மைத்திரிப் பாசிசத்தை அரியணையில் ஏற்றிய தமிழர் வாக்குகள்!

'Sirisena's election an opportunity for a fresh foreign policy' - THE HINDU

'Sirisena's election an opportunity for a fresh foreign policy'

JAYANTHA DHANAPALA

Sri Lanka can now return to its traditional non-aligned foreign policy maintaining friendly relations with its Asian neighbours, especially with India.

The election of President Maithripala Sirisena in a peaceful democratic process is a welcome opportunity to forge afresh a coherent,consistent and balanced foreign policy based on the permanent national interests of Sri Lanka and executed with professional competence.

Sri Lanka can now return to its traditional non-aligned foreign policy maintaining friendly relations with its Asian neighbours, especially with India with whom we have been closely linked through geo-politics, history and culture. Asia is the new centre of gravity in global political and economic relations and Sri Lanka can develop her economic potential with even-handed and mutually beneficial ties with India, China, Pakistan, Japan and the ASEAN countries using its strategic location. At the same time important economic partners in trade, investment and tourism remain in the West with whom we have had longstanding ties thorough the Commonwealth, the United Nations and other multilateral organisations working together for international peace and security.

The values of good governance, democracy, the rule of law and human rights will be upheld in domestic and foreign policy ensuring that the ethnic and religious diversity of the country is respected and protected . It follows therefore that Sri Lanka will engage in a positive dialogue with the international community on human rights fulfilling its commitments to the international human rights instruments it has signed and ensuring that credible domestic processes are launched for their implementation.

Sri Lanka must also rebuild traditional foreign policy institutions especially a professional diplomatic service with recruitment through a competitive examination and training at all levels minimising political appointees .

(Jayantha Dhanapala is a former diplomat in Sri Lanka, who has held key posts in Beijing, Washington and Geneva)

Sri Lankan President Concedes Defeat After Startling Upset

ASIA PACIFIC
Sri Lankan President Concedes Defeat After Startling Upset
By ELLEN BARRY and DHARISHA BASTIANSJAN. 8, 2015

NEW DELHI — After a startling upset in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, President Mahinda Rajapaksa conceded defeat on Friday morning, bringing an abrupt end to a larger-than-life, increasingly controlling presidency that he had hoped to extend into a third six-year term.

Mr. Rajapaksa left his residence, Temple Trees, shortly after 6 a.m. “to allow the new president to assume his duties,” a presidential spokesman announced. Before daybreak, the president met with Ranil Wickramasinghe, the leader of the opposition United National Party, to offer his cooperation. His opponent, former Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, was scheduled to take the oath of office on Friday evening.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s defeat is remarkable because he had an overwhelming advantage going into the election, which he decided to hold two years ahead of schedule. During nearly a decade in office, he had built close ties with China, begun a campaign of “megadevelopment” and sharply centralized power in one of Asia’s oldest democracies.


His image is ubiquitous in Sri Lanka’s public spaces. His campaign rallies were lavish, well-funded affairs, where he addressed a sea of voters bused in from surrounding villages. Mr. Sirisena, unable to book stadiums, spoke to people gathered in vacant lots.

On Friday, Sri Lanka’s Election Commission announced that Mr. Sirisena had won about 51.3 percent of the vote, with 47.6 percent going to Mr. Rajapaksa. The margin was just under 450,000 votes.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s son Namal wrote on Twitter that his family had accepted the election results.

“Thank you to everyone who supported us through these years,” he said. “We respect the voice of the people and Sri Lanka’s great democracy.”

Over the past several years, Mr. Rajapaksa had steadily tightened his grip on power, amending the Constitution to eliminate term limits and dismissing a Supreme Court justice who resisted his changes. But he did so under favorable circumstances, riding a wave of popularity among majority Sinhalese after crushing a long-running Tamil insurgency in the north in 2009. Since that victory, Sri Lanka has benefited from a thriving tourist industry and had the highest economic growth rate in the region, leading many to conclude that voters would tolerate his consolidation of power.

Thursday’s vote called that calculus into question, said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo. “Basically, the electorate has turned its back on misgovernance and the dynastic project, as well as authoritarianism,” he said.

After counting began on Thursday night, he said, the president must have quickly understood that he had lost the election, and been encouraged to concede by army and police officials.

“I think he saw the writing on the wall,” Mr. Saravanamuttu said. “He would have realized there was a swing. His representatives within the arms of the state would have told him, ‘Look, we are not going to buck the popular will.’”

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The upset introduces significant uncertainty. Mr. Sirisena has promised to abolish the strong presidency introduced by Mr. Rajapaksa and return the country to a parliamentary system, but the coalition around him is a sprawling, diverse one, including Buddhist nationalists, Marxists and center-right politicians, among others. Dayan Jayatilleka, a former diplomat who had supported Mr. Rajapaksa’s re-election bid in recent weeks, said late Thursday that he expected some turbulence to emerge in the coming months.

“The opposition will certainly have a transition plan, and chances of instability are small, because the state machinery will switch to the winner,” he said. “Instability will set in later, if at all, when the executive presidency is abolished and multipolarity has set in.”

A central question is whether Sri Lanka will begin to distance itself from China, which had become a major ally under Mr. Rajapaksa, extending billions of dollars in loans for the construction of new ports and highways. That trend was worrying to India, which formally complained in recent months after Chinese military submarines made unannounced visits to the Colombo port.

In his manifesto, Mr. Sirisena promises to establish “equal relations” with India, China, Pakistan and Japan, and criticizes his predecessor for incurring heavy foreign debts.

“The land that the White Man took over by means of military strength is now being obtained by foreigners by paying ransom to a handful of persons,” the manifesto says. “If this trend continues for another six years, our country would become a colony, and we would become slaves.”

Harsha de Silva, economic affairs spokesman for the opposition United National Party, said the new government would review all major infrastructure projects, withdrawing support from those that appeared to be “white elephants.” If officials discover irregularities, including any involving Mr. Rajapaksa’s family members, he said, “we will hand it over to the authorities to investigate and then put it before an independent judiciary.”

This position, he said, does not indicate “any misgivings or bad blood with China.”

“We consider China a good friend; it just happens that many of these projects in question happened to be Chinese,” he said. “We will have a balanced approach between India and China, unlike the current regime, which was antagonizing India almost by its closeness to China.”

Indian analysts warned against expecting radical policy changes from Mr. Sirisena, who shares a political background with Mr. Rajapaksa and relies on the same core support group, ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists. That group has, historically, been hostile to demands from northern Tamils for demilitarization of the north and restoration of power to elected Tamil leaders.

The contest became surprisingly close in November, when Mr. Sirisena, a longtime loyalist from Mr. Rajapaksa’s own party, suddenly defected and declared himself a challenger. He was followed by other defectors who focused their campaigns on Mr. Rajapaksa’s vulnerabilities, especially allegations that his relatives, who occupy dozens of government posts, have enriched themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens.

Ellen Barry reported from New Delhi, and Dharisha Bastians from Colombo, Sri Lanka.

A version of this article appears in print on January 9, 2015, on page A3 of the New York edition with the headline: Sri Lankan President Appears to Lose Election. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

For China, a New Leader in Sri Lanka May Herald a Change in Ties

For China, a New Leader in Sri Lanka May Herald a Change in Ties
By BREE FENG  JANUARY 9, 2015 8:33 AM January 9, 2015 8:33 am Comment NYT

Last January, Sri Lanka’s health minister, Maithripala Sirisena, joined his colleagues in toasting the Chinese New Year at a red-lantern-festooned gala featuring performances of the songs “Love My China” and “Mother Sri Lanka” and hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Colombo, the capital.

But today, with Mr. Sirisena the surprise victor in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, Chinese leaders are likely to be watching with some unease to see if he follows through on a campaign promise to scrap a major Chinese investment project.

China in recent years has become a leading investor and trading partner for the strategically situated island nation, which is roughly 40 miles off the southeastern coast of India. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was defeated in the vote, had welcomed Chinese investment. And China, which has been expanding its naval abilities and reach, seemed to have found a good friend in the Indian Ocean. But in the early hours of Friday, Mr. Rajapaksa was forced to admit defeat after results showed he was trailing his former aide.

When the presidential campaign began last year, Mr. Rajapaksa seemed headed for an easy victory. But the surprise defection of Mr. Sirisena and several other aides two months ago turned the election into a tight race, with the opposition criticizing Mr. Rajapaksa for placing family members in government posts and consolidating power.

More significantly for China, Mr. Sirisena, who was to be sworn in Friday evening, also took aim during his campaign at major foreign-backed investment projects — including one that President Xi Jinping personally inaugurated during his visit to the country in September. That $1.5 billion project, funded by China Communications Construction Company, would build a new port city on hundreds of acres of reclaimed land in Colombo. Crucially, the new port has been included in China’s “Maritime Silk Road,” one of two major foreign policy initiatives by Mr. Xi in 2013 envisioning a series of regional infrastructure and other projects that analysts say are aimed at bolstering China’s influence.

Mr. Sirisena and the incoming prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said during the campaign that they would scuttle the Colombo Port City project, along with a planned Australian-backed casino. But the incoming leaders have also suggested that they were seeking balance and would not shun China altogether. In an interview published on Thursday, Mr. Wickremesinghe told The Hindustan Times, an Indian newspaper, that if his side won, Sri Lanka would seek better ties with India, “but that doesn’t mean we will be hostile to China.”

Anit Mukherjee, an assistant professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said on Friday, “It’s hard to take a guess” on whether Mr. Sirisena will follow through on his promises and cancel the two projects.

Given that Mr. Sirisena emphasized claims of corruption and nepotism against Mr. Rajapaksa, he “will be keen to distinguish and maintain his clean image,” Mr. Mukherjee said. “What we do know is that both deals will attract scrutiny, and if not outright cancellation, they will most probably be investigated for corruption.”

It would not be the first time in recent years that a large-scale Chinese project was abruptly canceled by a foreign leader seeking to build domestic support. In 2011, Myanmar’s president, Thein Sein, scrapped a major Chinese-funded dam project after it drew substantial protest.

On Friday, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei, said that China congratulated Sri Lanka on its elections and was “willing to make joint efforts with Sri Lanka to continue to promote the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership.”

China has other large projects in the works in Sri Lanka, including a plan to turn the town of Hambantota into a major new port, as well as a $1.2 billion coal power plant that the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua said would meet half of the country’s total demand. China’s Export-Import Bank says it has invested $1.6 billion in more than 20 projects in Sri Lanka, mostly involving shipping and transportation.

During Mr. Xi’s recent visit, the two sides also signed an agreement to establish a second Confucius Institute, one of the Chinese language and cultural centers that have come under criticism at some Western universities because of their connections to the Chinese government.

China’s growing footprint in South Asia has worried India, which has significant cultural and historical ties with Sri Lanka. In particular, New Delhi has expressed concern about Beijing’s increasing naval abilities, worries that were exacerbated when two Chinese submarines docked in Colombo last year for the first time.

Sri Lankan officials have suggested that they had no choice but to turn to China as a partner. Mr. Rajapaksa has said that he first offered the Hambantota project to India, which he said turned it down.

Mr. Mukherjee said that he believed there would be no “major tectonic shifts” in ties between Sri Lanka and China, but that Mr. Sirisena might, “without rejecting Chinese investments, bring about a correction on Sri Lanka’s seeming ‘tilt’ towards China.”

“The most likely outcome is that Chinese military activity in the island state, like the recent visits of its submarines, will be curtailed,” he said. “This will, of course, be welcomed by the Indians.”

UK Congratulates INCLUSIVE SRI LANKA!

மைத்திரி ஜனநாயகமே போர்க்குற்றவாளி பொன்சேகாவை தூக்கில் ஏற்று!

Chinese president congratulates Sri Lanka's Sirisena

Chinese president congratulates Sri Lanka's Sirisena
IANS India Private Limited/Yahoo India NewsBy Indo Asian News Service | IANS India Private Limited/Yahoo India News – 35 minutes ago

Beijing, Jan 9 (IANS) Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday sent a congratulatory message to Maithripala Sirisena on his election as Sri Lanka's new head of state, pledging to promote the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

In the message, Xi said China and Sri Lanka were traditional friendly neighbours, and relations between the two countries have withstood the test of time since the establishment of diplomatic ties, becoming a paradigm of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between neighboring countries, Xinhua newes agency reported.

He said that, in recent years, China and Sri Lanka have set up a strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and friendship from generation to generation.

The two countries have kept expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, bringing tangible interests to the two peoples, he said, noting that China regarded Sri Lanka as a trustworthy friend and partner.

"Attaching great importance to the development of relations with Sri Lanka, I am willing to make concerted efforts with the Sri Lankan side to keep lifting the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership to higher levels," Xi said.

Sirisena, a former health minister, defeated incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa in Thursday's presidential election.

``ஜனநாயக`` மைத்திரி கும்பலே போர்க்குற்றவாளிகளை தூக்கிலேற்று!

 

Maithri To Take Oaths As President This Evening

Maithri To Take Oaths As President This Evening: Ranil Likely To Be PM From Tomorrow
Friday, 09 January 2015 10:00

Common Candidate of the opposition Maithripala Sirisena will take oaths as the new President of Sri Lanka this evening, sources close to him told Asian Mirror.

The swearing in ceremony will take place at Independence Square at 6 pm.

After taking oaths, he will extend an open invitation to every members of Parliament, including the UPFA MPs, to join his 100 day programme to introduce much needed democratic reforms to the country.

It is learnt that he will appoint UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister tomorrow. Also, the new President will appoint a multi-party cabinet as part of his 100 day programme.

Early next week, the new President will appoint an Advisory Council to devise constitutional amendments to ensure democracy in the country. The council will have the representation of members of political parties and civil organization.

The Parliament will be convened following the setting up of the Advisory Council.

A spokesperson of then opposition told Asian Mirror that every step made by the Common Candidate will be in accordance with the 100 day programme presented to the public by the Common Opposition prior to the presidential election

Sri Lanka's strongman president voted out after decade in power

Sri Lanka's strongman president voted out after decade in power
Reuters By Shihar Aneez and John Chalmers

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost his bid for a third term on Friday, ending a decade of rule that critics say had become increasingly authoritarian and marred by nepotism and corruption.

Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, a one-time ally of Rajapaksa who defected in November and derailed what the president thought would be an easy win, took 51.3 percent of the votes polled in Thursday's election.

Rajapaksa got 47.6 percent, according to the Election Department.

Celebratory firecrackers were set off in the capital, Colombo, after Rajapaksa accepted the victory of Sirisena, who has vowed to root out corruption and bring constitutional reforms to weaken the power of the presidency.

Sri Lanka's stock market climbed to its highest in nearly four years.

"We expect a life without fear," said Fathima Farhana, a 27-year-old Muslim woman in Colombo.

"I voted for him because he said he will create equal opportunities for all," she said of Sirisena, a soft-spoken 63-year-old from the rice-growing hinterlands of the Indian Ocean island state.

Like Rajapaksa, Sirisena is from the majority Sinhala Buddhist community but he has reached out to ethnic minority Tamils and Muslims and has the support of several small parties.

His allies say he will rebalance the country's foreign policy, which tilted heavily towards China in recent years as Rajapaksa fell out with the West over human rights and allegations of war crimes committed at the end of a drawn-out conflict with Tamil separatists in 2009.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to welcome the successful election and commended Rajapaksa for accepting the verdict of the nation's 15 million voters.

"I look forward to working with President-elect Sirisena as his new government works to implement its campaign platform of a Sri Lanka that is peaceful, inclusive, democratic, and prosperous," Kerry said in a statement.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Sirisena to congratulate the new leader of "a close friend and neighbor".

Sri Lanka is just off India's southern coast and has historically had mixed ties with its much larger neighbor. Rajapaksa had cold-shouldered New Delhi in recent years but Sirisena told an Indian newspaper this week that "we will revert to the old, non-aligned policy".

"India is our first, main concern. But we are not against Chinese investment either. We will maintain good relations with China too," he told the Hindustan Times.

MOTLEY COALITION

Sirisena is expected to be sworn in at Colombo's Independence Square at 6:00 p.m. (7.30 a.m. EST).

The results showed Rajapaksa remained popular among Sinhala Buddhists, who account for about 70 percent of the country's 21 million people, but Sirisena earned his lead with the support of the ethnic Tamil-dominated former war zone in the north and Muslim-dominated areas.

Rajapaksa won handsomely in the last election in 2010, surfing a wave of popularity months after the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

But critics say he had become increasingly authoritarian, with several members of his family holding powerful positions. Although the economy had blossomed since the end of the war, voters complained of the high cost of living.

Rajapaksa had called this election two years early, confident that the usually fractured opposition would fail to come up with a credible candidate. But he did not anticipate the emergence of Sirisena, who shared a traditional Sri Lankan dinner with him one evening and turned on him the next day.

Sirisena will lead a motley coalition of ethnic, religious, Marxist and center-right parties, which analysts say could hamper economic reform and encourage populist policies.

He has pledged to abolish the executive presidency that gave Rajapaksa unprecedented power and hold a fresh parliamentary election within 100 days.

He has also promised a crackdown on corruption, which would include investigations into big infrastructure projects such as a $1.5 billion deal with China Communications Construction Co Ltd <601800 .ss=""> to build a port city.

It is not clear if the port, to be built on land reclaimed from the sea in Colombo, will be canceled.

However, Sirisena's backers have said a casino license given to Australian gambling tycoon James Packer's Crown Resorts Ltd will be withdrawn.

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Robert Birsel)