Response To Gammanpila: On Functioning Of N&E Provincial Councils

By National Peace Council -May 1, 2014

Udaya Gammanpila

In an interview given to the Daily News of 24.04.14, Western Provincial Council minister Udaya Gammanpila has taken issue with a statement of the National Peace Council with regard to Provincial Councils in the North and East. He has quoted from the NPC statement that “although the government has held elections in the Northern Provincial Council, it is useless unless the Council is allowed to function without undue interference from the centre”.

He says “I challenge NPC activists to name any powers which the center has withheld from the Northern Provincial Council that are enjoyed by the other Provincial Councils” and goes on as follows:  “They say that a measure of autonomy must be given to the Tamils. This is to allude that Provincial Councils have no autonomy.  All the Provincial Councils in the country, including the Northern Provincial Council have autonomy in regard to their administration,” he adds.

The NPC wishes to reply to this challenge by Mr. Udaya Gammanpila regarding the actual devolution of power to the PCs and to name any powers which the centre has withheld from the Northern Provincial Council that are enjoyed by the other PCs.

Although on paper the same powers are devolved to all Provincial Councils those in the former North-East Provincial Council and the present Northern Provincial Council have been stultified in their functioning by the manner in which the Governors of these two provinces have used their powers with respect to these two Provincial Councils (the former North –East and later Eastern Provincial Council) and the Northern Provincial Council. Unlike the manner in which the Governors have functioned in the South where they have played a largely passive role and allowed the Chief Ministers and the Councils to function as per their initiative,  the Governors in the former North Eastern Provincial Council  and later in Eastern and the Northern Provincial  Councils have stymied the legislative and executive powers of these  Provincial Councils.                                          Read More      

Chapter 2. Country Reports: 

South and Central Asia Overview

BUREAU OF COUNTERTERRORISM

Country Reports on Terrorism 2013

 Report

April 30, 2014

South Asia remained a front line in the battle against terrorism. Although al-Qa’ida’s (AQ) core in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been seriously degraded, AQ’s global leadership continued to operate from its safe haven in the region and struggled to communicate effectively with affiliate groups outside of South Asia. AQ maintained ties with other terrorist organizations in the region, such as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Haqqani Network (HQN). These alliances continued to provide the group with additional resources and capabilities. In 2013, terrorists in South Asia carried out operations in heavily populated areas and continued to target regional governmental representatives and U.S. persons. On numerous occasions, civilians throughout South Asia were wounded or killed in terrorist events.

Chapter 2. Country Reports South and Central Asia Overview by Thavam Ratna

CPA Removes Groundviews Editor From ‘Senior Staff’

May 1, 2014

Sanjana Hattotuwa, Editor of Groundviews (www.groundviews.org), a website run under the auspices of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has been removed from the ‘Senior Staff’ of the organization, Colombo Telegraph learns.

Hattotuwa

Colombo Telegraph has received numerous emails alleging that Hattotuwa had abused in foul language the Administrative Officer of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a female, in the presence of other members of the staff. According to our sources CPA first decided to sack Hattotuwa, but hesitated to implement the decision due to intervention by the Executive Director of CPA DrPaikiasothy Saravanamuttu.  CT wrote to both Hattotuwa and Saravanamuttu seeking clarification on the matter.

Hattowa has refused to comment on the matter. Saravanamuttu did respond but stopped short of acknowledging or refuting the allegation or action taken.

He wrote, “I am responding to your e-mail regarding an alleged incident at CPA involving members of staff.  Incidents of such nature, if and when they occur are considered by the organisation to be internal matters to be dealt with and resolved within the organization. When the governing body of the organisation and its Executive Director are of the opinion that comment to the media on an internal matter is warranted in the public interest, CPA has, as in the past, issued a statement to the media.”

The Fragmented Republic: Reflections on the 1972 Constitution of Sri Lanka

Review of Welikala, Asanga, ed. The Sri Lankan Republic at 40: Reflections on Constitutional History, Theory and Practice. 2 vols. Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2012. 1-1038.

• by Dr. Deepika Udagama 
• - on 05/01/2014 

“We seek your mandate to permit the members of Parliament you elect to function simultaneously as a Constituent Assembly to draft, adopt and operate a new Constitution. This Constitution will declare Ceylon to be a free, sovereign and independent Republic pledged to realise the objectives of a socialist democracy; and it will also secure fundamental rights and freedoms to all citizens.”

Manifesto of the United Front of the SLFP, LSSP and the CP (1970)

INTRODUCTION

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Dealer’s Appointment As Supreme Court Judge Sends Shock-Waves

May 1, 2014

The shock move to appoint Priyantha Jayawardena PC who is a close associate of Minister Basil Rajapaksaand is alleged to have been involved in many “underhand deals” has resulted in widespread fear and criticism among judicial and intellectual circles in the country, with one of the country’s most senior Lawyers saying that ” this is the worst appointment in my entire life”.

Minister Economic Development – Basil Rajapaksa

Priyantha Jayawardena has gained notoriety and prominence due to his alleged dealings with Minister Basil Rajapaksa and business tycoon Harry Jayawardena.

The move has sent shock-waves within the legal fraternity.

Speaking to the Colombo Telegraph on the condition of anonymity, senior Presidents’ Counsel who have been supportive of the government expressed shock and dismay at the move.

” The executive has the power to appoint, but all such appointments have to be above board. The men regardless of their political affiliations should have maintained a high standard of integrity. That is what is most important in a judge, and if that is compromised, everything else does not matter” they said.

Earlier, Justice Sathya Hettige who was also considered a close ally of the ruling regime was accused of corruption and other malpractices during his tenure as a Judge of the Supreme Court.

Hettige and Justice Shiranee Thilakawardane retired paving the way for the news appointments.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka and the Lawyers Collective, two legal bodies that have continuously voiced their opinion against intervention by the executive have maintained stoic silence regarding the appointment.

Instead the BASL has issued a letter calling regional branches to discuss the mode of appointment of judges with no reference to Jayawardena.

The Colombo Telegraph also learns that Judges of the Court of Appeal have voiced their displeasure over the appointment.

‘Gota preventing president from going ahead’

 Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is preventing president Mahinda Rajapaksa from implementing the recomendations of the LLRC, government minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara has said in an interview.

The government had ignored a list of proposals put forward by a group of ministers, including himself, to implement the LLRC recommendations, introduce a political solution and to cooperate with the northern provincial council, he has said.

The minister has said the president might be listening more to his brother, the defence secretary, than him.

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is preventing president Mahinda Rajapaksa from implementing the recomendations of the LLRC, government minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara has said in an interview.

The government had ignored a list of proposals put forward by a group of ministers, including himself, to implement the LLRC recommendations, introduce a political solution and to cooperate with the northern provincial council, he has said.

The minister has said the president might be listening more to his brother, the defence secretary, than him.

Jaffna journalists remember killings of Sivaram and Rajivarman

Photograph JPC

30 April 2014
Journalists at the Jaffna Press Club marked the anniversary of the killings of two Tamil journalists, Dharmeratnam Sivaram and Selvarajah Rajivarman, found dead on 29 April 2005 and 2007 respectively, in a remembrance event Tuesday.

D. Sivaram, also known as Taraki, was a renowned journalist and editor of the website TamilNet, who was abducted on 28 April 2005. His body was found the following day inside a High Security Zone in Himbulala, a Sinhala suburb of Colombo.

Selvarajah Rajivarman, a journalist who worked for Namathu Eezhanadu and Thinakkural before joining the Uthayan, was killed two years to the day, by a lone gunman in the middle of Jaffna town.

No one has been held accountable for either crime.

Amidst the on-going intimidation and targeting of media workers, the remembrance event by the Jaffna based journalist network, was held in private. 

මැයි දිනය – දැන් අයිති කාට ද ?

කුසල් පෙරේරා -May 1, 2014 

කුසල් පෙරේරා -

කොළඹ, ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටිය මේ රටේ විශාලම, විවෘත පිට්ටනියයි. එය දැන් නිදහස් දින සැමරුම හැරුණ විට වෙනත් කිසිවකට යොදා ගන්නේ නම්, ඒ මහා සංගීත සැඳෑවක් සඳහා පමණි. මගේ මතකය නිවැරදි නම්, මීට අවුරුදු 21 ට පෙර ජනාධිපති පේ‍්‍රමදාස ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටියේ පැවැත්වීමට සූදානම් කළ 1993 මැයි දිනය, ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටියේ අවසන් මැයි දින රැුළිය විය. ඉන්පසු, ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටියේ මැයි දින රැුළියක් පැවැත්වීම ගැන කිසිවකු සිතන්නේ වත් නැත. එසේ වන්නේ එම මැයි දිනය එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊය විසින් ජනාධිපති පේ‍්‍රමදාස ඝාතනය කෙරුනු අවාසනාවන්ත මැයි දිනයක් වූ නිසාම නොවේ. රාජ්‍ය බලය සහ වියදම් ඇතිව, ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂයේ සියලූ බර දමා සෙන`ග ගෙන්වා ගැනීමෙන් මිස, ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටියේ තම ස්වාධීන හයියෙන් මැයි දිනයක් පැවැත් වීමට හැකි කිසිදු පක්ෂයක් වෘත්තීය සමිති එකතුවක් අද නැති හෙයිනි.

විපක්ෂයේ සිටියදී තම වෘත්තීය සමිති සාමාජිකයින්ගේ සහ පක්ෂ සංවිධාන සතු හයිය මත ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටියේ දැවැන්ත මැයි දිනයක් අවසන් වශයෙන් පැවැත් වූයේ වාමාංශික එක්සත් පෙරමුණ ය. සමසමාජ හා කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂත් පිලිප් ගුණවර්ධනගේ මහජන එක්සත් පෙරමුණත් එක් කර හැ¥ වාමාංශික එක්සත් පෙරමුණට පාදක වූ ‘‘ඉල්ලීම් 21 ව්‍යාපාරය’’ 1963 මැයි දිනයේ යෝධ එකමුතු බලය විය. ඉන් පසු රැුස්වීම් සඳහා ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටිය යොදා ගනු ලැබූයේ ආණ්ඩු හයියෙන් පමණි.

තම වෘත්තීය සමිති හා දේශපාලන හයිය මත ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටියේ රැුස්වීම් පැවැත්වූ එකම පක්ෂය ලංකා සමසමාජ පක්ෂය පමණි. බ්‍රේස්ගර්ඞ්ල් වෙනුවෙන් සමසමාජ පක්ෂය ගාලූ මුවදොර පිටියේ රැුස්වීම සංවිධානය කරන විට මේ රටේ මුලූ ජනගහනය, වූයේ මිලියන 5.5 කි. එකල නාගරික කම්කරු පංතිය වූයේ කොළඹ වරාය, වැල්ලවත්ත රෙදි මෝල, කොලොන්නාව රජයේ කර්මාන්ත ශාලාව, රජයේ අච්චු කන්තෝරුව (දැන් මුද්‍රණාලය), රජයේ වැඩ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, රජයේ ගබඩා අංශය, ට‍්‍රෑම්කාර් සේවය වැනි ආයතනවල ශ‍්‍රමිකයින් සංඛ්‍යාවක් සහ කොළඹ ලොන්ඩරි සේවකයින්, මුද්‍රණ කම්කරුවන්, පෞද්ගලික සමාගම් සේවකයින් හා රියැදුරන්, හෝටල් සේවකයින් වැනි කොන්ත‍්‍රාත් සේවක පිරිසකි. කොළඹ නගරයේ කම්කරුවන් යැයි එකතු කළ හැකි සියල්ල ගත් විට එය ලක්ෂයක් නොවින. ලාංකීය කම්කරු පංතියේ ඉතිරිය හා සාපේක්ෂව වැඩි සංඛ්‍යාවක් වූයේ වැවිලිකරයේ ය. එබැවින් 1930 ගණන් වල කොළඹ විසූ ජනගහනය හා සමස්ථ නාගරික කම්කරු පංතියේ සංඛ්‍යාත්මක ශක්තිය ගැන සිතිය හැක්කේ, අද කොළඹ නගර සීමාව තුල ඉන්නා 3,18,000 ක ජනගහනයෙන් දෙකෙන් පංගුවකට අඩුවෙන් මිස වැඩියෙන් නොවේ.           Continue reading …    

Kalutara doctors boycott duties 

BY AISHA NAZIM- May 1, 2014

Doctors attached to the Kalutara Hospital have left patients out on a limb and have refused to visit their respective wards, on the charge that unauthorized personnel were interfering with their duties, the Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) said.
 
 
Addressing a media briefing yesterday, GMOA Spokesman, Dr. Navin Soyza, stated that confusion is reigning in the Kalutara Hospital and many other places as nurses have started to play the role of doctors, and are taking over doctors' duties. Nurses have also begun to assume the role of midwives; a male nurse recently made his way into a labour room though it is strictly against the rules and regulations for a male nurse to be present during labour, the doctor said.
 
 
"These people have disturbed the ward rounds and created conflict situations. The hospital directors have informed these nurses not to do such things, yet some of the nurses, who are in unions, are becoming bolder and bolder, claiming that they are trade union leaders. Being a trade union leader does not qualify one to take over a doctor's job nor does it in anyway qualify male nurses to enter a labour room," he added. He stated that there is no legal binding on nurses to do midwifery, and that the Medical Ordinance has specified that the only people authorized to be in a labour room are the doctors and midwives – and therefore, it is they who will be held responsible in the event something goes wrong; even if it was a nurse who was responsible for any blunder.
 
 
"The Health Ministry agrees with what we say, yet they are not actually taking any decisive action against it. It seems like they are attempting to keep all parties happy, but that isn't how the ministry is supposed to function – it should do what is best for the Health Sector and what is best for the people," he concluded.

Bride in the kitchen

Editorial-April 30, 2014

Today, the International Workers’ Day is celebrated on a grand scale the world over. Elaborate arrangements have been made in this country as well for today’s event. We hope the weather gods will have mercy upon hapless workers and refrain from training heavenly water cannon on May Day processions.

However, the problem with May Day rallies here is that they are like Hamlet without Prince of Denmark or Julius Caesar staged with Brutus as the protagonist. Or, they are like a wedding with the bride cooking in the kitchen while the party is on. The worker is denied the pride of place.

May Day events in Sri Lanka have been mere gimmicks to promote politicians on the pretext of celebrating a day sacred to workers. Pro-worker slogans are shouted with gusto by marchers most of whom are politicians’ henchmen bussed from different parts of the country to take part in the May Day processions in return for meals, rotgut and one thousand rupees each. Workers, having enjoyed these circuses sans bread, go back home, cherishing the delusion that they have had their voice heard.

There was bad news for workers numbering well over six million in the private sector in the run-up to this year’s May Day. It was reported that the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), their lifeline in retirement, had suffered massive losses owing to risky investment in shaky ventures which the government wants propped up for obvious reasons. Greedy politicians had been eyeing the EPF for decades, unable to meddle with it as they feared that trade unions would offer stiff resistance and might even resort to strikes to save workers’ money. But, today, trade unionists, having opted to sleep with the powers that be, politicians are in a position to invest EPF money according to their whims and fancies. This is an issue that workers must take up themselves without depending on their trade union leaders to address it.

It is also reported that the government has not yet abandoned its plan to convert the EPF and the ETF (Employees’ Trust Fund) into a pension scheme. Workers put up fierce resistance when it first tried to railroad them into submission and carry out its decision in spite of their protests. Their demonstrations were violently crushed and innocent blood was shed but its project was thankfully shelved.

Crafty politicians and their bureaucratic lackeys who won’t scruple even to rob mendicants to raise funds in a bid to impress their political masters thirsting for dosh are not to be trusted with workers’ savings––or anyone else’s money for that matter. Every one of them comes penniless, but leaves with a fortune stashed away in his or her offshore accounts.

It is imperative that workers remain vigilant and bring pressure to bear on their trade union leaders to stop playing softball with politicians and ensure that their savings are safe. Else, six million workers will be reduced to paupers sooner or later with neither EPF benefits nor pensions in retirement.

The time has come for the bride to come out of the kitchen, so to speak. May Day belongs to workers and no one else. They must stop offering their services as palanquin bearers to politicians at least on this day dedicated to the memory of intrepid protesters who braved bullets, fighting as they did for labour rights, and perished in the process in Chicago in 1886 for the sake of the working class.

One’s gorge rises when political windbags bellow empty rhetoric and shed crocodile tears for workers on May Day.