The phase of extreme violence begun in presidential campaign of Sri Lanka

(January 22, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The much anticipated most violent phase of Sri Lanka's Presidential began this morning with the spread of the news of bombing the house of opposition activist Tiran Alles situated in close proximity to the Colombo city limits. Alles was unhurt although his house and the vehicle were badly damaged.

Alles is a wealthy businessman and an activist of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (People's Wing) led by break away ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera. He is the son of the respected founder principal of D.S. Senanayaka College. He contributed the presidential campaign of Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2005 before he lost favor and subjectd to repression. He was kept in custody under terrorism charges. Mawbima, a popular Sinhala newspaper run by him was forced to close by Rajapaksa.

Couple of days ago, government campaigner Vimal Weerawansa spoke of an opposition ploy to get themselves bombed to win the sympathy votes. With this statement, many anticipated the begining of the extremely violent phase of the presidential in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa is facing the risk of losing to his ex-Army chief Sarath Fonseka.

The battle is so severe that the government is using almost all public property in addition to violence to prevent the defeat. In the past week, the government ordered the public schools to hold parents' meetings and the people's representatives of the ruling coalition adressed the parents and asked to vote to President Mahinda Rajapaksa blatantly violating the election regulations.

The government is shamelessly manipulating public media and other assets in support of one candidate and the breaking of law is fathomless as the President's brother Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Navy junior officer President's son Yoshitha Rajapaksa who are public servants that have no rights for politics are also adressing propoganda meetings of Rajapaksa.

Most of the actions of the government  display the fear of losing. An opinion poll conducted by pro-government lecturer of Mass Communication in Kelaniya University Dr. Rohana Lakshman Piyadasa pointed to the loss of popularity of President Mahinda Rajapaksa by 13% within two weeks. In the first opinion poll publicised by state media on January 08, Rajapaksa was likely to win the presidential with 73% of votes. The result of the latest poll was that only 60% said that the next President should be Mahinda Rajapaksa for the well being of the country.

Our observation is that Rajapaksa still has a chance to win but not with such unbelievable majority. But he should have obtained at least 60% of the votes to proclaim victory in a presidential that is most corrupt in the history due to the illegal and unethical state support to one candidate.

Police repression directed against Left Front

(January 21, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Comrade Manikasothi, the electoral agent in Jaffna for Common Left Candidate Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne has been arrested by police while distributing the election manifesto of the Left Front.

Com. Vickramabahu says that this is a clear demonstration of police repression directed against Left Front, whereas both candidates Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka are allowed to carry on their publicity without hindrance.

This is the second time during the run up to the election where a representative of Dr. Vickramabahu was arrested by police in Jaffna.

Earlier, Dr Vickramabahu's representative Dharmasiri Lankapeli, the only Sinhala speaker addressing the gathering at LTTE leader V Prabhakaran's father's funeral was also arrested and later released due to local and international pressure.

The full statement by Comrade Vickramabahu on Thursday is given below

My election agent comrade Manikasothi was taken into custody by the Chunnakam police station for distributing my election manifesto.

The police Officer In Charge has given the lame excuse that the leaflet has not indicated the printer though Manikasothi has clearly indicated his name and address in the leaflet. Subsequently he was taken to jaffna hospital unnecessarily .

The JMO has refused to inspect as there was no complaint of assault or any other ailment. Then he was then taken to courts.

This is another example of police repression directed at us .

Both Mahinda and Sarath distribute leaflets freely as they want.

State media turned into presidential propaganda outlets

(January 21, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Flouting a 15 January supreme court ruling, state-owned TV stations Rupavahini and ITN continue to openly favour President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign to win another term in the presidential election to be held on 26 January with a total of 21 candidates taking part.


Detailed monitoring by Reporters Without Borders has established that 98.5 per cent of the news and current affairs air-time on these two stations on 18 and 19 January was given over to the president and his supporters. This violates the constitution, above all its seventh amendment and article 104 (b) empowering the electoral commission.

“Alarmed by Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s candidacy, President Rajapaksa and his followers are using and abusing all of the state’s resources to get the president reelected,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The TV propaganda is deafening and the figures we are releasing today are worthy of the Burmese or North Korean regimes.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We urge the supreme court and the electoral commission to use all the powers at their disposal to force Rupavahini and ITN to come to reason. This glaring media imbalance shows that the incumbent is benefiting from an advantage that is unacceptable in a democratic election.”

The Reporters Without Borders monitoring on 18 and 19 January found that, of a total of 472 minutes and 5 seconds of news and current affairs air-time on Rupavahini and ITN, Gen. Fonseka and the other opposition candidates were granted only 7 minutes and 50 seconds, or 1.6 per cent, while the president, his government and his party were granted 465 minutes and 25 seconds, in other words, nearly eight hours of air-time in just two days.

On ITN, one had to wait until the 7 p.m. Sinhalese-language news programme for coverage of opposition activity (Gen. Fonseka for 30 seconds, the UNP for 40 seconds and the JVP for 45 seconds), while President Rajapaksa got 3 minutes on the 9 a.m. programme, 2 minutes on the 10 a.m. programme, 4 minutes 45 seconds on the noon programme and 4 minutes 20 seconds on the Tamil-language programme at 6 p.m.
Rupavahini is giving the government an overwhelming air-time advantage. In the 8 p.m. Sinhalese-language news programme on 18 January, for example, the government got 8 minutes and 30 seconds and the president got 7 minutes and 10 seconds, while Gen. Fonseka, the UNP and the JVP got a combined total of just one minute. And it is deplorable that the twenty or so other candidates are totally ignored by the state media.

Granting so much time to propaganda on behalf of the incumbent is not new. On 11 January, for example, Rupavahini carried a live broadcast of President Rajapaksa’s election programme launch that lasted one hour and 15 minutes.

Even if some privately-owned media are campaigning openly for the opposition or are giving more space to the activities of all the candidates, the extremely biased coverage on the main TV stations is having an undeniable impact on the campaign. Meanwhile, Sirasa TV, a privately-owned station based in Colombo, has not resumed its independent style of coverage since it was attacked by gunmen in January 2009.

The coverage imbalance is being accompanied by a smear campaign against Gen. Fonseka, the former army commander, in certain pro-government media, prompting him to write to eight newspapers requesting apologies for articles he regards as libellous. And the website of the defence ministry, which is headed by the president’s brother, is openly campaigning against him.

Control of the state media has become crucial to the election campaign. The Commissioner of Elections has issued several reminders about the rules requiring balanced coverage and tried to introduce a Competent Authority to monitor the TV stations, but the president’s office resisted. The supreme court’s ruling has also been ignored.

The president and his allies have abused other state resources in the course of the campaign. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, for example, forced all mobile phone operators to send SMS messages signed by President Rajapaksa to all their clients, while soldiers have been seen putting up the president’s election posters.

Cases of intimidation and violence against the media have also increased. Thakshila Dilrukshi, a journalist with the BBC’s Sinhalese-language service, was hospitalised after being attacked by supporters of a minister in the central city of Polonnaruwa on 13 January. Her equipment and personal effects were stolen during the assault, which occurred after she covered a clash between Rajapaksa and Fonseka followers.

The Colombo-based Sunday Leader, outspoken weekly, was raided the same day by police bearing a warrant who claimed to have been tipped off about the printing of "defamatory" posters.

Freelance journalist Jude Samantha was assaulted while covering clashes between government and opposition supporters on 16 January in Madurankuliya, in the western district of Puttalam.

Reporters Without Borders issued an appeal for calm in early December, after the first incidents: http://www.rsf.org/Reporters-Without-Borders-calls,35277.html
http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=36164

Is the opposition presidential candidate of Sri Lanka a crony or an unrejectable to West?

(January 19, Colombo - Lanka Polity) We re-publish this AFP report that was posted from Washinton since it is an insight into the diplomatic mindset of the US-led Western block. Sinhala nationalists backing Mahinda are trying to manipulate this story to portray Sarath Fonseka as a cronie of West to muster support to Mahinda Rajapaksa who appears as an anti-Western hero that is close to the states like China, Burma, Iran and Libya etc.

Sri Lanka vote raises hopes in Washington

By Shaun Tandon (AFP) – 21 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Sri Lanka's upcoming election is raising hopes in the United States for better relations after a chilly spell if the island turns the page on a bloody war that brought international opprobrium.
The January 26 election comes months after troops killed the top leadership of the Tamil Tigers, ending their ruthless decades-long separatist campaign but also triggering accusations of human rights abuses.
Asked if the election could change relations with Washington, a senior US official said: "It already has changed the dynamic in a positive way."
"A lot of the progress we've seen in the last two months or so is contributable at least in part to the election," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Sri Lanka has recently moved on key international concerns including releasing thousands of Tamil civilians who had been held for months in rudimentary displacement camps.
The US official was upbeat about pledges made by Fonseka including greater media freedom and independent commissions to oversee the judiciary and other key institutions.
"I'm hesitant to make predictions about the future, because candidates promise all sorts of things and then they don't deliver, but certainly General Fonseka has been making some good pronunciations," he said.
But the United States has strongly denied allegations made by one ruling party legislator that it is funding the opposition.
Some Sri Lanka watchers in the West -- and especially the Tamil diaspora, which has been instrumental in pressing for a harder line on Sri Lanka -- are deeply ambivalent about Fonseka.
Fonseka, who holds a US green card, escaped questioning by US authorities about possible war crimes during a November visit after Sri Lanka summoned the US ambassador to protest.
"Fonseka would not be the US's first choice as president but if he wins it would at least open the door for a better US relationship," said Robert Oberst, a Sri Lanka expert at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
"His whole association with the military is what tarnishes him in part. If there were war crimes committed, he obviously knew about them and was involved," Oberst said.
Sri Lanka increasingly distanced itself from the West as it came under fire for its human rights record. It has built ties with China and Iran and last year hosted Myanmar's reclusive military leader Than Shwe.
But Asoka Bandarage, an associate professor at Georgetown University and author of the book, "The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka," doubted the former British colony would turn to Western rivals except out of economic necessity.
"I don't think that even ardent Sinhala nationalists would want Sri Lanka cut off from Western influence and that longstanding connection," she said.
The US official also believed Sri Lanka saw good US ties as a "long-term interest," noting that Western nations were the key market for its exports such as garments and tea.
Tamil diaspora activists have also seized on the economic dimension, launching a campaign urging a Western boycott of the island's products.
In one racy video under the slogan "No Blood for Panties," a muscle-ripped man undresses an impassioned young woman only to lose the mood when he discovers her underwear is made in Sri Lanka.
"There is really no fundamental choice between General Fonseka and Rajapakse because both were instrumental in launching this military offensive against the Tamil community," said Tasha Manoranjan, whose group, People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka, is running the boycott campaign.
"I think the day after the election there will no longer be any concern for the Tamil people," she said.
Yet some in the Tamil diaspora, where Mahinda Rajapakse is a loathed figure, are willing to give Fonseka at least a chance.
"The Tamil diaspora wants Mahinda to be defeated," said David Poopalapillai, national spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress.
"The climate would change and the rays of hope would come. It would bring some change in the country in the political climate," he said.

Systematic erosion of democracy and democratic institutions and the emergence of a semi-authoritarian system

(January 18, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The Lawyers for Democracy (LfD) says that it has witnessed a systematic erosion of democracy and democratic institutions and the emergence of a semi-authoritarian system of government due to the concentration of all political powers of the State in the hands of the executive President under the present Constitution, who exercises such power arbitrarily and without accountability, usurping the powers of Parliament and the cabinet of ministers, which has resulted in the,

i. Subversion of the democratic rights of the people of Sri Lanka with impunity, by the assassination, abduction, assault and directing threats to the lives of media persons who refuse to tow their political line;
ii. Branding lawyers who represent individuals, associations and organizations representing dissenting views and trade union leaders, and other individual dissenters in society as ‘traitors,’
iii. Undermining of the cause of justice, and due process of the law and procedure by politicizing the quasi-judicial office of the Attorney-General, the Police Department, public administration, state controlled media institutions and also by attempting to influence the independence of the judiciary,
iv. Violation of the Constitution, with impunity using the parliamentary majority procured and sustained by un-democratic means,
v. Corruption, Waste and misappropriation of public funds, by-passing the legal provisions undermining the sovereignty of the people,
vi. Violation of the basic rights and fundamental freedoms of the free citizens who have been displaced by the armed conflict ( including children, women the disabled and the sick) by detaining them in camps depriving them of their basic minimum needs, and generally,
vii. Violation all tenets and norms of democracy and good governance namely, accountability, transparency and the rule of law.

LfD further states, "Since all appeals and requests made to the incumbent President by various organisations and concerned individuals in this regard have been treated with contempt our organisation is of the view that no purpose will be served by re-agitating the same to him.

"We therefore call upon, all other serious aspirants for the post of the President of Sri Lanka in the forthcoming election to give a resolute undertaking to the people of Sri Lanka that they will take and implement all necessary measures to immediately implementing the existing provisions of the Constitution including the 17th Amendment and then:,

i. Take steps to change/amend the Constitution of Sri Lanka in such a way, that the person holding the post of the head of the executive will, either is elected by the Parliament or answerable to the Parliament duly elected by the people’
ii. To guarantee to the people of Sri Lanka that such changed/amended Constitution of the country shall contain provisions protecting the rule of law which includes the separation of powers, independence of the judiciary and the accountability and transparency of all organs of government,

"We urge the people of Sri Lanka to elect a person who gives a clear assurance and an undertaking to fulfill the above aspirations of all the people of Sri Lanka."

Lawyers for Democracy is an organization of lawyers with island wide geographical representation committed for the establishment of, democracy, the rule of law and good governance, protection, promotion and fulfillment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in their fullness in the Republic of Sri Lanka. Following Attorneys-at-Law are the conveners of the LfD.

Lal Wijenayake
Chandra Kumarage
J.C.Weliamuna
K.S.Ratnavale
V. Sumanthiran
Sudath Nethesinghe
L. Jothikumar
Ranjit Wijekoon
Sujeewa Lal Dahanayake
Sudarshana Gunawardana

25,000 irrigation systems dilapidated despite rhetoric of Sri Lankan rulers regarding boost in agri sector

(January 17, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Twenty five thousand small sized irrigation systems of Sri Lanka are in dilapidated state, a study conducted by the Ministry of Irrigation  and Water Management has disclosed.

These irrigation systems include water reservoirs, bunds and canals etc. Most of them have been used by people for centuries.


Most of the dilapidated irrigation systems are under the management of the Provincial Councils. They are vital mainly for the cultivation of rice, the major staple food of Sri Lankans.

The nationalist government of Sri Lanka has launched a programme under the theme 'Let us grow and develop the country' to boost the production of food and to curb the imports. The President and the Ministers were seen in paddy fields for several minutes of photo shoots in the hyped propaganda. However the outcome of this programme is questionable as the import of essential food items escalated sharply while the programme is underway in full throttle.

In November 2008, the Minister of Trade, Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Cooperative Development Bandula Gunawardhana said to the parliament that Sri Lanka imported 90% of its milk powder needs while justifying the high import taxes stating they are for the upliftment of the local milk farmer.

The import of food items like potato, onion, chillie and sugar have increased rapidly under the present government, the Minister said. For instance, in 2005 Sri Lanka imported 89.6 of its sugar consumption. In 2008, the imports rose to 92.7%.

At the moment, Sri Lanka is facing a severe rice shortage and the prices in the markets are unbearable to most of the people in the low income groups.

However, Sri Lanka government boasts of providing fertilizer subsidy to the farmers, the only remarkable service rendered by the government levying high taxes from the people.

Fonseka-Sampanthan Pact and post-war reconciliation of Sri Lanka

By Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe

(January 16, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led present ruling coalition has once again resorted to racism targetting to win the early presidential to be held on January 26 seeking re-election of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.


Rajapaksa intended to investe the last year's war victory for his re-election but he was ill-fated to face a pitch battle in which the probability for losing is also high with the opposition deciding to set forth the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka as the common opposition candidate. Fonseka though he was a hardline Sinhala chauvinist in the past took the capitalist liberal line during his campaign and mustered support of the majority of the minority community political parties pushing Rajapaksa into jealousy and further risk of defeat.


In 2004 general election, the present ruling coalition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) concocted a story of 'an Elephant-Tiger Pact' that did an enormous damage to the United National Party (UNP) whose leader ex-Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe signed the 2002 ceasefire agreement. Ultimately, the UNP lost the election. In the Presidential held an year later, they performed extremely well and Wickramasinghe lost to the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a narrow margin. He was deprived of minority Tamil community votes by then powerful Tamil Tiger rebels who called for a boycott of the Presidential. Rajapaksas supported by Sinhala chauvinist 'Marxist' People's Liberation Front (JVP) thrived in their racist campaign based on the concocted story of Elephant-Tiger Pact. The so-called pact was for dividing the nation, the UPFA then said.

Six years have passed and none of the government politicians have disclosed a copy of that so called Elephant-Tiger Pact. Definitely, one such never existed.

History repeats. The UPFA has now resorted to a new racist campaign based on a so-called Sampanthan-Fonseka pact. They do not articulate clearly if it is to divide the nation like the fabricated 'Elephant-Tiger Pact'. Who cares? They need no content. When the content is secret, the fear created in the minds of the majority Sinhala community is endless.

Rajapaksa's campaign managers that know too well that people do not believe what the state media says manipulated several pawns that were planted in privately-owned Lankadeepa newspaper. They fabricated a story to be published on January 10 in which Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan says that the TNA had pledged support to Fonseka since the latter agreed to their 'conditions'.

'Derana TV' another television owned by the family members of a powerful cabinet Minister Sarath Amunugama was 'clever' in obtaining a statement from a junior TNA MP about an 'agreement'. The approach of these Sinhala media in interviews with the Tamil MPs is extremely racist. These MPs do not understand Sinhala language properly. On the other hand, these 'embedded' journalists are hard-boiled than them.

Now the story is published. The writer who wrote it failed to prove she was correct and resigned the job. She will definitely be given a good position in state-owned Lake House soon after the Presidential if Rajapaksas win. Now, the racist campaigners of the UPFA, including Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, are following up the fabricated story on the pretended assupmtion of it as a fact. Even the Norwegian embassy staff is also involved in the signing of the so-called agreement as witnesses, they say. Why Norway? Why was it not US or a any other European country? Norway facilitated the ceasefire and was subjected to the wrath of the Sinhala majority for a long time by the UPFA politicians.

This reminds us Barry Levinsons's movie 'Wag the Dog' in which a false war with Albania is created by a Hollywood cinematographer in media to deviate the voters' focus from a sex scandal of a US President seeking reelection, two weeks ahead of the polls.

One can say that the 'Sampanthan-Fonseka Pact' is a success of the campaign managers of Rajapaksa. But this trick is played on the ethnic reconciliation in the post-war period. TNA expresses the frustration in Tamil community over Rajapaksa rule. The backing Fonseka received from the majority Sinhala community is also caused by similar frustration. It is democracy the TNA pledges support to any of the candidates of the presidential. They could have supported to Rajapaksa. TNA says that the support pledged to Fonseka is not conditional. Fonseka has said he will work for a political solution based on power devolution that exceeds the perimeters of the Provincial Councils that were introduced under the 13th amendment to the constitution, two decades ago.

Are conditions and agreements are so important, if they exist? Have Sri Lankan politicians kept all promises, pledges, conditions and agreements so far in the history? We do not believe in these pledges etc. But, we believe in the joint actions of Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and other communities of Sri Lanka. One day the ethnic unity will bring results although it will not be tomorrow.

They can do any gimmick to win elections.That is capitalist democracy. They do not stuff ballot boxes by force like in some past elections in Sri Lanka. Instead, they subtly manipulate media to build opinions in your mind to compell you to vote to them. That is their democracy that we have had to accept for the moment. The problem here is that this game is played on the potential reconcilation among ethnicities in the post-war period. It is The UPFA is campaigning against a negotiated settlement. They are creating fear and hatred  in the minds of the Sinhala majority people. Their campaign is Sinhala racist and anti Tamil now. This campaign violates all the norms of the democracy, rule of law and the codes of ethics of politics and social life.

There are two sectors in Sri Lankan polity that is happy about this development. They are the Tamil extremists that do not accept anything less than seperate state irresepective of whatever amount of blood is needed to be shed and years are needed to achieve this goal as a solution for the problem of the Tamils. Steps towards Tamil-Sinhala reconciliation are allergic to them. The other group is the Sinhala racist forces that are risked of losing their livelihood following the unexpected defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). These two groups are a single bunch of opportunists with good mutual understanding, respect and rapport. By circumstances, one was made to defeat the other militarily. For them, blood is not more worth than any other object they meet across their path. They need the other for their existence. That is why the Sinhala chauvinists are giving a hand to the Tamil nationalist extremists.