Progress In Implementing The LLRC Recommendations - By R.M.B Senanayake Source from - Colombotelegraph
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- Friday, 03 May 2013
I attended a seminar held at SEDEC by Caritas on the 30th. I went for it because it showed that the government is keen to engage with civil society on the issues spotlighted in the LLRC report. The Keynote speaker was to be Mr. Anura Dissanayake, the Additional Secretary to the President who is the official in charge of implementing the LLRC recommendations. He however did not attend and instead Dr Chandradasa of the Presidential Secretariat addressed the gathering. Dr Chandradasa pointed out that he is a Presidential adviser on a different subject but had come to the rescue of the organizers. He showed slides which displayed the various recommendation of the LLRC Report, how their implementation had been entrusted to different Ministries and progress in the implementation. He promised to make available this document to the participants. He said that the LLRC Report has been translated into Sinhala and Tamil and are posted on the presidential websites www.presidentsoffice.gov.lk and on www.priu.gov.lk. Since the report is valuable to promote reconciliation is it not necessary for it to be printed and distributed to the people? After all the reconciliation requires that the two communities know what happened and what was wrong with the way that the country was then governed.
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ASTROLOGER—THE MESSAGE -- Jehan Perera
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- Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Speaking at a public meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared he would hold the Northern Provincial Council election by September, but on a day to be given by his astrologer to ensure victory. “My astrologer gives me a winning time and I will decide on the basis on what he says,” the President said. The most obvious message coming from this speech is that the long delayed Northern election will finally be held. In making this declaration the President once again demonstrated his deep understanding of the ethos of the electorate he cultivates. The reference to his astrologer’s prediction has set the stage for the popular imagination to more than half believe that another governmental victory is already in the making.
PREPARING FOR NORTHERN ELECTIONS AND WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS -- Jehan Perera
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- Monday, 29 April 2013
The A9 highway that bisects the Northern Province and leads to its capital of Jaffna would be the best advertisement for the government in its election campaign to win the provincial council elections scheduled to be held in September. The dramatic improvement in the highway and the network of roads that connect to it have enhanced the quality of life to all who make use of them, be they the businessman or landless labourer, northerner or southerner. But the A9 highway, which was once called the highway of death on account of the thousands of lives it consumed during the war, also shows why the government cannot win those forthcoming elections unless there is a change of course.
The huge military checkpoint at Omanthai, which was once the border between government and LTTE-controlled territories in the north, still stands like an ageing dinosaur. All vehicles traversing the road at this point have to stop to be checked. At the best it means getting out of one’s vehicle and giving one’s identity card and vehicle number to be written down in a register. But sometimes it can mean having one’s bags poked and opened for inspection. Passengers in private vehicles are usually spared the hassle of getting down to be checked, but those travelling by bus have to disembark and line up to be checked. This war-time practice serves as a reminder of the war and the division of the country.
BOSTON BOMBING AND GOVERNMENT’S SECOND CHANCE -- Jehan Perera
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- Monday, 22 April 2013
After the terror attacks on the United States that shook the world in 2001 and brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, the US government has been frequently at the receiving end of criticism for violating the human rights of those suspected to be terrorists or supporters of organizations deemed to be a threat to US interests. There have been charges of human rights violations in relation to the capture, questioning and incarceration of suspected terrorists. The war against terrorism led by the US and its allies has claimed tens of thousands of lives, and the unmanned drone attacks that frequently lead to civilian casualties have become symbolic of the unacceptable collateral costs of this war.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was among the first of world leaders to condemn the bombing of the Boston Marathon and condole with the victims. The government has utilized the occasion of the bombing to express its solidarity with the United States in the global war against terrorism. The terrorist bombing and the carnage it caused to innocent civilians serves as a reminder of the vulnerability of free societies to such outrages. The fact that the bombers were originally from Chechnya is certain to strengthen public opinion in the United States against those who promote or engage in violence for ethnic separatism.
