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අලුත් ආණ්ඩුවටත් නැතුවම බැරී හැරි
Victor Ivan
Ravaya
Businessman Harry Jayawardena was the People's Alliance's chief financier, and the President shielded him while customs and Central Bank inquiries into alleged duty and exchange frauds stayed open; some link the customs inquiry to the killing of officer Sujith Perera, after which other officers fled abroad. Ivan asks what signal
With five-hour daily power cuts crippling the economy, and the energy minister promising a solution within 180 days, Ivan notes that households use 30 per cent of electricity. He proposes making energy-saving bulbs compulsory, paid for in instalments through electricity bills, which he estimates could save 22 per cent of
Ivan notes that the Elections Commissioner must collect asset declarations from candidates and party office-bearers, and asks whether they were received after the local elections. Requests for copies of the President's and ministers' declarations under the previous government were ignored. He points out that the 1994 Bribery Commission Act refers
Ivan says that malpractice in some areas has tarnished the government's deserved local election victory and exposed a hunger for rigging among some of its members. He recalls how Chandrika Kumaratunga's failure to punish those behind the 1997 malpractices and the North Western Provincial Council poll began her decline, and
Written on the eve of the local government elections, Ivan sets out what each side must prove against the 2001 results, and says a sharp JVP decline could mark the beginning of its end. He praises the government's comparatively clean campaign, proposes reforming the executive presidency by removing the arbitrary
A long reply by presidential media director Janadasa Peiris to a report that Rs 800 million had been spent on the site of a planned presidential palace has revived the controversy. The editorial notes what he leaves out about the Temple Trees renovation, including a swimming pool and mini-cinema, and
The UNF's large local government victory is read as a mandate for its peace programme and a rejection of the President and the JVP-led anti-peace forces. But the piece records black marks: opposition agents driven from polling stations and Samurdhi recipients' ballots used by others in some areas. It argues
Ivan says it is absurd to seek public help through newspaper advertisements to find state vehicles misused in the election, when the officials who released them should be held responsible. He is equally scornful of the dispute over the helicopter bill for 'Prince Sapumal', a former defence minister flown to
Reports say the President will attend the budget debate and that there is a question over where she will sit. Ivan notes that under Article 33 of the 1978 Constitution a President may enter Parliament only to present policy, make a special statement or preside at a ceremonial sitting, and
Ivan explains that the 17th Amendment gives the Constitutional Council power over the independent commissions and top appointments, yet the President has still not named her nominee despite Article 41(5). He argues that she is protecting her hold over the Chief Justice, Attorney General, IGP and Bribery Commission, since a
Under the People's Alliance 'Choka Malli', chairman of the Nivitigala Pradeshiya Sabha and now an MP, ruled Ratnapura as 'Chandi Malli' ruled Hambantota. With power changed, two of his followers have disappeared and their dismembered bodies been found. The editorial warns that revenge by past victims must not be allowed,
About 30,000 graduates are said to be unemployed, and police reportedly attacked a group protesting at Temple Trees, while the government blames the JVP. Ivan points to a mismatch between university education and the job market, calls for rapid vocational training, notes the World Bank condition limiting the public wage
In a letter to the Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission, Ivan, as complainant, objects that a one-man inquiry by retired High Court judge K.A.S. Gunatilake into magistrate Lenin Ratnayake is illegal under Article 114(2). He recounts the rape allegations, the Commission's months of silence, the three-judge committee that upheld
Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge has said the management agreement for SriLankan Airlines should be reviewed. The editorial notes that since management passed to Emirates there are no direct flights to Germany or Italy, key tourist markets, and that Sri Lanka cannot change this despite majority ownership. Handing the airline to
Ivan argues that the JVP is gambling its political survival by opposing Ranil Wickremesinghe's peace effort as it once opposed the Indo-Lanka Accord. He recalls that the party called provincial councils a division of the country, killed people over them and then became their keen participants without apology, and now
The editorial argues that the President's opposition to the government's negotiations with the LTTE defies the majority who elected the UNF on a promise of peace talks. It holds that the 2001 result also cancelled her 1999 mandate, so she should either resign or let the new government govern, and
As the President and the JVP line up against the government's ceasefire memorandum of understanding with the LTTE, Ivan says Ranil Wickremesinghe misjudged her willingness to cooperate and failed to adapt the 1978 Constitution for cohabitation, as France did in 1986. He proposes constitutional reform giving domestic power to the
Ivan agrees with Anura Bandaranaike that the SLFP is a Bandaranaike family fiefdom in which Mahinda Rajapaksa is only a capable retainer, but warns that the country is not a fiefdom too. Further sections mock the 'jobless' President's prison visit to her guards at Bogambara and her complaint that cabinet
Ivan notes that Chandrika Kumaratunga presents herself abroad as a supporter of Ranil Wickremesinghe's peace effort while telling supporters at Horagolla that the UNP owes its victory to the LTTE and she will resist any sell-out. He faults the Prime Minister for not reforming his uncle J.R. Jayewardene's constitution as
The editorial welcomes the arrest of former deputy defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatte on criminal charges as a necessary step, since the powerful commit crimes because they are never punished. It argues that the President's security division has been used against opponents, that she shares the blame, and that presidential immunity
