Comments on: “Believable Change” with unbelievable contradictions: Sarath Fonseka’s manifesto https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=%25e2%2580%259cbelievable-change%25e2%2580%259d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%25e2%2580%2599s-manifesto Journalism for Citizens Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:00:02 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.1 By: Observer https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13177 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:00:02 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13177 wijayapala, individuals are what they believe in. when you know that information about someone, no point asking what they are…

]]> By: niranjan https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13070 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:44:41 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13070 JL Ratnesekera,

“However, for a moment let us imagine that General Fonseka will become the next President of the country. One of the main promises (of course, it could be another mere election Promise!), placed before the country by former Army Commander is the abolition of the executive presidency and he has already given a time frame to achieve this. One does not have to be a constitutional expert to understand that the President of the country cannot abolish the executive presidency and it is a prerogative of the parliament. Further, it is a well known fact that any legislative measure to abolish the executive presidency must be supported by a two-third majority in parliament and endorsed by the people at a referendum. In other words, the abolition of the executive presidency will not be within General’s legal competence even if he is elected.”

– My reasoning is that if Fonseka is elected it is possible that a two third majority in Parliament will agree to abolish the Executive Presidency. The reason for this is that Fonseka does not belong to any political party even though he is backed by the UNP and the JVP. The UNP and the JVP will not have an interest in keeping Fonseka in the Executive Presidential position for the very reason that he is neither a UNP or JVP party man. Therefore they may support the abolishen of the Presidency.
The UPFA members in Parliament may also decide to support the abolishen of the Executive Presidency in the event of a Fonseka win because he is not from their party. Therefore, it is possible that in the event of a Fonseka win Parliament with the support of the UNP, JVP and UPFA may get a two thirds majority to abolish the Executive Presidency.
But the big question is will Fonseka win? If he does not win then MR will be Executive President for another 6 years and Parliament will not get the required two thirds majority to abolish the Executive Presidency.

]]> By: yapa https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13050 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:52:47 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13050 Dear Wijayapala;

You say

“My understanding of history is that Buddhism could never survive without state patronage. That is how it died in India while thriving in China and other places”.

This is just I intend to tell the advocates of blanket political theory that “religion should be seperated from politics”.

Thanks for your courageous to tell this in an open forum.

]]> By: J.L. Ratnasekera https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13049 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:48:18 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13049 What Could We Expect from the General-President?
It seems that we, Sri Lankans, once again going to lose the golden opportunity opened up as a result of the eradication of LTTE terrorism. In May 2009, we, all Sri Lankans, independent of our political affiliations or beliefs, felt united for the first time in our post-independence history. We all have started to breathe freely after living with the inhuman LTTE terror for three decades. We all had high hopes for a brighter future!
However, six months after the heroic war victory, we are again in a confused state. No sooner the President has declared the presidential elections, the former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka has announced that he will also be contesting for the top post in the country. Of course, if the presidential elections were held immediately after the war victory, say in June or July, it would have been a walk over for the President Mahinda Rajapakse. However, things have changed after the entrance of the General to the political arena.
Undoubtedly, all the Sri Lankans duly recognize the contribution made by the former Army Commander during the Elam War IV and the final victory. General has become a War Hero for all the Sri Lankans. This is why many believe that the General could give a better fight to the incumbent President than any other contender, including the opposition leader Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe. It is due to the same reason both the UNP and JVP are supporting General’s candidature. These two main opposition parties have gone down to such a pathetic state that they are not in a position to field a strong presidential candidate from their own parties. Hence, it is very reasonable to assume that the War Hero Sarath Fonseka has fallen into the trap of some bankrupt political forces.
Of course, no one can argue against the right of the General to enter into the political arena. But, the sad part of the issue is that he is contesting against his own Commander in Chief. Against the person who has given all the guidance and support in his efforts during the Elam War IV. Many things have already been said about to whom the credit of the victory should go; who is the most entitled to claim the credit for the victory etc. However, needless to say that General Sarath Fonseka alone cannot claim the credit for the victory. There were many stakeholders contributed in numerous ways. While accepting the Army Commander’s contribution to the war victory, it is equally important to remember that the political leadership was the most significant and deciding factor.
In any case, now the presidential race is on and the main battle will be between the General and the President. As it is common during any election campaign, both parties are trying hard to convince the voters that their candidate is the ideal person to lead the country during next six years and he is the person who is going to win the race.
As it was mentioned earlier, the situation has changed during last six months and one may argue that the popularity of President Rajapakse is not at the same level as it was in last May. But, one should not forget the results of the Provincial Council elections held recently. In all the provinces where the elections were held, the ruling UPFA has secured a clear mandate from the people by getting a total of more than 5 million votes. On the other hand, the UNP and JVP together got only about 2.8 million votes in all the provinces. So, there is a difference of more than 2 million votes! Though it would not be the same picture during the presidential election, at the same time it is hard to imagine that General Sarath Fonseka backed by UNP and JVP could swing these 2 million votes, and more, in his favour.
However, for a moment let us imagine that General Fonseka will become the next President of the country. One of the main promises (of course, it could be another mere election Promise!), placed before the country by former Army Commander is the abolition of the executive presidency and he has already given a time frame to achieve this. One does not have to be a constitutional expert to understand that the President of the country cannot abolish the executive presidency and it is a prerogative of the parliament. Further, it is a well known fact that any legislative measure to abolish the executive presidency must be supported by a two-third majority in parliament and endorsed by the people at a referendum. In other words, the abolition of the executive presidency will not be within General’s legal competence even if he is elected. Hence, we should expect that General Fonseka, if elected, will remain the President of the country for the next six years.
This is why it is of paramount importance that we should know the General’s political, socio-economic and other related policies before the election. At least at the time of writing this article, his vision for the development of the country is not clear. General Fonseka has 40 years of military experience and it is his main weakness. Military experience alone is not sufficient to govern a country. He is a complete novice to the political arena. Though the General is contesting under the swan symbol of the New Democratic Front, he has no roots in any political party. He himself has admitted this by saying that he is non-party candidate.
On the other hand, affiliation of the President of the country to a political party with a proven track record and an organizational base is a compulsory requirement for the political stability. General Fonseka, if get elected, will have to depend on two main opposition parties (UNP and JVP) having diametrically opposite political and socio-economic principles. This is not going to be an easy task, if at all possible. I would rather say that it would be much more difficult than marshalling the troops to the war victory.
Furthermore, in his first appearance in front of the media personnel, General has genuinely admitted that he does not possess a thorough knowledge about how to run the country’s economy and would consult the experienced UNPers in this regard. In other words, he has admitted that he would follow the extremely liberal, pro-Western economic policies of the UNP. Is this stance acceptable to the other partner – JVP?
So what could we expect from the General-President?
Firstly, we could not expect that he will abolish the executive presidency as it will not be within his purview. Furthermore, we should not be that naïve to believe that President-elect General would voluntarily relinquish the so powerful executive powers. Of course, he has already made it clear that he is not willing to be a symbolic President, as it was the case with former President William Gopallawa. If at all anyone to abolish the executive presidency, most probably it would be the incumbent President that is also at the end of his second term.
Secondly, we could expect that President-elect General would be facing a herculean task in balancing between diametrically opposite parties – UNP and JVP. There is no doubt that his hands will be tightened in all his actions, and both the UNP and JVP will try to pull him to their sides.
There is no end to the questions that follow. What would be the immediate action that will be taken by the General, if he gets elected? Will he appoint a caretaker government? If so, who is going to lead that government, the ever failing Opposition Leader or a JVP MP, or a Military Officer? Subsequently, will he dissolve the parliament and call for elections?
Let us imagine that everything goes in his favour and the President-elect General will call for the parliamentary elections. What would happen if neither UNP nor JVP will get a majority in the next parliament? In such a case, General-President will have to dissolve the parliament again after a one year (for which the power is vested on the President) and have to go for fresh elections.
In any case, all these scenarios lead our poor country to a greater instability.
Are we, Sri Lankans, unlucky that much? Are we going to miss the rare opportunity that is at our hands today? Are we going to lose our hopes for brighter future?
I do not think so!

Dr. Jayantha Lal Ratnasekera

]]> By: ranjit de mel https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13042 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:05:14 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13042 fonseka no doubt has learned his proffession very well.in war strategy one also learns how to mislead the enemy.now in politics he is trying this strategy.his promises are absured and idiotic,and he beleives the s.l. are fools.anyway he and his national socialist supportes the jvp are not going to worry,or would worry about the promises if fonseka wins.the looser again would be ranil,unfortunately the unp.
if fonseka wins the terror program starts specially against the unpeers.luckily s.l. are not fools,hence 60% to mahinda 30% TO fonseka. ranjit de mel berlin

]]> By: niranjan https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13037 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:25:41 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13037 Excellent article.

“There is no mention of how this country would be developed and what the direction of the economy would be in turning trade capital into productive capital for growth in creating employment.”- It seems that none of the 22 Presidential candidates are interested in economics. This election is mostly about petty politics and candidates abusing each other. None of these candidates deserve the vote.

]]> By: jayathilaka https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13035 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:33:38 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13035 governments both past and present have failed to tackle the most important issues such as education ,health,housing,employment etc since the idependance eventough they keep on boasting about development of the country.Instaed those who catch power fulfil their own personel needs and go home.this system should be changed at any cost no matter who he/she is doing engaged in this dirty politics to make the dream of development come true

]]> By: jan https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13029 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:27:16 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13029 The Tamils never accepted independance and political reality from the day of independance. There leaders were more interested in maintaining the dominant postion it held under the colonialist. To demand the north and east as there homeland ,2 administrative provinces has nothing to do with some bizzare claim of a tamil homeland. It is time the tamils accept the political reality of a united sri lanka and demand her rightful position as citizens this war will never end. only thing is that it will allowe hegomonist states like India and america to exploit us.

]]> By: ginko https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13027 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:06:23 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13027 Sarath Fonseka has accepted that the North and the East is the homeland of Tamils by the agreement he signed with the TNA now, Left Front Presidential candidate Wickramabahu Karunaratne said. EELAM, EELAM will be a dream come true if SF wins

[Edited out]

]]> By: Don https://groundviews.org/2010/01/11/%e2%80%9cbelievable-change%e2%80%9d-with-unbelievable-contradictions-sarath-fonseka%e2%80%99s-manifesto/#comment-13025 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:32:11 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/?p=2467#comment-13025 I think Sarath Fonseka gave a promise what looked like unbeliveable for most of us -defeat the LTTE during his tenure as the Commander and not allow Prabakaran to make an another mahaviru speech.This promise was made to the nation by his and not by the President. We all know that he fulfilled that promise. So he can do it again! he is a performer.We badly need a leader like him. He has already achieved an unbelievable national unity during this 40 days.Bringing all the political parties into a one platform. No one has done it before. So have faitth he can do it.

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