ඌවේ ඡන්ද ප්‍රතිඵල ගැන
Ivan analyses the Uva provincial council result of September 2014, comparing it with the 2004 and 2009 provincial polls and the 2005 and 2010 presidential results in Badulla and Monaragala. The ruling alliance’s share has fallen sharply in what was its strongest province, the UNP has recovered, and he argues that despite the war victory and Sinhala Buddhist support, Mahinda Rajapaksa is no longer certain to win a presidential election.
ඌව ඡන්දය හා අශීලාචාර මැතිවරණ ක්‍රමය
With the Uva provincial election showing the government’s abuse of state resources, from Divi Neguma handouts to Samurdhi officers campaigning, Ivan compares campaign-finance rules in the United States, France and India with Sri Lanka, where spending limits vanished after 1978. He asks whether the Commissioner of Elections has the power to act, citing court rulings, and proposes nine reforms, including penalties for politicians who order officials to break the law, stronger powers for the Commissioner, control of party funds, and full asset declarations for candidates.
අශීලාචාර 18 පරාජය කිරීම
Following up the previous column, Ivan tests Sarath Silva’s argument against the constitution. Transitional provisions in Chapter XXI of the 1978 constitution, including Article 160, show how J.R. Jayewardene was specially made eligible, and the Eighteenth Amendment, rushed through on the wave of war victory, has a technical flaw that is not easily corrected. Seeking a favourable ruling from the Supreme Court would put the judges in a trap; opposing injustice is a human duty, and all who want change should unite to defeat the Eighteenth.
සරත් සිල්වාගේ කාල බෝම්බය
Ivan, no admirer of Sarath N. Silva, nevertheless takes seriously the former Chief Justice’s argument that Mahinda Rajapaksa cannot contest a third term. Silva’s thesis, set out in nine points, is that the Eighteenth Amendment, passed in 2010 after Rajapaksa had already been sworn in for his second term, cannot give him a right to a third term that he did not have when re-elected. Ivan compares term limits under presidential systems in France, Brazil and elsewhere and argues that what matters is honouring the people’s sovereignty.
ජවිපෙ ප්‍රහාරයට පිළිතුරක් (ලංකා පුවත්පතේ පළවූ විවේචන දෙකට පිළිතුරකි.)
Ivan answers two attacks in the JVP paper Lanka by a writer calling himself ‘Kasakaraya’ (the flogger), who branded him a fraud and accused him of preparing the ground for Ranil Wickremesinghe as he had for Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1994. Calmly, he replies that he began writing books in prison after 1971, recalls Ravaya’s 25th anniversary, explains that the Kaha Pati campaign arose from the violent North Western provincial election of 1999, and states that his aim is not to install any leader but to win a framework for changing the political system.
දර්ශනයේ දුප්පත්කම
A reply to C.A. Dissanayake’s Ravaya article defending limited constitutional reform, which Ivan links to Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne’s thinking. He questions who ‘Dissanayake’ really is, rebuts his account of J.R. Jayewardene’s Second Amendment to the 1972 constitution, which created the presidency, and argues that the executive presidency changed the whole character of Parliament: the old MP elected by a small constituency served the people, while today’s MPs, chosen under preferential voting, depend on money and patronage.
නව ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ඉලක්ක කොටගෙන ඒකාබද්ධ විරුද්ධ පක්ෂ ව්‍යාපාරයක් ඇති කරගැනීම
A seventeen-point plan for a joint opposition movement with one aim: a new constitution. Parties would unite around a common programme rather than a common candidate, keep that unity until the constitution is drafted and passed within an agreed time, decide by consensus rather than majority vote, agree first on principles and then on a programme, launch it at a public rally, take it to the main towns, and if necessary negotiate with the President.
නව ව්‍යවස්ථාව හා පොදු අපේක්ෂකයා – 9
Part 9 turns to the opposition’s idea of a common presidential candidate who would deliver a new constitution within six months. Ivan questions whether the Seventeenth Amendment belongs in a new constitution, shows that some constitutions were written quickly but most were not, and argues that instead of a common candidate the opposition needs a common programme, agreed by all parties and set before the public, with a timetable for a new constitution; only this can prevent the slide into anarchy.
ගල් පර්වතය අයිස් පර්වතයක් බවට පත්වීම
Reading the March 2014 Western and Southern provincial council results, Ivan finds that the government’s vote, once rock-solid, has begun to melt, most of all in the populous Western Province. The UNP remains divided and the rise of General Fonseka’s party is notable. He warns that the government is playing with fire by defying the UN Human Rights Council, since Sri Lanka as a UN member cannot escape scrutiny of the violence used to crush its rebellions.
ස්මෝල්, මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස් හා පළාත් සභා ඡන්ද
Following responses to his column on W.J.T. Small, Ivan asks the Commissioner of Elections to follow Small’s example in the provincial council elections. Before the executive presidency, he writes, elections were civil: strict spending limits applied, and courts unseated winners who broke the law, as in the 1947 petition against T.B. Ilangaratne. After 1977 the contest turned savage, and the 1994 People’s Alliance government continued the same greedy system rather than ending it.