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.
විය හැකි දේ සහ විය යුතු දේ
Written on the eve of the local government elections, Ivan sets out what each side must prove against the 2001 results, and says a sharp JVP decline could mark the beginning of its end. He praises the government’s comparatively clean campaign, proposes reforming the executive presidency by removing the arbitrary dissolution power and simplifying removal of a president, and argues that Prabhakaran, like Mandela, could become a stronger leader by abandoning arms.
පැවැත්ම සමග කරන සූදුවක්
Ivan argues that the JVP is gambling its political survival by opposing Ranil Wickremesinghe’s peace effort as it once opposed the Indo-Lanka Accord. He recalls that the party called provincial councils a division of the country, killed people over them and then became their keen participants without apology, and now stays silent on the executive presidency and the President’s stalling of the 17th Amendment. Nationalism, he says, can wreck a settlement but no longer carries anyone to power.
සාමයේ අනාගතය
As the President and the JVP line up against the government’s ceasefire memorandum of understanding with the LTTE, Ivan says Ranil Wickremesinghe misjudged her willingness to cooperate and failed to adapt the 1978 Constitution for cohabitation, as France did in 1986. He proposes constitutional reform giving domestic power to the Prime Minister, and urges that the chance for peace be seized after 18 years of war that neither side can win.
ජනාධිපතිනියගේ දෙබිඩි පිළිවෙත
The editorial argues that the President’s opposition to the government’s negotiations with the LTTE defies the majority who elected the UNF on a promise of peace talks. It holds that the 2001 result also cancelled her 1999 mandate, so she should either resign or let the new government govern, and warns that telling the world she backs peace while telling supporters she will resist a sell-out could do the country great harm.
ජනාධිපතිනිය පෙනය පිප්පීම ඇරඹීම
Ivan notes that Chandrika Kumaratunga presents herself abroad as a supporter of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s peace effort while telling supporters at Horagolla that the UNP owes its victory to the LTTE and she will resist any sell-out. He faults the Prime Minister for not reforming his uncle J.R. Jayewardene’s constitution as France did for cohabitation, and proposes curbing presidential powers and simplifying the impeachment procedure, which he calls unique in the world.
කුමාර් පොන්නම්බලම් ඝාතනය
An investigative dossier on the January 2000 killing of Kumar Ponnambalam. It sets out a timeline linking the killing to the President’s televised attack on critics, and reports Mrs Ponnambalam’s accusation against the government and CID chief Bandula Wickremasinghe’s secret report naming Mahen Ratwatte as instigator. It reproduces the President’s two condolence letters (one wrongly dated), suspect Sugath Ranasinghe’s affidavit clearing Mahen Ratwatte, a lawyer’s letter for Ratwatte, and a transcript of Ranasinghe’s taped phone confession.
යුද හමුදාව නින්දාවට පත් කිරීම
Ivan argues that Anuruddha Ratwatte used army commandos in the election, including the Madawala and Polgolla polling-station attacks and the Udathalawinna massacre, and faults army commander Lionel Balagalle for permitting it. He then examines the Athurugiriya safe-house affair, questioning why an intelligence unit working in Batticaloa kept thermobaric weapons in Colombo, the irregular rent and uniform contracts, and Charitha Ratwatte’s earlier complaint of a plot to kill Ranil Wickremesinghe.
නව විපක්ෂ නායකයාට සුභ පැතුම්
The editorial welcomes Mahinda Rajapaksa’s appointment as Leader of the Opposition as a first step in freeing the SLFP from one family’s control, noting that Chandrika Kumaratunga conceded it only under pressure from party members. It urges him to modernise the party and to practise an opposition politics that supports what is good, including peace, and opposes only what is harmful.
ජේ ආර් ප්රේමදාස හා චන්ද්රිකා ආශ්රයෙන් රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ
Ivan compares the new Prime Minister with three presidents. J.R. Jayewardene thought big and was democratic with his cabinet though authoritarian towards the country; Premadasa was the reverse; Chandrika Kumaratunga had no national goal and was autocratic towards both. He credits Ranil Wickremesinghe’s restraint on the ethnic issue and his rapid lifting of northern restrictions, likened to John Major in Northern Ireland, but faults his hoarding of ministries and his ambivalence on the Chief Justice and holdover officials.