By Dayan Jayatilleka –
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
Mr. R. Sampanthan has let himself, his cause and his people down. I have always regarded him as the last of the old-school parliamentarians whom I used to watch as a boy, from the press gallery in the old Parliament building near Galle Face, with the blue light atop the flagstaff switched on when the House was in session. His command of the English language, stentorian delivery, his persona of an irascible gentleman all combined to make him a figure of respect and admiration irrespective of one’s opinion of his politics. Most recently though, he has disappointed.
When Parliament reconvened after the Local Authorities’ election, Mr. Sampanthan made a fiery, if mercifully short, speech. That speech was directed entirely and vehemently against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was seated next to him, separated by the aisle. Now, Mahinda Rajapaksa is fair game, but that is not my point. Mr. Sampanthan demonstrated falsity in argument and folly in politics in his speech, which is not what one would expect of a man of his stature, intelligence and maturity.
Mr. Sampanthan’s short speech was divisible into three parts each containing an argument. The first was a statistical observation of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent electoral performance and a political conclusion derived from it.
The second part was a comprehensive list of failed attempts to address if not solve the Tamil ethno-national question and Rajapaksa’s failure to implement the solutions that had emerged from even those initiatives he had commissioned, compounded by his retreat from the promises he made.
The third and final substantive point made by Mr. Sampathan was that Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign this time around was suffused with Sinhala chauvinism and would therefore provide fertile soil for the revival of the Tamil Eelam project, and Mahinda would therefore be far more responsible, or responsible in a manner than Mr. Sampanthan and his party were not, for an Eelamist revival.
Now Mr. Sampanthan’s opening point is laughably hypocritical as I shall demonstrate presently. The second and third points are at best, half-truths which tell a larger lie. Those fallacies apart, Mr. Sampanthan’s speech demonstrated a bigger folly, as I shall point out later.
Mr. Sampanthan opened with what he thought was a knock-out punch. Namely, that for the third time running Mahinda Rajapaksa failed to leap the 50% mark. This was a rehash of Mangala Samaraweera’s strange arithmetic which has been dealt with by many, but none more brutally than his erstwhile quasi-ally Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the JVP, speaking in Parliament on the same occasion as Mr. Sampanthan. AKD bluntly said that the ‘Hansaya’ vote of January 8th 2015 could not be retrospectively reassembled because that coalition had broken. He urged the Yahapalana government’s leaders “not to dream”, and hammered home the point that “the forces that came together in January 2015 will never come together again! Never!” He, for one, should know.
Mr. Sampanthan’s point is false not only because his arithmetic is retrospective and prospective. It is false and hideously hypocritical because his argument, applied to his own performance, indicts him and his party far more than his argument does Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLPP-JO. Mr. Sampanthan’s argument, if I may reiterate and paraphrase, is that Mahinda’s ‘Pohottuwa’ hovers consistently in the mid 40 percent range, averaging 45%, and therefore, a greater percentage, more people of this country, have voted again Mahinda than for him. Mr. Sampanthan argued this with great emphasis and no little flourish, so it was his basic point.
Mr. Sampanthan’s point is that he/she who is not with you is against you. Those who did not vote for your party, voted against you and your party– and you should add them all together. That’s if you are Mr. Rajapaksa.
Let us see how Mr. Sampanthan likes a taste of his own medicine. One of the best, most significant political pieces I have read in quite a while is Ahilan Kadirgamar’s analysis of the local government election results as pertains to the North and East. I shall limit myself to his statistics rather than his conclusions, not because I disagree with them but because I would digress.
“The Jaffna District where a majority of the population of the Northern Province resides, the TNA saw a considerable decline with only 35% of the vote share. On the other hand, the TNPF had made considerable gains capturing 21% of the votes. The EPDP with an oppressed caste base also made a good showing with 19% of the votes.” (‘Sri Lanka: Northern Elections and Tamil Politics’, Ahilan Kadirgamar, Red Notes, Daily Mirror Feb 19th 2018)
So, going by Mr. Sampanthan’s argument against Mahinda Rajapaksa, a majority of Tamil voters in the Jaffna District – no less than 65%–where a majority of Northern Province resides, voted against the TNA! Indeed a greater majority voted against the TNA than did the island’s people against Mahinda Rajapaksa, going by Mr. Sampanthan’s argument.
What of the other districts? The same point holds true: the TNA had more votes or a greater percentage of votes cast against it.
“In the predominantly Tamil districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu, the TNA got 47% and 42% respectively…Chandrakumar who had broken away from the EPDP a year ago, made an impressive showing leading independent groups, which as a whole got 30% of the votes in Killinochi.” (Ibid)
Therefore, in Kilinochchi, going by Mr. Sampanthan’s logic, 53% voted against the TNA which obtained 47% of the vote, while in Mullaitivu, 58% voted against the TNA which got only 42% of the vote. What then of Mannar and Vavuniya?
“The results in Mannar…and in Vavuniya…the TNA got 28% and 26% respectively. The national parties, including the UNP, SLFP and SLPP, made considerable gains in these districts with close to 50% of vote share. These national parties also polled about 10%, 15% and 30% of the votes in Kilinochchi, Jaffna and Mullaitivu respectively.” (Ibid)
Thus in Mannar, a whopping 72% did not vote for the TNA, i.e. voted against the TNA, going by the Sampanthan dictum. In Vavuniya, an even larger 74% voted “against” the TNA!
Now what if we add up the TNA’s percentages in all those districts and view their performance in the Northern Province as a whole? It adds up to 35+%, which means, if we apply the Sampanthan Doctrine, 65% failed to vote for the TNA which in turn means 65% voted against Mr. Sampanthan and his TNA!
So a much smaller percentage –35%–voted for Mr. Sampanthan and his TNA in his ‘traditional homeland’ than the people of this island did for Mahinda Rajapaksa at this election as well as the earlier ones that Mr. Sampanthan pointedly referred to. And going by the Sampanthan Doctrine, a much greater percentage (65%) failed to vote for the TNA and therefore voted against the TNA, than voted against Mahinda Rajapaksa (55%)! If Mr. Sampanthan’s lecture to Mr. Rajapaksa isn’t the rankest hypocrisy, what is?
Ahilan Kadirgamar’s conclusion shows that Mr. Sampanthan should look to the beam in his own eye before he makes orations in Parliament about the mote in Mahinda’s.
“The outcome of the elections is such that in most Local Governments in the North, no party has an absolute majority and they are forced to form coalitions…The TNA is in decline; both in terms of its vote share and in terms of the enthusiasm for its election campaigns. It continues to be led by an older generation of Federal Party loyalists who lack vigour. The TNA’s confidence that the Tamils in the North will always vote for them by default has been shaken.” (Ibid)
So Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Pohottuwa have not only done far better than the new party, Gajan Ponnambalam’s TNPF, which has done well in Jaffna, but have performed far better than the TNA on its home turf. Far from lecturing Mahinda on the limits of his electoral achievement, Mr. Sampanthan would be lucky if he could ever hope to emulate it.
As for the other two points he made, Mr. Sampanthan is not on a firm footing there either. The many and several proposals to solve the Tamil Question that he lists in his speech were made during the war, in exchange for peace, and when they were on the table, the TNA engaged in nit-picking without backing them fully. I have a memory of how painful a disappointment it was for Hon Lakshman Kadirgamar when Mr. Sampanthan failed to back the August 2000 draft Constitution in Parliament though he had made a solemn promise to do so, to Mr. Kadirgamar. It is a-historical to assume that proposals which were on the table in wartime and spurned with an air of superiority, would be back on the table now, after the war was won at enormous cost by the State.
Mr. Sampanthan’s third point was that Mahinda Rajapaksa had engaged in or encouraged Sinhala chauvinism in the recent election campaign. Anyone who watched the campaign would have noticed that the Pohottuwa campaign was far more populist than Sinhala nationalist, let alone chauvinist. More to the point, Sinhala chauvinism has been mightily assisted by Tamil political behavior ranging from that of Chief Minister Wigneswaran to Tiger demonstrators outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London, which have gone without denunciation by Mr. Sampanthan and the TNA. Furthermore, the TNA’s and the UNP government’s allies such as the Global Tamil Forum have further incensed Sinhala opinion by acts such as the insistence of the cancellation of the visas of the family of Brigadier Priyanka Fernando.
Something that disturbed me about Mr. Sampanthan’s recent parliamentary speech was that it was unintentionally ironic in the extreme. . Mr. Sampanthan does not occupy the moral high ground vis-a-vis Mahinda Rajapaksa. Not only has he no moral right –or empirical evidence– to occupy the post of the Leader of the Opposition he has not had the backbone to criticize the Tigers even though they are no longer a threat to him, for the crimes of murdering his own close colleagues and friends: Amirthalingam, Sivasithamparam, Yogeswaran, Mrs. Yogeswaran, and Neelan Tiruchelvam, to name only a few. Yet it is Mahinda Rajapaksa who he denounces, who ended the killing of his colleagues.
Mr. Sampanthan’s folly is that he does not realize that the man he condemns, Mahinda Rajapaksa is the only counterweight to Sinhala ultra-nationalism; the only one who can contain it; the only firewall. Sampanthan’s friends the UNP and the official SLFP are manifestly on the decline and before they depart the stage late next year, they, together with Mr. Sampanthan and Sumanthiran, would have provoked a powerful Sinhala backlash. As usual, Tamil nationalism here and overseas will comfort itself as it foolishly did in 2005, that a hardline Sinhala administration is but a stepping stone to Tamil Eelam with external intervention, but as was proved then, the old song from the musical Porgy & Bess, may once again prove itself right: “It Ain’t Necessarily So”.
The Sinhala voter is being provoked by a failing political neoliberalism into exercising late next year, what we may call in cinematic terms, the Dirty Harry, Death Wish or Punisher option. If Mr. Sampanthan wants a settlement of the Tamil question, the man he must talk to is the one who should be in the seat he occupies; the one with the largest chunk of political real estate—Mahinda Rajapaksa with his 45%, to which will almost certainly be added on, through defection or osmosis, most of the official SLFP’s 13%, next time around. Mahinda Rajapaksa may be the last leader of the Sinhalese that Mr. Sampanthan and the TNA can talk to. Mr. Sampanthan is not the last Tamil leader the Sinhalese can talk to: as Ahilan Kadirgamar reports, Douglas Devananda has made a significant comeback. But Mr. Sampanthan must talk to Mr. Rajapaksa, not lecture to him while sitting in the latter’s chair, albeit with a smaller percentage vote than the latter! If and when Mr. Sampanthan has the good sense to talk to Mr. Rajapaksa, he may wish to recall yet another line from the old movies: “When you say that—smile!”
An Observer / February 26, 2018
Dayan,
Can you clarify the following point please?
You have indicated that Mr. Sampanthan is sitting in Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse’s seat implying that MR should be the Leader of the Opposition.
As I understand that MR is not a member of the SLPP but remains as a member of the SLFP.
SLPP has not got a single member in the parliament.
Please ask MR and the other members in the JO to resign from SLFP/UPFA and join SLPP. Then at least MR has a legitimacy to talk on behalf of the SLPP.
Unless MR does that your point about Sam sitting in MR’s chair is a load of rubbish!
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nimal fernando / February 26, 2018
They say a man’s childhood defines his later behaviour …………Dayan was “figuratively” dropped on his head in his childhood …… now he wants the people/country to pay for his warped/twisted/bitter mind …… but no one is paying much attention…..
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Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy! :))
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To hell with Sampanathan and Dayan ………
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If you are capable of rational thought …………..just think how the Singhalese-Buddhists have ruled the country ……….and what’s happening right now!
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Is it any wonder the Tamils want a separate country?
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Is it any wonder ……..that ……..by hook or by crook, Sinhalese-Buddhists have moved (or try to by the boatloads) into Christian countries?
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Even the Rajapakses have left ………only returned to rob and take away what they can ………..
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The inability or the unwillingness to face the truth ………….doesn’t mean the truth is not real ……….or one can manufacture one’s own truth……………
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PS ……This doesn’t mean I want the Tamils to escape; I want to hold onto them ………..They are my security-blanket! ………. Just imagine, if the Tamils are not there as the bogeymen ………..and I have to face my fellow Sinhala-Buddhists all by myself!
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Oh Boy!
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sach / February 26, 2018
Any one with a little bit of common sense and political knowledge would understand, there is NO mandate for the old thief Sambandan to sit on opposition leader’s chair. It belongs to JO. As robbing what belongs to others is a perrenial Tamil trait, Sambandan is sticking to it.
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Native Vedda / February 26, 2018
sach
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JO thieves belong to UPFA. Let them resign from their respective party and electorate contest elections under different party, if they win let them go to the parliament and demand their due place.
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Well only in your stupid mind you could have the cake and eat it too.
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
Mandate to sit on the Opposition? Is that why a Tamil Opposition leader was impeached in Lankawe Kangaroo Parliament? I thought who failed to gain mandate to govern condemn to sit in the opposition.
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Native Vedda / February 26, 2018
An Observer
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I suppose you are not familiar with this public racist self confessed war monger. He has no control over his fingers nor does he over his brain, if he has one.
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Dayan Jayatilleka typed above:
“I have always regarded him as the last of the old-school parliamentarians whom I used to watch as a boy,”
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R Sampanthan didn’t enter parliament until July 1977. Dayan was born in December 1956. In 1977 Dayan was 21 years old.
Please tell me would you consider a 21 year old ass a boy?
He forgets lot of things when he drops names.
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He survives because nobody takes him seriously including the broad sheet English media.
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ThanthaiChelva / February 26, 2018
Dayan the racist. Don’t take his racist rantings too seriously. No one does. Sampanthan is less corrupt than MaRa. He is less violent than MaRa. He is far more intelligent than MaRa. Poor MaRa has forgotten his SLPP has no seats in parliament that the election just concluded was a local election, not a parliament election. [Edited out]
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Kalu Albert / February 26, 2018
Sillysena was hired by the West to give Sampathar his Vellala Eelaam.
Can Silly now deliver it?..
Silly is desperate trying to clear the roads so that his loyalist helpers of Dr Ranil, get to home bases without copping rotten eggs and rotten tomato attacks and filthy abuse like Harin uses.,let alone mustering them to tick off even Dr Ranil’s new Constitution ..
May be Sampathar is getting desperate too, to mix up his Arithmetic..
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Native Vedda / February 26, 2018
KASmaalam K A Sumanasekere
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“Sillysena was hired by the West to give Sampathar his Vellala Eelaam.
Can Silly now deliver it?.”
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If so why did the west and Hindia destroy the LTTE supported by VP?
Is Hindia agreeable to your silly proposal?
In fact Hindia and the west made sure war crime investigation against the clan and the armed forces is being postponed by another 5/6 years.
Silysena/Ranil made sure the long arm of law does not reach the crooks and the war criminals.
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Please consult with Bandula Jayasekara before start typing your response.
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wannihami / February 26, 2018
Native, Wrong again mate, don’t just sit around, go to the library and read about how your Hindans trained different rebel groups, then the short honeymoon with the LTTE, and how LTTE turned 180 degrees yada yada yada ..
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Jim softy / February 26, 2018
Why Sambnthan Is important now when there is a another PArty ACTC? is taking the reign. Even Kumar Daivd is Asking MS+RW’s United aka National aka defunct Yahapalanaya govt to consider that ACTC party as the Tamil front.
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
More to the point, Sinhala chauvinism has been mightily assisted by Tamil political behavior ranging from that of Chief Minister Wigneswaran to Tiger demonstrators outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in London, which have gone without denunciation by Mr. Sampanthan and the TNA. I wonder if Thero believe is Gajendrakumar, who made impressive comeback as per Thero, has denounced the Feb 4th protest. If not so, then what is Thero common denominator that is connecting all the random things he is baffling?
TNA lost in the North East. It was predicted by even ICG. Sumanthiran /has faces/d severe censure by TNA members for having worked with Yahapalanaya and caused the defeat. Nobody is denying the TNA’s debacle. But is that arguing the Point Thero trying to tell that Old Royals won? If Thero is insisting on that certainly doesn’t know which is North, Which is south in Lankawe. Simple fact is, TNA’s lost because TPNF’s strong campaign that TNA has given up to Government’s cheating. Slap Party put for this local election as referendum against sharing power with Tamils. Who in the world, other than Thero, an idiot would put the “knot between this knee and Bald Head”?
Slap Party & Thero campaigned that this LG election is a referendum on power sharing. To win a referendum a party has to get more than 50%. But Sampanthar & Sinhalese saw this as government .vs. Opposition. That is, Official SLFP + UNP. So Slap Party has not surpassed the mark it set up. Slap Party did not win the referendum. So Sampanthar is right.
Slap Party, by its negative campaign, made TNA to lose in the North-East. North-East is no longer with the moderate TNA. Severe damage to TNA forced its base to blast off and spread wrecks (debris) in all direction. So, Angajan, Dougie, Kumar, Vijayakala, Independents, TULF…. all picked something of these.
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Jim softy / February 26, 2018
Mallaiyuran: Are you supporting KAdiragamar ?
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
My point is, Ranil, as the Law & Order Minister, cannot ask anybody “If you want we can conduct that case also”, but has to let the Justice Department to take the case again and conduct a proper investigation as Kathirgamar’s family asked for it.
I am a one personality man. Kathirgamar might have had couple of personalities. My support for Kadirgamars personalities is not adequate to decide what is good for Tamils. My support for him doesn’t relate to Tamils’ National Question.
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
As foolish as it sound, Sampanthar did not go to prove that (100%-44%)> 44%. Well, that is 3rd math. He did not even say 44 %44%
Here Thero is bringing in Anura’s talk. Thero needs to know in Jan, 2015 SLFP and UNP (New King’s party) stood separate, not united. In September, 2015 SLFP and UNP stood independently, not united. In Feb, 2018 they both stood separately. But in Jan, 2015, they placed a common candidate. In September 2015, after having a Unity government for 6 months, they contested election in an understanding. The Party leader of SLFP did not campaign against UNP. Same situation in 2018 too; they were/are in government together and stood in the election independently. So comparing 2018 election with 2015 elections make sense as long as it has objectivity.
We need to remind Thero of the Sumanthiran’s speech in the parliament at the introduction of Steering committee’s draft report. His claim was 99.9% had voted for a constitutional change in Jan, 2015. Then why the 44% went out from that 99.9 % without seeing a draft constitution. Why did the Sinhala People voted for a non-exiting constitutional change Referendum, after they asked for it in Jan 2015 election? This is where Sampanthar is giving his answer –Ethnic Hate Mongering of Old King.
Let’s put in one more way what Sampanthar said, if Thero can get it.
“Old King called for a referendum with a slogan of ‘Want divided Country or Unified Country’. Old King got only 44% for his self-professed referendum.
Sampanthar was plain and simple in his talks. Thero got it not just 100% but 110%. Thero probably keep pushing the Old Royals to the edge because he wants them to fall into the trap, so that, then he can have his revenge fulfilled.
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K A Sumanasekera / February 26, 2018
Mally,
Vellala Kid Abraham’s math is as confusing as his boss Sampathar and mate Mangi.
If 99.9 % inhabitants wanted Dr Ranil to give them a separate Homelands based new Lankan Constitution ,why only 55% agreed with Dr Ranil this time?.
May be rest 44.9 percent have seen that fat CM dude who got one of your Ladies to kneel in front of his fat belly, and beg for mercy.
And they also must have seen that the other not so fat CM dude with a Blue sash around his nack swearing and carrying on about what he is going to do after the Election.
And of course Sampathar’s mate CM, who sang Tiger songs on Independence day’
I don’t know about you, but those CM dudes even frightened the daylight out of me..
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
Sumane,
Sampanthar has explained that in his speech.
Old King wanted to have All Party Conference. All King’s Commissioner Tissa had released his finding. Based on these (or not) 13+ was put forward by Old King. This he conveyed to Indian Government too. Indian FM Krishna, after eating Old King’s Maattu Pongal Pokkai, said that in Jaffna to TNA. When UNHRC 2012 resolution started, he promised that o UNHRC and Under Secretary Robert Blake. Blake said Solution should be acceptable to all. Old King had promised UNSG that that in addition to Accountability and Responsibility he will take care of Tamils problems too. LLRC he appointed told him Tamils problem was cheating them from 1958 by Sinhala Parties. National Action Plan Submitted by Hakeem to Mrs. Clinton included having Tamils problems sorted out in 5 years. In the previous UN Peer Review, once again he told the Peers at UNHRC that his intention is 13+. But Other Western Countries wanted to take forward investigation and a Solution, India insisted as he had agreed to 13+, that was the way to go.
There are Banda-Chelva pact, Chandrika’s Sudu Nelum, GLP- Neelan constitutions, Oslo Agreements are also outstanding to be discussed on context of 44% of SLFP voters agreements. There is a solid SLFP 40-44 % from the time of Banda-Chelva Pact is waiting ready to resolve this as per Sampanthar.
So creating a 13+ to give Tamils, who lost their rights was the pledge Old King put forward in the Jan, 2015 election campaign as the Change in Constitution to Tamils’ National question. This is what the basis of Sumanthiran’s arguments.
(You need to remember, this an explanation for Sumanthiran’s argument; We never were Sumanthiran on agreeing Sinhalese are understanding the somersault of these rogue Royals politics and any time they mentally agreed or rejected with them on the Tamils rights. )
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Hela / February 26, 2018
Excellent response to the Tamil racist incorporate……….
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Lankan / February 26, 2018
Hela,
You all are racists…Tamil and Sinhala racists…so why point fingers?
Can Sri Lankans ever rise above ancient tribal rivalries and the warped sense of nationalism?
I’m so appalled at the comments flying around on this site..
The politicians and the general public seem to be of the same ilk..
The majority public opinions on the recent actions of the Defence Attache in London are just so disappointing for example.
Living in Sri Lanka would be unbearable to any principled person…
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Hela / February 27, 2018
Lankan, why do you call someone who exposes a racist as a racist? Should we be silent spectators to racism spewed from higher pedestals? Is Sambandan an untouchable (you seem very upset about calling Sambandan a racist)? In my view most Sri Lankans are peaceful non racist people (therefore I don’t agree with your assessment) who want to live together. But that is being prevented by mono ethnic, exclusivist politics of people like Sambandan.
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Jim softy / February 26, 2018
Tamils still play cheating politics. [Edited out]
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Rajash / February 26, 2018
“Don’t Play it again Sam”
Keep playing it (licking Mara’s arse) Dayan…when are you going to stop
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Spring Koha / February 26, 2018
A weekend of bloody self-preening and name dropping; me me me.
You might have summarised it all with “You don’t understand! I could’a had class. I could’a been a contender. I could’a been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am”
And you know what, most of us would’ve replied “frankly me dear, I couldn’t give a dam”.
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Native Vedda / February 26, 2018
Spring Koha
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Would you call a 21 year old male a boy unless of course he is your servant, valet, driver, shoe shine boy, run around boy, ……………………..?
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wannihami / February 26, 2018
Native, Sagala is still called RW’s blue eyed boy.
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OMG / February 26, 2018
Hate begets hate ! These stick in the mud Tamil politicians never learn. What do they expect from a separate state ? Will they still expect the rest of the country to pay for their upkeep if they do get a separate state ?? Nope sir. You may have to beg and borrow from your Western allies or your motherland Tamilnadu. Do not expect the majority to pay for your education health admin etc if you must have your own way. Thank you very much !
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K.Pillai / February 26, 2018
Dayan is pathetic. He is crawling to MR saying “Make me your Wimal. I will do better that him and demand less”.
Douglas Devananda is wanted for murder, kidnapping for ransom and other heinous crimes in India. Dayan has a fixation on/with such characters and likes to see the country led by such people.
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Thiagarajah Venugopal / February 26, 2018
Thank you for the article and the detailed counter analysis of the speeach. The ongoing healthy discussions are great for the public as long no personal attacks please as this teachs our children the incorrect approach to discussions/problem solving.
Mr Sampanthan has a right to point out the case he is currently arguing/campaigning along with the government (as part of a “Constitution Assembly”) for “Federalism/Power sharing” and working through a process to get this scenario to the table in the form of a referendum to the nation. He or the Government has the right to expect the “opposition” not to misrepresent them as Elamist/Separatist any longer is the request in his speech as a HARD fought battle to come for the “yes” and “no” campaign if this was passed in the parliament. If this “process” is mismanagaed then we could be fostering more troubles after the referendum as both sides have to live with the outcome of the referendum too. LG voting pattern as you correctly point out is the opposite and the “concerned” Mr Sampanthan making a point that the misleading propaganda/ categorisation/fear monkering already reflected in the voting patterns too. If i am campaigning for a “no” vote for federalism I will be discussing/convey much more important issues to the masses and will not play into the racist sentiment in our country is the point and is a disservice to the entire nation too. It is also the case up in the north weather the TNA gets a vote or not it all goes to more radical/less radical Tamil parties too. The known devil and the unknown Angels comes to my mind too. The “yes” and “no” camps have already started the preemptive strikes on opponents and not sure where all this we lead too etc.
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Kalu Albert / February 26, 2018
Despite Sam and his mate Mangi’s Bullshit maths, Rajapaksa lead Pohottuwa got 1.3 Million votes than Dr Ranil’s UNP.
There are no Vellalas or Marrikkar, Hakeem, Muslims in that 1.3 Million for sure..
So where did they come from.
Obviously they are the Sinhala Buddhists and Catholics who have realised that their Country and their future are facing grave dangers because of Dr Ranil, & Sillysena ‘s dirty politics to please the West, Diaspora and the UNP Rich .
And they ,the 1.3 Million have experienced it first hand, during the past three years, which saw massive scale robbing of the Public Purse, Selling National assets at bargain basement prices ,Stopping all Infrastructure Development , Handing over existing cheap friendly Government Loans to Mitsui and their Diaspora Agents. to get commissions and drive the cost of living sky high due to Financial mis management.
They also know that there are worse things to come from Dr Ranil.
Dr Ranil’s ECTA will make Colombo out of bounds to even the few Sinhala Buddhists and Catholics there who have a got a foot hold through hard work.
Even the Manual Workers who earn a quid there, will lose their jobs to Indian Labour which will be brought over by the Indian conglomerates to do all the work in their Organizations.
Then comes biggest danger to our 2500 year old Nation.
That is Dr Ranil’s New Constitution with Police Powers and Land Rights to Chief Ministers.
These 1.3 Million must have seen how Dr Ranil and Sillysena’s buddy CMS behaved during the Election.
And they also must have seen the arrogant demands and threats of Mr Sampatha’r CM in the North.
Just imagine these thugs are given the police Powers and the ownership of our Public Land.
Come the big one next year, these 1.3 MILLION I am sure will show the same disdain for the trickery of Dr Ranil and Sillysena..
And the 900,000 thou who backed UPFA also will be fed up by then..
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Thiagarajah Venugopal / February 26, 2018
one additional point on your article is we should not “narrate” Tamil areas elected representatives as the people we could talk to etc by present and future governments. As a one nation man this sets an incorrect president for a united country. Any parties that forms the government in Sri Lanka should be able demonstrate they have their people win the elections in all areas of the country making sure no north/south divides exists in the country in the future……manifesto’s / the language we use in power /actions we take should win over the hearts and minds of all the people. May be parties should demonstatrate they can have Tamil candidates down south and Sinhalese candidates up North and Muslim candidates vis a vis will educate masses to look overcome their own prejudices/stereotyping. Time for radical change in the way we use the current strong “Security Forces” setup through out the nation we have for a very bright future by protecting those who will stand up for change free from intimidation. LG election abuse on female candidates itself show a serious problem in our nation and where were the “Security Apparatus” suppose protect them? Drugs are an issues throughout the country destroying/jeopardising the entire nations future may be we can get some ideals from the Philippines president too? once more missing the “security apparatus” to kick in to fix this in days?.
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sach / February 26, 2018
Good one Dayan…and now Tamil racists and their Sinhala UNP stupid supporters can take the stage :)
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nagavitharana / February 26, 2018
mouthpiece of MR
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Native Vedda / February 26, 2018
Hela
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“Excellent response to the Tamil racist incorporate……….”
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Why is it excellent?
Do you consider a 21 year old ass a boy? This public racist considered him a boy at 21.
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Boy:
1.a male child, from birth to full growth, especially one less than 18 years of age.
2. a young man who lacks maturity, judgment, etc.
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Cheer the boys at 21.
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NUWAN / February 26, 2018
DJ is another bootlicker of MR, isn’t he one?
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Thalaivar / February 26, 2018
Booty. Not boot.
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jansee / February 26, 2018
Dayan:
Sampanthan does not have the same standing as he had years ago among the Tamils. Many saw that coming. With his sidekick Sumanthiran, he trusted the Sinhala leaders who promised him the “moon”. There is no such thing as a honest Sinhala politician and, perhaps, that’s why your uncle MaRa said to the Tamils: “Better to trust the devil you know than the angel you don’t know but the flaw of this devil is to assume a that Sinhala angel exists. The more appropriate term would be to say “the lesser of two evils”.
The Tamils are certainly not going to make a pact with the devil. That pact in 2005 (not to vote for any candidate) saw the election of MaRa as President. Your fundamentally flawed argument is that the Tamils should pursue a policy of “appeasement” with the devil but in an age where even a normal person cannot be trusted, how do you think the Tamils will react towards a devil and that’s how they reacted and assisted in MaRa biting the dust in 2015.
You may dance with your “mind-games” that the Tamils’ hope is MaRa. Far from it. MaRa’s hope of ever succeeding will to an extent depend on how Tamils feel towards him. As far as the Tamils are concerned MaRa is a butcher who should behind bars and it is foolish of you to assume the Tamils will give up on fighting for their rights. I believe Sampanthan may have that insider information that you may not be privy to that if the impasse continues, and with the horrid history of the Sinhalese treating the Tamils, it may after all head in the direction of Eelam. The fact that more than 200,000 soldiers still loitering in the North does show that concern.
It is an established fact that the Tamils and Sinhalese can’t live together amicably and for either race to attain peace, they have to part ways, no second guesses there.
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nalmen / February 26, 2018
dont play it again dayan
you have played it long enough
you dont have to reply to everything people say
remember it was one the reasons that cost you your job
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Keynes! / February 26, 2018
The patron saint of McCarthyism sounds off, again.
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Perera Fernando / February 26, 2018
Tamils do have there own country..TN in India…they wanted a second home in Sri Lanka my mother land and look what happened. On this planet Earth anyone is capable of fighting for there motherland. There is a Srilankan phrase “Think before you make the jump”..better luck next time !!
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Native Vedda / February 26, 2018
Perera Fernando
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“Tamils do have there own country..TN in India”
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How could I put this to you delicately?
Moron Tamil Nadu is not a country, its a state within a country.
Moron first learn the difference between a country an a state.
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“they wanted a second home in Sri Lanka my mother land and look what happened.”
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Moron who said this island is your mother country?
Moron your mother land is in South India.
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Moron whats wrong with having a second STATE in another country?
Moron listen, the Arabs have several country, including
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Yemen
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Moron according to Mahawamsa your ancestors came from Bengal/Orrisa and other sources confirm your origin from South India. There you have multiple choices.
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I think the phrase is meant for you, think before you start typing.
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Ajith / February 26, 2018
Dayan,
You have stated that recently you have disappointed with Sampanthan. I would like to say the Minority communities and those Sinhalese who voted bravely to throw out a dictator (his worth is now 18 billion dollars) who robbed the nation are disappointed with you because you became part partial of that regime which wants to capture the power through simply anti minority propaganda. You are a disgrace to humanity wants to enjoy the blood of minorities to destroy this nation.
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Ajith / February 26, 2018
Dayan,
What a shame? Do you know anything about statistics? Do you know how to interpret data? Have you heard about hypothesis testing? In this Local government election, SLPP lead by your former dictator and racist Mahinda contested on the basis of that in this local authority election if the government wins it will lead to Tamil Eelam. Mahinda is one side and others are in one side. Even after the elections, no one joined Mahinda yet. There is no chance Mahinda becoming an opposition leader because he is still member of SLFP.
So, the Null hypothesis is : Mahinda will win more than 50% of the votes.
Alternative hypothesis is: Mahinda will not get more than 50% of the votes.
So, according to the results it is proved that Mahinda’s claim is not true.
In the case of Jaffna district, you are right that 65% of people voted against TNA but the fact is that more than 99% of voters are in favur of a complete devolution of power and against to Mahinda’s claim.
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K.Anaga / February 26, 2018
Buddhists exist in India, Burma, China , Vietnam and else where. Does that mean they will give up Buddhism In Srilanka?
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
Buddha is a diaspora, from India. He is not going back to India, Nepal,Thailand…He was chased out of India by Thirunavukkarasar. His refuge is Lanakwe. Now is vacationing with his (I don’t exactly how many, If he is a brethren of Krishna, it is 16,000, if Castro’s it is 35,000, but if he is a jihadist, it is only 72) virgins in Upearth(Sky). He will be back here,in Lankawe, soon, in about two and a half millenniums)
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
Thero has to feel happy about what happened.
He has to accept,
1.) Based on Percentage: Ruling is not one party; it is a Joint Yahapalanaya Coalition. Opposition is also Unity Chitanta Coalition. Joint Yahapalanaya Coalition won the election. Ruling party won, Unity Chitanta Coalition lost the election. Opposition lost.
2.) Based on ruling mandate given: Less than 25% percent of the Local Bodies only can be governed by the leaderless Slap Party. People has clearly spoken that they prefer a Yahapalanaya like unity governments in more than 50% of them. In other words, people like Yahapalanaya than the Old Royal’s like dictatorial governments. That is the reason people refused to give clean mandate for any party to rule independently.
3.) By rejection of who governed: People reject the government to continue or accept to continue in an election. If the argument of Thero is that people rejected the government, then the next question is who government in Lankawe is; who get attributed the loss. In Lankawe EP is the government not the PM. So the primary rejection in the Unity Government is for New King, not to Ranil.
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wannihami / February 26, 2018
Dayan, Thank you for posting KA’s analysis of the Norther voters. Reading Rajan Hoole’s recent article about the politics in Jaffna University it is apparent that Tamils of the North are divided just as the Sinhalas of the south. Sinhala and Tamil people who are not in the moneyed class of 1% or the ex-moneyed elitist class of 0.001%, need to be shown that their problems have nothing to do with ethnicity. As James Carville once said “it is economy stupid”.
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Roy / February 26, 2018
“Most recently though, he has disappointed”, Dayan; this is wrong grammar.
You once said you have a PhD (another lie like this time’s ‘watching Sambanthan performing in the Parliament as a child’); I believe if you have one, it is from the University of Ulanbto?Dayah,
Dayan, please note before getting a PhD, one needs a first degree, and, you have no first degree mate.
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Ms Bineka Jacob Hussain / February 26, 2018
Dayan, to enhance your and your late father’s profile you should have stated something like this:
“Uncle Sampanthan used to visit our house every weekend where he joined SWRD, DA Rajapakse and my father to play Contract Bridge. I, Chamal and Mahinda Rajapakse played hide and seek in our backyard. One day I fell and uncle Sampanthan rushed me to Ratnam Hospital”..
Being the Great Fabricator of all times; if you fabricated something like this, you would have ended up as a Colombo 7 Socialite.
(Yes, I am a Colombo 7 Socialite, and proud of it)
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Mallaiyuran / February 26, 2018
Good one.
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Sumal Fernando / February 27, 2018
Ms Bineka Jacob Hussain, this Dayan Jayathillake (De Silva) is so obsessed with high society living. Please do not accept him to Colombo 7 High Society. Dayan is a born Socialist. When Ambassador in Geneva he made deregotary comments about Queen Elezabath. The then Government had to appologise to the Buckingham Palace. Dayan has done absolutely nothing for the country as being the Ambassador in Genva and France. He should not be allowed in a Sri Lankan embassy anywhere in the futre even as a toilet cleaner.
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