Category: Foreign Affairs

By Ranga Kalansooriya &#8211

It was from zero to hero final January – within six months hero to zero – but again on Tuesday this week President Maithripala Sirisena attempted to revive his position back – from zero to hero. So far he has been successful but the SLFP’s tug of war is now in the courts.

This is politics in Sri Lanka. Never a dull moment – and full of surprises. In reality the whole landscape of modern politics in Sri Lanka was usually designed and destined by surprises. If we analyse at least past 25 years – assassination of President Premadasa, Gamini – Lalith assassinations, Chandrika’s emergence and her second term Presidency thanks to LTTE suicide bomb, Mahinda’s victory in 2005 thanks to LTTE’s boycott of northern votes, Maithri’s candidature and his victory, and also the developments thereafter for the past six months were ideal case studies for such political surprises.

These 3 cartoons appeared in media within final six weeks are excellent examples to the turn of events within a quick span of time. Cartoonists send a humorous but sturdy social message relates socio-political troubles or personalities and this is how Dasa Hapuwalana of Lankadeepa explained the current political developments of the nation, mostly with regard to the conduct of the President. But the cat is out of the bag now and we see a heavy internal battle within SLFP, the principal constituent celebration of the UPFA right after the “ballistic missile attack” on Mahinda by Maithri.

He, for the duration of the significantly awaited speech, justified retaining SLFP and UPFA Chairmanship beneath tremendous pressure even though attempting to clarify how it was important in delivering the one hundred-day promises in a battle by means of Parliament. President’s repeated claims about a Prime Minister of 47 seats in a 225 member Parliament was a signal that he himself had to manage Parliament battles single-handed, even to the extent of protected guarding the minority government against no-confident motions. Also he exposed clandestine plans to bring Rajapaksa back as Prime Minister following the no-confident motion against Wickremesinghe.

This speech spelt out the reasons for his silence and clarified his stand, considerably to the relief of Yahapalana supporters. But against several odds, he in no way stated that he was cornered and pushed to the wall by his own two common secretaries – Anura Yapa and Susil Premajayath, the most strong duo of his camp primarily during an election period. Also he by no means explained how Rajapaksa camp got strengthened day by day – against all his attempts to thwart their plans and retain his grip inside the celebration.

Rajapaksa who assured his political retirement on January eight night at a closed door meeting with Ranil Wickremesinghe and requested his and his family members security (as we study in media), very first created his appearance via a window frame in Medamulana within 48 hrs of his defeat. And then he went up to his roof-best with a megaphone to address a crowd in front of his house two days later, followed by day-to-day temple visits cum politico-religious rallies, established an electoral workplace in Abhayaramaya, Narahenpita and then established a sturdy wing inside the Darley Road SLFP headquarters. His buddies began rallies from Nugegoda without having him on stage but at the last 1 in Matara he did not get into the political stage but got on a parapet wall to watch the rally. Maithri was watching the expansion of Rajapaksa camp – not day by day but on hourly basis &#8211 and responding to each single action of Rajapaksa in an try to retain his grip inside the SLFP and UPFA, but he continued to fail. Maithri was a solitary fighter in that game.

Against all gossips of a newly emerging Mahinda – Maithri coalition, the President categorically claimed that his hostility towards Rajapaksa nevertheless remains intact and he was still against grating nominations to his predecessor. As explained via his own words Maithree had three options. Very first was to resign from his party leadership – but it will let Rajapaksa to comfortably replace him as party leader and run for polls at a point of strength. Hence, he did not want it to come about. The second selection was to deny his nominations – and the Rajapaksa camp was ready with a robust strategy B along with prepared nomination lists, party symbols and manifestos exactly where once again he would emerge from a position of strength. The third was to give Rajapaksa and his cronies with nominations against all his wishes. One particular comment that appeared on social media after Maithri’s Tuesday speech was “Maithree pumped air into the balloon of Rajapaksa, let it go up and shot at it with a sharp bullet.”

Maithri’s decision to accept SLFP/UPFA leadership was broadly criticized but his explanations could be justifiable – mostly to gain Parliamentary support for the implementation of his election pledges. But he failed to retain his grip as the party leader. Why? What was the mistake? To my thoughts he made a fundamental error in retaining the exact same office bearers who served below Rajapaksa regime, who back-stabbed him throughout the nomination battle. Anura Yapa was a strong confidante of Rajapaksa who was appointed to numerous accountable positions by the latter in order to safeguard the political interests of the regime. Remember the Parliamentary Pick Committee to oust the Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake that conducted a speedy approach inside a few weeks below Yapa’s Chairmanship? Thereafter Yapa was ‘gifted’ with a effective ministerial portfolio. Who was the quick decision of Rajapaksa as the party basic secretary when Maithri defected him at a essential presidential elections? Hence, how can 1 count on Yapa to alter his loyalty towards Maithri against Mahinda? A couple of changes in the party central committee did not bring him desired final results. Each Susil and Yapa played a vital function against their party leader to favor Rajapaksa.

On the other hand, Maithri claimed that all his attempts have been to steer clear of a split inside the SLFP. As Gamini Viyangoda, the convenor of the Purawesi Balaya explained Maithri place his celebration just before the country. But be that as it might, I am puzzled no matter whether Maithri – with his 49-year knowledge in politics – did not fore see the truth that a split within the SLFP rank was imminent what ever decision he would make out of the above mentioned 3 choices. He opted for the final selection – provide nomination to Rajapaksa and then stab him in the back. 1 could very easily argue that, the last selection would destroy all the plans of Rajapaksa and make him but nothing at all at the common elections – as other two choices would make him a strong candidate. But now it is clear that Maithri is not with Rajapaksa camp, Mahinda will not be appointed Prime Minister even he manage to secure majority seats, or even the opposition leader post. The final point that Mahinda can expect is to turn into is a Member of Parliament for Kurunegala District.

Who has carried out et tu brute now?

By Hema Senanayake –

Peace and stability must be the focus of any improvement agenda. As the president of the nation Maithripala Sirisena must have the identical focus. Other than analyzing mere economic elements any macroeconomic analyst would concern about the political stability and peace of the country. Therefore, with the identical concentrate, I choose to investigate the effect arising from the provision of nominations to former president Rajapaksa and his clan.

If the president Mathripala Sirisena had consciously decided rather than getting succumbed to pressure to give nominations to Mahinda Rajapaksa and his group, in my view it was the greatest selection accessible for him to make following the Matara rally carried out by pro-Mahinda activists. But the decision president Sirisena made soon after the Nugegoda rally, held by the same group, possibly could not have been the best selection the president could have created. Being an economic analyst why do I say so?

As we know it in Sri Lanka racism is a serious threat to peace. All type of racism is poor for the nation. TNA did not give nominations to former LTTE members. Perhaps, TNA desires to deter racism in the North and East. In the South, prior to the nominations, pro-Mahinda activism wanted to be based its activities on Sinhala-Buddhist racism.

For an instance, when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was summoned by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, pro-Mahinda activists have been there in front of the Bribery Commission to protest against summoning Gotabaya. The activists who went there held a lion only flag instead of the real national flag. It was not an ad-hoc event as an alternative it symbolizes the accurate nature of protesters or the sentiment the protesters wanted to exploit. That sentiment was racism absolutely nothing else.

Then, the former president Mahinda himself began to use racist rhetoric during his rounds of going to Buddhist temples. He openly alleged that the “Yahapalana government” was organizing to close down critically important army camps in the North and East. He claimed that these camps have been crucial to national security and closing down was a grave mistake. When Tv channels went to North and East to report the true situation exist on the ground, finally it came up that in truth all those camps had been closed down throughout his administration and none of the army camp was closed down below the Maithripala regime so far. Former president Mahinda must have recognized the factual circumstance but his intension was not talking about information. Perhaps racism wants distorted facts.

When racism is supported even rhetorically by a pretty huge group of parliamentarians and a former president, a group of individuals with extreme views went to Wilpattu not to find out the correct details but to produce racial disharmony in between Sinhalese and Muslims. Former president Mahinda did his portion on this issue. Asian Tribune reported it as follows:

“Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who raised his voice on Wilpattu for the initial time in a public meeting which was telecast by a private Television channel for the duration of the weekend, said “We have to preserve our national heritage. Wilpattu is one such heritage and we can’t allow such national assets to be destroyed. This seems also to have taken spot even when I was in energy but we did not know that such a factor was taking place at that time.” (Asian Tribune, Might 11, 2015)

Ultimately, Matara rally became a spot exactly where racial rhetoric was used maximum to discredit the Maithripala Sirisena’s administration. Minorities had been really shocked following that event. Country’s peace was a concern about several concerned citizens. President Maithripala Sirisena was cornered. Subsequently, numerous negotiations may possibly have taken spot to avoid Mahinda receiving nominations because president Sirisena may possibly knew that providing him nominations would make an irreparable harm to his image and integrity, at least in the quick term. Lastly, Mahinda got nominations. Racial rhetoric subsided. Peace preserved. As I mentioned above, peace must be the concentrate of any significant Statesman. Is this what president Maithripala Sirisena wanted to achieve in giving nominations to Mahinda and his clan? If this is the case, then president Maithripala will make sure that no unsubstantiated racial rhetoric uttered in the UPFA platform.

Nonetheless, I guess, the Nomination Board of UPFA willfully ensured that they would do maximum disrepute to president Sirisena. They never considered the wishes and aspirations of the president. This was amply evident from providing nominations to Tissa Attanayake and Jayantha Ketagoda. Also, it was evident from media briefings that each Susil Premajayantha and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa call all the shots. Immediate prior to nominations, they produced it clear that their words would prevail, not president Sirisena’s. In such situations president Sirisena may not have had any selection other than distancing him from nominations even although he tried to avoid some big shots crossing over to UNP.

Such distancing can’t be without a lot visionary thinking. It could be a scenario to let them do it and personal it. It seems he is not going to personal any nomination. Probably we will see that he would hold accountable all the members of the Nomination Board for the mess they have done for the good image of president. The country may well want such signaling of firmness immediately following the election. Immediately soon after the election the President Sirisena may get a space for such decisive actions. President must make sure that he make items come about and it is not Anura Priyadarshana Yapa or Susil Premajayanth who make items occur. Such signaling is essential for political stability.

I hope President Maithripala Sirisena is a man with unprecedented courage. Also I hope that his concentrate will be to keep peace and political stability.

I wish to finish this short essay by quoting anything recognized as Leadership Code published in Forbes magazine under the caption “Judging Obama As A Leader.” In this “code” there are five rules. I omit a few lines and words in order to enhance readability. With out any comment I submit them as follows:

Rule 1: Shape the future. Obama clearly is a visionary with a new method to politics. He has proclaimed a strategy for moving the country forward that is vastly different from his predecessor’s, proposing shifts in our partnership with the rest of the planet and in our relationships with one another…

Rule 2: Make items take place. It is less complicated to describe a bright new future than to make one particular come about. Obama’s job is to turn what he desires into what is done, employing his party’s majority status in Congress as nicely as his bully pulpit as a planet leader to cajole, collaborate, persuade and counsel other people to deliver…

Rule three: Engage today’s talent. Leaders who engage the best talent get brief-term challenging function done whilst preserving higher esprit de corps. Obama has mastered this ability. He doesn’t do issues alone, and he doesn’t pretend to… In office, he took a team-of-rivals method for selecting his Cabinet, and today he has high levels of help and engagement amongst his group.

Rule 4: Build the subsequent generation. When leaders construct the next generation, they spend interest to constructing the abilities necessary not just for the short term but for the longer future…

Rule 5: Invest in your self. The core of effectiveness at implementing the initial 4 rules is private proficiency. Leaders should invest steadily in their intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical improvement to be capable to deal with the demands of leadership. Who am I? What do I stand for? Why? How do I get continually far better at delivering on my own promises to myself?

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –

I create, of course, from the framework of the Yahapalana movement. From this perspective what we observe now happening is tremendous and exulting. Also, hunting back at the brief-lived betrayal theories posted on President Maitripala Sirisena’s wall, it all seems that those who indulged in that outcry have been misinformed and lacking in tactical political information.

Our story started with the bring-back campaign. Who wanted this campaign? Not Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had by that time practically resigned himself to the status of a retired-hurt President. Mahinda had handed more than the reigns of the SLFP and UPFA to his slayer and successor, the humble Maitripala Sirisena from BOP 400 Polonnaruwa farmers colony. It all originated with the worry that enveloped many of Mahinda’s cronies who had charges arrayed against them and the realisation amongst them that their profitable careers have been at an end. In the component of the prosperous globe that I live, politicians do not worry the fall because the enterprise sector absorbs them. On the other hand, the claustrophobic world that is Sri Lanka probably hardly delivers pollies any choice but to fight for return.

What future did persons like Wimal, Vasu, Tissa Vitharna, DEW Gunasekera, Dinesh, Aluthgamage have? Wimal spoke derisively and contemptuously against Yahapalanaya. He and his other cohorts refused to see that the Yahapalanaya slogan did have an appeal amongst the ordinary and even less vocal masses. Wimal, whom Dayan Jayatilleka praised as a ‘Jacobian Orator,” cried in his sharp shrill voice with eerie tone, &#8220Yahapalanayo…koh mung?” “Sirisenayo, koh mung? Ranilayo koh mung...” The Jacobin Orator had been off the mark. We know that at least now.

What the Yahapalana government now harvests is precisely the fruits of appeal of yahapalanaya&#8211 the appeal for the return of decency in governing the appeal for the rule of law and for the supremacy of law over the highest in the land. Men and women know as a challenging fact that this has already been achieved and is on the method of receiving crystallised. The civil society’s spontaneous organisers are conscious of that. Sri Lankans are at final awakening. We now see non -politicians concerned and articulate about the happenings in politics. This wider participation is essential for a practising democracy. Sri Lanka had it in the past. Bear in mind the Hartal of 1952? The public tide of 1956?The robust trade union campaigns of Bala Tampoe? The JVP revolt of 1971? This sense of participation was killed first by JR autocracy and then by MR autocracy. But autocracy cannot place down the feeling of injustice and foul-play that individuals at some point expertise in their day-to-day life. When journalists are killed and gone missing? When newspaper editors are murdered in broad daylight below the watch of the President and his effective brother in charge of defence? When the quite Army Commander who fought the war is unfairly jailed and his difficult-won titles for courage grabbed away? When public income and property are diverted to private ends? When shanty dwellers are chased away without option accommodation? When the justice technique is subverted? When extravagant waste and profligacy requires place? When minorities are created to really feel third class citizens? When Public servants are tied to the tree? When rapists and druggies are taken into government? This kind of governance can not final for long. When individuals begin awakening and increasing with efficient outlets offered for their intuitive grievances, hell will follow for an oppressive government.

The regime holders of the Rajapaksa government are correct now facing the music. With exceptional political prescience Ranil Wickremesinghe had created two predictions. The initial was produced during the height of Rajapaksa rule. Ranil mentioned that the UNP will type a government in 2015. That occurred when and it will occur in August. The second prediction was created at the height of the apparent accomplishment of the bring-back rallies. Remember what a song and dance was produced out by veteran journalists like Mahindapala-the inventor of the ‘Nugegoda Man’? And by the more theoretical veteran writer Dayan Jayatilleka who went into rapture about a single meeting at Nugegoda? Well, proper at this point, Ranil predicted that this pro-Rajapaksa movement will dissipate as it is artificial.

Readers, this is what we see now happening. In spite of all the wild protests against President Maitripala Sirisena, on recall what he did by permitting the controversial UPFA cronies back into enterprise has been salutary from the governing faction’s point of view. Watching the old cronies make their way into nomination- Susil Premjayanth, man with the former movie star’s name, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa of Shirani Bandaranayake fame, and all other people &#8211 the incompetent and outworn, the a lot more corrupt and the less corrupt &#8211 had been also a lot for discerning persons to bear. Civil rights persons and intellectuals started to raise the alarm-even though partly un-informedly. Newspapers and media have been ruffled. The Mahanayakas made pronouncements. The tide of opposition is now building up and a new wave is gravitating toward the new United National Front-ironically symbolised by that dependable animal-the Elephant.

‘On hindsight, was this also a plot related to the Widespread candidate plot? If so, this time it was a misunderstood plot that earned Maitri a lot of unjustified flak.

The bring-back initiative is collapsing and the revolution of 8th January 2015 will be saved for the people. The former President’s unwisdom will make him encounter a bitter winter of retirement. Don’t forget Shakespeare’s immortal lines? “The evil that guys doeth lives right after themthe good will be interred with their bones.” That’s fairly considerably the life knowledge of us all.

By Ruvan Weerasinghe &#8211

Very first a card carrying member of the SLFP, then a Sri Lankan – that&#8217s what President Maithripala Sirisena proved to be in the end. That can also be so for many politicians in the UNP, JVP, JHU or any of the plethora of parties and alliances contesting elections in Sri Lanka. We need to advocate voting for principles over parties in the forthcoming elections.

When President Maithripala Sirisena agreed to give nominations to the really individual he took a courageous stand to oppose in the interest of the people of Sri Lanka, he didn&#8217t just let them down. He dealt however another blow to the Sri Lankan identity.

Sri Lanka has had more than its fair share of believed leaders who espoused diverse types of identity as valid, or even far more potent, than our typical Sri Lankan identity. Ranging from the old caste program that nevertheless has its proponents even amongst some educated folks, to the &#8216brown sahib&#8217 that gave us respectability (and jobs) amongst our colonial masters, we have dabbled in other types, especially our ethnicity (as espoused by the LTTE and to some extent the JHU) and our religion (by the likes of the more extreme elements of the SLMC and the BBS).

President Maithripala Sirisena, has added however yet another identity as a reasonable and valid one to replace our Sri Lankanness. Even though his unexpected and fearless act of defecting from a celebration he was so much a element of gave us hope of a statesman emerging in Sri Lanka, his capitulation to be far more worried about being accused of splitting the celebration than letting down the individuals who voted for him, would probably class him with all politicians ahead of him – not acting really in the interest of being Sri Lankan first, and card-carrying members of a political party second (or certainly at least third, behind our philosophical worldview). So, he has unintentionally forwarded party as a much more crucial identity for us than our nationality.

The UPFA manifesto

Can there be one? To say that a coherent manifesto is not possible for the UPFA, would be an understatement. When the President of the party nonetheless speaks of furthering the methods taken towards great governance (a word that brings distaste to the mouth, Yahapalanaya), and the majority of its prime leadership scoffs at it, or far more accurately hopes to put do away with it (by possibly stoning the law enforcement agencies of the state), there could be no coherent manifesto for the UPFA – nor even the SLFP.

To be sure, the rank and file of the UPFA who have benefited from the 10 years of Rajapaska rule, would be far happier if they were offered an additional possibility to emulate their leaders who now seem to have &#8216made hay even though the sun shone&#8217. They had missed that opportunity – or didn&#8217t understand the levels it could be taken to. It is crystal clear now that in any internal celebration vote amongst strengthening great governance and renegading on the progressive methods taken in the last six months, the latter would easily triumph. This is all the much more clear as we see, not just the massive crooks inside the celebration being nominated, but even these handful of who have been to be not given nominations by the leadership of the UPFA, now becoming provided prominent districts to contest from. The corrupt of the corrupt.

If we are to think that both in the SLFP and UPFA constitutions, it is the Common Secretary who controls the nominations (as implied by the President of both), we need to pretty and squarely lay the blame on each the top officials of these two parties for it. Nonetheless, that is not the complete story. When the former president was the President of the party, none of this (the constitutional provisions) mattered. There was no doubt in our minds who controlled the nomination method. And the General Secretaries of the two parties didn&#8217t utter any words to the contrary – simply obeyed their master. In a situation where the very leaders of a celebration exemplify the which means of getting spineless so clearly, what can we anticipate of their members?

Far more worryingly, what does that do to the actual leaders waiting in the sidelines? These who would fearlessly proclaim that what is critical is our national identity as Sri Lankans, and not our party, our ethnicity, religion or our cast? They would be blocked out from nominations from the party and the alliance for some time to come.

The young voice

Functioning in a vocation that revolves about the youth of the country, it is clear to me that there are many amongst them who feel differently. These who are sickened by the charade played by our pontificating politicians. It offers me hope for a better Sri Lanka. Exactly where the Sri Lankan identity will lastly be a lot more essential than any of the sub-identities that have been brandied about so freely by so known as leaders of our nation.

This is a generation that at a single and the identical time are &#8216tolerant&#8217 and yet loathe &#8216pretense&#8217. They are in a position to get in touch with the bluff. They could not be as expressive as the generations just before them so that you don&#8217t see them in marches and protests the way we are usually employed to. But when they are named upon to vote at an election, they will definitely make their &#8216voice heard&#8217.

And they are sickened to the core about the circus becoming played out prior to our eyes. How our polity dances to the tunes of the political parties that just really like election time. It&#8217d be challenging for them, except the couple of card-carrying kinds amongst them, to vote for a celebration that tries to maintain up pretenses as to what it stands for.

This need to be a clear warning to the President and the SLFP/UPFA, that they are going down a slippery slope, when they rely on their old slogans of war victory (&#8216we won the war&#8217) and worry mongering (&#8216the UN will take all our leaders to the tribunal&#8217).

Why assistance the UPFA?

There are still a handful of factors for individuals to help the UPFA. Primary amongst them is the band of robbers and their supporters who benefited financially over the previous decade. To be positive, this is a little, though raucous and vociferous, bunch. We shouldn&#8217t fear their rhetoric – as we saw, they shiver prior to state agencies such as the FCID and the courts (when these are empowered to play the role they are meant to).

Then there are the few intellectuals who have &#8216bought into&#8217 a single of two stories (myths?): (a) Sri Lanka, as many nations in the region have showed (to be sure, with the exception of India), demands a sturdy leader – even a dictator or (b) Sri Lanka has only been united in history below populist &#8216Sinhala Buddhist&#8216 rule. Some organization leaders join this group in the interest of &#8216stability&#8217. These types are referred to the superb piece by Priyan Dias on the &#8216Choice between stability and virtue&#8217. Certainly, it is this really community, the intellectuals and the business community, who need to welcome the type of &#8216instability&#8217 that led a lot of nations in the planet to new heights in scientific discovery and economic acquire.

So, is there a way forward for the UPFA or SLFP? Yes, but its going to take time and guts. The type of courage that even the fearless Maithripala Sirisena demonstrated in January (just six months ago) didn&#8217t have, in the finish. The party needs to be reconstituted about a new leadership with a much more attractive and forward-searching agenda, than that of harping on its previous success. It is indeed when parties (or for that matter countries, and men and women) recall the &#8216good old days&#8217 that we require to recognize the signals of decline (and lack of relevance).

In brief, the party can not be &#8216patched up&#8217 – it demands to be flushed of its old garbage, and fully rejuvenated into a new and potent force. That takes time. Possibly a decade.

How to vote at this election?

This is the query on most men and women&#8217s lips. Especially soon after the 3rd of July evening &#8216sell out&#8217. Typical responses range from &#8216giving up&#8217 to &#8216spoiling vote&#8217. Right after all, if the only individual we really trusted could let us down so badly, they argue, who can we trust for the future? This is an additional legacy that Maithripala Sirisena would have to carry.

What appears clear is that no principled voter can vote for a party that has no principles itself! A celebration at conflict with itself. Sadly, that has these days become the really definition of the SLFP and therefore, the UPFA.

What hope is there outdoors of it? Can the UNP be trusted? Or the JVP? Or certainly the JHU, TNA or SLMC?

It is clear that, as opposed to ever prior to, Sri Lankans may possibly be prompted to vote for parties and people that they&#8217ve never just before voted for. Sinhalese have frequently expressed confidence in the TNA obtaining very good leaders! Tamils have stated the JVP appears to be the only celebration talking sense! This is not altogether a bad thing. It could even be a optimistic improvement. Folks forced to vote on principles rather than on dogmatic party political lines that they traditionally have been utilised to.

Of course, campaigning could alter all that. Established parties know that what matters finally is not principles, but promises. Specifically promises of prosperity. This is correct not just in Sri Lanka, but in all nations exactly where poverty is a important problem. On the other hand, individuals are also employed to becoming let down on the promises.

The best resolution would be for all progressive parties to type an alliance. The great forces within the UNP, the JVP , the TNA, the SLMC and the JHU can indeed from a sturdy alliance around the delivery of genuine great governance. The lasting sort. The type that will allow the populace to be truly free, company to thrive and education to take us to greater heights as a country.

Is this hoping for utopia? The next very best point is for these parties to contest separately with a widespread aim to defeat the regressive UPFA. Sri Lanka can not afford to go back on the infant steps towards democracy that we have taken in 2015. Ideally, no single celebration need to have a two-thirds majority in parliament. None of them can be trusted with such energy. Coalition politics is always greater. It guarantees that extremist views are tempered. That sanity would prevail.

To be positive, the only potent force able to send a clear message of &#8216no&#8217 to the UPFA (and much more specifically to the band of robbers who have taken manage of it) is the UNP. Though fraught with its own goofs in handling the Central Bank problem and tendency to autocratic leadership within, the new checks and balances introduced in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution can guarantee that rule will be by consensus than autocracy. As such, pragmatically speaking, though by no means a card-carrying celebration member, it seems clear that only a vote for a coalition about the UNP could make sure that we as a nation can avoid going back to the dark days of the pre-2015 era.

By Malinda Seneviratne –

Ranil Wickremesinghe is a man besieged. He has or has permitted himself to be surrounded by a bunch of self-serving politicians who are currently as thick as thieves with the very same lot who benefitted from the earlier regime and whose naughtiness helped bring that regime down.

Exactly where are these principled folks who supported him when he decided to back Maithripala? Who truly benefited from ‘regime change’? Competent, decent, civilised, truthful males and women of integrity or a nitwits, hangers-on, thugs and thieves? He knows the answer and he should know that the expertise is not his preserve. Folks know.

But that is ok. This business known as politics is not about any of these things. It is about energy. Plain and easy. And in that game, right now at least, Ranil Wickremesinghe has an edge. A big edge. An executive edge, in fact. That edge has a name. Maithripala Sirisena.

Ranil hasn’t very said it but it popped out of the venerable mouth of extended time UNP supporter, Rev Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero the other day. The Thero, now a very good-governance advocate, now a UNP supporter, now once more a lamenter about errors of judgment, has spoken when the time was appropriate. He desires President Maithripala Sirisena to play a neutral part in the upcoming General Election. He even complains that the President hasn’t been quite neutral of late. The Thero is upset that Sirisena has stated he wanted his party to win! That, he claims, is proof that Sirisena is guilty of being partial! The Thero obviously has no clue about Sirisena’s role in bailing out Ranil Wickremesinghe’s boys by dissolving Parliament before the COPE report on the Bond scam came out. Now Rev Sobitha Thero does not see that as getting ‘partial’. Strange? No. As mentioned, it is identified that Rev Sobitha is for the greens.

So what would happen if Sirisena requires the Thero’s advise? It signifies that the UNP’s essential opponent, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) would ideally, i.e. according to the Thero of course, campaign with no a leader. If the UNP has ‘incumbancy edge’ even although it is far significantly less potent than the advantage enjoyed by the SLFP-led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in 2010, that edge would be amplified by possessing to contend with a leader-much less opponent.

What’s interesting right here is that the very good Thero need not even ask. After all Mathripala Sirisena is carrying out a decent job of ‘keeping away’ all by himself and even going a lot additional, becoming comfy with the UNP. Here’s why.

From Day 1, i.e. soon after becoming conferred the Leader-post of the SLFP Maithripala has had a enjoy-hate relationship with the rank and file of the celebration. Component of this is understandable. He abandoned the celebration and the party was upset for the duration of the run up to the election he was attacked mercilessly. One can’t anticipate him to be thrilled by all that. It was mostly as a product of adapting to new realities that they installed him as celebration leader. Even following carrying out that they have been ambivalent in their views on the man. Officially some of them were portion of the ‘National Government’ even as their colleagues have been known as ‘The Opposition’. That confusion apart they have openly backed Mahinda Rajapaksa and campaigned to push the President to accept his former boss and later opponent as the prime ministerial candidate of the SLFP. Once more, this cannot thrill Sirisena.

Then there’s a question of colour-blindness which could be cause or impact of perceptions and relations vis-a-vis Mahinda Rajapaksa. As of now when confronted by the colour green, Sirisena behaves as even though he’s seeing blue. Blue provides a number of issues for him. He initial sees ‘red’ (feel of the bull metaphor). Then he sees the color of kurahan, yes, Mahinda’s colour. The complete colour enterprise is confusing him. And others too, one may add, particularly these in the celebration he leads. Luckily for Sirisena (and the UNP), this color blindness is not costing him, Sirisena, any sleep.

The President has ample cause to be wary of Mahinda Rajapaksa provided the latter’s vindictive history. On the other hand, becoming vengeful in return can also cost him. Imagine the (reputable) antipathy to Rajapaksa getting so deep that he let’s the celebration split and pave the way for a by-default win for the UNP. Exactly where would that leave him? Obtaining essentially followed the Sobitha-Thero strategy, he can’t count on something from the SLFP MPs except righteous derision. If he is Ranil’s yes-man now in such a situation he would be a 3-bags-complete-sir man no doubt. He could suffer all that only on one particular condition: he is content becoming play-thing, puppy dog’s tail and rubber-stamper for everything Ranil says and does.

As factors stand that is exactly where Maithripala is heading. This is why he is Ranil’s edge. His ‘cutting edge’ in reality for Ranil has efficiently arranged things in such a way that Maithri uses his (Maithri’s) presidential edge to reduce, chop and cleave as Ranil dictates. It is excellent for Ranil.

By MYM Siddeek &#8211

There is a widespread rumour that Mithripala Sirisena agreed to nominate Mahinda Rajapaksa as a parliamentary candidate for the forthcoming parliamentary election. Numerous individuals do not think this rumour for the reasons properly recognized to the globe. The victory of MS in the presidential election in January 8th, 2015 was not a surprise since it was anticipated that the Tamil and Muslim minority groups that had been subjected to critical injustices by the MR government given that 2005 would overwhelmingly vote for him. As anticipated, they came out to vote for MS in fantastic strength. For example, over 68 percent of the votes in the Northern Province was polled in distinct contrast to the 2010 elections when Jaffna district saw only 25 percent polling and the other districts of Wanni region saw just  40 percent polling. The Muslims too voted with unusual enthusiasm and in large numbers for MS. All round the election registered a record turnout exceeding 81%. Their votes had been primarily anti-MR than pro-MS. The men and women voted for MS to get rid of MR tyranny rather than being convinced by the pledge of MS to implement the 100-day reform system. Sri Lanka&#8217s majority Sinhalese population also objected to the quantity of energy accrued by MR&#8217s family and corruption of his regime. In other words what they wanted was a regime change. The nation by no means witnessed such a communal unity among the main three communities in the Sri Lankan history in an election. There had been clear reasons for this. It was clear that many Tamils have been believed to have voted heavily for MS not simply because they supported him but since they hated MR so significantly. Muslims, the second-biggest ethnic minority, also voted against MR, who was accused of backing BBS and other racist groups and turning a blind eye on anti-Muslim violence in June final year in Aluthgama and Beruwela places. As for the Sinhalese, MS&#8217s entry into the race gave them one more credible alternative if they wanted Sri Lanka to move in a correct direction.

Therefore, if MS agrees to nominate MR in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the people will never forgive him and they will take into account it as the greatest betrayal of the people in the Sri Lankan political history. He will be clearly branded as a traitor. It may also be the finish of his political career right after he completes his term of office in tiny much more than 4 years&#8217 time. Men and women now urge MS not to make such historic mistake in his political career. The voters entrusted him with the job of cleaning the mess, eliminating corrupt practices, restoring rule of law and guaranteeing good governance by eliminating the loved ones rule on the 8th January 2015. President MS himself repeatedly mentioned this publicly on many occasions prior to and after the election. What would make him to take a big U turn and betray 6.2 million voters?

When we go back to pre January 2015 days, it will be extremely clear why the men and women voted for MS. When MS announced on 21 November 2014 that he would challenge incumbent President MR at the 2015 presidential election as the widespread opposition candidate a massive quantity of men and women even did not know effectively who he was. But the folks were convinced very considerably with his election propaganda and promises. MS claimed that every little thing in Sri Lanka was controlled by MR and that the nation was heading towards a tyranny with widespread corruption, nepotism and a breakdown of the rule of law. Though he promised to abolish the executive presidency inside one hundred days of getting elected, repeal the controversial eighteenth amendment, re-instate the seventeenth amendment and appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister, the principal convincing appeal to the folks was acquiring rid of MR. He also mentioned instantly following he was elected president, ‘no more abductions, no more censorship, no far more family members rule, no more dictatorship.’ Soon following his declaration as the Presidential candidate, MS mentioned &#8220Today 48 political parties and organisations have united as a common coalition regardless of party policies, ethnicity and religion to defeat MR&#8217s corrupt regime.&#8221 Throughout his election campaign, MS said that he had warned MR to change his approaches or threat new unrest in the country. He additional said that MR was top the country down a dangerous road to destruction. He also stated that &#8220I came out since I could not stay any longer with a leader who had plundered the nation, government and national wealth.&#8221 Because MS&#8217s defection, dozens of MR loyalist parliamentarians followed him. Is he going to betray all of them as well if the rumour is proved to be true?

MS should not forget the reality that, as reported by some parliamentarians, MR even attempted to stage a coup in order to keep in energy when it became clear he was going to shed the election. He need to also don’t forget that he was branded a &#8220traitor&#8221 by MR&#8217s close allies.

If MR is given nomination, it may well be the finish of the party and we will be able to see a huge number of crossovers to the opposition. MS need to not forget all the struggles the people, his allied parties and partners went through to elect him as President of this country. If he betrays the individuals by giving the country to MR again, he will have to spend a extremely large cost for this. What is he going to inform those voters who relied on him and trusted him in the final Presidential election? People have not forgotten the dictatorial and household rule against which MS campaigned to turn out to be the President. MS ought to realise the truth that MR is attempting to destroy the country as soon as once again.

When MS created a speech at the function to celebrate Chandrika Kumaratunga&#8216s 70th birthday at BMICH he did not overlook to mention that he would take his choices contemplating his party and the nation. It also indicates that he will not place his celebration just before the country and people who voted for him. It was a identified reality that MR was detrimental to both the party and the nation. For that reason, he demands to take a appropriate selection not to permit MR as a candidate for the forthcoming parliamentary election. MS also did not fail to mention that he by no means thought of becoming President even in his dream and it was CBK who initiated the notion of placing forward his name as Presidential candidate. He also stated that he in no way believed JVP and UNP would support him. Is he going to betray all these parties, personalities and the folks? The decision and the nation&#8217s future are solely in his hand now!

By W.A Wijewardena –

There are projects all more than but numerous of them are failed projects

Human history is replete with projects enabling civilisations to deliver marvellous creations through them. But many of them have been failures appropriate from the design stage. Sri Lanka’s current history is marred by a plethora of such failed projects due to errors in design and style. Of them, the Hambantota Harbour failing to attract big draft ships due to low depth of the harbour, the Mattala Airport with a runway perpendicular to the headwinds forcing airlines to shun it and the Diyagama International Sports complicated with a running track slightly shorter in depth than the international requirements so that no international sports event could take spot are some striking examples.

The latest addition to this project failure is the acclaimed public private partnership involving the Hyatt Hotel project in Colombo in which expenses have doubled due to profligate economic management, an problem involving the failure to observe economic policy governance.

All these troubles in projects could be overcome if all these involved in public projects – politicians, bureaucrats, project managers and civil society – are conversant with the 1st principles of projects.

Now those initial principles have been codified in a comprehensive manual variety text by a Sri Lanka born academic – Nihal Amerasinghe – previously at the Asian Improvement Bank or ADB and now a professor at the Asian Institute of Management or AIM in Manila, the Philippines. The title of the text is ‘Design, Appraisal and Management of Sustainable Improvement Projects’.

A manual by an knowledgeable practitioner

Nihal Amerasinghe is an aptly qualified academic cum practitioner to write a text on project management. His long career has been with ADB whose vocabulary has practically nothing but projects. Having completed a degree in agriculture at Peradeniya University in Sri Lanka, he has acquired two Master’s degrees in economics and environment from Manchester and London Universities, respectively, followed by a doctorate in economics from the latter. He is presently at AIM disseminating his wisdom as an academic. Thus, Amerasinghe is a combination of practice with theory, the foremost requirement for somebody to write a manual on a complex topic.

The logical organisation of the manual

The 25 chapters in Amerasinghe’s book have been presented in 5 components: The very first component talks about projects and improvement, the second about project identification and design and style, the third about project feasibility and appraisal, the fourth about project implementation and control and the fifth about the project completion and evaluation.

The chapters have been planned in such a way that they could be mastered by interested readers separately as individual essays or together as a single text to acquire the desired information on project management.

3 critical flaws of improvement policy

Amerasinghe starts his book by analysing three critical flaws in improvement policy planning attributed to Romanian-American Economist at the University of California at Berkeley &#8211 Irma Adelman.

A single is the reliance on a single contributor to maintain economies at low development referred to as ‘monocausalism’. Over the years, many such crucial contributors have been identified but removing them from economies has not led to economic development demonstrating that growth is a multifaceted activity. The second flaw is pursuing a single goal in development such as rising per capita income as had been done in Sri Lanka throughout the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Amerasinghe says that such pursuits have brought in greater worries to countries such as inequality in earnings distribution, weakened democracy, loss of cultural identity, overconsumption of organic sources and environmental degradation and so on.

All these have been the outcome of Sri Lanka’s reported larger financial development in the previous handful of years. The third is the most serious flaw in policy: that is, believing that organic systems move on a straight line enabling a nation to attain a pre-planned financial growth without any derailment.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance have been well-known for generating such linear economic development forecasts to uncover that actual realisations have usually been at variance from the projected path. That is simply because all all-natural systems are non-linear primarily based on such laws as the law of result in and impact, the law of impermanence and the law evolution. It is therefore of importance that Sri Lanka’s policy authorities discover one particular or two lessons from Amerasinghe.

Improvement is not just economic growth but numerous much more

An essential element highlighted by Amerasinghe is the meaning of sustainable development which need to be the aim of all nations right now. Drawing on Nobel Laureates Gunnar Myrdal and Amartya Sen, he has initial presented a wide definition of improvement that encompasses social, political, cultural and humane aspects of living in addition to financial factors. Then, he solidifies development by incorporating the notion of sustainable improvement drawn basically from the Brundtland Commission headed by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland.

If you want to sustain, take pleasure in nowadays with out harming tomorrow

According to Brundtland Commission, sustainable development is the meeting of the requirements of the present generation with no compromising the capacity of the future generations to meet theirs. It requires two generational equities: Intergenerational equity exactly where resources are passed onto the future generations in affordable conditions and intragenerational equity exactly where the exact same transfer requires spot amongst distinct segments of the present generation.

Any public project must take into account this wider idea of development and the need for making such development a sustainable one particular. The ad hoc projects implemented in Sri Lanka in the recent previous beg the query whether or not these aspects have been deemed at all at the style or implementation stage.

The impact of a project is the essential criterion of accomplishment

Public sector projects are normally appraised by public authorities in terms of the cash spent or the output developed. A classic instance is the Central Bank Annual Report or the Annual Report of the Ministry of Finance which have tended to assess the good results of projects in terms of cash spent on them. But Amerasinghe says that the crucial assessment criterion need to be the outcome of a project that leads to making an impact on the economy. The influence must not only be sustainable but also bring in ultimate human improvement by expanding the possibilities offered to them as human beings.

Easy project management has now turn out to be a complex method

Amerasinghe has supplied a very intriguing account of how projects evolved from 1950s to date. In its evolution, the scope, design and style, management and ultimate aims of projects as well have expanded significantly from six straightforward objectives to 47 complex ambitions.

Amerasinghe has presented the six basic objectives in a six-sided polygon: financial, technical, political, administrative and managerial, environmental and social and financial are these issues. Then, he builds around these six issues distinct parameters or essential sub issues which have been added to the goals of projects in each and every of the subsequent phases of their evolution.

What truly began as a basic operation of project management in 1950s has evolved these days to a really complex structure that is not easy for ordinary project management folks to comprehend. Amerasinghe calls this complex structure the ‘conundrum of 2000’. It includes virtually all the broad aims which a modern day society aspires to attain in its social cultural, political, economic, legal, administrative, monetary and spiritual spheres. There is a justification for this broad therapy, since it is taxpayers’ cash which is being utilized for public projects.

Nevertheless, if a discipline becomes too complicated, the most likely outcome would be the comprehensive disregard of those added parameters when actual project management workouts are conducted. Even when they are reckoned, the project management nonetheless runs the threat of their not getting treated seriously. They just turn into a want list in the minds of the project practitioners.

Amerasinghe too has raised the concern by questioning whether the project management has turn out to be much more powerful more than the years. But he notes that according to the observations of significant project financiers, namely, ADB and the Planet Bank, project efficiency has enhanced regardless of the complexity built into project targets. Only the projects implemented under the sponsorship of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Europe’s counterpart of the World Bank, these ambitions have been only partially successful.

Project steps are also time involving intricate processes

Project cycle too is a 13 step complicated approach, according to Amerasinghe. There are seven steps to be completed top up to project approval: identification, design and style and formulation, feasibility analysis, project appraisal, project choice, negotiation and ultimately approval. These are also complex processes and when it comes to establishing countries, there is no property primarily based experience obtainable to complete them successfully. Hence, in a lot of situations, external help has to be solicited and such external help is generally extended by the project financier himself major to a conflict of interest.

Soon after the approval, there are 6 processes to be completed: project activation, implementation, supervision, monitoring and reporting, completion, evaluation and follow-up analysis and action. Amerasinghe has given a detailed description of actions involved in each of these various methods. This is where projects fail since in creating nations, the political authorities which have arrogated powers to themselves for initiating projects can’t wait such a lengthy period to have project approved and a additional period to full the project. Therefore, many measures are overlooked comparable to the disregard of the broad goals involved in modern day projects. Politicians who go by election cycles and not the natural cycles demand that projects are completed in time for them to industry at elections though the accomplishments are half-baked and bound to fail shortly.

A excellent instance is the infrastructure projects undertaken by the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration in the final 5 to 6 years. Amerasinghe has been emphatic on evaluating the outcome and the effect of projects which have to be done after the completion. These two aspects are mostly disregarded in almost all the projects implemented under political patronage.

Numerous pitfalls of development organizing

Organizing has been regarded the saviour of several establishing countries which have failed to maintain a reasonable rate of economic development and decrease poverty by way of continuous financial advancement. A single question which critics of governments normally raise is ‘where is your program?’ and they opine that ‘without a program, how can an economy grow?’ Therefore, all creating countries have resorted to meticulous arranging which they emulated from the experiences of the former Soviet Union. India had a rolling preparing method in each 5 year period with emphasis for the state to make critical investments.

Whilst admitting that several establishing countries have organizing capability today than just before, Amerasinghe has laboriously documented the reasons for the failure of development plans. They arise from external forces, shortcomings of preparing procedure itself and due to difficulties which planners would run into in strategy implementation. Crucial external forces are the lack of peace, wars, natural calamities and increases in planet prices that derail plans. In the arranging approach, frequently identified causes are the inadequate preparation like capacity, lack of credible data, disregard of the significance of governance, corruption and most importantly failure to discover from prior errors.

Program implementation is hindered, according to Amerasinghe, due to budgetary constraints, ownership problems, conflicts, bureaucratic inefficiencies, damaging political interferences and failure to properly monitor plans. These are essential concerns but can be resolved if due recognition is paid to capacity improvement and management of politicians. But a single of the issues in development organizing is the availability or mobilisation of sources as displayed by Sri Lanka’s Five Year Strategy in 1971.

Without having resources, the targets and objectives of a strategy are just want lists. If a country’s government is infested with a weak budgetary circumstance and the private savings are insufficient to finance the planned activities, resorting to foreign financing becomes critical for arranging. But if a country does not have a good governance structure, the mobilisation of sufficient foreign funds will be a problem.

An crucial manual enriching the toolkit of project practitioners

The rest of the book is a detailed manual of project style, appraisal and management. Amerasinghe has drawn on his wealthy practical expertise in these regions to make his manual a comprehensive document. A project practitioner does not have to turn to any other document to design and style and implement a project successfully. It is a self-contained manual with elaborate explanation of steps to be followed, checklists to be marked off and methods to tackle delays and issues.

The practical use of the manual has been enhanced immensely by the colourful illustrations that have been added to chapters for straightforward understanding of the complicated processes involved. There are a lot of exercises which the practitioners have to work out in order to self-test their finding out. There is a step by step developing up of answers to crucial issues, a novelty that one particular finds in a manual. Each chapter begins with an introduction that would guide the user what to count on from it. After presenting the body of information, it ends with a summary of essential points helping the user to revisit his learning outcome.

The manual on Design and style, Appraisal and Management of Sustainable Improvement Projects by Nihal Amerasinghe is a timely addition to enrich the toolkit of project practitioners all through the globe.

*W.A Wijewardena, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, can be reached at [email protected]

By Izeth Hussain &#8211

I should state at the extremely outset that in my title Are Foreigners backing anti-Muslim racism in Sri Lanka? I am posing a question, not stating a conclusion. I believe that in political analysis it is essential to pose inquiries even when no definitive answer is available. The explanation is that some queries could quantity to fertile hypotheses that lead to answers later. In some circumstances it could be crucially crucial to pose inquiries even when no much more than conjecture of a rather wild order is feasible. This applies to foreign involvement in our internal affairs as it can sometimes have quite horrible consequences. That was shown in the case of the Tamil ethnic issue. We should try to ensure that there is no repeat efficiency in the case of the Muslim ethnic problem. We must as a result pose the question regardless of whether foreigners are backing anti-Muslim racism in Sri Lanka even although no more than conjectural answers could be possible at the moment.

I will now indicate really briefly how foreign involvement in our Tamil ethnic difficulty has had very horrible consequences. India insisted that our troops refrain from going into Jaffna right after the effective Vadamarachchi operation, and President Jayewardene caved in to that demand when he could have resisted it without a lot difficulty – as I have shown in recent articles. The result was the extension of the war by twenty two years at the cost of a hundred thousand deaths. Norway and other countries initiated a peace procedure with the greatest of intentions. But they did not realize that the LTTE would be content material with nothing at all less than Eelam or a confederal arrangement close to it. They did not recognize that the LTTE was by no means critical about a negotiated political remedy. And they believed that the war was unwinnable. Consequently they contributed mightily to our ethnic disaster.

The evolution of our Muslim ethnic problem supplies a really vivid illustration of the destructive potential that there is in foreign involvement. There were anti-Muslim ructions from 1975 to about 2002 then there was the Grease Yakas episode in which Muslim ladies were targeted for harassment and also there was the dilemma of Muslim businessmen being kidnapped for ransom. But all that did not amount to a significant Muslim ethnic problem causing international concern. That transformation occurred right after the BBS began its anti-Muslim hate campaign. It clearly had the backing of Norwegian Islamophobes, but who else was involved? According to the former President MR it was all element of an international conspiracy to topple him. Following the next Government is installed there must be a thorough enquiry into the question of foreign backing for the BBS.

A Muslim pal of mine tells me that he followed closely the BBS’s anti-Muslim campaign and discovered that their speeches to the masses were heavily influenced by Western Islamophobia. He is convinced that the heaviest input into these speeches was produced by Israel. This brings me to the query whether or not the Israelis have participated in advertising anti-Muslim racism in Sri Lanka, and much more especially no matter whether I have been targeted by the Israelis. I wield the pen and such persons can be troublesome, even hazardous, which is why practically all governments attempt to handle the press or influence it. And of course as a Muslim I can be expected to be unsympathetic to Israel. In addition there is a distinct purpose why I could have drawn the unwelcome attentions of the Israelis. It is believed that President Premadasa decided to close down the Israelis Interests Section in consequence of a speech created by me.

Among the Tamil lunatic fringe racists who have been attacking me there is one particular who appears to be the agent of a foreign power. I must give the context in which my suspicion tends to make sense. The concerted attacks against me – concerted virtually surely by the LTTE – died out altogether right after obtaining flourished vigorously for numerous months, as I pointed out in my last write-up. As far as I can bear in mind there is only 1 participant in these concerted attacks who still continues to attack me. Each and every week he is joined by a couple of newcomers. A noteworthy reality is that the hysterical hatred and the mad dog rage – which in the early days of the concerted attacks led me to create of “a total annihilating hatred” – has largely diminished. The hatred and rage are still there, but they are given vent to in sneering and jeering. I think that the explanation for this welcome transformation is that my counter-attacks have created the Tamil racists appear ridiculous. The lesson to be drawn is that the antidote to racism is to counter attack it, not to ignore it, in which case it flourishes. Anyway the crucial point is this: the attempt to cease me being published by the Island and the Colombo Telegraph, which was the motivation behind the attacks, has failed totally.

The motivations for the continuing attacks have to be sought elsewhere. It is partly that impotent rage is finding expression via sneering and jeering. But in the case of the sole survivor from the days of the concerted attacks I consider the motivation is to market hatred of Muslims, the expression of an Islamophobic drive. K’s functionality – let’s contact him K – is in a class apart from the other people in critical respects. Though his hatred and rage are clear, as in the case of the other individuals, he surprisingly concedes that I am properly study and readable. My guess is that his foreign mentor has told him that if he is merely abusive he will lack credibility, and that he need to concede some merit to me so that his attacks will then appear unprejudiced. My guess is also that his foreign mentor has instructed him to adopt Goebbels’s strategy of the massive lie: if a lie, any lie, is repeated often it will come to be believed by the public. I have observed much more than a single reference to Goebbels’s idiotic notion in Tamil contributions to the Colombo Telegraph.

K’s responses are in a class apart for becoming chockfull of blatant lies, distortions, quotations out of context and so forth, displaying that his Goebellsian strategy is forging ahead complete blast. I provided details to the reader on how to access the text in which I wrote against the use of starvation against the LTTE, but he prefers to think that I advocated the opposite. I quoted Maugham as saying that under the Nazi occupation the French would have to “eat shit”. K has insisted, regardless of my creating the needed clarification, that I thereby referred to the Tamils as “shit”. In my final article I referred to the stereotype according to which the Muslims are, amongst other things, superb “drug traffickers”. He attributes that view to me, not to the stereotype, and proceeds to berate me more than that in a lengthy paragraph. Is K clinically mad? I believe that the explanation for what appears like lunacy is that he is following the Goebellsian technique of the massive lie. Anyway what interests me is regardless of whether he is acting as the agent of a foreign energy.

I can believe of only one country in the world that could have a quite special interest in the promotion of Islamophobic hatred: Israel. It has to be anticipated that several Israelis will have a visceral hatred of Muslims, warmly reciprocated by Muslims since human beings are human beings are human beings. We have to bear in mind that Israel is presently going via a phase in which it is extensively regarded as an apartheid state – Archbishop Desmond Tutu believes that its apartheid is even worse than that of the former South Africa. We should also bear in mind that Israel’s present leader appears to be clinically mad at least to some extent, as indicated by his former psychiatrist who committed suicide in 2010, and he appears to be in a state of genocidal rage against Iran. Netanyahu is indeed the very epitome of the sort of leader that Theodor Herzl would have wanted for Israel, considering that Herzl saw Israel as the last bastion of European civilisation against the advancing Asiatic hordes. Ultimately we must bear in mind that several of our Tamils have had a deep admiration for Israel, and that the LTTE which wants to be taken as a liberation movement has never spoken up for Palestinian liberation even after. It seems to be a extremely reasonable surmise that the Israelis could use the lunatic fringe Tamil racists to foment hatred against the Muslims. The Government need to look into that possibility, bearing in thoughts the terrible harm that has been triggered to Sri Lanka by interfering foreign busybodies.

By Helasingha Bandara &#8211

Is the President in a dilemma?

Current media reports hinted that President Maithripala Sirisena is in a dilemma regarding the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Is he? A quite short reply to that question is an emphatic “no he isn’t”. His position as the President of Sri Lanka is secured for the subsequent four and a half years. If he does not concentrate in contesting a second term, he has no obvious political calamity in sight. To adjust the deep-rooted, abhorrent political culture of Sri Lanka he may possibly need to have the assist of like-minded individuals. Nonetheless, he can do it on his personal if he intends to do it. If the king practises Dasa Raja Dharma, other individuals would invariably stick to, they have no decision! Only if the king urinates standing, the followers do it running.

Is the UNP in a dilemma?

Yes it is. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s premature Presidential election tactic backfired. Opportunism is not a virtue! Some components of the UNP claim that 80% of the votes cast in favour of Maithri at the recent Presidential election were the UNP votes. This is misleading. A mixture of several variables contributed to the victory of MS. The mixture was the UNP, all minority parties, a section of the SLFP, the folks who have been fed up with the corrupt governance who sought a alter and so on. The false belief emanated from the benefits of the Presidential election has led the UNP to be convinced that it can win on its personal. This has created a dilemma inside the celebration whether to go alone or to contest as a united front. If the celebration decides to be opportunistic it can backfire the same way it backfired on MR. The country needs a great bunch of men and women to rule it irrespective of which party they belong to. The UNP has to be mindful of that.

Is the SLFP in a dilemma?

Yes it is. The defeat of MR has not taught a lesson to the majority of the SLFP MPs. They have selected to ignore the truth that MR was defeated for the factors that his persona was corrupt, nepotistic, cunning and egocentric, his governance was inefficient and ineffective and his politics had been destructive and divisive. They have not realized that parliamentary elections are different from the Presidential election that the voting pattern can be influenced by extremely many external elements. The insistence on bringing back Mahinda is understood by correct minded folks as a signifies to keep away from indictments and to retain corrupt practices since MR allowed all that to happen during his reign. The dilemma of the celebration is whether it is wise to get rid of all these who are clamouring for the return of MR and go along with a new breed.

Winning

President Maithripala Sirisena has the greatest chance to alter the destructive, stale and undesired political culture of Sri Lanka. Being the head of the SLFP he has the authority to make changes inside the celebration. Creating drastic modifications to an current entity on his personal is a frightening prospect. In this case he has the backing of the former President Chandrika Bandaranaike who is the daughter of two former prime Ministers. Her father was the founder of the SLFP. It is foolish to write off the help for the Bandaranaike name inside Sri Lanka at any provided time. In addition he has the assistance of some brave politicians who rocked the MR boat at the preceding election.

Failing to contest the parliamentary elections as a united front of the individuals who fought MR at the election, MS must make his personal list for the SLFP candidates. That list must exclude Mahinda Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa, Chamal Rajapaksa, Namal Rajapaksa, Mervin Silva, Duminda Silva, Johnston Fernando, Sajin Vass, SB Dissanayake, Muthuhettigama, and all other people who are known to be criminals. Also exclude everyone who actively participated in the campaign to bring Mahinda back.

When a drastic alter is produced, it would wake the men and women up, provoke their thoughts and ignite their rational faculties. Individuals have shown that they can distinguish among very good and evil and they will no doubt recognize that the change has been produced for the better. Fortune favours the brave. President, you must not be an additional Ambanwela Rala who let Rajasingha II, the killer king, go unscathed when he overran Rajasingha’s palace in Kandy and finally paid with his life for the folly. For that reason, go for the kill!

By Shyamon Jayasinghe &#8211

If it is to advantage from a higher-growth area and prosper among other nations in the globe, Sri Lanka have to drastically switch its concentrate away from narrow and claustrophobic identity and tribal battles onto contemporary, secular targets connected to the prosperity of its people. We are facing a new version of the old guns versus butter debate central to economics. Do we allocate our time,sources and work toward guns? (meaning, war or conflict) Or are we going to allocate the bulk of them toward the production of “butter?” (meaning, our material sustenance)? I say, we need to extricate ourselves from spurious battles more than identities that only create unfavorable emotional energy and violence and take us to darkness. Rather, let’s move forward into economic realities that are staring in the face.

Swami Dayananda Saraswathi,writing to the Times of India in April this year, has pointed out how the Indian Constitution has defined India as a secular state. This is a recognition that ethnic and religious tensions can undermine a complicated society. Secularism embraces universal human values linked to human existential concerns. It operates on a standard universal ethic: “Do to others as you want them to do to you.” This maxim is all-natural to humans regardless of specific religious dogmas due to the fact it is based on a universal human endowment referred to as empathy. We all have embedded in us this good quality of empathy,which is adequate to live with no even a religion. Religion divides whereas empathy unites.

Accordingly, below secularism the state and church are separate. Religion does not invade government and government does not invade religion. The two are apart. Swami Saraswathie additional states that India has banished religion from state schools. Sri Lanka is behind India as our technique hasn’t divided church and state. Religious instruction is a need to in our schools. Monks are playing too a lot of a meddling role in the affairs of state. This is plain nonsense.

Along with financial prosperity and the adoption of secularism, the possible for identity -primarily based social and political conflagaration will pale into insignificance. Considerably of identity tensions are rooted in poverty and scarcity and a public perception of lack of space for all. Bread and butter will supersede narrow versions of one’s self. In the end, every single citizen desires a shelter to live in, a meal at the table, a college for his kids, healthcare consideration when ill and the common space to take pleasure in life. Modernity is built on such foundational values.

Now,with the elections on, Sri Lanka has a glorious possibility to make a decision regardless of whether to tread the modern day path or to languish in misery brooding over whether or not a single is a Sinhalese,Tamil, Buddhist, Muslim or Christian. All such identities are purely social constructions. Unless we reach to our widespread humanity we get nowhere. Voters should eschew leaders who are prone to be enemies of a secular state. Be confident, that this modernity in outlook is in truth inherent in Buddhist teaching.The regime of Buddhist Emperor Ashoka was an exemplar of a prosperous secular state.

This time, Sri Lankans go to polls to elect a new Parliament. The composition of Parliament is particularly important on this occasion due to the fact genuine power has now shifted to this institution of elected representatives. Presidential absolutism is largely gone following the 19th Amendment and the gravitational force of energy shifts towards the physique of MPs and by way of them to the Prime Minister and cabinet more than whom Parliament has ultimate control. The PM selects his Cabinet of Ministers. This is a neat, sensible and accountable arrangement in constitution-creating. Augurs nicely for a country that had been converted into a lawless state beneath a chief executive who had small respect for the constitution and other laws of the land.

This, alone, is considerable achievement by Yahapalanaya. Following the 19th Amendment, when the new Parliament is elected a Constitutional Council will be appointed and this vital institution will mother other independent commissions to appear soon after the Public Service, the Judiciary, and Elections isolating the latter from dysfunctional political meddling. In the black days of Rajapaksa, politicisation of practically almost everything beneath the Sri Lankan sun deprived powerless people of their security, liberty and freedom to stroll in dignity. These like us who live in Australia and the West observe ordinary citizens enjoy such a top quality of life. Surely, Sri Lankans deserve that! The strange point thing is that we observe how bigmouths amongst the Australian and Western Sinhala Buddhist nationalists seem to recommend that Sri Lankans do not deserve such a quality of life that the average man should continue to genuflect just before lawless politicos in order to secure their wants.

I would have preferred had we been able to pass new electoral laws that would have served to fend off undesirable parasites enter Parliament by way of the list -option of a celebration hierarchy. The present electoral system is stupid and has been the bane of our political culture. On the other hand, its replacement is a far more difficult measure that demands study and broad-primarily based consultation for which time did not permit. The politically displaced seedy characters that hanged around the defeated President, in order to insure themselves against investigations into their corrupt deals have been so busy attempting to sabotage the silent revolution of January 8th. Going significantly beyond the one hundred days mandated for, would have brought in anarchy and triggered a counter-revolution.

That mentioned and accomplished, now the ball is in the electors’ court and they should choose a steady government led by males and ladies who have had no corrupt narratives behind them. We also need to have leaders with intelligence, education, knowledge and decency to steer the ship of state.

The truth is that the ship of state requirements fast rectification from the harm it underwent beneath Rajapaksa rule. The nation lies on the brink of a severe debt trap. This cannot be seriously addressed by a purely interim government of a hundred days. Our national income is hardly enough to repay and service the irresponsible levels of debt repayments built up over ten years. Chinese blokes merely kept on giving any money the government asked without having any evaluation of feasible studies that typically precedes the granting of loans. On the other hand,Western help adopts stringent approaches of assessment. As a result, we have in our hands terrible White Elephants like the Rajapaksa International Airport in Mattala, the Rajapaksa Port at Hambantota, and the Rajapaksa International Sports Stadium. Even the beneficial Highways that have been built have been completed far above regular fees. Big commissions have been constructed into charges as a routine. Open robbing has been the name of the game and President Rajapaksa looked on winking himself away from the stories that reached his ears.

If a single cared to read the Sunday Instances economics column of respected economist Nimal Sanderatne one would have noted a lot of dark trends. Our agriculture production has dropped. With the exception of tea, our coconut, rubber and minor export crops have all dropped alarmingly. Fishing has badly gone down. With the drastic decline in demand for our tea from Russia and the Middle east, our agricultural exports have dropped by as a lot as six.five per cent. The result of all this is that our trade balance has been in the red for several years since the last regime took more than. Fortunately, our balance of payments have been salvaged largely by foreign remittances. Foreign remittances are essentially vulnerable and no economy can rely on that. Direct foreign investment,discouraged by threatening legislation, has been hovering around zero for numerous years.

Clearly the Sri Lankan economy is in peril. It follows that the living normal of our men and women is in danger.

Key structural changes in the agricultural,industrial and service sectors will have to be introduced and direct foreign investment must be encouraged into the nation if we are to salvage the nation and give a decent common of living to the ordinary person. Poverty is rampant in the country and a record sixty per cent school drop -out price reflects the inability of parents to support the education of their kids. This is sad. Hospitals are starved of vital drugs and individuals are thrown from pillar to post to get their medication at inexpensive costs.

Yahapalanaya hence far has largely restored the formal system of governance appropriate. Now, we need to have a additional stage of Yahapalanaya to deal with the elements of very good policy that will lift the economy from the doldrums.The ruling class under the former regime have been engrossed in filling their pockets while crying about the Buddhist Sinhala nation in danger. Film Star Parliamentarian, Malini Fonseka, quite much a Mahinda fan,alleged the other day how commissions were demanded as a routine from higher places for the displaying of Tv Drama episodes.

It appears almost self-evident that the historical function of finishing the Yahapalanaya project and transforming Sri Lanka into a contemporary state has to be played by none other than Ranil Wickremesinghe and his United National Party. I can’t think of a single existing Parliamentarian who can supersede Ranil in intellectual capacity, in emotional maturity, in knowledge and in integrity-qualities ideally required for the demanding part. Seeking back, a single can credit Ranil Wickremesinghe as a leader who has waited patiently, marked his time, defended his celebration against all sorts of machinations played by the former Machiavellian President and bearing insults and humiliation from even his own celebration ranks that have been clearly manipulated to discourage and oust him. “The wise man is unruffled by praise or blame,” says the Dhammapada. So was Ranil. He was never shaken as he believed firmly in himself.

Whilst Mahinda Rajapaksa was at his height Ranil confidently announced that the UNP will form a government in 2015. What a prophet! Credit backhandedly goes to Mahinda Rajapaksa for his political savviness in seeing in advance that Ranil was his only danger. Sensing that, he played a complete card of tricks to get him out of the UNP. Mahinda set up UNP men to challenge him and employed media vilification. It is here that Ranil exemplified considerable emotional maturity-not to blow up but to hold his own. And he did. Doesn’t he not deserve the Cup?

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