ප්රභාකරන්ගේ ඊළග පියවර කුමක් ද?
The editorial argues that the LTTE is trapped not by military strength but by a world order that no longer legitimises armed struggle, as the fall of Elephant Pass and the outside help that saved Jaffna showed. Mandela, the PLO, the IRA and the JVP adapted; governments that crush just grievances also face isolation. It assesses Prabhakaran as a gifted but ruthless commander, groups him with Wijeweera, Premadasa and Vijaya Kumaratunga, and says a turn to peace would multiply his strength.
JVP terror to the fore
The government is marking the anniversary of Vijaya Kumaratunga’s assassination as a general commemoration of those killed by the JVP, with a costly travelling exhibition and fresh legal action against those involved in the second insurrection. Ivan’s objection is not to the remembering.
විය හැක්කේ කුමක්ද?
With the President barred from a third term, a cold war over the SLFP succession has begun, with S.B. Dissanayake, now party secretary and holder of several ministries, pushing aggressively ahead of Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. The editorial surveys the pressures on the People’s Alliance: a UNP strategy for an all-party interim government, a JVP now openly hostile and able to topple two provincial councils, and restlessness in the CWC, SLMC and Communist Party.
යෝජිත නීති ප්රතිසංස්කරණ මහජනතාවට රහසක් කොට තබාගන්නේ ඇයි?
The government is reforming the whole legal system with a Rs. 1,400 million World Bank loan, but without telling the public or Parliament which laws are involved. The piece argues that the reforms serve business interests while ignoring workers, farmers, fundamental rights and good governance, and asks why the four independent commissions, repeal of criminal defamation and a right to information are left out.
කමලාවතීගේ ජනාධිපති වේශ නිරූපණය
A woman who dressed as the President, including her injured eye, in a UNP march had her Raddolugama house attacked. The editorial recalls earlier impersonations of Jayewardene and the Premadasas, cartoonists’ caricatures and leaders’ nicknames, notes that the government itself used the covered-eye photograph and caricatured Ranil Wickremesinghe as Dracula, criticises the class disdain in the President’s response and compares the attack to earlier ones over mimicry of Pavithra Wanniarachchi.
තමන්ට රජ සැප ඇත්නම් රට මකබෑවී ගියත් කම් නැතැයි සිතන ඇමතිවරු
Despite the President’s circular limiting ministers to three vehicles, Planning Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi uses fourteen, including seven kept from the Health Ministry, as does former Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, so the new Health Minister borrows vehicles from the Labour Ministry. The piece also cites S.B. Dissanayake’s granite in his new official residence and warns that the country is at the limit of such greed.
An attempt to define electorial malpractice
The UNP has withdrawn its Supreme Court petition against the presidential election. What the deputy leader’s statement shows is how deep the dissatisfaction in the main opposition party has become about the way things happen in that court.
සනත් ගුණතිලක සහ රුපියල
A profile of the actor Sanath Gunathilake after losing his post as the President’s media adviser, a fall Ivan likens to the rupee’s. He describes the vehicles, guards, free stays at the Galadari hotel and deference he once enjoyed, his habit of attaching himself to whoever held power from Gamini Dissanayake to Kumaratunga, and the income he drew from bar licences run by Neil Abeywardena, liquor distribution, advertising, teledramas and the Channel 9 deal with Lakshman Hulugalle.
අකාර්යක්ෂමතාවට හා දූෂණයට වගකිවයුත්තේ කව්ද?
The President told a conference of public officers that only 10 per cent of officials are efficient and that 25 to 30 per cent of development funds are lost to waste and corruption, implicitly blaming ministers too. The editorial replies that she chose the Cabinet, that political henchmen placed at the top of the public service undermine it, and that the clean-up must begin with the political executive rather than officials.
ජනාධිපති ඡන්ද පෙත්සම ඉවත් කරගැනීම
The UNP has withdrawn its petition against Kumaratunga’s election, citing, through deputy leader Gamini Atukorale, Supreme Court rulings that limited evidence and demanded proof that it lost 1,230,258 votes to malpractice. Ivan shows by arithmetic that far fewer votes would have changed the result, or forced a second count since she cleared 50 per cent by only 5,489 votes, and urges the Elections Commissioner to investigate allegations of forged ballot papers.