Sri Lankan Political Discussions

[Saradiel]

In the end what is evident is that US does not like that SL go in the direction that they do not like. Do we need to obey the US like some brainless zombies? At this very moment, people of SL should decide whether they should follow the instructions of the US or try to make their own independent path. We need not to become fully independent rough state per say but at least independence in certain subject that matters should be achieved.

Does it take this much time to understand what US want? It is commonsense US does not want other countries to go in directions they don’t like. So what is the stick they use to punish those countries? Human rights and internal troubles…
So any country with intelligent people will solve their HR issues and internal troubles so that US and west won’t be able to use that. That is how India acted. When they were in a difficulty they resort to managing their HR record. Screaming in full volume that west is unfair and hypocritical doesn’t help us. Because we cannot stop west acting against us regarding HR. But MR did not do that. Instead he allowed internal troubles to escalate and allowed HR situation to go down. In other words, he fell to the trap west had for him. Before he takes SL down with him, SL removed him, so SL state can act with the rest of the world with a clean chit.
US’s concerns are not against our concerns. Their concerns relates to largely indian ocean politics while ours is reducing western support to separatists’ cause. And we do not support US…please tell me where we had acted according to US. We just have given the impression that we will be pro west. But see china port project is going on. Why? Our china-SL relations are going on as usual.
We take care US’s concerns and west (US) takes care of our concerns. That is not ditching our independence, but simply politics and business as usual.
The reason you talk like this is you have no understanding on geo politics.
And if you think MR did not obey others you are dreaming. 2013 දි මහින්ද උතුරේ ඡන්දේ තිබ්බේ ඉන්දියානු බලපෑම නිසානේ.......ඔයා හිතනවා වගේ නෙමෙයි මහින්ද හැමෝටම නැමුණා.....
අපි ජය ගන්න ඕනි....කොටි පරද්දන්න ඕනි...ඒක කෙලින් තියෙන පාරක් නෙමෙයි......හැරෙන තැන්වලින් හැරිලා...එක එක පාරවල් වලින් ගිහින් තමයි දිනන්න ඕනි.

US has postponed means in diplomatic terms is that they have dropped the charges against us for the time being. We do not need fyi bad SL-US ties.

Of course we don’t need bad US-SL ties, but isn’t that what MR did?
One reason I supported Maithree was, under a new administration we can manage the UN. So one motive is already accomplished.
But that doesn’t mean our issues are over. SLG should investigate and show that most of war crime charges are hollow.
And another thing, in 2016 there is presidential election in US, Hilary is the most possible winner. Hilary had been anti SL. If you don’t know Sampandan and Sumanthiran had already met Hilary and talked to her, after which 2011 UN resolution was brought against SL..
If MR was there with Hilary (who would stay until 2024) we will find ourselves in a difficult situation. But with UNP (which is looked at as pro US) we can manage it.

to the said title such as Lalith and MR. JR didn't manage the 80s. If he ever did Premadasa would not have said "dekona willakkuwa".

Laith was a bit like Gota, yes he was a good leader but lacked commonsense. JR did manage 80s. Please read SL history in 80s..I haven’t heard of Pramadasa’s charge.
When war started in full scale india was pro LTTE but when they left SL they were anti LTTE…

Don't just keep on telling just because of having good ties with the West would give us more opportunities to rise out of the misery. For 26-27 years from 1978-2005 we had good relations with US and the West altogether. Did we get any good opportunities to progress our country to the prosperity? No we didn't. The only thing that happened was West burying our country with lots of foreign debt and projects which didn't deliver what was originally intended.

Relationship with west was useful for us. SL under Kadiragamar was mostly non aligned and not pro US. After open economy even with a war, SL economy went ahead. Business with west did help us. Just read how SL was before 78.
Gover is already looking to get GSP+ and possibly we will get it. That is an opportunity.
RW passed several acts in parliament to make sure our fish produce meets the criteria set by EU market. After several months, or next year we can possibly lift the fish ban on us which has negatively impacted us. (MR did nothing regarding this)
So these are the opportunities. And we can expand our industry base with investment from west. I heard Volkswagen is coming to SL. Our first priority is setting the economy right and go into western market. That is grabbing the opportunity.
After US bombed Japs, the Japanese worked with US in a friendly manner and set their economy straight. If Japan went in a collision course with US they won.t be where they are now. SL and US were not even in US-Japan level animosity. So what is the problem?

The only thing that happened was West burying our country with lots of foreign debt and projects which didn't deliver what was originally intended.

ඔතන වෙස්ට් වෙනුවට චීනය දාන්න.....එතකොට මහින්ද කළේ ඒකම නේද?

Enemy of my enemy is my friend. Very old saying. Read the art of war.

Isn’t that what I have said? art of war? you know nothing about it.
And since when did US become our enemy? Let me make this easy for you. Answer this question. Who is our enemy?

Balancing the foreign relations with much weight on Asia is not non alignment. By doing that we have selected Asia over the Europe and the US

There is nothing called asia and Europe in geo political terms. Every one is after their own interests. SL cannot afford to take a side.
So did MR balance asia with west? මහින්ද අන්තිමට නැවතුනේ මුස්ලිම් ලෝකයයි, ඉන්දියාවයි තරහා කරගෙන........Is that selecting asia over west? Our export market is west. Our enemy’s support base is in west….So having good relations with west is vital. මොකද බටහිර අපේ පැත්තේ තියාගත්තේ නැත්තම් උන් දෙමළාට සහාය දෙනවා....

MR was wrong so yahapalan should also be wrong. Nice theory.

What theory? You bring up a theory and call it yourself nice theory….
I said there are problems in UNP’s foreign policy….I have issues with that…I am not a blind supporter like you.

Why the heck we need Iran for? By mentioning Asia I only referred to India, China, Russia, Japan, S.Korea, Taiwan and the SEA tiger countries.
Also what is this technological transfer? Please elaborate

Because iran is a country that has succeeded in a creating a industrial base on their own when west put sanctions against them.
So did MR keep good relationships with India, China,Russia, Japan and S Korea or the rest?
චීනය හැර අනිත් හැම රටක් එක්කම ප්‍රශ්න හදාගත්තා....
චීන න්‍යෂ්ඨික සබ්මැරින් වලට ඉඩ දිලා, 13 ක්‍රියාත්මක නොකර ඉන්දියාව එක්ක කාගත්තා...
ඔයා දන්නවාද ලංකාව යූඑන් එකේදි ක්‍රිමියා රෙසලුෂන් එකේදි ඇමරිකාවට පක්ෂව රුසියාවට එරෙහිව ඡන්දේ දුන්නා කියලා? ඇයි ඒ ඇමරිකාවේ හොඳ හිත දිනන්න....කබරාලයා හැමදාම ලංකාවේ වැදගත්කම කියලා ඇමරිකන් ජර්නල්වල ලියන්නේ ඇයි? ඇමරිකාවේ හොඳනම දිනන්න.
ජපානය ලංකාවට සහෝගය දුන්නේ නෑ.....දකුණු කොරියාව අපිට විරුද්ධව ඡන්දේ පවා දුන්නා.....
ඇත්ත කතාව මහින්ද දින්න ආසියාවක් නෑ....මෑන් හිටියා නම් පකිස්ථතානයත් තරහා කරගෙන තමයි නවතින්නේ...
මහින්ද ආසියාවෙන් තමන්ගේ පැත්තට හරවා ගත්තේ ස්වාසිලන්තය තමයි.......ලොල්

Going against India meant siding with the West. That why India got over the edge and became hostile. Do not compare MR with JR. When JR was handling the situation India wasn't hostile towards us by very large degree. But what MR received was a already hostile India which has sided with SL Tamil cause. MR had to find something to balance out Indian threat and he did good by adopting the China policy. It was a wise move. Because of that India had to water down it's approach towards SL. Indian policy towards SL changed dramatically because of China. If not sure check S. Swami and his articles and debates in the TV..

Please for god’s sake read and learn about SL’s history in 80s…ගොන් කතා කියන්නේ නැතුව

@Saradiel .. Machun i think you misquoted me ^^

I knew you posted an interview. I just quoted what Suren said. I am just fed up with holier than thou attitude of tamils

 

[HeinzG]

Does it take this much time to understand what US want? It is commonsense US does not want other countries to go in directions they don’t like. So what is the stick they use to punish those countries? Human rights and internal troubles…
So any country with intelligent people will solve their HR issues and internal troubles so that US and west won’t be able to use that.

First of all what we need to understand is that every country has internal troubles. Be it SL, India, Japan or US. We all have a type of internal trouble. Those are the things manipulated easily by US to gain a foothold in a target country. BTW do you think that just by solving the issues would keep US away? That is not how US foreign policy works. Take a example of Iraq. US accused of it having all sorts of WMDs. Iraq being a good guy even allowed UN inspection teams to visit those sites. But what did US do? Did they just took the UN word for granted? No, they invaded Iraq and killed Saddam. It was their mission the whole time. The accusation was just the facade to cover the real intentions. Therefore do we seriously need to believe that even if we address our issues US would back off. US and their lackeys do not see our problem the way we do. Their perception of the issue is very different. We therefore need not to do unnecessary things in the expense of national sovereignty, integrity and security just to appease the US.

That is how India acted. When they were in a difficulty they resort to managing their HR record.

I believe by mentioning India you referred to the Kashmir issue. Actually for Kasmir issue there wasn't much act upon by India because one the issue wasn't as internationalized as Tamil issue, second have being no Kashhmiri diaspora which would lobby for separate Kashmir in the Western countries and third there are none to question the validity of Indian committee reports. We as Sri Lankans do not have these luxuries. Anyway India still couldn't stop the terrorist activities which is still raging there.

Before he takes SL down with him, SL removed him, so SL state can act with the rest of the world with a clean chit.

How can we act with clean chit? Can you explain.

And we do not support US…please tell me where we had acted according to US. We just have given the impression that we will be pro west. But see china port project is going on. Why? Our china-SL relations are going on as usual.

Actually it was first intended by the UNP led by infamous RW to cancel the port city project altogether. RW has publicly announced that he will cancel the port city deal several times before and during the election time. RW has also commented on this matter very reticently also which ironically prompted our precedent MS's veto on the RW's decision. It is thank to MS that our China policy is still active. UNP wants to curb every relationship with China.

This example is only enough to show how pro-US is the UNP.

We take care US’s concerns and west (US) takes care of our concerns.

What are you serious? Do you really think US would come tend to our concerns. They didn't even come to our aid in 1983 UN resolution against us and in 1987 Indian invasion of national sovereignty despite being pro-US country with pro-US leader. Just take Ukraine for example, see what has happened to that country whixh ditched regional geo-politics for US concerns.

And if you think MR did not obey others you are dreaming. 2013 දි මහින්ද උතුරේ ඡන්දේ තිබ්බේ ඉන්දියානු බලපෑම නිසානේ.......ඔයා හිතනවා වගේ නෙමෙයි මහින්ද හැමෝටම නැමුණා.....

And he lost because he didn't bend low enough this time? Really.

One reason I supported Maithree was, under a new administration we can manage the UN. So one motive is already accomplished.
But that doesn’t mean our issues are over. SLG should investigate and show that most of war crime charges are hollow.

What? US postponement of it's resolution is our management of UN? The reality is that we cannot manage the UN how much we tried. It's the lackey of USA. UN do what USA wants from it. And you still think we can manage it.

There is one another way to become super US friendly nation and the number one receiver of US donations. That is by shedding our right to the North and East of Sri Lanka. If we do that. There won't be any resolutions against us in UN and if so we will win those resolution hands down. How about that kind of management?

If MR was there with Hilary (who would stay until 2024) we will find ourselves in a difficult situation. But with UNP (which is looked at as pro US) we can manage it.

Can you explain how exactly UNP going to manage Hillary?

When war started in full scale india was pro LTTE but when they left SL they were anti LTTE…

LOL. India become anti-LTTE because of the bombing of Rajiv. Not because of any ingeniousness of our own politicians.

Relationship with west was useful for us. SL under Kadiragamar was mostly non aligned and not pro US. After open economy even with a war, SL economy went ahead. Business with west did help us. Just read how SL was before 78.

Economy would anyway perform better in capitalist system. That is not a yardstick to measure the success of economy. Sri Lanka only have very handful of business interactions with western countries. I think even in free trade zones most of the investors are from Asian countries.

Your presumption of SL economy prior to '78 is very wrong. We indeed erred during the seven year scourge. But other than that our economy performed pretty well. In fact during the '50s we were the top economy of Asia. You seem to forget that.

Gover is already looking to get GSP+ and possibly we will get it. That is an opportunity.

GSP+ is not a opportunity but a mere simple economic life support. We still do better without GSP+. It won't make much of a difference.

RW passed several acts in parliament to make sure our fish produce meets the criteria set by EU market. After several months, or next year we can possibly lift the fish ban on us which has negatively impacted us. (MR did nothing regarding this)

The person responsible for the whole fishy business is a key player of the yahapalana gov. I don't know what RW is gonna do with him.

So these are the opportunities. And we can expand our industry base with investment from west. I heard Volkswagen is coming to SL. Our first priority is setting the economy right and go into western market. That is grabbing the opportunity.

You still live in the past mate. West is no investor at this time frame. They have no money to spend. From the whole of western countries only handful of countries that actually can invest. Germany is just one. Other countries are in full debt crisis. If we need investors we need to look to the East not West.

After US bombed Japs, the Japanese worked with US in a friendly manner and set their economy straight. If Japan went in a collision course with US they won.t be where they are now. SL and US were not even in US-Japan level animosity. So what is the problem?

That's because Japan became US lackey after the war. In fact they were forced to it. And US donated large sum of money to the Japan to boost it's economy which was ruined by the war. Companies like Toyota and Mitsubishi grew up because of that. Before the war Japan was the biggest industrious country in the world after USA and Germany.

ඔතන වෙස්ට් වෙනුවට චීනය දාන්න.....එතකොට මහින්ද කළේ ඒකම නේද?

China didn't fund project which aren't productive. Look at their investments a port, airport, highways, completely new city, extension of already bustling harbor and coal power plant. These projects can support an economy rather than become a burden of it like colossal concrete structures like dams.

And since when did US become our enemy? Let me make this easy for you. Answer this question. Who is our enemy?

Tamil separatist and who ever support them.

 

[Azizam]

Sri Lanka ditches Dominique Strauss-Khan as adviser | New York Post

 

[NGV-H]

Thanks for the tag @Azizam.

I have no strong feelings either way for the government, they are yet to show us how good/bad they are. All we can do at the moment is speculate.

The biggest thing for me is infrastructure, including education and health. If the government can make strides similar to the previous government, but with increased rule of law and freedom of press/speech then I'll be very supportive of it.

If not, then I'm glad that we're having another election in April.

 

[Saradiel]

@Azizam, @Gibbs,

machan, samv kiana eva hari....methana mara gamak yanawa ..........MR wa genna wenawa....

 

[Azizam]

@Azizam, @Gibbs,

machan, samv kiana eva hari....methana mara gamak yanawa ..........MR wa genna wenawa....

Why d9 you say so?

 

[HeinzG]

@Azizam, @Gibbs,

machan, samv kiana eva hari....methana mara gamak yanawa ..........MR wa genna wenawa....

LOL. Now it's too late machan. The damage is already done. SL will be politically unstable for the next 5 years.

 

[Gibbs]

@Azizam, @Gibbs,

machan, samv kiana eva hari....methana mara gamak yanawa ..........MR wa genna wenawa....

Bro can you PM me about what you just posted.. Cheers

 

[Azizam]

LOL. Now it's too late machan. The damage is already done. SL will be politically unstable for the next 5 years.

What damage and why? Please explain!

 

[HeinzG]

What damage and why? Please explain!

RW is not a patriotic person. He doesn't care about what the local lay people want. His main concern is what the Western countries need. That is why he was defeated in 2004 elections. Ever since then he tried to come back to power by crook or by hook. (Indeed he succeeded in the end). MR was the obstacle that kept RW from coming to power. It was for that reason RW was abstained from contenting presidential elections.

During MR time, SL saw a sharp economic growth and economic stability. That is the key for becoming a developed country. But suddenly after the lose of MR there is political instability in the country. MS is not letting MR from becoming powerful again. RW wants to become ever powerful PM and so on. Situations like this cannot be corrected in instance. It needs strong will and scarification if it to be corrected. I don't see any of those traits in current political landscape. Besides apart from the debacle of curbing presidential powers and strengthening premiership, the introduction of new voting system is also delayed. This has created very dangerous situation for SL for the coming 5 years because AFAIK no party will win majority in the parliament which will be enough to form a stable government. It will become a "acchcharu" situation. SL cannot go forward with "acchcharu" parliament. If you need an example of "acchcharu" parliament our past 13th parliament is the best example.

 

[Gibbs]

RW is not a patriotic person. He doesn't care about what the local lay people want. His main concern is what the Western countries need. That is why he was defeated in 2004 elections. Ever since then he tried to come back to power by crook or by hook. (Indeed he succeeded in the end). MR was the obstacle that kept RW from coming to power. It was for that reason RW was abstained from contenting presidential elections.

During MR time, SL saw a sharp economic growth and economic stability. That is the key for becoming a developed country. But suddenly after the lose of MR there is political instability in the country. MS is not letting MR from becoming powerful again. RW wants to become ever powerful PM and so on. Situations like this cannot be corrected in instance. It needs strong will and scarification if it to be corrected. I don't see any of those traits in current political landscape. Besides apart from the debacle of curbing presidential powers and strengthening premiership, the introduction of new voting system is also delayed. This has created very dangerous situation for SL for the coming 5 years because AFAIK no party will win majority in the parliament which will be enough to form a stable government. It will become a "acchcharu" situation. SL cannot go forward with "acchcharu" parliament. If you need an example of "acchcharu" parliament our past 13th parliament is the best example.

I actually agree with almost most points machun.. Instability is the last thing the country needs, And i have to admit even grudgingly that's where it's heading unfortunately by the looks of things, Lets hope that come June the country will see a stable govt that can look beyond short term policies

But one thing i do not agree with you is the notion of a overall conspiracy to oust MR.. It is pretty clear he bought it on himself, He called for elections two years prior to his own admission and contrary to all ethics, morality and even when the hierarchy of his own govt advised against it, A clear trait of a dictator

Surrounded himself with nepotism, massive corruption and those with highly questionable roles, While sidelining his own party stalwarts, Gave criminals within his influence immunity to break laws in the country with impunity, People just got sick of it all

He was so paranoid and turning in to a megalomaniac that he not only called for the elections two years early but also gave the opposition only a month to campaign and went on a rampage with the whole state machinery and politicization of the public sector that have never been seen before in history, This actually backfired spectacularly, Because the public especially the urbane educated middle class cannot be fooled like the rural voter base with such antics, Top of that the urban populace got information about it all through social media, unlike their rural counterparts who are not very IT literate

Finally miscalculating the Sinhala Buddhist voters, He thought by espousing religious and ethnic hatred through state sanctioned BBS etc..he will be able to garner massive support from the Majority and get the numbers through them, But all credit to the majority community they voted on a national platform and not on a sectarian one

 

[HeinzG]

I actually agree with almost most points machun.. Instability is the last thing the country needs, And i have to admit even grudgingly that's where it's heading unfortunately by the looks of things, Lets hope that come June the country will see a stable govt that can look beyond short term policies

There is no hope machan. No party can win the simple majority if contested alone. By the look of it. It seems that every party will contest alone including the MR faction. If anyone loves SL it is time that they should delay the elections until the mix voting system is introduced.

But one thing i do not agree with you is the notion of a overall conspiracy to oust MR.. It is pretty clear he bought it on himself, He called for elections two years prior to his own admission and contrary to all ethics, morality and even when the hierarchy of his own govt advised against it, A clear trait of a dictator

AFAIK the trait of the dictator is delaying elections. But MR contested for every election we could lay his hand on and that in the end led to his own demise. However I'm not denying that he acted like a dictator in certain situations. In fact MR was a "sweet dictator" as MS once coined him.

Surrounded himself with nepotism, massive corruption and those with highly questionable roles, While sidelining his own party stalwarts, Gave criminals within his influence immunity to break laws in the country with impunity, People just got sick of it all

This is not a uncommon practice of our leaders. It is very unfair to accuse MR for such acts alone and whitewash others like Chandrika and Ranil.

He was so paranoid and turning in to a megalomaniac that he not only called for the elections two years early but also gave the opposition only a month to campaign and went on a rampage with the whole state machinery and politicization of the public sector that have never been seen before in history,

Those are political strategies. Nothing bizarre about it. In fact former politicians other than MR had done far worse things in order to garner few votes.

Finally miscalculating the Sinhala Buddhist voters, He thought by espousing religious and ethnic hatred through state sanctioned BBS etc..he will be able to garner massive support from the Majority and get the numbers through them, But all credit to the majority community they voted on a national platform and not on a sectarian one

MR was concerned about the country and it's people. It's a shame that majority Sinhalese couldn't grasp that reality. They were blinded by the facade of "Good governance".

 

[Gibbs]

There is no hope machan. No party can win the simple majority if contested alone. By the look of it. It seems that every party will contest alone including the MR faction. If anyone loves SL it is time that they should delay the elections until the mix voting system is introduced.

The govt is only two months to its operation and a general election is coming up.. The system needed to be cleaned, that done i wont be overly unhappy who comes to power next

AFAIK the trait of the dictator is delaying elections. But MR contested for every election we could lay his hand on and that in the end led to his own demise. However I'm not denying that he acted like a dictator in certain situations. In fact MR was a "sweet dictator" as MS once coined him.

Nope a trait of a megalomaniac is to defere all sanity to ave his skin, He called for election two years prior because of a word from a astrologer.. Check history all dictators and megalomanic's got defeated on irrational decisions, From Hitler to Prabhakaran

This is not a uncommon practice of our leaders. It is very unfair to accuse MR for such acts alone and whitewash others like Chandrika and Ranil.

Not in the annals of history to this scale.. RW can be accused of contacts with thuggery at the worst time in the history of the south of the country the JVP insurrection, Chandrika can be accused of corruption and accumulation of wealth, But non of them have a dubious record of such nepotism (32 immediate members of the Rajapaksa family held the top most positions of the govt and the state, 100's more elsewhere), Corruption, Thuggery openly courting drug barons, illegal liquor smugglers, criminals and murderers like the Rajapaksa's did..

Those are political strategies. Nothing bizarre about it. In fact former politicians other than MR had done far worse things in order to garner few votes.

No not bizarre in third world politics but consolable ?? Thats shameful.. Can you name a former president that went to such depths to garner votes ?? I have been following Lankan politics since Premadasa times, Never seen such disgusting pathetic behavior from a provincial politician let alone the incumbent president, He went to the extent of posing for pics with his opponent lookalike on election day, You dont call that bizarre ?? Sorry mate, We need to be sensible citizens first before we become somebodies political slaves

MR was concerned about the country and it's people. It's a shame that majority Sinhalese couldn't grasp that reality. They were blinded by the facade of "Good governance".

BS.. He was only concerned about his own skin and his family.. A superb actor i must say though kudos to him.. The ignorant masses takes to him like ducks to water.. Mustachioed macho man, Their god, Father .. But funny how we Lankans tend to laugh at Tamil Nadu thier politicians and voters, How they hero worship actors and con men.. And you do the same.. Does'nt that make you introspect ?.. The Rajapaksa's stole billions of the nations wealth.. So much that it will take decades to trace them.. And thier political appointee's ?? These are your hard earned money if you are indeed a tax payer..

Like i said he got defeated at the right time.. The country was on a precipice.. Jingoism blinds some of you.. His political survival depended on racial division and and religious intolerance.. Just being a Sinhalese Buddhist does not make you a patriot, Being Sri Lankan nationalist does

RW does have his faults, Mainly his absolute inability to put his points across to the general public, Often conveying a completely different message to what he intended.. But a system will be implemented to clean up the system.. That will atleast guarantee even to a certain level that we wont see the rape the Rajapaksa's did to the nation in the future, Whoever may come to power

@Saradiel .. If you guys still think the Rajapaksa's are the better option, I see no hope.. It's not even worth talking about the future of the country.. Sorry if i may sound condescending, But living in a true democracy, of freedom of choice/Information, Right to criticize of having our elected representatives accountable for us.. I may have have a different perspective to what you guys may have.. So all the best to you all, I shall stick to international affairs from now on as @Azizam often does.. Cheers

Sri Lanka mulls future of Rajapakse's white elephants - Yahoo News UK

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  AFP -

From a multi-million dollar airport ignored by airlines to a lavish cricket stadium rejected by players, Sri Lanka's new government is mulling the future of a string of white elephants.

Former president Mahinda Rajapakse ordered the state-of-the-art facilities built in his southern home town of Hambantota in extensive efforts to turn his rural constituency into a regional business hub.

Vast revenues were channelled into the vanity projects, mostly named after the former strongman who ruled the tropical island for a decade and was determined to keep the loss-making ventures open.

But Rajapakse's defeat at elections last month, partly due to corruption and cronyism charges, has saddled the new government with loans of close to a billion dollars and, as yet, no clear strategy to repay them.

"From an economist's point of view, we have to write off the investments," said Eran Wickramaratne, deputy minister of highways and investment promotion.

"We will have to repay the loans for a long time, but we can't expect any tangible return from them," he told AFP.

- Eerily empty -

Opened in 2013 after loans of $210 million, the Rajapakse International airport services just one airline, budget carrier flydubai.

The arrivals hall is eerily empty and the new government has ordered the terminal's air conditioning units and decorative water fountains switched off after the carrier's handful of daily passengers trickle through.

National carrier SriLankan Airlines, under orders by Rajapakse to land there, halted flights immediately after he was defeated at the January 8 polls by new President Maithripala Sirisena. The airline estimates savings of $18 million annually from the stoppage.

Built on a migratory route for birds, the airport has been disastrous for plane-bird collisions. And more recently it has become a highlight on a "white elephant tour" run by local tourist guides.

"The challenge for me is to energise this place," airport chief executive Derick Karunaratne told AFP.

"Just because there is an airport, airlines don't fly in. They want a destination and we are yet to build it," he said.

Located some 250 kilometres (180 miles) southeast of the capital Colombo, the town of Hambantota is an arid outpost, surrounded by farm land. But Rajapakse spent lavishly on the projects anyway, ignoring feasibility studies against the move and environmental warnings about building in an area home to elephants, leopards and bears.

- Port of debt -

The $361-million Chinese-funded harbour in Hambantota is deep in debt, but it does at least see some business from neighbouring India, whose ships full of new cars dock there en route around the world.

Officials say the port, which was meant to rival long established ones in Colombo, could break even in more than a decade.

In a bid to lure business away from Colombo, Rajapakse's government built a sparkling six-lane highway within Hambantota district and a $52 million flyover and interchange that sees little traffic. A railway line extension and another expressway linking the area to the capital are also under construction, costing millions more.

Overlooking the port is another extravagance -- a $15.5 million conference centre. After hosting a side event during the 2013 Commonwealth summit, its hall has stood empty, except for the occasional wedding reception.

A short drive away sits a 300-acre (120 hectare) botanical garden that needs tonnes of water every day to keep its non-native plants alive. Villagers scratching a living nearby must get their drinking water trucked into the area which receives little rain.

"We are growing wet-zone plants which are not native to this area," a curator told AFP during a tour of the garden opened by Rajapakse during the Commonwealth summit.

"If people know the true extent of the water waste here, there could be a riot," said a university professor who declined to be named. "We thought this was conservation of plants from the area, but caring for plants that require a lot of water may not be sustainable."

- What to do? -

Similarly, scarce water is lavished on a nearby cricket ground which Rajapakse ordered built for the 2011 World Cup when the venue hosted just two matches.

The country's cricket board was forced to borrow heavily to pay for the 35,000-seat stadium where few matches have since been played, teams put off by the isolated location and the swarms of wasps that have taken up residence.

"It is difficult to figure out what to do with them (the projects)," Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told AFP.

"But as a first step, we are trying to sort out the loans. We want to renegotiate some of the loans which have been taken at five to seven percent. We should not be paying more than half a percentage point."

The government, which accuses the former Rajapakse regime of hiding the truth about the economy's health including public debt levels, says it will keep the projects open for now, rather than call in the bulldozers.

"(But) This is a terrible waste," concluded minister Wickramaratne

ECONOMIC CRIMES much more grave than so called war crimes. In war crimes only a segment of the population suffers. When it comes to economic crimes entire population suffer including future generations. The people who wants to bring back MR as the PM cannot be blind to this ground realities

 

[Azizam]

RW is not a patriotic person. He doesn't care about what the local lay people want. His main concern is what the Western countries need. That is why he was defeated in 2004 elections. Ever since then he tried to come back to power by crook or by hook. (Indeed he succeeded in the end). MR was the obstacle that kept RW from coming to power. It was for that reason RW was abstained from contenting presidential elections.

During MR time, SL saw a sharp economic growth and economic stability. That is the key for becoming a developed country. But suddenly after the lose of MR there is political instability in the country. MS is not letting MR from becoming powerful again. RW wants to become ever powerful PM and so on. Situations like this cannot be corrected in instance. It needs strong will and scarification if it to be corrected. I don't see any of those traits in current political landscape. Besides apart from the debacle of curbing presidential powers and strengthening premiership, the introduction of new voting system is also delayed. This has created very dangerous situation for SL for the coming 5 years because AFAIK no party will win majority in the parliament which will be enough to form a stable government. It will become a "acchcharu" situation. SL cannot go forward with "acchcharu" parliament. If you need an example of "acchcharu" parliament our past 13th parliament is the best example.

Downside of one party having absolute power is corruption and not only that, as time goes, the leaders lose their touch with reality as happened in all over the world. JR is a fine example of someone who was blinded by such powers. If MR didn't have the kind of power he enjoyed, he wouldn't have gone down the path that he went. He simply thought that no one could challenge him and he openly engaged in corruption which angered many people. I think many of you still have the old school point of view regarding politics.

 

[Saradiel]

@Gibbs,
You very well know I had been a very strong critic of MR, actually the Lankan who criticized MR the most here. So no one needs to teach me about the downside of MR, I know that very well. I think it is wrong to say SL was not a democracy under MR, SL was/is a democratic country and it is way ahead in keeping its democratic traditions than countries like S’pore. It is because of the democracy the opposition could turn things around and topple him. If you follow social media in SL, especially FB they are filled with criticisms and even insults against MR. So I don’t think there was limitation of freedom of speech as many say. People criticized and even insulted MR in the worst manner in FB while disclosing their names.

SL was a unipolar democracy. There was none fit to challenge MR. That was the case. That is why all the other opposition had to get together and defeat MR, a single person. And yes MR has a thuggish background. But he was and is the man of hour for SL. I have to say I was wrong about RW. He is an idiot.

@Azizam
me anduwe wada hari amuthui neda? minissunta oni ewa da karanne, dambadiwa ha oba ma ta oni dewal neda karanne? London wala inna damila ayata oni dewal neda karanne? poddak balanna mangala UN eke monada karanne kiala....poddak dayan jayathilake ge articles kiawala balanna monada wenne kiala.........

mun cheene tharaha karagannawa.....eeta passe UNSC eke lankawata thiena cheena chande nathi wenawa....US , ranil lawwa karanne eka.