Appeal for funds – Ajith P.Perera, Chief Organiser UNP, Bandaragama, Candidate No. 1 – Kalutara District

This is an open request for all those who believe in a united and prosperous Sri Lankan nation. Be you a Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or any other I am sure you know United National Party (UNP) is the only party that can make that dream happen without prejudice to any community or individual.

I, S. Ajith Padmakantha Perera, stand for the Western Provincial Council Elections 2009. I also plan to stand for the forthcoming General Elections, representing Kalutara District. Now I am the organiser of the Bandaragama electorate, the most populous in Kalutara District.

Professionally I am a lawyer. More information on me can be obtained from the blog I run for the last one year at www.bandaragama.wordpress.com. This was the only site that communicated the news in the aftermath of Sirasa TV vandalism and the murder of Lasantha Wickramatunge in the backdrop of all mass media being indirectly silenced by the government. You may also remember my activism through the Face Book groups ‘Our tribute to Lasantha Wickramatunga’ and ‘Sirasa, whatever happens we are always with you’.

Knowing that you would always give a hand to a professional I humbly request your assistance for my campaign.

I will be grateful if you can make your contributions to the following account:

Account Holder’s name: S. A. P. Perera
Bank: Peoples’ Bank, Panadura Branch
Account Number: 148200141399190

There is no limit. Even a contribution of USD 10 matters. My intention is to have a large number contributing in small chunks rather than expect higher amount.

If you need to contact, please free to call me on my mobile number 0777-668993 (if calling from Sri Lanka) or 94-777-668993 (if from outside).

The extract from a blog post I have done sometime before will give you an overview of my political stance.

Thanking you in advance, I remain.

Yours Truly,

Ajith Padmakantha Perera,
Chief Organiser of UNP, Bandaragama
Candidate in the Western Provincial Council Elections,
No. 1, Kalutara District

Change UNP; Change the nation

A large section seems to think that UNP should blindly support Kurakkan uncle’s war agenda to earn its popularity. I vehemently disagree.

Firstly, why UNP, the only political party with a clear stance on the ethnic issue follow others’ formulae? UNP fervently opposes terrorism of any kind, but simultaneously believes the long term solution to ethnic issue can only be political. ‘Military solution’ is an oxymoron. War victories by the current regime will only be meaningful if supplemented with corrective measures to age old Tamil grievances. Otherwise, terrorism will soon raise its ugly head behind another acronym. Elimination of JVP in 1971 in a genocidal manner did not prevent Sinhala youth taking arms two decades later. Why should that change for Tamil youth? As long as breeding grounds exist, procreate the mosquitoes.

Secondly, the extended intentions of war agenda are dangerous and damaging to the nation in the long run. The war is not just to eliminate LTTE (if so, UNP finds no problem backing it) but also a long list that includes human rights of the Tamils in North and East; Tamil political parties first and the entire opposition later; any dissent voices including those of journalists and eventually the very foundation of democracy. All what Kurakkan uncle wants it to create Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe type dictatorship and continue the legacy of feudal rulers.

Sorry, No. Whatever the name, UNP has no intention of blindly supporting such a feudal dictatorship. We stand for democracy and not feudalism.

The policies of United National Party are crystal clear. They remain largely unchanged from the D. S. Senanayake days and will not change in the foreseeable future. Let me repeat in a nutshell and as I understand.

1. Unity and Equality: United National Party, as its name rightly suggests, is the party of united nationalistic political forces. UNP believes in equality. We do not think one’s ethnicity, race, gender, religion or any other attribute should stand in the way him/her enjoying citizens’ rights and privileges. We believe the country belongs to all Sri Lankans, and not to one ethnic or religious group.

2. Devolution of Power: UNP believes in an undivided (Eksath) Lanka; but not necessarily a system that concentrates power in Colombo. We have seen the flaws of such Colombo-centric governance and introduced Provincial Councils as a solution, which SLFP and JVP initially rejected, but now faithfully follow. We believe in devolving power, not only to Tamils in North but to Sinhalese in Hambanthota as well, instead of accumulating it in the hands of dictators. We believe empowering people not only at regional level but every stratum.

3. Economy: We believe in free markets; liberalization and globalization. We do not espouse unrealistic socialist dreams. We trust the private sector for its abilities. We do not equate suppressing the private sector to nation building. Economy has always thrived under previous UNP governments and there is no doubt it will continue to do so under a future UNP government.

4. Poverty Alleviation: Nobody understands the necessity of poverty alleviation than the UNP. We do not think poverty can be eliminated by redistributing public wealth. UNP had once spearheaded the most effective poverty alleviation program in Sri Lanka, under President Premadasa. What we look for is that. Beat poverty by creating more and more employment opportunities. Let poor stand on their own feet.

5. Employment Generation: UNP strongly believes more and more employment opportunities are the only way towards prosperity. It plans to achieve full employment by developing the private sector and not fattening the already overloaded government structure. To stimulate private sector growth UNP will also give utmost importance to infrastructure building. These may not be the highest priorities in populist agendas but we think in long term and not just the next six years.
I guess all UNP lovers should be proud that in spite of the immense pressure that we still stick to our original principles. We have no intention of changing these policies to enter the populist game.

The relatively poor performance at the recent Provincial Council elections was nothing but a symptom of poor organization. While working in the Eastern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces I have witnessed this firsthand. I visited many areas untouched till then. Given time limitations, even I could not visit so many areas. We surely need more man power. Strong and committed organisaers at ground level was the need of the hour of UNP at the Provincial Council elections. We could have obviously done much better with a stronger organization.

Fortunately we see the remedial measures are already on the way and an improvement of the situation. Western Provincial Council will be the Waterloo for SLFP. UNP is geared to easily win all three districts. We have a solid unbeatable organization in most areas. The challenge is only to repeat that victory at the next Provincial council elections, to be followed by the General Election.

What UNP seriously need are true leaders who can make that victory happen. Fortunately we see many dynamic leaders emerging from the Western Province. This phenomenon needs to be replicated in the other parts of the country. That needs Change; stating from the Change in the way we act.

Barack Obama could make that Change within a period of one year. What made the ‘One woman race’ to end with a first American-African in White House was his sheer determination and organization. I see the same happening in the UNP now.

We are ready to Change the nation. Before that we need to Change UNP.

Let us start with the Western Province.

Is Minister of Health Nimal Siripala De Silva personally responsible for this poor girl’s death?

A girl who was among the group of students admitted to the Matara hospital following vaccination against Rubella died this morning. Another 26 schoolgirls still remain in hospital.

Peshala Hansala (12) who was in Grade eight of Matara St.Thomas Girls School, met with her tragic death in the early hours this morning, hospital sources confirmed.

Arrangements were made yesterday to immunise about 300 schoolgirls and several of them had taken ill after the vaccination.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=43904

During the last few months, serious concerns were raised about the non availability and the use of expired medicine at state hospitals. Minister of Health Nimal Siripala De Silva has failed to take any action. Now one girl dead and 26 others hospitalised after vaccinated against Rubella. Is this the kind of heath service Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva provides for the people of this country?

Will the minister admit the personal responsibility for this sad and unnecessary death, for not having taken any action even after the serious concerns were raised by doctors and media?

No compensation for Sri Lankan players over Lahore attack

Sri Lankan cricket players and officials may be fast recovering physically and psychologically after the March 3 Lahore terror attack, but the island’s cricket governing body has not paid compensation to them yet, a media report said here Sunday.

Describing that it was “only a miracle of providence” that the players and officials escaped when a terror group ambushed them in a foreign country they were touring as ambassadors of goodwill, the report said Sri Lanka Cricket’s inability to pay compensation “shows a gaping hole”.

A team of 12 terrorist sprayed bullets and fired rocket propelled grenades at the convoy carrying Sri Lankan players to the Lahore Gaddafi international stadium to play the third day of the second and last Test against hosts Pakistan March 3.

Seven players and the team’s assistant coach were injured and six Pakistani police officials providing protection to the bus carrying the players were killed in the incident that shook the entire cricketing world.

“While all their immediate medical needs have been attended to, still importantly, the vacuum left by the cricket board in this respect is an indictment of Sri Lanka Cricket itself,” the state-run Sunday Observer said.

“The inability of the SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket) to compensate the national cricketers and official who were subject to the Lahore terrorist attack a fortnight ago by insurance cover for shock and trauma raises serious questions as to the bona fide of SLC,” it said.

Claiming that this was “the candid opinion of a cross section of insurance people”, the report said that it was a “blatant negligence” on the part of the SLC, which last week got a new interim body after a three-month gap.

“Sixty percent of success of a cricketer depends on mental concentration, and in a situation like this, players not being covered by insurance of this nature is a very serious lapse (of the SLC),” the state-run media report said.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/no-compensation-for-sri-lankan-players-over-lahore-attack_100166723.html

I Report, You Decide: A Response to Voice in Colombo’s False Allegations

Voice in Colombo, a famous blogger cum a staunch SLFP supporter, misses no opportunity to hit me. I should have expected that. (What else can I expect from an SLFPer? A bouquet of flowers?)

I shouldn’t have taken this seriously, but when things get unpleasant and allegations are false, I need to put the record straight.

First VIC complains I did not publish his comment. This was a false allegation. Actually it surprised me because I have never felt that his comments need to be blocked. (To be fair by him, his responses were decent and to the point. There was no need to block any of them.) I have made a response in his blog saying I have never done so. The moderation, which unfortunately I cannot avoid, is meant for someone else who has become a nuisance by commenting under many different handles distracting the discussion.

Then VIC complains I have changed his identity to ‘Anonymous’. I cannot understand what he thinks I would achieve by doing that. Why do I want to change a commentator’s identity wasting my time during an election campaign?

Anyway, the only way to make the matters clear is to expose my comments page to public. (I was lucky that the two comments concerned were successive)

I would not have exposed anyone’s IP addresses, but I want to make this clear. Please note the two IPs. One is 124.43.213.74. You see VIC’s ID followed by his blog address and email. The other is 203.115.18.147. No ID is given, so WordPress takes the comment as Anonymous.

Think it is self explanatory. As we say in Sinhala it is clear who “stands on his tail’(valge paagagena).

(Please click on the image for a better view.)

S.B. Dissanayake sees a bright future for himself and UNP – Daily Mirror

UNP National Organizer S.B. Dissanayake dropped a political bombshell yesterday charging that there was an internal conspiracy in his party to politically assassinate him and assistant leader Rukman Senanayake with the backing of some sections of the ruling UPFA.

Addressing the media at his Colombo residence, Mr. Dissanayake said they had been slandered in the media by these party elements on baseless allegations.

“These persons who are close to the party leadership have accused me and Mr. Senanayake of holding secret negotiations with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and conspiring against the party. There is no truth in any of these allegations. During the past two or three months, I have never telephoned the President. I am challenging anyone to prove me wrong if possible in this regard. I am ready to show my phone bills as well,” he said.

Mr. Dissanayake said he had become extremely popular among the ordinary UNPers and the minority communities as well, as proven through the results of the election to the Central Provincial Council.

S.B. Dissanayake at Bandaragama

“At the previous election, the party’s vote bank had dwindled to 27 – 28 percent. However, I was able to maintain it at 39 percent in the Kandy district and at 45 percent in the Nuwara-Eliya district. I got a record high number of preferential votes in Kandy. I have got the highest number of preferences in all 13 electorates of Kandy. It is also a record,” he said.

He said he had to put his entire weight to secure these votes in the two districts when the party’s vote bank was eroding drastically in the other districts.

“I don’t want to reveal to the media the discrimination I had to suffer in the run up to the election. This time, even some strong UNP supporters voted for the government. When we visited the electorates, we realized that our people had certain charges against the party. They are disappointed with it now. So, they have the tendency to vote for the government party at this stage. These elements that attack a popular figure like me is leading the party down the path of further disaster,” he said.

Mr. Dissanayake charged these internal forces had links with the government, and their sole ambition was to ensure an easy victory for the President’s second term, by discrediting popular party figures like him.

“These persons have misled the party leadership. They pretend to be so close to the leader and hold certain top positions as well. There are some rogues who made money fraudulently during the previous UNP regime by obtaining quotas for apparels,” he said.

“I will never leave the UNP. My ambition is to defeat the Rajapaksa government, and bring the UNP to power. It is the only party that can bring this country out of poverty,” he insisted. Mr. Dissanayake also said he would not come to Parliament at this hour on the National List despite certain remarks made by some MPs.

“I have a respectable position in the Provincial Council. Even the government members respect me. In fact, I can even topple the council by winning over eight councillors from the other side. However, I will not rush into such action,” he said in a lighter vein.

He reiterated his ultimate wish was to become the President of this country by being the party leader first.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=42948

Only Tamils are terrorists; not Pakistanis?

It is more than 48 hours Sri Lankan cricketers were attacked horribly by Pakistani terrorists in Lahore and the silence in Colombo surprises me. It is almost deafening.

For a moment imagine the reaction if the same happened here in Colombo. Having probably more suicide bombers than gunmen this is not the type of the attack LTTE would have dared, but for arguments sake, let us assume they did.

I can imagine the series of events that will follow.

Within no time we will see colorful posters from NMAT, JHU and Wimal Weerawansa all over the city condemning the attack with an emotional appeal. I am sure Weerawansa would have come up with a bright coloured poster of Ajantha Mendis in action with the slogan “Kuriru Koti Thrasthavaadhayen Kreedaava Surakimu!”

We would have also seen them calling press conferences one after the other. Newspapers would have been full of statements from every Tom Dick and Medhananda condemning the attack.

I am also sure to have received minimum twenty emails by now how LTTE tried to attack our sportsmen ever since its inception. (I am sure they would have dug enough evidence t prove the case.)

Not to mention the blogsphere. By this time Lanka Libertarian is sure to have taken a round of gunfire on peaceniks. (Yes, the usual lot. Everyone knows the names by heart now; no need to repeat.)

Is this what we see? Certainly not. Enough talk, but I do not see anyone seriously condemning the attack. I also do not see anyone angry. Isn’t that surprising?

Apart from the customary condolence messages from key political parties I do not see anyone bothered at all. The only exception is Udaya Gammanpila, who links the incident to LTTE – so that does not really count. He is contesting the elections, like me, so exploiting the opportunity to win some attention is acceptable. On the other hand Gammanpila will blame LTTE even if mother passes wind.

We see neither posters on walls nor press conferences.

In the blogsphere, Lanka Libertarian, who once wrote ‘i don’t refer much to patriotism in this blog. for instance my arguments for defeating terrorist pussies (with violence if needs be) are based not on patriotism but on preserving human rights, freedom, justice, and democracy’ is maintaining a deafening silence as if this incident has nothing to do with freedom, democracy and justice. Human rights of Sri Lankan cricketers have conveniently been forgotten.

Voice in Colombo has reported the incident but yet to offer his opinion and/or condemn the attack. So are so many other bloggers, Sinhala and English.

Suddenly they have become presenters of facts instead of opinions.

And our friend Ranuka, who once openly questioned me why I don’t condemn LTTE attacks has nothing to say about this incident. Why not he practices what he preaches? (As for me, I normally do not waste space condemning every attack; instead I voice my opinions only on incidents that I think worth talking about)

What does all this tell us?

Those who pretend they are forever anti-terrorist are actually not. They do not necessarily react to acts of terrorism. What they do is overreacting subconsciously to their inner feelings of racism. Tamils are the traditional enemies of Sinhalese for millennia. I will be surprised to see that racism not gone into our genes. This requires an effort from one to control overreacting to Tamil acts, terrorist or not. Most don’t care and let their feelings out. Same or worse done by other terrorist groups are ignored because that does not trigger their racist thinking. This includes racist wolves in libertarian clothes too. (Exaggerating and exploiting them for political gains, as Kurakkan uncle does now is another matter. )

So that is how only what Tamils do are branded acts of terrorism and no matter how brutal and inhuman they be, whatever done by Pakistanis may still not be called the same.

Who said there is no ethnic issue in Sri Lanka?

ICRC warns Impending Humanitarian Catastrophe in Sri Lanka’s North – BBC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned of an impending humanitarian catastrophe in north-eastern Sri Lanka.

Up to 150,000 people may be trapped in the area by fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The ICRC has reiterated calls for a mass evacuation of civilians and for far more aid to be allowed in.

The ICRC’s Jacques de Maio said the situation was one of the worst disasters he had experienced.

Mr de Maio, head of operations for South Asia, said it would be possible “quite easily to avoid all of the unnecessary suffering and death which is taking place right now, and to allow for an immediate and massive evacuation”.

He said it should also be possible to allow “significant and meaningful humanitarian assistance” into the war-affected areas.

Some aid has arrived in recent weeks, but the government has allowed in far less than is needed, the ICRC says.

Government estimates put the number of civilians caught up in the fighting at about half the level calculated by the ICRC, but the truth is that nobody really knows.

Aid workers have spoken of desperate scenes where there has been contact with those civilians. Thousands of people have run from the jungle towards the coast, where there is no clean water or shelter.

In one place, the ICRC has succeeded in landing a boat to take off the wounded. About 2,000 people have been taken off this beach, but many more have been left behind.

Mr de Maio described the complex moral choices being made by those deciding who should be saved.

“When we reach the beach with the ferry there are exchanges of fire, there are thousands of people on this beach, they are stranded on basically sand and salty water,” he said.

“When we evacuate them, our people have to select the ones eligible… meaning we have to exclude many others. And this is very difficult to handle for people on the ground.”

Tamil Tiger rebels have been unwilling to let the civilian population leave because they fear that would leave the government with the opportunity to level the area with more ferocity.

The ICRC has been lobbying European governments to exert pressure to improve the humanitarian situation, as the long and bloody struggle for Sri Lanka moves into a decisive phase.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7922096.stm

Who attacked Sri Lanka cricketers in Lahore: According to Conspiracy Theorists

See, No CCTV cameras!

Yesterday, Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked by ‘unidentified’ gunmen in Lahore; unknown to Pakistan police that is. Not to us. Our Conspiracy Theorists are far more advanced and smarter; especially after recent Sirasa attack, murder of Lasantha Wickramatunga and physical attack on Upali Tennakoone.

Don’t we know after every one of these incidents our Conspiracy Theorists lost no time in concluding the culprits? For example, now we all know Sirasa burned itself down (to claim insurance of US$ 6,000,000) with the help of a Municipal Councilor from Kotte – who just happened to be there at nearby Devram Vehera couple of hours before – and Lasantha Wickramatunga was killed by LTTE. Don’t we? (Come on, there are the facts: Police even found the son of the first cousin’s second cousin of the guy who picked Lasantha’s mobile phone has the number of the sister of the girl friend of a suspected LTTE suicide bomber.)

So we are sure people are interested in the opinions of Conspiracy Theorists about yesterday’s incident.

President Mahinda Rajapaksha:

Kumara Sangakkara is my close friend; as close as Lasantha Wickramatunga once was. So are Tilan Samawareera and Mahela Jayawardene. Ajantha Mendis too is very close to me. All are my close friends. So I was deeply shocked to hear this brutal attack. (At least this time I didn’t ask “oluvatama dheelada?” when somebody phoned me to inform.) This is a planned attempt to discredit our government’s military victories in North. I immediately ordered IGP use not one but TEN police teams to probe. (You see, with every incident we are increasing this number!) I also advised Dr. Hector Weerasinghe to send a special team of specialists from National Hospital to Pakistan and Rohitha Bogollagama to accompany them. But it was difficult to get tickets in short notice, so only Rohitha went, in the end, of course with his family and some family friends as usual.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksha (interviewed by Chris Morris of BBC):

What is Sri Lanka cricket team? (Heh Heh Heh) There are so many attacks everywhere. In the whole world there are attacks. Why are you asking only about Sri Lanka cricket team? (Heh Heh Heh) I am not concerned about that. People are panicking. Why people are worried about one cricket team? (Heh Heh Heh) LTTE kills so many people. Why you are not asking about them? (Heh Heh Heh Heh Heh) Somebody even reported this to CNN. I am going to put him in jail as soon as I can.

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage:

I know for sure the Municipal Councilor who did this. Pakistan police received an anonymous call on 119, about the transfer of arms from a black defender van to a white van. This was done in front of the HSBC Lahore branch. So I can say for sure it was the Sri Lanka cricket team itself attacked themselves to claim US$ 6,000,000 insurance with the help of this Municipal Councilor. Otherwise tell me why they did not have CCTV cameras fixed in their vehicle?

Voice in Colombo (The Blogger):

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage (One of the worst mouths out of 100 odd ministers we have), after a long time has said something meaningful. He asks “Why the attackers of Sri Lanka cricket team, were not captured on the CCTV system in the van?” Actually this was a question came to my mind; the first time I heard the story of the attack. (So I too am as intelligent as Mr. Aluthgamage)

Now these are the questions!
1) Wasn’t there a CCTV system fixed in the van that transported Sri Lanka cricket team?
2) If there were CCTV; then where are the footages of that incident?
3) If it was disabled or damaged by the thugs; why wasn’t it mentioned in the news?
Now answer!!

Lanka Libertarian (The Blogger):

in fact these peaceniks (except for few idiots, in literal sense) already know who did this well enough. they just ignore it and parrot the terrorist propaganda by deliberate choice. by peaceniks i mean people who think peace is worth any cost (even cost of human rights, justice, democracy, and freedom ). that is people like paikiasothy saravanamuttu, jehan perera, jayadeva uyangoda, sunila abeysekera, sunanda deshapriya, nimalka fernando, rohan edirisinha, jeevan thiagarajaha, and their ilk (and their underlings like sanjana hattotuwa). and their fellow travelers in the sl blogosphere like hypocrite indi.ca/padashow.wordpress.

Udaya Gammanpila of JHU:

There are wolf attacks and fox attacks. I think this is a dog attack.

IGP Jayantha Wickramaratne:

Yes, according to the President’s orders we have appointed TEN police teams to look into this. We have given highest priority to this matter. These TEN teams will certainly find the culprit in the same way they have found the culprits behind Lasantha Wickramatunga murder and Sirasa TV and Upali Tennekoone attacks, as soon as possible, that means next week, or if not week after, if not next month, if not month after, if not next year or the year after…

(No, I didn’t write this. Simply do not have time with an election around the corner. Just received by email with a request to post anonymously. – Ajith)

අජිත් පී. පෙරේරා – බ්ලොගවකාශයෙන් බස්නාහිර පළාත් සභාවට: අංකය 1 කළුතර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය

A First in Sri Lanka? : A Blogger contests for the public office

That’s me, and don’t forget my number on April 25.