Demands and Recommendations For Law Reforms and Policy Changes With Regard to Violence Against Women and Girls

1. Justice Delayed is Justice Denied. Expedite judgement in all rape cases and sexual violence. We need justice for Vithiya, Seya and all other rape victims. Expedite the hearing in all rape cases *benchmarking Seya Sadewmi Case.

2. Clear the backlog of all cases of rape, incest, and grave sexual abuse by assigning (as a temporary measure) separate Courts in each district for cases of sexual violence against women and children.

3. The practice of giving suspended sentences to rapists should be stopped completely.

4. Rape is punishable under Article 364 (1) of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka, which carries a minimum of 7 years to a maximum 20 year rigorous imprisonment, a fine, and a Court order to pay compensation. In cases of a statutory rape, the maximum sentence should be increased to more than 20 years *including but not limited to life sentence.

5. The penal code allows the age of consent for sexual intercourse to be above 16 years. The age of majority in Sri Lanka is 18 and the marriageable age is 18. Therefore, comprehensive education should be made compulsory in all schools.

6. Decriminalize medical termination of pregnancies in the case of **rape, and major congenital abnormalities with immediate effect by amending the penal code.

7. Register all school buses and private vehicles that transport school children with the police and with the Ministry of Education. Make it compulsory that a woman should be present in all private-owned transport facilities; to and from school.

8. Strengthen Women and Children’s desks in all districts by appointing well trained gender sensitive Police officers.

9. Establish a structure for systematic data collection on rape and all forms of sexual violence against women and girls. (**Maintaining sexual offender database is a must & make it public)

10. Provide protection, relief and legal and medical remedies; including appropriate compensation to victims and their families.

11. Establish a unified Civil Code in Sri Lanka defining the age of marriage as 18 years ***(No community should have separate laws for themselves irrespective of religion or tradition. Which includes abolishing any acts passed such as the act for Kathi courts).

12. Establish a special fund to provide legal and medical intervention, including DNA testing in the cases of rape, incest and all sex-related violence.

13. Ensure safe public transport for all women and girls in all areas, times and place.

14. Set-up a special unit to fast-track cases concerning violence against women and children at the Attorney Generals’ Department.

15) Make Sexual education mandatory at schools. Make a curriculum that cover all aspects of basic sexual education that includes sexual health & safety.

16. Give self-defense/Situation handling/Martial arts training in schools as a part of physical education.

17. Provide special protections to victims and witnesses in cases of sexual violence and enforce the law on witness and victim protection.

A woman’s complaint against the Magistrate and several police officers in Mahiyanganaya.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received a detailed complaint from Mrs. Herath Mudiyanselage Podi Kumarihami of Poojanagaraya, Mahiyangana, in the Badulla District. Her complaint reveals that the Magistrate of the Mahinganaya Magistrate’s Court, Ms. Thisani Thenabadu has taken several actions against.

The Petitioner alleges that the said Magistrate has been harassing her and violating her rights by illegal imprisonments and initiating and hearing of a case in which the said Magistrate herself has personal interest. The following are the alleged transgressions of the Magistrate that the Petitioner complains of,

1. The right of a Magistrate to issue such orders regarding the dress code of the litigants
2. Preventing a litigant from entering the court premises for a lawful purpose on the basis of such an order
3. Initiating a criminal trial without a criminal charge – as such an order cannot give rise to a criminal charge
4. Hearing the case herself, while been an interested party – thus violating the basic rules of fair trial
5. Previous acts of harassment in connivance with some police officers
6. Illegal imprisonment of the Petitioner on several previous occasions
7. Failure to initiate any action against police officers for torture of her son and herself, after the Magistrate was made aware of such acts
8. Threatening the Petitioner that she would be taught a lesson for disrespecting the police and also threatening her not to employ any lawyers in the Petitioner’s case before the Magistrate
9. Overall purpose of all these, is to support the move of some police officers to grab her land, by expelling her from her own land;Colluding in land grabbing.

It appears that the Registrar of the Magistrate’s Court, on the basis of the Magistrate’s order has put up a public notice that every woman who is entering the Court premises should be wearing only white attire, and the police officers on guard have been instructed not to allow anyone who is not wearing white attire to enter the Court premises.This notice is a violation of the rights of women.

No Magistrate has any power to prescribe which type and what colour of attire a woman should wear to a court. All that is required is that a person appearing before a court as a litigant, should be decently dressed. And this is not a requirement prescribed for a particular court but for any court in the country.It is not within the power of any Magistrate to prescribe anything beyond the general requirement of being decently dressed as a mark of respect for the Court. However, which colour a person should be wearing has nothing to do with the requirement of being decently dressed. One could be quiet decently dressed in any colour.

There is nothing in the law nor does it carry any common sense to say that one particular colour is more decent than the other.After having such a notice published, which the Magistrate had no authority to promulgate, the Magistrate has also deployed police officers as guards, at the gate of the Magistrate’s Court with the instructions that any female, who does not comply with the white-attire requirement should not be allowed to enter the court. The litigants to a court come on the basis of summons or by other obligations to attend Court and to attend to lawful businesses associated with litigation. It is not within the power of the Magistrate or of any police or security officer to prevent a person entering a court premises for such lawful engagement.Thus, the Registrar who has signed these regulations, the Magistrate who has issued these regulations, and the police officers who have attempted to enforce these regulations have all acted against the basic rights of a citizen to enter the court premises for a lawful purpose.

Further, they have endangered the lawful rights of any such citizen who may be subjected to an adverse judgment on the basis of his or her absence from court – which is in fact caused by such a notice and its enforcement.A woman who had been having several long disputes with some of the police officers and this particular Magistrate regarding an attempt to oust her from her land which is said to be over 2 acres in extent. The Petitioner states that some police officers have been planning to grab for the purpose of sand-mining, has been charged on the basis of a breach of the abovementioned white-dress code notice, and brought before the same Magistrate who has remanded her and thereafter, charged her and is now inquiring into the very charge that she herself has filed. This particular case bears No. BR1930/15 of the Mahiyanganaya Magistrate’s Court.The Petitioner categorically states that the Magistrate has a personal interest in the case and that therefore, she herself fears that the case has been instituted in violation of the principles of a fair trial.

A judge is required to be impartial and in this instance the Magistrate’s action lacks impartiality.The Petitioner also states that on a previous occasion when she was produced before this Magistrate, the same Magistrate has told her that the Petitioner should learn to respect police officers, or otherwise she as the Magistrate, will teach her a lesson – since her husband (Magistrate’s husband) is himself a DIG (A Deputy Inspector General of Police). The Petitioner also states that the Magistrate is aware of the attempt by the police officers to oust the Petitioner from her land and that the Petitioner believes that the Magistrate is acting in collusion with such police officers.The Petitioner also states that in the course of these events, her son was severely tortured by the police officers at the Mahiyanganaya police station and that due to serious injuries he had to be hospitalised. This matter has been brought to the notice of the Magistrate and the Magistrate without taking any action against the police officers has instead, remanded the torture victim’s mother – the Petitioner.The police officers have on one other occasion beaten her and that has been brought to the notice of the Magistrate but no action has been taken against the said police officers.

The Petitioner further states that due to the joint harassment by the police and the Magistrate, she had to live in hiding for a long time and that as a result, she has been unable to carry earn her livelihood as a vendor engaged in selling of vegetables.The Petitioner further states that she had been threatened by the said Magistrate not to take services of any of the lawyers in her cases and if she wants, she herself should cross examine the witnesses. Initially several lawyers have appeared for her but now as they are afraid of getting into conflicts with the Magistrate, they have refused to appear for her.The Petitioner fears for her future, and the future of her family, and the future of her property.The Petitioner has written to the Judicial Services Commission complaining about this Magistrate and her behaviour but so far, to her knowledge, no action has been taken against the Magistrate. The Petitioner requests the Government, as well as judicial authorities, and police authorities to inquire into this matter and to take appropriate action to protect the Petitioner’s rights.

She also appeals to the public, including the Media to come to her rescue.The Asian Human Rights Commission has consistently brought to the notice of the Government and the public, that there is a serious collapse of the judicial system in Sri Lanka and it states that the above case illustrates this situation and quite sharply.

Under these circumstances, a serious discussion involving all parties, the Government, the authorities and the people of Sri Lanka remains a dire need not only for this Petitioner but also for all Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka’s Total Outstanding Debt Surpasses Staggering 9300 Bn Rupees

Sri Lanka’s total current outstanding government debt, according to the Central Bank stands at a staggering Rs. 9,382 Billion as of the end of July 2016. That’s an increase of Rs. 878.7 Billion from the end of 2015. Attributing the increase mainly to high Domestic Borrowings and the depreciation of the Rupee against major foreign currencies, the Central Banks special report makes particular mention of Rs.70.1 Billion of debt being the result of the Discount Factor, which is the net difference between the book value and face value of issues and maturities of Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds-(CB).

Let’s take a moment to let that number sink in: Rs.70.1 Billion in National Debt in just the 1st seven months of 2016, as a result of issuing securities including bonds, at higher rates.

Of course these billions mean little or nothing to the farmers of Tambuttegama and the fisherfolk of Kaluwankerni. The average Sri Lankan is kept enraptured & hypnotized in a never-ending political circus between the incumbents who have divided themselves in to factions and the ousted camps determined to make a political comeback.

The political-class couldn’t care less about the state of our economy or the state of our lives. That the Prime Minister advocated giving away a monthly allowance of Rs. 100,000 to each MP to be used in ‘development work’ in addition to all the allowances and permits already in their kitty, is perhaps the most recent example of an abject lack of empathy and understanding of what really ails our nation and her people.

An example of what may be politically right, but ethically, shameful.

The fact is, all we see is wild allegations being thrown at each other, a desperately political budget and cloak & dagger games between the constituent parties of the National Government. Have we heard of a Grand National Strategy? How do we intend on competing against the roaring economies in our own neighbourhood? Where will Sri Lanka be 20-years from today? What investments are we making in building a highly skilled workforce equipped to take on the challenges in the years to come? Does the government imagine that giving away Tab’s to school children to be the answer to the need of sculpting a vibrant generation, capable of becoming world-class technological innovators? It is impossible for this or any government to truly commit itself to building our nation whilst being focused on political survival and what is invariably and eternally, the next election.

And now the next one, the hotly debated Local Government Polls, is being touted as a litmus test for each party’s popularity. It is bound to be a hotly contested street fight, with fabulous amounts of money being thrown by contenders and parties alike. Pots of money that somehow never fail to magically appear during elections in Sri Lanka.

Perhaps it is time that the sources of party funds are audited?

It is after all in public interest that we are aware of how each party accumulates the millions and sometimes, billions it will no doubt spurge, all in the name of power and control.

Be that as it may, let’s take a few moments to understand the state of our own finances, let’s take a brief look at our Key Economic Indicators:

1. Our GDP Growth Rate has fallen to 2.6%, with the Central Bank estimating Real GDP growth to be 3.9% compared to around 5% during the same time, last year. This is compared to our fiercest regional competitors, namely Bangladesh at 7.05% & Vietnam at 6.8%. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/gdp-growth

2. Our Balance of Trade stands at a negative $US 645 Million, with export earnings growth slower than slowing down of imports. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/balance-of-trade

3. Foreign Direct Investment, that should be the lifeblood of our economy stands at just US$ 117 Million as of the 1st Quarter of 2016, that’s lower than an average of US$128 Million since 2001. It would be interesting to note here that we have a Board of Investment, a Cabinet Minister and a State Minister for Development Strategies and International Trade, a Minister of Investment Promotions and then another Quasi-BOI, the Agency for Development, supposedly created to streamline & attract FDI. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/foreign-direct-investment

Perhaps this utter bureaucratic mess, has resulted in Sri Lanka’s deterioration in terms of Ease of Doing Business as reported by the World Bank, in which Sri Lanka currently ranks 110th. We have been beaten by Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and even Nepal but are doing better than Swaziland, Uganda, Belize and Malawi.

Well done, to all the Ministers, State Ministers, Agencies & Boards concerned. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/ease-of-doing-business

4. An indication of the health of our manufacturing sector is reflected by the Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index), which has decreased to 56.5 in October this year. This points to weaker expansion of the sector and decelerated employment. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/manufacturing-pmi

5. Our National Household Savings Ratio has also decreased to 22.60% from last year, as people struggle to save amidst an increasing Cost of Living. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/personal-savings

6. Our Housing Index, which is the total number of housing approvals has also decreased to 3,411 in the 4th Quarter of 2016 from the quarter before. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/housing-index

7. Unemployment INCREASED to 4.6% in the 2nd quarter of 2016 from the quarter before. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/unemployment-rate The only saving grace seems to be foreign remittances, which have increased on the back of Sri Lankan Domestic Workers in the Middle-East.

If our political leaders were corporate leaders, this sort of performance would render them not just immediately unemployed, but permanently unemployable!

All things considered, it is easy to be pessimistic and doubtful as to whether Sri Lanka can redeem for herself, her rightful place on the global stage. But as political commentator and futurist Alex Steffen says,

“Optimism is a political act. Those who benefit from the status quo are perfectly happy for us to think nothing is going to get any better. In fact, these days, cynicism is obedience.”

By Florence Wirekoon

Sri Lanka is about the same size as one of the smallest states of the United States, West Virginia. This beautiful tiny island brimming with one of the highest biodiversity rich rain forests and a coast inhabited of whales, dugongs, and dolphins, is approximately 140 miles in width and 260 miles in length. Only a mere 65,000 square km in total size.

The population of this pearl shaped island in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, is largely theravada Buddhist (72%) and over the centuries a mix of immigrants from South India, Northern India, Africa, Europe, Middle East, and East Asia have migrated to the lush tropical island and had co-existed harmoniously with the majority Sinhalese population. This harmonious existence came apart, when racist sectarian minded politicians representing the minority Tamil immigrant community from South India started to demand the establishment of a ethnically pure, Tamil state in the norther part of Sri Lanka.

In this modern age, where ethnic cleansing and the demand for ethno centric racist separatism is frowned upon, the sectarian minded Tamil minority who have influential expatriate communities in the Western capitals have managed to hoodwink the liberal West to give them international support to wage a separatist campaign to divide this tiny island of Sri Lanka. A sad fate awaits this jewel of an island which has been tolerant and welcoming nation for all visitors and migrants.

The largely Buddhist and also Catholic and Anglican Christian Sinhala majority have rejected the separatist calls of the racist Tamil politicians, and were victims of a brutal killing spree by the ruthless Tamil tiger terrorists, who have chased out the Sinhalese and also another minority group, the Islamic faith Muslims, from the northern and eastern part of Sri Lanka, in a ethnic cleansing effort that commenced in the 1950s.

When India was a socialist state and a key ally of the Soviet Union in the Indian Ocean, and Sri Lanka was non aligned state that was championing open free market economic principles, in a bid to destabilise Sri Lanka’s allegiance to the West, terrorism was unleashed on the island by India under the direction of then then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her adviser G Parthasarthy, by training and arming Tamil extremists and Tamil racists in the early 1980’s to wage a vicious terror campaign.

The killing of 17 soldiers by the Tamil terrorists, when they were returning from protection duties of the local banks that were been robbed daily by the terrorists, the entire country erupted in outrage, and that catalyst communal riot was manipulated to create a mass exodus of Tamil civilians to the Western capitals as political refugees, which resulted in the establishment of a very influential Tamil expatriate block voter community in all the leading Western nations.

These Tamil expatriates funded the terrorism in Sri Lanka initially using the refugee allowances paid to them by European nations, and subsequently, from various illegal activities like drugs, arms and contraband smuggling, and sophisticated credit card and financial related crime syndicates operated by the Liberation of Tamil Tiger Ealam (LTTE) terrorist members. The Tamil political refugees domiciled in the European capitals made direct contributions to fund terrorism in Sri Lanka, and to keep the conflict alive in their home country, in order to retain political asylum status in Western capitals, until citizenship and permanent residency was established by perpetuating the conflict in Sri Lanka.

The ethnic cleansing efforts of the Tamil terrorists intensified during the decade of the 1980s, and this led to a reaction from the majority community, which developed into a full blown civil conflict in the North and the Eastern province, and later spread to the whole of the island, where the Tamil tiger terrorists unleashed suicide bombing missions and also unprovoked attacks on civilians in public railway stations, bus stands, cinemas, sports stadiums, schools, hospitals and airports. The carnage that the Tamil Tiger Terrorists created was everywhere, which led to the crippling of Sri Lanka’s economy, and also the death of many leading intellectuals and political leaders who were assassinated by terrorists.

India paid a heavy price when it emerged from the Soviet Union alliance and opened up trade with the West, when the Tamil Tiger terrorists carried our a daring assassination of India’s Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, because of his intervention to reverse the terrorism supporting policy of his mother , Mrs Indira Gandhi.

India’s continued covert Tamil separatist terrorist movement misadventure in Sri Lanka was largely driven by Indian central Government’s appeasement policy towards the southern State of Tamil Nadu, which is the home country for the Tamil people, with a population exceeding 72 million Tamils. In promoting a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka, India calculated that it would prevent South India from creating an independent Tamil nation within India itself.

The “destabilise Sri Lanka” policy advocates in New Delhi have allegedly promised the Tamil Nadu politicians an extension of their own sphere of political and economic influence across to the neighbouring Sri Lanka by using the economic refugees from South India that have crossed over to the lush tropical Island of Sri Lanka over a span of several centuries and also the 1 million South Indian Tamil labourers brought over by the British to work in the Tea plantations during the colonial period to be linked up to annex Sri Lanka as an extension of the Tamil Nadu State.

South India with its depleted natural resources, finds Sri Lanka a godsend economic prize, as this resource rich island has abundant quantities of fresh drinking water as well as agriculture crop irrigation water. The fishing resources around the island is already been plundered by the South Indian fishing trawlers illegally within Sri Lankan territorial waters and the Central Government of India does not heed Sri Lanka’s calls to stop this theft.

Sri Lanka also has one of the world’s largest Phosphate and Dolomite deposits, which are essential agriculture fertiliser inputs. The island is also rich in Rare Earths, nuclear energy Thorium, Titanium, Silica, Graphite and a medical compounds in the biodiversity rich rain forests. The energy resources, in terms of 50,000 mega watts of Wind power zone located in the North West coast of Sri Lanka is an alluring economic target for power strapped South India.

The brutal three decade long campaign of terror unleashed by the racist Tamil separatists was finally crushed by the Sri Lankan military that comprised of terrorism opposing citizens who volunteered to join the forces to eradicate terrorism. The Government military forces was multi ethnic in composition and soldiers, sailors, airmen, and intelligence officers were from every community, comprising of Tamils, Muslims, Euroasians and Sinhalese, whilst the Tamil terrorists were 100% tamil.

The dominant political parties representing the Tamil constituency, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by members of Parliament, Mr. R Sampanthan and M.P. Sumanthiran were openly aligned with the LTTE terrorism movement which recruited child soldiers who were abducted from their homes, and forced to join the terrorism ranks under duress, and many young children were sent to their deaths on suicide missions.

A British national Mrs. Adele Balasingham, married to a Tamil Separatist politician, was openly recruiting child soldiers and providing them cyanide capsules, in blatant violations of local and international laws prohibiting such actions. She is still to be arrested by the authorities in the UK, despite her criminal actions, and that itself demonstrates how influential the separatist movement of Tamils are in the UK, because of their block vote as a immigrant minority in Britain. Similarly the Tamil communities domiciled in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia are very influential voting blocks that have succeeded in exaggerating their plight as a minority in Sri Lanka and have duped the West about their victimhood, and completely whitewashed their terrorism actions, and the ethnic cleansing past.

It is in this backdrop that the previous Government of Sri Lanka, led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa succeeded in finally rooting out Tamil terrorism on the island in 2009, but that led to the overseas based Tamil immigrant voter blocks to pressurise their Governments to wrongly accuse the Government of Sri Lanka of “genocide” and other exaggerated claims of victimhood. This led to the formation of a UN investigation panel, and the current UN Secretary General made the mistake of appointing a biased panel, comprising of one of the active Tamil separatist supporters, Mrs Yasmin Sooka, a Tamil domiciled in South Africa.

Her bias was very apparent in the UN Report that she co-authored with Mr. Darussman, who led the panel, and this created a rift between the Government of Sri Lanka and the UN, as the Sri Lankan Government rightly refused to cooperate with the UN panel that had a biased member on its panel. The UN refused to change the composition of the 3-member panel, leaving the writing of the report, largely in the hands of the Tamilian Yasmin Sooka, and thus the outcome of the report was predictably biased against Sri Lanka. Unsubstantiated and unverified allegations, that were later found to be false and outright invented lies, figured prominently in the UN report, and the maligning allegation of “genocide” and vastly exaggerated claim of “40,000” civilian deaths were the key conclusions of the report that the global media highlighted against Sri Lanka.

The picture was vastly different on the island itself, as the final phase of rooting out terrorism in the Northern part of Sri Lanka, was a humanitarian operation to rescue 300,000 civilians who were taken hostage by the Tamil Tiger Terrorists, in what was described at the time, as the largest ever hostage taking, and the Sri Lankan military successfully rescued the civilians with minimal civilian casualties in three different operations. Over 292,000 innocent rural Tamil civilians who were taken hostage were rescued and the tamil terrorists were cornered and routed out by the tactically superior Sri Lanka’s special forces comprised of multiple ethnic groups.

An eminent panel of former UN international war crimes investigators, led by the former United Nations Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone, Sir Desmond de Silva, Professor David Crane, and Major General John Taylor Holmes DSO, OBE, MC , the former commanding officer of the SAS, totally rejected the “genocide and 40,000 civilian deaths” allegations levelled against Sri Lanka by the 2011 UN Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka authored by Tamilian Yasmin Sooka and Marzuki Darusman. The United Nations is still to offer an apology to Sri Lanka for the grave injustice the biased Darusman Report had caused to the national reconciliation process, as the falsehoods of “genocide” continues to stir negative emotions within the Tamil community.

Having lost the terrorism approach to carve out a separate state on this tiny island, the terrorism supporting political representatives of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), then changed clothes to become human rights champions and all of their terrorism funding network around the world, domiciled in the UK, USA, Europe and Australia have now become human rights champions, and also devolution advocates and are seen lobbying the world capitals for support to establish a Federal state in Sri Lanka.

It is in this backdrop , that the Mahinda Rajapakas Government in Sri Lanka was toppled in 2015, using allegations of corruption, and the newly established Government came into power with the funding provided by the influential Tamil community, and the TNA political party, despite having a lesser number of parliamentary seats than other political parties sitting in the opposition, managed to establish themselves in the Opposition leaders position. Using this position, the Tamil National Alliance, is now championing the change of the constitution of Sri Lanka and using the promise of tamil vote block to support future Presidential aspirants in the Government, and also international accolade nominations of the Noble Peace prize, a sinister campaign is afoot to change Sri Lanka’s unitary state into a federal state.

India has been advocating the establishment of an exclusive Tamil speaking Federal State in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, as a deliberately divisive sectarian solution to the unsophisticated Sri Lankan political leaders, who have failed to realise that India’s end game is the annexing of the island to South India.

Changing Sri Lanka’s unitary state characteristic to a Union status is rightly viewed with suspicion and alarm by the Sri Lankan citizens who do not want their tiny island divided on ethnic lines, and thus Parliamentarians began to oppose such moves . In order to silence these opposing politicians, and secure their support to change the constitution, many politicians were targeted with corruption and criminal investigations, which are still ongoing and pending. It is alleged, that these politicians have been now been effectively silenced and that they have been threatened with imprisonment using the allegations against them, if they do not vote for the change in the constitution that would shift Sri Lanka away from a unitary state into a federal state, the first step by the Tamil separatist to create a ethnically cleansed sectarian state in Northern Sri Lanka.

The influential TNA MP Sumanthiran has been working closely with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera to strategize the changes to the Sri Lankan constitution and the shift the island into a federation of states, which would completely destroy the unitary single country definition of the island, and also create a permanent rift between the Tamil community and the majority Sinhala community as well as the minority Muslim and Eurasian communities who prefer to live under a unitary state.

The Parliament of Sri Lanka is expected to take up for debate the proposed changes to the constitution on the 10th of January 2017, and opposition is now building up against this dramatic break up of Sri Lanka from civil society groups.

One such group, a very influential and respected body of professionals have launched a campaign to educate the local and international community about the threat to national harmony, unity and reconciliation that this new constitution poses.

One of the leading policy advocates, Mr. Chris Tilake-Sri Dharmakirti, in a recent speech delivered at Sri Lanka’s leading think tank, Foundation Institute, explained that Sri Lanka should consider adopting Hong Kong’s Functional constituency model, instead of the geographical constituency model, as the latter fans the flames of sectarian divisions, and he said that in the wake of climate change impacts, Sri Lanka should only consider delineating its internal administrative boundaries on a geo science basis, which he described as dividing the island into discrete natural eco system watershed boundaries, instead of carving out mono ethnic boundaries.

Mr. Dharmakirti pointed out that the combination of having administrative boundaries demarcated on watershed boundaries, would ensure that the environmental protection and the soil and natural resource protection is properly administered, and that the functional constituency electoral representation would dilute the ethnic and religious bias in selecting sectarian minded politicians, and instead create sector specialists getting elected to Parliament to represent the social, geographic, and economic sectors of the island.

He pointed out that after emerging from 30 years of terrorism, Sri Lanka cannot continue to look at constitutional fixes that would propagate sectarian solutions, as the very problem was created because of racist sectarian group mindset in the first place. Thus the solution that needs to be proposed cannot be on ethnic lines and fan the flames of sectarian contours. Instead, of tinkering with the Constitution, these civil society leaders argue that the Government must take steps to fully decentralise Government services to the people, and implement efficient services in the rural areas, using modern IT technology and other tools that are available.

Mr Dharmakirti, who had served on three different Government administrations, as the head of the National Council for Economic Development during President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s time, and later as the head of the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s period, and later as the Chairman of the National Ocean Affairs Committee that lodged Sri Lanka’s UN claim for the Bay of Bengal continental shelf, is very well versed and experienced to understand the challenges facing government administration. Thus, drawing from his vast experience in interacting with the various government agencies, he lamented that already the public sector is a huge burden to the taxpayers, with over 1.2 million government employees in a island nation of 21 million people.

He proposed, that instead of creating a bigger burden on the tax payers to support a Federal Government controlled by ethnically biased politicians and civil servants, it is far better to improve the central government and its service delivery capacity than add additional layers of federal provincial governments, which would further bloat the bureaucracy and the levels of approvals and legal complications, and governance issues. “Instead of devolving power on federal lines, decentralise the government services, and strengthen the Central government’s governance mechanism to ensure all the citizens receive fair and equitable service without any bias, “ appealed Mr. Dharmakirti .

“ Sri Lanka can easily address the issues facing not only the Tamil people, but all the citizens in the country, if they put in a place an language translation services enabled government IT services, in a well thought out, process management enhanced decentralisation program, where any body speaking any language could interact and be served, “ he said.

“ The public transport system needs to b immediately fixed and improved to enable the citizens to travel conveniently and comfortably and route efficiently, “ Mr. Dharmakirti elaborated. “The rural poor, regardless of their ethnicity, needs to be given their land entitlements, so that they can have a bankable asset to take a loan and build a home or an enterprise on their house property. The police must be retrained to provide a professional service and an impartial and transparent investigation process, so that the confidence of the people is restored, and similarly the Government agencies providing approvals and regulatory controls, must provide a fair and expedient service to facilitate the entrepreneurial initiatives of the citizens.”

According to Mr. Dharmakirti, Sri Lanka can fix all its challenges and problems faced by the citizens quite easily within the existing constitutional framework, and decentralisation of services can be done immediately with great efficiency unleashed, without having to resort to sectarian minded constitutional tinkering.

“Sadly, the citizens of this island have no voice, as the so called civil society are all sectarian agenda agents, and they together with the sectarian minded politicians who want to create ethno centric states are controlling the national reconciliation process, as they can only get elected to power, if the continue to fan the flames of ethno identity politics”, Mr. Dharmakirti concluded.

According to him, he concurs with the statement issued by the National Joint Committee, as he believes that the constitution is not a document that can be debated in two days, and rushed through without a longer public deliberation, and that the current trend of developing the reforms within a smaller cabal of sectarian minded experts, and with no scope for non sectarian minded inputs to be considered. “The new draft constitution document that is being presented to Parliament is lopsided, as it is being done with the intention of appeasing the sectarian minded, ethno centric Tamil politicians”, he explained and stated that in the longer run the dividing of the island into ethno centric administrative districts would be detrimental to the whole country, and even to the Tamil population that would chose to live in the south.

Mr Dharmakirti was very concerned that the public and the politicians are very distracted with the ongoing corruption probes and thus not focused on the grave danger that country is facing from the proposed constitutional changes that would eventually lead to the break up of Sri Lanka.

“ We need awakened politicians to lead our country and find genuine reconciliation solutions that address the real grievances of our Sri Lankan citizens, whether they be of Tamil, Sinhala, Moor, Malay or Burgher ethnicity. There is far too much emphasis on ethnic and linguistic identity politics, and that is a clear divisive sectarian approach, and it is time Sri Lanka moves away from defining our problems on those lines, “ Mr. Dharmakirti concluded.

The Statement of the National Joint Committee with regard to reports of Sub Committees appointed by Constitutional Assembly

Notwithstanding the government’s pledge to Protect and foster the Buddha Shasana, maintain the foremost place given to Buddhism and to continue the unitary character of the Republic of Sri Lanka, the sub committees on constitutional reforms have made several proposals affecting the Unitary nature of the country. These proposals will not only affect the very existence of Sri Lanka but also will threaten the National Harmony, Reconciliation and peaceful coexistence of communities living in Sri Lanka.

The Center – periphery sub committee being one of the sub committees, in its report states that it is the view of the chairman and several other members of the said sub committee that the Unitary Nature of the state is an impediment to the effective functioning of the Provincial Councils. It appears that this sub committee had approached their task on the basis that a unitary state is not suitable for Sri Lanka.

All the citizens of the Republic of Sri Lanka are equal. All of them should be subject to one law and be governed by one government. We do not believe that National Reconciliation could be achieved by living in separate areas designated to a particular Race, Religion or Language.

It is believed by many that the Unitary Nature, the People’s Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Sri Lanka is under threat both internally and externally, therefore it is our duty to pay attention to the following when drafting a new constitution for Sri Lanka;

1. Prohibit the establishment of a separate state or a federal state within the Republic of Sri Lanka and for that purpose 6th Amendment to the present constitution should be incorporated into the new constitution after suitably adjusting the same, Article 2 dealing with the Unitary character of the state and Article 9 giving Buddhism the foremost place in the present constitution should remain without any amendment.
2. The supremacy of parliament should be secured for the purpose of maintaining the unitary character of the state and therefore legislative power of the people exercised by parliament should not be in any way restricted. Any other body exercising legislative power must operate subject to the supremacy of parliament. The parliament should have the power to repeal or amend any statue or by-law made by such body in the same way the parliament could repeal or amend any ordinary law made by parliament. Existing provisions of the constitution which restrict the legislative powers of the parliament should not be included in the new constitution.
3. The executive power of the people including National Defence must be vested with the President and/or the Cabinet of Ministers. If any other body is vested with executive power such power must be exercised subject to the executive power of the President or the Cabinet of Ministers. Henceforth as long as the Provincial Councils are in operation in this country, the executive power must be exercised by the Governor under the supervision, control and direction of the President.
4. Judicial Power within the Republic of Sri Lanka should never be exercised by a person who is not a citizen of Sri Lanka or by a foreign institution. No court including any constitutional Court should be established outside the court structure of Sri Lanka and no appointment should be made to any such court based on ethnicity.
5. No administrative or political unit should be established within the territory of Sri Lanka based on Race, Religion or Language. Northern Province and Eastern Province should not be amalgamated as such a move would lead to separation. Existing provisions in the present constitution to this effect should be removed forthwith and should not be incorporated into the new constitution.
6. The power of the Government of Sri Lanka with regard to maintenance of Public Order and Police Powers at any time should not be delegated to a body governing a province or any region. The Police should operate within the entire territory of Sri Lanka under the direction and control of Inspector General of Police who is the head of Sri Lanka Police Force.
7. Power with regard to State land must always be vested with the Republic of Sri Lanka, and rights in and over land tenure, transfer and alienation of land, land use, land settlement and land improvement should continue to be vested in the government of Sri Lanka.
8. A concurrent list has been included in the constitution to enable Parliament, The President and the Cabinet of Ministers to intervene in respect of 36 subjects to prevent any misdeeds of the provincial council and/or its provincial board of ministers. Such an arrangement is necessary specially to protect the rights of regional minorities. Therefore, if the provincial council system is to continue it is important to retain the concurrent list.
9. The composition of the constitutional council or similar institution established for the purpose of making appointments to high posts and to commissions established by law, should be by a body composed of individuals nominated proportionately by recognised political parties of parliament and such nominations should be approved by parliament. The President should not make any appointment without the approval of majority of members of parliament in respect of such appointment.
10. Parliament should have full control over public Finance and no institution should be permitted to receive funds without the approval of the president or the cabinet of ministers from any foreign source. The government of Sri Lanka should have the right to allocate funds to any institution at its discretion.
11. The District Secretaries, Divisional Secretaries and Grama Niladharies who are appointed by the government of Sri Lanka function as the link between central government and provincial administration. Any attempt to Remove such officers from the central government and bringing them under the provincial administration will adversely affect the smooth functioning and cooperation between them.
12. The government of Sri Lanka must reserve the right to determine the National Policy with regard to any subject. Moreover, the government of Sri Lanka must also have the right to determine over any matter not specified in any list incorporated in the constitution.

Lecturers Oppose CaFFE's Director Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon’s Appointment to Kelaniya University

Lecturers of Kelaniya University have objected to the appointment of CaFFE executive director Keerthi Tennakoon as a member of the university’s governing council.

Secretary of their association N.G.A. Karunatilake has written to higher education minister Lakshman Kiriella, alleging it was a political appointment.

The lecturers demand the cancellation of the appointment before December 20, and warn of union action if the demand is not met.

Copies of the letter have been sent to the president, prime minister and the UGC.

When contacted, Tennakoon said he was unaware of such a letter being sent against him, and declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Minister Lakshman Kiriella stated that the appoint was a token of appreciation to CaFFE's director who helped them establish a UNP government last year.

Yahapālanaya, Yet Another Failure That Duplicates the Former

By DNR Samaranayaka,

A majority of the decisions that have been taken by the coalition government since it came to power in 2015 appear to be contrary to the expectations of the people who helped its formation. 

Government is experiencing a huge backlash from civil organizations about its broken promises. This is the first government in known history to face a barrage of criticisms from the public within the first year of administration.

The coalition government came into power promising to adopt an administrative system known as ‘Yahapalanaya’. It is normally referred to as a government devoid of undemocratic practices such as corruption, threats, abductions, suppression of freedom speech or similar unethical practices and without abusing the executive powers of the presidency. 

The commitment to Yahapalanaya was in fact promoted as the raison d’etre of this new coalition much to the comfort and support of the popular masses who were thoroughly disappointed with the corrupt practices manifested under the Rajapaksa regime. Thus on the promise and expectation of Yahaplanaya, this government was elected. Among the identified priorities of the coalition government were the action against political corruption, establishment of an Ethical Code of Conduct, and re-establishment of democracy and good governance.

Broken Promises

Since the formation of the coalition government, commissions such as the FCID and PRECIAC have been established to investigate political corruption which occurred under the former administration. However, the promises that were made to bring corrupt politicians to justice have not produced any results up to now. Every day it is reported that the politicians of the former administration are visiting the FCID or PRECIAC to record statements. Disappointingly, nothing much happens thereafter. Although the level of corruption was the main issue that led to the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa, and a highlight of the opposition campaign, it now seems apparent that this issue is no longer a priority. It would seem that the issue of corruption was of a huge concern to the ordinary masses was deliberately used by the then opposition as a massive stick to beat the previous government and ultimately come into power.

During and after coming to power, President Sirisena openly accused Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family of corruption. Almost all the family members have been investigated by either the FCID or PACFICA on various charges related to corrupt practices. Some leading ministers of the government also accused Mahinda Rajapaksa of possessing US$18 billion in foreign banks and sought international assistance to locate such funds. Some of the minsters were very confident about locating the missing money hidden in places like Dubai. Despite the promise of the government, these billions are yet to be found and the people have lost interest in the promises of Yahaplanaya. The recent arrest of Namal Rajapaksa appears to be a response to the growing criticisms about the promises made to bring the members of the Rajapaksa family to justice. However, the common belief is that the coalition government is not actively pursuing these cases because either (i) key figures in the present government will also be implicated if prosecutions are made, or (ii) the promises made during the election campaign were made merely as a way of convincing the public to vote them into power and they were never intended to be carried out.

Colombo Port City Project

One of the key promises made by the coalition government before the presidential election was the promise to stop the Colombo Port City Project from implementation due to its adverse implications on our environment and the stability within the region. Most people who were opposed to this project took this promise very seriously and gave their full support to Maithripala Sirisena. The Sirisena camp also echoed the adverse implications of relying wholly on the Chinese for investments on large scale projects. Furthermore, they wanted to distance from China and get close to India to re-energise the closer relationship that was maintained previously with India. Although the Government spokesman kept on assuring people that the project will not be continued, the leaders, on the other hand, were giving assurances that the project will be continued. After the President’s visit to China early last year, for example, Mr Liu Jianchao, assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs has said ‘President Sirisena has stressed that what happened around the port city is rather temporary, and the problem does not lie with the Chinese side and hopes to continue with the project after things are sorted out’. Eventually the government made the decision to continue with the project despite the opposition of the people living in coastal areas and ignoring the serious concerns of Environmentalists about its impact on the coastal belt.

The Avant Grade affair

The Avant Grade floating armoury case made headlines when it first came to public attention and remained there for a considerable time in 2015. It was used to highlight the level of corruption and breach of security of the country by some leading politicians in the previous regime. This firm was accused of money laundering and firearm violations. A minister had to resign because he had been associated with legal matters of this firm and made a statement supporting the legality about its operation. There were high expectation that a VVIP member of the former government would soon be arrested. This is, however, yet to occur. There was also claims that the Avant Grade offered bribes to a particular minister. At the same time, the head of Avant Grade, Mr Nissanka Senadhipathi, claimed that three ministers of the present government –Mr Rajitha Senartne, Mr Arjuna Ranatunga and Mr Champika Ranawaka–demanded bribes to keep quiet in the case pending against Avant Grade. While angrily refuting this accusation, the three ministers have asked the police to investigate this claim by the head of Avant Grade. To date, after a flurry of activity, nothing substantial has happened. It would seem that this matter will also not be pursued or the members of the previous government will be prosecuted. All of this is contrary to the promises made by the government.

Acts of nepotism carried out by President Sirisena

One can expect that a government which comes to power on the basis of ‘Yahapalanaya’ and promises to eradicate corruption at all levels of government and hold to account the members of the previous regime who have engaged in corrupt practices will have an administration which lives by those ideals. Sadly, the present regime from almost the inception of its coming into power has indulged in nepotism and corruption which is far from the ideals of Yahapalanaya and appears to be speedily following the footsteps of the previous regime.

An act of nepotism may not necessarily a corrupt act if a politician offering a family member or a friend with a benefit with financial implications does not except anything in return. These opportunities are not normally accessible to family members or friends without the intervention of political hierarchy at the highest level. However, it is a form of political corruption, similar to a bribe, if a politician involved in such an act has the intention of benefiting directly from it. On this basis, some of the acts, as reported below, carried out by the President Sirisena can be regarded as corrupt practices needing investigation by FICD or PRECIAC.

(i) Size of the cabinet

Contrary to the expectation of the people that President Sirisena will not go back on his promise to keep the Cabinet to under 35, he surprised everyone by gradually increasing it to 92. This action clearly shows how the president ignored the concerns of those who worked very hard to make him the president. One of the main criticisms of the Rajapaksa administration was the amount of public expenditure that needed to maintain a jumbo cabinet. In this context, the President Sirisena’s regime is no different to the previous regime. There is no reason to increase the number unless it is undertaken with the sole purpose of strengthening President Sirisena’s power base. A jumbo cabinet, as seen under Rajapaksa regime, normally brings waste and corruption and it also results in a huge allocation in the budget to maintain their luxury life styles without any benefit to the country. As demonstrated by the recent behaviour in parliament, most of these ministers are not capable of contributing anything to the development of the country. It is this reason that the people opposed to a jumbo cabinet and the president accepted to trim it a more affordable level.

(ii) Back door appointment of defeated candidates

Appointing defeated candidates to parliament through the back door to fill the places in the national list, depriving those who rightly deserve to be appointed to the parliament for their services to the country. President Sirisena, who has been in the parliament for over 40 years and who knows that these places are reserved for a special category of people in the community, filled them with those who were rejected by the people. This is a deplorable act carried out by the President and it is identical to the practices of the previous regime; surprisingly, these are the same practices that the Yahapalanaya promised to eliminate.

(iii) Buying opposition members and giving them ministerial posts

Some of the SLFP members who were in joint opposition, and worked against President Sirisena, were invited back to the government and offered them with ministerial posts. This is another violation of the trust placed on him by the people. The main reason for this move was to ensure a SLFP government after the next election. President Sirisena fails to understand that the role of the President is to serve the entire country and not as the president of the SLFP. This is an act that can be charged under the existing laws as it misappropriates public funds to support ministers who will help him to achieve his personal objectives.

(iv) Protecting corrupt politicians’ by inviting them to join the government

The parliamentarians who were invited to join the Sirisena government were members of the former Rajapaksa government. It is therefore possible that most of them, if not all, would have been engaged in various corrupt activities during their term under the previous government. The opportunity offered by the president to cross over to his government helped them to enjoy immunity from FCID or PRECIAC investigations. Any person with authority knowingly protecting another corrupt person is also equally corrupt. This is a serious violation of trust placed on him by the people and, therefore, this action by President Sirisena needs to be investigated. President Sirisena was also a member of a regime which he now claims corrupt. An investigation is also necessary to clear his name for any wrong doings and to justify the actions he has initiated against others in the previous regime.

(v) President Sirisena’s brother as CEO of SLT

One of the first acts of President Sirisena was the appointment of his brother as the CEO of SLT. The president’s action can be justified if his brother was discriminated by the Rajapaksa regime for being the brother of President Sirisena or he is an indispensable person to take the Yahaplanaya forward for the benefit of the country. Unfortunately he is an accountant among the thousands of accountants in the labour market. Although this is an unethical action, it is not illegal since there is no direct financial benefit to the president. However, when Central Bank Bond scam became known, he advised the Prime Minister to sack Mr Arjun Mahendran as the Governor of the Central Bank. The same rule did not apply to his brother when there were reports about his corrupt activities as the CEO of SLT; he kept mum about it. He should have been at least investigated to find out whether there is any truth of such accusations. He used his power to suppress any such investigation.

Some former ministers are being currently investigated by FCID for misappropriating public funds to help their relatives and friends financially. Although former ministers may have not directly benefited by these corrupt practices, they have used public money for the benefit of their relatives and friends. These crimes can be charged under the existing laws of the country. The same rule should apply to President Sirisena as well.

An Ethical Code of conduct for parliamentarians

An Ethical Code of Conduct for parliamentarians was included in the 100-day program since it was considered one of the priorities of the coalition government. Although it was expected to be released on January 22, 2015, the country has not seen it even after one and half years lapse since the presidential election. Its fate appear to be sealed since the government does not speak about it anymore, and the parliamentarians are also acting as if they do not give a damn about their behaviour in parliament.

Usually, a code of conduct in other democracies is what lawmakers practice as servants of the people. If any parliamentarian or minister found to be involved in an unethical practice, he or she is immediately dismissed or forced to resign. In these democracies, with fully independent judiciary and police, the rule of law is applied to every one irrespective of the person’s social standing or his or her political connections. However, such policies are completely out of the question for the parliamentarians in Sri Lanka whose interests are only to serve themselves. They also lack the intellectual capacity to understand what is right and what is wrong.

A minister of the Rajapaksa administration, Mr Keheliya Rambukwella, has suggested the introduction of GCE (O/L) as the basic educational requirement to be a parliamentarian, implying that some of the MPs, and possibly the Minsters, of the present government do not even have such a basic qualification. Unfortunately, these are the people who are serving the community as parliamentarians and ministers of the present government. They are also the people asking for luxury vehicles such as Land Cursers, Outlanders, Hummers, Volvos, Jaguars, Mercedes Benzes, and Audis to serve the people. Given the quality of parliamentarians in the parliament these days, a code of conduct is certainly not going to serve any purpose. It may not be worth even the paper it is printed.

Unfulfilled promises of president Sirisena

Since Maithripala Sirisena became the President, he has been frequently making various promises. As noted above, almost all the promises he made earlier have not been fulfilled. Although earlier promises were not honoured, he continues to make further promises. A few of such promises are as follows:

To take action against those involved in destroying our forests and the nature reserves and also against those involved in illegal clearing of forests for their valuable timber. There is nothing he has done so far to take this promise seriously. As recent press reports indicate, the officials who are enforcing the law are harassed by the politicians and the political leadership is taking the side of the politicians even without an investigation.

To eradicate the LTTE ideology, which is still present locally and internationally. He justified his claim by saying that since being elected as the president he had been able to cultivate friendships with world leaders. He would rely on their assistance to seek a solution and encourage reconciliation. Clearly, this is not a problem that can be sorted out through his friends, no matter how influential they are, because it is a problem that requires a comprehensive solution that is acceptable to both communities. The reconciliation process is certainly not going to be easy because of the influence that diaspora can exert on the Sri Lankan government, and it cannot be undermined especially under Hilary Clinton as the US President. The Prime Minister David Cameron is one of his so-called friends, but his influence is no longer has any impact since he has lost his position after the Brexit. The head of the UNCHR’s recent statement clearly demonstrate who is firing the shots on accountability of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

To refuse foreign judges to serve in Sri Lankan courts to hear human rights violation supposed to have occurred during the last stages of the ethnic conflict. It is, however, yet to be seen how this will be handled by the President. Usually, the UNCHR has the final say.

To take urgent action to reduce cost of living and to strengthen the economy. Certainly this is one of the most relevant issues, not only to Sri Lanka, but also to almost all other nations in the world that grappled with low growth, high inflation and high unemployment. This is a very complex problem, and it has become even more complex due to the ongoing globalization process, which creates interaction among countries causing adverse implications on the economies of other countries. Although Brexit is simply a vote for Britain to exit from the EU, it is economic impact is widely felt. The Sri Lankan economy is also likely to be affected because of the trade and investments that flow between the two countries. If Britain is affected economically as result of the exit from UK, the trade between Sri Lanka and Britain could also suffer, causing difficult economic problems for Sri Lanka as well. Although the President’s intentions may be genuine, the priorities of the government with the offers of many perks to politicians do not indicate that president has grasped the key elements of this problem. Unfortunately, the direct impact of the policies pursued by this government is likely to make the problem even worse than that exists now.

To eradicate the worst form of child labour by 2016. This another promise made at the Child Labour conference held at the BMICH on 21st June 2016. At this conference, he had taken an oath. How he is going to achieve and how he is going determine that it has been eliminated is yet to be disclosed.

To introduce an uncompromised solution for the VAT system. It won’t’ be a surprise if nothing really happens by his decision to help the people who are affected by the VAT increase. The government may do some cosmetic changes, but the structure of the VAT system will not change. This increase is a condition imposed on the government by the IMF and its removal could damage the relationship with IMF. Moreover, any modifications to the changes made to the tax system is unlikely to be tolerated by any government. It is also not clear what is ‘uncompromised’ solution means. Getting involved in matters that he has no direct control only indicates his ignorance.

The president has so far failed to demonstrate that these promises have been made with responsibility as the head of state. He has not done anything to justify that he is serious about what he says. His promises are continuing to build up, but one by one they drop out as people are not very serious about what he says.

Re-establishment of democracy and freedom of speech

One of the areas where there is a significant progress since the presidential election is democracy and freedom of speech. This change is not due to the efforts of the Maithri-Ranil government; it is entirely due to the efforts of the civil organizations that helped the restoration of democracy and freedom of speech even before the election. A clear indication of this is the 2015 presidential election, which is one of the cleanest that the country had seen since the 1980’s.

Mahinda Rajapaksa had doubts about his return after the entry of Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate, but he did not resort to unlawful acts to inflict fear on the minds of the people to refrain from voting against him or to engage in vote rigging as suspected by most people in the past elections. The reason for this change was the role of civil organizations, which stood firmly against the Rajapaksa regime, and, as a result, the Rajapaksa government was forced to uphold democratic practices. Some of the government ministers are claiming that the freedom of speech and the absence of the ‘white van’ saga are the achievements of the present government, but this government did not play any role in bringing these changes that we now experience compared to the previous administration. The credit should go entirely to the efforts of various civil organizations who fought for freedom that the country currently enjoys.

Although the country experiences the benefits of freedom of speech, a lot more needs to be done to achieve an acceptable level of good governance. One of the key element of good governance is free and fair election and the party, once elected, acts in a manner that takes into account the wishes of the majority of the population. Although this government does not take direct action against those who criticize the government, there is evidence that the political leadership abuse the power to influence decisions in its favour.

The recent behaviour of the Prime Minister in relation to the Arjun Mahendran affair clearly shows how he abuses the power to protect him and how he manoeuvres this affair to justify his stay as the Governor of the Central Bank. As reported in the media, the Prime Minister even attempted to manipulates his colleagues to challenge the COPE findings, exonerate the former Central Bank governor and clear him from any wrong doings. It is difficult to understand how a prime minister could go that far to protect one individual at a heavy cost to the country. Even if Arjun Mahendran is not involved in any wrong doings, the way that the prime minister handled this matter made him guilty in the eyes of the public. Now the prime minister has lost his credibility and the recognition of him as a statesman. Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe was not appointed by Arjun Mahendran, but the people of this country. He would not have been the prime minister or even a minister, if not for the support of the civil organizations.

The unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa was his own making: it was an outcome of excessive corruption, abuse of power and bad advising from his advisors who failed to read the emerging signs. A simple change to the way he administered his authority and the priorities of his investment policies, together with some control of political and administrative corruption, he would have undoubtedly be the president of the country even today. Because of these mistakes, he lost his power base and the gratitude of the people for making this country a safe place, saving billions of rupees and lives by eliminating terrorism for ever. Unfortunately the replacement is not as good as the promise that was made by the leaders who brought in this change in 2015. Since it was his failure that resulted this change, Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa is also greatly responsible for the current political situation in the country.

The writer is an economist he is on tilaks@iprimus.com.au