Sri Lankan Parliament- Supreme Court - The TNA
Who Decides on Judicial Matters?

By Darmitha-Kotte

For too long the LTTE terrorists have been a law unto themselves. The TNA has been faithfully carrying out orders of the terrorists in the August House of the Sri Lanka Parliament for over two decades because our previous leaders whether they were Executive Presidents or Prime Ministers, have not had the backbone to stand up for the sovereignty and independence of Sri Lanka. They opted not to listen to the voice of the people-the majority but the minority terrorists! The LTTE never represented the majority Tamil community but their false propaganda, was always deemed as "Gospel Truth" by those who had vested interests in this country. For too long, our leaders have "kow-towed" to western powers who have been bullying our incumbent governments with various threats and blackmailing tactics-in case we dared to take independent decisions by-passing their directives!

The North & East were merged by JR Jayawardane (the person who promised to bring in a new era of righteousness), in the most high-handed manner because his one aspiration was to rule until eternity- he was not interested in democratic practices or decency. He insulted the judiciary first, so that he could carry on regardless, what ever agendas he had. Such a major decision which had no historical evidence whatsoever to prove that the North and East were ever under a Tamil civilization as is propagated by the terrorists to justify merging the regions. According to an article which appeared in the Lankadeepa of 20th October,2006 in which it is stated that GG Ponnambalam made a special statement in Parliament that with the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord JR Jayawardane accepted that the North and East was historically, the traditional homeland of the Tamils. History does not prove what Mr. Ponnambalam claims, but there is ample historical evidence that the truth is completely the opposite! Such major decisions as merging regions of a country, have to be taken after a National Referendum whereby the citizens of this country decide on the future of Sri Lanka.

Landmark Supreme Court Ruling of 16th October,2006: "Merger of the North and East invalid,….":
Highly respected lawyers of this country such as Mr. H.L.De Silva, Mr. S.L.Gunasekera and Mr. Gomin Dayasiri would not have gone to such pains to prove in the Supreme Court, that the original merger done by JR Jayawardane was illegal if there was even a faint chance that they could be proved wrong. People stand up for principles and facts, and that is exactly what these lawyers did. Unlike the LTTE terrorists who have fabricated "their history and their traditional homeland myth" these lawyers presented their arguments based on factual evidence- not hearsay! After serious consideration of all facts presented by these lawyers, The Supreme Court made a landmark judgement on 16th October 2006, that the "merger of the North and East done by JR Jayawardane was invalid, null and void." Like all decent and civilized countries in the world, Sri Lanka also has its own judicial system and as citizens of this country (unless TNA members are not MPs representing their constituents within this Sovereign country) who are civic conscious, we respect the ruling given by The Supreme Court which is also there to protect OUR NATION. Whether the TNA members like it or not, the Supreme Court is the highest legal authority in this country with powers to make such rulings. If the TNA thinks that they can give "an ultimatum" to The President and GOSL that the North and East must be merged and they must be given an answer before 7th November 2006, it shows that they fail to understand that no one can haphazardly change the rulings of The Supreme Court of any country. They could try their methods in any other country in the world, and see whether they will succeed? Every citizen including the Executive President of this country, is bound by the laws of Sri Lanka. Lawlessness comes when factions with vested interests, take the law into their hands. If certain politicians within the government do not understand what their duties and responsibilities are by stating that this ruling is incorrect, then they must first study the law related to this issue before "playing to the gallery" or trying to create factionalism within the government whether for monetary benefits or other political perks and agendas.

Comments of Parliamentarians:
This issue is not for personal gains but for national sovereignty! According to a Daily Mirror report on 17th October 2006 titled "Govt. group criticizes NE judgment as ill-timed" it is stated thus " Consumer Affairs Minster Jeyaraj Fernandopulle warned that the judgement would aggravate the ethnic crisis though it may be legally correct. The Minister told the group Meeting held at the Parliament complex yesterday that the country would internationally be placed in a bad position and that it would give rise to dissatisfaction among the Tamil community, especially at a time when the whole peace process was at stake. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Constitutional Affairs Minister D.E.W.Gunasekera, Health Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva and Public Administration Minister Sarath Amunugama too joined in saying that the judgement was ill-timed." What does Minister Fernandopulle mean when he states "…country would internationally be placed in a bad position and that it would give rise to dissatisfaction among the Tamil community,.."? A mistake was done by a previous Executive President and the Supreme Court rectified it by giving it's ruling- why do we need to worry about what the international community thinks about it? This is an internal issue within our country & it is our judiciary which should decide what is best! Especially parliamentarians, must abide by the law of this country and show by example, that they respect the ruling given by The Supreme Court. The UNP stating that they will support NE merger Bill as reported in the Daily Mirror of 18th October 2006, goes to show how much the UNP respects the rule of the law in this country- are they more important than The Supreme Court of this country? We are facing all these problems because of " their God-father"- JR Jayawardane! We need to decide what is best for our country, we do not need to listen to foreign powers who only have their interests in mind and not ours!

In the same arrogant tone as the TNA, the LTTE terrorists have laid two conditions for the Geneva Talks- disarming paramilitary groups and opening the A9 Road. Not only the paramilitary groups which they themselves nurtured and pampered but the LTTE themselves must first lay down their arms, if they truly wished for peace! "People in glass houses should not throw stones" as the saying goes. How much of misery has the LTTE brought on their own Tamil community that they "claim they represent" during the last two decades or more? Do they have any guilt or blood on their own hands? Who created the paramilitary groups and whose weapons are they using? According to a Lankadeepa report of 20th October 2006, the LTTE political head S.P.Thamilselvam had told Norwegian Jon Hansen Bauer that if the government did not stop attacks, it would be difficult to come for the Geneva Talks! Who started attacking whom in the first place, is the question we need to ask Thamilselvam? Who stopped the water supply to civilians and crops in Mavil Aru? While the terrorists are committing brutal attacks on civilians, does Thamilselvam expect our Armed Forces to "twiddle their thumbs" and watch? It must be emphasized that the LTTE has absolutely no right to dictate terms to the democratically elected GOSL or the Armed Forces-they are doing their duty to protect the nation from terrorism.

The USA and Their "Sincerity" in Helping Sri Lanka Counter Terrorism - Duplicity of The Highest Order:
The United States is an independent country which considers itself as "the only super power in the world" where the leaders "profess" to be highly concerned about independence, justice, peace, human rights, child rights, fundamental rights, freedom and democracy. The leaders and government of the USA is bound to do everything within their capabilities to protect the territory of the USA from outside interference whether it be terrorists or other elements. This is highly commendable. However we need to question in the same breathe, whether USA and its leaders respect others who value their own independence, sovereignty and freedom & whether the USA respects the theory of "live and let live" in their dealings? How "magnanimous and tolerant " is the USA towards Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Nepal, Cuba, North Korea, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore? What moral right did they have to invade Iraq and instill so much suffering on another independent country for the last 5-6 years? Will they sit at the same table and discuss peace with Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and the Al Queda Movement or the Taliban guerillas?

Sri Lanka is a sovereign & independent country who also values her own independence and the freedom to decide on what is best for our country, to be decided by us the citizens of this country. How we do something and why we do something, is upto our government and our people based on our own cultural and political environment. That is the real meaning of " sovereignty" and "independence" and "mutual respect."

18 years ago our President JR Jayawardane made a mistake to merge the North & East without a referendum and even at the time, citizens criticized this move. 18 years later, on a case filed by patriotic forces represented by extremely eminent lawyers in this country presented their case and the Supreme Court issued a ruling that the merger was illegal, null and void. What business is it of the US officials to make statements to say that the court ruling was badly timed or for Richard Boucher and Congressman Frank Pallone to declare that ethnic Tamil minority has the right to govern their own territory? Cannot these Americans understand that the whole claim is a myth created by terrorists for them to justify their bloody atrocities? Will the USA ever permit, a Black American to become the President of the United States? Will they permit the Black Americans, Latin American, Mexican, Muslim, Pakistani and Indian citizens of the US to demarcate a territory and claim it as their own and demand self government?

We Sri Lankans must understand that U.K., Norway and Japan and the so called "Co-chairs" are only cat's paws of American Imperialism. The US Federal Law prohibits American officials from having any contacts with organizations the United States Government has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations(FTO) but the Federal Law does not prohibit American officials from dabbling in the internal affairs of other countries or of supplying weapons to terrorists through CIA operatives! Therefore, all the secret arrangements with the terrorists are done through "middle-men" in the name of "Monitoring Missions" or "Peace Facilitators" like the U.K., Norway and Japan and most probably in the very near future, through South Korea after Mr.Ban Ki-moon takes on the mantle of UN Secretary General after Mr. Kofi Annan completes his term of office! Any country with sincere intentions for the well being of Sri Lanka may submit suggestions to solve the terrorist problem in this country BUT they cannot decide for us. We read in recent newspapers about the German Government bringing sanctions against Sri Lanka. Germany has been a country that was respected for their straightforward and just manner but they too are crumbling!

The Viewpoint of Majority Tamils:
In the article which appeared in The Island of 20th October,2006 titled "TULF leader calls for solution outside unitary constitution " the full text of the letter Mr. Anandasangaree wrote to Mr. Yasushi Akashi shows very clearly that the LTTE in no way represents the Tamil community. He explains in great detail the suffering brought on the communities in the North and East by the LTTE terrorists and how they have been eliminating Tamil democratic politicians one by one. This should be an eye opener for westerners who "still pay homage to Prabhakaran and the LTTE" and those NGO "Peace Brigades" that are going around the country in the name of "Anti-war Front" who somehow do not understand where the core problem lies. The fact that the problem lies with a bunch of blood-thirsty terrorists is something they find very hard to understand. When even Mr. Anandasangaree himself being a Tamil, says that the LTTE is at fault, the "Anti-war Front" led by Mr. Kumar Rupasinghe and Mr. Jehan Perera are trying to point the finger at the GOSL! This clearly shows that they have other agendas behind them.

Discipline of Parliamentarians in The August House of Parliament:
Politicians elected by the citizens of this country to serve the country and bring about law and order, have exhibited during the last couple of years, that most of them do not deserve to be sitting in Parliament deciding on the future of this country. It has been a disgrace to the entire nation, to watch on TV or read in the newspapers how parliamentarians behave in the most unbecoming manner within the Chamber of Parliament-lawlessness and indiscipline is rife and one wonders whether these politicians ever feel ashamed to tell their own children how they behave in Parliament? TNA has brought in the indiscipline of the LTTE terrorists into The Parliament as we have seen in recent days. It needs to be stated that there are other parties as well, who misbehave inside Parliament

Differences of opinion are only to be expected. However, these opinions can be expressed in an orderly and disciplined manner without hurling insulting remarks on individuals. If parliamentarians misbehave, those responsible must ensure that law and order is maintained, that due respect is given to the symbols of dignity within the Parliament Chamber and that The Speaker is permitted to perform his duties without hindrance. It is high time that The Speaker decided to bring disciplinary action against those parliamentarians who misbehave.

The common courtesy of permitting any member to speak without disturbance is the least one can do. Is that so difficult and need we show the world how undisciplined our parliamentarians are? How can they set the example when they do not respect the rule of law within Parliament according to the code of ethics laid down?

No Parliamentarian should be permitted to insult the dignity of The Parliament by their unruly behaviour.