Daily News Online
 

Friday, 19 February 2010

News Bar »

News: Exchange Control Law violated ...        Political: New Cabinet Spokesmen ...       Business: Chamber leaders optimistic: Lanka can overcome GSP+ ...        Sports: Tajikistan bundle out the Lankans ...

Home

 | SHARE MARKET  | EXCHANGE RATE  | TRADING  | SUPPLEMENTS  | PICTURE GALLERY  | ARCHIVES | 

dailynews
 ONLINE


OTHER PUBLICATIONS


OTHER LINKS

Marriage Proposals
Classified
Government Gazette

Strange parallels

On June 6, 2009 Mohmoud Ahmedinejad won the Presidential election in Iran with a majority exceeding 11 million votes. He polled 62.63 percent of the votes as against 33.75 percent polled by his nearest rival Mira-Hossein Mousavi.

Mousavi refused to accept the verdict and declared that he won despite the electoral commission certifying the result as free and fair. A re-count, however, confirmed Ahmedinejad’s victory.

On January 17, 2010 Viktor Yanukovych won the Presidential election in Ukraine with a majority exceeding 800,000 votes. He polled 48.95 percent as against the opponent Yulia Tymoshenka’s 45.47 percent.

Yulia refused to accept defeat and said she won despite the Ukraine Election Commission, the OSCE (European Security Cooperation Organization) and PACE (Parliamentary Association of Europe) certifying the election as free and fair and confirming the result.

On January 26, 2010 Mahinda Rajapaksa won the Presidential election in Sri Lanka with a majority of 1.8 million votes. He polled 57.88 percent of the votes as against 40.15 percent of votes polled by his nearest rival Sarath Fonseka.

Fonseka refused to accept defeat and said he had won despite the Elections Commissioner, international and local observers certifying the election as free and fair and confirming the result.

In Iran Mousavi charged Ahmedinejad of antagonizing the West and called for a pro-Western foreign policy and neo-liberal economic policies.

In Ukraine Yulia was the Leader of the Orange Revolution that carried the country to the Western orbit. She bitterly opposed cooperation with Russia and wanted to hinge the country to NATO.

In Sri Lanka Fonseka’s open pro-Western stand was well-known and he even promised to cooperate in an international war crimes tribunal against Sri Lankans. In his very first press conference he admitted that the UNP’s (neo-liberal) economic policy was good.

In Iran Mousavi campaigned for ‘a change’. In Sri Lanka Fonseka campaigned for a ‘believable change’.

The Western press including the New York Times and The Guardian, UK splashed news items saying that Mousavi had won. The same misinformation was found in the Western media in the case of Sri Lanka and Ukraine too.

They had believed in the change that when the actual results came it was a surprise. That is why the Time Magazine admitted that the victory of Mahinda Rajapaksa was a surprise. Yes, it was a surprise to them but not to the Sri Lankan masses.

Strange parallels indeed! Is the common factor an invisible hand across the oceans? Are all these instances of failed Orange Revolutions? In any case, the Age of Orange Revolutions seems to be over. The people have become wiser.


Time for introspection

Modern life is quite busy and people have hardly any free time. The consumer society, usually driven by marketing hype, places enormous demands on each and every individual, whatever his or her position in society is. The more you push up the social ladder the busier you become. No wonder our Members of Parliament and other politicians were so busy all the time.

They were so busy attending to their problems and those of their constituents they hardly had any time for introspection. Cynics may, however, say that even without introspection they were busy amassing wealth and glory that they had hardly any time to think of their constituents. Perhaps, such criticism is too harsh and unfair.

The dissolution of Parliament, fortunately has given them some free time for introspection, the results of which are already seen even in the streets. The usual frown on their faces has been replaced by the broad benevolent smile. They now do not fly on the highways but stop and meet people on way, listen to their grievances and promise to find redress once elected.

Their minds are full of ideas on how to develop their electorates, ideas that never crossed their minds earlier for no fault of theirs.

Every politician seems to have done some serious soul searching and even discovered their own qualities, sadly missed for so long. That is why they have begun to display them on city walls and lamp posts. Reading through their benign qualities the ordinary man in the street too would feel proud of his representative.

How sweet are they! Some are paragons of virtue, some others have iron strength. Still some one else claims to be the security guarantor of the Motherland. Another says he has conquered the world, a Chakravarti or universal monarch.

Tibet - a part of China

Historical evidence:

Tibet’s modern history date May 23, 1951, when the Dalai Lama (Dalai is a Mongolian Chinese Word meaning ocean of Wisdom) signed in Beijing the agreement of 17 articles, acknowledging Tibet return to the Chinese Motherland. With the Liberation of China in 1949, the US was afraid that the whole of Asia would become Communist.

Full Story

Richard de Zoysa - 20th death anniversary:

A voice for the voiceless

The day he was abducted from his mother’s home she had identified a senior Police officer who had served Premadasa’s Security Unit. Though she had informed the Police about it and a prominent politician of the Government had known it the murder case did not come to a conclusive end.

Full Story

Bata Atha Agricultural Technology Park:

Haven for agriculturalists

Through the President’s Api Wawamu - Rata Nagamu countrywide food production drive most of the people try to get maximum use of their home gardens. As most of them haven’t even a basic knowledge about agriculture they are very keen to learn agriculture technologies. There are two agricultural technological parks which are maintained by the Agriculture Department.

Full Story

 

EMAIL |   PRINTABLE VIEW | FEEDBACK

www.lanka.info
www.news.lk
www.defence.lk
Donate Now | defence.lk
www.apiwenuwenapi.co.uk
LANKAPUVATH - National News Agency of Sri Lanka
www.peaceinsrilanka.org
www.army.lk
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL)

| News | Editorial | Business | Features | Political | Security | Sport | World | Letters | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House Copyright © 2010 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.

Comments and suggestions to : Web Editor