ජනාධිපතිනිය තමන් වැටුණු බොරු වළට විපක්ෂය කැඳවීම
Ivan argues that President Kumaratunga, trapped in a pit of her own lies, wants to lure Ranil Wickremesinghe in with the premiership and a national government, climb out on his back, purge the rebels in her own camp and then discard him. He urges the opposition to build an all-party interim government for reform with the government rebels, predicts she will keep Parliament shut rather than face defeat on a policy statement, and says lasting stability needs a settlement with Prabhakaran that meets Tamil grievances.
ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ පරිවාස වැඩපිළිවෙළ
Ivan questions whether the JVP can win the five independent commissions by giving oxygen to a dying People’s Alliance government. He recalls its seats on the rigged North Western Provincial Council and support for PA provincial administrations, and gives the numbers: the government fell from a majority to 109 against 115 after Rauff Hakeem’s group left, and JVP support brings it back to 119. He argues that the pact’s ban on peace talks, privatisation and price rises clashes with the IMF standby agreement and risks another LTTE attack like Katunayake.
Trapping UNP: PA’s way out of trap
The President is in a trap she cannot get out of, and is now trying to drag the leader of the opposition into it with her. Parliament reconvenes on 7 September, and if she delivers the policy statement the constitution requires, the opposition means to vote it down.
අර්බුදය කුණු කිරීම
Ivan says the Katunayake attack has badly damaged a weak economy, yet the parties behave like crabs dancing in a warming pot. The crisis stems from the prorogation to block the no-confidence motion; the Speaker put his sister ahead of Parliament and the JVP’s factional approach wrecked the chance of an all-party reform government. With over Rs. 100 crore spent on the postponed referendum and Parliament due on 7 September, he warns that months more without proper government will deepen the economic collapse.
A sail through stormy weather
The attack at Katunayake has brought down a large part of an already weak economy, and neither the parties struggling for power nor the public seems to grasp how serious it is. They behave like the crab that dances in the pot until the water boils. One more such attack would be enough.
ඊලගට විය හැක්කේ කුමක්ද
Ivan says the government treats its crisis as a simple numbers problem that Sarath N. Silva or the JVP’s ten votes might solve, while the UNP and JVP resemble a jockey clinging to a bolting horse. With the referendum postponed to 18 October, he sets out the President’s options, warns of Philippine-style street protest or a heavy election defeat, and urges an all-party interim government that turns Parliament into a constituent assembly, following South Africa’s example of agreeing principles first, including on talks with the LTTE.
අලුත් හෙට දිනක්
The piece argues that the crisis can only end well through an all-party government focused on essential reforms, which the government’s rejection has made the basis of the no-confidence motion. It asks the main opposition to set out clearly the nature of the government it would form, how the presidency would be reformed, what beyond five independent commissions it proposes, how it would settle the war, how power would be shared and for how long, since such a chance may not recur.
කතාව දෝලාවෙන් ගමන පයින්
Any settlement with Prabhakaran requires renewing the social contract with real power-sharing, but the government’s fine words on devolution are contradicted by its conduct. Moving from Hobbes to Rousseau and modern pluralism, the editorial lists how the President denies power to ministers, the judiciary, the Elections Commissioner and the Auditor General, meddles in the Kataragama Basnayake Nilame election and the cricket board, and strips Colombo’s UNP council, so Tamils cannot trust her promises.
Performance that does not match words
The LTTE has rejected the existing social contract and is fighting for a new one and a new state. Since the end of that could be the break-up of the country, the government tried to crush the rebellion by war, and having found that hard has had to offer to amend the contract instead.
සතුරන් සේම මිතුරන්ද සැකයි
Ivan describes a People’s Alliance government paralysed by fear of a no-confidence motion. Its margin has shrunk from 37 seats before the 2000 election to nine, with no outside support, so six defections would bring it down. Thondaman, Hakeem and even S.B. Dissanayake are restive, the President accuses allies of taking LTTE money, and the Prime Minister blocked lifting the LTTE ban. The opposition must act before October, when the President may dissolve Parliament.