UK was a former colonial invader occupying Sri Lanka from 1815 to 1948 & until 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic. Let us not dwell into the atrocities committed under colonial British rule which mind you has yet to be acknowledge, apologized or compensated. As teacher and preacher of parliamentary democracy, Sri Lanka held a democratic election on 16^th November to elect the country’s 7^th President who became Gotabaya Rajapakse with a historical vote result. It did not take long for a barrage of anti-Gotabaya articles to emerge and seriously questions what is this ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom of speech’ the West is promoting when an elected President is character assassinated as he is without even giving him a chance to assume office.

The Telegraph article titled former defense chief who led brutal suppression of Tamil Tigers wins Sri Lanka’s presidential election’ published on 17 November 2019.

So are we to presume that Sri Lanka has faulted in ‘suppressing’ LTTE who are the Tamil Tigers that the author Qadijah Irshad is referring to? The West can go bombing countries dropping drones and killing innocent people claiming to be going after terrorists, but Sri Lanka is at fault for eliminating a terrorist movement? Can Telegraph UK please answer – yes or no.

What is the ‘fear’ raising among Sri Lanka’s religious & ethnic minorities? Who is claiming this and based on what evidence? Fears were raised when inspite of 97 foreign intel warnings the government in power failed to protect over 350 lives from becoming victim of jihadi suicide terrorism. No such colossal life was lost during the reign of the previous government as a result of state negligence and inaction inspite of prior warnings. Was it therefore wrong of voters to fear for their lives and place national security as one of their key concerns in voting?

We seem to again return to a fallacious choice of the word ‘civil war’ – Sri Lanka did not suffer a civil war, Sri Lanka suffered terrorism and LTTE were Tamils but LTTE also killed Tamils which is why we continue to say not all Tamils are LTTE but all LTTE were Tamils. Please correct this notion. Some of Sri Lanka’s best Tamil leaders were wiped off by the LTTE including the most admired Foreign Minister Mr. Lakshman Kadiragamar.

Another correction that needs to be made is that there are no ‘charges’ against President Rajapakse but ‘allegations’ which have no facts or basis but are all part of an international campaign by those angry that their pet LTTE terror movement was eliminated. How about coming up with names and facts instead of using a broad brush and simply parroting what everyone who wants to character assassinate is presently doing.

We would like to ask the author whether it is a crime to regard anyone eliminating a terrorist movement as war heroes? Obviously those living overseas and writing from overseas have no idea what we people went through when LTTE was reigning terror. We didn’t know whether the next bomb would go off, our parents dreaded us leaving homes and we in turn dreaded our parents leaving home not knowing when and if they would return. Ambulances were heard almost every hour. The newspapers had only obituaries and photos of the dead. Don’t make it out to be that the death of the terrorists is to be mourned and not the dead of innocent people who had done no wrong to these maniacs carrying arms & weapons. How dare they see fit to plant bombs and carry out suicide missions to end people’s lives.

How dare this author refer to the Buddhist clergy as ‘extremists’ let us remind the world that before the Westerners arrived there was not a single example of any community in conflict under the Sinhala Buddhist kings. If anyone says otherwise, we would like to challenge them to produce evidence where the Sinhala Buddhist kings have mistreated the minorities before 1505. All of the troubles we suffer today are outcomes of divide and rule policies implemented by colonial invaders so they could keep the people at each others throat while they pilfered and plundered the nation. When the Portuguese and Dutch were attacking the Muslims & Tamils it was our Sinhala Buddhist kings who sent troops to defend and protect them. Just don’t kill the majority community with your pen for media publicity.

So the author seems to be knowing how Parliament of Sri Lanka runs? Well its 19^th November and still ‘Mahinda’ is not declared PM. Is this how Parliament works in the UK? How about telling the West’s pet the sitting PM to honor the spirit of the mandate and resign without making life difficult for everyone by refusing to do so. Is this gentlemanly politics and parliamentary decorum, taught by West, one wonders!

The author is incorrect because the people of North voted for Sarath Fonseka in 2010 and he was the immediate former army commander while a world campaign promoted notion that the Sri Lankan Army were war criminals. India’s Subramaniam Swamy once said he was confused how the Sri Lankan Tamils can call the Sri Lankan Army war criminals and at the same time go all out and vote for its army commander. Very puzzling in deed. The Tamils also voted for Maithripala Sirisena when he was fielded as common candidate in 2015 – so this is certainly not the first time that the Tamils have voted for a Sinhalese. Take the election result maps of 2010-2015 and 2019 to see for yourself. What is also puzzling is that Tamils voted for a Sinhalese while not giving even 2% of votes to a pro-LTTE Tamil candidate and relation of Prabakaran! What was the objective behind the vote?

It is good to jerk everyone’s memory here. LTTE was ruling a virtual defacto area of the North. The LTTE split Tamils into two – those on their side and those against them. Whoever was against LTTE faced the brunt of LTTE terror – the others obviously had it good. But LTTE did not share any of its $300m annual profits amongst the Tamil people. Areas that were eventually liberated were without electricity, had no proper roads, schools were abandoned and used as LTTE bunkers, children were kidnapped and turned into child soldiers – so was this fear not greater than the nameless and data-less scare tactics foreign journalists are carrying out? The development that North saw after elimination of LTTE was nothing anyone can deny credit to the Rajapakse administration. They had to take loans to do this development LTTE was making illegal profits annually but did not spend a dollar on the people it claimed to represent. Don’t’ forget 300,000 people were saved from LTTE during the final stages of the conflict – probably it is some of these that became the 5% that voted for Gotabaya Rajapakse at the Presidential Elections.

President Rajapakse confirmed and reconfirmed again during the oath taking that he is the President of all – those who voted for him and those who didn’t vote for him. Therefore, before bringing down the gavel before he has even started out on his journey as President, give him a chance to prove himself. He proved himself as Defense Secretary and steered a development drive in Colombo and outskirts to be even acknowledged internationally – therefore there is no reason to fear that he doesn’t have a plan as President. Obviously those who know he has a good plan to develop Sri Lanka are concerned because he will completely raise the bar to type of leadership that many are loathsome and jealous about which is probably one of the key reasons for their envy and jealousy. They just cannot measure up to him and therefore they want to character assassinate him as that is the only way they can.

Please don’t quote the same bankrupt and creditability-less so-called political activists who have no clue about the pulse of the people, no care about the general public and simply enjoy blabbering words in accents in 5 star hotels to the international arena only. These people are so out-of-place in any segment of society in Sri Lanka.

These so called activists have taken millions to promote ‘peace’ and it is a good time those that fund them began asking them to show what they have done for the money they have been given.

Give the people of Sri Lanka room to breathe and solve their own problems.

By interfering how many countries has the Western political power houses solved internal problems instead of making them worse.

Just give the new President some room. We are all watching too. Our concerns are more than your concerns. We also want to have a peaceful nation. We got dominion status in 1948, became a republic in 1972 the same year we faced an insurgency, then we had terrorism for 30 years together with another insurgency. We have not had a period of lull to enjoy any peace dividends. So please allow us room to sort out our matters on our own.

Hope the UK Telegraph publishes this so their readership can see another view of Sri Lanka

Shenali D Waduge

When SLPP began its campaign – Gotabaya Rajapakse’s message was clear – One Nation – One Law. It was an inclusive motto. There was no segregation. There was no discrimination. It was something simple for all to relate to.

The Opposite Camp on the other hand were with a bunch of separatists-fundamentalists, politicians and political parties we thought everyone was fed up with.

We thought people would not listen to them for Tamils & Muslims themselves publicly denounced their leaders.

So our guess was that they would give GR a CHANCE because he was only speaking of a Vision & Policy.

When his opponents on top of their stages were slinging mud, threatening to hang the Rajapakse’s from windows, speaking in abusive and derogatory terms, GR and his team only spoke about the future plans and policy.

The GR Team had minority representatives who also appealed to give GR a chance. They campaigned among their people to appeal to them to change their thinking. They were also sure that their people would give GR a chance. When people spoke about development, cleanliness and good management – GR was the only person who came to mind who had proven via actions what people claimed to want. But, were these sincere thoughts or were they just hiding what they felt?

Everyone was optimistic that they would be thinking of the Future & not the Past.

The results have not really surprised us because if our established conclusion of minority thinking was correct that was how they would have voted whatever laurels of peace we offered but our hearts wanted to prove us wrong but eventually the minority vote result proved otherwise. It was virtually identical to how they voted in January and August 2015. What is it that the majority have done wrong to them? What is it that they want? What is it that they don’t have that the poor rural Sinhala voters enjoy?

Now, as damage control, the guilt is being hidden by quickly attempting to transfer blame on the majority. It has always been to point at the majority and blame them for all ills. The fact that an opportunity for them to be inclusive was rejected by them with no valid reasons is being quickly swept under the carpet and there are some trying to showcase that they need to be more ‘reconciliation’. It takes two to tango. Sinhalese have done their part. What have the minorities done in return?

In the poorest of villages – where people suffer to have a meal a day, the Sinhalese went and voted realizing that national security & protecting Sri Lanka required their voice and vote. They knew this election was far more than just bringing Gotabaya Rajapakse to power. If these people could go & vote without complaining about what they don’t have – we see no basis for complaints by others.

However a handful of Tamils & Muslims did vote for GR – they campaigned much for him too…

However, we do realize that separatist and fundamentalist thinking elders & their politicians are doing great injustice to their children, the future of Sri Lanka by dragging them to continue the hatred and vengeance that they live with day in and day out.

This is not good for the Youth or the Future. Therefore, we certainly need to integrate all Youth and make them stakeholders for the future. These programs will certainly be rolled out and we hope these separatist and fundamentalist elders will leave the Youth alone to decide for themselves instead of dragging them to live with hate and vengeance.

Of course, we appeal to the elders to rethink how they have voted and be the FIRST to reach out to integrate as that is where the Change should start. Will they is left for them to think about.

Demands without Duty is unacceptable

Reconciliation without Reciprocity is unacceptable too.

Nothing works only on paper – these terms imported from West are just words used to diplomatically & politically exert pressures on nations. The countries preaching the terms do not practice a word they promote and force upon nations to enforce. Now they are tying aid and grants to such terms.

All citizens must learn to love the Nation & be proud of the Nation & acknowledge its proud history & heritage and not try to infuse false history & change it for political advantage.

Minorities in particular have always found it easier to complain of what they have not got or what the majority has not done for them but what have the minorities done in return to make such demands?

Remember – LTTE was brutalizing both Tamils & Muslims. Areas of North & East were not developed for 30 years not because the government did not want to but because the LTTE was in control over these areas. However, immediately after eliminating the LTTE, the GOSL embarked upon development programs that included providing electricity to areas that were living in darkness. The then govt did much to uplift the lives of these people.

Why should they still shower hatred even after giving them what LTTE did not? Can someone please answer this? Didn’t the then govt remove the fear of living they experienced under LTTE? Could they not freely travel to any part of Sri Lanka because LTTE was no more? Have they forgotten how life was before LTTE was eliminated and how life change after LTTE was no more?

From all of the minority parties and minority political leaders we like to ask – what have your party done for the betterment of the country & the citizens not only for your people? Enjoying tax payers money (70% of which is contributed by the majority) – what have minorities returned to the Nation?

Its time everyone started doing a SERVICE TO THE NATION without ONLY COMPLAINING ABOUT what the NATION hasn’t given them….

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION FIRST –

WHAT HAVE YOU GIVEN THE NATION to DEMAND from the NATION

Shenali D Waduge

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Eelam wars came to an end on May 2009 with a humiliating defeat for the LTTE and a triumphant win for the government. The entire world was amazed and surprised. None of the other countries had been able to end such a war, said observers.

Nalin de Silva observed that Eelam War IV was undoubtedly a great victory. The government of a small country had defeated a terrorist outfit supported and sponsored by the western powers. Col. C.R.Hariharan said LTTE has been outwitted, out-gunned and out-strategized by the Sri Lanka army. This must be accepted”, he said.,

 Dayan Jayatilleke said that by defeating the Tigers so completely and utterly, Sri Lanka and its armed forces made a contribution to regional and global security. ‘We have got precious little thanks for making the region a little safer’ he added. Gotabhaya Rajapakse said that other countries facing terrorism should follow Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had shown that terrorism could be defeated. 

Analysts also noted that throughout the thirty years of war, the government unfailingly delivered all essential services to the LTTE controlled areas in north and east. The government paid salaries and pensions, ran the state schools, paid salaries of teachers and kept the state hospitals going. They did so through the Government Agents in the north, including GAs of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

Sinharaja Tammita Delgoda says one of the most striking things about Eelam War IV was the chorus of derision and condemnation in which the operation was conducted. No other fighting force had faced this kind of ridicule during a campaign. Bogollagama noted that the war was fought in an unhelpful and hostile background.  The army was winning, but it was publicly ridiculed by a section of the political elite.

However, there was considerable gratitude among the  Sinhala public for this victory. Those who were affected by the LTTE attacks were especially grateful. When I was in Trincomalee some time ago, the owner of a tourist stall told me Madam, people who live in Colombo do not understand   how we suffered during LTTE rule. We slept in the jungle at night. When a husband or child went out during the day, we could not be sure that they would return. We are grateful to Mahinda Rajapaksa for ending the war.”

But after winning the war, Rajapaksa government failed to consolidate the win. Rajapaksa did not declare at any time that this was a secessionist war, which was legitimately won by the Sri Lanka army. The government stupidly took the position that the war was a “terrorist war”, not a secessionist war. Despite the fact that the said terrorists called themselves, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam”, indicating clearly that it was a separatist war.

Mahinda Rajapaksa stated repeatedly that this war was not against the Tamil people, it was against the terrorists. Critics did not agree with Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was not terrorism. It was   civil war, they said.Sri Lanka fought a just war by just means, they said.    

The Eelam Wars were outright civil wars.  They were secessionist wars, with the purpose of dividing the island and setting up a new littoral (coastal) sovereign state.  The land area of future state of Eelam started at Kalpitiya went northwards up to Jaffna, then down past Trincomalee, Batticaloa and ended at Ampara.  A ‘friendly country’ was ready and waiting in New York, to get the new state recognized at the UN.

Critics pointed out that Separatism is prohibited by law in Sri Lanka. The Sixth Amendment to Constitution of Sri Lanka, which is also Act no 6 of 1983,   said that it was the duty of the state to safeguard the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. 

Article 157A of the Constitution said that no person shall, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.  No political party or other association or organization shall have as one of its aims or objects the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka. Any political party supporting such an aim shall be proscribed and any MP unseated from Parliament and deprived of civic rights.

The first thing  Mahinda Rajapaksa did after winning the war, was to  let the UN in. the Eelam wars were outside the scope of the UN, They were an internal matter. But President Mahinda Rajapaksa permitted UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to visit as soon as Eelam War IV ended.

Moon arrived on 23.May 2009.  He visited the internally displaced persons (IDP) sites at Vavuniya and flew over the area near Mullaitivu, that was the scene of the conflict. He spoke with the President and senior officials. He also ‘consulted other relevant stakeholders, members of international humanitarian agencies and civil society”. 

Rajapaksa thereafter issued a joint statement with Moon. This statement   did not make any reference to the praiseworthy victory of the government of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka  did nto congratulate itself. Instead, the statement spoke of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. 

The statement said, inter alia, htat  the government would work towards a lasting political solution.  The aspirations and grievances of all communities would be addressed.  And a national solution acceptable to all sections of people will be evolved.   To do so, the government would begin a broader dialogue with all parties, including the Tamil parties. It was a sort of pro-Eelam statement which implied that the government was in the wrong. The statement implied that the government was at fault for creating a situation where the Tamils had to take to arms. That Tamil Separatism was justified and should be   taken into consideration.

Thereafter, in May 2010 Rajapaksa appointed a Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (LRRC). The members of the LLRC were C. R. De Silva, PC (chairman)  Attorney General (2007–09), Solicitor General (1999–2007).  A. Rohan Perera, PC  former legal advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and  Chairman of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and member of the International Law Commission.

Karunaratne Hangawatte, Professor of Criminal Justice at the Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and former consultant to the United Nations[ Chandl Chanmugam, Secretary to the Treasury (1987–88).,Manohari Ramanathan ,former Deputy Legal Draftsman and former member of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka Maxwell Paranagama, former High Court Judge M. T. M. Bafiq, Senior Attorney at law and member of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. and H. M. G. S. Palihakkara, former Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Permanent Representative to the United Nations 2008-2009. Palihakkara had trained in international human rights and humanitarian law at the Raul Wallenberg Institute, Lund University, Sweden.

The committee was asked to study the circumstances that led to the failure of the Ceasefire Agreement and report on the lessons learnt from the war thatwouldprevent recurrence.  They were asked to recommend the best way to make restitution, and ways to promote national unity and reconciliation among all communities. The time period for the survey would be 21. February 2002 to 19 May 2009. The report was completed in November 2011, tabled in the Parliament and published in December 2011.

The LRRC report was a gift to the Tamil Separatist Movement. The conclusions of the LLRC report are now used exclusively by the Tamil Separatist Movement.

The LLRC accepted that the North and East had issues that required addressing and that reconciling was needed to heal wounded Sri Lanka. It advocated demilitarization, vacating of all private and public land occupied by the security forces, solving of land ownership disputes through special land commissions. It wanted the establishment of a politically independent civil administration. The long standing Tamil grievances needed to be provided with a political solution which included devolving power.

LLRC report also called for a comprehensive investigation into the crimes of the LTTE, hitherto not undertaken, also to look at the accountability of the UN and international organizations.  They should be subject to scrutiny. These two recommendations of the LLRC have been ignored by the government and the Tamil Separatist Movement.

Instead of following up on the victory and crushing the Tamil Separatist Movement, Rajapakse government took a defensive approach after the war ended.  This was an invitation to the  Tamil Separatist Movement to take steps to erase the Eelam victory. This series examines the attempts made by the Tamil separatist movement to do so. (continued)

By Bodhi Dhanapala, Quebec, Canada.

Jehan Perera, writing in the Island on 19th November says that the expectation was that neither of the two leading candidates, i.e., Gotabhaya and Sajith, would get a clear mandate, and hence a second preference re-count will be needed. Several urban political Pandits like Kumar David had suggested that while the first preference should be given to the JVP candidate, the second preference should be given to Sajith. This time the  JVP has not claimed that the election results are a mere computer Jilmart”.

Most of us do NOT get our nourishment, drinks and pocket money from the Colombo cocktail circuit and from foreign-funded  NGO accounts. We knew that the JVP candidate will loose even his deposit and that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will go over the 50% mark with ease.

Jehan Perera’s analysis, as usual, is based on the simplistic race-based projection of election outcomes, while holding in common with the Marxist writers that the Rajapaksas are synonymous with a brutal end to the war and fascist suppression of opposition. The Marxist political pundits are quite amnesic about the brutality of the end justifies even the bloodiest Bolshevik means” philosophy of their peers who have given the world a majority of Pol-Pot style dictators. Furthermore, these individuals have always been ready to write off the collaborationist pro-LTTE politics of the TNA, while pushing for  peace-talks” at any cost with terrorist Tigers and bashing the terrible Sinhala-Buddhists.

However, having been in power for nearly five years, all those who executed the regime change have none of their allegations proved in court. The JVP and Hela Urumaya” leaders were the most vociferous with their allegations against the Rajapaksas.  The Marxists pundits have found themselves in the same camp as the Western Capitalist powers and the strongly racist Tamil diaspora in their hatred of the Rajapaksas for different reasons. The West hated the Rajapaksas for not being subservient to them, while the Diaspora opposed them as they knew that as long as the Rajapaksas were in power, their plans for a separatist regime in the merged North-East will never come to fruition.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s electoral vote was no surprise to anyone who saw the Elpitiya vote. Take the Elpitiya percentages of votes going to the SLPP, UNP, and JVP, and add most of the North and East votes to the credit of the UNP after readjusting to a 100% total, and you get approximately what Gotabhaya has actually got.

So, how was this election result in a surprise to the political pundits?

Remember that these Pundits, the  Western Military strategists as well as the UNP leaders held that the war against Prabhakaran is unwinnable”, and that claims of victories in Alimankada (Elephant pass in the North) must be about some skirmishes in Paamankada (a Colombo suburb)?  After the war was over, the Center for Policy Alternatives,  as well as Yasmin Sooka’s outfit, claimed that the IDP camps were concentration camps and that the IDPs will never be resettled. The MacKenzie Institute, a Canadian Think Tank, was the first to reject these claims and being without substance.

Gotabhaya, during his tenure as the Defence secretary, proved, contrary to the claims of experts, that the war was winnable,. During his tenure as the head of the Urban Development Authority, he proved that an ugly and smelly city full of slums and undisciplined drivers could be tamed and made into the prettiest and cleanest city in South-East Asia. The Yahapalanaya” returned it back to its grim state. Now,  in securing his presidential bid, Gotabhaya has disproved the myth that no candidate can become president of Sri Lanka if the minorities are not with the candidate.

The whole point is, only a minority of the Tamil minority lives in the North and the East. A major part of the Tamil-speaking Sri Lankans lives among the Sinhalese. The old ethnic live-apart” political program launched by the Vellalar upper-crust Colombo-Tamil-Nationalist lawyers led by Chelvanayagam,  re-affirmed at Vaddukkoddai (aka Batakotte”), they fought for over thirty years, and resuscitated by the TNA, finds little resonance with the ordinary voter, be he Sinhalese or Tamil. They were appalled to see individuals like Mervyn de Silva, Sajin Vas Goonawardena and others, previously cast in black by the UNP itself, appearing on Sajith’s electoral platforms.  

The people wanted a good manager who will provide the stability, the administrative reconstruction, and facilities needed for the people to do what ordinary people do – the least of which is haggling over OruMitta” and Ekeeya constitutions”  for over 4 years while they do not even have their everyday material needs.

By M D P DISSANAYAKE

Dr P B Jayasundera brings three vital skills.  Financial management, Economic Policy implementation and Public Administration with extensive knowledge of Financial Regulations (FR).

In the past, he has successfully managed Spending against Budget.  But now as Presidential Secretary, he extends his arms right across.    He will not allow distributing, for example, SIL REDI during an election campaign even if the President wishes to do so. The President will have a Peace of Mind with PBJ in charge of the machine so that his attention could be diverted to drive his Policies.

In this role,  the person must be a Neutral Advisor, who cannot be bullied around. In this role, he or she must be a Protector of the Office of the Presidency.  In this role, he needs to ensure the Funds of the State are not released Light Heartedly.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 18 (AIR): As Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lankan President on Monday, discussions on dissolving Parliament and holding fresh elections have begun.

The Leader of the opposition and Gotabaya’s elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that with Gotabaya’s victory in the Presidential election, it is best to hold a parliamentary election as soon as possible.

The former President said that work cannot commence as the President is from one party while the cabinet, including the Prime Minister, is from another.

He said that the mandate of the people should be respected.

Sources in the Gotabaya’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) said they are having discussions with United National Party (UNP) to reach a consensus on dissolving the House.

As per the constitution, parliament cannot be dissolved till February next year unless the House passes a resolution to this effect with two-thirds majority.

Meanwhile, a meeting of UNP parliamentary group under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe failed to arrive at a decision on this issue in its meeting held today.

There were reports of heated exchanges between MPs loyal to him and to Sajith Premadasa, who lost the Presidential Election held on November 16.

Earlier, President Gotabaya Rajapakasa said that he will follow a neutral foreign policy and stay out of any conflict with world powers.

Gotabaya was sworn in as seventh President of Sri Lanka at a ceremony in Anuradhapura this morning. Speaking after the ceremony, the new President said he knew that the response to his request to the Tamil and Muslim community to join in his victory was less than expected.

However, as the new President, he had invited all to work together with him for the future prosperity of the country as true Sri Lankans. He also promised a technocratic and meritocratic system with no place for corruption.

(The featured image at the top shows Gotabaya Rajapaksa being sworn in in Anuradhapura)

By Shiran Illanperuma Xinhua Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

COLOMBO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua): Sri Lanka’s business community has expressed hope that the country’s new president would move forward with open market reforms, provide a conducive environment for local industries and attract foreign direct investments.

Sri Lanka’s Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya on Sunday afternoon confirmed that opposition candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidential election on Saturday.

International Business Council President Kosala Wickramanayake told Xinhua on Monday that the business community hoped Rajapaksa would accelerate the development of infrastructure projects, attract more foreign direct investment and provide a stable policy environment.

The business community welcomes the change,” Wickramanayake said.

Meanwhile, Chairman and Managing Director of Imperial Teas Group and Chairman of Colombo Tea Traders Association Jayantha Karunaratne told Xinhua that exporters would be looking to the new leadership to lower operating costs, improve access to credit, remove unfair taxes and provide policy assistance to make local exports competitive in the international market.

The business community accepts the choice of the people and we are ready to work with the new leadership to develop the economy of the country,” Karunaratne said.

According to Siri Hettige, professor emeritus of Sociology at the University of Colombo, the new president will have to bridge the widening gap between communities and deliver economic reforms to industrialize the country.”

Rajapaksa gained over 6.9 million, or 52 percent of the votes, defeating his opponent Sajith Premadasa from the ruling party, who gained over 5.5 million, or 42 percent of the votes.

After the final election results were announced declaring him the winner, Rajapaksa vowed to represent all communities regardless of their race and religious identity.(The featured image at the top shows tea being packed in the Stassen factory. Photo: Tang Lu)

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 18 (newsin.asia): The United States on Monday congratulated the people of Sri Lanka on their democratic presidential election and said that it looks forward to working with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

In a statement released by the US embassy here, Washington said: Sri Lanka has continued to show the strength and resilience of its republic with a free, fair, and transparent presidential election befitting Asia’s oldest democracy. We commend the Elections Commission, civil society and government authorities for promoting a peaceful election.”

We are ready to continue our work with the new President and with all the people of Sri Lanka in supporting the country’s sovereignty through heightened good governance, expanded economic growth, the advancement of human rights and reconciliation, and in fostering an Indo-Pacific region where all countries can prosper.”

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවල ජනපතිගේ රුව ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරනවා වෙනුවට රාජ්‍ය ලාංඡනය ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරන ලෙස ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ උපදෙස් දීතිබෙනවා.

එහිදී ජනපතිවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් උපදෙස් දී ඇත්තේ මාර්ග නාමපුවරුවලින් ද දේශපාල​නඥයින්​ගේ රුව ඉවත්කිරීමට පියවර ගන්නා ලෙසයි.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මෙරට 7 වන විධායක ජනාධිපතිවරයා ලෙස දිවුරුම්දීමෙන් අනතුරුව දිවයින පුරා විවිධ සැමරුම් පැවැත්වුණා.

ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අනුරාධපුර ඓතිහාසික රුවන්වැලිසෑය ඉදිරිපිට ජනාධිපති ධූරයේ දිවුරුම් දීමත් සමගම රට පුරා ස්ථාන රැසක ගිනිකෙළි දල්වමින් ජනතාව සිය සතුට පළ කළා.

බස්නාහිර පළාතේ ස්ථාන රැසකම ජනතාව ප්‍රධාන මාර්ග අසලට පැමිණ කිරිබත් දන්සැල් පවත්වමින් සිය සතුට පලකළ ආකාරයයි මේ.

ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ජනාධිපති ධූරයට පත්වීම සිහිවීම පිණිස ශ්‍රී ලංකා රාජ්‍ය ඉංජිනේරු සංස්ථා සේවකයින් මෙලෙස පැල සිටුවීමේ වැඩසටහනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කළා.

මේ අතර දිවයිනේ අනෙකුත් පළාත්වල ජනතාවද විවිධාකාරයෙන් සිය සතුට සැමරුවා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

පාරිශුද්ධත්වයේ සංකේතය වන සුදු නෙළුම් මල තේමාව කර ගනිමින් මෙරට 7 වන විධායක ජනපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ නිල ධජය නිර්මාණය කර තිබෙනවා.

කොඩියේ ප්‍රධාන වර්ණය ලෙස යොදාගෙන ඇත්තේ කුරහන් ධාන්‍යයේ වර්ණය වන තද දුඹුරු පැහැයයි.

ජනාධිපති ධජයේ නෙළුම් මලෙන් පාලකයා සතු නිර්මලභාවයත්, පිවිතුරු පාලනයත් පිළිඹිබු කෙරෙනවා.

නෙළුමේ කලංකයේ සිට සිව් දිශාවන්ට විහිදෙන සුත්‍රිකා මගින් නිරූපණය වන්නේ කීර්තිය සැම අත පැතිරී යෑමයි.

ඒ වටා ඇති කහ පැහැති රවුමෙන් ප්‍රඥාව ද සුදු පැහැති රවුමෙන් සත්‍යවාදී බවද නිරූපණය කෙරෙනවා.

සිව් කොන පිහිටි බෝපත් හතරෙන් බුද්ධාගම සහ ඉන් ජාතියට ලැබුණු ආභාෂයත් උට්ඨාන සම්පදා, ආරක්ඛ සම්පදා, කල්‍යාණ මිත්තතා සහ සමජීවිතා යන ව්‍යග්ගපජ්ජ සූත්‍රයේ සඳහන් මෙලොව යහපතට හේතු වන කරුණු 4 නිරූපණය වනවා.

සිව්කොන පිහිටි නාමල් සතරෙන් ජාත්‍යන්තර සබදතා නිරූපණය වන අතර, එහි තැඹිලි පැහැයෙන් දෙමළ ජනතාව ද කොළ පැහැයෙන් මුස්ලිම් ජනතාව ද නිරූපිතයි.

එකිනෙකා අභිමුඛව පිහිටුවා ඇති වී කරල් සහ ඒ අතර ඇති කුරහන් මල් සහිත රාමුවෙන් නිරුපණය වන්නේ සශ්‍රිකත්වයයි.

කොඩියේ ප්‍රධෘන වර්ණය ලෙස කුරහන් ධාන්‍ය යේ වර්ණය වන තද දුඹුරු පැහැය යොදාගෙන ඇත්තේ ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පැවත එන කෘෂිකාර්මික පදනම මුල්කරගත් ජන මූල පාරම්පරික නායකත්වය සංකේතවත් කිරීමේ අරමුණින්.

එක සමාන පළලකින් යුත් සුදු පටිය මගින් සියලු අතින් සලසන ආරක්ෂාව නිරූපණය කෙරෙනවා.

ඊට පිටතින් ඇති කහ පටිය මගින් නිරූපණය කෙරෙන්නේ ජාතීන් අතර එකමුතුව, සාමය සහ අන්‍යෝන්‍ය අවබෝධයත් ඒ තුළ පවත්නා ජීව ගුණයයි.

නව ජනාධිපති ධජය නිර්මාණය කර තිබෙන්නේ ප්‍රවීන නිර්මාණකරුවෙක් වන ජගත් ජයසිංහ මහතායි

Courtesy Hiru News

Lawyers of Rayynor Silva, Chairman of HIRU TV, sends letters of demand to MP Mangala Samaraweera and two others for recent defamatory comments made against him and his family demanding 1 Billion rupees each.

Hindustan Times

China on Monday congratulated the newly-elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, saying Beijing is ready to work with the new leadership for high-quality” cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the ambitious intercontinental connectivity project launched by President Xi Jinping.

The Rajapaksa family, including the new president and his elder brother, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, are considered close to Beijing. It was under the elder Rajapaksa’s presidential reign between 2005 and 2015 that Beijing emerged as a key economic ally and major investor of the war-torn country.

Sri Lanka has successfully held the presidential election, which is a major agenda political agenda at home. We are pleased to see that and offer our sincere congratulations to Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his success,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang, said on Monday.

China and Sri Lanka are strategic cooperative partners with sincere mutual assistance everlasting friendship,” he said.

We stand ready to on the basis of respect, equality and mutual benefit work with the new leadership and the government for high-quality BRI cooperation and greater progress in bilateral ties to bring more tangible benefits to two countries and their people,” Geng said at the regular ministry conference.

Rajapaksa was the defence secretary – during his elder brother’s presidency – at the end of the civil war with Tamil rebels.

China at the time was one of the main suppliers of arms and ammunition for the Sri Lankan army.

Since the end of the civil war in May 2009, Beijing has emerged as Colombo’s key investor in infrastructure across the country, a development New Delhi has monitored closely.

China has repeatedly denied that its massive loans to Colombo have pushed the country into a debt trap. Chinese officials have said Beijing, on the contrary, is helping Colombo out of that trap.

Quoting a report by the Lankan Central Bank, state news agency Xinhua reported last month that by the end of 2018 Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt volume was about $52 billion, $6 billion of which was from China, making up only 11.5% of the total debt. 

Courtesy Ceylon Today

P. B. Jayasundera has been appointed as the Presidential Secretary to the newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He served as an Economist, Economic Adviser and the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury from 2009 until 2015 during the tenure of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Courtesy Ceylon Today

A news saying that Major General Kamal Gunaratne has been appointed as the Defence Sectary is circulating on social media.

However, when Ceylon Today Web contacted the media unit of the Defence Ministry, they denied and said they cannot confirm the news.

The Defence Ministry said that they weren’t notified about such a news.

Courtesy Hiru News

The UNP has decided to hand over the government to the new President.

The decision has been taken following a special meeting of UNP Parliamentarians chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe this afternoon

However, party presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa was conspicuously absent in this discussion.

In addition to the UNP ministers who resigned yesterday following the defeat of their candidate, Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka and Ashok Abeysinghe have also tendered their resignations today.

Meanwhile, Omalpe Sobhitha Thera reiterates that the Prime Minister should follow suit his Cabinet ministers and leave room to appoint a new Cabinet.

The Thera was addressing a media briefing held in Embilipitiya today.

Sudath Gunasekara Kandy

Your victory as well as that of the country is a foregone conclusion. I am repeating, you will be definitely starting with at least 65 lakhs the minimum that is what the SLPP UPF and SLFP got at the 2018 Local Government Elections as I see. Looking at the present trend no one should be surprised even if it exceeds 70 lahks.

(This is a copy of an email sent to Gothabhaya on 14.Oct 2019)

Extremely Important

Whoever opens this note please bring it to Mr. Gotabhays immediate attention.

Dear Mr President Elect; Gothabahaya Rajapaksa

Dr SudatH Gunasekara Former Permanent Secretary to Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranayaka the late Prime Minister  and President Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association (1991-1994)

14.11.2019.

Dear Mr. President Elect.

With congratulations in advance and my heartfelt well wishes as I have already indicated in my previous mails to you, your victory as well as that of the country is a foregone conclusion. I am repeating, you will be definitely starting with at least 65 lakhs the minimum that is what the SLPP UPF and SLFP got at the 2018 Local Government Elections as I see. Looking at the present trend no one should be surprised even if it exceeds 70. Lahks.

This will get enhanced unexpectedly by gains from UNP. JVP and New votes and even with Tamil and Muslim votes we never got last time. I don’t think you should have any doubt about that.

 I am writing this note to you to make a suggestion to draw your immediate attention to work out the majority in Parliament with a target of at least 125 majority for you to enable to appoint MR as the PM immediately after you swear in as the President to complete this unprecedented mammoth victory in the political history of this country.

Already you have solid 93 +Wijedasa and Ratana Thera. That is 95 as I see from outside. Even Vasanta Senanayaka might vote with you. That makes it 96. But going by past experience he is very unpredictable. So the bear Minimum you need is only 18 more members.  You need to get this number from the disgusted UNP MPP as the TNA 16 will always stand with UNP and even the 6 JVP might go with the UNP as they have done in the past 5 years. But again as you can’t afford to take a risk we have to have a solid majority. So that even last minute crossings we still have 115. Whatever it is worth, I suggest you have a target of 125 in the House So that you will definitely have more than 115.

                Please remember how you collect another 15 Members is immaterial. Because the end justifies the means, as in this case you are doing it in the broader interest of the whole nation. The intention is absolutely good. It is bona fide. Therefore practicing a bit of Machiavellian tactics could be fully justified, although, I don’t agree with his concept of statecraft fully, as an Asian. I have no doubt that you must have already made some arrangement to entice them to join you to get the required majority.

                 What is more in this instance is by appointing MR as the PM you are ending a four and half years of absolute anarchy in this country and restoring political stability and also ending uncertainty in all fields. This will also enable you to have a people friendly new and trimmed Cabinet in place of the present set of thieves and tormentors. If we fail to do that, obviously, then we will have to tolerate Ranil and his pack of pole cats and  skunks and their ominous odor for another four months until we wipe out all these undesirables in one shot, in and island wide political landslide at the next General Electio. 

                With best wishes,

                 Yours,
Sudath Gunasekara

                 14 11, 2019. Hanthana Mahanuwara

Sarath Bulathsinghala

Congratulations and well done. It is with enormous pride that we accept you as the 7^th President of Sri Lanka. Your conducted an exemplary campaign which culminated in your getting elected as the President of our beleaguered Motherland, Sri Lanka.

I am sure your election will see the end of dirty politics as we know it today. Those who threw mud at you bit the dust the day before yesterday – on 16 Nov.  The unpatriotic UNP is well-nigh done and finished! The decisive loss Sajith Premadasa at the Presidential Election  shows the bankruptcy of his approach to alleviating poverty  and in general of the mudslinging, corrupt UNP politics in Sri Lanka. His personal loss at Hambantota magnifies his political incompetency manifolds!

A decisive chunk of the votes that Sajith Premadasa received were from Tamil Racists TNA and Muslim Extremists of all hues in the North and East. Their racist demands before the elections you rightly threw in the wastepaper basket and from the voting pattern it is clear that they are yet to learn how to coexist. Reconciliation is a two-way street and it is apparent from the voting pattern they know little of it!

These mono-ethnic concentrations in the North and East constitute a clear and present danger to the existence of Sri Lanka. If Tamils and Muslims can live, work and prosper in the Sinhala majority South, equally it must be true for the Sinhalese in the North and East. The ethnic imbalances must be corrected in a way that is good for all Sri Lankans. Continued development of the road and rail network, the airports and the Internet will put an end to this isolation and mono-ethnic sickness. We have to forge a unified nation based on mutual respect and not on ‘dog-eat-dog’ mentality. The wholesale buying and alienation of land for worthless Rupees and political patronage should be stopped to prevent mono-ethnic enclaves all over the Island. 

Now that you – nation’s beloved GOTA is in the driving seat the long 5 year political drought is over and all well-meaning Sri Lankans can ‘go to work’! The nation lost valuable 5 years of progress and in the process ended up poorer. The selfishness of Sirisena and his lackeys, the traitorous agenda of Ranil and his cohorts to make Sri Lanka a Failed State brought untold miseries to the average man and woman. Internationally the nation was compromised on many fronts – political, economic and security.  Investors left the island in droves for they did not have any confidence on a state that robs itself! The final nail in the coffin was the much tooted mostly one sided agreements to be inked with the USA. The long-awaited end of Jadapalanaya that came into being on that unfortunate date in Jan 2015 is now over and hopefully for good!

Let the Law and Due Process take place in handling corruption and frauds. All those who are responsible for the Bond Scams and other similar scams must be allowed to be brought in before the law and dues extracted of the stolen wealth. The nation waited with utmost patience for the last  5 years to see justice. Apparently, Sirisena locked the Presidential Inquiry report of the Bond Scam and other Presidential Commission reports well away from the reach of the Law. These reports made with people’s money must be available for public scrutiny.

Making Sri Lanka a failed state was Ranil’s main agenda given to him by his masters in the Christian West. The Central Bank Bond Scams, planned well ahead of the Jan 2015 Presidential Elections, the resulting high Bank Interest Rates, higher taxation, pauperizing of the farmers and other agricultural industries put paid to the economy that was running over 7% per annum and now brought down to 1.6% per annum. The food security was compromised by the numerous pressures brought in against the farmers. The export markets were destroyed by the dilution of Sri Lanka brand products with imported look alike trash.

All these and others were aimed at making Sri Lanka a failed state as well as a country highly vulnerable to foreign sanctions. No country in the world prospers by destroying the well-being of the indigenous farmer. Most developed countries protect their farmers with many subsidies, soft loans and outright protection when deemed necessary. In these countries, the farmers are usually rich! It was countries that were self-sufficient in their food supplies that made way of the industrialization of their economies. The Industrialization of Japan only took place after they became self-sufficient in their rice supplies in the 13% cultivable land in their possession. To this day the Japanese farmer is a highly protected entity! The extent of Ranil’s treachery know no bounds!

The responsibility of forging a new nation is on your shoulder. The patriotic business community, the farmers, the small-scale entrepreneur and the youth of our nation are on your side. It is up to you to harvest this potential for the good of the nation. You rightly promised to bring in just the right combination of economic factors including lowering of taxes and in some cases their outright elimination. The poverty alleviation measures and others measures you have brought in your manifesto will sensitize and spur the nation into production mode. Once the land is made secure and safe, investors will flow in to take advantage of what Sri Lanka can offer to the world. It is the tourist industry that can bring the quickest results to our failing economy for an excellent tourist infrastructure is already in place – waiting for the customers!

It is time for the SLFP and UNP to wither away. They are slowly but surely outliving their usefulness and use by date. The division of the majority Sinhalese between these two selfish and impotent political parties led to making racial and religious minorities the kingmakers of Sri Lanka. These Shylocks continue to ask for the proverbial ‘pound of flesh’ in return for their ‘favors’. Their tactics and antics bled the nation ever since the beginning of the 20^th Century and then after Independence for the last 70 year and during the 30 year Tamil Racist Terrorist War. The role of the TNA as the main Opposition Party in the Parliament should be an eye-opener for what their intentions are.  The end results are Easter Sunday Bombings and the 13 demands from the TNA and the voting pattern we witnessed on 16 Nov.

It is with a sigh of relief that we notice that you were able to come to power without giving into the extremist demands be they racial or religious. The well thought out leaving of the extremist elements from your campaign team augurs well for the future of Sri Lanka. This is a good start and it is time to build on these strengths for there are many in the UNP and the SLFP who wish well for Mother Lanka and who are aware and understand the danger of balkanizing Sri Lanka. Balkanizing simply means unending war and enmity across a divided land across disputed borders and water rights. Closing ranks of the patriots is the only way ahead for Sri Lanka!  At the present moment a meeting of Sri Lanka lovers can now only happen under the Pohottuwa umbrella!

National Service for all youngsters. This is a measure that will allow building the character of our youth as well as their racial and religious integration. This is the foundation of patriotism and a strong and faithful military. Taking our immediate past history a strong military is a sin quoi non for Sri Lanka

It is extremely important how we handle India. They have justifiable security concerns regarding their Southern Flank. Only way Sri Lanka can meet their concerns and be interference free is to have a strong military and Intelligence services. Sri Lanka should be a major force for the protection of the Southern Sea Lanes as well of the South Indian Ocean. Hambantota Harbour lease with the Chinese must be re-negotiated if at all it is possible at this late hour. It was with the intention of making Sri Lanka a playground for competing powers that Ranil literally sold this valuable asset to the Chinese. One can easily see how the Indians and the US are maneuvering in Sri Lanka to get a piece of the action. Sri Lanka will have to be very smart if we are to remain a free and peaceful nation. This responsibility is now on your shoulder. We also must develop strong bonds with other Buddhist Nations in Asia – Myanmaar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Singapore – for we have much in common on all fronts including security and the well-being of our age old cultures.

Sri Lanka must be made governable. The traitorous lowering of the minimum voting percentage to 5% ( from 12.5%)  in order to curry favor with the Muslims by myopic Premadasa Sr has made the political institutions in Sri Lanka ungovernable. This must be corrected.  Rabble rousers who lost even their deposits including the JVP have no place in main stream politics. Perhaps they have a role in trade union activity but no other. The behavior of the JVP in main stream politics have not been of any benefit to the political process for their political representation is minimal and do not represent the needs of the nation by any stretch of imagination.

We do not live forever. Making way for succession is an important part of your work. It is of utmost importance that the future that you intend to build for our beloved Motherland is left in secure hands – most importantly and not necessarily in the hands of the Rajapakse nephews. They must come to prominence on their own steam and not on the shoulders of fathers and uncles!

Nepotism though not right is not necessarily wrong either. Otherwise we would not have you as our beloved President now. Sri Lanka needs leadership material and we are seriously short of good leaders. When found they must be cherished and not vilified. This is the reason tens of thousands still throng wherever the Rajapakses go. Ever since you started working as the Defence Secretary and was performing well, I knew you were Presidential material. I have been proven right today and I am happy for that! A lot depends on how you lead the nation in the coming months and years!

We are a grateful nation. By and large majority of us do not forget easily nor are ungrateful. Have no second thoughts – it is a grateful nation that is bringing another Rajapakse to power today!

We wish your presidency well. We wish you continued good health and long life. Have strong faith in the tenets of Buddhism and May you govern the nation with Dasa Raja Dharma!

May the Triple Gem Bless you and May All Gods guide and protect you in all your future endeavors. 

Sarath Bulathsinghala

18 Nov 2019

Idrees Ali CourtesyReuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned two Army officers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL platoon commander who was demoted for actions in Iraq, a move critics have said would undermine military justice and send a message that battlefield atrocities will be tolerated.

The White House said in a statement Trump granted full pardons to First Lieutenant Clint Lorance and Major Mathew Golsteyn, and ordered that the rank Edward Gallagher held before he was convicted in a military trial this year be restored.

For more than two hundred years, presidents have used their authority to offer second chances to deserving individuals, including those in uniform who have served our country. These actions are in keeping with this long history,” the statement said.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the Department of Defense has confidence in the military justice system.

The President is part of the military justice system as the Commander-in-Chief and has the authority to weigh in on matters of this nature,” the spokesperson said.

In recent weeks, Pentagon officials had spoken with Trump about the cases, provided facts and emphasized the due process built into the military justice system.

    In 2013, prosecutors accused Lorance of illegally ordering the fatal shootings of two men on motorcycles while on patrol in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. He was found guilty of two counts of murder.

    Last year, Golsteyn, an Army Green Beret, was charged with murdering an Afghan man during a 2010 deployment to Afghanistan.

    Gallagher, a decorated SEAL team platoon leader, was accused of committing various war crimes while deployed in Iraq in 2017.

In July, a military jury acquitted him of murdering a captured Islamic State fighter by stabbing the wounded prisoner in the neck, but it convicted him of illegally posing with the detainee’s corpse. That had led to his rank being reduced.

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on honesty and transparency in healthcare prices inside the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

Golsteyn received word of his pardon from Trump, who spoke with him by telephone for several minutes, Golsteyn’s attorney Phillip Stackhouse said in a statement.

Our family is profoundly grateful for the president’s action. We have lived in constant fear of this runaway prosecution,” Golsteyn was quoted saying in the statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the president’s action.

With this utterly shameful use of presidential powers, Trump has sent a clear message of disrespect for law, morality, the military justice system, and those in the military who abide by the laws of war,” Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement.

    In May, Trump talked about how he was considering pardons for U.S. troops charged with war crimes, a move he acknowledged would be controversial but that he said was justified because they had been treated unfairly.”

    The overwhelming majority of pardons are granted to people who have already been convicted and served time for a federal offense.

    But presidents have occasionally granted pardons preemptively to individuals accused of or suspected of a crime.

    The most famous such case was the blanket pardon President Gerald Ford bestowed on his predecessor, Richard Nixon, after Nixon’s resignation during the Watergate scandal in 1974.

Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Sandra Maler and Daniel Wallis

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Sri Lanka re-reversed a regime change orchestrated in January 2015 which spiraled Sri Lanka towards a wave of catastrophic changes unbeknown to most, outcomes which will be felt only as the new administration now takes over. The election is one that will enter history books for several reasons and resonates the resilience of a proud nation grappling to preserve their history and heritage protecting the islands every inch of turf. As we enter the closure of 2019 and look ahead to 2020 it has a lot of promise in store but there are some factors that needs to be laid out openly and some messages that need to get drilled into the minds of people.

Gotabaya Rajapakse has become the 7^th President of Sri Lanka and will be taking oaths on 18 November, the birthday of his elder brother Mahinda Rajapakse in Anuradhapura – the first citadel of Sri Lanka & where sacred Sri Maha Bodhi is enshrined. The two brothers will enter history books. Poland had twin brothers who were both President & Prime Minister! Mahinda Rajapakse served as President, Prime Minister, Opposition Leader and likely to be Prime Minister again all in a space of 5 years! Without a doubt they will be envied by many which sadly stands out as reason for most of the ill-feelings towards the Rajapakses.

Why has the Rajapakse’s received the wrath of many? For the West it is obviously the elimination of their pet LTTE on which West was riding to exert influence over Sri Lanka politically and economically. The co-partners UN/NGO nexus with their local stooges played a pivotal role in driving a steady anti-Rajapakse wave that ignored its development and post-2009 programs to divert attention against Rajapakse, though within camp, too, they had numerous shortcomings which should have been immediately addressed. These in fact became golden opportunities used during the regime change campaign.

UNP just blew the chance it was given with a string of corruptions, mismanagement and treacheries some of which are unforgiveable. The manner they have allowed public sector personnel to be a law unto themselves is unacceptable. Today some of these treacherous secretaries who have helped sign treacherous bilateral agreements have fled the nation while others have helped tweak the law to the advantage of the enemies. These treacheries now need to be investigated and culprits duly served justice. Their crimes are no small ones.

We have seen a very significant campaign unfolding. The outgoing President left on a controversial note surrounding a prison pardoning. The UNP without fielding its own candidate once more opted to field a candidate under the infamous swan symbol. It placed its trust in a plethora of parties and individuals that were the team that brought the outgoing President to power. That victory came with the same minority bloc vote while also breaking the Sinhala vote and winning a bonus in anti-Rajapakse votes.

The SLPP candidate was finally named Gotabaya Rajapakse whose candidature was more of a problem to the competition than those proposing to vote for him. Gotabaya was a victim of political/diplomatic/NGO victimization via courts both in Sri Lanka & overseas with a $ funded campaign that did not stop at anything to tarnish his image and raise doubts about his candidacy via an unbelievable fake news campaign that even made a joke out of the US State Dept by changing the spokespersons dress and dubbing her and no action from US raises eyebrows as to whether they were aware of it!

The MCC agreement together with the exposure on the immunities that were to be given to ACSA and SOFA & US Peace Corps raised alarm bells among the nationalists as to what would become of Sri Lanka & the Asian region if it becomes the base for military maneuvers and manipulations which Sri Lanka wished to play no role in antagonizing its traditional friends. The Maha Sangha and nationalist organizations played a pivotal role in carrying the message to the masses that made the majority realize that the election required them to rise to defend the sovereignty & territorial integrity of the nation.

For Sajith campaigning meant solidifying the UNP bloc vote and garnering as many bloc vote via the minority leaders who were all part of the UNP team. The campaign did not require any national policies for it was only meant to appeal to and satisfy the bloc votes. The assurance of TNA’s 13 demands was always a question that many watched to see how far Tamils aligned to TNA separatism and Muslims to Muslim fundamentalism. The voter map sadly established that answer. The result destroyed 2 myths – May 2009 showed that the War” can be won and November 2019 election victory showed elections can be won without North East votes.

What can we make out of the North & East votes?

Ethno-religious political parties has become a bane and divider of people. The people are misled by these leaders who use minorities as their pawns for personal bargaining for themselves. However, the elders cannot destroy the youth by them shouldering divisive politics and separatist notions brainwashed into their minds by their political leaders. Gotabaya Rajapakse’s political campaign will go down as one of the cleanest with no posters and encouraging tree planting as well as drawing youth into a future of hope. He stuck to policy and explaining how policy will be implemented. There was no character assassinations or mudslinging on his stages except to alert people of impending dangers to the Nation & its people. The Youth in particular were promised a better and brighter future.

The Tamil & Muslim youth cannot be disassociated from these programs by their elders nursing separatism & fundamentalism. Therefore, the new government must adopt new methods to embrace the youth and children to integrate and leave the separatist elders to take their hatred and revenge to their grave. The youth deserve far more than hatred to be passed from their elders. These are long term efforts but worth every effort.

India was one of the first to extend congratulatory message to the new President. It is to India’s own advantage that they develop genuine and non-bullying methods of diplomatic relations in realizing the threat to peace with West entering Asia’s shore. The Indian Ocean Rim as a Zone of Peace is something that India needs to work with Sri Lanka on and ensure Sri Lanka does not end up another Middle East or Africa. Asia’s future is development not wars and India must realize that this is a priority that requires a trilateral approach with India-Sri Lanka & China’s inclusive diplomacy. Russia must also play a pivotal role. The world should no longer be a militarized zone but one with shared development dividends for mutual benefit. No country can force Sri Lanka to disassociate with countries that have been Sri Lanka’s friend in times of need both in the past & present.

The West will no doubt re-strategize and return to the UN to again bring in tremendous pressure upon Sri Lanka using their usual chorus of ‘war crimes’ ‘human rights’ ‘law & order’ state of democracy vocabulary. This is where Sri Lanka needs to place patriotic diplomats to handle Sri Lanka’s diplomacy to Sri Lanka’s advantage on international platforms and not have representatives working for the enemy. We do not need any more PrasadK’s in foreign service. A shake up of the foreign ministry is a must.

GR has a vision and we saw that from his work as Defense Secretary but a single man cannot rebuild a nation – it is a clarion call for all citizens to step forward as citizens disassociating from petty party politics. From the results in key pro-UNP belts it is clear that they had put country first and that is a very noteworthy sign that people can change thinking of the country and it should give hope to minorities too that they need not live wearing the mask of a minority with the mindset that they are marginalized but instead think of becoming a stakeholder and partner in development & sustainability. People have been victims of mind conditioning – to make demands alone without asking what they have contributed to society and the nation to make demands – what they have reciprocated to make unfair demands. It is time they should pose these questions to themselves. Reconciliation is no one way street – without reciprocity and without duty it does not hold water.

The academics – professionals, public & private sector will play a major role in the future. Let 2020 begin with a set of goals that look forward to rebuilding the nation with hope – with prosperity where new programs will leverage every level of society a level above what they were. The drastic and dangerous legislative changes made by politicians and public officials need to all be revisited and corrected as an immediate action. Any new changes must come with open discourse to ensure that the interests of the country and people and future generations come first.

We must also mention the nationalists that have always stood as pillars and guardians of Mother Lanka. They have known when dangers loom and come forward to alert and avert the dangers. If not for their silent and vocal contribution the President would not have got close to 7million votes – a first for any President contesting an election and a first for a non-politician to obtain. The volunteers and expats who arrived to vote for the first time on behalf of their birth home deserve much gratitude. No paid campaign could have matched how they contributed to this victory – so many unsung heroes and heroines cannot be made but they did a major contribution to this victory.

Sri Lanka must streamline the national security first – shortcomings, negligence, and disregard for national security enabled innocent people to die while allowing fundamentalisms to take shape. These must be nipped in the bud as we do not wish to walk into another 30 years of death and destruction.

Gotabaya Rajapakse extended the leaf of peace to all and it is those that rejected who must now come forward and attempt to retake that leaf of peace with good intention as Gotabaya Rajapakse is after all the President of all. The minorities must learn to live in an inclusive society and it is good to rethink how they have voted. The result showcased where the extremism lay and that is not healthy for the Youth and it is the Youth that matters.

In Gotabaya Rajapakse, we have a straight forward leader – therefore the citizens must also lean to bat straight. The floating voters and youth vote realized this and made their voice clear. Mudslinging has a short life span and people realized that they needed a future of policies and not character assassinations.

The divine powers have always guarded this nation and this time Sri Lanka has been very fortunate.

To everyone planning to gang up again and torment the new leadership – our kind appeal to you, please leave this nation to breath a bit, allow us the solace to rethink how Sri Lanka should progress, we have not harmed any nation or its security and we never will, all that we ask from the world is to leave us alone to gather our broken pieces and put it all together on our terms and sort out our differences amongst us and by us because like in any home, only we know how to put the puzzle back together again.

Please give us a little room and non-interference into our internal affairs.

Shenali D Waduge

MEDIA RELEASE Mahinda Rajapaksa Leader of the Opposition

The candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Joint Opposition, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has won a decisive victory at this presidential election. I request all our party activists and supporters to celebrate this victory peacefully and without causing inconvenience to anyone. The people have voted decisively in our favour at this election because of disaffection with the conduct of this government over the past five years. Therefore it is our duty by the people of this country, to conduct ourselves in a manner that will not inconvenience anyone.

We will be initiating a programme of action to deliver justice to all those who have been subject to persecution and harassment by this government over the past five years. I salute the people of Sri Lanka for decisively defeating the 2015 style attempt made to once again purloin the mandate of the people through backroom deals with various chauvinistic ethnic and religious groupings organized around narrow political agendas. The time has now come to put an end to this dangerous game of promoting religious and ethnic chauvinism for political purposes.

This presidential election differs from all previous presidential elections, because of the complications in the system of governance brought about by the 19^th Amendment. After the new President takes oaths, we will be studying the provisions of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution and planning our immediate programme of action accordingly. We now have an opportunity to give a sense of direction to this country which has been drifting rudderless for five years. As stated in our candidate’s election manifesto, it will be necessary to rebuild the economy from the bottom upwards and to introduce constitutional and legal reforms to achieve this objective.

We will keep the people informed about further developments in this regard in the coming days. In the face of the unequivocal people’s mandate delivered at this election, we believe the government will abide by parliamentary traditions as appropriate in such circumstances.

Victory to the motherland and to the patriotic people of Sri Lanka!

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Leader of the Opposition

මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනය මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ විපක්‍ෂ නායක

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්‍ෂයේ සහ ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂයේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා මෙම ජනාධිපතිවරණය විශිෂ්ඨ ලෙස ජයගෙන ඇත. අවුරුදු පහක් මුළුල්ලේ අනේකවිධ දුෂ්කරතා විද ලබාගත් මේ ජයග්‍රහණය ඉතාමත්ම සාමකාමීව, අනුන්ට කිසිඳු කරදරයක් නොවන ආකාරයට භුක්ති විදින මෙන් මම අපගේ පාක්‍ෂිකයන්ගෙන් මෙන්ම සියලුම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවාසී ජනතාවගෙන්ද ඉල්ලා සිටිමි.

මහජනතාව මේ තීරණාත්මක ජයග්‍රහණය අප වෙත ලබාදී තිබෙන්නේ, පසුගිය අවුරුදු පහ පුරාවටම පැවති මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ ක්‍රියා පිළිවෙත එපා වී ඇති නිසාය. එම නිසා කිසිවෙකුටත් කරදරයක් නොවෙන ආකාරයට හැසිරීම අපි පොදු මහජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් ඉටු කළ යුතු යුතුකමකි. පසුගිය අවුරුදු පහ මුලුල්ලේ වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුවේ දඩයමට හා අසාධාරණකම් වලට ලක්වූවන්ට සාධාරණයක් ඉටු කිරීම පිණිස අපි විශේෂ වැඩපිළිවෙලක් යොදන බවට මේ අවස්ථාවේදී මම ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටිමි.

අපගේ ප්‍රතිවාදීන් 2015 දී කළ ආකාරයට නොයෙක් පටු දේශපාලන න්‍යාය පත්‍රයන් සහිත ජාතිවාදී, ආගම්වාදී බලවේග එකතුකරගෙන මෙවරත් ජනවරම කොල්ලකෑමට ගත් උත්සාහය ව්‍යර්ථ කිරීම ගැන මම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවාසී ජනතාවට මාගේ ප්‍රණාමය පුද කර සිටිමි. ජාතිවාදය වපුරවමින් කරන මේ භයානක දේශපාලන සූදුව අවසන් කිරීමට කාලය දැන් එළඹී තිබේ. මේ ජනාධිපතිවරණය මීට කළින් පැවති සියලුම ජනාධිපතිවරණ වලට වඩා බෙහෙවින්ම වෙනස් වන්නේ, 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය විසින් ඇති කර තිබෙන ව්‍යාකූලතාවය නිසාය.

නව ජනාධිපතිවරයා දිවුරුම් දීමෙන් පසු, 19 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයෙන් ඇති කර තිබෙන අලුත් තත්වය ගැන සමාලෝචනයක් කර, පවතින නීතිමය රාමුව තුළ ඉදිරි කටයුතු කරගෙන යෑමට අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු. අවුරුදු පහක් මුලුල්ලේ අයාලේ ගිය රට යළිත් හරි මඟට ගැනීමට අපට දැන් අවස්ථාව උදාවී ඇත. අපගේ අපේක්‍ෂකයාගේ ජනාධිපතිවරණ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයේ සඳහන් පරිදි, මේ සඳහා රටේ ආර්ථිකය මුල සිට ගොඩනැගීමට මෙන්ම රටේ පාලන තන්ත්‍රය හා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව පවා සම්පූර්ණ ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණයට ලක් කිරීමට සිදුවෙනු ඇත. මේ පිළිබඳව තව නොබෝ දිනකින් වැඩි විස්තර අපි ජනතාව වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු.

මේ මැතිවරණයේදී ප්‍රකාශ වී ඇති ජනවරම හමුවේ ආණ්ඩුව පාර්ලිමේන්තු සම්ප්‍රදායට ගරු කරමින් කටයුතු කරනු ඇතැයි අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු. අපගේ මාතෘ භූමියටත්, සියලු දේශමාමක ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ජනතාවටත් ජයවේවා!

මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ

විපක්‍ෂ නායක  

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

2018 අවුරුද්දේ නොවැම්බර් මාසයේ 23 වැනි දා සිකුරාදා පූර්ව භාග 11:07 ට ගරු විජිත ‍හේරත් මන්ත්‍රීතුමා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී සභාව කල් තැබීමේ යෝජනාවක් ඉදිරිපත් කළා. ඒ, ගරු කථානායකතුමාත් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ගරු මන්ත්‍රීතුමන්ලාත් සහභාගී වුනු සොඳුරු ජවනිකා ගණනාවක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළ රඟ දැක්වෙමින් තිබුණු දවස් කීපයක්. ගරු කථානායකතුමා පන්දුවක් දැම්මාම ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ගරු මන්ත්‍රිතුමන්ලා (විශේෂයෙන් ම ගරු විජිත හේරත් මන්ත්‍රිතුමා සහ ගරු අනුර ක්‍රමාර දිසානායක මන්ත්‍රිතුමා) ඒකට ඉතාමත් චමත්කාර අන්දමින් පහර දෙනවා. ඒ වැඩේ අනිත් පැත්තටත් වෙනවා. හරි ම සොඳුරුයි.

ඉතින් එදා ඔය කියපු වෙලාවට ගරු විජිත හේරත් මන්ත්‍රිතුමා සභාව කල් තැබීමේ යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කරලා විනාඩියක් ගත වෙන්න කලින් (හරියට ම කියනවා නම් පූර්ව භාග 11:08 ට) ගරු කථානායකතුමා “ගරු අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මන්ත්‍රීතුමා” කියලා නම කතා කළා. ඒ වෙලාවේ නැගී සිටිය ගරු අනුර දිසානායක මන්ත්‍රීතුමා තමන්ගේ කතාව පවත්වන්න පටන් ගත්තා. ඒක පැයකටත් වඩා දීර්ඝ බොහොම සාරගර්භ දේශනයක්. මේ කතාව එදාට අදාළ හැන්සාඩ් වාර්තාවේ පිටු 12 ක් පුරා ම වාර්තා කෙරිලා තියෙනවා. ඉවත් කරපු කොටසුත් තිබුණා නම් වාර්තාව තවත් දිග වෙන්න තිබුණා.

මේ වගේ දිග කතා පවත්වන්න ගරු අනුර දිසානායක මන්ත්‍රීතුමා හරි ම රුසියා. මේවා කවුරුවත් අහනවා ද නැද්ද කියන එක එතුමා තකන්නේ නෑ. කවුරු ඇහුවාත් නැතත් කතා කරන එකයි වැදගත්!

‍මම මේ කියන්න හදන්නේ ඒ කතාව ඇතුළේ තියෙන ඉතාමත් සොඳුරු වචනයක් ගැන. ඒ තමයි “ශිෂ්ට” කියන වචනය. “ශිෂ්ට” කියන සොඳුරු වචනය කියද්දි “අශිෂ්ට” කියන නරක වචනයත් පාවිච්චි කරන්න වෙනවා.

“… මෙහි තිබෙන්නේ අශිෂ්ට දේශපාලනයක්. එදායින් පස්සේ අපේ රටේ අශිෂ්ට දේශපාලනයක් දියත් වන්න පටන් ගත්තා. අපි මේ රටේ පොදු ජනයාගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ මෙයයි. මෙවැනි අශිෂ්ටත්වයකට පත් වී තිබෙන දේශපාලනය ශිෂ්ටත්වය කරා ගෙන ඒමේ වගකීමක් අපට නැද්ද? … එම නිසා අපේ රටේ මේ අශිෂ්ටත්වයට පත් වී තිබෙන දේශපාලන ක්‍රමය වෙනස් කිරීම සඳහා දිගු අරගලයක් තිබෙනවා. …”

“… කුමන්ත්‍රණය අශිෂ්ට නම්, ඒකට එරෙහි සටනේ ශිෂ්ටත්වයේ සීමා මායිම් හොයන්න එපා කියලයි මම ජනාධිපතිවරයාට කියන්නේ. මේක අහගෙන ඉන්න ඕනෑ ජනාධිපතිවරයා. මේ කුමන්ත්‍රණය අශිෂ්ටයි. … ඒ නිසා ගරු කථානායකතුමනි, එවැනි කුමන්ත්‍රණයක් කරලා ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඊට පස්සේ කුමන්ත්‍රණය පරාජයට පත් කිරීමේ ශිෂ්ටත්වයේ හිල් හොයනවා. ජනාධිපතිවරයාට තවදුරටත් අයිතියක් නැහැ අපේ රටේ ශිෂ්ටත්වයේ හිල් හොයන්න. …”

“… අපි මේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පවත්වා ගත යුතු අවම ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී, අවම ශිෂ්ටත්වයේ දේශපාලනයක් පවත්වා ගෙන යෑම සඳහා උත්සාහ කරපු දේශපාලන ව්‍යාපාරයක්.”

“… පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී මේ යෝජනාව සම්මත වුණා ද, නැද්ද කියලා වග විභාගයට ලක් කරමින් සිටිනවා; ශිෂ්ටත්වය පිළිබඳව ප්‍රශ්න කරනවා. ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ශිෂ්ටත්වය පිළිබඳව ප්‍රශ්න කරන්නවත් අද අයිතියක් නෑ. අශිෂ්ට ම දේශපාලනය, ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය කළ දේශපාලනය …”

“එම නිසා ලංකාවේ දේශපාලන ඉතිහාසයේ අද අශිෂ්ටත්වයේ ඔටුනු පළඳාගෙන ඉන්නේ. (මූලාසනයේ අණ පරිදි ඉවත් කරන ලදී) මෙවැනි අශිෂ්ට තැනකට අපේ රටේ දේශපාලනය ගමන් කර තිබෙනවා.”

ඉතින් මෙන්න මේ වගේ ගරු ගාම්භීර වචන සෑහෙන ප්‍රමාණයක් පාවිච්චි කරලා අශිෂ්ටත්වයට පහර දීපු එතුමා ඉතාමත් සුන්දර වචන සෑහෙන ප්‍රමාණයක් යොදාගෙන එතුමන්ලා කරන වැඩවල ශිෂ්ටත්වය වනලා තියෙනවා.

පෘතුගීසින් අපේ රටට ආවෙත් අපිව ශිෂ්ට සම්පන්න කරන්න කියලා හිතාගෙන. එක අතකින් කඩුවක් ගත්තත් අනිත් අතින් බයිබලයක් ඇරගෙන ආවේ ඒ වැඩේ වෙනුවෙන් කියලයි කියන්නේ. මේ විදිහට අපි වගේ මිනිස්සුන්ව ශිෂ්ට සම්පන්න කිරීමේ වගකීම බයිබලයෙන් ම ඒ අයට පවරපු දේවකාරියක්නේ.

මෑත කාලයේ දී අපිව ශිෂ්ට සම්පන්න කිරීමේ වගකීම පවරාගෙන ඉන්නේ අපේ රටේ ඉන්න ලිබරල් භක්තිකයෝ. එතුමන්ලා හිතන විදිහට සිංහල බෞද්ධයෝ කියලා කියන්නේ මහ අශිෂ්ට ගති පැවතුම් තියෙන මනුස්ස කොට්ඨාශයක්. ඉතින් මේ අශිෂ්ටත්වයෙන් අපිව මුදවාගෙන ශිෂ්ට සම්පන්න මහත්තුරු බවට පත්කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් එතුමන්ලා මහන්සි වෙනවා.

මේ රටේ සාධාරණ සමාජයක් හදන්නත් එතුමන්ලා මහන්සි වෙනවා. ඒක කරන්න නම් මිනිස්සුන්ගේ ඡන්දයෙන් පත්වෙන එවුන්ට තියෙන බලය ලිබරල් භක්තිකයන් ඉන්න සභාවලට පවරන්න ඕන. ඒ භක්තිකයෝ හොඳින් ශිෂ්ට සම්පන්න වෙච්ච අය. 17 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයෙන් ඒ විදිහේ සභා හැදුවාත් 18 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගෙනැල්ලා ආයෙත් අශිෂ්ටත්වය ඉස්මතු කළා. ඉතින් අන්තිමට 19 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ගෙනැල්ලා ආයෙත් ඒ ශිෂ්ටත්වයේ සභා හදලා ලිබරල් උත්තමයෝ සහ උත්තමාවියෝ ටිකකට ඒවා පවරන්න මේ අයට පුළුවන් වෙලා තියෙනවා.

ලිබරල් ශිෂ්ටත්වය උදා කරගන්න බැරි බයියන්ව පාලනය කරන්න බයියන්ගේ ම ඡන්දයෙන් පත්වෙන එවුන් සුදුසු නෑ. සර්වජන ඡන්ද බලය තියෙන මේ රටේ බයියෝ කවදාවත් තමන්ගේ නියෝජිතයන් විදිහට ලිබරල් භක්තිකයන්ව පත් කරගන්න එකකුත් නෑ. එහෙම නම් කරන්න ඕන මොකක්ද? බයියන්ගේ බලය මේච්චල් කරන්න පුළුවන් ක්‍රමයක් හදන එක විතරයි. නත්‍ථි මේ සරණං අඤ්ඤං!

බලාපොරොත්තු වෙච්ච විදිහට මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිතුමා මේ වැඩේට නායකත්වය දුන්නේ නෑ. ඉතින් යහපාලන අපේක්‍ෂා බොඳවුනා. එහෙම වුනා කියලා වැඩේ අත අරින්න බෑ. එක්සත් ජාතික පක්‍ෂය හැමදාමත් ලිබලර් ග්‍රහණයේ තියා ගන්නත් බෑ. රනිල් මහත්තයා නැති වෙච්ච දවසක ඒකේ ඉන්න බයියොත් ඉස්සරහට එන්න පුළුවන්. ඒ වෙන කල් බලාගෙන හිටියොත් කපෝතියි!

මෙන්න මේ වෙලාවේ තමයි ලිබරල් අපේක්‍ෂාව ඉස්සරහට ආවේ. මේ රටේ ලිබරල් පක්‍ෂයක් අලුතින් හදන එක ප්‍රායෝගික වැඩක් නෙවෙයි. මහ ජවයක් තිබුණු දේශපාලන පක්‍ෂයක් ලිබරල් කරගන්න පුළුවන් නම් ඒක වඩා ලේසියි. අනුර මහත්තයා තමයි මේ වැඩේට සුදුසු ම පුද්ගලයා. එතුමා කියන්නේ හරියට ම මේ අශිෂ්ටත්වයේ අඳුර දුරු කරන්න පහළ වෙච්ච දිව්‍ය කුමාරයෙක් වගේ කෙනෙක්!

ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ සාමාජිකයෝ ඒකට විරුද්ධ වෙන එකකුත් නෑ. මාක්ස්වාදය ඇතුළෙත් යම් ප්‍රමාණයකට ලිබරල් අදහස් තියෙනවානේ. ඇත්තෙන් ම ආර්ථික සමානත්වය වගේ එකක් සුපිරි ම සුපිරි ලිබරල් සමාජයකවත් නෑ. ඉතින් ආර්ථික සමානත්වය වගේ සිහින දකින පිරිසක් ලිබරල් භක්තිකයන් පිරිසක් බවට පත් කරන එක අමාරු වැඩක් නෙවෙයි. මීට කලින් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණු අත හැරලා ගිය අයත් නැවතිලා තියෙන්නේ මහා සුපිරි ලිබරල් භක්තිකයන් බවට පත්වෙලා. ඇත්තට ම ඒ අය තමයි අද අපිව ශිෂ්ට සම්පන්න කරන සටනේ ඉස්සරහින් ම ඉන්නේ.

මෙන්න මෙහෙමයි මේ වතාවේ අපේක්‍ෂාවේ අරගලය දියත් වුනේ. ඒත් මේ රටේ බයියෝ හදන්න බෑ. පවට පින් දෙන්න බෑ! අඩු ගණනේ සියයට හතක් අටක්වත් ඡන්දේ දුන්නා නම් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ඇතුළේ කේවල් කරන බලයවත් අල්ලාගන්න තිබුණා. ඒත් තිබ්බ හතරවත් මේ යක්කු දුන්නේ නෑනේ.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communication Researcher, SLFP/SLPP Stalwart and Convener – “The Muslim Voice” – 17th., November 2019.

The election of HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the office of the 7th., President of Sri Lanka on the 16th., of November 2019 is a happy day for those Sri Lankans who love their “Maathruboomiya”, Mother Sri Lanka, be they Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays or Burghers. 

The section of Muslims who voted HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to become the 7th., Executive President of Sri Lanka feel honoured to be partners in the victory of the majority community who have voted HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to make it happen, by the grace of God almighty.

The Muslims of Sri Lanka wish the new President of Sri Lanka, Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa the very best and pray God Almighty to bless him in all his endeavours throughout his tenure in office to achieve success and to serve the people of Sri Lanka as promised.

Those Muslims also wish to express our special and sincere thanks to HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Former President and Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the SLPP for his dedicated support and guidance extended to Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the campaign trail which has enabled the final results Sri Lankans who love their “Maathruboomiya” had waited for to happen and will begin to enjoy the results from today.

Those Muslims also wish to express our sincere thanks to Mr Basil Rajapaksa, Former Hon Minister and the National Organizer of the SLPP  and the architect of the new party that made all this happen politically. Our thanks also go to all members of the Campaign Team, Viyathmaga Team and Eliya Team and all the supporters and politicians who worked tirelessly since HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was officially named as the presidential candidate of the SLPP by HE. Mahinda Rajapaksa. “The Muslim Voice” is proud to have been a member of that group.

ALI SUKHANVER

 Night raids and aerial strikes have led to mounting civilian casualties in Afghanistan,” says a detailed report recently issued by the Human Rights Watch. The report reveals that CIA-backed Afghan strike forces have once again made the lives of innocent Afghan citizens a hell. Night-time raids into homes in remote villages, forced disappearances, attacks on healthcare facilities and summary executions are the tools being used against the local people. In civilized societies such cruelties are termed as ‘atrocities’ and ‘war crimes’. The report has referred to at least 14 such cases across nine provinces over the last 2 years. Analysts are of the opinion that the basic reason behind this brutal behaviour of the Afghan troops is that most of them got their professional training from the officers of the US Army and of the US intelligence agencies. The training masters have taught them to show little concern for the local civilians’ life. That is why this training has made them callous and merciless to their own people. They don’t hesitate in shooting them direct in their heads when they are in their custody during the night raids.

is the title of an article written by Mohammed Harun Arsalai and Mohsin Khan Momand jointly penned down an article with the title ‘Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan Keep Climbing.’ The article was published in the Nation USA last August, 2019. The article narrated the murder story of Syed Wali who ran one of the only two shops in Sarkot village of Eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province. Wali sold sugar, soap, and cigarettes to everyone in town, including the region’s local Taliban members. A shopkeeper nowhere could stop anyone from doing purchases from his shop particularly when there are no other shops in the area. The article says that ‘The US-built’ National Directorate of Security (NDS) one night raided the Sarkot village and stormed the shopkeeper’s house. The officers in the raiding party blamed Syed Wali of doing business transactions with Taliban and before he could give them any answer, he was shot in head. And this way the story of Syed Wali’s life reached a pathetic ending.

Another incident of the same type was recently narrated by the Guardian also. The paper said, On 11 August this year, troops from one of the CIA-backed units accompanied by at least one US soldier and a translator – served as judge, jury and executioner for 11 men in Kulgago, a village in the south of Paktia province. Four were executed in the family compound of Dr. Ulfatullah, a pharmacist who lost two sons and two cousins.” According to media reports the young men in Kulgago were targeted as insurgents but the facts are otherwise. Shafiullah and Hayatullah were the government employees and they were working as teachers in the Education Ministry of Afghanistan. A witness said talking to the media-men, The Afghan soldiers who swept through Kulgago village one late August night shot three of Dr. Ulfatullah’s relatives carefully, a single bullet through their left eye, faces otherwise untouched as blood pooled below their bodies on the floor of the family home. However the last killing was less precise, and left the face of university student Ansarullah badly disfigured and deformed.”

Reports say that most of the time, the victims of the Afghan soldiers belong to the Pashtun tribes as most of the Taliban are Pashtun tribesmen. The foreign invaders know it very well that the Pashtuns would always remain a threat to their hegemonic designs as they are the hardest ones to be defeated. So the Afghan soldiers are being ‘misused’ in the process of making the Pashtuns weaker. The recent episode of harassing the Pakistani diplomats in Kabul is also a part of the same ‘Kill Pashtun Movement’ as the Trainers have convinced the Afghan authorities that Pakistan and Taliban are the two sides of the same coin. It means wherever the freedom fighters are fighting against the foreign occupation, they would be linked with Pakistan; be it the Indian Held Kashmir, the Khalistan, the Nagaland and even Assam. This blame game is not fair; most of the time the freedom movements are indigenous.

In principle, on paper, yes we have reached an agreement — that it is done but it is not final until the president of the United States also agrees to it,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, the American special envoy to Afghanistan talking to the Afghan channel ToloNews, just two months back. He further revealed that the United States would pull 5,400 troops from Afghanistan within 135 days of signing an agreement with the Taliban and this pulling out  would be the start of the expected gradual withdrawal of all 14,000 United States troops that could end America’s longest running war. Khalilzad had been leading nearly a year of talks with the Taliban. People were expecting something marvelous coming out of these talks but still the political scenario in Afghanistan is not very hopeful and encouraging; it is rather frightening and depressing.

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama announced that he would retire from active politics at the end of the Parliamentary term.

Addressing a letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today (17) expressed his gratitude for giving him the opportunity to serve the country as a Cabinet Minister and informed of his resignation from the ministerial post.

The People of our country have elected Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the Executive President of Sri Lanka and I wish to respect that mandate,” Samarawickrama said.

Referring to his tenure of office, Samarawickrama stated Sri Lanka’s exports of goods and services have increased by over 50% and that the country has received FDIs totalling to USD 5.6 billion which amounts to 31% of the FDIs received during the past 40 years.

Furthermore, the value of projects approved by the BOI during this period amounts to UDS 36.4 billion and the envisaged employment is 94,000,” Samarawickrama added.

උපුටා ගැන්ම හිරු නිව්ස්

මුදල් අමාත්‍ය මංගල සමරවීර මහතා සිය ට්විටර් ගිණුමේ පණිවුඩයක් සටහන් කරමින් ත්‍රිවිධ රත්නයට අවමන් කර ඇති බවට බෞද්ධ තොරතුරු කේන්ද්‍රයේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ පූජ්‍ය අඟුළුගල්ලේ සිරි ජිනානන්ද හිමියන් පොලිස් මූලස්ථානයට අද පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කළා.

ජනාධිපතිවරණ ප්‍රතිඵල නිකුත් වෙමින් තිබූ අතරතුර අද දහවල් අමාත්‍ය මංගල සමරවීර මහතා ට්විටර් ගිණුමේ මෙලෙස සටහනක් තබා තිබුණා.

එහිිමම මාගේ රට වෙනුවෙන් දුක්වෙනවාග බුද්ධ සහ ධම්ම රත්නයේ සරණ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවත් සමඟ පවතීවා ර්‍ණ ලෙස අමාත්‍යවරයා සඳහන් කර තිබුණා.

කෙසේ වෙතත් අදාළ පණිවුඩයේ “ඩබල් ජෙම්” ලෙස සදහන් කරමින් අමාත්‍යවරයා උතුම් වූ බුද්ධ සහ ධම්ම රත්නය පමණක් භාවිත කරමින් ත්‍රිවිධ රත්නයට ඇතුළත් සංඝ යන වචනය සිය ට්විටර් පණිවුඩයේ සටහන් කර නොතිබීම විශේෂත්වයක්.

අදාළ ට්විටර් පණිවුඩය මගින් මංගල සමරවීර අමාත්‍යවරයා තුණුරුවනට අවමන් කර ඇති බව සඳහන් කරමින් බෞද්ධ තොරතුරු කේන්ද්‍රයේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ පූජ්‍ය අඟුළුගල්ලේ සිරි ජිනානන්ද හිමියන් පොලිස් මූලස්ථානයට අද පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කළා.

Courtesy Adaderana

UNP Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim has announced his decision to step down as the chairman of the party and his ministerial portfolio.

MP Hashim has been in office as the Minister of Highways & Road Development and Petroleum Resources Development.

Former wartime Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as the President of Sri Lanka in the 7th Presidential Election that took place yesterday (16).

Following his massive victory, several parliamentarians of the UNP stepped down from their positions in the party, including the NDF presidential frontrunner Sajith Premadasa, who had been serving as the deputy leader of the UNP.

In the meantime, Parliamentarians Mangala Samaraweera and Harin Fernando also informed that they would be resigning as Minister of Finance and Minister of Telecommunication, Foreign Employment and Sports.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 17 (AIR): Following the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa iof the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in the November 16 Presidential election, party chief Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) must step down.

Gotabaya had defeated the UNP candidate Sajith Premadasa convincingly. Gotabaya is to be sworn in as new President on Monday.

His brother, party chief and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa hinted at a change of government in the wake of the result. In a message, the former President said that in view of the unequivocal people’s mandate, the SLPP believes that the government will abide by parliamentary traditions as appropriate in such circumstances.”

Gotabaya’s party had made it clear before the elections that they would expect the incumbent government under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe to step down in event of an SLPP victory.

The former President also said that the Presidential election will be seen as referendum ahead of the Parliamentary election due next year.

Meanwhile, at least four ministers, including Finance Minister Mangala Samarweera, have resigned after the defeat of Sajith Premadasa.

Prime Minister Wickremsinghe said in a message that a decision on the next general election will be taken after discussions with the parliament Speaker, party leaders and government MPs.

Gotabaya received around 6.9 million votes against his main rival Sajith Premadasa who got around 5.56 million votes in the final vote count announced by country’s Elections Commission this afternoon. Gotabaya received 52.25 percent of total valid votes.

He is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapksa and served as Defense Secretary in the final stages of the war against the LTTE.

In a message, Gotabaya called for a new journey” for Sri Lanka adding that all Sri Lankans are part of this journey. He said he is the President of not only those who voted for him but for all Sri Lankans and that is the greatest honor in his life.

He got overwhelming support in the majority Sinhalese-dominated areas of the country. But Premadasa received wide support from minority Tamil and Muslim areas in the North and East.

Courtesy Lanka Business Online

Nov 17, 2019 (LBO) – Mangala Samaraweera has resigned as Minister of Finance with immediate effect following the Presidential Election.

Earlier in the day, Minister Malik Samarawickrama, Ajith P Perera and Harin Fernando resigned from their ministerial portfolios.

Resignation letter addressed to President Maithripala Sirisena: