Can Sri Lanka monk party get Russia and China to veto Ban Ki Moon?

(July 04, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) In the present international political context especially related to Sri Lanka, anything seems possible. Sri Lanka once managed to defeat a proposal supported by mighty nations to investigate war crimes during the last phase of war at the Human Rights Council of UN. It is somehow eluding any punitive action of the international community regarding the human rights violation and war crime charges leveled against it.

The powerful nations are too busy to think of the repercussions of their carelessness on the downtrodden nationalities and classes. They simply cannot imagine the magnanimity of the anti system triumphal mentality of the backward political elements of this island. Following is a news story that depicts the phenomenon.

Sri Lanka's Sinhala Buddhist monk-led political party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) says it has decided to urge Russia and China to use veto power not to let UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon to contest for a second term.

Moon’s first term ends in December 2011 and needs the blessing of the five veto power holding nations to vie for a second term, said a Sri Lankan Sinhala newspaper Lankadeepa that quoted a senior spokesman of the JHU.

JHU has decided to hold a march to Russian and Chinese embassies soon and to hand over letters to the Ambassadors of the two nations urging them to use veto to deny Moon a second term, said the newspaper.

The JHU spokesman said to the newspaper that the request is made from these two nations since they have already protested the UN General Secretary’s panel to advise him on Sri Lanka’s accountability issues.

Will these countries use veto against Ban Ki Moon? There is ample time to wait and see. But the pressure on Ban Ki Moon will work on him and his panel.



You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

Blaming in Sinhala and apologizing in formal English in Sri Lankan politics

(July 04, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka government may tender an apology to the United Nations (UN) over comments made by government Minister Wimal Weerawansa urging the public to surround the UN office in Colombo and prevent the staff from leaving the premises in protest over the UN panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said responding to a question posed by a journalist from Innercitypress at a media briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York on Saturday.

He said that the UN has received some indications that an apology might be in order.

Sri Lanka government coalition party National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and Minister of Housing and Construction Wimal Weerawansa vowed last week to launch a fast unto death unless the panel appointed by the UN General Secretary to advise him on Sri Lanka is not dissolved.

Weerawansa also warned the UN that a protest would be held before the UN office of Colombo.
He urged the Sri Lankan people to surround the UN office in Colombo and keep its staff hostage until UN chief Ban Ki Moon would decide to dissolve the three-member advisory panel he appointed on Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Maithripala Sirisena, the General Secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and senior Minister accused several unnamed Western countries for conspiring against the island nation.

In an exclusive interview with the state-owned Sinhala daily The Dinamina on Friday, the Minister said that the countries that tried to trap Sri Lanka amidst war are speaking against it. He also said that there is a massive conspiracy behind the revoke of GSP Plus tariff concessions by European Union.

Commenting on the panel appointed by the UN Secretary to advise him on the war crime charges against Sri Lanka, Minister Maithripala Sirisena said that the UN Secretary’s move would be a failure since UN is not him but the member nations.

The Minister pointed out that Russia, China, India and the non-aligned nations have come to the rescue of Sri Lanka. “Those who speak about the human rights of Sri Lanka, avoid speaking about war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the Minister charged.

The problem that remains with these vociferous Ministers is their inability to build up as leaders in an environment of diplomacy due to the sheer backwardness in aspects such as class, culture and language. To hide these weaknesses, they always revert to ethnic extremism their clan knows too well. They do not bother about the troubles their immediate bosses have to undergo since they actually want to see them in trouble. Otherwise, how can they climb up in the power ladder?

They wield their tongues freely in Sinhala language while their leaders have to rent English professors like Rajive Wijesinha to write letters of apology in Queen's English. What an irony! 


You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

The stenching local government politics of Sri Lanka

(July 03, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Politics in local governmental bodies of Sri Lanka was for respected elites of the towns and villages one time. The payments made by the local councils, if there was any, was not the living of these leaders. Instead, many considered politics in local governments a social service.

Now, that phenomenon is history. Today, the local government is also gone to the same dog or a bitter one the other aspects of local politics have gone.

We have a nice story that depicts the pathetic story of local government of Sri Lanka.

Palindanuwara is a newly established local government body centered around a peripheral semi-town called Baduraliya. There is no place called Palindanuwara but in folk stories related to a local ruler named Weediya Bandara that lived in the 15th century.

The inaugural Chairman of this 'historic' Pradeshiya Sabha is a self-proclaimed war hero. But many a residents of the area know him too well as a former Army deserter that was loitering before entering into politics from the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance.

This man is now in remand. Why? He was taken into custody for assaulting the driver of a fish lorry of state-owned Fisheries Corporation and causing damage estimated Rs. 40,000 to state property.

His action was a backlash to selling fish in Baduraliya Sunday fair at prices cheaper than that of the tendered fish vendors of the Pradeshiya Sabha.

The representative of people of Palindanuwara Pradeshiya Sabha was against the government that was selling fish at reduced prices to the consumers of Baduraliya area.

He deserved arrest and remand. But do you know what his fellow councilors and other hooligans do after that? They transported several huge stenching garbage heaps in Pradeshiya Sabha vehicle and dumped them in places people gather in the town. The garbage heaps were stenching the town the whole day with no presence of any authority to remove it.

Either Palindanuwara or Colombo, this is local government politics in Sri Lanka today. The people that were covering their noses are still not aware that this stench is from the political deformation they made their heroes to create for them and that present ruling family brought to a culmination.


You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

MPs be careful! Speeches in Sri Lanka parliament to go online immediately

(July 02, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Once in a blue moon, the ruling party of Sri Lanka also moots some commendable proposals. For example, a proposal has been mooted by the ruling party suggesting that the speeches delivered by the parliamentarians should be released online immediately.

The proposal has been submitted to the Speaker by the Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardhana on behalf of the ruling party.

The proposal is pending approval of the Speaker.

Parliamentary speeches can be read in hansard but they are not immediately released and also are not easily accessible for the public. No credible online source is available regarding the speeches delivered in parliament sans media reports that have been subjected to severe editing.

Making parliamentary speeches online will also make the MPs more careful and prepared regarding the speeches they make in the parliament. If you make a sloppy statement, it will go online immediately and will follow the searches under your name.

One time reputed scholars now speaking in the parliament like ignorant peasants or urban villains, possible to match and to be comprehensible to the other lot in the House may also have opportunity either to polish or blemish their names.

Many a MP, both government and opposition, do not deliver speeches with any kind of value during the whole period they should be representing their constituencies. Some even do not attend parliamentary sessions regularly and report to duty once in three months to avoid vacation of post.

Recently, a large group of councilors of all three major parties including Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP) members lost their posts in the Western Provincial Council due to absence for three months. But all were in an unprecedented unity to bring a new law to safeguard their positions.

For most of the MPs, even for the radicals like the ones in JVP perceive the membership of the parliament as only a chance to have a package of perks and benefits.

Parliament should not be a mere talk shop. It is the place from where the laws are derived. Its members are law makers, although many in the present context have no idea regarding this basic principle of democracy.
Therefore, be careful of your tongues men because you are to go online.



You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka 

Stop labor rights violations in the apparel sector of Sri Lanka and comply with ILO standards to protect US GSP

-Trade Union Confederation
(July 02, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) The US government has accepted a petition to review the US GSP status enjoyed by Sri Lanka. The American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) filed the petition. Sri Lanka is now at the brink of losing both EU and US GSP regimes. The Republic of Maldives lost its US GSP due to such complaints at the beginning of this millennium.

The TUC wishes to state that the US GSP complaint accepted this week by the US government is a direct result of poor labour conditions and non-compliance with international labour standards of the ILO especially by the apparel sector employers and the government of Sri Lanka. It draws attention to poor enforcement of labour laws in Export Processing Zones and the apparel sector, restrictions to form union federations consisting of public-private sectors, etc..

The AFL-CIO submitted the complaint to the US government as all efforts of local unions to address issues with Sri Lankan labour authorities failed despite repeated attempts. The complaint could have been avoided if local labour authorities discharged their duties effectively and impartially.

The AFL-CIO complaint is inundated with solid and verifiable evidence relating to a plethora of violations of labour standards i.e. restrictions on freedom of association and collective bargaining, anti-union discrimination, sever exploitation, non enforcement of labour laws impartially etc.. in the Sri Lankan apparel sector.

It is no more possible to sweep these issues under the carpet or cover them with expensive fake PR campaigns such as “garments without guilt”. The pathetic labour situation in the apparel sector is now an open secret. All cases against Sri Lanka, of the last two decades before the ILO quasijudicial body based in Geneva, are exclusively on the Sri Lankan apparel sector or involving apparel sector organisations. These international body findings have exposed the violations of rights and exploitations in the apparel industry. It is shocking to note that some of Sri Lanka’s top apparel exporting companies stand accused of serious workers’ rights violations in the complaint.

The complaint exposes the duplicity of these apparel conglomerates. A key factor raised in the AFL-CIO complaint is Sri Lanka’s non-compliance with the recommendations of the ILO quasi-judicial body’s decision on the restriction of the right to strike.

This issue was sparked before the Geneva based ILO body due to irresponsible actions of an apparel sector organisation in 2006. The ILO held the joint apparel body’s court intervention was a violation of international labour standards. These developments cast serious doubts on the fake “garments without guilt” campaign.

TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (TUC)

The TUC notes, the US government prior to accepting the AFL-CIO complaint held extensive highlevel
consultations with government representatives, trade unions and apparel sector employer organisations over the last 18 months. Therefore, the decision to conduct the review is not ad hoc.

It’s based on credible and verifiable evidence presented.

The TUC considers that the time has now come for all stakeholders in the labour sector to accept facts as they are and engage them with a view to positively improve realistic ground situations. The TUC strongly urges all apparel sector employers to recognise trade unions, stop anti-union discriminations and respect ILO principles on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining.

The TUC strongly believes that as a nation we can overcome the challenge of the AFL-CIO petition only if employers, trade unions and the government are committed to work together and present a joint position before the US authorities. There ought to be a constructive dialogue on the issues raised in the petition among the relevant stakeholders and consensus needs to be reached with a view to making positive and progressive changes in the workers’ rights situation. The TUC is willing to support Sri Lanka’s position in such an event before the US government.

The TUC hopes the government will accept the support offered by it to overcome the current situation arising from the US GSP review. Therefore, the TUC urges the government to begin immediately a genuine and constructive process of engagement of relevant issues in order to put things in order and save the US GSP.



You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

Sri Lanka getting more violent and self-disastrous against UN

(July 01, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka is resorting to more violent and self-disastrous methods to deal with the war crime charges raised by international community against the rulers.

Instead of handling the issue directly with the UN in framework of international politics, the government of Sri Lanka is seeking statements from other countries that can be manipulated to pressure the UN General Secretary to withdraw the panel. But, only Russia raised voice against the panel. Even China keep mum, as same as it did in the UN proceedings to frame charges against Sudan President.

In July 2008, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, accused Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. The court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on 4 March 2009 on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for genocide. The warrant will be delivered to the Sudanese government, which is unlikely to execute it. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state ever indicted by the ICC. The court's decision is opposed by the African Union, League of Arab States, Non-Aligned Movement, and the governments of Russia and China.

Even al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War, one of the longest-running and deadliest wars of the 20th century, by granting limited autonomy to Southern Sudan.Sri Lanka is a significant case in which the policy of the rulers is mere suppression and no power devolution at all, an attitude that is blatantly against the norms accepted by international politics.

Now, Sri Lanka government coalition party National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and Minister of Housing and Construction Wimal Weerawansa vows to launch a fast unto death unless the panel appointed by the UN General Secretary to advise him on Sri Lanka is not dissolved.

Weerawansa has also warned the UN that a protest would be held before the UN office of Colombo.

He urged the Sri Lankan people to surround the UN office in Colombo and keep its staff inside until UN chief Ban Ki Moon decides to dissolve the three-member advisory panel he appointed on Sri Lanka.

Addressing a press conference in Colombo yesterday, Weerawansa said that discussions are underway with national organizations in this regard.

Weerawansa also said that the appointment of the advisory panel should not be perceived as a simple act as it could be followed by the appointment of an investigation committee to look into allegations of violations of human rights and war crimes.

This would eventually lead to the leaders and war heroes of Sri Lanka produced before an international court of justice, he added.



You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka

Killing beggars and disabled; Sri Lanka's new found solution for poverty

(June 30, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) Sri Lanka's ruling family boasts they would make this country 'the wonder of Asia.' It is already true in some aspects.

Sri Lanka is a poor country where the new found solution for poverty is 'killing beggars.'

An organized group that is ubiquitous and elusive to police in Colombo and suburbs is in a killing spree of beggars whilst no one raises voice regarding the misery of this human waste. The method the killers use for execution is is extremely notorious. They smash heads of the beggars as they are asleep on pavement. The tactic seems achieved its objective of terrifying beggars. Most of them now fear to sleep in isolated places as they did earlier.

In the latest incident, this gang killed a self-employed 38 year-old differently-abled man on a tricycle at Mount Lavinia on June 28. The man identified as Mahesh Perera of Sri Jana Mawatha, Aththidiya was under the front canopy of Union Assurance office whose slogan is 'Trust in your tomorrow, today' in the dark due to rain as he was on his way home bringing a parcel of rice for him bought from the money he earned by selling lottery tickets. The killer smashed his head with a heavy stone covering to the sound of rain.

Another man on a wheel chair was killed around a month ago close to famous Gangaramaya Buddhist temple.

This killing spree goes on scot-free and almost no one in this country that boasts for a two and half millennium long Buddhist heritage bother about these helpless men. 


You may also like to visit our Sinhala Blog W3Lanka