උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

ලබන වසරේ අයවැයෙන් ආහාර පාන කිහිපයක වැට් සහ උපයන විට බද්ද සාධාරණ ප්‍රමාණයකින් අඩු කරන බව, ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක පවසනවා.

ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ, මෙවර මහ මැතිවරණය වෙනුවෙන් ජාතික ජන බලවේගය ගම්පහදී පැවැත්වූ ප්‍රචාරක රැලියකට එක්වෙමින්.

මෙවර මහ මැතිවරණය වෙනුවෙන් ජාතික ජන බලවේගය සංවිධාන කරන ජන රැලි මාලාවේ අවසන් ජන රැලිය ගම්පහ නගර සභා ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේදී පැවැත්වුණා.

දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේ මාස 04ක කාලයකට පරිපූරක ඇස්තමේන්තුවක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන බවත්, පෙබරවාරි අගවනවිට අලුත් අයවැයක් සම්මත කරගන්නා බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා එහිදී සඳහන් කළා.

එම අයවැය ලේඛණයෙන් රටේ ආර්ථිකය නව දිශාවකට ගෙනයන බවද ඔහු පවසා සිටියා.

එමෙන්ම, ජනතාවට අවශ්‍ය සහන ලබාදීමටත් එමගින් කටයුතු කරන බවත්, ආහාර පාන කිහිපයක වැට් බද්ද සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ඉවත් කරන බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කළා.

Dasatha News

C. Wijeyawickrema, B.A. (Hons.), LL.B., M.A., Ph.D.

Sena Thoradeniya’s eye-opening essay (Lankaweb, Nov 9^th), regarding how the English press in Colombo, and English-speaking black-white businessmen etc. are kissing the foot of AKD and giving him dead-ropes is of historical importance due to its political implications. From 1956-58 SWRD had a SLFP-LSSP (V) [PhilipG and William S) partnership, and from 1964-1975 Mrs. B had a partnership with LSSP. Both arrangements ended with venom and hatred destroying all. The latest JVP-NPP partnership on July 13^th, 2019, enabled JVP to bury its past behavior and rise from 3% to 47% of popular votes.  Of course, it was also a revenge vote against SJB and the Lotus Bud-RanilW blunders. In between Gotabhaya had to give up his 6.9 million votes!

What Thoradeniya highlights is how the American embassy crept into the NPP brains and planted Harin Amarasuriya to dilute JVP plans.  It is not just HA, but hordes of black tie-denim souls influencing hardcore 1988/9 JVP cadre to wear three-piece suits and ties. This was like Karuna Amman gave up his Eelam struggle after he saw foreign hotels when he went abroad as an LTTE agent. It is our sincere hope that AKD’s mind would not get adulterated by these NPP anti-Sinhala Buddhist element and drive him to become a one-party dictator, thus destroying himself and the country.

Among a list of examples that Thoradeniya provides, one name stands out. It is Austin Fernando, who started calling AKD, Comrade Anura! I felt it is my duty to let the readers know what this Eelam supporter is now up to, in his role of misleading politicians who came under his evil influence. The original essay sent to him on December 31.2020, a friendly explanation of why the13A is a deathtrap will follow.

================

Sri Lanka’s Evil Triangle- Is it possible to ‘Educate’ Austin Fernando?
Posted on January 10th, 2021

C. Wijeyawickrema, B.A. (Hons.), LL.B., M.A., Ph.D.

Dear Mr. Austin Fernando:

Thank you very much for your response (Jan. 2) to my previous essay titled, Attempts to exhume the provincial council cadaver: a reply to Mr. Austin Fernando,” (Lankaweb, Dec. 31). However, I am not happy with your decision to stop our exchange, because it appears to me that you did miss my message. The attachment to my message in Sinhala is simple and clear, and it identified you as a devolution” thief. You are a cool disciple of the boisterous Dayan Jayatilleke, in a different panchakanda. What I expected from you was a rational justification for the Devolution Nirvana of yours, because on this same topic, DJ never answered several lists of questions sent to him by me over the past decade.

DJ cannot see the devolution danger because his panchaskanda is wrapped in a Christian-Marxist skin. A comment on my essay in English in the Lankaweb, states that you are a man of Catholic Action, now dormant. He connects you with one Paul Perera (who was this man?) to a Mahaveli land settlement incident in the 1980s. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith most probably blocked the prevailing ideological struggle against the Buddhist civilizational roots in the Island, raised recently by Mrs. Chandrika, Rossie the Mayor and Mangala, the self-appointed redeemer of pristine Buddhism for the world. Incidentally, these fit perfectly with Vigneswaran’s theory of the five Shiva Lingams brought in pre-historic times to bless the island.

The joining of words by you in your reply, – unexplainable, compounded, confusion”- reminds me the strategy Dayan Jayatilleke used to escape, when he got cornered by a challenger.  He even told those who opposed his ideas to go and learn English. Once I sent him an educational reply titled, English with a smile!”

I expected that you offer us a reasoned/seasoned justification explaining why you selected the devolution path. I drew your attention to 7 selected essays demolishing this devolution panacea such as giving police powers ladder to separatist monkeys. The late H. L. de Silva, P.C. (Island, 9/6/2007) and Dr. G. H. Pieris (Island, Sept. 8-15, 2005) provided more than enough facts as to why the federal option is suicidal. Hence, you have a duty to let us know they were wrong, and you are correct. In other words, why do you think that the 13-A is not a death-trap, and it helps the poor, innocent Tamil villager, not the Eelam-bound Tamil politicians.

In a way Dayan is direct in his blind commitment. See what Dayan, the unofficial father of 13-A plus project, says on this subject (Colombo Telegraph Jan. 7, 2021):

…As for my appointment [as SajithP’s foreign affairs consultant] being a slap in the face of the Tamil constituency”, that’s a laugh. I would like my critics to point out a single Sinhalese or even Tamil or Muslim in the public sphere who has been a more consistent advocate and defender of the principle of devolution, the 13^th amendment and the Provincial Council system and opponent of those who wish to abolish or truncate that system. No Sinhalese in the public domain has been attacked more by the Sinhala racist Right over decades, on precisely this issue, than I have. It is this stand of mine, including in Geneva, that caused Minister Weerasekara to suggest in the pages of the Daily FT that in the good old days I would have been spiked to death”. 

…. I have, of course, also critiqued the utterly unrealistic Tamil effort to push beyond the 13^th amendment towards a post-unitary new Constitution, an effort which sank the UNP government. As the Press statement of the remarks of visiting Indian External affairs Minister, Dr Jaishankar shows, his specific and concrete ‘marker’ reference was to the 13^th amendment.”

Dayan’s delusion is no different from the delusion that SWRD found in SJVC in 1958. How could a sane person say that devolution within the framework of 13-A plus is the end of any Eelam dream, despite a ton of hard evidence available against his theory?  What we Sinhala Buddhists have been trying to prove with ground truths is that 13-A plus arrangement is the beginning of the end of Sinhaleas a Palestine in South Asia, the balkanization path. I think the Eelam strategy has not changed from the one SJVC used before 1976, little now, and more later, except that American- Indian new love affair against China has given, Eelam-bound Tamil politicians a new hope of inching towards the point of no return. This is the hidden meaning of Sumanthiran’s words, devolve us powers that the center cannot take back, once given.”

Austin, it is as if you and Dayan have two identical brains! Why is that Lakshman Kiriella, who once said, any idiot can win wars if there is money,” who is now suggesting in the parliament that the Romesh de Silva committee could follow the Orumittanadu blueprint without trying to reinvent the wheel, also elicit a brain function just like the two of you? On the topic of center-periphery relations Siddharthan’s committee had no recognized Sinhala Buddhist member, and Kiriella suggests shamelessly to resurrect Siddharthan’s report. He has already forgotten the election verdict. The hard-learned experience is that the devolution path is a disaster with absolute certainty of a breakaway sooner than later. Just think about Vigneshwaran’s five Shiva Lingams, mentioned in my previous essay. Any person genuinely concerned about peace and harmony ought to think about decentralization of power to empower people at village level, instead of providing ladders to jumping separatist monkeys.

We learn until our death. The data we receive is converted to information, which in turn provides knowledge. Yes, if we get garbage in, we get garbage out. But even gossip plays an important social role. For example, I cannot remember whether the gifting of a pistol as a birthday present to a tiger boss by a defence secretary, reported in a newspaper was gossip or not. Most probably you know if it was true or not. For example, if you are a Christian, which I did not know when I replied to your essay, I could have more easily understood your for stand on the Orumittanadu drama. Please note the word, Orumittanadu, symbolically connects Chandrika’s package deals, Tissa Vitharana’s APRC majority report, 17 and 19, and the 2015-19 Yahapalana game of Ranil-Sumanthiran and Jayamapthy, all in one knot.

I was not interested in knowing whether you knew Chandrika or any x, y and z. It is about how your ideas match so well with her ideas, and further, I did not send you a court document for you to generate your own questions and exonerate yourself. And then you say < unexplainable-compounded-confusion>! Please read the 7 essays listed.

Educating Austin

For example, if you read one of the essays numbered 2, 3, and 5 of my attachment dealing with Chandrika’s secret 1997 balkanization plan (which Siddharthan copied for the Orumittanadu thing), what I very clearly pointed out was the fact that Chandrika was using the spatial unit called an electorate (electoral map used prior to 1978) for the purpose of carving out ethnic enclaves. This I called the Dangerous Ampare Path,” because Ampare district happened to be the first victim of her political dismemberment surgery. Her formula was, if an electorate has 50% or more voters of a particular ethnic group that electorate becomes qualified to be part of that ethnic Region. Thus, the new S-E region (Oluville region) is a collection of 3 such electorates, Potuvil, Samanture & Kalmune.

Thus, my point, Austin, that you did not fathom was that, if the Malayanadu Indian Tamil electorates (or Hill country combined Indian Tamil-Muslim electorates) so request they cannot be denied a region or a Pondicherry unit within a region. This means, electorates with Christian/Tamil majorities in the South are also qualified to make similar demands, if necessary, via appealing to Geneva.

Austin, now tell me which sentence/s in my essay in Sinhala confused your brain.

I do not know why you are so excited about my email being copied to the secretary of defence. I copied it to so many others also as blind copies. I copied it to SD as my way of appreciating the sacrifice he and the Hasalaka Heroes did, because of which you are now a happy camper in Colombo. I have been doing it on a regular basis, not limited to the one email you have received. As for the American security matter that you are worried, there is no need for me to come to Colombo to meet him to give what you consider as a big security tip. Just listen to the Talk with Sudaththa (Sudaa Creation) interview with Wijedasa Rajapaksha, MP on Jan 5, 2021. Something which is commonsense is apparently a big spy story for you!

Evil Triangle (ET)

All what you wrote in your Dec 15 essay could be understood easily and succinctly, if you consider the existence of an ET. It consists of the trio – politician-officer-NGO. This is a model to explain what has happened to Sinhale since 1931 or 1948. The NGO here means all private entities, individuals, and non-governmental agencies. For example, when the army captured Kilinochchi etc. it was found that NGOs had not done any development work for which they received heavy foreign funding. In India, these NGOs are under strict control, but in Sri Lanka black-white politicians thrive sharing NGO dollars. Are you going to disagree with me if I say that officers, from office janitor to ministry secretary, are all corrupt, except for a small percentage of duty-bound souls?

Politicians. Marxists and officers are responsible for the Mismanagement and for the phenomenon known as the Tragedy of the Commons. Have you been to the place where you train SLAS officers from new recruits to senior officers such as district secretaries? The entire premises stink with toilet smell. Same with the health ministry building. Please go to the link below to understand the Ronie de Mel syndrome of public servants. It was the white civil servants who had sympathy toward poor villagers and performed such dedicated service. Think of H. R. Freeman who became a State Council member in 1931 and 36. How many CCS/SLAS guys could you count for doing any creative work or service to the nations? I worked under two prominent CCS officers, and I know how the game had been played.

I could guess why you wrote an irresponsible reply to my essay. President Sirisena must be still addressing you the same way he addressed you when you were the GA, and he was a lowly GS. I wonder whether you address him now calling him Sir, just like M.J. Perera and Maithripala Senanayake called each other Sir. This looks like such a trivial matter, but I wrote an essay on this topic, long before President Sirisena sacked Ranil. Sirisena was either so humble or so low in self-esteem to seek prior permission from Ranil to continue to call him Sir. My question was whether Ranil and CBK in turn addressed Sirisena calling Sir. I was so surprised to see on YouTube that at the SWRD statue at Galle Face on Jan. 8^th CBK revealing that Sirisena went to Sirikotha to obtain permission from Ranil to continue to call him Sir.

I must be honest with you in this final paragraph. You exhibited a kind of superiority complex when you tried to underestimate the value of the services rendered by Sarath Weerasekara and Nalin de Silva, in their respective spheres of influence. SLAS officers like you are robots on a train track in a tunnel, with self-respect damaged by (mostly) stupid politicians. See what Anuradha Yahampath is doing as Governor of EP and how she handles obstructive politicians there (compare this with how you behaved like a puppet in public before that stupid Muslim CM). With this wounded and suppressed pride, sometimes unknowingly, you people float toward arrogance as an outlet to vent your frustration. This must be why you treated my essay shabbily thinking to dismiss it with nonsensical sentences. For your information, I spent my working life doing teaching and research in 11 universities and colleges, in three countries. As a director institutional research/assessment/effectiveness, I have gained an ability to penetrate one’s thinking mechanism via his/her writing. My post graduate research in a new interdisciplinary field of applied law and applied geography, gave me training to test the efficacy of laws, and how to make them more effective. It is with this insight that I see objectively, 13-A path as a disaster to our motherland. So please read my essays on Lankaweb and learn, learning is what we do until our death.

Good health and good luck!

C. Wijeyawickrema, B.A. (Hons.), LL.B., M.A., Ph.D.

I am requesting Prabath, editor, Island newspaper to forward this reply to you as I do not know your email address.

One Response to Sri Lanka’s Evil Triangle- Is it possible to ‘Educate’ Austin Fernando?”

By Jonathan Manz 

Sri Lanka’s polity on 21 Sep 24 refused to surrender to Yankee–IMF rule, by spurning – for the first time in her history –the entire list of Presidential candidates approved by the Election Commissioner; not one of the 38, yankee-backed candidates, was able to secure a ‘majority-vote’; viz more than 50 per cent of the votes cast.

This resulted in a second vote- count, constitutionally but controversially executed, giving rise to the integrity of the Election Commissioner and his staff being seriously called into question.

AKD became Sri Lanka’s first minoritarian President, distrusted by most of the people.

This result was not to the liking of the yanks who are going overboard, attempting to reverse the people’s will and secure a clear victory for AKD at the General Elections.

At the Presidential election, 2.8 million people, a near quarter of the registered voters, spoiled their votes or abstained from voting.

The anti-yank sentiment raised concerns at the Election Commissioner’s office, nettling the Commissioner to comment, There is yet no clear explanation of how a large number of voters at the presidential election on Sept 21 spoilt their votes; we will look at the rejected votes to understand why this happened.”

https://island.lk/election-authorities-checking-why-so-many-ballots-were-spoilt/#:~:text=2024/09/29.%20By%20Rathindra%20Kuruwita.%20There%20is%20yet%20no

https://island.lk/3-5-million-lankans-did-not-vote-in-presidential-election/#:~:text=Commissioner%20General%20of%20Elections%20Saman%20Sri%20Ratnayake%20said

At the election, all the candidates lost their deposits, save three.

The Pretender to the throne, the leader of the UNP, attempted to create an impression of a ‘distance’ between himself and the Party when he filed his candidature for the Presidency as an ‘Independent’.

In 2020, the extent of  the Pretender’s unpopularity (attempting to establish yankee rule in the country via the MCC) was such that he was unable to secure even his own seat in parliament.

Amazingly however, he became the sole UNPer in parliament when he dishonourably used his position in the party-hierarchy to muscle-out the rightful aspirants and grab for himself the only seat allotted to the seatless- party, under the ‘National List’ mechanism.

This is the man who subsequently colluded with the yanks to betray Sri Lanka by secretly and illegally signing the IMF terms-of surrender.

How did this discarded piece of political-trash worm his way into a position, to secretly and illegally deal with the IMF?

It was when Goo-Gota – a tag commonly used to describe Nandasena following his treacherous role in the yankee funded insurrection – appointed this unpopular and sole UNPer in parliament as Prime Minister, ignoring the many in his own party who were capable.

This appointment took place in the aftermath of the yank-orchestrated mob rampage that took place in the wake of notorious international-terrorist, Nuland, provoking the Galle-Face insurrectionists to violence.

The Nation, yet recovering from Goo-Gota’s announcement that he was inviting the IMF into the country, was at the receiving end of a bigger shock when his choice of PM was no other than the IMF- darling in the country.

Two months later Goo-Gota transferred political Executive power, given him by 70% of the country, to a piece of discarded political trash who allegedly could not even muster 2000 votes at the bygone General Election; he was discarded for the simple reason that he was attempting to bring Sri Lanka under Yankee rule.

The illegal power-transfer took place, seemingly under the duress of an insurrection, when the insurrectionists broke-in and vandalised the ‘President House’.

During the Presidential Election campaign, the Pretender threatened the people with starvation if they were not supportive of his treachery.

Coincidently, starvation was the guiding rationale of the yanks during the jock-strap insurrection.

The insurrection owes its name to Dharmadasa who was caught on camera  stripping himself and hanging his underwear on a police barrier for airing and sanitation; subsequently, the Pretender thought it fit to have jock-strap Dharmadasa as his media chief.   

The Pretender clearly communicated his threat choosing the ‘gas’ cylinder as his election symbol; at the height of the yankee jock-strap insurrection, gas cylinders kept exploding all-over Sri Lanka, killing many in their kitchens.

The voters, ignoring the threat, dumped Mr Batalanda, of Gonawala-Sunil ill-fame, to an also-ran position.

The Pretender however did not seem unduly concerned with the results of the election.

A distinct feature at the Presidential Election was the yawning gap between the people, and the candidates offering themselves for election, as reflected in the manifestos of the 38 yankee-backed candidates.

The yankee invader must understand that IMF conditions of surrender will never be honoured or implemented by the people; they were never a party to the secret betrayal and they fiercely repudiate any form of yankee rule of the Country. They unequivocally declare that they would annul all the illegal legislation engendered by the IMF.

When a constitutional government follows a government created by an insurrection, it is not bound by legislation enacted by this monstrosity

The SJB leadership, which has bowed down to yankee rule, whines hollowly that it would renegotiate the terms of surrender with the yanks.

The JVP/NPP remained slyly silent on the issue until a foreign reporter prised the truth, forcing AKD to admit that he and his party, the JVP/NPP, have agreed to yankee rule.

Many of the JVP cadres in the NPP are unaware of the 180- turnaround of their leadership which burnt the election platforms to a cinder with their anti-yankee rhetoric.  

This polarity in thinking, between the people and the political Parties in the fray, exposes the degree of yankee corruption sweeping the country.

It is ironic that the yanks, who talk about corruption in Sri Lanka, are the worst offenders.

This hypocritical attitude is not surprising. 

Former South Korean Chung Ji-yoon who masquerades behind her Caucasian ‘go-fetch-ball’ name, ‘Julie’, marshalled the different elements of the jock-strap insurrection – ‘seditious-conspiracy’ as the yanks call it – to put the Pretender on the throne; the Pretender is a direct off-shot of the insurrection.

Analysts say that South Korea would be adversely affected, economically, if Mr. Trump were to be elected. Biden’s ‘Fetch-ball’ Julie, played an insidious role; while being employed by Washington, she poisoned the minds of the Sri Lankan people against a humane president, who did not wage a single war, during his first watch.

Fetch-ball Julie, planted stories in Sri Lanka’s social and print media networks, that wag their tails on her whine, insinuating that Mr Trump was not fit for presidency and suggesting that he should be incarcerated on charges of seditious conspiracy (viz insurrection).

What a contrast. In Sri Lanka she directly fuels a seditious conspiracy to parachute a pretender on the throne; in Washington, rooting for Biden, social media and print media networks that wag their tails at her bidding, insinuate that Mr Trump was not fit for presidency while suggesting that he should be incarcerated on charges of seditious conspiracy (viz insurrection).   

It is an open secret that the yanks are throwing millions of dollars to stage-manage a result that would give AKD control in parliament, to complete the IMF agenda.

A curious phenomenon at the recently-concluded Presidential Election – a phenomenon that prevails today too in events connected to the up- coming General Elections – is the shadowy role played by the UNP; whilst continuing to remain in the public-eye, the party appears to be deliberately operating on the fringes of the political activity taking place, almost as if it were a mere spectator.

How does this observation correlate with the news that AKD’s campaign posters were printed at ‘Wijeya Printers’ and allegations that the UNP is diverting some of their funds to the JVP campaign?

Colombo is generally considered the home-turf of the UNP, the well-spring of the ‘Kalu-Sudda’(black-whiteman) mentality; this is the mentality described by Malcolm X as the ‘House-Negro’ mentality which is not shared by the ‘Field-Negro’.

In Sri Lanka, the ‘Colombians’ conduct themselves as the self-appointed major-domos of the yanks.

But strangely, at functions, meetings, receptions and, social media platforms of the ‘Colombians’, the message given these days is very clear; vote for AKD.   

How does this protreptic reconcile with the major-domo image of the ‘Colombians’?

Rationally, the question that should precede is, ‘What are the yanks hoping to achieve by installing AKD on the throne? 

The yanks are presently in the process of consolidating their capture of Sri Lanka.

Goo-Gota having taken unbelievable measures to deplete the country’s vault, invited the IMF into the country and then, transferred power illegally to the Pretender.

Thereafter, the Pretender taking-up the baton, secretly signed an agreement of surrender with the yankee-IMF.

As credibly reported,  the 146 + plus conditions of surrender include the MCC landgrab, the privatisation of government assets, the framing of a new constitution giving political and police powers to the provinces, obliterating Article 9  of the present constitution that gives prominence and State protection  to Buddhism, dividing Sri Lanka’s land mass between India, China and the yanks as agreed between the three in 2012, establishing a 1.2 million acre yankee militarised corridor between TCO-CBO that will geographically divide the Island into two, permitting territory in the Northern and Eastern  provinces to be annexed to India, transferring to the Legislature the sole authority to wield executive power.

The Pretender has had legislation passed, unlawfully ‘legalising’ the MCC-landgrab, which the Supreme Court has previously determined as being unconstitutional.

The Pretender succeeded in enforcing, reportedly, some of the secret terms of surrender.  

It would be a tough task for the Pretender to implement some of the remaining ‘terms of surrender’ such as, changing the laws relating to the pay and conditions  of employment, privatising government assets, evicting and settling a 4 million refugees from the MCC corridor into small settlement areas catered for in the MCC map, devolving land and police powers to the provinces including areas originally  demanded by the separatist-terrorists, obliterating Buddhism from its pivotal role, allowing the country, North of the yankee – corridor, to be annexed by India, dividing the country on a North-South scission along the yankee-corridor to name a few.

The team chosen by AKD would shame the Pretender.

·        AKD’s chief economic advisor is Hulangamuwa, a senior partner at Ernst and Young (approx. 25 years), the yankee firm doing global contracts for the yankee government; this organisation has been embroiled in fraud and settled out of court, in one instance, paying a fine of $100 million dollars; the CCC (Ceylon Chamber of Commerce) is the voice box of the AMCHAM and the yanks are comfortable in dealing with this organisation funded by them. Hulangamuwa is the current Chairman of the CCC.

·        The Chairman security exchange commission is Dissabandara a Chevening academist.

·        Arjuna Herath is the Chairman of the BOI; he was also a senior partner of the fraudulent ‘Ernst and Young’.

·        The UGC chairman is a yank Fullbright product.

·        The Pretender’s trusted acolytes, Seneviratne from the Treasury and Central Bank  suspect in the ‘Bond’ case, Weerasinghe, continue merrily.

A former CCC chairman and a director on the Board of controversial Keells, Wijayasuriya, is AKD’s ‘Digital’ advisor.    

The CCC worked with the yanks in designing the MCC ‘grant’.

It is strange therefore that in 2019 Wijesuriya should write to the Pretender (then the PM) and ask him about the state of the MCC project because it was under his Vice-Presidential Watch at CCC that they worked on the MCC.

Jenner Edelman, Resident Country Director for MCC in Sri Lanka gave an appropriate answer. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce worked with MCC in designing the grant. We would like to thank the Chamber for its participation in that process. The Chamber’s chief economist was part of the team that developed the grant. In 2017 the government submitted a proposal specifying activity to grow the economy. Over 2018 a team of Sri Lankans travelled to Washington to lead negotiations. That team was headed by the secretary to the treasury and included all of the key secretaries and the Attorney General.” https://archives1.dailynews.lk/2019/08/30/finance/195506/mcc-grant-based-sri-lankan-formulated-development-proposals

 The million dollar question  is who are Secretaries and the Attorney General who travelled, boarded and wined in the USA, at the expense of the Sri Lanka people’s money, in 2018?

It is evident that the yanks want AKD to do what the Pretender is unable to do. It is not for nothing that AKD is called, ‘Garme’ Ranil’.

The JVP cadres of the NPP are yet unaware of AKD’s plans with the IMF. The yanks have expressed their intense pleasure with AKD’s performance.

Initially, the JVP cadres will ensure that the Trade Unions will not paralyse the Nation while these measures are taking place.

When however, the stark reality hits the genuine JVP cadres they will react and the yankee ‘Pacific Command’ will be ready to take them and AKD down. 

JVP cadres will be leaderless and attempt to get the street; they must refrain from the folly they did in 1971 and 1989.   

The Harini from the NPP will be ready to take over without any JVPers.

AKD has been paving the way, in his speeches, for not having an opposition, not relinquishing power till the job is over; in short, a dictatorship; reminiscent of JRs ‘rolling the electoral map’. No one has spoken about it.

Harini and the NPP cadres may have to be propped-militarily by the yanks; the ACSA and the SOFA agreements are well in place and yank miliary contractors could include any Nationality, be they be in Arugam Bay or Beruwala.

AKD was given timely nudges from Samatha Power and the Admiral from the Indo-Pacific fleet

Once AKD has done his job, the Pretender and the UNP elements will move out of the shadows.

If Executive power is transferred to the Legislature, the people’s power to directly choose the Executive – presently expressed at a Presidential election – is diluted and will easily enable the yanks to rule the country through corruption.

Judging by his actions and words AKD is bent on dismantling the State. A vote for him is a vote for the yanks and the way forward for the UNP. The National Will has been aroused and the people were successful in not giving any one a majority. Adopt the same strategy until a party that will renounce the IMF and annul all the illegal laws made on behalf of the IMF arrives on the scene.

Go in your numbers and spoil you vote.  Show you are a part of the Sri Lankan opposition to the yankee curse.

https://island.lk/union-bank-partners-with-usaid-ceylon-chamber-of-commerce-to-empower-smes-for-global-growth   https://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=101549 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUTuxjmHXJo – 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204886304574308753825396372.html

Asanka Perera

The recent article ‘The Valid Reasons Why Adani’s Mannar Project Should be Cancelled’, criticizing the Adani Mannar wind energy project misses key facts and context. As Sri Lanka furthers its renewable energy ambitions, it is important to scrutinise the project, and more so to provide a fairer and balanced perspective.

1. Unfounded claims of procedural irregularities in awarding the Project

The claims of procedural irregularities in awarding the Adani Mannar wind energy project are unfounded. The project was considered as part of Sri Lanka’s ‘Fast Tracking of Investments’ process, for which the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to enter into an MOU with Adani Green. The Ministry of Finance’s notification clearly states that in cases where the decisions of the Cabinet Appointed Monitoring Committee for Investments (CAMCI) prevail, there is no need for a tendering process. Furthermore, the project fully complies with the provisions of the Electricity Act, as it has received Cabinet-level approval as a government-to-government (G2G) initiative and has been granted approval by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) under the relevant sections of the Act.

The project also forms part of Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan 2023-2042 approved by PUCSL. Sri Lanka has recently approved other single-bidder, single-location renewable energy proposals following a similar process of technical evaluation by a project committee and tariff negotiations by the Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee (CANC), which was also followed for Adani’s project. In addition, the proposal complies with the recent MOU between India and Sri Lanka on renewable energy cooperation, allowing participation from both private and public sectors.

Evaluating projects based on Indian regulations is illogical.

The argument to evaluate Sri Lankan projects based on Indian regulations and standards is illogical. The Indian electricity sector provides significantly more incentives to private developers, such as exempting renewable energy projects from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, which reduces implementation timelines by 1-2 years compared to Sri Lanka. Additionally, India’s investment-grade rating allows for easier access to competitive external funding, and the government also provides private players with access to state-owned land on a sub-lease basis without constraints on mortgaging. These factors, which are not available in Sri Lanka, enable faster project approvals and implementation in India.

Besides, the regulatory bodies in India, such as the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC), are empowered to adopt tariffs discovered through competitive bidding processes, even if those tariffs are higher than typical levels. Evaluating Sri Lankan projects solely based on Indian standards would be an oversimplification and fail to account for the unique regulatory environment and investment policies in Sri Lanka.

• No excessive or risky precedent in Adani’s Wind Tariffs

There is no excessive or risky precedent being set by the tariffs for Adani’s wind energy projects in Mannar and Pooneryn. In fact, the tariffs for these projects are the lowest wind energy tariffs in the country. This information can be verified from the data available on the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) website.

Source: PUSL Website

The claim that Adani’s tariff of $0.0826/kWh is significantly higher than the typical wind tariffs in India is an invalid comparison.

Comparing tariffs solely based on the Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF) or a mathematical formula for wind energy availability is an oversimplified and illogical approach. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for a wind project depends on multiple factors, including the capital cost, cost of raising funds, tenure of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and operational and maintenance (O&M) costs. It is important to note the PPA tenure in Sri Lanka is 20 years, whereas in India it is 25 years, allowing for longer asset ownership and operation. Furthermore, wind power assessment is a scientifically rigorous process, taking into account the installed and planned wind power capacity in the vicinity, rather than a mere mathematical formula analysis.

The comparison of Adani’s tariffs in Sri Lanka with wind energy tariffs in Gujarat, India, is a non-logical and flawed approach. The wind energy potential and resource availability in Gujarat’s largest renewable energy sites are similar, and in some cases even higher, than in Mannar. If the Sri Lankan government has access to the tariff information from India, the logical step would be to consider procuring wind power directly from India – now that the SL-India power transmission corridor is reportedly in the works— rather than delaying the local projects and demanding that Sri Lankan developers reduce their tariffs to unrealistic levels, such as $0.03/kWh. Thus, it would be an unfair and unjustified expectation, considering the unique factors and constraints faced by the Sri Lankan renewable energy sector.

• Comparison with IRENA data requires nuance.

The article’s comparison of the Mannar project’s tariff to the global average Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for onshore wind as reported by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an oversimplified and flawed approach. IRENA’s global LCOE data does not account for the current inflationary pressures, the cost of borrowing, or the land acquisition costs, unique to each country’s context. Therefore, making a direct comparison between the Mannar project’s tariff and IRENA’s global averages is not a logical or accurate method of evaluation.

If the author is referencing IRENA data, a more appropriate comparison would be to the LCOE for the ‘Other Asia”’ region, where Sri Lanka’s costs would likely be captured, rather than the global average. Focusing solely on the global or Indian averages, the argument appears to be twisted to favour certain investors or local players in the country. It also raises questions about the objectivity and fairness of the criticism, especially when similar comparisons are not applied to evaluate the 8+ cents per kWh tariffs for solar projects approved in Sri Lanka. Meaningful analysis requires a nuanced, context-specific approach considering the unique factors influencing renewable energy costs in Sri Lanka, rather than simplistic global benchmarking.

• Selective environmental concerns

The article’s claims about the Mannar project site’s environmental issues are questionable, given the existence of similar renewable energy projects in the same region. If the site was truly problematic, it is illogical that the government has already implemented a 100 MW wind farm, is conducting a 50 MW tender, and approving smaller 5 MW IPP projects there.

Moreover, the article fails to acknowledge that the Adani project has undergone a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment, similar to the one for the CEB’s 100 MW wind farm. Indicative environmental concerns have been evaluated and mitigated.

Ignoring the existing projects and the EIA process, the article presents an inconsistent and biased argument. The selective application of environmental standards undermines the credibility of this criticism.

• Substantial cost savings and reduced fossil fuel dependence

At 8.26 cents per kWh, Adani’s wind energy will significantly undercut the country’s current oil and coal-based generation, which averages over 14 cents. The pricing differential will enable Sri Lanka to reduce its annual power generation costs by approximately $80 million.

Moreover, the country spends around $300 million yearly on imported oil and coal for electricity. Incorporating Adani’s wind project will save over $200 million in annual foreign exchange outflows, greatly enhancing energy security and economic stability. The cost-effective, renewable investment aligns with Sri Lanka’s energy diversification and decarbonization goals, presenting a strategic opportunity to transition towards a more sustainable and self-reliant future.

• Consequences of not implementing the Adani Project

Overlooking the broader implications, the article’s criticisms fail to recognize the significant repercussions of not implementing the Adani Mannar wind project.

Firstly, where will Sri Lanka attract over $1 billion in much-needed FDI for large-scale renewable energy, if not from investors like Adani? Domestic sources alone cannot finance these critical investments. Can Sri Lanka hope to achieve its sustainability goals — 70% RE generation by 2030 and net zero by 2050 – without such large RE projects? Over the next 25 years, SL’s power demand will grow at an annualized rate of ~5% and to meet our sustainability objectives, by 2050, we will need to add ~7,000 MW of fresh RE capacity. Do we have a blueprint to meet such a target?

In addition, without the Adani project, consumers will continue bearing the higher costs of fossil fuel-based generation, averaging over 14 cents per kWh, compared to the 8.26 cents offered. It would also burden the country with an extra $80 million per year. Besides, scrutinizing this strategic investment’s tariffs risks setting a dangerous precedent, leading to litigation against other high-cost projects and disrupting energy plans.

Rejecting the Adani project would deprive Sri Lanka of transformative FDI, prevent electricity cost reductions, and jeopardize meeting the country’s pressing energy needs – consequences detrimental to its economic and energy security. If this project doesn’t fructify, would any other large foreign investor ever look at Sri Lanka?

While the original article raises important points, it takes a narrow view and lacks a comprehensive understanding of the project’s context and potential benefits. The Adani Mannar wind energy project can be a significant contributor to Sri Lanka’s renewable energy goals, economic growth, and sustainable development. What is required is addressing valid concerns through rigorous analysis and stakeholder engagement, ensuring the project serves as a model for future investments driving Sri Lanka’s prosperity.

e-Con e-News

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

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

e-Con e-News 03-09 November 2024

*

‘Mr Shakeri also told prosecutors that his Iranian contacts asked

him to plan a mass shooting to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka

in October 2024, a year after the Hamas attacks on Israel.’

– BBC

*

‘We remain committed to defending our strategic interests &

values in Sri Lanka – the fulcrum of the Indo-Pacific region.’

– US State Department, Integrated Country Strategy

*

We normally ignore the BBC, England’s state broadcaster. But it may be too late in the day to misunderstand the USA’s ‘values.’ In a move, timed to hit the weekend headlines, the US government on Friday dished out to their talking heads some fluffed-up bombai-muttai to chew on, to get them moving their salaried jaws. They breathlessly disclosed that an ‘Iranian asset Farhad Shakeri,’ is ‘accused in a plot to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’. The US claims the Iranian aka Afghani was ‘also tasked with targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka’ (hmm, could it have been a CIA Iranian asset? one can only wonder…) The BBC then brayed more flatulence out louder.

*

‘These ambiguous advisories directed at Sri Lanka by the US

are not mere gestures of caution – they are calculated moves

that influence perception. This ambiguity, whether by design or

through bureaucratic inertia, embodies a troubling double standard in

US diplomacy, eroding the very principles of transparency it claims to

uphold & calling into question the essence of fair international relations.’

– Sunday Times Political Editor, US envoy on security alert, ee Sovereignty

*

The story signals an attempt by the outgoing US Biden administration, who stand accused of failing to protect then-candidate & now incoming President Trump, to divert attention onto another of their makeshift demons. The charges are being brought by a thoroughly discredited US Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has failed to enforce their own US laws in their war on Palestine. Garland has been reminded: ‘You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.’

     Instead, the former US Supreme Court Judge Garland is throwing some shade our way… The BBC news flash, a clearly garbled botch-up, at the end of their story has the alleged Iranian (actually an Afghani) ‘telling’ Manhattan prosecutors (in that increasingly familiar Southern District of New York court) of his plans to target Sri Lanka. Yet there’s no mention earlier in the story, of the ‘Afghani’ talking directly to prosecutors. It is possible the BBC decided to add the Sri Lankan tale last minute onto their Trumpian fable. The BBC’s Saturday cocktail & bedtime ballad of terror also targets ‘brave’ US journalists who expose Iran’s allegedly inhuman wrongs (‘I came to America to practice my 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech’), and their favorite villains, wicked New York mobsters, not to mention the Afghani Shakeri, ‘an asset of the IRGC based in Tehran’, who ‘immigrated to the US as a child’. Now that’s long-term planning!

*

‘Shakeri is still at large in Iran, the Justice Department said’

AdaDerana

*

‘The US government said Mr Shakeri has not been arrested

& is believed to be in Iran’

– BBC

*

So, here we get yet another US ‘conspiracy’ outsourced to their favorite London spooks to shoddily embellish, as they are old experts on these ‘oriental’ parts. Apparently, their glossy lies need less & less substance. What is Hollywood, California (sunny home to the US military) and what is Manhattan, New York (home to Wall Street)? What is fantasy, what is fiction? All we know is their news is as always as far from the truth as is possible. It is not their job to educate us, despite their school lunch programs in Colombo, which will soon include soya hotdogs! It is after all possible, that Trump’s assassination was yet another crafted Hollywood charade plus the ear-lining ketchup…

*

‘You know I’ve dealt with 3 US presidents. Now they

come into office with ideas but then men in dark suits &

blue ties come to tell them how the real situation is &

you never hear of those ideas again.’ – Russia President V Putin

*

ee is no fan of this ‘deep state’ business. Those who keep denying the existence or role of the state, then accidentally stumble upon something about the state they did not know before and call it deep – deep state. Yet it is also possible they may be getting an alibi ready for a future hit, to bring former never-Trumper & PayPal’s Peter Thiel doughboy, Wall St’s Hillbilly Bluesman JD Vance & his discount B1-visa Indian spouse, to the fore. All the US & European embassy cocktail-circuit agony aunts in Colombo are dismayed: ‘How could people in the USA do this to us! And after all those lectures on human rights, they elect a felon who believes he has the right to grab women by their private parts. Even a Sri Lankans would not dare say that out loud.’

*

Sri Lankans are being told they are experiencing ‘election fatigue‘. But it is the capitalist media who is tired of having their demands ignored by electorates. The media, one of the largest beneficiaries of the largess of capitalist elections, only reports the ramblings of billionaires who deliver the political talking points of their zillionaire owners through media control, thinktank reports, and viciously targeted advertising meant to rouse workers against each other. Indeed, what we are experiencing is yet another blatant ‘return’ by capitalism to its ‘roots’ in ‘primitive accumulation’:

*

‘The forcible divorcement of the worker from the means of production,

the driving of the peasants from the land, the stealing of the commons,

the system of colonies & national debts, protective tariffs, & the like…’

– Lenin, The 3 Sources & 3 Component Parts of Marxism

*

According to Europe’s primitive impulses, logic & morality are the weapons of slaves, women, Jews (Palestinians, in real life) & the working classes. The masters do what they want, and make up reality & rules as they go along. Let’s see how long this latest avatara lasts. Our economists have to keep changing their proscriptions, JIT, just in time! While the latest buzzwords go on about entrepreneurs & disruption…, the real disruption they always plan on is: another world war.  And in case there are any doubts as to their intent, check out England’s blatant claim to ‘decolonize’ the Chagos Archipelago – faithfully proclaimed by their salaried lapdog BBC – in the Indian Ocean, by handing over what is not theirs, to the USA to continue to use as a military base to bomb Asia & Africa…

*

• Some of those who criticized the previous government for all manner of transgressions – some true, some false – and claimed to have supported this present President into office – are busy signing petitions & writing letters, asking it to stand up for various causes: the environment, social security, the constitution, free education, anti-anti-terrorism, etc. Not one of them discusses the need to build a productive modern industrial economy that could undergird such ideals. As for free education, SBD de Silva quipped, we would have progressed much faster if the state had first provided free fertilizer to cultivators!

     Oh wait! Those who once criticized our call for industrialization as old-time Stalinist, autarkist etc, are now calling for a revival of ‘planning & industrial policy’ to ‘prioritize avenues of production that can protect Sri Lanka’s people’. Reason: they are terrified of Trump! They suddenly realize all their talk of exports will go for a 6, since the West is closing them out and they have absolutely no sense of a world beyond Singapore to the east. While they provide little definition of what they mean by industrial policy, they get excited & state: ‘A viable strategy for accumulation will necessarily require compromises with our own capitalist class. That includes identifying potential areas for profit-making.’

     Now as far as we know, and as far as the record shows, the ‘capitalist class’ (if there is such an animal in Sri Lanka, ‘rentier class‘ is more like it) have absolutely no interest in employing workers in a dignified manner, in investing in modern industry and raising the skills of the working class. They are too busy making easy money by selling off the country…. (see ee Economists, Alternative to fascist tide is self-sufficiency at home)

*

• The US & EU meanwhile, have made the economy dependent on their inputs & largess (access to markets, they turn on & off at will). In this ee Focus Shiran Illanperuma examines Sri Lanka’s ‘toxic’ addiction to tourism, which debases our culture so as to entertain foreigners – so while they drink in the beauty, we are prevented from developing. SBD de Silva pointed to tourism as a classic rentier activity, doing nothing new, except monopolizing a ‘view’ – seaside, mountain, forest, etc. Just as the rag trade refuses to make a pin or a needle, thread or textile, tourism does not invest in modern skilling via industrial activity, which ithey consider detrimental to tourism. Illanperuma points out how our regional competitors in tourism, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, did not collapse in the way Sri Lanka did during the pandemic: ‘This is because they are rising manufacturing powers first and tourist attractions a distant second or third.’

*

• Meanwhile, in other Hollywood news… we are forced to recall and wonder of the present fate of the experts at that grand Asia Liberty Forum (ALF) conference on Sri Lanka, which declared:

‘To discuss & promote capitalism & free market policies

may look ironic in a country that is officially named ‘Democratic

Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’. Yet this country has more pro-market

policies than many supposedly capitalist Asian economies.’

*

This ALF held in 2019 was sponsored by the US Atlas Network, co-sponsored by the US Advocata Institute, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF, Germany) and Action Institute (US). Speakers included Razeen Sally (National University of Singapore), Pratap Bhanu Mehta (Ashoka University, India), and Fraser Howie (Independent Analyst, Singapore), Christer Ljungwall (ENC Center for Global Affairs, Sweden), and Ganeshan Wignaraja (Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations & Strategic Studies, Sri Lanka). We wonder where all these experts on Sri Lanka have scattered to. Maybe they believe the JVP has fallen for their lures & wiles, and now await its decomposition into more succulent portions.

     The FNF, which stands accused of going ‘beyond its legal limitations in Sri Lanka’, also sponsored US Advocata’s ‘Let’s Reset Sri Lanka’ ReformNow Conference at the BMICH, in August 2022, in the wake of the aragalaya. They demanded ‘Unlocking Land for Development, selling off national industries (SoEs, SriLankan Airlines), stripping Samurdhi (welfare), and dismantling labor laws (so-called flexibility).  So what will they do now?

     On election day, blatantly breaking the law, Colombo University professor & Sunday Times columnist Srimal Abeyratne, and Borah merchant & US Advocata chairman Murtaza Jafferjee circulated ‘their views’ on the economy, which were amply amplified by the outgoing President Ranil’s prolific Media Division (PMD).  Wickremasinghe had appointed Jafferjee, after the aragalaya, to form an ‘Economic Stabilization Dialogue’ between the Ministry of Finance & ‘independent’ economists.

     All those shouting about criminality and corruption ignore such macro-duplicity… And this week saw the hilarious episode of Germans giving stand-up dressing-downs to Colombo Anglicans about Jews and terrorist Arabs at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies. How centred those eponymous Bandaranaikes have become in the study of the international, we wonder.

     One acolyte of this crew of economic experts is the World Bank’s Shantha Devarajan, ‘who also acts as a Government Advisor on IMF’. He told the Sunday Times,‘The National People’s Power government has suggested to the IMF that it would like to modify some of the reforms to cushion the impact of the negative growth over the last 2 years on the poor.’ Devarajan is Professor of Practice of International Development, Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, USA. He promised:

There should be a way of doing this while staying within the parameters

of the overall fiscal adjustment program, which is crucial for achieving

debt sustainability & restoring investor confidence.

So, they aim to fondle the head with more insecure ‘social security’ before they cut it off. Investor confidence, eh! And what, pray, do they wish to invest in?

*

‘The principal impact of foreign enterprise on the development

of the underdeveloped countries lies in hardening & strengthening

the sway of merchant capitalism, in slowing down and indeed

preventing its transformation into industrial capitalism.’

– Paul Baran, The Political Economy of Growth, 1957

*

‘The rise of indigenous productive forces in the colonies stands

in irreconcilable contradiction to the interests of world imperialism,

whose very essence is to take advantage of the variation in the level of

development of productive forces in different arenas of the world economy

to achieve monopoly super-profits.’ – Theses on the Eastern Question,

4^th Congress of the Communist International, Resolutions 1922

*

It is rare to see the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce accused in a headline in a mainstream manhole, like the Wijeya Group’s Financial Times:

*

‘Sri Lanka’s ISB restructure: Debt trap backed

by IMF & Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’

*

Yet such truth is irrefutable. The IMF & Chamber of Commerce are aiming to lock Sri Lanka into a ‘perpetual cycle of debt & underdevelopment’, insists researcher Dhanusha Pathirana: The government is ‘directly colluding with the creditors’, and the deal is mired in corruption. Based on a flawed IMF’s debt sustainability analysis (DSA), Pathirana believes they are purposely underestimating the true cost of debt restructuring. The IMF plan is designed to sustain indebtedness, crippling Sri Lanka’s bargaining power with creditors. Tactics include weakening the currency over time, and ensuring they can exploit labor at the lowest price. While Lazard is the heavyweight financial and legal adviser to both Ghana and Sri Lanka, the IMF has given Ghana a better deal (perhaps due to the rising resistance to imperialism emanating from Ghana’s neighbor Burkina Faso). What is missing is Pathirana’s alternative to imperialism’s designs and an elaboration on what is to be done.

*

• The indefatigable Kamalika Pieris continues her wide rendering of Sri Lankan history, that rarely gets play in the daily capitalist mass media. Her recent archiving covers the link between what she called Indian Settler-Colonialism & the Tamil Eelam project (see ee Sovereignty). Tamil plantation workers (now funded as Malayaha Tamil!) have been endlessly played against the Sinhala peasant of the highlands.

     Our great scholars in their towers of imported steel give little insight into the English processes that turned India into such a ‘great’ exporter of emiserated labour, inserting them into strategic enclaves in the economy – port, railway, plantation, etc. This ee also concludes our look into how they turned people from citizens & cultivators and artisans into ‘coolies’.

     ee Focus looks at how our South Indian neighbor across the strait, Tamilnadu, and Tanjore in particular, was made a source for selling its people into indentured slavery, in Ceylon and the rest of the world.  While we should note that this account avoids England’s opium trade, grown in India and forced on China – its greatest commerce in the 19^th century – it is a curious omission in a tale of sheer displacement and destruction…

*

• ee continues George Jackson‘s analysis of US industrialization and Black workers in his classic, Blood in my Eye, published in 1971, the year the US government assassinated him. Jackson surveys the 2 largest fascist states in Latin Amerika – Brazil & Argentina, and their ‘dependence on foreign trade and their neocolonial status, which involves dependence on ‘foreign investment’.’ He also looks at the expansion of US industry out of the demands of their very uncivil ‘Civil War’, and ‘the morbid traditional fear of Blacks, Indians, Mexicans; the desire to inflict pain on them when they began to compete in industrial sectors‘.

*

_________

Contents:

Courtesy Global Policy Forum

Alaska Conservation Foundation
Dispatch
Mining the Ionosphere

Spring 1996 At a remote facility ringed with barbed wire, a brand-new array of 36 antennas rises from the black spruce forest that stretches hundreds of miles across central Alaska. Completed December 1994 and now undergoing testing, the antenna field is the visible part of a powerful and sophisticated high-frequency radio transmitter designed to transform areas of the upper atmosphere into the equivalent of huge lenses, mirrors, and antennas.

This little-known Pentagon-sponsored radiophysics project, called the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), is officially intended to expand knowledge about the nature of long-range radio communications and surveillance using the fluctuating [see “Way Up in the Ionosphere”], the portion of the upper atmosphere extending from 35 to 500 miles above earth’s surface. According to program manager John L. Heckscher of the Phillips Laboratory at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, potential military applications of the HAARP research include developing Department of Defense technology for detecting cruise missiles and communicating with submarines. “Although HAARP is being managed by the Air Force and Navy, it is purely a scientific research facility that poses no threat to potential adversaries and has no value as a military target,” he says.

But that’s just the publicly announced part of the program. HAARP also has a secret agenda: pursuing more exotic military goals, such as locating deeply buried weapons factories thousands of miles away and even altering the local weather above an enemy’s territory A 1990 internal document obtained by POPULAR SCIENCE says the program’s overall goal is to “control ionospheric processes in such a way as to greatly improve the performance of military command, control, and communications systems.” It provides a description of the following applications: · Injecting high-frequency radio energy into the ionosphere to create huge, extremely low frequency (ELF) virtual antennas used for earth-penetrating tomography peering deep beneath the surface of the ground by collecting and analyzing reflected ELF waves beamed down from above. · Heating regions of the lower and upper ionosphere to form virtual “lenses” and “mirrors” that can reflect a broad range of radio frequencies far over the horizon to detect stealthy cruise missiles and aircraft. · Generating ELF radio waves in the ionosphere to communicate across large distances with deeply submerged submarines. And, patent documents filed during an earlier research effort that evolved into the HAARP program outline further military applications of ionospheric-heating technology: · Creating a “full global shield” that would destroy ballistic missiles by overheating their electronic guidance systems as they fly through a powerful radio-energy field. · Distinguishing nuclear warheads from decoys by sensing their elemental composition. · Manipulating local weather.

When the full HAARP facility is constructed, it will include several sensing and analysis systems. At its heart is the antenna field, which now is a demonstration version of a larger planned array named the ionospheric research instrument (IRI), which will include 360 antennas. The IRI is designed to temporarily modify 30-mile diameter patches of the upper atmosphere by exciting, or “heating,” their constituent electrons and ions with focused beams of powerful, high-frequency radio energy. A household analogy would be a microwave oven, which heats dinner by exciting the food’s water molecules with microwave energy. Earth-penetrating tomography is a startling potential use of ionospheric heating. The method would work by beaming radio energy into the Auroral electrojet, the curved, charged-particle stream formed at high latitudes where the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field. The radio energy then disperses over large areas through ductlike regions of the ionosphere, forming a virtual antenna that can be thousands of miles in length. Such an ELF antenna can emit waves penetrating as deeply as several kilometers into the ground, depending on the geological makeup and subsurface water conditions in a targeted area. Aircraft or satellites stationed overhead would then collect the reflected ELF waves and relay them to computers at a processing station, where subsurface inhomogeneities that trace the outlines of structures such as underground weapons facilities can be imaged. North Korea and Iraq, where buried nuclear weapons labs are believed to exist, would be prime candidates for earth-penetrating tomography surveillance. Virtual lenses and mirrors will be generated in the ionosphere, if the IRI works as intended. By precisely warming a patch of the lower ionosphere, the IRI reduces its density relative to the surrounding atmosphere. An “ionospheric lens” thus formed can in turn focus a radio beam into the upper ionosphere [see drawing]. Normally, most high-frequency radio waves broadcast from the ground are absorbed or scattered in the lower ionosphere, and few of them reach such high altitudes.

Way up in atmosphere

The atmosphere near Earth’s surface is composed of a soup of neutral atoms and molecules of various gases, mostly nitrogen and oxygen. Things are different in the rarefied ionosphere, where the Sun’s ultraviolet and X-ray radiation transforms these particles into ions and free electrons through the process known as ionization. Radio communications are profoundly affected by the ionosphere, which can variously reflect, distort, or absorb radio signals, depending on their frequency and other conditions. Sometimes listeners around the world can hear a high-frequency, shortwave broadcast that has repeatedly “bounced” off the ionosphere. Similarly, AM radio broadcasts that don’t carry very far during the day can sometimes be received much farther away at night, when the ionosphere’s reflectivity increases. The ionosphere is a notoriously changeable medium for radio transmission. It varies with the day-night cycle, in response to perturbations in Earth’s magnetic field, and particularly during periods of sunspot activity, when high-frequency and very low frequency radio communication may become impossible, and power-grid failures on the ground can even occur. Since there are so few atmospheric particles in the ionosphere, our normal concept of tempera doesn’t work. Up there, temperature is an expression of how excited or “hot” the electrons are. Electron temperatures range between -130 °F and 302 °F across the ionosphere’s four layers, which extend from 35 to 500 miles in altitude. The local heating effect of the HAARP transmitter is expected to raise electron temperature by 40 °F according to the Air Force, and to endure as long as three months.

Next, the focused radio beam excites a patch of the upper ionosphere to form a virtual mirror. Finally, a radio-communication signal broadcast by the IRL focused through the lens and reflected from the mirror, can be directed far over the horizon.
Virtual lenses and mirrors could also be used to scan a blanket of very low frequency (VLF) radio waves transmitted by an over-the-horizon radar. Although they reflect little VLF energy, stealth aircraft can appear from above as “holes in the blanket,” thus betraying their position. Proprietary phased-array transmitting, steering, and pulsing techniques built into the IRI will permit rapid aiming of the radio-frequency beam in any direction, and at angles as low as 30 degrees above the horizon. This “oblique heating” ability enables HAARP to form virtual lenses or mirrors at distances of more than 1,000 miles from the transmitter.

Deeply submerged submarines can receive secure messages through ELF radio communication. But the antenna needed to generate a desirable transmission frequency such as 3OHz must be more than 1,200 miles long. Real estate parcels this shape are hard to come by on the ground, but not in the air. As in the case of earth-penetrating tomography, high-frequency radio energy transmitted into the Auroral electrojet can form a submarine communications ELF antenna thousands of miles long. Consequently, HAARP can beam ELF waves at nearly any portion of the Northern Hemisphere by using oblique heating. The full global shield is an exotic proposal for an Earth-encompassing shell of high-speed electrons and ions that would be generated by a much more powerful version of HAARP. Any missile or warhead passing through the protective shell would explode. Or, a “soft-kill” weapon system using ELF waves produced by HAARP heating could be used to overload power-distribution grids and destroy unshielded microelectronics using electromagnetic pulse energy similar to that released by a high-altitude nuclear explosion.
Real nuclear warheads and decoys, or the constituent materials of unfamiliar satellites, could be remotely distinguished in flight by bathing them in accelerated electrons. Analyzing the electromagnetic signal returns would reveal their elemental composition. Weather manipulation may be possible by building an ionospheric heater a thousandfold more powerful than HAARP. Differential heating of areas of the atmosphere could induce local weather conditions, such as floods or droughts, useful to the military. Smooth seas might suddenly be raked by treacherous squalls, creating or denying a tactical advantage. Other elements that will be installed at the HAARP facility include a 120-foot diameter incoherent-scatter radar dish, a Laser Detection and Ranging Device (LIDAR), a magnetometer, and other optical and infrared instruments designed to analyze low-level light emissions induced in IRI-heated regions of the ionosphere. In all, HAARP’s assemblage of transmitters, receivers, computers, and advanced signal-processing methods places it on the cutting edge of high-energy radio-physics research. The program is managed by the USAF Phillips Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research. Equipment is supplied by Advanced Power Technologies, a Washington, DC-based subsidiary of E-Systems of Dallas, a longtime maker of electronics used in ultra-secret projects such as signals-intelligence satellites and the President’s E-4B “doomsday plane,” which is designed to serve as an airborne White House in the event of nuclear war.

Initial work on HAARP was begun in the mid1980s by Atlantic Richfield Corporation’s subsidiary, ARCO Production Technologies Corporation, and its then-president, physicist Bernard Eastlund. ARCO wanted to find an onsite demand for the enormous amounts of Alaskan natural gas it owns. So it cooked up an energyintensive idea.
Eastlund worked under contract for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (now called ARPA) and was awarded three patents one of which was classified until 1991 for inventions dealing with ionospheric modification. One of the most grandiose systems described in his patents is a 40-mile square, HAARP-like radio transmitter that would have used huge amounts of electric power generated by turbines burning natural gas drawn from the vast North Slope reserves. “Full global shield” was conceived to wipe out the guidance systems of missiles in flight anywhere in the world. “I founded and led the ARCO program until 1987,” Eastlund says. “About that time Edward Teller visited Robert Hirsch, the ARCO vice president who had hired me. I don’t know the direct results of that discussion, but shortly thereafter new [secret] initiatives began which I was not privy to, and I declined further involvement.” Teller is a co-designer of the hydrogen bomb and was the arch-proponent of the now-abandoned X-ray-laser the centerpiece of Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars missile-defense program. Asked about his involvement in the beginnings of HAARP, Teller responded “I have no idea about that. I don’t remember anything about it.” Although it is much smaller than a “full global shield” system, Eastlund says, “HAARP is the perfect first step toward a plan like mine. Advances in phased-array transmitter technology and power generation can produce the field strength required. The government will say it isn’t so, but if it quacks like a duck, and it looks like a duck – there’s a good chance it is a duck.” Advanced Power Technologies president Ramy Shanny declined to comment on Eastlund’s claims. And the Defense Department is making no effort to dispel the impression that Eastlund’s story might sound a bit like science fiction. “HAARP certainly does not have anything to do with Eastlund’s thing, that is just crazy,” says Heckscher. “What we have here is a premier scientific research facility with military applications.”

Richard Williams, a physical chemist and consultant to the Sarnoff Laboratory at Princeton University, sees things differently. “Eastlund is an intellectual ace and a technologically savvy guy,” he says, “though there is a bit of Dr. Strangelove in him.” Speculation and controversy surround the question of whether HAARP’s 1.7 gigawatts (1.7 billion watts) of effective radiated power in the 2.8to 1OMHz frequency range might cause lasting damage to Earth’s upper atmosphere. By comparison, the energy level is more than 3,000 times greater than the biggest commercial AM radio transmitters. “HAARP will dump enormous amounts of energy into the upper atmosphere. We don’t know what will happen,” says Williams. “My concern is its effect on a global scale – you can’t localize the effects. With experiments on this scale, irreparable damage could be done in a short time. The immediate need is for open discussion. To do otherwise would be an act of global vandalism.” Eastlund himself observes that “There has never been a transmitter of this power in this frequency band. It would be wise to assess its impact.” The 440-page HAARP environmental-impact statement filed by the Air Force says that the normally upward-directed IRI transmissions can raise the internal body temperature of nearby people; ignite road flares in the trunks of cars; detonate aerial munitions that use electronic fuses; and scramble aircraft communications, navigation, and flight-control systems.

Program officials insist that the facility will operate safely during the four or five 14-day transmitting “campaigns” scheduled yearly. An integral part of the HAARP design is a system programmed to automatically cease transmitter operation if nearby aircraft are detected. The chain-link fence is designed to keep visitors from ending up in the path of a low-angle beam. For decades, high-frequency heaters around the globe have been operated by researchers studying how the injection of radio energy affects the ionosphere, and the process by which the upper atmosphere recovers from the disturbance. These include transmitters in Tromso, Norway, which are operated by Germany’s Max Planck Institute; Nizhny-Novgorod, Russia, and Dushanbe, Tadzhikistan, which are manned by Russian scientists; and U.S. facilities at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and Fairbanks, Alaska. HAARP’s power output nearly twice that of any other ionospheric heater combined with the rapid beam-steering ability and broad frequency range of its transmitter, will permit the IRI to modify higher-altitude areas of the ionosphere from greater distances than ever. A bank of six 2.5megawatt, 3,600-horsepower diesel generators powers the IRI prototype, while the rest of the facility taps electricity from a nearby power line.

Some prominent experts are unmoved by talk of HAARP’s possibly dire effects. The dean of American space scientists, James Van Allen, professor of physics at the University of Iowa and discoverer of the Earth-girdling radiation belts that bear his name, says “Every time you turn on a radio transmitter you modify the ionosphere. HAARP will perturb the ionosphere markedly for an hour, or maybe even a day, or perhaps at most a month. I don’t see any deleterious effects other than on local communications.” Van Allen says five decades of research have given him a feeling for the minute scale of influence humans have on the cosmos. “There is nothing that we as men can do that does not pale in comparison to the forces of nature.’
Alfred Y. Wong, professor of physics at UCLA and director of the high-power active-stimulation ionospheric heater HAARP’s little brother located in Fairbanks, Alaska, simulates ionospheric conditions in an atmospheric chamber at his Los Angeles laboratory. The device subjects electrons and ions to high-frequency radio heating, replicating the effects of HAARP. “We understand most of the fundamental mechanisms that underlie ionospheric heating. In chamber simulations we’ve conducted very detailed studies with reproducible results. We put probes in the chamber to study this. We found no negative effects,” he says. Wong believes HAARP could be used for environmental mitigation efforts, such as accelerating chlorine atoms into interplanetary space to prevent them from degrading Earth’s vital upper-atmospheric ozone layer. Though he acknowledges potential offensive military uses of HAARP, Wong believes no harm will occur from its operations. “I don’t see any problems, only surprises,” he says. “That’s why we do research.”

Others harbor a strong distrust of the program. A local organization called No HAARP firmly opposes the project on environmental and communications-disruption grounds. “This is not good science,” contends retired ARCO Production Technologies employee Clare Zickuhr, who leads the group. “They have no idea what this thing could do to the ionosphere. To put this in the hands of the military scares the hell out of me.” HAARP has proceeded full-steam ahead since its inception in 1990. The total amount of money spent over the past six years exceeds $58 million and may reach nearly $200 million by the end of the decade, when the installation is scheduled to be completed. The effort is a “congressional special-interest program,” meaning that supporters in Congress request funds for it on behalf of the Air Force and Navy Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is a staunch supporter of the program. Other Alaska state officials, however, have not been briefed about HAARP by the military Asked about the program, a spokesman for Governor Tony Knowles replied, “We have no idea what you are talking about.” State Representative Jeanette James, whose district surrounds the HAARP site, has repeatedly asked Air Force officials about the project and has been told “not to worry,” she says. “My gut feeling is that it is frightening. I’m skeptical. I don’t think they know what they are doing.” This not the last we will hear of HAARP. Whether or not the program’s sponsors understand its long-term effects, they appear to feel that the potential for useful military payoffs makes it worth taking some political heat although they may not have expected to attract any attention way out back in Alaska’s sub-Arctic taiga.

https://archive.globalpolicy.org/socecon/envronmt/haarp.htm

By Gitanjali Marcelline Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 10 (newsin.asia): It all started on Friday, September 6, 1946 at 5.00 p.m in ‘Palm Court’, Albert Crescent, Colombo. A Tamil member of the State Council, S. Natesan, proposed that a new political party be formed and that it be named United National Party (UNP). A Muslim member of the State Council, T. B. Jayah, seconded the proposal, thus laying the foundation of a party which manifestly stood for national integration.

United” – that’s what the UNP used to be in its heyday, when it was the ruling party from 1947 to 1956; from 1965 to 1970; from 1977 to 1994; from 2001 to 2004 and finally, from 2015 to 2020. In total, the UNP had governed Sri Lanka for 36 out of the 72 years since independence in 1948.  The Party had control of the Executive Presidency (EP) for 16 years from EP’s institution in 1978 to 1994.

What made the UNP such a powerful and durable party? The answer lay in its having sound leadership and people-centric policies. From the time of Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake up to  President Ranasinghe Premadasa, apart from representing the business community, the UNP’s leadership had adopted people-oriented policies on agriculture, power-generation and infrastructure development. It opened up the economy, thereby putting an end to excruciating and artificial shortages of articles of common use. It launched the Swarnabhoomi” land grants program, and the  Mahapola” educational scheme. It set up two universities (the Ruhuna and Eastern). It fulfilled the Million Houses Program, launched the Gam Udawa” Janasaviya”, and the 200 garments factories” program. It also decentralized the administration, which appealed to the masses, especially at the grassroots level.

Getting on to the Ranil Wickremesinghe era, from 1994 –2001, the UNP was in the opposition. Wickremesinghe was a relatively young politician with pro-West views and a penchant for neo-liberal economic policies. But what he sorely lacked was the common touch and an understanding of the needs of the hoi polloi. However, he had a rare political skill which enabled him to keep the UNP under his thumb even in adversity. He remains the leader of the UNP even when it has been reduced to a rump, as indeed it is now.

By 2001 Sri Lanka was facing the worst economic downturn since independence, brought about both by the badly going war against the LTTE and gross governmental mismanagement. The GDP had shrunk by 2.5% and the growth rate was negative. Not surprisingly, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)-led government fell in 2001 because of the defection of disgruntled people from its ranks. In the ensuing elections the UNP-led coalition won and Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister. The UNP fought on a platform of peace with the LTTE so that economic development could be pursued, a cause which had the peoples’ support.

Wickremasinghe became the Prime Minister for the second time (the first time being in 1993-94) and began a ‘cohabitation’ arrangement with President Kumaratunga who belonged to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Two months into his Premiership, Wickremesinghe signed a controversial ceasefire agreement with the LTTE. The agreement was followed by intense peace negotiations to find a solution to the ethnic conflict. But President Chandrika Kumaratunga believed that there had been a sell out to the LTTE which resulted in her taking over some key ministries which in a way crippled the Wickremesinghe government. But more on that later.

With ceasefire in place, the UNP-led government maintained strict fiscal discipline and market-friendly policies, which led to a resurgence in the economy, large-scale investments, and rapid economic growth. The government created key economic institutions such as the Board of Investment, the Ministry of Small and Rural enterprise and the Information Communication Technology Agency. Economic growth continued to accelerate, reaching almost 6% at the end of 2003, while inflation was at less than 2%, an all-time low. Many local and foreign experts believed that Sri Lanka was poised to reach double-digit economic growth within a few years.

So, what went wrong for the UNP? Although peace reigned and the economy grew, the ceasefire agreement with the LTTE was not popular and more importantly did not have the support of President Kumaratunga who, took over some key ministries to cripple the UNP government. Given the nationalistic wave Kumaratunga created along with her alliance with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), her United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won the 2004 elections, throwing the UNP again into the limbo.

In the Presidential election of 2005, the UPFA’s new candidate, the then Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, beat Wickremesinghe, though the latter performed reasonably well by bagging 48.43% of the vote. However, it is widely believed that if not for the boycott of the polls in the North and parts of the East, due to LTTE’s intimidation, Wickramesinghe would have won. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged, that Wickremesinghe  had lost much support among the Sinhalese majority because of his dalliance with the dreaded LTTE.

The second reason for his downfall was his penchant for supporting friends even when these friendships were costing him public support. In 2001, a friend,  Arjuna Mahendran, was appointed Chairman and Director-General of the Board of Investment, where his conduct was reportedly controversial. He was to come back as Central Bank Governor in 2015 only to indulge in the US$ 11 million bonds scam.

After winning the 30-year-old war against LTTE in 2009, President Rajapaksa called for an early Presidential Election in 2010. The UNP and JVP backed Gen (Rtd).Sarath Fonseka. This was the first time UNP had backed a non-UNP member for President. Though Fonseka was a formidable challenger as a war hero, Rajapaksa won with 57.88% of the popular vote. In April, Rajapaksa called for parliamentary elections which the UPFA won, bagging 144 seats while UNP-led United National Front (UNF) bagged only 60. Rajapaksa was still seen as the war winner and his charisma was infectious.

Puffed up with pride, President Rajapaksa, called for an early election in 2015 to seek a third term, not knowing that his corruption and misrule had dented his image greatly. The UNP and several other parties backed the rebellious SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena. Sirisena emerged victorious with 51.28% of the popular vote, in an election which saw a record turnout of 81.52%. Immediately after  Sirisena was sworn in, Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Prime Minister for the third time in his political career.

Being Sirisena’s main prop, the UNP took 70% of the ministerial posts. Wickremesinghe felt free to pamper his buddies and cohorts with plum positions in the cabinet and other semi-government organizations.  Charitha Ratwatte’s brother Suren Ratwatte was appointed CEO of Sri Lankan Airlines. Towards the end of Ratwatte’s 6 months’ probation, when the Board failed to unanimously agree to confirm him, Prime Minister  Wickremesinghe pushed for his confirmation. The same year, Wickremesinghe’s other buddy, Malik Samarawickrama, was appointed to Parliament on the National List. Later he became the Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade and Chairman of the UNP.

In 2015, Arjuna Mahendran was appointed the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka without the consent of President Maithripala Sirisena. And as pointed out earlier, during Mahendran’s tenure, a financial laundering scam took place in the CBSL which caused an estimated  loss of more than US$11 million to the nation.

On 20 August 2015, the major political parties UNP and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) signed an MOU to form a National Government for at least two years to resolve serious issues in the island. On 3 September 2015, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe presented a motion to exceed the limit imposed on the number of cabinet and non-cabinet ministers. According to the 19 th.Amendment, the cabinet cannot exceed 30 ministers. But in the event of the formation of a National Government,   the number could go up. Parliament approved the increase of Cabinet Ministers to 48 and non-cabinet ministers to 45.

On 9 September 2015, President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe formed a National Government with a total of 46 Cabinet Ministers, 19 State Ministers and 22 Deputy Ministers.This was the first time in Sri Lanka’s post-independence history that two major parties had formed a National Unity Government.

However, partly because of personality differences between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe and partly due to the contradictory provisions of the 19 th.Amendment, the government became dysfunctional. This state was on public display when, despite the availability of accurate intelligence from India, the government could not prevent the multiple bombings carried out by Islamic terrorists on Easter Sunday in 2019.

Prior to that, in 2018, the UNP had ‍suffered a crushing defeat in the 2018 local bodies’ elections. It was able to secure only 34 councils out of 340, while Mahinda Rajapaksa’s proxy the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) won 231 councils. The SLPP got 44.65% and the UNP 32.63% of the votes.

Because of its failure to address the concerns of the people and its failure to win elections, the party was in turmoil with many calling for Wickremesinghe’s ouster. Eventually, Wickremesinghe was forced to give up his ambition of standing for the Presidential election again. He agreed to support Sajith Premadasa, the party’s Deputy Leader. But the SLPP’s Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election with 52.25% of the votes and Sajith got 41.99%.

The defeat led to a formal split in the UNP with the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) emerging as a separate outfit under Sajith Premadasa. The UNP and the SJB fought the August 2020 parliamentary elections separately. The split was one of the factors which helped the SLPP win 150 seats out of 225. The SJB got 54 and the UNP none.

The UNP had suffered its worst-ever defeat in its history, receiving only 249,435 votes, which was 2.15% of the valid votes cast. For the first time in its history, it had failed to win a single seat in parliament. It got a National List seat though thanks to the Proportional Representation System. Clearly, Wickremesinghe had made a grievous mistake by not giving the leadership to Sajith and cooperating with him at the appropriate time.

So what ailed the UNP?  Leave alone disunity at national level, the party old guard did not want to give way to the young. The leadership was more intent on helping and safeguarding its friends and political cohorts’ interests than in meeting the needs of the people and the party cadres.

I am in no doubt that the founder members of the Grand Old Party  must be turning in their graves. It is amazing that even with the party in ruins, Wickremesinghe is refusing to vacate the leadership. The fact that the few leaders still left in the UNP have not been unable to oust him and elect a new leader shows that disunity still plagues the party. A party which was led by stalwarts like D.S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake and R.Premadasa is now nothing but a coterie of Lilliputians.

However, the UNP, as an ideology, cannot be written off as its voter base is not inconsiderable. In the 2018 local bodies’ elections, it got 32.63% while the SLPP got 44.65%. In the November 2019 Presidential election, it got 41.99%. And in the August 2020 parliamentary elections, the SJB, which is but an offshoot of the UNP, got nearly 24%. Therefore, what the  UNP got was a drubbing and not annihilation. If the UNP/SJB’s constituency is consolidated by the emergence of a suitable mass leader, it can be revived.

Though divided Between Sajith Preadasa and Ranil Wickremesinghe, the UNP’s voter base is still intact. If a strong leader emerges from its ranks, the Grand Old Party might become a national force again. The recent Presidential election showed that Sajith Premadas of the SJB and Ranil Wickremesinghe had together got 49.8% of the  votes as against 42.3% by Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Therefore, if the original UNP was united, its candidate might be the President today, and not Dissanayake!   

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව ත්‍රිපෝෂ සමාගම ඈවර කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් පසුගිය 07 වනදා පෙරටුගාමී සමාජවාදී පක්ෂයේ ප්‍රචාරක ලේකම් පුබුදු ජයගොඩ සහෝදරයා කරුණු එලිදරව් කරණු ලැබීය. එයට ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වමින් පසුගිය 09 වනදා මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරන මුදල්, ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන, ප්‍රතිපත්ති සම්පාදන, සැලසුම් සහ සංචාරක අමාත්‍යාංශ නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ත්‍රිපෝෂ සමාගම ඈවර කරන බවට පුබුදු ජයගොඩ කළ හෙළිදරව්ව මුසාවක් බව පවසයි. එයට ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වමින් සිය මුහුණුපොතෙහි සටහනක් තබන පුබුදු ජයගොඩ සාක්ෂි සහිත ත්‍රිපෝෂ සමාගම විකුණන බව පෙන්වයි.

පහත පලවන්නේ ඔහු සිය මුහුණු පොතේ තැබූ සටහනයි… 

“ත්‍රිපෝෂ සමාගම ඈවර කිරීමේ උත්සාහය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අප ඉදිරිපත් කළ තොරතුරු නොමග යවන සුළු බවට මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශය නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කර තිබේ. සමාජය නොමග යැවීම සැබවින්ම සිදු කරන්නේ මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශයම බව එම නිවේදනය කියවන විට පෙනේ. එම නිවේදනයේ තිබෙන්නේ ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශය ගැනය. අප කිව්වේ ත්‍රිපෝෂ සමාගම වසා දමන බව සඳහන්ව ඇත්තේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයක කියා නොවේ. එය සඳහන්ව ඇත්තේ ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ අත්සනින් 2024 සැප්තැම්බර් මස 27 වන දින නිකුත් කරන ලද අංක 2403/53 දරණ ගැසට් නිවේදනයේය. 

එම ගැසට් නිවේදනයේද එවැන්නක් සඳහන්ව නැති බව නිවේදනයේ යට ඡේදයක සඳහන්ව ඇත. මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශය සමාජය නොමග යවන බවට හොඳම නිදසුන එම වාක්‍යයි. අපට අසන්නට ඇත්තේ මෙපමණකි. එම ගැසට් නිවේදනය ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් අත්සන් කර රජයේ මුද්‍රණාලයාධිපති විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද එකක් නොවේද? රජයේ මුද්‍රණාලයේ නිල වෙබ් අඩවියට ව්‍යාජ ගැසට් නිවේදනයක් එකතු වුයේ කෙසේද? එය නිවැරදි ගැසට් නිවේදනයනම් එහි මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශයට අදාළ කොටසේ 36 වන වගන්තියේ ඈවර කිරීමට නියමිත ආයතන II උපලේඛනයේ 54 සිට 57 දක්වා සඳහන්ව ඇති බව ලියා නැද්ද? එය අපට ඇතිවූ යම් දෘෂ්ටි මායාවක්ද? II උපලේඛනයේ 57 වන අංකය යටතේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා සීමාසහිත ත්‍රිපෝෂ සමාගම ලෙස සඳහන්ව නැද්ද? එයත් යම් දෘෂ්ටි මායාවක්ද? 

ත්‍රිපෝෂ සමාගම ඈවර කිරීමේ උත්සාහයක් දරන ලද බව සඳහන්ව ඇත්තේ රජයේ නිල ගැසට් නිවේදනයකය. එයට සමාජ විරෝධය එනවිට එය නිවැරදි කිරීමට මැදිහත්වීම යහපත් ප්‍රවණතාවයකි. එහෙත් රජයේ නිල සහ නීත්‍යානුකූල ලියවිලි වන්නේ ගැසට් නිවේදන මිස මාධ්‍ය නිවේදන නොවේ. ඒ නිසා මාධ්‍ය නිවේදන නිකුත් කිරීම පසෙක ලා ගැසට් නිවේදනය සංශෝධනය කර වහාම නැවත අලුත් ගැසට් නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කළ යුතුය. එය සිදු නොකර අතේ පැලවෙන මුසාවන් දෙසා බෑම මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ නිලධාරීන්ට තරම් නොවේ. 

මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශ නිලධාරීන් ඇතුළු රජයේ බලධාරීනි, විහිලු කරන්න එපා! වගකීමෙන් වැඩ කරන්න.”

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, November 09 (Daily Mirror)- The government will take steps to eradicate the drug menace and the underworld while putting an end to the insecure situation in the country, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday.

Speaking at an election rally in Kegalle, he said discussions have already been held with the Secretary of the Public Security Ministry and higher officials to formulate a programme for this.

He said that in the past the drug business was carried out with the support and blessings of politicians and a few police officers and that the National People’s Power (NPP) government will launch a programme to eradicate the drug menace.

The government will ensure that everyone is equal before the law, put a stop to wastage of millions of public money, stop those who are evading the tax net, stop fraud and corruption while taking action against past incidents of fraud and corruption, the President added.

He said action will be taken to standardise politics where clear rules and regulations will be made on perks and privileges that are entitled to former Presidents.

Former Presidents had enjoyed excessive perks and privileges exceeding what had been granted by the Constitution, Acts and circulars, said President Dissanayake, adding that the NPP government recalled all perks and privileges enjoyed by them illegally.

“This is not political revenge. We will also take steps to amend laws and regulations to curtail perks and privileges that they are legally entitled to. We will introduce a mechanism where the former Presidents are required to apply for facilities such as residences from the government. If they want a residence from Colombo, they will need to apply for a residence from the government by filling an application where they need to mention reasons why they need such a residence,” he said.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, November 09 (Daily Mirror)- The government will investigate into and bring to book those responsible for the killing of peaceful people like Wasim Thajudeen, Lasantha Wickramatunga and the disappearance of Pradeep Ekneligoda, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today.

Speaking at an election rally in Dambulla, he said the government will end the era of innocent people being killed by the political authority and added that everyone’s lives were valuable.

“We will end the era of all the killings committed using political power. Everyone is worth their lives. There are no respondents for the killings of Wasim Thajudeen, Lasantha Wickramatunga and the disappearance of Ekneligoda. We will investigate into all incidents and bring to book the culprits who killed peaceful people,” he said adding that an atmosphere will be created where everyone could live without any fear.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka’s application to join BRICS will be considered in due course in consultations and consensus with numerous other bids from other countries under the chairmanship of Russia, the Russian Embassy said.   

The embassy said Russia, as the chair of BRICS, welcomes Sri Lanka’s application and that news reports about its rejection are inaccurate.

Sri Lanka placed on record its request to join BRICS at the latest summit in Russia. Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath also requested the member states to support Sri Lanka.

Under Russia’s presidency, BRICS (acronym for the founding states – Brazil, Russia, India and China) held its first summit following the group’s expansion on January 1, 2024, from 22 to 24 October in Kazan, Russia with more than 30 delegations, 22 heads of state or governments and several representatives of international organisations, including United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres attending, the summit was a diplomatic success for Russia. It offered President Vladimir Putin the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that Russia is not isolated. 

The meeting in Kazan underlined BRICS’s ambition to foster relations with the Global South, and its aim of shaping an alternative multipolar world order, particularly in the global financial and trade system.

Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane represented Sri Lanka at the summit.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs refutes the media reports claiming that Sri Lanka’s application for BRICS membership has been rejected.

Issuing a statement in this regard, the ministry stated that as approved by the Cabinet on 07 October 2024, Sri Lanka applied for membership in BRICS and the New Development Bank (NDB). 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath wrote to his counterparts in BRICS member countries informing of Sri Lanka’s interest to join. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake also wrote to his Russian counterpart in this regard”, it added.

Furthermore, the Foreign Affairs Ministry clarified: At the BRICS Outreach Summit held in Kazan, Russia 22-24 October 2024, Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane, as leader of the Sri Lanka delegation announced Sri Lanka’s interest. At the Summit, the BRICS Member States also endorsed a new category of Partner Countries, whilst ‘welcoming the considerable interest by countries of the Global South in BRICS’ (Kazan Declaration).”

The statement highlighted that pending requests for BRICS membership from many countries including Sri Lanka will be considered by BRICS member countries in due course.

Sri Lanka’s intention to join the New Development Bank was welcomed by the President of the New Development Bank, the ministry noted, adding that the Foreign Ministry together with relevant government agencies will review the procedures and timing in this regard.

There is no truth in the statement carried in certain local media that Sri Lanka’s BRICS application has been rejected. It is regrettable that the points made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the post-cabinet media conference on 6 November 2024 have been misrepresented”, the Foreign Affairs Ministry added.

In the meantime, the Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka also issued a statement highlighting that the Russian BRICS Chairship welcomed Sri Lanka’s interest in joining the BRICS and that its application will be considered by BRICS in due course in full consultation and consensus along with bids of numerous other countries who have also applied.

The local media reports that Sri Lanka’s application has been rejected are wrong”, the embassy added.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) has urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in writing to launch an immediate investigation into state-sanctioned crimes during the 1988-89 period, and serve justice for the lives of fallen Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) heroes including Rohana Wijeweera.

Ahead of the 35th Il Maha Viru Samaruwa”, the commemoration of fallen JVP heroes on November 13, the FSP’s letter to the President, honoring Comrade Rohana Wijeweera and others who lost their lives in the struggle for socialist transformation, emphasized the need to uncover the truth behind kidnappings, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings attributed to state terrorism” at that time.

The FSP further stated that crimes against humanity were not limited to the 1988-89 southern uprisings but were also widespread during the civil conflict in the north. They highlighted past commissions and the Office of Missing Persons as steps taken by prior administrations, yet they argue these efforts have fallen short of true justice.

Now that the President, leader of the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), has assumed office, the FSP calls on him to prioritize a comprehensive investigation, bringing to light the events surrounding the deaths and disappearances, including that of Rohana Wijeweera. 

As an initial step, the FSP proposes full disclosure of investigation findings to the public and accountability for those responsible. The party has pledged its support and offered to provide relevant evidence to assist in delivering justice to the victims and their families.

Courtesy Hiru News

Samagi Jana Balawegaya leader Sajith Premadasa criticized President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, claiming he has not only broken promises made to the people but also deprived them of their rightful benefits.

Sajith Premadasa made these remarks at a public meeting in Kesbewa.

උපුටාගැණීම මුහුනුපොත

වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව බලයට පත් වීමේ මූලික තේමාව ලෙස යොදා ගත්තෙ “හොරකමට එරෙහි වීම” කියන තේමා පාඨයයි. ජවිපෙ ඉතිහාසයේ කිසි දිනක එම තේමා පාඨය තම මූලික තේමා පාඨය බවට පත් කර ගත්තේ නැත. ජවිපෙ මේ තේමා පාඨය සිය මූලික තේමා පාඨය කරගත්තේ එහි වත්මන් නායකයා වන අනුර දිසානායක පක්ෂ නායකයා වූ පසුවයි.

1977 න් පසු රට තුළ විශාල වශයෙන් දූෂණ,වංචා, සහ අක්‍රමිකතා විශාල ලෙස සිදුවන බවත් ඒ බොහෝ ඒවා සමඟ දේශපාලන බලය සම්බන්ධව ඇති බවත් රටේ ජීවත්වන සැමදෙනාම දන්නා දෙයකි. ඒ අනුව මේ දූෂණ,වංචා, සහ අක්‍රමිකතා වලට විරුද්ධ දේශපාලන කතිකාවතක් ගොඩ නැගීම අවශ්‍ය කාරණාවක් ව තිබිණි. ඉන්දියාවේ ද කලකට ඉහත අන්නා හසාරේ සහ අරවින්ද් කෙජ්‍රිවාල් වැනි පුද්ගලයෝ දූෂණයට එරෙහිවීම යන තේමාවම යටතේ දේශපාලන ව්‍යාපාර ගොඩ නැගූ අතර ඒවා යම් ජනප්‍රියත්වයකට පත් විය.

අද වන විට අප රටේ මූලික දේශපාලන තේමාව වී ඇත්තේ සොරකම සහ සොරු ඇල්ලීම යන්න බව පැහැදිලිය. 2022 ඇති වූ ආර්ථික අර්බූදයේ සිට බිත්තරයක මිල තීරණය වීම යන ක්ෂුද්‍ර කාරණා දක්වා “සොරකම” සම්බන්ධ බව සිතන තරමට ජනතාව තල්ලු කිරීමට අනුර දිසානායකගෙන් පසු ජවිපෙ ගෙන ගිය මේ ප්‍රොපගැන්ඩාව සමත් වී ඇත.

මේ ආකාරයෙන්ම 2015 බලයට පත් ආණ්ඩුව ද බලයට පත් වූයේ සොරකමට එරෙහි වීමේ තේමාව මුල් කරගෙනය. එසේ නමුත් රටේ සිදු වූ විශාලම පරිමාණයේ මූල්‍ය වංචාවට එම ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රබලයන්ගේ නම ගෑවීම නිසා ඒ ආණ්ඩුව සම්බන්ධව තිබූ ජනතා විශ්වාසය මුළුමනින්ම පළුදු විය.එවබැවින් අනෙකා සොරෙකු බව කීමට තමා සොරකු නොවී සිටීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය කාරණාවක් බව පැහැදිලිය.

ජවිපෙ කියන්නේ 76 වසරක් රට පාලනය කළ ආණ්ඩු සියල්ල රටේ සම්පත් කොල්ල කෑ බවයි. ජවිපෙට 2024 දක්වා ආණ්ඩු බලයක් තිබී නැත. නමුත් ජවිපෙ සොරකම් නොකළ පක්ෂයක්ද?

ජවිපෙ බිහි වූයේ 1965 දීය. මුල් කාලයේ පක්ෂයේ අරමුදල් තිබුණේ නැත. පක්ෂයට අරමුදල් සම්පාදනය වෙනුවෙන් ජවිපෙ කුඩා ගොවිපොළවල් ආරම්භ කිරීම වැනි සුළු ව්‍යාපාර ආරම්භ කරන ලද අතර විජේවීර පොළවල් වල මුට්ට කර ගැසීමෙන් මුදල් ඉපයූ බව කියැවේ.

නමුත් පසු කලෙක ජවිපෙ වඩා ලාභදායි ක්‍රමවලට යොමු විය. ජවිපෙ විසින් සන්නද්ධ කැරලි දෙකක් සිදු කරන ලද අතර ඒ කාලවලදී පක්ෂවලට අරමුදල් සම්පාදනය සඳහා මංකොල්ලකෑම් සිදු කළහ. කලක් පක්ෂයේ උපනායක ලෙස ක්‍රියා කළ උපතිස්ස ගමනායක 1973 දී මුල්වරට අත් අඩංගුවට පත්වන්නේ දැරණියගල ප්‍රදේශයේ වතුයායක වැටුප් මංකොල්ලකෑමට යාම අතරතුරයි.

1983 පක්ෂ තහනමෙන් පසුද ජවිපෙ විශාල ප්‍රමාණයෙන් මංකොල්ලකෑම් සිදු කළහ. 1983 පක්ෂ තහනමින් පසු ඝාතණය වූ මුල්ම ජවිපෙ සාමාජිකයා අනුරාධපුර සරත් විජේසිංහයි. සරත් විජේසිංහ ගේ ඝාතණය එවකට ආණ්ඩුව ජවිපෙට එරෙහිව දියත් කරන ලද භීෂණයේ පළමු බිල්ල ලෙස ජවිපෙ නිතර දක්වයි. කෙසේ නමුත් සරත් විජේසිංහ මිය ගිය ගොස් ඇත්තේ මංකොල්ලයකදී සිදු කළ වෙඩි තැබීමකිනි.

1985 දී ගුරු වැටුප් මංකොල්ලකෑමකට සම්බන්ධ වූ ජවිපෙ මධ්‍යම කාරක සභික තල්පාවිල ධර්මේ එහිදී හසු වූ අතර පහර කෑම නිසා මිය ගියේය. ජවිපෙ දෙවන කැරැල්ලේදී මිය ගිය පළමු ප්‍රධාන පෙළේ නායකයා මිය ගියේ ඒ ආකාරයෙනි.

1986න් පසුව විශාල ප්‍රමාණයේ බැංකු මංකොල්ලවලට ජවිපෙ සම්බන්ධ විය:

1986 ගල්ගමුව මහජන බැංකුව – මුදල් ලක්ෂ 12 සහ රන් බඩු ලක්ෂ 20

1987 දිවුලපිටිය මහජන බැංකුව -මුදල් ලක්ෂ 10 සහ රන් බඩු ලක්ෂ 25

1988 නුවර දිගන මහජන බැංකුව – මුදල් ලක්ෂ 60 සහ රන් බඩු කිලෝ 54

1989 මොරටුව මහජන බැංකුව – මුදල් සහ රන්බඩු ලක්ෂ 60

1989 කටුබැද්ද ලංකා බැංකුව – මුදල් ලක්ෂ 82

1989 තංගල්ල මහජන බැංකුව – මුදල් ලක්ෂ 30 සහ රන් බඩු ලක්ෂ 50

1989 වැල්ලවත්ත මහජන බැංකුව – මුදල් ලක්ෂ 222 සහ රන් බඩු ලක්ෂ 20

උපුටා ගැනීම – “සටනින් සටන”, ධර්මන් වික්‍රමරත්න

මීට අමතරව 87-89 භීෂණ සමයේ ගම් මට්ටමින් ද මුදල් සහ රත්තරන් බඩු මංකොල්ලකෑම් සිදු විය. පිළිමතලාව ඉන්ධන පිරවුම්හල කොල්ලකෑමට පැමිණි කැරළි කරුවකු හමුදා වෙඩි පහරින් මරුවට පත් වූ බව මගේ මතකයේ ඇත.

මෙලෙස කොල්ලකෑම් සිදු කිරීම නිසා 1989 වන විට පක්ෂයට විශාල මුදල් සම්භාරයක් එකතු වී තිබිණි. විජේවීර ඇතුළු නායකයන්ට සැඟවී සිටීම සඳහා බණ්ඩාරවෙල ලෙව්වෙගොඩවත්ත, උලපනේ ශාන්ත මේරි වතුයායම, ගලහ අරලිය වතුයාය වැනි විශාල ප්‍රමාණයේ ඉඩම් මිලට ගැනීමට ජවිපෙට වත්කම් තිබිණි. අවසාන කාලයේ ඩී.එම්. ආනන්ද, සමන් පියසිරි ප්‍රනාන්දු, එච්බී හේරත් වැනි පළමු පෙලේ නායකයන්ට ගමන් කිරීමට රියදුරු සහිත මෝටර් රථ තිබිණි. (ඔවුන් ඇතැමෙක් අත් අඩංගුවට පත් වීමට හේතු වූයේ ද මේ රියදුරුන් විසින් කරන ලද පාවාදීම්ය.)

එපමණක් නොව මෙලෙස කොල්ල කන ලද රත්තරන් බඩු ද විශාල වශයෙන් එකතු වී තිබිණි. කැරලි කරුවන් ලුහු බැඳි ඇතැම් ආණ්ඩුවට සම්බන්ධ ඇතැම් සන්නද්ධ කණ්ඩායම් මේවා ගැන ද විමසිලිවත් වූ බව වාර්තාවල දක්නට ලැබේ.

1971 කැරැල්ලේදී කුරුණෑගල ට පලාගිය කෑගල්ලේ කැරලි කණ්ඩායම විසින් මැල්සිරිපුරදී කොල්ල කෑ ධනයෙන් කැරලිකරුවන් අතර සිටි ඇතැම් පිරිස් පසුව ධනවතුන් වූ ආකාරය ඒ අතර සිටි කැරලි නායකයකු වූ පැට්‍රික් ප්‍රනාන්දු ලියා ඇත. (“සටන්කාමියා”, පැට්‍රික් ප්‍රනාන්දු)

89 කැරැල්ලේ පරාජයත් සමඟ කැරලි කරුවන් පිරිසක් උඩවලවේ ප්‍රදේශයේ සැඟවී සිටියහ. එහි නායකයා වූ රුහුණු විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ සිසුවකු වූ ප්‍රේමචන්ද්‍ර කොඩිතුවක්කු ඝාතණය කර ඔහු සන්තකයේ තිබූ රත්තරන් කිලෝ 30ක් කැරලිකරුවන් කිහිප දෙනෙක් පැහැර ගත් බව වාර්තා වේ. (“සටනින් සටන”, ධර්මන් වික්‍රමරත්න)

මෙවන් සිද්ධීන් වලින් පෙනෙන්නේ මෙලෙස කොල්ලෑ කෑ ධනය සියල්ල පක්ෂයේ අරමුදල් තුළට නොව විවිධ අක්‍රමිකතා හරහා නොයෙක් අය අතටද අත්පත් වී ඇති බවයි.

By Sena Thoradeniya

[The writer began compiling this essay immediately after the Presidential election, but could not complete it as he was indisposed. Although its title may sound rather outdated its contents are still valid and new developments what were not originally thought of makes it more current.]  

With apologies to Marx and Engels we begin:  A spectre is haunting Sri Lanka – the spectre of NPP. All political parties in the now dissolved Parliament and others who strive to enter the new Parliament have accepted its dominance and its probable victory at the next Parliamentary election scheduled for November 14, 2024. All opposition parties fight to be a strong”, formidable” opposition, already conceding defeat before the Parliamentary election and urge the electorate not to give the NPP a two-third majority. By saying so they all boost the chances of a runawayNPP victory.  This is a poor response showing the helplessness to come to terms with what is happening and the inability to assess what has happened and how it happened which influence political behavior andfuture orientation of Sri Lankan politics. All are disoriented and flabbergasted as headless chicken and none of these parties except SJB who changed its original lackluster stance, asking for a mandate for their parties, which is a strange phenomenon in Parliamentary politics. Voters would not vote for a party which says that it cannot win a mandate to be the ruling party in the Parliament.

It should be remembered that under Yahapalana regime there was a strong opposition in numbers (Joint Opposition), but the TNA and JVP worked with the government; TNA leader was made the Leader of the Opposition and Anura Kumara Chief Opposition Whip!

Aim of this article is not to analyse this phenomenon and intra-party and inter-party rivalries or assess the performance of the new government and the dilemmas it must encounter as there are many commentators to do so and our role is not to be unofficial advisors or provide unsolicited advice. Our aim is to comment on Sri Lanka’s English press, how it hails the ascendency of Anura Kumara as the President of Sri Lanka and its thoughtlessness and lack of foresight in assessing current events unfolding; above all else to pinpoint what they have ignored deliberately. We leave out Sinhala press because this is the way they react normally, something different in pre-nationalisation days of the Lake House Group of Newspapers.

All newspaper columnists, feature writers, editorialists, opinion makers, pseudo-theoreticians, USAID -aided NGO cabal, old Trotskyites living here and abroad, remnants of Tiger propagandists, upper middle class anglophiles  famed for their anglomania and US poodles who have become propagandists of Kamala Harris in this wretched country, US -funded stonewashed thinktanks, business leaders, chambers, retired diplomats, retired police officers, ex-planters, Buddhist priests and Catholic Church have entered an unholy alliance, not to exorcise this spectre, all are enthralled by it. In 1971 and 1988/89 they all entered a holy alliance with the government forces and paramilitary groups to crush the JVP/DJV, NPP’s old womb. What has happened to the old JVPers decried by the Colombo elites and branded as a set of killers, arsonists, destructors and saboteurs?

Why this sudden jubilation?  Oldtimers are aware of how the English press pilloried SWRD and Sirimavo governments. Observer cartoonist Aubrey Collette buried SWRD alive and vilified T.B. Illangaratne with allusions of having hotels in Switzerland, always depicted carrying a money bag (what he got as compensation for loss of employment as a public servant for participating in 1947 General Strike). When Sirimavo became the Prime Minister, Premadasa said that the chair had to be cleaned monthly and the press reported the gutter talk gleefully. 

What the English press think is that all other politicians were tried, tested and failed, living luxurious lives, resorting to corruption, nepotism and parking money abroad. They hail Anura Kumara as a non-elite leader as all of them were converted into Communists, Socialists or common man’s friends, forgetting that the Sri Lankan voters had given a chance to Premadasa and Sirisena respectively, two non-elite politicians, one belonging to lower rungs among the depressed castes.  Some even hail Anura Kumara as Ran Banda’s Kolla”,little brat (son) of the humble survey laborerRan Banda.

Some have begun to write Addresses”(Isthuthi Pathra) (like the ones colonial native officers presented to visiting Royalty, Governors and Government Agents on tour) that present JVP is wiser, much more democratic”, different from what it was in 1971 and 1989”, new leaders are sensible”, as the scribes have become political historians overnight. This is the crap they pickup from English newspaper editorials, EconomyNext reportages and MTV English talk shows. If they are exposed to Sinhala news telecasts, Sinhala breakfast shows and Sinhala social media posts they would retreat, tails tucking between their legs!

A retired Christian high-ranking police officer, father-in-law of a former Viyathamaga grandee who gave dead ropes to GR, later decamped, saw Anura Kumara’s victory as a revolution without violence”. He does not call it a bloodless revolution”. 1956 election victory of SWRD was hailed as a silent revolution” by the progressives. Very same anglicized writers hailed Sirisena’s victory as a Revolution” and those who oppose him were labeled as Counter-revolutionaries”, giving distorted meanings to Revolution” and Counter-Revolution”.

Why there was no violence after the Presidential election? Reason was that the NPP was able to win. Things would have been different if the result was not in favour of the NPP and the counting of the second preference took a long-time leaving room for speculations and unfoldingconspiracy theories.  The other reason was NPP’s renewed expectation on an imminent parliamentary election. NPP did not want to ruin its chances of a victory at the parliamentary election.  

What would have happened if the NPP refused to concede defeat and claim the election had been rigged in a situation where SP or RW won? Remember Somavansa Amerasinghe and Tilvin Silva crying computer jilmaat” after the defeat of SF in 2009. Who can deny that in such a scenario JVP/NPP would not unleash its stormy petrels as they did on 9 May 2022?

NPP’s main expectation is eradication of corruption, not short-term, mid-term, or long-term solutions to burning problems or any other populist measures. Now populist measures also have gone haywire.

These writers forget that the NPP is a cronyof India and the US, not equipped to manage India and the US, think that changing heads is equivalent to all-encompassing system change. In our book, Galle Face Protest: Systems Change or Anarchy?”  (2023) we have explained in greater detail what is meant by system change, Marxist point of view of system change, systems theory as a management tool, types of change, management of change and process of change, a guideline for all doing pep talk tosystem change. 

What JVP/NPP displayed was hostility and hatred to mainstream political parties, and their leaders and the so-called political dynasties.  These new found friends of the NPP think that 47 years of corrupt free market economy is the only feasible way for Sri Lanka.

We don’t want to quote from all those essays as it can be construed as giving credence to such absurdities. Those writers who had expressed some balanced views about the political situation a few months ago are also bogged down in this quagmire. Upper middle-class anglophiles caution the new President and Prime Minister to escape from assassination attempts as there are contract killers who can be hired for even 2000 rupees, a poor calculation of underworld deals!  They should understand that if there are assassination attempts as such, they will originate from foreign powers to replace the incumbent President with a more suitable lackey as Harini Amarasuriya.

Even the so-called Kuppi Talks men and women of our universities cannot escape from this spectre. They unashamedly quote from Anura Kumara’s media shows   made at progress review meetings which cannot be considered pedagogical or theoretical. 

Why all these people have turned into praise singers of this man whoaccording to some who rose from wattle daub cottage to President’s House” (reminding the log cabin saga), a subaltern, outsider of dynastic-walauwa clan – politics as they say? As stated above Sri Lanka have produced two such persons by electing Premadasa and Sirisena respectively as Presidents.  Have they become enthusiasts of subaltern politics? No. This same person has disgraced Edgar Snow’s classic and factual reporting, the first full account of Mao Zedong and the Red Armies who resisted both the Japanese invaders and Kuomintang hirelings and the successfulcompletion of the Long March, Red Star Over China” (first published in 1937) by borrowing its title and corrupting it to Leftist Star Rises Over Sri Lanka”. These journalists do not have anything to portray as achievements, accomplishments, talents and personal traits of Anura Kumara – they just portray him as an avid reader who read aloud climbing an araliya tree, Rajarata lad who could swim the entire distance of Nuwara Wewa”, so on and so forth. Anyway, we thank him for dubbing the NPPers crimson comrades” rather than calling them Reds. 

Some of these jurnos showing their optimism praise the so-called miniscule cabinet” as a world’s first, completely forgetting how the cabinet became miniscule”, as the NPP had only three MPs. All of them predict an NPP victory at the parliamentary election. These anglophiles are happy to state that Anura Kumara has shaken off the Marxist label when the world press announced that Sri Lanka has elected a Marxist President. We have stated in our article titled Why Foreign Media Dub Sri Lanka’s New President as a Marxist?”, posted on 3, October,that the JVP en masse has shed its Marxist” skin a long time ago. Their expectations of wiping out cronyism and family favoritism were shredded into pieces when one investigates the key appointments Anura Kumara has made so far.     

Why all these people have turned into praise singers of a man carrying the legacy of arson, economic destruction, killing and who gave untoward suffering to masses of people? Reasons are many. Some of them want to curry favour thinking that the JVP/NPP stalwarts like Lal Kantha and Samarasinghe read English dailies. Former colonial plantation managers also had joined this ecstasy as old Merry Men of Uva”, forgetting the tea factories torched by the JVP/DJVP and the plantation managers gunned down by their unidentified gunmen”. They openly say that they voted for the NPP; nobody is interested to know to whom they have voted.

The newest person to join this chorus is a former top bureaucrat under several dispensations, a Defence Secretary, a Governor, a Presidential Secretary and a High Commissioner.  This person addresses Anura Kumara as Comrade Anura” as he was already being given the membership by the JVP/NPP. We do not like to discuss the disastrous decisions these people have taken and implemented while in office as it is a different story. Belly of a serpent may be white; but not its venom. These creatures can expand their jaws so wide that they can consume large prey including politicians!

An arch Indian lackey this man provides Comrade” Anura with unsolicited advice regarding the implementation of the 13^th Amendment, to prioritize devolution, to learn from Jaishankar, to follow India’s experiences with devolution as in Jammu and Kashmir. It should be stated that recentlyIndian-controlled Kashmir’s regional legislature passed a resolution demanding the Indian government to restore the region’s disputed semi-autonomy which was scrapped by Modi in 2019. Modi government not only scrapped its semi-autonomy, it downgraded it and divided the former state into two centrally governed union territories Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir can legislate on local issues except matters regarding public order and policing.

Soon after the passing of the resolution demanding the Indian government to restore the region’s disputed semi-autonomy, Modi rejected the call saying Only the constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar will operate in Kashmir. No power in the world can restore Article 370 (partial autonomy) in Kashmir”.  

With this type of advice Anura Kumara does not need any more comrades”!

A staunch supporter of Galle Face ghetto this person coined a word to sanctify the Galle Face ghetto men and women as Aragalists”.Publication of his article was timely as it was the day the new government recalled some top diplomats.

During the Presidential election this person wrote an article about Thambuttegama Herath Banda. This writer suspected for what he was up to and what would be his next move. In the 50’s a boy fromThambuttegama village, Herath Banda was dubbed by the press as Thambuttegama Lama Yodhaya (child- giant”), an overweight child partaking an unusual volume of food which his parents could not afford. Later this giant” was shown at the Kandy Esala Perahera Carnival charging 50 cents by some village gangsters.

One writer was stupid enough to say that BRICS application demonstrates Anura Kumara’s vision”, thoughtless about who initiated it. We would now add that not attending BRICS summit has shielded Anura Kumara from Julie Chung’s wrath!  

A retired diplomat saw a new dawn for Sri Lanka”, that Anura Kumara’s rise to the Presidency marks a new chapter in Sri Lankan history! How many dawns Sri Lanka had from 1947? But the day did not break! How many chapters we have turned? But could not read what was written!These columnists do not want to see a hung parliament leading to political instability.

Wehave listed down some reasons for the epiphany of these writers. They will realise shortly that this festival would be ephemeral, in other words short-lived. Many of these reasons do not warrant any elucidation as they are self-explanatory.

1. Animosity to Rajapaksas

The main reason is the hatred toward Rajapaksas.

2. Galle Face Protest

As all these writers were supporters of the so-called aragalaya”, protest”, porattam” , they are of the opinion that the Galle Face Carnival paved the way for this victory.

3. Harini Amarasuriya Factor

The nominee of Julie Chung as the PM, representative of NGO cabal, comprador-bourgeoisie consisting of colonial plantation interests, bankers, multi-national  business conglomerates, LGBTQA community, constitution maker under yahapalana regime, pro-US, pro-Western liberal trained in India, Europe and the US, darling of Julie Chung, dubbed as a toxic male champion” (whatever itsmeaning) recently by a female writer, looking more masculine than feminine,  promoted over old JVP lot and other old Trotskyites in the national list in 2020, has become the darling of Colombo elites. (Please see our articles, Janus-faced JVP: False Conceptions and Harini Amarasuriya Factor”, posted on December 14, 2023 and Why Foreign Media Dub Sri Lanka’s New President as a Marxist?”, posted on October 3, 2024 respectively). A complete outsider to JVP politics she in August 2022 criticized the JVP that the JVP did not know what to do next after attacking police stations in 1971, or after the ouster of Gotabaya and at this moment JVP does not have any practical vision for future. It is clear that she leads a certain non-antagonistic faction of the NPP. In future this may develop into an antagonistic contradiction.

It is a rare feat in leadership that in certain cases leadership is thrust upon someone who happen to have been in the right place at the right time (In this case with only 3 MPs), without any physical (including physical  attractiveness), social (including empathy, emotional maturity),  personality and personal traits (including verbal skills and experience).  We do not deny that successful leaders begin to display some of these traits after they have achieved leadership positions.

She goes into the annals of history as the first unmarried woman Prime Minister. Jacinda Arden of New Zealand who became the first youngest leader, pregnant and went on maternal leave while in office had a partner. In Asian context people expect that their women leaders married, having children and experience in home management and home economics. Amarasuriya is the first denim wearing Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. An American trained Sinhala lecturer at Peradeniya, who is also an Executive Member of the NPP, sometime back was notorious to express that the first Sri Lankan radical woman was the one who wore a denim!

4. Maintaining the status quo instead of change”, system continues

Continuity and change are two opposite ends of a continuum. Change weakens continuity and vice versa. Instead of much publicised change we witness continuity.

The new government began with retaining Secretary Finance and Governor of the Central Bank who declared Sri Lanka’s bankruptcy, both agents/former employees of the IMF. Incidentally the uncle of present Governor of the Central Bank, the then UNP MP for Tangalle was gunned down by the JVP/DJV assassins. Readers are reminded that the NPP did not participate in the Parliamentary Debate debating against the unprecedented pay hike proposed by the Central Bank to its employees.

World Bank signed an additional US $ 200 million to support Sri Lanka’s economic reforms in October under Second Resilience, Stability and Economic Turnaround (RESET) Development Policy Operation (DPO). This is the second operation in a 2-part series that began in 2022. The first operation totaling $500 was disbursed in June and December 2023 during RW’s tenure.

5. Continuation of IMF programme and RW’s economic reforms

Contrary to platform rhetoric Anura Kumara has chosen to abide by the IMF conditions and endorse the Debt Sustainability Programme of the IMF to the merriment of the NPP’s new found friends in the English press, what was wanted by them. Now they know that Anura Kumara does not want to derail the IMF programme, biting the bullet.At the negotiation table it was a meek submission to IMF dictates and the government delegation including the so-called Senior Economic Advisors (Duminda Hulangamuwa and the academic) and Anura Kumara himself were passive listeners of IMF sermons. Meeting with the IMF delegation and the NPP team on October 2 was staging a comic drama as many of the NPP delegates who has no negotiation skills and experience were seen getting selfies, to the amusement of Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the Asia Pacific Department, Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief, Sarwat Jahan, Resident Representative and its Economist. To face the IMF delegation consisting of four members the NPP fielded a team consisting of eight novices.  But these English praise singers are cautious not to call this a Ranil-Dissanayake government.

IMF Team will be in Sri Lanka for the third review under the country’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme according to Krishna Srinivasan.  He said in Japan that the new government is fully committed to the IMF-supported programme, especially concerning fiscal and debt targets.

7. Continuation of the controversial passport order

 Anura Kumara’s government is carrying out last government’s controversial decision to procure N-series Machine Readable Passports (MRP) from the Consortium of Thales DIS Finland Oly and its Sri Lanka agent Just In Time (JIT) Technologies. The government decided to buy the full stock of 750,000 passports from Thales as sanctioned by RW government. The quoted price of Thales for each passport is Euro 4.52 or 4.96 US dollars.

8. NPP’s happy marriage with big businessmen, business conglomerates and Chambers which represent comprador-bourgeois interests

All chambers sent congratulatory messages to Anura Kumara; members of business cartels occupied front seats at Anura Kumara’s swearing-in-ceremony and when Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce receiving the letter of appointment as the Special Economic Advisor. Same people attended when he received an appointment letter from RW. This time minus their coats and ties!

9. Appointments made so far

The way the appointments were made so far to top positions does not contrast what was done by JRJ, Premadasa, CBK, MR, Sirisena, GR or Ranil Wickremesinghe. Most of these appointments consummate NPP’s happy marriage with big businessmen, business conglomerates and Chambers. Many of these appointments raise eyebrows showing conflicts of interests. It is apparent that Anura Kumara has become a prisoner of neoliberal majority of the NPP.

Anura Kumara has not appointed country bumpkins, rustic yokelsof Lal Kantha, Wasantha Samarasinghe (although now he is seen in business suits), Samantha Vidyaratna, Namal Karunaratna, Mahinda Jayasinghe, Nalin Hewage and Ranjan Jayalal type (all these people are contesting General Elections; next Parliament would be filled by these country bumpkins symbolizing clean Sri Lanka”) and NPP Youtubers which neither have a political education nor cultural sophistication to the satisfaction of Colombians to top positions. This is what was wanted by the elites who supported the NPP, giving top jobs to upper class business magnates. They are happy for ending nepotism and favouritism, but blind to cronyism and political clientelism.

Do the JVP diehards have no suitable persons among their kith and kin for top jobs? Things will be different if the JVP/NPP receives a parliamentary mandate and more Ministers and Deputy Ministers appointed to the tune of 50. But in the appointments made so far political and party affiliations, clientelism or client politics, cronyism are discernible which the NPP vouched to eradicate.  

9.1. Secretary to the President: Anura Kumara began playing Santa with appointing his university buddy, Nandika Senerath Kumarasinghe, a junior officer in the Customs as Secretary to the President. It is said that there are several senior officers in the SLAS working at the Presidential Secretariat than him.

9.2. Appointing Air Vice Marshall Sampath Thuyakonthe (rtd) as Secretary of Defence: an active member of the NPP ex Tri-forces Collective who actively campaigned for Anura Kumara. A columnist using the pseudonym One Who Knows” published an article titled, JVP mobilizing support from among retired servicemen” in the Sunday Island of December 24, 2023 revealed among other things that a top-level ex-serviceman created mayhem forcibly trying to enter a facility meant for servicemen without prior permission.  

9.3. Appointing Ravi Seneviratna as the Secretary of the Ministry of Public Security and Shani Abeysekera as the Director of the Central Criminal Intelligence Analysis Bureau respectively,sacking country’s spy chief Suresh Sally as urged by the Catholic Church, NPP’s newest Sheppard guiding its members to New Jerusalem. Both officers are frontliners of the Collective of Retired Police Officers of the NPP who actively campaigned for Anura Kumara.OnceRavi Seneviratna was charged and remanded for drunk driving causing a traffic accident. Former MP Gammanpila’s exposure at recent press conferences about these two officers regarding Easter Sunday carnage is still fresh in the minds of Sri Lankans.

9.4. Governor of Western Province: Hanif Yusuf, a top businessman, co-founder of multinational logistics giant Expolanka Holdings, one of Sri Lanka’s premier logistics companies, expanded into leisure, IT and fresh and processed produce with businesses in over 59 countries.

Some businesses in Sri Lanka are linked with the only bank in Sri Lanka which conducts operations under the principles of Islamic Banking”.It is not only politicians and bureaucrats who are involved in corruption and other unlawful economic activities. Many powerful businessmen and corporate leaders are deeply engaged in unlawful economic activities parking money outside Sri Lanka. Anura Kumara should use his steel rake to bring backstolen assets of big businessmen too.    

9.5. Chairman of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Tilak Siyambalapitiya, managing Director of RMA Energy; his wife Nimali  Siyambalapitiya has been a Director to Development Finance Institutions ( ADB, WB, IFC etc.) on the power sector which are having dealings with the CEB. A sizeable revenue of the RMA Energy is accrued by providing services to power sector of Sri Lanka. People like Ranjan Jayalal and Ranwala, rabble-rousers of NPP power sector are conspicuously silent.

9.6. Chairman of SLPA: Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe (Rtd.) former Commander of Sri Lanka Navy; also served as the Secretary to Ministry of Ports and Shipping & Southern Development in 2019. It was Anura Kumara and his NPP who vehemently attacked GR for appointing ex-service personnel for top positions. Sirimevan Ranasinghe hails from Anuradhapura. SLPA Managing Director who has nearly 10 years of service remaining was asked to leave immediately. 

9.7. Duminda Hulangamuwa, Country Manager and Partner Ernst & Young Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Chairman of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce appointed as President’s Special Economic Advisor; he was an Advisor to GR and RW as well and a Member of Udaya R Seneviratna Committee on Public Service Salary Disparities appointed by RW.  This Committee proposed that the basic salary of public servants would be increased by a minimum of 24% for primary level service categories and salaries will increase gradually from an 24% to 50% for all government officials. It is apparent that as President’s Special Economic Advisor he has not advised Anura Kumara to implement the said committee recommendations. Although the government advertises that he would work on an honorary capacity we all know who pays them. People are eager to know whether he utilized his private funds on his visit to Washington.

9.8. Channa Gunawardena as the Chairman of Litro Gas Lanka and Litro Gas Terminal Lanka Pvt. Ltd.: a former CEO/Director of another multinational Aitken Spence Group Garments Ltd., CEO of Royal Fernwood Porcelain PLC, served as Country Manager for global accounting giant of Ernst & Young in the Maldives and Hirdaramani Group.

9.9. Ramal Siriwardena, a close confidante of Rajapaksas and an electoral organizer of the NPP was appointed as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB).    

9.10. Harendra Disabandara as the new Chairman of the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC), who previously worked as the SEC’s Director General from 2012-2013 and a Director from 2008-2012, replacing Faizal Salieh appointed by RW.

9.11. Buddhika Hewawasam as Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). Before the Presidential Elections he made a presentation on NPP’s Tourism Policy in English in August 2024. It was like a performance of an entertainer rather than a professional presentation.  Anura Kumara and his JVP top brasswere in attendance.Hewawasam was appointed as a member of the new Board of Management of Sri Lankan Airlines too.

9.12. Dheera Hettiarachchi as Chairman of Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism andHotel Management (SLITHM)and Sri Lanka Convention Bureau.

9.13. Sarath Ganegoda as Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines; Group Executive Director of Sri Lankan multinational Hayleys PLC.

9.14. Mangala Wijesinghe as Chairman of Export Development Board (EDB); former Cluster Chief Operating Officer, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer and Integrated Engineering Solutions of Browns & Co PLC. 

9.15. D.J. Rajakaruna as Chairman of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). This person cut a sorry figure at a recently held press conference, saying that the CPC is no longer free to determine petroleum prices due to the presence of foreign companies. If so, why did the NPP promise to reduce fuel prices? Without knowing the agreements? This is the type of pundits NPP boasted of having in their resource pool! All carnival barkers!  

9.16. Prins Senadheera as Chairman of National Film Corporation (NFC).

9.18. S.M. Saman Samarakone as Chairman of Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI)

9.19. Kapila Seneviratne as Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC), Kelaniya University alumnus kicking out the former Chairman Sampath Amaratunga.

9.20. Asanka Abeywardena as Chairman of Urban Development Authority (UDA),a former District secretary .

9.21. Arjuna Herath as Chairman of Board of Investment (BOI): previously served as the Senior Partner and Head of Consultancy at Ernst and Young for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He has worked also as the Marketing Development Manager at British American Tobacco (BAT) multinational Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) and Director of Corporate Finance at the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka.

9.22. Nusith Kumaratunga as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC): he began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd. (PWC), a British multinational, one of the Big Four accounting firms along with Duminda Hulangamuwa’s Ernst & Young.Later he founded his own audit firm providing services in tax planning, business advisory and supporting SMEs. How this clash with his new position remains to be seen. 

9.23. Hans Wijesuriya, Head of Dialog Axiata as the Chief Advisor to thePresident on Digital Economy.  Dialog Axiata is a predator in the telecommunication industry posing a threat to SLT and Mobitel. In 2015 there were reports that the CID during the investigations of the murder of the ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen was trying to take legal action against the CEO of Dialog Axiata alleged for hiding evidence regarding mobile caller data. It was also reported thatHans Wijesuriya’s father-in-law was a consultant to MR on a Thrai Bhasha” – tri-lingual project.  Anura Kumara pledged to investigate the murders of Wasim Thajudeen and Lasantha Wickrematunga.   

9.24. Sunil Jayaratna, a former Customs Additional Director General as Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority. May be a pick of President’s Secretary.  When an SLAF person was appointed as the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority earlier by the same dispensation experts said that the SLAF personnel have no exposure to administration of civil aviation and their expertise is limited to the area within the perimeters of the island and certainly not to international standards and procedures that need to be observed and practised . Now we can see how a Customs man oversees Civil Aviation!    

9.25. Mothilal de Silva as the Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT). He held a leadership role at Dialog Axiata and MTV Networks, competitors in telecommunications.

9.26. Kavinda de Zoysa as Chairman of premier government -owned bank, Bank of Ceylon. For two decades he has served as Director and Country Business Head of Citibank N.A.

9.27. Wije Bandara as Director General of Legal Affairs.  

In March 2022, GR appointed an Advisory Committee consisting of 16 members to assist the National Economic Council. Among those members were Hans Wijesuriya, Duminda Hulangamuwa, Krishan Balendra and Dushni Weerakone.  But alltookto their life boats and abandoned the Captain and the ship when the ship hit an iceberg. So Anura Kumara should be aware of having so many cooks to make his soup!  It is evident that all these rulers use the same witch doctors or medicine men to exorcise the evil spirits!

10. Julie Chung continues as the Viceroy of Sri Lanka: Increased presence of US military personnel

This is another reason for this euphoria, dispelling the fear that the Colombiens had about NPP’s foreign policy and foreign relations. Julie Chung continues as the Viceroy of Sri Lanka undisturbed.  She was the first envoy to visit Anura Kumara to congratulate him.

She began her unobstructed crusade, true to her form issuing a Level 2 Travel Advisory on the eve of the Presidential Election on 12, September 2024, Exercise increased caution in Sri Lanka due to civil unrest and terrorism”. Americans travelling in Sri Lanka were told to expect civil unrest and terrorism in Sri Lanka. Travel Advisory said: Demonstrations could occur before, during or after the election. In some cases police have used water cannons and tear gas to disrupt protesters….even peaceful ones (gatherings) can turn violent with little or no warning.” Terrorist attacks have occurred in Sri Lanka with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, major sporting and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, hospitals and other public places.”  Chung and her Americans have not spared any place free from terrorist attacks”. 

Now let us examine Julie Chung’s diary after Anura Kumara was elected as the President.    

On October 1Chung met with Anura Kumara to discuss the enduring SL-US partnership, shared goals, transparency, accountability, civic partnership and good governance. As Sri Lanka embarks on a new chapter the United States remains your stronger partner in supporting unity, good governance, prosperity and human rights”, she posted in her X message. Chung has begun thenew chapter – the web she began to weavearound Anura Kumara.

Anura Kumara had a virtual discussion with Samantha Power, the Head of USAID.According to the President’s Media Division Power has stated that USAID is willing to support the government aligning with the manifesto presented to the people. This is hilarious USAID supporting implementation of NPP manifesto, if not USAID local agents having a hand in drafting it.

On October 2Chung met with Vijitha Herath, the Foreign Minister.  Chung was looking forward to strengthening the US- SL partnership and working together on shared priorities like security, trade and upholding human rights”.

On the same day Chung had a meeting with Harini Amarasuriya to discuss strong US-SL partnership and how to work together on key priorities, from advancing justice and reconciliation”. 

On October 2, Sri Lanka Navy disclosed that a US military delegation including Commodore Haytham Elsayed Khalil, Commander of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 154, Deputy Commander CTF 154 Commodore William Franklin Campbell visited SLN Headquarters. It was disclosed that the SL Navy is about to assume command of CTF 154, a unit under the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) based in Bahrain. Sri Lanka under RW joined the CMF in 2023. CMF is composed of 5 CTFs. CTF 154 is dedicated to Maritime Security Training.

On October 3 Chung had a meeting with Presidential Secretary.

Admiral Steve Kohler, a four-star US Navy Admiral and Commander of US Pacific Fleet visited Sri Lanka and met with Anura Kumara and Secretary Defence on 10, October. This marked the highest-level US military visit to the island since 2021. He was briefed on the Sri Lanka Navy’s operational functions.

US donated a BeechcraftKing Air aircraft to Sri Lanka Air Force at Katunayaka airbase with US Navy Admiral and Commander of US Pacific Fleet Kohler attending.

On 16 October Chung had a meeting with Secretary, Defence.  

On 22 October Chung met with new Governor of Western Province Hani Yusuf.

Chung visited North, Jaffna, Mannar and Vauniya again in October; visited Keerimalai Naguleshwaram kovil. On 23 October Chung met with new Governor of Northern Province Nagalingam Vedanayagam, Bishop Gnanapragasam and sex workers in the North.  

On 31 October Chung and Chairman BOI joined in a groundbreaking ceremony for Indiana based SHIELD’s new seat belt factory.

On 2 November Vijitha Herath and Secretary Defence wearing bow ties as the rest of the Americans attended to celebrate the legacy of US Marines at the USMC Ball (Marine Corps Birthday Ball) along with Chung wearing a red ball gown and Brigadier General Kelvin Gallman, the Guest of Honour. Semper Fi! (always faithful/ loyal).  Harsha De Silva of SJB, also wearing a bow tie, posed for a photograph with Chung and Herath. In these balls the host gives the dress code, in certain cases providing the guests with dresses, tail coats, bow ties etc.! Indonesians provide batik shirts! 

On 7 November Chung attended the launch of Yet Whom Do They Destroy: Black July” and Stories of Mullivaikkal” published by Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, personal stories of Tamil terrorists.

On 8 November Chung welcomed Admiral (Rtd.) Harry Harris and students and scholars from National Defense University, underscoring deepening engagement in the Indo-Pacific.  

11. Indian Factor

Colombiens should not worry about anti-Indian rhetoric of JVP/NPP anymore. JVP/NPP ties with India were cemented when Anura Kumara visited India in February 2024 (see our article posted on 15 February).Dhal remains as Mysore dhal and onions as Bombay onions. Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jah visited Anura Kumara with a bouquet of flowers.The first Foreign Minister to visit Sri Lanka after Anura Kumara ascendancy was Jaishankar. India has said that it has made a mistake as it took almost 6 months for the first high level bilateral visit between Maldives and India after Muizzu took over last year.

Again, Santosh Jah met with Anura Kumara on 1 November 2024, and according to the press release had discussed the Indian-assisted projects in Sri Lanka. No doubt this may have centered around the so-called connectivity programmes initiated by RW and Adani investments opposed by the NPP hotheads. According to the press release Anura Kumara has expressed interest in learning from India’s expertise in power and energy sector development (again RW’s power and energy connectivity) and digitalization process (a project initiated by the previous government sabotaged by the NPP).

Environment Secretary confirmed that India and Sri Lanka are going to establish a highway and railway line connecting Rameswaram, Tallaimannar and Trinco with a land bridge. This was RW’s pet project land connectivity.

It is evident that this Marxist-capitalist” wants West and India on his side. Colombien elites know that there is no worry for them. They are happy that the gonibillas created by the opposition during the Presidential election campaign has turned into a myth. But they are not aware that former actual gonibillas during 1989-1989 terror times who betrayed hundreds of JVP cadres now inspecting police guard of honor wearing full suit and posing for photographs with the American Marines and Julie Chung wearing bow ties and some others contesting parliamentary election. 

13. Eyeing for Top Diplomatic Positions

These former top bureaucrats who were very close to powers that were under various regimes and former diplomats even as octogenarians have an insatiable craving to taste diplomatic puddings. Now Anura Kumara has recalled nearly 16 diplomats (excluding Mahinda Samarasinghe, US Ambassador; we are not aware how he does not fall into the category of political appointees), top positions at New Delhi, Canberra, London and UN have become vacant. London and Permanent Representative at the UN are the two coveted positions these praise singers are eyeing for.

14. BRICS and CHOGM

Sri Lanka government was not represented by the Head of State at the just concluded BRICS summit held from 23 October in Kazan on the banks of Volga and CHOGM held in Samoa respectively. This was merely overlooked by these English language praise singers.  Government’s claim that its leaders were engaged in election campaign was a lame excuse. Anura Kumara, being a short person may have thought how he would rub shoulders with such giants as Putin, Xi Jinping, Modi, Lula, Ramphosa, Nicolas Maduro, Erdogan and others and wondered how to exchange basic courtesies with them initially.

To Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held from October 21 in Samoa in the Pacific, a low-level officer attached to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London was flown covering 15,747 km instead of sending the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Canberra (4547km). This lady officer is the wife of Nadeeka Guruge, NPP platform singer, NGO artist of German-funded FLICT (Facilitating Local Initiatives for Conflict Transformation), which was actively operational during the Eelam war.

15. Danger of a Repetition of 1971, 1988-89 and 2022: Warning Shadows”

Now the President and his Cabinet and key speakers at election rallies are in a threatening mode. White maskof NPP is gradually unravelling revealing its uglyblack skin. Lal Kantha and Samarasinghe openly reveal JVP’s intentions at election rallies as the JVP bogeymen. Recently at Kandy Lal Kanthastated that earlier they were thugswithout a license and now turned to be thugs with license with state power in their hands! 

These Colombo elites are not aware of the impending catastrophe that would send shock waves through their nerves and fear psychosis” they all experienced during the Reign of Terror in 1988-89. Once catapulted into the highest position in the country now JVP/NPP calls for a 2/3 majority in the Parliament. Addressing a meeting at Katunayake on 20 October, Anura Kumara declared that there is absolutely no need for a parliamentary opposition, that the parliament should not be polluted with an opposition, disclosing his dream for a one-party rule. He emphasized that the responsibility of the electorate is to ensure the elimination of the political opposition, to wipe out the opposition at the next parliamentary election. He urged to complete the cleanup operation of the parliament by a mass Shramadana on November 14, the day of the parliamentary election, that the next parliament should be overwhelmingly dominated by the NPP. Anura Kumara reiterated this call at rallies held at Polonnaruwa and Trinco too. Its slogan is to clean the parliament and fill it with NPP MPs.

These warning signals have made some writers to ring alarm bells that the NPP is showing colours” of a Marxist party, that this is none other than Marxist dictatorshipof the proletariat”. This is another attempt discrediting Marxism. What dictatorshipof the proletariat” with these liberals and anarchists who now ascending the pyramid? A Presidential or a parliamentary election victory do not pave the way for dictatorship of the proletariat”. It is something more intricate and complex than these men think.  If it is dictatorship of the proletariat Anura Kumara and his party have produced their own grave-diggers as Marx and Engels have stated.

Although JVP/NPP calls the parliament a den of thieves pulverizing the parliamentarians of previous dispensations as rogues, they are silent about the bombing inside the parliamentary complex by a JVPer that killed an UNP MP Keerthi Abeywickrema and severely injured few more UNP ministers including the late Lalith Athulathmudali. Thus, the parliament was desecrated by the JVP with blood and splattered flesh of JVP’s opponents decades ago.  

With whom NPP planning to overwhelmingly dominate the parliament? It will be filled by people like Lal Kanthathe rabble-rouser and the original JVP set with some NPP cohorts such as the woman lawyer who recited poetry at NPP public rallies that the sacred Menik Ganga was urinating!

Can these Colombo elites deny that the JVP/NPP was actively involved in Galle Face Protest, stormed the Presidential House and Presidential Secretariat and senior JVP party men were on record urging the agitators to overrun the parliament, arson on 9 May 2022, destruction of property, hotels set on fire, looting in broad day light and killing of an SLPP MP in broad daylight?  Can these grandees request an investigation on these matters too?

16. Good Bye, Trade Unions!

Addressing an election rally, Colombo District candidate of NPP, Nipunaarachchi said that the trade unions have become redundant now as the NPP government is looking after the interests of the working class. There is no need for labour struggles and the NPP is considering disbanding its trade unions he said. Colombo elites would like this suggestion as they were frequently disturbed when they were travelling in their limousines due to trade union demonstrations. But the danger is the likelihood of the NPP imposing a total ban on all trade unions as the JVP/DJV censures in 1988/89. JVP did not support or participate in the 1980 General Strike saying that it was in the process of establishing their own trade union center as it wanted to have only one trade union at a work place decimating all other trade unions. In 1988/89 JVP/DJV killed trade union leaders such as L.W. Panditha and George Ratnayaka, two Communist stalwarts. 

A person who is well-informed about how trade union movement in Sri Lanka evolved overtime from colonial days, winning over every suppression and how trade unions fought for workers’ rights and their victories would not make such a foolish suggestion. Voters should question the NPP, are you going to fill the Parliament with this type of fools?

In a way it is good if the NPP disbands its own trade unions. NPP trade unions were responsible for disrupting public life over the years. If people like Lal Kantha, Samarasinghe, Handunnetti, Mahinda Jayasinghe, Jayatissa, Namal Karunaratne, Vidyararatne, Hewage, Jayalal et al enter the parliament NPP trade unions will be left abandoned leaderless and they will not be able to organize any trade union action against their own government. But the biggest question is if it disbands its own trade unions how could they extort Kappan money from big businessmen and industrialists showing a façade of industrial peace?

If the trade union leaders of NPP still pay lip service to Marxism they should understand that even Russia after establishing a workers’ government never disbanded trade unions. For the NPP amateurs we recommend that they should read at least Lenin’s Collected Works Volume 32. In a speech made in 1920 criticising Trotsky’s theoretical mistakes and glaring blunders” Lenin stated: Trade unions are not just historically necessary; they are historically inevitable; they are historically inevitable as an organization of the industrial proletariat”.

Finally, we warn the Colombiens that the slithery predator adopted to life in different environments, now enjoying bourgeois luxuries, consummate food, designer ware, flashy limousines and living in plush mansions can change colour with the time.    

Sarath Wijesingh President’s Counsel Former Ambassador to UAE and Israel and President Ambassador’s Forum

Sri Lanka  is in crisis

No doubt Sri Lanka is in crisis in all areas may be due to corruption, bribery, nepotism, lack of planning leadership and a vision and proper committed and genuine leadership. Worst out of all may be the inefficiency,corruption,and disorganized form of the government machinery. It is also agreed by all that Sri Lanka is in crisis with econimic downturn, indebtedness to the world and international organizations, lack of progress and developments in any area citizens being inactive and aimlessly criticizing each other and the governance, which are matters  to be debated.

World Trend

AI and digitalisation is the world trend and the need of the hour. Governance is attempting to take the country toward this destination in making few appropriate appointments including the appointment of Dr Hans Wijesuriya – one of the most qualified who has let many local and international organization on AI and digitalisation which of course is credit worthy which is indeed a ‘G00D CATCH’’ to the governance in need of experts on varied subjects. But the fact remains whether the prioritises are digitalization or AI or the developments, on agriculture, education,industry and  concentrate on easing the consumers pressure which is rapidly increasing due to high cost of living and lack of productivity.

Give priority to agriculture, productivity, employment generation and eradicate corruption

It is necessary to be in line with the developments in the world and it  is useful to use AI and digitalisation in some form until uplifts the Sri Lankan situation to a certain standard.It is to the credit to the  the people , they have high literary rate and mobile penetration with educated young generation with the exposure to the world with newly acquired knowledge and experience on IT and related subjects spreading successfully in the country with the help of the Internet and mobile penetration to a satisfactory level. Artificial intelligence is conversion of the human knowledge and experience to a digital compressed form in order to perform the duties performed by the human, but it is shown that the artificial* mechanical of artificial intelligence  has not been successful in many ways. Uber has unmanned cars, and many operations are conducted online at distances are machinal form of AI mainly with the help of digitalisation,yet is costly and operational systems are complicate.

It is proper for Sri Lanka to use AI and digitalisation to a certain extent with spending limited resources in a country of crisis and to develop most important sectors in preparation of the digital and AI age reaching in the near future which is the world trend today and good to be patient till then. Sarathdw28@gmail.com (reference empowering the consumer by Artificial Intelligence Lanka web on 7/11/24 )

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

       රජය විසින් සහල් සඳහා පාලන මිළක් නියම කිරීම නිසා සහල් වෙළෙඳ පළ උණුසුම් වි ඇත.  නාඩු වශයෙන් නාමකරණය වූ සහල් වර්ගයේ හිඟයක් තිබෙන අතර කීරි සම්බා මිළදී ගැනීමට නොහැකි වන හෝ රුචිකත්වයක් නොදක්වන පාරිභෝගිකයන් අසරණ වී තිබේ. ඒ අතර රටේ නොයෙකුත් තැන්වල තිබෙන ප්‍රධාන සහල් ගබඩා සහ කුඩා ප්‍රමාණයේ සහල් ගබඩා පරීක්ෂා කරමින් දත්ත පද්ධතියක් ස්ථාපිත කරලීමට රජය උත්සාහ දරමින් සිටී.ඉදිරි මාස් කන්නයේ අස්වනු නෙලන විට වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලයේ ගබඩා වී වලින් පුරවන බව ජනාධිපති තුමා පවසයි.මේ අතර ලංකාවේ ප්‍රධාන සහල් මෝල් හිමියන් පස් දෙනා අතරින් ඩඩ්ලි සිරිසේන මහතා මාධ්‍ය වලට ප්‍රධාන මාතෘකාවක් බවට පත්ව තිබෙන්නේ ඔහු පළ කරන මතවාදාත්මක අදහස් හේතුවෙනි.

          අතීත ලංකාවේ මෙවැනි සහල් ප්‍රශ්නයක් තිබුණේ නැත. ගොවියා වගා කරන්නෙකු වූවා සේම පරිභෝජනය කරන්නෙකුද විය.නමුත් ඔහු අලෙවිකරුවකු නොවීය. කොළඹ ඇතුළු ප්‍රධාන නගරවල නාගරික ජනගහනයේ වර්ධනයත් සමගම විවිධ අවස්ථාවන්හිදී පැවති රජයන් ට සහල් පිළිබදව මිළ පාලනයක් ඇති කරන්නට සිදු විය.ඉංග්‍රීසි ආණුඩුවටද මේ සහල් මිළ සහ සහල් හිඟයට පිළිතුරක් නැති විය. ඒ නිසා 1942 දී පමණ සහල් සලාක ක්‍රමයක් ඇති කරන්නට සිදු විය. 1953 දී  හාල් සේරුවක මිළ ශත විසිපහේ සිට ශත හැත්තෑව දක්වා එක වරම ඉහළ ගිය අවස්ථාවක එම තත්වය දඩ මීමා කරගෙන හර්තාල් පවා ඇති විය.ඒ නිසා ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායක ආණ්ඩුවට ඉල්ලා අස්වීමට ද සිදු විය.

        1817 ජාතික විමුක්ති අරගලය දැඩි ලෙස මර්දනය කල බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාලනය  ඌව වෙල්ලස්ස ගොවිබම් දහස් ගණනක් ගිනි තබා විනාශ කිරීමෙන් අනතරුව 1848 අරගලයෙන් ද පීඩා විඳි ගොවි ජනතාව ආර්ථික වශයෙන් බෙලහීන විය. බිත්තර වී පවා සපයා ගනු නොහැකිව සිටි සමයක ඉංග්‍රීසි ආණ්ඩුව මැදහත්ව නුමුහුන් බිත්තර වී සැපයීමට රජයේ ගොවිපලවල් සූදානම් කිරීම නිසා හතළිහ දශකය වන විට රටේ ගොවි ජනතාව අතර ප්‍රබෝධයක් ඇති විය. පරාක්‍රම සමුද්‍ර ව්‍යාපරය, මින්නේරුය ,ඇල්ල කන්තලේ ව්‍යාපාරය, ගල්ඔය වැනි ගොවි ජනපද පිහිටුවීම මගින් සශ්‍රීකි ඉඩම් පරිහරණය කරමින් ගොවීන් රටේ වී නිෂ්පාදනය තර කළහ.ඒ සමගම වී අභිජනනය කිරීම සදහා මහඉලුප්පල්ලම ,බතලගොඩ ,බොම්ඹුවල වැනි පරියේෂණායතන පිහිටුවීමත් බිත්තර වී ගොවිපළවල් පිහිටුවීමත් නිසා නව හරිත විප්ලවයකට අඩිතාලම දැමිණ. ආහාර හා කෘෂිකර්ම සංවිධානය මගන් ලද ආධාර මත කෘෂීරසායන සහ රසායනික පොහොර පැකේජ ලබා දීමත් නෑඹුල් පොළවේ ඒ මගින් සරු අස්වනු ලැබීමත් හේතු කොට ගෙන පරිභෝජනයට එහා ගිය වී වෙළඳ පළක් නිර්මාණය විය.

       1972 දී පැවති රජය විසින් වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලය පිහිටුවා වී මිළදී ගැනීම තුළින් ගොවියා ගේ ආර්ථිකය නැන්වීමට විශේෂ වැඩ සටහනක් ඇරඹීය. රට පුර නිෂ්පාදනය කළ වී මිලදී ගැනීමටත් ගබඩා කිරීමටත් විශාල වී ගබඩා ඉඳි විය.ඒවායේ ඇති කළ සහල් මෝල් මගින් වී සහල් බවට පත් කර සමූපකාර වලට නිකුත් කෙරිණ. මේ නිසා වී වෙලඳ පළ පිළිබඳ විශ්වාසයක් ගොවියා හට තිබුණි. සහල් වෙලෙඳ පළ පාලනය කිරීමට රජයට හැකි විය.විවෘත ආර්ථිකය හඳුන්වා දීමත් සමග රජය සතු ව්‍යාපාර අධෛර්ය කිරීම සිදු විය. සමූපාකාර ව්‍යාපාරය කඩා කප්පල් කෙරිණ. වී ඇඹරීම සඳහා ලංකාවේ නිෂ්පාදනය කළ නව යන්ත්‍ර පවා දිරාපත් වීමට ඉඩ හැර තිබුණි. ඒවායේ තාක්ෂණය ඉන්දියාවට විකුණා දැමිණ. රටේ නව නිපැයුම් කරුවන් තැනක් නැති විය.   1995 වර්ෂයේ එවකට චන්ද්‍රිකා බන්ඩාරනායක මැතිණිය යුගයේ දී දි.මු.ජයරත්න කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමතිව සිටි කාලවකවානුවේ වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලය අහෝසි කරලීමට කෙටුම් පත් සකස් කළ අතර පසුව එය කළ නොහැකි වූ තැන මණ්ඩලය අක්‍රීය කර නිළධාරීන් කීප දෙනෙකුට පමණක් පඩි ගෙවමින් තාබා ගත්හ. එසේම වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලය සතු ගබඩා ප්‍රසිද්ධ ටෙන්ඩර් කැඳවා විකුණා දැමීමට කටයුතු කළහ.(එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂ රජය කාලයේ සිට එය සිදු විය) එහිදී ඉන් වැඩි ප්‍රතිලාභ ලැබූයේ  බහුජාතික සමාගම්ය.රජය විසින් ගොඩ නගා නඩත්තු කරනු ලැබූ රාජ්‍ය සම්පත් වන බිත්තර වී ගොවිපළවල් වල පරම අයිතිය පවා ලබා ගන්නට මේ සමාගම් සමත් විය.

    වර්තමාන සහල් අර්බුදය තේරුම් ගන්නට මේ අතීතයට යන්නට අපට සිදු වන බව කිව යුතුය. මන්ද බිත්තර වී සැපයීමේ සිට වී වපුරා අස්වැන්න ගෙන කර  සහල් නිෂ්පාදනය දක්වා ක්‍රියාවලිය ගැට ගැසී තිබෙන්නේ ඉහත දැක්වූ අතීතයෙන් උරුම වී තිබෙන විවිධ ගැටළු සමගින් බව තේරුම් ගත යතුය.  උදාරහරණයක් වශයෙන් නාඩු වශයෙන් අද හදුන්වන සහල් ප්‍රභේදය ට අදාළ වී වර්ගය ගොවියාට   හදුන්වා දී තිබෙන්නේ කෘෂීකර්ම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවයි. විවිධ බී.ජී. වර්ග , බී.ඩඩ්. සහ ඒ.ටී. වී ප්‍රභේද වලින් මේවා නිෂ්පාදනය වේ.රටේ පාරිභෝගිකයා වැඩි රුචිකත්වයක් දක්වන සම්බා වර්ග අතරට කීරි සම්බා නමින් නව ප්‍රභේදයක් හඳුන්වා දී තිබෙන්නේ ද මෙම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවයි.වෙළෙඳ පලේ දී එයට ඉහළ මිළක් ලැබුණි. මිළ වැඩියෙන් ලබෙන වී වර්ගය ගොවීන් විසින් වගා කරති. නාඩු හෝ රතු සහල් ලැබෙන වර්ග වගා කරනු ලබන්නේ හම්බන්තොට ගාල්ල මාතර වැනි පළාත් වලය. බිත්තර වී ගොවිපළවල් රජය විසින් පෞද්ගලික අංශයට විකුණා දැමීමත් සමග රජයේ ඒකාධිකාරය අහෝසි කරනු ලබිණ. පෞද්ගලික සමාගම් බිත්තර වී නිපදවන්නේ ලාභ ඉපැයීමටයි.රට පුරා රයිස් කඩ බිහිවීම නිසා කීරි සම්බා වලට විශේෂ ඉල්ලුමක් ඇති විය.සමාගම් විසින් කීරි සම්බා බිත්තර වී නිකුත් කර වැඩි වැඩියෙන් වගා කිරීමට ද දිරි දුන්හ. ඉතින් නාඩු රතු සහල් සහ රතු සහල්  වර්ග හිඟ වීම පුදුමයට කරුණක් නොවේ.

      මේ වන විට රජයේ නිළධාරීන් ප්‍රධාන වී මෝල් කරා ගොස් ඒවායේ තිබෙන වී ප්‍රමාණය පිළිබඳ දත්ත එකතු කරමින් සිටිති. එහෙත් වී මෝල් හිමියාගේ සැබෑ තොග සංචිතය තිබෙන්නේ ගොවියා ළඟ බව බොහෝ අය නොදනිති. අම්පාර, මඩකලපුව, පොලොන්නරුව, අනුරාධපුර වැනි ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් වී නිෂ්පාදනය කරන දිස්ත්‍රික්කයන්හි ගොවින් විසිදාහක් පමණ ප්‍රමාණයක් ප්‍රධාන මෝල් හිමියන් සමග බැඳී සිටිති. මේ බැඳීම ඇති කරන්නේ ඔඩපන නමින් හඳුන්වන ණය දීමකිනි. මේ ණය ක්‍රමය මුලින් හඳුන්වා දුන්නේ ලංකා බැංකුව ,මහජන බැංකුව වැනි රාජ්‍ය බැංකු විසිනි. ගොවියාගේ වී තොග නිවසේ රඳවා තබා ගැනීමට අඩු පොළියට ණය දීම මෙහි ක්‍රමයයි. වී මිළ ඉහළ යන විට වැඩි මිළකට වී විකිණිමට මේ මගින් හැකි වෙයි. අද වන විට මේ ඔඩපනය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනුයේ වී මෝල් හිමියන්ය. ඔවුහු ගොවින් තෝරා ගෙන බිත්තර වී ලබා දී කෘෂීරසායනද ලබා දි තවත් ජීවන සහනාධාරද සපයමින් ගොවියා ඇද බැඳ තබා ගනිති. අස්වනු නෙලන කාලයට ගොවිපළට යන මොල් හිමියන්ගේ නියෝජිතයන් ඇප් එකක් මගින් කුඹුරේ තිබෙන වී ප්‍රමාණය මැන ගන්නා අතර ගොවියා තමන්ගේ වී ටික වේලා නිවසේ ආරක්ෂිතව ගබඩා කරයි. වෙලෙඳ පලේ සහල් මිළ ඉහළ යන කාලයට මෝල් හිමියා විසින් තවත් අමතර මුදලක් ගොවියා අත මිට මොලවා වී ටික රැගෙන යන අතර ඉන් අධික ලාබයක් ලබති. ඊට අමතරව ඇතැම් ගොවිබිම් වලදී  ඇප් එකක් මගින් අස්වැන්න පෙරසේම  මැන භූතයන් යොදවා ගොයම් කැපීමට මුස්ලිම් දෙමල කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් යොදවති. ඔවුහු කෙලින්ම මෝල හිමියාගේ ටැංකි වලට වී පුරවන අතර මෝල් හිමියා ඒවා සිය ගබඩාවට ගෙන වියළා ගබඩා කර ගනිති. මේ ක්‍රම දෙකින්ම අප ඉගෙන ගත යුත්තේ ගොවියා කෙරෙහි වන බැඳීම රඳවා තබා ගැනීමට මෝල් හිමියා සකස් කල ගිවිසි ක්‍රමයයි. එය එක් අතකින් මානුෂික වන අතර නව ගොවි වහල් ක්‍රමයක්ද නිර්මාණය කිරීමට සමත් වී තිබේ.

     වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලය වසා දැමීමත් පසුව එය අක්‍රීය මට්ටමින් සිදු කරන අකාර්යක්ෂම ක්‍රියා පිළීවෙත නිසාවෙන්ද ගොවියාට රජය කෙරෙහි බැඳීමක් නැත. ලබා ගන්නා සහල් කෙදිනකවත් සමූපාකාරයට ලැබෙන්නේ නැත. ඒ නිසා අඩු ආදායම් ලබන අයට සහනයක් නැත. පහල මධ්‍යම පන්තියටද සහනයක් නැත. රජය කළ යුත්තේ සහල් මෝල් හිමියන් සමග රණ්ඩුවකට යෑමේ ක්‍රියාවලිය නොවේ. ඔවුන් මෙරට වෙළඳ පළ ආර්ථිකයට දක්වන දායකත්වය රජයට සපුරාලිය නොහැකිය. නමුත් රජයේ වගකීම විය යුත්තේ ‌ගොවියා සහ පාරිභෝගිකයා අතර සිදුවන ක්‍රියාදාමය සාධාරණව යුක්ති සහගතව සිදු වන්නේ යන්න පීළිබඳ විශ්ලේෂණය කොට එයට කලමනාකරණ ක්‍රියාවලියක් සැකසීමයි. රජයේ කෘෂිකර්ම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ වගකීම වනුයේ  විවිධ වර්ග වල බිත්තර වී නිපදවා  එකාධිකාරය පාලනය කර ඒ ඒ වර්ග ගලප්පා ගත හැකි දිස්ත්‍රික්කයන්ට සහන මිළට ඒවා බෙදා හැර පාරිභෝගිකයගේ රුචිකත්වය අනුව වෙළඳ පළට අවශ්‍ය සහල් නිපදවීමේ පදනම සකස් කිරීමයි. ඒ අතර කුඩා ප්‍රමාණයේ සහල් මෝල් හිමියන්ටද වී මිළඳ ගැනීමට ණය නිකුත් කර මේ වෙලඳපල සමබර කර ගත හැකිය. කලින් කලට මාධ්‍ය සංදර්ශන පවත්වමින් මේ ප්‍රශ්ණ තොරොම්බල් කිරීමෙන් ගොවියාටවත් පාරිභෝගිකයාටවත් ආර්ථිකයටත් වැඩක් නොවන බව දැන්වත් වටහා ගත යුතුය.

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

By Rohana R. Wasala Courtesy The Island

 A feature article on the Business pages of The Island of February 16, 2023 served as a formal event announcement for the  inaugural function of a new NGO called the People’s Convention on Good Governance (PCGG) that was scheduled to be held nine days later (i.e., on February 25). Some 1600 delegates were expected to attend the event. These included the then president Ranil Wickremasinghe (parliament elected following the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa about seven months previously), prime minister Dinesh Gunawardane, cabinet ministers, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, ‘a few noteworthy parliamentarians’, leaders of all political parties, the diplomatic community, corporate leaders, professionals, university deans, civic leaders, youth leaders, ‘noteworthy personalities’, and a representative group of citizens who cannot ‘influence good governance other than by making correct choices’; local and international media institutions were to be invited to telecast the proceedings for a worldwide viewership. 

The  convention that was accordingly conducted on February 25, 2023 was a massive operation. It naturally occurred to me then that the Sri Lankan government had a serious responsibility to ensure that the huge benefits to be accrued from the lavish funds collected by the NGO should reach all the adversely circumstanced Sri Lankan citizens for whom generous international donors made them available; otherwise, the money would end up in the wrong hands, as it usually happens in Sri Lanka. The benefits of the largesse should be distributed equitably among the deserving without discrimination or favouritism that is based on race, caste, religion or ethnicity; the NGO activists owe it to the suffering masses. 

Arun Siddharth (birth name: Arulanandam Arun), convenor of the Jaffna Civil Society Centre, was among the 1600 or so invited participants at the PCGG event which was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), Colombo (on  February 25, 2023, as already mentioned). He had come with a delegation of about fifty Tamil men and women from Jaffna who had been persecuted by the LTTE. Arun Siddharth took part in a panel discussion on ethnicity conducted by this new NGO, the PCGG.The positive implications of Arun’s participation in that important event for dispelling the dense clouds of disinformation and misinformation that constantly tarnish Sri Lanka’s international image as a sovereign nation cannot be exaggerated. Using the rare opportunity that came his way to share the stage with the big guns of the PCGG (such as Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu being, among other things, the  founder head of  the NGO known as the Centre for Policy Alternatives), Arun Siddharth advanced arguments with supportive evidence to convince the members of the convention, especially representatives of the international community, that there is no problem of ethnic disharmony or conflict between the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka to be resolved and that the real issue that affects the lives of sixty per cent of the Tamil population in the North is the severe caste discrimination and oppression that is allowed to continue under the ruling political elite of that part of the island. That  elite includes the retired supreme court  judge turned politician Wigneshwaran, and former MP Sumanthiran. Arun Siddharth called their bluff and  incidentally exposed the sham of reconciliation politics fraudulently sustained by the powers that be out of ulterior motives. He thereby delivered a potentially dangerous blow on the lucrative NGO industry that thrives on uncalled-for reconciliation efforts.

Arun Siddharth’s vocal participation in the panel discussion on the alleged problem of ethnicity must have proved to be a complete surprise, as well as a disturbing eye-opener, to most of the distinguished participants, because he flatly denied that there was any ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka to be tackled. He supported his argument with incontrovertible proof based on personal experience. His revelation was perhaps an unintended blow to the NGO  which was primarily set up to address a non-existent need for ‘reconciliation’, to build bridges between the majority Buddhist Sinhalese and the majority Hindu Tamils. The truth is that there is no need to build new bridges between the ordinary Sinhalese and ordinary Tamils, who in their mutually compatible  and naturally co-existing (Hindu and Buddhist) religious cultures, together form over eighty percent of the population that is very tolerant and accommodating towards other religious communities. The bridges are already there, though somewhat damaged recently by certain meddlesome international do-gooders (the ephemeral tribe of civil servants accountable only to the existing governments of the countries that they represent, but not to the common suffering, but sovereign, Sri Lankan masses). In my opinion, Arun Siddharth has great potential power to permanently repair these recently broken bridges, and he is emerging as a unique new star in the ascendant in the northern political firmament. 

He actualises a break with the past in several ways. He doesn’t want to be a regional politician, unlike his casteist and racist  elite counterpart who, while living safely in the South (Colombo) among the peaceful Sinhalese, visit the North (Jaffna) to do communal politics among the innocent Tamils, peddling the useful myth that the Sinhalese are their sworn enemies. Arun works with the downtrodden majority (sixty percent) of Tamils in that region, the so-called low caste Tamils, as one of them.Though the fighting cadres of the LTTE were mainly recruited from his class, his family experienced violence at the hands of the LTTE, and he was opposed to that organisation and the separatist goal it espoused. Now in his forties, Arun says he remained silenced (presumably by pro-separatist forces).  According to him, his father edited a Tamil language newspaper in Colombo, and he was a Marxist. Arun himself seems to mix his politics with Marxist ideas. Arun Siddharth is bravely taking on ‘disgusting caste based Tamil elite politics’ while also criticising the long entrenched  Tamil separatist ideology. Equally significantly, he rejects brazen Indian expansionism in Sri Lanka. It is obvious he enjoys enthusiastic reception both in the South and in the North, which appears to be more marked in the former.

After two unsuccessful alliances (probably initiated by him as a fact-finding strategy)  made with the mainstream national parties of the SLFP and the UNP consecutively, Arun has joined the Mawbima Janatha Pakshaya (MJP) founded and led by former lawyer and entrepreneur Dilith Jayaweera, where he was admitted to the supreme council of the party as a member. Later he was appointed the MJP Jaffna District Organizer by Jayaweera. 

The MJP is the main constituent of the new alliance named the Sarvajana Balaya (All People Power), which is fighting the upcoming general election under the ‘Medal’ symbol. Arun Siddharth is Sarvajana Balaya’s parliamentary candidate for the Jaffna district. About a month ago, he made an impassioned as well as well reasoned appeal in eloquent Sinhala and Tamil for understanding and support from the national electorate both in the North and the South. Incidentally, it should be mentioned that Udaya Gammanpila’s Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) and Wimal Weerawansa’s Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP)  are also partners of the Sarvajana Balaya alliance. Udaya Gammanpila is contesting for the Colombo district under the same symbol as Arun, i.e., the Medal. Weerawansa has decided to stay out of the contest, though obviously, the seasoned politician has no intention of leaving politics or the Sarvajana Balaya. It is also clear that whatever success the Medal achieves at the parliamentary election will ultimately contribute towards strengthening President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his government, provided they are wise and humble enough to heed their constructive criticism and critical help. Unfortunately however, Dilith Jayaweera’s inexplicable failure to  cleanse lingering stains of his past association with the ruinous Rajapaksas and his questionable co-option of a character like Daham Sirisena, son of discredited former Yahapalana president Sirisena, will prove to be clear drawbacks unless remedied soon. 

I for one have already proposed several times in the recent past that the main key to resolving Sri Lanka’s chronic as well as emergent political, economic, and social problems is the restoration of  accustomed peaceful coexistence, cultural integration and solidarity between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities in the context of ineluctable realities of geopolitical pressures that have been and continue to be exerted on our island home for over two and a half millennia. Arun Siddharth from the North has much to contribute to restoring North South unity which is vital for Sri Lanka’s survival as a sovereign nation into the future.

MTA News

Dr. Naresh Bana

The Adani Group’s wind power project in Mannar, Sri Lanka, has a planned capacity of 250 megawatts (MW). This project is part of a broader investment in renewable energy by Adani group in Sri Lanka, with expected completion by 2025. This initiative aims to support Sri Lanka’s renewable energy goals and create up to 2,000 local jobs during construction and operation- Located in Mannar District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Estimated investment: $250 million. It is one of the largest under development wind power projects in Sri Lanka.

As soon as the new government took office varied types of views are being propagated. As happens in any democracy the most vocal voices are those raising questions on the large projects planned by the outgoing office bearers. While it can’t be denied that there may be valid reasons for review and deeper scrutiny of projects awarded earlier or under implementation, due care must be exercised lest the investment climate is impacted. Extra caution is advised considering the economic situation of 2022 and subsequent positive growth of economy; which needs to be maintained. In any case any illegality and any project against the National interests of Sri Lanka has no place on any Government’s agenda. Recently it was argued in media that Adani’s wind power project in Mannar should be cancelled for reasons ranging from procedural irregularities to excessive PPA prices to lack of alignment to global standards to environmental concerns and long-term National interests. In total five major reasons have been cited against the project. On the other hand a detailed study and research based output tells another side of story which must be told to enable readers to form their own opinion as it matters to them the most.

The Process Followed for Adani Project. Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) promoted wind power project was granted approval by Cabinet Appointed Management Committee on Investments (CAMCI) under the Fast tracking of Investments”, a process formulated under laws of Sri Lanka. Thereafter, Cabinet Approval was granted to enter into MOU with AGEL. Ministry of Finance’s notification states that in cases where CAMCI’s decision prevails, there is no need for tendering process. The Project complies with the provisions of Electricity Act of Sri Lanka. Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) has also granted approval to procure power from AGEL. This project is also included by PUCSL in their Long-Term Generation of Electricity Plan (LTGEP 2023-24). The Government of Sri Lanka has in recent times received a single bidder with single location based Renewable Energy (RE) proposals and approved that too. A similar process has been followed for AGEL as well. Proposal also complies with the recent MOU signed between India and Sri Lanka on Renewable Energy Co-operation” allowing both private & public sector participation from both Countries.

PPA Pricing of Electricity Generated by The Adani Project. It is alleged that AGEL has been given favorable treatment and excessive price per unit has been granted to Adani Project in Mannar and Pooneryn . In fact, the wind tariffs of Adani’s project at Mannar and Pooneryn are the lowest in the country. Below is the data from PUCSL website which is visible to anyone and should be referred to while making any argument to the contrary:

It is evident that the PPA rates agreed for Adani Project are indeed lowest among the projects listed in the table above. It further demolishes the theory of excessive payments of billions of USA  dollars over the project life cycle. On the contrary, the timely investment is likely to add to the power availability of the country and help manufacturers and households alike in times of scarcity and high costs of power coming from fossil fuel sources. Needless to say it will bolster the investment climate of Sri Lanka.

Comparison with Global Standards. An effort seems to have been made to draw comparison based on Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), a widely acknowledged benchmark for pricing of PPAs globally. Opponents of the Adani Project state that LCOE for wind projects worldwide has declined steadily over the years, a trend documented by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Drawing upon such perception they argue that AGEL project at $ 0.08/Kwh is excessively priced. A quick look at PUCSL website again defeats such position as there is an IPP in Mannar and CEB project also in Mannar where PPAs are signed for $ 0.1112 and $ 0.1012 per unit, respectively. In fact, the Adani Project PPA energy pricing confirms the IRENA trend of lowering of the tariffs over the years. Additionally, AGEL pricing is in line with the CEB power procurement rates published over a period of time for purchasing power based on Standardised PPAs. Comparing with US Dollar rates of PPAs entered into by Adani Group in India may be neither lawful nor justified as the two sovereign countries have their own policy and investment paradigm, different than each other.

Environmental Concerns. Mannar project site is claimed to be problematic as it harbours the habitat for migratory birds, making it sensitive to large projects. Alternative sites have been suggested and some data from a foreign source has been quoted. Those who make such arguments may like to answer that if Mannar site is problematic then why is another 100 MW wind IPP implemented right there? Why is the 50 MW tender being conducted there? Why is small wind IPPs 5 MW size approved there in same Mannar region. It also needs to be appreciated that the Adani project has undergone extensive EIA process (similar to that of CEB’s 100 MW) and doesn’t fall into any of the crucial habitats as mentioned, may be inadvertently.

Larger Implications for Economic Development. The arguments made by critics of Adani wind project in Mannar and Pooneryn are primarily based on their misplaced perception of procurement procedure and pricing followed by the previous governments. Both of these are untrue as presented in this piece above. Therefore, it is worthwhile to look at probable scenarios when such investment is not available to Sri Lanka. Firstly, the absence of almost $ 250 million of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) may dampen the ‘barely breathing to life’ investment climate of Sri Lanka. Secondly, Sri Lanka may not be able to reduce power tariffs and consumers may continue to pay more by almost $ 80 plus million per annum due to continued dependency on fossil fuel-based generation. Thirdly, it may set a difficult precedence by opening the PPAs of such investors and others approved earlier? Fourthly, the resultant litigations and insurance claims will further push up the cost of project finance for Sri Lanka thereby increasing the project costs. Lastly, the investment and project risk profile of the country will become more complex, all to the detriment of future FDI inflows.

Reviewing and relooking at the big projects after assuming office is the right of any government. It is prudent to ensure such review is based on the merits of the case and not driven by narrative, which is so easy to be manipulated in the current age of social media. It is imperative to appreciate that large publicly listed corporations are not only subject to the laws of the host country where they take up projects but also face repeated scrutiny in the hands of stock market watchdogs and regulatory authorities in their home country and worldwide. An emerging economy like Sri Lanka which faced a complex situation not too far back in past may be well advised to undertake only an  independent merit-based review of all those foreign investments and infrastructure projects which may have appeared to them in a different shade in run up to Presidential elections.

About the Author:

Dr. Naresh Bana is Vice Chairman of Indo Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ISCCI). He is a peer recognized international PPP consultant and ‘Subject Matter Expert’ (SME) with Government of India owned entity NHLML. A contributor to UNECE policy planning effort he is inter-alia leading their railway project team. A distinguished civil engineer he was awarded Ph.D. for his research in small PPPs. He is Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), Life member of Indian Management Association and Member of Institute of Permanent Way Engineers (India).  He has published many papers and blogs in reputed papers/ journals incl in World Bank blogs. His last publication on energy security of Sri Lanka was published on 29 September 2024 in Ceylon Today newspaper . He has been delivering guest lectures to many business schools including Indian Institute of Management, Nagpur, India. PPP remains his passion and his digital footprints are adequately visible on various social media platforms. Email: naresh@iscci.org.in

Madyawediya

Madyawediya

Courtesy Adaderana

The U.S. Department of Justice has on Friday charged an Iranian asset Farhad Shakeri,” who is accused in a plot to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, and claim that he was also tasked with targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.

The Justice Department on Friday announced federal charges in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump before the presidential election.

According to court documents, Iranian officials asked Farhad Shakeri, 51, in September to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Trump. Shakeri is still at large in Iran, the Justice Department said.

This is a newly disclosed plot and marks yet another alleged attempt on Trump’s life by the Iranian regime, the CNN reported.

Prosecutors allege Shakeri – who participated in recorded conversations with law enforcement – was originally tasked by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to carrying out other assassinations against US and Israeli citizens inside the US. But IRGC officials told Shakeri on October 7 to focus only on Trump, court documents say, and that he had seven days to formulate an assassination plan.

Shakeri, who is an Afghan national residing in Tehran, told investigators that if he was unable to do come up with a plan in that timeframe, the IRGC would wait until after the presidential election to move forward as they believed Trump would lose.

Two other individuals charged on Friday, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, who are American citizens, were arrested in New York and are accused of helping the Iranian government surveil a separate US citizen of Iranian origin. They made their initial appearance in court on Thursday, the Justice Department said, and are being detained pending trial.

Shakeri also said he was tasked with surveilling and assassinating two individuals described only as Jewish businesspeople living in New York City.

IRGC officials, prosecutors say, also asked Shakeri to help plan a mass shooting targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka, prompting US and Sri Lankann authorities to warn travelers about threats of an attack. 

The complaint by the FBI agent states the following facts in relation to the plot to attack Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka: 

According to SHAKERI, IRGC Official-I also asked SHAKERI to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka and to plan a mass shooting event in approximately October 2024.” 

On or about October 23, 2024, the governments of the United States and Israel publicly warned travelers about threats of an attack targeting tourist locations in the Arugam By area, and, on or about the following day, Sri Lankan authorities reported having arrested three individuals in connection with the threat. One of the individuals arrested was identified as CC-2.” 

On or about October 28, 2024-after the public travel warnings issued by the governments of the United States and Israel and after CC-2’s arrest by Sri Lankan authorities-SHAKERI advised the FBI that he had previously tasked CC-2 with surveilling the Israeli consulate in Sri Lanka.” 

SHAKERI stated that he and CC-2 had served time in prison together. SHAKERI informed the FBI that he had provided this surveillance to IRGC Official-1.

According to SHAKERI, after being provided surveillance on the Israeli consulate, IRGC Official-1 asked SHAKERI to identify another target, and SHAKERI then instructed CC-2 to surveil a tourist location in Arugam Bay frequented by Israeli tourists.” 

IRGC Official-I instructed SHAKERI to orchestrate a mass shooting at the Arugam Bay location. And, according to SHAKERI, they planned that CC-2 would supply AK47s and other weapons for the attack.” 

Iran has categorically dismissed” the Justice Department’s allegation.

The Foreign Ministry, posting on social media platform X on Saturday, described the claims as completely baseless and rejected,” adding that similar accusations have been made in the past,” which Iran has firmly denied and proven false.” 

The claims amount to a malicious conspiracy” aimed at further complicating the issues between the US and Iran,” the ministry said.

Background of Farhad Shakeri

Shakeri, an asset of the IRGC based in Tehran, immigrated to the US as a child. He was deported in 2008 after serving 14 years for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has been involved in leveraging a network of criminal associates he met in US prisons to assist the IRGC. He has reportedly been supplying the IRGC with operatives for conducting surveillance and assassinations targeting individuals of interest, according to the US Department of Justice.

Though he was deported in 2008, his parole monitoring continued until 2015. In 2019, he was detained in Sri Lanka in connection with the seizure of a large quantity of heroin, highlighting an ongoing series of alleged criminal activities linked to his network.

Shakeri faces multiple charges, including conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, which could result in up to 20 years in prison. He is also charged with providing material support to the same organisation, as well as conspiring to violate sanctions against the Iranian government under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, each of which carries a potential 20-year prison sentence.

–With Agencies Inputs

Courtesy Hiru News

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa stated that, if granted parliamentary authority, he would reject the current government&rsquo;s duplicitous practices and prioritize the welfare of the people. He made these remarks during a public meeting held in Colombo, where he criticized the government for failing to address the rising cost of living and neglecting its promises.

Premadasa highlighted the plight of 2.2 million citizens, who he said had suffered under the former president’s leadership and continue to endure hardships under the current administration&rsquo;s unmet pledges. He emphasized that Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the presidential candidate, represents the common people and, as Executive President, should have reduced prices on goods, fuel, electricity, and taxes&mdash;promises that remain unfulfilled.

According to Premadasa, corruption and tax fraud have inflated oil prices, while the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation chairman remains unaware of such malpractices. He accused the administration of misleading the public, resulting in unaffordable electricity bills and even queues for basic necessities like coconuts.

Premadasa further criticized the President’s reliance on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), claiming it has compromised tax reductions and the country’s economic independence. He concluded by urging voters to support a Samagi Jana Balawegaya-led majority in Parliament, allowing them to form a government focused on delivering genuine relief and reform.

Courtesy Hiru News

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announced plans to reduce electricity tariffs by over 30% in the near future.

Speaking at a National People&rsquo;s Power (NPP) public meeting in Dambulla today, he stated that the government is committed to creating a significant transformation in the electricity sector within the next one to one-and-a-half years.

“We will bring a massive change to the electricity sector and reduce the electricity bill by more than 30%. Give us some time for this, as well as for reducing fuel prices. We will make these changes,” he assured the public.

Chanaka Bandarage

Despite unfair criticism  by vested/cynical interest groups, the NPP is poised to record a win on 14 November 2024. The indications are that it will not be a massive victory.

If the NPP obtains less than 113 seats, they will be compelled to form a coalition government -most probably with the TNA. This is a dangerous situation – TNA is a racist political party.

Thus, the Electorate must ensure that at least 113 NPP MPs are sent to the parliament.

Should the NPP be given a 2/3 majority? No.

Prior to the presidential election the NPP promised to abolish the Executive Presidency. This means the head of the state will be a Prime Minister, directly answerable to the Parliament. Effectively, it is a return to the pre-1978 Constitution – which is true Westminster democracy.  There will be an MP for each and every electorate.

Abolition of the Provincial Councils, if achieved during the process, will be a huge bonus.

Then, the need to abolish the useless Constitutional Council, various similar Commissions like the Police, Public Service, Finance etc. Once the people have elected a government, it should be able to govern without hinderance. It should be able to appoint people to high offices as it wishes. The Opposition in the parliament can object/argue.

Sadly, after winning the Presidential election, the NPP has been silent on abolishing the Executive Presidency.  Since 1994, all the Presidents gave people this promise but upon coming to power they ignored it. Basically, all of them have lied to the people.

The present government’s rhetoric seems that they would abandon the Executive Presidency only after the  next 5 years. This is puff.

Under the circumstances, the Electorate needs not give the NPP a 2/3 majority. Giving them a simple majority (about 125) is sufficient.

The NPP has now governed us for 50 days. Have they been a successful government? Yes and No.

It is too premature to make a firm verdict. It has been a 3-member Cabinet anyway.

During this time, the NPP government has done both good and bad deeds.

To be fair on them, the NPP government must be given at least 6 months to show their capability/efficiency.

But, an alarming development is that in these 50 days they have demonstrated an utmost fear for criticism. Behaviour that was tolerated by previous governments has been treated as potential crimes by this regime. Freedom of Communication, Freedom of Political Discourse, Media Freedom are both expressed and implied in our Constitution. The fact that social media users have been arrested for seemingly innocent acts of criticising/ridiculing the government is a major worry.

In that context, the Electorate must take steps also to formulate a strong opposition. The NPP must not be allowed to run a wild/authoritarian government. In the parliament, they must be subjected to strict checks and balances.

The writer believes that the following fearless people must be in the Opposition as MPs:

Ranjan Ramanayake (his presence will equate 10 MPs), Pubudu Jagoda, Pathum Kerner, Nuwan Bopage, Noor Maurine and Sanajaya Mahawatte.

There are parties in the parliament that fight for the rights of the Tamils and Muslims, there is no single political party that fight for the Sinhalese. In that context, the following must be in the parliament – Dilith Jayaweera, Udaya Gammanpila, Sarath Weerasekera, Sugeeshwara Bandara and  Anuradha Yahampath.

Would the NPP government accept that the Sinhalese has a Constitutional right to live everywhere in Sri Lanka including the North and the East? Do they know that Sinhalese who have attempted to settle down in Mannar recently were dissuaded by the authorities from doing so?

The SJB will be the main opposition party in the next parliament. They have an excellent 3-member economic team. Their two Muslim MPs – Mujibar Rahman and S Marikkar possess superb Sinhala oratory skills that cannot be matched by many Sinhalese MPs. To represent the female voice, the likes of Rohini Kavirathne, Apsara Thilakarathne must be in the parliament.

The NPP has stacked its Nominations and National Lists with professionals – doctors/lawyers/school principals/former top public servants, university academics (scores of PhDers), retired tri forces/Police high officials, trade unionists etc. Most of them have a university degree or similar tertiary qualification. Of the balance, many have only done the party’s political scout work.

Most of the NPP candidates seem lack grassroots level experience. They have not worked on the land/street levels. 

Can such people solve the country’s problem? Did we not have an abundance of such people in the previous governments?  They proved that they were utterly useless and failures.

It was such ‘intellectuals’ that destroyed Gota and his government. How many Professors and academics were in his failed government and Viyath Maga?

In the recently concluded IMF talks (October 2024) the government team mainly comprised of top university professors. What did they achieve for the country? Nil .

The soon-to-be-formed NPP government will have 5 or 6 Consultants for each Ministry (there will be 25 Ministries). This can be a recipe for disaster.

Recently a Presidential Advisor for Digital Economy was appointed with much fanfare. He is only a Consultant, he cannot have Cabinet status. If it is such a powerful portfolio (as the Government portrays), he should be appointed as the Minister for Digital Economy, from the National List. Then, he can do real/solid work (enacting new legislation, preparing and implementing policy etc).

One mistake the past Presidents have done was to run a huge number of Consultants. The immediate past President had 92 Consultants! It is primarily their vehicles that were displayed on the Galleface green after the new President was sworn in.

Then, a large number of Presidential Task Forces (PTF). 

All these (Presidential Advisors, PTF) are huge White Elephants. This is one reason why the Executive Presidency should be abolished.

Our Presidents have shown lack of confidence in running the country with his/her Cabinet. Giving enormous power to non-legislatures like Consultants, PTF Members may amount to abuse of power on their part and violating the Constitution.

We have previously outlined that without the urgent injection of a large sum of foreign exchange (dollars) (say, about US$ 7.5 billion), the country will not rise from its current economic doldrums (our article dated 30/10/2024).

Sri Lanka must be given a ‘push’ by our wealthy friends, in order to kick start our economy. On 6/11/2024, the US cancelled all the debt owed to it by Somalia (to the tune of US 1.1 billion). This was done to stimulate the Somali economy which has been stagnated. Somalia made fine representations to the USA.

Does the NPP have people who can make polished presentations to foreign governments/organizations/businesses? Let’s hope yes.

It is not that difficult to build up a big dollar surplus. This is essential to make our economy strong.

If a request is made to our diaspora (Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and Burgher) to invest (in NRFC), they will reciprocate positively. They must be offered good terms.

The NPP government must have new/fresh ideas of earning dollars.

The fact that Wanderlust has named Sri Lanka as the ‘Most Desirable Island in the world’ is a major boost to us. This will bring us lots of new dollars, if the government manages the tourism sector well.

If we have a good, visionary leadership, Sri Lanka simply cannot go wrong. It is not that difficult to develop this country. The mere fact that we are located between the world’s two biggest economic powerhouses – India and China is our biggest asset.

Let us wish the President, AKD, all the success in his forthcoming visit to India.

The following candidates in the NPP Nominations List do have good grassroots level experience and fine work attitude/ethics  – hopefully they would pull most of the government’s weight: Vijitha Herath, Samantha Vidyarathne , Nalin Hewage, Wasantha Samarasinghe, Vrai Balthazar, Rizvi (medical Dr), Samanmalee Gunasinghe and Ambiga Samuel. AKD is reported to have worked as a farm worker when young. The JVP Secretary, Tilvin Silva was a hospitality labourer. He is a formidable,  very pragmatic man. He will be a real asset if in the Cabinet.

Given that it will be a very strong opposition in the parliament, the NPP must be well geared to face them.

Ranil talks about the need to have experience. This is a valid point.