රණ බෙර වැයීමෙන් විය හැක්කේ විනාශයකි
As a newspaper, Ravaya has always stood for peace, not war. Both Chandrika Kumaratunga’s and Ranil Wickremesinghe’s peace efforts failed, but the editorial warns that a new war would be more destructive than any before, whoever won, and that only the public can change the picture.
ලැජ්ජා නැතිකමේ දේශපාලනය
Even after Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election, Chandrika Kumaratunga will not give up the party leadership, and Ranil Wickremesinghe clings to his despite telling friends he would quit. Ivan recounts what a CID officer told him in confidence during the terror that followed the 1999 election, and ends by wishing that she not be jailed and made to suffer for what was done in her eleven years of rule.
කැත කුණු තවරාගත් සුදු නෙළුම
Ivan recalls a private celebration at Temple Trees after the 1994 election, and Chandrika Kumaratunga’s repeated public claims of personal purity, including that she never stole a cent, and sets them against the record. He argues that had Ranil Wickremesinghe treated her as he treated Anuruddha Ratwatte, things might have turned out differently.
විශ්රාම යන හැම ජනාධිපතිවරයෙක් ම පරික්ෂාවට ලක්විය යුතු ය
Ravaya explains its decision to go to court against the special privileges planned for former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and on other matters. Because presidential immunity prevents scrutiny in office, it argues, retiring presidents must be examined; it recalls its long pursuit of her assets declarations, her children’s foreign education and the President’s Fund.
නිර්භීතකමේදි ඇයට හිමි තැන අසමසමය
For all her failings, Chandrika Kumaratunga was unmatched in courage. Ivan tells how he learned of the Suriyakanda mass graves from a young engineer who came to Ravaya in 1993, how the exposure unfolded, and reproduces the verse appeal to mothers, sisters and daughters that she signed; he concludes that Suriyakanda mattered to her for its usefulness rather than its meaning.
මැදමුලනින් පැමිණ හොරගොල්ල ජයගැනීම
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s win lacked minority support, but it decides the SLFP’s future. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike gave his family no special place; Sirimavo turned the party into a family property, and every leadership crisis since arose inside the family. The Bandaranaikes never believed Rajapaksa could win and planned to reclaim the party after his defeat.
රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ: විවේචනාත්මක විශ්ලේෂණයක්
Prompted by a friend’s emotional call on the morning after the defeat, Ivan recalls what he once told Ranil Wickremesinghe to his face. Sections examine his deep but unfulfilled vision, the acting Elections Commissioner, forged ballot papers in an earlier election, his lack of courage, and the party system.
ඉතින් මැතිනියනි ඔබට ආයුබෝවන්
The worst story about Chandrika Kumaratunga’s honesty came from Le Monde’s Delhi correspondent, puzzled by the degrees listed in her official biography after 1994. Ivan then recalls the impeachment plan of 1991, in which all three main actors lived in dream worlds, and how the exposure of the Suriyakanda mass graves brought the rising Kumaratunga great fame.
මහින්දගේ ජයග්රහණය
Mahinda Rajapaksa won a close contest, helped by Prabhakaran’s boycott, ending the political careers of both Ranil Wickremesinghe and Chandrika Kumaratunga. For the first time the SLFP passes to a leader outside the Bandaranaike family; sections assess Wickremesinghe, Kumaratunga, the JVP and Prabhakaran, and predict that on the ethnic question Rajapaksa will end up on their path.
ඉතින් මැතිනියනි ඔබට ආයුබෝවන්
Ivan explains that he decided after the 1999 election to write a book on his experience of Chandrika Kumaratunga before she lost power, and that some critics credit him with helping to create the conditions for her rise. He begins with stories that cast doubt on her honesty, including one told at a pearl jewellery fair and one from Le Monde’s Delhi correspondent.