Sri Lanka needs all the Parliamentarians of Joint Opposition to save Sri Lanka from its enemies.

I did not expect to put any of my patriotic friends against the Joint Opposition when I wrote my last article.

My intention  was not to cause disunity  in the Joint Opposition and get the anti JO elements play their tom-toms in anticipation of a division in the JO. We have the right to question but not with an eye to breakup the JO.

Because JO is the only “saving grace” the people have to rid of this useless experiment being carried out to rule the country by the SLFP and the UNP when in fact one the Prime Minster is the UNP leader and the other the  President a UNP sympathiser pretending to be the President of the SLFP.

But  it is becoming obvious from past experience that no one can change the disastrous path this Yahapalanaya Sirisena-Ranil Government is taking to destroy every thing that we as citizen of this resplendent Sri Lanka respect and honour, such as its historical Sinhala Buddhist background, its culture, and the trust and unity that had been built through out the  years with the minority Communities of this Country. If they the Yahapalanaya continue to rule unchecked, the Sri Lanka we knew will not be the same again.

Joint Opposition helped this Sirisena Ranil Government to pass the 19^th Amendment. Joint Opposition helped  Sirisena Ranil Government to pass their Budgets. Joint Opposition helped them in various ways hoping that they will correct their idiotic pursuit of the disastrous path to disintegrate Sri Lanka.

Joint Opposition did not object to writing a New Constitution but on the other hand participated in every one of the Committees set up to write a New Constitution. In being in the Constitution Assembly the Joint Opposition thought they will be able to  take action against the sinister moves of the Yahapalanaya Government to write a New reconciliatory Constitution  to  radically change Sinhala Buddhist Sri Lanka, to a multi racial, multi religious  country, giving the Tamils equal rights by even allowing them to sing the National Anthem in Tamil.

But, to what extent did the Joint Opposition succeed in their efforts to change the march of the yahapalanaya caravan of disaster ?

Every( ?) proposal the  members of the JO made at the Committee stage in the working process for the  writing of a New Constitution had not been accepted by the Lal Wijenayake Committee, and as a result the Joint Opposition withdrew from these bogus Committees.

If the Joint Opposition continues to stay on with the Constitutional Assembly, what is the guarantee it can stop Sirisena Ranil combination writing and passing a Constitution changing Sri Lanka politically from what it had been for more than two thousand five hundred years ?

Did  President Maithripala Sirisena show his gratitude  to the Joint Opposition which contributed much during  Sirisena –Ranil government’s  “teething period ” by accepting it as the official Opposition of the Parliament which it very much deserves,  or give the post of Chief Opposition  Whip to the Joint Opposition ?

It is all right if the Joint Opposition remaining in the CA will enable it  to stop Sirisena-Ranil  government carry out secret manoeuvres to fool the people and hoist before them an outwardly innocent  Constitution  with all requirements included to make it Federal in implementation.

But President Maithripala Sirisena  is more UNP than Ranil Wickramasinghe his Prime Minister. We have seen how President Sirisena  steps in  at the correct time to save Ranil Wickramasinghe when he is facing a difficult political or other situation ?

In the case of the Bond issue there was every reason with two COPE reports and Attorney General’s declarations  to have interdicted Arjuna Mahendran- the  ex Governor of the Central Bank, and confiscate his Travel Documents and allow the Attorney General to file action against him.

But what did the President Sirisena do ?

Maithripala Sirisena allowed his Prime Minister to appoint the “thief” to a higher post,  perhaps with a higher salary, as the advisor to the Prime Minister himself. Later when the situation was getting too hot to handle , President Sirisena appointed a Commission of inquiry  requiring it to give a report in three months.

After three months the Commission asked for an extension of the sittings of the Commission for six months, and it appears that  they will be asking for a further extension when they have enough evidence  even to “hang him” without further investigation.

And again, what happened in the case of the Volkswagen Plant to be set up in Sri Lanka ? 

President Sirisena  in order to fool the people  in a highly publicised Ceremony laid a foundation stone to set up a “bogus” Volkswagen Plant in Kuliyapitiya. That “play acting” of President Maithripala Sirisena was to save the face of his alter-ego Ranil Wickramasinghe .

President Sirisena  promised people a Cabinet reshuffle, because the Finance Minister  Ravi Karunanayake had fallen out of favour with the people. Ranil Wickramasinghe was aginst it because Ravi Karunanayake and Arjun Mahendran are his bosom friends. President Sirisena had to go ahead with his play acting to please the people, without harming the relation between  the President and his alter ego  Ranil Wickramasinghe.

The so called cabinet re-shuffle became an utter farce-a “comedy” giving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Lotteries Board( the hen laying golden eggs) to Ravi Karunanayake, and the Ministry of Finance and the Media to Mangala Samaranayake,  the other bossom friend of the Prime Minister.

There are many such instances of President Maithripala Sirisena stepping into save face for Ranil Wickramasinghe.

President Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickramasinghe are “political twins”. Nothing will separate them.

Something more drastic has to be done to either separate them and allow President Maithripala Sirisena to deliver himself from the delirium from which he is suffering, that he is ever grateful to Ranil,  and that he is “ nothing” without Ranil Wickramasinghe,  and make him understand that he should decide to stand or to die with  the leadership of SLFP cast upon him,  and now supported  by a section of the SLFP for their enjoyment of the priviledges and social dignity of being Ministers in  government even if it is taking Sri Lanka on a disastrous  path to be  a failed State. President Sirisena cannot do without the SLFP Presidency either, as otherwise it will be taken over by his sworn enemy Mahinda Rajapakse.

Having regular meetings organised   by the Joint Opposition and  with SLFP Supporters of  the President Mahinda Rajapakse in great numbers is good, but people participate in these meetings,  and thereafter fall into a “political” somnolence. The people should be roused up and kept aware of the evil of Sirisena-Ranil Government to the Country and the people.

Just telling them that the Yahapalanaya Government is to a great state manipulated by the Western Countries and the UN, make some start hollering  that  it is creating phantoms               ( බිල්ලෝ මවනවා) or seeing crocodiles in the basin ( කොරහේ  කිඹුල්ලෝ දකිනවා ).

People see these UN and other Western visitors to Sri Lanka coming regularly, and see pictures in the news papers and TV showing   how they shake hands with our President and the Prime Minister and perhaps take it for a great yahapalanaya achievement.

Some of our people may be satisfied  by the mere fact that these great white men  come to shake hands of  our political dignitaries. Some of them may even  not mind prices of commodities going up,  and that they and their familes may  have to forego meal in order to make ends meet, as longs as they are given the priviledge of seeing  the white Western Leaders squeeze the hands of the  President Maithripala Sirisena, and seeing red carpets laid in foreign air ports to meet President Sirisena and the Prime Minister Wickramasinghe.

But in reality some of these visitors like Ben Emmerson QC- the UN Rapporter is not a reputable character.  Emmerson has been accused of child abuse. He was suspended  from being the most senior lawyer on the public inquiry into institutional child abuse in England and Wales .(https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2066530/child-abuse-inquiry-accused-of-staging-a-cover-up-as-sexual-assault-claims-surround-probes-top-lawyer/ )

Now the Jeffrey Feltman another UN Reporter in Sri Lanka was,  it appears involved in the Hillary Clinton e-Mail scandal. There are also the leaked Audio of the American State Department  of Jeffrey Feltman’s  involvement in using UN  with the Administer  of the American State Department. Vijay Prashad’s book –Arab Spring, Libyan Writer, speaks of Jef Feltman’s interference in the Affairs of the Arab countries.  These are the people who interfere into Sri Lank’s reconciliation process and the preparation of the New Constitution.

Ordinary people of Sri Lank do not know these questionable people who squeeze the hand of President Maithripala Sirisena  not for the respect and affection for the man, but to use him for their own purposes. The others who know  pretend not to know calling it  creating phantoms( බිල්ලෝ මවනවා) or seeing crocodiles in the basin ( කොරහේ  කිඹුල්ලෝ දකිනවා ).

Therefore, the JO should prepare pamphlets in Sinhala, Tamil and English explaining every action taken by the government which are detrimental to the country and the people. And also inform the people about the foreign visitors to Sri Lanka and what they do when they come.

The pamphlets should be short in simple language easy to read and understand by people of all sections of the Society. They should be printed in big letters. One pamphlets should cover one issue. They should be issued regularly to the people. So that they will know what President Maithripala Sirisena and his alter ego the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe are up to behind  the scene with those pretentious speeches of high morality, humanity and righteousness, to divide and endanger the independence and unitary state of this land of the Sinhala Buddhists.

I had made this proposal to Dallus Alahapperuma in his face book. But he does not seem to have even read it.

Joint Opposition –What game are you playing ?

The people have placed their trust in the Joint Opposition lead by Dinesh Goonewardhane .  There is a cry coming out of the heart of the people that the yahapalanaya hybrid government should not be allowed to write a new constitution for Sri Lanka. Does the Joint Opposition hear that cry or are they not giving both their ears to that cry allowing their other ears to listen to other calls ?

The leader of the Federation of National Organisations Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara, has accused  Dinesh Goonewardene for writing secret letters to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe with regard to problems that had arisen in the Constitution making  process.  If it is true  Dinesh Gunawardane has to make it clear why he is remaining in the Constitutional Assembly, along with a part of JO when there are problems known to him in the Constitution making process.

We know that  even his father late Philip Gunewardena the “father of Socialism in Sri Lanka” during the end of his carrier preferred to remain in political power accepting in 1965 the Ministry of Industries and Fisheries in the National Government of Dudley Senanayake. We certainly do not believe  that Dinesh Gunawardene will follow suit, but people begin to question the reason why the rest of the JO under Dinesh Gunawardena continues to remain in the CA while  Wimal Weerawansa true to his principles withdrew his party’s participation in the CA.

It was a mistake of the JO from the very beginning to have participated in the Committees stage of the process leading to the writing  of a New Constitution. That is in addition to the mistake the JO made in the 1^st instance in voting for the 19^th Amendment. The 19 Amendment had specified  a period within which the Parliament cannot be dissolved. It is contrary to  democratic procedure as one has to put up with a government for its full term even if it is not productive, offensive to democracy and abuses the power of the government to destroy the country’s historical and cultural values as now it is being done by the so called Yayapalanaya  hybrid government in place.

It was perfectly in order that a New Constitution was promulgated  in 1972 to  declare Sri Lanka a Republic. Prior to that Sri Lanka had dominion status and had constitutions written by the Colonial Government. After that there was no reason to write new constitutions as the first Republican Constitution could have been Amended to adopt it to new political situations.

However , when J.R.Jayawardhane formed a government of UNP in 1977, he prepared a new constitution which was promulgated in 1978. However,  the 1978 Constitution with executive powers given to the President served its purpose in the process of the elimination of terrorism in Sri Lanka. That constitution is therefore worth keeping as the permanent Constitution of Sri Lanka allowing adjustment to meet any new unforeseen situation by passing Amendments.

Now a hybrid government with problems between the members of its constituent parties has decided to write a new Constitution.  There is no necessity to write a New Constitution to  a country each time a new government is formed by a different political party or a combined hybrid Government of several parties as in the case of the Present Government of the President Sirisena.

Each time a new Political party takes the reins of government the country remains the same it does not become any different from what it had been before,  therefore the new political party that is to form a new government should go on with the same old Constitution changing it if necessary by passing Amendments.

In Sri Lanka today after the formation of a hybrid government of several political parties, the political and social situations have drastically changed as the country is no more the country it was with a united people despite a majority community, and other minority communities.

The new government calling itself a yahapalanaya trying to introduce  “power sharing” in a so called reconciliation process, when in fact there is no such power sharing necessary as all the communities- the majority and the minorities, enjoy  the same rights and priviledges, has placed Sri Lanka in a situation worse than it had been under terrorism.  The Majority Community in Sri Lanka- Sinhala enjoys no other rights and priviledges than those enjoyed by the minority Communities.. 

This myth of power sharing has been created  only by the political leaders of the Minority Communities. The Hybrid government of President Sirisena, unable to explain this truth to the minorities with whom they have come into agreements  of sharing political power in return for their votes,  have given in to the “demands” of the Minority Communities to please the foreign countries, which stand with the Minorities to make the Majority weak and give into the “absurdities” of the Minorities.

The writing of a  new Constitution is another such absurdity demanded by the Minorities , insisted by foreign countries and the United Nations Organisation with an eye to make the Constitution  Federal, so that it would help the Minorities later  to set up their own Communal Regions.

 

Under such a situation of a government weakened by foreign pressure on one hand ,  and  the fear on the other hand of loosing the minority votes at elections , allowing  this Ranil Sirisena hybrid Government to write a New Constitution would be a “political suicide”. It will cause  irreparable damage to Sri Lanka which would by such a move loose its unitary status, its Communal unity, and menace its historical, cultural and religious values.

Therefore the Joint Opposition should take into consideration the inherent dangers of  writing a new Constitution by Sirisena-Ranil hybrid government at this decisive time of Sri Lanka’s history. The JO, should  therefore withdraw forthwith from all their responsibilities in this conspiracy to write  a New Government under pressure by foreign Governments and the UN,  and the threat of the minority Communities denying their votes  at future elections to  Sirisena –Ranil Combination.

The Joint Opposition to win back the people’s confidence and their support should act as one, and immediately withdraw from  the Constitutional Assembly. If not it should state its  reason for not leaving the Constitutional Assembly.

The interfering into Sri Lanka’s internal affairs by the UN by sending its representatives  Jeffrey Feltman  and Ben Emerson are questionable and goes beyond the UN’s role as specified in the UN Charter.

It is appreciated that the JO leader Dinesh Gunawardena raised objection to UN interference in Sri Lanka Constitution making process. Such protests are irrelevant  as long as the  Joint Opposition has not officially  withdrawn from the Constitutional Assembly and ceased all activities with regard to the Constitution making process.

If the Government calls for a referendum of the people the JO should be prepared to warn the people of the dangers in allowing the yahapalanaya government to write a new Constitution, and request the people  to vote against the writing a New Constitution at any referendum.

The Jaffna District MP Devananda’s statement that the writing of a new constitution is not necessary if the whole of the 13Amendment is implemented  cannot be accepted, as the 13Amendment is the source of all the problems we have with the Tamils. The 13 Amendment should be withdrawn from the 1978 Constitution, and a new system of provincial governments should be set up to reflect the power of the people coming from the village level to the top.

President blinded by hatred threatens Sri Lanka, a Sinhala Buddhist Country for over 2500years, of its culture, unitary status and its Communal unity.

Sri Lanka which was a Sinhala Buddhist Country from three centuries before the present era which later accepted and accommodated Tamil, Muslim and other Communities is today  facing disintegration  as a united country with a nation of mixed communities.

Instead of making an effort to unite the three main communities into one nation of Sri Lankans the country today under a pseudo Yahapalanaya, is facing disappearance as a United country with one nation  under a separatist shadow cast by the Tamil Community, supported by the West, and  giving into  separatism through reconciliation, by a yahapalanaya government with ambivalent, uncertain national and cultural interest.

A nation in the world has an  identity, with its own culture and a belief system, having  an original people who would accommodate other communities, without loosing its original identity and remain  recognised by its original identity, with a language of its own and a religion and a culture based on that religion.

It may  accept and respect the religion and the culture of the  resident minorities, without loosing its original identity despite the mixture of its population with the minorities. It is not bound to sacrifice its original identity in accepting any minority to live within its boundaries.

Sri Lanka was such a nation until it was colonised, and then became a Dominion of the British Commonwealth with  constitutions written by the British. In 1956,  S.W.R.D Bandaranayake  wanted to make Sri Lanka an Independent Nation like any other Nation in the world making the Sinhala-  the language of its original people  the official language, a National Anthem sung in that language, and hoisting the original flag of the Sinhala people  in place of the British Union Jack.

However the Tamil community despite its minority status being  13 percent of the population clamoured for equality with the majority Sinhala the original people of the country. Despite that unjust, incongruous demand of the Tamils,  successive governments maintained the unity of the Communities in the country.

When Sri Lanka’s unitary status was under serious threat with a thirty year long terrorism, it was stopped in May,2009 by the elimination of terrorism by the  Armed Forces of the Government under the political leadership of   President Mahinda Rajapakse.  

Due to unceasing demands of the Tamils for separation the President Mahinda Rajapakse declared  Sri Lanka free of Majority-Minority division is a nation of  Sri Lankans. What should a people want more, but the Tamils being a people who can never be satisfied will continue asking for the “ sun and the moon” as they have the West to support them.

Then by a false calculation or sheer bad karma, Mahinda Rajapakse was defeated at the  January 2015 Presidential election, and the trusted Secretary General of  the SLFP  Maithripala Sirisena betrayed the  trust bestowed upon him as the General Secretary of the SLFP, stole his way to the opposition to become the President. 

Maithripala Sirisena  did not only betray his political party,  but he also departed from his rightful place in the SLFP with a heart burning with hatred towards the President of SLFP the President Mahinda Rajapakse.

A man whose mind is full of hatred can neither be a friend to himself,  nor to others around him.  Therefore when Maithripala Sirisena became the President his mind was not freed from his  hatred, but it became many fold, and his heart full of hatred , desire for vengeance has no place for love, and compassion to give to the people of Sri Lanka as a whole, or love his country, his culture, and his religion, as a true patriotic President of Sri Lanka.

The hatred  and anger in his heart is  so much so,  that overjoyed by  being the President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena  swore in  Ranil Wickramasinghe( the leader of UNP the Party against which he worked as the General Secretary of the SLFP for over 14 years and as a member of the SLFP for 47 years), as the Prime Minister,  while there was still a Prime Minister whose government President Sirisena forgot to dissolve before swearing in Ranil Wickramasinghe as his  Prime Minister.

Maithripala Sirisena began his carrier as the President of Sri Lanka, manifesting his anger, hatred and desire for vengeance against the former President Mahinda Rajapakse. Since then Sri Lanka had been continuously degenerating in all its aspects social, administration, financial, cultural and communal unity.

For the first time since its independence the President Mahinda Rajapakse was able to bring not only peace and security to the country, but also  a fantastic development process which raised the standard of living of the people and maintained a unity of the Communities, despite the political leaders of the Tamil and Muslim Communities creating dissention in an otherwise settle atmosphere of unity , peace, and security.

Maithripala Sirisena despite his political beginning with socialism and then with the  SLFP, and also having a  Sinhala Buddhist village background, lost his Buddhist cultural values such as gratitude, generosity, readiness to pardon the mistakes of others, and the common touch despite moving with the high and the powerful.

These are the Sinhala Buddhist qualities with which the former President Mahinda Rajapakse was well equipped and therefore won the hearts of every one he came in contact with, except of course with  those who were either jealous of him or disregarded him for his village background, and  is Sinhala attire.

The Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe as everyone knows is a pretended Sinhala Buddhist, not brought up in a Buddhist environment. He adopted a Buddhist attitude for political purpose. Therefore he is ready to sacrifice Sinhala Buddhist values for the sake of  his political popularity.

Ranil Wickramasinghe is prepared to even write a new Constitution projecting Sri Lanka as  a multi-faith society, not giving special recognition and protection to Buddhism, allowing the National Anthem to be sung in any language, degrading the Buddhist priests manifesting against his government’s  actions which go against historical, religious or cultural values of Sri Lanka.

The President Maithripala Sirisena could have changed Ranil Wickramsinghe’s excesses which are detrimental to the Sinhala Buddhist cultural background, which is the hallmark , the uniqueness of Sri Lanka.

But unfortunately as mentioned above the President Maithripala Sirisena’s Buddhist values  have been defiled through  anger, jealousy, hatred and desire for vengeance. Therefore he cannot change the mental attitude of his Prime Minister and some of  his Ministers to keep within the characteristics of the Sri Lankan culture       and its uniqueness.

If both Maithripala Sirisena the President, and Ranil Wickramasinghe the Prime Minister had maintained undefiled mental attitudes when they took over the Government in January,2015, Sri Lanka would have been different from what it is today.

Why and How could it have been different  ?

Because, instead of the 100day programme the “opposition”  prepared to undo what the former President Mahinda Rajapakse had been doing after the elimination of terrorism, if the the Sirisena –Ranil Government were to have continued with  the programme of the former President Mahinda Rajapakse, situation today could have been different.  

Maithripala Sirisena as the President should not have allowed the appointment of Ravi Karunanayake as the Minister of Finance,  and Mangala Samaraweera as the Minister of Foreign Affaires. He should have kept those two ministries within the SLFP faction of the Government. The President Sirisena should not have allowed  Ranil to set up the FCID.

The Sirisena-Ranil Government should not have made accusations against   Mahinda Rajapakse, his family and his supporters  its priority objective. It was done with a bad motive  and all the activities it followed  thereafter were as a result bound to fail.  Sirisena- Ranil Government should not have given into the West and India putting all their cards on their  support  for the success  of the Sirisena- Ranil a unity Government. 

If it would have been so , the Colombo Port City would not have been stopped and the relations with China would not have been negatively affected. Infrastructure work would have been carried out.

The Sirisena –Ranil government should not have given the leadership of the opposition to the TNA.  Relations with the former President should have been maintained consulting him on necessary matters.

The President Maithripala Sirisena would have been a successful President,  if he had set up an advisory council  without Chandrika Kumaratunga, but with Mahinda Rajapakse. He should have removed the  13^th Amendment and prepared a new system of provincial government, with the Central Government keeping  a strong hold on the Provincial Government System.  No attempt should have been made to write a new Constitution. The 19^th Amendment should have been amended to allow the dissolution of the Parliament if necessary before the end of its term of five years.

If Maithripala Sirisena as the President  had taken such matters things would have been different today. This would have avoided  the present threat to the government with the NPC becoming completely uncontrollable preparing the background to something similar to the thirty years of terrorism Sri Lanka so miserably went  through.

After being elected  President,  Maithripala Sirisena’s mind  became  saturated with defilements of anger, hatred, and desire for vengeance,  therefore he is unable  do what is right by the people.

President Maithripala Sirisena’s only way out is to rid himself of this hatred towards the former President Mahinda Rajapakse and start working with him for the betterment of the country and its people.