Comments on: Nothing less than existential: Our choice at the presidential elections

By: Heshan

Heshan — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:29:17 +0000

Dayan Jayatillake:

Forgive me for the oxymoron, but I predicted the outcome of this election months ago. Moreover, I find the whole exercise an abomination, a travesty, in light of the nationalist overtones that overshadow the whole thing. I recall in grade school a certain literary genre known as “Theater of the The Absurd.” Surely there is some similar categorization in political science to describe the uppermost pinnacle of absurdity in government?

By: Tmama

Tmama — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:02:16 +0000

Sadly, Ranil Wickramasinghe, has let the opportunity slp by going behind the General, though whose military victories were resounding, has a tarnished record with regard to many private dealings, with subordinates, opposite sex and rank and file. I won’t be surprised in a secret bollot the result turns out to be vastly different from the prediction. I know, I cannot swing the vote of my wife, if she feels a candidate is so lax as our esteemed friend SF is said to be.

Major power interests have to live and learn, the old Monroe doctrine does not work even in Haiti or Venezuela, Afghanisthan or Chile any more. In Sri Lanka the operations never yielded the returns from 50 onwards. Even Rhoda Miller de Silva who was abducted by CIA from Ceylon in early fifties returned to Sri Lanka and contributed greatly to our intellectual scene all through the 60s and 70s.

By: Observer

Observer — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:51:33 +0000

“This election is about the future, not the past.”

Those who forget the past, end up making the same mistakes 😉

By: Observer

Observer — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:35:48 +0000

The war itself was not bad for Rajapakse and his clan. But the “peace” will be far better. More money, e.g. “loans” from the international community to siphon off into the Swiss Bank accounts.

Oh dear, here we go again. Just blurt out what ever that comes to your mouth. Blah blah corruption, blah blah nepotism….. standard template. The biggest weakness is that no one has a single shred of evidence of these claims. If you claim the sea then I expect to see at least a bucket full of water!
Do you think people are that dumb to believe this non sense?

With Gothabaya in charge of the white vans, and the Emergency Regulations and Executive Presidency providing total immunity from any prosecution, Rajapakse and clan can enjoy “Paradise” like few others have enjoyed it, for decades to come.

Rather white vans (which I haven’t heard of in a while) and emergency regulations than tanks and martial law and executive commander thank you!

Anyway doesn’t matter SF got no chance with the clowns he has behind him and silly things he utter! In the very remote chance he wins, such foolish people truly deserve the punishment coming! They don’t remember how UNP sold off public assets and made money. They forget the REAL corruption back in the UNP hay days and the Madam era. Surprise, surprise that an ex corruption heavy weight just endorsed the commander.. I guess she’s expecting to make some more money. This should be fun!

By: SomewhatDisgusted

SomewhatDisgusted — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:09:00 +0000

Dayan and his clairvoyance are as usual wrong and those unflinchingly supporting SF are unarguably right.

This is because SF stalwarts have an unassailable chain of reasoning.

If those undecided, on-the-fence, wishy-washy types bothered to speak to any of them, they will explain to you in simple terms what people like Dayan, Dayapala etc. lack the mental capacity to grasp.

1. SF, the decorated and incorruptible war hero, will ascend to power to rid us of that dastardly, irredeemable crook MR who, along with his family, has done nothing but brought the country to its knees in the last 4 years.

2. Under the supportive guidance of RW, the TNA, the JVP and the rest of that pious coalition, SF’s first act will be to flip an on/off switch. He will flip this switch to off and corruption will be immediately turned off.

3. He will then, defying his years of military training, caressingly and lovingly flip the good governance switch, the law and order switch, the reactivate constitution switch and finally, the ethnic reconciliation switch.

4. This will be followed by his new best friend, RW, giving a manly yank to the “time to develop” lever, which will set the relevant apparatus in motion to get us chugging on our way to our rightful place in the first world.

5. After that SF will umm… he will umm…. well, don’t know about him, but we will all live happily ever after.

I hope the rest of the dummies who are squirming with doubt are now convinced what a no-brainer this is.

By: K. C. John

K. C. John — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:21:04 +0000

Dayan,
This election is about the future, not the past.
The war is over. What Sri Lanka now needs is democracy, respect for human rights and, in general (excuse the pun), good governance.
Gratitude, like respect, has to be commanded, not demanded

By: Dayan Jayatilleka

Dayan Jayatilleka — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:25:53 +0000

Justitia, so you know more about the war than the crack frontline combat commanders. Good for you!

And Heshan, you don’t see a democracy on the eve of an election so hotly contested that no one can say for sure who’ll win and Mike hanna of Al jazeera terms a ” democratic lottery”. Good for you too!

By: allen

allen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:10:10 +0000

i think, talking about miltery tactics , catching KP overseas was also super prize. didn;t this happen after SF left? anyway, i think this feat stand in line with the likes of the israels shinbet stuff and Hendawithrana and the boys should be thanked for nipping the KP troubles at the bud.

By: justitia

justitia — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:24:41 +0000

So, MR is a military genius and told the army the tactics which should be followed, assisted by his brother Gotabaya an even more gifted armchair tactician who gave orders to the generals in the field ! Now it appears that there are/were other tacticians as well.
“………the finest group of officers of that rank serving in any military anywhere in the world………………” had to be guided by these military geniuses from colombo.
SF only did what the brothers told him to do.
All present/future historians including Hobsbawm, please note.
Now the tigers who were crushed, with their remnants in detention are again influencing the voters !
Thanks for these revealations.

By: Heshan

Heshan — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 20:09:27 +0000

What was the point of ending the war militarily if no democracy will emerge? Of course, for Rajapakse, the answer is easy enough – self-interest. By ending the war, he ensured a 100 yr uninterrupted dynasty for himself, his family, and generations of their descendants to come. Do you really think Rajapakse ended the war because he has any genuine interest in peace, in raising the standard of living of the man on the street, in creating a vibrant middle-class, or in implementing meaningful political reform and thus paving the way for a flourishing democracy to emerge?

Actions speak louder than words! Indeed, his immediate actions after the war consisted of locking up the Northern Tamils in iron cages for months, holding victory parades in Colombo, demoting his main general to prevent the possibility of a coup, upstaging the UN and international community when it came to investigating war crimes, and renewing the Emergency Regulations every consecutive month since the end of the war!

The war itself was not bad for Rajapakse and his clan. But the “peace” will be far better. More money, e.g. “loans” from the international community to siphon off into the Swiss Bank accounts. More political appointments for members of the extended family as administrative positions “open up” in “liberated areas. In general, far more investment opportunities, and by extension, opportunities to swindle, extort, and plunder. With Gothabaya in charge of the white vans, and the Emergency Regulations and Executive Presidency providing total immunity from any prosecution, Rajapakse and clan can enjoy “Paradise” like few others have enjoyed it, for decades to come.