SL President’s UN visit in the balance

Colombo: President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on September 22 when more than 150 world leaders are expected to attend a summit meeting to take stock of the successes and failures of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
But there is a division of opinion in the Presidential Secretariat and the External Affairs Ministry on whether or not the President should be visiting a politically-unfriendly United Nations whose panel of inquiry on Sri Lanka will be meeting during the summit.
A public address by President Rajapaksa, which was scheduled to take place at New York’s Asia Society, is likely to be cancelled.
Last year Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, who substituted for the President at the General Assembly sessions in 2009, was embarrassed by a group of human rights activists during a question-and-answer session at the Asia Society following his address.
The government, which is unable to restrict the audience at the Asia Society, has expressed fears that a similar situation could arise this year.
But if the relationship between the UN panel of inquiry and Sri Lanka takes a turn for the worse, it is likely President Rajapaksa may cancel his visit to New York.http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100808/News/nws_01.html

2. Kohona to be recalled?
New York: Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Dr. Palitha Kohona is likely to be recalled at the end of the September sessions of the UN General Assembly (GA).
Diplomatic sources in New York told The Nation that Kohona may relinquish duties somewhere in October, paving the way for a total reshuffle of the office of the Permanent Representative.
Kohona may return to his substantive post in Colombo, or may seek a diplomatic assignment elsewhere, sources added.
They also said that certain officers have exceeded their official period of three years, while another officer is serving in the same posting for the second time.
The Foreign Office in Colombo recalled its Deputy Permanent Representative Bandula Jayasekara recently, after having appointed him a month earlier.
Apparently, the main reason adduced to the Foreign Office decision to curtail Kohona’s assignment, is his alleged failure to put Sri Lanka’s position in the correct perspective, when UN Secretary General (SG) Ban Ki-moon appointed a committee to advise him on Sri Lanka.
The UNSG further expanded the committee while Kohona was on a mission to Syria, on a UNSG assignment heading the committee on Israel, which Sri Lanka held during the tenure of Ambassador Shirley Amerasinghe. http://www.nation.lk/2010/08/08/news3.htm

3. UNP Calls On Government To Release Constitutional Draft
Colombo: The main opposition UNP has called on the government to release the proposals on constitutional reforms and the 17th Amendment while the JVP has continuously emphasized the need for the government to release the draft of its proposed constitutional amendments.
UNP parliamentarian Joseph Michael Perera told the local media on Sunday that the government needed to release a draft of its proposed constitutional reforms if the UNP is to re-consider its decision to withdraw from discussions with the government.
Perera said that although the government has spoken about the constitutional reforms, the proposals have not yet been informed to the party.
The UNP Saturday decided to suspend talks with the government on constitutional and electoral reforms accusing the government of using the talks to entice opposition members to government ranks.
Meanwhile, the Marxist JVP has also called on the government to release the draft of the clauses in the Constitution the government planned to amend.
JVP politburo member Anura Kumara Dissanayake told The Sunday Leader that the government has to clearly state its position with regard to the constitutional amendments.
www.thesundayleader.lk/2010/08/08/unp-calls-on-government-to-release-constitutional-draft/

4. Executive Presidency did not help win the war: Minister Dew
SL Communist party Gen. Secretary and Minister of rehabilitation and Prisons reforms, Dew Gonasekera said, he totally rejects the view that the Executive Presidency helped to win the war. The war was won not because of the existence of the Executive Presidency system, he added.
What contributed to the war victory was the political ability and skill of the President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Dew Gunasekera made these remarks in an interview with the ‘Sunday Lakbima’ newspaper.Answering questions regarding the efforts to appoint an Executive Prime Minister (PM), he said, no matter what Prime Minister post is created, the PM must be responsible and answerable to the Parliament.
What is important is not whether it is the Executive Presidency or the Executive Prime Minister post which is necessary for this country, rather it is the power vested in that post that is significant. What we say is whoever becomes the Prime Minister, he must be answerable to Parliament. As far as I am concerned, it is the Parliament which is the supreme representative assembly of the people’s representatives. But because of this Executive Presidency, Parliament has been subordinated and relegated to second place. For good governance, the Judiciary and the legislature should be possessed of powers. Because of the Executive Presidency, those powers have been eroded. http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=9851

5. More to exit as Mangala enters: The Nation
Colombo: As controversial MP Mangala Samaraweera joins the main Opposition United National Party (UNP) embroiled in its worst internal crisis in decades, the Opposition is likely to lose more MPs to the Government, political sources said.
With the cross over of two Opposition MPs Prabha Ganeshan of Democratic People’s Front and P. Digambaram of the National Workers’ Front on Thursday, the Government is just short of five MPs to obtain its two-third majority in Parliament.
UNP MPs Abdul Cader and Range Bandara have already expressed their support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in public, but only snag for their crossover seems to be the understanding reached between the President and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at their recent meeting, not to entertain any more crossovers from the UNP, political observers said.
Wickremesinghe has already vowed that he will not engage in any further talks on the proposed Constitutional changes with the President, if he entertains UNP MPs who cross over.
A top UNP leader, who requested anonymity, said yesterday that they are disappointed at the way President Rajapaksa engineered the two crossovers early this week, and would take a final decision next week on any further cooperation with the Government.
Following the one-to-one meeting between Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe last month, it was announced that an understanding was reached to introduce a system of executive premiership elected by the people, to replace the current executive presidency. These developments took place in the face of Government’s earlier proposal to remove the term limit on the current executive presidency not receiving the expected support from within the ranks of the governing coalition.
Sources said, Digambaram and Ganeshan cannot be called UNP members, even though they contested under the party banner, as they belong to two different minority parties.
The next move, according to Government sources, would be to get a few more dissatisfied minority party MPs to cross over to the Government as was evident by the cross over of Ganeshan and Digambaran last week.
High on the list are about three MPs from the SLMC and one or two from the TNA, the sources said. With these developments and a solution to the UNP’s internal crisis not being visible in the foreseeable future, political observers say that the Governme
nt’s ambition of securing a two-third majority in Parliament is not a dream anymore.http://www.nation.lk/2010/08/08/news1.htm

6. 15000 N.E kids study under trees
By Rathindra Kuruwita in www.lakbimanews.lk
Fifteen thousand school children in the North and East are compelled to study under trees since schools have been converted into IDP and transit camps and detention centres, while the government spends millions on military bases, education department sources said. The situation is grave in Vavuniya, Omanthai, Maithadi and Kilinochchi where the majority of schools function in temporary shelters with minimal facilities.
“Omanthai Maha Vidyalayam is used as a transit camp for people who are returning to their villages from IDP camps. Although a year has passed after the civil war ended, no steps have been taken by the government to either build new shelters for IDPs, or to rebuild schools in another location,” said an education ministry official.
Meanwhile, General Secretary of Sri Lanka Teacher Services Union (SLTSU) Mahinda Jayasinghe told LAKBIMAnEWS that there is also a massive dearth of teachers in the North and the East, which is having a negative impact on education. This shortage mainly affects subjects such as English where the education authorities are dependant on pensioners who have been re-enlisted on contract basis.
“Not only are thousands of students continuing their education without buildings, water or sanitary facilities, these schools also need hundreds of teachers,” Jayasinghe said. “A lot of teachers who worked in these schools have either left for Colombo or have left the island. Even 14 months after the end of the war the government has not appointed Tamil medium teachers to these areas.”
Jayasinghe added that there are over 500 Tamil medium teachers in the 2010 batch at teacher training centres in the island, but none of them have been given appointments because of the lack of funds.
“Each year around 3000 trained teachers are given appointments around this time of the year, but this time that is not the case. Appointment letters are not given since no funds have been allocated in the 2010 budget. This means that thousands of Tamil youth will sit for O/L and A/L exams partially ready.”
Meanwhile in a recent visit to Wishwamadu Army Commander Major General Jagath Jayasuriya claimed that with the establishment of new army camps, buildings which have been occupied for security purposes will be returned to schools. http://www.lakbimanews.lk/news/laknew1.htm