Why President Mahinda Rajapakse should be re-elected for the third time ?

When Sri Lanka was still a British Colony we were told that we should be like the English men.  They said the  white men were punctual, authoritative, honest, fair, just and reasonable.  It is only meeting them in their own natural surroundings we learnt that all that we were told about them was rubbish. We see them today- the politicians of the West , vindictive, dishonest, manipulative, egoist, unjust , unfair and least concerned about others, working for their own benefit retaining their grip over the underprivileged natives

Someone said that the Judges of the EU  would be just and would not be influenced by Western politicians in taking judicial decisions. But that is only an assumption based on our old belief. It is no secret that the British Parliamentarians are all out for the blood of  the President Mahinda Rajapakse for political reasons, and the white judges will not hesitate to help their kind. 

No political leaders of developing countries are safe from the western leadership craze and the Western Judges will not raise their voice in defence of their human rights.  We saw how Sadam Husain of Iraq was hunted and  hanged in front of  cameras, we saw how Colonel Gaddafi was hunted  allowed to be brutalised and shot. This was despite that some of these western political leaders  were enriched by both Sadam Hussain and Colonel Gaddafi.  The Agence France Press reported that,  Moamer Kadhafi's regime agreed to fund French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 election campaign to the tune of 50 million euros, a news website reported Saturday, publishing what it said was documentary evidence.

Hanging of Sadam Hussain

Colonel Gaddafi and President Mahinda Rajapakse

Colonel Gaddafi with Western Leaders

Western Leaders finally killed  Colonel Gaddafi

And about USA- “  Although completely suppressed in the US media, the answer to the Iraq enigma is simple yet shocking.  The upcoming war in Iraq war is mostly about how  the ruling class at Langley and the Bush oligarchy view hydrocarbons at the geo-strategic  level, and the overarching macroeconomic threats to the U.S. dollar from the euro.  The Real Reason for the upcoming war is this administration’s goal of preventing further OPEC momentum towards the ero as an oil transaction currency standard.  However, in order to pre-empt OIPEC, they needed to gain geo-strategic control of Iraq along with its  2^nd largest proven oil reserves.”  ( http://www.rense.com/general34/realre.htm )

These are eye openers for NCP CM Wigneswaran, Sampanthan and the TNA clique if they have the intelligence to understand  that the whole American and Western exercise to implicate Sri Lanka for violation of human rights and war crimes is not for any  interest they have towards the Tamil people in the North and East, but to “gain geo-strategic  control ” of the north and east  of Sri Lanka.

The Western law and judges cannot be trusted to meet out fair and independent justice, specially  when it comes to deal with  “ black” political leaders of the developing Nations.

Hopefully now there are nations like China, Russia and even Modi’s India which will stand against the “terrorism” of the Western pseudo protectors of human rights, and their doubtful justice.

When it was announced that  Mahinda Rajapakse had won the Presidential elections, the Western media called him “ the hawkish President” even before he was sworn in as the President of Sri Lanka.

The President Mahinda Rajapakse earned the displeasure of  the West ever since he eliminated the terrorists despite all efforts of the West to save them.  It is since then they began to espouse the cause of the  pro-terrorist Tamil diaspora to divide Sri Lanka to set up a separate Tamil Eelam State, by accusing the President, his Government and the Armed Forces for violation of human rights and war crimes.

Their intention was evidently to teach a lesson to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka, for refusing their demand for a cease fire to save the terrorists from being eliminated. They are now  doing all they can to oust him from power  accusing him of violation of human rights and war crimes, hiring even the controversial UK Channel 4 to prepare video footage damaging the image of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. 

These vindictive Western Nations have now  resorted to  bringing  resolutions against Sri Lanka for violation of human rights  and war crimes without a modicum of substantial evidence.  But we still seem to believe that the white western nations are honest, just, fair and reasonable.

 Hence it is not a West friendly puppet who will bend back wards to please his benefactors of the West that we should elect at the next presidential elections but a strong willed dedicated patriot who will stand against the manoeuvres of  the West.  The only man that fits into that category is the President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Hence it is now  that we should all turn to our President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is doing his best to carry out a planned development of  the country  providing peace and security to the people despite the obstacles the West is  putting against him with the intention of a regime change in Sri Lanka to put in place  an already dressed and trained puppet as the President.

The coming Presidential election is not so much an election between Presidential Candidates put up by different  political parties in  Sri Lanka, but against the West which has a stake in the out come of the Presidential election and would be doing everything possible to discredit and destabilise the  present President and his government  to see  that the Presidential election in Sri Lanka would be   favourable to them. 

We already see the Opposition leader who is the likely common Presidential  candidate of the opposition invited to attend the Conference of the  UK Conservative Party.  Strangely immediately after his return from the Conservative Party Conference, the EU announced restrictions on purchase of fish from Sri Lanka, and the European Court of Justice lifted the restrictive measures imposed on  LTTE . 

Ranil Wickramasinghe does not want to face  another failure at an election, and is determined to leave no stones unturned in his effort to win.  Hence it is likely that he is urging his Western friends (masters) to do their best to take measure to make the President Mahinda Rajapakse unpopular to turn the people against him  so that the disgruntled people  would vote for Ranil Wickramasinghe in preference to Mahinda Rajapakse. How else could one explain the latest EU measures  against Sri Lanka ?

UNP and Ranil Wickramasinghe do not stand for progress and development of the country. Ranil Wickramasinghe if he were to become the President will keep Sri Lanka bound to the West restricting the progressive development of Sri Lanka as a nonaligned independent  Sovereign State.  He may take conditional loans from the World Banks to develop Sri Lanka according to their plans, binding Sri Lanka to the West.

The global political power is changing and the South is for once showing signs of rising above the North.  China, Russia, India, Sri Lanka  and the other  SARC countries will be a new political power block.  In that situation we should have a leader who will not stooge to the West, if not Sri Lanka will be politically isolated. Sri Lanka has to be along side its Asian neighbours, without ceasing to have economic relations with the West.

The elimination of terrorism and bringing  peace to Sri Lanka by the President Mahinda Rajapakse marks the  dawn of a new age in Sri Lanka, where the past political systems has no place.  The Parliamentary System , democracy and justice have to change to develop Sri Lanka as an independent  Sovereign State without  restrictive alignment with the former colonial Westminster Democracy, the colonial administrative system and the British economic theories, by which the opposition politicians continue to measure the Sri Lanka development process.

President Mahinda Rajapakse  was not a peace time President.  When he assumed  his office Sri Lanka had been pushed into a worst possible situation by the former Presidents who did not know  what to do with terrorism.  JR Jayawardhane allowed India to mutilate the Sri Lanka Constitution of which he himself was the architect by introducing the 13 Amendment at the behest of India.  R.Premadasa armed the terrorists against the Indian Peace Keeping Force,  which  strengthened the terrorists who turned the arms against the people of Sri Lanka and its Armed Forces.  Chandrika Kumaratunga was made a phantom President  with Ranil Wickramasinghe taking over political decisions signing  a CFA with the terrorists and reducing the Sri Lanka Armed Forces  a weak ceremonial Army confined to their barrcks.

The people of Sri Lanka were living an uncertain life not knowing in what form death would come to them and their children.  The country was in the verge of being  territorially divided.  The terrorist leader was being called both the President and the Prime Minister of the Tamil people.

It is into this scenario that Mahinda Rajapakse stepped in as the President of Sri Lanka.  He may not have been sure whether he would be able to keep his promise to the people to eliminate terrorism, and bring peace and prosperity.  He had to rely on his brother Gotabhaya who is the only one in the family who had military experience and only one he could trust in his perilous undertaking to eliminate a ruthless, strong, well established group of terrorists who were already dictating terms to  hopelessly weak and demoralised Sri Lankan governments which were clueless about a way out of the inglorious situation.

Mahinda Rajapakse is an ordinary man .  He is no miracle maker. He is a man with a tremendous love for his country.  His determination, and unshaken trust in himself to overcome obstacle to achieve his objective made him a rare patriot to liberate Sri Lanka from the situation it was in and bring peace and prosperity to the people. 

We are just armchair critics who think that we have the solutions to all situations and criticise the President because he does not fall into the image of a President we have created in our minds.  But Mahinda Rajapakse the President of Sri Lanka showed that he is different  from others and succeeded not only in ending the thirty years of suffering under terrorism, but took Sri Lanka progressively forward in all fields until it reversed the myth that the development  is reserved to the white West.

The West has failed both economically, and politically . Greece is almost bankrupt, the President of France has fallen low in popularity, and the country is economically in a mess, with unemployment rising, Spain, Portugal and Italy have still not found solutions to their economic problems, UK  also has its internal problems. America is not yet out of the financial crisis it had to face, but continues to create tension every where in the globe, placing obstacles to developing countries.

Cuba is under an American trade and economic embargo since 1960, and now even imposes sanctions to Russia. The democratic tolerance and dialogue to settle political problems have given place to show of armed power with NATO Forces and imposition of sanctions.

Henrikas Mickevicius in an article on Tolerance as a basis of Democratic Development  writes:

“ I have a strong sense that in recent years traditional Center-right political forces in the

Western world - in Europe and the United States, at least - have been moving,

sometimes radically, to the right, and in particular on social and moral issues.

Hard - and loud – politicians who claim being dedicated patriots and moral purists are

increasingly gaining control in the traditional centre-right parties by employing

stereotypes, prejudices, and radical rhetoric; advocating for and implementing public

policies, disrespectful of human rights, and promoting the culture of intolerance; using,

and sometimes distorting, Christian faith to support their positions; exploiting their

societies‘ economic insecurities and fears.

In the long run, it will cause problems for these parties as they increasingly alienate

moderates who are concerned about the quality of democracies in their States. Along

the way, however, they will damage Western tradition of tolerance, respect for human

rights, and consequently undermine democracy, as these three concepts are closely

related and interdependent.” (http://www.hrmi.lt/uploaded/PDF%20dokai/Tolerance%20as%20a%20Basis%20of%20Democratic%20Development%20.pdf )

The President Mahinda Rajapakse eliminated terrorism and brought peace to the people of Sri Lanka in his first term of office.  In his second term of Office, he developed the infra structure of the country. He united the people, established peace, and security.  He made head way in economic development.

If Tamils in the North are still claiming discrimination against the Tamils, it is because the Tamil politicians who have still not given up the dream of the terrorists are misleading the Tamil  people not to cooperate with the President and his government despite the enormous development brought to the North and east and improved their living condition far better than it had  ever been before.

No leader of people escapes from critics and enemies.  Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Lumumba were killed for, their ideas.  Those  who places trust in others are blamed when those trusted turn out to be unworthy of such trust.  Even Devadatta became the enemy of the great Buddha.

The President Mahinda Rajapakse is a Sinhala Buddhist.  He maintains a high standard of moral  values which no other political leader could claim.  He is a leader who shared responsibilities  expecting  those who were placed in position of trust carry out their duties.

It is through that means that he has been able to develop Sri Lanka in all its aspects.

He is accused for nepotism, mismanagement, misdirection and what not.  But it is nepotism that helped him to be successful in eliminating the worst calamity Sri Lanka faced under terrorism.  It is still his close relatives he could trust above any one else. He has set out the ways to develop the country, and managing and the direction of those activities are in the hands of those who have been entrusted with them. 

Godwin Samararatne Conducting a Meditation retreat in Singapore

Godwin Samararatne a well known meditation teacher often visited Western countries  to conduct meditation retreats. Once speaking to the meditators at his Meditation Centre in Nilambe, said that when he conducted retreats abroad every thing was well organised, when he was invited to address the meditators, he was conducted to  a comfortable seat, with a low table on the side with a glass of water,  and provided with a clock to see that he keeps within his allocated time.  But he said at Nilamba there is no such order and well managed retreats, but out of that disorganised chaos here comes out some thing beautiful, a unity of thoughts, a deep attention,  and a vibrant understanding of Dhamma.

Despite the strong criticism of corruption Sri Lanka has not stagnated in underdevelopment, though some opinionated critics do not, hesitate to call Sri Lanka under Mahinda Rajapakse  a failed state or a banana republic. But whether such derogatory and immature comparisons have any value is for the intelligent people to understand.

President Mahinda Rajapakse  has  done what he could with the available “material”. It is impossible for him to be personally responsible for the activities of  his Ministries, Departments and Institutions.  But nevertheless he has seen to it that the development of the country are pursued nonetheless. 

At a time the future of Sri Lanka was bleak, and the war against terrorism needed every one’s support , it was a boon that there were many who crossed over from the opposition to join his rank.  He had to find them positions to win their trust and confidence,  and thus the large cabinet which resulted was a sheer necessity.  But   some of those who crossed over had stood  staunchly by the President and helped him  in his task to take Sri Lanka forward.

President Mahinda Rajapakse  cannot do miracles, nevertheless to-day Sri Lanka is a “miracle”.  He has developed  Sri Lanka as a visionary projecting his ideas and philosophies of development in to “ Mahinda Chintanaya”.  He has carried out part of it and shown results.

There is no political leader to replace him. Ranil Wickramasinghe blindly following the Western Agenda would be a disaster. He would undo what Mahinda Rajapakse has so painstakingly done to bring Sri Lanka to where it is today.

Sri Lanka needs Mahinda Rajapakse to go forward with his projects in “Mahinda Chintanaya”.  No one can equal his foresight and  leadership .  Therefore Mahinda Rajapakse should be given a third term to  continue with  the work of the development of the country, and then to reconcile the Communities to make with them a United Nation of Sri Lanka.

Character Assasination

In 2005 when the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse was elected the President, the  Reuter  and the Western Media wrote,  the “hawkish” Prime Minister of Sri Lanka has been elected as the President.

From the beginning the West went all out to discredit the President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka.  The West even supported the terrorists and did every thing they can to stop the Sri Lanka Armed Forces eliminate the ruthless terrorism from Sri Lanka.  The President Mahinda Rajapakse  who was determined to end terrorism, stood unmoved like a rock in the face of the  manoeuvrings by the International Community, until the last of the terrorists was eliminated.

The failure of the International Community to save the terrorists is the present incessant activities by Western Governments to discredit the government of Sri Lanka and putting the Tamils against the government, accusing it  for violation of human rights.  Some of the Ambassadors of the Western Countries such as USA and UK have become spies looking for evidence to accuse the Government and its Armed Forces for violation of the human rights of the Tamil people.

It is sad in the light of the foreign enemies of  the President and his Government, there are also the Sinhala politicians( leaving aside the Tamil politicians) carrying on a campaign of character assassination against the President and his government.

In Sri Lanka character assassination is more a Sinhala Buddhist trend.  The Tamils do not indulge in it, nor do the Muslims. At the present moment there are all types of accusations of corruption. 

Of course corruption should be condemned but it is a virus that cannot be removed  overnight. In Buddhism it is said that root course  of human suffering lies in desire , craving and attachment (lobha), aversion, hatred, anger and jealousy(dosa), and delusion of a self(moha). Hence there is corruption not only in politics, but also in other human  activities.

Now it is more of the Sinhala diaspora that is resorting to character assassination of the President.  Some of  them like the Colombo elitists are more for the UNP representing the capitalist class.  They even make  out that the President is an undemocratic person out to take revenge from his opponents.

But the President has not resorted to mudslinging at his opponents as they do against him.

But  despite corruption the President and his government  is accused of , the President and his government has carried out a considerable amount of  work to develop the country in all its aspects.  This President did not only bring peace to the country after 30 years of suffering, but developed its infrastructure to an unprecedented level.  Those projects  he has accomplished will remain to benefit  generations of Sri Lankans.  Governing is not an easy task, when one section of the population is satisfied there is the other that is not.

Some projects such as the Mattala International Airport, and Hambantota Harbour may not show immediate profit but they are for gains in the future.  The future generations will be thankful that there was a man with a great foresight to have accomplished such great tasks.

In India there is a city called Fatehpur Sikri a great city construct by the Mughal Emperor Akhbar.  But later he had to abandon it for lack of water. To day it stands a well preserved city visited by thousands of tourists.

But Mattala Airport and the Hambantota Harbour  will not have the same fate as they are commercial constructions and will not remain empty but would one day be jewels of commercial construction in the Sothern city of Hambantota.

The last Government of which Ranil Wickramasinghe was the Prime Minister was also accused for corruption. He was the one who signed the CAF causing immense problems to the people of Sri Lanka.  He satisfied the whims and fancies of the terrorists at the command of  Eric Solheim.  R.Premadasa armed the terrorists.  But Mahinda Rajapakse cannot be put amoung them.

Can the people expect a corrupt free regime under Ranil Wickramasinghe ?

Mahinda Rajapakse is a man of determination. He would not hesitate to fight against the enemies of the country from within or from outside. He was accused of bribing the terrorist, misappropriation of tsunami funds.  He was accused of nepotism and promoting his cronies. 

Yet the President  went forward with his determination to end the suffering of the people under terrorism. 

Often we  tend to believe that the persons we like and take into our confidence  are honest. We trust them and give them responsibilities, but when they turn out to be unworthy hypocrits we are blamed for trusting them and giving them responsibilities.  That is what has happened to the President. He cannot therefore be blamed for the errors committed by others. 

The President has given responsibilities to persons he trusted would carry out the functions allotted them correctly.  He has done that in the military operations against the terrorists.  He handed over the responsibility of the elimination of terrorists to  the Defence Secretary and the Armed Forces and occupied only the political aspect of  the military operations.  It was a success because he could trust the Defence Secretary to be honest and carry out the responsibilities given to him.  That is where nepotism paid to get results from the military operations against the terrorists.

Even then the Defence Secretary was accused of various malpractices which were not proved against him.  Hence the people will accuse the President whether there is reason or not.

There are accusations of tender procedures where the Ministers interfere to accept bids preferred by them. These are matters that should be brought to the knowledge of the President instead of spreading them as rumours to tarnish the good name of the President.   The President cannot be every where surveying the actions of every Ministry and Department .  It is the duty of those to whom responsibilities have been given to carry them out.

If the President were to remove every one against whom accusations are made all the development projects may come to a stand still.  In the circumstances he has to follow a more diplomatic attitude to see that the Government activities continue providing benefits to the people.

Recently a young man who had won the trust and confidence of the President misbehaved in a foreign country assaulting a Sri Lankan diplomat. May be the President had made a mistake in the choice of the monitoring MP for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the incident should not be made another issue to tarnish the name of the President.  Human behaviour is incomprehensible.

No where in the world the University students manifests as they do in Sri Lankan Universities.  It will not be surprising if that too may be put against the President .

The Tamil people of the North has been endowed for the first time with the chance to elect their representatives into a  Provincial Council.  But  those who had the chance to get elected and serve the people as Councillors are instead going all out to get separated from the Government and work for the setting up of a separate Tamil Provincial Council, ignoring to perform their duties  for the welfare of the people who elected them.

The President Mahinda Rajapakse from the time he was elected was determined to unite the different Communities in Sri Lanka to make a nation of them. Despite the constant obstacles that have been put in front of him  the President has nevertheless  not deviated from his resolve to unite the people and take the country towards progress and property.

Sri Lanka has had the good fortune to have elected Mahinda Rajapakse as the President, without which Sri Lanka would have never seen the unimaginable development that is taking place in Sri Lanka today.

His opponents make him out to be the reason for all the corruption they claim there is in Sri Lanka, but nevertheless no other President would have had the determination to go forward to develop Sri Lanka which a few years ago was unimaginably poor and destitute and dependent on small handouts from the West.

Sri Lanka has reached a very high level of democracy, and freedom such that any body is able to make any type of accusations against the President , his government and the Armed Forces  with impunity.

The President and his government are accused for White Van kidnappings, disappearance of journalists, communal confrontation in Aluthgama, shooting in Weliweriya.  Any thing is good if there is an element to destroy the credibility and  tarnishing the reputation of the President.

This character assassination  continues in such large measures that one would think, what Sri Lanka needs today is not an executive President but a Dictator.

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is paranoiac

Chandrika Kuaratunga  besides being a former President of Sri Lanka, is a person representing a respected political family, but her random statements to the press has turned her into  a disreputable member of that family.

She is extremely paranoiac and her statements on political issues in Sri Lanka are irrelevant, lacking mature political analysis.  She is driven by anger, hatred, and jealousy .  Hence she cannot think clearly and evaluate correctly the present political evolutions. She is in a way no better than the politicians of the UNP and the JVP, who keep harping on President  Mahinda Rajapakse’s third term without awaiting a legal clarification  which is a better way of  challenging the President seeking a third time.

Sri Lanka has evolved from its aristocratic and colonial past, and progress as a modern Sovereign State with a civilised culture with a Buddhist background. Politicians should   therefore re-evaluate their own mental progress before making inapt remarks about its people, social set up, and new Sri Lankan democratic political deverlopments.

The Leader of UNP Ranil Wickramasighe has left Sri Lanka to attend the UK Conservative Party Conference. That is the political allegiance UNP has and if they ever come into power Sri Lanka will be a pawn in the hands of the Western power block, developing relation with the Tamil diaspora.  Those who criticise the President Mahinda Rajapakse should make a note as to where Sri Lanka will end with a UNP Government.

Chandrika Kumaratunga will not be a suitable President to lead Sri Lanka as it is today. But before Chandrika even think again of a political resurgence in Sri Lanka she has to cure herself of her psychological impediments.

Chandrika being a woman of the world  more often in the West than in Sri Lanka should  know by now that there are new labour values. Though in the West there is still a Class distinction, no employment is considered low or disrespectful.

But she makes derogatory remarks of our Soldiers who after eliminating the terrorists have turned to build their motherland to fit itself into the progress it is making into modernity.  Not only does she make derogatory remarks , but also makes out that our  heroic soldiers are a sort of a secret service.

In an interview to the “Aththa” newspaper Chandrika has expressed fears  that a military rule would be established in Sri Lanka.  The reason for her  assumption is that "… Today even the roads are being swept by the military.  Even the drains in front of my house are being cleaned by them. My greatest fear is whether they will commit a massive destruction by discarding their brooms for weapons at a crucial time when then public attempts to bring about a change.”

With her paranoia raising its head she creates a frightful mental image of  menace coming from Soldiers cleaning drains around her house, “..They keep a close eye on the happenings in our houses. Telephones and e mails are being monitored...  CID and State Intelligence Service personnel have been deployed at major hotels to keep tabs on who comes and goes, …Even if a friend visits my home, intelligence officers question them the following day. Not only me. Everyone who is thought to be a person disagreeing with those in power are faced with this situation. All these things visible today are signs of a military rule,"

What a small minded statement assuming her imagination to be a reflection of reality.  Chandrika today is an insignificant politician of yesterday. The government has nothing to fear from her.  But behind her imagination is the possibility of her being selected by the Opposition parties to be their common Presidential Candidate. 

Significantly in this respect she says, “ This is not a time to build fences based on party differences. All those who love the country should set aside their differences and join hands to salvage the country from the dark trench it has fallen into,”

On the 5 Ocober,2014  CeylonToday reported,

“Kumaratunga had told Wickremesinghe that the time was opportune to scrap the executive presidential system and it was wise to move towards finding a common candidate acceptable to all political parties.
….. Wickremesinghe, on meeting the former President, had expressed his desire to contest the next presidential election and sought her support for his candidature.
 Dismissing Wickremesinghe's request, Kumaratunga had instructed the UNP leader to concentrate on the move to field a common candidate. After that, candidate wins and scraps the executive system, she pointed out, it would pave the way for Wickremesinghe to come to Parliament as Executive Prime Minister…….”
She had added that , “ This is not a time to build fences based on party differences. All those who love the country should set aside their differences and join hands to salvage the country from the dark trench it has fallen into,”

This is how Chandrika very cunningly manipulates opposition politicians putting herself in the place of a possible common candidate for the Presidential elections.

But that is besides the point,  when Chandrika spoke of of our valliant soldiers who have become peacetime Buddhist Soldiers building the countryside and healing the wounds, she certainly oversteps the bounds of decency of a former President.  These Soldiers were the sons and daughters of those Sinhala Buddhist countrymen who once voted her to be their President.  Therefore, what ever the government these Soldiers are serving they are still her people in service to rebuild  the  motherland, which is theirs as well as hers.

Sri Lanka is the only country in the world that has  re-employed its valiant soldiers who defeated terrorism to re build this country.  They have given up the guns, to take over  the brooms, mamoties, spades, and ploughs becoming a peace time Army .  They are our heroes now making dirty shanty towns of Colombo , Galle or Kandy beautiful cities, exchanging their military fatigues to civilian workers clothes.   How grateful we should be to them, never demeaning the work they do now, cleaning drains, building latrines, or planting flowers and becoming both external and internal decorators.  The value of their services are inestimable.

Chandrika should not be frightened of them, she should if  she is wise , generous , still with political ambitiouns should speak kindly to the Soldiers who clean her drains, and invite them to have a cup of tea with her. That should have been the reaction of a normal  former President to her people keeping her environment clean.

***********

 In the meantime, the NCP Chief Minister C.V.Wigneshwaran, who also has no respect to the Soldiers who have made it possible for him to become a Chief Minister after his retirement as a judge, had said that he does not see the reason why he should cooperate with the Ministry of Defence  when funds allocated for  development of the North comes from donor countries, which should be directed to the NCP.

But Wigneswaran  seems to be learning the reality of working with a blood thirsty group of  TNA MPs who are hell bent in dividing Sri Lanka, walking over the authority of  CM. 

The Asian Tribune reported on the 3 October ,2014 that, “Asian Tribune learnt that Chief Minister Vigneswaran in the course of his emotional response has told that he was not happy to identify himself with the former Tamil armed group members and, that is why he used to be associated with the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi.

This statement of the Chief Minister brought in sharp criticism, condemnation, admonition and one MP participant recalled that when Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchchi proposed Vigneswaran as common candidate in the Northern Provincial Council election, Vigneswaran insisted that he should have the consensus of all the constituent parties of the TNA for him to be a common candidate.

Another participant reminded that during the election campaign Vigneswaran was heard glorifying the V. Prabhakaran, Leader of the LTTE as a great Tamil hero and how come now he says that he was not prepared to associate himself with the former leaders of Tamil armed group. The double-tongue of Vigneswaran was exposed at the meeting and chastised, it was said.”

The situation is worth watching.

Several things happened during the absence of Lankaweb.

In the absence of the Lankaweb we had no way to give vent to our pent up feelings  against an incessant 

campaign of falsehood against the President Mahinda Rajapakse and his government without a word of appreciation for all that they have contributed to the progress of the country and the welfare of the people.  

None in  the anti government lobby blinded by their desire to grab political power for themselves does not see the changes that have taken place in Sri Lanka since Mahinda Rajapakse was elected President. They give credit only to the elimination of terrorism though even that is not to the liking of the Tamils in the North , Tamils in the Diaspora, and perhaps Tamils in the South as well as they remain silent and unconcerned.

Sri Lanka after Independence remained attached to  its Colonial past.  We thought the West would stand by Sri Lanka as a developing sovereign state. We depended on small favours they  generously gave us. The IMF loans that sufficed small development projects came with conditions.

Sri Lanka Government which was nominally Independent still had to plan its development projects according to the  conditions specified by the World Bank.  The loans we got were not much compared to what we receive now,  but yet the Ministers of the then Governments made their money with small  Commissions. D.S.Senanayake was said to have kept with him documents concerning commissions on a tractor deal by G.G.Ponnambalem and said to have waved those documents when GG became unruly.  But the commissions received then were small, nevertheless they were corrupt practices.  In a way desire to profit from office  is human nature.

The loans we got then were insignificant, compared to the billions we get now. Therefore, those ambitious politicians of the opposition  who are unable to lay their hands  on such great richess complain of corruption above all what the President Mahinda Rajapakse had done for the country during his Presidency  since 2005. 

After the Badulla PC elections in which UNP finds a comparative increase of votes its leader Ranil Wickramasinghe says that UNP has new hope of ending  “ the chaos and misery that the Rajapakse rule has brought upon the people”. They turn a blind eye to the vast development  processes in all sectors that have taken place since the election of Mahinda Rajapakse in 2005.

President Rajapakse has not only been able to bring peace to Sri Lanka by  eliminating  the ruthless terrorists, but turned Sri Lanka into a  middle income country with a formidable increase of its GDP.  Sri Lanka today is a role model for other developing nations. It has left its dependence on the West and increased its foreign  relations in a hitherto unprecedented manner. The recent visits of the Prime Minister of Japan and the President of China are a triumph of Sri Lanka’s  foreign policy.

While USA and its allies try to take the Government of Sri Lanka and its armed Forces before a tribunal accused for war crimes, other Nations round the world acclaim the great social, and economic achievements of Sri Lanka. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Mahinda Chintanaya is a far reaching innovative programme which has contributed to bring about vast changes in the development of Sri Lanka, modernising the country and changing every aspect of the lives of the people .  The Government of Mahinda Rajapakse  under its programme of development of technology in education has undertaken to provide Mahindodaya Technological Laborataries to 2000 secondary schools.

The Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation has presented its 2014 Access to Learning Award of One Million Dollars to Sri Lanka in recognition of its work to provide free access to computers and internet to underserved Sri Lankans in remote and rural areas.  Sri Lanka has increased its IT literacy rate from 20 to 40 percent. 

These are considerable achievements which  many people do not seem to accept looking only at squeezed out negative  aspects of development. No developing country can achieve development without assistant from other Nations.  China , Japan, Russia and many other Nations have come to assist Sri Lanka in its development process providing loans and making investments.  The Opposition parties decry the loans,  and the vast projects undertaken by China, but thanks for those loans we see the transformation of Sri Lanka into a modern Nation. 

Madeira a small  Island off Portugal is mountainous and all its roads  every where in the Island right up to its highest point of 2000 meters have been well built with carpeted two-way traffic lanes.  These infra structure development had been done on loans from France etc. It has enabled it to develop its tourism which is its main source of  revenue.  That is how countries are developed, though UNP blares out against taking of loans from China, merely  to mislead the people.

In a Rupavahini Programme  in Sinhala “Motherland and Citizens” ( mawbima ha Puravasiyo) in Doramadalawa of the 15^th September, 2014, a very learned young Buddhist Monk Venerable Medagoda Abeytissa said quoting a Buddhist discourse, that the nature of the ordinary people is such that even if they are given the whole world they will still pick holes and find defects, unable to appreciate what has been offered to them.

It is just like those words of Venerable Medagoda Abeytissa, the opposition to the government  does  not appreciate the unprecedented  development that the President Mahinda Rajapakse has been able to bring about in less than ten years (since 2005).

It is said that nearly 90 percent of the loans taken by the government  had been spent in the development of the North and East of Sri Lanka, where neither the Tamil people in those areas nor their Political leaders are able to take into account those massive changes that have taken place in the lives of the Tamil people living  in those Provinces. The TNA political leaders in the North still  refuse any friendly dialogue with the government, but appeal for the intervention of  foreign governments to fulfil their separatist Agenda. 

Sri Lanka’s tremendous development process is sadly slowed down  due to the Tamils of Sri Lanka.           

The fact that they- the TNA politicians are not interest in the welfare of the people, but seek only benefits for themselves has come to light recently in an article in Asian Tribune of the 19^th September,2014, which reports that Mr Mahalingam the former Indian Consul General in Jaffna had paid 102 Million Rupees  to TNA to be distributed to all the Candidates for the NPC elections  at the rate of 2 million  Rupees to each one of them.  In addition the Tamil diaspora is reported to have paid 57 million Rupees as election fund  to TNA. 

But the report states that the money received had not been distributed to the Candidates as required  but the major portion of it had been swindled by the Leader of TNA Mr.R. Sampanthan, without  giving any part of it even to the TULF leader Ananda Sangaree.

In the meantime it had also been reported that the old boys of the Trinity College Kandy are filing action against Rod Gilbert the  Principle of Trinity college for having paid Rs. 202 million to LTTE from College Funds.

The NCP Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran questions why he should work with the government when  funds allocated for the development of the  North come from donor countries and could be directed to the NCP.  He is a former Supreme Court Judge and seems to have no knowledge of Administrative procedures,and Financial Regulations, already assuming that the North is a separate state cut away from the Government of Sri Lanka. 

Vasudeva Nanayakkara the brother-in-law of C.V.Wigneshvaran the Chief Minsiter of NCP has said that he would give only conditional support to Mahinda Rajapakse in a future election. Vasudeva has not understood that he and his party are managing to keeping their heads above in the  waters of political rapids thanks to the President Mahinda Rajapakse. Both LSSP and CP have lost their place in Sri Lanka's political arena.

R.Sambanthan is no more the Leader of the TNA, its new leader Mavai Senathirajah has said “ We as a people would… be concerned  about our historic habitats, our option to determine what is best for us to ensure self –government in the Tamil-speaking North-East of the country within a united Sri Lanka.” 

But the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province has said that the people of the Eastern Province  will not agree to a merger of the  North and East, and emphasised that the separation has been legally decided and there is no question of going back to it.

A group of Indian Journalists visiting Sri Lanka has said  the development programs like the one launched in Sri Lanka were not found in any other country in the South Asian Region, and the island’s rural population  is reaping the full benefits of infrastructure development.  The group has added that they are confident  that Sri Lanka would be a fully developed country   within the next decade.  The journalists have promised to brief the Indian people on the development programs Sri Lanka has undertaken regardless of ethnic and religious differences.

The National General Secretary of the Bharathiya Janatha Party(BJP) P.Muralidar Rao  visiting Sri Lanka to attend the International Conference of Asian Political Parties had said that Sri Lanka has been transformed into a thriving  country with the dawn of peace.  Sri Lankans are enjoying the dividends  of peace.  He has added that,  he had visited Sri Lanka five years ago, and that he was amazed to see the vast changes that have taken place  in the country after five years and observed that Sri Lanka is now heading towards progress and prosperity.

But  meeting with Sri Lanka’s prophet of separatist politics the Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem,  Mr.Muralidar Rao had said that he strongly emphasises the importance of having the 13^th Amendment implemented.

Sri Lanka should perhaps write a new Constitution leaving out the cancerous 13 Amendment.

The 24th of September,2014 saw the Yal Devi Express from Colombo reaching the Jaffna Railway station after an absence of 25 years.  Some prophecies that it would enable the reconciliation of the  two communities the Tamils and the Sinhala.

Buddhists monks get more involved in politics leaving the Sinhala Buddhists behind to fend for themselves. 

While the  Buddhist monks keep seeking political solutions to Sri Lanka, criminality, and suicides amoung the Sinhala Buddhists keep rising.  Moral standards have fallen to nadir. Yet Madoluwawe Sobhita Thero wants to be the common Candidate of the opposition at the next Presidential elections. 

It is time that the three Buddhist Nikayas unite to find a solution to bring the Sinhala Buddhist back to the temple to teach them to  uphold Buddhist moral standards.  That is the call of the Buddhist monks, which they have laid aside to dabble in politics which is best left for the laity.

We will soon have the Pope  Francis  visiting Sri Lanka .  He is a good man to be received though we know that he cannot invoke an absent God to help us solve our problems.  Our problems have to be solved by ourselves without any divine intervention.  If he can at least bring about  unity  amoung the Communities  by making them understand that before God there is no ethnic difference it would be a most welcome visit.

The successor to evil Navi Pillai  the former UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein does not seem to have troubled him self to evaluate the biased reports made by  Navi Pillai and seems to be following the path already traced by her.  He calls for more accountability from the government of Sri Lanka.

In the Office of the UN Human Rights Council there is an unchanged policy, the policy dictated by Navi Pillai.  Therefore if the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wants to understand the reality of the situation with regard to human rights in Sri Lanka and other countries,  he should take a new approach first by shaking up his Office-changing the Staff, who will continue to feed him with biased,mostly false and unsubstantiated  information collected by Navi Pillai.

Now that the Lankaweb is back we will have more to write as days go by.  Thank you Lankaweb and its indefatigable team.

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Sarath Silva’s convoluted arguments against a third term of office to the President Mahinda Rajapakse do not hold water.

Sarath Silva the  retired Chief Justice puts forward convoluted arguments against a third term of office for the Prersident Mahinda Rajapakse to attract the attention of the Opposition  and  qualify  for  nomination by them  for the next Presidential election as  their common candidate.

A third term  of office as the President of Sri Lanka for Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse appears to be the most contested issue  locally  by the opposition to the present Government of the President Mahinda Rajapakse, and  outwardly by  those Tamils in the diaspora still liking their wounds after the elimination of terrorism in Sri Lanka.  It would be for the politicians of  the opposition to be  left out in the cold for  another extended period. Therefore they try to hold onto any straw to stop themselves from getting carried  away in the present political deluge.

It is also a defeat for those anti-Sri Lanka countries of the West  who would see in the re-election of Mahinda Rajapase for a third term the slipping from their clutches the chance of the  benefits they are  hoping to have from a West friendly President of the opposition, from the  strategic position  of Sri Lanka in the Indian ocean.

Sarath Silva thinks that more complex the  arguments he makes against  the President Mahinda Rajapakse’s  third term run , more they become tempting  fodder for the consumption  of the ambitious political buffalos of the opposition.  However, these arguments only make the present political climate more cloudy.  At the end the interpretation of the law is in the hands of the Supreme Court.  Though the Supreme Court too is not infallible as it was seen in the wrong interpretation of Article 107(3) in the case of the Impeachment of the Chief Justice Shirani Bandranayake.

Sarath Silva’s argument is that Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse is disqualified from  contesting  a third time under Article 31(2)of the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka under which he was elected for the first and the second terms. 

He argues that the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was passed after Mahinda Rajapakse was sworn in as the President  for the second time, therefore the Amendment would apply to future presidents but not for him to be re-elected, as his Presidency is a child of the Article 31(2) of the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka.

But at that time Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse was elected President, the 18 Amendment was not even envisaged , then how can the President Mahinda Rajapakse be  put into the  bracket of  “President elected before the 18^th Amendment” merely to deny him the right to appeal to the people for  a third mandate.  It is for the people to decide whether he should be rejected or re-elected for another term, to deny the people that right juggling with legal terminology is not democratic to say the least. 

The Constitution has to be people friendly tampering it otherwise to deny the people a right under the Constitution is to take the Constitution outside the democratic System of a government of the people, for the people, by the people.

The 18^th Amendment was introduced to rectify the anomaly of not allowing a (popular) President in place to seek elections for another term.   The election of a President is a right of the people and if the people wants the President in place to continue for a further period it is their right that would be usurped by interpreting the Constitution  with the 18^th Amendment  to deny  the people to have a  President of their choice.

To support this interpretation of the 18^th Amendment Sarath Silva  sights  Article 6 of Sri Lanka Interpretation Ordinance, and adds that the Amendment cannot be applied retrospectively in Law as the law takes effect  in the future.

The Article 6 is not applicable in the present case of allowing a President to ask the People for a mandate to serve them for a third or more terms of office, as Article 6 is to be applied as a penalty for an offence. Is asking for a third term under the 18^th Amendment to the Constitution  a punishable offence ?  Sarath Silva merely brings it up to complicate the issue.

Sarath Silva’s argument that the President Mahinda Rajapakse when he was elected for the second time was automatically disqualified to contest for a further term under Article 31(2) should be viewed differently, that is if in the course of the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapakse a valid change has taken place in the Constitution of Sri Lanka the benefit of that change should come to the President in place, otherwise it would be a denial of justice the benefit of which would be to the people. 

The Constitution cannot be interpreted taking it away from the people for whose benefits the Constitution exists.  The Supreme Court that would be called upon to interpret the relevant provisions of the Constitution should not argue on dry legal theories, but  by viewing  how the changes to the Constitutions should be appropriately interpreted without depriving the people the benefits that they would acquire from having the same President elected for a further term to continue the work that has been acclaimed by the people as beneficial to them.

An Amendment to the Constitution changes the whole aspect of the Constitution and the Constitution which was passed on 7 September, 1978, is no more the same to day with its 18 Amendments.  The benefits accrued through the Amendments to the Constitution should be equally shared by the people and therefore the benefits from the 18^th Amendment cannot be denied to the current President on the ground that he was elected President before the 18^th Amendment was passed, and that he is a “child” of the Article 31(2) of the “ancient” Constitution of 1978.  The 18^th Amendment changes radically the Article 31 (2) of the September,1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The Article 31(2)  which read “  No person who has been twice elected to the office of President by the People shall be qualified thereafter to be elected  to such office  by the People.”, has now been amended to read, “ Notwithstanding any thing to the contrary in the preceding provisions of this Chapter, the President may, at anytime after the expiration of four years from the commencement of the current term of office by proclamation, declare his intention of appealing to the People for a mandate to hold the office.” (emphasized)

This contradicts Sarath Silva’s contention that the President Mahinda Rajapakse  having been elected before the introduction of the 18^th Amendment is bound by  the Article 31(2) of the Septemnber,1978 Constitution.  But  under the provision of the 18^th Amendment President Mahinda Rajapakse  elected  before the  introduction of the 18^th Amendment is nonetheless well entrenched within the terms of the  18^th Amendment and is qualified to demand the People for a mandate for a third term.

This provision  which allows the President to declare his intention of seeking election for a third term is by virtue of his being the “ currently sitting President”.  But not withstanding the provision to seek election after the expiration of four years from the current term of office, if the President Mahinda Rajapakse were to continue his presidency until November, 2016 the end of the period for which has been elected, then there would be no possibility for any one to contest his qualification to contest the Presidential elections for a third  time or more.

Sri Lanka is not a Western Democracy.  The democratic system applied to our country should go along with our culture and the sentiments of the people. We should not rule the people by abstract law, interpreting it  unconcerned with the aspirations of the  people. An election of a President or peoples’ representatives is the expression of the peoples’ choice. 

For that the people should be allowed the largest number of choices from which to choose without restricting them to an artificial choice selected by the application of the rigid law.  That would be a denial of the right of the peoples’ choice which would be to   step out of democracy applying legal interpretations to restrict the people of their free choice of their President or their representatives.