JSC: More questions than answers
The Judicial Services Commission has answered the criticism in an International Bar Association report on the state of the Sri Lankan judiciary. Its answer, Ivan writes, raises more questions than it settles — and he was the complainant in one of the inquiries it describes.
එජාප ආණ්ඩුවක් යටතේ රාවය ක්රියාකරන්නට යන්නේ කෙසේද?
Ivan sets out Ravaya’s stance after the change of government. He rejects the claim that the paper makes and unmakes governments, explains why it backed the SLFP before 1994 and turned against Chandrika Kumaratunga after the 1997 and Wayamba election violence, and states its positions on the UNP government, the People’s Alliance, whose ruling clique he names, and the JVP. He also contests a Press Council ruling he says Mangala Samaraweera and Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe engineered.
මල්වත්ත ඝාතනය රෝහණ කුමාර හා අගවිනිසුරු
The report details the arrest of Rohana Kumara, fourth suspect in the February 2001 shooting of businessman Ranjith Bandara Wijekoon at the Peradeniya botanical gardens, and his alleged ties to Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva. It cites phone records, his use of a Justice Ministry vehicle, his role at the judges’ training centre and his claim to have hidden on the Chief Justice’s advice. It also recounts an attempted bribe of a Mirihana police officer and forged signatures on fundamental rights petitions.
අගවිනිසුරු සම්බන්ධයෙන් අනුගමනය කරන්නට යන පිළිවෙත කුමක් ද?
Referring to that week’s Ravaya lead story on the Chief Justice’s links with the criminal Rohana Kumara, a charge already in the UNP–JVP impeachment motion, the editorial says Sarath N. Silva has disgraced his office. It notes that the new government has done nothing, and urges it to restore judicial independence before any other reform.
It’s time for cleaning up
Given how far the country has fallen, getting back to normal is not easy. People must understand that recovery will be gradual, and the government must at the same time give them a sense of hope. This is Ivan’s list of what the new government should clean up first.
ආණ්ඩුව ඉදිරියේ ඇති අභියෝග
Ivan sets out the tasks facing the new UNF government: humility in power, exemplary leadership, efficiency and, above all, restoring the rule of law. He urges an end to politicians’ immunity from traffic law and to fake number plates, noting their use in the Kandy killings and by presidential security, and calls for removing political protection from criminals such as Dhammika Perera, and for a Bribery Commission that targets the powerful and a right-to-information law.
President may face impeachment
During the campaign the President boasted of her wide powers, and after the United National Front won she did not pick a fight with the winner by flourishing them. She has handed over internal administration and remains chief executive, commander-in-chief, and the holder of a private army of thousands.
ජනාධිපතිනිය ඉන්නේ දෝෂාභියෝගයක මුව විට ය
Ivan reads Chandrika Kumaratunga’s handover of domestic power to the UNF as a tactical retreat by a cobra biding its time, since she keeps executive power, command of the forces, a large security force and the power to dissolve Parliament. Because she installed a loyal Chief Justice who could nullify an impeachment, he argues that the new government must first remove Sarath N. Silva before moving against her, which would then require a presidential election.
ජයග්රාහකයා පරාජිතයා නොපෙළිය යුතු ය
The editorial condemns post-election reprisals in areas such as Anamaduwa, Pathadumbara, Nawalapitiya and Hiriyala, where PA figures had behaved like local warlords with police and presidential backing. It says the paper had long warned that such violence would provoke a backlash, and calls on the new government both to stop reprisals and to prosecute those responsible for earlier election violence.
ජනවාර්ගික අර්බුදයට විසඳුමක් දිම ප්රමාද නොකළ යුතුයි
The editorial urges the new government to make a negotiated settlement its priority. It notes that Prabhakaran’s Heroes’ Day speech stopped short of demanding a separate state, argues that both sides have reached the limits of military action, and proposes first agreeing on principles acceptable to Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims, with the support of the PA and JVP in opposition.