A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, September 3, 2017
Country At Cross Roads
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In the political front, within the government there are developing uncertainties. Both
the main coalition partners appear to be in trouble due to mounting
pressure from within. For the UNP the situation is aggravated due to the
surfacing of corruption & malpractice related issues.
High way deals that the media expressed most recently has shattered the silence maintained within close doors. The
contract is faulty and stinking with mis-representation of facts which
now transpire to be untrue and concealed with dishonesty. Total value of the plunder is in the range of Rs. 1.5 Billion ($100 Mn) as alleged.
Individual corruption record of some highly placed UNP Ministers has made the situation worse. Minister Malik Samarawickrama’s
name came out in connection with a corrupt land deal in the Kotte,
Rajagiriya area which will certainly have to be investigated. A No Confidence against another vociferous Minister Rajitha Seneratne was ruled out but the allegations raised there will be in public circulation very soon. Some
of these matters either remain suppressed in Bribery & Corruption
inquiries and some others such as the Modera Fisheries Harbour deal are
under investigation. Public statements coming from new comers to the UNP like Dr. Harsha De Silva expressing sheer disgust over the prevailing affairs have added to the confusion. What
is going on is not mere corrupt activities but appear to be daring
instances of callous disregard to principles of Good Governance and
Public Opinion.
The other coalition partner is not placed any better. Due
to some taken into the government to fill the gap through the National
List submerging the pending corruption and abuse of authority
allegations and some with pending investigations and inquiries, the SLFP
in the Government too is under attack and slander. The SLFP’s. Anti-corruption commitment is tarnished to that extent and the UNP is well aware of this situation. Some Senior SLFP Ministers have started openly stating their dis-satisfaction about the current state of affairs. Labour Minister Seneviratne is in the fore-front and already has declared his position in no uncertain terms.
According to him they are continuing in the coalition with no desire but only owing to their party loyalty. They do not appear to be much concerned about punishing the bosses of the former regime. Instead
they seem to be more inclined towards and unity in the party to enable
them to stand alone abiding by the party principles. The developments
taking shape towards the Local Government Elections will further
influence the widening of differences in the coalition.
In the meantime after the forced resignation of Minster Ravi Karunanayake the
UNP back benchers have come to the fore front up in arms against the
slow moving action to prosecute the wrong doers of the former regime,
mainly the Rajapaksha clan. With the change of the Justice Minister they
expect a speeding up of the action plan to put as many as possible
behind bars. Although
such expectations are contrary to the modus operandi by their leader,
who without the knowledge or approval from his back benchers is inclined
in his own direction to maintain a balance of the counter forces to the
advantage of the UNP in an amiable manner. But
looking at the ongoing actions it appears that the process of hunting
has been accelerated and many new court cases are reported daily.
The
overall unity situation for both the coalition partners is also coming
into controversial areas due to the termination of the Agreement under
which they were working together, in August. There
will definitely be a very strong public cry and a more serious concern
by the civil society, clergy and such other organizations clamouring for
a period of real good governance to pressurize both parties to agree on
a public program oriented towards delivery rather than rhetorics. These
bodies will also demand positive commitments towards solving of current
priority social problems instead of long drawn utopian targets which
was the escape life line for survival.