මැඩම්ට ජයවේවා
A set of six short notes. The President, now in control of the police, applies the law to the sons of UNP ministers accused of assaulting relatives of Minister Kabir Hashim, which she never did in her own government; the ‘national heroes’ of the Soma Thera campaign now face bribery and criminal charges; the Elections Commissioner cannot even retire because the 17th Amendment commission has not been set up; the President challenges the Prime Minister over the peace process and defence; and the secret second swearing-in to extend her term.
Will a Parliamentary Election be a Solution to the Problem?
Victor Ivan evaluates whether holding a parliamentary general election will resolve the political deadlock between the President and the Prime Minister. Using electoral data under Sri Lanka’s Proportional Representation system, Ivan projects that neither a PA-JVP alliance nor the UNF can win an absolute parliamentary majority on its own. Consequently, any future government will be forced to rely on Tamil representatives from the North and East—most notably the LTTE-backed TNA—to form a majority. Ivan warns that this creates a severe governance paradox: a government reliant on LTTE-aligned MPs for its survival would struggle to credibly negotiate peace with the LTTE while maintaining public trust, ultimately leading to an even deeper political stalemate than before.
Towards A Solution
In this article, Victor Ivan analyzes the constitutional deadlock resulting from President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s takeover of three cabinet ministries, arguing that the crisis stems from structural flaws in a system where executive power and parliamentary control belong to opposing parties. Ivan critiques Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for attempting to sideline the Executive President and leveraging the peace process primarily to fuel his own 2005 presidential ambitions. The author notes the irony in the President now calling for independent commissions and state media oversight—reforms the Prime Minister failed to enact earlier—while demanding an equal seat at the table in peace negotiations. Ultimately, Ivan asserts that the only way to avert national catastrophe is to establish a bipartisan power-sharing agreement that includes the President in decision-making on peace.
නඩුත් හාමුදුරුවන්ගෙ බඩුත් හාමුදුරුවන්ගෙ
Ivan examines the Chief Justice’s disclosure to the Daily Mirror that the President took a second, secret oath before him in November 2000, arguing the constitution requires no such oath for a second term, as J.R. Jayewardene’s delayed 1983 swearing-in shows, and that it serves to extend her term to 2006. Further sections criticise her new media task force, contrasting her unkept 1994 promises with the Wickremesinghe government’s repeal of criminal defamation and draft Freedom of Information Act, and argue the Prime Minister lost ground by leaving the judiciary unreformed.
What must happen
In this article, Victor Ivan addresses the major constitutional crisis triggered by President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s unilateral takeover of three key government ministries—including the Defense Ministry—while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was abroad. Ivan characterizes the President’s actions as an immoral, well-planned “constitutional coup,” while simultaneously criticizing the Prime Minister and cabinet for sabotaging political co-habitation by attempting to marginalize the President while willingly cooperating with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Warning that the deadlock threatens both the national economy and the peace process, Ivan asserts that the crisis cannot be solved through street protests or snap elections. Instead, he argues that the crisis must serve as a catalyst for a bipartisan agreement on structural constitutional reforms, electoral changes, and the revitalization of independent commissions.
ටෝනි නිදහස ලැබීම
Tony Fernando has been freed after serving the one-year sentence for contempt imposed by a bench headed by the Chief Justice, telling supporters his only offence was reading a constitutional provision in court. Ivan alleges the Chief Justice orchestrated the assault on him in prison. Further sections report Param Cumaraswamy’s Colombo lectures criticising the Bar Association under Ananda Wijesekera, a Dinakara article defending the Chief Justice by Nelson Perera, and new evidence of Tilanga Sumathipala’s links with Dhammika Amarasinghe.
අන්තෝජටා බහිජටා තත්ත්වයක්
Ivan argues that anti-government and nationalist forces are converging: after the SLFP–JVP alliance talks collapsed, pro-alliance elements in the SLFP are pushing the President back towards the JVP, which now demands through Wimal Weerawansa that the SLFP drop devolution. He likens her position to her father’s after the Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam pact, notes the JVP’s drift from the red flag to the lion flag, and blames Ranil Wickremesinghe for ceding public debate on reform to nationalists, risking an independent North and a bloodstained South.
An Utterly Complicated Situation
In this article, Victor Ivan examines the volatile political maneuvering between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Driven by factions eager to topple the ruling government, efforts to form a JVP-SLFP alliance ultimately stalled due to President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s reluctance to commit to a permanent coalition. Ivan draws a historical parallel to the President’s father, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, who was forced by chauvinist pressures to tear up the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact. The author highlights the JVP’s alarming ideological shift away from Marxism toward blatant racism and Sinhalese chauvinism, explicitly demanding that the SLFP abandon its policies on the devolution of power. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is criticized for remaining passively silent, hoping the President loses credibility—a dangerous strategy that Ivan warns could empower racist factions, destroy the peace process, and ultimately result in a divided and bleeding nation.
ආර්ථිකය, සාමය හා දේශපාලනය
The piece notes a buoyant economy under the ceasefire, with the share index above its 1994 peak, rising investment, exports and tourism, and a peace process continuing without major bloodshed. Politics, however, is stagnant: the independent commissions are collapsing and the committee on the judiciary has not met. It warns that Ranil Wickremesinghe is following his uncle J.R. Jayewardene’s path and Chandrika Kumaratunga her mother’s, risking a fractured SLFP, authoritarian rule and gains for the JVP. A final section discusses the health workers’ strike.
ජවිපෙට සිදුවුණේ කුමක් ද?
Ivan argues that the President used alliance talks with the JVP to strengthen her own hand, while the JVP paid any price, even abandoning its opposition to the executive presidency, before realising it had been deceived. Contrasting the JVP’s shallow leadership with the traditional Left, which taught the country democracy and won lasting social reforms, he says the party remains where it was in 1971. Further sections attack Mahinda Wijesekara’s claim that developing countries have too much democracy and question Mangala Samaraweera’s leadership of a media-freedom protest.