{"id":105187,"date":"2020-08-03T00:40:13","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T06:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=105187"},"modified":"2020-08-02T17:26:11","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T00:26:11","slug":"why-sri-lankans-should-vote-for-pohottuwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/08\/03\/why-sri-lankans-should-vote-for-pohottuwa\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Sri Lankans should vote for Pohottuwa?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarath Bulathsinghala <\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

2 Aug 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE VOTERS OF SRI LANKA WILL GO TO POLLS ON 5 AUGUST. SIMPLY PUT THE\nTASK IS TO DECIDE WHOM TO BRING TO POWER TO BRING PROSPERITY TO SRI LANKA IN A\nCOVID-19 SITUATION NOW AND A  POST\nCOVID-19 SITUATION AFTER? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a\ndisastrous 5 years of gross governmental mismanagement by a coterie of nincompoops\nand white-collar thieves, Gotabhaya Rajapakse was elected as the President of\nSri Lanka for a period of 5 years at the Presidential Elections held in\nNovember 2019. The President could not dissolve the corrupt and non-performing\nparliament due to the provisions of the infamous 19th<\/sup> Amendment to\nthe Constitution of Sri Lanka. The President had to wait till March 2020 to\ndissolve the parliament and call for fresh elections in April 2020. However,\nthis was not to be, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the General Elections had\nto be delayed till August 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\nGotabhaya diverted his attention to containing the pandemic and by now Sri\nLanka has out-performed many other rich and powerful countries in protecting\nand saving lives of her population.  The pandemic\nis well contained with only 11 deaths – 0.5 per million population so far and the\ninfected total less than 3000 or 131 per million population. Covid-19 Testing\nnow standing at 7480 per million population. All these figures are well ahead\nof Japan, just one example \u2013 see https:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/coronavirus\/#countries<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The infections within the country were well\ncontained using the \u2018Chase and Contain\u2019 policy utilizing the expertise and\nmanpower of the Tri Forces and the Intelligence Services and the excellent\nHealthcare services.  This the President\nhad to do while governing a country saddled with gross excesses and thievery of\nthe previous regime. This he had to do without a performing parliament and a\nbelligerent and hateful  opposition who\nkeeps on wishing for the worst!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally,\nthe 2020 General Elections are upon us. It is no brainer that a country needs\nto be governed and our current system of governance needs a parliament to do\nso. However, the objective of the current opposition was to postpone the\nelections as much as possible after failing to get the President to reconvene\nthe old non-performing parliament. This they failed with the dissolution of the\nparliament in March 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making\nof a Failed State<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this background,\nwhat is of paramount importance is to understand is the stratagem of the\nprevious Yaha(Jada)palana administration. Taken in totality it is now obvious\nthat the Government mostly controlled by Ranil Wickramasinghe and \u2018his gang of\nwhite collar thieves\u2019 were intent on making Sri Lanka a Failed State<\/strong>\nsuitable for Big Power intervention and subsequent occupation by the Western\nChristian Forces led by the USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disruptions\nin the Financial Sector<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was\ntowards this objective that Bond Scams involving the Central Bank take place \u2013\nfirst one within 7 weeks of coming to power and the second a year later. The\nresults were there for all to see – major disruptions to the economy in terms\nof increased interest rates, higher taxes and rapid devaluation of the Rupee\nresulting in massive losses to the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disruptions\nto Food Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nYahapalana inherited an agricultural economy that was self-sufficient in rice\nand other cash crops. However the Yahapalana  target was to make Sri Lanka dependent on\nimported food. The farmers were discouraged from cultivating their paddy lands\nand rice was imported. Millions of tons of rice went bad after storage at the\nMattala Airport and was subsequently sold for making alcohol. The Pepper market\nwas destroyed by the import of inferior pepper from Vietnam and subsequent\nresale of the mixed product eventually destroying the Ceylon Pepper brand. The\nprice of tea, rubber and coconut went down similarly. Import of onions, maize, curcumin\n(Kaha) and similar made many a farmer destitute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disruptions\nto National Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalanaya\nwillfully and purposely disrupted the security establishment set up by Mahinda\n\/ Gotabhaya Administration of 2005 \u2013 2015. It was done with a vengeance and in\naccordance of the wishes of Big Powers and India. It was done ostensibly to\npromote reconciliation among different ethnicities in Sri Lanka. The end result\nwas Easter Sunday Bombings and furtherance of disparities and distrust between peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sale of\nHambantota Port<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is now\nabundantly clear that the sale of Hambantota Port to China was the trigger to\nBig Power intervention in Sri Lanka. It was with this that India is clamoring\nfor Mattala Airport and Eastern Container Terminal of the Colombo Port. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACSA,\nSOFA and MCC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfinal nail in the coffin was to put American boots on the sacred soil of Sri\nLanka.  Simply put the US wants a land\ncorridor from Colombo to Trincomalee with unimpeded access for their armed\nforces and war materials. This is what these agreements with the US entail.\nThese are in furtherance of their INDO-PACIFIC Strategy to contain the\ninfluence of China in the region. What we need to decide is whether Sri Lanka\nshould become a part of the war theatre in a Big Power conflict in the region?\nAs the saying goes \u2013 When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lest we forget<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is\napparent during the current political campaigns for the 2020 General Elections\nare the proverbial memory lapses of the population. They are missing the Big\nPicture of 5 years of disastrous rule and mismanagement by the Yaha (Jada)\nPalana Administration. Let us refresh our memories to what took place during\nthis time, lest these are not factors determining the voting at this crucial\nelection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n