සම්මානය හා අධිකරණ නිදහසේ මළගම
Ivan welcomes the attention foreign powers are paying to the government’s anti-democratic conduct as well as to the LTTE. He argues that the northern conflict is part of Sri Lanka’s democratic crisis and that southern rulers, though elected, rule partly by terror. He proposes third-party-guided talks, an all-party agreement on constitutional principles, independent institutions, a right to information law and an election followed by a five-year national government on the South African model.
යළි ඉන්දියානු මැදිහත්වීමක්
Ivan assesses India’s offer to mediate if both sides ask, after it refused the President’s request for air support. India distrusts the Norwegian process, dislikes Pakistani and Israeli involvement, and will not allow outside powers to crush the LTTE, yet even its intervention seems unlikely to bring a solution before the election. He notes rifts within the Ceylon Workers’ Congress and the Muslim Congress, and emergency rules used to hobble the opposition.
වෙන්වීමක ඇතිවිම නොවැලැක්විය හැකිය
Ivan analyses the army’s withdrawal from Elephant Pass, the gateway to the Jaffna peninsula, and argues that the capture of Jaffna without securing a land route was always a trap. With some fifty thousand troops and police now with nowhere to retreat, he expects Jaffna to fall to the LTTE, sees no hope in Norwegian-facilitated talks short of confederation, and concludes that separation is unavoidable, citing Lee Kuan Yew on Sri Lankan leaders’ failure to manage ethnic passions.
එල්. ටී. ටී. ඊ.
The editorial argues that Anton Balasingham’s interview with the Tamil Guardian, setting out the LTTE’s conditions for Norwegian-facilitated talks such as the Thimpu principles and a homeland, should be debated seriously rather than sensationalised by Lankadeepa and Divaina. It agrees that both the People’s Alliance and the UNP view the national question from a Sinhala standpoint, calls their talks a deception, and condemns the Foreign Ministry’s reply as pandering to chauvinism.
ගෙදර ගියොත් අඹු නසී, මග හිටියොත් තා නසී
Ivan finds the government trapped after its presidential win. S.B. Dissanayake has become one of the few steering the state, while Sarath Amunugama has displaced Mangala Samaraweera on media and failed to deliver UNP defectors. Party-crossing and a referendum to extend Parliament’s term are both fraught, the President’s health raises questions, she is unlikely to trade the presidency for the premiership, and on the ethnic question she is likely to lean towards war.
දැන් කරන්න යන්නේ මොනවාද?
Ivan says the People’s Alliance, instead of tackling the problems it promised to solve quickly, is busy attacking opponents. The new constitution has gone quiet, there is no clear approach to ending the war within a year, and the President’s three-hour address contradicted her conciliatory inauguration speech. He urges calm judgement and cooperation with political opponents.
ඊළඟට කුමක් සිදුවේද
After the presidential election the editorial finds the way ahead unclear. It asks whether the President’s call to the UNP means a genuine national government or a ploy to isolate Ranil Wickremesinghe, doubts that the promised new constitution and package can pass with anti-package figures in the alliance, and notes that a prime minister is less secure than an executive president. A second section faults Wickremesinghe’s leadership for passivity over the Chief Justice appointment and the elections machinery and for careless remarks.
නැවත ජයග්රහණය අනාගතය
Ivan analyses Chandrika Kumaratunga’s re-election, which he judges not entirely clean but not overturned by the malpractice in seats such as Hanguranketa and Dambulla. The LTTE bomb at her final rally swung sympathy her way and the anger at Prabhakaran fell on Ranil Wickremesinghe, yet her share of the vote fell sharply from 1994. He foresees clashes between pro- and anti-package forces in the People’s Alliance, doubts she will give up the executive presidency as promised, and notes costly election pledges.