By Tisaranee Gunasekara –
“All parties should get together and try to fulfil the promises made at presidential and parliamentary elections to achieve development and prosperity.”
Ven. Thibottuwe Sri Siddhartha Sumagala Thero, Chief Prelate of the Malwatter chapter (Letter to the President and Prime Minister)[i]
Basics first: the UNP and the SLFP lost a local government election, not a Presidential election, not a Parliamentary election, not even a Provincial Council election. A local government election, by definition, decides who manages local affairs. A local government election, again by definition, cannot decide who governs the country. It can be a pointer to the coming government. It is not a reason to topple the existing government.
Mahinda Rajapaksa and his SLPP did not win a Presidential or a Parliamentary election; they won a local government election. That victory entitles them to run local councils. It does not entitle them to form a government.
If Mr. Rajapaksa wants to form a government this side of 2020, the only constitutional path is through changing the balance of the existing Parliament. The 19th Amendment freed the elected legislature from being a mere appendage of the elected executive and introduced a measure of checks and balances to an otherwise dangerously lopsided constitution. The President cannot dissolve parliament until four and a half years after the last parliamentary election. The Parliament can dissolve itself, with a two thirds vote. The President cannot dismiss the Prime Minister either, as fancy strikes him. He/she will have to dissolve the cabinet first and the cabinet cannot be dissolved unless the PM loses a no-confidence motion or the government loses a policy statement or an appropriations bill. It is there in the constitution, in plain language.[ii]
So if Mr. Rajapaksa wants an immediate dissolution of parliament or the removal of the Prime Minister, he should start collecting signatures (two-thirds for the first and a half for the second) instead of trying to destabilise the country.
Last week was arguably one of the most uncertain, chaotic times, certainly since the uncertain days of the Second JVP insurgency. The chaos didn’t stem naturally from the outcome of LG polls. It was created deliberately. It began on February 12th when Mahinda Rajapaksa and his SLPP cohorts met the media and demanded an immediate dissolution of Parliament and a snap election. That demand sent many in the UPFA and some in the UNP into a frenzy of fear and confusion. Instead of explaining the unconstitutional nature of Mr. Rajapaksa’s demand and getting on with the task of governance, the government, by rapid degrees, descended from panic to chaos. Horrified at the thought of facing an election, a group of UPFA ministers and parliamentarians came up with the idea of forming a true blue government with SLPP backing. UNP hardliners responded with an equally impossible idea of a true green government. The President gave conflicting signals, the rumour mill went into overdrive and infantilism reigned.
Whether Mr. Rajapaksa and his cohorts demanded the immediate dissolution of Parliament knowing its constitutional impossibility or whether they did so in happy ignorance is uncertain. Mr. Rajapaksa cannot be expected to read constitutions, but surely amongst the ‘legal luminaries’ who surround him, there has to be one or two who are familiar with the 19thAmendment. Therefore it is likely that the demand for immediate dissolution was made with the intent of manufacturing a crisis of governance. Create anarchy and present the Family (with the active backing of the military and the blessing of the maha sangha as the only force capable of restoring law and order – that might well have been the Rajapaksa game-plan.
It is a measure of the madness afflicting the Lankan polity that the only adult in the room currently is a Buddhist monk. Intervening at a critical moment, the Chief Priest of Malwatte Chapter advised the government not to give into panic. “The country’s ruling and economy will be risked,” he warned. “Therefore the government should fulfil what was guaranteed at the last presidential and general election.” The prelate’s message was clear: the mandate of 2015 remains because cannot be negated by a local government election; instead of running around in circles, the government should set about fulfilling that mandate.
Different Times; Different Politics
The UNP lost the local government election badly. The SLFP lost the local government election abysmally. Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLPP were the only true winners of last week’s poll. Their victory was colossal, but they didn’t reach the 50% line. They do not have the backing of a majority of Lankans. No single party or coalition has.
Going by last week’s results, the anti-Rajapaksa electoral base is still intact. Had the UNP and the SLFP contested together or even adopted a cooperative attitude (of the contest-separately-govern-together variety), victory at the LG poll would have been theirs. Even with the two parties behaving like petulant children, their combined vote was higher than that of the SLPP. 5,093,915 Lankans voted for the two governing parties while 4,941,952 Lankans voted for the SLPP. The UNP and the SLFP together obtained 46.01% of national vote while the SLPP received 44.65%. The result was not an endorsement of the government. But it wasn’t a negation of the 2015 mandate either. It was a warning about the dangers of forgetting the 2015 mandate.
The result was also a warning that unity is the only path forward for the government. The only way Maithripala Sirisena can prevail against Mahinda Rajapaksa is with the help of the UNP. The only way the UNP can prevail against the SLPP is with the help of Maithripala Sirisena. The overarching impact of the Rajapaksa factor has turned the two sides into politico-electoral Siamese twins. Together they can win. Divided they will lose, and wither away. So will the Lankan democracy.
The lessons of 2018 cannot be understood, unless they are framed by the lessons of 2015. In January 2015, Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated not by Mr. Sirisena or by the UNP alone but by the most eclectic and singular alliance in the political history of Sri Lanka. The UPFA heavyweights who tried to bring down the government last week didn’t help Mr. Sirisena to become the president. They were on the other side, working for his defeat. The UNP carried most of that campaign on its collective shoulders. The only person to be killed in that election was a UNPer, and he was killed by Rajapaksa goons.
In the Parliamentary election of August 2015, the UNP emerged as the biggest vote-and- seat-getter not entirely on its own steam but thanks to President Sirisena’s support. He intervened in the campaign at two critical moments reiterating his firm and unwavering opposition to Mahinda Rajapaksa and pledging not to make Mr. Rajapaksa the prime minister under any circumstances. The clearest possible indication that his effort worked is the electoral outcome in the Polonnaruwa district, Mr. Sirisena’s home-base. The UNP won the district easily, with 50.26% of the vote compared to the UPFA’s 43.63%.
Once that unity fractured, both parties suffered. The UNP’s national vote decreased by 13% between August 2015 and February 2018. Mr. Sirisena’s party won 13% of the vote in the local government election. The connection is obvious.
There is a new politico-electoral geographic at work in Sri Lanka. The unity of 2015 was an acknowledgement of this reality and the correct response to it. The old divisions have been superseded by a new demarcation along pro and anti Rajapaksa lines. The choice is between a familial oligarchy and a flawed democracy. The winning coalition of 2015 happened because political leaders understood this new geographic and responded to it. 2018 has brought disaster to the winners of 2015 because they forgot this reality and acted against it.
The Existential Cost of Prices
In 2013, the Chief Prelate of the Malwatte Chapter made an observation about why the Rajapaksas lost. “No proper development had trickled down to the village,” he said. “People of Hambantota had pressing needs besides a port and an airport… As a result people virtually took to the streets to unseat the last government.”[iii]
In last week’s back-to-sanity statement, the Chief Prelate reminded the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration of where it went wrong. “Work to reduce the cost of living and other problems of farmers, workers and rural middle classes,” he told the government. It was an astute observation. Of the many reasons for the government’s dismal performance, two tower above others. One is disunity. The other is living costs. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe combo won two elections promising to bring down living costs. Instead they made it worse, and preached morality and democracy to a hungry electorate.
When a kilo of edible rice (some imported rice varieties are barely edible) hits 100 rupees while farmers are forced to sell their paddy to rice millers at rock-bottom prices, when punitive taxes are imposed on consumers and small businesses, when a large swathe of the country is affected by the worst drought in 40 years, when mega-infrastructure projects disrupt ordinary lives and destroy both livelihoods and environment, when jobs are scarce and hope of betterment is even more so, when justice is both delayed and denied, when highly connected crooks are protected while a child is jailed for ‘stealing’ a coconut, when crime proliferates and leaders spend their time preaching morality to a disenchanted electorate, when politicians who promised to usher in good governance wallows in its opposite, what else can one expect but disaster?
A majority of Lankans are still opposed to the Rajapaksas. But Mahinda Rajapaksa is the owner of the single largest voting-bloc. He can be defeated only if all those who oppose him come to some basic understanding. Unity of the UNP and President Sirisena’s SLFP is the first precondition of keeping the Rajapaksas away from power. The second precondition is remembering the nexus between democracy and economics. Highways, port cities and theme parks (the latest craze of Minister Champika Ranawaka who lost his Maharagama electorate by a massive margin to an independent group backed by the SLPP) do not bring in votes; pandering to Chinese interests won’t win Lankan votes. Those were the mistakes of the Rajapaksas. In the last two years the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration busied itself with repeating those mistakes. That is the path not to victory but to disaster.
One of the most intriguing outcomes of the election was a new voting pattern in parts of the North and East. At the 2015 parliamentary election, the TNA won 4.62% of the national vote. In February 2018, its national average fell to 3.07%. And for the first time in a long time, the UNP and the SLFP fared remarkably well in some of the Tamil heartlands. In many districts the SLFP and the UNP came second and third, after the TNA and ahead of other Tamil parties. Freed of the LTTE and of the Rajapaksa regime, Tamil politics is evolving. Unfortunately the Rajapaksa resurgence in the South can impede the North’s journey to democratic normalcy. At his Feb. 12th media conference, Mr. Rajapaksa held up a map of Sri Lanka with the areas won by SLPP marked in maroon, and said, “See even Eelam has been reduced.”[iv] Mr. Rajapaksa still thinks that all Tamils who oppose him as Eelamists. Since an absolute majority of Tamils do, a Rajapaksa return would mean a drastic shrinking of democratic space in the North.
So ‘The bird of time…is on the wing.’[v] Elections for six provincial councils are scheduled for this year. Amongst those are five districts severely affected by the drought. If the government loses that election, a new constitution will be impossible, opening the door to a new Rajapaksa government with Gotabhaya as president and Mahinda as PM. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will ‘sacrifice’ his American citizenship. It will be another orchestrated circus, accompanied by a great deal of fanfare: a procession to the American embassy and back, with frenzied supporters hailing their ‘saviour.’ In his speech of July 14th 2015, President Sirisena used the word monarchy (rajanduwa) twice to identify the Rajapaksa rule. If Mr. Sirisena and Mr. Wickremesinghe don’t get their act together fast, that Rajapaksa monarchy will return. A Mahinda presidency was bad enough. Imagine the deadly dystopia of a Gotabhaya presidency!
[i] http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/End-instability-confusion-and-fulfil-promises-Malwatte-Mahanayake-146013.html
[ii] http://www.parliament.lk/files/pdf/constitution.pdf
[iii] http://www.dailymirror.lk/79703/were-not-developed-under-slf
[iv] http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Territory-of-Eelam-reduced-MR-145715.html
[v] Omar Khayyam – Rubaiyat
Words / February 18, 2018
Bring on the Provincial Council Elections.. we are waiting impatiently.
And in 2020 it will be Gota. Get ready for it.. and it will be the best thing to have ever happened for Sri Lanka.
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Dodo / February 18, 2018
Thisaranee Dear, Nice one, but disappointing in that you fail to make the link between corruption and economic injustice and the use of hate speech/ failure of reconciliation in Lanka today by both UNP and SLFP. Its the degrees of racism that make them different. In corruption they are united. Thus people have Hobsons Choice. JVP too is sitting pretty on the fence.
Economic justice is what Sri Lankans want and the bottom line.
And as long as Bondscam Ranil Wickramasinghe is PM there will be no economic justice, political criminals will be protected and there will be an even greater spread of the CULTURE OF CORRUPTION and MONEY POLITICS, which is in many ways the root of Ethnic and religious violence: Corrupt politicians constantly use Hate Speech . Lanka is a massive Debt Trap with galloping INCOME INEQUALITY as much because of Bondscam Ranil and his ROyal College cronies corruption as because of Rajapaksa’s corruption.
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Radical Ideas / February 20, 2018
Nice article! But, the points raised by Thisaranee and other writers with bulk of the other similar articles concerning and higlighting the 2015 pledges given by the Good Governance leadership (Ranil and Maithree duo) is not felt by them, looks like. There’s a lethargic and a relaxed approach shown by these two criminal politicians to almost all the dangers posed by the return of the biggest looters of Mother Lanka, the Rajapakses. Looks like its the general population who are worrying over the future. These scumbags are showing no interest in saving the country from these crooks. instead, they are openly issuing statements proudly that it is them (the UNP) leadership and Maithree who are protecting the Rajapakse family from any prosecution that may convict the Criminals for their heinous crimes committed during their evil rule. This is a talk of a secret Mafia brotherhood, like the Freemasonry, that protects its members and the brothers of a secret society from the dangers posed by others. Its the Govigama Organised Crime Syndicate and its brotherhood secret society’s functions. They are all united in defeating the people, the country and its entirety for the benefit of working for their Agenda….
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Hamlet / February 19, 2018
Words! Words! Words!
Why do we need more Elections, to Elect more Politicians, who do Nothing but Line their own Pockets!
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Kalu Albert / February 18, 2018
Over One million Sinhala Buddhists who had been mislead and brain washed by the West , the UNP , Ven Sobitha ,and NGO Co lead by Suren Surendran, Sobitha and Whisky Madam gave both Dr Ranil and Sillysena the flick.
Their scores at the Election are shocking, although Ms T seems to be cool about it.
But the UNP leaders with a Clean sheet are running scared.
So are the UPFA members who joined Sillysena to roll Rajapaksa.
In fact many of them will lose their deposits at the Big one.
And even might receive the Rotten Eggs Welcome on their hustings like Ms T’s mate, Dr Ranil’s Mangi did on his own Turf in the South.
Pohottuwa should be patient and relax watching this Dr Ranil and Slllsena Demolition show until both retire hurt.
It will be the best outcome for the great majority of the inhabitant population that enjoyed Peace , Prosperity and Development for at least full Five Years, after Suren Surendran and Sampathar’s mate made the exit in Nanthikadal..
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Native Vedda / February 18, 2018
KASmaalam K A Sumanasekere
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Look at the photograph above the crowd resembles people in South India? When did Dr Mahinda visit his relatives in Chittoor Andhra Pradesh?
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By the way who is Dr Mahinda’s official b***s carrier on that day if you were not?
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oldcodger / February 18, 2018
N.V,
The people in Chittoor, AP are busy churning out Volkswagens and selling London Tube tickets. They wouldn’t be caught dead talking to some fake Sando with a purple saataka and dyed hair.
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Native Vedda / February 19, 2018
oldcodger
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Point noted.
How does Dr Mahinda keep his fake smile 24/7?
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K A Sumanasekera / February 19, 2018
Native,
Is this Old Codger your uncle from Chittoor?…Have you moved to Andra Pradesh too?.
Apparently they do really bad things to Dalits in UP…..How are they doing in AP?
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oldcodger / February 20, 2018
KAS was dead! KAS is risen! God save KAS!!
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Sinhala_Man / February 18, 2018
Dear Tisaranee Gunasekara,
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Many thanks for the principles that have guided you in writing this article to which the only response that is currently visible is the one by “Words”, who is impatient to see the return of the Rajapaksas.
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I’m with you, Tissaranee, in wanting to prevent that outcome in 2020. When I set out to read one of our delightfully written articles, I also look forward to finding a penetrative analysis; you have not disappointed me in that.
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However, there is this sentence:
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“A majority of Lankans are still opposed to the Rajapaksas.”
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Quite right. and I think that we know the Rajapaksa riposte to that: “An overwhelming majority of the Sinhalese are with the Rajapaksas, and the country belongs to the Sinhalese.”
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Such a crude statement may not be presented in International Fora, but it has become common even in Comments on articles in Colombo Telegraph, which is perused (even the Sinhala Section) mainly by those literate in English. Actually, there even are articles that voice such sentiments. This theory that non-Sinhalese have only Rights in Sri Lanka equal to those belonging to a crocodile or a wild boar in must be rejected!
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Yes, it is time that we, non-racist Sri Lankans, close ranks and ensure that the Barbaric Rajapaksas are kept out. The most necessary first step: a CREDIBLE Prime Minister from the UNP which has so many seats in Parliament. Not old Karu Jayasuriya. How old is President Emmanuel Macron? Became 40 in December last year. Well, anybody above the age of 40 is mature enough to run the country. Sajith Premadas is 51 years old. If you don’t want him, why not Gayantha Karunatilleka, or Mangala Samaraweera, or even Buddhika Pathirana (age 41, and, repeatedly, obtaining more preferential votes in the Matara District than either Mangala or Sagala Ratnayake).
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There ARE people, just give them a chance to lead. Depending on how other comments go, I could add other names.
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Let’s unite to ensure that there is justice for ALL Sri Lankans.
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oldcodger / February 18, 2018
Most Sri Lankans respond to their stomachs when voting rather than their heads. And of course their memory does not extend beyond six months. They will believe “experts ” on Sirasa talking about 9 billion lost in the so-called Bond Scam while happily forgetting the 18 billion lost at Sri Lankan Airlines by Mahinda’s brother-in-law.
Still, Tisaranee’s analysis is quite accurate. Most people voted AGAINST Mahinda and his cabal.
I fear Sri Lankans will indeed vote in a Mahinda-backed govt. in 2020, given their IQ level. Let’s wait and see.
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Hamlet / February 19, 2018
Tisaranee, Please continue on this Line!:-
“Basics first: the UNP and the SLFP lost a local government election, not a Presidential election, not a Parliamentary election, not even a Provincial Council election. “
Politicians are trying to Hoodwink the People, for their own Survival, by confusing the Real Issue,
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Eagle Eye / February 18, 2018
“A Mahinda presidency was bad enough. Imagine the deadly dystopia of a Gotabhaya presidency!”
If Rajapkase presidency was bad Wickramasinghe-Sirisena Government is worse. Rajapakse regimaya (as Ranil call) eliminated LTTE terrorism and brought peace to all communities in the country. If it is not for that probably you could be six feet under blown off by a LTTE suicide bomber. Economy grew around 7%, foreign exchange reserves grew despite sky rocketing oil prices, investor confidence was built and implemented projects formulated during Chandrika’s time by Southern Development Board but shelved because she could not get commission.
Tisaranee, tell me one economic indicator that shows positive sign under this Government. Ranil master minded robbing Central Bank of which the negative impact will last for several decades. Sri Lanka has become a paradise for money laundering and drug business. Ravi told ‘Investors can bring money, we will not ask any question’. This was an invitation for Tamil Diaspora to bring money they accumulated illegally. The rumor is Tamil Diaspora money is behind high rise apartment buildings mushrooming in Colombo and suburbs. Sri Lankan Rupee is facing the worst crisis.
PM is behaving like Robert Mugabe. He has told the only way to get rid of him as PM is to kill him. Isn’t this a statement of a dictator? What this implies is he does not care two hoots for the peoples’ voice. Ranil took the full responsibility for Arjun Mahendran when Rajitha, Champika and Wijedasa objected. Now he says he is not responsible for bringing Arjun Mahendran to Sri Lanka. Can the country afford to keep an irresponsible person like this as PM?
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nalmen / February 18, 2018
as you rightly said it was foolish for sira to compete with his coalition partner in the lg polls
they should have entered int a no contest pact and both would have fared better
due to his poor performance sira is now consorting with the man who he said would have killed him if he had lost
those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad so sira had better look out
complete his two years with ranil [unfortunately]and retire gracefully
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Jim softy / February 18, 2018
Nalmen: You are Tamil. So you di dnot like Ranil losing.
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ramona therese fernando / February 18, 2018
Such nonsense Tisaranee! SLFP will never unite with the UNP because SLFP is a party with the same ideologies as the Rajapaksa-SLPP. Thank God Sirisena, in spite of his own personal need for power, will never betray his motherland for the bourgeois UNP intent on the division of the motherland into 3 parts. And UNP actually blatantly and undemocratically placed money of hard-working masses for that effect, right with the Tamil strong-men of the financial world. Therefore ideology- wise, SLPP + SLFP garnered over 50$% of the votes to 58.07%. Proof is that Rajapaksa wants to become head of SLFP. If democratic unity for our country is truly needed, Sirisena and Rajapaksa should get together, with Rajapaksa as PM.
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Hamlet / February 19, 2018
ramona therese Fernando:-
Please read what Tisaranee wrote in her Article Above!
“Mahinda Rajapaksa and his SLPP did not win a Presidential or a Parliamentary election; they won a local government election. That victory entitles them to run local councils. It does not entitle them to form a government.”
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ramona therese fernando / February 19, 2018
Hamlet,
They are inextricably connected – local councils and government. They both have to be of similar nature for the country to function. Otherwise, Chaos!
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Hamlet / February 20, 2018
RTF;-
Are you trying to say that the Political Parties Concerned are working towards Rewards for Themselves, and not towards the Welfare of Sri Lanka?
It is time that Sri Lankan Politicians understood that the Country is More Important than the Political Ideologies of their Parties!
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ramona therese fernando / February 21, 2018
Hamlet,
Ideologies do not care for money. Ideology cares for the history, heritage, and the reality of the people of the country (with a healthy balance for futuristics).
*
Ideology that is about elusive money is no ideology at all. It is the ideology of the few, by the few, and for the few. Elite that like to live in this illusion will soon bring our country to demise, and create harsh and unnatural conditions for our masses. SLFP-ers who hold hands with ultra-capitalistic and anti-nationalistic UNP, have no ideology at all. It is a bogus ideology meant to hoodwink the masses, and as a means to hold onto their power at any cost.
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soma / February 18, 2018
Too late TS, it’s too late. Please convey to Mahanayaka it is too late. In his infinite wisdom Mahanayaka is preaching after the event.
Soma
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Native Vedda / February 18, 2018
somass
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What are you mumbling?
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soma / February 18, 2018
Just thinking of TG’s and Mahanayaka’s post 10 Feb wisdom.
Soma
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Raj / February 18, 2018
A return of the Rajapakse regime is a frightening thought but, nevertheless, a reality. Voters face a dilemma, choosing between dog shit, bull shit or horse shit & as things are at present, SL will be in deep shit whatever the outcome.
The JVP maybe an alternative but need to re-brand, denouncing their bloody past & apologizing unreservedly to the innocent families whose members were killed for just doing their job. They maybe good in opposition but even with their relatively better educated candidates compared to the yobs currently nominated by the mainstream parties, need to come up with a comprehensive & realistic political manifesto to earn my vote & respect. The SLFP /UPFA is fragmented & MS is a waste of space. If the ‘hopper party’ is to be believed, Sirisena stabbed MR in the back after the last supper. Now Sirisena unashamedly is hanging Ranil out to dry as a last ditch attempt to save his own political ass. Sirisena has amply demonstrated that he out of his depth, lacks integrity but more than his inaptness, a blatant lier & hypocrite as well. As for Ranil, his clean image has been tarnished irreparably & his integrity is at question by choosing his cronies over the country he has pledged to serve but still has my vote if he can reform the party by getting rid of all the deadwood & crooks, starting with Ravi K.
SL needs a Mahamud Bin Saldin, the newly crowned Prince of Saudi Arabia who seems to be bring Saudi Arabia into the 21st century with his new reforms & changing the perception of Saudi Arabia as the most corrupt country in the world. Maybe he is trying to consolidate his position by eliminating threats to his monarchy but he had the guts to bang up the wheeler dealing rich & the famous in his country, including his own powerful relatives, & demanding they payback what they have stolen from the country in exchange for their freedom.
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Eagle Eye / February 18, 2018
Raj,
“if he can reform the party by getting rid of all the deadwood & crooks, starting with Ravi K”
This should read as follows:
“if he can reform the party by getting rid of all the deadwood & crooks, starting with himself.”
.
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Jim softy / February 18, 2018
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/
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Rajash / February 18, 2018
Excellent stuff.
Dr. Sara Dissanayake & Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka – please take note. This is what you call independent analysis. Not the Sinhala racism that you both vomit.
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Jim softy / February 18, 2018
YOu have become a Broker to which group. A person who hated Rajapakses, A person called buddhists are buddhism supremacists, now have forgottenthe gains of EPDP and humongous bank theft Ranil did and talk about another level of elelction 351 local councils are represented by 225 parliamentarians. With three levesl of governing, and many different authoristies who will finance this much of governing. Yahapalanaya is a disaster as Ranil believes in importaing eveything. what happened to PAranthan, Valachchena, Hingurana, Pugoda and MAththegeama I suppse the cloth weaving factory, Oruwela, Refinery,. Ranil does not believe in sri lankan manufacturing. Ranil wants to give Orumiththa nadu which some Tmails do not like. they say if you givt it we relocate to the south. That is the reality. Mahanayake would have said and that is fair. But, they are also aware everything negative. YOur artcle is extremely selfish serving for uour special interests which you promote since the LTTE days. What you indirectly saying Making Ranil Quit, instead think about other things. I heard I won’t do anything instead I become the PResident.
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Jim softy / February 19, 2018
What Sri lanka needs is not many elections, but democratic party constitutions. What we have family oriented oligarchy. that has to be stopped and Party constitutions should be modified and rewritten, so that capable politicians can be selected. There should be openly debated among prospective candidates. People, at lease party card holders, should be there when they are debating. That should be the start. YOUR NEED OF OFFERING ORUMITHTHA NADU TO TAMILS WILL NOT WORK. IT IS SIMPLY DEAD.
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Jim softy / February 19, 2018
Only thing Ranil proved for three years is that he was a Alibaba, MAfia Boss. why he should be forgiven when he is not trust worthy as a PM and as a minister. ASK UNP TO STAY THEY WILL BE DECIMATED.
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Jim softy / February 19, 2018
TG: Can you record exactly when Mahanayake theros said what you have written at the top. I say you lie and it is taken completely out of context.
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wannihami / February 19, 2018
TG who is no way a political scientist, is even less of an economist. For the Sinhala Buddhists the integrity of the island and their individual fate is one and the same. They will never sacrifice the unitary state for a kilo of rice. At the same time if the Sinhala Buddhist hegemony in the island is assured then they will take up the standard of living as the next battleground, and to improve that country needs FDI and reduce trade deficit, for the former the country needs stability which can only be achieved through strong leadership as of Rajapakshas, for the latter the country needs a realistic long term vision; and for a small land mass of very limited natural resources that should be based on services industry which in turn needs superior infrastructure and Rajapakshas are the only leaders who delivered that so far and can be expected to deliver that in the future. And there is no unemployment crisis in Sri Lanka, instead there is a labour crisis
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Real Siva Sankaran Sharma / February 19, 2018
The Sinhalese especially the Buddhists are racists and chauvinists and are led by a bunch of crooked selfish egotist war criminal dictators , who pander to the Sinhalese racist insecurity and chauvinist tendencies with lies and Mahavamsa myths. This island was never a unitary state until 1833, when the British united the Tamil parts of the island m that had always remained separate , ruled by its own kings and chiefs with the Sinhalese parts , and most of your so called Sinhalese kings chiefs and aristocracy were only nominally Sinhalese but in reality South Indians. Tamils largely and some Telugu. If not for the British blunder and open favouritism towards the Sinhalese, the Tamils will not be facing genocide ethnic cleansing and discrimination now. The British had no right to have handed the entire island to the racist Sinhalese on a platter , without consulting the Tamil people, not a few Colombo 7 highly Sinhalised quislings. They should have divided the island as they found it or created a federal setup , they did neither but handed the island to the Sinhalese racist , as long as they had control of the Trincomallee naval base and the lucrative tea industry. With no legal protection for the island’s Tamils, one million Indian origin Tamils , who had lived in the island for more than 150 years and earned most of the foreign exchange, were made stateless. The position of the island’s indigenous Tamils from the NE became precarious and worsened over the years now resulting in genocide and large scale displacement. Now this racist war criminal is promising the racist chauvinistic Sinhalese of more to come with veiled comments about Eelam ma[ reducing , meaning more large scale displacement of Tamils from the north east and forced land acquisitions and settlement of Sinhalese. The once proud ancient Eelam Tamil nations now reduced to beggars in their own land, thanks to Britain., They should pay for our plight. They created Pakistan that never existed but destroyed Eelam that was there , for their own selfish strategic ends.
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Hela / February 19, 2018
“They do not have the backing of a majority of Lankans.” They don’t need it because this is not a presidential election. TG needs to be reminded of her argument. This a LG election. Also they did not contest in all wards. In few of them their lists were rejected. Statistical gymnastics only serves to sooth bruised egos.
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Hela / February 19, 2018
Yes, there is a new politico-electoral geographic at work in Sri Lanka. The old divisions have been superseded by a new demarcation along PRO NATIONAL and ANTI NATIONAL. That is why Champike Ranawaka, the pseudo nationalist was roundly beaten. Available data indicates out of 65 of JHU candidates, only 5 have been elected. On the other hand out of 30 PHU candidates 25 have been elected!
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Hela / February 19, 2018
The Sirisena-Wickremasinghe combo won only due to a well orchestrated coup. First the nationalist camp was split with Sirisena departure with the then nationalist flag bearers Champike and Athuraliye Rathana. Then the killer blow was given by the TNA block vote under advise from India. Remember US secy of state Kerry congratulating Modi for 2015 SL election results? That confusion is over. The nationalist camp has re-organised with their own political machinery firmly in place. The enemy is known and visible and in the cross hairs…………….
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Hela / February 19, 2018
The MR statement “See even Eelam has been reduced” has two points of significance within the context of this article. First the statement itself. Second TG’s interpretation of it. MR correctly identifies the ideology of TNA+TNPF as essentially mono ethic & separatist. He showed only receding yellow colour. For him Pilleyan, Karuna, Douglas Devnanda are not pro Eelamist, i.e. potential partners of an inclusive Sri Lanka. Also MR seems to be happy to note some blue and green in the Eelam territory negating TG’s utter falsehood. On the other hand TG’s interpretation seems to be combining TNA with UNP+MY3 faction. It validates the exact argument of the nationalists, i.e. UNP and MY3 faction have been willing partners of TNA and Tamil diaspora led separatist project in weakening Sri Lanka state. No more reasons are required to defeat & chase/dump RW, CBK, MY3, Mangala combo lock stock and barrel to the history’s dust bin.
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