When inquiries into the Presidential Security Division began, SLFP loyalists called them a plot to weaken the President's security. The editorial notes that investigations now link the PSD to the attacks on the Leader editor, the Rohana Kumara murder and other outrages, with officers saying they acted on the President's
Answering critics who say Ravaya has gone soft on the UNF government, the paper recalls its record of opposing both UNP and PA governments. It backs curbing the President's powers even at the cost of a distorting amendment, prosecution of those responsible for PSD crimes, including the President, and the
Ivan calls the Kumaratunga era the most shameless assault on the Supreme Court's independence, with a Chief Justice appointed while himself facing charges, political cases routed to benches he sat on, and dissenting judges pushed out. The UNP's impeachment motion lapsed with the dissolution of Parliament, yet the new UNF
Ivan reports on the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference in Manila on terrorism and the media, where Zimbabwean editor Geoffrey Nyarota received the Guillermo Cano prize. He summarises sessions on Abu Sayyaf kidnappings of journalists and on media 'oxygen' for terrorism, recounts his own speech as a former insurgent
Police inquiries are confirming what Ravaya long reported: that the Presidential Security Division was behind the attacks on the Leader editor and his home, the Rohana Kumara murder, the harassment of singers Rookantha and Chandraleka, the burning of actress Anoja Weerasinghe's house and body parts sent to Ravi Karunanayake. The
Fuel, telephone and electricity prices have risen, with food, bus fares and postal charges following. The editorial says the new UNF government, like its predecessors, blames the previous regime rather than acting, and that while business relief in the first budget is justified, business has been the main driver of
With the UNF in government but President Kumaratunga holding decisive constitutional powers, including dissolving Parliament after a year, Ivan traces the cohabitation crisis to a 1978 constitution designed for one-party control, a flaw N.M. Perera foresaw. The government's planned amendment to curb her powers needs PA votes for a two-thirds
Ivan rejects the JVP-led reading that Prabhakaran's press conference shows he still wants Eelam, arguing he had to address the international community, the government and his own followers at once. Facing hostile journalists was itself an achievement, and his regretful tone about past violence contrasted with the JVP's justifications. Drawing
Former finance minister Ronnie de Mel asked during the budget debate that all state funds, including the President's Fund, be brought into the Consolidated Fund under Parliament's control. The editorial calls holding funds outside it illegal and contrary to parliamentary democracy, and criticises the Auditor General's weak scrutiny of institutions
Ivan compares the LTTE's entry into mainstream politics with the JVP's. The JVP returned quietly, under another name, after military defeat; the Tigers are coming openly as an undefeated force. He expects their rule in any interim North-East administration to be authoritarian and barracks-like, argues that peace itself is the
Ivan details favours the President granted to her Presidential Security Division. Its director Nihal Karunaratne was promoted to Superintendent of Police without the required EBE examination through two Cabinet papers, and seven chosen PSD men were given luxury flats in a state-owned Bambalapitiya tower rent free, costing the state Rs
The government is appointing a 19-member select committee to review the Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court's jurisdiction. Ivan argues the Supreme Court has lost public respect by acting as a political tool of the executive, and that removing Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva is necessary but not enough.
Mangala Samaraweera and others briefed the Indian High Commissioner on an alleged plot to arrest opposition figures linked to a conspiracy to kill the President. Ivan points out that allegations against the Presidential Security Division, including the attack on Lasantha Wickrematunge, long predate the government's fall, and says those who
The proposed constitutional amendment would limit the President's immunity, which Ivan welcomes. He argues that a head of state who commits crimes, fraud or wilful breaches of the constitution should be liable to prosecution and lose office on conviction without impeachment, noting that the President ignored the 17th Amendment and
The Elections Commissioner's administration report for 2001 recommends making the national identity card compulsory at the polls to stop impersonation, and calls for a commission to probe the violence and misuse of public property at the last parliamentary election. The editorial notes that a select committee held back because about
Police are to reopen the Peradeniya botanical gardens murder investigation after revelations that the alleged mastermind, Rohana Kumara, was close to Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and posed as his secretary. Ivan sets out the alleged plot with hotelier Lakshmi Kusumalatha against Ranjith Bandara Wijekoon, payments and bank deposits, links
The editorial welcomes a plan to make the Audit Department an independent commission under the Constitutional Council but says it needs real backing. Limited staff should be focused on powerful institutions such as the presidential and prime minister's offices, Parliament, the Supreme Court, the army and police, rather than relying
Ivan argues that Chandrika Kumaratunga ruled as a hereditary queen rather than an elected leader, flouted the 17th Amendment in the 2001 election she led, and should have resigned or sought a fresh mandate, or stepped back as D.B. Wijetunga did. Now she is cornered, and he predicts the crisis
Rebutting Tilvin Silva's claim of success, Ivan uses vote figures since 1994 to show the JVP lost 47 per cent of its 2001 vote in the local elections, worst in Colombo, Puttalam and Kalutara, which he blames on its nationalism and its alliance with the President. He traces how Chandrika
Ivan argues that presidential immunity assumes a leader will not commit crimes, and that one who does must face the law. He questions how Chandrika Kumaratunga funds her lifestyle, calls the Air Lanka sale to Emirates, brokered by her friend Chandana Silva, corrupt, and links her security forces to the
