28 November 2022 12:01 am Views - 631
State Minister of tourism Diana Gamage has been taken to task for her proposed Cannabis cultivation for export, is facing yet another fresh controversy about her citizenship issue, as it is reported she holds a British passport.
“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending
A Social activist filed a petition seeking a Writ of Quo Warranto [challenge a person’s right to hold a public or corporate office] seeking an order declaring State Minister of Tourism Diana Gamage is disqualified to be a Member of Parliament. Petitioner claims that State Minister Gamage is a British citizen and not even a dual citizen.
Under the terms of Article 91 read with Article 90 and Article 89 of the Constitution, Gamage who promotes growing Cannabis in the island as an export crop, and who talks of Night Life, is not entitled to sit and vote in Parliament if the petitioner proves his claims. The government has accepted the proposal as highlighted in the 2023 budget. , though the drafters of the Budget speech exposed the guilt element by using the Sinhala/aryurvedic Botanical name Thriloka Vijaya Pathra.
We need to clear any doubts with regards to the following Billion Dollar questions:
1. If Diana is a foreigner, the political party registered under her name cannot be a legally authenticated one.
2. Therefore, under the circumstances, the plight of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya, [SJB] which burrowed Diana’s registration, will it automatically lose its legality?
3. Will someone seek a Writ of Quo Warranto: an order declaring that the 54 SJB members elected to the House on an illegally registered party are disqualified to be Members of Parliament?
LG Elections
The right-thinking people at this crucial juncture in our history are not bothered about elections. Their priority is the economic recovery. The worst-ever economic crisis the country faced since 1948. Only the power-hungry politicians, who want to “bake the bread while the pan is hot”, [to quote Ven. Maduluvawe Sobitha Thera’s famous adage] visit the Chairman of Commissioner of Elections every other day exerting pressure on him to request an allocation of Rs.10 Billion to conduct the LG polls, an exercise that will not help in economic recovery, which is our top priority.
President Ranil’s stance on demos
Ranil Wickremesinghe, a man with the right mental attitude [let’s forget his past]. As Thomas Jefferson, the fourth president of America and philosopher said, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
”During 1971 JVP insurrection, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike did not hesitate to militarily suppress an attempt to take over a democratically elected Government. President Premadasa in 1989, acted in a similar manner when JVP took arms killing many political opponents, artists, academics etc. Both uprisings started as peaceful, non-violent campaigns. All those getting ready for clashes should think about the future of the new generation and the generations to come. They must not rock the boat at a time someone is making a genuine effort to revive a bankrupt economy; they too would be benefitted in case they achieve their dream of coming to power someday.
President Wickremesinghe in his first statement delivered in early August of government policy was well received by all his critics. He outlined immediate solutions, and also focused on the long term strategies. Speaking of his plans to create a surplus in the budget by 2025 and a concrete economic foundation by 2026, he emphasized that he took over a country that was in catastrophic state and that the people anticipate the MPs to work together at this crisis situation to build the country and requested all parties to unite in the formation of an all-party administration.
Again speaking in parliament on October 6, listed various challenges Sri Lanka is facing in reviving the collapsed economy and detailed efforts to curb rising inflation, revive Government revenue and restructure State-owned enterprises. Focusing on national unity, the President stressed that politicians and parties can achieve their goals only if the country recovers from the economic crisis. “It will be possible to make this journey stronger and faster only with the support of all of you, so again, I request you to forget the old vendettas and join this journey. I request again for all of you to join a common programme to build the country through the National Assembly of Parliament, ‘Jana Sabhava’,” he added.
If the masses of a nation rise in revolt, be it violent or non-violent as happened on July 9, no power backed by armed forces can suppress it. There’s ample evidence in world history to prove this. The Aragalaya staged by non-political, independent youth was not crushed by the use of force. Aragalist who agitated for system change could have achieved much more if not for selfish attitude of political elements, that included the Peratugamis, JVP, sections of SJB and some other insignificant groups who could not stage a threatening force against a powerful, highly corrupt regime, aimed at hijacking the movement, leaving room for a repressive government to take advantage and crush the movement. It is time that saner counsel prevailed.
Dhanuska’s dashing shot: “Boys are boys?”
We, Sri Lankans, sitting on a volcano, are more worried about our cricketers and their outings and failures, and are all out for Dhanuska’s blood for being charged with four counts of alleged sexual assault on a 29-year-old ‘dating app woman.’ In both the social and mainstream media they discuss what sort of punishment the boy deserves.
If we won the T20 World Cup and Dhanuska was the star scoring a quick-fire fifty or so; it could have been a different scenario. “Boys are boys,” would have been the automatic response to a young man’s mischievous act, even if he had raped an underage Oz?
Talking of cricketers and extortion by fast women, the writer remembers an alleged sexual assault complaint made by a famous local cabaret, film star and model in late 1967 against two members [names withheld] of the visiting mighty West Indian team led by legendary Garfield Sobers, that included giants in the game like, Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Clive Lloyd, Wesley Hall, Seymour Nurse and Conrad Hunte. The authorities ‘pooh-poohed’ the allegation as a poor publicity stunt by the woman. Later it was revealed that a respectable ‘pimp’ introduced the girl to them at the Cocktail held at Galle Face Hotel at the end of the three-day whistle-stop tour, where she was seen doing the ‘meringue’, a form associated with sensual courtship and one of the oldest Caribbean dances with its delicate and sensual rhythm, with the two cricketers.
In February 1992, Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was accused of raping 18-year-old beauty-pageant contestant Desiree Washington who walked into Tyson’s hotel room, where, she claimed he raped her. Tyson claimed sex was consensual though, he was given a suspended sentence of 10 years.
Writer can be contacted at - kksperera1@gmail.com