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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>Everything seems to
be going downhill, I had to wait for an hour to get some fuel for my car. Interest
rates are supposed to go up by the end of the year. Will we Sri Lankans never
learn?

style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#333333'> href="http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20040815/politics-more.htm">http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20040815/politics-more.htm

style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>Fomenting religious
dissent was also part of the well orchestrated campaign of the then opposition,
but in government today, it is called upon to bell the cat with the JHU
demanding the Anti Conversion Bill be passed into law given the green light of
the Supreme Court. To top it all, with prices already skyrocketing, the
government last week asked the people to brace themselves for further hikes.

style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#333333'>And the irony of it
all is that the very reasons adduced by the President and the UPFA for the
ouster of the UNF such as the preparation to negotiate the ISGA with the LTTE,
allowing the Tigers to set up camps in Trincomalee such as at Manirasakulam,
providing duty free facilities to bring vehicles and equipment to the country
in addition to helicopter rides and other violations of the ceasefire
agreement, are all reenacted today, now with the blessings of the very
President and the UPFA.

The man who is seeking re-election as Sri Lanka’s prime minister at April 2 polls
halted an ethnic war raging for decades, but his handling of the peace process may
have landed him in trouble. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe, 55, has turned the vote into a referendum on his internationally-backed
bid to secure a permanent peace deal with Tamil Tiger rebels after establishing a
truce in place since February 2002.

“The main issue at this election campaign is the peace process and the handling of
the economy,” Wickremesinghe said after unveiling a six-page document setting out
his United National Party’s program earlier this month.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga had accused him of risking national security and conceding
too much to Tigers.

That was the basis for sacking the parliament controlled by him and calling polls
four years ahead of schedule.

A nephew of Sri Lanka’s first executive president, Junius Jayewardene, Wickremesinghe
wooed the West as well as neighbouring India to win unprecedented support for ending
the island’s ethnic bloodshed that has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1972.

The dividends came in June last year when the international community promised US$
4.5 bn in support of his peace drive to rebuild Sri Lanka.

But while he was in Washington to meet President George W. Bush, Kumaratunga pulled
the rug under his feet by taking away his control over security forces in November
last year.

What Wickremesinghe lacks in charisma, he makes up with his management skills.

“His public relations is almost non-existent, but his conflict management skills are
very sharp,” said a close confidant referring to his talks with the Tigers.

He managed to revive the economy in 2002 to record 4.0 percent growth, pulling the
country from its first ever recession in 2001 when the GDP growth hit a negative 1.5
percent.

The markets also love Wickremesinghe. It was when he was effectively managing the
economy that the country’s stock exchange became the world’s best gainer in early
1994.

It was set to establish another record last year just before the political crisis
erupted and stockbrokers say the bourse is looking for a Wickremesinghe win. (Source:
AFP)

In the next election that you are going to vote,
I would like to ask you to vote intelligently. Find out information yourself on which
party is the most forward thinking and can guide the country through. We cannot rely
on weak economic management that has marked Sri Lanka’s post-independence history.

Do some research and find out about the party your
going to vote for and also about the other parties. Find out which party can actually
lead the country. The party that you are going to vote for should not only have good
intentions (like peace and improving the economy) but also be able to carry out on
that.

So as someone who has access to the internet, you
readily have a lot of information available to you. Please use them and decide. Your
vote counts!

FYI: Websites that you should visit, read, be informed
and then decide.

Political Parties

UNP Website: http://www.unplanka.org/

PA Website: http://www.srilankafreedomwatch.com/

JVP Website: http://www.jvpsrilanka.com/

Related Pages

UPFA Manifesto: http://www.srilankafreedomwatch.com/images/upfamanifesto.doc

UNP Manifesto (Regaining Sri Lanka): http://www.regainingsrilanka.org/

SLFP-JVP MOU: http://www.srilankafreedomwatch.com/index.php?pid=164

ISGA (Tiger Proposal): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3232913.stm

Ceasefire Agreement (MOU): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1836198.stm

Peace Process: http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/

The country’s top two Buddhist prelates yesterday condemned the decision by
a section of Buddhist monks to contest in the forthcoming general election.

In a joint statement, the Most Venerable Rambukwelle Sri Vipassi Maha Nayaka thera
and the Most Venerable Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Maha Nayaka thera said, “It
had been said in the media that Bhikkus are going to contest the forthcoming general
election citing various reasons.

“This is the beginning of a grave calamity to the Buddha Sasana. Therefore for
no reason can this be approved. Both the clergy and the laity who are concerned about
the Sasana are astonished by this move. They are distressed.

“When considering the historical background it is clear that Bhikkus have served
as advisors and mentors to those who governed while attending to the spiritual needs
of the people.

“Therefore the responsibility of the Bhikkus is to act in an advisory capacity
as aforesaid,” the two prelates stated. [ColomboPage]