Lakshman Gunasekera is a senior journalist in Sri Lanka, former Editor of the Sunday Observer and head of the Sri Lanka Chapter of the South Asia Free Media Association. Groundviews interviewed him at a protest rally in Colombo today on the 18th Amendment.
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Groundviews received a statement against the proposed 18th amendment to the Constitution by law students from the Faculty of Law University of Colombo, the Sri Lanka Law College and the Open University of Sri Lanka.
As noted in the email we received, “The English copy has more names in it since we had some last minute additions and could not add them to the Sinhala copy. All students are registered students of these educational institutes and have agreed to both versions.The undersigned to the statement have consented for their names to be added.”
Download the statement in English as a PDF here.
Download the statement …
Photos taken on 7 September by Vikalpa at protests against the 18th Amendment held in Colombo by lawyers. Also listen to a statement by Chrishmal Warnasuriya, Bar Association of Sri Lanka on the Eighteenth Amendment.
See a larger version of this letter here.
After a discussion on the 18th Amendment, a group of citizens from Batticaloa had faxed this letter to Parliament this morning and sent it to Groundviews as well.
About 3500-4000 JVP supporters marched to Parliament on 7th September to demonstrate their opposition to the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. It was reported that many of the protestors had come in from around the country and the protest itself was one of the largest and most vociferous this year.
The following video was produced by Vikalpa.
Photos taken by Vikalpa at protests against the 18th Amendment held today in Colombo organised by the JVP.
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Chrishmal Warnasuriya, Attorney-at-Law and member of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka speaking to media today during a protest held by lawyers near the Supreme Court around half past noon.
We, the undersigned academics attached to different universities in Sri Lanka, call upon the government to re-consider the proposed 18th Amendment to the Constitution for the reasons set out below.
Constitutional reforms, like elections, go to the heart of what it means to be a democracy in the modern-day world. Any changes that are introduced to a country’s constitution should be undertaken after due deliberation and consultation while having at its centre, the will of the People. In a pluralistic society such as Sri Lanka, ascertaining the will of the People can be a time-consuming and complex exercise. While the will of the People must be given due consideration, the essential features of a democracy, such as the rule of law, accountability of …
“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.”
Robert M. Hutchins
It is indeed terrifying and demoralizing to see the backward slide of our nation from a democracy to a dictatorship. We have never seen, in the course of our history, the likes of such unprincipled governance and self seeking deception by a leadership cloaked in the finery of patriotism and national interest.
Even more distressing is the timidity and servility of the majority of the legislature, judiciary, public sector, private sector, religious institutions and media in expressing their very serious misgivings over the craftily concocted interpretations provided by the state in defending the proposed changes …
All MPs as well as Supreme Court judges of Sri Lanka should watch Stanley Kramer’s 1961 film ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ before the vote on the 18th Amendment. It tells the story of the trial of four German judges guilty of complicity with the Nazi regime. One of them, Ernst Janning, was once a champion of justice, yet played a major role in turning the German legal system into an instrument of Nazism. How could these eminent and apparently decent men have been complicit in the ghastly atrocities committed by the Nazi regime? The mystery is solved only when Janning makes a statement, showing how actions which at first seemed trivial and innocuous – like swearing an oath of allegiance …
Organised Left parties in 2005,
“THE Group of Five Left Parties (Lanka Sama Samaja Party, Communist Party of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Mahajana Party, Desha Vimukthi Janatha Party and Democratic Left Front) consider that the Manifesto of Presidential Candidate – Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse titled “Mahinda Chinthana” a pro-people manifesto, although these parties have certain reservations in regard to some of its contents, the parties said in a statement issued yesterday. The statement said: “The Five Left Parties are specially appreciative of the pledges contained in the “Mahinda Chinthana” in respect of strengthening democracy. The commitment to abolish the executive presidential system and to draft a new constitution is one of its important aspects.”
Emphasis ours. Vasudeva Nanayakkara in …
The 18th Amendment
I don’t know whether I’m more angry or sad at the way in which patently undemocratic constitutional amendments are being rushed into law. I feel as if I’m watching my country being strangled, slowly, in the grip of self-serving and short-sighted men who have little love for Sri Lanka or its people. I don’t believe that the changes to the constitution will immediately make themselves felt in our daily lives. In some ways, the will simply legalize many unconstitutional practices that are currently in place. However, the changes in law will solidify these and establish new, even lower norms for the way Sri Lanka is governed. My fear is that by the time the implications …
There is no doubt that the proposed constitutional amendment is merely a means of consolidating the dynastic ambitions of the Rajapakses. And clearly, the largest opposition, the UNP is quietly imploding and incapable of fulfilling its responsibilities and it is futile to hope that the amendment will be defeated in parliament. At this moment, probably the most crucial moment in Sri Lanka’s contemporary history, the Leader of the Opposition is out of the country on a ‘private visit’! This surely underscores his utter lack of concern for the good of this country, his political ineptitude and his callousness. Certainly, we cannot look to him for inspiration. Mahinda Rajapakse could not have asked for a better …
Groundviews created this timeline to highlight various promises and statements made by the President and government over abolishing the office of the Executive President.
Click and drag the slider at the bottom of the timeline above to adjust the time scale. Click here to view larger version of this timeline, where you can also view it as a list of events / stories. Click on any pop-up / event to get a URL link to the full news story.
This timeline only records select statements and news stories after October 2009. A Google search of news stories …
Image courtesy Transcurrents
The odd story about former undergraduate Mervyn de Silva would be retailed around the corridors of Peradeniya campus when I was residing there as an undergraduate from 1957, an indication that he had etched his mark in campus memories. But I never encountered him or his work till I was a lecturer much later in the 1960s and 1970s when I was teaching in the Department of History from 1966 and became heavily involved in the discussions of the Ceylon Studies Seminar from 1969.
As its foundational Director-Dogsbody I was intimately involved in its operations. The Ceylon Studies Seminar was a discussion group that debated a wide range of issues concerned with Sri Lanka’s history, …
Politics is about power and the constitution is about protection of the people against the excessive concentration and exercise of that power. Politicians need power to govern and people need government to establish the framework, which facilitates the exercise and enjoyment of their fundamental rights and freedoms. Whilst it may well be a done deal by the time this gets into print, it is worth still raising the question of as to whether the 18th Amendment to the Constitution protects the people or privileges those in power to the extent that the people’s exercise and enjoyment of their rights could be imperiled.
The key features of the 18th Amendment sent to the Supreme Court for its scrutiny as urgent in the …
The President has proposed to make changes to the constitution via an urgent bill. The changes known as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, seek to remove the two term limit on being elected to the office of the President and the Constitutional Council under the 17th Amendment. As required under the Constitution, the President has referred the urgent bill to the Supreme Court. Supreme Court heard the Government’s arguments and the arguments of six intervening petitioners on Tuesday 1 September 2010. These changes have not been discussed in the public domain and they are sought to be made in secret. It is important to note that even at the Supreme Court hearing the intervening petitioners were only given copies …
Ever since reading the article by E Pluribus Unum on Groundviews “A Critique of Sri Lanka Unites: Freedom has not made itself known”, I have felt compelled to respond to it, but was unsure about how and when . At the back of the triumph of the “Future Leaders Conference, Season-2”, I think the time is now ripe. This reflection serves to share my personal insights into several arguments raised by Mr. E Pluribus Unum and other relevant issues.
What does reconciliation mean for an 18 -year -old, middle class lad from Mannar? What does absence of war mean to a person who has had firsthand experience of discrimination, shelling, killing, heavy checking and pass systems? Is there a …
Groundviews exclusively carried Jayantha Dhanapala’s response to erroneous and selective media reports of his submission to LLRC a few days ago, in which he promised an authoritative transcript of his presentation and of the question and answer session from the LLRC.
A covering note to the media from Mr. Dhanapala and the transcripts were sent to us today. Download the transcript here as a PDF, and another PDF noting the members of the LLRC here.
Interestingly, Shamindra Ferdinando, the News Editor of the Island newspaper mentioned on two occasions that he and his newspaper stand by the initial story on Mr. Dhannapala’s submission to …
Rohan Edrisinha lectures at the Law Faculty, University of Colombo and is also a Director at the Centre for Policy Alternatives. In this succinct interview conducted by Vikalpa today, Rohan flags serious concerns over the government’s proposed 18th Amendment to the Constitution. Salient points made by Rohan are,