සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුමට වසරකි
Marking the first anniversary of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE on 22 February, the editorial notes that the PA and JVP condemn it as a betrayal while the government hails it as its greatest achievement, both treating it as a tool in the southern power struggle. It argues that a true assessment must start from the relief the agreement brought to the long-suffering people of the North and East, which a numbed majority mentality and majority-dominated media ignore.
ශ්රී ලංකාව සඳහා මහාචාර්ය ගල්ටුන් නිර්දේශ කරන පෙඩරල් මාදිලිය
Noting which parties favour or oppose federalism, the piece outlines the model Johan Galtung put to a mixed Sri Lankan audience: bicameral legislatures at the centre and in the provinces, with a senate in which each ethnic group has equal representation and a veto on matters affecting it, so that minorities in both south and north-east are protected. It compares the US, Swiss and Indian second chambers and notes Galtung’s views on soft borders, courts and the division of powers.
A Snap Election
In a climate where peace hangs by a thread, the looming threat of a snap election promises not a democratic transition, but a destructive contest of death. Caught in a bitter, bilateral deadlock, the Executive President and the Prime Minister are poised to drag the nation into a mad struggle for supremacy. With the LTTE watching warily from the wings, an election waged in the “law of the jungle” risks plunging the exhausted country back into anarchy. To prevent this impending peril, civil society must forcefully demand a civilized consensus—a unified, all-party commitment to structural reform, independent electoral oversight, and a non-military resolution—before the ballot box is completely broken by the barrel of a gun.
දැන් වියහැකි දේ කුමක්ද?
Ivan tests the JVP claim that a JVP–People’s Alliance coalition could have formed a government on 2001 results, pairing the UNP with its Tamil and Muslim allies against the PA, JVP and EPDP, and noting the collapse in both parties’ votes at the 2002 local elections. Policy differences and public fear of renewed war make a lasting alliance unlikely, so an early election is improbable; he urges civil society to widen the government–LTTE talks into a broader state reform.
ෆෙඩරල් අපභ්රංසය
Prompted by the LTTE’s statement that it would drop the demand for a separate state in return for internal self-rule under a federal system, Ivan argues that constitutional debate should not be confined to ethnic grievances, since discontent with the political system is widespread. He then sets out the basic features of federalism with examples from the United States, India, Switzerland, Australia, Canada and Belgium, covering amendment procedures, second chambers, division of powers and dispute resolution, and rebuts popular myths such as a federal unit’s supposed right to secede.
ප්රභාකරන් හොඳ නම් ජනාධිපතිනිය පමණක් නරක ඇයි?
Ranil Wickremesinghe has reached agreement with Prabhakaran but not with Chandrika Kumaratunga, who leads the main opposition. Ivan argues that any settlement with the LTTE needs at least the main opposition’s support, and faults the government for wavering between confrontation and coexistence, leaving PA rebels stranded after the 19th Amendment failed. Citing de Klerk and Mandela, he says Wickremesinghe and Prabhakaran must each win respect across communities and from the People’s Alliance.
හදිසි මැතිවරණයකට යෑමේ බිය පහවී නැත
From 5 December the President gains the power to dissolve Parliament at any time. The piece sets out the costs of a snap election: expense, a threat to the peace process and a return to war, administrative disruption, loss of investor confidence and the likelihood of another weak coalition. It doubts the President’s assurances, notes suspicions that she is working through the Muslim Congress, and concludes that she is subtly trying to break the government.
ඔස්ලෝ ආධාර සමුළුව
The piece defends the LTTE’s inclusion in the Oslo aid conference but says involving the President would have strengthened it, and notes that Western delegates stressed sovereignty, territorial integrity, human rights and democracy. It contrasts Chandrika Kumaratunga, who offers much on paper but nothing in practice, with Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has no prepared plan but concedes whatever is asked, and warns that opposition obstruction is strengthening the LTTE’s hand.
සාමය ජයගැනීම සරල නැත
The editorial rejects criticism of the LTTE’s participation in the Oslo aid conference, arguing that both parties jointly seeking reconstruction aid is positive. It notes Anton Balasingham’s measured reply to the US Deputy Secretary of State, the LTTE’s shift from a separate state to internal self-rule and Prabhakaran’s conciliatory Heroes’ Day speech. On LTTE police stations and courts, it argues regional policing is part of devolution and that successive governments’ failure to provide Tamil-language police and courts is partly to blame.
හොරගල් ඇහිලීම
Ivan assesses the manoeuvring between President and Prime Minister after the 19th Amendment was withdrawn. The President may dissolve Parliament after 5 December but has promised not to, and a crossover government or a bid to replace Ranil Wickremesinghe as UNP leader through another prime minister faces numerical and LTTE obstacles. He notes her wish to change the system so she can stay in politics until a child takes over, and says Wickremesinghe is staking everything on peace and the Oslo aid conference.