Opinion

‘Viceroys’ undermining Sri Lanka’s sovereignty

Published

2 years ago

2023/07/24

by Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

It is becoming increasingly clear that some ambassadors, assuming themselves to be the new viceroys, are undermining Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. It is also becoming pretty obvious that the project to oust Gota got underway no sooner had he been elected President. Western countries that extol the virtues of democracy, some not hesitating to use even the might of the bullet to spread democracy, paradoxically seem unable to respect the wishes of voters in vulnerable countries when the democratic wish is at variance with their agendas. They continue to undermine and often succeed, unfortunately. It is a great shame that we lack politicians with guts who are able to withstand these bullies. While it is true that we are economically challenged, that by itself should not deter us from taking action when our sovereignty is threatened.

Within a week of Gota’s election, an international furore was created by the claims of a local lady who worked for the Swiss Embassy in Colombo. Her claim was that she had been abducted and assaulted by men who came in a ‘White Van’. This claim came close on the heels of a very serious allegation made by a politician at a press conference a week before the presidential election. He was flanked by two men, one of whom claimed to be the ‘White Van’ driver, who abducted opponents, and the other who fed the abductees to crocodiles. It did not take long for this canard to be debunked, as it transpired that the lake, where they claimed to have fed crocodiles, had never had any crocodiles! However, the damage was done.

Many moons later, the ‘abducted and tortured’ lady confessed that it was a charade. She is lucky to have got away with a suspended sentence. An irate friend of mine, rang me and said, “Is she not guilty of treason?” I agreed with him that her actions amounted to treason as she had purposely tarnished the image of the country of her birth.

Considering the conduct of the then Swiss Ambassador, who smuggled a police officer and his family the day after the election, a finger has to be pointed at him. In fact, it was he who internationalised this incident which is well described by Shamindra Ferdinando in his column in the Midweek Review (The Island, 19 July). This Ambassador went to the extent of getting an ambulance plane to airlift the lady. Had Gota not used his power and stopped that charade mud would have stuck forever; she would have been airlifted and given political asylum in Switzerland. Maybe, that was the promised reward!

Even when investigations revealed that her claims were untrue, Switzerland did not offer an apology. Gota did not have the guts to send that Ambassador packing home, which he should have done, and demanded an apology from the Swiss. Had he shown strength of character then, he may still be the President but that is a different story. Now that she has had no choice but to admit guilt, one would have expected a much-delayed apology from Switzerland. That does not seem to be forthcoming. Until this happened, I have been a great admirer of Switzerland, visiting often, but have not done so since. Shame on you, Switzerland!

Should our government take any further action, or will it? Ranil seems tough with everyone, nipping in the bud all forms of protest, but will he have the guts to challenge Switzerland? More importantly, having been the beneficiary of all these machinations to realize his life-long ambition in the most unexpected of circumstances, would he be interested? Very unlikely. Unfortunately, he does not seem to realise that unless we show that we are not prepared to allow our sovereignty to be undermined, those countries would continue to trifle with it.

This brings me to the other viceroy, the American Ambassador. Curiously, she has earned plaudits even from Dr Gunadasa Amarasekara. In his recent articles in The Island, unfortunately, he has failed to mention that she deserves to be sent out as she has overstepped the mark in many instances. The glaring instance, where she attempted to be the viceroy, is her approach to the Speaker. At the launch of his book, which she branded as fiction, Wimal Weerawansa said she had approached the Speaker, requesting him to take over as the President. On whose authority did she make this approach? Was she trying to apply the guidance laid down in the American Constitution where the Speaker of the House succeeds if both the President and Vice-President are incapacitated? Does she consider Sri Lanka to be a colony of the USA and she the Viceroy?

It is to the credit of the Speaker that he refused her request, pointing out that such a move would be against the Sri Lankan Constitution. One may have reservations about how Ranil became the President, but the fact remains that his appointment was constitutional. However, what is remarkable is that, though the Ambassador branded Wimal Weerawansa’s book a work of fiction, the Speaker has not denied the story. She is ubiquitous; even visiting the JVP office to meet the leader when the tide was turning in their favour. Now that it has become obvious that the JVP has not renounced violence, hijacked Aragalaya and attempted to storm Parliament, one wonders what the US Ambassador thinks of them now.

Should we allow ambassadors to act as viceroys and interfere in our governance? Definitely not! It is a great shame that we do not have leaders with a backbone who have the guts to take on the new viceroys and show them the way home!

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Opinion

LG polls, what a waste of money!

Published

3 days ago

2025/03/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

If the people of this country were asked whether they want elections to the local government, majority of them would say no! How many years have elapsed since the local councils became defunct? And did not the country function without these councils that were labelled as ‘white elephants’?

If the present government’s wish is to do the will of the people, they should reconsider having local government elections. This way the government will not only save a considerable amount of money on holding elections, but also save even a greater amount by not having to maintain these local councils, which have become a bane on the country’s economy.

One would hope that the country will be able to get rid of these local councils and revert back to the days of having competent Government Agents and a team of dedicated government officials been tasked with the responsibility of attending to the needs of the people in those areas.

M. Joseph A. Nihal Perera

Opinion

What not to do

Published

4 days ago

2025/03/12

Sahan Weerasooriya

Trump and Zelensky arguing in the White House

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

It is immaterial whether you like him or not but one thing is crystal clear; Donald Trump has shown, very clearly, who is the boss. Surely, presidents of two countries are equal; perhaps, that is the impression Volodymyr Zelensky had when he went to the White House to meet Trump but the hard reality, otherwise, would have dawned on him with his inglorious exit! True, the behaviour of President Trump and VP Vance were hardly praiseworthy but Zelensky did what exactly he should not do. Afterall, he was on a begging mission and beggars cannot be choosers! He behaved like professional beggars in Colombo who throw money back when you give a small amount!!

Despite the risk of belonging to the minority, perhaps of non-Americans, I must say that I quite like Trump and admire him as a straight-talking politician. He keeps to his words; however atrocious they sound! Unfortunately, most critics overlook the fact that what Trump is doing is exactly what he pledged during his election campaign and that the American voters elected him decisively. When he lost to Biden, all political commentators wrote him off, more so because of his refusal to admit defeat and non-condemnation of his supporters who rioted. When he announced his intention to contest, it only evoked pundits’ laughter as they concluded that the Republican Party would never nominate him. Undaunted, Trump got the party to rally round him and won a non-consecutive second term; a feat achieved only once before, by Grover Cleveland around the end of the nineteenth century. His victory, against all predictions, was more decisive as he got more collegiate votes and, even though it does not matter, won the popular vote too which he did not get when he got elected the first term. Even his bitterest critics should accept this fact.

Zelensky was elected the president of Ukraine after the elected pro-Soviet president was deposed by a ‘peoples revolution’ engineered by the EU with the support of USA. After this, the EU attempted to bring Ukraine to NATO, disregarding the Munich agreement which precipitated the Russian invasion. He should have realised that, if not for the air-defence system which Trump authorised for Ukraine during his first term, Russian invasion would have been complete. It may well be that he was not aware as when this happened Zelensky may still have been the comedian acting the part of the president! Very likely, Trump was referring to this when he accused Zelensky of being ungrateful.

Zelensky also should have remembered that he disregarded requests from Trump, after his defeat by Biden, to implicate Biden’s son in some shady deals in Ukraine and that one of the last acts of Biden was to pardon his son and grant immunity to cover the alleged period. Perhaps, actions of the European leaders who embrace him every time they see him, as a long-lost brother, and invitations to address their parliaments has induced an element of the superiority complex in Zelensky that he behaved so combative.

Trump wanted to be the mediator to stop the war and spoke to Putin first. Instead of waiting for Trump to speak to him, egged on by EU leaders Zelensky started criticising Trump for not involving him in the talks. His remark “He should be on our side” demonstrated clearly that Zelensky had not understood the role of a mediator. His lack of political experience was the major reason for the fiasco in the White House and the subsequent actions of Trump clearly showed Zelensky where he stands! PM Starmer and President Macron seem to have given some sensible advice and he seems to be eating humble pie. In the process Trump has ensured that the European nations pay for their defence than piggy-backing on the US, which I am sure would please the American voter. By the way, though Macron talks big about defence France spends less than 2% of GDP. Trump seems vindicated. Of course, Trump could be blamed for being undiplomatic but he can afford to be as he has the upper hand!

Ranil on Al Jazeera

Zelensky has shown what not to do: instead of being diplomatic being aggressive when you need favours! Meanwhile, Ranil has shown what not to do when it comes to TV interviews. God only knows who advised him, and why, for him to go ‘Head to Head’ with Mehdi Hasan on Al-Jazeera. Perhaps, he wanted to broadcast to the world that he was the saviour of Sri Lanka! The experienced politician he is, one would have expected Ranil to realise that he would be questioned about his role in making Sri Lanka bankrupt as well, in addition to raising other issues.

The interview itself was far from head to head; more likely heads to head! It turned out to be an inquisition by Tiger supporters and the only person who spoke sense being Niraj Deva, who demonstrated his maturity by being involved in British and EU politics. The worst was the compere who seems keen to listen his own voice, reminding me of a Sinhala interviewer on a YouTube channel whose interviews I have stopped watching!

Ranil claims, after the interview was broadcast, that it had been heavily edited reduced from a two-hour recording. Surely, despite whatever reason he agreed to, he should have laid ground rules. He could have insisted on unedited broadcast or his approval before broadcast, if it was edited. It was very naïve of Ranil to have walked in to a trap for no gain. Though his performance was not as bad as widely reported, he should have been more composed at the beginning as he turned out to be later. Overall, he gave another opportunity for the Tiger rump and its supporters to bash Sri Lanka, unfortunately.

Medhi Hasan should watch some of David Frost interviews, especially the one with Richard Nixon, and learn how to elicit crucial information in a gentle exploratory manner than shouting with repeated interruptions. He does not seem to think it is necessary to give time for the interviewee to respond to his questions. I will never watch Al-Jazeera’s “Head to Head” again!

Ranil’s best was his parting shot; when asked by Hasan whether he would contest the next presidential election, he said “No, I will retire and watch Al-Jazeera and hope to see you better mannered”!

Opinion

Ajahn Brahm to visit SL in May 2025

Published

5 days ago

2025/03/11

Sahan Weerasooriya

The Ajahn Brahm Society of Sri Lanka (ABSSL) is pleased to announce that Ajahn Brahm will be visiting Sri Lanka for a short stay in May this year. Many, both Buddhists and non-Buddhists, know him and have listened to his addresses made on earlier visits, including his 2023 public talk at the BMICH, which was attended by over 4,000 people.

Ajahn Brahmavamso, popularly known as Ajahn Brahm, is the Head Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Serpentine, Perth. He was a pupil of the famous Thai forest monk Ajahn Chah, considered the best Theravada meditation teacher in the last century. By his own choice, Ajahn Brahmavamso shortened his name and was extra pleased that the initials represent the major religions of the world. He is renowned world-wide as an outstanding meditation bhikkhu, teacher and instructor, guiding thousands of practitioners.

As in previous visits, Ajahn Brahm’s schedule will be packed with addresses, meetings with senior professionals, business leaders, and researchers. This year, a special session has been included for teenagers and young adults.

The agenda planned for him includes:

Public address at the BMICH to all irrespective of religion and age; then to a younger audience.

· Exclusive Leadership Forum for senior professionals and business leaders.

· Forum with academics engaged in research at the Centre for Meditation Research, University of Colombo.

· A week-long meditation retreat for the Ven Sangha and experienced lay meditators.

Public Addresses

The public addresses will be on Sunday, May 18, 2025, from 7:00 am to 11:00 am, at the BMICH Main Hall and Sirimavo Halls; Ajahn Brahm moving from one hall to another so the entire audience sees him. Each hall will be well equipped with audio and video presentation. The first address: The Art of Meaningful Living, is designed for all, age notwithstanding, offering wisdom and practical insights for a fulfilling life. The second: Coping with Life Transitions and Emotional Challenges, is a special session tailored for teens and young adults, addressing key challenges faced by them in today’s fast-paced, competitive world. Both talks will be in English, with concise translation to Sinhala by Ven Damita Thera.

Exclusive Forums

On Saturday, May 17, 2025, two exclusive forums will be held at the BMICH Committee Room, Jasmine Hall. The first such session will be with eighty invited Sri Lankan academics and scientists engaged in research on meditation at the Centre for Meditation Research of the University of Colombo. This will be followed in the evening by an interactive session for a hundred invited senior professionals and business leaders, featuring a talk on leadership followed by a Q&A session.

Meditation Retreat

The most significant item on Ajahn Brahm’s programme will be a week-long meditation retreat at the Barberyn Waves Ayurveda Resort in Weligama. Focus is intended to be on the fifty members of the Ven Sangha. A limited number of experienced lay meditators will also have the opportunity to participate.

Participation & Registration

Those interested in attending the public talks at the BMICH are kindly advised to register at to secure free passes. For further information, please contact the Ajahn Brahm Society of Sri Lanka at .