අලුත් ආණ්ඩුවටත් නැතුවම බැරී හැරි
Businessman Harry Jayawardena was the People’s Alliance’s chief financier, and the President shielded him while customs and Central Bank inquiries into alleged duty and exchange frauds stayed open; some link the customs inquiry to the killing of officer Sujith Perera, after which other officers fled abroad. Ivan asks what signal the new government sends by appointing him to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ජනාධිපතිනියත් නීතිය ඉදිරියට පමුණුවාලිය යුතුය
Ivan argues that presidential immunity assumes a leader will not commit crimes, and that one who does must face the law. He questions how Chandrika Kumaratunga funds her lifestyle, calls the Air Lanka sale to Emirates, brokered by her friend Chandana Silva, corrupt, and links her security forces to the killings of Kumar Ponnambalam and Rohana Kumara, the attack on singers Rookantha Gunathilake and Chandraleka, the burning of Anoja Weerasinghe’s house and body parts sent to Ravi Karunanayake. He urges an impartial commission.
මැතිවරණයේදි සිදුවූ වැරදි නිවැරදි කිරීම ආණ්ඩුවේ වගකීමක්
The UNF’s large local government victory is read as a mandate for its peace programme and a rejection of the President and the JVP-led anti-peace forces. But the piece records black marks: opposition agents driven from polling stations and Samurdhi recipients’ ballots used by others in some areas. It argues that the government, which had wanted a clean election but did not instruct its candidates firmly, must investigate and discipline its own offenders rather than point to election petitions.
මාළිගා විවාදය යළි කරලියට
A long reply by presidential media director Janadasa Peiris to a report that Rs 800 million had been spent on the site of a planned presidential palace has revived the controversy. The editorial notes what he leaves out about the Temple Trees renovation, including a swimming pool and mini-cinema, and about repairs to President’s House, and observes that earlier leaders from S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to Ranasinghe Premadasa lived in their own homes, a tradition Chandrika Kumaratunga broke.
චොකා ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය
Under the People’s Alliance ‘Choka Malli’, chairman of the Nivitigala Pradeshiya Sabha and now an MP, ruled Ratnapura as ‘Chandi Malli’ ruled Hambantota. With power changed, two of his followers have disappeared and their dismembered bodies been found. The editorial warns that revenge by past victims must not be allowed, since punishment outside the law ends the rule of law, and that no new ‘Choka’ system should take root.
මහජනයා මීහරකුන්ට ගැනීම
Ivan says it is absurd to seek public help through newspaper advertisements to find state vehicles misused in the election, when the officials who released them should be held responsible. He is equally scornful of the dispute over the helicopter bill for ‘Prince Sapumal’, a former defence minister flown to Teldeniya: the government wanted to protect him, then blamed the prisons chief when the public objected.
නරින්ට කුකුළන් බාරදිම
Tourism Minister Gamini Lokuge has said the management agreement for SriLankan Airlines should be reviewed. The editorial notes that since management passed to Emirates there are no direct flights to Germany or Italy, key tourist markets, and that Sri Lanka cannot change this despite majority ownership. Handing the airline to a regional competitor was like giving Lake House to a rival newspaper, and those who criticised the deal in opposition must now correct it.
උරුමයේ කරුමය
Ivan agrees with Anura Bandaranaike that the SLFP is a Bandaranaike family fiefdom in which Mahinda Rajapaksa is only a capable retainer, but warns that the country is not a fiefdom too. Further sections mock the ‘jobless’ President’s prison visit to her guards at Bogambara and her complaint that cabinet meetings drive her mad, note an unrevealed secret Mangala Samaraweera told S.B. Dissanayake, and describe how powerful remand prisoners end up in hospital rather than cells.
අනුරුද්ධ රත්වත්තෙ අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම
The editorial welcomes the arrest of former deputy defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatte on criminal charges as a necessary step, since the powerful commit crimes because they are never punished. It argues that the President’s security division has been used against opponents, that she shares the blame, and that presidential immunity should cover ordinary acts of government, not crimes.
රටේ රැජිණ ජනාධිපතිනියයි
A satirical piece on the gift of two acres of prime land at Rajagiriya to the President’s Australian physiotherapist, likening her to a feudal queen who rewards retainers from the royal domain, along with luxury houses for loyal officials and President’s Fund grants to relatives. A second item mocks the CID’s deferential questioning of Anuruddha Ratwatte over the Udathalawinna massacre and its passing of the matter to the Attorney General.