We would like to request the President in connection with the highly irregular and ‘unethical’ manner in which the Prime Minister and the ministers have approved the above bill when the country is facing an election to choose the President to take over the affairs of the country.
According to section 42 of the Constitution, the President is the head of the Cabinet and hence we believe that you have the power to reject approval of the above bill which is being rushed before the pending Presidential election. Besides, for all intentions and purposes the present Government is functioning in the mode of Caretaker Government and we firmly believe that such a legislative assembly cannot take action on a bill such as MCC which will have far-reaching impact on the economy as well as the social, defense and security-related areas of the country’s governance.
The basic question is should the country be ‘sold’ for $480 million especially
affecting the administration and control over 1/3 of the country’s land area
including the millions of members of the peasantry who will be bought over by
the multi-national companies like what happened in the Latin America countries
reducing the peasantry to indentured labor. Further, the area demarcated for
MCC control includes the priceless Cultural Triangle which encompasses
the ancient institutions of Sri Lanka’s civilization,
We also request the general public to promote and to convert the coming election to a referendum on the MCC Bill and REJECT the proponents and the objectives of the MCC
Before there was peace. We had left behind the fear psychosis of a few years back, the claymore bombs, suicide bombers, and even the rickety homemade planes that bombed the Colombo city. Instead, we saw and heard development in progress. The massive construction sites, trucks, tractors. waste haulers were common sights. There were armies of construction workers in their hard yellow hats, trying as it seemed to do an impossible job to fill the sea to extend the land to construct the Colombo Port City.
The President of China His Excellency Mr.Xi Jinping had visited Sri Lanka to inaugurate the construction of the Colombo Port City. He laid the foundation stone with all ceremonial elegance and splendor.
Development was not confined to Colombo, New railway tracks were laid, railway stations were renovated, and now a long time after, there are trains from Colombo to Jaffna. The first time in the history of Sri Lanka, ancient potholed macadamized roads were carpeted, new bridges were built, modern highways were being constructed. All this and a new airport and a harbor saw Sri Lanka stepping into a new era of development and modernization. Buildings of different shapes and heights were being constructed for schools, hospitals, hotels, and homes.
At the Bandaranayake International Airport, huge planes carrying hundreds of tourists in their bellies were vomiting them out into sun and heat to be driven away to fleets of waiting for luxury coaches outside to take them to their Hotels. Colombo was at last clean and tourists seem to enjoy the change. There were clean restaurants and eateries serving fresh food. The business was booming. Service was brisk and efficient everywhere. The three-wheelers and cab drivers had a steady income. Super Markets were popping up in every town. The people were happy, satisfied and peaceful.
But yet there are those that grumbled ready to find fault. The opponents of the Government complained of a white van culture, lack of press freedom, dictatorship, Impeachment of the Chief Justice seemed to them an interference into the judiciary. The West liked developing countries left in poverty, and dependent on their generosity. Therefore, the West which did not expect Sri Lanka to have ended terrorism and enter into a fast track development, joined with the Tamil diaspora to encourage the Tamil Politicians in Sri Lanka to step up their demands for devolution of political power and territorial separation.
The USA which had changed tactics for regime change in developing countries has now resorted to NGO funded locals recruited for the purpose. Those in the West who have found a vocation in human rights are in International Forums backed by terrorist supporting Tamils in the diaspora, accusing Sri Lanka Armed Forces of violation of human rights.
USA
brought a resolution against the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka at the UN Human
Rights Council in Geneva. for violation of human rights and war crimes.
After eliminating terrorism, after 30 years of suffering, while at last Sri Lanka found peace and security , and the people regained their smiles, the Government of President Mahinda Rajapakse had to face the Western forces backed by the Tamil Diaspora which had begun to create new problems and dissension among communities, calling for reconciliation measures.
Despite whatever accusations the interested parties in Colombo make against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government, one cannot deny that President Mahinda Rajapakse had the foresight and a definite plan for the development of the country that no Presidents before him had. It was appreciated by the masses of people who suffered most under terrorism whether they were in the North or in the south. The virulent critics of Rajapakse and his government came from among the English Educated Colombians, with an outlook and aspirations different from the ordinary mass of people outside
The President Mahinda Rajapakse who in 2014 had two more years for the end of his term of office, decided to call for a Presidential election two years before his term ended, probably because he thought that if he were to win, he would have five full years to complete the projects he had planned. But that turned out to be an unfortunate decision.
His defeat at that Presidential election in January 2015 was assured by a plethora of foreign governments spending millions of Dollars with their secret service personnel working from within the country for the change of regime. After the defeat of President Mahinda Rajapakse, the US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that the American State Department spent 585 million US Dollars to establish democracy in Burma, Nigeria and Sri Lanka (https://www.sott.net/article/334209-US-spent-585mn-on-promoting-democracy-worldwide-in-past-year-and-proud-of-it).
This shows how frightful was the involvement of the USA in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, for their own benefit and not at all for the establishment of Democracy. The proof of this comes from the ACSA, SOFA and MCC agreements the signing of which are demanded by the US State Department. The benefits of these agreements are for the USA Armed Forces. The stupid Minister Mangala Samaraweera is gullible to swallow whatever rope given by America.
These agreements presented to Ranil Wickramasinghe brings to mind the CFA Ranil Wickramasinghe signed with the terrorist leader Prabhakaran without even consulting the President of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The American Embassy has informed that the MCC agreement after being signed will be presented to the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Of what use will it be debated in Parliament if it has already been signed by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka?
The events that followed after the election of Maithripala Sirisena as the President and his unconstitutional swearing-in of Ranil Wickramasinghe the leader of the UNP as the Prime Minister , and setting up a 100 day government of the UNP and SLFP which they called the Yahapalanaya, was the beginning of the fall of a country that was secured from terrorism and developed to a middle income status, with a fast-developing economy.
The Yahapalanaya Government of Ranil Wickramasinghe and UNP started off by the biggest Bond Scam- the robbery of the Central Bank by the government itself, which had never been heard of before anywhere in the World. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe had evidently planned it by conveniently appointing a citizen of Singapore Arjun Mahendran who was his school friend at Royal College Colombo and a friend of his Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake, as the Governor of the Central Bank.
Despite the scandal that followed and the accusations and the call for the arrest of the perpetrators, another bond scam was repeated the following year. Committees and Commissions were appointed to inquire into the robberies but little happened thereafter to punish the thieves”, the first accused the ex-Governor of the Central Bank, the Citizen of Singapore had fled the country.
After the general elections the SLFP of President Maithreepala Sirisena and the UNP and its alliance of political parties- the Yahapalanaya, wanted to change all development projects started by the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Prime Minister set up a special police FCID under him to arrest and take into custody the former President, his family and his supporters for theft and corruption.
It was a wild goose chase which even after an hour and a half years could not find a single theft or file a valid charge against any one of the previous government, accept harassing them continuously taking them to courts and then to prison and releasing them as the accusations were not substantiated. That had been the major pre-occupation of the Yahapalanaya government throughout the past four and a half years.
The Yahapalanaya believed that the USA and the West will support them financially for the development of the country instead of the Chinese on whose financial support Mahinda Rajapakse had depended on the development of the country. They severed connections with China first by stopping the work of the Colombo Port City financed by China. The Foundation stone laid by the President of China His Excellency Xi Jinping was remùoved and thrown away with the other debris. They renamed the site the Colombo Financial City”.
It was only later that they found to their deception and chagrin that America had other interests in Sri Lanka than financing any development projects.
Today four and a half years after Yahapalanaya, Sri Lanka is economically at the brink of bankruptcy. There is a resurgence of different terrorism worse than what Sri Lanka had seen before, which President Mahinda Rajapakse and the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse had led its Armed Forces to eliminated successfully in May 2009. The people are poorer. The new harbor at Hambanthota has been given on a renewable 99-year lease to China, and the Hambanthota Airport is to be sold to India.
However, there is, at last, some hope to stop Ranil Wickramasinghe led Yahapaalanaya causing further damage to the country and the people by changing the President at the presidential election scheduled to be held on the 16 November 2019.
Ranil Wickramasinghe was determined to contest the Presidential elections from UNP led alliance of several Political parties. But Ranil Wickramasinghe’s Presidential candidacy was vehemently protested within the party, and his deputy leader Sajith Premadasa has been put forward as the Presidential Candidate of the UNP led alliance. Sajith Premadasa is a vociferous man. He carries the mantle of his s father’s criminal conduct to thwart a rising of Sinhala youth in the country. The people have not lost the memory of at least one member of the family burnt or tortured by his men
Even though Sajith has been able to draw crowds for his meetings he does not speak against any wrongs of his leader Ranil Wickramasinghe, and has not spoken a word against the Bond Scam, selling of the Hambantota Harbour, of ACSA, SOFA and MCC Agreements Ranil Wickramasinghe is seen determined to sign with USA, for 480 million Dollars offered by USA for the signing of the MCC. Why does the USA pay 480 million dollars for signing the MCC, if it is not for their benefit?
Sajith Premadasa the Presidential Candidate of the UNP led alliance is submissive to Ranil Wickramasinghe, his leader. Ranil Wickramasinghe is a stubborn leader who would not like to play the second fiddle to anyone else and would continue his authoritative disastrous path even if Sajith Premadasa were to be elected President. , Ranil Wickramasinghe allowed Sajith Premadasa to contest the Presidential election on condition that he would be the Prime Minister with some of the executive powers of the President which he manipulated to transfer to the Prime Minister under 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
Sajith Premadasa at his political meetings shouts to demonstrates his youthful vigour and promises numerous things which he could have done while being a Minister in the Cabinet of the Yahapalanaya government. Sajith Premadasa has apparently done nothing in the Government except constructing poor houses, for poor people.
The TNA of the Tamil politicians has presented a very racist and separatist 13 point demand as a condition to support the Presidential Candidate Sajith Premadasa. But Sajith Premadasa has still not stated whether he accepts the 13 points or reject them. He is a deceptive candidate the large crowds at his meetings are no guarantee that they will all vote for him. The danger with Sajith Premadasa is that if he becomes the President it would again be Ranil Wickramasinghe with Paskaralingam and Charitha Ratwatte who will be running the Government, with Ranil as the Prime Minister.
When Sri Lanka was battered by terrorism and everybody around, foreign diplomats and Ministers of foreign Governments said that the terrorists were a strong-armed force and advised that there was no military solution to terrorism, but a political settlement. But fortunately in 2005 at that decisive time in the history of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse was elected the President. He turned out to be the savior – the legendary Diyasena. Mahinda Rajapaksa was a determined politician who had one thought at that time. It was to do or die. He wanted to end terrorism for good.
Today Sri Lanka is facing a different type of terrorism and the people are desperate having lost confidence in the government and seeing no immediate solution to their suffering. The situation is as it was in 2005. It was then a miracle that Mahinda Rajapakse was elected President. If he had not been elected President in 2005, we would still have terrorism and perhaps the country territorially divided and Communities separated.
Today nearly 15 years after the election of Mahinda Rajapakse as the President in 2005, Sri Lanka is again facing a situation worse than it was in 2005. The country has lost everything it had achieved since the elimination of terrorism in May 2009. The economy is in shatters. The development projects are grinding to a halt. The country is being forced to enter into doubtful agreements dividing the country selling its sovereignty to the USA for 480 million dollars and deprive the future generation of its ancient motherland as it had been for over 2600 years, its culture, its identity, and its valued heritage.
But as it was 15 years ago, today nearly 15 years after 2005, once again to save the country from the dangers it is facing , and rescue it from slipping into disappearance Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been presented as a Presidential Candidate by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna to challenge the evil and wrench our country from the jaws of disaster, and bring back its losing shine and glory , to place it back among the people who hold it sacred. .
Gotabhaya Rajapakse had given his youth to the service in the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. He walked the rough soil in rain or sunshine. He was a fearless worrier who faced the ruthless terrorists face to face. He walked besides death as his companion, to win a war against terrorism to save the country from being divided. He fought to eliminate the enemies of the country to bring peace and security to everyone- Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse did not run away from the battlefield, but retired and lived with civilians and worked with foreigners. He came back to organize and coordinate the three Armed Forces the Army, Navy and Air Force as the Defence Secretary. He stood beside the President and worked alongside the Armed Forces to allow the respective Commanders to conduct the war with the soldiers of the Army, sailors of the Navy and the airmen of the Airforce, to conduct a successful war to eliminate terrorism.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse has experience in the battlefield as much in the administration. He has a sharp intellect. He organized the Army personnel for their life after the war. They were trained in different fields, as farmers to run farms, to help in natural disasters, cope with serious accidents. He got them trained in construction work, road building, landscaping, beautifying towns, parks, and gardens. He was able to get together specialists in different professions and knew how to work them, and prepare them to serve the country and successfully organize and complete projects.
Sajith Premadasa talks as he is a politician, but has not experienced real life. Sajith Premadasa talks to amuse people. He makes promises as if he had never been in the Government. What he now promises to the people from the stage could have been done when he was a Minister in the Government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. Even as a politician we have not seen him participating in debates in the Parliament.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse is not a politician but a man loaded with experience. He is not an empty vessel that makes a noise, but a person who knows what he is doing, where he is going and what is expected of him.
Gotabhaya is the most qualified and the most suitable Presidential Candidate who when elected will glorify the Office of President as no office can glorify him. Sri Lanka is fortunate to have a man like Gotabhaya Rajapakse to lead the Country, protect the country and the people and bring peace and security and have a nation of smiling satisfied people.
I am appealing to all Sinhalese to awake, arise and vote the correct person on the 16th if you want to save this nation and our beloved motherland.
Now that today the TNA and its allies have at last declared they have decided to support Sajit Premadasa and Sajit has not said anything up to now on the 23 demands Tamil Parties have made has confirmed this underhand deal. Ranil and Rajitha Senaratna have been almost residing there for the past one week addressing meetings and meeting Tamil politicians wooing the Tamils on behalf of Sajith. Probably they must have already signed the agreement betraying the Sinhala nation and the motherland as they all ways do.
I appeal to all UNP Sinhalese to take this very seriously and refrain from voting Sajit, if you want to save the Sinhala nation and the Motherland for your children and posterity. Please remember if you vote Sajit and he wins by any chance that is the end of the Sinhala nation and the motherland protected from all enemies to us by our ancestors for the past 2500 years. Thereafter you and your children have no country of your own to live. It is not a question of SLFP vs UNP or Rajapaksa vs Premadasa. It is a struggle between life and death and a matter of survival for a nation. Therefore please go to the polling station early morning on the 16th and cast you to vote for Gotabhaya Rajapaksa if you want a country to live forgetting all your political differences.
I also want all my readers to read the following
news item immediately and look at the names of the key persons rallied round in
the South to support Sajit to become the President of this country in order to
support these extremist Tamil conspirators to wipe out the Sinhala nation and
Buddhism from the surface of this planet.
Chandrika
Kumaratunga,
Ranil
Wickramasingha.
Wikramabahu
Karunaratna,
Rajita
senaratna
Chatura
Senaratna
Champika
Ranawaka
Rauf Hakeem,
Rishars
Badurdeen,
Prof
Chandragupa Thenuwara
Saman
Ratnapriya
Dambara Amila
Asad Sali”.
(I am surprised that the names of people like Gamini Viyangoda, Victor Ivan, Sumantiram, Pro Ratnajeevan Hoole, Hisbulla, Savul Hameed, Digambaran, Mervin Silva and Vignesvaran are not given in the list. Nevertheless, they must be there somewhere at least providing the background music and funds). It is noteworthy that almost all these people are already there in the UNP led by Ranil Wickramasinha).
I don’t think I need to say anything
about each of these Dignitaries” as perhaps you know better and the whole
country also know them from Adam
Nevertheless, I would just highlight a few among them who play a leading role in this treachery and national crime.
Chanrika Badaranayaka
alias Kumaratunga.
She is the woman who first broke away from SLFP and formed Mahajana Paksaya against the SLFP with her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga and later joined the SLFP in 1993 to oust her own brother Anura. Then she betrayed her own great parents and the whole nation and the country during her 11 years in office as the President both in her speeches and actions. She is also the one who wanted to hand over the North and the East to Prabhakaran for 10 years. Then she tried to introduce a New Constitution called the Package in 1997, popularly known as Pottaniya, as JR named it. During her tenure she criticized all the SLFP policies like the Sinhala only policy of her own Father, giving foremost place to Buddhism which her mother did and who publicly said the problems of this country could never be solved until the Sinhala Buddhist majoritarian mindset is finally defeated. She also said that she feels sad that she was born a Sinhalese as her son once said and finally instigated Maitripala Sirisena quit SLFP and join the UNP as the Common candidate in Nov 2014 to defeat the Sinhala Buddhist forces lead by Mahinda Rajapaksa and committed the biggest treachery against this country and the nation by Installing Ranil and his rogue clique. What happened thereafter you all know, for which the patriotic people of this country will never forgive her.
I quote here the best testimonial
ever said on her by none other than her own Mother, to me when I was working as
her (Mrs B) Secretary in 1994. Sudath
Chandrika kelinne okkoma pissu, man kiyana kisideyak ahanne ne” and now I
think this perhaps is the last of that long list of Pissukeli by her in her last days of political rejection and
oblivion.
Ranil
Wickramasingha
About Ranil I don’t think I need to say a word as any tiny tot in this country will know his long list of political bungling ever since his illegal appointment as PM by an exited President Sirisena on Jan 8th, 2015. But I am compelled to say that he is the only Prime Minister in the whole world who has gone down in history as the one who robbed the nation’s Central Bank by conspiring, aiding and abetting and yet continues as the PM with Impunity and he is also the man who destroyed that Grand Old Political Party, the UNP by misleading it for 25 long years without allowing anyone to emerge as a second rank leader to take over the Party and finally cleverly put the poor Sajit to the political guillotine which the poor man driven by pride self -conceit and ignorance, swallowed it with hook, line, and sinker and got destroyed himself. Even if Sajit win by some miracle Ranil says he is the PM. But Sajit says otherwise
About the rest in the list, and all those behind this treacherous move I leave it for you to do your homework. The gospel truth I can say about this whole bunch is that all these people including the man appearing as a Buddhist monk is that they all are anti-Sinhala, anti-Buddhist and anti-national conspirators working on an agenda on extremism, communalism, separatism and foreign money pumped in to NGOO to destabilize and destroy this 2500-year-old Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this country.
Massive publicity has been given that a large number of Gota friendly Sri Lankans living overseas have already reached or arriving within the next few days before Presidential Election.
However, there is no publicity given of the number of Tamil Diaspora and ISIS members already reached or arriving within the next few days. New land mines, Sniper attacks could be on their navigation kits, inter-alia.
The number of travelers of non-friendly Gota groups consisting of Tamil Diaspora and ISIS trained attackers is minimum in numbers, but they have a diagonally opposite target to achieve. Above all, the Anti-Gota travelers have the blessings of the corrupt Sri Lankan Government.
Therefore, let Douglas, Karuna, Reginald Cooray, etc. do the hard work, for 400,000 votes, otherwise, it could be a very costly journey.
Gota’s Victory will not depend on the votes of N/E, Tamil Leaders would like to see the end of Gota than Mahinda. Gota will score the highest number of votes of N/E voters for the first time in a Presidential Election, sensing the danger for Tamil Leaders, they are ready.
Therefore, I appeal to SLPP to re-schedule remaining campaigning in N/E and continue the aggressive campaign in Sinhala dominated regions, as Sajith will unveil massive financial package next week including Rs 25,000 pay rise per month to win votes of our foolish Sinhalese!
Please protect our next President, at any cost. King is not just a King, but a Guardian”!
Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn Courtesy quora.com
And do those who had committed these crimes, and who have been enriched by the proceeds of these crimes, have a reparatory case to answer?
How Reparations Can Help
Eradicate Poverty and Secure SDGs
Photo: Mother in shreds of clothing with child begging on the
streets of Calcutta during the Bengal famine of 1943 (left), and a family on
the sidewalk in Calcutta during the Bengal famine of 1943 (right). Source:
Wikipedia
NEW DELHI (IDN) – Dealing with numbers can take a toll and might
make one seek fulfillment in other spheres. No wonder the most influential poet
of the last Century penned The Waste Land in
1922 when he was dutifully employed with the foreign transactions department of
Lloyd’s, an austere English bank in London.
Another case that one can think of is of Peter Bone, an
accountant by training and Conservative party Member of Parliament in England
from Wellingborough and Rushden who in November 2018 found glee when he made no
bones about how and where the Republic of India should spend its resources. The
latter reminds one of the famous aphorism Par Updesh Kushal Bahutere.
With immense challenges to meet in the sphere of development
especially in developing countries, and many policy options and opinions
available, one is but tempted to explore the issue a bit more diligently as one
has finite resources and limited avenues to generate them.
In 2015, world leaders agreed to the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, a set of 17 goals
for a better world by 2030. These goals aim to end poverty, fight inequality
and address the urgency of climate change among others, and seek the
participation of governments, businesses, civil society and the general public
to work together to build a better future for everyone.
It seems like the typical case of old wine with a new label.
Following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000 and the adoption
of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, all 191 United
Nations member states at the time, and at least 22 international organizations,
committed to help achieve the eight UN Millennium Development Goals by the year
2015. Each goal had specific targets, and dates for achieving those targets but
unfortunately could not be met.
Critics of the MDGs complained of a lack of analysis and
justification behind the chosen objectives, and the difficulty or lack of
measurements for some goals and uneven progress, among others. Anyway through
Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2015,
that has the 2030 Development Agenda titled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,”
the eight UN MDGs transformed into seventeen SDGs and 169 targets.
However, the learning from MDGs experience was also typical in
many ways especially in terms of the utilisation of development aid. It is
interesting to note that the aid from the developed countries to secure the
MDGs, more than half went for debt relief, and most of the remainder toward
disaster relief and military aid, rather than to further development.
During the launch of the Human Development Report (HDR) for 2014 by the United
Nations which for the first time considered the concepts of vulnerability and
resilience in assessing human development progress, Helen Clarke, Administrator
of the UNDP had noted that while every society is vulnerable to risk, some
suffer far less harm and recover more quickly than others when adversity
strikes.
A society is all about its experiences. Colonization by the
European countries had an extremely deleterious effect on societies of Africa
and Asia. Its pernicious impact can be witnessed even in the contemporary times
and judged by the development indices.
When the SDGs were announced in 2015, it was understandable that
success on global goal no. 1—eradication of extreme poverty—depended on
Africa’s performance. However, recent forecasts from the United Nations and the
World Bank suggest that Africa is not going to make it.
Why has poverty in Africa stayed so stubbornly high despite
record economic growth and what role has its historical experience to play
would be an interesting study?
According to the World Bank report, three main reasons:
(i) less of Africa’s growth translates into poverty reduction
because of high initial poverty, including low asset levels and limited access
to public services, which prevent households from taking advantage of
opportunities;
(ii) Africa’s increasing reliance on natural resources for
income growth rather than agricultural – and rural development excludes the 85
percent of the poor population living in rural areas; and
(iii) Africa’s high fertility and resulting high population
growth mean that even high growth translates into less income per person—a
point too often ignored in discussions on the sub-continent and in Washington.
It is not difficult to infer that high initial poverty and
reliance on natural resources and lack of agricultural development have a
direct link to European colonization.
Regarding Asia, the famed British economic historian Angus
Maddison had calculated that in 1600, of the world GDP (GDP being computed in
1990 dollars and in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms) total share of China
and India was 51.4%, with China accounting for 29% and India 22.4% of world
GDP.
A hundred years later, China’s GDP had fallen but India’s went
up to 24.4% of world output. By 1820, however, India’s share had fallen to
16.1%. By 1870, it further went down to 12.2%.
Noted economist Utsa Patnaik has calculated that over roughly
200 years, the East India Company and the British Raj siphoned out at least GBP
9.2 Trillion (or USD 44.6 Trillion; since the exchange rate was USD 4.8 per GBP
sterling during much of the colonial period) from India.
In the colonial era, most of India’s sizeable foreign exchange
earnings went straight to London—severely hampering the country’s ability to
import machinery and technology in order to embark on a modernisation path
similar to what Japan did in the 1870s.
Harvard educated renowned statistician-economist and Indian
Member of Parliament Dr. Subarmanian Swamy who has worked with Nobel laureates
like Simon Kuznets and Paul Samuelson calculates the amount looted by the
British from India to be USD 71 Trillion.
Under the British Raj, India suffered countless famines. The
worst hit was Bengal in 1770, followed by severe ones in 1783, 1866, 1873,
1892, 1897 and lastly 1943-44. Earlier when famines had hit the country,
indigenous rulers were quick with useful responses to avert major disasters.
But not only a ruthless economic agenda but also a total lack of empathy for
native citizens was a prominent trait of the European colonization.
The famine of 1770 alone killed approximately 10 million people,
millions more than the Jewish holocaust during the Second World War or the
Belgian genocide in the Congo. It wiped out one-third the population of Bengal.
John Fiske, in his book The Unseen World, wrote
that the famine of 1770 in Bengal was far deadlier than the Black Plague that
terrorised Europe in the fourteenth century.
We should all be concerned, but what can be done? The recent
World Bank study, Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Africa,
offers governments and stakeholders both new suggestions as well as new takes
on old recommendations. It should also have considered reparations to the
colonized countries by the European colonizers, and the important role
reparations can play to accelerate the process of development and secure the UN
Global Goals.
In 2013 Caribbean Heads of Governments established the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC) with
a mandate to prepare the case for reparatory justice for the region’s
indigenous and African descendant communities who are the victims of Crimes
against Humanity (CAH) in the forms of genocide, slavery, slave trading, and
racial apartheid.
The CRC asserts that victims and descendants of these CAH have a
legal right to reparatory justice, and that those who committed these crimes,
and who have been enriched by the proceeds of these crimes, have a reparatory
case to answer.
One can only speculate what a developing country like India
currently ranked at number 130 in HDI with its 46.6 million children who are
stunted because of malnutrition can achieve if it manages to secure USD 71
Trillion from Britain as reparation.
Monetary inputs have the capability to initiate virtuous
economic and development processes in a society. A good example of it is the
1948 Marshall Plan or the European Recovery Program. More than USD 13 billion
under the Marshall Plan helped to facilitate the recovery of Europe’s national
economies and helped build a ‘new Europe’ with a political economy that was
based on open markets and free trade, rather than protectionism and
self-interest. It was a stimulus that set off a chain of events leading to a
range of accomplishments. However, aid is always conditional where terms
are dictated by the donor.
Therefore the CRC sets a wonderful precedent to establish the
moral, ethical and legal case for the payment of Reparations by the Governments
of all the former colonial powers and the relevant institutions of those
countries, to the nations that were colonized.
In fact, it is far a better alternative than the same old
clarion call to mobilize resources for the poor” made to the Asian and African
governments to raise taxes as a share of GDP or the strings that come attached
with overseas aid.
It’s November 2019. Would Right Honourable Peter Bone and others
including international institutions help set a continuing historical wrong
right, and kindly pay heed to make reparations play a mainstreamed role to
eradicate poverty and secure UN Global Goals, and pave way for a more just and
humane world?
*
Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. is an ex-diplomat and Jainendra Karn is a senior leader
of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). [IDN-InDepthNews – 01
November 2019]
Photo: Mother in shreds of clothing with child begging on the
streets of Calcutta during the Bengal famine of 1943 (left), and a family on
the sidewalk in Calcutta during the Bengal famine of 1943 (right).
Source: Wikipedia
Last week, in typical Yahapalana style, the Cabinet approved the USD 480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact project (MCCC). The US Embassy did not lose any time to express their happiness.
However, it appears that it is only the US Embassy that is happy about it. Until that moment, with the Presidential elections just round the corner, the MCCC was the furthest in people’s minds. Therefore, the approval comes as a complete shock to the nationalists.
On the whole, though, many do not know about the MCCC or its implications. This in a nutshell sums up the West imported democracy we got since 2015 in the form of Yahapalana Government.
These five years of the Yahapalana Government are marked with the numerous controversial commitments that Sri Lanka had been roped into agreeing.
In every one of these instances – from co-sponsoring the infamous Geneva Resolution 30/1 to the Yahapalana presidential candidate’s manifesto – the Yahapalana Government had taken great care to keep the details wrapped and away from the people.
In 2015, it may be recalled that soon after the general elections, the Yahapalana Government prioritised appointing the Foreign Minister than the cabinet.
Appointing the Cabinet itself was unprecedentedly delayed by weeks. Thus, newly appointed Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera went to Geneva on Sri Lanka tax payers’ account and at the UNHRC co-sponsored the Resolution 30/1 that was brought against Sri Lanka.
He did so without the Cabinet approval and without the knowledge of the people.
He did so even though the conditions stipulated in the Resolution contravened the Constitution of Sri Lanka. He did so when he did not have the authority to thus commit the Parliament.
The reason being, he participated at the UNHRC session in the capacity of a Minister, which is essentially the executive arm.
However, he undertook the commitments to be fulfilled by the Parliament, which is the legislator. The Executive and the legislature are two separate, exclusive bodies in Sri Lanka. Therefore, he undertook a commitment that he was not allowed by the Constitution.
The Yahapalana Government had to resort to very creative means to fulfil the conditions that came with co-sponsoring the Resolution. They provoked the then Joint Opposition into invading the well of the Parliament.
Taking advantage of that commotion, they passed the OMP Bill. The Enforced Disappearance Act was passed during the days of the Digana riots.
The entire country’s attention was on the riots and certain entities were insinuated that the Buddhist monks were behind the attacks on the Muslims. The Act was passed whilst the monks were busy defending themselves from the unfounded allegations.
The MCCC was first sprung on us just days after the Easter Sunday Massacres. Tourism, which was one of our most lucrative and rising industries, took a hit as never before.
Even during the days of the LTTE, Sri Lanka was a relatively safe destination for the tourists as they were never a target. The Easter Sunday bombers on the other hand zeroed in on the tourist hotspots.
The economy was already in dire straits due to the mismanagement of the Yahapalana Government. At such a time for a rising industry to fall as it did with the Easter Sunday massacres was a matter that concerned many.
It was at such a time where all were reeling with the shock of losing so many lives and the meaningless destruction that Mangala Samaraweera as the Finance Minister, announced with an ear-to-ear grin that something good had come out of tragedy.
He spoke of receiving USD 480 million from MCCC. However, in true Mangala fashion he omitted to mention that this would be for a project that would engulf 28% of our land for a so-called economic corridor. Considering
the expanse of land under consideration, which is around 1.2 million acres, it is not clear if Sri Lanka is getting its lands’ value.
There is no dispute that USD 480 million is a large sum of money. However, this money is to come on the form of mega projects to reduce traffic congestion in Colombo and improve interprovincial connectivity. This is to be a five-year project.
However, the many questions and gray areas that surround this project are yet to be answered.
The economic corridor that the American Ambassador assured was a gift from the American people to Sri Lankan people would effectively cut right across the country.
The plan is to construct an electric railway line connecting the Trincomalee port with the Colombo Port.
This will cut through our historic places such as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. It is being said that there will be an electric fence to guard the railway lines.
That area thus protected by the electric fence would be for international conglomerates to establish their factories. It is also being said that this area would not be subjected to Sri Lankan Law.
Apart from these questions, there is also a question on the guarantee. It is not clear if there would be a binding clause to complete the project once started.
Otherwise, we would be left with incomplete infrastructural developments that would eventually fall on the government of the day to complete.
It is also not clear on our obligations that we must fulfil for these projects to proceed unhindered.
We must take into account America’s history and present attitude of the American High Commissioner Alaina Teplitz, who has violated her mandate by interfering in our internal matters.
Time before also MCCC had approached Sri Lanka somewhere in 2006-7. However, just as suddenly they had appeared, they had shut the door.
Their only explanation had been that the human rights violations in the country.
With the war against terrorism reaching its peak during that time, it is really surprising that they expected a different scenario.
The point of lesson for us however is not to allow a group of people who do not have a grasp of ground reality from forcing themselves as our moral compass.
The last thing we need is this economic corridor and the USD $ 480 million to be used as a carrot stick to get us into directions we do not want to go.
We need to also understand the overall picture once the SOFA and ACSA comes, into force. This Yahapalana Government came into life by discrediting our political leaders. It started its journey by persecuting our war heroes.
Hundreds of our military leaders and intelligent units have been questioned and even incarcerated.
This persecution had been extended to the Buddhist monks as well and over various allegations as many as 50 monks have been incarcerated by this Yahapalana Government.
Thus if ACSA and SOFA comes, into effect, it will do so when our leadership from all three fronts have been decisively attacked and weakened.
In such a situation, can we safeguard our natural resources, with American soldiers and contractors in and out of Sri Lanka, carrying any weapon or equipment of their choice, enjoying diplomatic immunity is a very serious question that needs to be answered with clarity.
If true democracy exists, these questions would have been discussed and clarified before the Cabinet gives its approval. When the above questions and concerns were voiced, the MCCC disappeared as quickly as it
appeared. However, making use of the upcoming elections to which everyone’s attention is fixed, the MCCC has surfaced in the most unexpected manner. This very sequence of events questions the intention and integrity of the MCCC.
One would have expected Sajith Premadasa, a powerful member of the Cabinet, deputy leader of the ruling political party, presidential candidate of the Yahapalana Government to speak up about the MCCC. At the time of writing this, he had not articulated his opinion – for or against – the MCCC.
The fact that his voter would need a direction from him and the floating voter would need to understand his stance is apparently lost on him.
Most unfortunately, it is not only on MCCC that Sajith Premadasa is being quiet.
The first postal vote was held on 31 October. However, even by that time Premadasa had not presented his manifesto. He is clearly expecting people to vote for him in blind faith and the absurd promises he makes on his platforms.
It is being said that his ridiculous statements are only absurd to the educated for he strikes a chord with the rural and the uneducated.
If that is indeed the case and if he does win the presidential election, then it would be a very sad reflection of the intellectual capacity of us as a nation. In the meantime, the seriousness that the MCCC poses must not be underestimated.
If we do not manage this “gift” America is giving us unsolicited, we might find ourselves in a situation similar to a foreign invasion without a single shot being fired in our defense.
With Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sajith Premadasa as main contenders in the arena, the questions that arise in one’s mind is whether the current foreign policy will be continued with a minor change, or whether we are in for a major shift in foreign relations.
In the face of the policy statements of the main two candidates, there is not much change in their international outlook.
In his first Media interaction after filing his candidacy, Gotabaya said Sri Lanka would maintain a neutral foreign policy and friendly ties with all Nations.
Sajith too spoke in a similar tongue, stating, “We are firmly committed to maintaining a policy of friendship with all Nations, both in the region and beyond.”
Of the ten policy facets unleashed by Gotabaya’s election manifesto, the first is “priority to national security” and the second is “friendly and non-aligned foreign policy.” Gotabaya’s party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
(SLPP), in its manifesto, highlights improving relations with the members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Nations on national security.
“We aim to foster better understanding with India, SAARC and BIMSTEC countries on regional security,” it stated.
Like his elder brother, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa often stated during his reign from 2005 to 2015, Gotabaya too vows to resist foreign power interference.
His manifesto emphasises that Sri Lanka would not cringe before any foreign power in maintaining foreign relations and international trade.
“We will negotiate on equal terms as a sovereign Nation to preserve the national pride,” it says.
Sajith also assured that he would formulate policies to cater to the national needs of this country.
He added that international trade agreements are important, political agreements are important and the relative advantage that these agreements bring towards Sri Lanka is important.
He said if there is no advantage that is accrued to the country, then that agreement is detrimental to the Nation.
ACSA, SOFA, MCC
Sajith added that, in the recent past, agreements such as the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) with the United States were the subjects of public debate.
He noted that when they are making these policy decisions, what they should actually do, is consider the pros and cons of these agreements. He added that all of this must be considered with the country at the centre.
In fact, the ACSA was signed in 2007 when Gotabaya was the Defence Secretary in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government.
Two years ago, the US proposed to upgrade ACSA to SOFA, resulting in a major debate on alleged attempts by America to interfere in internal affairs of Sri Lanka.
The proposed MCC grant was delayed due to opposition by President Maithripala Sirisena, and finally it was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers last week.
After Cabinet approval, President Sirisena asked Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera to put the MCC Agreement on hold, until the Presidential Election on 16 November.
Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa too urged the Government not to sign the Agreement on the eve of an election.
Sajith also jumped in, saying that all personal preferences must be left aside, because although it is one person who signs these agreements, the effects are felt by the entire country.
Therefore, he added that when they are scientifically assessing these agreements, we must consult all stakeholders in that relevant field.
He went on to note that they can easily conduct a cost-benefit analysis and clearly identify the pros and cons.
Sajith said, when dealing with foreign countries, every transaction should bring benefit and add value to our country, which is exactly how his father had also chosen to act.
Incidentally, Sajith’s father, Ranasinghe Premadasa, as Prime Minister, opposed the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987 and induction of Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) in North and East Sri Lanka.
When he became President in 1989, he gave the quit notice to the 150,000-strong IPKF battalion, and they withdrew in March 1990.
Interestingly, Sajith Premadasa was the minister-in-waiting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2015 visit to the island, the first in 35 years.
Elaborating on his foreign policy, Sajith said last week that considering our geographic location, our foreign policy will focus on working with all Nations in partnership, to transform Sri Lanka into a hub in the Indian Ocean, with a knowledge-based, competitive, social market economy.
For this purpose, open trade, freedom of navigation, and a rules-based world order are essential. Sri Lanka will remain firmly committed to these principles, he said.
He added that Sri Lanka would work closely with countries with which the country already had development assistance programmes, trade partnerships and strong people-to-people contacts, while forging new and stronger connections with Indian Ocean Nations and beyond.
“We recognise the significance of our geographic location in the East-West maritime highway, and we want to ensure that we have mutually beneficial, meaningful and constructive partnerships with all Nations. Air and maritime connectivity will play a critical role in our Nation’s progress.”
Trade pacts
Sajith also talked about trade pacts. Trade is essential for our sustenance. As you are aware, Sri Lanka’s first modern and comprehensive free trade agreement with Singapore came into force in May last year. Sri Lanka was also the first country to enter into an FTA with India.
I remain committed to pursue a path of enhancing trade and economic connectivity with States in the region and beyond.
I also recognise the need to carry forward the regulatory reform agenda to enhance ease of doing business with Sri Lanka.
Maximizing Sri Lanka’s location, heritage, and diversity in fauna and flora to enhance the tourism industry and also promote Sri Lanka as a Rest and Recreation Centre in the Indian Ocean with sports tourism and newer forms of tourism is also on our agenda.
Although the manifestos give basic policy guidelines, practical implementation could be somewhat different.
Political analysts believe Sajith is likely to toe a pro-Western line, as his key supporters, like Malik Samarawickrama, Mangala Samaraweera, and Dr. Harsha de Silva are pro-West.
The controversial MCC agreement was presented, last week, to Cabinet, by Minister Samaraweera, and the pro-West ministers backed him fully.
Some experts are of the view that Sajith might also sign the controversial Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US, giving the US military extra-constitutional rights in Sri Lanka.
India may not oppose such a move, as its main concern now is to keep China away.
However, China would frown upon such close cooperation with the US. China has a deep economic interest in Lanka, and it will not be in the national interest to sour relations with Beijing.
On the other hand, Gotabaya is expected to keep the US at bay, despite the fact that until recently he was an American citizen.
He might keep to the good side of India, while continuing with the close economic collaboration with China – indeed a tightrope walk.
As the Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) Agreement has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, it will be submitted to Parliament for approval after it is signed, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.
Copies of the Agreement, which the Attorney General has deemed to be legal under the constitution, have been issued for the reference of the public, he said.
He pointed out that although some who do not know of parliamentary procedures comment that the Agreement should be tabled at the parliament before being signed, an uncertified document cannot be debated at parliament.
Reportedly, the Agreement itself mentions that the Agreement will only be considered valid only after the passage of an Act of Parliament to enforce that Agreement.
The Finance Minister stated that once the Agreement is gazetted any citizen who is deemed to be aggrieved by the Agreement can go to the courts against it.
There are no legal issues to the signing of the Agreement as the Attorney General has already agreed to this, said Samaraweera.
The people who create a phobia of the MCC Agreement among the public, when it has already been approved by the Cabinet, should come forward and point out the adverse effects of the Agreement on the public and the country, he further said.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Presidential Candidate of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), stated that he will complete everything that is said in his manifesto during his tenure as President.
He says that his manifesto contains practical goals that can be achieved rather than promises.
Rajapaksa stated this speaking at a public rally held in Dematagoda today (03).
This rally was attended by the grandson of the late President J. R. Jayawardena, Pradeep Jayawardena.
Meanwhile, a Colombo Municipal Councilor of the United National Party (UNP) also joined in supporting Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Addressing a public rally held in Wattala, the former Defence Secretary stated that he will act to arrest all involved in the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
He emphasized that he will not allow extremist terrorism under his administration.
The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has decided to support New Democratic Front (NDF) Presidential Candidate Sajith Premadasa at the upcoming Presidential Election.
The main party of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the ITAK had will support Minister Sajith Premadasa at the Presidential Election 2019, stated ITAK Media Spokesperson MP M. A. Sumanthiran.
Reportedly, the decision has been arrived at through the central committee meeting of the party.
Sumanthiran stated that TNA Leader R. Sampanthan has been requested to inform the decision of TELO and PLOTE, the two remaining parties in TNA, through discussion within the parties.
I thought that I have given sufficient coverage in my previous two articles GOTA PHOBIA – Part VII A and Part VII B and was planning to write another article in the GOTA PHOBIA series on a different subject. But I was compelled to change my intention of finding a statement in the LankaCNews.lk that had been made by the former JVPer and bogus Buddhist Pa.Cha.Ranawaka insulting our great King Maha Parakramabahu and angry responses presented by over 30 readers of this article.
This bogus Buddhist who grabbed power of the former political formation Sinhala Urumaya” and made it a racist outfit under the name of Jatgika Hela Urumaya” in his recent elevation to American slavish politics has said that the horrendous Millenium Challenge Corporation proposal is a proposal of King Parakramabahu and what Ranil is doing is a work of the king Parakramabahu. He has said that saying that America will get several million acres of land of this country through this agreement is a blatant lie and identifying 4 corridors is for the future welfare of this nation. He has stated that there are plans to bring future settlements to incorporate in these corridors. Speaking further this panchayat has said that initially this proposal was brought forward by king Parakramabahu.
Addressing a media conference in Colombo he has said that in the initial periodMr. Ranil Wickremasinghe was referred to as Don Juwan and the change of Ranil Wickremasinghe and in his opinion, it is highly admirable the change that has occurred to get him portrayed as the great Parakramabahu.
Now let us see the 30 comments that have
been made by readers:
The wonder of these spit-lippers betraying their souls! Lies being said without any feeling. God knows what these kind fellows will do to this country.
In this way, these guys would say that the statue holding an ola-leaf book in its hand is not an ola-leaf book, but a sanitary pad (Sajith’s promised gift for females) And even at that time Pads were distributed,
It is sad to note that this kind of politicians to have born in this country. Fellows who eat water monitors as iguanas. These are guys who will take from their tongue even a cent in a cesspit.
Do not know why America is getting so much
trouble about our country. It is sin – No! We have heard that someone plucks a
bee-hive noto to lick the hands – Have you not heard such a thing?
Lies of this bugger….The great King
Parakramabahi did not make such a proposal….He did not surrender to foreign
countries but conquered foreign countries.
What a treacherous comment for their survival? They want to turn things upside down for their greediness for power. They seem to think that the people in our country are fools to believe such bullshit.
Please go and check your head. Probably it is disoriented after living with this type of crooks in politics. These are the leaders heading democracy without understanding the meaning even just following the leader,s footsteps like dogs following the boss. This is the mentality of people living in politics now like the real American politicians as leaders of unseen democracy.
This opportunist political worm destroyed all the political parties he associated with. The UNP also will get destroyed after this election. He misled the Buddhist monks of the Hela Urumaya. He misled Mahinda and now he is targeting Ranil and the UNP. This eunuch who does not have a vote base of his own is attempting to reign from the votes of other parties. Mr Ranil be careful.
Expel this of bloody Sinhalese from our country who do not even allow our great ancient kings to attain nirvana. (Those like Champika, Rajitha,Ranil, Chandrika, Wickramabahu)
Cardinal has quite rightly asked the government not to sign this agreement at this moment as the public and even most parliamentarians are not aware of the terms and conditions. He says it should be put to parliament and approved at a referendum. This is the opinion of the Mahanayakas also.
Champukaya is a No,1 policy less opportunist. Don’t ever vote for him.
The great betrayal severe than the barren lands Act is ready. America joins the government in the death bed for the millennium corporation agreement”
Attached is a speech delivered by traitor Pa Cha Ranawaka’s erstwhile colleague and now bete noire Attorney at Law MP Udaya Gammanpila at the Stop U, S, A” media conference
Last Tuesday (29th September) cabinet approval was obtained to sign the Millenium Corporation agreement which grants permission for America to acquire lands in Sri Lanka for a song. The Prime Minister says that this agreement will be signed prior to the Presidential Election. The President promised to us that he will not allow for the signing of this agreement prior to the presidential election. However, there is a possibility that the Prime minister and minister Mangala may get this agreement signed on the sly creeping through the ears of the President.
The Prime Minister has asked what is the fault in signing this agreement when we get the U.S.$ 480 Million as a gift? We ask the Prime Minister if he gets a good price for his mother, whether he will be ready to sell his mother? We will tell the Prime Minister that although he may be ready to sell his mother, we are not prepared to sell out motherland at any cost.
In the Millenium Challenge agreement, there are two projects. Transport project and the land reforms project. We have no objection to the transport project. Our objection is in respect of the land reforms project. The business community of this country certainly objects for the land reforms projet. The CEO of the.CC proposes that the funds from the land reforms project also to be used for the transport project and widely implement it. However, Amerca is not agreeable to it. If America does not have a hidden agenda of plundering our lands why it not willing to abandon the land reforms project?
The American War Expert Robert Kaplan states that this century is Asia’s century and Sri Lanka which is located in the centre of Asia is the most important country in this century. Therefore, the real intention of the MCC is for America to get settled in Sri Lanka, the most important country of this century. Accordingly, if America succeeds in getting the MCC agreement signed, Sri Lanka will become the centre point of the global power struggle and thereby will become a fire zone and a pool of blood. No one will be able to prevent this. In page No. 6 of the report sent to the U.S.Congress by the MCC, it is stated that two draft Acts based on land reforms have already prepared by the Sri Lanka government and MCC funds will be released on the progress of getting these Acts adopted.
The 1st draft Act was presented to the parliament about two months ago. We challenged at the Supreme Court and the Court has ruled that it should get the consent of all Provincial Councils and until that time presenting it to Parliament is inconsistent to the constitution. As regards the other Act we have not even seen the colour of it. It is very clear that these are being done with the utmost secrecy.
The British colonialists plundered the lands of the people of this country through the 1940 Barren Lands Act. Thanks to Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike we were able to get these lands back through nationalisation. What the British did by force in 1840, the Americans are trying to get the same thing achieved in 2019 through a puppet government.
In conclusion, we would like to tell the Americans that this government is a perishing government in its death bed inhaling the last breaths, Therefore we do not consider agreements signed with corpses inhaling its last breath. Also, we would like to give the final and firm message to the Americans that the people of this country will not permit to acknowledge agreements signed with corpses.
(முறைசாரா மொழிபெயர்ப்பு)( 29.10.2019இ தாமரை கோபுரம் கொழும்பு)
ஐஏ. சீன – இலங்கை பொருளாதார தொடர்புகள் பற்றிய சில உண்மைகள்
சீன – இலங்கைக்கான நடைமுறை திறன்மிக்க கூட்டுறவூ மீதான கலந்துரையாடலில் உயர்ஸ்தானிகர் செங் சியாவூன்ஸினது குறிப்புகளின் சுருக்கம்.
( 29.10.2019இ தாமரை கோபுரம் கொழும்பு)
ஐஏ. சீன – இலங்கை பொருளாதார தொடர்புகள் பற்றிய சில உண்மைகள்
சீன அரசாங்கமானது இலங்கையின் சமூக பொருளாதார அபிவிருத்திக்காக அவசியமான மூலதனத்தை வழங்கியூள்ளது.
சீனாவானதுஇ இலங்கைக்கான பாரிய முக்கியத்துவமான பங்குதாரரும் மிகப்பெரிய வெளிநாட்டு முதலீட்டாளருமாகும். உள்நாட்டு யூத்தத்திற்கு பின்னர் இலங்கை அரசாங்கமானது நாட்டை மீள் நிர்மாணிப்பதற்கும் பொருளாதாரத்தை அபிவிருத்தி செய்வதற்குமாக வெளிநாட்டு வளங்களை பெற்றுக்கொள்ள வேண்டிய ஒரு நிர்க்கதிமிக்க தேவையில் இருந்தது. சீனாவானது உண்மையான நண்பனாகவூம் அயலவனாகவூம் இலங்கைக்கு அதிகம் தேவைப்பட்ட நிதி உதவிகளை வழங்கியது. சீனாவிடம் இருந்து பெற்ற அனைத்து கடன்களும் விஞ்ஞான ரீதியான மதிப்பீட்டிற்கு பின்னரே வழங்கப்பட்டதுடன் இலங்கை அரசாங்கத்தினதும் தொழில் முயற்சிகளினது வேண்டுகோளின்படியூம் அமைந்தது.
இலங்கை மத்திய வங்கி மற்றும் நிதியமைச்சின் வருடாந்த அறிக்கையின் படி 2018 ஆம் ஆண்டின் இறுதியில் மொத்த வெளிநாட்டு கடன் தொகையானது 52 பில்லியன் அமெரிக்க டொலராக அமைந்ததோடு அதில் 6 பில்லியன் சீனாவிடம் பெற்றதாகவூம் அது 11.5 சதவீதமாகவூம் அமைந்தது. இதில் மிக முக்கியமாக 6 பில்லியனில் 60 சதவீதமானது முன்னுரிமையான கடனாக அமைந்ததோடு வட்டிவீதமானது சந்தையின் சராசரி மட்டத்திற்கு மிக குறைவாக அமைந்திருந்தது. இதன்படி மீள் செலுத்துகையின் அழுத்தமானதுஇ உண்மையில் வெளிநாட்டு மேற்கத்திய நாடுகளின் சர்வதேச பன்னாட்டு முறிகளிடம் இருந்தே உருவாகியது. பல சந்தர்ப்பங்களில் இலங்கை அரசாங்கமானது சீனாவிடம் இருந்து பெறப்பட்ட குறைந்த வட்டிவீதத்தில் அமைந்திருந்த கடன்களில் இருந்தும் மேற்கத்திய நாடுகளிடம் இருந்து பெறப்பட்ட உயர் வட்டிவீதத்திலான கடன்களை மீள் செலுத்தியது. சீனாவானது கடன்பொறியை உருவாக்காது மாறாக அதிலிருந்து இலங்கையை மீட்டெடுப்பதற்கே உதவி செய்கிறது.
சீனாவிடம் இருந்து பெறப்பட்ட கடன்களில் அதிகமான அளவில் துறைமுகங்கள்இ பாதைகள் மற்றும் நீர் பாதுகாப்பு செயற்திட்டங்களுக்கே உபயோகிக்கப்பட்டதுடன் இது மக்களின் வாழ்க்கை தரத்திற்காகவூம் இலங்கையின் சமூக பொருளாதார அபிவிருத்திற்கான நெருக்கடியை பூர்த்தி செய்வதாகவூம் அமைந்திருந்தது. சீனாவிடம் இருந்து பெறப்பட்ட கடன்களும் கூட்டுறவூ செயற்திட்டங்களும் அதிகளவில் உட்கட்டமைப்பு நிர்மாணத்தை சீர்திருத்தியதோடு பொருளாதார முன்னேற்றங்களை மேம்படுத்தியூம் வாழ்வாதாரத்தை முன்னேற்றியூம் இலங்கையினது எதிர்கால அபிவிருத்திக்கு அதிக சக்தியையூம் கொடுத்தது. பொதுவாக குறிப்பிடப்படும் கடன்பொறியானது மேற்கத்திய ஊடகங்களினால் புனையப்பட்ட ஒரு பொய்யான செய்தி என்பதை சொல்ல தேவையில்லை. அவர்களது ஒரே நோக்கமானது சீனாவினதும் ஏனைய அபிவிருத்தி நாடுகளினதும் பொதுவான அபிவிருத்தியை மட்டுப்படுத்துவதாகவே அமைந்திருக்கின்றது.
சீன – இலங்கையினது நடைமுறை திறன்மிக்க கூட்டுறவின் தன்மையானது பரஸ்பரம் நன்மை பயக்ககூடியதும் வெற்றி வெளிப்பாடுகளையூம் கொண்டது.
நுரைச்சோலை அனல்மின் நிலையத்தை ஒரு உதாரணமாக எடுத்துக்கொள்ளலாம். இது இலங்கைக்காக 50 சதவீத மின் இணைப்பு சட்டகத்தில் இருந்து மின்சாரத்தை தருவதோடுஇ மின்சார பற்றாக்குறை பிரச்சினையை தீர்ப்பதற்கு உதவூவதோடு ஒரு நிலையான மின்சார வழங்கலை உறுதிப்படுத்தி சராசரியாக மின்சாரத்தின் விலையை 20 சதவீதத்திற்கு குறைவடைய செய்கின்றது. இலங்கை மக்களும் நாடும் இந்த மின் நிலையத்தினால் பயன்பெறுகின்றார்கள்.
சீன – இலங்கைக்கான நடைமுறை திறன்மிக்க கூட்டுறவானது அதிகளவிலான வேலைவாய்ப்பு சந்தர்ப்பங்களை கொண்டு வருவதே அல்லாது அதற்கு எதிரானதல்ல. எதிர்காலத்தில் இலங்கையின் மிக பிரதானமான தேவையான திறன்மிக்க இளைஞர்களை பயிற்றுவித்தல் செயற்பாட்டிற்கு இது உதவூகிறது.
முற்றுப்பெறாத புள்ளிவிபரங்களின் அடிப்படையில் இந்த இருதரப்பு கூட்டுறவானது ஒரு இலட்சத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட வேலைவாய்ப்புகளை உருவாக்கியதோடு 10இ000 தொழில்நுட்ப மற்றும் முகாமைத்துவ திறன்களை பயிற்றுவிக்க உதவியூள்ளதோடுஇ இலங்கையினது சுய அபிவிருத்திக்காக ஒரு திடமான மென்வலு அடித்தளம் இடப்பட்டுள்ளது.
சீன அரச நிர்மாண பொறியியல் துறைக்கான கூட்டுத்தாபனம் வரையறுக்கப்பட்டதானது நேரடியாக 30க்கும் மேற்பட்ட இலங்கை முகாமையாளர்களையூம் 2000 தொழிலாளர்களையூம் தொழிலுக்கு அமர்த்தியூள்ளது. ஹம்பாந்தோட்டையில் இக்கூட்டுத்தாபனமானது உள்@ர் மக்களுக்காக பாதுகாப்பு பயிற்சி மற்றும் தொழில் நிலையம் ஒன்றை ஸ்தாபித்துள்ளது. இந்நிலையமானது 2000 சதுர மீற்றர் பரப்பினை கொண்டதாகவூம் 12 பாதுகாப்பு பயிற்சி செயற்திட்டங்களையூம் 06 தொழில்சார் பயிற்சி நிகழ்ச்சி திட்டங்களையூம் கொண்டுள்ளதோடு பல உள்@ர்வாசிகள் பயிற்சிகளிலும் மதிப்பீடுகளிலும் சித்தி பெற்று தொழில்சார் பயிற்சி பத்திரங்களை பெறுவதற்கு வசதி செய்துள்ளது.
எதிர்வரும் ஆண்டுகளில் கொழும்பின் துறைமுக நகரத்தில் 83இ000 தொழில்வாய்ப்புகள் உருவாக்கப்படும்.
சீன – இலங்கைக்கான நடைமுறை திறன்மிக்க கூட்டுறவானது உயர் தொழில்நுட்பத்தையூம்இ தரப்படுத்தலையூம்இ சூழல் பாதுகாப்பினையூம் மேற்கொள்வதற்கு முன்னுரிமை வழங்குகின்றது.
சீன கம்பனிகளும் கூட்டு செயற்திட்டங்களும் சமூக பொறுப்புகளை செயற்படுத்துவதோடு நன்கொடைகளையூம் வழங்குகின்றது.
சீன – இலங்கைக்கான நடைமுறை திறன்மிக்க கூட்டுறவானது இலங்கையின் இறைமைக்கும் பாதுகாப்புக்கும் ஒரு போதும் தீங்கு விளைவிக்காது.
சில வெளிநாட்டு ஊடகங்கள் சீன துறைமுகங்கள்இ விமான தளங்கள் ஆகியவற்றை நிர்மாணித்து நடைமுறைப்படுத்துவதன் மூலமாக இராணுவத்தளம் ஒன்றை உருவாக்குவதற்கு திட்டமிடுவதாக குரலெழுப்புகின்றன. இது மூடத்தனமாக அல்லாது இருக்க முடியாது. ஜனாதிபதி மைத்ரிபால சிறிசேனஇ பிரதம மந்திரி ரணில் விக்ரமசிங்கஇ சபாநாயகர் கரு ஜெயசூரியஇ முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த ராஜபக்ஸ ஆகியோர் இந்த கூற்றுக்களை விமர்சித்துள்ளனர்.
வரலாற்றில் சீனாவானது ஏகாதிபத்தியம் மற்றும் குடியேற்றவாதம் ஆகியவற்றால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட நாடாகும். சீனா தன்னுடைய இறைமையின் சுதந்திரத்தையூம் பிரதேச ஒருங்கிணைப்பையூம் மிக அதிகளவில் மதிப்பதோடு வெளிநாட்டு தலையீட்டினை எதிர்ப்பதோடு ஏனைய நாடுகளின் பிரதேசத்தையம் இறைமையையூம் ஒரு போதும் மீறுவது கிடையாது. சில வெளிநாட்டு சக்திகள் ஜனநாயகம் போன்ற பதாதையின் கீழ் தன்னிச்சையாக சீனாவில் இராணுவ மயப்படுத்தலை குற்றம் சாட்டி அவர்கள் அதையே இரகசியமாக செய்து வருகின்றனர். இலங்கை அரசாங்கமும் மக்களும் நியாயமான தீர்ப்பினை மேற்கொள்வார்கள் என நம்பப்படுகின்றது.
ஏ. சீன – இலங்கைக்கான நடைமுறை திறன்மிக்க கூட்டுறவின் அடுத்த படிகள் பற்றிய விதந்துரைகள்.
நாங்கள் இணைந்து இலங்கையின் நிர்வாக மற்றும் சட்டவாக்க உறுப்புகளை மேம்படுத்த வேண்டும். சர்வதேச அனுபவம் குறித்த கொள்கைகளையூம் பொருத்தமான சட்ட ரீதியான சட்டகங்களையூம் ப+ர்த்தி செய்ய வேண்டும்.
வெளிநாட்டு முதலீடுகளை கவரக்கூடிய மிக சாதகமான சூழலை உருவாக்க வேண்டும். மிக சாதகமான பலனை தரக்கூடிய பாரிய செயற்திட்டங்களுக்கு உதவி செய்ய வேண்டும்.
ஒப்பந்தங்களின் வர்த்தக நம்பகத்தன்மையையூம் சட்ட ரீதியான செல்லுபடி தன்மையையூம் நாங்கள் அதிகளவில் மதிக்க வேண்டும். நடைமுறைத்திறன் மிக்க ஒத்துழைப்பை உறுதி செய்யூம் செயற்திட்ட ஒத்துழைப்பை குறிப்பாக பாரிய செயற்திட்ட ஒத்துழைப்பை நிலையான கொள்கையை பேணுவதோடு அவை அரசாங்கத்தின் மாற்றங்களினால் பாதிக்கப்பட கூடாது.
இரண்டு நாடுகளினதும் ஊடகம் மற்றும் கல்வி சார் நிலையங்கள் முழுமையாக தங்களுடைய சமூக பொறுப்புகளை வற்புறுத்துவதோடு மூன்றாம் தரப்பினரின் பொய் செய்திகளையூம் கட்டாயமான உத்தேசங்களை பிரதிப்பண்ணுவதை தவிர்ப்பதோடும் பொருத்தமான ஒத்துழைப்பு பற்றிய கள ஆய்வூ செய்வதோடு புறச் சார்புள்ள நியாயமான ஆய்வூகளை நிகழ்த்துவதோடு இரண்டு அரசாங்கங்களுக்கும் வர்த்தக சமூகத்திற்கும் நல்ல ஆலோசனைகளையூம் நல்ல விதப்புரைகளையூம் செய்ய வேண்டும். இதனை செய்வதன் மூலமாக மாத்திரமே பொது மக்கள் சீன- இலங்கைக்கான நடைமுறை திறன்மிக்க கூட்டுறவின் ஒத்துழைப்பு பற்றிய மிக சரியானதும் அறிவூப்பூர்வமானதுமான புரிதலையூம் பெற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியூம்.
(29 October 2019, Lotus Tower Colombo) (Informal Translation)
I. The hard-earned
achievement made by the People’s Republic of China during the past seven
decades lays an important foundation for China-Sri Lanka relations to grow
stronger
This year marks the 70th
anniversary of the establishment of People’s Republic of China, which is a
fundamental moment and a great chapter in human history. 70 years after 1949,
China has become the second largest economy, largest industrial country,
ranking first in terms of trade volume and foreign exchange deposit. China’s
GDP has grown by 175 times at an annual rate of over 8%, GDP per capita
increasing from 119 yuan in 1949 to 65,000 yuan in 2018. Urban population
proportion grows from 10% to 60%. 700 million people, which made up 70% poor
people worldwide, have been lifted out of poverty. The incidence of poverty has
dropped to less than 2% from 98%, creating a miracle in poverty alleviation
history. The life expectancy has also been prolonged from 35 to 77 years
old.
It’s believed that China
becomes increasingly important for the international society. China’s
development cannot be separated from the world and the world’s progress needs
China. From closed-door policy to opening-up in all dimensions, China
contributes 18% annually to world economic growth. The Belt and Road
Initiative(BRI) proposed by President Xi Jinping, have gained extensive support
from over 160 countries, regions and international organizations. China insists
on supporting free trade and multilateralism while fighting against
protectionism and unilateralism. The steps of reform will become steadier and China
will open even wider. The BRI development will be shared to more countries. In
the next five years, China will introduce products and service worth over 10
trillion US dollars. The total outward investment volume will increase to 750
billion US dollars, outbound tourists to 700 million, which means a significant
opportunity for Sri Lanka and the world as a whole to further develop.
II. Despite the complicated
and ever-changing international economic situation, China’s economy in 2019
still maintains great momentum
1. Overall economic
stability. In the first 3 quarters, China
achieved overall economic stability at an increase rate of 6.2%, ranking
fastest in terms of world trillion dollar economies. Various index shows that
the healthy and stable foundation of China’s economic growth has not changed.
2. Stable employment. Unemployment rate in September is only 5.2%. In the first 3 quarters, the
number of newly employment has reached 10million, a completion of 99.7% of the annual
goal.
3. Better business
environment. Distribution service”
reform has been deepened and people are encouraged to do business creatively
and drive innovation altogether. From January to September, 19,900 enterprises get
registered daily.
4. The strong domestic
market potential. From January to
September, total retail sales of consumer goods has increased by 8.2% and
domestic demand has contributed more than 80% to China’s economic growth.
5. Stronger Neo-Engines. In the first three quarters, the value-added of high-tech manufacturing
increased by 8.7%, investment in the industry by 12.6%.
6. New achievement in
opening-up. In the first three
quarters, the import and export volume between China, and ASEAN, EU, BRI countries
has increased by 11.5%, 8.6% and 9.5% respectively.
III. China-Sri Lanka
relations are in the best period of history.
China and Sri Lanka are
good neighbors, good friends and good partners. The past seven decades also
witness the development of our bilateral relations, which has been renewed and
pushed forward steadily and smoothly, developing even better under the guidance
of BRI and entering into a rising period in history. China has become the
largest partner to Sri Lanka in terms of foreign investment, contracting
construction, tourist volume, and foreign aid. China-Sri Lanka friendship and
cooperation is gradually becoming a cross-political party, cross-nationality
consensus.
The tradition of mutual
support” further push forward the China-Sri Lanka pragmatic cooperation. In the
past six months, China has responded to all kinds of emergency requests and
provided the biggest assistance to Sri Lanka in a fast and efficient way, which
was called Chinese Speed” and Chinese Determination”. Within one week after the incident, the Red Cross of China provided over
18 million rupees of cash aid. Within two weeks, China donated 10 police jeeps.
Till last month, the Chinese government has already provided emergency security
equipment valued about 2 billion rupees to Sri Lankan Police, Parliament and
government. Besides, China also gifted a frigate to Sri Lankan Navy and invited
dozens of senior officers to China for security training. Last Saturday, China
donated 10 million rupees to April 21st orphans at the musical
extravaganza A Ray of Hope” organized by the Attorney General’s Department.
IV. Some facts about China-Sri Lanka economic relations
The Chinese government has provided essential capital
aid for Sri Lanka’s socio-economic development.
China is a most significant partner and
largest foreign investor for Sri Lanka. After the civil war, the Sri Lanka
government is in a desperate need to get foreign resources to re-establish the
country and develop its economy. China, as a sincere friend and neighbor,
offered the financial assistance that Sri Lanka need the most. All the loans
from China are offered only after scientific assessment, and only at the
request of the Sri Lankan government and the enterprises.
According to the annual
report of Sri Lanka Central Bank and Ministry of Finance, by the end of 2018,
the total foreign debt volume is about 52 billion US dollars, 6 billion of
which is from China, making up only 11.5%. More importantly, 60% of those 6
billion are preferential loans, with interest rate far lower than the market
average level, which means the repayment pressure is, in fact, mainly from the
ISB issued by western countries. In many cases, Sri Lanka government are using
low interest rate loans from China to repay the ones of much higher rate from
western countries. China is not setting up, but instead helping Sri Lanka out
of debt trap”.
Loans from China are mostly
used on ports, roads, and water conservancy projects that matter to people’s livelihood,
meeting the desperate need of Sri Lanka’s socio-economic development. The
cooperation projects and loans from China have largely helped improve the
infrastructure construction, thus promoting the economic progress, improving
livelihood and providing more power for Sri Lanka’s future development. Needless
to say, the so-called debt trap” is just another fake news fabricated by the
western media. And their only purpose might only be containing the common
development of China and other developing countries.
2. The nature of
China-Sri Lanka pragmatic cooperation is mutual-benefit and win-win outcome. Take Norochchorlai Power Station as a good example. It provides nearly 50% grid electricity for Sri Lanka,
helps solve the power shortage problem, ensures the stable supply of
electricity and makes the average electricity price drop by 25%. Both Sri Lanka
people and the nation have benefited from the power station.
China-Sri Lanka pragmatic cooperation brings huge employment opportunities but
not the opposite. It also helps
train skilled youths that Sri Lanka needs the most in the future.
According to incomplete
statistics, the bilateral cooperation has created over 100,000 employment
opportunities and helped train over 10,000 technical and management talents,
laying a solid soft power” foundation for Sri Lanka’s own development.
The
China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC) directly
employs more than 30 Sri Lankan managers and more than 2,000 workers. In
Hambantota, CSCEC also built a safety training and vocational center for local
residents. The center covers an area of 2,000 square meters and has 12 safety
excise projects and 6 vocational training programs, enabling many local
residents pass the training and assessment, and obtain a vocational skills
certificate.
In the
years to come, the Port City Colombo will create another 83,000 jobs for Sri
Lanka.
4. China-Sri Lanka pragmatic cooperation
prioritizes the pursuit of advanced technology, standardization and
environmental protection
5. Chinese companies and Joint Projects are
performing social responsibilities and doing charities.
6. China-Sri Lanka pragmatic cooperation
will never harm Sri Lanka sovereignty and security.
Some western media have been hyping up that
China is planning to build military base” by constructing and operating ports
and airports, which cannot be more absurd. President Maithripala Sirisena,
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Former
president Mahinda Rajapaksa have all stood up criticizing those claims.
In history, China suffered from imperialism
and colonialism. China extremely values its sovereign independence and
territorial integrity, opposes any external interference, and never violates
the sovereignty and territory of other countries. Some external forces, under
the banner of “democracy”, have arbitrarily accused China of
militarization while they are trying to do it secretly . It is believed that
the Sri Lankan government and people will have fair judgments.
V.
Suggestions on the next step of China-Sri Lanka’s pragmatic cooperation:
1. We should jointly promote
the administrative and legislative bodies of Sri Lanka, accelerate the
completion of relevant legal framework and policies with reference to
international experience, create a more favorable environment for attracting
foreign investment, and help the mega-projects to bear fruit as soon as
possible.
2. We must earnestly respect
the legal validity and commercial credibility of the contracts, maintain a
stable policy, and ensure that pragmatic cooperation, especially mega-projects
cooperation, will not be affected by changes of government.
The media and
academic institutes of the two countries must earnestly exert their social
responsibilities, avoid copying third-party fake news and deliberate
speculation, have field-study on the relevant cooperation, conduct objective
and fair research, and provide good advice and suggestions to the two governments
and the business community. Only by doing this, could the general public have a
more accurate and rational understanding of China-Sri Lanka pragmatic
cooperation.
By Noor Nizam. Peace and Political Activist, Political Communication Researcher, SLFP/SLPP Stalwart and Convener – “The Muslim Voice” – November 2nd., 2019.
Sri Lankan Muslims have read all the 1500 odd
comments/rebuttals that “THE MUSLIM VOICE” has written since February 2015 till now in the www.jaffnamuslim.com, Ada Derana, Colombo
Telegraph, Colombo Gazette, TKN, Veerakesari, Daily News, Lankaweb.com, Economy
Next, Hiru News, Onlanka, Lanka Business online, Nation.lk, lankamuslims@yahoogroups.com, srilankamuslims@yahoogroups.com
and a few more publications.
YOU WILL SEE THAT WHAT “THE MUSLIM
VOICE” HAS WRITTEN IS TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, about our
“deceptive Muslim politicians and leaders, Insha Allah. “THE MUSLIM
VOICE” was slammed and attacked by these “DECEPTIVE/MUNAFIQUE”
gangs throughout these 41/2 years. BUT TODAY – ALHAMDULILLAH, THE TREND HAS
CHANGED AND THE UNDERSTANDING MUSLIM VOTE BANK HAS TURNED TO SUPPORT GOTABAYA
RAJAPAKSA AT THE NOVEMBER 16th., PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, Insha Allah. THESE
DECETIVE/MUNAFIQUE PERSONS/GROUPS HAVE ACCEPTED THE REALITY AND ARE ORGANIZING
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN MEETINGS AND COMMUNITY MEETINGS TO SUPPORT GOTABAYA –
ALHAMDULILLAH. THEY HAVE EVEN NOW STATRED TO APPEAR BEFORE TV CAMERAS AND SPEAK
ON STAGES AT PUBLIC CAMPAIGN MEETINGS APPEALING TO THE MUSLIM VOTE BANK TO VOTE
GOTABAYA.
TO GOTABAYA, EVERY SINGLE SRI LANKAN
VOTE IS VITAL AND “THE MUSLIM VOICE” IS HALLP ABOUT IT,
ALHAMDULILLAH. ACCORDING TO THE POLITICAL ANALYSIS CONDUCTED BY “THE
MUSLIM VOICE” 30% (THIRTY PERCENTAGE) OF THE NEARLY 950,000 to 1 MILLION
MUSLIMS VOTES WILL BE POLLED IN FAVOUR OF GOTABAYA RALAPAKSA, Insha Allah.
What “The Muslim Voice” has been doing – “May All praise be to
God AllMighty Allah, Alhamdulillah” is to kindle the aspirations and
inspirations of the humble Muslim Ummah/Jamaath in Sri Lanka to rethink
politically and otherwise in order it will help our community regain our
“DIGNITY”, “HONOUR”, “RESPECT”,
“RIGHTS” and the STATUS OF “HIERA-UMMATH”. The writing and
wide political knowledge of “The Muslim Voice” belongs to God
AllMighty Allah. “The Muslim Voice” is on a CRUSADE to expose
the fraudulent, hypocritical, unscrupulous and dishonest corrupt Muslim
Politicians of whom “The Muslim Voice” has much knowledge, by the
grace of God AllMighty Allah and “HAD” a duty to challenge them as a
“democratic institution” in a “Democratic Society”, Insha
Allah.
The Convener of the
Muslim Voice, “The Muslim Voice” had been blessed to mingle in the
corridors of political power and witness the manner in which these fellows lead
two lives, one in the mist of their creed and corrupt selfish and self centered
political partners and the other how they show a different, God fearing,
dedicated humanitarian character, behaving very religious and reminding
“Insha Allah” or “Masaha Allah” at every turn they make to
hoodwink the poor Muslim voters. The time has come that these tricksters have
to be challenged and EXPOSED to Safe Guard the Rights and DIGNITY of the Sri
Lanka Muslim UMMAH, Insha Allah. A new Muslim Political Culture that can create
a New Political Force has to be born soon, Insha Allah, and that is the
Political message that “The Muslim Voice” is trying to send out,
Insha Allah. If this endeavour of “The Muslim Voice” is true, honest
and sincere, then God AllMighty Allah will give success to this message to
reach every nook and corner in Sri Lanka and abroad where Sri Lankan Muslims
are living and to reach every Sri Lankan “Muslim Makkal”, Insha
Allah.
Brother Ali Sabry and a
few Mahinda/Gotabaya/Basil loyalist Muslims have called for this ” MUSLIM
POLITICAL CULTURE” Alhamdulillah.
* No mention of Unitary State * Formulation for a federal system * Sajith holding baby disowned by RW
UNF presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa launched his election manifesto in Kandy on Thursday. It’s called “Sri Lankawe idiri gamanata seemawak netha: Ekwa gamana yamu.” Loosely translated this would mean “There are no limits to what Sri Lanka can achieve: Let’s go on this journey together”. If there was one section of the population that was waiting eagerly for the launch of this manifesto other than the members of the UNF itself, it was the groups of political parties around the Tamil National Alliance led by R. Sampanthan and the Tamil Makkal Koottani led by C.V.Wigneswaran. The various political parties around these two groupings had held a meeting last Wednesday to decide on whom they were going to support.
However that meeting had ended inconclusively and the decision taken was to wait for the launch of the UNP manifesto which was going to take place the next day. The Northern Tamil political parties had been dithering for weeks unable to make up their minds. Even by the time the postal voting began, they had not made up their minds and only C.V.Wigneswaran had issued a statement calling on the Tamil people to cast their postal votes for a candidate of their choice. The other political parties did not say even that. It was after the end of the first day of postal voting that the UNP candidate released his manifesto. It must be said that the UNP did not disappoint the Tamil political parties that had been waiting for oxygen from the south.
Two pages of the manifesto (pages 15 & 16) are dedicated to constitutional reform and this chapter is titled “Janathawage vyawasthawa” or People’s Constitution. These two pages are the most important section of the manifesto and what the Northern Tamil political parties were waiting for. The political parties belonging to the TNA and TMK groups had signed a joint declaration at the behest of university students making 13 Demands which presidential candidates were to agree to if they were to obtain the support of the Northern political groups. Even though the SLPP rejected these demands out of hand, what we heard from the UNP was silence. Not a single UNP leader uttered a word about these proposals. If one looks at these 13 Demands, only the first one related to constitutional issues.
The first of the 13 Demands
The first of the 13 demands relating to constitutional matters went as follows:
“New constitutional processes that uphold unitary system of rule should be rejected. The Tamil national question of Ilangkai [Ceylon] must be resolved through a federal framework with the realization that Tamils constitute a nation with distinct sovereignty and that nation is entitled to the Right of Self-Determination under International Law.”
The other 12 demands related to non-constitutional matters such as repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the release of all remaining LTTE detainees, the release of the land still occupied by various military units etc. If we break up the first of the 13 demands which relates to constitutional reform into its constituent components, what emerges is the following:
1. The concept of the unitary state must be rejected
2. The federal concept must be accepted
3. The idea that Tamils constitute a nation with distinct sovereignty must be accepted
4. It should be accepted that this nation has the right of self determination.
This was the closest approximation to the Vadukkodai resolution of 1976 ever put out by democratic political parties in the north. Unsurprisingly, it was rejected out of hand by the SLPP. After remaining silent about the 13 demands, the UNP has put out a manifesto which has essentially accepted the first two of the four components mentioned above. The section on constitutional reform in the UNP manifesto certainly does not say that Tamils constitute a nation with distinct sovereignty or that this nation should have the right of self determination. What the UNP manifesto has done is to stop at the formulations put forward in the draft constitution that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tabled in Parliament earlier this year.
That draft constitution which had the fullest backing of the TNA and indeed is believed to have been drafted by lawyers associated with the TNA, did not speak of a Tamil nation that had claims to sovereignty or that this nation was entitled to the right of self determination. What it sought to do was to win a degree of federalism that borders on independence. That draft constitution never used the term federalism which has earned a bad name in Sri Lanka, but had provisions for a federal form of government without the name. What that draft constitution did was to carefully avoid describing Sri Lanka as a ‘unitary state’ and instead to describe Sri Lanka as ‘a State which is undivided and indivisible’.
The phrase ‘unitary state’ in English has a specific meaning which is crucial in describing the nature of the Sri Lankan state. The Sinhala phrase ‘ekieeya rajya’ does not cover all the nuances of the concept of a unitary state. So it is absolutely vital to hear the word ‘unitary state’ in English. The version of the UNP manifesto that came out last Thursday was the Sinhala version. This writer downloaded a copy from the UNP’s facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/UNPofficialpage/) An English translation of the manifesto is not available. Even in the Sinhala original, there is no mention at all of the unitary state or ekieeya rajya. In one place there is a sentence which goes as follows: “apage maubime ekeeyathwaya, bhaumika akandathawaya, swairee bhawaya ha deshapalana swadheenathwaya apa visin araksha karannemu.”
That sentence however is not a reference to a unitary state. The Sinhala word ekeeya rajya does not have the same strict technical connotations of the English word unitary state. Ekeeya can also mean unity which is what it means in the sentence mentioned above. Translated, that sentence would mean “We will protect the political independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of our motherland”. The technical meaning of the phrase unitary state is absent in the above sentence. It is because of the imprecise nature of the Sinhala phrase ekeeya, that the draft constitution tabled in Parliament earlier this year by the Prime Minister proposed to describe Sri Lanka as an ekeeya rajya in Sinhala and as an ‘orumiththa nadu’ in Tamil, wthout however using the English phrase unitary state even in the English version of the document!
If those constitutional proposals had been passed, the Sinhalese would have been under the impression that they were living in a unitary state while the Tamils would have been under the impression that they were living in a federal state and the English reading public would have known that Sri Lanka was no longer a unitary state even though it was described as an ekeeya rajya in Sinhala! The TNA had adopted the policy of giving the label to the Sinhalese and taking the substance for themselves and having a federal system which does not describe itself as federal.
Maximum devolution of power
It is in the light of such semantic issues that we have to consider the constitutional proposals in the UNP manifesto. There is no mention at all of the unitary state. Instead what we have is a sentence which says “Nobedunu ha wen kala noheki lankawak thula uparima balaya beda hereemak kriyathmaka kere.” (The maximum devolution of power within an undivided and indivisible Sri Lanka.) This is identical to the phraseology of the above mentioned draft constitution which also spoke of ‘a State which is undivided and indivisible’. It is easy to see why the draft constitution and the manifesto has carefully and deliberately avoided using the term ‘unitary state’ and instead speaks of ‘a state which is undivided and indivisible’. The moment the phrase unitary state is used, it automatically precludes a federal state.
The whole purpose of the proposed draft constitution was to create a federal state out of the present unitary state. Now with the UNP manifesto also avoiding the use of the term unitary state and speaking instead of a State which is undivided and indivisible, the TNA influence on the UNP’s constitutional proposals can clearly be seen. Not that there is anything surprising in this. It is because of the TNA that the UNP was able to form a government in 2015 and the former has stood with the latter through thick and thin. Even though there is no formal coalition between the UNP and TNA, they are partners for all practical purposes. Furthermore the UNP has ho hope at all at this presidential election without the TNA.
So what we see with regard to the UNP’s manifesto is that it stops at the point reached by the draft constitution without going all the way as sought in the 13 demands. There are other indications also to the effect that the constitutional proposals in the UNP manifesto are based on the draft constitution. Take for instance the following provisions in the manifesto and their similarity to the provisions that appeared in the draft constitution.
1. According to the manifesto, the powers and functions of the provincial councils will be decided after taking into account the various proposals that had been made under Presidents Ranasinghe Premadasa, Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa. (The draft constitution also envisages a change of the powers and functions of the provincial councils. In fact the draft constitution does not have a list of powers of the provincial councils and this has been left unstated to be filled in later. Going by the general tenor of the draft constitution, it is easy to see that what is intended is an increase of the powers and functions of the PCs and certainly not a reduction. The fact that the manifesto has pledged to decide on the powers and functions of the PCs afresh means clearly that they intend going beyond the provincial council powers mentioned in the Ninth Schedule of the present Constitution. Such an increase in powers is consistent with the move towards a federalism bordering on a separate state that the TNA has been aiming at.)
2. A second chamber of Parliament is to be set up with the participation of the representatives of the provincial councils. Its purpose will be to ensure the devolution of the centre’s powers, and to enable the provinces to exercise their powers. (The setting up of a second chamber was also a part of the draft constitution. The purpose of the second chamber in the draft constitution was also to restrict the power of the centre further by imposing a fetter on Parliament. The UNP manifesto has now explicitly accepted the position that the purpose of the second chamber is indeed to fetter Parliament by saying that its purpose will be to ‘ensure’ the devolution of the centre’s powers and to ‘enable the provinces to exercise their powers’.)
3. In the manifesto, there is a broad statement which says that ‘the provinces will be able to raise the funds they need’. (There is no indication of whether this entails raising funds both domestically or overseas. In any event, the draft constitution also had a separate chapter on public finance which specified the powers over public finance of the central government and the provincial units as befits a federal arrangement. In contrast to this the present chapter on public finance in the present Constitution deals only with the powers of the central government.)
4. The district secretaries and divisional secretaries are to function as the representatives of the centre when exercising the powers of the centre and as representatives of the provincial councils when implementing powers devolved to the provinces. (The Subcommitte on the Public Service of the Constitutional Assembly had suggested that the divisional secretaries be brought under the provincial councils. The UNP manifesto essentially follows the same line and has gone beyond the Public Service Subcommittee by bringing the district secretaries under the PCs as well. The federalist tilt in the manifesto is unmistakable.)
5. The manifesto proposes to to take away the constitutional jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and to give it to a Constitutional Court which will adjudicate in disputes between the centre and the provincial councils, and between provincial councils. (This too features prominently in the draft constitution. The creation of a judicial body to adjudicate in disputes that arise between the centre and the provinces and between the provinces shows that the purpose is to create units that are more or less independent of one another.)
Disowned by RW but accepted by Sajith!
The foregoing analysis would show that the manifesto put out by the UNP for this presidential election is on all fours with the draft constitution that was tabled in Parliament earlier this year by the Prime Minister. The difference however is that in tabling that draft constitution in Parliament the Prime Minister disowned it saying that it was just a document prepared by a panel of experts and that the final decision over what provisions to adopt would have to be decided by the Constitutional Assembly. However the manifesto passes off as Sajith Premadasa’s personal agenda for which he is directly responsible. Sajith is now holding Ranil Wickremesinghe’s and Sumanthiran’s baby.
The UNP and Sajith Premadasa, kept silent when the Northern Tamil parties made the 13 Demands. Now with this manifesto and its clearly federalist tilt, the public is going to assume that the UNP kept quiet because they were in cahoots with the TNA all along. Everyone knows that the UNP is heavily dependent on the Northern and Eastern Tamil vote. Everyone is going to assume that chapter on the constitution in the UNP manifesto was designed to enable the TNA to call on the Tamil people to vote for the UNP candidate. At the time that these words are being penned, the nationalist organizations have not yet noticed the contents of the chapter on the constitution in the UNF manifesto. But sooner rather than later, they are going to see it, and all hell is going to break loose.
Even Maithripala Sirisena’s manifesto in 2015 had not toed the TNA line in such an explicit manner. Furthermore there is a mismatch between what Sajith states verbally and what appears in his manifesto. When he went to present his manifesto to the Ven Mahanayakes and Anunayakes, he was heard to mention the term ‘ekeeya rajya’ when speaking to one of the Anunayaka Theras. However there is no unitary state in his manifesto. As we pointed out earlier, the single reference to ‘maubime ekeeya bawa’ is about the unity of the motherland and not the unitary state. The TNA can now support Sajith Premadasa, because the UNP has officially adopted the TNA’s platform.
However because the manifesto does not explicitly accept that Tamils constitute a nation with distinct sovereignty and that they are entitled to the right of self determination, this manifesto may not be acceptable to C.V.Wigneswaran and his allies and to the Students who now seem to be acting as a pressure group on all the Tamil political parties in the north and east. Furthermore the TNA promised the sun and moon to the Tamil people in 2015 and delivered nothing. So it’s a moot question as to whether the ordinary voter of the north will go into raptures after seeing the TNA influence on the UNP manifesto. There is also the fact that if the TNA openly expresses support for the UNP, the latter will lose votes in the south.
While the TNA now has the ability to canvass for Sajith on the basis of the contents of the chapter on the constitution in the manifesto, they may need to carry the other signatories to the 13 demands with them. The TNA had a more gradualist approach than other leaders like Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and C.V.Wigneswaran. The TNA’s approach was to don sheep’s clothing and win federalism bordering on independence first, leaving the self determination part for later. However, Ponnambalam and Wigneswaran appear to have been skeptical about this approach. Perhaps the latter two have good grounds for their skepticism. The best opportunity there was for the TNA’s sheep skin approach to succeed was between January 2015 and about the end of 2017 when President Sirisena who won because of the TNA’s support was the President and the UNP-SLFP-JVP combine could muster a two thirds majority in Parliament to be able to pass a new constitution.
But during this period, the TNA could not even get a draft constitution placed on the table leave alone getting it passed. When it was finally tabled in Parliament, the Prime Minister promptly disowned it. The reason why the TNA’s efforts failed is not because of resistance by Sinhala nationalists. It was because all other minority communities in the country such as the Muslims and Up-country Tamils have no appetite for what the TNA wants. The TNA through Clause 237(3) of the draft constitution wants to see a merged north and east which is anathema to the Muslims because that would turn them into a minority in a Tamil dominated province.
If nine semi independent federal units are created as the TNA envisages, the Up-country Tamils will be split into scattered communities living in Sinhala dominated provinces. The same thing happes to the Muslims living outside the north and east. What meets the needs of the Muslims and the Up-country Tamils is the unitary state where they can use their electoral strength for a share of power at the center. They may not openly voice their stand out of consideration for the sensibilities of the northern Tamil parties. But through studied indifference they make it impossible for the TNA’s agenda to move forward. So even if the TNA once again persuades the Tamil voter to vote for Sajith to get federalism bordering on independence, once again, it will be the same story. So the more skeptical approach taken by Ponnambalam and Wigneswaran is well founded.
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s frontrunner for the upcoming presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa assures that any form of extremist terrorism will not be allowed in Sri Lanka.
Speaking at a public meeting held in Pannala, Rajapaksa also emphasized that he will not let anyone attempting to segregate this sovereign country.
This is the reason we had to reject the proposals made by the extremist Tamil political parties,” Rajapaksa pointed out.
Attending another rally at Alawwa, Rajapaksa stated the Police service must be expanded in order to make it efficient and to introduce an 8-hour working shift for police officers.
We established an outstanding hospital for the military, likewise we expect to build one for the Police,” he promised.
Police service will be made a people-friendly service, Rajapaksa said further.
The country needs an excellent Police service to make certain that terrorism, drug menace and underworld figures do not have the opportunity for a revival, he stressed.
UPFA Member of Parliament Prasanna Ranatunga says those accused of involvement in the Easter Sunday attacks and bank thieves are all on Sajith Premadasa’s stage.
Excerpts:
How is the election campaign of your faction coming along?Are you satisfied with the progress?
A: We see that the people are working towards the victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa with huge expectations and massive commitment. We have held a series of meetings at village and divisional level and have successfully declared open several campaign offices in these areas. We were able do all this ahead of time because Gotabaya Rajapaksa was named as the SLPP candidate for the Presidential Election early. As a result we were able to prepare for it in time. But we are still having a problem with fulfilling all our tasks as time is limited.
Although you named your candidate ahead of time, it is not easy to maintain the heat of the election, isn’t it?
A: Actually when we consider the situation that prevails now, we are running out of time. I am of the opinion that the time period given to carry out an election campaign is not adequate. The reason is there are so many rallies that must be organised. We do not have enough time to hold all of them. There are only about twenty days left. For someone like me, the time given to work within my district is inadequate. It would have been better if there was more time given to us to campaign at electorate level.
What is your opinion regarding the President being ‘neutral’?
A: I think that his stance is good. When you consider how he acted in conjunction with the UNP after winning the election as the common candidate and how the people reacted to his move, I think he made the correct decision. He said so himself.
We saw certain sections of the crowd hooting at SLFP members at meetings held by your coalition. Why can’t you put a stop to things like that?
A: This was something that had been planned and carried out by a certain group. I am saying this for a reason. There was no room left for such a thing to happen at the meeting we held in Kadawatha. We strengthened our security to face such a situation. At the Party Leaders’ meeting Mahinda Rajapaksa said something like this could take place in Kadawatha during the rally. But we did not allow such an incident to take place in Kadawatha. That is why I said that this was being carried out by an organised group. I do not think it will happen in the future.
It seems as if the people do appreciate certain politicians from the SLFP joining hands with the SLPP?
A: Now, see who is on our opponent’s stage. There are people like Rauff Hakeem and Rishad Bathiudeen. They are people who have connections with those who carried out the Easter Sunday attacks. They worked for the past four and a half years as extremists. The entire country is aware of that. These are the type of people who are on Sajith Premadasa’s stage. The other groups are those who robbed the Central Bank. Sujeewa Senasinghe, who wrote a book trying to justify the incident, Ajith Perera and others who put footnotes, Ravi Karunanayake and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are all on his stage. The TNA, which is trying to create disunity and divide this country, is also going to support NDF Candidate Sajith Premadasa.
When the people see the kind of people supporting Sajith Premadasa they want to join us and ensure victory of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. His brother Mahinda was defeated in 2015 because of wrongs committed by certain politicians of the type you mentioned who were in our government. If the Local Government election had been held first then, the people would have sent these persons packing. But since the Presidential Election was expedited, they thought that victory was assured and they would also escape punishment, but they were wrong.
What was the delay in introducing your Election Manifesto?
A: When the SLFP joined us we had to consider their proposals as well when preparing the Election Manifesto. What they had proposed were mostly things that benefitted the country. We gave room for those too.
Although Sajith was named the Candidate of the UNP he still has no viable plan for the country. Not only is he deceiving the people when he speaks at election rallies, but the promises he is making can never be achieved and are fairytales or as we say in Sinhala Chun Katha. He is playing to the gallery. It shows he does not have a proper programme of work planned out.
After this Government came into power, the President, Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have brought in 16 financial statements within three and a half years. The economy has collapsed as a result. But if we take over the Government even tomorrow, we have a programme in mind. It is this programme our Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa speaks about on stages across the country.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa said fertiliser will be given free of charge. If the fertiliser is to be given free of charge, a sum of between 35-40 billion rupees will have to be spent. When such promises are given, critics would argue you have no knowledge either about the Gross National Income or the budget deficit.
A: The fertiliser subsidy was provided by our Government. When Mahinda Rajapaksa was President the cost of a bag of fertiliser was Rs. 350. What Gotabaya Rajapaksa said was that we can provide the fertiliser subsidy and increase agri-products in the country which will enable us to export our products to a large number of countries including the Middle-East and earn a huge income through that. So, even if the fertiliser is given free he said it will not be a loss.
Persons such as S. B. Dissanayake who is now in your camp have mentioned that people like Hizbullah are with you?
A: S. B. Dissanayake represented the SLFP before joining us. Subsequent to that statement we issued a very clear statement that Hizbullah was not connected to us. Certain things utterred on political stages are their own views. The SLPP cannot take the responsibility for it. If the leader of our Party or the Media Spokesman of the Party had made such a statement we could have been held responsible for it. S.B. Dissanayake represented a separate group, Hizbullah was with the SLFP in the past. It must have been about that that S. B. was mentioning.
Do you not think that the press briefing held recently at the Shangri-La Hotel was disadvantageous to you?
A: I think the event went off very well. We set a precedent through that. The message that given was that when Gotabaya becomes President, he will not embrace power himself but decentralise powers. Is it the same with Sajith Premadasa? He always speaks about what he hopes to achieve and his goals and dreams. Therefore, I think that that media briefing was very successful. Rather than a single individual rising to the top, the support of the entire group was highlighted there.
How is the work on the Alliance with several other smaller parties that have gathered around the SLPP going?
A: At this moment attention is mainly focused on the Presidential Election. But after that, based on the agreements we have with the other parties involved, how to proceed will be decided at a Party Leaders’ meeting along with how we will contest the upcoming General Election. I think the Alliance will be formed prior to the General Election.
You are said to be preparing to obtain more positions for the Pohottuwa within that Alliance? Why are you all trying out for a limited number of positions?
A: Today the main Party in the new alliance is the SLPP. Therefore we need to have more say in what happens within the alliance.We are of the opinion that leadership roles should be granted to both former Presidents as well.
Until Parliament is dissolved in March, Ranil Wickremesinghe will remain the Prime Minister. If Gotabaya Rajapaksa becomes President would he appoint someone else to that position immediately?
A: I will tell you my personal opinion. I objected during the 51-day Government. The reason is because it is not suitable to change heads and take over the political leadership of a Party. When Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins the Presidency the entire Cabinet including the Prime Minister will have to resign. Then the authority to appoint a Prime Minister will revert to the President. If we can obtain a majority at that time, we will do so. The Party will decide whether it will be Mahinda Rajapaksa or someone else. If someone inquires about my personal opinion, I would say that Mahinda Rajapaksa is the ideal candidate for this post. It will be a great source of strength to Gotabaya to have his brother as the Prime Minister. At the same time, I believe that it will be possible to dissolve Parliament by March next year and obtain a majority at a Parliamentary Election and Mahinda Rajapaksa will get the opportunity to become the Prime Minister of this country. That is the expectation of the people of this country. The Party should decide whether a change should be brought about during the period from November to January. Therefore it is necessary for Gotabaya to become President.
As soon as Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins people will line the streets with betel leaves looking for positions and portfolios.
In addition to what you mentioned, a problem could arise if two persons from the SLFP and the SLPP come forward to contest one electorate?
A: We have not made a decision as to whether we will contest together or separately, as yet. We will make a decision at the appropriate time.
Your candidate said that the Cabinet will be reduced to 30 members when he wins. Even though it is good for the country, is it practical?
A: Problems will arise. That is why I said a large number from the UNPers will contest together with us at the next Parliamentary Election and ask for membership through the National List. My suggestion is that membership through the National List should be given to persons who have a practical knowledge of the problems that exist in the country and those who have an understanding about the subjects coming under them. If not, granting memberships through the National List to useless persons will mean having to face allegations from the people, which happened last time. They should ask themselves what they have actually achieved on behalf of the nation to warrant such a privilege.
There are those who accuse the Rajapaksas of taking control of the Party and keeping hold of power by sharing it amongst themselves. They question whether there is no other alternative for the SLPP?
A: The first thing is that a majority of people in this country voted in favour of Mahinda Rajapaksa. When he was defeated in 2015 the people said they needed him to govern the country again. The Rajapaksas earned that respect mostly because they ended the war. With the passing of the 19th Amendment Mahinda was unable to contest again, so the people asked for Gotabaya. Therefore, the Rajapaksas were requested for by the people.
People who are jealous of family dynasties are those who do not have families. They are the ones who accuse the Rajapaksas of nepotism. Ranil Wickremesinghe who speaks about such things does not even have children. Even though Sajith Premadasa talks about nepotism his father was once the President of this country. Sajith came into politics following in the footsteps of his father. However, after him there is no one to carry on his legacy since he does not have children. Patali Champika’s wife and children do not live together with him anymore as he and his wife have separated. Write all this without fear! Such persons are the ones who are talking about nepotism today. Those who talk most about this are people who do not have families and are jealous of those who do.
Are minority votes going to be a decisive factor at the upcoming Presidental Poll?
A: Yes.
If that is so, most of the politicians who represent the minorities are gathered around your opponent. As you yourself said Rishad Bathiudeen, Rauff Hakeem and even the TNA have pledged their support to him. Therefore, what strategy do you have to win them over to your side or can you win without the support of the minorities?
A: The people of our country are intelligent. Rishad Bathiudeen and Rauff Hakeem are not leaders who represent the general Muslim people in the country. They are leaders of groups which represent Muslim extremists. With the intention of achieving their political objectives they arouse racism. The Tamil National Alliance only obtained 33% of the votes at the Local Government elections in their electorates. The Tamils in general are not in favour of the TNA. The leaders of political parties who represent conservative Muslims and Tamils are on our side.
UNP members who did not like Ranil, have reawakened with Sajith Premadasa becoming the Presidential Candidate. Couldn’t that reawakening be a disadvantage to your candidate?
A: The UNP obtained only 3.5 million votes at the Local Government Elections. There is no reason to hope that it will increase this time round as well. People know very well what happened since they came to power. If there was a re-awakening, would there be hooting taking place in Laggala? It was members of the UNP who hooted the leadership. The people of Laggala decided that if Ranil Wickremesinghe contested they would not vote for him.
Although they decided to vote for Sajith, when it was announced that Ranil will be made Prime Minister should Premadasa become President, they objected. Even if he becomes Opposition Leader after defeat or the Party Leader, UNP leaders are against it. That is why people hooted while they were on stage together. Therefore their campaign will soon collapse. The second fact is that Sajith Premadasa does not have a programme of work. When we see what is posted on Facebook, it is apparent that Sajith Premadasa has become a joke. He is not actually suited to be President. He is suitable to be the palace clown and crack jokes when the President is bored.
