This election is on war
Whether one likes it or not this election is on "war". Issues such as corruption and cost of living may be important for certain sections of the society but by and large they have already become non issues. If some of the main Tamil parties have no say in the elections it is because they have not been able to make up their minds on the "war". The TNA is split in the middle for the same reason and Ananda Sangaree appears to ignore the issue by concentrating on the 13th amendment which became a non issue long time ago when the MEP and the JHU decided to keep away from the proceedings of the APRC when it was clear that the armed forces were destined to clinch a historic win against the LTTE. Ananda Sangaree by trying to concentrate on a non issue ignoring the war has been ignored by the electorate.
There is a tiny minority of the middle class that would like to criticize the government on corruption. However even they have no alternate candidate to vote as Sarath Fonseka is also charged with corruption, though yet to be proved. On the other hand the government also could claim that charges against them on corruption have not been proved and they are only hearsay. The record, again not established, of the UNP on corruption is not clean and it appears that both parties protect those charged with corruption on the other side without having formal inquiries. There is a tacit understanding among the politicians to protect the other without framing formal charges whether it is on corruption or terror expressed in Sinhala as dooshanya ha bheeshanaya. They will shout from political platforms on dooshanya ha bheeshanaya of the other party as in the case of Batalanda but nothing effective is done to produce them before a court of law. Most politicians are corrupt and resort to terror if the other methods do not work. Ven. Thotagamuwe Rahula Thera may have erred in a different context but where are the politicians who do not resort to terror and who are not corrupt?
Cost of living in general like the entropy in western Physics is always increasing. There may be circumstances under which they decrease but in general they increase. Thus it is not advisable to vote the retired general to bring down the cost of living. The track record of the UNP whose economic policies Sarath Fonseka is supposed to follow is not good at all and there is no point in blaming Mr. Bandula Gunawardhane for not bringing the cost of living down. Whether one likes it or not the Presidential election is on "war" and that is the only issue that will be discussed by both parties. Even corruption will be finally reduced to so-called arms deals and "war" will come to limelight even then.
As we have already said the UNP which opposed the "war" has been forced to defend it and they have found the JVP candidate Sarath Fonseka the ideal person to "support". Though Sarath Fonseka is called the common candidate he is the candidate of the JVP strongly supported by Mangala Samaraweera and lukewarmly supported by the UNP. As Mangala Samaraweera is only good at scheming and as he has no mass base or a cardre the organisation of the meetings of Sarath Fonseka have fell on the shoulders of the JVP. Sarath Fonseka would have realised by now what is happening but he cannot retreat as was the case in connection with the white flags.
Before we mention the blog of D B S Jeyaraj on verties, white flags and the rest, let us briefly discuss the role played by Sarath Fonseka in this election. Perhaps it was Mangala Samaraweera who first recognised the importance of "war" in this election. The man who was instrumental in bringing the JVP and the SLFP led coalition together to form a ‘parivasa anduwa" would have seen that there was a possibility of bringing the UNP and the JVP together not on principles but on the common ambition of defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential elections. The ideal candidate was Sarath Fonseka who was backed by the western forces against Mahinda Rajapaksa for different reasons. We would even speculate that the so-called verti white cloth phenomenon also played a role in this connection.
The UNP that would have lost the Presidential election had no alternative but to clutch on to the last straw provided by Mangala Samaraweera, under the auspices of the western forces. As has been admitted by the JVP there had been discussions on the common ambition of defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa of course under the guise of introducing a common candidate. The idea of promoting Sarath Fonseka would have attracted the western forces as well as they wanted to use him as a "crown witness" against Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a case filed against them on "war crimes" in a so-called international court. Perhaps there was a deal between the retired general and the west to exonerate Sarath Fonseka from war crimes and tighten the screw on the Rajapaksa brothers.
Though we do not believe in the contradictory verti white cloth story of D B S Jeyaraj he is trying to implicate Sarath Fonseka while exonerating the Rajapaksa brothers for reasons best known to him. The story of Jeyaraj cannot be believed and in fact the whole story of white cloth (flag) made out of verti has all the credentials of a fabrication. Why did Pulidevan and Nadesan go to the Special Forces when they had specific instructions to meet the 58th division? Who told DBSJ that Nadesan’s wife was abused with filth? Was it Ramesh and the fifty odd LTTE cadre who were behind Pulidevan and Nadesan as it is clear that none from the latter’s group went back to the LTTE camp? Were Ramesh and his group at a hearing distance from the group of Nadesan? How did Ramesh fight back if he did not have any weapons when he came to surrender? Did the army allow him to go back and come back with the weapons? Could it be Ramesh who shot at the army first without allowing Pulidevan and Nadesan to surrender as had been arranged according to D B S Jeyaraj? When Ramesh fired at the army did the latter had no choice but to fire back and Nadesan and the group were caught in the cross fire?
There are no definite answers to the above questions in the light of the blog story of Jeyaraj that contradicts the interview given by Sarath Fonseka to the Sunday Leader? The retired general, according to the Editor of the Sunday Leader had not wanted to retract but at the insistence of the JVP and Mangala Samaraweera had to make a statement that was neither a denial nor an explanation. Clearly Sarath Fonseka is being forced by somebody else not to retreat and it appears that he is more committed to this latter person(s) than to Mangala Samaraweera and Wijitha Herath. In defence of the retired general one could say that this latter person is none other than his consciousness. Whatever it may be Mangala and the JVP have not been able to force him to deny the statement he made against the defence secretary.
In any event it is clear that the camp of the so-called common candidate is not unanimous when it comes to issues on war. The UNP leadership has not applied pressure on the Sunday Leader that has decided to support Sarath Fonseka at the elections unlike Anura Kumara and Mangala, and that speaks volumes for the friends of the UNP. The UNP had been the agent of the west and as far as they are concerned Sarath Fonseka is only a person who is being used to implicate the Rajapaksas in war crimes, according to some deal that will become clear as we go on. The JVP and Mangala on the other hand dream of defeating Mahinda Rajapakse projecting Sarath Fonseka as the hero who won the war and not the President. It is ridiculous to demean Mahinda Rajapaksa who stood up to the pressure exerted by the western forces. The Presidential elections revolve around the "war" and the results of the election will seal the fate of the country for the next twenty five years.
by Nalin de Silva
http://www.island.lk/2010/01/06/midweek3.html
There is a tiny minority of the middle class that would like to criticize the government on corruption. However even they have no alternate candidate to vote as Sarath Fonseka is also charged with corruption, though yet to be proved. On the other hand the government also could claim that charges against them on corruption have not been proved and they are only hearsay. The record, again not established, of the UNP on corruption is not clean and it appears that both parties protect those charged with corruption on the other side without having formal inquiries. There is a tacit understanding among the politicians to protect the other without framing formal charges whether it is on corruption or terror expressed in Sinhala as dooshanya ha bheeshanaya. They will shout from political platforms on dooshanya ha bheeshanaya of the other party as in the case of Batalanda but nothing effective is done to produce them before a court of law. Most politicians are corrupt and resort to terror if the other methods do not work. Ven. Thotagamuwe Rahula Thera may have erred in a different context but where are the politicians who do not resort to terror and who are not corrupt?
Cost of living in general like the entropy in western Physics is always increasing. There may be circumstances under which they decrease but in general they increase. Thus it is not advisable to vote the retired general to bring down the cost of living. The track record of the UNP whose economic policies Sarath Fonseka is supposed to follow is not good at all and there is no point in blaming Mr. Bandula Gunawardhane for not bringing the cost of living down. Whether one likes it or not the Presidential election is on "war" and that is the only issue that will be discussed by both parties. Even corruption will be finally reduced to so-called arms deals and "war" will come to limelight even then.
As we have already said the UNP which opposed the "war" has been forced to defend it and they have found the JVP candidate Sarath Fonseka the ideal person to "support". Though Sarath Fonseka is called the common candidate he is the candidate of the JVP strongly supported by Mangala Samaraweera and lukewarmly supported by the UNP. As Mangala Samaraweera is only good at scheming and as he has no mass base or a cardre the organisation of the meetings of Sarath Fonseka have fell on the shoulders of the JVP. Sarath Fonseka would have realised by now what is happening but he cannot retreat as was the case in connection with the white flags.
Before we mention the blog of D B S Jeyaraj on verties, white flags and the rest, let us briefly discuss the role played by Sarath Fonseka in this election. Perhaps it was Mangala Samaraweera who first recognised the importance of "war" in this election. The man who was instrumental in bringing the JVP and the SLFP led coalition together to form a ‘parivasa anduwa" would have seen that there was a possibility of bringing the UNP and the JVP together not on principles but on the common ambition of defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential elections. The ideal candidate was Sarath Fonseka who was backed by the western forces against Mahinda Rajapaksa for different reasons. We would even speculate that the so-called verti white cloth phenomenon also played a role in this connection.
The UNP that would have lost the Presidential election had no alternative but to clutch on to the last straw provided by Mangala Samaraweera, under the auspices of the western forces. As has been admitted by the JVP there had been discussions on the common ambition of defeating Mahinda Rajapaksa of course under the guise of introducing a common candidate. The idea of promoting Sarath Fonseka would have attracted the western forces as well as they wanted to use him as a "crown witness" against Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in a case filed against them on "war crimes" in a so-called international court. Perhaps there was a deal between the retired general and the west to exonerate Sarath Fonseka from war crimes and tighten the screw on the Rajapaksa brothers.
Though we do not believe in the contradictory verti white cloth story of D B S Jeyaraj he is trying to implicate Sarath Fonseka while exonerating the Rajapaksa brothers for reasons best known to him. The story of Jeyaraj cannot be believed and in fact the whole story of white cloth (flag) made out of verti has all the credentials of a fabrication. Why did Pulidevan and Nadesan go to the Special Forces when they had specific instructions to meet the 58th division? Who told DBSJ that Nadesan’s wife was abused with filth? Was it Ramesh and the fifty odd LTTE cadre who were behind Pulidevan and Nadesan as it is clear that none from the latter’s group went back to the LTTE camp? Were Ramesh and his group at a hearing distance from the group of Nadesan? How did Ramesh fight back if he did not have any weapons when he came to surrender? Did the army allow him to go back and come back with the weapons? Could it be Ramesh who shot at the army first without allowing Pulidevan and Nadesan to surrender as had been arranged according to D B S Jeyaraj? When Ramesh fired at the army did the latter had no choice but to fire back and Nadesan and the group were caught in the cross fire?
There are no definite answers to the above questions in the light of the blog story of Jeyaraj that contradicts the interview given by Sarath Fonseka to the Sunday Leader? The retired general, according to the Editor of the Sunday Leader had not wanted to retract but at the insistence of the JVP and Mangala Samaraweera had to make a statement that was neither a denial nor an explanation. Clearly Sarath Fonseka is being forced by somebody else not to retreat and it appears that he is more committed to this latter person(s) than to Mangala Samaraweera and Wijitha Herath. In defence of the retired general one could say that this latter person is none other than his consciousness. Whatever it may be Mangala and the JVP have not been able to force him to deny the statement he made against the defence secretary.
In any event it is clear that the camp of the so-called common candidate is not unanimous when it comes to issues on war. The UNP leadership has not applied pressure on the Sunday Leader that has decided to support Sarath Fonseka at the elections unlike Anura Kumara and Mangala, and that speaks volumes for the friends of the UNP. The UNP had been the agent of the west and as far as they are concerned Sarath Fonseka is only a person who is being used to implicate the Rajapaksas in war crimes, according to some deal that will become clear as we go on. The JVP and Mangala on the other hand dream of defeating Mahinda Rajapakse projecting Sarath Fonseka as the hero who won the war and not the President. It is ridiculous to demean Mahinda Rajapaksa who stood up to the pressure exerted by the western forces. The Presidential elections revolve around the "war" and the results of the election will seal the fate of the country for the next twenty five years.
by Nalin de Silva
http://www.island.lk/2010/01/06/midweek3.html
