වත්ත බද්දට දි ඇස්සට දත නියවීම
The editorial argues that the government’s peace process is proceeding without any public debate on reforming the nature of the state, so that it appears to be merely a settlement of the Tamil problem. It lists wider failures, from a corrupt political system and judiciary to a preferential voting system that pushes MPs towards illicit income, warns that silence cedes public opinion to nationalist forces, and likens the government’s self-serving approach to J.R. Jayewardene’s.
ස්වාධීන කොමිසන් ක්රමය ගැන නැවත සලකා බැලිය යුතු ය
With the Police Commission collapsing after a member resigned in protest at another’s conduct, the editorial argues that independent commissions succeed only if their members have the courage to resist political pressure, a quality the Constitutional Council ignored in favour of education and experience. It notes that the Elections Commission remains unappointed because of the President’s objection to one nominee, that the Bribery and Judicial Service Commissions have not been reconstituted, and that the UNP has forgotten its promise to fix the 17th Amendment.
අපරාධකරුවන් රජ කරන රටක්
The editorial blames the collapse of law-enforcement institutions for the rise of violent crime, noting that suspects flee abroad on bail, that people linked to the killing of Satana editor Rohana Kumara and to Kumar Ponnambalam’s murder have fled or been mysteriously shot, and that Dhammika Amarasinghe, suspected of some 50 killings, enjoys freedom and a mobile phone in remand. It argues that human rights laws were introduced without modern investigative methods, leaving police lax, and calls on the Interior Minister to act.
පොලී අනුපාතිකය හා විශ්රාමිකයා
After the Central Bank cut its repurchase and reverse repurchase rates for the second time in the year, to 7.5 and 9.5 per cent, deposit rates have fallen sharply. The editorial accepts that lower rates may help the economy but argues that the government should give retirees living on savings a higher special rate, and should also narrow the gap between the roughly 5 per cent paid on savings and the more than 10 per cent charged on loans.
තක්කඩියන් රැකීම
The editorial calls the Public Trustee, a former judicial officer close to the Chief Justice, a ‘respectable crook’ who placed Rs. 131.2 million of trust funds, including Rs. 18.1 million belonging to the Temple of the Tooth, in a bank and pocketed a commission of about Rs. 1.9 million. It notes that he admitted the commission once confronted with documents, that a Bribery Commission report recommending prosecution was suppressed, and that the ministry secretary has taken no disciplinary action.
පළාත් මැතිවරණවලට පෙර ස්වාධීන මැතිවරණ කොමිසම ඇති කළ යුතුයි
The editorial observes that the People’s Alliance is preparing to test its strength in provincial council elections without the independent Elections Commission required by the 17th Amendment. The President unconstitutionally withholds approval of the Constitutional Council’s nominees, while the government, the JVP and the Supreme Court have all failed to act. It warns that future elections will become a frenzied plunder between two power blocs unless the commission is established and electoral law reformed first.
හැමදේටම විරුද්ධ වීමේ විපක්ෂ නිල පිළිවෙත
The editorial criticises the People’s Alliance for rejecting parliamentary oversight committees that would give the opposition scrutiny of ministries, dismissing the claim that they would weaken the presidency. It calls for removing presidential immunity, the power to dissolve Parliament at will after a year and the right to hold unlimited cabinet posts, and regrets that the PA, JVP and UNP have all abandoned the debate on reforming the executive presidency.
83 කළු ජූලියෙන් උගත යුතු පාඩම
Twenty years after Black July, the editorial calls it the most tragic event since independence, noting the involvement of sections of the ruling party, the President’s failure to express regret and the constitutional amendment that drove Tamil MPs from Parliament. Citing Lee Kuan Yew’s use of Sri Lanka as a model of failure, it blames ethnically divided parties and proposes that a peace process begin with the national leader apologising to Tamils on behalf of the Sinhalese.
රටට අමතක වී ඇති විධායක ජනාධිපති ක්රමය
The editorial notes that the once-powerful campaign to abolish or reform the executive presidency, begun by N.M. Perera and carried forward by Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake, Chandrika Kumaratunga and the JVP, has fallen silent. With the President’s second term ending in 2005 and the Prime Minister hoping to succeed her, it argues that at minimum presidential immunity should be confined to official acts and removal for deliberate constitutional violations made easier.
ආරක්ෂෂාව සඳහා පිස්තෝල ඉල්ලීම
PA members of the Southern Provincial Council are reported to be seeking pistols from the President. The editorial notes that Sri Lanka alone arms its legislators, a practice begun during the 1989–90 JVP insurrection and never stopped, and argues that it cheapens representative democracy and fuels violence and crime by MPs’ guards; protection should come from the police, and the promised disarming of MPs has not happened.