බිත්තර නොකඩා ඔම්ලට් හැදිම
Ivan recalls that J.R. Jayewardene’s 1978 constitution concentrated power in an executive president, subordinating Parliament, the courts and the public service, and that Sirimavo Bandaranaike vowed to fight any resulting dictatorship. Quoting the People’s Alliance 1994 manifesto and Chandrika Kumaratunga’s January 1995 address pledging abolition, he notes that she now offers to change everything except the presidency, which would end only with her term, and contrasts this with F.W. de Klerk.
මේ මොහොතේ වඩා වැදගත් නිදහස් හා සාධාරණ මැතිවරණයකි
With six weeks left in Parliament’s term, the editorial finds the government’s rush to amend the constitution suspicious and says any PA–UNP reform draft should be tabled as a white paper and left to the new Parliament. It calls for an independent elections commission and domestic and foreign observers as the EU proposed, urges the Elections Commissioner to collect assets declarations from candidates and party officials, and asks unions, professional and religious bodies to help monitor the poll.
පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයකට කෙරෙන ගණන් බැලිම
With Parliament’s term ending on 24 August, Ivan weighs the government’s options. Extending the term would unite the UNP, JVP and Sihala Urumaya; under proportional representation even 4.3 million votes would give the alliance only about 115 seats. He explains the proposed mixed system of 260 members designed to curb the JVP and Sihala Urumaya, which would need a two-thirds vote and a referendum, and the crisis a hostile Parliament would pose for an executive president, as N.M. Perera foresaw.
පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය කල් දෑමීමකට ඉඩ නොතැබිය යුතුය
Despite the President’s assurance, Ivan says the government still hopes to extend Parliament’s term, a practice begun with the 1972 constitution and taken further by J.R. Jayewardene in 1982. He calls on the government to hold the election under an independent elections commission and to accept the European Union’s offer of observers, and urges citizens to act rather than watch.
මැතිවරණයට පෙර සර්ව පාක්ෂික සාකච්ඡාවක්
Ivan argues that dealing with Prabhakaran requires first arresting the decay of the whole political system. Public trust in leaders and institutions has collapsed, the executive has captured legislative and judicial power, and even the Elections Commissioner and Auditor General fail in their duties, as the unauthorised gas company compensation shows. He proposes an all-party dialogue before the election to agree on reform principles binding whoever wins.
Prabhakaran is not our only threat
An answer to the problem of Prabhakaran can be found only if the collapse running through the whole political system can be stopped and the country’s political spirit revived by a successful reform. The threat named in the headline is not the one the country talks about.
සම්මානය හා අධිකරණ නිදහසේ මළගම
Ivan welcomes the attention foreign powers are paying to the government’s anti-democratic conduct as well as to the LTTE. He argues that the northern conflict is part of Sri Lanka’s democratic crisis and that southern rulers, though elected, rule partly by terror. He proposes third-party-guided talks, an all-party agreement on constitutional principles, independent institutions, a right to information law and an election followed by a five-year national government on the South African model.
ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයට සීල් තැබීම
Ivan argues that freedom of expression is the gateway to democracy and that modern practice allows only narrow, court-imposed limits for national security. He criticises emergency regulations used to seal the Jaffna paper Uthayan and the Leader group, including Irida Peramuna for a story it never carried, for six months though emergency powers lapse monthly. He places this beside earlier sealings of Aththa, Davasa and Eelanadu and ties it to plans to extend Parliament.
පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයක් ජනමත විචාරණයක ද
Ivan expects the government to try to avoid the parliamentary election due by October, fearing defeat after setbacks in the North. With many MPs unsure of renomination, he sets out the seat numbers and shows it would need only 19 opposition votes for a two-thirds majority to extend Parliament through a 1982-style referendum, explains MPs’ pay rises and land grants in that light, and predicts such a referendum could fail.
තීන්දු ගැනීමේ ක්‍රියාවලිය සර්ව පාක්ෂෂික කළ නොහැක්කේ ඇයි?
The editorial argues that a crisis threatening the country’s survival demands that opposition parties share in decisions, not merely be briefed as at the 15 May all-party meeting. It calls for a temporary all-party administration, criticises concealment of events in the North, and notes the double standard by which cartoons of the President are banned while state media ridicule opposition politicians.