තවත් මැතිවරණයක් අවශ්ය ද?
The editorial argues that the 1978 Constitution breeds endless crises because it ignores the possibility of the presidency and Parliament being held by different parties. Two decades of experience show that the presidency must be amended or abolished, including the arbitrary powers of dissolution and over the cabinet. An election now would damage the peace process and the economy; instead the parties should agree on reform, and the President should accept that her rivals hold the mandate.
නරක සංඥාවක්
A young monk who led the Motherland Protection Movement was reportedly abducted, beaten and dumped in a village near Hungama. The editorial says only the government or those it protects could do this, and insists that however mistaken the movement’s views, it must be free to protest within a democratic framework and be answered by argument. Those responsible must face the law.
අල්ලස් කොමිසම ඉදිරියේ දහසක් මල් පිපීම
Government and opposition are now filing rival corruption complaints with the Bribery Commission, which the editorial sees as a chance to force it to look at the top of the power pyramid. It urges commissioners to publish their own asset declarations, to treat the editorial itself as a complaint and call for the declarations of everyone from the President down, to act on the Auditor General’s findings, and to start with the President’s Rs 2,400 million vehicle purchases against a Rs 63 million allocation.
වත්කම් බැරකම් නීතිය ප්රායෝගික නොකරන්නේ ඇයි?
As right-to-information legislation is due before Parliament, the editorial says existing rights must also work in practice. The public may obtain the asset declarations of anyone covered by the assets and liabilities law, but few know it and no system issues certified copies. Publishing all declarations on a website, it argues, would be a cheap way to curb illicit enrichment by politicians and officials.
ඇවිලෙන ගින්නට පිදුරු නො දමනු
The editorial says a peaceful settlement of the ethnic conflict is essential to the survival of all communities. As a deal with the Tamil rebels takes shape, eastern Muslims fear becoming a minority under Tamil dominance. It urges Tamil leaders to allay that fear, Muslim leaders to act with patience, and opposition parties not to inflame the situation for short-term gain.
මනා මූල්ය පාලනයක් සඳහා අවශ්ය කොන්දේසි
The editorial says no plan has yet emerged to rescue a country bankrupted by mismanagement and corruption. It proposes caps on the price and minimum service life of state vehicles, noting the President alone spent Rs 2,400 million in a year with 13 vehicles missing; full enforcement of the assets and liabilities law with cheap public access; an end to unofficial funds in state bodies; limits on officials’ multiple directorship fees; and revision of a 1980 rule letting senior officers keep state cars for Rs 150 a month.
මජරකමද? වැඩවසම් උද්ධච්ඡකමද?
The dispute over luxury bullet-proof vehicles bought under the People’s Alliance, some now missing, shows how selfishly the country has been run. The editorial lists the purchases for the President’s security from 1999 to 2000, costing Rs 1,110 million for cars and perhaps Rs 3,000 million with helicopters, and contrasts this with UNP leaders who faced worse threats without such spending and with meagre budgets for agriculture, labour and irrigation.
සාපරාධී අපහාස නීතිය හා විමල් වීරවංශ
Parliament repealed criminal defamation unanimously, though some PA and JVP members clearly opposed it. Replying to Wimal Weerawansa’s attack on Ravaya during the debate, the editorial says Ravaya lost faith in Chandrika Kumaratunga long ago, alleges that Mangala Samaraweera arranged a Press Council ruling for the JVP through its chairman Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, and challenges Weerawansa to answer questions on killings and assaults, the Malimbada shooting and corruption allegations against the President.
තහනම සාකච්ඡාවලට බාධාවක් කරගත යුතු ද?
Campaigners demanding that the LTTE ban stay in place would, the editorial argues, wreck the proposed talks and push the country back to war it cannot afford. The Tigers fought before and after the ban, which was imposed to placate the public after the attack on the Temple of the Tooth. The JVP too was once banned, and a ban lifted can easily be reimposed if the LTTE breaks its commitments.
අපරාධ පාලනයට මීට වඩා වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමුවිය යුතු යි
Murders and robberies are now daily events, and attacks on officials who enforce the law are rising, from the killing of customs officer Sujith Prasanna Perera to the acid attack on audit superintendent Ambanwala, for which no one has been arrested. The editorial blames protection given to criminals by police and politicians, calls for corrupt officers to be purged, and urges that the still-unestablished independent Police Commission make this and freedom from political interference its first goals.