Third term of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the President
Posted on August 30th, 2014
Nalin de Silva
It is clear by this time the opposition has realised that they have no ability to field a candidate who can win at the next Presidential elections whenever it is held. They have failed to find a so called common candidate and Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera can campaign for abolition of executive President until the Presidential election is announced and then find that no political party is prepared to nominate the Thera or anybody else as the common candidate.
There will be a number of candidates from the opposition and their best hope at the elections would be no candidate securing the fifty per cent of the valid votes plus at least one more vote forcing the commissioner of elections to count the second preferences of the voters.
However, it is a remote possibility and the deciding factor at the elections would be the defeat of the LTTE and Western interference in local politics. Navi Pillai and her successor would help Mahinda Rajapaksa with their reports, and England in the two hundredth year since the 1815 English Sinhala Pact would realise that it cannot conquer the Sinhala mind. The fact that the elections would be held close to 2nd March 2015, two hundred years after the Sinhala English Pact of March 1815, would help Mahinda Rajapaksa who defeated Prabhakaran and the other terrorists who were supported by England and her ally US, and not Ranil Wickremesinghe who signed the ceasefire agreement with Prabhakaran at the insistence of those two countries through the Scandinavian countries.
Presidential election
It would not be a bad idea to hold the Presidential elections on the 2nd of March 2015 with history supporting Mahinda Rajapaksa and the people teaching a good lesson to the English and their cohorts of Fridays, WGOs that include peace vendors and others.
The election results will carry a message to Geneva where in March the United Nations Human Rights Council will be discussing Sri Lanka and not US where Blacks are being killed indiscriminately 150 years after the “end of the civil war”. There will be no “reconciliation” among the whites and the blacks in USA for another 150 years but in Sri Lanka Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), the so called extremist organisation has joined hands with a Hindu organisation and going by newspaper reports some Muslims have already complained to BBS against some other Muslim organisations that have prevented certain Muslims going to Mecca!
Ven. Sobhitha Thera and the team would fail with their slogans such as good governance, abolition of Executive Presidency, as the people of this country know how the UNP governed the country under several leaders. Ranil Wickremesinghe has already shown his character in association with Soththi Upali and others, and Sajith Premadasa is only an also ran politician. It is not necessary to discuss the JVP and other parties, which would poll less than one million votes among themselves. Thus the Commissioner of Elections will be spared the agony of counting the second preferences.
Under these circumstances when the Presidential elections are between a person who saved the country from the LTTE that was supported by England led Western countries and a person who betrayed the country by signing CFA with the LTTE there is only one way left for the opposition. That is to try their luck at the Supreme Court by objecting to the candidature of Mahinda Rajapaksa at the next Presidential elections. The first salvo has been already fired by none other than Sarath Silva, a former Chief Justice of the country, in the form of an interview given to Irida Lankadeepa, which has a management related to Ranil Wickremesinghe.
I am neither a lawyer nor an expert in English but I know that Sarath Silva is not the only lawyer nor the only CJ this country has produced. Law is mainly about legal principles, interpretations and precedents, and even in Mathematics that uses natural languages to a minimum as much as possible there are different interpretations. Law depends on language and interpretations play a significant role in legal matters. I have some personal experience as I have resorted to litigation against the University of Colombo for dismissing me and most of the other universities for not appointing me to an academic position.
Supreme Court
I filed a case against the University of Colombo in the labour tribunal which decided that the University of Colombo should pay me a sum of Rs. seven lacks even though I had lost about five million rupees in wages and other benefits as a result of being on extended sabbatical leave for more than ten years. The university appealed to the High Court that decided that not a single cent be paid and decided that I was guilty of all the charges. Then I appealed to the Supreme Court and a three member bench presided over by Sarath Silva CJ decided that the University should pay me Rs. five lacks. To this day I do not understand the rationale behind these judgments, and five lacks is not even the arithmetical mean of seven lacks and zero.
I do not think that Mr. S. L. Gunasekera who appeared for me free of charge from the labour tribunal to the Supreme Court understands the judgments either. As there is no court of law above the Supreme Court the University had to abide by the latter decision and as a result I lost about 4.5 million rupees.
When Western Physics is not objective one would not expect Roman Dutch or any other law to be objective. Three different courts of law gave three different judgments but we are forced to go to courts of law seeking justice. It was Wittgenstein who said that problems in Philosophy are problems of language.
It appears that Law thrives on problems of language. However, politics has a way of dealing with language, where intuition plays a big role. The political intuition of Mahinda Rajapaksa who himself as a lawyer, knows how to deal with problems of language associated with law. It is the legislators who know the intention of passing of laws and not the interpreters who are confined to language and convictions.
Sarath Silva in his interview seems to have given the impression that he depends on two interpretations, which needless to say are subjective. In law as it often happens lawyers first come to conclusions and then try to justify the conclusions interpreting the law accordingly. In general we do not come to conclusions by rational arguments but almost always rationalize our convictions, and I am no exception.
Legal intricacies
According to Sarath Silva, Article 31 (2) of the Constitution that says “No person who has been twice elected to the office of President by the People shall be qualified thereafter to be elected to such office by the People” has already disqualified Mahinda Rajapaksa.
It appears that Sarath Silva’s argument is that Mahinda Rajapaksa was disqualified to contest a third time the day he was elected to the office of the President, the second time. However, the above article does not say categorically that a person who has been elected twice to the post of President is disqualified to be elected to that post again.
It could be said that the article 31 (2) becomes operative only at the point when the person who has been elected twice decides to contest Presidential elections, and not before. That was never to come as long as the Article was in the Constitution, and now the article has been repealed by the eighteenth amendment. Mahinda Rajapaksa is now not bound by a repealed article, and legal intricacies on retrospective validations are not the order of the day.
The second interpretation that Sarath Silva banks is on Article 31 (3a) (i) that states “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding provisions of this Chapter, the President may, at any time after the expiration of four years from the commencement of his first term of office, by Proclamation, declare his intention of appealing to the People for a mandate to hold office, by election, for a further term.”
The eighteenth amendment replaced the words fist term by the words current term, and Sarath Silva is apparently of the opinion that current means first. However, the eighteenth amendment has no upper limit on the number of terms a person could be elected, provided of course the people elect him/her, and in the light of the eighteenth amendment current does not appear to mean only the first.
Let us await the decision of the Supreme Court if a voter goes before it based on Sarath Silva’s interpretations, but more importantly on Mahinda Rajapaksa’s political intuition that would tell him what action he should take in view of the interpretations.
August 30th, 2014 at 3:49 pm
Now, I see similarities between those of anti- Sinhala buddhists and prof. Nalin De Silva.
His only focus is making Mahinda rajapakse the president for the third time and nothing else.
I can see why people go for material things at the expense of every thing else.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:26 pm
My simple question is why can’t MR let Gota contest instead of keeping power himself ? He can still influence his bro. Doesn’t he trust his bro ?
If MR is the all encompassing pure leader who eradicate Tamil Tigers to save the country, he must do the above to save the country sliding down to the septic tank called Pallath Sabha.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
This looks like wholly a propaganda type article.
Just talk about the past Sinhala suffering or grandeur, some supposed to be enemies and ask for votes and not not for what he has done.
That is not worth written by a person high values or conscience.
August 30th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
I don’t trust these Silvas.
Mervyn Silva
Duminda Silva
Sarath Silva
…
…Gon Silva
now Nalin Silva
August 30th, 2014 at 5:47 pm
I agree with Nanda.
GR should be better than MR.
GR should be more accountable and good for the country than MR.
People know every thing. Only problem is they don’t have an alternative.
August 30th, 2014 at 8:27 pm
I agree with Nanda.
Gota will be good in that seat.
He has not promised Endia anything similar to MR on 13A. Therefore he can abolish 13A straight away and start from scratch. We can start from GA type administration network. Send home all the thugs in politics. Appoint only professionals to key positions and Ministries. MR can be the Prime Minister… similar to what Putin did… but should not interfere with Gota’s work.
Gota is better for the country. He does not have a cunning political mind.. but straight forward.
Get Gonseka a good post to keep him occupied and happy, may be the defence secretary job itself, forgetting all his gon parts. After all he was seriously involved in winning the war but got carried away to JVP and UNP backed by US sweet talks to win the President’s seat.
August 30th, 2014 at 9:11 pm
Hi Hiranthe what evidence you have? What I know is in a meeting attended by Pakyasothi and his Sinhala suckers a God brother of the LTTE said “wait till the dust settles”. The meeting was scheduled before the end of the wipe out and the meeting was held justa day after the wipe out. It was in Western country and was attended by LTTE supporters and JVP supporters. I was guessing what he meant and as soon as SF declared his intentions I knew what this god brother meant. Where are SF’s kids?
August 30th, 2014 at 9:19 pm
“Get Gonseka a good post to keep him occupied and happy, may be the defence secretary job itself, forgetting all his gon parts.”
Not going to work. He has so much hatred for GR. He has no heart. HE is an USA puppet.
“MR can be the Prime Minister… similar to what Putin did”
– No make him a Senior Minister ( like Singapore did when LKY retired). He is still very useful to keep the majority seats. Sack all present so called “Senior Minister ” idiots currently ruining the country.
I believe Champika should be the Prime Minister.
August 31st, 2014 at 5:39 am
Brilliant strategy to BOG USA down in another LOSING war.
USA is DOOMED if it goes to war against ISIS.
USA is DOOMED if it does not go to war against ISIS.
Saudi will be the ultimate winner! (ISIS will NEVER attack Saudi.)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has warned that the West will be the next target of the jihadists sweeping through Syria and Iraq, unless there is “rapid” action.
“If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month,” he said in remarks quoted on Saturday by Asharq al-Awsat daily and Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya television station.
“Terrorism knows no border and its danger could affect several countries outside the Middle East,” said the king who was speaking at a welcoming ceremony on Friday for new ambassadors, including a new envoy from Saudi ally the United States.
The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has prompted widespread concern as it advances in both Syria and Iraq, killing hundreds of people, including in gruesome beheadings and mass executions.
Lack of action would be “unacceptable” in the face of the phenomenon, King Abdullah said.
“You see how they (jihadists) carry out beheadings and make children show the severed heads in the street,” he said, condemning the “cruelty” of such acts.
“It is no secret to you, what they have done and what they have yet to do. I ask you to transmit this message to your leaders: ‘Fight terrorism with force, reason and (necessary) speed’.””
– businessinsider
August 31st, 2014 at 9:26 am
IF S.C SAYS NO TO MAHINDA GOTHA MIGHT BE THE CANDIDATE. WHAT NALIN SAYS IS THAT THERE IS NOBODY BETTER THAN MAHINDA AT THIS TIME. HE HASNOT SAID THAT MAHINDA IS PERFECT.OTHERS LIKE RANIL AND S.F WILL BETRAY THE COUNTRY. NALIN ONLY WANTS TO PREVENT IT. WITH ALL THE BAD THINGS MAHINDA HAS DONE HE WILL NOT ALLOW TERRORISTS TO GANG UP AGAIN SO AT THIS TIME SOME THINK THAT THEY SHOULD NOT ATTACK MAHINDA AND GIVE OTHER BETRAYERS TO WIN.. NALIN HAS ADMITTED THAT THIS GOVT HAS NOT DONE WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IN SEVERAL ARTICLES
August 31st, 2014 at 1:57 pm
Senevirath,
NO. It will be Basil. He has already started his own work towards a presidential election IN CASE the SC interprets it against MR.
This is bad. BR is trying hard (WITHOUT RESULTS) to appease Tamilians. He will be a TAMIL SELL OUT.
GR must replace MR.
August 31st, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Look at this !
“Aug 31, Bibile: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said today that he had instructed the Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa to start a project to desalinate sea water. ”
Our bugger has lost all his brain. We complain about ඩේවිඩ් කැමරන්, but our bugger too is speaking from the wrong opening.
OR , may be not. may be he needs more money, addicted to gambling or something happened.
WE CANNOT EVEN THINK OF A THIRD TERM to this bugger.
August 31st, 2014 at 7:58 pm
Can you believe this ?
“Intelligence OIC transferred for messing up my surveillance: Upul
The Officer in Charge of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) headed by DIG Nimal Chandra Wagista has been transferred to the Katunayake International Airport for having made a hash placing Bar Association President Upul Jayasuriya under surveillance.
Jayasuriya told the “Sunday Island” yesterday that the OIC had been made a scapegoat for carrying out orders from the “top” to monitor his movements after the Bar Association had issued statements critical of the Rajapaksa regime for human rights violations and flouting the law with impunity.
”The OIC has been penalised for following orders from the top to monitor my movements. He has been given a punishment transfer to the Katunayake International Airport,” Jayasuriya said.
He alleged the government was using the police to harass those who exposed its wrong-doing with total disregard for democratic norms.
Meanwhile informed sources said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during a recent meeting with the IGP N.K. Illangakoon and senior police officers, had asked who was following the Bar Association President on motorcycles. One of the officers had replied that it was the work of the SIS.
The President had then observed that some persons were using “Gota’s” name to do wrong things and also referred to two officers as “lunatic” and “thief.” The policemen present had remained silent.
Police spokesman, SSP Ajith Rohana denied that the OIC has been transferred. “No such transfer has taken place”.
Now I have to stop calling “our bugger”. MR has betrayed more patriots. This big mouth US agent Upul MUST BE MONITORED day and night. MR has punished the friends and keeping the THIEVES.
MR is worse than Ruin-Nil. NO WAY OF A THIRD TERM. He is getting ready to win a third term by bring in a 19th amendment but not prepared to scrap the dreaded 13th.
September 1st, 2014 at 1:20 am
Our රණ විරුවෝ ( war heroes) are being called පිස්සා හොරා by the country’s president. Are you people not hurt ?