ඒකාධිපති ක්‍රමයක් රටට අවශ්‍ය නැත
The editorial says the President prorogued Parliament while an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice and a no-confidence motion against the government were pending, while the Chief Justice stays in office despite serious charges. She is holding a referendum on a new constitution without first obtaining Parliament’s approval or publishing a draft, and is using force to block protest. With Parliament shut, the editorial warns, the people’s sovereignty has been taken away and the country is moving towards dictatorship.
සැසි වාරය කල් දෑමීම ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයට පටහැනියි
The editorial condemns the prorogation of Parliament to evade a no-confidence motion when the opposition had become the majority, likening it to postponing an election in the face of certain defeat and calling it a grave political crime. It criticises the Prime Minister for repeatedly promising debate on 16 to 18 July and denying any plan to prorogue, and urges MPs to stand up for Parliament against the President’s arbitrary act.
වඩා වැදගත් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ දිනා ගැනීමයි
What matters in the crisis is not who wins but whether reforms are secured. The government has refused even to enact the five commissions the JVP demanded as its price for opposing the no-confidence motion, so the task falls to the opposition, which can do it only through an all-party government. The editorial criticises the JVP for failing to commit to joint action, or to press its own demand to abolish the presidency, when the opposition has the numbers.
විශ්වාසභංගය හා ඊට පසු
The editorial says the PA’s fall is inevitable, driven by the call for an all-party government for reform, though S.B. Dissanayake is pushing a UNP-SLFP national government instead. It calculates that even if the JVP and Sihala Urumaya abstain the government could fall with three defections, predicts that the EPDP and CWC would then back any new government, and foresees a showdown in which Parliament, like that against Charles I, could curb the presidency unless the President behaves like D.B. Wijetunga.
ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ සඳහා සර්ව පාක්ෂික ආණ්ඩුවක්
The PA is close to collapse: SLFP factions are feuding, most of the SLMC and NUA are drifting away, and S.B. Dissanayake has demanded the President give up the Finance Ministry while promoting a national government under Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. The editorial notes the UNP deal with Rauff Hakeem, the no-confidence motion against Mahipala Herath and the stay on impeachment, and urges an all-party interim government to enact reforms rather than a UNP-dominated one.
උසස් තනතුරුවලට පුද්ගලයන් පත් කිරීම
The Sarath N. Silva crisis shows the need for a system that prevents unsuitable appointments to posts such as Chief Justice. The editorial contrasts US Senate scrutiny of judicial nominees and South Africa’s constitutional body that shortlists three names, says the President appointed a man about to be disbarred in order to control the courts, and calls for his removal and for the proposed independent judicial commission to be enacted.
කතාව දෝලාවෙන් ගමන පයින්
Any settlement with Prabhakaran requires renewing the social contract with real power-sharing, but the government’s fine words on devolution are contradicted by its conduct. Moving from Hobbes to Rousseau and modern pluralism, the editorial lists how the President denies power to ministers, the judiciary, the Elections Commissioner and the Auditor General, meddles in the Kataragama Basnayake Nilame election and the cricket board, and strips Colombo’s UNP council, so Tamils cannot trust her promises.
ආගමික නායකයන්ගේ මැදිහත් වීමක් අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ය
The editorial welcomes the Inter-Religious Council formed by Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim and Christian leaders to press politicians to put the country right. It argues that politics, not religion, now determines every aspect of life and is leading to ruin through rigged elections, politicised institutions and ethnic mistrust, and asks religious leaders to back deep reform of the political system rather than bless those who win by fraud.
පුද්ගලිකකරණය හා විගණකාධිපතිගේ වගකීම
Employees protest the sale of 51 per cent of the National Insurance Corporation, with life funds over Rs. 1,800 million, to Janashakthi for about Rs. 490 million. The editorial says privatisation has become a source of illicit wealth under both UNP and PA, notes that the Public Enterprises Commission misled COPE over Air Lanka, and calls on the Auditor General to examine all privatisation deals and report to Parliament.
ජනවාර්ගික ආවේග පාලනය කිරීම
Managing ethnic, religious and linguistic passions is Sri Lanka’s greatest challenge, and adding a Muslim conflict to the Tamil one would bring chaos. The editorial argues that no post-independence ruler has shown the ability to do so, recalling how the UNP blamed the JVP for Black July 1983, and criticising the President for implicitly blaming the UNP, the JVP and the railway strike for the Mawanella violence.