ආණ්ඩුව මහනාහාම්වරුන්ට කරුණු පැහැදිලි කිරීමට සූදානම්

ත්‍රෛයි නිකායින මහා සංඝරත්නය විසින් ජෙනරාල් ෆොන්සේකා අඩංගුවට ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔහු නිදහස් කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා ජනාධිපතිතුමා වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කළ ලිපියට පිළිතුරු වශයෙන් මහා සංඝරත්නයට කරුණු පැහැදිලි කර දිමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන බව ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ මහ ලේකම් මෛත‍්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන අද මහවැලි කේන්ද්‍රයේ පැවති ප‍්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවකදී සදහන් කළේය.

‘‘ඒ පිළිබදව රජය විදියට අපි විස්තරාත්මකව කරුණු පැහැදිලි කරන්න බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා. පවත්වන පරික්ෂන සම්බන්දයෙන් සහ අත් අඩංගුවට ගැනීමට හේතු වූ කරුණු මොනවාද කියන එක සම්බන්ධයෙන්.’’ මහ ලේඛම් වරයා සදහන් කළේය.

එමෙන්ම පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත පාර්ලි මේන්තු මහ මැත්වරණය සදහා විසිරුවන ලද ආණ්ඩුවේ සිටි මැත් ඇමත්වරුන් සියලු දෙනාම තරග වැදීමට නියමිත බවයි මහ ලේකම් වරයා සදහන් කර සිටින්නේ.

‘‘වසර විසිපහක කාලයකින් පස්සේ නිදහස්ව මහ මැක්වරණයක් පවත්වන්න අවස්ථාව උදාවුණේ. නිදහස්ව සාමකාමීව පවත්වන්න අවස්ථිව ලැබුණෙ මේ වෙලාවේ. මේ මැතිවරනයේදී අලූත් මුහුණු රාශියක් දකින්න තියෙනවා. දැනට සිටින මැත් ඇමති වරුන් හැර 1000ට වැඞ් ප‍්‍රමානයක් අයදුම්කරලා තියෙනවා.ඒ අනුව සම්මුඛ පරීක්ෂණ පැවැත්වුණා. සෑම දිස්ත‍්‍රික්කයකම කලා කරුවන් ක‍්‍රීඩකයින් විශ්ව විද්‍යාල මහාචාර්යවරු නවක අපේක්ෂකයන් වශයෙන් තෝරා ගැනීමට නියමිතයි. ’’ ලේකම් වරයා සදහන් කළේය.

අද සුබ මොහොතින් දිස්ත‍්‍රික් නායකයින් නාම යොජනා අත්සන් කරන ලදී.ලබන 21 වනදා සියලු අපේක්ෂකයන් නාම යෝජනා අත්සන් තැබීම සදහා කොළඹට පැමිණිමට නියමිත බවයි ලේඛම්වරයා සදහන් කර සිටින්නේ.

27 වනදා සියලූ මැතිවරණ අපේක්ෂකයින් ජය ශ‍්‍රි මහ බෝ සම්`දුන් ඉදිරිපිට ආගමික වත්වත් වල නිරත විමෙන් අනතුරුව අචාරශීලී හික්මීමෙන් මහත්මා දේශපාලනයේ යෙදෙන බවට ප‍්‍රතිඥා දීමටද නිමිතය.එමෙන් මහින්ද චින්තන වැඩ පිළිවෙළ ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාමටත් පක්ෂයේ මෙන්ම ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ ගෞරවය ආරක්ෂා වන ලෙස විනය ගරුකව මැත්වරණ ක‍්‍රියාවලියේ යෙදෙන බවට ප‍්‍රතිඥා දීමටද නියමිතය.

‘‘මධ්‍යම කාරක සභාව මගින් තීරණය කර ඇති මැතිවරණ නීතිරිති මෙන්ම මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්ගේ උපදෙස් වලට පටහැනිව ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වුවහොත් ඒඅය සම්බන්දයෙන් දැඩිවිනය ක‍්‍රියා මාර්ග ගැනීමටත් තනතුරු ලබා නොදීමටත් තීරණය කර තිබෙනවා.’’ මහ ලේකම්වරයා සදහන් කළේය.

මෙවර මහ මැතිවරනය සදහා ශ‍්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ විශේෂ ප‍්‍රතිපත්ති ප‍්‍රකාශණයක් නොමැති බවත් ජනාධිපත්වරනයේදි  ඉදිරිපත් කළ මහින්ද චින්තනයට අනුව කටයුතු කරන බවත් ලේකම් වරයා සදහන් කළේය.

‘‘පක්ෂ විපක්ෂ භේදයකින් තොරව මහජනතාව ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්තාවේ වෙනසක් ඉල්ලූවා. ඒ ජනතා අපේක්සාව ඉටුකරන්න අපි බලාපොරොත්තු නෙවා. මේ සදහා අපට තුනෙන් දෙකේ බලයක් අවශය වෙලා තියෙනවා. ඒ නිසයි අපි කියන්නේ අපට තුනෙන් දෙකේ බලයක් දෙන්න කාලානුරූපව ගැලපෙන ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ඇති කිරීම සදහා.’’  හෙතෙම සදහන් කළේය.

එකිසත්  ජාතික පක්ෂය සහ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ  දේශපාලන පඹගාලක් පැටලී ඇති බව ලේකම් වරයා සදහන් කළේය.

‘‘මේ අයට තවමත් තීරණය කරන්න බැරිවෙලා තියෙනවා කුමන ලකුණ යටතේ ද තරග කරන්නේ කියලා. විපක්ෂය දේෂපාලන කුණු ගොඩක් බවට පත්වෙලා. මේ අයට දැන් තරග කිරීමේ හැකියාවක් නැති තැනට පත්වෙලා.’’ හෙතෙම සදහන් කළේය.

හිටපු හමුදාපති අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක් වූ ලේකම්වරයා සදහන් කරන්නේ හමුදාපත්ව සිටියදි රාජකාරී කාල සීමාව තුළත් දේශපාලනික වශයෙන් සම්බන්ධකම්  පවත්වමින් ආණ්ඩු වෙනසකට සාකච්ඡා කළ බවය කරුණු පවතින බවය.

‘‘දිවුරුම් දිම් ප‍්‍රතිඥා දීම් සියල්ල මොහු කඩ කරලා තියෙනවා.දේශපාලන කුමන්ත‍්‍රන කළ බව පැහැදිලිවම තියෙනවා. මේක දේශපාලන පළි ගැනිමක් නෙවෙයි. ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට පටහැනිව කටයුතු කිරීම සහ හමුදා පාලනයක් ඇති කිරීමට කටයුතු කිරීම වැනි කරුණු නිසයි ඔහුව අත් අඩංගුවට ගත්තේ. මේ පිළිබද විස්තරාත්මක කරුණු  ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අපි ඉදිරියේදි බලා පොරොත්තු වෙනවා.’’ ලේකම්වරයා සදහන් කළේය.

‘‘ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුන කියනවා සරත් ෆොන්සේකා නැතිව ඡන්දය ඉල්ලන්නේ නැහැ කියලා. ජනාධිපති වරනයේදී කරපු රැවටීම දැක දැක්ත් මේ අය කරන්නේ  එල්ලෙන්න තුත්තිරි ගස් හොයන එක. විපක්ෂය දුෂිත මැතිවරණයක් ගැන කියන්නේ හුදු සටන් පාඨයක් විතරයි.’’ මෙම ප‍්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්චාවට සහභාගීවෙම්න්  අමාත්‍ය සුසිල් පේ‍්‍රමජයන්ත් සදහන් කළේය.

SLFP Secretary Minister Maithripala Sirisena told the media that the government was planning on meeting with the Mahanayakes to respond to the letter sent by them to the President calling for General Sarath Fonseka’s release. He said the government planned on giving a detailed explanation on the investigation and the reasons for the arrest to the Mahanayakes. Sirisena also said that all government ministers and parliamentarians in the last parliament would contest the forthcoming general election. All candidates are to participate in religious observances at the Jayasri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura on the 27th and pledge to engage in gentleman politics.

Voters unruffled by mudslinging

In an election campaign that has been intensifying with each day, the communications from both the leading candidates incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his chief rival and former ally, former Commander of the Army (Retd.) Gen. Sarath Fonseka, has hit an all time high.

Speaking to Perambara, Mrs. S. Jayawardena said that the contents of the mudslinging campaigns would do little to change the mind of the voter. “The voters are intelligent, and they would see right through a mudslinging campaign. They know the difference between a proper allegation, and a slanderous shout”. Observing on the entrance of Gen. Sarath Fonseka to the political arena, she said that the election battle is too close to call. “If it were Somawansha Amarasinghe (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) or Ranil Wickremasinghe (United National Party) who was running for office, the outcome would have been easier to predict. But the entrance of Fonseka has changed the stakes dramatically.

Pre election violence has already claimed four lives, and the signs predict to an even more violent few days just before the election. Both parties have leveled allegations ranging from corruption to abuse of power towards the other, and lately the allegations have also taken the form of posters and emails, moving towards a much more personal level than the previous press briefings.

People’s sentiments towards the mudslinging remains negative, as one voter expressed. “We look at what the candidates are saying about themselves, and we look at their plans. To think that we would decide on what is said on a poster, is absurd.” He added that this kind of allegations against each other does nothing but harm the image of the country as a whole.

The campaign office of Fonseka said earlier that there was a coordinated campaign to plaster the walls of Colombo with posters which are defamatory to the former Army Commander. They stated that the poster would carry pictures depicting Idi Amin, the former Ugandan military dictator.

Posters in Colombo carried slogans in Sinhala stating “We don’t need Simple Fun” and asking people not to get into risky experiments.

Meanwhile media reports said that the Western Province Special Operations unit has been disbanded, following the raid conducted by them on a printing press where some of these posters were printed. Reports further said that the Director of the unit, Senior Police Superintendent Noel Chandra Kandahetti has been sent on compulsory leave, and that the Officer-in-Charge of the Maradana Division has been interdicted.

Pollonaruwa boils over with election violence

Heavy clashes between Government and opposition party supporters in Kaduruwela, Polonnaruwa, in the North Central Province yesterday left six persons, including a female journalist affiliated to BBC injured and four vehicles damaged, election monitors said.

The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said that a protest rally organised by members of the United National Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna resulted in clashes with members of the United People’s Freedom Alliance.

The members of the UNP and JVP were protesting attacks on their political offices in the area which took place on the previous day. An initial clash broke out between protestors taking part in the rally, and the supporters of the UPFA, when the rally passed a UPFA Secretariat Office.

CMEV said that four vehicles, including at least two Government vehicles were damaged in the clash, and heavy damages were sustained by the UPFA Secretarial office.

“Approximately 3,000 NDF supporters were partaking in a rally protesting attacks against several party offices which took place on the previous day. The rally was passing the UPFA Secretariat Office when the clash broke out between the protestors and UPFA supporters who arrived at the location in 4 vehicles,” CMEV said.

Minister Maithreepala Sirisena had arrived subsequently, and stated that the rally by the UNP and the JVP was illegal. Clashes broke out again between the two parties when a party office of the JVP was damaged by supporters of the UPFA. Police presence in the area was tightened following the incidents.

Journalist attached to the BBC, Thakshila Dilrukshi was injured in the incident and later hospitalised with head injuries. Media safety watchdog body, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a statement blamed the attack on the journalist, on supporters of Minister Maithreepala Sirisena.

“CPJ notes with concern today’s assault on the BBC’s Sinhala service reporter who, according to Sri Lankan media reports, was hospitalized after a political mob, apparently linked to supporters of an agriculture minster, attacked her as she was covering the event,” CPJ said in a statement.

Photo credits Center for Monitoring Election Violence.

Election violence on the rise

Incidents of elections violence have ramped up with the New Year as the campaigns hit top gear, monitors told Perambara.

“Incidents during the past few weeks indicate there has been a considerable increase in election related violence”, Executive Director of the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Rohana Hettiarachchi said,

Election monitors of Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) observe that election related violence has recorded an increase on a daily basis.

“Election related violence has badly increased during the last three days,” CAFEE Spokesperson, Keerthi Tennekoon said on January 4.

However, DIG Gamini Navaratne of the Police unit at the Election Secretariat said there has been a decline in the number of incidents of election related violence in comparison to the 2005 Presidential election.

He said that while 288 complaints were received for the first few weeks after nominations day during the 2005 Presidential election, this time around, there have been only 250 complaints.

“There has been a 30% decline in election related incidents,” the DIG said.

The increase in election related violence has resulted in several serious incidents taking place in the Kiribathgoda and Navalapitiya areas.

Several supporters of common opposition candidate (Retd.) Gen. Sarath Fonseka who were distributing leaflets, were attacked by UPFA supporters on January 3 at Kiribathgoda. The clash resulted in several vehicles being damaged and traffic on the main Colombo-Kandy Road coming to a standstill.

The police riot squad had to be deployed to arrest the situation.

Meanwhile, 19 persons had to be hospitalized following a clash between supporters of the President and the common candidate in Nawalapitiya.

CaFFE reported that the UNP election office in Negombo was burnt down, while the JVP office was attacked on January 4.

PAFFREL has recorded 107 election related incidents while CaFFE has recoded 124 such cases in the period between nominations day and January 4.

Among the incidents recorded by PAFFREL are 30 cases of assaults, 29 attacks on party offices, nine cases of illegal propaganda activities, nine cases of breaking down cut outs, eight cases of misuse of public property and six shooting incidents. The organization has also recorded one incident of a transfer made during the period of the election.

The highest number of election related incidents recorded by PAFFREL has been from the Southern Province – 31 incidents from the Southern Province, followed by 19 from the Western Province and 15 from the North Central Province.

Of the incidents recorded by the CAFFE organization, the highest number of complaints has been on the violation of election laws. According to CAFFE there have been 59 incidents where election laws have been violated and 39 incidents of misusing public property.

PAFFREL’s Hettiarachchi voiced concern over the use of fire arms in some of the election related incidents reported to the organization.

He said that most election related violence incidents are connected to propaganda activities, especially when pasting posters.

“Election propaganda should be aimed at promoting the policies of each candidate. However, pasting posters does not do that,” he said.

CaFFE’s Tennekoon observed that the increase in election related incidents is due to the violation of election laws.

According to him, the delay in removing election related cut outs in line with the election laws has caused violent incidents.

“There are problems when the cut outs of one candidate are removes leaving behind those of another. Supporters then start to throw oil and try to destroy the cut outs of the member of the opposing party. Such actions result in violence,” he said.

CaFFE has also recorded election related incidents from areas like Negombo where there have not been such incidents during previous elections.

“It seems that members of both parties are prepared to attack each other,” Tennekoon said. He added that such a scenario was witnessed during election in the North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces.

Election monitors say that election related incidents could increase during the next few weeks as it has done during the past few days.

PAFFREL says that the police would have to play a more active role during the election period. “This situation could be controlled if the police is active,” Hettiarachchi said.

DIG Navaratane notes that the police was dedicated to act to reduce the number of election related incidents.

CaFFE Spokesperson says that the implementation of the election laws would help minimise the incidents of election related violence.

By Sanjaya Nallaperuma