
By Gnana Sankaralingam –

Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam
First action he is to take, is to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections. During this period from dissolution to summoning new parliament, country would be ruled by an interim government, which will be constituted by members of the existing parliament. JVP has only five members including the newly nominated one, and therefore needs others to join. There will not be much problem as there are number of Muslim MPs who are ready to somersault, and opportunistic MPs like Sumanthiran, Devananda and some Sinhala MPs will give them support. Another problem to be faced is to get many NPP members elected at the next hustings. After proportional representation was introduced, no faction was able to secure two-thirds majority, and NPP cannot expect any better result than that. Once settled, let us analyse how they would perform in meeting their promises to the people.
Corruption – They will certainly take action to eliminate corruption as much as possible. Whether they will only succeed to net sprats and not sharks is to be seen. Their campaign has been funded by several people who would be expecting returns, and to satisfy them, they may resort to gifting contracts and kickbacks. As for efficiency, they have to pick the team from among their supporters and not solely on merit, and this could result in some misfits occupying places of authority. Nevertheless they will do well in this field.
Populism – They will take political measures to please the people, which will sustain their vote bank, which might be at the expense of the state. Removal of VAT for food items, educational books and health sector services is good, as well as cutting down costs of electricity and fuel, but they have not said how they are going to fill this loss to the revenue. Their proposals to curtail number of ministries and perks and privileges of parliamentarians and past presidents will be welcomed by people, but these expenditures are only droplets in the ocean of wastage. Their outreach to farmers with fertiliser subsidy and guaranteed price for crops and fisherfolk with modern technology will receive plaudits from them.
Economics – They do not seem to have any understanding of the situation in which the country is. Open economy is working well dispite corruption and mismanagement and any attempt to tamper with it will be disastrous. If they put new conditions on IMF loan negotiations, they will walk away, with only bilateral agencies like China and India to request for loans. Multilateral agencies like World bank, ADB and JICA may fund essential projects to help the people and not mega ones. Income from tourist arrivals and expatriate remittances will not increase substantially and NPP will not be able to make exports of commodity items to rise to desirable level. So in order not to create queue culture in distirbution of essentials, NPP government has to restrict importing of luxury items, taking the country back to 61 – 70 period. Main trading partner of Srilanka is western countries and if they antagonise them by toying with China, they will take the country back to 70 – 77 period of shortages.
Tamil Demands – As far as Tamils are concerned, JVP have not changed their stance, which is reflected in the voting pattern. If NPP is genuine, they must address it, that system change is meaningless to Tamils without including what they have been fighting for. If NPP is not willing to adhere to this principle, Tamil agitation will continue. In their policy statement NPP have said that there will be no inquiry on war crimes committed on Tamils but only a truth and reconciliation commission. One could be certain that majority of those who committed atrocities on Tamils will never speak the truth. NPP is silent on other issues like release of lands occupied by security forces, fate of missing persons and settlement of refugees in their original places. As for autonomy, they would never grant anything tangible. With these, if they try to put down Tamil dissent, it will exacerbate the problem.
Geopolitics – Although AKD wants to visit India, NPP is on the wrong foot by wanting to cancel Adani windfarm project in Mannar. To counter Chinese influence, India is demanding certain concessions, which previous governments have dodged, which will come up again to haunt NPP. Regarding bridge across palk straits, NPP is against it, which will put them at loggerheads with India. Any attempt by NPP to accommodate China at the expense of India, could result in confrontational situation and some form of intervention.
Finally, if NPP maintains the status quo without distrupting it and only taking measures to end corruption and mismanagement, they could carry on like how the previous government did. There is no likelihood of them getting substantial foreign investments (FDI) to lift up the economy and make the country solvent. Debt moratorium by private lenders is only for few years, and with NPP in power this facility may not be extended. NPP will do well in micro-economics, but when it comes to macro-economics they will come a cropper which will please the people but will be detrimental to the country. One of the stated intention of NPP is abolition of executive presidency, which is good for democracy, but the government will come under control of extremist elements in JVP who will dictate terms. In considering these there is a mixed bag and after all these, people deserve what they choose.
Nathan / October 18, 2024
… MPs who are ready to somersault, and opportunistic MPs like Sumanthiran.
Gnana Sankaralingam,
CT readers would have noticed that you assault always Sumanthiran.
Today, you call him, – opportunistic.
Any evidence in support of your determination?
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chiv / October 18, 2024
Yet another stereotype Anti Sumanthiran propaganda. Doc, in that case, please name ONE genuine, honest person among the current clowns, truly committed in helping suffering Tamils…… Sri, Suresh, Mavai , Wigy Ponna, Douglas, Pillayan, Karuna, Ariyan ,,,,, ????? Agree with the rest what you had to say.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 18, 2024
I have made the correct assessment on Sumanthiran after observing him for the last few years. I have lived in Colombo for 44 years since birth among Sinhalese, and I can vouch that you cannot espouse Tamil nationalism without falling foul with them. This applies to Sumanthiran, Wigneswaran, Gajendrakumar and any other. Sumanthiran wants to live comfortably in Colombo, hobnobbing with Sinhala elite and will act to destroy Tamil demands to please Sinhala elite. Look at his behaviour. When there is a problem faced by Tamils, he will not intervene immediately. He will watch the situation and if turns good will visit the scene and take pictures, but if it turns bad will never sight the place. When a problem is faced by Sinhala elite, he will rush to the courts in support of it, but will never take any steps to relieve Tamils of their plight. He was defeated for leadership of Federal party, but without accept the verdict. he goes to court to sabotage it. Unfortunately, Sridharan has no leadership qualities and Sumanthiran is dancing about.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 18, 2024
Regarding Tamils living in Colombo and dabbling with Tamil nationalism, what happened to late Kumar Ponnambalam is a reminder. During late Premadasa rule, Kumar talked big issuing statement to the press about Tamil aspirations. Premadasa simply cut off water supply to his house in Colombo. Kumar had to beg to restore it and stopped criticising Premadasa. It is only after Premadasa died, he started his bravado back. These Tamils politicians in Colombo are in constant contact with those in power and reach deals and continue to hoodwink Tamil masses.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 18, 2024
As for opportunism of Sumanthiran, he went behind Ranil from 2015 onwards. He came to UK with Mangala and met some bankrupt Tamil organisations and asked them not to raise war crimes in exchange for new constitution. Nothing happened for five years. He was rejected by voters in 2020 election and was rewarded for his betrayal by Ranil and Gota to get him elected under hand. At the last election he found that Ranil is finished and went behind Sajith. He summoned a meeting of Federal party committee without proper notification and got them to pass a resolution to support Sajith. After AKD won, and there is some support increasing among Tamils, he is wooing AKD. He knows that he cannot win at the next election on preferential votes and is manipulating to enter parliament through national list. He has fielded candidates who are his catchers and not on merit. He said that he could not find any women to contest, which is a blatant lie. Do these not prove that he is an opportunist. You will come across more and more treachery of Sumanthiran in the future.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 18, 2024
As for Wigneswaran, he is a clown. He proved that he was totally incapable as chief minister of northern province. He went to parliament in 2020 and has not done anything. When he was CM, he fought with Ranil, but after Ranil became President, he went behind Ranil, even asking Tamils to vote for him. He knows about his prowess and has bowed out. As for Devanada, he had gone behind those in power since 1990. How can a person who landed in Colombo in slippers carrying a kit bag, amass such wealth, a reward for betraying Tamils. I cannot see any current Tamil politician who is not an opportunist. When you become old you wish for comfort and peace. This is why Tamil politicians do not want to antagonise Sinhalese and are letting down Tamils.
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SJ / October 18, 2024
As for Wigneswaran, he is a clown.
Any more than you?
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 18, 2024
Sivasegaram, you are the biggest clown.
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SJ / October 18, 2024
“He was rejected by voters in 2020 election and was rewarded for his betrayal by Ranil and Gota to get him elected under hand.”
Another lie.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 18, 2024
Sivasegaram get your information correctly. At the end of the counting of votes at the Jaffna Kachcheri, the position was Sritharan first, Mrs. Raviraj second and Sidhdharthan third. There was an inordinate delay in announcing the result well past midnight. Then Sumnanthiran arrived with STF personnel. All polling agents were asked to go out. Some who protested and refused to leave were assaulted and thrown out. After few minutes results were announced as Sritharan first, Mrs. Raviraj second and Sumanthiran third. Subsequently due to some unexplained reason, the result was reversed as Sritharan first, Sidhdharthan second and Sumanthiran third.
How can this happen without order from the top.
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SJ / October 18, 2024
Kumar stopping his criticism of Premadasa?
Do not BS.
He was the only Tamil politician who stood up in defence of Colombo Tamils harassed by the police.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 18, 2024
Sivasegaram the problem with you is that you think that you know everything. Kumar supported Mrs, B against Premadasa as part of DPA ( Democratic peoples alliance) and was promised a minister post. Premadasa carries grudge and after he won, Kumar attacked Premadasa which ended abruptly. Kumar started his antics only after Premadasa died. Both Wijetunga and Chandrika were lenient, and did not bother about Kumar.
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SJ / October 18, 2024
N&c
This person has an ax to grind with nearly everyone who is anything in Tamil politics.
He lies shamelessly and distorts history at will.
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Ajith / October 18, 2024
“Any evidence in support of your determination?
The leadership election of Federal party and Federal party is now in courts.
What is it? Power greedy or Opportunism?
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