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Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has pledged to take legal action against those responsible for enforcing forced cremations during the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking at a rally in Akkaraipattu, Premadasa also promised that a future Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) government would provide compensation to those affected by the forced cremations.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the government has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revise the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax, a significant concern for the public. He assured that following further discussions, relief measures would be implemented as soon as possible. The President made these remarks while addressing the “Puluwan Sri Lanka” victory rally held near the new market in Eheliyagoda this afternoon (28).
The rally, organized to affirm President Wickremesinghe’s candidacy in the upcoming presidential election, saw a large turnout from the Eheliyagoda area. During his speech, the President emphasized the government’s awareness of the challenges faced by the citizens and stressed the importance of providing relief while safeguarding the country’s economy. He warned that if the economy were to collapse, there would be no country left for people to live in.
Furthermore, the President criticized Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake for making unrealistic promises about reducing taxes and easing the people’s burdens. He cautioned that following their proposed path could lead to severe shortages, leaving the public once again without essential supplies such as gas, fuel, and medicine.
Expressing his views further, the President said: I have previously visited Eheliyagoda and held meetings where the focus was often on blaming and criticizing one another. However, today, we stand united on the same platform, having chosen to come together to save our country. When we faced a crisis with shortages of gas, medicine, and financial resources, we worked collectively to rebuild the nation. Unfortunately, the Jana Balawegaya, led by my friend Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, led by my former deputy Mr. Sajith Premadasa, chose not to join us. They accused us of coming together for personal gain. This highlights a fundamental difference between us: while they prioritize their party interests, we remain committed to the country and its people.
I am running in this year’s presidential election to seek a public mandate to continue the efforts we have made over the past two years to rebuild the country. There are two main political forces in this country, and although they may move quickly, they fail to grasp the struggles of the people. In contrast, we understand these struggles, which is why we have worked to stabilize the economy. Over the last two years, we have systematically reduced prices and provided relief to the public. However, we recognize that the people deserve even more support. This additional relief can only be achieved by strengthening the rupee and gradually advancing the economy.
With the appreciation of the rupee, the cost of goods can be reduced, allowing us to provide relief to the people. This is the path we must follow. Currently, income tax has become a significant issue. We have reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the need to revise it, and I can confirm that a basic decision has already been made. Both parties have submitted proposals, and once we have discussed and agreed on a common approach, we will be able to provide relief to the public.
As President, my mandate is to strengthen the country’s economy and reduce the cost of living for our citizens. We aim to provide relief through tax reforms and cost-of-living adjustments. Additionally, we are focused on creating employment opportunities for young people and accelerating Sri Lanka’s development to build a robust economy. I will outline this vision in my manifesto, which will be presented tomorrow.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa have recently claimed that they will reduce taxes and provide relief to the public. However, we must ask: is it truly possible to lower taxes and still offer relief? Lowering taxes would decrease government revenue, making it difficult to manage expenses and potentially increasing inflation. If revenues decline while expenses rise, the economy risks collapsing again. Therefore, Mr. Dissanayake and Mr. Premadasa must explain how they intend to sustain the economy under these conditions. People need to recognize that the path they propose could lead to a situation where essential resources, such as gas, fuel, and medicine, are unavailable. I urge everyone to consider this carefully.
The Divisional Crimes Detective Bureau of Panadura Police has arrested the second gunman and the driver involved in the double murder case in Athurugiriya, known as the “Club Wasantha” murder. The suspects were apprehended in the Pinwatta area of Panadura.
The arrested individuals, aged 29 and 32, are residents of Nagoda and Ahugalla. They were detained at a bus stop in Pinwatta after Panadura SSP received information about their location.
Investigations have revealed that after the shooting, the suspects switched from a car to a van and traveled along the Southern Expressway to Matara before heading to Kadawata.
The suspects will be handed over to the Athurugiriya Police for further investigation.
Previously, police had arrested eleven suspects, including the owner of the tattoo studio where the shooting occurred on July 8, and a 21-year-old female accused of aiding the suspects.
The shooting, which took place during the opening ceremony of the tattoo and piercing studio near the Clock Tower in Athurugiriya, resulted in the deaths of 55-year-old businessman Surendra Wasantha Perera, known as “Club Wasantha,” and a 38-year-old male. Six others were hospitalized following the incident
එන්න එපා තොපි එකෙක්වත් රට ඉඳන් අනුරට ඡන්දේ දෙන්න | අපිට ඇරලා ගිහින් තමුසෙලා කකා බිබී ඉන්න | Rajitha Senarathne
Even the middle aged Assamese nationals remember that Assam agitation was initially propagated as ‘Bohiragata Kheda Andolan’ (literarily meaning agitation to deport outsiders) and later redefined as an agitation against illegal migrants (from East Pakistan/ Bangladesh) by the intellectuals and media barons based in Guwahati. After decades, the issue of outsiders (read non-Assamese Indians) came alive with an incident in Sibsagar of eastern Assam, where a community was compelled to apologize for a crime committed by some individuals (belonging to that group). The accused individuals, who physically assaulted a minor female arm wrestler at Babupatty were already arrested but even then the entire community (read Marwari) was made responsible for the crime. Shockingly a responsible State minister was also present on the occasion, where some aged male & females were forced to kneel down to convey their apology.
The Sibsagar incident was enjoyed by a number of parochial Assamese individuals terming it as an example of Asomiyagiri (domination of Assamese community). They made it clear that anyone living in Assam must respect the Asomiya language and culture. Otherwise they have to leave the State, the exact narrative that inspired the people of Brahmaputra valley to join the students led agitation. Amazingly, some people in Assam still nurture a day-dream of crafting the State as a land of Assamese speaking people only. They bluntly defy the argument that hundreds of thousands of Assamese families (precisely students) today live outside the State as proud Indians. The development however annoyed a large number of logical Assamese personalities who outrighly denounced the attitude of the agitators to construct a strong divide between Asomiya and non-Asomiya nationals. Many social media users pointed out them as senseless and trouble makers in the society. Some urged them to raise voices against the illegal Bangladeshi Muslims, who have emerged as a threat to the locals of Assam where no Asomiyagiri will be allowed if those illegitimate foreigners start dominating the politics of Bharat in future.
The Sibsagar incident was immediately followed by a horrific rape incident of a minor at Dhing area in central Assam. The high school student faced the gang rape as she was returning home from tutorial classes in the evening hours. At least three youths belonging to the Muslim community on a two-wheeler chased the victim girl and finally overpowered her. Locals found her in an unconscious condition on a roadside and sent her to a nearby health centre. Later she was shifted to Nagaon town for better treatment. Expressing serious concern over the incident, hundreds of Assamese women spontaneously hit the street and condemned the police forces for its repeated failure to protect the women in their locality. They accused the habituated rapists as being suspected nationals and demanded justice for the victim girl.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, also in charge of the State home portfolio, made a stern comment through his social media handling over the Dhing incident and directed the State police chief GP Singh to rush to the location and ensure swift actions against the monsters. He asserted that the Dhing incident was a crime against humanity and the government will not spare the perpetrators. Shockingly, the very next morning news broke that the prime accused in the gang-rape Tafajjul Islam died by drowning as he tried to escape police custody by jumping into a pond. He was taken to the location to recreate the crime scene. Tafazzul reportedly attacked the police personnel on duty and tried to flee. After two hours of search by State Disaster Response Force personnel, his body was recovered from the pond. Meanwhile, a number of protest rallies were organized in different parts of Assam supporting the demand of Dhing-lady agitators. A group of indigenous people’s organisations even issued a deadline to Miyas (indicating Muslims of Bangladesh origin) to leave upper Assam within a week. They were loud & clear that the Dhing rape was committed by the Miyas and urged the government to do the needful to safeguard the indigenous population in Assam.
A serious issue that the government needs to deal with, carefully and urgently !
Colombo, August 25: Nominations have closed for the long awaited 2024 presidential election. 39 candidates are in the fray.It is widely acknowledged by the press and public that the chief presidential contenders are incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe,leader of the opposition Sajith Premadasa and JVP/NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Two others expected to make a mark are Namal Rajapaksa and Dilith Jayaweera.
However the icing on the winning candidate’s cake would be the minority vote. In a keenly contested poll that is likely to trifurcate the Sinhala vote in near equal proportion, the minority community vote could very well provide the necessary numbers to clinch victory. In such a situation the voting pattern of the premier numerical minorities assumes crucial importance.
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Sri Lanka’s last official census was taken in 2012. According to that census, Sri Lanka’s majority ethnic community the Sinhalese comprises 74.9 % of the island nation’s population. Numerically, the second largest ethnicity is the Sri Lankan Tamils who are 11.1% of the population. The third largest ethnicity is the Sri Lankan Muslims or Moors who comprise 9.3% of the population. The fourth largest ethnic group is the Tamils of Indian origin known as Malaiyagath Thamizhar” (Hill Country Tamils) who are 4.1%.
The three numerical minorities namely the Sri Lankan Tamils, Muslims and Indian Tamils together are 25.5% of the population. Since the people of all districts vote together in the Presidential elections, the entire island is transformed into a single” constituency with a 74.9% Sinhala majority and 25.5 % non – Sinhala minorities.
It is against this backdrop that this week’s column examines the impact of the 2024 presidential election on Sri Lankan Muslim politics. The focus of this two-part article would be on the three Muslim political parties represented in Parliament and their response towards the presidential poll. The roles played by Tamil political parties would be discussed in future articles.
Three Muslim Parties
While there are Muslim MPs from different political parties in the current Parliament , there are only three Muslim Political parties represented in Parliament. They are the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) led by Rauff Hakeem MP, National Congress(NC)led by AHM Athaullah MP and All Ceylon Makkal Congress(ACMC) led by Rishad Bathiudeen MP. Their respective tallies in Parliament after the 2020 elections were SLMC – 5 ACMC – 4 and NC-1.
Of these parties the SLMC and ACMC have thrown in their lot with SJB leader Sajith Premadasa. They have joined the Samagi Jana Sandhanaya (SJS) alliance and have pledged their support for Sajith Premadasa in the presidential election. The NC is committed to Ranil Wickremesinghe and will back him at the presidential poll.
In a bizarre turn of events , several Muslim MPs who were elected to Parliament on the SLMC or ACMC ticket have revolted against their party decision to support Premadasa. These MPs have declared their support for Wickremesinghe.The 2024 presidential election therefore has created a split in the main two Muslim parties with some MPs defying their leaders.
Among these are three MPs from the ACMC and one from the SLMC.There is uncertainty over another Muslim Congress MP. The SLMC leadership however has commenced disciplinary action against both MPs. One of these MPs has been appointed as a minister by President Wickremesinghe. The three MPs who were affiliated to the ACMC conducted a press conference where they were sharply critical of leader Bathiudeen.
While the SLMC and ACMC are caught up in the Ranil-Sajith divide, realities on ground indicate that a sizeable number of Muslims will support the JVP/NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the elections. It appears that even as the Muslim party leaders are losing their hold over their MPs, the Muslim parties themselves are beginning to lose their grip on their voters.
The Muslim public is also much bemused by this recent turn of events. Although the SLMC and ACMC were part of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya(SJB) alliance at the 2020 elections and remained as part of the Sajith-led opposition in Parliament, both parties were expected to cross over to President Wickremesinghe’s side when the presidential poll took place. That did not happen. Both parties remained with Sajith and joined his SJS alliance. The decision taken by the leaders has led to an open rebellion by some MPs elected from these parties.
Athaullah’s National Congress
When Ranil Wickremesinghe became prime minister in 2022 May and executive president in July 2022, he extended an invitation to all political parties to support him in his efforts to repair and revive the economy.One of the earliest Muslim parties to do so was the National Congress(NC) led by AHM Athaullah.
The NC was aligned to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) at the 2020 elections. It contested separately at the poll because the SLPP master strategist Basil Rajapaksa wanted a predominantly Sinhala candidate SLPP list for Amparai district. Athaullah got elected in 2020 due to the Tamil vote getting divided between the TNA list and the list headed by Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan alias Karuna.The NC contesting under the Horse symbol polled 38,911 (10.08%). Party leader Athaullah re-entered Parliament.
Despite winning Athaullah was not given any ministerial post though he had earlier been a senior cabinet minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Governments. It was said then that Athaullah’s loyalty was suspected by Basil because the NC leader had alleged secret dealings with former president Maithripala Sirisena. A disgruntled Athaullah marked time in the SLPP government until the Aragalaya”crisis erupted. He then broke away and joined the group of independents”led by Wimal Weerawana and Udaya Gammanpila
When Ranil took over the reins of Govt, Athaullah split from the independents group and backed the Ranil Govt. He expected a ministerial post but that did not materialise. Though disappointed Athaullah remained with Wickremesinghe and was one of the first to pledge support to Ranil’s presidential candidacy.
Athaullah’s decision to support Wickremesinghe was bitterly criticized by his political rivals. Apparently the legendary Muslim Congress leader MHM Ashraff was strongly opposed to Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2000 when Parliamentary polls were held. Ashraff refused to align with the Wickremesinghe-led United National Party(UNP) and opted to remain with Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Peoples Alliance(PA). Ashraff is reported to have then said in Tamil Ranil Saarathiyaai Irukkum UNP busil Naan Aeramaattaen”( I will not get on board the UNP bus if Ranil is the driver) Ashraff died in a helicopter crash in September 2000.
In later years when SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem joined the UNP Govt led by Wickremesinghe, Athaullah referred to Ashraff’s saying and mocked Hakeem for going against the late SLMC leader’s thinking. Now with Athaullah backing Ranil,it is the turn of the NC leader’s detractors to roast him for flouting Ashraff’s wishes.
The important question is whether Athaullah would be able to deliver a sizeable chunk of votes to Wickremesinghe at the presidential elections. Athaullah hails from Akkaraippatru in Amparai district and has a lot of support there. He has even elevated Akkaraippatry town to a municipality and got his own son elected as Mayor. This blatant act of nepotism eroded Athaullah’s Akkaraippatru vote bank.
The NC also enjoyed support in areas like Addalaichenai and Sainthamarudhu earlier. The NC got an MP seat in 2020 due to substantial votes from areas other than Akkaraippatru. This vote base has now shrunk with National Congress stalwarts like Uduma Lebbe from Addalaichenai and Saleem from Sainthamarudhu joining the Muslim Congress. Nevertheless Athaullah the uncrowned King of Akkarapipattru is capable of garnering a minimum of 25,000 votes for Ranil in his fiefdom opine political observers. This is only a portion of the Muslim votes in Amparai district.
Endorsing Premadasa’s Candidacy
While the NC is backing Ranil, the other two Muslim parties are supporting Sajith. The Muslim Congress led by Rauff Hakeem and Makkal (Peoples) Congress led by Rishad Bathiudeen have joined the SJB alliance endorsing Premadasa’s presidential candidacy. Earlier both parties contested the 2020 poll on the SJB ticket and remained in the opposition.
As mentioned earlier both parties were expected to cross over to Ranil’s side and back the incumbent president at the 2024 poll. Most unexpectedly SLMC leader Hakeem and ACMC leader Bathiudeen have supported Premadasa and as a result face an inner-party revolt. How did this state of affairs come about?
Let us take the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress first. As is well known the SLMC is the premier political party representing the Sri Lankan Muslims especially in the Eastern province. The Muslim Congress aligned with the SJB in the 2020 elections. The SLMC contested on the SJB ticket in all districts except Batticaloa where it contested on its own under the party’s tree symbol.
The SLMC obtained five MP seats in 2020.Party leader Rauff Hakeem won in Kandy. HMM Harees and Faizal Cassim won in Amparai district.MS Thowfeek was elected in Trincomalee. Zainulabdeen Nazeer Ahamed was Elected MP in Batticaloa. He contested as SLMC while the other four contested as SJB.
20th Amendment Crisis
The SLMC was faced with an inner-party crisis within a few months of the 2020 election. Re-visiting this crisis and its consequences are very necessary to understand the reasons behind SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem’s current stance in the 2024 presidential poll. What happened in 2020 was this. The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Govt introduced the 20th amendment to the Constitution.
This amendment was brought in mainly to dilute some provisions of the progressive 19th Constitutional amendment passed by the previous Yahapalanaya”Govt. Among these were clauses relating to dual citizenship. The 19th Amendment had forbidden dual citizens from contesting in elections.Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to renounce his US citizenship to contest the presidency in 2019.
His brother Basil Rajapaksa also a US citizen wanted to re-enter Parliament in Sri Lanka but did not want to renounce US citizenship. Basil the master strategist of the SLPP wanted to enable dual citizens like him to become MPs through the 20th amendment. The SLPP had 145 MPs of its own and 6 MPs from parties affiliated to it. This was enough to have a two-thirds majority.Yet Basil did not want to take chances. So he engineered an arrangement with nine MPs from the opposition to get more supportive votes for 20 A.
The MPs consisted of four from the SLMC, three from the ACMC and one each from the SJB and SJB affiliated Tamil Progressive Alliance(TPA). While SLMC leader Rauff Hakim and ACMC leader Rishad Bathiudeen voted against the 20th amendment their party MPs numbering seven voted for it.
This embarrassed SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem greatly. Furthermore two Muslim Congress MPs Nazeer Ahamed and Harees alleged that they had voted for the 20th amendment with the consent and approval of leader Hakeem. This placed the SLMC leader in an unenviable position. His own MPs were now undermining his integrity by making such allegations after undermining his authority y voting for the 20th Amendment. In short they were adding insult to injury.
With four out of five MPs defying the party leadership, Rauff Hakeem was in a predicament. If the party were to take disciplinary action against them,it would be a case of penalizing 80% of its Parliamentary strength.
SLMC Counter Campaign
So Hakeem swallowed his pride and quietly began a counter campaign of re-integrating his prodigal MPs. The party went through the motions of seeking explanations from the errant MPs but was more interested in reconciliation as opposed to retribution. This attempt met with success in stages.
Trincomalee District MP Thowfeek long regarded as Hakeem’s most devoted disciple was the first to return to party folds. He was followed by Faizal Cassim. The mercurial Harees was a tough nut to crack. Ultimately, he too was back. It was Harees and Nazeer Ahamed who had openly accused Hakeem of having encouraged their voting for 20 A. Harees finally apologized openly for this. He was rehabilitated” and appointed senior vice president of the party.
Nazeer Ahamed
But Nazeer Ahamed known as Hafiz for having memorised all 6236 verses of the Holy Quran did not fall in line like the other SLMC parliamentarians. Nazeer a former Eastern province chief minister was also the SLMC deputy leader. Yet he remained defiant of the SLMC leader and ingratiated himself further with the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Govt. He was appointed a cabinet minister for Environment in April 2022. Nazeer Ahamed continued as cabinet minister in the Govt headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe too.
Meanwhile the SLMC’s apex body known as the High Command (Athi Uyar Peedam) took a decision to vote against the 2022 Budget (Appropriation Bill) . Nazeer Ahamed breached party discipline by voting for it. The SLMC then expelled him from the party after going through the due process of calling for an explanation. Nazeer filed a petition in the Supreme court challenging his expulsion. After protracted legal proceedings, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court dismissed the petition and upheld the expulsion. The 62 page judgement delivered on 5 th October 2023 was a unanimous ruling.
As a result Nazeer Ahamed was unseated as an MP and ceased to be a cabinet minister. The SLMC’s Seyed Ali Zaheer Moulana replaced Nazeer Ahamed and was sworn in as Batticaloa district MP. Moulana had polled the second highest number of preference votes on the SLMC list at the 2020 hustings.
Supreme Court Ruling
The Supreme Court ruling on Nazeer Ahamed was a double delight to the Muslim Congress then . The SLMC has over the years established itself as the premier political party representing the Muslim people of Sri Lanka. While the party has an island-wide membership, the SLMC’s stronghold was the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. Of Sri Lanka’s nine provinces, it is the East that has the largest concentration of Muslims.
Unfortunately, the SLMC has in the past been plagued by defections and cross-overs mainly from Eastern Province party MPs. Even though the SLMC rank and file along with supporters remain faithful to the party and its Tree” symbol, such loyalty has not been displayed by some frontline leaders.
Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem has been struggling to cope with this breakaway tendency and maintain party discipline. The SC ruling and consequent fate of Nazeer Ahamed strengthened the hands of leader Rauff Hakeem and the party hierarchy to maintain party discipline.
When the judgement regarding Nazeer Ahamed’s expulsion was delivered, I wrote an article about it in the Daily FT”. In that I quoted Rauff Hakeem about the case and its implications. What Hakeem said then was as follows –
The judgement by their Lordships have very lucidly compared and contrasted both local and foreign judgements relevant to the ‘Audi alteram partem’ rule and have concluded quite convincingly that duplicitous conduct by the Petitioner in deliberately avoiding to provide a written explanation for his conduct as a precursor to an inquiry by itself absolves the Party in that it had given the Petitioner the fair opportunity to be heard as required by the rule.”
Though there was precedent for this in Gamini Disanayake case 30 years ago, it was frustrating experience for affected political parties ever since then as technicalities, procedural lapses and failure to follow the dictates of the party constitution had been cited by the judges to invalidate expulsions.”
Rauff Hakeem’s comments indicate the his satisfied state of mind at that point in time. The SC ruling upholding the expulsion of Nazeer Ahamed and its consequent unseating of him as MP was a shot in the arm for the SLMC and its leader. A prickly thorn in the flesh had been removed. Nazeer Ahamed like Humpty-Dumpty had had a great fall and been cut to size.
Nazeer Ahamed’s Rise”
But to Hakeem’s utter chagrin , Nazeer Ahamed did rise again from that fall due to Ranil Wickremesinghe. It is this rise”aided by the president that has contributed to the current state of affairs in which the Hakeem-led SLMC opposes Ranil and supports Sajith.
President Wickremesinghe appointed Nazeer Ahamed as Governor of the North-western province in May 2024. This may have irritated Rauff Hakeem but it was well within the rights of the president to do so . But what Nazeer Ahamed started doing after being appointed Wayamba governor was provocative to the SLMC in general and its leader in particular.
Nazeer Ahamed reportedly began canvassing”for Ranil within the SLMC with the blessings of the president. The idea seemed to be that of promoting a split in the SLMC and getting MPs to support Ranil’s candidacy if the party leadership decided to support Sajith Premadasa. SLMC MPs were allocated large sums of money under the district de-centralised budget for development projects in their electoral districts
Rauff Hakeem
According to informed Muslim Congress sources, Rauff Hakeem had not intended to support Sajith over Ranil until the president began reaching out to SLMC MPs over the head of the party leader . Until then the SLMC leader was trying to bring about rapprochement between Ranil and Sajith and promote a re-unification of the UNP and SJB. Wickremesinghe going behind the back of the SLMC ledership with the alleged collaboration of Nazeer Ahamed had hurt and angered Hakeem say SLMC circles.”It became a prestige issue for the Thalaiver”(leader) they say. While addressing the media after the party decision to support Sajith, the SLMC leader was critical of the president communicating with Muslim Congress MPs independently/
Rishad Bathiudeen
It is against this backdrop that the SLMC officially backed Sajith Premadasa;s candidacy as opposed to that of Ranil Wickremesinghe. This in turn has led to Muslim Congress MPs revolting against the leader’s decision to support Sajith over Ranil. What happened thereafter and also matters concerning Rishad Bathiudeen and the CMC will be related in the second part of this article.
END
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ ක්රියාත්මක ණය ප්රති ව්යුහගතකරන වැඩපිළිවෙල සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජාත්යන්තර මුල්ය අරමුදල සමඟ සජීවී සංවාදයට එක්වන ලෙස ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා විසින් කරන ලද අභියෝගය බාරගන්නා බව සමගි ජන බලවේගය සඳහන් කරයි.
එම පක්ෂයේ මහ ලේකම් රංජිත් මද්දුම්බණ්ඩාර මහතා විසින් මාධ්ය නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් සඳහන් මේ බව සදහන් කර ඇත.
අභියෝගය බාරගන්නා බව සඳහන් කළ ද සජිත් ප්රේමදාස මහතා ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයා ලෙස පුද්ගලිකව ඊට සහභාගී වන බවක් නිවේදනයේ පැහැදිලි නැත.
මේ අතර එම අභියෝගය ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් එල්ල කරන ලද ජාතික ජන බලවේග නායක අනුර දිසානායක මහතා ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් මේ වනතෙක් කිසිදු ප්රතිචාරයක් දක්වා නැත.
Ranil seems to assume that he is IMF’s sole representative! IMF has not appointed Ranil as their sole agent or spokesperson so he should stop acting like one. And Ranil is not the only party the IMF deals with. The IMF already held independent discussions with the JVP and the SJB where Ranil was not invited. There is no need for the JVP and the SJB or any other party to discuss with Ranil what they discussed with the IMF. Why a middleman when they independently reach out to the IMF for own discussions?
Ranil’s program for the IMF is not the only program. Any party can have their own IMF program as long as it achieves IMF’s broad outcomes. Ranil goes around with a false IMF boogeyman that only his IMF program can be there. Manifestly untrue. The IMF is open to any program by any government in power as long as the program meets IMF’s economic criteria.
For instance, the program Ranil presented to the IMF relies on selling profitable state-owned corporations and investments, taxing the middle class to death and depriving the poor of basic essentials so that inflation will stay low (as they can’t afford essentials). That is like killing the taxpayer to avoid paying tax. This is not the only way to meet IMF outcomes. In fact, this is not the way to meet IMF outcomes at all! There are many better ways. JVP and SJB can easily and most probably have much better ways than Ranil’s program for the IMF. There is no earthly reason to reveal them before assuming office.
Once again, the IMF has not appointed a sole agent or its spokesman among politicians in Sri Lanka.
Killing the hen that lays golden eggs is not a solution. It is a very temporary and foolish plaster solution with catastrophic consequences. For instance, Ranil says he plans to sell off Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Corporation, Sri Lanka Telecom, Hilton Hotel Colombo and a number of other profit-making government-owned businesses for a paltry sum of $3 billion. This is not sufficient even to repay the $2.9 billion IMF loan he borrowed since 2002 which has to be repaid with interest. Once sold off, their profits now received by the government, state concessions and benefits now received from them by the government, state policy implementation support which they provide now and vital national security and national economic levers will be lost for good. Billions of dollars of management fees, transfer pricing, profits and dividends will leave the country making both the trade deficit and budget deficit worse.
Instead of uplifting the local poultry industry, capacity and supply, Ranil’s policy was to import eggs and chicken meat from India! That permanently scaled down the local industry and now no one will invest in the local poultry industry. Killed the hens and the economy, literally.
No wonder Ranil’s policies failed to bring foreign investors to Sri Lanka – no Volkswagen, no Google and no Starlink investments just to name a few, despite fanfare. They only serve Sri Lanka as a customer! Sri Lanka gets no employment, taxes, manufacturing plants, etc. Port City was open for foreign investors for years but no foreign investor has invested any money in it. Some promised to do so but later pulled out.
Instead of killing the hen that lays golden eggs, partly divesting the government share of their ownership has worked wonders in the past. Srilankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Telecom were highly profitable under foreign investors who owned part of the corporation while the government owned the rest. World’s best airline operator then (Emirates) managed the former while the world’s best telecommunications company then (NTT Japan) managed the other. Both partnerships were destroyed by politicians by appointing their own people into mismanaging them and wresting them back into total government control.
JVP and SJB obviously have a workable policy as it is a no-brainer. Anyone understands that selling some eggs while using others to produce more hens is a sustainable business model than killing the hen for chicken meat and selling it for a quick dollar. Sadly, Ranil and his 92 highly paid advisors including Paskeralingam who was behind so many economic disasters in the past and director generals don’t seem to grasp it. Or they do grasp it but have another agenda where Sri Lanka and its people have no place in it.
ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ නායක ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතාට එරෙහිව අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ විමර්ශන කොමිෂන් සභාවට පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ.
සිවිල් පුරවැසි අරගල ව්යාපාරය විසින් මෙම පැමිණිල්ල ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත්තේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයෙකු ලෙස ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති වත්කම් බැරකම් ප්රකාශය අනුව අනුර දිසානායක මහතා සිදු කර ඇති රාජ්ය දේපළ අව භාවිතාවක් තහවුරු වන බවයි.
පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරුවෙකුව හිඳිමින් ඔහු පාර්ලිමේන්තු නිල නිවාසයක්ද ඔහු වෙන්කරගෙන ඇති අතර වත්කම් බැරකම් ප්රකාශ ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමේදී ඒ සඳහා ඔහුට ඇති නුසුදුසුකම තහවුරු කර ඇති බවද සංගමයේ කැඳවුම්කරු රොෂාන් කරවනැල්ල මහතා කියා සිටී.
අදාළ පැමිණිල්ල ගොනු කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව හෙතෙම තම සමාජ ජාලක ගිණුමේ ඊට අදාළ ලිපි ලේඛන හා සම්පූර්ණ තොරතුරු හෙළි කර තිබේ.
අනුරට එරෙහිව ඔහුම දිවුරුම් ප්රකාශ සාක්ෂි සපයයි.. ප්රබල අපරාධ චෝදනාවක් එල්ල වේ..
අනුර දිසානායකට එරෙහි දූෂණ පැමිනිල්ලේ තොරතුරු
උපුටා ගැන්ම FB
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අද දින අල්ලස් හෝ දූෂණ විමර්ශන කොමිෂන් සභාවට දූෂණ විරෝධි පනතේ 111 වගන්තියේ සදන් වරදක් ගැන පනතේ 43 වගන්තිය ප්රකාරව අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතාට එරෙහිව පැමිනිලි කලෙමි. ඊට සාක්ෂි ලේඛන ඔබේ දැනගැනීමට දක්වමි.
පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රීවරයකුට මන්ත්රී නිවසක් ගන්න තිබිය යුතු සුදුසුකම් පහතින් ඇත. ඒ අනුව ඔහු කරන ඉල්ලීමකින් , නිවාස 120 න් , හිස්ව ඇති නිවසක් හිමිවන්නේ පහත කොන්දේසිවලට අනුවය.
ඒවානම් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සිට සැතපුම් 25 ක් ( ආසන්න කි.මී. 40 ක්) ඇතුලත තමාට හෝ බි කලත්රයාට ( බිරිද/සැමියා) ට නිවසක් නැත්නම්, කුලීයට බද්දට දී නැත්නම් ( මහල් නිවාසද ඇතුලුව) පමනි. ඒ බව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ තොරතුරු නිලධාරී මා වෙත තහවුරු කර ඇත. එම ලේඛනය පහතින් ඇත.
පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී නිවාස ලබාගත් මන්ත්රී ලේඛනයේ 42වන නම අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා ගේ ය.
ඔහු විසින් 2024 ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයකු ලෙස නාමයෝජනා ව සමග ලබාදුන් තම වත්කම් බැරකම් ප්රකාශයේ තම බිරිදට 2007.05.20 ,මිලදී ගත් නිවසක්/ ඉඩමක් ගැන සදහන් අතර එය කඩවත වැවහේන පාර ලෙස දක්වා ඇත.
එතැන් සිට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට සැතපුම් 25 ක් නැත. ආසන්න කි.මී.28.5 කි.
ඒ අනුව 2007.05.20 දින සිට අනුර දිසානායක මහතා මන්ත්රී නිවසක් පරිහරනයට නුසුදුසුය. එය තමන්ට හෝ අන් අයකුට වාසියක් වන රජයට පාඩුවක් වන එකකි. එමෙන්ම අයුතු පරිහරනයකි.දූෂණ විරෝධි පනත අනුව දූෂණ වරදකි.
අපේ පැමිනිල්ලක් තුල ඔප්පු කල හැකි දූෂණයක්, වරද කල කෙනෙක්, සිදු වූ අලාභයක්/ ලබාගත් වාසියක් වංක පරිහරනයක්, සිදු වූ කාලය ආදී තොරතුරු නිශ්චිතව ඉදිරිපත් කරමු. මක් නිසාද යත් බොරු පැමිනිලි ඉදිරිපත් කලහොත් 2023 දූෂණ විරෝධි පනත අනුව බොරු පැමිනිලිකරු මාස 06 ක් හිරේ ය.
මෙය අප විසින් සිදුකරන දූෂණ විරෝධි පැමිනිලි 1000න් එකක් පමනකි.අනෙකුත් ජනපති අපේක්ෂකයන්ගේ ද වත්කම් බැරකම් ප්රකාශ පරීක්ෂා කරමින් යන අතර ඒවා ගැනද කටයුතු කරමු.
මේ දූෂාන විරෝධි පනත ගෙන එන්නට සටන් කල අපි දැන් එයින් වැඩ ගන්නෙමු. සියල්ල කියවා පනත ද කියවා දායක සභාව මට බැන්නාට කම් නැත. දූෂිතයා නිල් ද රතු ද් කොලද දම් ද කහ ද යන්න අපට අදාල නොවේ.
දර්ශන තන්ත්රීගේ
ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ප්රතිපත්ති ප්රකාශනය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා අදහස් පල කරයි.
මාවනැල්ලේ පැවති ජනාධිපතිවරණ ජන රැලියක් අමතමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ එම ප්රතිපත්ති ප්රකාශනය අනුව වත්මන් රාජ්ය ආදායමෙන් රුපියල් බිලියන දෙසීයක් අවම තරමේ අහිමි වනු ඇති බවයි.
එසේ අහිමිවන ආදායම උපයා ගන්නේ කෙසේදැයි කිසිදු තැනක සඳහනක් කර නැති බවටද හෙතෙම චෝදනා කළේය.
ජාතික ජන බලවේගය උත්සාහ කරන්නේ වැල් පාලම එක පැත්තකින් පමණක් නොව දෙපැත්තෙන්ම කපා දමා දැමීමට බවත් ඒ මහතා එහිදී කියා සිටියේය.
මම බැලුවා ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ප්රකාශය. අඩුම බිලියන 200ක් වත් අඩු වෙනවා. ආදායම අඩු කරලා කොහොමද වියදම වැඩි කරන්නේ. ඒ ගණිතය දන්නේ නැතිනම්, ඒ ආර්ථිකය දන්නේ නැතිනම් මේ අය බලන්නේ වැල් පාලම එක පැත්තකින් කපන්න නෙමෙයි දෙපැත්තෙන්ම කපන්න. අපි මේ වැල් පාලම අතහරින්නේ නැතුවයි මේක කරන්නේ”
තමන් අදාළ ප්රතිපත්ති ප්රකාශනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම කියූ බවත් පැවසූ ඔහු රටේ ජනතාවටද එය ඉදිරි මැතිවරණයට පෙර කියවන්නැයි ආරාධනා කරන බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.
ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ප්රතිපත්ති ප්රකාශය සාර සංග්රහවාදී ලියවිල්ලක් බවත් එහි ප්රතිපත්ති කිසිවක් නැති බවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී චම්පික රණවක සදහන් කරයි.
මෙම අදහස් ප්රකාශ වූයේ ‘ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ඇස්බැන්දුම් ප්රකාශනය’ මැයෙන් එක්සත් ජනරජ පෙරමුණ විසින් පවත්වන ලද මාධ්ය හමුවක දී ය. මෙහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ එක්සත් ජනරජ පෙරමුණේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී පාඨලී චම්පික රණවක මහතා;
ජාතික ජන බලවේගය විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කොට තිබෙන්නේ ප්රතිපත්ති ප්රකාශනයක් නොවෙයි මැතිවරණ ප්රකාශනයක් පමණයි. මේ ලියවිල්ල ක්රමයේ වෙනසක් පතා කියලා ඉදිරිපත් කළාට ඒ ක්රමයේ වෙනස සඳහා භාවිතා කරන ඔවුන්ගේ දර්ශනය මොකක්ද? ඒ දර්ශනය වෙළෙඳපොළ ආර්ථිකය මත පදනම් වෙච්ච එකක්ද? සමාජවාදී ආර්ථිකය මත පදනම් වෙච්ච එකක් ද? ප්රායෝගිකවාදී දර්ශනයක් ද? එහෙමත් නැත්නම් සමාජ ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී දැක්මක්ද? මේ කිසිවක් දාර්ශනික ක්රියාවලියේ කිසිවක් ප්රකාශ කරලා නෑ මීට පෙර ඔවුන් දූෂිත යැයි කියාගන්නා බොහෝ දේශපාලන පක්ෂත් ඔවුනුත් ඉදිරිපත් කරලා තියෙන මැතිවරණ ප්රකාශනවලට බොහොම සමාන ප්රකාශනයක් තමයි මේ ඉදිරිපත් කරලා තියෙන්නේ.”
ණය තිරසරකරණය ගැන එහි එකඟතාවක් නෑ. තමන් ඉන් වෙනස් වන්නේ කොතනින්ද, ඊට යොදාගන්නා නිර්ණායකය කුමක්ද යන්න ජාජබ හෙළි කළ යුතුයි. ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ විශ්ලේෂණය එක්ක තමන් එකඟ ද යන්න ජාත්යන්තර මූල්ය අරමුදල කිව යුතුයි.
ආණ්ඩුව ජාත්යන්තර මූල්ය අරමුදලත් එක්ක එකඟතා ලියවිල්ලක් අත්සන් කරලා තියෙනවා. ඒ එකඟතා ලියවිල්ලට පදනම් වෙලා තියෙන්නේ ණය තිරසරභාවය පිළිබඳ තියෙන විශ්ලේෂණය. මේක මත පදනම් වෙලා තමයි යම් යම් ඉලක්ක ආණ්ඩුවට ශ්රී ලංකා රජයට ලබාදීලා තියෙන්නේ. දැන් ඒක ඇත්තටම ආර්ථික පරිවර්තන පනත නමින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ජනාධිපතිවරයා ගෙනවිල්ලා ඒක රටේ නීතියක් බවටත් පත් කරලා තියෙනවා. ඒකේ පදනම තමයි අර ණය තිරසරභාවය පිළිබඳ විශ්ලේෂණය,
ජනාධිපතිවරණයෙන් පස්සේ, ජාත්යන්තර මූල්ය අරමුදලේ ඊළඟ කොටස අපට ලබා දීම සඳහා වන කොන්දේසි ගණනාවක් ඉටු කළ යුතුව තියෙනවා. ඒක දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේ ලබාගත යුතුයි. ඒක දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේ ලබාගන්නට නම්, ගන්නට අපි කොන්දේසි ඉටු කළා නම්, අපට ලෝක හා ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකුවෙන් තවත් මුදලක් ලැබෙන්න නියමිතයි. ඒ මුදල් එක්ක තමයි මේ අයවැය අපි සකස් කරලා තියෙන්නේ. මෙච්චරයි අපේ ආදායම. මෙච්චරයි අපේ වියදම කියලා. මේ අයවැය තුලනය කරලා තියෙන්නේ. එතකොට අයවැය තුලනය කරන්නේ කොහොමද කියන එක පිළිබඳ බරපතළ ප්රශ්නයක් වහාම රටට උදා වෙනවා. ඒ නිසා වහාම මූල්ය අරමුදල එක්ක හෝ තමන්ගේ ආර්ථික විශේෂඥයන් එක්ක සාකච්ඡා කරලා, ඔය ආර්ථික කමිටුවත් එක්ක සාකච්ඡා කරලා මේ ණය, තිරසරභාවය, විශ්ලේෂණයෙන් තමන් වියෝ වන්නේ, ඒ වගේම අපගමනය වෙන්නේ කොතනින්ද කියන එක ගැන, රටට වහාම හෙළි කළ යුතුයි. ඒ හෙළි කිරීමත් එක්කම, ජාත්යන්තර මූල්ය අරමුදල රටට කියන්න ඕනේ, මේ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ, නොහොත් ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ විශ්ලේෂණය එක්ක, ඔවුන් එකඟද? නැද්ද? කියලා. මොකද ඒක මේ රටේම ඉරණම, ඊළඟ මාස තුනේදී විතරක් නෙවෙයි, ඊළඟ දශක දෙකේ තීරණය වෙන්න නියමිත නිසා.
ජනාධිපති ක්රමය අහෝසි කරලා, පාර්ලිමේන්තු ක්රමය ඇති කරන බවත් නව මැතිවරණ ක්රමයක් බිහිකරන බවත්, කිව්වට මේ රටේ මේ විශාල වශයෙන් ප්රශ්නගත වෙලා තියෙන පළාත් සභා ක්රමය ගැන කිසිම වචනයක් ප්රකාශ කරලා නෑ. බලය බෙදීමක් එහෙම නැත්නම් පරිපාලන විමධ්යගත කිරීමක් හඳුන්වලා දෙනවා නම් ඒ කවර ආකාරයේ එකක්ද කියන එක ගැන කිසිම සඳහනක් නෑ.
අපි එක්තරා කාලයක මේ රටේ පොදු ප්රවාහනය ශක්තිමත් කිරීම සඳහා LRT ගේනකොට ඒවට විරුද්ධව ගල් පෙරලපු, ඒවා උපහාසයට ලක් කරපු, එක පැත්තකට විතරයි මේවා යන්නේ. ලෝකයේ ගිනස් පොතට එක්කහු වෙන්න ඕනේ කියලා එහෙම විහිළු තහළු කරපු, ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ නොහොත් ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ අය තමන්ගේ ප්රතිපත්තිය බවට ප්රකාශ කර කරලා තියෙනවා. හෝමාගම තාක්ෂණ නගරයට විශාල විරෝධයක් කරපු ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණම තාක්ෂණික උද්යාන බිහි කරන්න යනවා. ඔවුන්ට බුද්ධිය පහළ වීම ගැන සතුටුයි. දැන් ඒක ගිනස් පොතට යා යුතුයි.
තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණය පමණක් නොවේ නැනෝ තාක්ෂණ, ජීව තාක්ෂණ, ජාන තාක්ෂණ, රොබෝ තාක්ෂණ, මේ වගේ ගොඩාක් දේවල් සඳහා තමයි හෝමාගම, මාතර, පේරාදෙණියේ, කිලිනොච්චියේ තාක්ෂණ නගර හතරක් යෝජනා කළේ. මේකෙන් හෝමාගම එක විතරයි අපි නිර්මාණය කරන්න මැදිහත් වුණේ. ඒකට විශාල විරෝධතාවයක් ගොඩනැගුවා. දැන් ඒගොල්ලොම යෝජනා කරලා තියෙනවා බස්නාහිර, දකුණු ආදී පළාත්වල තාක්ෂණ උද් යාන බිහි කරන්න යනවා ඒගොල්ලන්ගේ පාලනයක් යටතේ කියලා. බොහෝ කාලෙකට පස්සේ, අවුරුදු දහයක, අවුරුදු දහයකට අඩු කාලයක් ඇතුළත, තමන්ට මේ පිළිබඳ බුද්ධිය පහළ වීම ගැන අපි ඉතාම සතුටට පත්වෙනවා. මොකද අපිට ඊට වඩා දුරදක්නා භාවයක් මේ රටේ නවෝත්පාදනය ගැන, මේ රටේ නවෝත්පාදනය පිළිබඳ ජාතික සැලැස්ම, නවෝත්පාදන ආයෝජන සැලැස්ම, අපි ඉදිරිපත් කළේ මීට අවුරුදු දහයකටත් කලින්, 2013 දී. දැන් මේ 2024 දී තමයි, ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ ජාතික ජන බලවේගෙට ඒක මතක් වෙලා තියෙන්නේ.
දේශීය ආදායම් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, රේගු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හා සුරාබදු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හරහා, රාජ්ය ආදායම් ඉහළ නංවන්නේ කොහොමද කියන එකට සාම්ප්රදායික උත්තර ඇරෙන්න, ඒ කියන්නේ තව කාර්ය මණ්ඩල බඳවා ගැනීම්, නීති පද්ධති සකස් කිරීම, වැනි දෑ වලට අමතරව, වෙනත් කිසිම අතිරේක යෝජනාවක් ඉදිරිපත් වෙලා නෑ. මේ කණ්ඩායම මොකක්ද කියන එක ගැන අපට විධිමත් භාවයක් පේන්න නැහැ. රටේ ප්රබල මූල්ය, බලශක්ති, ප්රවාහන, වැනි ක්ෂේත්ර සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඉන්න කණ්ඩායම මොකක්ද කියන එක ගැන කිසිම පැහැදිලි කිරීමක් නැහැ. කොටින්ම දිනුවොත් භාරකාර ඇමති මණ්ඩලයක් පවත්වගෙන යන්නේ කොහොමද කියන එකවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ එතුමන්ලාගේ තුන්දෙනයි. අනුර දිසානායක මහත්තයා ජනාධිපති වුනොත් තව එක්කෙනෙක් එනවා හතර දෙනයි. ඇරෙන්න වෙන කිසිම උත්තරයක් ලබා දීලා නෑ. ඉතින් ඒක නිසා අපි බොහොම පැහැදිලිව ප්රකාශ කරන්න ඕනේ අවිනිශ්චිත තත්වයක් තමයි මේ තුලින් මතු කරලා තියෙන්නේ.
Photo: Sri Lanka Ports AuthorityBy Angelo Mathais, India correspondent
The unusually strong transhipment cargo gains by Sri Lanka’s Colombo port this year, driven by Red Sea-linked vessel diversions, seem to be ebbing.
The port saw a 6% year-on-year drop in transhipment volumes in July following the 5% decline reported for June, according to the latest data.
Still, Colombo ended H1 24 with a 9.6% rise in transhipment cargo handling, seeing double-digit percentage upswings from January through April.
The port is poised to become a key transhipment hub serving the Middle East, as many shipping lines are rerouting vessels to avoid prevailing risks in the Red Sea and Suez Canal,” confirmed Sri Lanka Ports Authority chairman Keith Bernard.
But the pace of trade reversal for Colombo is more pronounced in its vessel call data: containership visits were down 18% in July.
The port’s inability to keep up with stronger-than-expected increase in transhipment calls, due to capacity constraints, forced many regular and ad-hoc liner customers to reroute, and some Indian ports benefited.
For example, DP World Cochin, also known as Vallarpadam Terminal, more than doubled its container transhipments between April and July – the first four months of Indian fiscal year 2024/25 – to 70,701 teu, from 29,358 teu in the period a year ago, according to new port data.
Cochin has handled a raft of ultra-large ad-hoc calls, including the MSC Aurora, MSC Darlene and MSC Mariagrazia.
Terminal CEO Praveen Thomas Joseph said: In Q1 24, we introduced new STS [ship-to-shore] cranes, e-RTGs [rubber-tyred gantry cranes] and expanded the yard space, boosting our capacity to approximately 1.4m teu a year, solidifying DP World Cochin as one of the largest terminals in South India.”
Similarly, Chennai Port saw its April-July transhipment movements rocket to 35,417 teu from the usual 6,848 teu.
Meanwhile, Adani Group’s Vizhinjam Port in southern India is being touted as a strong potential hub contender” in the subcontinent market, due to its strategic location.
It recently began trial operations with a Maersk call, logging some 6,900 teu moves at the new terminal, which is due to launch phase-one operations at full scale shortly.
To seize the opportunity presented by a diversifying port market, Adani is offering attractive service rates for transhipment calls at Vizhinjam, arguably lower than the scale of vessel-related charges at Colombo.
While Colombo undoubtedly continues to be the focal point of transhipment calls for the subcontinent trade, the battle for market share is set to heat up in the region, as alternatives emerge.
Maersk said recently: As a transhipment hub, Vizhinjam will help us bring more flexibility to our customers’ supply chains that need to move cargo in and out of India.”
Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, has cautioned that political or social uncertainties, or reversals of recent achievements, could significantly disrupt the country’s economic reform agenda. He warned that such disruptions could lead to deviations from the planned policy trajectory, potentially resulting in severe and lasting negative impacts on the economy, as well as a recurrence of the economic and social crises experienced in Sri Lanka over the past two years.
Dr. Weerasinghe made these comments during his address at the 37th Annual Conference of the Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka, held on Monday (26) at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo. The conference’s theme was “Towards Sri Lanka’s Sustained Economic Growth.”
He emphasized that the current reform agenda includes measures designed to enhance the economy’s resilience and stability, which are crucial for medium- to long-term growth. Maintaining macroeconomic stability is essential for ensuring a sustained growth trajectory, according to the Central Bank Governor.
Dr. Weerasinghe acknowledged that while the reforms may be challenging in the short term, it is vital for all stakeholders to remain dedicated to their swift and effective implementation. This commitment is necessary to guide the economy toward sustainable and inclusive growth.
He reiterated that despite efforts to implement these reforms, any political or social instability, or setbacks in achieving goals, could threaten the intended policy trajectory. This could result in adverse and irreversible effects on the economy and could potentially lead to a recurrence of the crises experienced in recent years.
Furthermore, Dr. Weerasinghe pointed out that achieving macroeconomic stability alone would not be enough to drive the economy to a high-growth path that could quickly advance Sri Lanka to developed status. He highlighted that, given the current sovereign debt crisis, the government lacks the fiscal space to stimulate economic growth through increased spending or reduced taxes. Reinstating fiscal and debt sustainability remains the primary focus both now and for the future.
දූෂිතයින් කොටුකර ගැනීමේ වගකීම ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට භාරදුන්නද ඔවුන් එම කාර්යය ඉටු කිරීමට අපොහොසත් වූ බව ස්වාධීන ජනාධිපති ධුර අපේක්ෂක රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ පවසනවා.
ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ අදහස් පළ කළේ කොළඹ පැවැති හමුවකදීයී.
ආර්ථික ස්ථාවරත්වය වෙනුවෙන් නීතිඥයෝ මැයෙන් හමුවක් කොළඹදී පැවැත්වුණේ ස්වාධීන ජනාධිපති ධුර අපේක්ෂක රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ මහතාගේ ප්රධානත්වයෙන්.
ආදායම් මාර්ගයක් නොමැතිව දුෂ්කර ජීවිතයක් ගත කරන දිළිඳු පවුල් සඳහා තම රජයක් යටතේ රුපියල් 20,000ක මාසික දීමනාවක් ලබා දෙන බව සමගි ජන බලවේගයේ ජනාධිපති ධුර අපේක්ෂක විපක්ෂ නායක සජිත් ප්රේමදාස පවසනවා.
සේරුවිල ප්රදේශයේ පැවැති ජන රැලියක් අමතමින් විපක්ෂ නායකවරයා සඳහන් කළේ, වසර 2ක් තුළ දිළිඳු ජනතාව ඉන් මිදෙන වැඩපිළිවෙළක් ඒ හරහා ක්රියාත්මක කරන බවයි.
ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණ ජයග්රහණය ඉලක්ක කරගනිමින් සමගි ජන බලවේගය ප්රමුඛ සමගි ජන සන්ධානය සංවිධාන කරන ජන රැලි මාලාවේ තවත් ජන රැලියක් අද (26) පස්වරුවේ සේරුවිල ප්රදේශයේදී පැවැත්වුණා.
Colombo, August 26 (Daily Mirror) – Whilst highlighting that eradicating corruption during the Yahapalana government was a success to some extent while there were failures at the same time, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said over the weekend that laws are now in place to rectify the shortcomings.
President Wickremesinghe who met lawyers during the weekend compared tackling corruption to catching mice, stating that a toothless cat cannot catch mice. You need a cat with sharp teeth to catch mice. Criticizing me for inadequacies beyond my control is useless,” he said while emphasising that effective action against corruption requires not just criticism but the right tools and capabilities.
I should also address the ongoing discussions about tackling corruption. Back in 2015, various parties united to support former President Maithripala Sirisena’s candidacy. After his victory, although all parties were invited to join the government, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was designated to stay in the opposition. The Tamil parties pushed for political solutions, while the JVP was given the responsibility of addressing corruption. J.C. Weliamuna strongly advocated for taking action, while the JVP also expressed their commitment to the cause. Weliamuna led these efforts from the Presidential Secretariat, and Ravi Seneviratne and Ravi Waidyalankara were appointed by the police. The Bribery Commission and an Anti-Corruption Secretariat were established, with funding provided by the Prime Minister’s Office. Ananda Wijepala from the JVP was appointed to lead the initiative, despite not being a police officer or lawyer. He managed 400 cases—some met with success, others did not,” he said.
My role was simply to ensure the necessary funding was in place. To catch mice, you need a cat with teeth. If the cat is toothless, that’s not my concern. I stand firmly against corruption, but our legal framework had significant shortcomings that were not adequately addressed. However, since I became President, we have worked with the International Monetary Fund to draft both an anti-corruption law and legislation targeting property acquired through criminal activity. These laws are now being implemented, with support from the World Bank for training the necessary human resources. Once fully enforced, Sri Lanka will have the strongest anti-corruption laws in South Asia. This is why we must focus on the future of our country. To that end, we have introduced the Economic Transformation Act. After the election, we need to reassess and continue moving forward,” he added.
The Commissioner General of the Excise Department M.J. Gunasiri has dismissed claims of significant arrears in three major government revenue sources namely the Inland Revenue Department, Sri Lanka Customs, and the Excise Department as myths.
Speaking at the press briefing titled Collective Path to a Stable Country” held at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC), today (26), he clarified that the outstanding tax amount for these three institutions totals only Rs.90 billion. He also noted that it is typical for any country to have 3%-5% of its total tax revenue in outstanding taxes.
Commissioner General Gunasiri further highlighted that these three institutions achieved record revenue in 2023, surpassing Rs.3 trillion. Additionally, after 25 years, they succeeded in creating a surplus in the primary account.
Addressing the media personnel, Commissioner General of Excise further explained;
The three institutions under the Ministry of Finance the Inland Revenue Department, Sri Lanka Customs, and the Excise Department work within a legal framework to collect state revenue. Despite some groups spreading misinformation about large tax arrears, the actual total unpaid taxes for these institutions are under Rs.90 billion. Most of these arrears are from government entities, and legal actions are underway to recover the funds, meaning these amounts should be considered deferred taxes. Once the judicial process is completed, recovery is possible. Additionally, a tax deficit of 3%-5% of total tax revenue is typical for any country. Nevertheless, overall state tax revenue has seen a significant increase over the past two years.
In 2023, the Inland Revenue Department, Sri Lanka Customs Department, and Excise Department collectively achieved the highest revenue in history, surpassing Rs.3 trillion. Notably, after 25 years, they managed to create a surplus in the primary account.
Focusing on the Excise Department, it generated an income of Rs.179 billion in 2023, with a target set at Rs.232 billion for 2024. By August 22, 2023, the department had earned Rs.106.5 billion, whereas by August 2024, it had earned Rs.132.7 billion. This represents a growth of 24.6% compared to the previous year.
The Excise Department generates revenue through license fees: Rs. 15 million for a municipal council, Rs. 12.5 million for another municipal council, and Rs. 10 million for a Pradeshiya Sabha. Licenses for manufacturing plants are set at Rs. 25 million each. As of August 20 this year, the department has earned Rs. 132.4 billion. In 2023, the department had an outstanding tax amount of Rs. 1.04 billion, with Rs. 609 million collected by February of this year. The remaining tax arrears are currently under court proceedings”.
Deputy Commissioner General (Tax Policy, International Affairs and Legal) of the Inland Revenue Department B.K.S. Shantha;
With the country’s recovery, tax revenue targets were surpassed last year. The Inland Revenue Department’s revenue target for 2024 is set at Rs.2, 024 billion, with plans to collect 40% of this amount in the first four months and the remaining 60% over the last six months.
To enhance efficiency, a Risk Management Unit has been established to streamline the tax revenue process. Currently, Rs.1, 066 billion in tax revenue is suspended due to on-going court cases. The department also had Rs.188 billion in tax arrears, of which Rs.104 billion are being recovered thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Excise Department’s employees. The remaining Rs.84 billion in outstanding taxes are in the process of being recovered through legal actions.
The Inland Revenue Department had Rs.188 billion in tax arrears, of which Rs.104 billion are being recovered thanks to the dedication of the Excise Department’s employees. Another Rs.84 billion in outstanding taxes remains, and the necessary legal processes to recover this amount have already been initiated.
In 2023, the number of tax files increased from 450,000 to 1.15 million. Additionally, 4.7 million new TIN numbers were issued this year.
Recently, social media has been spreading rumours that Inland Revenue Department officers are visiting institutions in disguise to collect taxes. However, department officials do not visit institutions to collect taxes; they only go for awareness purposes. Therefore, it is important to note that no one should give money to individuals claiming to be tax collectors in disguise. The police have been alerted to investigate any complaints related to this issue, and security forces have been notified”.
Finance Officer of Sri Lanka Customs Department, Anura Muthukude;
The Sri Lanka Customs Department is expected to generate Rs.1, 533 billion in revenue for 2024. By August 25 this year, the department had already collected Rs.963.7 billion. Media reports indicate that the department has Rs.58.6 billion in outstanding taxes, with Rs.57.6 billion owed by government institutions, effectively rendering that amount non-recoverable. The department has taken legal steps to recover the remaining taxes, some of which have been pending for over a decade.
To enhance transparency, the Sri Lanka Customs Department has established a new Smat Unit,” where the public can submit complaints. It is important to note that despite a workforce shortage of 940 employees, the department’s staffs have ensured that no tax revenue has been evaded”.
–PMD–
The SLPP, the party of the Rajapaksas, has lost the support of around 130 MPs, 100 of whom are supporting incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of the four main contenders in the upcoming presidential election, participates in the final Randoli procession of the annual Esala Perahara at the historic Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy, Sri Lanka, August 19, 2024.
Sri Lanka’s political landscape has always been a turbulent one, characterized by shifting allegiances and strategic maneuvering, especially as national elections approach.
As the much-anticipated presidential election on September 21 nears, the country is witnessing an unprecedented wave of political crossovers, reshaping the dynamics among the main candidates.
The scale of these defections, particularly from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), has sparked intense debate about their potential impact on the election’s outcome. With the public’s growing disillusionment with traditional political figures, the upcoming election is set to be a critical moment in Sri Lanka’s political history, raising questions about whether these defections will truly influence the vote or merely underscore the electorate’s frustration with the status quo.
There are 38 candidates in the fray. Four of them, including Anura Kumara Dissanayake representing the National People’s Power (NPP), President Ranil Wickremesinghe contesting as an independent candidate, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and Namal Rajapaksa of the SLPP, are the main contenders.
Over the last two years, the SLPP has been hemorrhaging MPs. Of the 145 SLPP leaders who won seats in parliament in the 2020 general election, almost 130 crossed over to support President Wickremesinghe, SJB leader Premadasa and the Mawbima Janatha Party (MJP) of businessman Dilith Jayaweera. Most of them — close to 100 MPs joined Wickremesinghe after the election was officially announced in late July 2024. The SJB and the NPP have not been affected by large-scale crossovers.
The million-dollar question is whether the 100 SLPP MPs who joined Wickremesinghe have brought with them significant votes.
In the 2020 election, the SLPP obtained over 6.85 million votes but the popularity of the party has plummeted since. Most Sri Lankans blame the Rajapaksas, the family that controls the SLPP, for the current economic crisis. The consensus in Sri Lankan political circles is that the overwhelming majority of those who voted for the SLPP have moved to the NPP, Wickremesinghe and SJB. The people who would vote for the SLPP now probably are hardcore Rajapaksa loyalists.
The impact of MPs who decided to change their party affiliation is a widely studied topic. There have been many instances around the world where political parties have been destabilized by crossovers.
Closer to home, in 2001, defections caused the collapse of the People’s Alliance government led by then-President Chandrika Bandaranaike, a little over a year after her alliance won a closely fought parliamentary election. Her rival, United National Party’s (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe won the 2001 election.
A few years later, the UNP suffered a serious setback when 17 of its MPs joined Mahinda Rajapaksa. These defections hurt the party’s reputation. Looking superficially at these two examples from recent Sri Lankan political history, one can conclude that the defections adversely affected the SLPP, and that the massive defections from the SLPP in recent years, might boost Wickremesinghe’s electoral performance.
However, there are significant differences between the abovementioned occasions and the current moment.
First of all, these defections would have only a marginal impact on the SLPP, which is a party by the Rajapaksas for the Rajapaksas. Of course, the defection of close to 100 MPs would have an impact on the morale of the SLPP, and of the SLPP organizational structures that have been weakened by the defections. However, even if the 100 MPs remained with the party, the SLPP would have come in fourth.
Poll surveys dating from 2023, as well as those involved in measuring public sentiment have placed the SLPP as the least favorite mainstream political party. Most Sri Lankans see the Rajapaksas as corrupt and directly responsible for the 2022 economic crisis. The overwhelming majority of the SLPP vote has split between the NPP and the SJB, with most SLPP voters shifting support to the former.
Even before the defection of the MPs, SLPP was polling at about 8 percent. Those who remain with the SLPP are die-hard Rajapaksa loyalists, who would vote for anyone from the Rajapaksa family. It is unlikely that the defecting MPs would be taking a chunk of the remaining SLPP votes with them. Their support won’t bring in millions of votes to Wickremesinghe.
The other difference is that in 2001 and 2007, the defecting MPs joined a party that was bound to win. In July 2001, the LTTE attacked the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). Most Sri Lankans blamed Chandrika Bandaranaike government for the lapse in security. Following the attack, Sri Lanka’s GDP growth was at a negative 1.4 percent, the first time the country saw negative growth since independence.
In the circumstances, the UNP was seen as the obvious replacement. In 2007, the UNP dissidents joined Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was at the height of his power. The Sri Lankan Army was steadily defeating the LTTE and the overwhelming majority of Sri Lankans were behind the war effort. The UNP was losing ground politically and it was universally acknowledged that the party would be decimated in the coming elections. These predictions proved correct. Unlike in 2001 and 2007, when defecting MPs joined a party poised to win, the current defectors are rallying behind a candidate who is not seen as the obvious next choice.
The upcoming presidential election in Sri Lanka will serve as a litmus test for the country’s political landscape, marked by unprecedented crossovers and shifting allegiances. While these defections have undoubtedly affected the SLPP and boosted Wickremesinghe’s camp, they may not translate into significant electoral gains. The erosion of public trust in the SLPP, primarily due to the Rajapaksas’ perceived role in the economic crisis, suggests that the party’s core support base has dwindled to a small, yet loyal, faction.
The larger question remains whether the defectors can sway enough votes to make a meaningful difference in the election. Wickremesinghe’s lack of popularity, as evidenced by the low turnout at rallies organized by these defectors, indicates that many voters may be skeptical of politicians who switch sides for personal gain. This skepticism is further amplified by the widespread criticism on social media, where the electorate voices its frustration with political horse-trading.
As the election approaches, the true impact of these defections will be revealed. Will they bolster Wickremesinghe’s campaign, or will they simply highlight the public’s disillusionment with the existing political order? In any case, the upcoming election promises to be a pivotal moment in Sri Lanka’s political journey, with the potential to reshape the country’s future in profound ways.
Sri Lanka welcomes Indian and Chinese warships, sparking interest in strategic contest between the two naval powers.
Sri Lanka’s main port in capital Colombo on Monday welcomed India’s frontline war ship ‘INS Mumbai’, as well as three warships of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, piquing interest in the island nation that is familiar with the two powers’ strategic contest.
Indigenously built destroyer ‘INS Mumbai’, on its first port call in Sri Lanka, will stay for three days. The 163-metre-long destroyer is manned by a 410-member crew, and its commander Captain Sandeep Kumar called on the Commander Western Naval Area Rear Admiral Chinthaka Kumarasinghe, a statement from the Sri Lankan Navy said. The ship’s visit marks the eighth visit of Indian Navy ships to Sri Lanka this year, according to the Indian High Commission in Colombo.
Meanwhile, Chinese PLA war ships ‘Hefei’, ‘Wuzhishan’ and ‘Qilianshan’, too, arrived in Colombo Monday morning. To strengthen the camaraderie between the two navies, crew members of these ships are set to participate in a series of programmes organised by the Sri Lanka Navy,” an official statement said, adding that the vessels’ commanders would meet Sri Lanka’s Western naval commander. Both crews are scheduled to visit tourist attractions, the Sri Lankan Navy said.
The concurrent visit of Indian and Chinese naval warships has drawn attention in Sri Lanka, as India’s reservations on port calls by Chinese research vessels are well known. In the last few years, India has voiced concern with the Sri Lankan government on multiple occasions.
Following frequent messages from New Delhi, as well as Washington DC, objecting to the visit of Chinese research vessels, Sri Lanka banned the visit of foreign research vessels beginning January 2024. However, speaking to Japanese media in July 2024, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ali Sabry hinted at possibly lifting the ban on foreign vessels next year. We cannot have different rules for different countries and only block China. We will not do that. We will not take sides,” Mr. Sabry said in an interview.
Last month, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo hosted a reception to mark the 97th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Earlier in August, the Sri Lankan Navy welcomed three US naval warships that were on a replenishment visit.
blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com
‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
e-Con e-News 18-24 August 2024
And in those swirling waters we saw the US corporate law firm involved in advising Sri Lanka about‘restructuring’ the country’s apparently never-payable debt. The luxury yacht saga also implicates the London-based ‘transaction advisor for divestiture of the Sri Lanka’s government stake in national assets, so-called ‘SoEs’.
The media is also yet to name the one or more Sri Lankan nationals among the passengers and/or crew who have been repeatedly cited as being aboard the luxury yacht that sank. The drama gives us insight into the shenanigans (also known as ‘business as usual’) behind Sri Lanka’s so-called bankruptcy. In such algebra, certain lives figure more preciously than others on the horizons. The IMF resolution to deal with our repetitive crimes, of corrupt profligacy, has been grudgingly put off until presidential (or parliamentary) consent flings a loin cloth of ancient respectability to garb the ongoing boondoggle.
And yet they insist that any election cannot and must not water down the bitter prescriptions of the US Treasury’s 17th IMF Breakdown. Après moi, le déluge is to be translated into Manhattan English as ‘There is no After the IMF…’ What they are saying is more than just that. So what is it they want regardless of what we want? And what must we – sitting in the middle of the most populous ocean and at the base of the world’s heartland – what must we do?
Three popularly elected governments and leaders have been ordered defunct – in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and now Bangladesh. And India’s PM has had to scurry all the way to Kiev to entertain a deadly comic puppet who can play the piano with his penis! The cricket commentary from Rawalpindi seems to have paused for lemons. And this week saw the Awami League, party of Bangladesh’s ‘freedom struggle’, being left out of the invitations by their English-trained army chief to ‘the meeting to discuss the formation of the interim government in Bangladesh’. And perhaps this is why we are being told over & over, it’s election time again in Sri Lanka. Over & over, perhaps, because even our ‘faux Brexit of 1948’, if they ever left, is well and truly over.
And so as to remind us of the limits of our horizons, several US warships (with lesser Indian & Australian & Japanese hardware in tow splashing about the foaming quadrilateral) have been allowed to proudly flaunt their anti-air, anti-surface & anti-submarine proclivities by dropping in on Colombo for ‘replenishment’. Thirsty & hungry perhaps – perhaps breathless too – so far after all, from the USA, here they seem eager to impress their booted toes onto terra firma, so close as they are now to the once & future paradise, whose time & tide it wishes to order back & forth.
So in the wake of the warships, many of their diplomats are also embarking off airplanes mouthing mouth-watering honeydews about democracy & human rights & transparency. The latest was ‘Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans & International Environmental & Scientific Affairs Jennifer R Littlejohn to discuss hydrography. Littlejohn is an African-American, and may certainly know oceans, like the Atlantic, where her ancestors were sailed over in not-so-golden chains, enslaved in the mouldy holds of ships. Then again, her ancestors may have been those who helped the white slavers fill those living coffins by luring Africans in to generational chattel. And so these lost princes & princesses have to always come at us, ‘acting’? Is the entertaining mercenary, still the only role? Is their life beyond Beyonce?
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Buffalos, elephants, lions & tigers, blood-sucking mosquitoes & parasites. To talk about wildlife, to talk about cricket, to talk about elections, in Sri Lanka, is to talk about politics & people in another key. Even talk about cakes baked elsewhere with foreign ingredients and imported appliances & utensils while awkwardly divided at home means not just a discourse on the dangers of diabetes. The media, of course likes to point at politicians (rather than at themselves) as corrupt. They certainly like to claim elections as a waste of time. Even as the media are among the more munificent beneficiaries of elections (advertising, useless dramas). And August is a month when all sorts of mahouts, trained and untrained, clamber on to elephants’ backs – not to parade them in grand style to honor the resilience of the highlanders – but to talk of ‘the culture, generally’.
As for our entertaining pastimes & our national sport: It is more popular than cricket. Here we dare speak of bourgeois elections in Sri Lanka. All the players too wear white & have to act white. On screen. Whether elections are more of a time-waster than cricket, is debatable. It is certainly a much more democratic display of farce than anything the white master can put on in London or in Washington. The white man & their media have taken it upon themselves to decide if the election is open & fair, just as they wish the ocean to remain – open & fair.
Even as they funded the chasing away of a man who overwhelmingly won the last election. Evicted by a supposedly even ‘more democratic’ struggle aka Aragalaya (rename it Ara Guliya – That Blob!). But the blob has certain recognizable vertebrae, deep down under. Evident in fashions of transparency & accountability they clothe their nakedness in.
For as economic researcher Shiran Illanperuma highlights in this ee Focus, taxation & bureaucracy, whether governmental or corporate, are integral & expensive due to the colonial import-export plantation economy. Which is why we must return to those mysterious drownings in a Mediterranean waterspout….
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The deaths by drowning off Italy include lawyers belonging to the legal firm Clifford Chance who are ‘restructuring’ Sri Lanka’s so-called debt. Also dead, in 2 different places on the same weekend, are the owners and partners of Autonomy, a hyped-up high-tech firm, linked to England’s spy agency. They had been entangled in a 12-year law suit. Their star witness, the Chairman of Morgan Stanley International, who helped throw Autonomy’s Bangladesh-born financial officer under the bus (or overboard), also drowned. Morgan Stanley is also one of the top asset managers ‘exposed’ to Sri Lanka’s debt (see ee Focus).
The 12-year lawsuit against Autonomy also saw their accounting firm, the multinational Deloitte, pay millions in fines. Deloitte is involved in the selling of Sri Lanka’s national assets to pay off the so-called debt: ‘The transaction advisor for divestiture of the Sri Lanka’s government stake in SoEs.’ These gangs of New York & London are gaming Sri Lanka’s debt, and subsequently holding its economy hostage to the whims of Wall Street via the IMF’s & World Bank’s boss, the US Treasury. They have not been subject to that much-vaunted transparency & due diligence. ee recently noted how:
‘A senior executive of Rothschild (the largest ISB creditor of Sri Lanka)
moved to Lazard (SL’s financial advisory firm for the ISB restructure) to
manage debt restructuring. It could well be that the proposals that were on
the negotiation table, including Macro-Linked Bonds (MLBs), was ‘a joint
proposal’ of the creditor & the financial advisor of the debtor!’
(ee 03 August 2024)
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Under capitalism the masses do not really participate
in governing the country… even in the most democratic regime,
the governments are not set up by the people but by the
Rothschilds & Stinneses, the Rockefellers & the Morgans.
– J Stalin (1924)
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Several US warships, proudly flaunting their anti-air, anti-surface & anti-submarine proclivities did indeed drop by Colombo for ‘replenishment’. Thirsty & hungry perhaps – perhaps breathless too – so far after all from the USA…, here they seem eager to press their booted toes on soil, so close to the once & future paradise. Many of their diplomats are also embarking off airplanes declaiming democracy & human rights & transparency. The latest was ‘Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans & International Environmental & Scientific Affairs Jennifer R Littlejohn to discuss hydrography. Littlejohn is an African-American, and may certainly know the Atlantic Ocean, where her ancestors were brought in chains, enslaved in the holds of ships. Then again, here ancestors may have been those who helped the white slavers. (see ee Focus)
We notice many of these suited & skirted US diplomats are ‘Acting’ Assistant Secretary of this, & ‘Acting’ UnderSecretary of that… Many of these ‘actors’ are a lot of what liberals in the USA call ‘of-colors’ aka ‘people of color’ (POC). The carved Koreans, kidnapped Africans, faux Jews, Ukrainian Nazis, Italian mobsters & Irish conmen) who are expected to provide the thin mask of skin – Malcolm X called them KneeGrows, for their time spent on their patellas, sucking off imperialist dictat – to prove their loyalty by practicing colonialism (also known as ‘development’) over our heads. These visiting – offering their mugs for de rigeur photo-ops with an increasingly ketchup-faced US envoy and all the local color they can round up as swooning officials and politicians.
And here it is midst all this…we cannot call it villainy & intrigue. And dare not also call it corruption. This is their way. And here they are in the midst of the ongoing attempt by a long-past-due-date capitalism to sustain itself through more horrific warmongering & genocidal binges. This should enlighten us further as to what is truly meant by the economist Schumpeter’s ‘creative disruption’, and his ‘entrepreneurs’. What is meant by those Keynesian ‘welfare’ measures, which mostly fattened their militaries? What is meant by the postmodernist bidding of goodbye to the working class and the credulity of their narratives, and the superimposing instead of an amorphous ‘multitude’. They are funded, therefore they are. This week also saw the departing envoy pass out awards those astroturf women who apparently fronted as grassroots to green Galle Face in the Blob aka Araguliya.
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‘Dwelling on Ukraine’s neo-nazis can be an optical illusion.
Not that I am one to underplay their murderous actions or political power.
But that ultimately, they are junior partners to Ukraine’s liberals’
– ee Workers, Unknown victims & universal lessons
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Meanwhile their uniformed mercenaries from pale Poland, sunbathed in occupied Palestine, claiming to be the descendants of a Red-Sea-parting Moses, yet greased in the crude oils of Exxon, proudly deliver pounds of raw flesh in see-through bags to parents in Gaza, telling them their children may be found amongst them.
In Russia, the US also deploy their Gallician proxies, declaring the Baltic their lake, threatening the watersheds of the Oxus and Volga and Dnieper, with nuclear war. In East Asia, their proxies promise to similarly thaw their frozen wars in Korea and the South China Sea (Taibei).
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It is to this open attempt to return to colonial rule, that ee Focus by Shiran illanperuma looks at how ‘The colonial project created an international division of labour to ensure that the colonised would never achieve modern industrialization & development. ‘The fetters placed on Sri Lanka’s fiscal & monetary sovereignty appear almost tailor made to perpetuate its underdevelopment & prevent modern industrialization.’
Illanperuma tracks how Sri Lanka’s tax system emerged as a byproduct of the colonial plantation economy and the colonial state, taxing indirectly the trade in bulk imports of commodities for consumption and exports of cash crops to raise revenue. This required a sprawling bureaucracy to operate road, port, railway & electricity facilities; control tropical diseases, move labour to & from India; pacifying & trading in stolen land through court & police systems, while quelling the population.
He points out how there were more taxes on consumer imports than on European planters’ export revenues. But even taxes on imports had to navigate English industrial interests: eg, they had to allow English salt to compete with locally produced salt, and for English cloth manufacturers to outsell Indian imports. Yet the colonial state imposed direct taxes on the local peasantry to establish the plantation infrastructure. He quotes SBD de Silva on how the early colonial taxation regime favoured the plantation economy over the village economy. He also recalls how these tax policies ‘pauperized the peasantry and fuelled 2 wars of liberation.’
The focus this week on the colonial origins of Sri Lanka’s debt (& economy) was first published in the US-based magazine Jamhoor, which clearly must not have read Illanperuma’s article. The article begins by criticizing the economic policies of the currently unelected President Ranil Wickremsinghe. Yet their banner illustration, chosen to illustrate the essay, was an image of former President Mahinda Rajapakse, a favourite bugaboo of the white man and their media. Jamhoor meaning ‘The People’ in Urdu, says (in the passive voice, that) it was ‘launched’ in 2018, and calls itself ‘a Left media platform focusing on South Asia and its diasporas’. It turns out Jamhoor is funded by Progressive International: and linked to the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25) and The Sanders Institute, with Jane Sanders, spouse of a former Presidential candidate, as a key player. Bernie Sanders is against one-person one-vote in Israel, cos Arabs will be in the majority then… Other key people apparently include Logo star Naomi Klein and presidential candidate Cornel West. It is viewed as left social democratic, and therefore quite well-funded for such a small organization.
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• What songs would Bengal’s Rabindranath Tagore sing now? He who wrote what became India’s national anthem, and then Bangladesh’s anthem too? – Jana Gana Mana (Thou Art the Ruler of the Minds of All People) is India’s national anthem. Amar Sonar Bangla (My Golden Bengal) is Bangladesh’s national anthem. Yet Tagore appears to us more like the wheel-spinner Gandhi who promoted handicraft – a utopian romantic (who the Anagarika Dharmapala criticized; as Susantha Goonetilake reminds, ‘Dharmapala had a forward-looking attitude and denounced the anti-industrial attitude of Gandhi saying that one cannot use the spinning wheel and bullock cart to compete in the modern age’). While the English chased Dharmapala into exile after murdering his brother (& DJ Wimalasurendra’s attempt to hydroelectrify Sri Lanka was being sabotaged by Boustead Bros and Peearson), Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize – just like this aggrandized petty thief Mo Yunus, who has now been made the leader of Bangladesh by a coup.
The 1919 May 4th movement in China was highly critical of Tagore and the orientalist airs he promoted among poets in China. Was independence all about words & clothes & songs & architectural facades? or about fairer distribution of wealth? Did he even dare speak of the industrialized production that alone could sustain such fine words or fairer distribution? Was he even aware in those same years of the industrialization led by Joseph Stalin (dare i even mention such a maligned name?) that took his country from wooden plougshares to nuclear power in 10 years? The only bulwark that prevents the USA from bullying Central Asia, as they do us today?
Sarojini Naidu, ‘Nightingale of India’, who nicknamed Gandhiji ‘Mickey Mouse’, said, after seeing all the people rushing about his ashram, It takes a lot of money to keep Mickey Mouse, poor.”
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Contents:
ලංකාවේ නව වන ජනපතිවරයා තෝරාපත් කර ගැනීම පිණිස ජනපතිවරණය ආරම්භ වී ඇති අවස්ථාවේ දී ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය වැදගත් තීන්දුවක් දී ඇත.2023 පළාත් පාලන චන්දය නොපැත්වීම නිසා ජනධිපතිවරයා වශයෙනුත් මුදල් ඇමතිවරයා වශයෙනුත් ජනතාවගේ මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් කඩ කර ඇති බව එම තීන්දුවෙන් ප්රකාශයට පත් කර තිබේ.ලංකාව පුරා සිටින චන්ද දායකයන්ගේ බහුතර චන්දයෙන් පත්වන ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකු ජනතා පරමාධිපත්ය නොසලකා හැරීම බරපතල කරුණකි.නමුත් තමන් ඒ ගැන කණගාටු නොවන බව ජනාධිපතිවරයා පවසා ඇත.
ජනපතිවරණය සඳහා .අපේක්ෂකයන් තිස් නව දෙනෙකු මේ අවස්ථාවේ දී චන්ද ප්රචාරක රැස්වීම් පවත්වමින් ජනතාවට කරුණු පැහැදිලි කරමින් සිටීන අතර ජනපතිවරණය සඳහා වියදම් කළ යුතු උපරිම මුදල පිළිබඳ මැතිවරණ කොමිසම විසින් ගැසට්ටුවක් පළ කර තිබුණද මේ වන විට කෝටි ප්රකෝටි ගණන් මුදල් වියදම් කරමින් ඇතැම් අපේක්ෂකයන් සිය ප්රචාරක රැළි පවත්වමීන් සිටී.මෙවර ජනපතිවරණ ප්රචාරක ව්යාපාරය පක්ෂ වල සාමාජිකයන්ගෙන් බැහැරව පොස්ටර් මුද්රණය කරන අලවන සහ කූඩාරම් සවි කරන කොන්ත්රාත්කරුවන් සතු වූ බවක් දක්නට ලැබේ.ඒ නිසා කොයි තාක් දුරට ජනපතිවරන වියදම් නියාමනය වේ දැයි සැකයක් ඇතිව තිබේ. මන්ද සියලුම් වියදම් ලේඛන ඉදිරිපත් කිරිමට නියම කර තිබෙන්නේ ජනපතිවරණය අවසන් වී නව ජනපතිවරයෙකු පත් වී වීමෙන් පසුව වීමයි. එවිට මැතිවරණ කොමිසමේ බලය ද අවසන් වී ඇත.
ජනපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වන අපේක්ෂකයන් අතරින් බොහෝ දෙනෙකු ගේ ප්රකාශ දෙස බලන කල්හි අපට වැටහෙනුයේ පත්වන පුද්ගලයා විසින් රට සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පාලනය කිරීමට මූලිකත්වය ගන්නා බවයි. දූෂණය නැති කිරීම., ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කිරීම, නීති සම්මත කර ගැනීම,.මත්ද්රව්ය පාලනය, සමූපාකාර ව්යාපාරය ශක්තිමත් කිරීම, අධ්යාපනයට පහසුකම් වෙන් කිරිම, බදු අඩු කිරීම, පඩි වැඩි කිරීම, ව්යවසායකත්ව රාජ්යය ආදී දහසකුත් කාරණා තමන් ගේ මූලිකත්වයෙන් සිදු කරන ආකාරය ප්රකාශනය වන බව පෙනේ. පසුගිය කාලයේ රට කරවූ රජයයන් විසින් අනුගමනය කරන ලද වැරදි ප්රතිපත්ති නිසා රට බංකොලොත් භාවයට පත් වීම මෙන්ම ණය ගැති භාවයට පත් වීම ආදී කරුණු නිසා රට තුළ ඇති වූ ව්යකූලත්වය පිළිබඳව සියලුම දෙන හට අවබෝධයක් තිබේ.ඒ සියලු කාරණා වලට මූලික වූයේ සොරකම් සහ විධායක ජනපතික්රමය යයි යන මතය බොහෝ පිරිසක් විසින් සමාජ ගත කරති. විද්යුත් මාධ්යන් තුළ මේ මතය පට්ටා ගසන අයුරු අපට පෙනේ.මෙලෙස මේ කරුණු එක් තැනකට පමණක් ඌණනය කිරිම කෙතරම් සාධාරණ වන්නේ ද යන්න අප සාකච්ඡා කල යුතුයි. ජනපතිවරයෙකු පත් වූ පසු ව්යවස්ථාදායකයෙන් සහ අධිකරණයෙන් ප්රයෝජනයක් නැති බව ගම්ය වන ප්රකාශ කිරීම භයානකය.ජනපතිවරණයෙන් පසු ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීන්දුවට ගරු කරමින් පළාත් පාලන චන්දය පැවැත්විය යුතු බැවින් පවතින පාර්ලිමේන්තුව මත කටයුතු කිරීමට අභිනව ජනාධිපතිවරයා සිදු වන නිසා ඒ තත්වය තවත් භයානකය.
අතීතයේ දී මෙරට පාලනය කරලීම පිණිස ලිඛිත ව්යවස්ථාවක් නොතිබුණු බව දේශපාලන විද්යාවේ දී උගන්වයි. එය අර්ධ සත්යයකි. රටේ පාලනය පිළිබඳ යම් යම් කරුණු ශිලාලේඛන වල සටහන් කොට ආඥාවන් වශයෙන් ප්රකාශ කිරීම පෙර සිරිත විය.රජු බෝධිසත්ව ගුණයෙන් හෙබිව කටයුතු කළ යුතු බවට එලෙස ව්යවස්ථා කොට ඇත. ආදායම සතර කොටසකට බෙදා අයවැය සමබර කරගන්නා ආකාරය ගැන මිහින්තලේ ශිලා ලේඛනයකින් ආදර්ශ පෙන්වා ඇත.රජතුමා අමාත්ය මණ්ඩලය සහ ශික්ෂු සංස්ථාව අතර පැවතිය යුතු සංවරණය හා තුලනය ගැන මල්වතු විහාර කාරක සංඝ සභාව ලන්දේසි ආණ්ඩුකාර ෆැල්ක්ට ප්රකාශ කර ඇති ආකාරය(Some Institutions And Popular Rights ) නම් ලියැවිල්ලේ දක්නට ඇත.ඒ නිසා රජුට දඩයක් නියම කිරීමට පවා අමාත්ය මණ්ඩලයට හැකියාවක් තිබුණි.ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී සමාජයක් නොතිබුනා යැයි කිවූවද ගැමියෙකුට වූ අසාධාරණයකට විරුද්ධව රජුට සැළ කර සිටීමට අයිතියක් තිබුණි.පෙර සිරිත මත සියල්ල සිදු වූ බව ශිලා ලේඛනයන්හි කොටවා ඇත.
1815 දී ලංකාව පවරා දුන් රාජ්යයක් (Ceded Colony ) විය.නමුත් පසුව ඉංග්රීසින් කටයුතු කරන ලද්දේ ලංකාව යටත් විජිතයක් ලෙසටය. ඒ අනුව විසිවන සියවසේ මුල් භාගයේ දී රැජිනට වග කියන රාජ්ය මන්ත්රණ සභාවක් බිහි කර ඉන් අනතුරුව සෝල්බරි ව්යවස්ථාව යටතේ නියෝජිත මන්ත්රී මණ්ඩලයකින් සමන්විත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවක් ඇති කරන ලද්දේය.මේ ව්යවස්ථාව තුළ මන්ත්රීවරුන් තෝරන ක්රමයක් තිබුණද ඒ මන්ත්රී වරුන් පත් වූ පසු මන්ත්රණ සභාවේ කටයුතු වලට ඇඟිලි ගැසීමට වැසියන්ට අවස්ථාවක් ලැබුණේ ඉතා සීමිතවයි.සෝල්බරි ව්යවස්ථාවේ තිබූ එක් වැදගත් ප්රතිපාදනයක් නම් රජයේ විගණක වරයා සෘජුව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට සිය විගණන වාර්තා ඉදිරිපත් කිරිමට තිබූ හැකියාවයි.එය සොල්බරි ව්යවස්ථාවේ 71 වගන්තියේ සඳහන්ය. මේ ප්රතිපාදනය ආචාර්ය කොල්වින් ආර්. ද සිල්වා මහතා සම්පාදානය කරන ලද 1972 ව්යවස්ථාවේ 90 වන වගන්තියෙන් වෙනස් කර අමාත්යවරයා වෙත පවරා ඇත. එසේම යම් සංවර්ධන කටයුත්කදී කළයුතු විගණනයන් බාහිර විගණක වරයෙකු ලවා කරවා ගෙන ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට හැකිවන පරිදි නීති සම්පාදනය විය.එයම 1978 ව්යවස්ථාවටත් ඇතලත් වී ඇත. මෙයින් සිදුව තිබෙන්නේ විගණකාධිපතිවරයාට ලබා දී තිබූ ස්වාධීන බලය අහෝසි කිරීමයි.සංවර්ධන කටයුතු වලදී වංචනික ක්රියා සිදු කිරීමට මෙයින් අනුබල ලැබුණි.
සොල්බරි ව්යවස්ථාවේ දක්වන තවත් වැදගත් වගන්තියක් වූයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නුසුදුස්සකු වුවහොත් දඬුවමක් පනවන ආකාරයයි. යම් කිසි මන්ත්රීවරයෙකු යම් නීතියකින් වැරදිකරුවකු වූ විට ඔහු හෝ ඇය දිගින් දිගටම පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නියෝජනය කරයිද ඒ එක් දිනකට රුපියල් පන්සීයක දඩයකට ඔහු යටත් විය යුතු බව එහි දක්වා ඇත. විධායකය හෝ ව්යවස්ථාදායකය නියෝජනය කරන මන්ත්රීවරයෙකු කරන ලද එවැනි වැරැද්දකට විරුද්ධව පුරවැසියෙකුට දිසා අධිකරණයට යෑමේ හැකියාව තිබුණි. මෙම ප්රතිපාදනය ද 1972 ව්යවස්ථාවෙන් වෙනස් කරන ලද අතර පුරවැසියාට තිබූ අයිතිය නීතිපතිවරයා වෙත පවරා දෙන ලද්දේය.මෙයින් සිදු වූයේ සිවිල් හෝ අපරාධ දඬුවම් ලැබූ පුද්ගලයන්ට පවා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළ රැඳීසිටීමට අවස්ථාව සැලසීමයි. 1978 ව්යවස්ථාවෙන් එයට තව තවත් පලිප්පු දමා ඇත.අබේරත්න පිලපිටිය මන්ත්රීවරයාගේ සිට වර්තමාන ප්රසන්න රණතුංග සහ කෙහෙළිය රඹුක්වැල්ල මන්ත්රීවරයා දක්වා නසුදුස්සන්ට තම බලය පවත්වාගෙන යෑමට ඒ ප්රතිපාදනයන් ඉවහල් වී ඇත.සැබවින්ම මේ තත්වය ජනපති ක්රමයේ ප්රශ්ණයක් නොවේ.
නියෝජිත ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය බ්රිතාන්යයන්ගෙන් අපට හිමිවූ දෙයකි. රැජිනගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ වරප්රසාද භුක්ති විඳි මන්ත්රීවරු අදටත් ඒ හිමිකම් ලබා ගනිති.ජනතාවට එයට එරෙහිව යෑමට තිබෙන්නේ සීමිත අවකාශයක් පමණි. එනම් මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් නඩුවකදී නැතිනම් ජනමතවිචාරණයකදී හෝ මැතිවරණයකදී පමණි.ජනතා පරමාධිපත්ය යනුවෙන් වචනයක් මුද්රණය වී තිබුණද සෝලබරි ව්යවස්ථාවේ තිබූ බලයද නැති කර දමා ඇත. මේ රට මේ තරම් පස්සට ඇද දැමීමට හේතු කාරණා ගොඩනැගුණේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු පරමාධිකාරී බලය ඒකාධිපතිත්වයකින් යුක්තව ක්රියාත්මක වීමෙනි.රටට අහිතකර පනත්, සදාචාරයට අහිතකර සමලිංගික ක්රියා පිළිබඳ පනත්, රාජ්ය දේපළ විකුණන පනත්, මෙන්ම රටේ නායකත්වයට අනවශ්ය බලය ලබාදෙන පනත් සම්මත වූයේ ජනතාව දැනුම්වත් වීමෙන් නොවේ. වර්තමාන ජනපතිවරයා සිය බලය අව භාවිත කරමින් මුදල් ඇමති වරයා වශයෙන් පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණයට මුදල් නොදීම ජනතා පරමාධිකාරී බලය නොසලකා හැරීමකි.එම තීරණයට ව්යවස්ථාදායකයද හවුල් වී තිබේ.පාර්ලිමෙන්තුව ජනතාවට ගරු කලේ නම් විධායකයේ තීරණයට එරෙහිව යෝජනාවක් සම්මත කර ගැනීමට හැකියාව තිබුණි.එසේම මෙම ජනපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වන අපේක්ෂකයන්ද සිය ප්රතිපත්ති වලදී සියලුම රාජ්ය යුතුකම් ජනපතිවරයා වශයෙන් ඉටු කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ යැයි දැන්වීමම වැරැද්දකි. ස්විස්ටර්ලන්තයේ මෙන් සෘජු සංවරන හා තුලනය සහිත ව්යවස්ථාවක විධායකය ,ව්යවස්ථාදායකය ,අධිකරණය මෙන්ම පුරවැසියාගේ පරමාධිකාරී බලය ද පෙර සිරිත අනුව යමින් ත්රෛනිකායික භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා අනුදැන වදාරන ආකාරයට ධර්ම මාර්ගයේ යෑමද සිදු වන්නේ නම් ජන සම්මතවාදය යථාර්තයක් කළ හැකි වන බව පැවසිය හැකිය.එහෙත් ඛේදනීය කරුණ වන්නේමේ චන්ද ව්යාපාරය තුළ සාකච්ඡා වන්නේ ව්යවස්ථා අක්මුල් උදුරා රට ආරාජික කිරීම සඳහා වන ගමන් මාර්ගයකි.ජනතා පරමාධිකාරී බලය යනු කුමක් දැයි නොදන්නා ජනතාවක් සිටින රටක බොරුව ඇත්ත කිරීම මහ කජ්ජක් නොවේ.
මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්
Having considered about 13 suiters including Ranil for the prime minister post in May 2022, Gotabaya chose Ranil for the post on May 12, 2022. Since that day Ranil plotted to get rid of Gotabaya.
For three months Ranil kept telling the people that the economy was bankrupt and that it cannot be fixed without making even more painful sacrifices than people were going through then. This was a calculated move to further arouse people against Gotabaya. And it worked.
One of the main concerns Gotabaya had was the presence of Aragalaya crowd in High Security Zones and this was discussed in detail with every politician who wanted to become prime minister. Ranil too agreed to this condition by Gotabaya. But the moment he became prime minister he not only went back on his promise but also encouraged Aragalaya to be more aggressive. This was amply clear in his speeches.
It was a repetition of Aesop’s children’s story – the fox and the crow.
https://read.gov/aesop/027.html
However, due to his inexperience in politics, Gotabaya didn’t grasp what his prime minister was doing; that he was plotting against him.
Then came August 2022. Gotabaya fled the country. However, there is no law saying that a president vacates his office just by fleeing the country. There is no such law or tradition. The president can rule the country from anywhere in the world and he can return when he sees fit. However, Ranil was in a mighty hurry to get Gotabaya to resign from the post of president so that he will automatically become the president until parliament appoints him via a show of hands in parliament. He quickly appointed a large number of SLPP MPs into ministerial posts turning them into bonded supporters of Ranil. Rajapaksas were fearful of public anger and Ranil could sell them security in exchange for support in parliament.
The top lawyer in the country due to his post within the lawyers’ professional association was shedding tears for people’s fundamental rights and human rights in 2022 but was easily tamed when Ranil became president. Or was he! What’s even more interesting is in the Supreme Court case concluded recently where it found Ranil as finance minister and the elections commission violated fundamental rights and human rights of the people by cancelling the local government election after it was called in March 2023, this particular lawyer appeared for Ranil!
Aragalaya financiers including free food suppliers suddenly ended their generosity the day Ranil was appointed president by the parliament. A look at their support at past presidential elections, particularly 1999, 2005 and 2015 clearly show they are Ranil supporters.
This is not to say the plot should not have succeeded. It is Sri Lankan politics and anything goes. However, it went against people’s democratic choice.
Ranil owes a presidency to the SLPP party which handed him the post of president after winning it. When will the favor be returned voluntarily or through the cycle of karma? Stolen wealth never remains in the hands of the looter. It slips away.
August 26 – Sri Krishna Jeyanthi
(Given below is the English translation of the excerpt of an address delivered in Tamil by Ahmadi Scholar Moulana Moulavi Muhammad Umar H.A. (from Kerala, India) at Ramakrishna Hall, Wellawatte, Colombo in 1994.)
Almighty God has provided for all our physical needs. The Holy Quran says:
He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. (2:30)
And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth; all this is from Him. (45:14)
Just as Almighty God has taken care of all our physical needs, He has also provided for our spiritual and moral needs. For this purpose He has been sending His Messengers and Reformers in all parts of the world among all nations from time to time. Thus the Holy Quran says:
And there is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent. (35:25)
And there is a guide for every people. (13:8)
Whenever there is decay of Dharma (i.e., religion) and there is spread of Adharma (i.e. irreligion) then for the protection of the poor and the good and for the destruction of the evil-doers, I shall appear from age to age.
(Srimad Bhagrat Gita 4:7,8)
In accordance with these teachings, Almighty God has been sending innumerable messengers for the spiritual progress of mankind. Among these have been Prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Ramchandra, Zoroaster, Confucius (peace be on all of them). Ultimately when the human mind attained its full development and the time approached when mankind was about to become one people, the system of sending different messengers for different nations was terminated and Almighty God sent the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as an exemplar for all mankind. He appeared in Arabia about 1400 years ago.
Addressing him God says in the Holy Quran:
Say, O Mankind! truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah to Whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. There is no god but He. He gives life and He causes death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Prophet, the Immaculate one, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be rightly guided. (7:159)
It is a historic fact that the teachings of prophets who preceded the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were limited to particular people and particular ages. On the other hand the message of Islam is of universal nature. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was sent as a mercy for all rnankind. The Holy Quran says:
And We have sent thee not but as a mercy for all peoples.
(21:108)
Previous scriptures such as the Vedas of the Hindus contain numerous prophecies pertaining to the advent of the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH).
The Holy Quran says:
Those who follow the Messenger, the immaculate one, whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel which are with them. He enjoins on them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful for them the good things and forbids them the bad, and removes from them their burdens and the shackles that were upon them. So those who shall believe in him, and honour and support him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him – these shall prosper. (7:158)
This lengthy passage from the Holy Quran not only mentions the purpose of the advent of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) but also states that earlier scriptures contain prophecies regarding his advent. Not only the Jewish and Christian scriptures but also the Hindu scriptures contain many prophecies about the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH).
Among the four Vedas of the Hindus, Athra Veda occupies a prominent position. It is also known as Brahma Ved (i.e. Divine knowledge). It contains the following prophecy:
O people! listen to these words with reverence. A very praise-worthy person will appear among the people. He will accept him from among 60090 enemies. His means of transport would be 20 camels . His name will soar high and then return. This great Rishi will have 100 gold coins, 10 pearl necklaces, 300 Arab horses and 10,000 cows. (Athra Ved Kantam 20-127, 70-1-3)
Here many characteristics of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have been mentioned. The Promised Rishi is called praiseworthy. The word Muhammad itself means worthy of praise. He and his companions used camels as means of transport whereas for the Rishis of India, the use of camel is forbidden (Manu Smrithi5:8). When the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, appeared in Arabia, the population of the Arabs was stated as a little more than 60,000. The entire population had become his enemies. Almighty God protected him against his enemies. The Holy Quran also says:
And Allah will protect thee from men. (5:68)
Soaring high and returning refers to his experience of Miraj (Spiritual Ascent). The 100 gold coins refer to his companions who migrated twice to Abyssinia. The 10 pearl necklaces signify Ashra-Mubashera, the ten companions of the Holy Prophet (Pbuh), regarding whom God gave the glad tidings of Paradise in this world itself. These are Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman, Ali, Talha, Zubair, Abdur Rahman ibn Auf, Sa’ad ibn Abi Waqqas, Sa’ad ibn Zaid and Abu Ubaidah (may Allah be pleased with them). The 300 Arab horses signify the 300 companions of the Holy Prophet who took part in the battle of Badr. They numbered 313. Eight of them could not participate in the battle. One of them died before the battle, and four of them were small children. Thus the actual number of people who fought in the battle of Badr together with the Holy Prophet was 300. 10,000 cows signify the ten thousand holy people who entered Mecca triumphantly with him on his return. It is worthy of note that the number 10,000 is also mentioned in the Bible.
Bhavisyath Puran also contains a prophecy regarding the advent of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Maharishi Vyas Muni occupies an emminent position among the Hindus because of his vast knowledge and wisdom, and God-given capabilities. In addition to other religious literature, he has written 18 Puranas such as Brahma Puran, Bhagath Puran. The 18th Puran is named Bhavisyath Puran. It contains prophecies pertaining to the future. According to the beliefs of the Hindus this book contains Divine revelations and prophecies.
This Bhavisyath Puran contains the following prophecy regarding the Holy Prophet:
A spiritual reformer will come from a foreign land (outside Bharat) with his disciples (companions). His name will be Mahamad (Muhammad). He will dwell in a desert. (Bhavisyath Purana 3:5-8)
Here the name of the spiritual reformer is clearly given as Muhammad. Generally in the Vedas all countries outside Bharat are referred to as Mlech. The foreign land is said to be in a desert. Here the Holy Prophet’s companions are especially mentioned. Perhaps there is hardly any other prophet who had so many companions who had moulded their lives in the manner of their prophet.
Maharishi Vyas Muni has mentioned the following qualities of this Muhammad Rishi and his followers:
His followers will perform circumcision. They will not keep their hair in the form of Choti as the Brahmans do. They will keep beard. They will bring about a revolution. They will call with a loud voice (i.e., instead of using a bell to call the people for prayer, they will call people to prayer in a loud voice by ‘Azan’). They will eat meat of animals other than that of swine. They will attain purity through Jihad (fighting in the cause of Allah). Their civilization will be called Muslay (Muslim). (Bhavishyat Puran Vol. 3 verse:3)
Without any interpretation, all these characteristics agree completely with the characteristics of the Holy Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and his followers. In short, all the prophecies of the divine books of the Hindu religion have been fulfilled in the person of the Holy Prophet of Islam.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) gathered together all the nations and religions on a common platform on the basis of their own teachings which are founded on Divine Unity. He gave the message of equality of mankind and universal brotherhood. The Holy Quran says about itself:
Therein are lasting commandments. (98:4)
That is, it contains the essence of the teachings of all religious books. The teachings of the Holy Quran are simple and universal.
In short, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), achieved magnificent success in his mission which even non-Muslim orientalists confirm. Thus Reverend Bosworth Smith, M.A. writes:
By a fortune absolutely unique in history Muhammad is a three-fold founder of a nation, of an empire, and of a religion and is revered to this day by a sixth of the whole human race as a miracle of purity, of style, of wisdom and of truth.
The German orientalist Noldeke writes:
Most successful of all prophets and religious personalities.
(Encyclopaedia Brittannica:Quran)
O Allah, Shower Thy Mercy and Thy Blessings on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him, and his progeny). Thou Art the Praiseworthy, the Lord of Honour.
The full address in Tamil – quoting references in Sanskrit (audio) – the web link of which is:-
Colombo, August 25 (Daily Mirror) -President Ranil Wickremesinghe invited his rival candidates Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake for a live dicussion with IMF officials and see how they will react to ammendments they have proposed to the agreement which Sri Lanka has signed with the donor agency.
“Both, the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) have said they will amend the agreement signed with the IMF. Let’s have a live dicussion with the IMF and see how they react to the ammendments,” President Wickremesinghe told a UNP convention.
The Academy of Health Professionals alleges that the Minister of Health has reportedly submitted a Cabinet paper in order to import 47 types of drugs under the Indian monopoly.
President of the Academy of Health Professionals Ravi Kumudesh stressed that the minister should explain on how this action will benefit the health service and the people of the country.
Furthermore, he alleged that the quality and the standard of medicines can once again be under par through the import of unregistered medicines from India.
Minister and Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara invited the National People’s Power (NPP) and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) to a debate on their energy polices, the government’s energy policy and allegations of corruption in the energy sector.
In a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Wijesekara pointed out NPP’s presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s recent statement that he will reduce the fuel prices by removing the Rs 50 per liter tax on fuel which was imposed in 2022, to recover the debt taken over by the Treasury.
The Energy Minister, who highlighted that Dissanayake had said the debt has been recovered by now and the said tax could be removed, expressed his displeasure stating, I’m not sure how they come up with these numbers and claims to mislead the public and the voters.”
Furthermore, Wijesekara wrote: The President had to take unpopular but correct decisions to stabilize the economy and the energy sector. Due to those decisions we have an uninterrupted supply of fuel in the country.”
The Treasury took over Rs. 1,200 billion (USD 3,400 million) worth of CPC’s (Ceylon Petroleum Corporation) debt in 2022 and imposed a Rs. 25 per liter tax initially and increased it in 2023 to Rs. 50 per liter tax to recover the debt by 2029. At the beginning of 2025 the estimated debt remaining will be Rs. 656 Billion. It will take the CPC another 4 years to repay the entire debt that was transferred to the Treasury”, Minister Wijesekara clarified.
Additionally, the minister stated that he would like to know how AKD will reduce the Rs. 50 tax and bridge the gap of Rs. 656 billion remaining.”
Is he going to print money, obtain more loans to repay, increase other taxes or any other way?”, the Minister questioned.
I extend an invitation to NPP & SJB to debate on their energy polices, the governments energy policy and allegations of corruption in the energy sector”, he added.
(Continued from August 17, 2024)
Modi’s recent electoral setback is a lesson for all election predictors of this side of Palk Strait. Modi managed to retain power with the help of a coalition of regional parties. BJP which held 201 rural constituencies was able to retain only 126 of them according to voter analysis.
With all fanfare and predictions, BJP bagged only 240 seats, narrowly scraping through the 270-simple majority with the help of its alliance’s 52 seats. Modi lost Faisalabad seat of which Ayodhya is situated, less than 4 months after the consecration of Ram Mandir; in January 2024 Modi opened the new Hindu temple, Ram Janbabhoomi Mandir, built over the destroyed Muslim mosque, Babri Masjid mosque built in 1528 located in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Hindus believe that Rama was born there and that Babri Masjid was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple destroyed by Babar, the 1st Mughal Emperor. This triggered communal violence that killed more than 2000 persons; among the most vocal groups that pushed for the creation of the temple was Modi and his BJP using it as a vehicle to return to power. Widening inequality, inflation, lack of jobs, and dwindling farmer income were the reasons cited for Modi’s electoral setback, according to analysts.
With its recent loss of the parliamentary majority, for the first time since the end of apartheid, African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa has formed a coalition with the Democratic Alliance (DA), heir to the old apartheid regime; political analysts say that it is a dangerous move and a grave betrayal.
France’s National Rally (NR)like the NPP, was fully confident that it was winning the recently concluded elections in France in the early part of July. Reports said that hundreds of journalists had come across the world to Paris to report what was going on. When the election results were announced NR was beaten into third place by the Leftists and Macron’s Centrists. Like the NPP in Sri Lanka, RN thought that it was staging what it thought would be its victory rally. It was reported that champagne was in ice,” later to be changed to the glasses looked half empty than half full”! How would NPP indigenize this saying after its imminent defeat? Raw rice was on the hearth; had no coconut milk (to prepare kiributh)”. One set of supporters can be transported all over the country; but they have only one vote allotted to only one polling booth”!
How many times JVP in the past held its victory rallies” starting from Wijeweera’s victory rally” at Hyde Park esplanade on the eve of the April 5 insurrection? As an eye witness this writer recalls Wijeweera’s battle cry: Let Gajabahu (the only naval vessel of the Royal Ceylon Navy) be our Aurora and Achillan Square (then Army Headquarters) our Petrograd Garrison (Warship Aurora’s thunder ushered a new era, the Great October Revolution).
Leader of NR, Marine Le Pen had to say: The tide is rising; it didn’t rise high enough; but it continues to rise and as a result our victory has been delayed”. Has Marine Le Pen spoken on behalf of Anura Kumara too? Rallies were full; but rallies did not bring votes; rallies will be full again; filling ballot boxes has been delayed”.
Once when sniffer dogs were brought as a security measure to check a NPP rally ground, NPP youtubers propagated that the government has become alarmed and seen NPP meetings as victory rallies”; the gateway to power” has been opened!
In France, Left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) came first ahead of Macron’s Centrist Ensemble and NR. There were foolish analysts in Sri Lanka who compared Frances’s NFP to Anura Kumara’s NPP.
In the US Presidential race Trump was leading Biden miles away; his attempted assassination bolsteredhis chances of a win; but advent of Kamala Harris had receded the tide. Unlike in Sri Lanka it was reported that many voters want to hear from her more specifics about where she stands in key issues as the economy, renewable energy, green technology and abortion.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka, IMF, creditors, international community including foreign envoys emphasizing that the adherence to IMF remedies regardless of the outcome of the Presidential Election is beneficial to RW’s campaign. We pointed out in Part VII of this series posted on 17 August, how Bangladesh situation became advantageous to RW and a setback to NPP.
In our previous articles we have elaborated that the economic, political and socio-cultural factors which were favorable to SWRD in 1956, Sirimavo in 1970, JRJ in 1977, CBK in 1994, MR in 2005 and 2010 and GR in 2019 do not exist now in favour of an NPP electoral victory.
2. More and more pledges
Anura Kumara and his band began to make various statements as they have already won the Presidential Election, months ahead of declaring of an election. Now very few things remain for them to fulfill verbally; this force them to invent new promises at every election meeting, promises which do not require a President to grant; Grama Sevakas can provide those needs if they are allocated with necessary funds.
One day he says that his future government would streamline tax collection, widening the tax net bringing Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise Department into a common digital platform (may be copying from Harshonomics of SJB). We witness a comical situation where RW, Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara making similar pledges one following the other or copying from each other. Anura Kumara copying Dhammika Perera’s Pohosath Ratak” and Dilith Jayaweera’s Sathutu Deyak” catchphrases shows his lack of originality. We have stated earlier, which head to keep of this three-headed monster, turning the monster into a normal human being or are the people looking for a hero to slay this monster freeing the maiden chained to the cliff.
Anura Kumara pledges to bring back Arjun Mahendran, the former Central Bank Governor. For that we do not need a President as our police and Interpole jointly bring him back him with the concurrence of the Singaporean government. Head of State and Government must attend to more important tasks as the CEO of a reputed organization. Head of State and Government is not tasked to do the job of a bas unnehe”. Anura Kumara should study different managerial roles different managers play in the managerial hierarchy and what type of managerial skills needed to play his managerial role in his cloud cuckoo land!
Sri Lanka’s administration was made a mockery by Premadasa’s mobile kachcheries” and Gotabhaya’s gama samaga pilisandarak” programmes. We do not see any fault in a Head of Government making official visits, inspection tours in the countryside which are very much essential to meet the peasants and workers who are in the frontline of agricultural and industrial production. He needs much time to devote to problem solving and decision making, employing conceptual, diagnostic and analytical skills. If he does not have these skills he should acquire and develop them. The man who does not understand his role and who lacks these higher order skills will love to do the bas unnehe” job.
Sajith Premadasa pledged to abolish the Executive Presidency, up till now a pledge flushed in the water closet, a last-minute inclusion to his basket of promises, hitherto forgotten by all other contenders.
If platform speakers like Anura Kumara and Sajith Premadasa are the best men to lead the country, our old thel beheth karayas” (preachers and sellers of homemade medicinal oils of dubious nature) who hung at government hospitals and weekly fairs in yesteryears were a better choice than them.
3. Anura Kumara’s arithmetic error: Aesop’s frog and the cow” fable
Anura Kumara addressing the press made two startling statements. One, SLPP MPs could have voted for him in July 2022 in the election of the interim President (he got only 3 votes). Two, he will surpass not only the magical figure of 50%, it can reach between 60-70% and NPP is even assured of polling more than 70 lakhs of votes! He made some strange arithmetical calculations; of 69 lakhs of votes polled by GR 50 lakhs of votes were not SLPP votes; 55 lakhs of votes polled by Premadasa were votes cast against GR; no dispute about the latter.
In 2019 Anura Kumara polled only 418,533 votes (or 3.16%). Using Anura Kumara’s same crooked logic we would say that of the 13,387,951 of the electors who used their voting rights 12,969,418 (or 96.87%)voters had rejected Anura Kumara {GR: 6,924,255 (or 52.25%); Sajith Premadasa: 5,564,239 (or 41.99%); Others: 480,924 (or 3.59%)}. If it was a contest between NPP and other defeated contestants excluding Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara would have being defeatedby 62,391 votes!
Now let us make an analysis of this crooked logic of a Presidential aspirant. If he bases his future budget on similar calculations Sri Lanka will be broken into smithereens, some parts in the Arctic Circle and other parts in the Antarctic Circle never to find the fragmented pieces!
How canAnura Kumara say that 50 lakhs of votes polled by GR were not SLPPvotes?If so, GR has polled only 1,924,255 votes. At the 2015 PresidentialElection Mahinda Rajapaksa polled 5,768,090 votes and at the General Election held in 2015, UPFA, the precursor of SLPP obtained 4,732,664 votes. DoesAnura Kumara infer that all these votes polled by MR and UPFA respectively evaporated in 2019?
For the 2024 PresidentialElection 17.1 million voters are being registered of which 1million consist of first-time voters.For the argument sake Anura Kumara to obtain a 50%of the total polled heshould poll 8,530,000 votes, ( 8,111,467 votes more than he polled in 2019, an increase of 2038% ; to obtain a 60% , 10,260,000 votes more than he polled in 2019, an increase of 2351%; to obtain a 70% 11,970,000 votes more than he polled in 2019, an increase of 2760%). Votes are not something one can gather as jackfruit seeds. A President can become insaneafteracquiring power; but insane persons are not fit to contest a Presidential election. This applies to all candidates.
If Anura Kumara is so confident of obtaining 70% of the total polled why should he worry and now make absurd pledges as any other traditional politician? This confirms another hidden story behind the NPP. Although NPP boasts that it consists of academics, professionals, scientists and medical men why can’t they correct these irrationalities of its leader? Is not there any inner party criticisms and self- criticisms? Are these men and women mere receptacles? Are these men and women waiting for its leader’s doomsday? These are the first people to run away when things go bad from the current glory days.
Harini Amarasuriya, NPP’s LGBTIQ+ spokesperson addressing a meeting at Kolonnawa asked her listeners to give Anura lakshayak” (1 lakh of votes), 318,533 votes less than he polled in 2019! Later she corrected it as kotiyak”(1,000,000 votes).In another meeting, commenting on the issue of crossovers this pseudo academic stated that she has not witnessed these long jumps” and short jumps” even at Olympics! For the first time in our lives we hear a track and field event as short jump”, thanks to these half-baked academics. We know of short hair, short men, short memory and of men and women short on brains.
A candidate can take liberty to say that he is winning because at least some of them contest to win. But saying that he is winning with such a margin is ludicrous.
Now Anura Kumara has turned into a traditional Sri Lankan politician making promises to beat other candidates in a battle of making promises; his latest pledge is to abolish VAT on school bags and school books; reduce electricity and water tariffs; giving Rs. 10,000 to marginal families. If he is so confident in securing 60-70% votes why should he give false promises that cannot be fulfilled is debatable. Not to be outdone Lal Kantha addressing a rally in Gampola said NPP is poised to get a 2/3 rd majority at the next Parliamentary polls conducted by them soon after dissolution of the Parliament. From 3 seats to 150 seats, an increase of 147 seats, in 4 years! Pretty stupidity!
News emanating from Sri Lankans in Japan are fascinating: according to them Anura Kumara has employed some highly paid bodyguards while he was in Japan. Was there a threat from Yakuzas (remnants of wandering Samurais who oppose democracy, communism)? Nothing else other than over inflated ego! Who were his bodyguards while he was in America, Canada, England and Australia? Agents from Five Eyes” (intelligence alliance comprising US, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand sharing intelligence)? It is a well-known fact that Five Eyes” establish close contacts with Third World politicians who can be used as their agents in regime change operations.
Had Anura Kumara learnt about Aesop’s Fables in his schooldays he would not have made such a statement. It’s time for him to learn the fable of the frog and the cow; a tiny frog was amazed by the size of a cow and tried to inflate until it burst.
4. Entrepreneurial State
The slogan put forward by the main constituent party of Sarvajana Balaya”MJP, Vyavasayakathwa Rajyaya” (an Entrepreneurial State) needs our attention since nobody has made any attempt to interpret what is meant by anEntrepreneurial State in Sri Lanka’s present political context. In Part V of this series, posted on 5 July 2024 we made a brief account on MarianaMazzucato’s concept of Entrepreneurial State, referring to her book, The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs Private Sector Myths” published in 2013.
Mariana Mazzucatoargues that US economic success is a result of public and state funded investments in innovation and technology. Entrepreneurial State is the primary risk taker in innovation-based investments; state influences on innovation and technological development within the private sector, which popularizes the government created technologies. Apple (iPhone, iPad devises), GPS navigation, touch screen technologies, voice recognition, smartphones are a few examples. She argues that the private sector undertakes the least risky part of technological innovation and entrepreneurship. She introduces the concept of Entrepreneurial State, where the state is actively takes risks by investing in innovation-based projects.
There are many more state led innovations. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of US Department of Defense is responsible for the development of many emerging technologies.
We do not believe that the Sarvajana Balaya” or initially MJP of Dilith Jayaweera has meant such advanced pathbreaking innovations. Debt-ridden Sri Lankan state cannot even think of such an Entrepreneurial State.
Sarvajana Balaya” The First Draft of the Strategic Plan for Public Discourse” explains Entrepreneurial State, under five headings viz, Pro Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Can, One National Identity, Shared Civilisational Values and Peaceful Coexistence in a Unitary State”. But does not explain what an Entrepreneurial State is. Under its The Governance Structure of an Entrepreneurial State”, (22 sub-sections) sub-section, Technology Beyond Boundaries” mentions: Advancing science, technology and digitalization and promoting innovation to create a nation that efficiently leverages technology to enhance the quality of life for all citizens”. All other structures supporting an Entrepreneurial State.
So Sarvajana Balaya” Entrepreneurial State has no resemblance to Mariana Mazzucato’s concept of Entrepreneurial State is evident excluding, what it says under, Empowering Entrepreneurship – State Ideology”: Transforming the mindset of the state machinery into a creative risk-taking entrepreneurial mentality, leading towards innovative solutions in the face of challenges instead of traditional methods”. But the Draft does not elaborate what, when, by whom and how. The other lacuna is not emphasizing, whether it envisages creating of a manufacturing economy or a service economy.
Joseph Schumpeter,the Austrian economist, best known as the author of, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy”(1942), introduced the concept of entrepreneurship.According to him the entrepreneur was the keystone of capitalism, the source of innovation which is the vital force driving capitalist economy. In his book he outlined the theory of dynamic economic growth, coined the term known as creative destruction” which offers a methodological individualism in economics, how the old is being constantly replaced by the new. He argued that the innovation and technological change of a nation come from entrepreneurs or wild spirits; he coined the word (in German) entrepreneurspirit”adding that these individuals controlled the economy because they are responsible for delivering innovation and technological change. He asserted that doing things that are already being done in a new way” stemmed directly from the efforts of entrepreneurs.
Why a fashionable trope, sounding stylish and trendy, a synonym for bourgeois individualism, without thinking of creating a better state, industrial, socialist or proletarian state.
We observe a clash betweenEntrepreneurial State” and Sabyathwa Rajyaya” (Civilisational State”), the twin concepts advocated by Sarvajana Balaya”. In a Civilisational State” (I refer to Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera’s, Sabyathwa Rajyaya Kara” (Towards Civilisational State (2016)). In a Sabyathwa Rajyaya” there cannot be any space for bourgeois individualism. This needs a detailed study.
But the problem is how we can create a production culture that will produce forces of production (labour, capital etc.). In the Draft there is no word about production of machines and machine tools, which are essential for production of machines as e-Con e-News repeats in every issue as an index of a Real Economy, how a real economy would be measured.
Now RW, Premadasa, Anura Kumara have started talking about entrepreneurship development is the biggest joke. In agriculture old fashioned farmers copy pioneer farmers!
5. Past interventions in entrepreneurship
Has Sri Lanka not done anything to develop entrepreneurs andentrepreneurship in the past? There were plenty of interventions. Two three decades ago Industrial Development Board (IDB), National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) the latter with the funds allotted by the Konrad Adeneur Foundation (KAF), National Youth Services Council (NYSC), it’s arm NYSCO, and some women’s organisations conducted training programmes inEntrepreneurship Development;main focus of NIBM pogrammes was providing with accounting skills and managerial skills to poultry farmers, dairy farmers and agro-industrialists. Others conducted training programmes providing with technical skills in poultry farming, dairy farming, vegetable dehydration, orchid and cut flower growing, mushroom cultivation, yoghurt, ice cream and cake making , ornamental fish, beauty culture, making of leather and coir products, candles, papadam, candles, handun kooru (incense sticks),cordials and some handicraftsetc. At one time we trained people in hand crafted paper and bio-gas making (integrated with poultry farming and fish breeding) also. We have experimented with foreign funded Integrated Rural Development Programmes (IRDPs), appropriate technology”, export villages”, one crop to one village” programmes and many more.
But sad to say that manufacturing industries were not encouraged. There were no research and development and new innovations; entrepreneurship was limited to engage in making of some crude inferior products using archaic technology. There was no quality assurance of the products and marketing avenues for the entrepreneurs. There was no follow-up action taken to assess how many entrepreneurs theywere able to develop. With all these drawbacks skills inEntrepreneurshipwas imparted without achieving any far-reaching results and continuity.
Sri Lanka is a country which experimented with many development initiatives, a hothouse for experimentation from the days of gaining independence” from the colonial yoke. The list is too long. Research Reports are copious, enough to fill a well-stocked library. The irony is all Presidential candidates especially RW, Premadasa and Anura Kumara promising to implement same failed interventions, attempting to invent the wheel again and again in different sizes using different types of materials.
6. Future of Sri Lanka as an independent sovereign state under US and Indian hegemonic influence
It was affirmed that Easter Sunday attack helped Modi’s second electoral victory, that the planners of the attack took into consideration the Indian elections. Sajith Premadasa’s pledges to probe the Easter Sunday attack is only to woo the Catholic voters and deceive Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith. Still his vociferous frontline brigade attack GR that he was the mastermind of it or the politician benefited by the Easter Sunday attack. But the election results in the Catholic belt” were rather contrary to this malicious allegation.
Indian Externa Minister Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka again on 20 June,the firstbilateral visit after the formation of new Modi government. He met with RW and several Ministers, MR, Sajith Premadasa,leaders of various Tamil and Muslim and plantation Tamil political parties. His visit signified Sri Lanka’s increasing dependency on regional power India; he jointly with RW unveiled the virtual plaque for 106 houses in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Matale Districts under the Indian housing project, formally commissioned the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Navy Headquarters, a nerve center for search and rescue operations at sea with an Indian grant of US $ 6 million; sub-center at Hambantota and unmanned installations at 7 other centers, another initiative demonstrating Sri Lanka’s armed forces’ dependency on Indian and external support .
On 20 August India’s Petronet LNG signed a MOU with LTL Holdings for LNG infrastructure and LNG supply to Sri Lanka, through a 150-container supply chain for development of LNG unloading, storage and regasification facilitates at Kerawalapitiya. Indian High Commission said that India has extended a grant assistance of US dollars 63.65 million for KKS harbor rehabilitation project. India’s so-called Connectivity Programmes, in this case Energy Connectivity and Maritime Connectivityare consequently being fulfilled.
India’s Neighbourhood First” policy and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) policy have become a mockery when one looks at how Modi and his BJB took up Kachchativu as an election issue again prior to recently concluded Indian General Elections, declaring it as an Indian territory and attacking Indira Gandhi and Congress, for ceding” it to Sri Lanka in 1974.
The other burning topic is Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan territorial waters engaging in illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, especially bottom trawling. This issue was aggravated by killing a Sri Lankan naval officer and damaging a naval craft by Indian poachers on June 25, 2024.
There is an influx of visits by US top administrators to Sri Lanka since pre-protest days. Latest person to visit Sri Lanka is US Acting Secretary for State, Bureau of Oceans, International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Jennifer Littlejohn. She has earlier served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in North Macedonia, Director for Central and Northern European Affairs of the US National Security Council, Director for Policy Planning and Public Diplomacy, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, a Bigjohn” who has many accomplishments in big things than in international environmental and scientific affairs”.
In many of our articles we have reported Julie Chung’s activities in Sri Lanka. On 21, August she met with a group of USAID-aided Social Change Makers and Community Leaders”. Chung described them as innovators, advocators, thinkers and dreamers transforming Sri Lanka into a more vibrant society.” These were the Change Makers” active at Galle Face urban ghetto, 2 years ago.
Julie Chung visits every corner of the island without any hindrance meeting men and women and youth of her choice. US Embassy opens American Corners” at every corner of the country targeting Youth.
Recently UNHRC urged Sri Lanka to pursue urgent reforms and accountability after upcoming elections. Whoever wins he cannot escape from this millstone.
7. Chaos and hopeless confusion
The outcome of the September Presidential Election is cannot be predicted by either employing absurd quantitative techniques, quantifying numbers attendingpublic rallies, platform oratory, handouts the ruling party provides and playing savior role or pledges made by all contenders to hoodwink the gullible voters.
A similar situation as in Venezuela can arise refusing to accept the final verdict if the verdict is not favourable for certain groups. In Venezuela opposition volunteers managed to collect copies of voting tallies from 80% of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide showing opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had won the election. Foreign observers including observers of American Carter Center determined the results announced by the authorities lacked credibility. It was reported that a cyber-attack staged by hackers from North Macedonia delayed the vote counting and release of results. (A few days ago, Venezuelan Supreme Courts certified that Maduro won the elections and said that voting tallies published online, showing he lost by a landslide were forged).
In Sri Lanka it was reported on 12 August that a US based Google server mimicking the website of the Elections Commission attempting to gather personal information. What plans NPP digital brigade has we do not know.
By any chance if Premadasa wins, the NPP will not allow him to govern. Premadasa will be a sitting duck at the onslaught of protests engineered by the NPP. How a timid overseas student who was chaperoned by a Ranasinghe Premadasa loyalist unlawfully assigned to the High Commission in London, an explorer of wild life (flora, fauna and other things), singer and a guitar player confronts them will be an unpleasant thing to witness.
Except RW all others would dissolve the Parliament immediately calling for fresh elections. In this context Parliamentary Elections become equally important as the Presidential election.
No single party is likely to win a majority in a future parliamentary election; new political alignments, alliances and coalitions are likely in the future than we witness now. No one of those so-called dissidents who talk aloud will emerge victorious unless they align with a party which has a more likelihood of winning according to their thinking; that is the reason for many pohottuwa MPs aligning themselves with SJB. It’s a shame some Viyathmaga grandees are among these defectors, those who were more responsible for GR’s downfall. Majority of political dregs of pohottuwa joined RW for their political survival. They know that RW would never conduct a Parliamentary election; there are many ways of extending the term of the current Parliament.
8. Sarvajana Balaya
Sarvajana Balaya muststrive to be the mantle of anti-imperialist, anti-hegemonic, anti-neoliberal nationalistic forces. To do so it must be very careful not to enlist driftwood and political dregs who has no base among the people.
Sarvajana Balayaclaims that the new alliance represents the interests of those 69 lakhs of voters who voted for GR at the last Presidential Elections and subsequently to pohottuwa at the Parlimentary Elections. If so, it must think again whether it is capable of marching forward attacking Rajapakshasas as NPP and SJB do. With or with no Rajapakshasas, without the support of Pohottuwa, Sarvajana Balaya cannot march forward is this writer’s contention. It should take into consideration that many of the so-called dissidents found their political fortunes and cut their political teeth with the help of either MR or GR. No one can deny that Rajapaksas are custodians of a strong vote base and it was MR who freed Sri Lanka from the shackles of Tiger terrorists.
Sarvajana Balayaallegation that MR, Basil R and Namal R, members of GR’s family are the chief architects of GR’s downfall nullifies the actual intervention of local and foreign NGOs, RW, JVP/NPP, FSP,SJB and black coated brigade headed by USAID funded BASL, foreign hands, especially the role played by the US envoy Julie Chung, which are well documented by some writers and corroborated by the Speaker of Parliament, sanitize local andforeign conspirators and overruling imperialistso-called colour revolutions as a figment of imagination. SomeSarvajana Balayasupporters whom this writer has met inferringNuland and Chung reaped what was sown by otherRajapaksas hold no water because the conspiracy against GR was hatched even before he paid his election deposit challenging his eligibility by foreign funded NGO cabal; the coup was staged immediately, when he came into power with Swiss Embassy incident. This is an irrefutable truth.
9. Symbol of Sarvajana Balaya
As Dilith Jayaweera of Sarvajana Balaya is contesting as the candidate of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka invariably his symbol becomes the star, the registered symbol of the Communist Party. No question about it. But for election campaigning the Communist Party used a red star. (Red star (of flat surface not filled) is the symbol of communist ideology; it has five points denoting 5 fingers of the worker as well as 5 continents; also, workers, peasants, youth, military and intelligentsia). Sarvajana Balaya star is blue and white, filled and has 6 points. Sarvajana Balaya graphic artistshave done an irreparable damage to it creating a blue and white star, colours of the star of the Zionist Israeli state, also having 6 points. Blue and white flat star in the centre of Israeli flag represents star of David, the symbol of Jewish people and of Judaism. Blue symbolizes God’s glory, purity and severity. This terribly clashes with the concept of Civilisational State”. It is true that the star symbol registered at the then Department of Elections has 6 points and filled and we know that the Sarvajana Balaya cannot use a red star for reasons well-known to them. But still Sarvajana Balaya has time to rectify this grave error, changing the colour combination of the star.
10. After the elections
GR missed the grand opportunity he had writing his book, to expose the conspiracy and conspirators; but failed miserably; if he had exposed foreign intervention in his ouster and ill-advice given by those who brought him into power, it would have been an international bestseller revealing how politics in the Global South are being manipulated by the US and India. In this context Sheik Hasina, the deposed Prime Minister of Bangladesh was stronger than GR. He should have used his book for a possible comeback, to test the public’s verdict of his ouster. Many political blunders were done by GR at the time of his ouster and after; why and the way he handed over power to RW is still questionable; was there an agreement related to power transfer? His installation of Nandalal Weerasinghe of IMF, a scion of anti- Rajapaksa elements in Tangalle as the Governor of the Central Bank and declaring Sri Lanka using him and a lawyer turned Finance Minister, a political novice although a silkin the Courts, aggravated the crisis. Which country acceptsLCs originated from a bankrupt country? Can a company declare bankruptcy? If so, that will be the end of that business.
Still the capitalist press say that GR fled the country; showed a clean pair of heels; what they say is he should have stayed where he was and be lynched as Sadam Hussain and Khadhafi by the marauders.
A section of the Galle Face Protesters also formed a group called Jana AragalaSandanaya” to contest presidential elections. It is another garb to FSP. In the last Presidential Elections FSP polled only 589(or 0.04%) votes from Colombo electoral district and 8219 (or 0.06%) all-island votes respectively. It will be interesting to see how it will poll this time around, whether it represents all the Galle Face merrymakers.
A new anti-imperialist, anti-hegemonic, patriotic political alignment is needed. RW, SP and Anura Kumara stand as obstacles to this front. It is well-known that both RW and SP represent imperialist, neo-liberal, interests internally and globally. When their positions are clear what is Anura Kumara’s position? He and his NPP/JVP combine are neither a Marxist, Socialist nor Social-Democrat outfit. It is only capitalist press and ill-informed foreign correspondents dub it as a Marxist party. Enough for what they understand as Marxism. Its political philosophy is Anarchism and if by any chance come into power anarchy, a reign of terror, will prevail; internecine -fighting among its own ranks will become the order of the day. In such circumstances NPP turning into the most anti-people political formation and the common enemy of allcannot be dismissed.
We have stated in Part VI of this series that there is no guarantee that the JVP/NPP will not hesitate to resort to acts of violence if they win with state power in their hands. Those who were against the JVP/NPP will be hounded, arrested and summarily executed without any trial.
Kuragamage Don Lal Kantha has already suggested to settle disputes at village level. Anura Kumara added to it that local level political machinery used for the election will be turned into peace councils to maintain law and order in the villages.
A supporter of the NPP, who enjoyed the benevolence of CBK, and then MR, elevated by them to high office in several establishments, who wrote a book hailing MR as the King Mahinda VII, threatened this writer that he will be bumped off by the NPP when they come into power for writing anti-NPP articles.
A Communist old guard warned this writer, a Civil War in Sri Lanka is imminent!
NEXT: Summarizing Janus-faced NPP, Myth of Malimawa and False Conceptions
How orchestrated” were the protests in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & now Indonesia – Each certainly had a core reason but were there some hidden hands egging them on? How many of these pawns were aware & how many simply joined in for their own reasons? Did any of them stop to consider the ultimate outcome or were they not bothered. Did US & India play main role or did they just fan the flames from behind or set the stage & then watched how matters unfolded? The latter, is somewhat difficult to assume given the long list of regime change US declassified files acknowledge decades later.
While both Imran Khan & Sheik Hasina have directly pointed at US role, Gotabaya chose not to provide any high-profile interviews since his ouster.
In the case of Pakistan & Bangladesh Assistant Secretary Lu was involved while in Sri Lanka’s case the protests started immediately after the departure of US Secretary Nuland. Both Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka were pursuing neutral” foreign policy.
How did US foreign policy vis a vis covert regime change unfold in Pakistan in April 2022 by trumped-up charges of corruption against Prime Minister Imran Khan?
The sin” PM Imran committed was to forge ties with Russia & China & that resulted in democracy delivered to Khan similar to all ousted leaders who fell into the against US” list. Imran’s fate was advanced by berating the West & EU envoys for pressurizing him to condemn Russia at the UN. The day after his 3 May 2022 rally US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu met with Pakistan’s envoy in US whose cable to Pakistan was leaked. As Pakistan did not comply per US wishes in UN, US gave a nod to the Pakistani military, which in turn influenced Pakistani Parliament & out went Imran by no-confidence motion by Parliamentarians that the US embassy was regularly meeting! A bold Khan produced a diplomatic cable (https://theintercept.com/2023/08/09/imran-khan-pakistan-cypher-ukraine-russia/) presenting evidence of US involvement in his ouster with US quick to respond that the issue was internal & for the Pakistani courts to decide!
Destabilizing a 240million populated Pakistan has been a piece of cake for the US!
Imran Khan won elections in 2018 & was ousted in April 2022. Pakistani military arrested Khan on 9 May 2023 (note date) & held for 4 days before the Supreme Court ruled his detention illegal. Protests resulted in military attacking Imran’s party supporters majority of whom remain in jail. Unlike most South Asian nations, Pakistan’s military plays a direct & indirect role in the governance of Pakistan. Imran Khan in an interview claims the Pakistan army chief & a former Pakistani envoy were feeding the US about Khan’s anti-US stand. https://theintercept.com/2023/06/05/imran-khan-interview/ while the role of the Pakistani military is noteworthy so too is the role of commentators who are the hired voices to do the cover-up through their columns & generally tasked to spread disinformation & misinformation! What is important to note that no regime change is possible without insider help & inside agents.
If Khan’s ouster was due to his neutral” stance, did it apply to Gotabaya Rajapakse’s sudden ouster as well? Sri Lankan elections in November 2019 came after a regime change orchestrated jointly by QUAD partners US & India in 2015 bringing to power Maithripala Sirisena as President & Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister. That honeymoon ended with the Easter Sunday bombings in April 2019 which sealed the end of that government & enabled a nationalist-themed campaign to bring US dual citizen Gotabaya Rajapakse to power. It was during the 2015-2019 tenure that saw India & Sri Lanka forge greater ties with the US particular in terms of military & intelligence agreements and sealed the ability to provide logistics services to the US via ACSA agreement signed in 2017. It remains a puzzle for what reason the Easter Sunday attacks took place though the former President Sirisena has recently accused India of masterminding it. Taking this allegation seriously it appears that India is following the same template as the US & is now engaging extremist Islamic groups for its own geopolitical goals.
Be that as it may, what is equally puzzling is why the US would decide to oust Gotabaya given that they could easily use his desire to return to US as a carrot to get their goals achieved! The nature of that ouster remains itself a case study since a greater part of the drama ended up with locals settling personal scores & vendettas which is why piecing the puzzle is somewhat difficult.
What should be understood is that neither the US nor India have any favorites except whoever is prepared to betray the nation & national interest. This means they are always fishing for the best traitors amongst all spheres of society and would lavishly award & reward them for their treacheries including helping remain in power so long as they meet their wish list. Imran Khan certainly did not fit into that list, but Gotabaya presented no open defiance to either US or India and he certainly had no close ties with China either. So, perhaps even Gotabaya must be wondering what happened to him for US or India to want to oust him given that he cannot return to the US either!
The most recent regime change was seen in Bangladesh. When US-ally Yunus was flown to take over as leader, it does not leave much to the imagination. PM Sheik Hasina unlike Gotabaya was given refuge in India. As one of the fastest growing economies, Bangladesh looked a promising nation, her ties with Russia & China are attributed to her downfall. Bangladesh is in chaos with 450 people dead & as expected Yunus invites UN fact-finding mission. The protests were against the 30% quota allocated to children of freedom fighters. Ironically, PM Hasina abolished the quota system in 2018 but it was held illegal by Dhaka High Court reversing the decision. How many of these protestors knew that PM Hasina abolished the quota system? Eventually the Chief Justice was forced to resign while several other judges also followed thus crippling the legal system & a new trend of jungle law where unruly mobsters believe they can take law & order to their hands & remove & appoint people they please.
The discipline” behind these protests where students were functioning as traffic police were all signs of training given by numerous US regime change agents providing training in Bangladesh & Sri Lanka. Many are now indoctrinating the agenda of LGBTQIA amongst youth as a fad while promoting drinking, smoking among both sexes to exemplify followers of liberalism”. For lack of counter measures to educate these youth on the dangerous self-destructive path they are taking, youth are being led astray & the denationalism is occurring even in India, where the regime change grand finale is likely to be.
Regime change has not stopped with Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh. It’s now Indonesia’s turn to face the music. This time the protest is against changes to election laws. The ugly scenario will no doubt backfire when it would become fashionable to organize violent protest groups & oppose legislative changes which perhaps the government may not even want changed! There is always a flip side to all issues & the ordinary people will end up the eventual losers.
Are these sudden protests just regime change or are they part of that great reset which involves the elimination of the nation state system where the notion that politicians are unsuited to govern & unable to govern, where people’s representatives are being chased” by the people” and the symbolic Parliaments are being attacked with aim to burn them down, thus justifying the reason to not exist any longer?
– Do troubles create an exodus of fleeing migrants as Hungarian leader Victor Orbon explained? https://x.com/HoodedClaw1974/status/1826935273738928378 Is it about preventing nations come out of poverty by continuing to keep them destabilized & under the wrath of international monetary agencies & hedge funds? Is it about transnational corporate takeover of debt-ridden nations resources & assets to take nations back to the times of Dutch East India rule under neo-colonial slavery! Is it all about enslavement where the wealth is once more getting centralized into the hands of a few, even the white majorities in US, UK & Europe are now victimized via a new scheme being rolled out as DEI (diversity-equity-inclusion) which is not merit-based by marginalizing the majority in favor of minorities who can be easily manipulated as they are in smaller groups!
What we saw unfold in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & now unfolding in Indonesia are not good signs & those masterminding these will find out at some point in time that they cannot control the crowd. With law & order at a standstill jungle law is nothing that can be easily brought to control. Eventually entire nations end up reversing all that they have gained. Corporates who naively fund these protests for short term gain will unfortunately face long term repercussions. No country can progress or be productive when a bunch of people think they can bully a nation by protesting in unruly gangs. The damage they commit are irreversible & dangerous. No nation wants to end up having foreign boots on the ground claiming to bring law & order. We had first hand experience of that in 1987 where the saviours ended up shooting all communities unable to identify who the enemy was! Therefore, we should not allow such a scenario to be repeated.
Shenali D Waduge
General C.S. Weerasooriya ’s memoir, ‘Duty and Devotion’ (2024) records certain valuable observations about the conduct of the Eelam war in Sri Lanka .Weerasooriya had a successful career in the Sri Lanka army and retired as Commander of the Army in 1998. He participated in the Eelam war, in various locations, and in various operations during his time in the army.
The Eelam war was a civil war, conducted with the objective of partitioning Sri Lanka, a long standing sovereign state with a proud history. This war, described idiotically as terrorism, was engaging in high treason and should have been treated as such. Winning this war should have been given the highest priority because the first duty of a government is to protect its borders .Instead the Eelam war was given very low priority and treated as a nuisance rather than a serious threat to the country.
This essay contains extracts from Weerasooriya’s’ observations on the Eelam war, as he saw it. These extracts show the conceit, ignorance and utter indifference of the Sri Lanka government to the vital matter of the Eelam war.
EVENT 1
President Premadasa who became President in 1989 did not attend Security Council meetings but he engaged in secret talks with the LTTE, who were put up at Hilton hotel. No one from the security forces could attend these talks. Apparently LTTE had promised that they would look after the security of north and east in return for reduction of our troops, said Weerasooriya in his memoirs.
Thereafter, in 1990, Minster ACS Hameed had visited Trincomalee base. He had by then visited Jaffna and Kilinochchi, where, at the demand of the LTTE Hameed had proposed the reduction of the troops in army camps. Accordingly the strength of the Point Pedro, Kokavil and Mankulam camps had been drastically cut.
Here he was now, in Trincomalee with a LTTE delegation of Anton Balasingham, Mahaththaya, Yogi and a few others, wrote Weerasooriya. Minister Hameed was met by Rear Admiral Clancy Fernando and Weerasooriya. Minister Hameed said that the LTTE had demanded that the troops in Trincomalee be drastically reduced. Hameed proposed that all the army camps in the east coast from Pulmoddai onwards to be moved to Seruwawila.
Weerasooriya had refused to do so, pointing out that if they did so, they were handing over the whole east coast to the LTTE. East coast residents would have no military protection. Hameed was quire agitated, wrote Weerasooriya. After many unsuccessful attempts at persuasion he had gone away sayingI will report that you are not cooperating. You have no option but to follow the President’s instructions”. (p 185)
EVENT 2
In 1993 the Ministry of Defence wanted the three service commanders to recommend a strategy to finish the war. The service commanders proposed that the country be put on a war footing. They wanted several more infantry battalions be raised, so that the east would not be depleted at the cost of operations in the north. They wanted artillery and armor regiments to be equipped with modern weaponry. Intelligence to be centralized under one head. The international network of the LTTE be broken and capability of Special Forces be improved.
Weerasooriya was to present the programme. Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister was to preside. Weerasooriya had not spoken for more than two or three minutes when the Prime Minister got up and walked out of the conference room, wearing an annoyed expression mumbling I have no time to waste, listening to this rubbish.”
Prime Minister was persuaded to return. Weerasooriya was asked to just give the plan and requirements and leave it at that. In the end Prime Minister authorized 10,000 more men and left the room. This was just a drop in the ocean, said Weerasooriya in his memoir. It was not going to make any difference (p 208)
EVENT 3
On 4 July 1996 Minister for Education Nimal Siripala de Silva together with an entourage from his Ministry arrived in Palaly unannounced. It transpired that he had arranged with the local education authority to distribute school uniforms and books in a ceremony in Jaffna town. Weerasooriya had told him that it was still dangerous to visit Jaffna. Also there was no time to clear and secure the area for a high profile visit. But he would not be dissuaded from proceeding. I have the blessing of the President, he said, I did not announce my arrival as I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Brigadier Hamangoda had been informed however, and had made the necessary security arrangements. Weerasooriya had the Palaly Jaffna road secured and the Minster went ahead with his programme. The programme was completed without incident.
The Minister and his delegation should then have returned to Palaly, but there was a sudden change of plans. The Minster had accepted, on the spur of the moment an invitation by the Head of the Building Materials Corporation in Jaffna to visit his branch. As they approached the Building Materials Corporation building, a woman dashed out and blasted herself. Brig Hamangoda, Ranjit Godamuna, who was chairman of Cement Corporation and the out rider were killed instantly along with 26 others in this blast. Minister escaped with minor injuries. This tragedy was completely uncalled for, said Weerasooriya. We lost a valuable brigade commander and Corporation chairman. (p 235)
EVENT 4
In 1999 When Jayasikuru failed, a court of inquiry was held. It decided that Security Force Commander of Vavuniya, two divisional commanders and a few others were guilty of negligence and weakness in command which resulted in the failure of the operation. President Chandrika was adamant that the services of all those guilty be terminated with immediate effect, without pension benefits.
Weerasooriya wrote in his memoirs that the court had ignored the constraints under which the troops worked at that time. There was a severe shortage of men, materials and equipment which they had repeatedly asked for but were not given.
Weerasooriya met with President many times over the matter. He told her that these were senior officers who had fought in the frontlines for many years and who had many operation victories under their belts. They had won many accolades and medals. There were others who had never been exposed to war but who were rising in the ranks, safe in Colombo. Chandrika was adamant, they will still be sacked but with pensions. So, I had to tell these officers who had risked life and limb in the war that their services were no longer required. (p 264)
EVENT 5
The 50th anniversary of the Sri Lanka army was celebrated on a grand scale in October 1999. This celebration was a massive one spread over ten months. There were Parades, searchlight tattoo on three consecutive nights, sports events, a grand banquet for 500 officers and their wives and the launching of a souvenir. (P 260)
But items needed for the war were not provided, not even essential items of clothing and footwear. There was a shortfall of troops, lack of equipment, battle weariness, and low morale. The army was told that there was no money and told not to ask for any. Army was left to fend for itself. Repeated requests for more effective, modern artillery such as multi barreled rocket launchers, more sophisticate air craft and navel craft fell on deaf ears in the year 2000, Weerasooriya noted. (End)
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