ජනාධිපතිවරණය, මැතිවරණ කොමසාරීස්වරයා හා වත්කම් බැරකම් නීතිය
The Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law of 1975, amended in 1988, is the only strong law for scrutinising the wealth of politicians and officials, yet until 1999 it was applied almost only to officials. Ivan recounts how, as Ravaya’s editor, he asked the Elections Commissioner for the declarations filed by Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe with their 1999 nominations.
ජනාධිපතිවරණය ගැන සමාලෝචනයක්
Ranil Wickremesinghe faces only Mahinda Rajapaksa, but Rajapaksa faces Wickremesinghe and Chandrika Kumaratunga as well. His candidacy excites anti-UNP forces, though his pacts with the JVP and Hela Urumaya and the Bandaranaikes’ hostility cost him; two incalculable factors remain, Prabhakaran and Karuna.
දේශපාලන බීරී අලින්ට වීණා ගැයීම
The election is being held without an Elections Commission because the President has not approved the Constitutional Council’s nominees, leaving the Commissioner to act alone. The editorial notes that the Police Commission has at least curbed political interference with the police, and regrets that neither the President nor the candidates see the issue as important.
ජනාධිපතිනියගේ වැඩවසම් වාදය හා මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ
The SLFP is the Bandaranaike family’s party, a change made in Sirimavo’s time. The President agreed to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s candidacy only because she had no choice, still holds the party’s reins through nominations, and is now working for the victory of the rival candidate, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
ජනාධිපතිනියට ද කොකා පෙන්නුවේය
At last week’s Cabinet meeting the President reportedly accused the Prime Minister of conspiring with the Chief Justice to bring the election forward to 2005 and bury the tsunami-funds inquiry against him. Ivan observes that, as ticks leave a dying dog, parasites abandon a failing leader, and shows how the Chief Justice took up a petition to block the interpretation she had sought.
මහින්දට විය හැක්කේ කුමක් ද?
Mahinda Rajapaksa is near the top, a remarkable feat in a party dominated by one family, and he got there not as a Bandaranaike retainer. Ivan weighs Chandrika Kumaratunga’s decision not to fight him at the convention, and his bold readiness to meet Prabhakaran against his pact with the JVP and Hela Urumaya to keep the unitary state.
මහින්ද-වීරවංශ දීගය හරි යයිද?
Back from Japan, the President did not quarrel with Mahinda Rajapaksa but backed his candidacy, leaving herself room for a later return. Mahinda is now in a bind: saying yes to the JVP’s conditions will cost him some of the forces gathering around him.
විශ්රාම යන ජනාධිපතිනිය සහ රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ
Ranil Wickremesinghe has told his MPs he is thinking of how to use the retiring President’s services, and spoke of American provisions for former presidents. The editorial welcomes cooperation between the two main parties but says retiring presidents must also face scrutiny, since immunity shields them while in office.
කෙළවර කුමක් ද?
The Cabinet has decided to give the retiring President an acre and a half facing the Diyawanna Oya opposite Parliament, in lieu of the pension and official residence she says she will forgo. The note recalls her plan for a Rs 1,700 million presidential palace in the same area.
අගවිනිසුරු කරණම
The Chief Justice is playing a political conjuror. Ivan argues that the crisis over the election year was his own creation, from the circumstances of the President’s first public swearing-in after the bomb attack to the story of a second oath, invented to stretch her term by a year, and shows how the aim shifted along the way.