It was no easy task to compile this. Only a handful ordinary citizens would have the expertise to search for this information online, or elsewhere. There is no easy record retrieval of the President’s attendance in Parliament on its official website. But what is immediately obvious when the scattered media reports are taken as a whole is that the 18th Amendment has in no way at all contributed to a more accountable Executive. ”

Excerpt from ‘Months after the 18th Amendment: Is the Executive really more accountable to Parliament?’, http://groundviews.org/2011/06/11/months-after-the-18th-amendment-is-the-executive-really-more-accountable-to-parliament/

You mean like the tens of thousands of unemployed university graduates?

Please give me some documents to work with here. Evidence.

Wow, you must be really in the dark. Danuna Tilakaratne became a millionaire practically overnight just through weapons commissions… doesn’t take a genius to figure out how much more the President (s) – now dictator (s) – son can make. Danuna would be a free man if SF hadn’t turn on MR – which means Namal, – who is an unqualified MP – is free to swindle and cheat for as long as imaginable. Of course we don’t know about all of his business ventures; a few, however, have been listed. I will provide further info if you really insist, although I doubt you’d be likely to ruffle the feathers of even the cook at Temple Trees, given your appalling one-track mind.

Where did you get the figures/data? Can you show me please?

I can’t teach you basic economics – no doubt the library has quite a few good books.
Well I can tell you sir, sir is a habit from the good ol’ colonial days. I’m pretty sure your ancestors working for the Brits had no 2nd thoughts to say SIR, SIR! WHY INDEED SIR! AT YOUR SERVICE SIR! ANYTIME SIR! lol

Actually Sri Lanka was better off under the British. Once the British left, and your Banda and his gang of yellow-robed Nazis took over, things went downhill pretty quickly. I realize, of course, how embarrassing it must be to have to admit that a bunch of foreigners were able to better administrate your *native* country than the locals, but that is the truth of the matter.

Or he can go to school, study hard and make something of him self. Or he could become an entrepreneur and see where that would take him. Plus I dont think Odel is capable of providing such lucrative opportunities to the whole of next generation.
And 1000 Rupees? C’mon man, even beggars make more than 1000 Rupees a day. White tourists? Every time I’ve been there it has been more locals than “whites”! This tells me that you probably haven’t been to this country in over 10 years.

Meanwhile Namal Rajapakse can continue in his crooked business ventures, collecting millions off the commissions.

Please give me some documents to work with here. Evidence. If you give me some compelling, irrefutable material, I can tell you I can ruffle some feathers. If you’re in procession of these material get in touch with me. Or just go to your beloved tabloid TV station. Channel 4. They’d be more than happy to finally carry a news item with actual EVIDENCE! haha

The above actually illustrates a rather subtle point: Mahinda has not narrowed the economic gap, but expanded it.

Where did you get the figures/data? Can you show me please?

This is a direct result of his economic policy; e.g. borrowing from the IMF, which requires “austerity measures” that are then placed on the poor people. Or else, awarding huge development contracts to China and India. Unemployment does not increase consumer spending! Without adequate consumer spending, the economy simply stagnates and more people end up taking “sir sir” type jobs.

Well I can tell you sir, sir is a habit from the good ol’ colonial days. I’m pretty sure your ancestors working for the Brits had no 2nd thoughts to say SIR, SIR! WHY INDEED SIR! AT YOUR SERVICE SIR! ANYTIME SIR! lol

Yes, thanks to Mahinda, the child has a great future. He can take the bus to his Odel day job and say “sir! sir!” a 1000 times a day to white tourists to collect his 1000 rupee salary. Meanwhile Namal Rajapakse can continue in his crooked business ventures, collecting millions off the commissions. The above actually illustrates a rather subtle point: Mahinda has not narrowed the economic gap, but expanded it. This is a direct result of his economic policy; e.g. borrowing from the IMF, which requires “austerity measures” that are then placed on the poor people. Or else, awarding huge development contracts to China and India. Unemployment does not increase consumer spending! Without adequate consumer spending, the economy simply stagnates and more people end up taking “sir sir” type jobs.

Believe me, I understand what you are trying to say perfectly well because I agree with your views that the prosperity of the rich should not be confused with the prosperity of the country, and that their needs trump the rest. I also agree with you that economic prosperity is a key part of the issue as that will automatically enable better education. I also do not subscribe to party politics as you know nor to the preservation of some elitist lifestyle, as the popularly vilified stereotype goes.

However, I also came to realize this: economic prosperity must go hand in hand with good governance. We can’t expect economic prosperity in a climate absolutely devoid of good governance, nor good governance in a climate devoid of economic prosperity. Why? I fear we will reach a limit to economic prosperity and be unable to go further due to the morally bankrupt nature of governance.

If we are more “educated and liberal in our views” as you suggest, then that also entails us with the burden of educating the less informed about the nature of the problem. It entails us with the burden of maintaining constitutional integrity. If the constitution is a worthless piece of paper, to be amended by spreading a fear psychosis to an ignorant populace, do you really feel that’ll be a recipe for any kind of prosperity?

The educated have a job too. And that job is to create debate, encourage critical thinking and inform the rest of the populace. If we simply throw up our hands and say that “mob rule” is what’s best, then we may well be resigning ourselves to the fact that we do not live in a 21st century democracy, but a 16th century monarchy with a few morsels and tidbits thrown off as scraps for the rest of us to feed on. It will be a very hollow prosperity indeed, if all integrity is flushed down the toilet and being in the good graces of the royal Rajapakses are the only thing that matters to living in a brain-washed, north-korean style dictatorship, forever singing Hosannas to the glorious eternal leader and forever unaware that the kings are destroying the moral fabric of the country and telling otherwise through the media.

Remember that this is as likely a scenario as a miraculous Lee Kuan Yew style recovery, and so far, I’m not convinced Rajapakse is any Lee Kuan Yew. That’s why I feel it’s best we hang on to the constitutional safeguards which remain without flushing them down the toilet. Of course, it’s a little too late now.

Tell me, do you feel that the present constitution is *really* the biggest problem preventing Rajapakse from achieving development in the next 8 years of his presidency? So are you sure we are focusing on the right things? What duties are ours as those belonging to the university educated (dare I say therefore also elitist in a way) minority? It surely can’t be keeping silent and/or wishful thinking of miracles from Rajapakse.