සටන් කිරීම හා අවසාන සටන
Ivan sets out the principles that let him win most of his battles: a just cause, a clear philosophy and plan, careful assessment and preparation, and knowing when not to fight, as Gandhi refused to hamper the Allies in wartime. He recalls how J.R. Jayewardene ordered him to stop his ‘Kalinga’ column during the second JVP insurrection and how a calm reply won the President’s respect; how he refused JVP requests for help and armed protection, backed the state against the rebels though opposed to the UNP, and saw every such crisis as no time for regime change. He contrasts Gandhi’s respect for his opponents with the hatred driving Sri Lankan struggles, then tells how he defeated the parliamentary privileges committee’s power to punish journalists by refusing its summons, enlisting Mrs Bandaranaike and international pressure, until the committee adjourned indefinitely.
සටන් කිරීම හා අවසාන සටන
Challenged by a friend who says he has turned from a fighter into a preacher, Ivan explains that his aim now is not a change of government but a change of the political system, which needs the support even of those tied to the evil. Prompted by Ravaya’s 25th anniversary, he lists the eight real battles of his career — against the parliamentary privileges law, the 17-year UNP government, criminal defamation, for the assets law, against two court decisions, an outside Elections Commissioner, a retiring President’s taking of state property, and the limits of book publishing — and says he lost only one, blaming K.N. Choksy’s concession in court. His ten-year struggle with Sarath N. Silva ended without result, he argues, because the Bar, media owners, parties and senior judges such as Mark Fernando stayed silent; Silva never used contempt law against him, which Ivan attributes to the remnant of conscience he appealed to.
කපුවා කපෝති ද?
Three notes. Mangala Samaraweera, who brought the President and the JVP together and taught the JVP that it could capture the SLFP after Chandrika, now faces the collapse of his work; the Hela Urumaya’s crocodile tears for Major Muthaliff; and the Lankadeepa editor Siri Ranasinghe’s apology to the Supreme Court over the UNP statement.
අධිකරණ අපහාසය සහ “ලංකාදීප” කර්තෘ
MPs cannot change parties without losing their seats, yet none who crossed to the government has lost his. The editorial observes that the Chief Justice’s closest friends suffer most from his political theatre, and argues that Siri Ranasinghe committed no offence by publishing the UNP’s statement criticising the Bogollagama judgment.
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.
මංගලගේ බළලා මල්ලෙන් එළියට
Mangala Samaraweera’s call to abolish the executive presidency, Ivan argues, reflects the SLFP’s real aim of making Chandrika Kumaratunga an executive prime minister after her term ends, just as Ranil Wickremesinghe wants the presidency intact for himself. Further sections cover the Elections Commissioner’s criticism of the hastily passed 17th Amendment and of Supreme Court rulings, and the Editors’ Guild submission on contempt of court.