චන්ද්රිකා + රනිල් ඒකත් ජයසිරී මංගලම්
With the 19th Amendment blocked, Ivan sees a stalemate that could push Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe into a temporary political marriage: he to protect the peace process, she to halt inquiries into corruption and crimes linked to her security division and to secure her family’s political future. A second section argues she has turned to wrecking the peace process and defends talks with Prabhakaran. A third questions Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva’s handling of complaints against himself and his alliance with Hemantha Warnakulasuriya.
රනිල්ට වැරදුණේ කොතැන ද?
After the Supreme Court blocked the 19th Amendment strategy, Ivan assesses Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership. He compares the goals and power bases of J.R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Chandrika Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe, and argues that the Prime Minister missed the chance, just after his election victory, to use his mandate to force the President into constitutional reform. He praises his resolve on peace but faults his reliance on personal friends rather than the cabinet and his failure to explain his goals.
හිරවූ තත්ත්වය
The Supreme Court ruling on the 19th Amendment has created a sense of instability, but the editorial argues that neither side can prevail: the President can obstruct the government but not topple it, and with the Tamil alliance’s 16 MPs the government has 130 seats, not 114. It urges both sides to use the deadlock to reach consensus on the executive presidency, national policy, the peace process and minority rights.
කොටි තහනම ඉවත් කිරීම
The editorial welcomes the government’s decision to lift the ban on the LTTE as necessary to the peace process despite some opposition. The ban was imposed to placate the public after the attack on the Temple of the Tooth and made no difference to what the LTTE did. It notes that the ceasefire is holding and that public support for a settlement is strong, and urges both sides to look beyond past wrongs.
ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ භූමිකාව
The editorial says the JVP aims to ally with favoured SLFP figures, derail the peace process with the President’s help and use the resulting disorder to form a government it can steer, much as Sirimavo Bandaranaike and N.M. Perera did in 1964, with Mangala Samaraweera as go-between. It argues the JVP offers the SLFP little beyond votes, and warns that the power struggle may push Prabhakaran to prepare for war or to claim that only a separate state is left.
ඇවිලෙන ගින්නට පිදුරු නො දමනු
The editorial says a peaceful settlement of the ethnic conflict is essential to the survival of all communities. As a deal with the Tamil rebels takes shape, eastern Muslims fear becoming a minority under Tamil dominance. It urges Tamil leaders to allay that fear, Muslim leaders to act with patience, and opposition parties not to inflame the situation for short-term gain.
පළමුව කතා කළ යුත්තේ මොළයට නොව බඩටය
With prices soaring beyond even middle-income earners, Ivan says that however important peace is, people will not endure hunger while waiting for it. He urges the government to identify the ten or fifteen essential goods people need and keep them at subsidised prices, since peace can be won only if people are in a state to think clearly.
තහනම සාකච්ඡාවලට බාධාවක් කරගත යුතු ද?
Campaigners demanding that the LTTE ban stay in place would, the editorial argues, wreck the proposed talks and push the country back to war it cannot afford. The Tigers fought before and after the ban, which was imposed to placate the public after the attack on the Temple of the Tooth. The JVP too was once banned, and a ban lifted can easily be reimposed if the LTTE breaks its commitments.
අධිකරණය ගඳ ගැස්සවීම
A short note on Anura Bandaranaike’s meeting in London, with Nimal Siripala de Silva, with JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe to bring the JVP into the People’s Alliance. Ivan calls the two alike in everything but oratory, says Anura’s aim is to overtake Mahinda Rajapaksa as the PA’s next presidential candidate by replacing the pro-peace LSSP and Communist Party with the JVP, and ironically wishes him success.
පුදුම රටක්
A multi-part column. Ivan contrasts a poor country with rulers who bought 44 bulletproof cars at Rs 40 million each, many now missing, and spent Rs 600 million on the Sarasavi studio. Under ‘Sadism’ he reports confessions that Sanath Gunathilake ordered the bombing and burning of Anoja Weerasinghe’s house and the attack on Rookantha and Chandraleka, and describes the cover stories spread over the Rohana Kumara murder. Further sections discuss PA divisions over toppling the government and argue the domestic LTTE ban is pointless.