A Brief History of Southern Provincial Elections

Southern Province is an important battleground in Sri Lankan politics. It consists of three districts, Galle, Matara and Hambatota and has a population of nearly 2.5 million. While Hambantota District is the smallest in population, it is a significant district in politics. It is the stronghold of President Mahinda Rajapaksa as well as the United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian Sajith Premadasa. Furthermore, it is the stronghold of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or the People’s Liberation Front.

In 1988, the first Provincial Council Elections were held under a volatile political situation. The main opposition, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was boycotting the election against the provincial council system introduced through the Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987. Meanwhile the JVP had launched an insurgency and given that the Southern Province was its stronghold, the JVP had the means to carry out its writ in a large area in the province. It had threatened voters with death and at certain places it assassinated those who participated in the polls.

The first election for the Southern Provincial election was won by the UNP in June 1988. SM Amarasiri became the first Chief Minister. Meanwhile, BY Thudawe who contested from the United Socialist Alliance (USA), a leftwing coalition of several parties, became the first opposition leader.

Five years later, a new political alliance had been formed to challenge the UNP regime before the elections. Meanwhile, several influential leaders had split from the UNP, forming the Democratic United National Front (DUNF). The Southern Province election in 1993 saw the UNP winning 27 seats including the two bonus seats. However, the PA and the DUNF, with 22 and 6 seats respectively, could command a majority together. Therefore, the UNP lost power in the Provincial Council.

This led to the “Franciscu Affair”, an attempt by the UNP to change the balance of the Provincial Council. At the time of the budget speech, a councilor named Wimal Fransiscu was abducted. Without the majority, the Provincial Council fell. However, the subsequent election in 1994 was won outright by the PA (DUNF had joined the PA by that time). PA won 32 seats with the 2 bonus seats while the UNP was reduced to 23 seats. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene became the Chief Minister.

Five years later, the 1999 Southern Provincial Council Election was held on June 10. At this time, the popularity of the JVP, which had returned to mainstream politics, was rising while the PA government was becoming increasingly unpopular. The Southern Province election reflected this since the PA fell to 27 seats (including the bonus seats) and UNP was reduced to 20 seats. The JVP won 8 seats and received one fifths of the votes in Hambantota District. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene remained as the Chief Minister. However, when he was elected to the parliament in 2001, HG Sirisena became the Chief Minister.

The next election for Southern Provincial Council was held five years later on July 10, 2004, just after a general election. The turnout was just over 55 percent, and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (an alliance of PA and JVP) swept the polls. The UPFA won 36 seats, an almost 2/3 majority while the UNP was reduced to 19 seats. Shan Wijayalal de Silva became the Chief Minister.

The 2009 Southern Provincial Election was held in extremely favorable conditions to the UPFA, despite the fact that JVP had left the alliance. The conclusion of the war in May 2009 meant that the government was extremely popular. In the election held in October 2009, the turnout was much better than 2004 at nearly 70 percent. Two thirds of the votes polled were received by the UPFA and it gained a 2/3 majority in the council with 38 seats. The UNP was reduced to 14 seats while the JVP won just three seats, much less than what they had won in 1999, when it had contested alone. Shan Wijayalal de Silva remained the Chief Minister of the province.

In the 2014 election, the UPFA will hope to repeat its performance. The JVP will be hoping for a better performance under a new leadership. Since the three main parties have their strongholds in the province, southern Provincial Council Elections will be an interesting encounter under any circumstances.

When The Netherlands Stunned the Cricket World in general and Ireland in Particular

Sixes rained in Sylhet as Netherlands shocked almost the whole cricket world, when they chased down a formidable target of 190 runs given them by Ireland to enter the Super 10 round with style.

Needing to chase down the target in 14.2 overs to qualify for the next round, the Dutch team managed to reach the target in 13.5 overs.

Open batsmen Peter Borren and Stephen Myburgh started the chase hitting six after six, leaving Ireland with no option. Their partnership of 91 was put on in just 7 overs. Borren, Myburgh and van Beek lost their wickets in quick succession giving some hope to Ireland. Tom Cooper, the best batsman for the Dutch in this series was dropped early in his innings and made good of the life given him by scoring 45 in 15 overs, raising the Dutch hope of qualifying for Super 10. His brother Ben Cooper and one down batsman Wesley Barresi saw the team through.

Only Kevin O’Brien had respectable figures for the Irish, ending with 2 for 29 in three overs.

114 runs of the Dutch innings came in sixes.

Summary

Ireland 189-4 in 20 overs. Poynter 57, W Porterfield 47, K O’Brien 42 n.o.

Netherlands 193-4 in 13.5 overs. Stephen Myburgh 63, Tom Cooper 45, Wesley Barresi 40.

Written on March 21, 2014.

 

Sixes rained in Sylhet as Netherlands shocked almost the whole cricket world, when they chased down a formidable target of 190 runs given them by Ireland to enter the Super 10 round with style.

Needing to chase down the target in 14.2 overs to qualify for the next round, the Dutch team managed to reach the target in 13.5 overs.

Open batsmen Peter Borren and Stephen Myburgh started the chase hitting six after six, leaving Ireland with no option. Their partnership of 91 was put on in just 7 overs. Borren, Myburgh and van Beek lost their wickets in quick succession giving some hope to Ireland. Tom Cooper, the best batsman for the Dutch in this series was dropped early in his innings and made good of the life given him by scoring 45 in 15 overs, raising the Dutch hope of qualifying for Super 10. His brother Ben Cooper and one down batsman Wesley Barresi saw the team through.

Only Kevin O’Brien had respectable figures for the Irish, ending with 2 for 29 in three overs.

114 runs of the Dutch innings came in sixes.

Summary
Ireland 189-4 in 20 overs. Poynter 57, W Porterfield 47, K O’Brien 42 n.o.
Netherlands 193-4 in 13.5 overs. Stephen Myburgh 63, Tom Cooper 45, Wesley Barresi 40. - See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/sport-online/item/27200-netherlands-stun-ireland.html#sthash.L4jPDwwv.dpuf

Sixes rained in Sylhet as Netherlands shocked almost the whole cricket world, when they chased down a formidable target of 190 runs given them by Ireland to enter the Super 10 round with style.

Needing to chase down the target in 14.2 overs to qualify for the next round, the Dutch team managed to reach the target in 13.5 overs.

Open batsmen Peter Borren and Stephen Myburgh started the chase hitting six after six, leaving Ireland with no option. Their partnership of 91 was put on in just 7 overs. Borren, Myburgh and van Beek lost their wickets in quick succession giving some hope to Ireland. Tom Cooper, the best batsman for the Dutch in this series was dropped early in his innings and made good of the life given him by scoring 45 in 15 overs, raising the Dutch hope of qualifying for Super 10. His brother Ben Cooper and one down batsman Wesley Barresi saw the team through.

Only Kevin O’Brien had respectable figures for the Irish, ending with 2 for 29 in three overs.

114 runs of the Dutch innings came in sixes.

Summary
Ireland 189-4 in 20 overs. Poynter 57, W Porterfield 47, K O’Brien 42 n.o.
Netherlands 193-4 in 13.5 overs. Stephen Myburgh 63, Tom Cooper 45, Wesley Barresi 40. - See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/sport-online/item/27200-netherlands-stun-ireland.html#sthash.L4jPDwwv.dpuf

Sixes rained in Sylhet as Netherlands shocked almost the whole cricket world, when they chased down a formidable target of 190 runs given them by Ireland to enter the Super 10 round with style.

Needing to chase down the target in 14.2 overs to qualify for the next round, the Dutch team managed to reach the target in 13.5 overs.

Open batsmen Peter Borren and Stephen Myburgh started the chase hitting six after six, leaving Ireland with no option. Their partnership of 91 was put on in just 7 overs. Borren, Myburgh and van Beek lost their wickets in quick succession giving some hope to Ireland. Tom Cooper, the best batsman for the Dutch in this series was dropped early in his innings and made good of the life given him by scoring 45 in 15 overs, raising the Dutch hope of qualifying for Super 10. His brother Ben Cooper and one down batsman Wesley Barresi saw the team through.

Only Kevin O’Brien had respectable figures for the Irish, ending with 2 for 29 in three overs.

114 runs of the Dutch innings came in sixes.

Summary
Ireland 189-4 in 20 overs. Poynter 57, W Porterfield 47, K O’Brien 42 n.o.
Netherlands 193-4 in 13.5 overs. Stephen Myburgh 63, Tom Cooper 45, Wesley Barresi 40. - See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/sport-online/item/27200-netherlands-stun-ireland.html#sthash.L4jPDwwv.dpuf

Sixes rained in Sylhet as Netherlands shocked almost the whole cricket world, when they chased down a formidable target of 190 runs given them by Ireland to enter the Super 10 round with style.

Needing to chase down the target in 14.2 overs to qualify for the next round, the Dutch team managed to reach the target in 13.5 overs.

Open batsmen Peter Borren and Stephen Myburgh started the chase hitting six after six, leaving Ireland with no option. Their partnership of 91 was put on in just 7 overs. Borren, Myburgh and van Beek lost their wickets in quick succession giving some hope to Ireland. Tom Cooper, the best batsman for the Dutch in this series was dropped early in his innings and made good of the life given him by scoring 45 in 15 overs, raising the Dutch hope of qualifying for Super 10. His brother Ben Cooper and one down batsman Wesley Barresi saw the team through.

Only Kevin O’Brien had respectable figures for the Irish, ending with 2 for 29 in three overs.

114 runs of the Dutch innings came in sixes.

Summary
Ireland 189-4 in 20 overs. Poynter 57, W Porterfield 47, K O’Brien 42 n.o.
Netherlands 193-4 in 13.5 overs. Stephen Myburgh 63, Tom Cooper 45, Wesley Barresi 40. - See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/sport-online/item/27200-netherlands-stun-ireland.html#sthash.L4jPDwwv.dpuf

T20 World Cup 2014: Hong Kong upsets Bangladesh

In a game of fluctuating fortunes, the Hong Kong cricket team managed to defeat a test-playing nation when they defeated Bangladesh in a T20 World Cup Round 1 game in Chittagong.

Chasing a target of 109 in 20 overs, Hong Kong made a rapid start with the help of some good stroke play of Irfan Ahmed, who scored 34 in just 28 balls faced. His dismissal initiated a mini-procession as several more wickets fell cheaply. Hong Kong slid to 5 for 50, recalling the dramatic collapse against Nepal. However, the experienced Munir Dar and Nizakat Khan built a 33 run partnership, thereby stalling the slide.

Bangladeshi hopes were raised when two wickets fell with the score on 100. However, Haseem Amjad and Nadeem Ahmed saw the team through. Amjad hit a huge six to end the chase successfully.

A combination of good bowling and poor batting had helped Hong Kong restrict the Bangladesh team for just 108 in 16.3 overs in their innings. Open bowler Tanwir Afzal took 2 wickets in the first over, but a third wicket partnership between Sakib Al Hassan and Anamul Haq saw Bangladesh reach 51 in six overs before Anamul was clean bowled by Nadeem Ahmed. This initiated the collapse of the Bangladesh innings. Nadeem Ahmed took 4 for 21 and Nizakat Khan took 3 for 19. Sakib Al Hassan was the pick of the batters and bowlers for Bangladesh, scoring 34 runs and taking three for just nine in his four overs.

Summary

Bangladesh 108 all out in 16.3 overs. Sakib Al Hassan 34, Anamul Haq 26; Nadeem Ahmed 21-4, Nizakat Khan 19-3.

Hong Kong 114-8 in 19.4 overs. Munir Dar 36, Irfan Ahmed 34. Sakib Al Hassan 9-3, Mahmadullah 13-2

Frederick Forsyth's 'Jackal' almost Assasinated President De Gaulle

President Charles de Gaulle came to power in 1958 when France was falling apart with a series of governments unable to deal with the Algerian War. Before coming to power, de Gaulle promised that Algeria would remain French.

However, sometime after consolidating power, de Gaulle made an about turn and decided that Algeria must go. Algeria was a drain on French economy. Although the French troops were much better trained and equipped, they could not afford to fight a prolonged and costly war. The people of Algeria, except the French community, were almost totally pro-independence. By 1962, after being at war almost continuously from 1939 (World War II, Indochina War and Algeria War) the French were tired.

In 1962, two referenda were held in France and Algeria when the majority of inhabitants in both lands declared that Algeria must be independent. However, some hardliners did not agree. One such group was Secret Army Organization (OAS) an ultra-nationalist military group. It considered de Gaulle a traitor for granting Algeria independence. In August 1962, several officers of the OAS attempted unsuccessfully to assassinate the president. This attempt however, made the government crack down on the OAS. In the end, the officer who masterminded the plot was given death penalty.

Frederick Forsyth’s book “The Day of the Jackal” starts here. The remnants of the OAS decide to hire a professional assassin to kill the president. He is known only by the name “Jackal” and no one knows anything about him except for the fact that he is an Englishman. The first part of the book, “The Anatomy of a Plot” gives these details and the meticulous preparations of the “Jackal.” There is no killer in real or fiction who is more methodical and precise. He looks into all details, getting several forged passports, hiring a Belgian gunsmith to custom make a gun is slim and can be broken to several pieces and employing a spy network with the help of OAS to get information within the French government.

The second part of the book, “Anatomy of a Manhunt” shows Lebel, a French detective, hunting the “Jackal” who is always a step ahead. Ultimately the spy ring is broken but the Jackal still manages to reach his targeted position. It was only Lebel’s watchfulness which saves the day. This climax is described in the last part of the book “Anatomy of a Kill.”

Forsyth’s success is the way in which he combines fiction and fact. He starts from the real story and gives it a continuation, which appears to be authentic. It shows the amount of research that has gone into the story. It ends in such a way that only a handful of people get to know about the assassination attempt. Therefore, it could have well been a true story. If someone tells you that this is a real story, and if you believe it to be after reading the book, you cannot be blamed. That is the success of “The Day of the Jackal.”

A brief history of Western Provincial Council Elections

The elections for the Western and Southern Provincial Councils will be held on March 29, 2014. This will be the sixth Provincial Council (PC) election in the Western Provincial Council (WPC). The largest PC in Sri Lanka by the number of members, WPC has 104 seats including the two bonus seats.

Western Province has a population of nearly six million, and Colombo and Gampaha are the most populous districts in the island. Colombo is the commercial hub of the island and was an important harbor even in the British colonial era. The province has benefited from the recent infrastructure development and the expanded port of Colombo will hopefully become a shipping hub in the Indian Ocean.

The provincial system was first introduced in 1833 by the British colonial government. Initially, there were five provinces which were ultimately expanded to nine. However, they were not very important and served just a ceremonial role until 1987.

That year, the overt Indian intervention in Sri Lanka’s civil war intensified. As per the Indo-Lanka Accord between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President JR Jayewardene, devolution of power was deemed to be the solution to the ‘national question’ and provinces were decided to be the basis for this. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the Provincial Councils Act No. 42 of 1987 introduced the PCs. The first elections for PCs were held in April, 1988, in North Central, North Western, Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces. The Western and Southern Provinces went to polls on June 2, 1988 along with the Central Province.

By the time the first PC elections were held, the whole country was engulfed in violence. In the North and East, the LTTE was at full-fledged war with the Indian Peace Keeping Force. In the other provinces the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or the People’s Liberation Front, and its front organizations were conducting an armed insurrection against government forces.

In the PC elections, the United National Party (UNP) government did not face strong opposition from other contesting parties. The main opposition, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), was against the PC system and boycotted the elections in 1988. Therefore, the main opposition to the UNP came from the United Socialist Alliance (USA), an alliance of several left-wing parties. A more credible threat was that of the JVP, which vowed to disrupt the elections, threatening the voters who are bold enough to vote, with death.

Despite the threats, the election was held and unsurprisingly, the UNP won it in Western Province and all other provinces except the North East. Susil Moonasinghe became the first Chief Minister of the WPC while Ossie Abeygoonasekera became the first leader of the Opposition.

The second WPC election was held in June 1993, while winds of change were blowing across the Sri Lankan political arena. It marked the political rebirth of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and was the first electoral success of her rapid rise. It was a strange time, combined with both political violence and hope. The UNP was fractured and the Democratic United National Front led by Lalith Athulathmudali had become the third force in Sri Lankan politics. It was during an election rally at Kirillapone that Athulathmudali was assassinated on April 23, 1993. President Ranasinghe Premadasa was implicated in this assassination by his opponents and for the first time, the President was visibly feeling the pressure of these accusations. A week later, on May 1, he was also assassinated.

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became the Chief Minister of WPC after the 1993 election, thereby becoming the first (and to-date, only) female Chief Minister of a Sri Lankan Provincial Council. She later contested the General Elections in August 1994 and became the Prime Minister. The vacancy created by her resignation from the Chief Minister post was filled by Morris Rajapaksa. However, he died in July 1995 and was replaced by Susil Premjayanth.

The five years legal duration of the WPC expired in June 1988. However, the next election was held only in April 1999. This was a time of political fragmentation, with popularity of the governing SLFP-led People’s Alliance falling rapidly while the popularity of the JVP increasing. In this election, the PA only edged past the UNP and only the 2 bonus seats separated them. (PA-46 seats, UNP-44 seats.) JVP won 8 seats while even Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne’s New Left Front won a seat from Colombo District. Reginald Cooray became the new Chief Minister of a minority PA government in the WPC.

The next election in 2004 saw the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) consisting of the former PA and the JVP routing the UNP. The WPC election came just after a General Election and the turnout was low. UPFA won 59 seats with the two bonus seats and Reginald Cooray was selected as Chief Minister again.

The last Western PC election saw the UPFA win a staggering victory over the opposition parties. The JVP had left the UPFA but its political mettle had largely fallen. The UPFA had the added advantage of a successful war against the LTTE, which was at its final weeks. UPFA won 68 seats out of 104 and UNP won 30. JVP managed only 3 and Sri Lanka Muslin Congress won 2. Prasanna Ranatunga was selected as the Chief Minister.