LankaWeb

Rein In Rampaging Capitalism Or Liberal Democracy Has Had It

September 20th, 2024

Saeed Naqvi

Dated: 19.09.2024

That Juan Guaido, 41, has in his CV described himself as the ex President of Venezuela – 2019-2023” is not all fiction. Even when the world sleeps, the leader of the Free World is in relentless pursuit of replacing dictatorships with democracy worldwide. Replacing Nicolas Maduro in Caracas with Guaido was one such enterprise.

The Munro doctrine is alive and well” boomed Rex Tillerson, President Trump’s Secretary of State. It was therefore legitimate for US agencies to find a friend to be installed on the throne in Caracas. Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves of hydro carbons.

Vice President Mike Pence was given charge to keep a steady gaze on Guaido as he commuted between Colombia, the US and Venezuela to somehow ascend the gaddi.

As soon as the failed Guaido initiative became part of global amnesia, the leader of the Free World was dutifully at it again. Headline are still fresh about yet another failed effort to dethrone Maduro.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp told Parliament that Venezuela opposition leader Edmundo Gonzales has sought refuge in the Dutch Embassy. Before his papers for exile in the Netherlands could be processed, he found cultural continuity where he is now likely to stay – Spain. It would be interesting to see what new salvo is fired for democracy. It must be galling for the US agencies that colour revolutions are no longer giving the desired results.

Western covert operation must have taken heart from developments where their very own Fulbright scholar, Mohammad Yunus has shown the door to Shaikh Hasina whose emotional ties to India and practical ones with China were becoming something of a puzzle.

This narrative would be woefully off the mark if the explosion of public anger at Sheikh Hasina’s dictatorship is underplayed. It possibly provided the objective conditions which outsiders have exploited. It must be added in parenthesis that scholars like Jeffrey Sachs have been quite emphatic. State Department’s Donald Lou has been as active in Bangladesh and Pakistan as Victoria Nuland was in Ukraine.

While regime change” apparatus is still functional in the US, Europe in its post colonial phase is having no use for it. It has other ways to ward off the Left – occasionally tipping the scales even in favour of fascism.

Look at what was East Germany, fascism has quite impressively opened its accounts in two states. Political theatre in France has an engaging story-line: how to stop the Left?

This story actually begins at the European Union elections in June where Marine Le Pen’s Right extremist, National Rally, trounced Emmanuel Macron’s Right-of-Centre Ensemble by miles. In a state of funk Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called for national elections. The anxious French President hoped to recover lost ground. Exactly the opposite happened. Le Pen zoomed past him with 33% votes in the first round. Not very far behind was Left Alliance. Macron came third with 21%. Here was no absolute majority.

The fifth Republic had had it, should Le Pen win the second round. A fascist as President of France? The Left front and Macron withdrew over 200 candidates from triangular contests to prevent a division of anti Le Pen vote.

The trick worked but only to the extent that it stopped Le Pen. She came third, but Macron and his corporate supporters were in turmoil because the Left Front galloped way ahead. Macron’s neo-con agenda would clash head on with the Left Front’s socialism.

Instead of appointing a Left front Prime Minister as numbers in the National Assembly dictate, Macron placed the mantle on the Michel Barnier from the Republican stable.

Will the Socialist break ranks from the Left front? If not, the possible backroom deals could be sinister. Suppose, Barnier’s minority government is supported by Le Pen from the outside? She will then control the fifth republic.

People’s will as expressed by the progress of the Left front, will have been effectively neutralized by Macron-Barnier’s neo cons agenda.

Social welfare, price rise, health care, unemployment – issues that define the lives of people, will have been replaced by migration, identity politics, Islamophobia, military budgets, the staple that fascism feeds on.

What is being played out on an epic scale in France is more or less the pattern in most western democracies. Remember the excitement that was generated when Alexis Tsipras became the first communist Prime Minister of Greece, the cradle of western civilization.

No sooner had Communist reared its head in a European country than Germany, the biggest donor in EU, sat on Tsipras’s back. Greece’s debts would not be honoured.

In Spain the rise of 39 year old Pablo Iglesias as leader of leftist Podemos, at about the same time as Tsipras in Greece, caused frenzied response from the establishment: Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy whose unspeakable corruption had precipitated the election which brought up Podemos was manoevred into another term, corruption or no corruption. By attrition Podemos was killed.

It was clear as daylight that Bernie Sanders was derailed by the Democratic Party establishment largely for his socialist image. I wrote then: If you make Sanders impossible, you make Trump inevitable.” Likewise, if Jeremy Corbyn is impossible, Boris Johnson become inevitable. He succeeded clowning around as Prime Minister briefly. Right wingers in the Labour party like Peter Mandelson had sworn to undermine” Corbyn.

As the Bible says: there is no new thing under the sun.”

This had been the pattern ever, since Franklin Delano Roosevelt pulled his country out of the Great Depression of the 30s and 40s by taxing the very rich to pay for the welfare schemes. The socialist, communist and the unions had pressured him. The most popular American President in history who died in his fourth term ended up spawning corporate paranoia which has not lost momentum to this day. Joseph McCarthy remains a reaction to anything resembling New Deal. His spirit lives. Atleast in those early days of unbridled capitalism, a journalist of CBS News like Ed Murrow could single handedly demolish McCarthy. Today the field is wide open for capitalist callousness.

of Kingston, Ontario, sent me an article from The Economic and Political Weekly of India, the First of a series of three by V,R. Krishner Iyer on

‘Tamil Tragedy in Sri Lanka’, hoping that I would respond.

I thought the article deserved a response and so I did in my style of writing.

I received a postcard from the Editor of EPW, thanking for responding to

Supreme Court Justice Iyer ‘s article and will be publishing it. When I responded I did not know that he was a Supreme Court Justice. They did publish my lengthy detailed response on October 15, 1988. After this first response, the Supreme Court Justice Iyer decided not to write the 2nd and 3rd others of the series, My style of writing FACTS may have got him and he backed off;

**On one Commonwealth celebration day in Ottawa held at the City Hall, I believe it was the year 2000, former Mayor of Ottawa Marion Dewar, the MC, introduced me thus. I am proud to introduce the next item

by one of the constant letter writers on Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis, telling us the flip side of what is going on. You all must be familiar with the letter writer’s name,’Asoka Weerasinghe. He is also an excellent published award winning poet. He will now read a few poems of his…”

***One afternoon the phone rang. The voice on the other end of the phone Introduced herself as, I am Virginia Leary, a Professor of Law at University of New York, and an International Jurist, I want to meet you on the subject of Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis. I will not leave town until I meet you”.

*Who asked you to meet me”, I asked. The Canadian Foreign Ministry.” Was her response. I am at the Aristocratic Hotel on Cooper Street.”

I met her and from the time I met she was on the attack as if in a Court of

Law. How much is the Government of Sri Lanka giving you for

what you are doing? How many researchers do you have? The material that I am getting in my letterbox from you, are the best researched material and well written and produced.”

I will take it as a compliment. You have to believe me that I do not get a single cent from the Government of Sri Lanka. I do my own research and I am the writer.”

After a hell-hath-no-fury discussion, I thought we ended our conversation

and I got up to leave.

Just a minute,” she said. Went into her room and came out with her cheque book. Wrote me a cheque for US$100, and giving it to me she said, I hope this will help you with what you are doing. No one needs to know that I gave you this cheque”. I thanked for her kindness and we parted.

****Dr. Sharma from the Indian High Commission invited me for lunch at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. I am not sure of his title.

During lunch he tells me, Mr. Ashok, everytime I open the Ottawa Citizen’s Letters to the Editor page, there is a letter from you on behalf of the High Commissioner, defending Sri Lanka’s honour. How do you do it? We have difficulty getting even a single letter in the Ottawa Citizen.”

So I walked him how I did it, and advised him how to go about it. He’was very appreciative. Nihal that’s about my writing…my way of writing…

a non-diplomatic way of writing. And I am not going to change the way

I write. It works well for me. I had 56 letters of a possible 64 in print during my 5-years at the Ottawa’s Sri Lanka High Mission in newspapers and political journals, as the Communications Officer (1989-1994)..

In the 40-years of my involvement on this file, I have had over 500 letters

pick-up-ink and I have written over 2000 letters and political articles’’

Nihal I was promised by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry of an entertainment allowance and a monthly rental allowance,before joining the Mission. They abrogated what was promised and I was down around $2,500

Canadian dollars a month, from what I was earning as an IS6 in Canadian Public Service, I left a 20-years of Canadian Government Public Service to help President Premadasa, It was not a nepotism Machan’ appointment. I had never met the man or spoken with him. And that’s the holy truth.

I was embarrassed and resentful that I couldn’ reciprocate the courtesies that I received from Press personnel, Intelligence and diplomatic, and parliamentary personnel. I am still angry and so is my wife (white-Newfoundlander) of reducing our quality-of-life by the ‘liar’ Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry. And held back my younger daughter going to LSE for one year to do her Masters in Political Science and Communications,

That piece of MA” paper was costing Mummy $55,000 for a year. She was hurting and told Mummy, I will take a year off and collect $7,000 waitressing in Montreal for a year towards your scholarship, Mummy.”. She saved $14,000 for her Mummy’s scholarship. And she attended LSE for her graduate studies. She is a product of McGill University in Montreal.

From then on I was forced to become a Honorary Member of the Developing Countries Beggars Consortium, getting my guests to pay my

Courtesy Entertainment Tabs.

*****The phone rang around 8:30 one weekday morning. It was the Editor of the Letter’s page at the Ottawa Citizen.

He said,”Hey! Asoka, I was driving to Office around 7 in the morning’

and had the Ottawa Citizen open on the passenger seat. Everytime I had to stop at a traffic light, I glanced at the news-items-of-the day in it. There was this news item on Sri Lanka. I wondered whether Asoka will respond to it. Lo and behold, Asoka, your response was on my desk sent at 4:49 in the morning, Don’t you bugger sleep?” The letter was published on the following day, My style of writing didn’t matter much to the Editor.. FACTS mattered. He knew that I was an honest writer on

Sri Lanka’s Eelam Crisis.

****** The Editors of Kingston’s The Whig Standard FORUM (on Amnesty International’s reports on disappearances’ in Sri Lanka biased), on Thursday January 15,1987), and The Windsor Star (on Separatist terrorists rend peaceful island of Sri Lanka) on Monday, September 10, 1984, both were middle-pages- spread articles by me, challenged me asking, How much does the Sri Lanka Government pay you for what you do?” Not a cent I said.

Both Editors told me that they didn’t believe me and both asked how many researchers do I employ for what you write and produce? ‘ I am the researcher and writer”, I said. Both told me that they do not believe me but will go ahead and publish them anyway. I swore to them that I am telling the truth and nothing but the TRUTH and I will take ‘ your Opinion about my article’ as a compliment and Thank you for wanting to publish the articles. And they did.

*******This incident has some relevance to my style of writing. In the summer of 1993, the Reform Party of Canada was elected as the Opposition in Parliament. The Party decided to introduce themselves to the Foreign Diplomats. They invited High Commissioner Walter Fernando to an introductory get-together at the Parliament’s West Block. H.C Fernando took me to meet the Opposition Reformers. They had grouped us with the rest of the Developing Country Diplomats.

About two months later I was having dinner at MUKUT, a Bangladeshi restaurant on Rideau Street, with the Reform MP, Art Hanger, MP for Calgary Northeast (1993-2008) who I met on that introductory evening. He loved Asian Curries.

During Dinner, Art Hanger told me, Asoka, before I forget, I want to tell

why I am sitting in front of you and enjoying this Bangladeshi curry dinner.

The day when we were introducing ourselves to foreign diplomats, Deborah Gray (MP for Edmonton North) and I went to meet the diplomats., .We came to the entrance of the Party- room, stood there and surveyed the crowd to see who we should approach. Deborah noticed you at the far end of the room and told me, That guy with a beard, who is well dressed, and I think he is wearing a British University tie, let’s meet him.”

And so we made our way through the crowd, and you noticed us approaching you. You saw, took two steps forward, threw your right hand towards Deborah and said, Good evening Deborah, I am Asoka, the Communications Officer at the Sri Lankan High Commission. After shaking hands you turned towards your High Commissioner and introduced him to Deborah saying, this is my High Commissioner, His Excellency Walter Fernando. Then you turned towards me, threw your right hand towards me and said Good evening Art, I am Asoka the Communications Officer for the Sri Lankan High Commission. And after shaking hands you turned towards your High Commissioner and introduced him to me.

You know those introductions, when we were supposed to be introducing ourselves to you, you knew who we were and introduced yourselves to us,

sealed our wanting to come to know you better.

Deborah told me on our way back, That diplomat is interesting, let’s cultivate him.

And I invited you for lunch at the Parliament restaurant the following day.

Art and I became friends until he retired as an MP in 2008 and he obliged to be my Parliamentary mentor.

Once when I asked him to present a petition of ours to parliament, his response was, Asoka , I will be honoured to do that favour for you.”

We had several dinners and I cooked for him and he came home for dinners and I always had a couple of Sri Lankans join us.

He guided me, and he told me several times that he enjoyed reading my letters to parliamentarians. One in particular was the one I wrote to MP Pierre Poilievre, who is now the leader of the Conservative Party, and

very likely the next Prime Minister of Canada. He knows me fairly well.

Nihal, you may not like my style of writing, but it has been generous to me

and I have found friends among Canadian politicians, that matters to me

and also some from the Newspaper reporter faculty,

As for Mayor Patrick Brown of Brampton, who was the Conservative MP for Barrie, I have been shadowing him for many, many moons

I honestly believe to dismantle the Tamil ‘Genocide’ Memorial Monument,’the SriLankan Bramptonians are on the right path to have it removed Legally. To me there is no other way, and I will support their efforts. I sincerely want them to win that war too.

I hope you understand me well, and in particular what I Write and how I write it.

As a concluding note let me tell you that my efforts to guard the good name of Yours and my Mother Lanka, I thought that my enemy was just the separatist Tamils in Canada. Wrong! I was in a three pronged attack war,

Were the community of Tamil Eelam separatists. All of them phoning and threatening that they will blow my face off this Earth,”

One day I had a phone call from a friend of mine at the Canadian Foreign Ministry who told me, Asoka, don’t think that you have friends in your Sinhalese community. A petition against you just landed on my desk signed by over a dozen Sinhalese, I cannot give you a copy of the petition, but I can reveal the names so that you can be careful and guard yourself. I chalked every one of them as my enemy. And three had already phoned me to congratulate me on my appointment. Half of the Sinhese population in Ottawa were/are against me. All have been wanting to shoot poison darts and throw a knock-out punch at me….not sure why! All what I was doing was to stand tall for my Mother Lanka, going after the separatist Tamils, and nothing else.

Like, one late evening around 11 in the summer of 1987, the ringing tone of the telephone woke me up.

An agitated female voice told me, Asoka, please don’t ask me who I am, but I want to talk to you or else I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

Sorry, Madam, I have difficulty talking to strangers, but please tell me who you are, as I have difficulty talking to phantoms.

She introduced herself to me, in confidence, and I had met her twice before.

This was the conversation.

Asoka I have just come out of a dinner party at Asoka Wickemanayake’s home. All night the conversation was about You.

I saw them, bashing you… stabbing you… quartering you….. chopping off your letter writing right- hand, and all I did not see was them killing and burying you.

I know you can handle the Tamil Separatists, but please be very careful of your own people. They are out to get you. Jealousy perhaps!. Not liking to see your name signed as the author of letters published in newspapers, and seeing your face on TV’s 6 o’clock evening news commenting on the status of the Tamil ethnic war. And about the Tamil separatist terrorists in Canada, and not of the High Commissioner’s face. Tough tiddy!

Thanks for sharing this Dinner-Story with me. I promise you that I will be extremely careful. If I can handle the Tamil separatists, you bet I can handle my Sinhalese enemies too.” So it wasn’t easy.

I was barred from entering the High Commission Office to read

the newspapers. I had the habit of taking half-a-day’s leave from office each month to read the papers and take notes for my research

One day I turned up at the High Commission and Zakaria, a clerk told me. I am sorry Mr. Weerasinghe, we have got orders by the High Commissioner (Bull Weeratunga,the Sri Lanka Army Commander) not to open the library and let you in.”

This is a diplomat that I covered his back many a time even on

Television, when he was hammered Black and Blue, in and out daily in the multimedia-circus by the separatist-Tamil community led by the Roman Catholic Tamil priest Philip Ratnapala from Vavuniya, in a black Cassock with a white collar starched towards heaven, saying that ‘Bull’ supervised Torturing the Tamils in Army- camps. Phillip had been sent to Saint Paul’s University in Ottawa to get a graduate-degree in Theology, but he stayed back and worked as a Library Assistant at Transport Canada.

The evening Fr. Philip Ratnapala, the Roman Catholic priest was introduced to the community at Harrison & Swineetha Perera’s residence, 40 minutes into the introduction, I told this guy in black to his face in front of the Roman Catholics, Phillip, you are a Goddamn fraud, wearing a white Starched collar looking towards heaven. All the guests were stunned, and how right was,

One evening I joined the High Commissioners of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh at a Commonwealth reception at the City Hall. One spotted Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner ‘Bull’ Weeratunga coming to join us and said, Here comes ‘Handicapped Bull’ coming to join us.”

All heads turned towards him and I butted,”What do you mean?”

This High Commissioner said, He is Sri Lanka’s HC” High Commissioner Bull, isn’t he” and they all laughed at him. And I was peeved for the lack of solidarity among the High Commissioners of the Asian Continent. Our HC ‘Bill” Weeratunga was isolated and the only friends he had were mainly the Sinhalese diaspora. And one happened to be me who put my neck out to guard him, by giving a taped TV interview to Robin Benger of CBC ‘National” who had flown in from Toronto.

The Deputy Chief of Canadian Press Bureau, Victor Parsons, was

a friend of mine. My two daughters addressed him and his wife as Uncle Vic and Aunty Lorraine. His son David and daughter Jill addressed us as Uncle Asoka an Aunty Jeannie,”

When things were getting ugly and severe in the media addressing High Commissioner Weeratunga as Tamil Torturer Bull”. I approached Victor very reluctantly and asked him to find means of softening the blows on High Commissioner Weeratunga.

Vic quite rightly told me, When there are 400 Tamils demonstrating on Parliament HIll, Asoka, it is a media event. I cannot ignore it.

But what I can do for you is to write a press-line saying that According to the Government of Sri Lanka, High Commissioner ‘Bull’ Weeratunga is a…………..” and carry it at the end of every Canadian Press new item. The Sri Lanka Government stayed dumb and silent on this Weeratunga affair. I wouldn’t blame them…as they had no way out with this stupid ”machan” appointment.

4, To continue with notes on my being forced by Sri Lanka’s Foreign

Ministry to take up an Honorary Membership of the DEVELOPING

COUNTRIES BEGGARS CONSORTIUM, to depend on the

guests/hosts to pick up my entertainment tabs because not been

given an entertainment allowance as promised.

When my very important group of friends on Canadian security who

had been friends since August 1983, invited me for Monday

breakfast meetings to discuss all and sundry Security issues with

Eelamists I told them, :Sorry Gentlemen, this is not going to

happen. I am not on an entertainment allowance so Breakfast

meetings are out.

Don’t worry Asoka. We want you at these meetings, we will take care of the breakfast tabs.” Beggars can’t be choosers , so I accepted their generosity over 40 times. I say shame on Sri Lanka being this nasty as I was an employee from outside the Box of Foreign Ministry Diplomats, and treated me as a step-brother They did everything to sabotage my progress and I let President Premadasa know of these when I asked him, Sir, please light a stick of dynamite under the chair of whoever was supposed to be responding to me.” And it did happen! There were several letters of apology from the ‘top-guns’ in Ministries.

What was interesting and this incident proves positive that they

guard their ‘Brownie Points’ interests using outsiders like me.

Nimal Kulatunga, the Mission’s Intelligence Officer, a CID person

approached me asking whether I could help him to write an

Intelligence Report to send it to his Boss at the Ministry.

Sure I said, only if the Report goes as a co-authored Report. With

both our names on the cover.

He assured me that it won’t be a problem.

A 129 page comprehensive report was written within two weeks. Two-thirds of it was my Intelligence content and the other one-third was his Intelligence work.’

A copy of the completed report that was going out in the diplomatic bag that morning to Sri Lanka was hand-carried to me by the Mission’s Chauffeur. The cover as promised had both our names as co-authors of the Intelligence Report. I was satisfied. It was neatly typed and presented,

About two hours later, I got a phone call from the Mission’s Minister Counsellor. He tells me, A funny thing happened at the Mission this morning, Asoka. I know you told our Intelligence man that you would help him to write the Intelligence Report if it would be presented to his boss in Colombo as a co-authored report with your name in it,”

Yes, I got a copy of it this morning,”

What went out was with a new cover with his name in it and your name was taken out.”

Bxxtxxd” I thought. I was fit to be tied. I phoned Kulatunga and confronted him and told him it was a paraiyar thing to do.” He was shocked that I had come to know of it.

An apology isn’t good enough Nimal. This was not the first time your Mission people rode my back to pick up Brownie Points,

I pointed out, and I told him, I am shocked, I am insulted, and will be reporting it to President Premadasa.” And I did.

There have been several other incidents Like ignoring my request for 13 large Sri Lankan flags to present to the Principal of the 13 schools who invited me as a Guest ‘Show and Tell’ Country Specific Teacher on Sri Lanka. The Show and Tell artifacts were all from my personal collection. I was a Museum-career person. I was no fool. I knew what the Foreign Ministry ‘Tin-Gods and Goddesses’ were up to. ‘ To Hell with You all’, I said to myself and I asked my sister Sybil, a Musaeus College teacher, to go to Laksala and buy me 13 large Sri Lankan national flags, wrap them well and addressed to me, and Labelling it URGENT and take it to the Foreign Ministry to send it to on to me in the Diplomatic Bag to Ottawa.

If they didn’t oblige, to take a Tuk-Tuk and, go to President’s Secretariat and hand it over to the President Office with my URGENT letter addressed to President Premadasa,

Thank Goodness, the Foreign Ministry did oblige, so President Premadasa’s intervention was not necessary, and flags were presented to the Principals after explaining the colours and images on the National Flag to the students, especially the colours representing the minority communities Tamils and Muslims, which Canada does not have in her National flag like that of the Inuit.

So I asked High Commissioner Walter Rupesinghe to provide me with 35 doughnuts, five large bottles of orange juice, 35 paper cups

and serviettes as welcoming Sri Lankan courtesies to students who came with their teachers for Specialty Geography Show and Tell talks from Me, the country specific ‘show & tell teacher. High Commissioner Rupesinghe lent me his domestic Podi to help me out. These visits from primary and middle school students visited us four times at the Mission Library which I created.

Nihal, not being a wimp, half of the Sinhalese-Canadians in Ottawa

found it difficult to knock me down as I was a proud Sri Lankan-

Canadian standing tall for my Mother Lanka as she did not deserve

the rubbishing by her separatist Tamils or their Members of Parlia-

Ment, like Patrick Brown, or the Liberal Terrible Five like Oliphant,

Lee, Karygiannis, Sgro, and Guanierie of the February 4, 2009,

‘Canadian-Tamil Tiger Blarney Gong Show’ in the Canadian

Parliament Chambers.

I survived an act of intimidation by Canadian-Tamil separatists

who threatened to blow up the 15 storey Centennial Building at 200

Kent Street, on 9th June 1987 where I was employed as a Canadian

Government Communications officer, on 9th June 1987. , It was a

big Security Issue with the, Ottawa Police, Security, Intelligence

involved. I certainly didn’t run down Kent Street searching for a

manhole to hide from the Tamil Separatists. And my writing style

was one of my strong Weapons and not catapults and stones and

Bamboo sticks to guard myself from Canadian-Sri Lankan critics,

and so were my poetry another weapon as my defense, like

CRITICS IN OTTAWA

Come then, and sharpen your knives and pens

toss your jealous thoughts, as the juggler’s balls

on a summer’s weekends at the Byward Market

will speak more sense than you, who supermen

play hangmen lassoing ropes at my shadow

sitting at Weekend Sinhalese dinner tables.

And sometimes playing midwife, wrenching

frozen mouse brats from the city’s snow-dumps.

Fearing the bleeding Sri Lankan sun,

the critics telescopes find supernovae’

‘ in the faintest blood-coated stars.

You shun my defence of the truth,

but winged with courage and hope

I shall sweep on, a comet,

among all you faint stars

(from Tears For My Roots, Asoka Weerasinghe p,24)

The only blessing that I had to make me strong to stand up tall for

My Mother Lanka who nurtured me during the first 19 formative years of my life, was that of my ‘white-Newfoundlander wife’ for not telling me, Stop this nonsense Asoka, you are putting yourself and our family in danger, Either You give up this rubbish or else I will meet you at the Divorce Court”. Bless her heart!

And what she told me in late July 1983, which still rings in my ears. Asoka, I know you love Your Sri Lanka, and it is also hurting you to your core, the way the lying Separatist-Tamils are treating her. I will be disappointed in you if you don’t defend her Honour. If they take You, they will have to take me with you, and we will take down one of their rascals with us.”

Bless, my white-Canadian wife, Jeannie”. She has stood by me right along with my involvement on this Eelam file. And so has my surrogate younger amazing gutsy brother, with a straight Thomian spine of steel, Asoka Yapa.

The bottom line is Nihal Perera, my style of letter writing will remain

unchanged as that is only how I know to write, who studied the

English language at Nalanda in Colombo.

Warmly

Asoka (Weerasinghe)

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EC directs to remove election campaign offices at electorate level

September 19th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

The Chairman of the Election Commission, R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, says that all election campaign offices which have been established at the electorate level must be removed after midnight today (19).

During a press conference at the Department of Government Information this morning (19) regarding the presidential poll, he stated that it is essential to remove all current election campaign offices at the constituency level from midnight today.

Up until yesterday, the maintaining of one main office for the district and one for each constituency related to a polling station had been allowed. However, from midnight today, only one office per election division or district and one for a polling area or previous electoral electorate can be kept open.

If these offices are not removed, the police will proceed to remove them,” he added.

He also said that a candidate’s residence can be maintained as an office, but if the residence or the office is located within 500 meters of a polling center, all campaign materials must be removed before voting begins on September 21.

Also, if the candidate’s house is within that limit, the decorations and promotional material in the house must be removed,” R.M.A.L. Rathnayake said.

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Sri Lanka says restructuring deal with bondholders reached

September 19th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka said it’s reached an agreement in principle with bondholders to restructure its $114 billion debt load, just days before the country heads for presidential elections.

The government held restricted discussions with nine members of the steering committee of the ad-hoc group of bondholders between September 12th and 18th, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The parties agreed to introduce governance-linked bond features” as part of the revised bond treatment, it said, referring to clauses that would cut Sri Lanka’s repayments if it meets certain governance and anti-corruption-related targets.

Sri Lanka was joined by its legal and financial advisors, Clifford Chance LLP and Lazard, respectively, and the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee were joined by the Group’s legal and financial advisors, White & Case LLP and Rothschild & Co, respectively, the statement said.

The Steering Committee, as a whole, comprises ten of the largest members of the Group, with the Group controlling approximately 40% of the aggregate outstanding amount of the Bonds.

Sri Lanka also announces today that in the last year it has held restricted discussions with members of the Local Consortium of Sri Lanka (LCSL), joined by its legal and financial advisors, Baker McKenzie and Newstate Partners LLP, respectively. The LCSL comprises 11 members, controlling approximately 12% of the aggregate outstanding amount of the Bonds.

Meanwhile, the Government of Sri Lanka said it has reached agreements with external commercial creditors to restructure approximately USD 17.5 billion of external debt, achieving a 40.3% Net Present Value (NPV) concession.

This provides significant debt relief and reduces interest payments, strengthening the country’s financial stability, according to the statement.

It further said that Sri Lanka finalized a deal with China Development Bank to restructure USD 3.3 billion in debt.

As a result of the debt treatment agreements with Exim Bank of China, Official Creditor Committee (OCC), China Development Bank (CDB) and bondholders, Sri Lanka will have obtained over USD 17 billion of debt service relief during the IMF program, the statement added.

–With Agencies Inputs

Read the full statement below…

Sri Lanka Reaches Agreement In Principle With Each Of The Ad Hoc Group Of Bondholders, The Local Consortium Of Sri Lanka And China Development Bank On Debt Restructuring Terms

The Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka”) announces today that it has held restricted discussions between 12 September 2024 and 18 September 2024 (the Restricted Period”) with nine members of the steering committee (the Steering Committee”) of the Ad Hoc Group of Bondholders (the Group”) who agreed to take part in such restricted discussions (the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee”). Sri Lanka was joined by its legal and financial advisors, Clifford Chance LLP and Lazard, respectively, and the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee were joined by the Group’s legal and financial advisors, White & Case LLP and Rothschild & Co, respectively. The Steering Committee, as a whole, comprises ten of the largest members of the Group, with the Group controlling approximately 40% of the aggregate outstanding amount of the Bonds.

Sri Lanka also announces today that in the last year it has held restricted discussions with members of the Local Consortium of Sri Lanka (LCSL”), joined by its legal and financial advisors, Baker McKenzie and Newstate Partners LLP, respectively. The LCSL comprises 11 members, controlling approximately 12% of the aggregate outstanding amount of the Bonds.

During the discussions with the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee, the parties discussed the conclusions of the consultations carried out throughout the summer between Sri Lanka, its advisors, the Group’s advisors, the International Monetary Fund (the IMF”) and Sri Lanka’s Official Creditor Committee (the OCC”), in respect of the joint working framework on a debt treatment agreed between Sri Lanka and the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee, on behalf of the Group, in June 2024 (as announced on 3 July 2024) (the JWF”). During these consultations, IMF staff determined that the JWF was not consistent with the parameters of Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported Program and the OCC expressed concerns regarding the consistency of the JWF with the comparability of treatment principle (Comparability of Treatment”). It became clear, during these consultations, that further work was necessary to arrive at an agreement in principle between the parties which would receive a favourable assessment from both IMF staff and the OCC.

Following an iterative process with IMF staff at technical level and taking account of the feedback received from the OCC regarding the terms of the JWF, Sri Lanka and its advisors designed a revised debt treatment. The revised debt treatment was based on the JWF, with amendments designed to ensure compliance with the parameters of Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported Program and the Comparability of Treatment principle, while preserving the Group’s and Sri Lanka’s interests to the fullest possible extent. The revised debt treatment was presented to and discussed with the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee, in conjunction with the terms of an alternative restructuring option (the Local Option”), which was concurrently presented and discussed with the LCSL. The Local Option was developed in response to a request by the LCSL over a number of months in which Sri Lanka, its advisors, the LCSL and its advisors exchanged alternative proposals.

At the conclusion of the Restricted Period, Sri Lanka is pleased to report that it has reached an agreement in principle with the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee, on behalf of the Group, on the terms of a comprehensive restructuring of the Bonds (the Agreement in Principle”), the key financial terms of which are included in the Annex to this announcement.

During the discussions with the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee during the Restricted Period, the parties thereto also discussed and agreed the inclusion of governance-linked bond features in the terms of the plain vanilla bond instrument that forms part of the revised debt treatment.

At the same time, Sri Lanka is also pleased to report that it has reached an agreement in principle with the LCSL on the key financial terms of the Local Option, the key financial terms of which are also included in the Annex to this announcement. It has further been agreed that the Local Option would be offered to all holders of the Bonds, subject to a cap tentatively set at 25% of the aggregate outstanding amount of the Bonds, with priority given to local holders of the Bonds, and pro-rata allocation of the balance between consenting international holders of the Bonds who have opted for the Local Option.

During the Restricted Period, Sri Lanka also progressed discussions and reached an agreement in principle with the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee on certain non-financial provisions relating to the restructuring of the Bonds, including a loss reinstatement provision, a most favoured creditor clause and certain ongoing information disclosure requirements. A mechanism to change the governing law of the New York law governed new securities to English or Delaware law with the consent of a supermajority of bondholders if proposed by holders of 20% of any particular series of the new securities was also agreed. In addition, Sri Lanka agreed with the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee and the LCSL on matters relating to the reimbursement of certain expenses of the Steering Committee and the LCSL.

In respect of the Local Option, Sri Lanka and the LCSL have agreed the USD Bond (as defined in the Annex to this announcement) shall include a provision whereby Sri Lanka would have the option, at its sole discretion, to make debt service payments in LKR rather than USD, at the then prevailing exchange rate , if Sri Lanka is, in its determination, unable to make such debt service payments in USD on the contractual payment dates.

Sri Lanka has agreed with the Restricted Members of the Steering Committee, on behalf of the Group, and the LCSL to proceed with the implementation of the restructuring of the Bonds on the basis of the Agreement in Principle and the Local Option.

Having received informal confirmation from IMF staff during the Restricted Period, Sri Lanka now expects to receive formal confirmation from IMF staff that the Agreement in Principle and the Local Option, taken together, are fully consistent with the parameters of Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported Program. In parallel, Sri Lanka will continue to work with the OCC and its Secretariat to secure confirmation of compliance of the Agreement in Principle and the Local Option with the Comparability of Treatment principle. Upon receiving such confirmations, Sri Lanka commits to use its best efforts to expedite the implementation of the restructuring in respect of the Bonds.

Finally, Sri Lanka is pleased to report having finalized agreement in principle with China Development Bank (CDB”) on the key financial terms of the restructuring of approximately U.S.$3.3bn of debt, based on an initial set of terms agreed in May 2024 following several months of good faith engagement. While the terms initially agreed in principle were confirmed to be compatible with Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported Program parameters, further consultations with the OCC over the summer were necessary in relation to the Comparability of Treatment principle. Following the finalization of this agreement in principle, Sri Lanka expects to receive formal confirmation from IMF staff and the OCC and to be able to move to documentation shortly thereafter.

The agreements in principle with the Group, the LCSL and CDB, which were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Sri Lanka earlier today, almost completes Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt restructuring exercise, as agreed under Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported Program to restore debt sustainability.

Sri Lanka would like to thank the Group and its advisors, the LCSL and its advisors, and CDB and its advisors, for their close collaboration and continuous support throughout the negotiations.

The restructuring of the Bonds will be implemented through an exchange offer and/or consent solicitation. Implementation of the restructuring of the Bonds remains subject to agreement between Sri Lanka, the Group and the LCSL on the definitive legal documentation for the new securities and exchange offer and/or consent solicitation. The restructuring of the abovementioned debt with CDB remains subject to agreement between Sri Lanka and CDB on the definitive legal documentation.

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මිහින්තලා හිමිට ආ ජීවිත තර්ජනය (වීඩියෝ)

September 19th, 2024

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු පුවත්

තමන්ට ජීවිත තර්ජන එල්ල වී ඇති බැවින් සිය ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු කරන ලෙස මිහින්තලා රජමහා විහාරාධිපති පූජ්‍ය වලවාහැංගුණුවැවේ ධම්මරතන හිමියන් පවසනවා.

උන්වහන්සේ මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් පැමිණිලි කිරීමට අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට පැමිණි අවස්ථාවේදීයි.

මිහින්තලා රජමහා විහාරාධිපති පූජ්‍ය වලවාහැංගුණුවැවේ ධම්මරතන හිමියන් සහ සුරකිමු ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංවිධානයේ සභාපති පූජ්‍ය පාහියංගල ආනන්ද සාගර හිමියන් අද (19) අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව වෙත පැමිණ තිබෙනවා.

ඒ එම හිමිවරුන්ට එරෙහිව එල්ලවී ඇති මරණ තර්ජන සම්බන්ධයෙන් ප්‍රකාශයක් ලබාදීම සඳහායි.

එහිදී උන්වහන්සේ තමන්ට එල්ලවී ඇති තර්ජනාත්මක හඬපට මාධ්‍යට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමටද කටයුතු කළා.

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For a New Dawn, Sri Lanka must Pivot to the BRICS: De-dollarize to De-colonize after Elections

September 18th, 2024

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

In the run up to elections the post-Marxist National People’s Party (NPP), has run a high-gloss, foreign-funded, election campaign to market its policies as a ‘new dawn’. Remarkably, the NPP and rival political parties alike had ignored wider geopolitical developments that may contribute to such a dawn given the globally networked nature of Sri Lanka’ ‘poly crisis’.

Re-orienting the economy toward the BRICS that is challenging the ‘exorbitant privileged’ of the US dollar as global reserve currency would be one such step. The US dollar has been long used to debt colonize the Global South. However, all major political parties have done little to educate voters about Sri Lanka’s wider geopolitical challenges, or the need to pivot away from the West’s tired debt trap, neocolonialism.

BRICS emerging economies constitute a New Beginning in a ‘multipolar currency world.’ The Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa block also represents hope and an alternative development path for many countries caught in International Sovereign Eurobond (ISB), US dollar debt traps and the related International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout business. There are 56 countries in Asia, Africa and South America that are in Covid-19 Lockdown induced debt traps, and Sri Lanka would need to work with them to counter the G-7 Paris Club creditor countries.

Sri Lankan’s purchasing power plummeted with rapid local currency depreciation against the exorbitantly privileged dollar amid a staged default two years ago in 2022. This was after the shadowy, off-shore Hamilton Reserve Bank filed a court case in New York against South Asia’s wealthiest country, then listed as an Upper Middle Income Country (MIC), purportedly for non-payment of a small amount of interest. As the dollars in State accounts dried up, coordinated Rating Agency messaging that the country was bankrupt’ saw the crash of the rupee against the dollar– instantly beggared citizens. Retrospectively, Sri Lanka’s first ever Sovereign Default appears to be a Full Spectrum Dominance operation amid LAWFARE and cyber operations, with coordinated fuel and food supply chain disruptions and faux democracy (Aragalaya) protests– to deliver the geostrategic Indian Ocean island to the lender of last resorts – the IMF.

Sri Lanka in the Asian 21^st Century

At this time the BRICS block have beaten the G-7 economies. Indeed, the ‘American Century’ seems done and dusted in an increasingly ‘Asian 21^st Century’ although US Presidential contenders, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have both promised to claw it back. While the American Eagle may not be dead, the train heading East, shifting wealth and power across the world appears to have left the station.

Different regional currencies have emerged to form an alternative trade, technology and de facto reserve currency network, some using Central Bank digital currencies (CBDC), and other cross-border payment systems. The global trend away from the US dollar fiat currency (Petrodollar), which is no longer backed by Saudi Arabian oil, accelerated after sanctions on Russia, including the freezing of $300 billion Russian assets over the war in Ukraine.

Necessity is the mother of invention: Countries fearful of dollar hegemony have been de-dollarizing. Increasingly, the Indian Rupee (INR) and Chinese Renminbi (RMB), dominate intra-Asian and Indian Ocean world trade and currency exchange.

South Asia countries like Sri Lanka which are in Eurobond US dollar debt traps would benefit from de-dollarizing and recalibrating trade in regional currencies, while engaging markets closer to home.

A Conspiracy of Silence on BRICS? A Colonial Mindset and Foreign-Funding

There are no purely economic solutions to fundamentally geopolitical problems.

Sri Lanka urgently needs a comprehensive, long-term, exit-strategy from Western –ISB-IMF-CBSL debt neocolonialism, as well as, new thinking to achieve this.

However, a cross-party consensus appears to exist among all leading political parties, as well as, local think tanks, and the corporate media, to overlook the new dawn that the BRICS represents for debt-trapped citizens.

A colonial mindset has long dominated the national education system and political discourse in the island that was a British Dominion with faux independence until 1972, when the country achieved real independence and its first Republican Constitution.

In recent times, neo-imperial UK-US-EU and Japanese, or G7, interests and funding in the form of ‘development aid’ for research in universities, think tanks and related NGOs, has shaped and contained public discourse on genuine policy alternatives.The current election season saw increased foreign funding from the so-called ‘Diaspora’ to all major political parties, particularly, the NPP, as well as, to various think tanks conducting dubious surveys and polls. The latter outfits have made dubious predictions on election outcomes seemingly to game them –fronting social media and Artificial Intelligence (AI) data mining- while spreading disinformation.

The failure of all major opposition parties to address the geopolitical dimensions of the crisis and prioritize economic alternatives to endless talks with IMF, ISBs and a gravy train of legal and financial consultants, including Lazard, Clifford and Chance, raises serious questions about their external funding networks and policy agendas. This is particularly true of the NPP’s Anura Kumara Dissanayake who had portrayed his party as a break from the past and a new beginning for the country! In lieu of educating itself and its supporters on the wider issues, the pretender to the throne, the NPP which presented itself as an alternative to the existing corrupt political culture did not lift the bar on the national economic policy debate or explore GENUINE alternatives.

The Myth of TINA to the IMF

The election manifestos of US-backed and unelected President Wickramasinghe and the post-Marist opposition National Peoples’ Power (PPP) party, alike, were remarkably silent on the need for a new government to prioritize pivoting to the BRICS to bailout ISB debt-trapped citizens.

Since coming to power amid the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Aragalaya protest putsch, US-backed, unelected incumbent President Ranil Wickramasinghe has portrayed his government’s Debt Sustainability Agreement (DSA) with the International Monetary Fund as a panacea. His Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe, meanwhile, claimed that ‘there is no alternative’ (TINA) to the lender of last resorts, the IMF. Amending the agreement as called for by some opposition parties would cause heavy losses to the country and amount to ‘suicide’ he noted.

The warning that Sri Lanka must stay the course on the ‘IMF’s ‘bitter medicine’ of borrowing from predatory International Sovereign or Eurobond (ISB) creditors—come 2028, ironically, in order to pay them off– regardless of who wins the election has been echoed by a host of ambassadors from Paris Club creditor countries, including a visiting Japanese Minister.

Clearly, warnings against ditching the IMF and its DSA must be contextualized in the growing challenge that the BRICS represents to Washington’s economic hegemony. In lieu of ISB Odious Debt Cancellation that international and local academics and debt justice activists have sought, IMF ‘solutions’ entail austerity measures and privatization of public assets to shrink the economy. These IMF measures are set to deepen the Eurobond debt trap and impoverish citizens in the not too distant future.

It is now quite evident that International Sovereign Eurobond (ISB) scams at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), were the root cause for the Sri Lanka’s odious debt pile up and staged default two years ago– in 2022. At the time China was blamed debt trap lending in a concerted global and local corporate media propaganda campaign as America’s economic proxy war on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) escalated.

Dollarizing Nature: Green Bonds and Scams in the Faux Anthropocene

With the wisdom of hindsight, Sri Lanka must look beyond the IMF’s pseudo solution of borrowing from predatory creditors in order to pay them off –come 2028: Only this time around the bonds and scams would be flavored, multi-coloured, and sweetened to make them more palatable to the economically gaslighted natives of a tropical Paradise Lost!

Under the IMF and ISB ‘advisors’ tutelage, vanilla bonds would be issued to pay off predatory ISB creditors and loan sharks, the largest being BlackRock that debt trapped Sri Lanka in collusion with corrupt local politicians and their business cronies. Strawberry pink macro-linked governance bonds are being designed with a USAID and EU-funded think tank, Verite Research, to monitor local corruption sans mention of ISB corruption or the fact that the bondholders’ names are kept secret.

Meanwhile, Green and blue debt bondage (or Debt for Nature Swaps also known as ESG or Environment, Social and Governance Bonds), are being designed to save Mother Nature in the faux Anthropocene. This, by financializing and dollarizing forests, fields and marine areas and sea-bed resources in violation of core principles of both Debt Justice and Climate Justice.

In the midst of elections fog, for the first time a green bond was issued in Sri Lanka by the DFCC Bank. In a nut shell, green and blue bonds are designed by financializing, dollarizing and privatizing Mother Nature; tropical forests, marine areas, ocean resources, and the air we breathe with Artificial Intelligence generated science fiction carbon credit calculations amid the faux Anthropocene climate catastrophe narrative, to debt colonize Global South countries and perhaps save the exorbitantly privileged US dollar as the world de-dollarizes, also given America’s massive $ 35 trillion debt.

The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterrez has been talking up climate boiling” and generating fear psychosis that may help sell green and blue bonds and scams. The faux Anthropocene is of course mainly caused by environmental pollution generated by the US-led NATO war machine, its war games in 800 plus military bases around the world, endless wars, not to mention Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) and HAARP. The latter enable staging climate disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, heat domes, flash floods, earth slips, forest fires etc. with glossy media footage of climate disasters for green and blue washed humanitarian Disaster Capitalism.

However, there are few UN conferences on the calling for shutdown of environment-polluting military bases and NATO’s endless wars.

Are ongoing attempts at US dollar-based financialization of Mother Nature in the form of Green and Blue bonds also meant to help prolong the dollar’s life as global reserve currency in an increasingly multipolar currency system—as the world de-dollarizes? Back in Sri Lanka, the IMF-ISB pseudo solution of issuing green-washed bonds to deepen the debt trap and pay off predatory ISB creditors come 2028, is set to inflate the debt numbers. This, with the usual IMF’s austerity measures and privatization of national assets to shrink the economy is a recipe for double disaster– a second default in very short order!

Finally, the conspiracy of silence among major political parties on the need to re-orient economic policy to leverage new developments in Sri Lanka’s Asian neighborhood, such as, applying to join BRICS is concerning. Pivoting to BRICS and the global south would enable transfer of technology and access to new markets to leverage Sri Lanka’s valuable marine and mineral resources. This would help a growth-led escape from Paris Club creditors and the USD-Eurobond debt neocolonialism encrypted in the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement. There are no IMF solutions to Sri Lanka’s fundamentally geopolitical problems. Sri Lanka must de-dollarize to de-colonize!

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Voting for Policies, Accountability, Honesty, and Track Record—not on Personalities or Bribes Given

September 18th, 2024

By Prof. Sunil J. Wimalawansa

Despite massive failures over the past 76 years, many middle-class Sri Lankans—the majority in Sri Lanka- still believe that only family-driven, self-claimed, high-class politicians can run the country. Clans, which have controlled the country for the past four decades, have failed to uplift society and its people socially, morally, and economically and brought it to bankruptcy.

Lack of Progress in Economic Development

In recent years, there has been little progress in sustainable economic development. Beyond the natural growth driven by grassroots businesses, entrepreneurs, and tourism, rulers have done little to advance the country. The last major successful large project was the Mahaweli development. Since then, politicians have focused on selling national assets and state-owned enterprises for personal and governmental gain instead of nurturing new industries, exports, and the private sector and the betterment of its citizens.

Elected officials continue to exploit the 148^th statement in the constitution to safeguard themselves and their allies while accumulating vast wealth allegedly stored in foreign countries. All of this has been carried out under the guise of the country’s constitution, harming the nation and its people.

It is no wonder that many Sri Lankans are calling for a system change”—demanding better, more efficient governance without corruption. The Aragalaya movement, despite its authenticity and shortcomings, failed to articulate this need properly for the past three years. To reverse the country’s decline, voters must elect a political leader with honesty, intelligence, transparency, and strong leadership, free from political and legal baggage.

Failures of the Current Government

The current government has failed to address critical areas needed to bring Sri Lanka out of bankruptcy. It failed to reduce government expenditure but imposed austerity measures as part of the IMF agreement; increasing taxes and cutting subsidies led to an increased cost of living. These measures have disproportionately impacted low- and middle-income families, leading to significant malnutrition and health issues, especially among children and pregnant mothers.

The government’s failure to establish safety nets, social welfare support, public sector reforms, and public-private partnerships, while not reducing government spending, has been irrational. The unchecked printing of money has led to inflation and currency (rupee) devaluation. For the past two and a half years, the government has not provided necessary incentives for industry growth or exports to generate foreign exchange, instead opting to increase taxes.

Debt and Economic Recovery

The current government has no policy or plan for repaying loans or better managing interest payments. Relying heavily on tourism and remittances from expatriates, Sri Lanka has been unable to generate the foreign exchange needed to pay back loans. However, the president falsely claimed success by kicking the can—postponing the interest payment. Much of the IMF loan has gone towards repaying previous interest, leaving the country in a precarious financial situation. Future endogenous shocks, such as terrorism, or exogenous shocks, like another pandemic, could further destabilize the country.

The Need for Debt Reduction

For economic recovery, the new government must renegotiate with the IMF agreement, restructure foreign debt, seek debt forgiveness, and promote value-added exports. It must also take steps to prevent the brain drain of skilled workers, essential for the growth of local industries.

Corrupt politicians and entrenched bureaucrats created Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis. Without substantial debt reduction, the country will remain in fiscal chaos. Establishing a sustainable fiscal framework and renegotiating debt agreements is essential to ensure the country’s future growth.

Country-First Policies

Political leaders and parties that fail to prioritize (and safeguard) the country’s sovereignty and sustainable economic policies should not be elected to any office. Sri Lanka must also emphasize buying local goods and food to support the economy. Leaders who fail to do so are fakes and cannot be trusted to steer the country towards prosperity.

The Role of Religion and Culture

As a predominantly Buddhist country, Sri Lanka’s constitution has always included provisions to protect its religious heritage. Consequently, all constitutions had a specific provision to safeguard them, which must be the case with the new constitution. While religion (so as the judiciary) should be separated from the executive and legislative branches (i.e., secularism), it remains an integral part of Sri Lankan culture.

Religions incentivize people to behave better and are part of the (Hela) culture of Sri Lanka. Religions are essential and intimate parts of society’s unity, expected behaviour, attachment, and culture. Atheism and destruction of the family units, using religious disharmony, woke-culture, transgenderisum, etc., bring unacceptable behaviour, disunity, and disharmony to the country. These intercepts destroy family values, as seen in some Western countries, bringing unacceptable behavior and disunity, which should not be embraced due to foreign pressure. They are improper, must be rejected, and should not be embraced due to foreign pressure in Sri Lanka.

Ending the Oligarchy

Sri Lanka has long been ruled by a political oligarchy, a system where a few wealthy families maintain control over the country’s finances and political power. This system, which disguises itself as democracy, leaves little room for public participation and change. To achieve the System Change that the public demands, the country must replace its corrupt constitution and ensure that governance is based on merit rather than aristocratic privilege.

Oligarchies, dominated by single parties, deny public participation and accountability. A party with an absolute majority can pass laws without regard for citizens’ needs. Social media amplifies false narratives, distracting from honest policy discussions. Voters must focus on electing leaders who prioritize Sri Lanka’s unity, progress, and recovery rather than those who perpetuate the same failed systems.

Meritocracy Over Aristocracy

Sri Lanka has a structured, highly unproductive, entrenched oligarchy system (i.e., ruled by a few wealthy folks/ politically powerful families). In a democracy, people rule for the people (constitutional order of a country). In contrast, an oligarchy is ruled by a small group (aristocrats) who control the finances and retain the political power. Oligarchy in Sri Lanka, tied to a strong nepotism, is a near dictatorship in disguise of democracy. Consequently, the people have little power to make changes or, for that matter, what they do, the right to protest, freedom of speech, etc.

We need to nurture meritocracy (appointing and giving awards, etc., based on ability, credibility, and past performance/record), which is not based on friendships and nepotism. On top of it, we need selfless leaders (instead of selfish ones) with broader understanding and wisdom to see the needs of today and the future so that the country can be prepared and directed to face inevitable challenges successfully. Leaders who are uncompassionate, cannot hear from experts and fellow citizens, and lack humility and humanism are guaranteed to cause chaos and prevent the country’s progress (e.g., loan-dependent governance, as currently happening). We have several such examples in the leadership in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka needs leaders and administrators (and for all jobs) who are chosen” based on their abilities, credibility, and past performance rather than oligarchy, nepotism, the school they attended, or other friendships. The country must embrace meritocracy and elect selfless leaders with the vision and wisdom to navigate future challenges.

Importance of Replacing the Constitution

Constitutions are potent tools that protect governance based on the people’s sovereignty, providing legally binding mechanisms for legitimate public participation in public life. Despite this, the current constitution in Sri Lanka is tainted with many worthless and harmful amendments designed to politicians compromising the population.

Leaders who lack compassion, humility, and humanism will continue to prevent the country’s progress. That’s why people are demanding a major System Change. However, no such change is sustainable without replacing the current rotten constitution tainted with unfavorable amendments for the public.

Political Circle, False Propaganda, and Ending Corruption

Political leaders often protect each other and deceive the public with false promises. To break this cycle, voters must use the upcoming elections to elect individuals outside the current political elite, untainted by corruption. Understanding this scenario is crucial for electing a president and MPs in subsequent general elections from outside the current ‘pool’ of MPs. People should use their vote vice to end oligarchy and not elect dishonest politicians.

A party with an absolute majority in parliament can pass laws unchecked, ignoring both opposition and the needs of the citizens. In today’s world, social media amplifies false narratives, with parties discrediting each other rather than focusing on policies that address crucial issues like inflation, cost of living, and economic recovery. Third parties and paid influencers further manipulate public opinion. A leader who does not prioritize the unity, progress, and success of Sri Lanka or adhere to these fundamental principles is ineffective and detrimental to the nation’s future.

People must recognize that political leaders often protect each other and deceive the public with false promises. Voters must elect individuals outside the current embedded political system without harmful political baggage. Oligarchy often leads to the dominance of a single party, silencing opposition and ignoring the needs of the citizens. Voters must use their voices to end the current dishonest, dreadful system.

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The Sphinx and the Sultan – Biden’s Bear Hug of Netanyahu Caused Washington’s Mideast Policy to Crash and Burn

September 18th, 2024

By Juan Cole

At least one thing is now obvious in the Middle East: the Biden administration has failed abjectly in its objectives there, leaving the region in dangerous disarray. Its primary stated foreign policy goal has been to rally its partners in the region to cooperate with the extremist Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu while upholding a rules-based” international order and blocking Iran and its allies in their policies. Clearly, such goals have had all the coherence of a chimera and have failed for one obvious reason. President Biden’s Achilles heel has been his bear hug” of Netanyahu, who allied himself with the Israeli equivalent of neo-Nazis, while launching a ruinous total war on the people of Gaza in the wake of the horrific October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

Biden also signed on to the Abraham Accords, a project initiated in 2020 by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and special Middle East envoy of then-President Donald Trump. Through them the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco all agreed to recognize Israel in return for investment and trade opportunities there and access to American weaponry and a U.S. security umbrella. Not only did Washington, however, fail to incorporate Saudi Arabia into that framework, but it has also faced increasing difficulty keeping the accords themselves in place given increasing anger and revulsion in the region over the high (and still ongoing) civilian death toll in Gaza. Typically, just the docking of an Israeli ship at the Moroccan port of Tangier this summer set off popular protests that spread to dozens of cities in that country. And that was just a taste of what could be coming.

Breathtaking Hypocrisy

Washington’s efforts in the Middle East have been profoundly undermined by its breathtaking hypocrisy. After all, the Biden team has gone blue in the face decrying the Russian occupation of parts of Ukraine and its violations of international humanitarian law in killing so many innocent civilians there. In contrast, the administration let the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completely disregard international law when it comes to its treatment of the Palestinians. This summer, the International Court of Justice ruled that the entire Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal in international law and, in response, the U.S. and Israel both thumbed their noses at the finding. In part as a response to Washington’s Israeli policy, no country in the Middle East and very few nations in the global South have joined in its attempt to ostracize Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Worse yet for the Biden administration, the most significant divide in the Arab world between secular nationalist governments and those that favor forms of political Islam has begun to heal in the face of the perceived Israeli threat. Turkey and Egypt, daggers long drawn over their differing views of the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist movement that briefly came to power in Cairo in 2012-2013, have begun repairing their relationship, specifically citing the menace posed by Israeli expansionism.

The persistence of Secretary of State Antony Blinken in pressing Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. security partner, to recognize Israel at a moment when the Arab public is boiling with anger over what they see as a campaign of genocide in Gaza, is the closest thing since the Trump administration to pure idiocracy. Washington’s pressure on Riyadh elicited from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman the pitiful plea that he fears being assassinated were he to normalize relations with Tel Aviv now. And consider that ironic given his own past role in ordering the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In short, the ongoing inside-the-Beltway ambition to secure further Arab recognition of Israel amid the annihilation of Gaza has America’s security partners wondering if Washington is trying to get them killed — anything but a promising basis for a long-term alliance.

Global Delegitimization

The science-fiction-style nature of U.S. policy in the Middle East is starkly revealed when you consider the position of Jordan, which has a peace treaty with Israel. In early September, its foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, warned that any attempt by the Israeli military or its squatter-settlers to expel indigenous West Bank Palestinians to Jordan would be considered an act of war.” While such anxieties might once have seemed overblown, the recent stunning (and stunningly destructive) Israeli military campaign on the Palestinian West Bank, including bombings of populated areas by fighter jets, has already begun to resemble the campaign in Gaza in its tactics. And keep in mind that, as August ended, Foreign Minister Israel Katz even urged the Israeli army to compel Palestinians to engage in a voluntary evacuation” of the northern West Bank.

Not only is the expulsion of Palestinians from there now the stated policy of cabinet members like Jewish Power extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir; it’s the preference of 65% of Israelis polled. And mind you, when Israel and Jordan begin talking war you know something serious is going on, since the last time those two countries actively fought was in the 1973 October War during the administration of President Richard Nixon.

In short, Netanyahu and his extremist companions are in the process of undoing all the diplomatic progress their country achieved in the past half-century. Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s domestic Shin Bet intelligence agency, warned in August that the brutal policies the extremists in the government were pursuing are a stain on Judaism” and will lead to global delegitimization, even among our greatest allies.”

Turkey, a NATO ally with which the U.S. has mutual defense obligations, has become vociferous in its discontent with President Biden’s Middle Eastern policy. Although Turkey recognized Israel in 1949, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the pro-Islam Justice and Development Party interactions had grown rocky even before the Gaza nightmare. Still, until then their trade and military ties had survived occasional shouting matches between their politicians. The Gaza genocide, however, has changed all that. Erdogan even compared Netanyahu to Hitler, and then went further still, claiming that, in the Rafah offensive in southern Gaza in May, Netanyahu has reached a level with his genocidal methods that would make Hitler jealous.”

Worse yet, the Turkish president, referred to by friend and foe as the sultan” because of his vast power, has now gone beyond angry words. Since last October, he’s used Turkey’s position in NATO to prohibit that organization from cooperating in any way with Israel on the grounds that it’s violating the NATO principle that harm to civilians in war must be carefully minimized. The Justice and Development Party leader also imposed an economic boycott on Israel, interrupting bilateral trade that had reached $7 billion a year and sending the price of fruits and vegetables in Israel soaring, while leading to a shortage of automobiles in the Israeli market.

Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party represents the country’s small towns and rural areas and its Muslim businesses and entrepreneurs, constituencies that care deeply about the fate of Muslim Palestinians in Gaza. And while Erdogan’s high dudgeon has undoubtedly been sincere, he’s also pleasing his party’s stalwarts in the face of an increasing domestic challenge from the secular Republican People’s Party. In addition, he’s long played to a larger Arab public, which is apoplectic over the unending carnage in Gaza.

The Alliance of Muslim Countries

Although it was undoubtedly mere bluster, Erdogan even threatened a direct intervention on behalf of the beleaguered Palestinians. In early August, he said, Just as we intervened in Karabakh [disputed territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia], just as we intervened in Libya, we will do the same to them.” In early September, the Turkish president called for an Islamic alliance in the region to counter what he characterized as Israeli expansionism:

Yesterday, one of our own children, [Turkish-American human rights advocate] Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, was vilely slaughtered [on the West Bank]. Israel will not stop in Gaza. After occupying Ramallah [the de facto capital of that territory], they will look around elsewhere. They’ll fix their eyes on our homeland. They openly proclaim it with a map. We say Hamas is resisting for the Muslims. Standing against Israel’s state terror is an issue of importance to the nation and the country. Islamic countries must wake up as soon as possible and increase their cooperation. The only step that can be taken against Israel’s genocide is the alliance of Muslim countries.”

In fact, the present nightmare in Gaza and the West Bank may indeed be changing political relationships in the region. After all, the Turkish president pointed to his rapprochement with Egypt as a building block in a new security edifice he envisions. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made his first visit to Ankara on September 4th (following a February Erdogan trip to Cairo). And those visits represented the end of a more than decade-long cold war in the Sunni Muslim world over al-Sisi’s 2013 coup against elected Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, whom Erdogan had backed.

Despite its apparent embrace of democratic norms in 2012-2013, some Middle Eastern rulers charged the Brotherhood with having covert autocratic ambitions throughout the region and sought to crush it. For the moment, the Muslim Brotherhood and other forms of Sunni political Islam have been roundly defeated in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and the Persian Gulf region. Erdogan, a pragmatist despite his support for the Brotherhood and its offshoot Hamas, had been in the process of getting his country the best possible deal, given such a regional defeat, even before the Israelis struck Gaza.

Netanyahu’s Forever War in Gaza

For his part, Egypt’s al-Sisi is eager for greater leverage against Netanyahu’s apparent plan for a forever war in Gaza. After all, the Gaza campaign has already inflicted substantial damage on Egypt’s economy, since Yemen’s Houthis have supported the Gazans with attacks on container ships and oil tankers in the Red Sea. That has, in turn, diverted traffic away from it and from the Suez Canal, whose tolls normally earn significant foreign exchange for Egypt. In the first half of 2024, however, it took in only half the canal receipts of the previous year. Although tourism has held up reasonably well, any widening of the war could devastate that industry, too.

Egyptians are also reportedly furious over Netanyahu’s occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor south of the city of Rafah in Gaza and his blithe disregard of Cairo’s prerogatives under the Camp David agreement to patrol that corridor. The al-Sisi government, which, along with Qatar’s rulers and the Biden administration, has been heavily involved in hosting (so far fruitless) peace negotiations between Hamas and Israel, seems at the end of its tether, increasingly angered at the way the Israeli prime minister has constantly tacked new conditions onto any agreements being discussed, causing the talks to fail.

For months, Cairo has also been seething over Netanyahu’s charge that Egypt allowed tunnels to be built under that corridor to supply Hamas with weaponry, insisting that the Egyptian army had diligently destroyed 1,500 such tunnels. Egypt’s position was given support recently by Nadav Argaman, a former head of Shin Bet, who said, There is no connection between the weaponry found in Gaza and the Philadelphi Corridor.” Of Netanyahu, he added, He knows very well that no smuggling takes place over the Philadelphi Corridor. So, we are now relegated to living with this imaginary figment.”

In the Turkish capital, Ankara, Al-Sisi insisted that he wanted to work with Erdogan to address the humanitarian tragedy that our Palestinian brothers in Gaza are facing in an unprecedented disaster that has been going on for nearly a year.” He underscored that there was no daylight between Egypt and Turkey regarding the demand for an immediate ceasefire, the rejection of the current Israeli escalation in the West Bank, and the call to start down a path that achieves the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.” He also pointed out that such positions are in accord with U.N. Security Council resolutions and pledged to work with Turkey to ensure that humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza despite the ongoing obstacles imposed by Israel.”

To sum up, the ligaments of American influence in the Middle East are now dissolving before our very eyes. Washington’s closest allies, like the Jordanian and Saudi royal families, are terrified that Biden’s bear hug of Netanyahu’s war crimes and the fury of their own people could, in the end, destabilize their rule. Countries that, not so long ago, had correct, if not warm, relations with Israel like Egypt and Turkey are increasingly denouncing that country and its policies. And the alliance of U.S. partners in the region with Israel against Iran that Washington has long worked for seems to be coming apart at the seams. Countries like Egypt and Turkey are instead exploring the possibility of forming a regional Sunni Muslim alliance against Netanyahu’s geopolitics of Jewish power that might, in the end, actually reduce tensions with Tehran.

That things have come to such a pass in the Middle East is distinctly the fault of the Biden administration and its position — or lack of one — on Israel’s nightmare in Gaza (and now the West Bank, too). Today, all too sadly, that administration is wearing the same kind of blinkers regarding the war in Gaza that President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top officials once sported when it came to the Vietnam War.

Featured image: Vice President Joe Biden visit to Israel March 2016 by U.S. Embassy Jerusalem is licensed under CC BY 2.0 / Flickr

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Books, John Feffer’s new dystopian novel, Songlands (the final one in his Splinterlands series), Beverly Gologorsky’s novel Every Body Has a Story, and Tom Engelhardt’s A Nation Unmade by War, as well as Alfred McCoy’s In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power, John Dower’s The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II, and Ann Jones’s They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars: The Untold Story.

Juan Cole

Juan Cole, a TomDispatch regular, is the Richard P. Mitchell collegiate professor of history at the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam: A New Translation From the Persian and Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires. His latest book is Peace Movements in Islam. His award-winning blog isInformed Comment. He is also a non-resident Fellow of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies in Doha and of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).

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ජනාධිපතිවරණ රැළි වාර්තා කිරීම ගැන මාධ්‍යයට මැ.කෝ. ගෙන් දැනුම් දීමක්

September 18th, 2024

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු පුවත්

2024 ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා වූ සියලුම ප්‍රචාරක රැස්වීම් අද (18) මධ්‍යම රාත්‍රි 12.00 ට අවසන් කළ යුතු බව මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව පවසනවා.

ඒ අනුව එම රැස්වීම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඇතුළු විද්‍යුත් හා මුද්‍රිත මාධ්‍ය මගින් විකාශය කිරීම හෙට (19) දහවල් 12.00 න් අවසන් කළ යුතු බව මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව කියා සිටියා.

මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව පැවසුවේ ජනාධිපතිවරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිකුත් කරන ලද මාධ්‍ය උපමානයන්ට අනුව අදින් අවසන් කෙරෙන ප්‍රචාරක රැස්වීම්වලට අදාල දර්ශන ,ඡායාරූප සහ විස්තර අද දින රාත්‍රි සහ හෙට දහවල් 12.00 ප්‍රවෘත්ති විකාශවල මෙන්ම හෙට දින උදෑසන ප්‍රවෘත්ති පත්‍රවල පමණක් විකාශය කිරීම හා පළකිරීම කළ හැකි බවය.

ඒ අනුව හෙට දහවල් 12.00 න් පසුව ජනාධිපතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරක රැස්වීම්වල වාර්තා මෙන්ම ප්‍රචාරක දැන්වීම් පළ නොකරන ලෙස මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව දැනුම් දී සිටිනවා.

මෙම නියමයන් රූපවාහිනී , පුවත්පත් ආයතනවල හා සෙසු සියලුම සමාජ මාධ්‍ය සඳහාද අදාල බව මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කර සිටියා.

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රේගුවට ඇති බදු හිඟය ගැන අනුර කිව්වේ බොරු

September 18th, 2024

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු පුවත්

ජාතික ජන බලවේගය පක්ෂයේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක සඳහන් කරන ආකාරයට ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුවට රුපියල් ට්‍රිලියන 1.1ක බඳු හිඟයක් නැති බවත් එකතු කිරීමට ඇති හිඟ බදු ප්‍රමාණය රුපියල් බිලියන 58ක් පමණක් බවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව සඳහන් කරන බවට දිවයිනේ ප්‍රධාන පුවත්පතක් වාර්තාකොට සිටිනවා.

එම රුපියල් බිලියන 58කට ආසන්න හිඟ බදුවලින් එක් පුද්ගලික සමාගමකින් හැරුණුකොට සෙසු හිඟ බදු ප්‍රමාණයක් එකතු කර ගැනීමට ඇත්තේ රාජ්‍ය ආයතන 37කින් බව රේගුව සඳහන් කරන බවයි වාර්තා වෙන්නේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුවේ 2024 වසරේ අපේක්ෂිත ආදායම් ඉලක්කය වශයෙන් ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල තහවුරු කර ඇත්තේ රුපියල් බිලියන 1534ක්.

නමුත් 2024 වසරේ මුල් මාස 08 අවසන් වන විට රුපියල් බිලියන 1000ක ආදායම් ඉලක්කයක් ළඟා කර ගැනීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව සමත්වූ බවත් එය ඉතිහාසයේ ඉහළම ආදායම බවත් ඉදිරි මාස 04 තුළ වසරේ අපේක්ෂිත ඉලක්කය වෙත ළඟා විය හැකි බවයි රේගු අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් සරත් නෝනිස් පවසා සිටියේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුව මෙයට පෙර ඉතිහාසයේ ඉහළම ආදායම් වාර්තාවක් හිමිකරගෙන ඇත්තේ 2023 වසරේදී වන අතර එම වසරේ සමස්ත රේගු ආදායම රුපියල් බිලියන 975ක්.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රේගුවට රුපියල් ට්‍රිලියන 1.1ක හිඟ බදු මුදලක් ඇති බව ජාතික ජන බලවේගය පක්ෂයේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක සඳහන් කරනු ලැබුවේ පෙරේදා (16) පෞද්ගලික රූපවාහිනී ආයතනයක පැවති වැඩසටහනකට සහභාගි වෙමින්.

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Alternative is self sufficiency and BRICS

September 17th, 2024

Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga

If we go along the path we have been following upto now adhereing to the IMF conditions we may have to boost up our dollar earning capacity at least to USD 25 billion by 2028 in order to be able to pay 15% interest on foreign loans and capital recovery with a looming reduction of the hair cut” as well. To increase our exports we may have to import more for which we we may have to take more loans. On the other hand if we increase our income which we have to do in any case the interest on foreign loans will go up to 15% and the hair cut” will be pruned. Heads we lose and tails they win! These are the conditions of the agreement entered into with our creditors mediated by the IMF. This is a tall order requiring us to increase our exports at a a rate never achieved in the past and paradoxically there is a huge penalty” when we do that. Even if we achieve this unrealistic goal we are already entangled in a system of debt from which it may not be possible to come out in the forseable future. What is worse is the impact all this will have on the poor, already the poverty rate is 26% and a further rise may result in food riots and social unrest.

I have dealt with self-sufficiency which could be a solution to this problem in my earlier letter titled Answer is self-sufficiency in food and energy” which appeared in these columns a few days ago. There is no need to repeat what I had said in that article here. My intention in this article is mainly to draw the readers attention to the growing possibilty of an alternative to the present neo-liberal global economic order controlled by its currency the dollar and related currencies. The BRICS is increasingly becoming the true friend” of the global South. And more and more countries are joining the association mainly as an insurance against the dictates, hegemony and dollar monopoly of the western powers. Saudi Arabia, a country which is a staunch US ally has applied for membership and so has several African, South East Asian and South American countries. Iran, Egypt and South East Asian giants would make BRICS a formidable group. Their main concern would be the inequitable world order under the hegemony of the western powers. They have the honourable intention of helping the under developed countries to extricate themselves from the trap woven by the neo-liberal forces in whose hands the IMF appeares to be a tool. They have the intention of extending a hand without asking in return what the poor countries are incapable of giving.

The IMF deal that Sri Lanka has entered into is unfairly favourable to the creditors. Our poor people will get poorer and will have to exist on a pittance if we follow this path without substancial changes that would give the government some freedom to increase public spending and give some relief to the poor. Whether the IMF would allow that is very doubtful. They will not agree to change the terms and conditions related to the financial aspect of the agreement particularly regarding interest rates and haircut”. The government will have two huge problems in its hands; increasing poverty and increasing debt. Well these were the two main problems that the country had since 1970s when neo-liberalism took over and there had never been a respite. And this is the experience of most of the developing countries. Neo-liberalism which is the zenith of capitalism and depends heavily on the trickle-down effect for the sustenance of the poor seems to believe that richer the rich gets greater will be the trickle, but this has not happened, on the contrary the inequality has worsened everywhere.

Obviously the world needs a people oriented new order and the global south seems to have realized this and are working towards it. BRICS is just one outcome of that effort. Five new countries have joined the organization and its economic performance in terms of purchasing power parity is shown in the graph below. Apparently BRICS+ as it is now known has overtaken the G7 countries by 2021 and has the potential to be the dominant political and economic block in the future. In the least it may have the capacity to challenge the political, financial and other sanctions of the western powers and pressure them to mend their ways.

Several countries have already been benefitted by being members of BRICS and Sri Lanka could negotiate with them for bilateral trade on better terms, assistance in achieving self-suufficiency in food and energy and getting soft loans to alleviate poverty.

Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga

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ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ වැරැද්දක් නිවැරදි කිරීමට ගෙනා 22 වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගැසට් කළාට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් නොකළේ ව්‍යවස්ථා වැරදි කළ අය එළිදරව්වන නිසාද?

September 17th, 2024

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col)

1. 2015 ගෙනා 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගෙනා අවස්ථාවේ එක් නීති විශාරදයෙකුගේ අතපසුවීමක් හේතුවෙන් ජනතාවගෙන් සමාව ගැනීමට ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ 2024 ජූලි 19 දින ගාල්ල අධිකරණ සංකීර්ණය විවෘත කිරීමේ උත්සව අවස්ථාවේදී පියවර ගත්තේය.

2. ඒ වන විට 2015 ගෙනා 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ නඩු පවරා එම නඩු විශාල නඩු ගාස්තු වලට යටත්කර ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කර තිබුණි.

3. එසේම 2015 ගෙනා 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය මගින් ඇති වූ නීතිමය වැරැද්ද නිවැරදි කිරීමට 22 වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත නීතිපතිවරයාගේ අනුමැතිය ලැබ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 78වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ 2024 ජූලි 18 දින නිකුත් කළ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ පළ කර තිබුණි.

4. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 70වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කිරීමට 2002 දී ජනමතවිචාරණයක් අවශ්‍ය වීමත්, 2015 දී ජනමතවිචාරණයක් නොමැතිව සංශෝධනය කර ගැනීමේත් එකිනෙක පටහැනි තත්ත්වය ගැන සමාජයේ පැවති කතිකාව නැවත ආරම්භ විය.

5. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන ගෙන ඒමේදී නීති විශාරදයන් කිහිප දෙනෙකු සිදුකරන අතපසුවීම් සහ වැරදි සාක්ෂි සහිතව එළිදරව් වීම 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය මගින් පෙන්නුම් කළේය.

6. නීතිපතිවරයාගේ අනුමැතිය ලැබ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 78වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ 2024 ජූලි 18 දින නිකුත් කළ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ පළ කළ 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළේ නම් එම සංශෝධනයට මුල් වූ 2015 ගෙනා 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයේදී වැරදි කළ නීති විශාරදයන් කවුද යන්න එළිදරව්වන අතර, එය වැළැක්වීමේ අරමුණෙන් 22 වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගැසට් කළාට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් නොකළ බවට නීතිය පිළිබඳ උනන්දුව ඇති අයගේ අවධානය යොමු විය.

7. නැවත ඉදිරියේදී ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත් ගෙන එන පළමු අවස්ථාවේදී 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත මගින් නිවැරදි කිරීමට යෝජිත ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ පවතින වැරැද්ද නිවැරදි කිරීමේ ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත යුතුකම නීතිපතිවරයාට පැවරේ.

8. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ පවතින වැරැද්ද නිවැරදි කිරීමේ ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත යුතුකම නීතිපතිවරයා වෙත පැවරෙන තත්ත්වයකදී එකී වැරැද්ද නිවැරදි කිරීමට යාමෙන් නීති ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ කිහිප දෙනෙකුගේ වැරදි එළිදරව්වන හෙයින් නැවත ඉදිරියට ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන ඉදිරිපත් නොවී අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ගෙනවිත් 2015දී 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගෙන ඒමේදී සිදුකළ වැරදි යටපත් කිරීමට කටයුතු සිදුවිය හැකි අතර ජනතාව ඒ පිළිබඳ අවධානයෙන් සිටිය යුතුය.

(නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන සිය 11 වන නීති කෘතිය ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 70 ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනයට 2002 ජනමතවිචාරණයක් අවශ්‍ය වීම, 2015 ජනමතවිචාරණයක් අවශ්‍ය නොවීම, සර්ව සාධාරණත්වයේ අයිතිවාසිකම සහ අධිකරණ තිරණ අනුගම්‍ය පූර්වාදර්ශය” (ISBN 978-955-38965-6-8)
(A referendum being required to amend Article 70 of the constitution in 2002, a referendum not being required in 2015, right to equaluty and Judicial Precedent.*)
එළි දක්වන ලද 2024.09.07 දින උත්සවයේදී.)

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2024/09/22_17.html?m=1

(කෘතිය ලබා ගැනීමට විමසන්න. දුරකථන 0712063394)

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The Rise of Neocons: How and Why They’re So Successful

September 17th, 2024

Tucker Carlson Network

Watch the full conversation here: • Jeffrey Sachs: The Untold History of …

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අවසන් ජන රැලිවලට බස්රථ 1500ක්… රුපියල් කෝටි 200ක්..

September 17th, 2024

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

මෙවර ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ ප්‍රචාරක රැළි සඳහා රුපියල් කෝටි 200 කට වැඩි මුදලක් වැයකර බස් රථ ලබාගෙන ඇති බව ලංකා පෞද්ගලික බස් හිමියන්ගේ සංගමයේ සභාපති ගැමුණු විජේරත්න මහතා පැවසීය.

මෙලෙස බස් රථ ලබාදීම හරහා රුපියල් කෝටි 100 කට ආසන්න ලාභයක් හිමිව ඇතිබව පැවසීය.

ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ ප්‍රචාරක කටයුතු අවසන් කළ යුතු අද (18) දිනයේ දී පැවැත්වෙන අවසාන ජන රැළි සඳහා එක් එක් දේශපාලන පක්ෂ සහ කණ්ඩායම් බස් රථ 1500ක් පමණ මේවන විට ඉල්ලුම් කර තිබේ.

වැඩිම බස්රථ ප්‍රමාණයක් ජාතික ජන බලවේගය විසින් ලබා ගෙන ඇතිබව සභාපතිවරයා පැවසීය.

මේ අතර මැතිවරණ රාජකාරී සඳහා බස්රථ 500 කට ආසන්න ප්‍රමාණයක් ලංකාව පුරා යොදවා තිබේ.

ලබන 20 වැනිදා 50% බස්රථ ධාවනයක් රට පුරා සිදුවන බව වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසීය.

මැතිවරණය පැවැත්වෙන 21 වන දින 10%ත් 15%ත් අතර ප්‍රමාණයක් බස්රථ ධාවනය සඳහා එක්කරන බව පැවසීය.

දුර ගමන් සේවා බස් රථවල විශාල අඩුවක් එදින සිදුවනු ඇතිබව සභාපතිවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසීය.

– නාගොඩ සුමන උදයන්ත

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Voting for Sajith, Namal will ultimately help Anura: Ranil

September 17th, 2024

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, September 17 (Daily Mirror)- If you vote for either Sajith Premadasa or Namal Rajapaksa, it will ultimately help NPP candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake, independent candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.

Speaking during a rally in Minuwangoda, Wickremesinghe said people should vote intelligently at this year’s Presidential election.

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Vehicle assembly plant declared open in Kuliyapitiya; first vehicle to enter market by month-end

September 17th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe today (17) inaugurated the Western Automobile Assembly Private Limited (WAA) vehicle assembly plant in Kuliyapitiya, marking a significant milestone in the country’s automotive industry.

This $27 million facility is now the largest vehicle assembly plant in South Asia, according to the President’s Media Division.

The first vehicle to be assembled at the factory, a 15-seater passenger van, is expected to enter the market by the end of the month. The factory, equipped with cutting-edge machinery designed by global automotive experts, will generate both direct and indirect employment opportunities for local youth, the PMD said.

In line with international industry standards, the facility also houses a vocational training institute, offering young people the chance to gain skills that will qualify them for overseas job opportunities.

During the ceremony, President Wickremesinghe unveiled a commemorative plaque and toured the factory, engaging in friendly conversation with staff.

In his speech, the President emphasized that no one will be allowed to obstruct projects vital to strengthening the national economy, despite protests.

He also noted that although the Western Automobile Factory was initiated in 2015, it lacked the necessary support for timely completion.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that his administration is committed to advancing development projects that will benefit the country, noting that significant job opportunities for youth were lost due to the 10-year delay in completing this project, which was initially expected to be finished in two years.

He highlighted that the new factory will not only boost the local economy of Kuliyapitiya but also strengthen the national economy.

In his speech at the ceremony, the President stated:

We approved the establishment of this factory in 2015, but it faced significant opposition and protests. Investigations were even conducted in Parliament. The project, which was scheduled to launch in 2019, was delayed due to the impacts of COVID-19 and the economic crisis.

After assuming the presidency, I made the decision to restart all these stalled projects. Today, we have finally commenced operations at the Western Automobile Company. This factory has the capacity to produce 50,000 vehicles annually, which will strengthen our export sector.

Although the project was intended to be completed within two years, it took a decade. Many opposed it, focusing on political agendas rather than the country’s progress. This delay has cost us the opportunity to create numerous jobs. I am determined not to allow such setbacks in the future.

I am committed to taking this country forward by properly implementing these development programs. This factory marks just one step in the broader development of Kuliyapitiya. With its opening, we begin the journey of growth for this region. We are creating a 1,000-acre investment zone in Bingiriya, and 500 acres have been allocated in Iranavila for a tourism zone. These areas will become hubs for both tourism and production.

As we create new job opportunities, the demand for skilled workers will grow. To meet this, we plan to increase the number of engineers and skilled professionals. We’re establishing the Faculty of Engineering at Kurunegala University to ensure that we keep pace with the demands of the 21st century. We cannot afford to fall behind.

European companies are now joining Chinese companies in investing in these projects. They will remain engaged as we work through the process of officially exiting bankruptcy. We have had extensive discussions with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the 18 countries that have lent to Sri Lanka. We’re now in the final stages of negotiations with private contractors, and we are progressing according to these agreements.

I am determined to make the North West a hub of development, similar to the growth we’ve seen in Gampaha. This factory is just the beginning of that effort. I want to thank everyone involved, and I believe this company will play a vital role in strengthening our economy.”

–PMD–

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In this comprehensive video, we dive into the intricacies of the 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election. From the key candidates and their platforms to the major issues shaping the campaign, we cover it all. Discover the political landscape of Sri Lanka as we analyze the candidates’ policies, their historical backgrounds, and their potential impact on the nation’s future. Key Topics Covered: Introduction to the Candidates – Who are the main contenders for the presidency? We provide detailed profiles on each candidate, including their political experience and proposed agendas. Major Election Issues – What are the pressing issues influencing this election? We discuss economic challenges, social concerns, and national security topics that are central to the candidates’ platforms. Electoral Process – How does the presidential election process work in Sri Lanka? We explain the voting system, key dates, and what to expect on election day. Political Parties and Alliances – An overview of the major political parties and their alliances, and how these affiliations impact the election dynamics. Public Opinion and Polls – We analyze recent opinion polls and public sentiment to gauge the likely outcomes of the election. Impact on Sri Lanka’s Future – How could the election results influence Sri Lanka’s economic and political landscape? We explore potential scenarios and their implications for the country. Join us for an in-depth look at this crucial event in Sri Lankan politics. Stay informed and understand the stakes of the 2024 presidential election!

https://youtu.be/ofV-6Yg0Lgo

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බර අඩුකරන්න බලය ඉල්ලන රනිල් “ලිස්සන්න පුළුවන්…මාලදිවයින වගේ”

September 17th, 2024

Ada Derana

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පිරිබාහරන් හැදුවේ රට දෙකකට කඩන්න… අනුර කුමරුගේ උත්සාහය රට නවයකට කඩන්න – අනුර ඔරුමිත්තනාඩුවට පණ දෙන හැටි ගම්මන්පිල හෙළිකරයි (වීඩියෝ)

September 16th, 2024

‍2015 දී ගෙන ආ නව ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදන ක්‍රියාදාමය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යන බව අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා සිය මැතිවරණ ප්‍රකාශනයේ 230 පිටුවේ සදහන් කර ඇති අතර මෙරට ඔරුමිත්තනාඩුවක් ලෙස හදුන්වන, බුදු දහමට ලබා දෙන ප්‍රමුඛස්ථානය ඉවත් කර ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නිරාගමික රාජ්‍යයක් කිරීමේ වැඩ පිළිවෙල අන්තර්ගත වන්නේ 2015 මෙම ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදන ක්‍රියාදාමය තුල බව පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමය නායක නීතිඥ උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා පවසයි.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව සදහන් කර සිටියේ බණ්ඩාරගම නගරයේ පැවති සර්වජන බලය ජනපති අපේක්ෂක දිලිත් ජයවීර මහතාගේ මැතිවරණ රැළියකට එක්වෙමිනි.

පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමයේ නායකයා එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් මෙසේ අදහස් දැක්වීය.

දේශපාලන තාච්චි පැනිල්ල

පුංචි කාලයේ අපි තාච්චි පනිනවා කියලා ක්‍රීඩාවක් කළා. ඒකේ තමන්ගේ පැත්ත කියලා නෑ. ඒ පැත්තෙන් මේ පැත්තටත් පනිනවා. මේ පැත්තෙන් ඒ පැත්තටත් පනිනවා. දැන් ඔන්න දේශපාලනේ තාච්චි පැනීමක් පටන් අරන්. තලතා සජිත්ගේ පැත්තෙන් රනිල්ගේ පැත්තට පනිනවා. ගීතා රනිල්ගේ පැත්තෙන් රනිල්ගේ පැත්තට පනිනවා. රනිල් ෂෝක් කිව්ව ගීතා දැන් ඒ කටින්ම සජිත් ෂෝක් කියනවා. සජිත් ෂෝක් කිව්ව තලතා ඒ කටින්ම දැන් රනිල් ෂෝක් කියනවා. බුරුතු පිටින් දෙපැත්තට පනින්නේ ඇයි? ලැජ්ජාවක් හිරිකිතයක් නැත්තේ ඇයි? ලැජ්ජාවක් ඇති වෙන්න නම් දෙපැත්ත අතර වෙනසක් තිබෙන්න ඕනි. දෙන්නාගේම ප්‍රතිපත්ති එකයි. යූඑන්පී ප්‍රතිපත්තිම තමයි සජබ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය. සජබේ උදවිය රනිල් අත් හැරියේ රනිල්ගේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති නරකයි කියලා නොවේ. රනිල්ට දිනන්න බෑ කියලා. සජිත්ගේ දේශපාලන පියාණෝ ජනපති ප්‍රේමදාස නොවේ. රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ. රනිල් සජිත් දෙන්නාගේම ප්‍රතිපත්ති එකයි.

තුනම එකයි

සජිත් රනිල් විතරද? අනුරත් එකයි. එක වල්ලේ පොල්. මොනවා වුණත් රනිල් මැතිතුමා දුරකතනයෙන් කතා කරන විධියටම වේදිකාවේත් මගේ ආදරණීය මිත්‍රයා අනුර කියලා අමතනවා. අයියෝ එතකොට අනුර ලැජ්ජාවෙන් ඇඹරෙනවා. සාගලවත් එහෙම ඇබරෙන් නැ. එහෙම ඇඹරෙන්න දෙයක් නෑ. මිත්‍රයෝ තමයි. එක ප්‍රතිපත්තිය දෙකට බෙදා ගෙන ජීවත් වෙන එක තමයි දෙන්නාම කරන්නේ. ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශ තුන බැලුවොත් තුනම එකයි. එකක් දම් පාටයි. එකක් කොල සහ කහ පාටයි. අනිත් එක දේදුනු වර්ණ. ඔච්චරයි වෙනස. ඔය තුනම දේශීය නිෂ්පාදන නොවේ. ඇමෙරිකානු තානාපති කාර්යාලයේ නිෂ්පාදනය කරලා ඉන්දියානු තානාපති කාර්යාලයේ නිෂ්පාදනය කරලා සිංහලට පරිවර්තනය කරපු බඩු. ඔය ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශන ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් හදලා සිංහලට පරිවර්තනය කරද්දී හරි සිංහල වචන හොයාගන්න බැරිවුනාම ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන්ම දමලා ඇරලා තියෙනවා. පාට වෙනස් වුණාට වචන වෙනස් වුණාට ප්‍රතිපත්තිය එකයි.

ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිපත්තිය මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ වැල් පාලමේ එල්ලිලා ඉන්න එක මිස දේශීය නිෂ්පාදන ආර්ථිකයක් හදන එක නොවේ. රට බංකොලොත් වුණු ඒ ක්‍රමයම ඉදිරියටත් කරනවා කියන එකයි තුන් දෙනාම කියන්නේ.

රජ පුටුවේ මළත් සැපයි

බලය බෙදීම ගැන තුනම කියන්නේ එකයි. 13 සංශෝධනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනවාලු. ඉන්දියාව බලහත්කාරයෙන් පටවලා අපේ ව්‍යවස්ථාවට දැම්මත් පොලිස් බලතල දෙන්න ජනාධිපතිවරු අටදෙනෙක්ම කටයුතු කලේ නෑ. මමයි ගෙනාවේ මමම දෙනවා කියලා ජේආර්ට දෙන්න තිබ්බේ නැද්ද? අවුරුද්දකට වැඩි කාලයක් සාම කතා කරපු ප්‍රේමදාසට ඕක දෙන්න තිබ්බේ නැද්ද? උතුරෙන් වැඩිම ඡන්ද ප්‍රතිශතයක් ගත්තු චන්ද්‍රිකාට ඕක දෙන්න තිබ්බෙ නැද්ද? ඔය කවුරුවත් පොලිස් බලතල පලාත් සභා වලට දුන්නේ නැත්තේ ඒක කලොත් රටම ලේ විලක් වෙන බව දන්න නිසායි. රට දෙපළු වෙලා දෙමළ ඊළම හැදෙන බව දන්න නිසා. නමුත් උතුරේ ඡන්ද කුට්ටියට කෙළ හලමින් රටට කෙළ වුණත් රජ පුටුවේ මළත් සැපයි කියලා හිතන නිසා තමයි රනිල් සජිත් අනුර තුන්දෙනා එක හඬින් අපි පොලිස් බලතල උතුරට දෙනවා කියලා කියන්නේ.

ඔරුමිත්තනාඩු ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුර පණ දෙයි

ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශ හදන කොට රට පෙඩරල් කරනවා කියලා රනිල් සජිත් දෙන්නාම කොලේ වහලා ගහලා තියෙන්නේ. එයාලා සෘජුව කියන් නැ ඒගැන. ඒ දෙන්නාම අලුත් ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ගේනවා කියලා විතරයි කියලා තිබෙන්නේ. නමුත් අනුර කුමාරගේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශයේ මොකද කියන්නේ? 230 පිටුව බලන්න. 2015 දී ගෙන ආ නව ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදන ක්‍රියාදාමය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යනු ලැබේ කියලා ලියලා තිබෙනවා. රනිල් – සජිත් ජෝඩුව එකට ඉන්න කාලයේ ගෙනාපු මේ රටේ දේශප්‍රේමි බලවේග පරාජය කරපු ව්‍යවස්ථාව. රනිල් – සජිත් දෙන්නවත් කියන් නැ අපේ පරන ප්‍රතිපත්තිය ගේනවා කියලා. පැත්තෙන් හිටපු අනුර තමයි කියන්නේ. ඕක තමයි රට පෙඩරල් කරන රටේ නමත් ඔරුමිත්තනාඩු කරන ව්‍යවස්ථාව. ඕකේ තමයි බුදු දහමට ලබා දෙන ප්‍රමුඛස්ථානය ඉවත් කරනවා කියලා තිබෙන්නේ. ඕකේ තමයි ලංකාව නිරාගමික රාජ්‍යයක් කරනවා කියලා තිබෙන්නේ. පිරිබාහරන් හැදුවේ රට දෙකකට කඩන්න. අනුර කුමරුගේ උත්සාහය රට නවයකට කඩන්න. දැන් බැලින්නම් අනුර කුමරු පිරිබාහරන්ටත් වඩා හපන් බෙදුම්වාදියෙක්නෙ. අපිව සිංහල දෙමළ කියලා බෙදුවා මදිවාට අපි බස්නාහිර උඹ දකුණේ අරූ ඌවේ කියලා අපි පලාත් වලටත් බෙදන්නයි අනුරගේ කල්පනාව.

මතක තියා ගන්න. ඔය ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශ කියවන්නේ නැතිව රැල්ලට ගිහිල්ලා කතිරේ ගැහුව්වාට පස්සේ බලයට පත් වෙන අය කියන්නේ අපට ජනවරමක් තිබෙනවා. අපි කරන දේ ට විරුද්ධ වෙන්න කාටවත්ම බෑ කියලා. ඒනිසා මෙවර මැතිවරණයේදී අපේ මිනී වල අපිම කපා ගැනීමක් කරගන්න එපා කියන එක අපි සිහිපත් කරන්න ඕනේ.

ඡන්ද කුට්ටි ගන්න දොල පිදේනි නොදෙන වැඩපිලිවෙලක්

දිලිත් ඡන්ද කුට්ටි ගන්න දොල පිදේනි දෙනවා වෙනුවට රට ගොඩ ගන්න වැඩපිලිවෙලක් ඉදිරිපත් කරලා තිබෙනවා. දිලිත්ගේ අධ්‍යාපන ප්‍රතිපත්තිය බලන්න.

දිලිත්ගේ අධ්‍යාපන ප්‍රතිපත්තිය බලන්න. නිර්මාණශීලි තාරුණ්‍යයෙන් ලෝකයම වැඩ ගන්න කොට අපේ රටේ තරුණයෝ පාසලට විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයට නාකි වෙනවා. අවුරුදු පහ පිරිලා පාසලට ඇවිත් අවුරුදු 13ක් පාසල් යනවා. ඊට පස්සේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේත් අවුුරුදු පහක් හිටියාම රස්සාවක් හොයා ගන්න කොටම කෙස් පැහෙන්නත් පටන් අරන්. ජීවිතයට පටන් ගන්නත් කලින් ජීවිතය ඉවර වෙලා. පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනය වසර 11කට අඩු කරන්න පොරොන්දු වෙලා තිබෙන්නේ දිලිත් විතරයි.

මේ මැතිවරණයට රට ගොඩ ගන්නේ කොහොමද කවදාද කියලා වැඩපිලිවෙලක් ඉදිරිපත් කරලා තිබෙන්නේ දිලිත් ජයවීර මැතිතුමා විතරයි. අනිත් අය උපායමාර්ගික වැඩපිලිවෙලක් කියන්නේ මොකක්ද කියලාවත් දන්නේ නෑ. ඒ අය දන්නේ කට රවුම් කරලා බොරු කියන්න විතරයි. බොරු කියලා ඡන්ද දිනන්න පුළුවන්. ඒත් රට හදන්න බෑ.

දිලිත් ඒහි පස්සිකෝ කියලා එව බලව කියලා පෙන්නන්න දෙයක් කරලා තිබෙනවා. මොකද දිලිත් කියන්නේ කයිකාරයෙක් නොවේ වැඩකාරයෙක්. වැඩක් කරලා පෙන්නපු කෙනෙක්. රක්ෂණ නියෝජිතයෙක් විධියට පටන් අරන් පුංචි තැනින් පටන් අරන් සමාගම් 53ක් හදපු ව්‍යවසාය ලෝකයේ දැවැන්තයෙක්. කඩා වැටුණු සමාගම් මිල දී අරන් ගොඩ දාපු කෙනෙක්. ට්‍රයි ඇඩ් සමාගම පටන් අරන් වසර දහයෙන් අංක 1. ටීවී දෙරණ එෆ්එම් දෙරණ අංක 1 ට ගෙනාවා.

ඒ අත්දැකීම නිසා තමයි මට මේ රට ගොඩ දාන්න පුළුවන් කියලා විශ්වාසයෙන් කියන්නේ.

දිලිත් කියන්නේ වැඩක් කරපු මනුස්සයෙක්. වැඩක් කරන මනුස්සයෙක්. අලුතින් හිතන මනුස්සයෙක්. රට වෙනස් කරන්න පුළුවන් වෙනස් මනුස්සයෙක්. ඒ නිසා සතුටු දැයක් හදන්න දිලිත්ට රට බාර දෙන්න කියන ඉල්ලීම මම කරනවා.

2024-09-16

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කවුරු දින්නත් ලංකාව බංගලදේශයක් කරන ඇමරිකානු සැලැස්ම මෙන්න…

September 16th, 2024

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, සර්වජන බලය

එළඹෙන ජනාධිපතිවරණය ආසන්නයේදීත් එදිනත් ඉන්පසුවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ කැරලිකෝලාහල සිදුවිය හැකි බවට ඇමෙරිකානු රජය මෙරටට පැමිණෙන, සිය රටෙහි සංචාරකයන්ට සිදුකර ඇති අනතුරු ඇඟවීම සුළුකොට නොතකන ලෙසත් ජනාධිපතිවරණයෙන් කවරකු ජයග්‍රහණය කළ ද කිසිවෙකුට මේ රට තවත් බංග්ලාදේශයක් බවට පත්කිරීමට කිසිසේත්ම ඉඩ නොදී” රටේ සාමය ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට කැප වන ලෙසත් සර්වජන බලය විධායක සභික, ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා මෙරට සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂ වෙතින් තරයේ ඉල්ලා සිටියි.

කළුතර බණ්ඩාරගම බස් නැවතුම් පොළ අසල දී පැවැති, එක්ව නංවන රටක් – සතුට පිරුණු දැයක්” යන සජ්ජන අරමුණ පෙරදැරි කර ගනිමින් තරුව” ලකුණින් මෙවර ජනාධිපතිවරණයට තරඟ වදින සර්වජන බලය ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක, මව්බිම ජනතා පක්ෂයේ නායක, ව්‍යවසායක, නීතිඥ දිලිත් ජයවීර මහතාගේ ජයග්‍රහණය තහවුරු කෙරෙන ජනරැලියක දී ඒ මහතා මෙසේ ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.

ඉහත ජනරැලිය අමතා සර්වජන ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක, මව්බිම ජනතා පක්ෂයේ නායක, ව්‍යවසායක, නීතිඥ දිලිත් ජයවීර, පිවිතුරු හෙළ උරුමයේ නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී උදය ගම්මන්පිල, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂයේ ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්, වෛද්‍ය ජී. වීරසිංහ, යුතුකම ජාතික සංවිධානයේ සභාපති, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ගෙවිඳු කුමාරතුංග, ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී වාමාංශික පෙරමුණේ නියෝජ්‍ය ලේකම් ජී. වී .ඩී. තිලකසිරි යන සර්වජන බලය දේශපාලන එකමුතුවට අයත් දේශපාලන පක්ෂ සහ ජාතික සංවිධානවල නායකයෝ සහ සර්වජන බලය විධායක සභික, ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ ජාතික සංවිධායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ජයන්ත සමරවීර, මව්බිම ජනතා පක්ෂයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නායක, හේමකුමාර නානායක්කාර, ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතුව වෙනුවෙන් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර යන මහත්වරු ද අදහස් දැක්වූහ.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා මෙසේද සඳහන් කළේය.

ඇමරිකානු අනතුරු ඇඟවීම

මේ රැස්වීමට සූදානම් වන විට එක්තරා ප්‍රවෘත්තියක් අපට වාර්තා වුණා. ඒ අනුව ඇමරිකා එක්සත් ජනපද රජය තම රටෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට යන සංචාරකයන්ට අනතුරු අඟවා තිබෙනවා, ‘ඡන්දයට පෙරත් ඡන්ද දිනයේත් ඉන්පසුවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ ප්‍රචණ්ඩ ක්‍රියා, කැරලිකෝලාහල, ත්‍රස්තවාදී ක්‍රියා සිදුවිය හැක. බොහෝ විට ආගමික ස්ථාන ආශ්‍රිතව එවැනි ක්‍රියා සිදුවිය හැක. ඒ නිසා එම කාලය තුළ පරිස්සම් වෙන්න’ කියා. අපි මේ රටේ සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂවලින් ඉල්ලනවා, ‘තමුන්නාන්සේලාගේ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය, මතය කුමක් වුවත් මේ රට තවත් බංග්ලාදේශයක් වීමට ඉඩ තියන්න එපා!’ කියලා. ඇමරිකාව මේ කලින් දැකලා වගේ අනතුරු අඟවන්නේ නිකම් නොවෙයි. එදා රුසියාව කලින් දැකලා වගේ අනතුරු ඇඟවූවා, ‘බංග්ලාදේශයේ වර්ණ විප්ලවයක් සිදු කරන්නයි යන්නේ’ කියා. රුසියාවේ අනතුරු ඇඟවීම සැබෑ වෙලා අද බංග්ලාදේශය හතරගාතයෙන් ඇදවට්ටලා තිබෙනවා. අද බංග්ලාදේශයේ ‘කොල්ලො-කුරුට්ටුටෝ’ රට පාලනය කරනවා; පොලිසිය, හමුදාව ඔහේ බලාගෙන ඉන්නවා; එක පැත්තකින් අන්තවාදීන් හින්දු මිනිසුන් මරා දමනවා; තවත් පැත්තකින් ආයෝජකයන් තමන්ගේ කර්මාන්තශාලා වසා දමා බංග්ලාදේශයෙන් පිටව යනවා.

රටේ සාමය ආරක්ෂා කරගන්න කැපවෙමු!

ඇමරිකානු රජය සිදුකරන මේ අනතුරු ඇඟවීම අපි කිසිවකුට සුළුකොට තකන්න බැහැ ඒ නිසා අපි යළියළිත් මේ රටේ සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂවලින් ඉල්ලනවා, ‘තමුන්නාන්සේලාගේ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය, මතය කුමක් වුවත් 21 වැනිදා ජනාධිපතිවරණයෙන් කවුරු ජයග්‍රහණය කළත් මේ රටේ මැතිවරණ ඉතිහාසයට කළු පැල්ලමක් එකතු නොකර, සාමකාමීව, කැරලිකෝලාහලවලින් තොරව මේ රටේ සාමය ආරක්ෂා කරන්න කැපවෙන්න’ කියා.

රනිල්ගේ ‘ටිකිරි මොළේ’

අපි ‘කවුරු ජයග්‍රහණය කළත්’ කියා කීවාට මෙවර ජනාධිපතිවරණයෙන් ජයග්‍රහණය කරන්නේ දිලිත් ජයවීර මිස වෙන අයෙකු නොවෙයි. 21 වැනිදායින් පසුව නම් එතුමා වගබලා ගනීවි කලබලයකින් තොරව රට පවත්වාගෙන යාමට. නමුත් 21 වැනිදාට කලිනුත් කලබල ඇතිවිය හැකි බව කියනවානේ. රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහත්තයා ‘පූසා’ වගේ ඉන්නේ මොකක් හරි ප්ලෑන් එකක් ඔළුවේ තියාගෙන කියලා මම නිකමට වගේ හිතුවා. ඔය පෝරිසාදයාව සත පහකට විශ්වාස කරන්න බැහැ.

ගාලුමුවදොර අරගලයෙන් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිවරයා එළවා දැමුවාට පසුව රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහගේ උපදේශක ආශු මාරසිංහ පැවසුවා, ‘ගාලුමුවදොර භූමියේ අපේ හට් විස්සක් පමණ තිබුණා. එතැන පළමු හට් එක ගැහුවෙත් අපි’ කියා. බලන්න, හට් ගහලා තියෙන්නෙත් රනිල්; අන්තිමේදී පූසා වගේ ගිහින් ජනාධිපති ඔටුන්න ඔළුවට දාගත්තෙත් රනිල්; ඊට පස්සේ ගාලුමුවදොර හට් ගහගෙන හිටපු කට්ටිය එලෙව්වෙත් රනිල්. කොහොමද රනිල්ගේ ටිකිරි මොළේ?මේ ජනාධිපතිවරණයට ඔය යෝධයා (රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ජනාධිපතිවරයා) වැඩිය මහන්සි වෙන්නේ නැහැ. ඒ නිසාම ‘මගේ මිත්‍ර අනුර කියමින් තම මිත්‍ර අනුරවත් කොහොම හරි යොදාගෙන එයා කුමක් හෝ ප්ලෑන් එකක් ගහන්න ඉඩ තිබෙනවා’ කියන අනතුරු ඇඟවීම, අපි මේ රටට කල් තියා කරනවා.

අපේ පරම වගකීම

ආදරණීය අම්මේ, තාත්තේ, සහෝදරයා, සහෝදරිය, ඔබේ පරම වගකීම තමයි ඉහත කී ආකාරයේ අනතුරකට මේ රට ඇදවැටෙන්න ඉඩ නොදී, සාමකාමීව 21 වැනිදා උදේම ඡන්ද පොළට ගිහිල්ලා ජාතිකවාදී, දේශමාමක, වාමවාදී, ප්‍රගතිශීලී බලවේගවල අපේක්ෂකයා වන තරුව ලකුණෙන් තරග වදින දිලිත් ජයවීරට ඡන්දය සලකුණු කරන එක.

මෙරට ප්‍රකට ව්‍යවසායකයෙකු වන දිලිත් ජයවීර මහතාට සමාගම් පනස් ගණනක් හිමියි. ඒවායින් තමන්ට ලැබෙන මාසික ආදායම රුපියල් මිලියන 16.5ක් බව ඔහු මැතිවරණ කොමිසමට දැනුම් දී තිබෙනවා. දැන් දිලිත් ජයවීර ජනාධිපති වෙන්න හදන්නේ මේ මාසික ආදායම වැඩි කර ගන්නද? නැහැනේ. ඒ නිසා ඇත්ත ආදායම රටට කියපු, ඇත්ත කියන ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක දිලිත් ජයවීරට තමුන්නාන්සේලාගේ ඡන්දය ලැබෙන බව අපට විශ්වාසයි..

මැතිවරණ කොමිසම මාසික ආදායම විමසුවාම රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ජනාධිපතිවරයා දැනුම් දී ඇත්තේ ‘මට ලක්ෂ දෙකක පමණ මාසික ආදායමක් හිමියි’ කියලයි. පව් අසරණයා! මේ දවස්වල ‘ජනාධිපති මන්දිරයේ ලිපිනයට’ එයාට ‘මුදල් වවුචරයක්’ යවන්න තමුන්නාන්සේලාට පුළුවන්.

නිවැරදිම තීන්දුව

දිලිත් ජයවීරව අපි කරතබාගෙන ආවේ රටේ දේවල් කඩාවඩා ගන්න නෙවෙයි; රටට, ජාතියට බරක් වෙන්න නොවෙයි; ප්‍රපාතයෙන් ප්‍රපාතයට ඇදගෙන යමින් තිබෙන රට ඒ වැටෙන්න නියමිත වලෙන් ගොඩගෙන, මේ රටේ දුවාදරුවන්ට හෙට දවසේ හොඳ අනාගතයක් හදන්නයි. නියම නායකයෙකු නොමැතිව මේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදයෙන් මේ රට ගොඩගන්න බැහැ. අනුර කුමරුට, නාමල් කුමරුට, සජිත් පුතානෝට වගේම රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහටත් රට ගොඩගන්න සැලැස්මක් නැහැ. මේ වැටුණු ආර්ථික ප්‍රපාතයෙන් මේ රට ගොඩගත හැකි එකම උපාය මාර්ගික සැලැස්ම ඇත්තේ තමුන්නාන්සේලාගේ අපේක්ෂකයා වන දිලිත් ජයවීර මැතිතුමා අතෙයි. ඒ නිසා අපි මේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදයකට මුහුණ දී සිටින වෙලාවේ නිවැරදිම තීන්දුව ගතයුතුයි. නිවැරදිම තීන්දුව නොගතහොත් අපට සිදුවන්නේ වලේ පතුලේ වැලලෙන්නයි. බොහෝ රටවල් බලාගෙන ඉන්නේ වලේ පතුලේ අපව වලලන්න. ඒ නිසා ඒ වලලා දැමීමේ සැලැස්ම කනපිට හරවලා, ආර්ථික අර්බුදයෙන් ගොඩඑන මාවතට මේ රට හරවමු! ”

මාධ්‍ය අංශය,
සර්වජන බලය

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Reading the Manifestos

September 16th, 2024

Sugath Kulatunga

The 2024 Presidential election has spawned 39 candidates and at least 6 elaborate political manifestos. In the previous elections where the contest was mainly between candidates the manifestos were in essay form. But the current manifestos have followed the format of Project Justification presenting a vision, objectives, strategies and action plan, sometimes under different terms. The presentations are voluminous and is beyond the grasp of ordinary citizens. In reading them the voters should examine whether they are data and action based and not broad sweeping generalizations. The website mantri.lk has provided the key contents of the three manifestos of RW, Sajith and AKD in a table for easy comparison. The contents in this note are also drawn from the manthri presentation, and with reference to other manifestos where they are available on the web.

The discerning voter has to determine in the context of the present situation what is in the national interest indispensable and of paramount importance. In this attempt the voter may follow the advice of the Buddha in the parable of a person shot with a poison arrow, of getting the priorities right. The content of many of the manifestos is appropriate for a National Plan and is not helpful for an ordinary voter to select the best candidate by comparing the several manifestos. The best a voter could do is to focus on the immediate priorities of paramount national interest.

These are:

1.The unresolved external debt.

2.The negative balance of payments and balance of trade.

3.Territorial integrity and national security.

4. Peace and harmony.

Elements 1 and two and 3 and 4 are interconnected.

1.The unresolved external debt.

Beginning in 2022, we face annual debt repayments totalling US$ 6 billion. Over the next 4-5 years, cumulative repayments are projected to amount to US$ 6 billion annually, while state revenue has reached approximately US$ 5.5 billion during this period”. Governnor CBSL July 14, 2024.This statement does not take into account the perpetul trade defecit of around 6 billion US$ which is bound to expand with the free import policy.

As of now the external debt is 37.3 billion US$ out of which 14 billion US$ is in International sovereign bonds. While the country has negotiated a few concessions on the bilateral and multilateral bonds on which the country has a breather until 2028 by which time the accumulated principal and interest would be enormous. There has been negligible progress with ISB repayment.

It ia noted that 70% of state revenue is presently dedicated to the repayment of the principal and interest of external debt. Investment in all good development proposals in the elaborate manifestos will be confined to the balance 30 % of the revenue.

Therefore the voter must take into consideration the proposals on debt management in the several manifestos as a first priority.

2.The negative balance of payments and balance of trade.

Balance payments reflect the value of economic transactions between Sri Lanka and the rest of the world during a period of time. The main components of our BOP are trade balance, remittances from employment abroad and earnings from tourism. The latter two sources are vulnerable to global predicaments as experienced by SL during the last regime. While they are important sources the country must focus on improving the trade balance by developing exports and managing imports. Unilateral liberalization of trade and investment has to be avoided. Votesr should examine carefully the proposals by the Presidential aspirants to resolve the adverse trade balance.

3.Territorial integrity and national security.

All good proposals in the manifestos are of no consequence if the sovereignty and the territorial integrity are not ensured. Voters should carefully examine for any proposals in the manifestos which are detrimental to the unitary state of the country and are divisive and impair national security.

4. Peace and harmony.

Voters must repudiate proposals which would disturb the peace and harmony among communities by uncalled for revision of the present Constitutional safeguards prescribed by Article 83 (a) protecting them.

It is hoped that our intelligent voters will ignore the copious promises and unvalidated proposals in most manifestos and make their choice wisely based on the immediate priorities.

Sugath Kulatunga

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All main Presidential contestants must declare their proposed Cabinets

September 16th, 2024

Dr Sudath Gunasekara, the Secretary to former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayake and President Sri Lanka State Administrative Services Association (1991-94)

All main Presidential contestants must declare their proposed Cabinets, Prime Ministers with the number of Ministers and their names and photographs before the 17^th September, if they are really serious in becoming the President of this 2566-year-old Sinhala Buddhist country.

So that people will know, as to what kind of ministers are going to lead the new government they are going to get after the 21^stbefore they cast their vote.

This is an all-important Public Commandment made on behalf the whole nation, to enable the 17 million voters to decide as to whom they should vote on the 21^st to get the best team who could take the country out of the present overall political crisis including the security of this island nation, its governance, and the socio- economic mess in to which this beautiful country had been dumped in to, by all successive governments since 1978 under the 1978 constitution and more particularly the open economic policy introduced by J.R Jayawardhana.

In addition, they should also clearly state where they stand regarding the following issues

1 Abolish the Rajiv/JR Accord of 29^th July 1987, that destroyed the sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence of this country and its 2500-year-old unitary state, jealously guarded by our ancient Kings.

2 Abolish the 13^th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution and the provincial Councils imposed by force and intimidation on our heads by India, that has reduced the 1978 Constitution to a mere scrap of paper thereby laying the foundation for the division of this 2500-year-old Sinhala Buddhist Kingdom in to two or more federal states with two distinct ethnic groups eternally fighting with the native Sinhala Buddhists for taking control of the whole Island that will end up firstly as a fulfilment the dream EELAM of South Indian Tamils and second to make dream of greater Bharatha come true, they were dreaming from the days of Rama.

(Please state clearly whether you agree to abolish them or not)

Also please state your policy regarding the following election promises made by some candidates and state the action you propose to take if you get elected as the President.

3 The promises made by both Ranil and Sajith to create mono-Tamil villages in the Central Hill country and plantation areas in the adjoining districts and make the 12.5 m Indian labour force, the legitimate owners of all the Sri Lanka Tea lands, just to get their votes, inadvertently paving the way for the two Indian aspirations, firstly, to create the Malayanadu at the center of this Land of the Sinhalese and secondly, to make Sri Lanka the 29^th State of India and thereby drawing the curtain over the 2500 year old Sinhala Buddhist civilization on this planet.

4 The present government’s policy of outright selling and mortgaging all national assets, the land, its harbours like, Colombo and Trincomalee together with its 101 Oil tanks and 75 acres of land around the Trino harbour, the best natural harbour in the world about which Napolean once declared who owns it, will control the Indian Ocean, together with and other assets like the Air Lanka and even the profit-making state enterprises like the Telecom, to India and Western colonial countries, under Western dictated neo economic panacea of restructuring state owned assets, that leads to more dependency on the colonial West that will finally end up in eternal bankruptcy on our part.

5 This governments excessive dependences on the IMF and the World Bank, the notorious arms of the neocolonial octopus that has replaced their guns, swords and the Catholic Church in pursuing their colonial ambitions of neo colonialism in Asia and Africa.

6 The failure to align with the BRIC the emerging future World Bank as a way out [S1] of this present economic disaster

7 Public outcry to dissolve the present, Parliament which has ceased to honour the peoples mandate they have given in 2019 and 2020, immediately after the Presidential election, and to give a chance for people to elect a new Parliament reflecting the current aspiration of the people.

8.The popular demand for immediately replacing the1978 Constitution, the root cause of all present day political, economic and social problems with the 1972 constitution, that will put an end to all political, economic and social disasters created by the 1978 constitution until a new Constitution based on the civilization of this country is enacted

9 The demand for declaring Poson Poya as the National day in this country as it was on this day in 307 BC the Sinhala nation was born.

10. Declaring May 22^nd as it was on that day in 1972, this country at last got freed from the British colonial clutches and finally gained its full independence with all three salient powers of the State such as Legislative, Executive and Judicial of modern Democracy, that made this country a fully free and independent Peoples Republic.

11.Declaring the Sinhala nation as the nation of this Republic and Buddhism as the State religion as they had been the ‘de facto and de jure realties and declare Malaba inhabitants in the North and the East named as Ceylon Tamils in 190l, and Planation Tamils as minorities in this country

12. Are you prepared to Drop the proposal by the present government and Sajith Premadasa to hand over all land in the planation areas under a Tamil mono villages with houses programmed to be started in the central hill country, as a political bribe to get the estate Tamil votes, and give a instead give a guarantee to their original owners, the Kandyan peasants who had been the ‘de facto and de Jure owners’ of this land from the inception of history until they were forcibly taken over by the British colonial invaders in 1840 and thereafter after massacring the majority and chasing out those survived ,

(I suggest that no Sinhala voter in the Kandyan areas should vote for any candidate who does not openly oppose this great betrayal).

This should be followed by rectifying them with all their rights to their own land and getting the British Government to pay compensation for all wrongs they have committed against the native Sinhalese from 1815 to 1948.

This should also be followed by a relocating programme of all settlers presently occupying in areas above 3500 ft msl in mixed village clusters on land below 3500 feet msl together with landless p Kandyan Peasants

13.The Presidential candidates also should agree to declare all lands above 5000 ft msl as strictly prohibited and conserved forest. (Thahanchi kele as it was declared by the ancient Kings by Royal decree) and limit all settlement in the hill country to land below3500 ft

14 Agree to take immediate action to implement the proposed action plans under 12 an d13 will,

Firstly, protect the much-needed physical stability of the Central Hill country, the Geographical Heartland of Sri Lanka as I have named it way back in 1991, that will guarantee the perennial water flow of all 103 rivers that have their sources on these hills on which rests the survival of the entire life system on this Island nation and therefore the civilization of the whole Island as well.

Secondly, provide land rights for all estate labour as well as the landless Kandyan Peasants who had been deprived of their birth rights from 1840 by the British colonial invaders in the 19th century on words up to date by all government ever since 1948.

Thirdly it will promote permanent social integration between the Estate Tamils and Kandyan Sinhala people and put an end to the estate Tamil problem in this country.

Finally, it will also put an end to Indian interference in our domestic politics in the central hill country and also it will close the door for all so-called international meddling with our internal affairs.

15 immediately work out a plan to ban the import of all luxury items to meet the urban affluent including the import of vehicles that drains the merge foreign exchange resources and all agricultural and industrial items that could be produced locally.

16. Propose a comprehensive plan to stop destruction done to agricultural sector by wild animals that is estimated to be in the region of 40 % at present.

17 Restore death penalty to all crimes pertaining to drugs, theft and mis use of state property

18 Ban all political parties based on, ethnicity, religion and separatism etc and limit the to two or three national parties

19 Draw up a comprehensive plan to protect all archaeological and religious places in the whole Island with special attention to the destruction of Buddhist monuments in the North and the East

I demand that all Presidential candidates must make an open statement stating their stand and the plans clearly on each of the above items before 12^th noon 18^th September.

[S1]

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NPP සහ SJB ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශන තුළ Online Safety Act රහසින් ආරක්ෂා කරන්නේ ඇයි?

September 16th, 2024

සම්පත් සමරකෝන් | Sampath Samarakoon උපුටා ගැන්ම විකල්ප

ජනාධිපති මැතිවරණයට තව ඇත්තේ දින 6කි. අපේක්ෂකයින් සියලු දෙනා අතුරින් තිදෙනෙක් පෙරමුණේ සිටින බව කියැවෙයි. ඔවුන් නම් අනුර, රනිල් සහ සජිත් ය. තිදෙනාම පවසන්නේ තමන් එළඹෙන ජනාධිපති මැතිවරණයෙන් ජයග්‍රහණය කරන බවය. එය මැතිවරණයක ලක්ෂණයකි. එම උත්සහයන්ගේ ප්‍රතිඵල තීන්දු වන්නේ ජනතාවගේ කැමැත්ත මතය. එම කැමැත්ත ආකාර 2කකින් ක්‍රියාත්මක විය හැකිය. සත්‍ය ලෙසම තමන්ගේ සහ සමාජ ජීවිතය පිළිබද පුරවැසි කියවීමක්/දේශපාලන අදහසක් තුළ සිය ඡන්දය භාවිතා කිරීමය. දෙවැන්න නම්, විශේෂයෙන් මාධ්‍ය, සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඇතුලු සන්නිවේදන ක්‍රියාන්විතයන් හරහා ජන්දදායකයාගේ කැමැත්ත කෘතීමව නිශ්පාදනය කිරීමෙන්ය. මෙහිදී දෙවැන්න ඉත්මත් දරුණුය. එය සමාජයට අත්පත්කර දෙන්නේ යහපත් දෙයක් නොවේ. කෙසේ නමුත් මේ වන විට මේ ආකාරයන් දෙකම ලංකා දේශපාලන භූමිය තුළ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ අපේක්ෂකයන්ගේ මූල්‍ය ඇතුලු අනිකුත් බල ව්‍යුහයන්ට සාපේක්ෂවය.

නමුත් මේ සටහන ලියනු ලබන්නේ මැතිවරණ ප්‍රතිපල පිළිබද පුරෝකතනයක් හෝ අනාවැකි ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට නොවේ. කුමන අපේක්ෂකයෙක් ජයග්‍රහණය කළත් ජනතාවට මුහුණ දීමට සිදුවන ප්‍රභල තත්ත්වයක් පිළිබදව අවධානය යොමු කිරීමටය.

එනම්, දේශීය වශයෙන්ද, ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙන්ද ප්‍රභල විවේචන සහ විරෝධය මධ්‍යයේ රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ආණ්ඩුව විසින් සම්මත කරගත් මර්දනීය පනතක් වන අන්තර්ජාල ආරක්ෂන පනතට(Online Safety Act) රහසින් ආශා කරමින් එය පවත්වාගෙන යාමට ජනාධිපතිධූර අපේක්ෂකයින් වන අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක සහ සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස සිය මැතිවරණ ප්‍රකාශනවල ඒ පිළිබදව දක්වා ඇති ප්‍රතිපත්තිය පිළිබද අවධානය යොමු කිරීමටය.(රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ඒ පිළිබද කිසිවක් ප්‍රකාශ කර නැතැත් ඔහු මේ මර්දනීය පනතේ පියා ය. ඒ පිළිබදවත් කියවීමක් පහතින් දක්වා ඇත)

සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස සහ Online Safety Act

සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාන සිය මැතිවරණ ප්‍රකාශනයේ Online Safety Act පිළිබදව දක්වා ඇත්තේ මෙසේය.

2024 අංක 9 දරන මාර්ගගත ක්‍රමවල සුරක්ෂිතභාවය පිළිබඳ පනතේ ඇති ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහසට එරෙහි වගන්ති ඉවත් කරන්නාවූ ද, අන්තර්ජාල සේවා සපයන ආයතනවලට ස්වකීය ව්‍යවසායන් බාධාවකින් තොරව ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ඉඩ සලසන්නා වූ ද, පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම නව රජයේ ප්‍රමුඛ කාර්යයක් වේ”(පිටුව 31 Sajith Premadasa Manifestos )

මෙහිදී සමගි ජන බලවේගය සිය මැතිවරණ ප්‍රකාශනයේ දී පැහැදිලිවම දක්වා ඇත්තේ Online Safety Act අහෝසි නොකරන බවය. එසේම ඉන් අවධාරණය කර ඇත්තේ ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහසට එරෙහි වගන්ති” ඉවත් කරමින් නව පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන බවය.

අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක සහ Online Safety Act

අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක සිය මැතිවරණ ප්‍රකාශනයේ Online Safety Act පිළිබදව දක්වා ඇත්තේ මෙසේය.

ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහසට බාධාවන වගන්තීන් ඉවත්කොට 2024 අංක 09 දරන මාර්ග ගත ක්‍රමවල සුරක්ෂිතතාව පිළිබද පනත සංශෝධනය කිරීම”(පිටුව 60 – NPP Manifestos)

මෙහිදී ජාතික ජන බලවේගය විසින් ද දක්වා ඇත්තේ ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහසට බාධාවන වගන්තීන් ඉවත්කොට” පනත සංශෝධනය කිරීමය.

NPP සහ SJB වෙනස

මෙය තේරුම් ගැනීම සරලය.

සමගි ජන බලවේගය(SJB) ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇත්තේ ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහසට එරෙහි වගන්තීන් ඉවත් කරමින් පනත් කෙටුම්පතක්” ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමය. ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහසට බාධාවන වගන්තීන් ඉවත්කොට” පනත සංශෝධනය කිරීමට” ජාතික ජන බලවේගය(NPP) හී ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයේ දක්වා ඇත.

තේරුම්ගැනීම සරලය. NPP සහ SJB ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහස” පිළිබදව සංවේදී බවක් දක්වා ඇති නමුත් SJB විසින් පනත් කෙටුම්පතක් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමටත්, NPP රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ආණ්ඩුව විසින් සම්මත කරගත්(දැන් නැවත සංශෝධනය කිරීම සදහා ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති) පනත සංශෝධනය කිරීමට යෝජනා කර තිබීමය.

දැන් සමගි ජන බලවේගය යෝජනා කරන්නේ අමුතු දෙයක් නොවේ. එය දැනටමත් වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව විසින් ඉටුකරමින් තිබේ. එනම් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරනය ලබා දුන් සංශෝධනත් සලකාබලමින් ආදාළ පනත නැවත සංශෝධනය කිරීම ය. (වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව විසින් සංශෝධනය කිරීමට යන පනත සම්බන්ධයෙනුත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා වෘත්තීය ජනමාධ්‍යවේදීන්ගේ සංගමය නැවත වරක් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරනයේ පෙත්සමක් ගොනු කරමින් කියා සිටින්නේ මෙයින් සිය මූලික අයිතිවාසකම් උල්ලංඝනය වන බවය.)

ගැටලුව ඇත්තේ එහි නොවේ. ගැටලුව ඇත්තේ මූලික නීතිය සමගය. එනම් පනතේ පදනම ම, අරමුණ ම දණ්ඩනය පදනම් ව තිබීමයි. එහි සාරයම දෝෂ සහිතය. නැවත සකස් කල නොහැකි තරමට දෝශ සහිතය. එය නැවත සකස් කළ නොහැකි තරම් නරක තත්ත්වයක පවතියි. (ඒ පිළිබදව මා පසුගිය මස ලියූ සටහනකින් දීර්ඝව පවසා ඇත. https://www.vikalpa.org/article/43993) එය අදාළ පනත සම්මත කරගත් වික්‍රමසිංහ ආණ්ඩුවේ අමාත්‍යවරයෙක් වන(පනත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළ) ටිරාන් අලස්, මහජන ආරක්ෂක ඇමතිවරයා සිදුකළ ප්‍රකාශයක් හොදටම ප්‍රමාණවත්ය. ඔන්ලයින් අවකාශයේ දී කාන්තාවන් සහ ළමුන්ට සිදුවන අපයෝජනයන් වැලැක්වීම සදහා කාන්තාවන් සහ ළමුන්ගේ ආරක්ෂාවට මේ පනත ගෙන එන බව ඔහු පැවසීය. එසේම පනත සම්මත කරනු ලැබූ අවස්ථාවේදී පාර්ලිමේන්තු එදවස සිටි බහුතරයක් මංත්‍රීවරුන් සිදුකළ කතා නැවත අහන්න. එහි ප්‍රධානම අරමුණ විසම්මුතික අදහස් මර්දනය කිරීම ට බව ඔබට තේරුම්ගැනීමට අමුතු දැනුමක් අවශ්‍ය නොවනු ඇත.

කිසිදු ජනාධිපතිධූර අපේක්ෂකයෙක් Online Safety Act අහෝසි කිරීමට කැපවී නැත.

රනිල්, සජිත් සහ අනුර අතුළු සියලු අපේකෂකයන් සිය ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ පිළිබදව දිගින් දිගටම කතා කළත් කිසිදු අපේක්ෂකයෙක් මෙම මර්දනීය පනත අහෝසි කිරීම සදහා කිසිදු යෝජනාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කර නැති බව මා විසින් ඉහතින් පෙන්වා දී තිබේ. මෙයින් පෙනී යන්නේ ඔව්න් සියලු දෙනාගේම ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ප්‍රතිසංසකරණ පිළිබද ඇති පරස්පරතාවයයි.

එසේම Online Safety Act පිළිබදව NPP සහ SJB ප්‍රතිපත්තිය ස්ථාවරයන් වෙන් කර හදුනා ගැනීමට අපට නොහැකිය. නමුත් ජාතික ජන බලවේගය විසින් සිය ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයේ අනිකුත් අංශවලදී ඉතාමත් ගැඹුරු ලෙස සාකච්ඡා කරන අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමේ නිදහස ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සහ ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීම පිළිබද ප්‍රතිපත්තියට ඔවුන්ගේ Online Safety Act පිළිබදව වන අදහස සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පටහැනි වේ. ප්‍රධාන හේතුවක් නම් OSA හී පදනම් මූලධර්ම සහ යෝජිත ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය විසින් පෞද්ගලිකත්වයට ඇති අයිතිය, සාමකාමී එක්රැස්වීම, ප්‍රකාශනයේ නිදහස ඇතුලු මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් මර්දනයට ලක් කරන නිසාය.

ඔන්ලයින් පනත රිපීල්(Repeal) කරන්න වෙනවා – පාර්ලිමේන්තු මංත්‍රීනී ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය(ජාතික ජන බලවේගය)

පසුගිය 2024 ජූනි 18වනදා ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මංත්‍රීනී ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය HARITV සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමින් Online Safety Act පිළිබදව අදහස් පළ කළාය. එහිදී ඇය දැක්වූ අදහස්වලින් Online Safety Act අදාළ කොටස උපුටනයක් ලෙස පහතින් දක්වමු.

ඩිජිටල් ලෝකය අපිටත් අදාලයි. අදාළ නෑ කියන්න බෑ. එහිදී සාක්ෂරතාවය නැතිවීම ඇත්තට ප්‍රශ්ණයක්.”

HariTV: NPP ආණ්ඩුවක් ආවොත් ඔල්යින් සේෆ්ටි බිල් එක හකුලා ගන්නවාද?

අචාර්ය හරිනි: මේ තියන එක. අනිවාර්යෙන්, ඔව්. මේ තියන එක පවත්වාගෙන යා යුතු එකක් නෙවෙයි කියලා තමයි අපි නම් හිතන්නේ. මොකෝ මේක ගැහැණුන් හෝ ළමයින් හෝ ඒවා ආරක්ෂා කරන්න ආපු පනතක් නෙවෙයි. ඒක සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ඒක අදහස් දැක්වීමේ නිදහස සහ දේශපාලන ප්‍රතිවාදියා පාලනය කිරීමට ආපු පනතක්. අපේ නීතිඥ කණ්ඩායම සටර්ඩි කරමින් ඉන්නේ අපේ ස්ථාවරය කුමක් විය යුතු ද කියන එක. ඒ අනුව අපේ මැතිවරණ ප්‍රකාශනය තුළ අපි අයින් කළ යුතු පනත් මොනවද? වෙනස් කළ යුතු ඒවා මොනවාද? කියන එක ඉදිරියට මට කියන්න පුලුවන් වෙයි. මොකෝ මේක එක පනතක් නෙමෙයි. සහ අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙන්නේ අලුත් ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ගෙන්න නේ. ඒ අලුත් ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ කොහොමද මේවා ඇතුල් වෙන්නේ කියන එක ගැන නිශ්චිත අදහසක් අපිට ඉදිරියට දෙන්න පුලුවන්. සමහර ඒවා රිපීල් කරන්න වෙනවා. මම හිතන්නෙ ඔන්ලයින් එක එකක්. ත්‍රස්ත විරෝධී පනත අනිත් එක.”

මෙහිදී ඇය සෘජුවම ප්‍රකාශ කරන්නේ Online Safety Act සහ ත්‍රස්ත විරෝධි පනත අහෝසි කළ යුතු බවය.එය ඉතාමත් ප්‍රගතිශීලි මෙන්ම ඉදිරිගාමී අදහසකි. නමුත් එයින් මාස 2කකට පසු ඇය නියෝජනය කරන ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ජනාධිපතිධූර අපේක්ෂක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායකගේ මැතිවරණ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයේ Online Safety Act පිළිබදව අඩංගු වන්නේ අචාර්ය හිරිනි ට සම්පූර්ණයෙන් විරුද්ධ ප්‍රතිපත්තියකි. එය නැවතත් ලියා දක්වන්නේ නම් අචාර්ය හරිනි Online Safety Act අහෝසිකිරීම කළ යුතු” යැයි ප්‍රකාශ කරන විට ඇය නියෝජනය කරන NPP ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනය විසින් දක්වා ඇත්තේ Online Safety Act සංශෝධනය” කරන බවය.

රනිල් ශෝක්ද?

Online Safety Act සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජනාධිපතිධූර අපේක්ෂක වික්‍රමසිංහගේ ස්ථාවරය පැහැදිලි කිරීමට තවත් මේ ලිපියේ කාලය නාස්ති කළ යුතු නැත. මෙම මර්දනීය පනත ගෙන එනු ලැබූවේ වික්‍රමසිංහ අනුප්‍රාප්තික ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින්ය. ඔහුගේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයේ ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථිකයත්, කෘතීම බුද්ධිය ඇතුලු විෂයන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් විශාල ලෙස දක්වා තිබුණත් [https://www.ranil2024.lk/si/manifesto] Online Safety Act පිළිබදව කිසිදු සටහනක් දක්වා නැත. ලියුම්කරුගේ අදහස නම් ඔහුට එසේ වෙනස් කිරීමට හෝ අහෝසි කිරීමට අදහසක් නැත. ඔහුට අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ ඔහු ජනාධිපති වුවහොත් මේ මර්දනීය පනත දිගටම පවත්වා ගෙන යමින් විසම්මුතික අදහස් මර්දනය කිරීම සදහා අවශ්‍ය සංදර්භය නිර්මාණය කරගැනීමය. එබැවින් ඔහු දක්වා ඇති ඩිජිටල්කරණ ප්‍රතිපත්ති හා ඔහු විසින්ම ගෙන ආ Online Safety Act ගැඹුරු පරස්පරතාවයක් නියෝජනය කරයි. එසේම ඒ ගැඹුරු පරස්පරතාවයෙන් මතුවන තවත් හැගවුම් කාරකයන් වන්නේ දේශාපලනින ලෙස පුරවැසියන් රැවටීම මිස අන්කවරක් නොවේ. එය ඉතාමත් දරුණුය.

මෙසේ වන්නේ ඇයි?

අද වන විට ලංකාවේ පමණක් නොව, ලෝක මට්ටමින් ද විශේෂයෙන් මැතිවරණවලදී සහ රටක තීරණතාමක් කාලවලදී සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඇතුලු Online Platform දැවැන්ත භූමිකාවකට පහසුකම් සළසයි. එහිදී මේ වන විට generative ai වල සීග්‍ර දියුණුවත් සමග අදාළ තත්ත්වය තවත් සංකීර්ණ සහ දියුණු තත්ත්වයකට පත්ව තිබේ. එබැවින් Online වේදිකාවල භූමිකාව බැහැර කළ නොහැකි තත්ත්වයකට පත්ව තිබේ. උදාහරණයකට ලංකාවේද මේ වන විට සමාජ මාධ්‍ය භාවිතා කරමින් සිය මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරක කටයුතු සිදුකරන අයුරු සලකා බලන්න.

2024 ජූනි 14 සිට 2024 සැප්තැම්බර් 11 දක්වා, META සමාගමට අයත් සමාජ මාධ්‍ය වේදිකාවන්වල සිය මැතිවරණ ප්‍රචාරක දැන්වීම් වෙනුවෙන් අපේක්ෂකයින් තිදෙනෙක් සිදුකල වියදම්,

රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ: රුපියල් 33230360.00
සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස: රුපියල් 32514220.00
අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක: රුපියල් 7142795.00
(උපුටා ගැනීම – facebook.com/ads/library/report – Rasika Karunarathne | Gayan Hettiarachchi)

මෙයින් පෙනී යන්නේ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඇතුලු Online වේදිකාවන් සදහා මෙවර ජනාධිපතිරණයට ඉදිරිපත්ව ඇති අපේක්ෂකයන් කොතරම් බරක් දක්වනවාද යන්නය. එසේම අදහස්, මතවාද හෝ විසම්මුතික අදහස්, විවේචන ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමටද මේ වන විට පුරවැසියන් වැඩි වැඩියෙන් භාවිතා කරන්නේ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඇතුලු Online වේදිකාවන්ය. එබැවින් විසම්මුතිය ඉවසීමට රුචියක් නොදක්වන පාලකයන් හෝ පුද්ගලයන්, පුද්ගල කණ්ඩායම් මෙම සන්නිවේදන මාදිලිය කෙසේ හෝ පාලනයට හෝ පාලනය කිරීමට සහය දක්වනු ලබයි. තවද ජනතාවගේ අදහස් හෝ විසම්මුතික අදහස් පාලනය කිරීමට ගෙන ආ පනතක් ලෙස ලංකාවේ Online Safety Act සැලකිය හැකිය. (වෛරී ලෙස හෝ ආචාර්ධාර්මික නොවන ලෙස අන්තර්ගතයන් එකතුකරන හෝ ප්‍රතිකාර දක්වන අන්තර්ගතයන් අප බැහැර කරන අතර, ඒවා යම් කිසි ලෙසකින් පාලනය කිරීමටත්, ඒ පිළිබදව දැනුවත් කිරීමටත් මේ වන විට අදාළ සමාගම්වල ප්‍රජා මාර්ගෝපදේශ ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙයි. ලංකාව තුළද එවැනි ආකාරයක ආචාරධර්ම පද්ධතී ඇත. Social Media declarayion කියවන්න) එම නිසා 21 වනදායින් පසුව පත්වන කවර හෝ පාලනයකට එල්ලවන විවේචන, විසම්මුතික අදහස් මර්දනය කිරීමට Online Safety පනත උපයෝගී කර ගැනීමටත් ඒ මගින් දේශපාලන බලය තව දුරටත් පවත්වාගෙන යාමට OSA ප්‍රයෝජනවත් වනු ඇතැයි, OSA අහෝසි නොකිරීමට අපේක්ෂා කරන අපේක්ෂකයෙක් සිතුවා වන්නට බැරි නැතැයි කාට හෝ සිතුනේ නම් එහි වරදක් තිබේද?

කෙසේ නමුත් තවදුරටත් පවසන්නේ නම්, බලය ඇති පක්ෂයක් සිය බලය තවදුටත් කෙසේ හෝ පවත්වාගෙන යාමටත්, බලය නොමැති පක්ෂයක් කෙසේ හෝ බලය ලබා ගැනීමටත් මෙම පවතින පනත භාවිතා කිරීමට ඉඩ තිබේ. කෙසේ නමුත් එවැනි තත්ත්වයක් තුළ එයින් මර්දනයට ලක්වන්නේ ජනතාගේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රීය වටිනාකම් බව මේ වන විට බොහෝ අපේක්ෂකයන්ට අමතකව ගොස් ඇති සේයකි. එහි සංකීර්ණත්වය තේරුම් ගැනීමට නීතිය පමණක් ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවේ. ගෝලීය ව දියුණු වී ඇති තාක්ෂණය, තාක්ෂණික මෙවලම්, එහි හැසිරීම වැනි පරාසයන් පිළිබදව දැනුමක්, අවබෝධයක් සහ සාකච්ඡාවක් අවශ්‍ය වෙයි.

කිසිදු අපේක්ෂකයෙක්ට අවශ්‍යතාවයක් නැත.

Online Safety Act සම්බන්ධයෙන් සියල්ලන්ම එකම බෝට්ටුවේය. කිසිදු අපේක්ෂකයෙක්ට මර්දනීය OSA පනතින් ගැලවීමට කිසිදු දේශපාලන වුවමනාවක් නොමැති බව පැහැදිලිය. එළැබෙන 21 වනදා පැවැත්වෙන ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ ප්‍රතිඵලය කුමක් වුවත්, අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමේ නිදහස ප්‍රමුඛ අයිතිවාසිකම්වලට මෙම තත්ත්වය ඉතාමත් දරුණු ලෙස බලපානු ඇත. එම නිසා සිවිල් සමාජය ඇතුලු පුරවැසියන්ගේ ප්‍රමුඛ කාර්යක් විය යුත්තේ Online Safety Act ඇතුලු මර්දනීය පනත් වලින් සිදුවීමට නියමිත දරුණු තත්ත්වයට එරෙහිව පුරවැසියන් සංවිධානය කිරීමය. ඒ අන් කිසිවක් නිසා නොව අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමේ නිදහස යනු ම අනිකුත් මානව අයිතිවාසිකම්වල පදනම වන බැවිනි.

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ලංකාව පුරාම තාක්ෂණවේදී විෂය ධාරව හඳුන්වා දීමට විරුද්ධ වුණේ ජ.වි.පෙ. පමණයි- අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා

September 16th, 2024

B Media

ලංකාව පුරාම තාක්ෂණවේදය විෂය ධාරාව හඳුන්වා දීමට විරුද්ධව එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයවත් අනිත් කිසිම පක්ෂයක් වැඩ නොකළ බවත් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ පමණක් එයට විරුද්ධව වැඩ කළ බවත් ප්‍රවාහන, මහාමාර්ග හා ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පැවසීය.

ගෑස් ලින්ඩරය ලකුණින් තරගවදින ස්වාධීන අපේක්ෂක රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ ජයග්‍රහණය උදෙසා ඊයේ (15) වග, කහහේන හා දිද්දෙණිය ප්‍රදේශවල පැවැති ජනතාව දැනුවත් කිරීමේ විශේෂ සාකච්ඡා සඳහා එක්වෙමින් අමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව සඳහන් කළේය.

ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට කිසිම දර්ශනයක් නැති බවයි අමාත්‍යවරයා පෙන්වා දුන්නේ.

වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ අමාත්‍යවරයා,

මගෙන් රටට වැඩිම වැඩ ප්‍රමාණයක් වෙලා තියෙන්නේ උපන් නූපන් පරම්පරාවල ඉන්න ළමයින්ට. අපි පාසල් යන කාලෙ රටේ තිබුනේ විද්‍යාව, කලාව, වාණිජ විෂයන් විතරයි. ඒවා කරලා මේ ලෝකයට අනාගතයේ උපදින ළමයින්ට මුහුණ දෙන්න බැහැ. මම අධ්‍යාපන ඇමැතිවරයා වශයෙන් අලුතෙන් රටට හඳුන්වලා දුන්නා තාක්ෂණ වේදය විෂය ධාරාව. තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණය, ජෛව පද්ධති තාක්ෂණය, ඉංජිනේරු තාක්ෂණය, හා තාක්ෂණවේදය සඳහා විද්‍යාව යන විෂය ධාරාවන්. ඒ යටතේ අපිට ලංකාවේ දරුවන්ට පරිගණක හතලිහක් තියන පරිගණක විද්‍යාගාරයක්, පරිගණකය විස්සක් තියන විවිධ භාෂා හදාරන්න භාෂාකාරයක්, පරිගණකයක් තියෙන ගණිතාගාරයක් සහිත මහින්දෝදය විද්‍යාගාර දාහක් ලංකාව පුරා හදලා තියෙනවා.

ඊට පස්සේ අපි තාක්ෂණය හදාරන්න මහින්දෝදය තාක්ෂණ පීඨා 251ක් ලංකා පුරා හැදුවා. අපි විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට යන කාලේ විද්‍යා පීඨ, වෛද්‍ය පීඨ තිබුනට තාක්ෂණ පීඨ තිබුණේ නැහැ. දැන් විශ්ව විද්‍යාල දහතුනක තාක්ෂණ පීඨ තියෙනවා. මගේ හෝමාගම ආසනයේ විතරක් තාක්ෂණ පීඨ දෙකක් තියෙනව ඡයවර්ධනපුර විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ තාක්ෂණ පීඨය සහ කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ තාක්ෂණ පීඨය.

අපි පාසල් දාහක් ලංකාවේ හදාගෙන යනකොට ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ ඒවා කඩාකප්පල් කරන්න කටයුතු කළා. ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ රටේ යහපත වෙනුවෙන් මොනවත් එකතු කරපු නැති පක්ෂයක්. ඒ නිසා ඒවා කඩාකප්පල් කරන්න ලංකා පුරාම පෝස්ටර් ගැහුවා අධ්‍යාපනය වනසන එස්බී, බන්දුල ගෙදර පල කියලා. ප්‍රාථමිකය අයින් කරලා ද්විතීක පාසල් දාහක් තමයි මෙමගින් හැදුවේ. තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණයෙන් හා ඉංජිනේරු තාක්ෂණයෙන් අද මුළු ලෝකයටම යන ළමයි වැඩිම ප්‍රමාණයකට යන්න පුළුවන් උනේ මම අධ්‍යාපන හා උසස් අධ්‍යාපන ඇමතිවරයා ලෙස සිටිය නිසා. රටේ අනාගතය වෙනුවෙන් කන්නංගරගේ නිදහස් අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් පස්සේ අධ්‍යාපනයේ ලොකුම වෙනස එය යයි” ද අමාත්‍යවරයා පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ප්‍රදේශයේ හිටපු පළාත් පාලන ආයතන නියෝජිතයින්, ප්‍රදේශවාසීන් ඇතුළු පිරිසක් විය.

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