Return to the Rule of Law

By Victor Ivan

For a society when the rule of the law prevails, the example of the ruling party is vital. The head of the government must always be subject to the law and must respect it. If there are instances in which the executive disregards the law, the Judiciary must enforce the law fearlessly. The Rule of the Law in Sri Lanka collapsed because the main executive which included the President and the Cabinet functioned above the law and in disregard of it, and the Judiciary followed a policy of encouraging that arbitrary actions of the executive. 

One of the main reasons for the 17th Amendment to the Constitution was the nud to hold rced the elections, at which the people exercise their sovereignty, impartial. Although the law about an independent electoral commission became part of the fundamental law of the land, the President and the Cabinet, who may be considered the main executive of the country did not respect that fundamental law. The resources of the state and the power of the government were used for the election activities of the PA in disregard of not only the ordinary laws and regulations relating to the elections, but also the provisions of the fundamental law of the country. No one who went before the supreme court to get the fundamental law enforced was able to get justice done. The Chief Justice contributed to all such cases directly or indirectly and defended all the illegal activities of the executive. 

If the Judiciary had taken necessary steps to enforce the provisions of the 17th Amendment, it might have been possible to minimize the illegal and violent actions that took place. Although the elections commissioner attempted to use the powers vested in him, his orders were disregarded by the state officials reportedly on the orders of the executive and consequently the elections commissioner became helpless. Thereafter a number of persons went before the Supreme Court seeking the enforcement of the provisions of the 17th Amendment. Although it was the duty of the supreme court to take action on such an occasion to enforce the law, the Chief Justice became a partner of the PA's election campaign and indirectly asked the PA to continue with its illegal activities without fear of the judiciary. The signal thus given by the judiciary strengthened and nourished the illegal and violent programme that was being implemented with state patronage. In that sense, the Judiciary too may be held responsible for the damage to property for injuries to human beings and for the murders. 

If the Rule of the Law is to be re-established in the country, the judiciary must be made independent before anything else is done. For that purpose it will not be enough to remove the Chief Justice who has been a political tool of the executive. The decay that has occurred in the Judiciary must be inquired into and remedies must be effected, and the Judiciary must again be made an independent institution which is respected by the people and which functions without being affected by politics. 

The next important condition for the establishment of the rule of the law is to put an immediate end to the practice of giving political protection to the criminals of the underworld. It is the politicians who have become the protectors of dangerous criminals. 

The PSD and the MSD have become the main centres that protect the IRCs. The PSD and the MSD have also become institutions which indulge in criminal activities for political purposes, with the help of well-known criminals. The accusations against the PSD are extremely serious. The new government has a duty to inquire into all the crimes committed with political purposes by the official security divisions, and to bring all the politicians responsible for them before the law. 

- The writer is the editor of Ravaya

The new mandate: What it is and what it is not

By Susantha Goonatilake

It was an occasion where a 2,300-years-old tradition was revived with the ruler being blessed by monks. The prelate welcomed _ as monks had done for millennia _ members of other religious and ethnic groups with dignity.

Mr. Wickremesinghe's s speech was a contrast to the three-hour tirade on national TV by President Chandrika Kumaratunga when she won the presidential election in 1999. 

She was then ably helped by S. B. Dissanayake. But Mr. Wickremesinghe's entreaties for a new beginning repeated by UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya _ and I believe they were genuine _ were belied not only by the prelate's remarks but also by other signs. The most visible were the continuing violence and antics in the media.

Sections of the private media that were a mirror image of the State media during the elections _ the two supporting the UNP and the PA respectively _ continued their extreme partisanship while the state media did an about turn. State media chiefs were now making fatuous statements declaring their independence and saying that they were appointed by the Public Trustee and not by the state. So they are still in business. 

It is a case of PA lapdogs protesting their independence.

But the media reflect our reality by reporting on the news and in turn influence that reality by its views. In Sri Lankan media, unlike in India, news and views often get completely mixed up. 

What was then the reality of the election results? Can we see the real mandate and not get misled by superficial mirages like those put forward by astrologers fielded by both the PA and the UNF? (And these two parties are supposed to be taking us to an era of science and information technology of the 21st century!)

To see the mandate, let us first look at the parties. 

The UNP, PA and the JVP to an extent are multi ethnic and multi-religious parties in that they fielded candidates from all ethnic and religious backgrounds. In this they are a contrast to mono-ethnic or religious Tamil parties, the SLMC, the CWC and the Sihala Urumaya.

The UNF that won the election constitutes the multi-ethnic UNP and the mono-ethnic CWC and the mono-religious SLMC. The mono-ethnic TULF represented the TNA which was regarded as an LTTE front as it subscribed to the view that the LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamils. 

And whatever the truth or otherwise of a formal alliance between the UNP and LTTE, there is no doubt _ going by reports in the LTTE websites _ that the LTTE and its surrogate TNA preferred the UNP to the PA.

The media have branded Mr. Wickremesinghe's victory as a UNP sweep with the Southern electoral districts outside of Moneragala all painted green. But this was not a UNP victory but a UNF victory. 

The figures of actual votes split three ways between the UNF, PA and JVP also belie a simple green sweep. 

The PA and the JVP together actually got more votes than the UNF. And if one considers only the multi-cultural UNP component of the UNF, they got much less than the PA/JVP combined vote. But even the two mono-ethnic/religious parties choosing to fight under the UNF umbrella emphasized the inevitable integrationist tendencies that have been under foot in our society. Separatism was increasingly being rejected.

The real extent of this integration is in the Western province that has a large Tamil population, in all probability much larger than that of Jaffna district. 

The TULF fronting for the LTTE got less than 13,000 votes of possibly ten to twenty times that number of Tamil voters. 

Tamils in the Western province voted overwhelmingly for the multi ethnic integrationist parties probably most of their votes going to the UNP/UNF with some to the PA or the JVP.

The TULF got a total of 15 seats, one seat less than the JVP's 16. But these figures of seats belie the actual facts of the people who voted. The TULF's 15 seats were obtained by just 3.9% of the national vote while the JVP's 16 seats were through nearly 9.1% of votes cast. 

This is because the Jaffna peninsula has become depopulated. Although there are 633,000 registered Jaffna voters only 197,000 voted. 

There was no serious threats for Jaffna voters either from the LTTE or from the government. 

The reason for the low Jaffna votes is that the Jaffna population is today either in the Western province or in Western countries _ the latter probably hosting about 500,000 Tamils. The Jaffna voters could have also been worried of a TULF/LTTE combine increasing the kidnapping of Tamil children for Tiger cannon fodder.

Taking the Tamil votes in Jaffna and the Western province, it is clear that Tamils voted predominantly for integration and against the separatist LTTE and its mouthpiece the TNA.

The other party of mono-ethnic interests, the SU was almost eliminated. The professional Colombo middle classes who supported the SU last year were not there. The Sangha except for a fringe had never supported it. 

In fact shortly after the elections, the most prominent SU monk Akuretiye Nanda Thera came out with an article supporting the UNP leader. 

He was following the examples of the SU's one-time president Professor Madduma Bandara and once Vice President Professor Indraratne, both of whom came out publicly supporting the UNP.

All around the country mono-ethnic and mono-religious parties were being absorbed within an integrationist trend.

The LTTE mandate is to be considered less than the TULF's 4%. Let us say half of the TULF votes, that is, 2% of the nation voted for the LTTE. 

This begs the question of what is to be negotiated with the Tigers if only less than 2% of the country voted for it. 

The overwhelming majority of Tamils, together with Sinhalese and Muslims voted for integration. The negotiations have to be only on the terms of surrender for the weakened LTTE. 

Given the voting pattern in the rest of the country any other negotiation would be fraught with danger for Mr. Wickremesinghe.

If Mr. Wickremesinghe goes against the clear integrationist mandate and pander to this minuscule LTTE, at best this will lead to endless tension in the country including among his own constituents and at worst it could lead to mass demonstrations and uprisings like during the Indo-Lanka Accord. 

The country and Mr. Wickremesinghe's economic programme (which given the inefficiency of the PA regime is bound to be better) can ill afford this. 

His business backers should now hold their hands and pray that Mr. Wickremesinghe will not fall into this morass.

US warplanes rain bombs on Tora Bora

As U.S. warplanes dropped more bombs on the cave and tunnel hideouts of the al Qaeda guerrillas in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Afghan and U.S. troops had made a major advance against the besieged fighters.

"The forces on the ground near Tora Bora have advanced about two km (just over a mile)...in the last eight hours - a heck of a lot in that kind of terrain," Rumsfeld told reporters before a refuelling stop in Ireland en route for central Asia.

Both Rumsfeld and Afghan commanders said about 50 al Qaeda fighters had surrendered in the thrust by Afghan forces and small numbers of U.S. special forces, who were now helping to clear the ground.

Said Mohammad Pahlawan, a commander returning from the front line in the rugged White Mountains, also told Reuters 20 al Qaeda fighters had been killed, all Chechens.

"All those who surrendered had guns, but the Chechens don't want to surrender," he said. There were still no clear signs on the whereabouts of bin Laden, accused by Washington of masterminding the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities that killed nearly 3,300 people.

U.S. officials say they believe he is still in the Tora Bora area, but the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted informed sources on Friday as saying he had left.

US veto kills ME peace resolution

The vote in the 15-member U.N. Security Council was 12 to 1 with 2 abstentions, Britain and Norway. The other two European Union members on the council, France and Ireland, were among the "yes" votes.

"The resolution before us fails to address the dynamic at work in the region," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said. "Instead its purpose is to isolate politically one of the parties to the conflict through an attempt to throw the weight of the Council behind the other party."

The measure would have encouraged "all concerned to establish a monitoring mechanism" to help create a "better situation in the occupied Palestinian territories."