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Fear the power of people

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18 December 2012 10:49 pm - 3     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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The Rajapaksa regime is a quasi-dictatorship based on southern chauvinist Sinhala petty bourgeois.  The latter was in the forefront of the war of Mahinda against the Tamil insurrection. It supplied man power and the engine of political campaign. The so-called Sinhala Buddhist ideology of war developed within these social strata. In the course of time it has negated itself to become an intellectual disease affecting the entire structure of the Mahinda regime. Collapse has started. In particular those opportunistic layers in the workers’ movement, who crawled after this barren political structure of parochial humbugs, are now moving away from it. The first signs of that were shown in the struggle of the proletariat against the takeover of the provident fund. Now the parties of the opportunist left, at least the radicals who still like to call themselves Sama Samajists and Communists, are no longer prepared to swallow the droppings under the table. They cannot twist their theories any further to suit the ‘Rajano.' No doubt the tremendous show of solidarity in the judiciary sector and the show of strength of workers vanguard in the protest movement pricked their conscience too! I saw some of these leaders mixing with the slogan shouting workers and youth. Blow moved the centre of power; Mahinda still can judge the mood of the masses though he has sold his soul to the race loving 1 per cent elite in the society.

So, Mahinda announced that he will appoint a committee to look into the CJ issue, before taking a decision on the report of the PSC. This change of heart, which he claimed to be the result of the problem of conscience, really took place after the huge protest in the judicial sector combined with mass agitation led by trade unions and the protest of the opposition. It was obvious to anybody a mass revolt, combining all communities, was developing. By then it was clear to all, that impeachment was a fraudulent political witch-hunt. Men with wisdom made it clear that not only the PSC investigation, but also the charge sheet itself, is a fraud. Hence there is no need for a new investigation into the same accusations. These charges, though related to happenings a  long time back, were formulated only when CJ gave the judgment against the Divi Neguma Bill. The main charge, as Mahinda emphasized, is related to a share market transaction done by the National Savings Bank when the Chairman of the bank is the husband of CJ. However Mahinda explained when the misconduct was reported, he called the Chairman and instructed him to return those shares and close up the matter. In his own words he ‘shaped up’ the matter. This clearly shows that the bank Chairman, an appointee of Mahinda, worked according to latter’s instructions. Hence if there is to be a charge on that matter it has to be connected to an impeachment to the President and not to CJ; because he was working for Mahinda while Shirani is only his wife.

Clearly this charge of complicity and two other minor charges, all were activated when the judgment was given by the CJ on petitions made by us against Divi Neguma Bill to the Supreme Court. She forthrightly stated that the Bill violated fundamental rights of peasants and fishers; furthermore it violates the power sharing given in the 13th Amendment. This judgment which confirmed the need of power sharing is a blow to the chauvinists in the government. On the other hand, this bill if passed, virtually makes all poor villagers, debtors of an intricate matrix of rural banks controlled by a super minister, without any democratic intervention by the people. In addition it gives power to take over the savings of millions of poor people made under poverty alleviation programmes in the past. This is comparable to the attempt of the government to rob the Provident Fund of workers in the private sector, which was defeated by the heroic struggle of workers. Thus this attack on CJ is entirely a reactionary political action. Hence we cannot accept that there is a need for any investigation into three charges mentioned in the PSC report. Mahinda should abandon this dirty project and apologize to Shirani Bandaranayke.

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  Comments - 3

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  • Calistus Jayatilleke Wednesday, 19 December 2012 06:32 AM

    It is very clear that this Impeachment fiasco is going to be the "Waterloo" of our own Bona-Part, Rajapakse. Obviously, having failed to grab the provident fund monies of the private sector workers due to strong agitations by the workers, the greedy government thought of grabbing the savings of the poor people through the so called Divi Neguma Bill but again their attempts were foiled by the supreme court judgement. All what remains now is to re-title this infamous Bill as "Divi Nasana Bill" because that's what it really is as far as the poor people are concerned.

    kali Wednesday, 19 December 2012 10:56 AM

    I agree with your analysis but I will go further and add that if the Commander In Chief is forced to apologise for his deeds as a rsult of people power then he is not fit to govern.
    Therefore he should resign and face the full force of the law as no one is above the law otherwise it makes a mockery of a civilised society

    Panikkiya Wednesday, 19 December 2012 11:22 AM

    A "Quasi-dictatorship"? How come? The rule of current president (thereby his executive designee) and the ensemble of parliamentarians have been elected by the voting majority. You cant both "cry for" and "decry" democracy. This is ethnic and genetic evolution in front your eyes. What we (the people) are taking is a short cut to the pinnacle of national development. Ask any minister and they'll tell ya!


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