Sri Lanka ruling party wins Southern Provincial Council, but not with the expected number of seats

(October 11, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) recorded a landslide victory at the Provincial Council election in Southern Province from where the President Mahinda Rajapakse hails. UPFA won 38 seats from the Southern Provincial Council (SPC) with a breakdown of 16 from Galle district, 12 from Matara and 8 from Hambanthota. Together with the two bonus seats, UPFA owns 38 seats although it targetted more than 40 seats during the election campaign.

UPFA achieved 804,071 votes from the province, well over 500,000 votes that the opposition United National Party (UNP) that gained 297,180 votes from the Province. UNP won 6 seats from Galle 5 from Matara and 3 from Hambanthota, a total of 14 seats from the province.

Marxist nationalist People's Liberation Front (JVP) gained 72,379 votes from the province and secured one seat each of the three districts of the Province where the party base is located. JVP internal sources said that they targeted to place second in Thissamaharama electorate where JVP runs the local administration in Hambanthota district. But the UNP was voted double the JVP votes there. 

Sri Lanka government making a mountain out of JDS to deviate people's focus from economic issues

(October 08, Colombo - Lanka Polity) A group of Sri Lankan expatriates are organizing an armed struggle covering to peace and democracy, according to Sri Lanka Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka.

Addressing the debate for the extension of emergency regulations at the parliament, Prime Minister Wickramanayaka said that the rebel cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) are staying in Colombo stealthily until they will have an opportunity attack again. He emphasized the need for extending the emergency due to these facts.

The Prime Minister revealed that a landmine went off in Jaffna recently killing several people. Security forces are continuing operations to recover hidden weapons and explosives. Resettlement of the IDPs of the Northern Province is slowed due to this reason, he said.

The unnamed group highlighted in the speech of the Prime Minister appears to be the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), the recently formed organization of expatriate Sri Lankan journalists. The organization was in media limelight with a controversial video clip aired by UK's Channel-4 in which persons suspected to be of Sri Lankan state security forces were executing prisoners said to be ethnic Tamils. The government says it has proved the video is fake through reports compiled by four experts hired by it.

Sri Lanka government is in dire need of a capable scapegoat to fill the vacuum created by the defeat of the LTTE to maintain the tension to deviate the people's attention from economic issues such as cost of living ahead of major elections coming early next year. However, JDS is next to nothing compared to LTTE and the government has to make a mountain out of a mole hill to puff up the necessary terrifying image of the enemy.

The emergency was passed in the parliament by a majority of 70 votes with 82 voting for it and 12 against. Only major Tamil constituent Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voted against. Major opposition United National Party abstained and the Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) was not present in the parliament at the time of voting.

Sri Lanka to enhance military relations with Iran

(October 08, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka that wrote political and military history with 'Sri Lankan Solution' to the ethnic problem eliminating rebels and not granting the demands of the Tamils, is enhancing bilateral relations and military ties with the new found international friends like Iran as the traditional allies of West are alienating the Indian Ocean island. 

Visiting Iranian Defence Attache Brigadier Seyed Reza and Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya discussed about a high level Iranian military delegation in Sri Lanka shortly.during a meeting on Tuesday (October 6) between visiting Iranian Defence Attache Brigadier Seyed Reza and Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya. The Iranian military delegation will be led by Brigadier Mahmoud Amini Ranjbar, sources said.

"The two countries were likely to explore the possibility of sharing military expertise," Sri Lanka daily The Island. 

Responding to The Island queries, sources asserted that the two countries have over the year developed strategies relating to small boat operations. Iran is widely believed to a leading strategist in this concept while Sri Lanka, too, has developed an elite Special Boat Squadron as well as Rapid Action Boat Squadron.

Small boat operations were the kingpin of the naval success of Sri Lanka Navy over rebel Sea Tigers.

Iran recently extended a credit facility with soft 0.5% interest for Sri Lanka to purchase fuel. Iran initially offered to provide this facility from January 2008 to August 31, 2009 as Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse was visiting Tehran in November 2007. Now this loan has been extended for another year. Sri Lanka purchased petroleum worth of US $ 1.05 billion in 2008 alone under this facility.

Iran is also providing financial assistance for upgrading for Sapugaskanda oil refinery. In the original agreement, the Sri Lankan government had made a commitment of 30 percent of $1.47 billion project upfront. It subsequently said it could not raise the required funds. The project aims at doubling the production capacity of the oil refinery near Colombo from 50,000 barrels per day to 100,000 bpd.

US Army raped a large number of women during Vietnam war, says Sri Lankan Minister

(October 07, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Udaya Prabath Gammanpila, a federal Minister of Sri Lanka government, accused that the US Army raped a large number of women during Vietnam war. He recalled that rape took place right inside the White House as Bill Clinton, the husband of US State Secretary Hilary Clinton was the President.

Western Provincial Council Minister Udaya Prabath Gammanpila made these comments to state-owned Dinamina Sinhala daily participating a petition campaign against US in Colombo. His party, National Heritage Party (JHU), a coalition member of the Sri Lanka government, is collecting a million of signatures for a petition to be handed over to the UN General Secretary denying a recent statement of US State Secretary Hilary Clinton.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing the UN Security Council, on September 30, noted that rape has been used as a weapon of war in the Balkans, Burma, Sri Lanka and elsewhere and that in too many countries and in too many cases, the perpetrators of this violence are not punished, and so this impunity encourages further attacks.

Sri Lanka government member of parliament, Athuraliye Rathana Thero, a member of the JHU, said that Sri Lanka is considering Clinton's statement as government policy and not as one made in her individual capacity.

U.S. officials called for a possible war crimes investigation for the last leg of the government's military operation to crush the decades long fight of the minority Tamils for an independent state in the northern and eastern parts of the island. 

(Photo: JHU Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka and Udaya Prabath Gammanpila) 

Sri Lanka President challenges the western nations to produce the corruption charges against the forces in writing

(October 05, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse challenged the western nations to produce the corruption charges against the state security forces in written format.

Addressing a election rally in Southern Province Matara town, the President said that there was an attempt to take the government to international war tribunal ignoring the noble task they performed.

The President also said that the terrorism had not been eliminated despite it was defeated. The country should be freed from the international conspiracies of the elements that sympathize the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). 

Sri Lanka government led by the President Mahinda Rajapakse and his brothers defeated the Tamil rebel LTTE that fought a three decade struggle for a homeland in northern and eastern Tamil dominated parts of the island.International Community led by Western nations urge the government to conduct investigations on the violation of human rights during the last phase of the war.

Hilary Clinton repenting now over a statement on Sri Lanka, says local newspaper

(October 05, Colombo - Lanka Polity) A leading Sinhala nationalist daily in Sri Lanka reported today quoting an unnamed Defense Ministry official that US State Secretary Hilary Clinton had admitted that the statement she made over rape being used as as a weapon of war in Sri Lanka.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, addressing the UN Security Council, on September 30, noted that rape has been used as a weapon of war in the Balkans, Burma, Sri Lanka and elsewhere and that in too many countries and in too many cases, the perpetrators of this violence are not punished, and so this impunity encourages further attacks.


The newspaper, Divaina (sister paper of The Island) said that the person who wrote Clinton's statement had inserted the name of Sri Lanka to deliberately insult the country. Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse had told the newspaper that there could be an individual behind this incident.


Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights Rajiva Wijesinha speaking to Sri Lankan television Derana regarding Hillary Clinton's comment that rape was used as a tactic of war in Sri Lankasaid, "To my knowledge, this is not true and I have not come across such an allegation."

Wijesinha mocked Clinton stating that she "tends to make generalized statements, it is clear as she did the same during her campaign for Presidency against Barack Obama and we should take a leaf out of Obama's book and forgive her for this statement".

In a letter addressed to Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama, the State Department noted that the US government and international human rights groups over the years had detailed "numerous cases of rape and sexual violence in Sri Lanka, particularly acts committed against women held in detention by the government."

However, the letter signed by Melanne Verveer, ambassador at large for global women's issues at the State Department said that "in the most recent phase of the conflict, from 2006 to 2009 ... we have not received reports that rape and sexual abuse were used as tools of war, as they clearly have in other conflict area around the world."

Rulers of Sri Lanka do not spare even the prisoners as public property is used for political gains

(October 04, Colombo - Lanka Polity) United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the ruling coalition of Sri Lanka led by President Mahinda Rajapakse, is currently using almost all state resources for the election campaign in Southern Provincial Council in the leader's home province.

In this picture, taken by Lanka Truth website, the prisoners of Mathara prison in the Southern Province are seen busy erecting a security fence at Mathara Sanath Jayasuriya esplanade where the President is to address the voters on Sunday, October 04 evening.

Using public property and state resources for the victory of the ruling party at elections has become a common practice of the democracy of Sri Lanka and even the people seem adjusted to it.