The Emperor is in the stark nude The fig leaf has disappeared
Posted on September 11th, 2015
Courtesy The Nation
Nimal Lanza and Anura Yapa are both members of the spanking new Cabinet which is so large, it can only be convened at the Nelum Pokuna. But, Keheliya Rambukwella, Dullas Alahaperuma and Shashindra Rajapaksa have been brought before the Presidential Commission on financial crimes.
The size of the Cabinet is enormous and this is discounting the pleased as pink members of it, who find themselves being thus elevated, having been kicked out by the people at the elections
Join them, and yesterday’s scum transmogrifies into today’s poster boys. But dare oppose them, and you’ve bought your ticket to hell.
This is cynical slash and burn politics that reeks to the heavens, and makes anything that came before it look sublime by comparison.
Ask Ranjan Ramanayaka about Nimal Lanza. There is a video that is doing the rounds of Ramanayaka berating the drug barons who he said were granted impunity, when President Rajapaksa was ruling, and Ramanayaka was in the Opposition. Special mention was made of this man Nimal Lanza.
The Asipatha CutsI do not know if Nimal Lanza is a drug baron or not. But this much I can vouch for. Ranjan Ramanayaka was, with all cylinders firing, vouchsafing for the fact that Lanza is a drug running local mafia don, and from the then UNP opposition benches, loud cheers rang out in the House.
Now, this Lanza is a Deputy Minister.
Ranjan Ramanayake is also a Deputy Minister.
Lake House newspapers were on fire immediately after the General Elections on January 8, with all guns trained against Anura Yapa who was said to have been the mastermind behind the document produced by former UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, attesting to the alleged pact between the UNP Leader, and R. Sampandan of the TNA.
Anura Yapa now holds senior cabinet rank. Muttuhettigama is a Deputy Minister, the latter constantly vilified as a lout by the then Opposition UNP.
The list of rouges gallery notables — as per the UNP — now holding high Cabinet rank, goes on and on, but Keheliya Rambukwella, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and others are brought before the Presidential Commission regarding alleged financial crimes.
The message is clear. If you are on the inside pissing out, you are as pure as the driven snow. But you dare so much as keep one foot outside of the comfort zone, and you are the devil incarnate, and will be chased to the ends of the earth, vilified, demonized, and destroyed.
Cynical politics, partisanship and unprincipled skulduggery has never been so brazen, and the country is now ruled with impunity by the lawless, cynical and degenerate. The size of the Cabinet is enormous and this is discounting the pleased as pink members of it, who find themselves being thus elevated, having been kicked out by the people at the elections.
Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, the mascot of Yahapalana and Wickremesinghe’s darling, offered that he is shocked by the losing elements being smuggled into Parliament by the president, and the latter and his joined at the hip twin responded by kicking Sobitha’s rump, and making a few of this kind, top ranking Cabinet ministers to boot.
The fig leaf is now gone as well, and the president is cavorting around in the buff, being cheered on by his minions. Tissa Jayatilleka and the kultur gentlemen of the Friday Forum nor the NGO set in their echo chambers are saying a word these days. Mouths sewed shut, we suppose they are watching the naked President and his equally debauched Prime Minister unable to decide whose instructions they should take before they make their next move.
The opposition leader is a pretender, but when the prime minister is a pretender given how the election victory was achieved, and when the president pretends he is the leader of the SLFP, Sambandan’s pretense is all in a day’s work.
It bears mention that there are people such as Wimal Weerawansa who seem to take the president at his word!
Attaboy! There are the notably gullible, but fool me once and shame on you, fool me ten times and shame on me, and a seven generations that are to follow?
Has Weerawansa ever heard of that?
Where is Mahinda Rajapaksa by the way?
For the forty two lakhs or so who voted for him, the fact that his son is being persecuted and his wife is being summoned to the FCID is, by way of explanation for the relative silence, small comfort.
The people, particularly the majority of the Sinhala people who voted for the UPFA in vast numbers, have been kicked in the shin and then kicked hard in the vitals, and been shoved into Mangala Samaraweera’s dustbin for the unbowed and upright.
Anybody who is a moral degenerate today, is in power. However, if there was a single person who even tangentially thought of justice, equity, gratitude and probity before self, he or she is in Mangala Samaraweera’s dustbin for the brave.
Those who say the opposition leader necessarily has to be a person who is not in the national government, have forgotten how easy it is to disenfranchise 42 million people, and they have neglected to tell you about how the president carried out the daylight robbery of their ballot by refusing to forward the letter requesting the Speaker to make Welgama the Opposition Leader, to Karu Jayasuriya.
The majority of the UPFA now in Parliament chose not to be part of the so called National Government. Even if they did, they have no right to be part of that fiasco as National Government was not part of the UPFA manifesto, and not part of the granted mandate, ergo.
Mahinda Rajapaksa has to answer to this. Why are the people who voted for you abandoned, and is Wimal Weerawansa a complete idiot to say that he believed, actually believed the President when he said that the Opposition members can choose their own Opposition leader? What are we taken for? Cattle?
And what is the vote of the people who voted for you folk, taken for? Cattle feed?
This much is certain. People who gave you 95 seats would strike back and when they return, it will not only be a swift swipe at the president who prances about naked with his joined at hip twin, the puerile Prime Minister, but also at anybody who belittles or ignores the wishes of the 42 lakhs who supplied 95 seats to empower Mahinda Rajapaksa’s UPFA in Parliament.
Do not trifle with the wishes of the people who refuse to be herded around like cattle. The Emperor may be naked, the former President may be overwhelmed and cowed, but truth is not on a lien.
This travesty of the people’s rights, this ugly, unabashed squashing of democracy underfoot, all in the name of good governance, will be avenged.
September 11th, 2015 at 3:46 pm
Other dubious characters are also in the Cabinet.
BTW Nimal Lanza won the SECOND HIGHEST number of preference votes from UPFA in GAMPAHA DISTRICT.
September 11th, 2015 at 4:06 pm
Recently some of the 5 Start Hotels had food poising and found expired date frozen food. Even supermarket Plaza food outlets were found unhygienic in Colombo and outstations. Most of these places toilets are filthy. Considering these National requirement I would proposed RW & MS to create New Ministry of Toilet & Kitchen add two more faithful either elected & Chit MPs as Minister and a Deputy. Add more to the jumbo Cabinet.
September 11th, 2015 at 5:52 pm
After all Lorenzo looks right. What we need a military coup and send all the politicos to walhalla so that the nation can make a fresh start.
Doesn’t look as if there is any alternative or remedy to put right all things that have gone wrong and are going wrong right now! Democracy has been buried and shitted upon by the thief who stole the position of President.
People of Sri Lanka deserve what they are getting. There will be ‘better things’ in the coming days and months. For the time being all democrats, yahapalana baiyo, so called Citizens groups and Sadharana Samajayak booruwo can eat humble pie and keep quiet. Water is over the noses. Not even time to say ” Nava Gilunath band chune”.
It is time Mahinda Rajapakse who toppled the “Apple Cart” by calling elections need to come back with all guns firing. If not he too will be implicated in what is going on and family frauds. If he thinks he can keep his nose clean it is time he come out of his short hibernation. If not ‘thinking people of Sri Lanka’ will make other inferences! He must not let the 42 Million people who put their trust on him.
September 11th, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Democracy will not work in Sri Lanka. We need a strong dictator who can rule for about 25-30 years and put and end to this nonsense. Keep the press under control, keep the monks in the temples, keep the university students in the classrooms and build a strong country where people want to live in peace.
September 12th, 2015 at 11:49 am
The sidelining of Mahinda is the misfortune of the nation
– Muruththetuwe Ananada Thera
September 10, 2015, 7:27 pm – The Island.
Muruththetuwe Ananda Thera the chief incumbent of the Abayaramaya in Narahenpita counts several decades as an activist monk. He has fearlessly stood up against repressive governments of the past. It would be no exaggeration to say that democracy has survived in this country despite the upheavals that we have gone through, because of the activism of individuals like Ananda Thera. His most recent act of defiance against the powers that be, is making his temple available to function as the headquarters of the pro-Mahinda campaign. In this interview, Ananda Thera speaks to C.A.Chandraprema about the situation in the country following last month’s parliamentary election.
Q. You played a central role in the campaign to bring former president Mahinda Rajapaksa back into politics. Your temple was the virtual headquarters of the Mahinda faction of the UPFA. But the people obviously wanted a change. What made you feel obliged to support the campaign to bring Mahinda back into politics?
A. I don’t think anyone can forget the services rendered to this country by Mahinda Rajapaksa. If anybody is prepared to forget his services to the country then they are the type of people who will forget their own parents. He won the war that no leader in this was able to win in three decades. He put his own life on the line to see that the people of this country were freed from the scourge of terrorism. We are talking of a man who saved the nation and developed the country. That is why we support him. When we formed the Maubima Surekeeme Sanvidhanaya in the J.R.Jayewardene era, pro-government thugs threw bombs at us. Mahinda Rajapaksa was one of the few who rushed to our aid and looked into our welfare at that time. So that is another reason why we stood by him. The sidelining of a leader like that is the misfortune of the nation. Throughout our history, rulers have been protected and looked after at times of need by the bhikku community. That is what I am doing.
Q. The transformation in this country brought about by the Rajapaksas is visible. In that context as some people have said, do you think it is the ‘ingratitude’ of the Sinhala people that led to Mahinda Rajapaksa being rejected by the voters?
A. You can’t take this as a defeat given the pressures that were brought to bear on the opposition in the past several months. Even bodhi poojas were prevented from being held. An individual who invited Mahinda for an alms giving was arrested and imprisoned. To have won 95 seats in such circumstances is not a defeat. Some people have undoubtedly been remiss in expressing gratitude, but here there were other factors involved. For the first time in history, a political leader worked to defeat his own party. The people expected Mahinda Rajapaksa to lead the country. But when the leader of his party made the statements that he did, many people wondered whether there would be any point in voting for the UPFA. When the former leader of the SLFP (Chandrika Kumaratunga) and the present leader of the SLFP (Maithripala Sirisena) both say that Mahinda will not be made prime minister, that had a negative influence on the voting public.
Q. The difference between the winner and the loser at this parliamentary election is rather narrow – 5.0 million against 4.7 million. One sees that the 4.7 million that voted for the UPFA have acted almost in unison to defeat all the candidates identified as loyalists of president Maithripala Sirsena with only three individuals managing to escape the backlash. This is the first time we have seen such large numbers of people acting in unison to eliminate some and to retain others. It is difficult to achieve a result like that even if a deliberate effort is made through an expensive propaganda campaign. What do you make of the remarkable single-mindedness of the UPFA voter?
A. Had a separate party been formed, Mahinda would have won. That is what I think.
Q. Writer Gunadasa Amarasekera was to ruefully remark in the 1980s that it was only at the 1977 general elections that he realised that the Sinhalese were people who wanted food and drink above all else. A similar comment ascribed to Dudley Senanayake is that half a pound of ‘kunu karawala’ could tip the balance at an election. That was the political culture in this country till the late 1970s. When you look at the way the government servants have voted, one feels that the salary increases and the reduction in the prices of fuel and certain food items appear to have worked their old magic.
A. The point to note is that even after giving the absolute maximum in terms of concessions and salary increases, they got only 106 seats. But the other side got 95 seats without being able to give any concessions at all. Even the election material published by Mahinda’s people could not be distributed and in the middle of all the shortcomings and restrictions they had to work under, they got only 11 seats less than the winner. It is certainly true that a large number of people also seem to have thought only of their stomachs but the point should not be missed that many people voted for the opposition without any thought for the privileges and concessions on offer by the government.
Q. Isn’t it the case that the incumbency factor also weighed against the UPFA? They have been in power almost continuously for nearly two decades and when one party governs for such a long time people tend to ask for a change even against their own better judgement.
A. That is a factor that also needs to be taken into account. It is said that even a bana sermon should not last too long. But there were also some very real achievements during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule. In the 1990s, I remember people saying that had president Premadasa ruled the country for a little longer the country would have seen more development. The same can be said about Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Q. The conspiracy to defeat the Rajapaksa government began in 2012 with the formation of various bhikku organisations. Buddhist monks were at the forefront of the campaign. In a situation where the Rajapaksas had brought peace and stability to the country, suddenly the streets were full of marauding Buddhist monks attacking shops and business houses of Muslims. Now after the change of government all these organisations of Buddhist monks have disappeared without trace. One would think this is the time they would be on the streets with the controversies over the clearing of virgin forests in Wilpattu, the dismantling of the security zones in the North, the handing over of land in the high security zone to civilians in Sampur, and the handing over of the opposition leadership to the TNA, etc. But these bhikku organisations have evaporated into thin air and it seems obvious that they were not genuine organisations, but just fronts in the anti-Rajapaksa conspiracy.
A. Mahinda Rajapaksa established peace in this country and enabled people of all communities to go about their business without any fear. The Rajapaksa government had respect for the bhikku community and that was abused to the maximum. We are now living under a government that has no regard for the bhikku community. We chanted pirith outside the Bribery Commission when Mr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was brought there for the first time and for that we were produced in courts. We still have to make regular appearances in courts over that incident. So in answer to your question yes, it was a foreign conspiracy that destabilised the Rajapaksa government. People say that this country is being ruled now by India and America. Imperialist conspiracies are nothing new in this country. We have had the same thing in the past as well. But the difference is that our ability to resist these conspiracies is at a low ebb today.
Q. We have a new government that has come in promising good governance. But under this government we have seen arbitrary actions of the kind that we have never seen before under even the worst of the bad governments of the past. A chief justice has been sacked with just a letter from the presidential secretariat. General secretaries of political parties facing an election have been summarily sacked 48 hours before the election, members of decision making bodies of political parties have been purged by the dozen. All this is done by the executive president.
A. This is a yahapalana government only in name. The only theory that is being applied is to acquire and hold power regardless of who or what you have to destroy in the process. People who spoke about abuses committed by the previous government are now silent. But we have seen more powerful regimes than this such as that of Marcos in the Philippines which ultimately had to give way to people’s power.
Q. You have been politically active for several decades. My generation remembers you for the very public confrontations that you had with the UNP leaders of the 1980s. You probably regarded J.R.Jayewardene and R.Premadasa to be dictators?
A. Yes, Mr Premadasa to a lesser extent but they were both dictators undoubtedly. J.R.Jayawardene was a ‘thanikara ekadipathiya’.
Q. But J.R.Jayawardene never did any of the things that we have seen happening under this yahapalana government – such as sacking chief justices with a chit from his office, and purging political parties etc.
A. Each person acts according to his level of intelligence. J.R.Jayewardene was at a different level altogether. A monkey does not know what to do with a razor blade. The people will not like the direction in which the country is now being taken.
September 12th, 2015 at 4:52 pm
Indrajith, can we leave JRJ out of this because of the time difference no one can understand what is what?
September 12th, 2015 at 5:03 pm
LANKAPUTHARA, thank you for your comment. What most venerable Muruththettuwe Anandha Thero says in this interview given to The Island is that the present leader of this island nation is a dictator worst than JRJ. I strongly believe what the venerable monk says is true. I’ve no objection in you giving any interpretation to it. Please read the whole interview to get the core idea of it. Thank you!
September 12th, 2015 at 6:04 pm
dhane, this is the best I have read so far. The best comments. I like to take this position if offered. Minister of Toilets and Kitchens. I will not ask for TAX payers money apart from Colombo people who have luxury cars and houses. I will need a set of thugs known as special task force to collect a monthly payment of one million Rupees form each house. I will also need a Judge who will only handle cases form this ministry and get a small share of the collections. Now the thea kadacray, kopi kada caraya and the Those masalwade karays will be given new land to only to build Kitchens and Toilets. What I gathered from the grape vine is OBAMA President has already approved it, but Tamils for Obma and Vikko has opposed it. Obama has signed the document of approval and presidential seal has been put on the document. Atul Ketsup has approved it. Now all I will need is a petition drive from dhan and submit to Sirisena president and CBK. This model has to be duplicated in all the cities where tourists go. Now for the charges to use the toilets. First toilet room is for tourists only to enter one must show the pass port with valid visa and other travel documents. The cost is Rupees one thousand. It will have toilet paper and all wash facilities as a 6 star hotel. next room is for Colombians. Eight hundred rupees per use, it will have toilet paper all the same but will have to buy the paper and towels etc. Third is for the GAMA RALA who will have the same facility as he had at home and it will be 100 rupees per use. Now the minister Lankaputhra need a ministry building it Must be over the Fort Railway station and 15 stories high. First contract offer should go to an INDIAN company. If they do not have the technology to build it in one month, the contract should go to the Chinese company.
The minister must have a residence. This will be the luxury hotel CBK owned and later sold to a foreign investor, then modified the deed and sold the property to RANIL PUNK’S niece (Case is still going on check it out.) Srisena President should give me the authority to force fully remove CBK from this complex and I should occupy it. Since I am a dual citizen American and British, ATUL KETCHP high Commissioner has seconded OBAM’s recommendation to the Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth to award me a Knight Hood as the Knight Commander of Toilet & Kitchen round the British Empire. If I do this right OBAMA has arranged a big reception with large cotangent Kenyans and Irish attending Whit House event. All Sri Lankans are invited regardless if they support Raj Rajarthnam or not Believe it or not Raj contacted me last week and said that he spoke to OBAMA and said it was a splendid idea. Funding is not a problem. Chinese and Russians will contribute.
September 12th, 2015 at 7:29 pm
Poll finds almost a third of Americans would support a military coup!!
“Almost a third of Americans could imagine supporting a military coup against their own government, according to a new poll.
The YouGov survey showed 29% of Americans could imagine supporting a coup. Yet, 41% said they could not imagine supporting such an event.
The overall numbers increased when participants were “asked whether they would hypothetically support the military stepping in to take control from a civilian government which is beginning to violate the constitution”. 43% said yes to this, and 29% said no.”
“http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/11/military-coup-some-americans-would-vote-yes”
Now where is my USA friend who goes on imposing democracy in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, SL, etc.?
Even USA is closing into REJECT “a civilian government which is beginning to violate the constitution”!!
Isn’t that the case in SL. The SL YAAPA(LA)NAYA govt. is HABITUALLY VIOLATING the constitution.
I’m sure more SLs support the RIGHT thing as they are MORE INTELLIGENT than Americans.