srilanka1998
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- 26. Juli 2005
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Sri Lanka's daughter of destiny departs, reluctantly
[ AFP ] [ 02:50 GMT, Nov. 12, 2005 ]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who steps down as president next week after serving her maximum two terms, leaves her parents' party in turmoil and the country at a crossroads. The 60-year-old president came to power in 1994 pledging to abolish the all-powerful executive presidency within six months. Instead she enjoyed two terms in office and went to the supreme court to try to extend her stay into 2006. But her rein finally ends on Thursday when elections to replace her are held. Dubbed by loyalists as Sri Lanka's daughter of destiny, Kumaratunga must also give up leadership of the centrist Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which her late prime minister father Solomon Bandaranaike launched in 1951.
Sri Lankan budget: a brazen exercise in electioneering
[ WSWS ] [ 13:43 GMT, Nov. 12, 2005 ]
With just five days to go to the presidential poll, the Sri Lankan government brought down the coming year's budget on Tuesday in a brazen last-minute appeal for votes for its candidate'Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Even in a campaign that has been dominated by lies and empty election promises, this latest move is a particularly outrageous piece of electioneering. Rajapakse is well aware that the budget, like his promises, commits the government to nothing. If he wins, it can always be changed to meet the requirements of business and international finance agencies like the IMF and World Bank. If he loses, his rival Ranil Wickremesinghe from the United National Party (UNP) has already promised to tear it up.
On the issue of paramilitaries, south is reaping what it sowed
[ Uthayan - Editorial ] [ 13:44 GMT, Nov. 12, 2005 ]
Why is the government passively looking on the military excesses in Northeast? Was the ceasefire signed only to enable the southern majority community to live in peace? The Trincomalee Tamil people's consortium has raised these questions. The government that is using the ceasefire period to harass Tamil people on the one hand is also planning to weaken the LTTE, the main strength of the Tamils, using the ceasefire period. During this ceasefire period the government has proclaimed the emergency regulation and is causing confusion and fear among Tamils by the heightened checking and accompanying harassment. At the same time it has assured normalcy for its Sinhala people in the south. The SLA assisted violent tactics of the paramilitaries is also continuing in the east.
[ AFP ] [ 02:50 GMT, Nov. 12, 2005 ]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who steps down as president next week after serving her maximum two terms, leaves her parents' party in turmoil and the country at a crossroads. The 60-year-old president came to power in 1994 pledging to abolish the all-powerful executive presidency within six months. Instead she enjoyed two terms in office and went to the supreme court to try to extend her stay into 2006. But her rein finally ends on Thursday when elections to replace her are held. Dubbed by loyalists as Sri Lanka's daughter of destiny, Kumaratunga must also give up leadership of the centrist Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) which her late prime minister father Solomon Bandaranaike launched in 1951.
Sri Lankan budget: a brazen exercise in electioneering
[ WSWS ] [ 13:43 GMT, Nov. 12, 2005 ]
With just five days to go to the presidential poll, the Sri Lankan government brought down the coming year's budget on Tuesday in a brazen last-minute appeal for votes for its candidate'Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Even in a campaign that has been dominated by lies and empty election promises, this latest move is a particularly outrageous piece of electioneering. Rajapakse is well aware that the budget, like his promises, commits the government to nothing. If he wins, it can always be changed to meet the requirements of business and international finance agencies like the IMF and World Bank. If he loses, his rival Ranil Wickremesinghe from the United National Party (UNP) has already promised to tear it up.
On the issue of paramilitaries, south is reaping what it sowed
[ Uthayan - Editorial ] [ 13:44 GMT, Nov. 12, 2005 ]
Why is the government passively looking on the military excesses in Northeast? Was the ceasefire signed only to enable the southern majority community to live in peace? The Trincomalee Tamil people's consortium has raised these questions. The government that is using the ceasefire period to harass Tamil people on the one hand is also planning to weaken the LTTE, the main strength of the Tamils, using the ceasefire period. During this ceasefire period the government has proclaimed the emergency regulation and is causing confusion and fear among Tamils by the heightened checking and accompanying harassment. At the same time it has assured normalcy for its Sinhala people in the south. The SLA assisted violent tactics of the paramilitaries is also continuing in the east.