{"id":125845,"date":"2014-06-13T00:41:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T19:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=125845"},"modified":"2014-06-18T15:29:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-18T09:59:53","slug":"a-constitution-cries-out-for-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-constitution-cries-out-for-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"A Constitution Cries Out For Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

Meanwhile in a parallel universe\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always thought he was bright.\u00a0 He was and is his uncle\u2019s nephew.\u00a0 I saw him first as a cub and I saw the fox he would eventually grow up to become.\u00a0 There are situations that are bigger than the man and he was a victim of bigger things.\u00a0 That\u2019s all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He is vilified at every turn but then again those who vilify him are not exactly saints. They have their ambitions and for all claims about grave concern for the party for each and every one of them the party is but a vehicle for personal advancement.\u00a0 Not that he is not ambitious (who is not, after all?), but this holier-than-thou postulations really give me more cramps than those who authored me and amended me have burdened me with.<\/p>\n

Yes, vehicles.\u00a0 He spoke of the 1977 model during the ceremony to felicitate Ranjith Maddumabandara upon completing 25 years in politics. He spoke of vehicles.\u00a0 Sorry, he spoke of a vehicle.\u00a0\u00a0 He said that it is in pretty bad shape. Spot on.\u00a0 He pointed out that parts have had to be replaced.\u00a0 The vehicle continues to stagger along, falling into potholes, getting stuck in the mud and so on.\u00a0 He is right. A new vehicle is required.\u00a0 Ok, if you didn\u2019t get it, he was talking about the 1977 Constitution,<\/p>\n

\"Ranil<\/a>True, it was his uncle that gave it to us.\u00a0 True, his uncle came up with it so that the UNP could remain in power forever. True, his uncle envisaged that one day his nephew would benefit from it.\u00a0 True, things didn\u2019t pan out the way everyone thought they would.\u00a0 True, instead of benefiting from it, he is suffering from it.\u00a0 Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/span><\/a> has ample reason to see flaw in the 1977 vehicle.\u00a0 Naturally, the beneficiaries of that document who for decades called it draconian and used all kinds of unkind words to describe its author are of the view that the vehicle is anything but imperfect. It works fine.\u00a0 For them.<\/p>\n

All this is true.\u00a0 What is also true is that he, Ranil Wickremesinghe that is, is absolutely correct if he was speaking for the people.\u00a0 That car might be called any number of names but \u2018Democratic\u2019 is not one of them.\u00a0 Whether or not a new vehicle benefits my main man, the people of this country need a new one.\u00a0 Non-negotiable.<\/p>\n

I applaud him, this now-not-so-young fox.\u00a0 He deserves much praise.\u00a0 He speaks the truth.\u00a0 Even if he turns out to be the main beneficiary of a new vehicle (for example, getting to be in the driver\u2019s seat), he has to say it simply because it is the truth. We need a new vehicle. We need a new constitution!<\/p>\n

What I am sad about is the fact that while he went on and on and on about a new vehicle for the country, he didn\u2019t utter a single word about the fact that the party vehicle (that\u2019s me, by the way), is on the verge of being sold for scrap. I am in such a poor condition but he hasn\u2019t had the eyes to notice the fact.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had parts replaced.\u00a0 There\u2019s been a lot of tinkering done over the years.\u00a0 \u2018Beyond Repair\u2019 is a town I will be visiting pretty soon.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t see me. Has hasn\u2019t seen me. He will never have eyes for me.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost like a man who has eyes only for some other woman.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to live forever. I know I\u2019ve outlived my usefulness.\u00a0 I want to die.\u00a0 He is not letting me die an honorable death.\u00a0 I want to be replaced too!\u00a0 So kill me, Ranil!\u00a0 Now!<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nA Constitution Cries Out For Reform - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-constitution-cries-out-for-reform\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Constitution Cries Out For Reform - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-constitution-cries-out-for-reform\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-12T19:11:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-18T09:59:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-constitution-cries-out-for-reform\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-constitution-cries-out-for-reform\/\",\"name\":\"A Constitution Cries Out For Reform - 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