28 March, 2024

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Power In The Park

By Dayan Jayatilleka

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

After Hyde Park, March 17th 2016, politics cannot go on as before. Not for much longer anyway.

For a few months now, Prof. Kumar David, a literate leftist and an ideologue of the Yahapalana bloc, has strenuously urged in his columns that the UNF (and its cosmopolitan left allies) “smash the Rajapaksas on the streets”. Luckily for the UNF, it chose to ignore that advice or else it would have been a case of “Bambi meets Godzilla”, with the UNF playing Bambi.

Just how ludicrous the Prime Minister’s exuberant threats to take to the streets in March was, became evident with the modest display the UNF put up in Colombo, a hub of UNP strength, on March 15th, when the numbers were insufficient to hold a public meeting at Hyde Park and settled for a few speeches at the Lipton Circus which is the usual venue for trade union picketing.

The footage of Ranil Wickremesinghe viewing his troops while standing in the crowd, arms folded and tight lipped, was in complete contrast to the ebullience of Mahinda Rajapaksa and the view from his vantage point at Hyde Park the next day.

The crowd at Hyde Park was bigger than Nugegoda and Nugegoda was big. I know, not only because I was seated on both platforms, but also because I was a boyhood veteran of Hyde Park rallies in the 1960s and ’70s, after which my father would repair to the bar on the top floor of the building opposite (now the APIIT) and discuss the rally with the Left orators such as Vajira Pelpita. I recall Wijeweera’s famous Hyde Park meeting of early 1971, where he wore a red polo-neck and demonstrated karate moves. That large meeting was a mere fraction of the crowd that packed the place and its environs on March 17th. As overhead shots showed, the Hyde Park crowd stretched up to the ODEL roundabout and down most of Union Place. The crowd was so densely packed that ex-President Rajapaksa and those on the stage were tossing their bottles of water to those in difficulty just in front of them.

The huge audience was strongly determined. It was multiclass, ranging from the underprivileged to white collar workers, professionals and managers. If this isn’t a mass movement, I don’t know what is.Dayan March 17 Hyde park

This is a popular political movement whose leadership clearly showed that it will not be intimidated. It dared the government to do its worst, be it in the form of sackings or incarceration.

This is also a movement that is on the offensive (or as the Americans say “on the offense”). Its discourse revealed its intention and goal: the removal of the UNP government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. This did not necessarily mean overthrow and left room for its replacement by an SLFP dominated government of a coalitional character.

How on earth does the UNP leadership hope to implement painful IMF cutbacks, push through devolution beyond the 13th amendment, cooperate in a Hanuman bridge connecting Tamil Nadu with northern Sri Lanka, sign ECTA which opens our IT sector to the neighboring behemoth, and set up special laws and special courts with foreign participation to try those who fought and won the war, when standing against it is a strong, motivated opposition movement with a formidable political leadership?

Any single one of those measures could trigger a storm of protest within and outside parliament. The only way out is a consensual process based on roundtable discussion and collective deliberation, with buy-in by all major stakeholders including the Joint Opposition.

Hyde Park showed that the Joint Opposition has arrived, entrenched itself. It is the real Opposition and politics is polarized between the UNP government of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the Joint Opposition. There was repeated reference to the respected Dinesh Gunawardena as the leader of the Joint Opposition, while Mahinda Rajapaksa is clearly the magnetic national leader of the movement as a whole.

Never has an elected Government in this country evoked as much opposition so soon—with a single significant exception. A year after it was elected in 1952, the UNP government faced the mass uprising—the ‘Hartal’ –of August 1953. That peaceful upheaval caused the UNP Cabinet to be evacuated on board a US warship. It was a double whammy, in which the body blow of a popular protest was followed in three years by a gale force electoral defeat. That UNP administration blundered on three fronts: socioeconomic (food prices), nationalism and culture (language issues, the ‘purple brigade’) and foreign policy (Bandung). A key ideologue and strategist of that disastrous UNP government was the present Prime Minister’s father. Today’s UNP administration is a throwback to that earlier anomalous experiment.

If anything is likelier than any other, it is that the present UNP government will be defeated at the next national-level election unless it changes its profile by changing its leadership. However, unlike in 1988 it has no front-ranking organically UNP nationalist figure within its ranks. This lends itself to an outcome similar to 1956 and 1970, rather than to a last minute comeback under a new leadership as in 1988.

To my mind the more crucial question is whether or not such an electoral outcome will be preceded by the kind of upheaval that UNP governments other than DS Senanayake’s always faced: August 1953, 1966-68, and 1987-88. Of the three episodes, the UNP survived at the nearest election only in ’88, but that was a radically populist-patriotic UNP candidacy. The social, economic, ethnic and external profile of today’s UNP administration puts it on a collision course with the strong, dynamic, highly motivated populist-patriotic Opposition movement that was visible at Hyde Park on March 17th. This UNP looks headed straight for a Hartal ’53, to be followed by an electoral 1956 a few short years down the road. Ironically, the UNP and its patrons were boasting of an Arab Spring in South Asia. Now, it may be about to get one right in the face.

This UNP government cannot count on the military (with or without the penny packets of SF loyalists) to counter the social power of the people, not least because of the Jagath Dias and Chagi Gallege moves, the impending special courts on war crimes, the de facto No Fly Zone in the north, the installation of the TNA as the opposition, the backstroke in relation to Tamil Nadu fishing piracy and the prospect of a constitutional federalization process.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is the Prime Minister but Mahinda Rajapaksa is the President of the Streets. The UNP leads the government but the Joint Opposition holds ‘peoples power’. The UNP proposes from above; the Joint Opposition disposes from below. It is a classic situation of ‘dual power’.

In this situation of ‘essential equivalence’ in the balance of forces, President Sirisena must decide. Does he pivot towards or away from the anti-Ranil/anti-UNP forces? If he doesn’t halt the present course of the Wickremesinghe Government and recompose it in a manner that the SLFP is the dominant or at least the equal partner of the coalition, drawing the forces of the Joint Opposition with it, then there will be gridlock at best and collision at worst. If the present Wickremesinghe administration is not changed from above by the President, then it will be changed from below by the people. It cannot proceed on its present course.

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Latest comments

  • 24
    5

    I know three seperate individuals in the Kelaniya area who each rallied between 1500-2000 individuals and collected a payment of 150 rupees per head. So at least 5000 people provided by just these three individuals. Is this your power on the street, Dayan?

    Incidentally, the same three chaps provided heads for MR’s campaign rallies in the last two elections as well. Fooled your alright.

    • 12
      4

      Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

      RE: Power In The Park

      “This is also a movement that is on the offensive (or as the Americans say “on the offense”). Its discourse revealed its intention and goal: the removal of the UNP government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. This did not necessarily mean overthrow and left room for its replacement by an SLFP dominated government of a coalitional character.”

      So, Mahinda Rajapaksa wants Ranil Wichramasinha’s job, the Prime Minstership.

      Initially, Mahinda Rajapaksa wanted to be President for the 3rd Term. He lost to Sirisena.

      After that, Mahinda Rajapaksa wanted to be Prime Minister. He lost to Ranil Wickramasinghe.

      Now he holds rallier to become Prime Minister.

      Sorry, he will have to wait it out for another 4 years, and then he can try out being President or Prime Minister.

      In the meantime Mahinda Rajapaksa is better off Fishing in the Indian Ocean, before the Indians catch the Fish. Now GSP Plus is available, and can be exported to Europe, courtesy Yahapalanaya.

    • 16
      7

      Bagehot

      “So Wimal was probably right when he said to rapturous applause “Mahinda is not a name, Mahinda is a country!”

      Dayan Jayatilleka wrote in

      The Rising: Nugegoda Feb 18th
      February 19, 2015
      Colombo Telegraph

      The self-confessed war monger Dayan Jayatilleka is was probably right when he typed, “Ranil Wickremesinghe is the Prime Minister but Mahinda Rajapaksa is the President of the Streets”.

      Indeed, he is the president of the streets where he naturally belongs to, not in the Presidential Palace nor in Temple Trees.

    • 14
      6

      Dayan,

      If you have no gainful employment, do you have to so publicly humiliate yourself?

      • 0
        1

        Dayan [Edited out]

    • 0
      3

      Cool story, bro :D
      Worthy of a space on the shelves alongside the We Thamizh Eezham fairy tales :D

  • 20
    4

    DJ makes me laugh….he wrote a similar article after the nugegoda rally,titled ‘the rising’and ironically the election that followed saw the fall of MR for the second time. The picture of DJ bending in half almost apologetically(like a man who is pleading with his Mob boss for his mercy) to greet MR with his poor wife alongside him speaks a lot more of DJ the “political ASS’. Anybody reading this article should know the writers obvious bias towards his beloved master and his desperation to bring him back to power so that he can get a posting in a western capital.

  • 16
    4

    Dayan u forget the crowds in MR rallies
    Prior to Jan 8the.

    • 6
      3

      dont worry friends. Dayan is hallozinated to the same degree as the stupid folks from Hambantota have been. No matter even their lovely ones would have been white vanned, they would give their wives to Raja et al. So indifferent as no times before. Raja is the ones who introduced this culture to these people. Ohoma yang. Jayawewa to motherland.

    • 8
      3

      Dayan forgets everything … within shorter period of time. We recommend him to go to a neurologist and have a med check up (MRS). This man seems to be one of the shameless figures in the lanken spot light.Once ran pants down, the days he will have to fac ethe same with his jockey down is not that far if he would continue this way. Poor guy. As Nimal Fernando made it clear, he must not betray educated communities this way.

    • 1
      0

      Dulan de Silva

      They were talking about 58 Lakhs, then!

  • 15
    4

    I thoght the guy had – let alone this time been away from the bunch. As usual he had joined but not that actively as had been for Nugegoda. This man DJ is smeared by all the extrements overflowing in the toilet pits of the Rajano. Not long ago, the very same man was attacked by Raja calling him as one of the most poweful NGO worker. Nor had he been given a chance to prove his diplomatic seniority since 2009. All in all the very same man to sit with the guys is more than questionable acutally. Shameless buggers though varied kind are sitting together – why this much of greediness in power- people rejected not once but twice. To this date- all untold stories of the big man is coming to surface.

    • 4
      13

      Facts are sacred, comment is free. One must get the facts straight.

      I was Ambassador to France and UNESCO in 2011-2013.

      That’s after 2009, wouldn’t you agree? :))

      • 11
        4

        Facts are not only sacred, but scared too. MR has to realize that peoples power rejected him twice as the commnetators make very clear.
        Now again to make every effort to gain power by any means is not what anyone with a brain would ever want to see. We the lankens respect dignity of life in general.

      • 8
        2

        It is high time you to omit your pre fix Mr.You have become the most joker among all the Drs in the country.

      • 12
        2

        Dayan

        “Facts are sacred, comment is free”

        It is actually “Comment is free, but facts are sacred”

        Seriously one must get the quotes right.

        CP Scott must be turning in his grave.

        This quote was made as part of a longer article.

        Here is the relevant paragraph where this quote sits beautifully, beware this article may prick your smart ass patriotic ego:

        I think I may honestly say that, from the day of its foundation, there has not been much doubt as to which way the balance tipped as far as regards the conduct of the paper whose fine tradition I inherited and which I have had the honour to serve through all my working life. Had it not been so, personally, I could not have served it. Character is a subtle affair, and has many shades and sides to it. It is not a thing to be much talked about, but rather to be felt. It is the slow deposit of past actions and ideals. It is for each man his most precious possession, and so it is for that latest growth of time, the newspaper. Fundamentally it implies honesty, cleanness, courage, fairness, a sense of duty to the reader and the community. A newspaper is of necessity something of a monopoly, and its first duty is to shun the temptations of monopoly. Its primary office is the gathering of news. At the peril of its soul it must see that the supply is not tainted. Neither in what it gives, nor in what it does not give, nor in the mode of presentation must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong.

        Comment is free, but facts are sacred.

        “Propaganda”, so called, by this means is hateful. The voice of opponents no less than that of friends has a right to be heard. Comment also is justly subject to a self-imposed restraint. It is well to be frank; it is even better to be fair. This is an ideal. Achievement in such matters is hardly given to man. We can but try, ask pardon for shortcomings, and there leave the matter.

        http://www.theguardian.com/
        commentisfree/2002/nov/29/1

        If you feel uncomfortable, please ignore it.

        • 10
          1

          Native,

          I love your style of retort. Keep up the good work. As for Dayan, he is drifting into the mangaland with Godzilla and Bambi. Oh yeah, he can start reading NARUTO. His brain is digressing. Feel sorry for the wife. She seems pleasant.

          One more thing, I think we bullied Dayan enough that he does not use the word patriot.

          Enjoy your writing.

      • 6
        2

        Dayan, what have you been doing since 2013 ?

        Why not you pass your knowledge collected over the years to the juniors ? Why you failed to avoid UK high commissioner being beaten to floor ? Was that not your responsiiblity as a senior man for your god father ? You criticised the most interllectual cum laughing figure of the nation – GLP – but if MR was that good, why he did not allow you to mediate there ?

        • 0
          0

          Leelawathie,

          dont you know since Baggage boy et al was compelled to be away from Raja, the job was given to Dayan- similar to a scavenger role of an aquarium. All extrements or whatever are being recycled by scavengers in general – so behaves Dayan of 2016. Dayan we knew was totally different – respectful, good educated, well natured man who could leave good pieces of advice to rising youth – but today, he has been tamed by Rajaakshe by some means. Alone the picture of the articles proves this more than anyones explanations.

          And actually, the kind of men should rather work at univerisites.

          1) Going to do politics – GLP has lost to all low level, lanken universities could better use of his knowledge than the politicians
          2) Very same is the case with Dayan – he could teach better and help the lanken youth at UNI. Bu this stubborness went above anythign and everyhting

          3) Kalu Sudda -Rajiva Weerasinghe could also do lot more if his was focused to lanken Universities. His sound pundit, being unable to be a team player- he is cornered to this day. All in all, lanken folks should learn it let alone today that uni professors cant do lot to lanken political arena. That will be a waste from every facets.

      • 1
        1

        “Nor had he been given a chance to prove his diplomatic seniority since 2009.”

        Is Dayan’s replay for the line quoted above?

        Then Daayan should read the line again and should reply to commentator appropriately, or should excuse to the person for falsely trying to divert the question. Removal from UNHRC has been described by Dayan, here on CT, as his enemy’s revenge. He was removed from UNHRC and was placed in medium important country France. There, during his time, French embassy was accused of involved in criminal activities. It was believed Dayan got out of there to save his name. One has to have his/her doubt in their mind if that was a chance given to prove the “diplomatic seniority” unless Dayan wants to write everything openly, like why he left Paris, Why he left Geneva….. Otherwise unproven suspicions will be hanging around.

      • 5
        1

        “I was Ambassador to France and UNESCO in 2011-2013.”

        and then got kicked out shamelessly making you jobless for ever.

        After Nugegoda you said it was the biggest and you know what happened, now you say Hyde Park was bigger than Nugegoda. Yes, Rajapakshe will be on the streets not only for the next 5 years but for ever and you will be jobless till then. Glad that Ranil consider you as a good for nothing vagabond.

      • 3
        0

        Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

        “Facts are sacred, comment is free. One must get the facts straight” or

        Comment is Free, Facts are sacred. One must get the comments straight. Yes, comments, straight. Can MaRa and his cronies get it straight?

        MaRa MaRa ChaTu MaRa
        MaRa MaRa AmaNa Mara
        MaRa MaRa PacHa Mara
        MaRa MaRa DhushaNa MaRa.

      • 1
        0

        “I was Ambassador to France and UNESCO in 2011-2013. “

        Before that you lied in Geneva and you are proved wrong. That is a fact.

        Then you worked for an NGO funded by…???
        Are you still working for an NGOs funded by Rajapakse family who robbed the people.

  • 15
    3

    Birds of a feather flock together. Theft of the national wealth and accountability is conveniently ignored. Do people have a conscience?

  • 9
    3

    It will be interesting to know the truth , the truth I’m after were all those people who were at the Hyde Park were true supporters of the Thief or they were there just for the Beer,

    Would all those were present put their hands up to say yes or just happen to be there at the freak show.

    That will be food for thought, surprisingly the bugger lost the election twice and the majority of the comments in the media are blaggarding the bugger,
    So so what’s going on?? Are they all cheating this man in his eyes??

    Or there’s reverse psychology playing in Srilan. Kens mind as it becomes fashionable among KALUSUDHAS who have forgotten how to spell SRILANKA / SRILANKANS.
    OHwhat a shame!!!

  • 8
    3

    Professor ,please enlighten me as I suffer with this dilemma , when did SRILANKA and the SRILANKANS become SRILENKENS?? There are folks they think the second version is right, Is there a new dictionary with this new spelling I am not aware of???
    Sorry CT I am off the line a little , I know it’s our Freedom of Speech we earned but , but scratch my head !!
    LANKENS ?? Oh what the Fuck in CT fashion!!! Who cares?? Some illiterates???

  • 14
    5

    Dr zero
    Dr no
    Dream on. Rajpakses and clan finished for good.

  • 11
    9

    Yes the president will have to take the decision to change the PM and government soon.

    • 1
      0

      And from what we hear.. this is very much on Siras mind now.. we will see major changes in the political landscape within this year.. Ranil and his dismal performance gives the President no choice..

  • 7
    19

    Always enjoyed your writing Dr. Dayan. However, at the moment i’m writing this comment there were no other comments for this post. But i’m guessing that when this comment gets published after the CT review, i’m sure there’d be dozens of mud slinging comments directed at you. Rajapakse cronies, bootlicker are some of the more favorite words used by the CT populace. They will not look at the facts, but will hold on to their arrogant party loyalties and let this country go to waste. Its sad that the government is so weak, no matter who’s ruling, a weak government is the down fall of a country. I hope the joint opposition would step up and stop this idiotic mismanagement by the Ranil/ my3 gang. As a country we are in serious peril.

    • 3
      4

      It seems to be you who does not look at the facts. For how can any person who claims to love the country so much seem so HELL BENT on capturing POWER as opposed to simply supporting whatever government is in power to do what is best for the country, and criticizing based on FACTS and not pure racism? That is, unless they have nothing to hide? These well planned PR stunts (and for-hire rally crowd) are not going to make any difference – they certainly made no difference in the last two elections.

      • 0
        1

        for-hire rally crowd? you mean like the UNP crowd? wasn’t there 70 year old “tharunaya’s at that rally? If you want an example of a person who’s hell bent on capturing power, look no further than our beloved PM. The bugger lost 20 elections and still didn’t give up the party leadership to sajith. Just think about the two politicians MR and Ranil. Have you ever got the feeling that Ranil loves this country? I mean has he ever made you feel that way? Have you ever heard him say that atleast? You say MR doesn’t allow the current government to do whats best for the country. We have been watching and waiting for this government to do whats best and we’ve been let down in a serious way. There are no other options to look towards to, and you wonder why mahinda is coming back to power. If you want facts, i’ll give you facts. over one year into yahapalanaya the economy is in crisis, they planning to sell the jobs to india, no electricity, no development projects even though the government has taken $ 6000mil of debt, promises of jailing the crooks but showing only drama and theatrics(avant guard, lasantha, thajudeen etc), hirunika walking off scot-free after abducting a man in broad daylight, champika walking off after a hit-and-run, ravi karunanayake asking the paddy farmers to find a different job, lost promises of the 100 day plan… need i go on? all this in just one year. Take a look around mate, everybody is fed up. Every person is on the streets protesting. Find me a 3rd option i’ll gladly join, but out of the Ranil/MR duo, the better choice is MR and everybody is rallying behind him because of this idiotic government.

        And for the vadda barking below – when they can’t make a proper argument, idiots resort to shouting, name calling and pointless raucous behavior.

        • 0
          0

          Unlike you, I watch the news these days. There are plenty of development projects happening WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED – before there are highways and byways, what you need is infrastructure for villages, including clean water, housing, and bridges. Sajith Premadasa is silently expanding his father’s “home building” empire, which will put him in good stead to replace the crazy RW in a couple of years. Knowing both MR and RW personally for over 30 years, I do not think either loves the country less or more than the other. RW knows far more about the country’s policy history, for example, than MR, who is and has always been more about the money. The difference is, MR understands the benefit of PR and crowdism – RW either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care. That is their innate nature and cannot be changed. The reason this government cannot seem to execute is because they don’t hold the people carrying out the work at gunpoint or ransom. Perhaps they should start doing that. Seems to be the only way to get anything done in this country.

          Don’t be fooled by the crowds though. The crowds were bigger at the last two elections for MR. And we all saw what happened there, despite that damn fool Dayan’s excitement after the Nugegoda rally. DIdn’t he say he would shut up and go away if the last election was lost?

    • 7
      2

      Wow Wow Wow Wow

      Who let the dogs out

      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}
      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}
      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}
      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}

      [Chorus:]
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}

      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}

      [Verse:]
      When the party was nice, the party was bumpin’ {Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo}
      And everybody havin’ a ball {Hah, ho, Yippie Yi Yo}
      Untill the fellas “: start the name callin’: ” {Yippie Yi Yo}
      And the girls respond to the call
      I heard a poor man shout out

      [Chorus:]
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}

      [Rap 1:]
      I see ya’ little speed boat head up our coast
      She really want to skip town
      Get back cruffy, back scruffy,
      Get back u flea infested mungrel

      [Instrumental Chorus:]
      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}
      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}
      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}
      {Woof, woof, woof, woof}

      [Verse:]
      I’m gonna tell {Hey, Yippie, Yi, Yo}
      To any girls calling them canine {Yippie, Yi, Yo}
      Tell the dummy “Hey Man, It’s part of the Party! ” {Yippie Yi, Yo}
      You put a woman in front and her man behind {Yippie, Yi, Yo}
      Her bone runs out now

      [Chorus:]
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}

      [Chant:]
      Say, A doggy is nuttin’ if he don’t have a bone
      All doggy hold ya’ bone, all doggy hold it
      A doggy is nuttin’ if he don’t have a bone
      All doggy hold ya’ bone, all doggy hold it

      [Rap 2:]
      Wait for y’all my dogs, the party is on
      I gotta get my girl I got my mind on
      Do you see the rays comin’ from my eye
      What could you be friend
      That Benji man that’s breakin’ them down?
      Me and my white short shorts
      And I can’t seek a lot, any canine will do
      I’m figurin’ that’s why they call me faithful
      ‘Cause I’m the man of the land
      When they see me they do: ah-ooooo (howl)

      [Chorus x5:]
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}
      Who let the dogs out {woof, woof, woof, woof}

      BAHA MEN LYRICS
      http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/
      bahamen/wholetthedogsout.html

      • 2
        0

        Native
        Kindegarden poems?

        • 2
          0

          Rajash

          “Kindegarden poems?”

          Medmulana garden(gaten) poems. They sing in the Medmulana Garten, while they believe that it is the the Garden of Eden, der Garten Eden.

  • 11
    3

    DJ has been counting minutes and seconds to see a crowd in the streets and as if not able to distinguish mercenaries assembled through several hundred buses from true supporters talks exultingly of a resurrected Rajapakse.

    “Bridge connecting Northern Sri Lanka”, the writer has the gumption to say. Does he suggest that the country is cut into two and another bridge is needed for South Sri Lanka. The sordid points point to this writing having been scripted prior to the meeting.

    Certainly the weakness of the present regime to put the swindler Rajapakses behind bars accounts for the legions even though fake. If the regime doesn’t take note, it is on the way out earlier than later. The prophet is correct in saying “Not for much longer anyway”.

  • 6
    3

    Dayan! This is the best two sentences of your article:
    “Ironically, the UNP and its patrons were boasting of an Arab Spring in South Asia. Now, it may be about to get one right in the face.”

    • 4
      1

      Ruvan, you are probably unaware of DJ’s pathetic history of failed predictions, so don’t hold your breath if you are hoping for this one coming to pass!

  • 14
    6

    Dayan:

    “Ranil Wickremesinghe is the Prime Minister but Mahinda Rajapaksa is the President of the Streets.”

    Well said Dayan, you are indeed a genius. You have cleared my doubts. Mahinda deservedly belongs to the streets to heap the rubbish or may even find a way to bribe to hijack part of the rubbish. The easiest person you can fool is yourself. You do look like a thug too, just like your master.

  • 4
    2

    after hyde park

    this shows the way people look for leadership

    they may decide to favor strong bad instead of weak good

    they are more intelligent than we assume; especially they’re more intelligent than many gossip writers and comment makers

    GG government have the responsibility and challenge to substitute somebody for our PM for survival

  • 6
    0

    Certainly, the weather is getting hotter so does the politics in Sri Lanka.

  • 6
    3

    Oh Man! Any sign of table droppings and DJ will show-up. Way to go.

    LOL

  • 19
    4

    Look at this Fascist Dayan Jayatilleka threatening to hold the Nation hostage. Just take your Fascist criminals out of the SLFP so that the Nation can disown you lot once and for all. UNP and SLFP can work on cultivating and building good honest politicians to take the Nation to new heights that Sri Lanka deserves.

  • 19
    6

    Dayan Jayatilleka is trying his best to prevent the erosion of Mahinda loyalists who are opening their eyes to the real nature of the Rajapakshas and walking away from them. People have had enough of their greed.

  • 6
    3

    Amazing that foreign diplomats thought that Dayan was a liberal once? This is the trouble with Sri Lanka’s chauvinists – out there in the UN they all sound like very reasonable people, its when they get home in front of the baying mobs that their nationalist colours come out.

    Sadly the same is true of other officials within the current government too!

  • 5
    5

    Dayan…….Shame……Shame….Shame

  • 0
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    The delusional [Edited out]

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    Dr. Dayan does not have a stand in expressing political views. He keep changes his political stand for his vested interests…..shame to state him as a political scientist. He must understand one point clearly, no one will accept and belie his views…..He is a good actor…….not an academician.

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    Why DJ never talks or writes about Sarath Fonseka and his revelations about MaRa regime ?

    It looks like in the eyes of DJ , SF is not a patriot there fore no need to counter him.

    For me DJ is not worried about the future of SL but only wants grind axe with Ranil to bring back MaRa regime.
    What a mediocre and biased political scientist DJ is ?

    DJ never raises the issue of why MaRa changed the constitution so that the Presidents term can be more than 10 years and called the presidential elections 2 years prematurely.

    DJ conveniently forgets the famous saying “… you can not fool all the people all the time “.

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    I am not a supporter of Dayan Jayathilake. But the following paragraph of DJ says everything about the current “Yamapalanya” government.
    “Ranil Wickremesinghe is the Prime Minister but Mahinda Rajapaksa is the President of the Streets. The UNP leads the government but the Joint Opposition holds ‘peoples power’. The UNP proposes from above; the Joint Opposition disposes from below. It is a classic situation of ‘dual power’.”
    “Yamapalanya” boot lickers and NGO Karayas are very sad about the “Janasatana” meeting outcome that was held on 17 March 2016.

    There is one thing that I like to note that “Yamapalanaya” bootlickers and NGO Karayas claimed (before the elections) that the RW is an economic expert and good public administrator that he can turn around the Sri Lanka economy after the two elections held in 2015 and 2016. But the actual performance of the RW shows that those claims made before the elections can not be achieved. The simple reasons are that they do not have capital. They are unable to generate long term capital for the development and the UNF team is not competent enough to understand and deliver the people’s expectations. The UNF Government has ruined Sri Lanka’s economy and development within one year period.

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    If the UNF were to mobilize tens of thousands of people for a rally next week (which they are quite capable of doing), would Dayan concede that people’s power would have shifted away from MR towards the current regime once again? I would think not, for Dayan (like most of us) is well-aware of the ways in which people are cajoled to participate in political rallies in Sri Lanka by ALL of the major political formations.

    I don’t blame Dayan for trying to convince himself that the numbers on the street “in support of” His Majesty is a genuine display of outrage. I just wish he would not mock my intelligence by trying to convince me that this is so.

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    Once again the Hyde Park rally has made these sycophants buoyant that MR will oust the Yahapalanaya just like that. If only they understand that the Yahapalanaya will continue it’s full term of five years and by the end, so many things will happen, wonder whether MR will be in Politics by that time. This man was so euphoric after the Nugegoda meeting that he thought that MR supporters will sweep the board. But what happened? Similarly this crowd of around a couple of hundred thousand will not bring MR to power. None of the 6.2 mil who voted against MR will ever vote for him gain. On the contrary of the 5.7 mil who voted for MR will this time around refrain from voting him after realizing how many innocent he has killed and the pilfering of Public funds he and his family has committed. Just because a couple of hundred thousand congregated it does not mean that all have joined MR. How naive these buggers who claim to be Political Analysts are?

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    Even as DJ wrote he knew very well with what great intellectual dishonesty he crafted every sentence of it. Had he read the comments he would understand how well the readers have read between the lines.

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      [Edited out]

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    The thoughts of Malinda Seneviratne in 2000:

    The following excerpts, appeared in a rebuttal to Dayan Jayatilleka with the caption, ‘Some mild thoughts on Dayan Jayatilleka’ [Island, Colombo, Oct.9, 2000].

    “Take away all the spurious linguistic theatrics in Dayan’s article and a couple of issues emerge. First. He does talk about the alleged Sinhala Buddhist hegemonism and what he chooses to call ‘the new global reality’…

    Dayan complains that my ‘howl’ against globalization is insincere because I have failed to ‘acknowledge the positive Sri Lankan experience of 1989/90 – 1993’. Being a sycophant of Ranasinghe Premadasa, I suppose Dayan is obliged to say nice things about the man. Premadasa was the architect of the most violent period of our post-independence history. True the JVP is not as innocent as their spokesmen claim. I don’t know from which piece of Marxist literature Dayan found solace (if he was a sincere Marxist) during those times of defending Premadasa, but 60,000 people being tortured and killed during a person’s tenure as head of state is a far cry from a ‘positive experience’…

    About Dayan’s history, let me say it all in one line: it includes a particularly funny way of handing over nomination papers, a funny way of popping in and out of the country, offering an abject public apology to J.R. Jayewardene, not to mention defending the party lines of the various groups in power (nationally and regionally). It would suffice to say ‘Danno Danithi’ at this point.

    Dayan must be familiar with the phrase ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’. By the same token, rubbish, even if covered by a layer of Marx and Gramsci would still stink. Premadasa remains a tyrant.”

    ____

    The Lanka Guardian magazine of Feb.1, 1982, featured a three page commentary by a 25 year-old Dayan Jayatilleka, who then portrayed himself as a Sinhalese contra carrying a flag of a pro-Tamil agitator. It was entitled, “Jaffna: Individual terrorism or guerilla war?” Many, including Dayan Jayatilleka himself, may find it difficult to gulp what the current lead barker for annihilation of LTTE, wrote in his salad days in 1982. The vehicle Dayan Jayatilleka boarded in early 1980s was EPRLF and its hodge-podge mix of Marxist rhetoric and Tamil nationalism. While I have read Dayan’s homages to the EPRLF and its leader K.Padmanabha in the Lanka Guardian magazine and other mouthpieces of Sinhalese majoritarianism, I have not seen any mention or rebuke from Dayan on the issue of that demented 1984 kidnapping of newly-wed Ohio couple (Stanley and Mary Allen) in Jaffna and ransom demand made by his EPRLF pals, among whom Douglas Devananda was one, who now parades as a virtuous democrat in President Mahinda Rajapakse Cabinet.

    While re-reading in 2016, what Dayan Jayatilleka had written in 1982, check again the phrases such as, ‘tactical offensives’, ‘vanguard violence and state repression’, ‘manifest failure of the TULF’s parliamentary strategy’, ‘sufficient minimum fire-power as well as considerable financial strength’, all of which have come to characterize the LTTE imprints, and not the EPRLF that danced to Indian puppeteers’ strings.

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    Dayan

    Bus load of people were transported for the “Hyde Park march” for one reason

    “jail me if you can”

    this is nothing to do with govt policies or painful IMF cutbacks.

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      biggest joke. in the past they failed to pay off the bills for the transport board- but today too to bring the people for their rallies – what is he doing actually ? No matter the people would feel being abused, he continues his way…. we the folks are to be blamed

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    No matter whom you support the government is weak. They are weak in strategic thinking and implementation skills. Lipton circus rally was a good example. Once they start to dispense IMF medicines things will get even worse. Against this background people power will ultimately come to the surface.

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