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Sympathies didn’t succour the PA— Prof GL

by Prabath Sahabandu
Minister of Justice, Constitutional Affairs, Ethnic Affairs and National Integration and Deputy Minister of Finance Prof. Gamini Lakshman Peiris, who is recuperating from a surgery following the December 18 bomb blast, says that if a national government is not possible then there is no reason why one should not look seriously at a more limited arrangement for resolving the north and east conflict.

A national government in the conventional sense, he says, is not the only answer.

That the UNP’s Working Committee has not been inclined to accept the suggestion to form a national government should not be a barrier for a common programme of action to be adopted by the two main parties to evolve a viable solution to the problem, he says.

Denying the claims by his opponents that the so-called clincher for President Kumaratunga was the abortive terrorist bomb blast, Prof. Peiris says that although there is a decrease in her majority this time, people voted for her as they have confidence in her as the person capable of resolving the conflict.

The December 18 blast which injured President’s eye and broke his right arm, which he thought had been severed while he was being rushed to hospital in an STF jeep, he says, should not cause him to feel malice or ill will. Instead, he says, it has caused him and the government to be resolved to proceed with the search for a solution.

"It is a miracle that saved the President and me," says he holding his injured arm. He says he is saddened by the fact that many people including party supporters, media personnel, policemen and PSD personnel were killed in the blast.

If the formation of a national government is not possible then what is the alternative that the government has? And if it is not the sympathy vote that stood the PA in good stead at the Dec. 21 election, what was it? Prof. Peiris provided answers from his sick bed at the Merchants’ Ward of the National Hospital in an interview with ‘The Island’ Sunday Edition.

How would you recall what happened to you at the Town Hall on December 18?

The last memory I have of the incident is of the President having a word with a journalist dressed in light green who proffered a microphone to her as she was about to get into her car. I was the last among the speakers at the rally before Mr. Fowzie, who spoke on behalf of the organisers. Then the President made the final speech, spoke to the people on the stage and climbed down the stairs. As she was speaking to the journalist the explosion occurred. I felt a mild pain in my chest and I was conscious of a slight stain on my shirt. I knew, of course what had occurred but I was able to walk up to Mr. Chandra Silva, the Mayor of Kotte and tell him that I was injured. Chandra then carried me. "There was intense pain. I thought my arm had been severed. Chandra handed me over to the STF. Mrs. Srimani Athulathmudali was directly in front of me when the incident occurred and she played a very useful part in trying to attract attention. A portion of the fence had to be broken down to enable me to be taken to hospital. At the accident ward things were very competently and professionally handled. It is a miracle that the President and I got away with only injuries.

Isn’t what befell the President you and many others a pointer that terrorism has to be crushed by any means if the country is to be made safe for the people. What lessons have you learnt from the narrow escape you had?

The response to such an incident is not to feel any malice or ill will. But we are firmly resolved to proceed with the search for a solution . It is abundantly clear that unless there is a durable and lasting resolution of the ethnic conflict, the goals in respect of economic development and so on cannot be fully achieved.

However, it is widely believed that it is the sympathy vote generated by that abortive assassination attempt that helped the government, which is said to be not so popular romp home. What would you say to this?

The result I think is very clear. Only one interpretation is possible. The argument that the government was unpopular and the UNP was going to win has been amply disproved. It is also very clear that the overall result was not in any way due to a sympathy vote. The best proof of that is the postal vote. There was a rumour at that time that the postal vote had gone against the government. But the results proved the contrary. And the postal voting took place several days before the bomb blast. The postal voting indicated that the government officials and others stood by the government.

President Kumartunga went before the people prematurely seeking a fresh mandate to implement the government’s constitutional reforms which are said to be an euphemism for the so-called Package. But there has been a drastic reduction in the number of votes she polled this time when compared to her performance in 1994, when she polled over 62 per cent. How would you explain this reduction?

There are several misconceptions there. No government can expect the same level of support after governing the country for five years. But in this case there were special circumstances. Some of them were internal and others were external. The internal problem is the war, which necessitates the use of more than one third of the country’s income. But there the main achievement of the government and the President was to ensure throughout the last five years that a balance was struck between three things - war expenditure, development expenditure and welfare expenditure. Far wealthier countries under similar circumstances have told their people that priorities have to be firmly established, the war has to be won first and development and welfare have to be considered subsequently. President Kumaratunga never adopted that attitude for a single moment. The external circumstances that I referred to resulted from the collapse of economies which were far stronger than ours. The World Bank reports indicate that in the whole region most rapid progress occurred in Thailand. The Thai economy grew by 16 per cent per year. But when the East Asian crisis occurred, the Thai economy declined by 16 per cent. There was chaos with regard to the Thai economy. The banking sector there almost collapsed. That happened in Indonesia and Malaysia as well. Those extreme consequences were avoided in Sri Lanka.

That is not a matter of coincidence but because of the pragmatic policies of President Kumaratunga and her government. All this helped us win the presidential election albeit with a reduced majority.

But is 51 per cent adequate for constitutional reforms to be implemented?

When Rajiv Gandhi won what was considered as an overwhelming mandate in India to rewrite the constitution and indeed reform political structures throughout India, he did not get more than 40 per cent of votes there. So with this 40 per cent, he was considered to have an all pervasive mandate. Nobody ever said that he had got less than half the votes of India. It is therefore quite evident that a 51 per cent mandate for President Kumaratunga five years after she began the administration of the country is an overwhelming mandate.

Apart from the sympathy vote, what helped you win the election according to your opponents is widespread election malpractices. It is reported that you are priding yourself on having won the Moratuwa electorate. Unless you explain the PA’s victory in terms of malpractices, how can you explain the phenomenon of the PA having won comfortably in the same electorates as it lost at the last provincial council election?

No I don’t think so. People voted for President Kumaratunga and we introduced new programmes and did a great deal of work during the last few months to win back those who had left us. For example let me explain you how we enabled the PA to win the Moratuwa electorate. I am very happy about the result there. I became the chief SLFP organiser for Moratuwa only three months ago. We told the people of Moratuwa that they could judge us from the result of our work. We had discussions with municipal councillors, provincial councillors and others and identified the priorities clearly and accurately. The first thing we did was to organise a Shramadhana campaign in Moratuwa. Moratuwa has a large and articulate middle class the majority of whom do not ask for personal things such as promotions and transfers. They are much more concerned about public work. We therefore introduced the following programme to cater to their needs. Garbage disposal: This was a very serious problem in the area. We have arranged for garbage to be removed at night and that has been appreciated by the people of the area.

Mosquitoes: Garbage and lack of a proper water drainage system has resulted in this menace. We have introduced a programme to eradicate mosquitoes.

Kasippu: A large number of people die in the area because of the consumption of illicit liquor. Many of the poor people in the area work very hard and in the evening they drink kasippu. I have told the police that I expect them not so much as the SLFP organiser for Moratuwa but as the country’s Minister of Justice to take rapid and effective action against all those who are responsible for breaking the law. I have made it very clear that under no circumstances would I intervene to protect persons who were guilty of criminal offences.

Financial difficulty of craftsmen and fishermen: As far as economic life of Moratuwa is concerned there are two areas of activity 1) carpentry 2) fisheries. There are serious problems afflicting the carpentry industry because of conveyor belt products coming from European countries and elsewhere. They have had some difficulty in competing with the imported products. They also have difficulty in marketing their products. We had discussions with some of the large companies in Colombo and one company was prepared to give us orders worth about Rs.10 million. This means the carpenters are turning out products to satisfy an order that has already been placed. For this purpose we have started forming people’s companies each comprising about 50 people. We have started work on a four storeyed complex of flats for fishermen at a cost of Rs. 60 million. And a playground too will be constructed together with a community centre. We have also taken steps to ensure that fishermen will no longer be dependent on mudalalis. State banks would make loans available at nominal rates of interest and that would be a great boon to the community.

Unemployment: I thought of a job bank to help the unemployed youth of Moratuwa. We had discussions with some of the larger companies in Colombo and about 45 of them sent their representatives to Moratuwa. About 3000 from the area participated. It was held on December 4, 1999. The basic objective was to match the qualifications and aspirations of the candidates with the job opportunities that were available in these companies. We found jobs for 350 people. And the companies are going to summon 900 others for second interview. I had embarked on something of this kind when I was the Vice Chancellor of the Colombo University. I realised that unlike in the days when we were undergraduates, present-day graduands require much more assistance from the university administration in finding suitable employment. What I did was this. If I knew that in December of a particular year there would be 25 honours graduates passing out in Chemistry, I would address a personal letter to the chairmen or directors of large companies in Colombo where I knew there would be opportunities for these graduates to find employment and I was able to persuade some of these companies to send representatives to the university to interview these students before they sat their final exams. That way many students from rural backgrounds were able to find highly lucrative and satisfying employment in the large companies of Colombo. I meet them from time to time and that is a source of deep satisfaction for me. That’s why I thought of an extension of a programme like that to Moratuwa on a large scale.

I also put a sharp focus on educational activities in the Moratuwa electorate. I thought it was a mistake to rely on the Treasury for everything. Indeed that is one of the reasons why there is a widespread feeling of disillusionment with the political culture of our country. It is important for the civil society to play a much more vigorous role for us to use our own initiatives. I therefore decided to use the money which I had earned from the publication of 13 books which I wrote during my 26 years in the university for the purposes connected with the education for the people of Moratuwa. I set up a scholarship fund. We chose 100 students from the Moratuwa electorate to benefit from this. I have to spend Rs. 50,000 a month for this purpose. I am very happy to do so. The selection of beneficiaries has been done by the officials of the Education Department on the basis of their 1) academic merit 2) participation in extra curricular activities and 3) financial difficulties.

We started a programme to hold lectures in science and mathematics for students who are preparing for G. C. E. Ordinary Level examination. We are also starting a computer unit at Moratuwa Vidyalaya and it will be open to the people after school hours. We will introduce a mobile computer centre with the help of Minister Fowzie, who will provide us with a single decker bus for this purpose. A working knowledge of computers is essential today to serve the needs of children of smaller schools. We are also starting a programme to enable students in Moratuwa to learn English free of charge.

Water drainage: The Lunawa lagoon will be developed and other steps taken to solve this problem. The drinking water problem too will be solved in the near future.

The result in Moratuwa is encouraging indeed. From a deficit of 2,500 votes in the provincial council election we were able to achieve a majority of 8,500 in a matter of 3 months. The 41,000 is also the highest on record. This was possible because the people had confidence in the programme which had been initiated, It is now for us to deliver results in a shorter time.

President Kumaratunga’s call for the UNP to join hands with her to resolve the north and east conflict could be described as a welcome move. But is it possible that the UNP will agree to the formation of a national government? Else how would you think that the government can secure co-operation of the UNP to evolve whatever political solution?

I think President Kumaratunga did something quite remarkable in her speech. She specifically stated that she recognised the strength of the opposition party. She said that the country had had the courage and strength to create two major parties and now it was for the two major parties to enhance the strength of the nation by evolving a common programme of action to address the basic national problems of our time. It is not a statement that one would expect in a victory speech. I think it is a very timely and very opportune development in a mature political culture where it is possible for the main political party to identify certain core issues which require a consensual approach. Of course the party system involves some degree of acrimony but that should not militate against the responsible political parties identifying common programmes of action with regard to matters which are critical for the survival of the nation. I don’t believe a national government in the conventional sense is the only answer. There are newspaper reports that the Working Committee of the UNP has not been inclined to accept the suggestion relating to a national government.

National government is a culmination of a process. There are of course instances in the Commonwealth countries where in times of deep crises the two main parties got together and the opposition parties accepted portfolios in a cabinet headed by the rival party. If 100 per cent is not achievable there is no reason why one should not look seriously at a more limited arrangement. I think that if the PA and the UNP can agree on a common approach to the ethnic crisis, then we would have the foundation for a durable and lasting solution. There is no doubt that an overwhelming majority in the country welcomes very enthusiastically such an approach. We should work towards that with great vigour and dedication in the spirit of President Kumaratunga’s call.

The New Millennium

by Dr. Stanley Kalpage
This column is being written on the last day of the old millennium. The New Millennium has arrived even though convincing arguments were adduced that the first day of the third millennium would be 1.1.2001 and not 1.1.2000. A millennium would be complete only after a thousand years. Since the First Millennium began on 1.1.01 and not on 1.1.00, it would have ended only on 31.12.1000. Accordingly, the Second Millennium would have begun on 1.1.1001 and ended on 31.12.2000.

But the convenience of a rounded number and the pressures of commercial interests have deemed that the dawn of the Third Millennium will be celebrated on 1 January 2000. Preparations of varying type and scale have been made the world over to celebrate appropriately the passage from the Second to the Third Millennium. So, when the clock strikes the midnight hour on 31 December 1999, a New Year, a New Century and a New Millennium would have dawned.

It is most unlikely that there would be an abrupt break in the patterns of life on planet earth when the New Millennium arrives, unless the much touted Y2K computer bug wreaks havoc by making systems with date-sensitive computer chips unable to properly process the change from 1999 to 2000. Even so, there will be many who will want to make the dawn of a new millennium in some special way either through group revelry or in solitary reflection.

Universal celebrations

The dawn of the Third Millennium will be greeted with appropriate festive and religious observances. Festivities in New York will include a new crystal ball, designed by Waterford Crystal, dropped at midnight in Times Square. The ball is six feet in diameter, weighs 1,700 pounds and is covered by 504 crystal triangles. At one minute before midnight, the ball will be dropped down the 77-foot flagpole atop the One Time Square building to signal the start of 2000.

One spot on earth where the dawn of the New Millennium will attract outside observers is the comparatively isolated Republic of Kiribati consisting of 33 scattered atolls in the Pacific Ocean. Kiribati has suddenly acquired prominence with tourists and journalists making their way to Kiribati to be the first, earth dwellers to watch the sunrise in the New Millennium. Kiribati has found fame as the place on earth to hear the first stroke of midnight and the first sunrise of a new age.

To be in this advantageous position, Kiribati changed the International Date Line nearly six years ago so that Caroline Island (later renamed Millennium Island) sits on an easterly kink and will be the first country to receive the rays of the rising sun at the dawn of the New Millennium.

The leaders of Kiribati have made intensive arrangements to receive the visitors pouring into their country. King Tebururo Tito is ecstatic that his country in the centre of international media attention. He exults: "Our elders tell us that in our ancient myths and legends, these islands were where creation began. This particular moment in history seems to confirm the mythology of our ancestors."

From imperial colonies to a community of nations

Not everyone will be lucky enough to be transported either to New York or to some exotic island in the Pacific Ocean to usher in the New Millennium. Many can however indulge themselves in recalling the outstanding events that have marked the past thousand years or, more conveniently, to think of the landmark events and the distinguished personalities of the century that is ending. They could ponder on the concerns and challenges that await our globalising world in general and our respective countries in particular in the initial years of the new millennium.

During the 20th century, two devastating World Wars were fought with unremitting ferocity by the nations of Europe, dragging into the conflagrations their far flung colonies. It was only with the establishment of the United Nations in October 1945 with 51 nations initially on board that the world community set itself on a course of international co-operation and common endeavour to safeguard world peace and to provide hope for the economic, social, cultural and ecological development of nations big and small.

Rise and fall of ideologies

Even so, for more than four decades the Cold War, that period of the ideological divide between the communist and capitalist worlds, prevented the full flowering of international co-operation. The collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet communist empire set the stage for the remarkable events of the last decade of the 20th century.

Earlier, at the start of the second half of the 20th century, the dissolution of the other empires in Africa, Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean was effected mostly under the inspiration and guidance provided by the United Nations. And so the New Millennium has dawned together with the problems posed by globalisation and the formidable challenges facing mankind hurtling towards an uncertain future under the tremendous impact of breathtaking technological advances.

Liberation movements have marked the 20th century and nationalism has assumed a certain prominence. Violent upheavals took place in the Soviet Union under the inspiration of Vladimir Ilyiich Lenin. Military muscle displayed by the fascist dictators, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and their East Asian counterparts in Japan led to the Second World War - one of the most fearsome wars in history brought to a close with the explosion of atomic weapon in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Communism and Nazism have come and gone. The emergence of the US as the premier world power was symbolised by the crumbling of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Dramatic improvements in transportation and communications technology have shrunk the globe and linked nations to an increasingly global economy based largely on the principles of capitalism and democracy.

Despite these board trends, troubling problems remain. Nationalism and fundamentalism are on the rise. Violence, promoted by ethnic, cultural and religious rivalries, is still widely prevalent. The scourge of terrorism is now so widespread that the international community is awakening to the threat posed by narco-terrorist groups around the world.

Millennium Assembly of the United Nations

It is not so easy to predict the future when cataclysmic changes are taking place everywhere. At its 50th anniversary celebration in 1995, the United Nations was hoping to put in place important reform measures to make the world body a more effective and efficient instrument for the maintenance of world peace and the development of nations. Important reforms such as the restructuring of the Security Council have been debated for many years but the consensus needed for such reforms has eluded the expanded membership of the United Nations, now at 188.

In 1997, the General Assembly realising that the turn of the century would be a unique and compelling event for the Member States of the United Nations, passed a resolution proposing that the General Assembly in 2000 be designated the Millennium Assembly and that a Summit Session be held for the world’s leaders to review the role of the United Nations vis a vis the prospects and the challenges of the future. The Millennium Summit is due to begin on 7 September 2000.

China’s growing strength

Great power equations keep on changing. Great Britain was the foremost world power in the 19th century and remained so even at the turn of the 20th. The United States moved into first position among world powers during the second half of the twentieth century. China has the opportunity to be the next century’s dominant international player. China lost Taiwan to Japan in 1895. Beijing itself was occupied in 1900 by an expeditionary force after the catastrophic Boxer Uprising and many of China’s major cities had foreign settlements exempt from Chinese law.

The tide has changed after Mao Tse-tung founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The tumultuous half century that has elapsed since then has brought China to the threshold of another century that could well be as momentous for her as the 11th century when China was both the largest and the most successfully run country on earth.

Once again China is reaching out to the world and is being courted by other powers. She is a member of the UN Security Council and, with a burgeoning economy, is an economic and military force to be reckoned with. China does not have the same vast physical resources as the United States or Russia but if her vast population of over a billion people can continue to be technologically educated and mobilised for the tasks of nation building, she will surely assume a prominent place among the nations of the world.

Tasks of nation-building

At home Sri Lanka’s voters have given a clear mandate for a second presidential term to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. They are fervently hoping for a period of political stability during which solutions to national problems can be achieved through a national consensus.

Two of the most urgent tasks looming ahead in the immediate future are: first, ending the spectre of terrorism and second, the adoption of an economic agenda with reforms which will ensure social justice to all those in the depths of poverty and deprivation. The political players and the national media have an important role to play in the successful accomplishment of these challenging tasks.

The response to the challenge of terrorism requires unity of purpose and a common will among all political groups. The voters were harangued with possible solutions during the presidential polls. Determined efforts are now needed to bring terrorism to an early end, not forgetting that the terrorists have grown in strength and in ruthlessness while other Sri Lankans bickered among themselves. The aim of a national consensus should be to ensure to all Sri Lankans an environment to live in security and dignity in any part of a common undivided homeland.

The eradication of poverty is no less important. This also required a more determined national effort and is of prime importance. The din of millennium eve revelry should not drown our concerns and anxieties over the economic programmes and policies that are needed to achieve decent living standards for the people.

The divisiveness of a presidential election is over. Sri Lankans can now enter the new era with confidence, determined to do much better than during the concluding decade of the 20th century in addressing the formidable tasks involved in nation building, particularly in tackling the twin scourges of terrorism and poverty.

L E G A L W A T C H
Court protects public’s right to free speech between elections

by Nayana
The right to vote at an election has been held to be part and parcel of the exercise of the right of free speech and expression. In the case of Karunatilleke v. Dissanayake, otherwise known as the Provincial Councils election case, the Supreme Court stated thus:

"The most effective manner in which a voter may give expression to his views ....is by silently marking his ballot paper in the secrecy of the polling booth. The silent and secret expression of a citizen’s preference as between one candidate and another by casting his vote is no less an exercise of the freedom of speech and expression than the most eloquent speech from a political platform."

However, the facts of a case decided by the Supreme Court last month indicate the extent to which the very people who have been elected to office by the people’s vote are prone to stifle the freedom of speech and expression of others.

In the case of Peiris v. Rupasinghe and others, an application under Article 126 of the Constitution, the Bench comprising Justices Amerasinghe, Wijetunga and Gunasekera emphasized the importance of the public’s right to freedom of speech and association even as against their own elected representatives.

The aggrieved petitioner was one of the convernors of the Muturajawela United People’s Organization (MUPO) whose object was the implementation of the Muturajawela Master Plan which had been initiated by the Greater Colombo Economic Commission for the sustainable development of the Muturajawela and Negombo Lagoon area.

The 1st respondent was Gampaha District MP Neil Rupasinghe while the 2nd to 5th respondents were the Chairman and three members of the Wattala Pradeshiya Sabha. The Pradeshiya Sabha itself (a body corporate) and the Attorney-General comprised the other respondents.

According to the facts that transpired in the case, there had been a record of some tension between MUPO and the ruling party politicians of the area which had culminated in a meeting with the President. The minutes of that meeting recorded that the President was to instruct Members of Parliament of the area "to refrain from interfering with the master plan implementation process".

Last January, the petitioner was invited by the Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority to attend a workshop that had been organized on the Integrated Muturajawela Marsh and Negombo Lagoon System. According to the petitioner, he had taken his seat at the workshop when he was informed that the 1st respondent was waiting outside to meet him.

The petitioner’s version of events was that he found the 1st respondent accompanied by the 2nd to 5th respondents and about 20 other persons waiting for him and that they told him to keep out of the meeting. When the petitioner had sought to contest this demand, he had been assaulted by members of the group including the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman while the 1st respondent had informed the manager of the venue at which the workshop was being held that the petitioner should be required to leave if the workshop was to continue.

The manager and the police officers present had urged the petitioner to go and seek medical attention for his injures, whereupon the petitioner (evidently sensing that the odds were stacked against him) had left the scene. He made a statement at the Pamunugama Police Station and then got himself admitted to the Ragama Hospital.

The version of the 1st respondent was that he and the 2nd to 5th respondents, having been invited to participate at the same workshop, met the petitioner by chance outside the meeting hall and "inquired from him about the involvement of his organization in the project". The petitioner had become abusive and called the 1" Respondent a thug, and the crowd had become "restless". The petitioner had then been persuaded to leave the scene.

The Court declined to accept the respondents’ version for a number of reasons. Firstly, there were discrepancies between what the 1st respondent stated in his affidavit filed in Court and what he had said to the Police at the time. There were also inconsistencies in the affidavit itself, as when the 1st respondent claimed that he had asked the petitioner about the involvement of his organization in the project but stated elsewhere in the same affidavit that he was aware that the MUPO was participating in discussions over this project.

In addition, the Colombo North JMO’s report on the condition of the petitioner when admitted to the Ragama Hospital was consistent with the assault complained of by the petitioner.

The Court accordingly accepted the petitioner’s case that the I 1st to 5th respondents had effectively prevented him from exercising his rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and freedom of association guaranteed by the Constitution. Although none of these rights are absolute, and can be restricted by law for the reasons set out in Article 15, the respondents had not purported to curtail the petitioner’s freedoms on any of those grounds.

The Court had no doubt that the 1st to 5th respondents had acted under colour of office as elected representatives of the people. They had been invited to the workshop as persons whose views were sought on the promotion and implementation of policy relating to a major public project. Hence their conduct amounted to "executive or administrative action" within the meaning of Article 126 of the Constitution.

Among the precedents cited by Court were the cases of Faiz v. Attorney General and Deshapriya v. Municipal Council, Nuwara Eliya. The first of these cases concerned an incident in 1991 in which two UNP Members of Parliament of the Polonnaruwa District and a Member of the North Central Provincial Council led an assault on a Wildlife Ranger who had arrested some of their supporters caught illegally felling timber in a nature reserve.

The second case arose when the then Mayoress of Nuwara Eliya, Nalin Thilaka Herath, seized and destroyed 450 copies of the "Yukthiya" newspaper which had been sent to the area for distribution. Herath was ordered to pay Rs. 100,000 by way of compensation and a further Rs. 10,000 as costs, making it one of the highest damages awards against an individual in any fundamental rights case. In the words of the Court:

"It would not be right to assess compensation at a few thousand rupees simply because the newspaper was sold for seven rupees a copy; that would only be the pecuniary loss caused by the violation of the petitioners’ rights of property under ordinary law. We are here concerned with a fundamental right which not only transcends property rights but which is guaranteed by the Constitution; and with an infringement which darkens the climate of freedom in which the peaceful clash of ideas and the exchange of information must take place in a democratic society. Compensation must therefore be measured by the yardstick of liberty, and not weighed in the scales of commerce."

In the Muturajawela case the petitioner was awarded a sum of Rs. 55,000 as damages and costs from each of the 1st to 5th respondents, aggregating to a total award of Rs. 275,000. This eclipses even the award in the Nuwara Eliya case, the only difference being that here the damages were shared among five respondents.

The Supreme Court has traditionally taken a stem view of infringements of the right of free speech, an area in which American legal thinking appears to have exerted a strong influence on our jurisprudence. The Court came down hard on the respondents in the Muturajawela case precisely because "as the elected representatives of the people, they ought to have appreciated the fact that the continued vitality of free speech is essential if democracy is to flourish and indeed if democratic institutions like Parliament and Pradeshiya Sabhas were to survive".

The Court also stressed the importance of free speech on public issues between elections: "It is only through free debate and exchange of ideas that the elected majority can be made responsive to, and reflect the will of, the people. The election of representatives does not imply that they may do as they will. Members of the public must be free to influence intelligently the decisions of those persons for the time being empowered to act for them in matters which may affect themselves. Every legitimate interest of the people or a section of them should have the opportunity of being made known and felt in the political process. There are many matters of public concern, either because they arise between elections and cannot be decided by universal suffrage or because they are not based on political loyalties or preferences, which are nevertheless matters on which the individual citizen must communicate his or her ideas if representative democracy is to work."

There is also clearly a deterrent element in the imposition of heavy fines in freedom of speech cases. The philosophy behind it was starkly put by Justice Jackson of America in words that have been quoted by our Supreme Court in more than one case: "Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard."

Sunday Island Politics
Threat to Ranil’s leadership fails

by Deshavimala
President Chandrika Kumaratunga returned to the country in the early hours of last Thursday after medical treatment in London. Despite losing the vision of her right eye, the President got to work immediately.The first job was to order an immediate inquiry into an alleged gang rape incident in the North where some men in uniform are being suspected of the crime. She personally called the Defence Secretary Chandrnanda De Silva on reading the news in the print media and directed him to apprehend the culprits irrespective of their positions. The incident reported said that a young Tamil mother had been raped by some men in uniform and the culprits were at large.

Defence Secretary acting on the orders of the President immediately telephoned the Jaffna Commander and gave the necessary instruction.The Jaffana Commander in turn conveyed the order to the hierarchchy of the Navy and the Airforce in the peninsula.

On the eve of her departure to Colombo from London,she was interviewed by the BBC Correspondent George Arnie who was earlier stationed in Colombo. The President during her interview disclosed that she had made two attempts to resume a dialogue with the LTTE. First with the help of the Commonwealth Secretary General and the other with the help of the Norwegian government. The second attempt had been in consultation with the political advisor and theoretician of the LTTE Anton Balasingham. Balasingham is reported to have said that they would think of a dialogue after the Presidential election. ‘Probably they wanted to get me before the election’, the President told the BBC. This was proved right as the LTTE made an attempt on her life which resulted in the President losing her right eye.

The President told the BBC that she had not given up the idea to find peace through talks.She said she was prepared to talk with the LTTE and any member can be sent for that purpose by Prabakaran. "If Prabakaran likes he also can come’,said the President. Pointing out that peace was the need of the hour, she said that Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe too should make a positive approach to sit together to achieve that goal." I want Mr.Wickremesinghe to join me to bring everlasting peace", she noted.

Asked whther she meant that Wickremesinghe should join her to form a national government to achieve peace, President Kumaratunga said,’First let us work towards peace and thereafter we can form even fifty national governments’.

This statement of the President is clear that she wants the UNP leader to join her to find peace first and the issue of a national government consideered later. The UNP has already decided to support her in a bid for peace. The joint meeting of the UNP parliamentary group and the working committee which was held last Monday decided to support Kumaratunga to end the war and bring peace to the country. Wickremesinghe told his men that the President on her return should put forward a positive plan to end the war and bring peace." She must put forward that plan for us to respond positively", Wickremesinghe asserted at the joint meeting.

Wickremesinghe has now responded positively to the President’s call putting the ball back in Kumaratunga’s court. The President should now in consultation with all parties come out with her plan to end the war and bring peace to this strife torn nation which entered a new millenium yesterday.

UNP politics

Some UNP parliamentarians were dejected and disgusted after the defeat of Ranil Wickremesinghe at the presidential election on December 21.These MPs discussed the future of the party and theirs after this defeat. The rebel group of the UNP supporting the PA thought it opportune to tap these MPs to get their support. The rebels who had drawn up a plan to take over ‘Siri Kotha’ the following Monday started to talk to the UNP MPs from Friday before last. Some rebels visited UNP MPs at their homes.Among those who recieved invitations to join the rebel group were Tyronne Fernando, John Amaratunga,Gamini Lokuge, Susantha Punchinilame,