ශ්රී ලංකාව අසමත් රාජ්යයක් ලෙස නම් කිරීම-2
A multi-party system is essential to a democratic order, and Sri Lanka has one whose parties cannot be called democratic: not one of them has any internal democracy. Part two works through the party system, sovereignty and elections, and the bureaucracy — the civil servant turned from an independent officer into a servile barber revolving around whichever politician holds power, a change Ivan dates to the 1972 constitution.
කිරි කළයට ගොම දැමීම
The prime minister told parliament during the emergency debate that the intelligence services had information about training at three secret camps in Tamil Nadu, aimed at killing Indian leaders and re-establishing the LTTE in Sri Lanka. If there is no true basis for it, Ivan replies, talk of that kind can do the country real harm — it can discourage the foreign investment Sri Lanka is hoping for.
ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ භූමිකාව
The editorial says the JVP aims to ally with favoured SLFP figures, derail the peace process with the President’s help and use the resulting disorder to form a government it can steer, much as Sirimavo Bandaranaike and N.M. Perera did in 1964, with Mangala Samaraweera as go-between. It argues the JVP offers the SLFP little beyond votes, and warns that the power struggle may push Prabhakaran to prepare for war or to claim that only a separate state is left.
කුමාර් පොන්නම්බලම් ඝාතනය
An investigative dossier on the January 2000 killing of Kumar Ponnambalam. It sets out a timeline linking the killing to the President’s televised attack on critics, and reports Mrs Ponnambalam’s accusation against the government and CID chief Bandula Wickremasinghe’s secret report naming Mahen Ratwatte as instigator. It reproduces the President’s two condolence letters (one wrongly dated), suspect Sugath Ranasinghe’s affidavit clearing Mahen Ratwatte, a lawyer’s letter for Ratwatte, and a transcript of Ranasinghe’s taped phone confession.
99 ජනාධිපතිවරණය වංචාවෙන් ජයගැනීම සඳහා යොදා ගැනුණු
Ivan argues that Chandrika Kumaratunga’s 1999 victory rested on organised fraud rather than sympathy after the bomb attack. He describes S.B. Dissanayake’s push for an early poll, a Samurdhi scheme to seize the poll cards of opposition voters, ballot-box substitution with compliant officials, the removal of the acting Elections Commissioner, and a million forged ballots distributed with underworld and presidential-security help. He ends with practical safeguards for party agents at the coming election.
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.
නිදහස් හා සාධාරණය කොයිබටද
As the Alliance for Democracy ties yellow bands on voters’ wrists, the President has run an advertisement pledging a free and fair poll ‘as in six previous elections’. Ivan says this would make the North Western poll and the 1999 presidential election fair, likens it to J.R. Jayewardene’s referendum, and lists jobs, loans and land handed out after dissolution. He details violence in Anuradhapura, Kandy, Kegalle, Puttalam and Matale, where police shot a JVP protester, and warns that victory by force lays the ground for rebellion.
ප්රචණ්ඩත්වයට වගකිව යුත්තෝ කවරහු ද?
The President has expressed sorrow at the death of JVP member Arambagedara Siridewa, shot by police in Matale, but the editorial says she has shown no real will to curb the violence of her party’s regional strongmen. It cites Deputy Minister Shantha Premaratne calling the Chief Minister Anuradhapura’s only terrorist, D.M. Jayaratne’s remark that Kandy faces a war rather than an election, and a Matale police chief said to be the Chief Minister’s relative. It calls on the President to rein these men in.
කවුරු දිනුවත් ජනාධිපති ක්රමය අහෝසි වන ඡන්දයක්
Ivan describes S.B. Dissanayake as the man now steering the People’s Alliance, whose hints foretold the dropping of Lakshman Jayakody and possibly Richard Pathirana, and who shaped the national list. He recounts the sidelining of Dharmasiri Senanayake, S.B.’s ambitions for the media ministry and premiership, and alarm within the alliance at a drift towards junta rule. With no clear winner likely, any government will need small parties such as the JVP and may have to agree to abolish the presidency.
An election with democracy turned upside down
The SLMC leader told the President that winning a corrupt election would blemish not only her but her children, and that losing a free one would be more honourable. She assured him there would be a clean election. This column sets that assurance against what was being arranged in the districts.