Mahinda And Ranil’s Done Deal
Lawyers protesting outside the Supreme Court
Today is a day of many alarms and few surprises. There is no doubt that Mahinda will pass the 18th amendment, allowing him to run in and control elections (via the Elections and Police Commissions). Despite the protests (pro and con) in Colombo and the rump UNP marching on Parliament, the bill will be passed in Parliament. This whole thing has been like watching a car crash in slow motion. It’s not like Mahinda didn’t give the opposition time. This was run through two elections and interminable rounds of cross overs. Its only the final passage that has been too fast. Ranil could have stopped this at any time by stepping down, by giving opposition MPs some hope of one day getting out of opposition. He didn’t. His protest to Parliament is now empty. He should be walking alone.
To sum the situation, the 18th amendment will remove whatever (theoretical) checks and balances remained on the Sri Lankan Presidency. The President can now appoint almost anyone and can run indefinitely. In Sri Lanka, sitting Presidents almost never lose. They have the full force of the state behind them and don’t hesitate to use state money, buses, properties and violence to win. The only stopgap has been term limits, which Mahinda is now lifting. That is the rub.
The burn is that everyone has seen this coming. Ranil lost to Mahinda in 2005 and didn’t step down. Instead his party has been slowly losing MPs, generally whenever Mahinda wanted to pass something. By maintaining a stagnant opposition Ranil has allowed Mahinda to simply buy votes whenever he wants. When the UNP had their worst showing almost ever in the 2010 Parliamentary elections, Ranil still remained and fed the party faithful only internal committees and meetings. Indeed, his is simply sitting out the debate on this issue, just as he sat out the last Presidential election. Someone should tell him, however, that he’s sitting on our heads.
An opposition has to have some hope of some day being in power, and Ranil has blocked that hope. This is the political climate that has made Rajapaksa’s coup possible. It is sadly now only possible to remove him through coup or massive protest, because this amendment effectively makes the democratic option untenable. The last guy who tried – General Sarath Fonseka – was put in jail, but this only because he’s actually democratically dangerous. The guy who doesn’t try (Ranil) will forever allowed to run free, because it is he who made this amendment possible.
It is not what the people decide, indeed it is rarely what the people decide. This is a pure political play, made possible by how little we control our politicians. Ranil could have stopped this at any time by resigning and actually allowing his party to heal from successive defeats. Mahinda could have stopped this at any time by restraining his greed for power and dynasty. Instead we get this hideous creation, the 18th amendment, fathered by Mahinda and mothered by Ranil. It is not so dangerous now, but wait till it grows up.
Posted on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 in out, Politics, Sri Lanka.
Mohsin Hamid, author of How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, has a nice 
I’m happy to be featured in Echelon magazine’s 40 Under 40 feature, profiling young people who contribute to the economy in some way, mainly in business but also in terms of innovation and thought leadership. It’s an interesting article not just in that I’m in it (mainly for work on indi.ca and 
I won’t add too much commentary, but just read I guess. The youngest Rajapaksa, Rohitha (Chi Chi) has given an amazing interview to the 
In 2009 this strange character appeared on the Sri Lankan Internet scene, getting angry, flaming, trolling whatever. Then he started naming anonymous bloggers, posting comments as people’s kids, nasty stuff, for which I removed him from 
I don’t want to say it… but… I TOLD YOU SO! Ranil kawa wadae indi…
I’m still oblivious about the 18th amendment actually contains. And this idea that the stop gap somehow dilutes the power of the incumbent is a joke.
Indi put up the proposals on sundaleader here’s a link:
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2010/09/03/proposed-18th-amendment-to-the-sri-lankan-constitution-full-text/
Also the only things I found of any concern is the amount of “commissions” and officials the President will have direct control over who gets the positions. They are shown in Schedule I and Schedule II of the proposal document. It’s highly possible it’s headed in the direction of an unofficial dictatorship. Whether or not that will be a bad thing, we’ll find out soon enough.
Rangouk, is it readable.
Nope, it isn’t. legalspeak is gobbledygook to me. :(
It’s not that bad… it’s very annoying the very fine tuned references they use which can be hard to keep track off.
But I find you get used to it.
I sure did when I actually had to read legal stuff when my life depended on it. :D
Basically from what I read, the only thing of interest to me at least was this:
And then the following regarding the above:
Then it basically says that the President will take other peoples “Observations” on regarding the appointment of what’s mentioned above. So “observation” pretty much means, yeah I’ll hear what you have to say, but I don’t necessarily have to do what you say.
The thing about the term limit doesn’t really bother me like you pointed out, if anyone can ask for presidency any number of times, why can’t the president. That’s not the scary bit, but seemed to be what most people were talking about.
The scary bit to me is the above. Anyway, lets wait and see what happens. Till then, Imma enjoy the economic benefits and try to help out where I can. : )
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what is this going to change in terms of facts on the ground? Weren’t these appointments being made by President anyway during the four or five years when the Constitutional Council was defunct? As far as I can see, the lists are identical to those in the 17th Amendment, so it’s not like the President’s being given powers he wasn’t already exercising.
Honestly I wouldn’t know about that… but you might be right… there has always been presidential appointments to these positions, and I do remember something about the Elections commission being as such previously.
I have the exact same question as lotus. What the difference between the pre 17th amendment constitution and the post 18th amendment constitution. There is no real point in comparing the 18th amendment with 17th because the 17th was never implemented.
I guess it hasn’t changed the real ground situation any, but earlier his critics could accuse the prez of violating the constitution, or at least being lethargic about implementing it.
Under the 17th the officials of top posts were appointed by a constitutional council which comprised of members nominateded by the govt., opposition, and minority parties as well as a few other non- political players. But the govt. delayed nominating anyone thereby making the CC defunct.
The 18th has scrapped the CC. Appointments to top posts will now be made by the prez himself on recommendations made by a cabinet sub committee or a parliamentary committee, I’m not sure which. However he is not bound by these recommendations, and is fee to do as he pleases.
Now he is legally empowered to appoint anyone he chose. This is my understanding. I could be wrong.
Was I rambling a bit there?
Earlier his actions were criticised as being unconstitutional. So he just changed the constitution to go on acting the same way, but avoid being called unconstitutional.
The earlier constitution strengthened democracy, this one strengthens the president.
Dodo, The 17th was brought in as an improvement. The 18th has scrapped it. Non- implementation for selfish reasons is not a good reason to go back to the earlier situation is it?
Well what I can see is, that if the president was always allowed to appoint people into positions, with a term limit on the president, then the term limit would stop him from appointing people in favour of him indefinitely. Now that too is gone.
So did the 17th amendment allowed the CC to appoint people into government positions
That’s what was intended. I think a few commissions were appointed too. (which have since lapsed or become defunct due resignation of some commisioners or something like that) But there seem to have been loopholes as the bill had been drafted in a hurry and rushed through. But there was consensus. It was not passed on bought votes.
Shammi, I read a bit and it turns out that that the 17th Amendment actually doesn’t give the CC the authority to point anyone. What the 17th amendment does is give the CC the ability to block the presidents nominations.
In that sense the CC is effectively a check on the president.
Is that right? Thanks, nice to have someone else do the reading.
So, with the 17th amendment, had the CC been active, things like the re-appointment of PB Jayasundera as Treasury Secy. could have been blocked. But if it was incative and the prez appointed an unsuitable person to a public position (as he did), then as Rangouk said, the term limit would effectively put an end to that appointment.
You must admit that the 18th has removed that safeguard.
Isn’t this where you’re supposed to go “hmm…..” ?
If the party constitution of the UNP is what stands in the way of sacking Ranil, this too should be amended in a hurry. The manner in which Mahinda uses his newly aquired powers may provide the ideal backdrop for the emergence of a new leader, to salvage the party and also provide the people with a viable alternative if the need arises.
I think the need is quite apparent. How about next round protests, you protest to kick out Ranil. In a way what he’s doing inside the UNP is a dictatorship.
I only believe in protesting from an armchair. For the sake of the UNP there is a crying need of a stronger leader, if only to act as a fig leaf. As things stand now, I doubt whether there’ll be a thing he could do other than be a ceremonial ornament.
It doesn’t matter which party is at the helm as long as the country prospers. For all our sakes I hope that Mahinda proves to be as sincere as the image he tries to project, and that we’ll be happy to re-elct him when the time comes, because there is bound to be bloodshed before there is any change.
Corruption is a minor irritant which we have learnt to tolerate. But law and order is another matter. Even if the next Samurdi niyamaka is crucified, we’lll have to turn a blind eye, and hope our turn will never come.
There’s that saying “get your house in order before…”.
?? I don’t get it ….
Not to you sham’s… :) I was saying about the UNP. The saying goes You must get your own house in order before you can take on the village. Then you must get your village in order before you can take on the country… so on and so forth.
Shammi, have you forgotten how incredibly sincere the king appeared when he promised to abolish the executive presidency, increase state sector salaries by Rs. 2500 with immediate effect etc etc etc?
The shortsightedness of the king and his ‘loyal’ subjects regarding this latest issue defies belief.
But as they say, the dog barks, but the caravan passes on.
By the time everyone realizes the truth, it’ll be a bit late… Although I must add that the ‘truth’ has also become a casualty of the actions of this regime, and is now what they say it is…
btw, I saw some of the protests close up today and I appreciated the effort some of these people put in, even though they knew it would ultimately prove to be futile, and possibly detrimental to their own safety and well being… After all, the king and his men don’t really subscribe to the ideology of “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” do they, now?
And shammi, have you ever tried to imagine what would have happened if the likes of Gandhi believed that armchair protests would suffice?
Too late for the UNP, I think, Rangouk. Serves them right. (them, though I’ve only ever voted UNP for one reason or another)
Mahinda, you’re implying that those of us who don’t act are useless? Well in my experience, politics is shit… only people deeply involved in it seem to care so much. As for the rest of us, well, we see what’s going on, but aren’t so affluent or famous to change things, so we invest our time in better things that need to be done.
Politics is not our business…
Most of the people who protested are lawyers. My sister’s a lawyer and it’s quite clear how she is of a different opinion, much like you. Her conclusion too was that “the people who voted for them deserve this shit”. But even she agrees the hopelessness of the situation as it is.
What to do? There was a subset of the UNP crowd who didn’t want Ranil in power, I was one of them, and we voted MR because at least we say the potential amongst the bad (we’re used to that stuff), and then the SF fiasco…
It’s not fair to blame us. Maybe partly our fault, but certainly those in power in the opposition, should have been more tactical. MR was better at that, and I have a feeling from the very beginning. Opposition has been outwitted in everything ever since 2005. That’s half a fricking decade.
There hasn’t really been an opposition in this country for quite sometime rangouk. What we’ve had was an NGO/ maharaja hybrid
Oh and there was a rabid dog of a politician somewhere in the middle. That was the interlude.
My friend, relax.
I’m not apportioning blame here.
I was just pointing out the fact that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. I’m full of good quotes tonight, are’nt I? ;)
Respect to the few who choose to take action, no matter how futile any action appears.
You’ve described the PE as “the SF Fiasco’. Indi, who effectively campaigned for SF right up until the 27th, turns like a worm and casually justifies the incarceration of SF “…was put in jail, but this only because he’s actually democratically dangerous.” WTF? So that’s justification? Why the hell don’t we put what’s left of the entire opposition in jail on these grounds??! Sorry. You lot have been declared “Democratically Dangerous.” Off you go. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 200. However, get on board with us and we’ll issue you a get out of jail free card. This is the New Democracy. UPFA style.
But your sister is right. This is sort of hopeless. Maybe even shammi is right – lets stop thinking about politics. Let have some nice escapist topics on here. Butterflies? The advantages of flossing regularly?
Most people will just go with the flow. Adopt an attitude of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
But there will always be a few who will fight against what they see as the actions of a corrupt, narcissistic regime, drunk with power and greedy for more. Respect to those boys (and girls, of course).
Ok, so I may have quoted indi a leetle out of context, but you get my point, right?
“Triumph of evil” “good men do nothing”. Ha ha ha… you gotta be kidding me…
rangouk, mahinda is usually big on platitudes but low on substance. You’ll have to get used to this.
I completely agree, dodo, and very short term-ist and self serving in his thinking and policies, and completely shameless to boot. It’s a shame more people don’t realize this, like you clearly have. But then again, as they say, history is written by the winners, or at least the people who declare themselves to be the winners…
You will realize that this is the second time that I have misquoted and twisted things around in this particular comment thread…
Get used to it, fool.
In Sri Lanka, the facts and the truth are what Mahinda declares to be the correct facts and the truth.
Smoke and mirrors, my friend, smoke and mirrors.
All us armchair protesting keyboard heroes here might as well just commit suicide, for what its worth. The puppies whimper and the train trundles by.
See rangouk, mahinda even illustrates my points for me.
:)
Ha ha too late, now.
It is SOOO satisfying to see the UNP and its hangers-on get shafted! It is also SOOOO satisfying to see the CPA get shafted (Sanjana Hattotuwa and Pakehodi’s faces must be all screwed up). And LOL at the “protests” – only like 50 people turned up? haha!
All power to the Prez!!
And look what else is happening:
“Six UNP MPs including Lakshman Seneviratne crossed over to the government in Parliament during the debate on the 18 Amendment to the Constitution a short while ago” — Daily Mirror
WOW. Just WOW. The UNP is getting ripped to shreds.
And look at what the stock market is doing:
=========
Sri Lanka stocks at peak on stability hope
COLOMBO, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s benchmark share index hit a new record high again on Wednesday on lower interest rate expectations and hopes of economic and political stability after proposed constitutional changes. The index is Asia’s best performer in 2010 with a 76.1 percent gain.
The market has gained over 6.5 percent since the cabinet backed an amendment that would free President Mahinda Rajapaksa to run for a third term after his present one expires in 2017.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE6870H320100908
=========
Man, things are happening for Sri Lanka.
Die UNP, DIE! :)
You meant die, democracy, die, of course…
No, I actually meant die Fonny die.
Right. So you actually typed UNP, later thought you typed Fonny but in actual reality meant to type democracy. Whatever.
Ref the change in the constitution and your love of the king, I’ll say this. You like Mahinda. Fair enough. But you seem to think that good old Mahinda will live forever. You do realize that Mahinda is not quite as young as his photoshopped pics make him look, right?
Even though I intensely dislike Mahinda and Co. for their dishonesty, greed, rampant abuse of powers, complete disregard for the law, and their complete and utter shamelessness, I will also admit that there is a chance an even worse President could come to power in the future, because a lot of Sri Lankans are idiots, quite like your good self.
With the sweeping powers accorded to the Executive President through these latest changes, we’d be proper fucked then, wouldn’t we?
Apart from all this, I would also like to add that I think a great leader of a nation (by which I mean someone like Nelson Mandela, for whom I have the greatest respect) should leave behind him a a positive legacy that will benefit his country for decades or even centuries to come. His actions should be in the best interest of the country, and the decisions he makes should benefit his country in the long term, and should set the framework for lasting peace and prosperity for all. I personally think Mahinda falls short.
(I have used “he” above but I don’t mean this in a sexist sense)
And I care what you think because?
Mahinda is good for another 2 terms which is needed (I think) at this time for Sri Lanka to develop, for its economy to take off, for tourism to take off and for consistency in policy. If the UNP came to power now it would probably scrap the Hambantota port projecy just to spite Mahinda, but really cutting off Sri Lanka’s nose in the process. So I’m glad Mahinda has another chance to run for presidency and I think he will win it again with a huge margin – especially with a cesspool of an opposition led by that fag hag Ranil Wickremasinghe. We’ll only be fucked if there are no elections. But we still have elections, so if the people want they can kick Mahinda out (or keep him in).
So hows Fonny dear doing in jail these days? Is he getting bored of staring at the ceiling and crying because he got dishonourably discharged?
I agree with Ruki… we need Mahi right now because there’s no one else. If there is going to be undemocratic events taking place (more so than usual :D ) then the opposition is to blame as much any people who abuse their power.
Rookie, your pettiness is only matched by your stupidity.
Hear hear rangouk.
The economy is already taking off, infrastructure is being built and tourism is on the mend. The Sri Lankan stock market is now Asia’s best two years running. And Sri Lanka tops Asia’s tourist growth this year, featured as THE destination to go by the New York Times. Norocholai starts producing power January 2011, first ship in Hambantota in November, and despite the end of GSP+ Sri Lanka’s apparel exports actually grew this year. India’s Army, Navy and Airforce chiefs are personally visiting Sri Lanka to increase defence ties, India and China back Sri Lanka to the hilt, luxury hotel groups are buying SL realestate and the list goes on. The ESEs and the UNP fuckers can’t stand the fact that all this is happening under Mahinda’s tenure and they so desperately want to throw in a monkey wrench. Fuck em I say.
Sri Lankan tourism campaign on CNN running now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm6-ApkH3D0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ-D_PMNMrc
“Sri Lanka’s booming tourism sector has started to attract international attention with top tourism operators showing an interest to expand their services to Sri Lanka.
The latest to enter the fray is Shangri-La which operates a number of Hotels and Resorts in many parts of the world.
Making its moves the Chairman of the Shangri-La Asia Khoon Kouk visited Sri Lanka to explore possible opportunities.
Recently Minor International PLC of Thailand together with local partner Hemas acquired the Kani Lanka Resort and Spa situated in southern town of Kalutara to be developed as a luxury resort.
The investment for the particular development is estimated at US$ 22 million and once developed will operate under the world famous brand of “Anantara”.
Apart from that, A Maldivian Hotel developer is making plans to build a 150 room tourism resort in Pasikuda in the eastern province.
Maldives Blue Continent will pump in US $ 6 million for the project.”
These are the peeps investing in Sri Lanka now:
http://www.shangri-la.com/
http://www.anantara.com/
BTW, imbecile rookie, have you not noticed how “the Prez” treats his former allies/supporters? What makes you think you’ll be any different in the long term?
If Mahinda is going to ass rape the SLMC and Paba (figuratively of course!), I am all for it. Rauf Hakeem needs to be taken down several notches, the self-righteous little prick.
Another koheda yanne malle pol answer as usual, rookie.
“The Prez” is quite well known for using people then fucking them over.
What makes you so sure that’s not what he is going to do to the entire population?
He’s arguably done this already, numerous times, for example, earlier this year he pledged to abolish the executive presidency whilst campaigning for the PE. Having come to power, he drafts and implements this new amendment further reinforcing the executive presidency. This is just one example…
LOL Mahinda, pull your thumb out of your ass. There are things called elections. If people don’t like him, they can vote him out. THANK YOU COME AGAIN!
PS Most Sri Lankans don’t give a fuck about abolishing the executive president.
Yes rookie, there are things called elections in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately they are not free nor fair in Sri Lanka, which will make it impossible to “vote him out.” Indi’s latest post says everything that needs to be said on the matter.
I think you meant to say that most Sri Lankans don’t give a fuck about abolishing the executive presidency. If that is indeed the case, why did your hero feel the need to make this pledge in both of his presidential election campaigns?
By the way rookie, are you suggesting that the king’s last Presidential election campaign was free and fair?
YAWN Mahinda.
The SLFP and the UNP have been voted in and voted out in the past. Why should it be any different this time?
And in reply to your question, perhaps because he wanted to win over the few who did? DUH.
And yup it was “free and fair” as Sri Lankan elections go.
I see.
So he tells different lies to different people to achieve his own objectives? So during elections he does his best to con as many people as he can, using many different lies, is it? “I will abolish the executing presidency” “I will give government servants a Rs. 2500 increase in salary immediately” There’s a lie for almost everyone!
Right, so the last election, with all the shameless hypocrisy, lies, false propaganda and that dodgy bit involving dayananda et al at the end, was quite free and fair by Sri Lankan standards no?
I suppose the next elections are going to set a new benchmark for Sri Lanka’s definition of a free and fair election, then…
But then, everything comes to an end one day. It will be interesting to watch the conclusion of this particular saga.
Best part about the presidential election had to be SF et als attempt to get the election result cancelled. firstly, there was talk about taking the elections commissioner hostage. then there was the claim about counting irregularities. Then there was the computer ‘uppara wettuma’. How can a group of people fail so badly.
Clearly you know nothing about politicians Mahinda, let alone Sri Lankan ones. Get a fucking grip and come back into the the real world. I bet your amma doesn’t let you cross the road by yourself even today.
This is a guy who not only worships SF but continues to evangelizes on his behalf. They prefer to avoid reality, almost religiously.
Ah dodo you fancied a bit of the action, eh?
Thank you for sharing your favourite part of the election. Notwithstanding the fact that the part you mentioned occurred after the election…
Please also feel free to let me know what your favourite colours and shapes are, as well.
I know it is a bit strange that I still speak on behalf of SF. Its not very Sri Lankan, is it? I should be more dinana paththata hoiya, no? I’m working on it, but it’s not sitting well with me so far. I’ve even watched some videos featuring paba to get some pointers, but its not worked so far.
Have a look and let me know what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sKiNjPEvI0
paba earlier, paba then, all in the first 5 mins or so, contrasted with paba now.
Anyway, I digress.
So the elections were free and fair, were they?
I’ll tell you what I think. I think the royal family found themselves in a situation they hadn’t really planned for – it was supposed to be a cakewalk against the deshadrohiya who’s turned losing elections into a fine art but then they found themselves faced with this guy.
They pulled out all the stops – hudda got busy on the radio, tharunayata hetak put their christmas party money towards funding ads, Rupavahini started quoting asiantribune.com like it was the most respected news website on the planet and not in fact some two bit piece of shit run by a tiger sympathiser, old idi amin and hitler videos were dug up, SF became an American Citizen, half of sri lanka got a free lunch at that nice restaurant between kollupitiya and galle face (they seemed to have lots of business during the elections but seem to have closed down now), babies said jayawewa etc etc etc.
Since they had everything to lose if they lost and everything to gain if they won, they went that extra mile. Although they did make contingency plans – exchange control restrictions were suddenly lifted for obvious reasons, and so on and so forth.
But good on them, they got the job done.
But enough of that for the moment.
Rookie, you little scroat, since you very clearly accept that your king is a bit lacking in integrity – “Clearly you know nothing about politicians…” – I will just let that go.
I am however concerned about your need to drag mothers into everything.
I can’t decide whether this is because you’re just some 3rd rate scum or because of some traumatic personal experience… perhaps you suffer from some primal scene/oedipus complex based issues… who knows.
You’d best get some help, really.
You know mahinda, I’m just waiting for the day when SF crosses over. I want to see your reactions then. I get a good feeling it’s on th cards
See this is the problem, dodo. You, and most other sri lankans, tar everyone with the same brush.
Who could blame you? All politicians in Sri Lanka seem to be motivated by greed above all else (spare me the comments about this being a common characteristic of politicians everywhere, I know, but we’re clearly at the worse end of the spectrum in this regard).
I think our country deserves better.
Although the cynic in you is tired of hearing this, SF really is different, really does not care for money or wealth and places the interest of the country above all else – himself and his family included. If he was the sort to be corrupted by money, he could have easily arranged for himself an extremely comfortable retirement package courtesy of the Chinese (I understand some other sri lankans will be extremely well looked after by our Chinese friends, but that’s another story altogether). He simply did his duty by his country and satisfied himself with the salary given to him.
If anyone questions his abilities to bring about change and achieve great things, they are simply fooling themselves – without him, the victory against the tigers would simply not have been achieved.
This is why I continue to support him – I know what he can do for us. We need a leader who genuinely adopts policies that are in the best interests of our country and not the ones which benefit themselves or their families and friends, and are actually detrimental to our country in the long term.
So dodo, don’t hold your breath.
Dodo, It looks as if Ranil may be the one to crossover at any moment the way things are going, but SF seems to have virtually burnt his boats.
Then I read this Sinhala blog on Kottu today, Beyond Frame I think, which hinted that, that idiot Mervyn speaking to the press about Sarath Fonseka and the hangman in the same breath may be indicative of a decision regarding the General’s fate.
Now I’m thoroughly sick of hearing the litany of SF’s virtues, but I really don’t want that kind of fate to befall upon him. He was the guy who made our roads safe to travel in and for a period, he was a beacon of hope and a hero, though he went and spoiled it all with his big mouth. Do you think it’s possible that people drunk on recent victories and at the peak of popularity would be persuaded to go that far to eliminate what seems to be the final obstacle? A man can be hung for treason, right? Or is it just paranoia?
Treason is a capital offense here, i think. I don’t think Ranil will cross over he’s more useful to the PA this way. Besides, his persona is at odds with the PA core consititutency. SF might cross over, he’s actually very much PA material. The right offer will make people, the talk of death penalty could very well be part of the offer. But that’s pure conjecture
Conjecture on your part it is, dodo.
SF will not cross.
Whether they will kill him or not, who knows. I think there may be serious repercussions if they do. Who knows…
Hey, I wasn’t being serious about Ranil. It’ll be interesting to see how his political future works out.
wheres the Benevolent Dictator when you need him
….and the 18th amendment is passed!
Pakehodi and Sanjana Hattotuwa must be weeping! Boy what a lot of BS from the a coterie of the ESEs over this. They got slapped and sucker punched. Imma go grab a beer and some bhuja mix.
Don’t you wish some one like Premadasa was alive in the opposition.. some one who can relate to and understand the people at the same time give Mahi a good run for his money. What to do? WE ARE STUCK WITH RANIL!
Who by the way can do neither of things I mentioned.
Indi, I do hope your next post will be on some cheerful subject unrelated to politics.
What about this:
SRI LANKA TOPS ASIA IN “WORLD GIVING INDEX”
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=459005&page=22
Sri Lanka is on a roll here, yeah baby!
Yes, that bit of news is nice. I hope they’re using the Small Miracle ad you had linked somewhere above. The images are good and the jingle quite catchy.
Well the ads are not part of the Small Miracle Campaign… they are a part of Visit sri Lanka 2011.
And look at this pic: http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/8589/giving3.jpg
Why is the rest of the neighbourhood composed of such stingy bastards?
Yeah, I saw the chart and everything. We must have jumped quite a bit higher on the scale by now, considering what many people happily gave away yesterday. Ranil gave up, The leftist MP s, Muslim Congress MPs and a few who got in on the UNP ticket gave generously and MR gave us the finger. I know, I know, I’m trying hard to get over it. : )
The Small Miracale clip I was refering to was a related one, containing more or less the same images as visit Sri Lanka. But it had a nice catchy jingle. They could use it if they changed the lyrics a bit since they don’t like the words Small Miracle (can’t imagine what they thought was wrong with that ). Then again some might say the present soundtrack was more representative of the images, I guess.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/23/clinton-theres-an-argumen_n_736309.html
The question is the do we have the checks and balances to prevent abuse of the system? Consider a scenario of Mahinda, Mahinda, Namal, Mahinda, Namal,Namal….. I think they’re trying to do something similar inRussia.
agree
Sri Lankan constitution has been evolving for the worse.
We need a way to de-couple 3 branches.
On the other hand no matter how loud many cry saying that it is a dictatorship and this is a trick to keep family in power I have hope because of the history.
Senanayake-Jayawardena clan robbed Sir D.B.Jayatillake of the leadership he deserved and made hm the high commisioner to India.Things looked prety bad for SWRD tha he had to split the party and form SLFP.It looked like Uncles and Nephews gonna run the country forever.It changed.Then came Bandaranayake dynasty.Husband,Wife (withFelix as the puppet master)and Obvious grooming of Anura for the throne.Mahinda knows first hand how bad this kind of grooming can be to a person.He was Anura’s best friend and right hand man when they were young .Then the idiot prince was upstaged by shrewed princess.In early 1990′s when Chandrika came back to SLFP Mahida was aganst her because she robbed his friends right for ledership(He famousy called her a “Weisi” at a rally in Matara when Mangala and SB were the ones backing CBK).
All things considered while people cried family dynasty last 60 years has been pretty diverse compared to other democrasies.This gives me hope .
Lie Quan Yew mentions in his book that small countries cannot afford get rid bunch of people every 4 years and bring in fresh talent with the same experiance eand expertise like USA.Guess what accordig to the above clip Clinton and Scarborogh this the same about USA ,too!
If Mahinda thinks he can keep his family in power forever he is in for a rude awakening.Our writen history of 2500 years will certainly disagree with him.
Coming back to constitution ,I think some strange moves by MR is due to the nature of 1978 constitution.Take for example of getting UDA under ministry of defense.Mainda trusts Gota(He has delivered) and obviously wants to make colombo a better city.He cannot appoint him as the minister for housing (where UDA belong).He is not in the parliament .Gota does not seem to waste time in Parliament.On the other Mhaninda might not want to appoint another brother to parliament.So he has to give UDA to defense ministry s that it comes under Gota.
This would have been easily avoide if we had the US system.President apoints the executives.They do not sit in congress.I think a lot of corruption can be avoided if we de-couple executive branch with parliament.They have to accountable to parliament but should not sit there.Everybody wants to be ministers since that is the way to bring home bacon (to his family and his constiteuncy so that he gets elected again).
I notice that even Clinton recommends a break after two terms, for obvious reasons.
Gota does seem capable, and being a member of the royal family he would have access to all the resources he needed as well as the cooperation of officials. That’s fine with me because the job gets done.
As for our legislators, I wonder whether most of them even bother to read the drafts of the laws they vote for.
I wonder whether our police force comes under the MOD now. Does n0body in government care that they are completely out of control?
Consider some recent antics. First we see them standing by impotently while a politico ties up a man to a tree, then they take along captured criminals to retrieve hidden arms, presumably without handcuffs, making it necessary to bump them off in the ensuing fray, and after that the officer of ASP rank treasure hunting in a temple, and now we hear of a man being arrested for robbery on the strength of some mumbo jumbo evidence provided by a three legged stool! What next? They should really do something about cleaning up this mess, as the IGP seems incapable.