumanthiran has not been elected to Parliament from the Jaffna district. The sole seat for the ITAK in the district has been won by Mr. S.Sritharan.

The National People’s Power received three seats, having received 24.85% of the total valid votes. 

Harin Fernando and Ruwan Wijewardene, who both contested under the New Democratic Front (NDF) in the Badulla and Gampaha District respectively have been defeated. 

Meanwhile Rehan Jayawickrama who contested for the Galle District from Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) was also defeated
Jayawickreme took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm that he had not received a seat in parliament. 

“Thank you to everyone who supported me in Matara. I placed third on the preferences list and didn’t make it to Parliament. Wishing the newly elected MPs all the best,” he posted. 

Former Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekera failed to secure a seat in the Parliamentary Elections 2024 in the Colombo District, along with New Democratic Front candidate Sagala Ratnayake.

Weerasekera contested from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

Sri Lanka news

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka has released the all-island final results in the 2024 General Election with the National People’s Power (NPP) securing a resounding victory in the Parliamentary Poll.

NPP has won 159 seats including 18 bonus seats after polling a total of over 6.8 million votes, which is 61.56% of the total votes counted.

Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) becomes the main opposition party of the tenth Parliament after polling over 1.9 million votes (17.66%) and thereby obtaining 40 seats including 5 bonus seats.

Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has won 8 seats including 1 bonus seat, New Democratic Front (NDF) has won 5 seats including 2 bonus seats while the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has managed only 3 seats including 1 bonus seat.

Meanwhile, ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ failed to win any seats, however, has managed to secure one bonus seat.

The United National Party (UNP), Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), Jaffna – Independent Group 17 and Sri Lanka Labour Party (SLLP) have won one seat each.

National People’s Power (NPP) – 6,863,186 (159 seats)
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB)  – 1,968,716 (40 seats)
Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) – 257,813 (8 seats)
New Democratic Front (NDF) – 500,835 (5 seats)
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) – 350,429 (3 seats)

All Island Result – 2024 General Election by Adaderana Online on Scribdhttps://www.scribd.com/embeds/792591313/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-Z5LyIkoL2KgN4p8Gr4aZ