In life we have to take responsibility, just because Ranil lost the presidency it’s not the end of the world, Ranil understands this as he is a high caliber politician, it’s a way of life, so do what is best unite as one nation for the greater prosperity of Sri Lanka.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, guided his country through the most devastating experience in its national history–the CIVIL WAR. He is considered by many historians to have been the greatest American president.

“Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand with him while he is right and PART with him when he goes wrong.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Peoria, Illinois” (October 16, 1854), p. 273.

Our Ranil Wickremesinghe would be the Abraham Lincoln of Sri Lanka on Nov 18 President Designate Ranil Wickremesinghe will change the course of history in Sri Lanka and shepherd us to new political culture and equality to all irrespective cast creed and status he will restore a new beginning with everlasting Pease to Mother Lanka the Paradise on earth. Wow what a great feeling to be a Sri Lankan. I quote from Abraham Lincoln “I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal.” The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Chicago, Illinois” (July 10, 1858), p. 502. Ranil I wish you the very best.

Sri Lanka Politics projects that Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe will win the presidential election by a clear majority with over 54.76%

Ranil will win 18 out of the 22 districts according to our information.
The districts we project for Ranil are the following:

COLOMBO, Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Kurunnegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Galle, Hambantota, Digamadulla, Puttalam, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Monaragala, Kalutara, Gampaha and Wanni are clear projected wins for Ranil.

NOTE MAHINDA VOTE EATERS:
Victor Hettigoda is taking chunk out of Mahind’s vote
JVP vote split heading Ranil’s direction
JHU 0ver 80% voting for Ranil
NEW VOTES over 60% for Ranil
OLD UNP BASE who have not voted in past 10 years voting full strength for Ranil
SLFP vote split over 30% voting for Ranil
TAMIL VOTE over 90% for Ranil
MUSLIM VOTE over 90% for Ranil
TSUNAMI affected people vote over 80% for Ranil

ABOVE TAKEN TO CONSIDERATION RANIL HEADING FOR A LANSLIDE VICTORY

If it isn’t blindingly obvious to my faithful readers, I’m fairly liberal in my political leanings. It should come as no surprise, then, that I endorse Ranil Wickremesinghe for President. Now it’s on record.

Ranil you the definite winner in tomorrow’s presidential election and in the upcoming years, I will try and be a fair observer of your performance, and judge you no more or less harshly than I have Mahinda. I want you, my readers, to help keep me honest. I thank you all for supporting my opinions in the past few weeks that this blog has been operational.

I also take this opportunity to thank Harvard University’s esteemed Global Voices online, Google, MSN, Yahoo, Technorati, Bloglines, Blogger.com, LankaNewspapers.com and Unpsrilanka.org for extending there fullest cooperation in many ways to make my blogging experience a success.

That said, when I started this blog, I didn’t mean for it to be entirely Presidential politics. That’s just been the main issue on my mind for months, so it’s been mainly what I’ve been posting about. From here on out, I’ll try harder to shift my mind into more burning issues of the Sri Lankan political and economic culture and other topics occasionally, and make thoughtful and educational posts about them.

I take this opportunity to wish you the very best take it cool listen to some great jazz music and jazz your way to the presidency. Good luck!

Ray Grairo
DrPolitics

Ranil will win 15 out of the 22 districts according to our information.

The districts we project for Ranil are the following:

Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Kurunnegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Galle, Hambantota, Digamadulla, Puttalam, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Monaragala and Wanni are clear projected wins for Ranil.

This open letter was emailed today

Begin forwarded message:

Subject: Men and Memories An open letter to Mahinda Rajapaksa by Buddhika Kurukularatne

Features
Men and Memories
An open letter to Mahinda Rajapaksa
by Buddhika Kurukularatne

My dear Mahinda,

I have always wished you well — although we were poles apart in
politics. But I consider you a better friend of mine than Ranil. These
are not empty words and I said so to Ranil’s mother in the presence of
Ilika Karunaratne and Janaka Edirisinghe — the latter of Edirisinghe
Opticians fame. The following day I repeated this to my one time boss
Mr. Ranjith Wijewardene — Ranil’s uncle.
When you rang me to solicit my support emphasizing the fact that both
of us were southerners, I told you if you were to join the UNP and
contest Ranil for the leadership of the party, I would support you
wholeheartedly — and I meant it.
Mahinda, you were such a charming chap, oozing with P.R. that many
UNPers — some of them who had held cabinet rank wanted to support you.
In fact this position was known to Chamal and ‘Vasu’ (Vasudewa
Nanayakkara).
But then you spoilt everything by aligning yourself with the JVP. Was
it your over-enthusiasm for political power that made you to team up
with the very elements who you wanted wipe out as they were operating
from your Meda Mulana House? I was with Ranjan Wijeratne when you
begged of him to at least get foreign troops to wipe out these
b……s My friend ‘Vasu’ who also has joined the Mahinda-JVP band
wagon used to come to parliament in a modified vehicle which looked
more like a battle tank in those days.
No doubt you displayed guts and courage in your political activities.
You will remember I always compared you and Chamal to the baby parrots
blown off from the nest due to heavy storm. One baby parrot landed in
a hermitage and the other in a den of thieves. The parrot who grew up
amongst the hermits was very gentle and courteous whilst its sibling
who grew up with the thieves was rude and impolite. I used to tease
you that while Chamal was the former you were the latter!
You were a fighter from your childhood. Chamal was present he said
when you hit Sir John with a mango at the latters Kandawala Estate
when the then Prime Minister teasingly asked you who gave you
permission to pluck his mangos. Daya Fernando, retired director of
education who was a Richmondite much senior to you, relished narrating
the schoolboy pranks of yours-once climbing a signal post by the
Richmond Hill railway station in protest against the older boys who
were playing cricket not giving you a ‘batting chance’. Again Chamal
said how you climbed the top most branch of a ‘kadju’ tree and
threatened to jump down. when your father came after you with the cane
to punish you for some mischievous act of yours. You were totally
unpredictable even as a kid and once threatened to give a kick to a
tethered elephant to ‘kill it’. You seemed to have been suffering from
‘elephant-phobia’ from a very young age.
My friend G. L. M. de Silva, retired High Court Judge, mentioned to me
as to how you took a manna knife and chased another boy much older —
Ranjith Wijewansa (son of former Matara Rahula College Principal Mr.
Gallage William de Silva).
Lest you had forgotten this episode this was when you were about 13 or
14-years-old and was attending Thurstan. G. L. M. was boarded in a
house next door to J.R.’s ‘Bremar’ at Ward Place. G. L. M. who
incidentally has sentenced 55 accused to death was at that time, a
tutor at Aquinas University College and was occupying the front room
of this boarding.
Your father, Morris (G.L.M.) recalls asked him to have an eye on you.
Morris would have had to keep not one but both eyes on you to keep you
away from trouble. The boarders were chatting about this and that when
Ranjith had inadvertently said something which offended you. you ran
to the kitchen, grabbed a manna knife and chased after Ranjith. Morris
tells me that Ranjith who was his best man at his wedding asked him
whether it was not the same fellow who ran after me with a knife, to
kill me who is now the P.M.
You fought the might of the Premadasa government by organising Pada
Yatras and Jana Ghoshas. I have it from a very reliable SLFP source
that at Matara when Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga with whom you
were even then having a running battle arrived there you ordered her
out of the stage addressing her in some harsh, vulgar and unprintable
words. I am no admirer of President Kumaratunga but in all fairness to
her, it must be stated that she made you a leader of the opposition,
minister and now a presidential candidate.
I remember the occasion when I had to see the then DIG Premadasa
Udugampola as my friend the then Vice Chancellor of the Moratuwa,
University G. T. F. (Francis) de Silva wanted some of the jackpot
machines’ confiscated by Udugampola during his notorious ‘raids’ on
‘night spots’. When I went to Udugampola’s office then off
Malalasekera Mawatha, I found SLFP MP Mahinda Wijesekera with the DIG.
Udugampola, though hailing from Baddegama is the same district I
represented did not know me and Mahinda ‘malli’introduced me to
Udugampola, whose entire family had been wiped out by the JVP. His
ancestral house too I was told, was let on fire. Whilst we were
talking the telephone rang and someone was giving some information to
Udugampola whon the JVP called ‘Ukussa’ (‘hawk’) for his alleged
notoriety in snatching JVP prey! Udugampola was taking down names
given by his caller and after he finished he told us, that was Mahinda
— giving me names of the JVP leaders! ‘Udugampola also said that he
did a stint at Law College at the time that Mahinda was also a law
student and that was how the two of us became friends.
Now you are the champion of the very murderer who slayed innocent
people at will and made your Meda Mulana House in Weeraketiya their
headquarters.
Politics make strange bed-fellows indeed!
You remember that unfortunate incident in my parliamentary career
where I inadvertently proxies for an absent colleague who was not even
in the island. At your group meeting you had told Mrs. Bandaranaike
who presided that you (SLFP) could feed on this (incident) like a
roasted leg of chicken! Even before your group meeting adjourned a
senior cabinet minister during that time ‘leaked’ this information to
me. Ironically it was another lawyer — (a national list member) who
had wanted the issue taken before international fora!
Mrs. Bandaranaike literally hit the ceiling when a leading SLFPer (now
a very senior cabinet minister) told her that he did it every day
without getting caught — but from all reports they have had Buddhika
was one person who fought a clean election. Vasudeva who smashed the
books on the floor of house and staged a ‘walk out’ had according to
A. H. M. Azwer, told the speaker (M. H. Mohamed) that ‘Buddhika would
never have done it intentionally’.
During the 1989 General Election, I canvassed the votes of a relation
of yours in the Galle Fort. When you had visited this relation a lady
— you had been told that I was the only candidate who went to the
kitchen and canvassed the ‘kussi amme’s vote and that the domestic
help was also voting for me. She had also stated that she had even
contributed a scholarship to be awarded by the Ambalangoda Deshapremi
Sanvidhanaya. Hearing this, you are reported to have told her ‘why did
you do that? All those scholarships are given only to karawas’.
When I came to know of this from the lady friend who introduced me to
your relation all what I did was to invite you for several of the
functions of the Ambalangoda Deshapremi Sanvidhanaya and ‘you came’
and ‘you saw’. You were so happy that it was sans any race, caste or
religious considerations, you requested me to spend a weekend at
‘Carlton’ — your residence in Tangalle to organize the Isira
Scholarship Scheme in memory of your father.
I stayed two nights at Carlton and became perhaps the only exUNPer to
have been hosted at Botale, Mahawelatenna, Horagolla, Richmond Hill
and Carlton — the abodes of Prime Ministers of the UNP, SLFP and the
LPP!
In 1989 we saw the General Elections being contested for the first
time on the district PR system. The 1989 General Election was marked
by violence, murder and bloodshed. There was a very low ‘poll’ due to
the JVP curfew.
You, the fighter you were did not want to give in to the JVP. The mild
and charming Dr. Ranjith Atapattu who was of the same view. Dr.
Atapattu was the leader of the UNP group.
Rumour had it, a very reliable rumour at that, that Ranjith Atapattu
who was the caretaker Minister of Health at the time used to visit the
polling booths and inquire from the presiding officer as to how the
poll went. When told that there was no show he had said, no point in
taking these ballot papers back. Give me 10 books! The presiding
officers it was said willingly obliged. A short while later you would
arrive at the booths visited by Ranjith and ask the presiding officer
as to how many books were given to the ‘amathithuma’. Upon being told
that Ranjith was given 10, you were gentlemently enough not to ask for
the same number, but only ask for 5 ballot books!
I believe you wanted to show the JVP that you too had a few cards up
your sleeve and what was cause for the goose was sauce for the gander.
At the time you were organizing the padha yatras, AB (mallow) and
Hemakumara Nanayakkara were your best friends. I had gone to
Hemakumara’s Unawatuna house with my wife one evening and in order not
to ‘expose’ myself or Hema (who at that time was a fire brand SLFPer)
I had parked my vehicle towards the rear of the house and entered the
house through a side entrance. Just then I saw the headlights of an
approaching vehicle and I took refuge in the kitchen. But my seclusion
was short lived for you, having seen Hema’s wife Nedra and my wife —
who you did not know then, having a tete a tete in the living room,
dragging the hapless Hema by his hand walked into the kitchen! You
were started at seeing me in the kitchen of your friend. You asked me,
‘what are you doing here’. I replied that ‘Game Ralahamy can be on the
bed or under the bed’ without anyone’s permission’. Sensing that you
had confidential matters to discuss, I walked away.
Mahinda, do you remember the case in the Matara High Court where you
were the virtual complainant in a murder case? Mr. Eardley Perera, our
mutual senior was appearing for the defense and the Matara jury
disbelieved you and acquitted all the accused who were UNP activists.
When I used to tease you about the fact that even the Matara jurors
disbelieved you, you used to retort that it was purely Eardley
Perera’s brilliance that got the accused out. You were gentlemanly
enough to go to Mr. Eardley Perera’s house to congratulate him on his
victory though it was at your expense. Mahinda! Why didn’t you attend
Eardley’s funeral? The family was talking about it even the other day!
You remember visiting my wife’s office unannounced after a function at
the Bellanwila Temple in the company of our mutual friend Samson Silva
to whom it was alleged that you promised the Ministry of Industries?
You had unsuccessfully tried to bait Bandula Amawardena too by
offering him the Finance Ministry. What are you going to do with
Amunugama then?
My wife was so taken up with your simplicity and openness lamented that
our man (meaning-Ranil) should take private tuition from you in P.R.
But Mahinda, although you have excellent P.R. you cannot run a country
only with P.R. See your ‘Chinthanaya’! It is not worth the paper it is
written on. It has been brought to naught by Amunugama who had
completely ignored the Chinthanaya proposals (do I see a gentle hand
behind this?’)
Mahinda when I started writing, about the Rajapaksa’s of Giruwapattuwa
to the ‘Men and Memories’, column some thought that I was going to do
a ‘Rohita Bogollagama’. Most of the information to my articles came
from your first cousin Kamala Wickramasuriya — now Bhikkuni Kamala.
Even she told me that some of her friends had told her that he is
(refering to me) contemplating a ‘jump’.
Even my Dharmasoka friends who are aware of my friendship with you
were wondering whether I would cross-over. They remember with
gratitude how you at my request arranged lunch for a bus load of old
Sokians at Tissamaharama. You were informed of our request at Matara
by phone via Mohottala of your office cum residence at Tangalle. You
were in Kandy but still you arranged with a mill-owner — Somapala and
we had a good ‘picnic-mill’ lunch.
As this was on the eve of the New Year, I wanted to thank you
personally. When Malini my wife learnt that I was going to see you on
that day she said you don’t go to see people empty handed for the New
Year’ and gave me a parcel to be given to you.
It was a bottle of Chivas Regal — the finest Scotch Whisky.
I reprimanded her that what I don’t consume, I shall not give others
and she thereupon made a basket of fruits. When I told you that I
deprived you of a bottle of whiskey you said that you have given up
taking hard drink.
In my house not only do I not drink, but also do not offer drinks to anyone.
If you do not drink then why ‘open bar’ at Temple Trees?
Several years ago, when you were the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources I offered a ‘pooja’ to mark your birthday on the 18th of
November (unfortunately you are destined to celebrate a black birthday
this Nov. 18 all due to your follies.) I offered 18 water containers
to the Nimalawa Hermitage for the cave dwelling monks to store water
during times of drought. Nimalawa is in the Yala National Park in your
home district and as you were busy electioneering at Baddegama you
asked me to accompany Aiya’ and it was with Chamal that I attended
this ‘Pooja’.
When you attended a function at Ambalangoda as the Minister of
Fisheries, you spotted me in the crowd and invited me on to the stage
to the applause of the people (your supporters — not mine!) The then
SLFP UC Chairman, Aruna Pradeep who hosted you invited me to lunch and
after which you yourself dropped me at my abode. People were really
surprised to see a SLFP cabinet minister bringing home an ex UNP MP
complete with motorcycle escort riders.
It was indeed very enjoyable to spend time in your company. I remember
when you overheard me saying that I would very much like to attend the
funeral of SLFP stalwart Mr. Edwin Wickremaratna (former MP for
Mahiyangana) in Badulla, you offered to give me a lift provided I was
agreeable to attend the function at the Horagolla Samadhiya — for it
was a 26th of September — Bandaranaike Commemoration Day. Anura who
was yet an UNP MP hugged me and told his ‘hangers on’ that they must
run me as the SLFP candidate for Ambalangoda. This was the first
intimation I got that AB was about to go ‘home’ earliear I had told AB
that as his mother was confined to a wheel chair he must get back to
his mother. (You will recollect that I was the first UNP MP to welcome
AB into the UNP) Anura’s response was, ‘Buddhika, if I do that people
will lose all confidence in me!
Mahinda I am indeed a grateful to you and to your secretary the
affable Lalith Weeratunga for collecting Rs. 300,000 in advertisements
for the souvenir of the Ambalangoda Deshapremi Sanvidhanaya.
Once I rang up Lalith to remind him about the money that was due on
the advertisement and I found he had gone overseas. His P.A. Mr.
Uduwana when told of my reason for asking for Weeratunga said that on
a matter of principle, the Prime Minister does not get involved in
securing advertisements and even to the ministers he had declined to
give advertisements.
I told Mr. Uduwana, that I was extremely happy that the Prime Minister
was respecting my request even though ministerial requests were turned
down.
Mahinda, when the campaign got off the ground you were clearly in the
lead. A fair section of the UNP had decided not to take part in the
UNPs presidential campaign whilst a few were to cross-over. But all
that changed with the boorish remarks of the likes of Somawansa and
Samaraweera. Somawansa hit out at the armed forces whilst you were on
stage; and you did not prevent it. Samaraweera has a knack of saying
or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Mahinda, with friends like Somawansa and Samaraweera you need not have enemies!
Mahinda, I am sorry I cannot wish you well for the presidential
election. For the country to prosper you must lose. You make promises
on the print and the electronic media and one wonders whether you are
the leader of the opposition. You are the Prime Minister. Why then is
God’s name don’t you implement the promises that have been pledged
over and over again by you (and broken over and over again as well.)?
You did not take up Ranil’s challenge for a debate until the last
moment. Knowing you, you will dodge this debate. I am no great admirer
of Ranil myself — but you must give the devil his due. He is streets
ahead of you in the presidential race. People have come to the
irresistible conclusion that you utter his — pattapal boru — whereas
Ranil promises what he can and doesn’t promise the sun and moon like
those in your camp.
Let’s face it. Ranil is brains. You are brawn. You are like chalk and
Ranil is like cheese. Before attending the walkabouts I thought that
the whole exercise was ‘declared’ — but at Giritale I found out that
he answered off the cuff the questions that were fired at him on
various topics. He gave the impression of a Sachin Tendulkar, batting
all round the wicket.
Mahinda it is obvious that your own comrades are pulling the rug under
your feet.
Mahinda, I hate to say this. Your ‘chintanaya’ is nothing more than a
fragment of your imagination. And from the look of it even your
imagination is not fertile. It is as barren as your policies.
So the best bet is for you to join Ranil in the all party government
he is set to form on your 60th birthday!
May the noble Triple Gem Bless You.

Yours-in-service.
Buddhika Kurukularatne

“Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit” ~ Ronald Reagan

I suggest that a coherent classical liberal must be generally supportive of federal political structures, because any division of authority must, necessarily, tend to limit the potential range of political coercion. Those persons and groups who oppose the devolution of authority from the government are placing other values above those of the liberty and sovereignty of individuals.

The incoherence in values that such anti-federalist ambivalence reflects is not widely acknowledged. The relationships between federalist political structure and the sovereignty of the individual must be carefully examined.

Prof. G.L. Peiris is an outstanding intellectual and along with the next President Ranil Wickremesinghe will work out the best federal solution that will uphold the sovereignty of Sri lanka.

There is a famous saying in Tamil to depict the intelligence and efficiency of an individual, Neenga kodu portal nanga road ae poduvum. Roughly translated, it means “If you draw a line, we will pave a road”.

That said, the only political solution for the ethnic conflict is a federal solution for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, and prosperity for Sri Lanka. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency should be efficient, transparent and accountable with definite functions and powers so that the peace pledged to the people can be delivered to the people without delay, without excuses, without bureaucratic obstacles.

The road map for peace and prosperity in Sri Lanka could and will be achieved after Nov 18 under the able leadership of President Ranil Wickremesinghe the man who is respected nationally and internationally for his leadership, sincerity, consistency, integrity, experience, knowledge and good governance our visionary statesman and Asia’s success story Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Addressing a news conference in Colombo this morning UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya said good governance is one of the priorities of the new president Ranil Wickremesinghe. He said that soon after the independence good governance was prevailing in the country, trains ran in time, letters were distributed in time, and the judiciary worked independently. Because of the politicization of the society, Sri Lanka after 50 years of independence, good governance has considerably eroded.

Accountability is a key requirement of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an organization or institution. In general an organization or an institution is accountable to those who will be affected by its decisions or actions. Accountability cannot be enforced without transparency and the rule of law.

It should be clear that good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality and when we speak about reality the one only person who could achieve good governance is our visionary Asian statesman and next President of Sri Lanka Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Jayanatha Dhanapala said his decision would allow a new president to appoint his own official but gave no other details for his resignation. The fate of the three-year-old truce between the government and the rebels will be a key issue in the 17 November presidential election. Peace talks between the two sides have been on hold since April 2003.

A VOTE OF THANKS TO MR.JAYANTHA DHANAPHALA:

Jayantha Dhanapala, a Sri Lanka national, had his secondary education at Trinity College, Kandy, where he was awarded the Ryde Gold Medal for the best all-round student of 1956, On the basis of nation-wide essay competition he was selected to represent his country at the World Youth Forum organized by the Herald Tribune and spent three months in the USA in 1957. His tertiary education was at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree; at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London where he studied Chinese and at the American University in Washington, D.C. where he obtained a Master of Arts degree in International Studies.

After a period of three years as a corporate executive in Sri Lanka’s private sector, Dhanapala was placed first in the combined open competitive examination for admission into the Sri Lanka Administrative Service and the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, and opted to enter to Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1965. Between 1965 and 1983 he held diplomatic appointments in London, Beijing, Washington, D.C., and New Delhi in addition to being Director of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) Division of the Foreign Ministry during Sri Lanka’s Chairmanship of the NAM. In 1984 he was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva with concurrent accreditation to the UN agencies in Vienna. In 1987 the UN Secretary-General appointed Dhanapala to head the Geneva-based United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNDIR) as Director. Returning to the Foreign Ministry in Colombo in 1992 he was Additional Foreign Secretary until his appointment in January 1995 as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the USA with concurrent accreditation to Mexico. He relinquished this appointment on 30 April 1997 opting for early retirement from the Sri Lanka Foreign Service. In August 1997 Dhanapala joined the Center for Non-proliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the USA as Diplomat-in-Residence. In January 1998 Dhanapala was appointed Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs in the United Nations and assumed duties on 1 February 1998. At the end of February the Secretary-General appointed Dhanapala as a Commissioner in UNSCOM and the Head of the Special Group visiting the Presidential Sites in Iraq in addition to his duties as Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs.

Dhanapala has represented his country at the United Nations General Assembly and at many NAM and Commonwealth conferences. He has also chaired many international meetings including the widely acclaimed 1995 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference. He was awarded the 15th “Jit” Trainor Award for Distinction in the conduct of Diplomacy by the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University. On the invitation of the Government of Australia Dhanapala served as a member of the Canberra Commission – a group of 17 eminent international personalities who published an influential report on nuclear disarmament in 1996.

He has published three books and several articles in international journals and lectured in many countries. Mr.Jayantha Dhanapala is one of Sri Lanka’s greatest intellectuals and will continue to serve mother lanka if requested by the next President of Sri Lanka Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe.

If it isn’t blindingly obvious to my faithful readers, I’m fairly liberal in my political leanings. It should come as no surprise, then, that I endorse Ranil Wickremesinghe for President. Now it’s on record.

If Ranil wins on November 17, 2005 (as I fully expect him to), in the upcoming years, I will try and be a fair observer of his performance, and judge him no more or less harshly than I have Mahinda. I want you, my readers, to help keep me honest. I thank you all for supporting my opinions in the past few weeks that this blog has been operational.

I also take this opportunity to thank Harvard University’s esteemed Global Voices online, Google, MSN, Yahoo, Technorati, Bloglines, Blogger.com, LankaNewspapers.com and Unpsrilanka.org for extending there fullest cooperation in many ways to make my blogging experience a success.

That said, when I started this blog, I didn’t mean for it to be entirely Presidential politics. That’s just been the main issue on my mind for months, so it’s been mainly what I’ve been posting about. From here on out, I’ll try harder to shift my mind into more burning issues of the Sri Lankan political and economic culture and other topics occasionally, and make thoughtful and educational posts about them.

Dr Politics

Back in the 1960s, Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew said that he hoped his island nation could one day emulate the success of Sri Lanka. In those days, the former Ceylon had a lot going for it: its per capita income exceeded Thailand’s and was roughly equal to South Korea’s. What’s more, Sri Lanka’s literacy rate was very high and its infant-mortality and birthrates low—attributes that Sri Lankans still enjoy today. With its proximity to India, ancient Buddhist culture, enviable geostrategic location and 1,600 kilometers of coconut-palm-lined beaches, Sri Lanka seemed poised to become a shipping, airline, tourism and foreign-investment hub of Asia.

The history of Sri Lanka after independence in 1948 is largely a story of a squandered opportunity. One element of the failure was the attempt of the dominant Sinhalese political parties after the death of D.S. Senanayake to deny the Tamil element of the population any cultural autonomy. Sinhala, the language of the Sinhalese, was declared the only official language. Tamils, who under the British had had a greater success in business and administration than the Sinhalese, were discriminated against. For example, admission standards for for universities were set higher for Tamils than Sinhalese. The Sinhalese looked upon themselves as being an isolated Aryan Buddhist minority in danger of being swamped by an overwhelming Tamil majority in their region of southern India and that justified the special treatment accorded Sinhalese. When this attitude and treatment prompted a separatist movement in the Jaffna area of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese political leaders made advocacy of separatism a basis for denying political participation. In particular the elected representatives from the Tamil areas were expelled from the legislature on the basis of their refusing to swear an oath against the advocacy of separatism. This effectively denied the Tamils even a minority voice in the government. A tragic consequence of the anti-Tamil policies of the dominant Sinhalese parties was that a rancid Marxist element emerge as the leader of the Tamil separatist movement. Usually Marxist socialists are people of a feudal mentality pretending to be progressive, but in the case of the Marxist Tamils the mentality was that of a primitive tribal war band. The subsequent guerilla war led to atrocities which escalated the bitterness. For example, in 1983 when 13 Sinhalese soldiers were killed in ambush by Tamil separatists in north Sri Lanka, Sinhalese in the south went on a rampage against Tamil citizens and businesses which resulted in 400 deaths. Voter lists were used to systematically locate the homes of Tamils.

The civil strife drained the government of financial resources which led to creation of money to cover the deficits. The creation of money led to inflation and economic hardship. The strife also led to Tamil from Sri Lanka fleeing to the Tamil Nadu state of India which then made India a party to the problem.

Had Britain not conquered the Kingdom of Jaffna in the 19th century most likely there would have been an independent Tamil state on the island. In a number of places around the world the British created administrative units made up of incompatible ethnic elements. As along as the British as outsiders were administering these political Frankenstein’s the incompatibles were not important. When independence neared there was even some cooperation among the incompatible elements in their mutual desire to end British control. But these administrative units were turned over to dominant ethnic groups who became the local imperialist who replaced the British imperialists. This was the case in Nigeria and India as well as Sri Lanka. To some extent it is the case of Canada as well.

Although Sri Lanka achieved independence with a relatively high level of education and literacy there was a negative side to the educational achievement of the British in Sri Lanka. It is clear that the British spread to the Sri Lankan that notion that education was a sufficient qualification to run the country. The socialism of the British Labor Party that failed in post-WW II Britain failed as well in Sri Lanka. Government bureaucrats are generally not qualified to run anything anywhere. The record around the world is clear on this point. It is not a matter of education or intelligence. Probably the I.Q.’s of bureaucrats is above that of successful people in business, but organizational ability is different from academic ability. Furthermore the market system has an intelligence that is superior and independent of the intelligence of the people who operate in the market.

It is no surprise that the Sri Lankan government in taking properties away from private individuals and putting them under the control of bureaucrats produced an economic disaster. Sri Lankan politics adding additional touch that led to Trotskyite communists getting the Sri Lankan government to try to create Welfare Socialism. This took the form of the government giving a free rice ration to all families. So those who produced rice had no incentive to go to the effort of growing rice for themselves if it was available from the government free. The domestic production of rice declined and the government had to use more and more of its scarce foreign exchange credit from the export crops like tea to buy rice. By the mid 1970’s the Sri Lankan economy was a shambles.

The political party responsible for this disaster was the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) under the leadership of the Bandaranaikes. Although the SLFP was perceived as more leftists than the UNP and it was, the crucial difference between the two parties was that the SLFP was more militantly Sinhalese chauvinistic. The race-baiting of the SLFP often forced the UNP to adopt similar stands to the SLFP to avoid losing all support among the rural Sinhalese.

The voting public of Sri Lanka have two options: I) For a Horror Island vote for Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse and for a Treasure Island of Pease and Prosperity vote for the able leadership of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe.

It seems the election of Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the next President of Sri Lanka is inevitable. Ranil’s winning formula appears to have come out of three main factors. One is his leadership characteristics viz Sincerity, Consistency, Integrity and Experience and Knowledge in governance. Second is RW’s apparent adequate grasp of the current issues of Sri Lanka -Uniting the country and achieving economic development with emphasis on resolving unemployment – and his agenda thereto to move forward. Third is the introduction of new blood in the form of young and capable organizers to reach the masses, which has become very imp active

Mr. Wickremesinghe’s Integrity comprises the personal inner sense of “wholeness” deriving from honesty and consistent uprightness of character. Integrity is holding true to one’s values. Said another way: being one’s word; doing what he said he would do by when he said he would do it. Integrity is knowing what is important to you and living your actions accordingly. It may take the form of a sense of etiquette that runs very deep, as in Confucianism or the political virtues.

Who will conquistador at the Presidential Election? In my assessment it will be the man who has the leadership, sincerity, consistency, integrity, experience, knowledge and good governance and that’s the best of the best, our visionary statesman and Asia’s success story Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe.

UNP Presidential Candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday reiterated his pledge to unite all people of this country under one flag by reaching consensus with the SLFP on the peace process, once he is elected the President.

The Dalai Lama describes the world as “a human garden” filled with a diversity of plants and flowers. By looking after each plant, we honor the harmony of the whole garden. The Dalai Lama calls for the development of good hearted children. Education for this must take place both in the home and in the school. He also celebrates interdependence in ecology and in religion. We must respect differences in faith while working together with other religious people to bring love to fruition in the world.

The Dalai Lama concludes with a condemnation of the violence that has characterized the twentieth century. He urges us to usher in a new century of dialogue and compromise. He speaks to the yearning we all have for a more compassionate, caring, and peaceful world.

We as Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians have it imbedded in us, and unity can be achieved with the able leadership of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe who can provide us with a human garden of Peace and unity.

The lack of political transparency in Sri Lanka of opinion-making is an ongoing scandal. What we have today is a system of opinion laundering, where politicians make promises to create public support for their side of issues without disclosing the hidden agendas. Media organizations then publish or broadcast credulous reports that may be grossly biased, without even hinting to news audiences what’s going on.

We need far, far more transparency in our political system. What we have, instead, are increasingly more sophisticated efforts to hoodwink the people, example Mahida’s manifesto.