වත්කම් බැරකම් නීතිය ප්රායෝගික නොකරන්නේ ඇයි?
As right-to-information legislation is due before Parliament, the editorial says existing rights must also work in practice. The public may obtain the asset declarations of anyone covered by the assets and liabilities law, but few know it and no system issues certified copies. Publishing all declarations on a website, it argues, would be a cheap way to curb illicit enrichment by politicians and officials.
අල්ලස් හා දූෂණය
Ivan explains the 1994 laws that created the Bribery Commission and the offence of corruption, and why they failed: the President appointed commissioners freely and was excluded from the definition of public servant, as the 48 security vehicles bought in 2000, 13 missing, show. He criticises the Commission’s handling of the Channel 9, Mangala Samaraweera credit-card and misuse-of-state-resources complaints, its reference to the 1975 rather than the amended 1988 assets law, and proposes reforms.
මනා මූල්ය පාලනයක් සඳහා අවශ්ය කොන්දේසි
The editorial says no plan has yet emerged to rescue a country bankrupted by mismanagement and corruption. It proposes caps on the price and minimum service life of state vehicles, noting the President alone spent Rs 2,400 million in a year with 13 vehicles missing; full enforcement of the assets and liabilities law with cheap public access; an end to unofficial funds in state bodies; limits on officials’ multiple directorship fees; and revision of a 1980 rule letting senior officers keep state cars for Rs 150 a month.
කැකිල්ලේ ක්රමය
Ivan says the Chief Justice heard Karu Jayasuriya’s petition over biased state broadcasting despite Mary Robinson’s advice that he stand aside, then delayed it until after the election, likening this to the fabled King Kekille’s justice. Other sections mock the President’s claim of humane rule, criticise a JVP no-confidence motion against the Western Province opposition organiser, ask why the air force commander alone faces firm action, and note police corruption admitted by H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya, urging use of the assets law.
බස් අවුල සහ මොළේ අවුල
After twelve people were killed by private buses in two weeks and crowds began stoning buses, Ivan describes a transport system in which passengers, owners and crews are all aggrieved and senior police officers, including former PSD director Nihal Karunaratne, own buses. He proposes extra licences and free training for drivers and conductors, uniforms, state compensation if fares are held down, night-time movement of heavy vehicles in Colombo, standard models and a single livery.
මජරකමද? වැඩවසම් උද්ධච්ඡකමද?
The dispute over luxury bullet-proof vehicles bought under the People’s Alliance, some now missing, shows how selfishly the country has been run. The editorial lists the purchases for the President’s security from 1999 to 2000, costing Rs 1,110 million for cars and perhaps Rs 3,000 million with helicopters, and contrasts this with UNP leaders who faced worse threats without such spending and with meagre budgets for agriculture, labour and irrigation.
චන්ද්රිකාගේ ගැටලු ජයගන්නට රනිල්ට හැකි ද?
Ivan notes that President Kumaratunga still controls ambassadors, provincial governors, who would head any interim administration, and the power to dissolve Parliament after a year. Curbing these needs a two-thirds majority, and her strategy is to deny the government PA votes unless investigations into crimes of her era, which could threaten her and the Bandaranaike name, are dropped. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political future, he says, depends on how he handles this.
අපරාධ පාලනයට මීට වඩා වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමුවිය යුතු යි
Murders and robberies are now daily events, and attacks on officials who enforce the law are rising, from the killing of customs officer Sujith Prasanna Perera to the acid attack on audit superintendent Ambanwala, for which no one has been arrested. The editorial blames protection given to criminals by police and politicians, calls for corrupt officers to be purged, and urges that the still-unestablished independent Police Commission make this and freedom from political interference its first goals.
පුදුම රටක්
A multi-part column. Ivan contrasts a poor country with rulers who bought 44 bulletproof cars at Rs 40 million each, many now missing, and spent Rs 600 million on the Sarasavi studio. Under ‘Sadism’ he reports confessions that Sanath Gunathilake ordered the bombing and burning of Anoja Weerasinghe’s house and the attack on Rookantha and Chandraleka, and describes the cover stories spread over the Rohana Kumara murder. Further sections discuss PA divisions over toppling the government and argue the domestic LTTE ban is pointless.
විගණන අධිකාරීවරයාට ඇසිඩ් ගැසීම හා ඉන් කෙරෙන ඇගවීම
Lalith Ambanwala, superintendent of audit in Kandy, was attacked with acid on the very day four senior provincial education officials he had exposed over a fraud of tens of millions were reinstated without proper inquiry. The editorial compares the case to the murder of customs officer Sujith Prasanna Perera, notes that the officials had funded UNP candidates, and warns that unless the government acts firmly against those responsible, rogues will rule the country.