Supreme Difference

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 July 2005, 15:24 GMT]
The Supreme Court, the most visible institution of the judicial branch, often plays a pivotal role in promoting trust in the government in a polarized society. Fundamental to the effective functioning of a supreme court is a secular constitution which protects minority rights, and a nation’s executive and legislative branches which practice good governance to enact laws benefiting the nation. Debates on new appointments to US Supreme Court and its recent controversial rulings render an opportunity to look at the functioning of the United States' “final arbiter of the law” to that of Sri Lanka’s.
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Sri Lanka's Security Council to discuss LTTE ultimatum

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 July 2005, 17:11 GMT]
Following the discussion held Friday between Mr.Hagrup Haukland, Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and Dr.Jayantha Dhanapala, Secretary General of the Government Peace Secretariat, Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge has arranged to meet the National Security Council to take a decision regarding the ultimatum issued by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to ensure security of the LTTE cadres when travelling through the government controlled area as mandated by the Cease Fire Agreement, political sources in Colombo said.
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Bhikku Front accuses Kumaratunge of betraying Buddhist Prelates

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 June 2005, 15:05 GMT]
"President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge is the number one enemy of Buddhism in Sri Lanka," said the National Bhikku Front (NBF), an organization of Sinhalese Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka in Colombo Monday. The NBF urged the top Buddhist Prelates to withdraw the blessings they gave Ms Kumaratunge as Head of the State and to declare her as a non-Buddhist.
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Vigilance vital to reap benefits from aid deal- paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 June 2005, 01:30 GMT]
Calling on the Tamil people to temper the euphoria related to the successful signing of the post-tsunami aid deal by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) on Friday, popular dailies in Jaffna in editorials Saturday cautioned the NorthEast residents that serious challenges still remain in enforcing the agreement and to be vigilant against being misled.
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Unite to help the tsunami affected, appeals SL President

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 June 2005, 17:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge appealed to all parties to "put aside divisive and confrontational politics and work as a team to alleviate the sufferings of those affected by the tsunami," in a press release issued Friday from President's House in Colombo.
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Colombo tense, Norwegian Ambassador to visit Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 June 2005, 02:44 GMT]
Security has been tightened in Colombo as the city remained tensed amidst anticipated signing of aid deal Friday, sources in Colombo said. While Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge kept the details of Friday's planned events private, informed sources said, Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr Hans Brattskar, is expected to travel to Kilinochchi to meet Mr S P Thamilchelvan, Political Head of the Liberation Tigers at 12.45 pm, indicating that signing of the aid deal is imminent. The sources in Colombo added that a "Deputy-level" official in the Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation will sign the agreement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Kumaratunge hands over JM document to Buddhist prelates

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 June 2005, 15:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Thursday handed over copies of the Joint Mechanism (JM) proposal to the Mahanayake Thera of the Asgiriya Chapter Most Venerable Udugama Sri Budddharakita Thera and Mahanayake Thera of Malwatte Chapter Most Venerable Thibbotuwe Sri Siddharatha Sumangala, sources said. The Joint Mechanism defines an administrative structure and aid disbursment protocols to facilitate rehabilitation and reconstruction of tsunami destroyed coastal areas in the northeast province.
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Muslim Clerics meet SL President, voice concerns on aid deal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 June 2005, 11:52 GMT]
Senior Muslim clergymen from Batticaloa, Amparai and Trincomalee districts met with Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge Tuesday and insisted that "the Muslim community be allowed to participate in the reconstruction of tsunami-affected areas through their representatives," according to a media release issued by the Office of the President Tuesday.
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"SL President bears responsibility for worsening situation"- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 June 2005, 08:52 GMT]
"Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge has the executive power to establish the Joint Mechanism. But she is using the aid deal as an instrument to advance her fortunes in the political chess game and has created a political storm opposing the Joint Mechanism in the South. Even for today's meeting Norwegian delegation has only brought verbal assurances from Colombo. The meeting has failed to make any concrete steps towards the establishment of a Joint Mechanism," said LTTE's Head of Political Wing, S P Thamilchelvan briefing the press at the LTTE peace secretariat after meeting Mr Vidar Helgesen in Kilinochchi Wednesday.
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Helgesen arrives in Sri Lanka for talks on aid deal

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 June 2005, 10:55 GMT]
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Mr Vidar Helgesen arrived in Colombo at 3.45pm today at the Bandaranayake International Air port and was received by the Norwegian Ambassador Hans Braksttar at the airport, sources from Colombo said. His flight arrived two hours late.
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CTTU plans protests over teacher shortage, error-filled text books

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 June 2005, 10:31 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) said Sunday that it will organize trade union action if the Ministry of Education fails to take constructive measures to implement several demands including setting up of a separate Tamil Administrative Unit in the ministry before July 25. As a first step the CTTU will hold a one-day token strike after the deadline expires, said Mr.N.Rajanathan, and Mr.T Mahasivam, President and General Secretary of the CTTU briefing the press after the conclusion of the Working Committee meeting held in Trincomalee.
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Civil group plans agitation in NorthEast over Buddha statue

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 June 2005, 11:49 GMT]
Mr.V.Vigneswaran, President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum (TDTPF) Saturday said in a press conference that his organization will begin non-violent direct action after July 10 through out NorthEast if the Sri Lanka government fails to remove the controversial Buddhist statue which was erected close to the Trincomalee central bus stand on 15 May, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Aid deal not final, says Kumaratunga

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 June 2005, 10:28 GMT]
Responding to a letter from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which listed JVP's reasons for quitting the alliance, Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga said Thursday that a final document for the Joint Mechanism has not been formulated. She added that the proposed mechanism does not go beyond the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed by Ranil Wickremesinghe and that the mechanism will not in any way jeopardize the sovereignty or integrity of Sri Lanka. Political observers in Colombo noted that as no time frame has been fixed for signing the proposal, more political maneuvering and delay in finalizing the aid deal can be expected.
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JM failure will boost prospects for direct aid to Tigers- SLFP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 June 2005, 10:31 GMT]
"If we fail to agree on the Joint Mechanism (JM) with the LTTE, it is likely that aid will go directly to the Tigers and LTTE controlled NGOs. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) will be left out of the decision-making for reconstruction," said a propaganda leaflet circulated by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government, Wednesday evening when it launched an awareness campaign in eighteen districts in the south of Sri Lanka to win support for the Joint Mechanism proposal, political sources in Colombo said.
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Joint Mechanism Bill to be tabled in parliament

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 June 2005, 03:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge has decided to table the Joint Mechanism proposal, which details the administrative arrangement with the LTTE to rehabilitate and reconstruct the tsunami destroyed coastal areas in the northeast province, in the parliament next week. The proposal will be signed after the Bill is passed, government sources said.
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JVP leaves UPFA, calls press conference on Thursday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 18:39 GMT]
Mr.Somawanse Amerasinghe, leader of the marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said Wednesday evening in Kandy that the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) will not be in power on Thursday if Sri Lanka’s President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge does not revoke her decision to sign the joint mechanism proposal with the LTTE before 11.59 PM Wednesday. Mr.Amarasinghe made this remark when addressing the JVP district conference in Kandy this evening, sources said. In the meantime, JVP minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake told media in Colombo that JVP has dispatched letters informing their decision to leave the UPFA alliance to the President and to the Prime Minister, sources in Colombo said.
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New alliance with SLFP dissidents imminent- JVP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 June 2005, 01:29 GMT]
The Marxist coalition partner Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) warned Tuesday that there will not be a United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government in Sri Lanka after Wednesday midnight. "We would be forming a new alliance on Thursday with the support of some UPFA senior ministers opposed to the Joint Mechanism," said Mr.Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the JVP, addressing the public meeting held Tuesday evening in Lipton's Square at the conclusion of the protest march, sources said.
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Jaffna undergrads hold demonstration supporting JM

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 June 2005, 11:36 GMT]
Several hundreds of Jaffna undergraduates Monday held a protest demonstration condemning the opposition by Sinhalese nationalists and Buddhist monks to the establishment of a joint mechanism for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the tsunami destroyed coastal areas in the northeast province, sources said. The demonstration was organized by the Jaffna University Students' Union.
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JVP reiterates threat to quit ruling coalition over aid deal

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 June 2005, 00:29 GMT]
Leaders of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), marxist coalition partner of the ruling allliance, demanded a written statement from Sri Lanka's President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge that the Joint Mechanism proposal will not be signed. "If this written assurance is not forthcoming JVP will leave the ruling coalition, the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), on 16 June. We will also agitate for the resignation of the President," said JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe at a meeting in Galle Saturday evening.
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TNA meets SL President on Joint Mechanism proposal

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 June 2005, 13:03 GMT]
A delegation of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians met with Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge and discussed the state of the Joint Mechanism for post-tsunami rehabilitation and the rising tension among the communities in Trincomalee triggered by the Buddha statue, a press release from from TNA issued in Colombo Sunday said. The meeting was held between 11am to 3.00pm Sunday, at president house.
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