අධිකරණයේ කුණුවීමට වගකිවයුත්තේ කවුද?
The Thilanga Sumathipala affair, in which a magistrate heard his case on a Poya holiday and acquitted him, shows how corrupt the justice system has become. The editorial holds the Chief Justice, himself facing impeachment motions, chiefly responsible, and blames every party, the JVP included, for letting Parliament look away.
සන්ධානය කොයිබට ද?
The JVP–SLFP alliance, formed after the President took over three ministries, has not inspired the public. The editorial finds mistrust built into the pact, notes that the JVP’s clean personal habits are shared by the LTTE and prove nothing about respect for life, and argues that an immediate dissolution and election would at least have forced the partners to work together.
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.
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.
අල්ලස් කොමිසමේ හුස්ම හිරවීම
The President and two of the Bribery Commission’s members oppose Justice Minister W.J.M. Lokubandara’s proposals to change the commission’s membership. The editorial argues that filling independent commissions with retired judges and lawyers has failed and slights other professions, that both government and opposition want to control the commissions, and that the Constitutional Council has not appointed new members as the 17th Amendment requires. Commissioners need courage as well as learning, like Neville Samarakoon.
වත්ත බද්දට දි ඇස්සට දත නියවීම
The editorial argues that the government’s peace process is proceeding without any public debate on reforming the nature of the state, so that it appears to be merely a settlement of the Tamil problem. It lists wider failures, from a corrupt political system and judiciary to a preferential voting system that pushes MPs towards illicit income, warns that silence cedes public opinion to nationalist forces, and likens the government’s self-serving approach to J.R. Jayewardene’s.
ස්වාධීන කොමිසන් ක්රමය ගැන නැවත සලකා බැලිය යුතු ය
With the Police Commission collapsing after a member resigned in protest at another’s conduct, the editorial argues that independent commissions succeed only if their members have the courage to resist political pressure, a quality the Constitutional Council ignored in favour of education and experience. It notes that the Elections Commission remains unappointed because of the President’s objection to one nominee, that the Bribery and Judicial Service Commissions have not been reconstituted, and that the UNP has forgotten its promise to fix the 17th Amendment.
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.