09/26/2010
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The Guardian (UK)
In concentrating power in his own hands Mahinda Rajapaksa resembles the ruthless Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran
09/19/2010
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Sri Lanka Guardian
(September 19, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Having removed the sole really-existing impediment to dynastic rule with the 18th Amendment, the triumphant Rajapakses are hatching the next step in their constitutional revolution. According to Minister Maitripala Sirisena, the 19th Amendment will introduce a hybrid of proportional representation and first-past-the-post systems. It will also reform the 13th Amendment, the Indian-propelled constitutional provision which devolved a measure of power from the centre to the provinces and, thus, from the majority to the minorities.
09/19/2010
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Sunday Leader
Having removed the sole really-existing impediment to dynastic rule with the 18th Amendment, the triumphant Rajapakses are hatching the next step in their constitutional revolution. According to Minister Maitripala Sirisena, the 19th Amendment will introduce a hybrid of proportional representation and first-past-the-post systems. It will also reform the 13th Amendment, the Indian-propelled constitutional provision which devolved a measure of power from the centre to the provinces and, thus, from the majority to the minorities.
09/17/2010
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WSJ
OPINION: Sri Lanka's president wants to stay in power for a long time. Only an organized opposition can stop him.
09/12/2010
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BBC, BBC Tamil
The United States says that the latest amendment to Sri Lanka constitution which was passed with a huge majority by the Sri Lanka parliament has undermined the democracy in the island nation.
09/12/2010
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Sunday Observer
Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa says the introduction of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution has paved the way to create stability and uphold democracy in the country. The Minister in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer said if this Amendment leads to even dictatorship, a single Opposition MP would not have crossed over to the Government or voted in favour of this Amendment. It is only those who want to turn this country to chaos who oppose this Amendment.
09/11/2010
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The Island
Nine years ago as two planes crashed into the Twin Towers, I was only one hundred meters away, and saw the debris of the twin towers eclipse downtown Manhattan. While the unpardonable attacks and the tremendous loss of life were shocking, what I did not expect was the reaction in the US. Within days fear and patriotism shook the liberal tradition in the US. While the Bush Regime and its neoconservative push to seek vast powers and place restrictions on civil liberties did not surprise me in the least, what worried me was the manner in which the Democrats caved in, and even more distressing was how liberal academics and intellectuals so easily surrendered to the fear mongering and thuggery of the Bush Regime.
09/07/2010
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AFP
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Mahinda Rajapakse to run for a third term in office, saying the constitution can be changed by a vote in parliament, officials said Tuesday.
09/06/2010
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TNA, TransCurrents
Full Text of Statement by Tamil National Alliance
'T.N.A cannot support the Eighteenth Amendment as presently constituted'
09/06/2010
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Groundviews
I don’t know whether I’m more angry or sad at the way in which patently undemocratic constitutional amendments are being rushed into law. I feel as if I’m watching my country being strangled, slowly, in the grip of self-serving and short-sighted men who have little love for Sri Lanka or its people. I don’t believe that the changes to the constitution will immediately make themselves felt in our daily lives. In some ways, the will simply legalize many unconstitutional practices that are currently in place. However, the changes in law will solidify these and establish new, even lower norms for the way Sri Lanka is governed. My fear is that by the time the implications of the proposed 18th Amendment will become fully apparent, it is likely that many of our fellow-citizens, our friends, co-workers, relative and frighteningly perhaps our children may have come to have such low expectations of their rights as citizens that they can’t see what’s wrong with an executive with unfettered powers. Some would argue that this has already happened. The erosion of the sovereignty of citizens of Sri Lanka has been going on for decades, and my worry is that even a referendum on the proposed 18th Amendment (rather than the illegitimate ‘urgent’ bypass operation being attempted’ would confirm that too many Sri Lankans believe in authority more than themselves.