Features

Right to Recall Repeal of Port City Act

Published

5 years ago

2021/05/2

by Kumar David

The column today is about two separate matters. First, something futuristic but this country can never in a 100 years take a step forward unless there is a mechanism to remove from office outright scoundrels in public life. The second important topic is that right now this nation and its people must make it clear to future investors, global or domestic in the Port City (PC) that intolerable promises, if enacted, will be repealed. Let there be no crocodile tears as in the case of Argentina that Sri Lanka will be going back on its obligations since no country is bound by unconscionable promises that damage national interest. Let all be warned.

I will keep both sections short. I have learned that then, there is a chance people will read what one writes. The 2,000 and 3,000 word harangues in newspapers and websites are invariably not read to the end. I know from reader’s comments that they have given up in boredom halfway. If Shakespeare thought “brevity is the soul of wit and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes” who are we to reckon that we can do better?

Right to Recall

I am well aware that implementation of the Right to Recall (R2R) is complicated. R2R is a procedure by which people can recall a person they have elected, for example a MP, for abuse of power or corruption. I also grant that in a proportional representation system where the unit of election is a whole district, unlike in constituency type electorates, it is difficult to identify who can participate in a recall referendum. A way has to be found round these difficulties otherwise a country can never enjoy electoral democracy while at the same time turning out of office rascals, scoundrels and opportunists if elected to parliament or provincial councils.

I quote at length from Wikipedia. “A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before that official’s term has ended. Recalls, which are initiated when sufficient voters sign a petition, have a history dating back to the constitution in ancient Athenian democracy and feature in several current constitutions. In indirect or representative democracy, people’s representatives are elected and rule for a specific period of time. However, where the facility to recall exists, if any representative who comes to be perceived as not properly discharging responsibilities can be called back at request of a specific proportion of voters”.

A Constitution Amendment Bill to recall MPs and MLAs was introduced in the Lok Sabha by C. K. Chandrappan (1935-2012), Kerala State Secretary of the Communist Party and Lok Sabha member, in 1974. Atal Bihari Vajpayee (not Prime Minister at the time) supported the bill but it did not pass. Since then, recall has been implemented at Municipal level in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. And R2R legislation has been enacted and is on the statute book in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh for levels below parliament and state legislatures.

The reason legislation in the US and India has been confined below national and state, apart from the greed and resistance of the representatives themselves is complexity of execution. A president can be removed by impeachment and a prime minister by a vote of no confidence but that’s outside the direct intervention of the electors. What is imperative is a mechanism for voters to rid themselves of people they have elected if later he/she turns out to be a blackguard. An unfortunate necessity in any nation that habitually elects blackguards.

There are variations in R2R legislation formats between the US and India and between different Indian states. These details are of little significance for us now since the first priority is to popularise the concept and win mass acceptance. That should be easy, people will without hesitation endorse the concept but they will want to know more about implementation details. I am only kicking off the idea and asking others, more intelligent and knowledgeable to follow up. What is important at the moment is extensive public discussion. No civil society or political organisation will right now have the gumption to flag it but this will change because it has to. The political entities that may have the courage to invoke some debate are the NPP and the JVP but they too will not touch it till the existing system rots a lot more. For now I am only planting a seed.

Port City and Scoundrel Protection Acts must be repealed

The immediate task is to mount public protest campaigns and demonstrations to prevent passage of the Port City Bill (PCB) and the resolution before Parliament to grant scoundrels associated with the (Raja) Paksas and human rights violators impunity (Scoundrel Protection Resolution, SPR). Civil society, religious dignitaries, non-government political parties, student and women’s movements, citizens of all races and faiths, diaspora groups of all ethnicities and the people must campaign to throw back both. That’s the priority and it may be doable. However since a majority of SLPP, SLFP, and pro-Paksa perfidious Tamil parties and the Muslim turncoats who voted for 20A cannot be expected to suddenly sprout a conscience, there is a possibility that PCB and SPR will be passed. (What on earth is the LSSP doing? Tissa is angry that economic policy has failed to ameliorate the hardships of the poorest; but the Dead-Left has kept mum on PCB and SPR).

What if despite angry protests these two nasty proposals are passed. The Supreme Court is deliberating the constitutionality of PCB (why not SP too?). It may or may not demand that some provisions be put to a referendum, but after 20A no one is celebrating the court’s independence or high moral stature. What options are available if PCB is enacted and SPR endorsed? A declaration must be issued with the determination of Martin Luther nailing the Ninety-five Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church, Wittenberg that the next government reserves the right to reverse anything done under the PC Act. Chinese, foreign and local investors must have the riot act read out. If they act at the invitation of a morally decadent government in the teeth of the opposition of the people they have been warned!

The French Revolution was not bound by Louis XVI’s commitments nor were China and Vietnam beholden to decisions prior to October 1948 and April 1975, respectively. Argentina type ambiguity must be precluded; everybody, foreign or local, must be told clearly that anything done under the provisions of PCA will not be binding on future governments. If enacted sans a two-thirds majority and unless in addition ratified at a referendum it will be deemed unconstitutional. Furthermore, the American Ambassador, at a recent news conference, sounded a warning that the PC may be flagged by global authorities for fear of money laundering.

The weak link in building a united movement against PCB are Sajith Premadasa cum SJB which instead of expressing unconditional disapproval and demanding that the Bill be withdrawn have proposed technical amendments and pleaded with the Paksas to bring the proposed commission under parliament. This discordant note is rooted in the SJB’s class nature. The pro-business wing under the influence of Harsha de Silva, Eran Wickramaratne and I daresay Sajith himself would be satisfied with provisions to ensure that in addition to the Chinese, Western companies too could participate. From JR’s day the neo-liberal investment policies of the UNP sought to open Lanka to global markets unconstrained by domestic class concerns.

To add to this confusion SJB spokesperson Dayan Jayatilleke (official or unofficial?) has become jarring says Krishanta Prasad Cooray in Colombo Telegraph, 23 April. If DJ is serenading to his master Sajith’s dog whistle then it matters; if not don’t bother with the rest of this paragraph. If one can infer that on strategy Sajith rejects an opposition united front against the Double-Paksas, and on policy he desires retention of the Executive Presidency (EP), then both put Sajith on collision course with regime-opponents (though in line with DJ’s backing of the 52-day Mahinda Rajapaksa Prime Ministerial obscenity). SJB internal confusion on both counts is a hitch. There must exist explicit formal pronouncements on its position on EP and Sajith must state explicitly if he now regrets voting in favour 19A. Also let there be a pronouncement on whether the SJB intends to go it alone.

The labour market will be greatly affected – see Ceylon Federation of Labour General Secretary TMR Rasseedin’s statement “Colombo Port City Bill frontal attack on working people” in the Sunday Island of 18 April. But apart from this frontal assault on the working class the provisions of the Bill are so designed to cater to the interests of society’s upper classes and investors with hardly a concern for the welfare of the people at large. Even Tissa Vitarana warns “The luxury lifestyle of the few must be checked (soon) as otherwise those who are hungry may (be forced to) take to the streets”. [Parenthesis added]. While most criticism of PCB has focussed on sovereignty concerns and the undermining of parliamentary oversight it is important to understand its negative class implications. This underscores why the SBJ is pussyfooting. Eran Wickramaratne’s attack on SPR in Parliament was withering. Was it not obvious that PCB and SPR are twins born of the same womb, an executive presidency seeking authoritarian powers? How the SBJ can reconcile opposition to SPR with support for the executive presidential system is incomprehensible.

I have reached nearly 1650 words, but you will forgive me as I have touched on two important topics.

Manifesto of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

(The HSRA was suspended by Gandhi in 1922 for being too radical)

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Features

New US sanctions on ICC, a fillip to worldwide political repression

Published

3 hours ago

2026/10/15

Thilina Walpola

The International Criminal Court in session. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s warning to the International Criminal Court (ICC) was stark: ‘Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.’ It followed US central administration accusations that the court was unfairly targeting Americans on the basis of trumped-up war crimes charges.

However, a new plethora of sanctions has been clamped on the ICC by the US, which in turn has spurred accusations by sections of the world that the latter has unleashed an ‘assault’ on the international legal order.

What some of the sanctions would mean for the ICC was outlined by Rubio: ‘We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us.’

The ICC has shown consistency of purpose over the years. Despite some operational constraints it has indicted a large number of political strongmen from around the world, accused of war crimes and other governance excesses that come under its purview. Two such recent figures are: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rather than enjoy a mere nominal presence in the world community, the ICC has proved its effectiveness by detaining and bringing to justice scores of VIP politicians and others of their ilk who have been found guilty of human rights abuses and kindred excesses that come within the terms of reference of the ICC.

Accordingly, the international justice system would be stymied considerably as a result of the ICC being dis-empowered, particularly financially. Needless to say, potential and real perpetrators of the species of crime coming under the jurisdiction of the ICC would stand to gain most from such anarchic tendencies. That is, political repression globally would be enabled to enjoy a new lease of life.

A detailing of the types of crime coming under the purview of the ICC provides an idea of what it would cost the international community if the ICC’s operations are gravely hampered. They are mainly: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

That is, the part of the world to be worst affected would be the global South, since the latter is awash with the mentioned crimes. Needless to say, a chronically-disaffected South will sooner rather than later undermine the well being of the world dangerously. The world is already being put through these paces.

At the time of writing, ‘illegal migrants’ from the South, for example, are aggravating many a Western economy’s woes, besides creating for them acute law and order issues. The fact that these migrants’ presence goes on to become a virtual test of the migrant receiving states’ ability to forge domestic social inclusion in the face of jingoistic protests by mainly white supremacist groups is evidence of the latter. As is known, the US, to take just one example, has been up against this crisis for quite a while.

Accordingly, it will be in the best interests of the West if ‘illegal’ migrant arrivals on their shores are stemmed. If the socio-political and economic problems assailing the South are effectively managed through North-South collaborative, ‘trouble-shooting’ efforts the causes leading to ‘illegal’ migration and connected issues could be resolved at source as it were. For, it is the aggravation of the South’s material questions that lays the basis for the emergence of repressive and anti-democratic regimes in the hemisphere.

Until such time that the aforementioned issues in North-South relations are visited afresh and addressed urgently, a vibrantly functioning ICC would be needed. For, the latter would prove a deterrent to Southern political and military strongmen, highly prone to power abuse and like excesses, from coming into being in the wake of the South’s chronic material woes and the wars and conflicts that result from them.

It stands to reason then that the US would be acting in its own interests by enabling the ICC to perpetuate its mandate without hindrance. For a crop of issues that impinges negatively on internal law and order would be defused.

Meanwhile, there needs to be a meeting of minds among the rest of the West to put back in place a North-South dialogue process aimed at reducing some of the economic pressures that are weighing on the South.

Since economics usually drives politics it will be in the interests of the world community to scrutinizingly re-visit North-South issues of the past and put in place economic relief packages for Southern publics that would enable them to tide over their material hardships rather than permit the latter to aggravate into social disaffection and eventually armed militancy. It is the latter juncture that paves the way for the emergence of authoritarian rulers in the South who then go on to be a blight on their publics.

Accordingly, the Southern-based global development thinking of the past that envisaged a more equitable world economic order needs to be seen as an urgent need. That is, NAM’s international development paradigms need to be resuscitated to the extent possible.

It is unlikely that rightist governments of the West, such as the current Republican administration in the US, would find these projects feasible, but democratic states of Europe, led by perhaps the UK, are likely to think otherwise. For it would not be beneficial for the democratic world to be having on their hands repressive governments in the South who would be gravitating towards the major military and economic actors of the South, such as Iran and North Korea, who tend to be in constant power struggles with the West.

However, until such time that the mentioned, pro-people initiatives are given serious thought the ICC would need to be enabled by the international community to be in place comfortably and carry on with its mandate of bringing repressive rulers to book. Besides the ICC should pave the way for the peoples of the developing world to enjoy some substantial respite from the political repression and even terror which tend to be their lot.

Meanwhile, the wars of West Asia are relentlessly aggravating the economic hardships of people everywhere, driving the point home to enlightened sections that there is no alternative to peacemaking. A challenge is to convert the US under President Trump to this line of thinking.

Features

Clear, soft and shine-free skin

Published

3 hours ago

2026/10/15

Thilina Walpola

This week, I give you five simple, time-tested homemade remedies that help reduce the appearance of blemishes, control excess shine and leave your skin feeling softer and smoother.

The Honey and Lemon Brightening Dab:

For stubborn blemish marks, this is a classic. Mix one teaspoon of pure bee honey with three to four drops of fresh lemon juice. Apply gently, only on the affected spots, and leave for 10 minutes before rinsing with lukewarm water. While honey soothes and softens, lemon helps to brighten naturally. Use twice a week in the evening.

Besan and Rose Water Oil-Control Pack:

An ideal remedy to combat shine, especially on the T-zone. Take two teaspoons of besan (gram flour) and mix with sufficient rose water to form a smooth paste. Add a pinch of turmeric for its antiseptic goodness. Apply evenly, keep for 15 minutes and wash off. It absorbs excess oil without over-drying, leaving a beautiful matte finish.

Aloe Vera and Cucumber Ice Soother:

Blend fresh aloe vera gel with the juice of a grated cucumber and freeze the mixture in an ice tray. Each morning, wrap one cube in a soft muslin cloth and gently rub over a cleansed face for 30 seconds. It calms, tightens pores and imparts a baby-soft smoothness.

Oatmeal and Curd Gentle Polish:

Roughness and old blemish marks need gentle exfoliation. Combine one tablespoon of finely powdered oatmeal with one tablespoon of fresh curd (yoghurt). Massage very gently, in circular motions, for one minute, leave for five minutes and rinse. It removes dead cells and unveils softer, clearer skin.

Multani Mitti and Green Tea Magic Mask:

Brew some green tea and allow it to cool completely. Mix one and a half teaspoons of Multani Mitti (Fuller’s Earth) with the tea water to make a fine paste. Apply for 10 to 12 minutes – do not let it dry and crack completely – and wash off. It draws out impurities, fades blemishes and bestows a fresh, shine-free glow.

A Gentle Reminder:

As with any natural remedy, always do a patch test on your inner arm first. For those with oily or combination skin, avoid heavy coconut oil application and harsh scrubbing, as they tend to aggravate shine and blemishes.

Features

Compete, shine and be discovered at WCOPA 2027

Published

3 hours ago

2026/10/15

Thilina Walpola

Dream of performing on a world stage? Well, here is your unique, golden opportunity!

The World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) — the one and only official “Talent Olympics” — is the world’s premier global platform for aspiring singers, dancers, actors, models, instrumentalists, etc., to compete, shine and be discovered!

And, yes, this world stage is open to YOU, Sri Lankans living in Sri Lanka and overseas!

Held annually in glittering Las Vegas, WCOPA brings together over 70 countries, all competing for Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals, just like the traditional Olympics.

Lakisha Bernard: Will represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA 2027

Outstanding performers vie for the coveted titles of Junior and Senior Grand Champion Performer of the World, with winners and standout participants awarded over $500,000 in scholarships, cash awards and prizes to catapult their education and careers!

Sri Lanka is already making waves! At WCOPA 2026, Natharie Wickramasinghe, representing Team Sri Lanka, made the nation proud by winning a Bronze Medal in the Ethnic/Folklore Dance category!

Lakisha: Accomplished freelance Model and Fashion Design graduate

Recruitment for this prestigious competition is handled through a system of scouts and licensed National Directors — and this is where our very own Chris Rajendra, now based in Las Vegas, and National Director for Team Sri Lanka, comes into the scene.

If you are a singer, dancer, actor, model, instrumentalist — if you have talent burning inside you — contact Chris Rajendra today for registration and, who knows, you may find yourself in Las Vegas, and proudly draped in the Sri Lankan flag, at WCOPA 2027!

The contact address is: Chris Rajendra, wcopa.nationaldirector.sl@gmail.com

or chris.rajendra@gmail.com

Meanwhile, a star is born for 2027, in the form of Lakisha Bernard who is all set to represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA 2027.

Originally hailing from the sun-drenched coastal city of Colombo and now carving out her creative career in Canada, 22-year-old Lakisha is stepping into the international spotlight.

This accomplished freelance Model and Fashion Design graduate has officially been appointed as the Team Sri Lanka Promoter for Canada as she prepares to represent Team Sri Lanka at WCOPA in Las Vegas.

Lakisha brings a unique blend of high-fashion sensibility, captivating camera presence and expert garment design to the Team.

Having built her career, from local college shoots to high-glamour concepts, Lakisha’s inspiring journey embodies the true spirit of cultural bridge-building and creative resilience, bringing immense pride and recognition to Sri Lanka on the global stage.

WCOPA 2027 will be held at the legendary Westgate Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, from 12th to 20th July – the very same iconic arena where the late, great Elvis Presley himself performed!

Your moment is now. Your stage is Las Vegas, so hurry and contact Chris Rajendra.