පක්ෂ නායකයින්ගේ බූදල් බවට හැරී ඇති පක්ෂ අරමුදල්
Even a small funeral aid society in a village gives its members an account of what it took in and what it spent. Parties that handle hundreds of millions give their annual accounts neither to their members nor even to their own highest bodies. Every party has a treasurer and he is there in name only: the leader handles the money, the leader alone knows what the funds are, and no member may ask.
Barring Nagananda Kodituwakku from practicing law
The Supreme Court has barred a public-interest litigator and prospective presidential candidate from practising for three years. Victor Ivan weighs Nagananda Kodituwakku’s record — and the record of those he fought.
මගේ සිහිනය
Answering websites that claimed the Rajapaksa government was buying Ravaya through Milinda Moragoda and paying Ivan a bribe, Ivan sets out Ravaya’s 27-year record of refusing favours: turning down Chandrika Kumaratunga’s offer of the Lake House chairmanship, free newsprint from the anti-Premadasa impeachment camp, and Harry Jayawardena’s private money. He describes his dream for Ravaya before he retires — staff as shareholders, new presses, a stronger paper and a web presence — and the conditions under which Moragoda would buy only a 40 per cent minority stake, inviting alternatives.
Weerawansa, as Well as Somawansa, is a Bequest of Wijeweera
Written as the JVP split between Wimal Weerawansa and Somawansa Amarasinghe, the piece argues both sides inherit habits Rohana Wijeweera built into the party: raising money from businessmen, hiring out the party’s services and hiding its finances. Ivan recounts what the businessman Yasasiri Kasthuriaratchi told him about his dealings with Wijeweera.
A Cancerous Carnival
Starting from ministers’ housing and fuel allowances, Ivan tallies the cost of keeping politicians: vehicles, pensions, duty-free cars and an over-large cabinet. He traces how Colvin R. de Silva and J.R. Jayewardene concentrated power, and how presidents came to buy loyalty with public funds while black-money barons shape governments.
ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට දික්කසාදවීමේ හැකියාවක් නැත
The JVP is caught both ways: it perishes if it stays in the alliance and perishes if it leaves. Sidelined in the tsunami effort and critical of the power given to Tara de Mel and Harry Jayawardena, it cannot break with a President who is equally unhappy with it.
ස්වාධීන කොමිෂන් ගැන ජනාධිපතිනියගේ වැදි බණ
The President has lectured the Constitutional Council that commission members must be honest, impartial and free of corruption charges, while objecting to some nominees and saying Human Rights Commission members she appointed stay until March 2003. Ivan contrasts this with her own appointments: an acting Elections Commissioner during her own election, Sarath N. Silva as Chief Justice while under inquiry, Harry Jayawardena and Sripathi Suriyarachchi. He proposes a parliamentary committee to hear objections, criticises Faiz Mustapha’s conduct as HRC chairman, and argues the old commissions lapsed under the 17th Amendment.
නයි පොළගුන් සමග සෙල්ලමට යාම
Ivan likens Ranil Wickremesinghe to a snake charmer handling cobras whose fangs he has not drawn: pursuing the President and her associates slowly through inquiries while they still hold key posts. Further sections note that the committee under retired judge Ranjith Dheerasekera on local election malpractice has been starved of resources, mock the President’s reported threat to bite the Prime Minister’s neck, and warn that the honeymoon is ending, citing Harry Jayawardena’s appointment to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
අලුත් ආණ්ඩුවටත් නැතුවම බැරී හැරි
Businessman Harry Jayawardena was the People’s Alliance’s chief financier, and the President shielded him while customs and Central Bank inquiries into alleged duty and exchange frauds stayed open; some link the customs inquiry to the killing of officer Sujith Perera, after which other officers fled abroad. Ivan asks what signal the new government sends by appointing him to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ගජ මිතුරු ධනවාදය ඒකාධිකාර මතවාදයකට
The editorial objects to Harry Jayawardena using banks and companies he controls to buy a controlling stake in Sampath Bank, against banking ethics and with the Central Bank silent. It describes him as a close Bandaranaike family friend and PA campaign financier shielded from customs cases, appointed to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and seeking monopolies in arrack, tea and banking, and calls for anti-monopoly enforcement.