19A gets stunning two-thirds

So the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed with a stunning two-thirds majority on Wednesday 29 May. The members of the House by the Diyawanne voted wisely and for once almost unanimously. Credit goes almost in its entirety to President Maithripala Sirisena because he agreed to and carried out the changes advocated by Ven Maduluwave Sobhitha Thera and Ven Ratana Thera.

Except for J R Jayawardena, initiator of the presidential system of government as against the Westminster style introduced by the British colonizers and retained by our leaders with D S Senanayake and others in the forefront, and his successor, all others vowed to abolish the presidential system. These later leaders even included it in their election manifestos and Madam Chandrika obtained the cooperation of the JVP swearing she would abolish the executive presidency when she was elected and well and truly seated in the presidential seat. She and Prez Rajapaksa went to the extent of ensconcing themselves firmly and then desiring and later manoeuvering to extend to a third term. Prez Rajapaksa went two steps further: brought in an unholy, unjust, completely selfishly motivated 18th Amendment. The people in Parliament even changed sides to give him a third and even fourth term as Prez; people like novice Pabha. Then the people rejected him firmly. It was much experienced Maithripala Sirisena, Menika believes, the only person who would canvass and work hard to abolish powers devolved on him, that initiated and saw to it that certain executive powers were pruned. Menika believes not so very many appreciate this fact or realize he has sacrificed very much for the sake of the country and democratic principles.

Who doesn't like power and in the hands of the previous Head it was absolute power. Maithripala Sirisena, much merit to him, initiated and saw to it that presidential powers were reduced to manageable levels that would not breed another tyrant. Menika is glad all powers did not go to the prime minister. We need a president, but not a greedy tyrant; rather a sane and just statesman. Maithripala Sirisena fits the bill.

Menika compulsively has to quote what the Editor of a daily wrote about the passing of 19A. He gives voice to our thoughts succinctly. "There have been situations where our law makers acted responsibly during the last several decades but such instances can be counted on the fingers of one hand. They did so in 2001, when they voted overwhelmingly for the 17th Amendment....They have just done so again by ratifying the 19th Amendment to curtail the draconian powers vested in the executive presidency and revive the independent commissions among other things."

May Day

The pulse racing excitement is not over. Now comes Workers' Day when we shall see masses of marchers in green, blue and red snaking their way to their respective meeting places. The big question is: will he or won't he?

Menika does not think it necessary to spell this out. As near May Day as 30 April the SLFPers are not sure whether their former Head and ex Prez will appear on the May Day Rally platform alongside the present Prez. This feline willingly bets her last piece of cheese on Mahinda R not appearing on the same platform as his bête noire Maithripala S. But that does not mean he is planning to remain unseen and unheard and his presence unfelt. He will boom at other meetings or to the media and of course there will be paid crowds singing him hosannas and denouncing the President, the PM, the CID, the whoever for their supposed witch hunt of him and his family who were thus far above the law.

Pistol packing escort

The Family is to be treated as sacrosanct. Menika heard this weekend that the First Son and Heir, Namal Rajapakse, was referred to as podi janadipathi when the last regime was holding the fort of government.

Worse, even oldies used to 'Sir' him. For that of course the slipper lickers are to blame. I said earlier that The Family or certain members seem to feel they are still above the law. A glaring yet dangerous bit of evidence was the incident of "an armed army commando allegedly working for UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa gained access to a meeting attended by President Maithripala Sirisena at Agunukolapelessa recently."

The small front page news item was titled: 'CID probes breach of presidential security.' MP Rajapaksa had said the armed man had been with him and gone to fetch a bottle of water. Holds no water at all with us. Maybe no mischief was meant, but would you as boss, allow a minion to accompany you as a member of your security posse with a loaded gun to a meeting of high security. Come on. Shows no concern for the other's security or rules and regulations.

Travesty - both shocking and offensive

Menika was peacefully watching news and becoming quite blasé with a protest march led by Gamanpila and Weerawanse some days ago when she suddenly sat bolt upright. Something is wrong, she muttered to herself. And then she espied the wrong. Hundreds of flags of different sizes were being held aloft and waved around. They were not the national flag but an unpardonable, disgusting travesty of the flag: the orange and green strips were missing. Her first thought was: are they mad; the second was: what can you expect from such as these. But mind you, it could be so dangerous.

Did they realize they were playing with fire in their national zeal and wanting to protect or lionize or whatever their boss, the ex President? Even a child would recognize it as blatant incitement of racial disharmony which one could never guess how far it would rage. Menika of course thinks it was deliberate: create trouble in the country, even racial riots so yahapalana would have no chance to take root. And of course pat comes a puerile excuse: Gamanpila did not realize it was not the national flag. They should be faulted and dealt with severely since it was, mark Menika's Cassandra cry, an incitement to the Tamils and Muslims of the country with whom a definite plan of cooperation and oneness is being fostered, firstly with insisting we recognize ourselves as Sri Lankan.

Peace at Vesak

Let's turn our thoughts to Vesak. True it is commercialized; correct we should commemorate rather than celebrate blindly though the birth of Prince Siddhartha and his enlightenment call for celebration. More important is following his footsteps, even at a far distance and cultivating virtues he advocated, more especially *metta, muditha, karuna* and *uppekha*.

Loving kindness, joy in others' wellbeing, compassion and equanimity if developed by all will surely usher in happiness, peace and prosperity to this land we love so much. So enjoy a riotous Workers' Day, sans any trouble or violence, and have peace and serenity descending on you during the Vesak days. May you be well and happy!

Menika