ව්‍යවස්ථාව සමග වළ කජු ගැසීම
Ivan traces how politicians have toyed with the constitution: the authoritarian features of J.R. Jayewardene’s 1978 charter, rushed through as urgent; Chandrika Kumaratunga’s broken promise to abolish the executive presidency and her transitional clauses keeping her in power; the 2000 attempt to pass a new constitution by buying UNP votes; and the distortion of the 17th Amendment by Jayampathy Wickramaratne. He notes the Speaker signed the wrong draft, leaving commissions in legal limbo, and argues the proposed 19th Amendment is too narrow.
17 වැනි සංශෝධනය ඔළුවෙන් සිටුවීම
The idea of a Constitutional Council, advanced by professional bodies and backed by pro-democracy and media groups, was meant to take appointments to key posts out of the head of state’s arbitrary hands. The editorial argues that the version of the 17th Amendment drafted with JVP mediation reverses this, leaving the President to nominate and the Council merely to approve, a distortion it attributes to the President, the Chief Justice and Jayampathy Wickramaratne, with the UNP assisting through carelessness.
නීතිය ඔලුවෙන් සිටුවීම
Ivan rejects the Bribery Commission’s ruling that the Chief Justice is not a public servant and that his complaint against Sarath N. Silva and Lenin Ratnayake falls outside its remit, citing the Penal Code and the assets law. Further sections argue that the 17th Amendment was certified without its transitional provisions, leaving the existing commissions without legal standing; criticise the Constitutional Council’s demand for immunity through an 18th Amendment; and ask whether the securities found in Anuruddha Ratwatte’s safes will be pursued.
ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාව කොයිබට ද?
Long after its appointment, the Constitutional Council has not set up a single independent commission. The editorial criticises its demand for immunity from fundamental rights suits, reminds it that it is publicly funded and exists to make key institutions independent, and says members should give up political roles, including acting as advisers to politicians, and that appointments to it should face public scrutiny.
සාපරාධී අපහාස නීතිය අවලංගු කිරිමෙන් පමණක් යහපත් රාජ්‍ය පාලනයක් ඇති නොවේ
Repealing the criminal defamation law, used by the executive against journalists, is an important step, but good governance also needs an independent judiciary, public service, audit commission and elections commission. Despite the 17th Amendment and the Constitutional Council, the impeached Chief Justice remains, local polls showed free elections are not yet assured, and the Bribery, Human Rights, Finance and Public Service commissions still run with their old members. The Council must move faster.
ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය බලය සමග සෙල්ලම් කිරීම
Ivan says the UNF government has failed to keep local elections civilised and has not appointed the promised inquiry into earlier poll malpractice, and traces state-level electoral fraud from the Dedigama by-election and the Jaffna development council poll through 1982 to its revival under Kumaratunga. A second section on the Constitutional Council recounts how the professionals’ draft was reshaped by Jayampathy Wickramaratne so that the President nominates key appointees, a trap the JVP fell into, and asks why the government has not corrected it.
ජනාධිපතිනිය චෙක්මේට් වීමට ආසන්නයි
Ivan argues that Chandrika Kumaratunga ruled as a hereditary queen rather than an elected leader, flouted the 17th Amendment in the 2001 election she led, and should have resigned or sought a fresh mandate, or stepped back as D.B. Wijetunga did. Now she is cornered, and he predicts the crisis will cost her the presidency and the Bandaranaikes their hold on the SLFP, and says punishing PA-era crimes, though double-edged, is worthwhile.
විගණන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව කොමිසමක් බවට පත්කිරීම පමණක් ප්‍රමාණවත් නැත
The editorial welcomes a plan to make the Audit Department an independent commission under the Constitutional Council but says it needs real backing. Limited staff should be focused on powerful institutions such as the presidential and prime minister’s offices, Parliament, the Supreme Court, the army and police, rather than relying on private audits as with the President’s Fund. It also calls for officials to be punished for losses found and for audit findings to be made public promptly.
17 වැනි සංශෝධනයට කොකා පෙන්නීම
Ivan explains that the 17th Amendment gives the Constitutional Council power over the independent commissions and top appointments, yet the President has still not named her nominee despite Article 41(5). He argues that she is protecting her hold over the Chief Justice, Attorney General, IGP and Bribery Commission, since a council would weaken her defence against impeachment and against the Padiyapelella rocket-launcher case linked to a plot to kill S.B. Dissanayake.
මහජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍ය බලය සමග සෙල්ලම් කරන අයට දඬුවම් පමුණුවනු
The editorial calls the election decisive for democracy, accusing the People’s Alliance of rigging every poll since 1994, ignoring the 17th Amendment, threatening the Elections Commissioner and hinting it would block an opposition government. As voters punished the UNP in 1994, it says, they must now punish the PA and build stronger democratic institutions.