Archive for the ‘Post-War’

Hacking mayoral campaign promises

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Photo from Asian Mirror In Open-source policy formulation for Sri Lanka’s capital, an article published on the Lanka Business Online website recently, the Head of the Policy Planning Group, Milinda for Mayor Campaign and renowned policy analyst Prof. Rohan Samarajiva looks at how mainstream politics can be made more participatory. The promise is of a direct democracy model with the aid of web, mobile and Internet technologies. Prof. Samarajiva captures well the shortcomings of a traditional approach to manifestos and public policy, “The traditional approach is to rely on expertise. Experts formulate policy. Other experts debug it. Not very different from what goes on at the Redmond Campus of Microsoft.” It is a beguiling vision. Co-creating public policy transparently is infinitely better than codifying in closed groups. This is the Wikipedia model, adapted to fit a political campaign. Experts, like Prof. Samarajiva, assume a curatorial role in the campaign – sifting through citizen-generated ideas, refining and combining them to create a…

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Authoritative Ethical Realist Reads Rajapaksa’s Role

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The Pope with Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith Though my political approval of and personal liking for Mahinda Rajapaksa, (certainly in relation to his competitors and immediate predecessors) are shared by nine out of ten Sri Lankan citizens (according to the Gallup poll), it is not comfortable to be alone in one’s analysis and evaluation, among one’s own social stratum, the intelligentsia, especially the English-speaking and writing urban intelligentsia. It is therefore a good feeling when you discover that your views coincide with someone who stands above the fray, and cannot but evoke respect from all rational people. Nicest of all, is when the public personage with whose views your own coincide, has achieved a status and recognition that is truly global. My perspectives on Mahinda Rajapaksa, his administration, Sri Lankan politics and the issue of accountability and international pressure have been denounced by political partisans of almost all sides. The Tamil Diaspora accuses me of Sinhala chauvinism or neo-nationalism (as Taraki put…

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Land in the North and East of Sri Lanka: Concern and confusion over Government circular

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Image credit Jeremy Suyker, via Foto8 The Government recently unveiled a policy regarding land in the North and East through the introduction of a Cabinet Memorandum (memo) titled ‘Regularize Land Management in Northern and Eastern Provinces,’ which was subsequently followed by a Land Circular (circular) titled ‘Regulating the Activities Regarding Management of Lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces’ (Circular No: 2011/04) issued on 22nd July by the Land Commissioner Generals Department in Colombo in order to operationalise the memo. Since then, there have been reports of notices and forms being issued in areas of the North and East for people to register their land under the Bimsaviya project to ensure title registration of their property. At the time of writing, it was unclear whether this specific process was the same as the one set out under the circular. Contradictory information was received from the different divisional secretariat units (DSs) where the forms were distributed; increasing confusion regarding the process…

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An appeal against infringement of university autonomy in Sri Lanka

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The Ministry of Higher Education has issued a directive that all state universities should hire the services of Rakna Lanka Ltd for provision of security services. The undersigned of the University academic community considers that directive to be in complete contravention of the norms and conventions by which universities are expected to function. The letter issued by the Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education seeks to bypass standard procedures that are followed in the university system in the hiring and outsourcing of services. That process requires tenders to be called for and for a suitable company to be selected in a transparent and independent manner. The Secretary’s instruction therefore is in violation of established processes and is contrary to the underpinning principles of governance and the autonomy of academic institutions. Rakna Lanka is held out to be a government owned commercial security venture and has been set up under the Ministry of Defence, under the direct supervision of the…

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Because I was asked to be silent

Wimal Weerawamsa

Portrait of a card-carrying Sri Lankan patriot. ### I am not a patriot. I am not a patriot if it means that to be a patriot I must deny that innocent people have been killed. I am not a patriot if it means that I have to turn a blind eye to the destructive activity of self-righteous members of the Sangha who feel it within their purview to destroy a Muslim shrine. Neither am I a patriot if it means I have to be amongst the Sinhalese who support this crime. Nor am I one if, like the Catholic Church I remain silent or am partisan to the Rajapaksa regime. I am not a patriot if I have to ignore criminality because it grants a certain kind of peace. I am not a patriot if it means I must remain speechless and unresisting.  A few short weeks ago, Groundviews carried an article by Meena Serendib on Why the Diaspora must return…

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  • 20 Sep, 2011
  • 4 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Corruption,
    Politics and Governance,
    Post-War

Local government elections: Military puppeteers, elected puppets, right to information and people’s liberties

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[Editors note: The author is at the time of writing, the head of the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council (SJKMC) campaign committee for the UNP. Groundviews is critical of all political parties and candidates, but not equally so. Harsha's article is published here as the extension of a lengthy exchange on the topic of RTI Groundviews has spearheaded with leading local government candidates. Please also read Why is Right to Information in the Moragoda Mayoral Manifesto? and Milinda Moragoda: The gap between promise and reality.] First impressions of Kotte: Similar concerns among dissimilar people Now that I have been entrusted with leading the campaign for the Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Municipal Council (SJKMC) election I have had the opportunity to visit the homes of many people in the administrative capital of Sri Lanka.  The first thing that struck me was that not only does “the proud city of Jayawardene” as mentioned in the Salalihini Sandesa have a rich history it is rich in its diversity of people.  I…

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Who is “Pulidaran?”: Reflections on International Day of Democracy

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Photo courtesy Vikalpa Who is “Pulidaran?” What everyone knows – “On July 15, 2008, Pulidaran reportedly shot Kanapathipillai alias Satchi Master, while in Batticaloa prison.[1] What everyone does not, or chooses to ignore – “Pulidaran was a mere boy of 14 when he was arrested under suspicion of terrorism. Pulidaran was held for far longer than 18 months. He is now 29. He was detained for 14 long years before any charges were brought against him. In the news, Pulidaran was described as a LTTE cadre. Most readers did not stop to question what Pulidaran was doing in prison. The words “LTTE cadre” was more than sufficient to quell doubts.”[2]  In “celebration” of the International Day of Democracy today, I would like to bring our attention back to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)[3], (particularly in light of the recent ‘so called’ removal of the Emergency Regulations (ER),) which has reared its ugly head in the “Democratic” Socialist Republic of…

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Milinda Moragoda: The gap between promise and reality

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Milinda Moragoda’s on-going mayoral campaign is interesting on many counts. Particularly appealing to me is that it is extremely web media savvy. The campaign’s central website, http://www.ourcmb.com, is leagues ahead of what any candidate, at any election in Sri Lanka has produced. Aimed to elicit public feedback on a 12 point, 100 day plan for Colombo, the website is a model for how politicians can use the web to co-create policy in what is promised is an open, transparent manner. Milinda’s Facebook group, growing apace in the number of fans, is something other candidates have done in the past, but not to this degree of curatorial prowess. He also has a presence on YouTube and Twitter. All this would prima facie suggest a politician unafraid of public scrutiny, genuine engagement on critical issues and uses these tools to be the change he proclaims he wants to see. Sadly, not so. In an article titled ‘Open-source policy formulation for Sri Lanka’s…

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(Inter)national Identity

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Up until just two years ago, I have only known a Sri Lanka at war. And it was possibly just over a decade ago when I came about to comprehending that we were in fact, at war with ourselves. Having recently just returned from yet another visit to my ‘island of birth’, I found it quite upsetting to witness for oneself a country more divided than ever before. The post-war optimism of the previous year seemed to have fizzled into a general state of discontent; divided between the fight for supremacy in national identity, and the undecidedness in satisfaction over the way the country is being run. More dispiriting (and within a much shorter time frame) than a two-decade-long civil war it appears, is an election deemed inconsequential and the loss of repute under global condescension. “Oh, what do you know about National identity?” I’ve been scorned at far too many a time whenever attempting to bring up the discourse….

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Channel 4′s ‘Killing Fields’: Journalism, Advocacy or Propaganda?

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Image from Channel 4 Introduction The UK based Channel 4 documentary, “Killing Fields”, possesses an interesting characteristic. It has the power of accentuating the prejudices and biases of viewers. The reaction found on a variety of forums is arguably more illuminating than the documentary itself. Those who feel the Sri Lankan government has done no wrong, are further convinced that there is an international conspiracy and the entire documentary is fake. There are those who are convinced that the Sri Lankan armed forces are evil. There are also those that believe the documentary is evidence of the need for a separate Tamil nation and are busy distributing DVDs to Western politicians. The remainder are horrified by the footage and can not watch the entire documentary. With the broadcast of the “Lies Agreed Upon” [1]  documentary by the Sri Lankan television station Ada Derana [2] , we now have two very one-sided documentaries. Only together can any semblance of balance be achieved. Callum Macrae,…

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Osama, Prabhakaran and Me

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Photo from The Atlantic I have a bone to pick with these two. In fact maybe an entire rib cage. One of them caused me to question my nationalism and my identity as a Sri-Lankan and the other caused me to have to answer countless questions about my religious beliefs. In essence all my adult life, my religion and my country have been under attack; and yet how did I turn out to be such a pacifist? Shouldn’t I theoretically have bombs in my make-up case and hidden amongst my Manolo’s? Considering the chaos that these men have caused in their bid to achieve their agenda’s I should be a roving lunatic with a thirst for vengeance. As noble as their intentions may have been to their followers, they did harm their own and others in the process, to no significant outcome. In my opinion that is. Firstly let us start close to home. I was brought up in the…

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Marking The Mahinda Moment In Lankan Politics

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Photo courtesy Al Jazeera, Sri Lanka boosts presidential power Perhaps never before has there been so wide a gap, so clear a contradiction, between the views of our country held by the West and the Western dominated international media on the one hand, and the opinions demonstrably held by the citizens of our country on the other (even according to impeccably Western sources).  The gulf between these views is of a magnitude that pressure from the West will not generate the conditions to close it by influencing domestic opinion; in fact the gulf will widen by driving Sri Lankans further away from the external opinion mounting against the country’s policy stance and its democratically elected leadership.  The country’s citizens are not taking their cue from the leadership, and therefore a regime change or striving for it will not change public opinion. Indeed the leadership is hugely popular precisely because it reflects the strongly held and democratically expressed convictions of the vast…

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13th Amendment: Plus? Or Minus?

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Introduction Leader of National Freedom Front (NFF) and the Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing & Common Amenities, Hon Wimal Weerawansa delivered a public lecture on the 7th of September 2011 on the ‘13th amendment plus? Or Minus? at the Youth Services Council, Maharagama. The following commentary is a summary of the key points he made during his lecture. Objective of the Lecture The international community and their local supporters are attempting to reverse the victory Sri Lanka achieved after defeating the separatist terrorists. Now they have commenced a dialogue on ‘13th amendment plus’. Hence this series of lectures intend to bring this conspiracy to the attention of the patriotic actors. Content Today’s world is facing three main kinds of crisis situations Economic instability Political instability Environmental crisis There is a possibility to have an international intervention on Sri Lanka. The background is been prepared for that at the moment. This preparation is taking place in two ways at the…

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Reconciliation, a Political Settlement and the “Grease Devil”

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Tissa Vitharana eats the President’s cake, courtesy Dinamina. Extremist Sinhala nationalists within the parliament and outside who do not believe that the minority communities have or ever had any grievances see no reason why there should be a political settlement. As Basil Rajapaksa has pointed out if the TNA (Tamil national alliance) thinks it has a mandates for devolution of power, then the president has a bigger mandate from the South not to devolve power. The Defence Secretary, Gothabya Rajapaksa, the most important policy maker in the country today has flatly denied the need for a political settlemet. According to him since the LTTE has been exterminated there is no need for devolution; the present constitution is more than enough for all communities to live in peace. President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself doesn’t appear to be very keen on a political settlement.  He played around with the APRC for almost four years and then discarded the report if produced after numerous…

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State of Emergency in Sri Lanka, with or without it

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Photo courtesy JDS The decision of the Sri Lankan government to lift the Emergency Regulations (ER) is received in good faith by many. For example, the International Community has expressed its pleasure and satisfaction. The Indian minister of external affairs, S.M. Krishna welcomed the move as an “effective step leading to genuine national reconciliation in the country” (The Hindu, August 27, 2011). At the same time, it has also generated a suspicion whether the act of repeal is merely an attempt “to generate good publicity for the government on the eve of the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva next month” (The Telegraph, Calcutta, August 30, 2011). This sense of uncertainty and doubt has being substantiated by the introduction of new regulations which would provide the basis for the operation of Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), High Security Zones (HSZs) and prosecution of LTTE cadres etc. In addition, militarisation of the society, internalisation of emergency rules…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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