Early voting appeal by Ranil...............by Piyasena Dissanyake
Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe requested the voters to go to the polling station early morning tomorrow and cast their ballots.
He also urged them not to give into any threats or intimidation.
His plea came as he addressed the final campaign rally for opposition candidate Gen (Retd) Sarath Fonseka on Saturday.
Wickremesinghe also requested all voters not to resort to any violent or destructive revelling of the victory or loss and not to damage public or private properties.
Making a special request to UNP and JVP party activists, Wickremesinghe alleged that the government was planning to win this election "by hook or by crook", and reminded them that it was their duty to safeguard and protect the respective polling stations.
www island.lk
Monday, January 25, 2010
SRILANKA: Presidential Elections - 2010:14,088,500 Voters will be casting their votes at 11,098 polling station on 26th January 2010
SIVAJILINGAM: HE GETS PROTEST VOTES OF TAMILS!BUT IT MIGHT HELP MR!SPOIL SF!
TRUTH: NEVER SAY! NEVER LISTEN! NEVER SEE!
DR.VICKY:MAN OF DIGNITY,EQUALITY&TRUTH!SUPPORT NE-TAMIL AUTONOMY&SELF-DETERMINATION!
MR:SAD...MORE & MORE DESPERATE!
SF: GOT SUPPORT FROM NOT ONLY UNP,TNA,SLMC,JVP....BUT ALSO SLFP VETERAN:CBK!
Presidential Elections - 2010
(1)
14,088,500 Voters will be casting their votes at 11,098 polling station on 26th January 2010 from 7.00 am to 4.00 pm
Electoral District No. of Registered Electors * No. of Polling Stations No of Counting Centers
01-Colombo 1,521,854 1,017 101
02-Gampaha 1,474,464 942 82
03-Kalutara 813,233 581 57
04-Mahanuwara 970,456 683 58
05-Matale 342,684 296 24
06-Nuwara-Eliya 457,137 393 30
07-Galle 761,815 670 51
08-Matara 578,858 442 33
09-Hambantota 421,186 373 25
10-Jaffna 721,359 624 13
11-Vanni 266,975 209 12
12-Batticaloa 333,644 362 22
13-Digamadulla 420,835 430 29
14-Trincomalee 241,133 278 20
15-Kurunegala 1,183,649 822 76
16-Puttalam 495,575 387 31
17-Anuradhapura 579,261 527 46
18-Polonnaruwa 280,337 231 21
19-Baddulla 574,814 507 41
20-Monaragala 300,642 307 21
21-Ratnapura 734,651 541 56
22-Kegalle 613,938 476 37
Total 14,088,500 11,098 886
* You can get polling division wise summary on "Electoral Process" page
(2)
The Names and address of the candidates and Election Agents who were appointed on or before the date of nominations on 17.12.2009 fot the Presidential Election scheduled to be held on 26.01.2010
Index No Name of Candidates Party Symbol
01 Mr. Mohomed Casim Mohomed Ismail, No 118, Soysa Watta, Welisara, Ragama Democratic United
National Front Eagle
02 Mr. Muthubandara Theminimulla, No 3/1, Sanghamitta Mawatha, Kandy Okkoma Wasiyo Okkoma Rajawaru Sanvidanaya Till
03. Mr. Achala Ashoka Suraweera. Susiri Place, Muruthalawa Jathika Sangwardhena Peramuna Coconut
04 Mr. Kiriella Gurunnanselage Ravindralal Perera, No 7/9B, Sewana Mawatha, Gangabada Road, Suwarapola, Piliyandala Our National Front Telephone
05 Mr. Sarath Manamendra, No 50, Ketawalamulla Lane, Colombo 09 Nawa Sihala Urumaya Bow and Arrow
06 Mr. Wickramabahu Karunarathne, No 17, Barrack Lane, Colombo 02 Left Front Table
07 Mr. Wekada Vitharanage Mahiman Ranjith, No 3, 34th Lane, Queen Road, Colombo 03 Independent Almirah
08 Mr. Sanath Pinnaduwa, No 240/1D, Boralugoda, Athurugiriya National Alliance Double Flags
09 Mr. Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka, No 06, 37th Lane, Queen Mawatha, Colombo 03 New Democratic Front Swan
10 Mr. Heethaka Oswald Aruna de Soysa, "Susiri", Nape, Kosgoda Ruhunu Janatha Party Motor Car
11 Mr. Wije Dias, No 301 1/1, Main Road, Aththidiya, Dehiwala Socialist Equality Party Pair of Scissors
12 Battaramulla Seelarathana Thero, No 185/B, Dewala Road, Thalangama South, Koswatta, Battaramulla Janasetha Peramuna Tractor
13 Mr. Panagoda Don Prince Solomon Anura Liyanage, No 07, Samner Place, Colombo 08 Sri Lanka Labour Party Kangaroo
14 Mr. Dina Aduruge Senarathne De Silva, No 5/B, Webada Road, Negombo Patriotic National Front Flag
15 Mr. Idurus Mohomed Ilyas, No 68, Masjid Road, Puttalam Independent Pineapple
16 Mr. Sirithunga Jayasuriya, No 57/7, D.S. Fonseka Road, Colombo 05 United Socialist Party Tri-shaw
17 Mr. Wijekoon Mudiyanselage Ukkubanda Wijekoon, No 24/6, 4th Lane, Pitakotte, Kotte Independent Jack
18 Mr. Meera Mohideen Mohomed Musthafa, No 16, Ramakrishna Road, Colombo 06 Independent Hat
19 Mr. Channa Janaka Sugathsiri Gamage, No 51, Piliyandala Road, Maharagama United Democratic Front Rabbit
20 Mr. Upali Sarath Kongahage, No 02, Community Road, Obehena Road, Madiwela United National Alternative Front Gate
21 Mr. Kanagalingam Siwajilingam, Ammankoviladi, Velvetithurai Independent Ship
22 Mr. Rajapaksha Percy Mahendra, Medamulana, Weeraketiya United People's Freedom
Alliance Betel Leaf
(The Names of the candidates are shown as indicated in the nomination paper)
** Rejected Nomination - Sri Lanka Progressive Front
(3)
Poll date 26th January 2010
Nomination Gazette 1629/21 of 27.11.2009, Nomination of Candidates will take place from 9.00 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the 17.12.2009, at the Elections Secretariat, Rajagiriya.
Prospective candidates can place their deposits at the Elections secretariat during normal office hours on or before 12.00 noon on 16th Dec, 2009.
Proclamation - Gazette Extraordinary 1629/08 - 2009.11.23
(4)
Postal Voting Facilities
1. Period for submitting Postal Voter's Applications : 27.11.2009 - 07.12.2009
2. Extension for submitting Postal Voter's Applications : 08.12.2009 - 18.12.2009
3. Certification of Postal Voter's Register : 24.12.2009
4. Date of issue of notice regarding issuing Ballot Papers : 24.12.2009
5. Issue of ballot papers for postal voters : 04.01.2010
6. Marking of Postal Ballot Papers : 12.01.2010 & 13.01.2010
(5)
Poll Cards
1. Handing over of poll cards to Postal Authorities : 06.01.2010
2. Special delivery date for poll cards : 10.01.2010
3. Last date for delivery of poll cards : 18.01.2010
(6)
Displaced Voters' Applications
1. Period for submitting displaced voters applications : 10.12.2009
2. Extension for submitting applications : 23.12.2009
3. Handing over of displaced voters poll cards to Postal Authorities : 11.01.2010
Elections to Provincial Council in Southern Province- 2009
(1) Date of Poll - 10.10.2009
Voting will commence at 7.00 a.m. and end at 4.00 p.m.
1,761,859 Voters are eligible to cast their votes at 1,485 polling stations.
Counting will commence at 168 counting centers around 6.00 p.m.
(2) Nomination Gazette 1613/39 of 07.08.2009, Nomination Period 21.08.2009 to 12 noon on 28.08.2009
Gazette in which dissoloution notice was published, 1613/01 of 03.08.2009
(3) Marking of Postal Votes - 29th & 30th Sept 2009
Postal Voter's applications - extended upto 28.08.2009
(4) District Polling Division No. of Pollinng Districts No. of Polling Stations No. of Registered Voters
Galle A Balapitiya 49 49 50,109
B Ambalangoda 58 58 68,780
C Karandeniya 58 58 67,025
D Bentara-Elpitiya 72 72 84,772
E Hiniduma 85 85 94,245
F Baddegama 80 80 89,805
G Ratgama 66 66 74,442
H Galle 61 61 71,575
I Akmeemana 69 69 84,872
J Habaraduwa 72 72 76,190
District Total 670 670 761,815
Matara A Deniyaya 62 62 86,311
B Hakmana 62 62 85,686
C Akuressa 62 62 87,510
D Kamburupitiya 63 63 77,705
E Devinuwara 61 61 74,601
F Matara 61 65 80,334
G Weligama 65 67 86,711
District Total 436 442 578,858
Hambantota A Mulkirigala 83 83 93,685
B Beliatta 73 73 74,470
C Tangalle 90 90 109,409
D Tissamaharama 127 127 143,622
District Total 373 373 421,186
Province Total 1,479 1,485 1,761,859
COURTESY:
© Department of Elections. All Rights Reserved 2008. Site by SLTnet.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
President: MR’s track record over the past four years does not bring him much credit! His record on other areas is hugely disappointing..!!!
Political violence;Only the powerless suffer
Notebook of a Nobody
By Shanie
"In our country the problem is not that people do not know what is correct; they know but justify doing what is wrong for short term gain rather than looking at the welfare of this country with her long history and long future. We have to ask that you please use your authority in the run-up to the election to free us from the taint of any impression that politics is to further politicians’ interests rather than those of the people (the ‘politicisation of politics’) and corruption of the whole process. We would like to see all the actions and speaking done on your behalf be of the highest standard in keeping with the norms of Sri Lankan civilised behaviour of which we know with certainty you are aware. The public also know what is correct and must please be shown it in action, rather than being confronted with breaches of correct and civilised conduct. The public is also capable of recognising correct action and appreciating it—in this case with a supportive vote!"
Once in a while, when it is election time, we have the politicians coming around with various promises to make our lives better. Manifestos and ‘Chinthanayas’ spell out policies and programmes which they pledge to implement when elected to power. The people are told that those programmes will ease the burden of living, will make life for our children more promising, ensure that there is law and order and that our community will be able to lead a contented, secure and healthy life. Many of these promises are forgotten after election day but at least a debate is generated on them before and after election. But this time around, the debates are not about the promises contained in the manifestos of the respective candidates. In point of fact, there is no debate on any subject. It is a question of mud-slinging, name-calling and unleashing violence.
It is this that has prompted three senior and respected citizens to show their concern at this lack of civilised behaviour in this election. Former Vice Chancellor Arjuna Aluvihare, former UN diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala and former head of the Chamber of Commerce Chandra Jayaratne have addressed an open letter to the two principal candidates at the forthcoming Presidential Election. The Citizen’s Movement for Good Governance had earlier addressed a questionnaire to the candidates and requested their commitment to implement some basic proposals within a stated time frame. The Open Letter by the three concerned citizens, an extract of which we quote at the beginning of this column, is the next best document to come out in the run-up to the election.
The current regime must bear the primay responsibility for the present lawless state of affairs in the country. To an independent observer it appears that the government wants to win re-election at any cost. In their desperation at the strong challenge by Sarath Fonseka, they have shown that they have no qualms about manipulating the law enforcement authorities to flout election laws, misuse state resources and engage in unprecedented violence. There has been counter-violence by the opposition alliance too but, however distasteful it is, such a response is to be expected. To turn the other cheek may be good religious teaching but to do so in the hurly burly of violent politics is to invite more violence. It is for this reason that the plea by the senior citizens will be echoed by all right thinking people. Politicians in authority, both in the government as well as in the opposition, must not give the people the impression that they are in politics to further their own or family interests rather than that of the nation. Apologists who make excuses or even gloss over the violation of the constitution and election laws, the blatant misuse of state resources that belong to the people and the violence unleashed on political opponents are equally guilty of crimes against the people.
A Vote for Change
Ukku Banda Wijekoon was a politician from the J. R. Jayewardene era. A former senior public servant, he turned to politics in 1970. Although a son of Uva, in 1977 he became a member of parliament for Dambadeniya in the North Western Province. He was later to be a cabinet minister and still later, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia. He is standing as a candidate in this election on a somewhat utopian platform. Based on Mahatma Gandhi’s statement: ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world’, Wijekoon wants to initiate constitutional reform for a ‘partyless people’s power’. Wijekoon may have no hope of being elected, but here at least is a senior politician challenging the country to think on new lines and to effect a change in the country’s political system by following Gandhi’s dictum that we must ourselves change if we are to be the agents of change.
A change, though of a different sort, is also the call to the working people of this country from the Ceylon Mercantile Union, the principal and oldest trade union of private sector white collar workers. After listing a litany of the constitutional violations and abuses of state power against the workers and people of this country, the CMU’s lengthy statement concludes: "Having regard to all the above mentioned facts and circumstances, our Executive Committee considers that that the re-election of President Rajapakse will only mean the continuance or even worsening of the living conditions of the working people, under the continuing political conditions of an already militarised society, in which democratic and human rights are no longer respected by the ruling regime. We have no reason to believe that General Fonseka will end this situation and change it for the better for the working people, with the political support of the UNP and the JVP. It is our considered view therefore that our own Union and other organisations of the working people, in urban as well as rural areas, will have to rely on their own strength and their capacity to combine their forces to deal with the situation that they will have to face after 26th January."
It is not an easy decision for the voters to take on 26th January. The incumbent President’s track record over the past four years does not bring him much credit. It is true that he presided over the defeat of LTTE terrorism. But Sarath Fonseka can equally claim credit for having led the Army in this victory. He provided the military leadership while Mahinda Rajapakse provided the political leadership. The victory would not have been possible if one of them was lacking. But Rajapakse’s record on other areas is hugely disappointing. By brazenly violating the Constitution, he has politicised the Public Service and the Police, thereby dismantling the democratic institutions built up over the years. Lawlessness, abductions, killings and harassment of political opponents have been carried out with impunity. The cost of basic food items keep rising to unbearable levels, despite statements by ministers that they are being reduced. All this while, we see politicians and their families leading lives of luxury Sarath Fonseks, if elected, may or may not fare much better. But there is a glimmer of hope when he categorically states that, if elected, his first act would be to do his constitutional duty by appointing the Constitutional Council in terms of the 17th Amendment. That at least is a first and significant step.
The Post Election Scenario
The results of the election will be known within the next five days. Judging by the level of pre-election violence, there could be much greater violence after the election. Particularly if there is a regime change, there will be tendency by the victims to take revenge on opponents who have unleashed violence on them during the pre-poll period.. We hope our leaders are mature enough to ensure that their supporters do not engage in post-election violence and take appropriate measures to prevent it. It is only the poor and the powerless who become victims of violence. The political big-timers and strong-men who encourage violence stand aloof. It is such people who should be subject not to violence but to the due process of the law.
www island.lk
Notebook of a Nobody
By Shanie
"In our country the problem is not that people do not know what is correct; they know but justify doing what is wrong for short term gain rather than looking at the welfare of this country with her long history and long future. We have to ask that you please use your authority in the run-up to the election to free us from the taint of any impression that politics is to further politicians’ interests rather than those of the people (the ‘politicisation of politics’) and corruption of the whole process. We would like to see all the actions and speaking done on your behalf be of the highest standard in keeping with the norms of Sri Lankan civilised behaviour of which we know with certainty you are aware. The public also know what is correct and must please be shown it in action, rather than being confronted with breaches of correct and civilised conduct. The public is also capable of recognising correct action and appreciating it—in this case with a supportive vote!"
Once in a while, when it is election time, we have the politicians coming around with various promises to make our lives better. Manifestos and ‘Chinthanayas’ spell out policies and programmes which they pledge to implement when elected to power. The people are told that those programmes will ease the burden of living, will make life for our children more promising, ensure that there is law and order and that our community will be able to lead a contented, secure and healthy life. Many of these promises are forgotten after election day but at least a debate is generated on them before and after election. But this time around, the debates are not about the promises contained in the manifestos of the respective candidates. In point of fact, there is no debate on any subject. It is a question of mud-slinging, name-calling and unleashing violence.
It is this that has prompted three senior and respected citizens to show their concern at this lack of civilised behaviour in this election. Former Vice Chancellor Arjuna Aluvihare, former UN diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala and former head of the Chamber of Commerce Chandra Jayaratne have addressed an open letter to the two principal candidates at the forthcoming Presidential Election. The Citizen’s Movement for Good Governance had earlier addressed a questionnaire to the candidates and requested their commitment to implement some basic proposals within a stated time frame. The Open Letter by the three concerned citizens, an extract of which we quote at the beginning of this column, is the next best document to come out in the run-up to the election.
The current regime must bear the primay responsibility for the present lawless state of affairs in the country. To an independent observer it appears that the government wants to win re-election at any cost. In their desperation at the strong challenge by Sarath Fonseka, they have shown that they have no qualms about manipulating the law enforcement authorities to flout election laws, misuse state resources and engage in unprecedented violence. There has been counter-violence by the opposition alliance too but, however distasteful it is, such a response is to be expected. To turn the other cheek may be good religious teaching but to do so in the hurly burly of violent politics is to invite more violence. It is for this reason that the plea by the senior citizens will be echoed by all right thinking people. Politicians in authority, both in the government as well as in the opposition, must not give the people the impression that they are in politics to further their own or family interests rather than that of the nation. Apologists who make excuses or even gloss over the violation of the constitution and election laws, the blatant misuse of state resources that belong to the people and the violence unleashed on political opponents are equally guilty of crimes against the people.
A Vote for Change
Ukku Banda Wijekoon was a politician from the J. R. Jayewardene era. A former senior public servant, he turned to politics in 1970. Although a son of Uva, in 1977 he became a member of parliament for Dambadeniya in the North Western Province. He was later to be a cabinet minister and still later, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia. He is standing as a candidate in this election on a somewhat utopian platform. Based on Mahatma Gandhi’s statement: ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world’, Wijekoon wants to initiate constitutional reform for a ‘partyless people’s power’. Wijekoon may have no hope of being elected, but here at least is a senior politician challenging the country to think on new lines and to effect a change in the country’s political system by following Gandhi’s dictum that we must ourselves change if we are to be the agents of change.
A change, though of a different sort, is also the call to the working people of this country from the Ceylon Mercantile Union, the principal and oldest trade union of private sector white collar workers. After listing a litany of the constitutional violations and abuses of state power against the workers and people of this country, the CMU’s lengthy statement concludes: "Having regard to all the above mentioned facts and circumstances, our Executive Committee considers that that the re-election of President Rajapakse will only mean the continuance or even worsening of the living conditions of the working people, under the continuing political conditions of an already militarised society, in which democratic and human rights are no longer respected by the ruling regime. We have no reason to believe that General Fonseka will end this situation and change it for the better for the working people, with the political support of the UNP and the JVP. It is our considered view therefore that our own Union and other organisations of the working people, in urban as well as rural areas, will have to rely on their own strength and their capacity to combine their forces to deal with the situation that they will have to face after 26th January."
It is not an easy decision for the voters to take on 26th January. The incumbent President’s track record over the past four years does not bring him much credit. It is true that he presided over the defeat of LTTE terrorism. But Sarath Fonseka can equally claim credit for having led the Army in this victory. He provided the military leadership while Mahinda Rajapakse provided the political leadership. The victory would not have been possible if one of them was lacking. But Rajapakse’s record on other areas is hugely disappointing. By brazenly violating the Constitution, he has politicised the Public Service and the Police, thereby dismantling the democratic institutions built up over the years. Lawlessness, abductions, killings and harassment of political opponents have been carried out with impunity. The cost of basic food items keep rising to unbearable levels, despite statements by ministers that they are being reduced. All this while, we see politicians and their families leading lives of luxury Sarath Fonseks, if elected, may or may not fare much better. But there is a glimmer of hope when he categorically states that, if elected, his first act would be to do his constitutional duty by appointing the Constitutional Council in terms of the 17th Amendment. That at least is a first and significant step.
The Post Election Scenario
The results of the election will be known within the next five days. Judging by the level of pre-election violence, there could be much greater violence after the election. Particularly if there is a regime change, there will be tendency by the victims to take revenge on opponents who have unleashed violence on them during the pre-poll period.. We hope our leaders are mature enough to ensure that their supporters do not engage in post-election violence and take appropriate measures to prevent it. It is only the poor and the powerless who become victims of violence. The political big-timers and strong-men who encourage violence stand aloof. It is such people who should be subject not to violence but to the due process of the law.
www island.lk
Friday, January 22, 2010
Growing support for WHAT RIGHT than WHO WIN the election! Clear conscience is an invincible weapon among Tamils, there is growing support for BAHU.!!!
worldclasstamil.com Moderator to Massey
TAMIL NATIONAL ALLIANCE (TNA) AND SLAVE TRADE IN SRI LANKA.
Please forgive me if I am foolish and offended any one. No offence intended!
We have received quite a variety of feed back on this issue of support for “Bahu”.
I do not know the ground situation in Sri Lanka so I am going to be careful in my reply.
There is growing support for WHAT RIGHT than who will win the election. Clear conscience is an invincible weapon, clearly, among Tamils, there is growing support for “Bahu”. I am referring statistically not reacting emotionally.
Soon after the “perceived” defeat of LTTE people were wondering what is next. It is human nature to focus on the negative side. But we all must not forget that we made major inroads in harnessing the support of the International community. United Nations is now fully aware of our challenges in Sri Lanka. The EU has withdrawn the GSP+,
Mr Ban Ki moon has appointed a special position to inquire into human right abuses, we have exposed the duplicity of India, and the power of Tamil money that get transmitted to Sri Lanka. The pressure is on the Singhalese to control the damage in the international forum. So when things are coming together why would TNA sleep with barbarians?
Listen ladies and gentlemen, how can we forgive and forget what happened to innocent people. It is not who is the least of the devils, it is what is right. How do you know what is the right things to do? When some one asked Einstein how do you know what is right? He replied, you get on the shoulder of the giants and look deep into the horizon and you will see what is right. What is right is absolute, it is superlative. No morally enlightened person will subscribe to unholy alliance. TNA has ruined the respect of Tamils. But we meet the coming generation of Tamils and they give us hope that we are going to make it to the World Hall of Fame not the hall of shame of TNA. If one is familiar with Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Galileo, Copernicus, Confucius, Aurelius, Homer, et al you will know what is right and what is wrong. They are the giants of modern civilization.
In the first place Tamils must stop behaving like minorities and second class subjects.
I think we are world class people; I have met a few Tamils in higher position and the silent respect they get for their astuteness. We have to start with an absolute truth that we are world-class people. If any one believes that Tamils are second class subjects, please let me remove your name from our mailing list. If any one feels in his mind that the Tamil lost the war is wrong, LTTEs method failed. Overall the Tamils won, War is an ultimate form of competition, and war is a means of imposing my will over yours, if we have imposed our will on the Singhalese and the International community then we won that contest. All the Singhalese did was to occupy the land, never our minds; if they did they would not be in Jaffna wooing voters. As regarding the IDPs, remember the philosophy the one who imprisons another is prisoner himself. Who is struggling more, the prisoner or the prison guard? Having people’s freedom taken away is a national (economic) disaster. To have 150,000 people in prison is no simple matter, so sooner or later they have to let them all go. If Sri Lankan frogs are living in primitive times they should count their chromosomes to see if they have 23 or 13.
So when one stands on such a higher position one sees a different horizon. We are being very well respected for our Loyalty, Honesty, Commitment, Sincerity etc and etc. What I see is the Singhalese in Sri Lanka are either going to get smart and learn to live with us or we are going to take over the administration of the country. Sri Lanka has only two choices either neo colonialism or accepting Tamils as equal citizens of Sri Lanka. What other choices do they have? Will they ever be able to pay off all the debt? The country is already becoming dependent on our money that is why these two devils wooing Tamils. It is money talking; it is going to be more.
Secondly there are no Singhalese leaders who are interested in the Singhalese people. Their leaders have robbed them for the next two generations. It is all about corruption, cronyism and ransacking the people. To keep the port opened they need foreign exchange and who is going to give them? China, America, India. China and India are America in disguise. It is all about making money.
Tamil money is the trouble free money, no strings attached. All other monies are loans that will never get paid. The creditor will not let you pay off and the debtor has no means of paying it off, it is tread mill life. I have been there with my creditors and debtors!
So then our view is stay out of the elections. People tell me all that can happen have happened, there is nothing left. What is TNA going to do now what they could not do when the situation was dire? We, the Diaspora, were able through constant and relentless protest and propaganda got the attention of people of the world and getting somewhere. What will the world say now? Oh, you joined the Singhalese forgetting what happened just 6 months ago and we feel you guys can settle your own affairs or scores. Pick one. Don’t you ever come to us for any help or sympathy.
The problem, among Tamils is, one of lack of self esteem and self respect. If TNA is really for Tamil people they should publish the articles of their association with Sarath Fonseka. I do not know what people think of me, but when I married I have to sign a marriage certificate, why? For such an intimate connection between two people there is a written contract enforceable by law! Whom are we trying fool? Everything is a bargain. So what is the bargain Mr.TNA? Come on Mr.Sampanthan come clean with your slave trade. Slaves come with nothing to bargain, but at the mercy of the master. How far do you want to degrade us? If you are living like a frog in frogdom called Sorry Lanka, do not pull wool over our eyes.
I hope Tamil people are smart enough to confront these losers or we are all losers. We don’t need even an inch of land or grain of rice or hint of sympathy from the barbarian who butchered innocent people. But if we keep bending down they will keep knocking on our head. That is human nature, to be a constant bully and a constant patsy.
Modern Tamils are neither, we are equitable people. We see freedom as the first step to association.
Subramaniam Masilamany
info@worldclasstamil.com
www.worldclasstamil.com
TAMIL NATIONAL ALLIANCE (TNA) AND SLAVE TRADE IN SRI LANKA.
Please forgive me if I am foolish and offended any one. No offence intended!
We have received quite a variety of feed back on this issue of support for “Bahu”.
I do not know the ground situation in Sri Lanka so I am going to be careful in my reply.
There is growing support for WHAT RIGHT than who will win the election. Clear conscience is an invincible weapon, clearly, among Tamils, there is growing support for “Bahu”. I am referring statistically not reacting emotionally.
Soon after the “perceived” defeat of LTTE people were wondering what is next. It is human nature to focus on the negative side. But we all must not forget that we made major inroads in harnessing the support of the International community. United Nations is now fully aware of our challenges in Sri Lanka. The EU has withdrawn the GSP+,
Mr Ban Ki moon has appointed a special position to inquire into human right abuses, we have exposed the duplicity of India, and the power of Tamil money that get transmitted to Sri Lanka. The pressure is on the Singhalese to control the damage in the international forum. So when things are coming together why would TNA sleep with barbarians?
Listen ladies and gentlemen, how can we forgive and forget what happened to innocent people. It is not who is the least of the devils, it is what is right. How do you know what is the right things to do? When some one asked Einstein how do you know what is right? He replied, you get on the shoulder of the giants and look deep into the horizon and you will see what is right. What is right is absolute, it is superlative. No morally enlightened person will subscribe to unholy alliance. TNA has ruined the respect of Tamils. But we meet the coming generation of Tamils and they give us hope that we are going to make it to the World Hall of Fame not the hall of shame of TNA. If one is familiar with Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Galileo, Copernicus, Confucius, Aurelius, Homer, et al you will know what is right and what is wrong. They are the giants of modern civilization.
In the first place Tamils must stop behaving like minorities and second class subjects.
I think we are world class people; I have met a few Tamils in higher position and the silent respect they get for their astuteness. We have to start with an absolute truth that we are world-class people. If any one believes that Tamils are second class subjects, please let me remove your name from our mailing list. If any one feels in his mind that the Tamil lost the war is wrong, LTTEs method failed. Overall the Tamils won, War is an ultimate form of competition, and war is a means of imposing my will over yours, if we have imposed our will on the Singhalese and the International community then we won that contest. All the Singhalese did was to occupy the land, never our minds; if they did they would not be in Jaffna wooing voters. As regarding the IDPs, remember the philosophy the one who imprisons another is prisoner himself. Who is struggling more, the prisoner or the prison guard? Having people’s freedom taken away is a national (economic) disaster. To have 150,000 people in prison is no simple matter, so sooner or later they have to let them all go. If Sri Lankan frogs are living in primitive times they should count their chromosomes to see if they have 23 or 13.
So when one stands on such a higher position one sees a different horizon. We are being very well respected for our Loyalty, Honesty, Commitment, Sincerity etc and etc. What I see is the Singhalese in Sri Lanka are either going to get smart and learn to live with us or we are going to take over the administration of the country. Sri Lanka has only two choices either neo colonialism or accepting Tamils as equal citizens of Sri Lanka. What other choices do they have? Will they ever be able to pay off all the debt? The country is already becoming dependent on our money that is why these two devils wooing Tamils. It is money talking; it is going to be more.
Secondly there are no Singhalese leaders who are interested in the Singhalese people. Their leaders have robbed them for the next two generations. It is all about corruption, cronyism and ransacking the people. To keep the port opened they need foreign exchange and who is going to give them? China, America, India. China and India are America in disguise. It is all about making money.
Tamil money is the trouble free money, no strings attached. All other monies are loans that will never get paid. The creditor will not let you pay off and the debtor has no means of paying it off, it is tread mill life. I have been there with my creditors and debtors!
So then our view is stay out of the elections. People tell me all that can happen have happened, there is nothing left. What is TNA going to do now what they could not do when the situation was dire? We, the Diaspora, were able through constant and relentless protest and propaganda got the attention of people of the world and getting somewhere. What will the world say now? Oh, you joined the Singhalese forgetting what happened just 6 months ago and we feel you guys can settle your own affairs or scores. Pick one. Don’t you ever come to us for any help or sympathy.
The problem, among Tamils is, one of lack of self esteem and self respect. If TNA is really for Tamil people they should publish the articles of their association with Sarath Fonseka. I do not know what people think of me, but when I married I have to sign a marriage certificate, why? For such an intimate connection between two people there is a written contract enforceable by law! Whom are we trying fool? Everything is a bargain. So what is the bargain Mr.TNA? Come on Mr.Sampanthan come clean with your slave trade. Slaves come with nothing to bargain, but at the mercy of the master. How far do you want to degrade us? If you are living like a frog in frogdom called Sorry Lanka, do not pull wool over our eyes.
I hope Tamil people are smart enough to confront these losers or we are all losers. We don’t need even an inch of land or grain of rice or hint of sympathy from the barbarian who butchered innocent people. But if we keep bending down they will keep knocking on our head. That is human nature, to be a constant bully and a constant patsy.
Modern Tamils are neither, we are equitable people. We see freedom as the first step to association.
Subramaniam Masilamany
info@worldclasstamil.com
www.worldclasstamil.com
MR & SF are two sides of the same coin - Sinhala chauvinism !Want to use SF to defeat MR at any cost... Use one diamond to cut another...!!!
UNP, JVP and pro-LTTE Tamil website says, ‘Defeat Rajapaksa’
Dr. P.A. Samaraweera
In an interview to a Sri Lankan Daily on 17th Jan. Ranil had said that the TNA leader Sampanthan, met Gen. Fonseka and he gave him the 10 point Program which had been approved by all parties supporting him.
With regard to Ranil’s meeting with Sampanthan he had added, “...Other issues which resolve to power sharing and all the matters are up to the Parliament and not Gen. Fonseka because he would cease to be the Executive President and he has no political party to back him...”
So basically what he said was once the incumbent President is defeated Gen.(Retd) Fonseka will hand over the reins to Ranil and pack his bags! This is very unlikely because Gen. Fonseka had declared that he decided to retire as the post given to him was toothless. He is after power.
Thus it appears that in the Opposition camp there seems to be so much uncertainty and trust. The UNP wants to get back on the saddle by whatever means. The TNA which represented the LTTE wants to merge the North and East. Now they say they are quite happy with the alliance and Sarath Fonseka despite his comment, “...Tamils and Muslims must learn to live as minorities in a land owned by the majority Sinhalese...”
With the 10 point Program there seems to be some concern from other quarters. Two points in the Program are a) Relocation of the high Security Zones in the North and b) General amnesty to the LTTE fighters. Another issue discussed is the merging of the North and the East.
Commenting on the 10 point Program the pro-LTTE Tamil Website says, “...Rajapaksa and Fonseka are two sides of the same coin - Sinhala chauvinism. We have no great expectation from Fonseka but want to use him to defeat Rajapaksa at any cost... Use one diamond to cut another...use his own general as a weapon to hit back and defeat him...”
This is exactly what the UNP and the JVP says, ‘Defeat Rajapaksa at any cost’, obviously because he ended the war and brought peace to the country!
As against this, here is an extract from the Editorial of the Independent Indian Newspaper ‘Pioneer’ of 16th January. “...The subcontinents experience with soldiers turned politicians-turned rulers has been extremely been traumatic and we definitely do not need a (Retd.) General as a President in our neighbourhood, no matter what path he chooses to enter high office. Sri Lanka would do well to reject Gen. Fonseka and re-elect President Rajapaksa, not least because the latter has demonstrated his ability to rid the country of an ailment that plagued it for quarter of a century. His administrative skills are known as are his credentials. To reject him at the hustings would be to ignore his huge contribution to restoring peace to the nation after prolonged civil war. He deserves to win...”
dailynews.lk
Dr. P.A. Samaraweera
In an interview to a Sri Lankan Daily on 17th Jan. Ranil had said that the TNA leader Sampanthan, met Gen. Fonseka and he gave him the 10 point Program which had been approved by all parties supporting him.
With regard to Ranil’s meeting with Sampanthan he had added, “...Other issues which resolve to power sharing and all the matters are up to the Parliament and not Gen. Fonseka because he would cease to be the Executive President and he has no political party to back him...”
So basically what he said was once the incumbent President is defeated Gen.(Retd) Fonseka will hand over the reins to Ranil and pack his bags! This is very unlikely because Gen. Fonseka had declared that he decided to retire as the post given to him was toothless. He is after power.
Thus it appears that in the Opposition camp there seems to be so much uncertainty and trust. The UNP wants to get back on the saddle by whatever means. The TNA which represented the LTTE wants to merge the North and East. Now they say they are quite happy with the alliance and Sarath Fonseka despite his comment, “...Tamils and Muslims must learn to live as minorities in a land owned by the majority Sinhalese...”
With the 10 point Program there seems to be some concern from other quarters. Two points in the Program are a) Relocation of the high Security Zones in the North and b) General amnesty to the LTTE fighters. Another issue discussed is the merging of the North and the East.
Commenting on the 10 point Program the pro-LTTE Tamil Website says, “...Rajapaksa and Fonseka are two sides of the same coin - Sinhala chauvinism. We have no great expectation from Fonseka but want to use him to defeat Rajapaksa at any cost... Use one diamond to cut another...use his own general as a weapon to hit back and defeat him...”
This is exactly what the UNP and the JVP says, ‘Defeat Rajapaksa at any cost’, obviously because he ended the war and brought peace to the country!
As against this, here is an extract from the Editorial of the Independent Indian Newspaper ‘Pioneer’ of 16th January. “...The subcontinents experience with soldiers turned politicians-turned rulers has been extremely been traumatic and we definitely do not need a (Retd.) General as a President in our neighbourhood, no matter what path he chooses to enter high office. Sri Lanka would do well to reject Gen. Fonseka and re-elect President Rajapaksa, not least because the latter has demonstrated his ability to rid the country of an ailment that plagued it for quarter of a century. His administrative skills are known as are his credentials. To reject him at the hustings would be to ignore his huge contribution to restoring peace to the nation after prolonged civil war. He deserves to win...”
dailynews.lk
Thursday, January 21, 2010
End of History for the NE Tamils or, A Fresh Beginning?
The Two Elections in 2010:
End of History for the NE Tamils or, A Fresh Beginning?....By Jolly Somasundram
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."
W B Yeats "The Second Coming."
THE PROBLEM- THE END OF HISTORY
"War does not determine who is right: it just determines who is left," wrote Bertram Russel. The NE Tamils (who include those from this region living elsewhere in the island), never had it so bad. Toronto and London had replaced Jaffna as the two largest population centres of the NE Tamils. For twenty years, the NE had undergone de-development, becoming the most backward part of Sri Lanka (worse than Uva) under any criterion of development- poverty, educational achievement, health, infrastructure etc. The position of first minority, in numbers, has been ceded to the Muslims. For over two decades, the NE Tamils were unable to exercise their free franchise, a position to which they had fallen, after supporting the disenfranchisement of the Plantation Tamils. They had been helpless- except to bleat- when 300,000 of their civilians were incarcerated in fetid military prison camps in the Wanni (jokingly called humanitarian centres by the government) without even their elected representatives having access to them, not to mention the media or the UNHCR. (The army would not dare have such massive camps in the South, after the end of the two southern uprisings.) These camps, with more than half its population composed of women and young girls, were under the iron control of the army (with possibilities invitingly open for misuse of power against these defenceless girls), with no external access, accountability or judicial review. Anecdotal evidence of what transpired within is not for delicate ears. In the South, full of animated discussions of ill-governance and the desirability of applying Dasa Raja Dhamma forms of Governance, there wasn’t a comment: getting the 17th amendment implemented was of greater priority.
NE Tamils have no friends in S. Asia. Asia’s arch enemies- India and Pakistan- banded together to assist Colombo and, later, Tamil Nadu Tamils acquiesced with the Wanni incarceration. A NE Tamil’s passport is viewed with the same intense suspicion in India as Muslim’s is in the United States. It will not be long before the diaspora- which is onto their second generation- drops the NE Tamils. The once empowered NE Tamils, who engaged themselves vigorously in the politics of entitlement, are now a bereft, depowered people, stranded on the centre island of a busy highway, participating shamefacedly in the politics of supplication, aka as the begging bowl. For the NE Tamils, history seems to have ended.
STRATEGIC THINKING
But there is upside. It is only when there are no options that difficult decisions could be taken. The stitch, whose time has come, should enable the NE Tamils to abandon emotional orthodoxies and vainglorious ideas of their past (no one cares a damn for them) and take a hard, inward, pragmatic look at themselves. If they decide that they have an identity which deserves preserving, then, based on a SWOT analysis, they need to take strategic long, medium and short-term steps to preserve this identity. Instead of hard or soft power approaches they should adopt smart power methods. Lessons could be learnt from Thondaman, of how he pulled his despised Plantation Tamils in from the cold, to make them a proud part of the Sri Lankan polity, enabling them to become an important segment in her governance, even of making and sustaining governments. And Thondaman (snr) did not have a diaspora!
PRESIDENTIAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS:
AN OPPORTUNITY
The forthcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections are not video games played in virtual space but chess games played in real time, with the NE Tamils as human stakes, normally wooed only at election time and then dumped. These two elections offer the despairing NE Tamils a live opportunity to reverse the situation, by taking the initial concrete steps towards a strategic readjustment that would ensure an eventual rebirth of their history.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION- TWO CHOICES.
The real Presidential choice (2010) is between an incumbent President—with 40 years of political experience—and a challenging General with 40 days of it. To use a gynaecological term, the General is an ectopic Presidential candidate. In gynaecology, it is possible for the fertilised germ cell, prevented from reaching the womb for the foetus to grow because the fallopian tubes were blocked to grow on its linings. So has the General! Not having political experience, he has now decided to attach himself to political linings and grow political skills with on-the-job-training.
Both main candidates appeal to the same core Southern constituency and will be elected by the South. In respect of the NE Tamils, a Collective of Tamil Professionals- inexperienced in the hurly-burly of actual electioneering and, therefore, unfamiliar on how voters make their decisions- has said that "the voter needs to know the positions of various candidates so as to assess their suitability and credibility on several critical issues and, collectively, seek to make a difference to the outcome." Spoken like professionals! This Collective, no doubt, thinks that each voter will draw up a table, give weightages for each critical issue, produce a variety of equations and use the differential calculus to mathematically optimise who would be the best candidate. The two main candidates have now issued their sound bites- called manifestos. What now then? Professionals are a political unintelligentsia! This neat Weberian rationality is not how the political world works; no such model is operational anywhere in the world. Politics works on dysfunction and is extremely untidy. Tony Blair, lied unashamedly about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and declared war. Even after his mendacity was proved, he won the next election. In the recent Health Care vote in the US Senate, Obama purchased the critical 60th vote of Senator Nelson by bribing his State of Nebraska with a $100 million investment. This is called ‘pork’ in the United States. Even if it were called Organic Vegetable Tikka, the taint of bribery will not be buffed. In Sri Lanka, the practice is to buy over, recalcitrant legislators with Cabinet portfolios much to the chagrin of professionals. But, this is part of the downside of democracy: it comes with the territory of an electoral process, based on proportion that gives the advantage to smaller parties. Jumbo cabinets would not exist if proportion were abolished. Bismarck equated politics with sausage making, where rejects and offal are bundled within a sausage skin. In the governance skin all manner of divergencies have to be accommodated. If not, the current UNP and JVP common candidate is inexplicable. Virtue, principle or gourmet taste do not apply to sausage or Cabinet making.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THE TWO CHOICES.
The main candidates should be judged, not on what they promise but how harshly they ruled the NE Tamils when exercising power. A daughter is not given in marriage on assurances of future good behaviour by the bridegroom, but only after a critical scan of what he has done in the past. Promises, undertakings and manifestos are not worth the paper they are written on; they are not justiciable, just bedazzling lover’s promises, to be abandoned once the objective is gained. Just to give an example. One of the main candidate’s promises is to increase the salary of public servants by Rs 10.000 a month. This is plain impossible! There are 1.2 million public servants. This payment would cost Rs 140 billion a year; that is three times the total education budget. At present, the salary, pension and the interest on the public debt is more than the revenue. To meet them, it is necessary to print money. This salary promise has been cynically made, knowing full well that it can never be implemented. So, also the promises to abolish the Executive Presidency, implement the 17th amendment, abolishing Jumbo cabinets. None of these can be implemented for structural, processual, systemic and financial reasons.
The valuelessness of political promises was shown by Chandrika Kumaratunga. In the 1994 Presidential election, she gave a written undertaking to the JVP that she would abolish the Executive Presidency within three months (fixing a date) of her assumption of duties. Based on this promise, the JVP withdrew its candidate. Obtuseness has not left the JVP. It imagines that their present presidential candidate- a General who commanded an army would relinquish the Presidency if he were to win it, and then revert as a mere citizen like Cincinnatus. A study of history by the JVP may not go amiss and, indeed, that of sausage making.
Politics is about power, its acquisition and retention. Its grammar is deal-making, accommodation and the cashing of IOUs, to backbiting, clashing stakeholders, conducted with nuance filled equivocation. It certainly is not a spiritual quest. The Elephant- the symbol of the UNP backing the General, does not seem to have shared its reputed long memory with that Party. Only recently, this Party supported a group at the Colombo Municipal elections, in the vain hope that it would abdicate power to the UNP, once victory were gained. The group did win the elections but the UNP is waiting longingly for the abdication. Suckers are not born every minute but voters are!
ISSUES FOR THE SOUTH:
ISSUES FOR THE NE TAMILS
1. Issues for the South.
Two separate constituencies would be contributing to the election of the President. The decisive choice will be by the South, for whom good governance, size of Cabinet, corruption, integrity, nepotism, implementation of the 17th amendment, media freedom, dynasty, law and order are hot issues. The South would be electing, whom it considers the better of the two lead candidates.
2 Issues for the NE Tamils
For the NE Tamils, these issues of the South are luxuries. The down-to-earth concerns for the NE Tamils are mundane. They are,
1 The immediate return of the Wanni Tamils to their homes,
2 The treatment of the insurgent war-wounded on the same basis as that of the Ranaviru, as the United States did after the end of her secessionist war (1894). (Insurgent war wounded are, after all, human beings who also suffer the effects of the war very much the same as the Ranaviru). The costs of both need not be met by taxing the South. Earmarked funds are available on grant or near grant basis from bilateral and multi-lateral sources. In addition, there is a tidy sum available under the frozen funds of the LTTE and inert LTTE assets. NE Tamils inherit these funds since they were contributed by the NE Diaspora or extracted by the LTTE by ‘taxation’ of the NE Tamils. (The LTTE has 14 ocean going ships as against nil by the Government, though it has a well funded Shipping Corporation.) These frozen funds or liquifiable assets should not be treated as war reparations and used by the Government to finance budget deficits. The pipe line flow of these funds to meet NE Tamil development requirements should be under the close supervision of the Government, to which accounts will have to be rendered.
3. The removal of all Pass laws. Pass laws under which the NE Tamils lived were reminiscent of the pass laws of S. African apartheid (This writer, who lived over 60 years in Colombo and held high posts in government, was expected to register himself at the Police Station purely because he bore a Tamil name!)
4. The establishment of an Anti-Harassment Committee, preferably under the Chairmanship of a senior Southern politician. (Such a committee existed in 1999 and did excellent work.)
It should be mentioned, in the straitened conditions that the NE Tamils find themselves in, hoping for the implementation of the 13th amendment, the re-merger of the North and the East, providing equitable employment for the NE Tamils in the public service and the implementation of the language laws (all desirable and valid demands), are just pie in the sky. Politics, like comedy, is all about timing. The weak NE Tamils are hardly in a position now to make these demands which, for some atavistic reason, arouse primal opposition from the South. Starting with the two 2010 elections, the NE Tamils should patiently build power value, in some future date, to make and obtain these demands.
ELECTION APPROACHES FOR
THE NE TAMILS.
1. Boycott: The Pornography of Politics.
Boycott is an aphrodisiac for the NE Tamils. While, in other countries, citizens are fighting and dying to obtain the vote, these boycotters wish to deny it to themselves. They imagine that the world revolves round them, a view not shared by outsiders. One of their MPs, a Presidential candidate to boot, was recently summarily deported from India despite having a diplomatic passport and a valid visa). Boycotters wish to draw attention to themselves, even momentarily by organising these disruptive withdrawals, irrespective of their repercussions. Immediately after universal franchise was introduced in 1932, they boycotted the first elections. The impact was nil on the national scale but led indirectly to the formation of the Pan-Sinhala ministry. In 1994, they boycotted the Presidential Elections, which led to the Mullaitivu debacle and the reduction of the NE Tamils to the margins. Some canvassing is now taking place for a 2010 Presidential Election boycott. Boycott advocating NE Tamils, resolute about irresolution, decisive about indecision, committed to non-commitment, are waiting for God only knows what. If the NE Tamils respond to the cry of boycott, it must be suffering from a severe case of death wish.
2. Quislingam.
Sivajilingam, contesting the Presidential Election as an NE Tamil candidate, is the manifestation of this death wish, in another form. It is unlikely that he would consider himself an Obama, breaking through prejudice to win the Presidency. His political party, the TNA, does not support his candidacy nor does it wish to field a candidate. His candidacy is either due to ego, immaturity or pure mischief. But the effect on the NE Tamils would be severe. In a closely contested Presidential election, as is this case, every vote matters. On an earlier occasion, Kumar Ponnambalam irresponsibly contested the Presidency, making no impact on Governance. It will be remembered that mature Thondaman (Snr) never thought of contesting the Presidency though he was revered by the Plantation Tamils. The NE Tamils have the sorry option of rejecting the worse of the two Presidential candidates. Since the election is tight, the NE Tamils, if they vote strategically, could determine the President who would be better for them. Sivajilingam’s insurgency candidature, of a small man caught in an undertow much too strong for him, could help elect the wrong candidate. This would place the NE Tamils on a downward death spiral, perhaps never to recover.
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
THE NATURE OF PARLIAMENT.
Much false glamour and power has been vested on the President. It is claimed that he can do anything except making a man a woman or vice-versa. Bosh! A President is powerful only so long as he/she controls Parliament. The all-powerful President Premadasa was shaken to his roots when the impeachment motion was presented. President Chandrika Kumaratunge had to smell the roses when Ranil Wickremasinghe was the Prime Minister with control over a Parliamentary majority. The Constitution states, "The President shall be responsible to Parliament for the due exercise, performance and the discharge of his power, duties and functions…" A President who has lost control of Parliament is neither man or woman, just a neuter. What the NE Tamils should concentrate on is maximising their strength in the 2010 Parliament and, thereby, tie up or make beholden to them, a President, whose actions or policies could be deleterious to the interest of the Tamils.
Under the present electoral system of proportional representation, no single Party can gain a two-thirds majority and, as most likely, even a simple majority. Either of the two main parties of the South will have to strike coalition arrangements with many minor parties—something that leads to jumbo cabinets. The future of NE Tamils would lie, as Thondaman (Snr) did, in coming into coalition agreements with the appropriate majority South Party.
OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE FOR NE TAMIL PARTIES (NETAP)
Since 1977, Thondaman has been a member of all governments formed by either the UNP or the SLFP. He was able to lever his political and economic advantages (heading the Trade Union that could cripple the plantation sector) and maximise advantages for his community. NETAP does not have the economic advantages Thondaman enjoyed, but, it could, if it plays the electoral game with finesse, manage about thirty seats (including those in the Western Province, National List slots etc). NETAP should remember that in the next round of elections, the seats available for it will reduce drastically, since there will be a delimitation based on the 2011 Census.
The NE Tamils, while voting to elect a President should make the necessary inner electoral contest arrangements to optimise their clout in the next Parliament.
CONCLUSION.
There have been two inflection points in the electoral history of Sri Lanka, where a specific election changed paradigms. The first was 1956, which changed the cultural paradigm. Sinhala culture, which includes the Sinhala language and Theravada Buddhism, replaced Western culture as Sri Lanka’s dominant form. The second election was in 1977, which changed the economic paradigm into a decisive open market model. The third could be 2010, when the issue at hand is whether the form of Governance should continue to be a democratic one or whether it should be some other form of Governance. Some of these other forms are monarchy e.g. Thailand, theocracy e.g. Iran, one party e.g. China, military e.g. Myanmar. It would be in the best interest of the NE Tamils to plump for continuing the democratic form, though turbulent and chaotic—Sri Lanka is the talk shop of the world—despite many woes it causes to them. This dual approach of voting for the Presidential candidate who would support their aspirations and, simultaneously building power value through the Parliamentary process, would enable them to painfully start on an arduous journey to regain what they have lost.
(The writher is a former member of the Ceylon Civil Service)
www island.lk
End of History for the NE Tamils or, A Fresh Beginning?....By Jolly Somasundram
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."
W B Yeats "The Second Coming."
THE PROBLEM- THE END OF HISTORY
"War does not determine who is right: it just determines who is left," wrote Bertram Russel. The NE Tamils (who include those from this region living elsewhere in the island), never had it so bad. Toronto and London had replaced Jaffna as the two largest population centres of the NE Tamils. For twenty years, the NE had undergone de-development, becoming the most backward part of Sri Lanka (worse than Uva) under any criterion of development- poverty, educational achievement, health, infrastructure etc. The position of first minority, in numbers, has been ceded to the Muslims. For over two decades, the NE Tamils were unable to exercise their free franchise, a position to which they had fallen, after supporting the disenfranchisement of the Plantation Tamils. They had been helpless- except to bleat- when 300,000 of their civilians were incarcerated in fetid military prison camps in the Wanni (jokingly called humanitarian centres by the government) without even their elected representatives having access to them, not to mention the media or the UNHCR. (The army would not dare have such massive camps in the South, after the end of the two southern uprisings.) These camps, with more than half its population composed of women and young girls, were under the iron control of the army (with possibilities invitingly open for misuse of power against these defenceless girls), with no external access, accountability or judicial review. Anecdotal evidence of what transpired within is not for delicate ears. In the South, full of animated discussions of ill-governance and the desirability of applying Dasa Raja Dhamma forms of Governance, there wasn’t a comment: getting the 17th amendment implemented was of greater priority.
NE Tamils have no friends in S. Asia. Asia’s arch enemies- India and Pakistan- banded together to assist Colombo and, later, Tamil Nadu Tamils acquiesced with the Wanni incarceration. A NE Tamil’s passport is viewed with the same intense suspicion in India as Muslim’s is in the United States. It will not be long before the diaspora- which is onto their second generation- drops the NE Tamils. The once empowered NE Tamils, who engaged themselves vigorously in the politics of entitlement, are now a bereft, depowered people, stranded on the centre island of a busy highway, participating shamefacedly in the politics of supplication, aka as the begging bowl. For the NE Tamils, history seems to have ended.
STRATEGIC THINKING
But there is upside. It is only when there are no options that difficult decisions could be taken. The stitch, whose time has come, should enable the NE Tamils to abandon emotional orthodoxies and vainglorious ideas of their past (no one cares a damn for them) and take a hard, inward, pragmatic look at themselves. If they decide that they have an identity which deserves preserving, then, based on a SWOT analysis, they need to take strategic long, medium and short-term steps to preserve this identity. Instead of hard or soft power approaches they should adopt smart power methods. Lessons could be learnt from Thondaman, of how he pulled his despised Plantation Tamils in from the cold, to make them a proud part of the Sri Lankan polity, enabling them to become an important segment in her governance, even of making and sustaining governments. And Thondaman (snr) did not have a diaspora!
PRESIDENTIAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS:
AN OPPORTUNITY
The forthcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections are not video games played in virtual space but chess games played in real time, with the NE Tamils as human stakes, normally wooed only at election time and then dumped. These two elections offer the despairing NE Tamils a live opportunity to reverse the situation, by taking the initial concrete steps towards a strategic readjustment that would ensure an eventual rebirth of their history.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION- TWO CHOICES.
The real Presidential choice (2010) is between an incumbent President—with 40 years of political experience—and a challenging General with 40 days of it. To use a gynaecological term, the General is an ectopic Presidential candidate. In gynaecology, it is possible for the fertilised germ cell, prevented from reaching the womb for the foetus to grow because the fallopian tubes were blocked to grow on its linings. So has the General! Not having political experience, he has now decided to attach himself to political linings and grow political skills with on-the-job-training.
Both main candidates appeal to the same core Southern constituency and will be elected by the South. In respect of the NE Tamils, a Collective of Tamil Professionals- inexperienced in the hurly-burly of actual electioneering and, therefore, unfamiliar on how voters make their decisions- has said that "the voter needs to know the positions of various candidates so as to assess their suitability and credibility on several critical issues and, collectively, seek to make a difference to the outcome." Spoken like professionals! This Collective, no doubt, thinks that each voter will draw up a table, give weightages for each critical issue, produce a variety of equations and use the differential calculus to mathematically optimise who would be the best candidate. The two main candidates have now issued their sound bites- called manifestos. What now then? Professionals are a political unintelligentsia! This neat Weberian rationality is not how the political world works; no such model is operational anywhere in the world. Politics works on dysfunction and is extremely untidy. Tony Blair, lied unashamedly about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and declared war. Even after his mendacity was proved, he won the next election. In the recent Health Care vote in the US Senate, Obama purchased the critical 60th vote of Senator Nelson by bribing his State of Nebraska with a $100 million investment. This is called ‘pork’ in the United States. Even if it were called Organic Vegetable Tikka, the taint of bribery will not be buffed. In Sri Lanka, the practice is to buy over, recalcitrant legislators with Cabinet portfolios much to the chagrin of professionals. But, this is part of the downside of democracy: it comes with the territory of an electoral process, based on proportion that gives the advantage to smaller parties. Jumbo cabinets would not exist if proportion were abolished. Bismarck equated politics with sausage making, where rejects and offal are bundled within a sausage skin. In the governance skin all manner of divergencies have to be accommodated. If not, the current UNP and JVP common candidate is inexplicable. Virtue, principle or gourmet taste do not apply to sausage or Cabinet making.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THE TWO CHOICES.
The main candidates should be judged, not on what they promise but how harshly they ruled the NE Tamils when exercising power. A daughter is not given in marriage on assurances of future good behaviour by the bridegroom, but only after a critical scan of what he has done in the past. Promises, undertakings and manifestos are not worth the paper they are written on; they are not justiciable, just bedazzling lover’s promises, to be abandoned once the objective is gained. Just to give an example. One of the main candidate’s promises is to increase the salary of public servants by Rs 10.000 a month. This is plain impossible! There are 1.2 million public servants. This payment would cost Rs 140 billion a year; that is three times the total education budget. At present, the salary, pension and the interest on the public debt is more than the revenue. To meet them, it is necessary to print money. This salary promise has been cynically made, knowing full well that it can never be implemented. So, also the promises to abolish the Executive Presidency, implement the 17th amendment, abolishing Jumbo cabinets. None of these can be implemented for structural, processual, systemic and financial reasons.
The valuelessness of political promises was shown by Chandrika Kumaratunga. In the 1994 Presidential election, she gave a written undertaking to the JVP that she would abolish the Executive Presidency within three months (fixing a date) of her assumption of duties. Based on this promise, the JVP withdrew its candidate. Obtuseness has not left the JVP. It imagines that their present presidential candidate- a General who commanded an army would relinquish the Presidency if he were to win it, and then revert as a mere citizen like Cincinnatus. A study of history by the JVP may not go amiss and, indeed, that of sausage making.
Politics is about power, its acquisition and retention. Its grammar is deal-making, accommodation and the cashing of IOUs, to backbiting, clashing stakeholders, conducted with nuance filled equivocation. It certainly is not a spiritual quest. The Elephant- the symbol of the UNP backing the General, does not seem to have shared its reputed long memory with that Party. Only recently, this Party supported a group at the Colombo Municipal elections, in the vain hope that it would abdicate power to the UNP, once victory were gained. The group did win the elections but the UNP is waiting longingly for the abdication. Suckers are not born every minute but voters are!
ISSUES FOR THE SOUTH:
ISSUES FOR THE NE TAMILS
1. Issues for the South.
Two separate constituencies would be contributing to the election of the President. The decisive choice will be by the South, for whom good governance, size of Cabinet, corruption, integrity, nepotism, implementation of the 17th amendment, media freedom, dynasty, law and order are hot issues. The South would be electing, whom it considers the better of the two lead candidates.
2 Issues for the NE Tamils
For the NE Tamils, these issues of the South are luxuries. The down-to-earth concerns for the NE Tamils are mundane. They are,
1 The immediate return of the Wanni Tamils to their homes,
2 The treatment of the insurgent war-wounded on the same basis as that of the Ranaviru, as the United States did after the end of her secessionist war (1894). (Insurgent war wounded are, after all, human beings who also suffer the effects of the war very much the same as the Ranaviru). The costs of both need not be met by taxing the South. Earmarked funds are available on grant or near grant basis from bilateral and multi-lateral sources. In addition, there is a tidy sum available under the frozen funds of the LTTE and inert LTTE assets. NE Tamils inherit these funds since they were contributed by the NE Diaspora or extracted by the LTTE by ‘taxation’ of the NE Tamils. (The LTTE has 14 ocean going ships as against nil by the Government, though it has a well funded Shipping Corporation.) These frozen funds or liquifiable assets should not be treated as war reparations and used by the Government to finance budget deficits. The pipe line flow of these funds to meet NE Tamil development requirements should be under the close supervision of the Government, to which accounts will have to be rendered.
3. The removal of all Pass laws. Pass laws under which the NE Tamils lived were reminiscent of the pass laws of S. African apartheid (This writer, who lived over 60 years in Colombo and held high posts in government, was expected to register himself at the Police Station purely because he bore a Tamil name!)
4. The establishment of an Anti-Harassment Committee, preferably under the Chairmanship of a senior Southern politician. (Such a committee existed in 1999 and did excellent work.)
It should be mentioned, in the straitened conditions that the NE Tamils find themselves in, hoping for the implementation of the 13th amendment, the re-merger of the North and the East, providing equitable employment for the NE Tamils in the public service and the implementation of the language laws (all desirable and valid demands), are just pie in the sky. Politics, like comedy, is all about timing. The weak NE Tamils are hardly in a position now to make these demands which, for some atavistic reason, arouse primal opposition from the South. Starting with the two 2010 elections, the NE Tamils should patiently build power value, in some future date, to make and obtain these demands.
ELECTION APPROACHES FOR
THE NE TAMILS.
1. Boycott: The Pornography of Politics.
Boycott is an aphrodisiac for the NE Tamils. While, in other countries, citizens are fighting and dying to obtain the vote, these boycotters wish to deny it to themselves. They imagine that the world revolves round them, a view not shared by outsiders. One of their MPs, a Presidential candidate to boot, was recently summarily deported from India despite having a diplomatic passport and a valid visa). Boycotters wish to draw attention to themselves, even momentarily by organising these disruptive withdrawals, irrespective of their repercussions. Immediately after universal franchise was introduced in 1932, they boycotted the first elections. The impact was nil on the national scale but led indirectly to the formation of the Pan-Sinhala ministry. In 1994, they boycotted the Presidential Elections, which led to the Mullaitivu debacle and the reduction of the NE Tamils to the margins. Some canvassing is now taking place for a 2010 Presidential Election boycott. Boycott advocating NE Tamils, resolute about irresolution, decisive about indecision, committed to non-commitment, are waiting for God only knows what. If the NE Tamils respond to the cry of boycott, it must be suffering from a severe case of death wish.
2. Quislingam.
Sivajilingam, contesting the Presidential Election as an NE Tamil candidate, is the manifestation of this death wish, in another form. It is unlikely that he would consider himself an Obama, breaking through prejudice to win the Presidency. His political party, the TNA, does not support his candidacy nor does it wish to field a candidate. His candidacy is either due to ego, immaturity or pure mischief. But the effect on the NE Tamils would be severe. In a closely contested Presidential election, as is this case, every vote matters. On an earlier occasion, Kumar Ponnambalam irresponsibly contested the Presidency, making no impact on Governance. It will be remembered that mature Thondaman (Snr) never thought of contesting the Presidency though he was revered by the Plantation Tamils. The NE Tamils have the sorry option of rejecting the worse of the two Presidential candidates. Since the election is tight, the NE Tamils, if they vote strategically, could determine the President who would be better for them. Sivajilingam’s insurgency candidature, of a small man caught in an undertow much too strong for him, could help elect the wrong candidate. This would place the NE Tamils on a downward death spiral, perhaps never to recover.
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
THE NATURE OF PARLIAMENT.
Much false glamour and power has been vested on the President. It is claimed that he can do anything except making a man a woman or vice-versa. Bosh! A President is powerful only so long as he/she controls Parliament. The all-powerful President Premadasa was shaken to his roots when the impeachment motion was presented. President Chandrika Kumaratunge had to smell the roses when Ranil Wickremasinghe was the Prime Minister with control over a Parliamentary majority. The Constitution states, "The President shall be responsible to Parliament for the due exercise, performance and the discharge of his power, duties and functions…" A President who has lost control of Parliament is neither man or woman, just a neuter. What the NE Tamils should concentrate on is maximising their strength in the 2010 Parliament and, thereby, tie up or make beholden to them, a President, whose actions or policies could be deleterious to the interest of the Tamils.
Under the present electoral system of proportional representation, no single Party can gain a two-thirds majority and, as most likely, even a simple majority. Either of the two main parties of the South will have to strike coalition arrangements with many minor parties—something that leads to jumbo cabinets. The future of NE Tamils would lie, as Thondaman (Snr) did, in coming into coalition agreements with the appropriate majority South Party.
OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE FOR NE TAMIL PARTIES (NETAP)
Since 1977, Thondaman has been a member of all governments formed by either the UNP or the SLFP. He was able to lever his political and economic advantages (heading the Trade Union that could cripple the plantation sector) and maximise advantages for his community. NETAP does not have the economic advantages Thondaman enjoyed, but, it could, if it plays the electoral game with finesse, manage about thirty seats (including those in the Western Province, National List slots etc). NETAP should remember that in the next round of elections, the seats available for it will reduce drastically, since there will be a delimitation based on the 2011 Census.
The NE Tamils, while voting to elect a President should make the necessary inner electoral contest arrangements to optimise their clout in the next Parliament.
CONCLUSION.
There have been two inflection points in the electoral history of Sri Lanka, where a specific election changed paradigms. The first was 1956, which changed the cultural paradigm. Sinhala culture, which includes the Sinhala language and Theravada Buddhism, replaced Western culture as Sri Lanka’s dominant form. The second election was in 1977, which changed the economic paradigm into a decisive open market model. The third could be 2010, when the issue at hand is whether the form of Governance should continue to be a democratic one or whether it should be some other form of Governance. Some of these other forms are monarchy e.g. Thailand, theocracy e.g. Iran, one party e.g. China, military e.g. Myanmar. It would be in the best interest of the NE Tamils to plump for continuing the democratic form, though turbulent and chaotic—Sri Lanka is the talk shop of the world—despite many woes it causes to them. This dual approach of voting for the Presidential candidate who would support their aspirations and, simultaneously building power value through the Parliamentary process, would enable them to painfully start on an arduous journey to regain what they have lost.
(The writher is a former member of the Ceylon Civil Service)
www island.lk
Jaffna has many Tamil war refugees, recently freed from government camps. Others remain in camps nearby but the BBC was not allowed to visit them.!!!
Shattered Tamil city braces for crucial poll
By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Jaffna
Jaffna's fishing industry is thriving once more
The fishing boats seem to chase each other out in the lagoon. A flock of seabirds rises, glorious against the blue sky.
Calm has returned to Jaffna's waters after decades of turbulence.
It is still a tense peace. The bay where they repair their boats is cordoned off, guarded by the military. Parts of the shore are lined with razor-wire.
But as the vessels crowd into the wharf by the fish market, there is a real buzz in the air.
The men weigh their crabs and cuttlefish, hack the big meaty fish into steaks, bargaining, bartering.
A young fisherman tells the BBC he is delighted with peace in the north. Restrictions have been lifted, he says: they can sail to more places; export their fish abroad; find more markets at home, too.
And he is enthusiastic about the 26 January election.
The two main candidates, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the former army chief (and former northern commander), General Sarath Fonseka, are both widely viewed as hardline advocates for the island's Sinhalese ethnic majority - people instrumental in vanquishing many Tamils' desire for an autonomous homeland.
Earlier we were voting under threat. Now we're free, and people can decide for themselves
Fisherman in Jaffna
But the election is relevant to Tamils, too, says the man.
"It's important to vote - after all, this is for our president.
"Earlier we were voting under threat. Now we're free, and people can decide for themselves who's good for this country.
"The Tamil Tigers and the government fought - we were the innocent victims," says another. "We'll support whoever will benefit ordinary Tamil people."
No election fever
Jaffna was the crucible of the Sri Lankan war. Its imposing public library was attacked by anti-Tamil mobs in 1981 and its great collection of books burned: one symbolic trigger for the start of full-blown conflict a couple of years later.
In 1990 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) expelled all of Jaffna's Muslims. For five years the rebels held the city and the army besieged it.
The war's legacy is still plain to see in bombed-out buildings. By the coast, we meet local de-miners on their break.
In a converted cinema, well guarded, is the bunker-like office of Douglas Devananda.
His Tamil party is part of the Sri Lankan government; he is a minister. He rejects the many accusations that it still has a paramilitary wing using violence against civilians.
And he tells the BBC President Rajapaksa deserves re-election for bringing peace.
"You know, in the previous Christmas or New Year sounds were something different, that is mortars, explosions, people were crying. But last Christmas, New Year, [fire]crackers. People's joyness coming out. The laugh, the smile.
"So that is a difference. So people feel President Rajapaksa has given peace."
Many parts of Jaffna still bear the scars of war
But this almost entirely Tamil city is not being swept by election fever.
The two main candidates have recently visited, and campaigned. But in the central streets Jaffna still seems to be mainly concerned with picking up the old rhythms of normal life and getting back to business.
There is old-world charm. Morris Minor taxis wait in a rank. Vintage Austins appear around corners. There is the new, too: men make a signboard for a new bank branch. Visiting from the south are Sinhalese Buddhist monks and Muslim families.
Electorally it does not seem to be a level playing field.
Posters of Mahinda Rajapaksa are everywhere. The BBC saw none of his rival, Sarath Fonseka. We were told people were frightened to put them up, fearing violent reprisals.
Recently, too, the government shut down the Jaffna transmissions of the Tamil TV station regarded as the most independent.
Tamil concerns
Some in the Tamil community do want the president out and are supporting Sarath Fonseka.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a grouping close to the defeated LTTE, feels the former army chief is more likely to find a solution to Tamil concerns, perhaps giving an extra degree of autonomy to Tamil-majority areas.
We would give a priority to the political solution, about which both the candidates are rather silent
Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam
CVK Sivagnanam, president of the local Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, used to be an active TNA member and says it is an advantage that the general does not come from a political party, so will not be powerful if elected.
"He will be forced to consult minorities as well," he says. "And the present government, the Rajapaksa government, has done so much damage to minorities - whether it be Tamils, Muslims or Christians, it has been so."
Which way to vote is a question perhaps on the mind of Sunday morning worshippers in Jaffna's many Catholic churches.
At one, the long-time Bishop of Jaffna, the Right Rev Thomas Savundaranayagam, officiates. He has publicly urged people to exercise their right to vote - although he feels neither candidate is really addressing Tamil people's wish to live as equal citizens.
"Both these people in their manifestos, they have not put forward a political solution to the north and east problem but only they have concerned themselves with the aftermath of the war as well as rebuilding the country," he tells the BBC on the cool veranda of his residence.
"Which we will commit [to] but nevertheless we would give a priority to the political solution, about which both the candidates are rather silent."
No refugee votes
There is another huge issue. Jaffna has many Tamil war refugees, recently freed from government camps. Others remain in camps nearby but the BBC was not allowed to visit them.
I'm very sad I can't take part in selecting the next president
Anonymous, Former displaced Tamil
Many missed out on registering to vote because of war and displacement. Some registered while in camps but returned home before the voting cards arrived.
We meet a man who recently left the huge Menik Farm camp and wanted to remain anonymous.
"I'm very sad I can't take part in selecting the next president," he said. "There are 10 million voters but unfortunately my name won't be there because circumstances prevented me from registering."
In Jaffna the government is firmly in charge - as in the whole of Sri Lanka. The military are ubiquitous. During the BBC's two-day visit there were several government events apparently linked to the election, including a Tamil harvest festival celebration.
People attend such events politely. But it is hard to tell how many will turn out to vote.
Many feel little empathy with either candidate. Some fear voting.
But the Tamil population - only one-eighth of the island's inhabitants - could yet swing the result in a close-run contest.
So some Tamils, after a generation of violence, want their democratic voice to be heard.
Courtesy: news.bbc.co.uk
By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Jaffna
Jaffna's fishing industry is thriving once more
The fishing boats seem to chase each other out in the lagoon. A flock of seabirds rises, glorious against the blue sky.
Calm has returned to Jaffna's waters after decades of turbulence.
It is still a tense peace. The bay where they repair their boats is cordoned off, guarded by the military. Parts of the shore are lined with razor-wire.
But as the vessels crowd into the wharf by the fish market, there is a real buzz in the air.
The men weigh their crabs and cuttlefish, hack the big meaty fish into steaks, bargaining, bartering.
A young fisherman tells the BBC he is delighted with peace in the north. Restrictions have been lifted, he says: they can sail to more places; export their fish abroad; find more markets at home, too.
And he is enthusiastic about the 26 January election.
The two main candidates, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the former army chief (and former northern commander), General Sarath Fonseka, are both widely viewed as hardline advocates for the island's Sinhalese ethnic majority - people instrumental in vanquishing many Tamils' desire for an autonomous homeland.
Earlier we were voting under threat. Now we're free, and people can decide for themselves
Fisherman in Jaffna
But the election is relevant to Tamils, too, says the man.
"It's important to vote - after all, this is for our president.
"Earlier we were voting under threat. Now we're free, and people can decide for themselves who's good for this country.
"The Tamil Tigers and the government fought - we were the innocent victims," says another. "We'll support whoever will benefit ordinary Tamil people."
No election fever
Jaffna was the crucible of the Sri Lankan war. Its imposing public library was attacked by anti-Tamil mobs in 1981 and its great collection of books burned: one symbolic trigger for the start of full-blown conflict a couple of years later.
In 1990 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) expelled all of Jaffna's Muslims. For five years the rebels held the city and the army besieged it.
The war's legacy is still plain to see in bombed-out buildings. By the coast, we meet local de-miners on their break.
In a converted cinema, well guarded, is the bunker-like office of Douglas Devananda.
His Tamil party is part of the Sri Lankan government; he is a minister. He rejects the many accusations that it still has a paramilitary wing using violence against civilians.
And he tells the BBC President Rajapaksa deserves re-election for bringing peace.
"You know, in the previous Christmas or New Year sounds were something different, that is mortars, explosions, people were crying. But last Christmas, New Year, [fire]crackers. People's joyness coming out. The laugh, the smile.
"So that is a difference. So people feel President Rajapaksa has given peace."
Many parts of Jaffna still bear the scars of war
But this almost entirely Tamil city is not being swept by election fever.
The two main candidates have recently visited, and campaigned. But in the central streets Jaffna still seems to be mainly concerned with picking up the old rhythms of normal life and getting back to business.
There is old-world charm. Morris Minor taxis wait in a rank. Vintage Austins appear around corners. There is the new, too: men make a signboard for a new bank branch. Visiting from the south are Sinhalese Buddhist monks and Muslim families.
Electorally it does not seem to be a level playing field.
Posters of Mahinda Rajapaksa are everywhere. The BBC saw none of his rival, Sarath Fonseka. We were told people were frightened to put them up, fearing violent reprisals.
Recently, too, the government shut down the Jaffna transmissions of the Tamil TV station regarded as the most independent.
Tamil concerns
Some in the Tamil community do want the president out and are supporting Sarath Fonseka.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a grouping close to the defeated LTTE, feels the former army chief is more likely to find a solution to Tamil concerns, perhaps giving an extra degree of autonomy to Tamil-majority areas.
We would give a priority to the political solution, about which both the candidates are rather silent
Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam
CVK Sivagnanam, president of the local Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, used to be an active TNA member and says it is an advantage that the general does not come from a political party, so will not be powerful if elected.
"He will be forced to consult minorities as well," he says. "And the present government, the Rajapaksa government, has done so much damage to minorities - whether it be Tamils, Muslims or Christians, it has been so."
Which way to vote is a question perhaps on the mind of Sunday morning worshippers in Jaffna's many Catholic churches.
At one, the long-time Bishop of Jaffna, the Right Rev Thomas Savundaranayagam, officiates. He has publicly urged people to exercise their right to vote - although he feels neither candidate is really addressing Tamil people's wish to live as equal citizens.
"Both these people in their manifestos, they have not put forward a political solution to the north and east problem but only they have concerned themselves with the aftermath of the war as well as rebuilding the country," he tells the BBC on the cool veranda of his residence.
"Which we will commit [to] but nevertheless we would give a priority to the political solution, about which both the candidates are rather silent."
No refugee votes
There is another huge issue. Jaffna has many Tamil war refugees, recently freed from government camps. Others remain in camps nearby but the BBC was not allowed to visit them.
I'm very sad I can't take part in selecting the next president
Anonymous, Former displaced Tamil
Many missed out on registering to vote because of war and displacement. Some registered while in camps but returned home before the voting cards arrived.
We meet a man who recently left the huge Menik Farm camp and wanted to remain anonymous.
"I'm very sad I can't take part in selecting the next president," he said. "There are 10 million voters but unfortunately my name won't be there because circumstances prevented me from registering."
In Jaffna the government is firmly in charge - as in the whole of Sri Lanka. The military are ubiquitous. During the BBC's two-day visit there were several government events apparently linked to the election, including a Tamil harvest festival celebration.
People attend such events politely. But it is hard to tell how many will turn out to vote.
Many feel little empathy with either candidate. Some fear voting.
But the Tamil population - only one-eighth of the island's inhabitants - could yet swing the result in a close-run contest.
So some Tamils, after a generation of violence, want their democratic voice to be heard.
Courtesy: news.bbc.co.uk
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