MR seeking 3rd Term in office – Opposition should not worry about it, instead they should simply concentrate on the candidate whom they are going to represent

By J.Yogaraj – Senior Journalist & Announcer ( S L B C )

Seeking opinion from Supreme Court is according to constitution standards.There is nothing wrong that MR seeking opinion from a top judiciary body of the country.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa sought the opinion of Supreme Court on legitimacy of his third term presidency. The Supreme Court, subsequent to the President’s move, has ordered relevant parties to present written submissions before 3 pm on November 07. This clearly shows the generosity of MR , providing a chance to the interested parties to submit there comments.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s candidacy for his third term became a matter of contention with many parties voicing different opinions on the matter. But majority of the legal representatives have voiced in favor MR, stating that president Rajapaksa is free contest for another term. Even Chandrika Kumarathunga also can contest. The parties and groups who are opposing this should understand one thing clearly that , it is only the people will decide the fate of this country.So opposition should be ready to face any candidate in the election. Instead they should not try to eliminate a candidate from the race , which will definitely bring more popularity to MR.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka incumbent President, Upul Jayasuriya has sought the opinion of one of the most distinguished jurists in the ESCAP region, a Sri Lankan, presently domiciled in Australia, Suri Ratnapala, Professor of Law at the University of Queensland.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka incumbent President, Upul Jayasuriya sought the opinion of one of the most distinguished jurists in the ESCAP region, a Sri Lankan, presently domiciled in Australia, Suri Ratnapala, Professor of Law at the University of Queensland. Ratnapala said the incumbent could not contest for his third term as the President Mahinda Rajapaksa was disqualified from seeking a third term during the period January 26, 2010 to September 9, 2010, when the Eighteenth Amendment became Law.

Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva too setting forth an argument said that constitutional obstacles do exist for the incumbent President to contest for a third term notwithstanding the removal of two term limit of presidents made on 9 September 2010 by way of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.

However, another section of the legal fraternity supporting the President have challenged this argument saying President Rajapaksa is allowed to contest for a third term.

The only president who faced 5 major challenges when taking over the reins of this country

Similar to Pancha Maha Balaya , the only leader in history to face “Puncha Maha Abiyogaya” os President  Rajapaksa. When he took over the country from the reins on 19^th November 2005, the country faced,

1. Tsunami devastation in 2004 December and country was struggling to overcome the major problems.
2. 30 years of LTTE terror problem at a crucial stage where country faced a division threat due to this problem
3. World Oil crisis where oil prices soared to $ 150 per barrel
4. World food crisis affecting Sri Lanka
5. Local economic crisis with foreign debts & Political instability ( Hung Parliament )

If you recall the history, no other leader has faced this type of difficult challenges. Even if they face this , it would be very much unlikely for them to overcome this situation.President Mahinda Rajpaksa made the impossible task possible. Even the people thought MR like others will not be able to finish the war. Even they thought the same way on the oil crisis , economic crisis and parliament majority.

President overcame these challenges with a strong wisdom and intelligence.

MR made possible the impossible tasks

President Rajapaksa has delivered the things what he promised, also he did much better than expected. Some of the highlighted achievements and milestones are given below :

1. Finishing the 3 decade long LTTE problem
2. Successfully travelling on the journey of achieving from per capita income from $1500 to $ 4000
3. Electricity supply increased from 72 % to 99%
4. Fully comprehensive Road development network
5. High ways
6. New Ports
7. New Airports
8. Reducing the trade balance
9. Lowering the credit burden to 65%
10. 2015 Budget proposals highlight benefits to many

Salary increase

Allowance to pensioners

Motor bicycles to field officers

Relief assistance to Small & Medium Entrepreneurs

( including barbers )

Controlled prices for Rice , Fish , Milk and other local production to safeguard the local producers

It is MR who changed the mentality of the masses who always thought certain things are not possible. But MR changed the “IMPOSSIBLE ERA” to “POSSIBLE ERA” , which is very positive sign for a developing country. Any ordinary citizen including the tamils will feel that he or she will have a better future in this country. Under the present people gets a self confidence saying that anything is possible.

I do not think anyone will oppose a leader with the above achievements seeking power for the 3^rd term, Anyway , Out of the 34 submissions of various parties on MR seeking 3^rd term , only 2 submissions opposed this move. This clearly shows the public and other interested parties have commented in favor of MR seeking 3^rd term. What else you want ? But, I also wanted to show some good examples from other leading countries to support this decision.

Supreme Court silenced all comments from opposition about MR seeking 3^rd Term

SC says MR can go ahead

The Supreme Court has clearly stated that there was no legal impediment for incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest a third term.Accordingly, President Rajapaksa can call, announce or issue a statement on a Presidential Election in accordance with the Constitution.

“The Supreme Court, in its judgement, has said
according to the Article 31 (3a) (i) of the Constitution of
Sri Lanka, the President has no legal impediment to contest
a third term. Accordingly, the President can call for an election or announce the Presidential Election,” Further
Article 31 (3a) (i) says that “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding provisions of this Chapter, the President may, at any time after the expiration of four years from the commencement of his first term of office, by Proclamation, declare his intention of appealing to the people for a mandate to hold office, by election, for a further term.”

The Supreme Court opinion, on whether there are any constitutional barriers to prevent President Mahinda Rajapaksa from contesting for a third term, was conveyed to the President on 10^th November 2014.The Supreme Court had received 38 sets of written submissions and in accordance with the Constitution, Court sent its opinion direct to the President.

American Back ground

Here, I would like to quote a good example here, of a great American leader who ruled US four times without any problem. If Roosevelt can then why MR can’t?

Popularly known as “FDR” and “Franklin Roosevelt”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (, his own pronunciation, or /ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ ROH-zə-velt) (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States.^[2] A Democrat, he was elected four times and served from March 1933 to his death in April 1945. He was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war. A dominant leader of the Democratic Party, he built a New Deal Coalition that realigned American politics after 1932, as his New Deal domestic policies defined American liberalism for the middle third of the 20th century.

Political Career of Roosevelt

In his first hundred days in office, which began March 4, 1933, Roosevelt spearheaded major legislation and issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New Deal—a variety of programs designed to produce relief (government jobs for the unemployed), recovery (economic growth), and reform (through regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation). The economy improved rapidly from 1933 to 1937, but then relapsed into a deep recession. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court. For the rest of his days in office, it blocked all proposals for major liberal legislation (apart from a minimum wage law). It abolished many of the relief programs when unemployment practically vanished during the war.

As World War II loomed after 1938, with the Japanese invasion of China and the aggression of Nazi Germany, FDR gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China and Great Britain, while remaining officially neutral. His goal was to make America the “Arsenal of Democracy,” which would supply munitions to the Allies. In March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to the countries fighting against Nazi Germany with the United Kingdom. With very strong national support, he made war on Japan and Germany after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, calling it a “date which will live in infamy“. He supervised the mobilization of the U.S. economy to support the Allied war effort. As an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented an overall war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and the development of the world’s first nuclear bomb (commonly called the atom bomb at the time). In 1942 Roosevelt ordered the internment of 100,000 Japanese American civilians.

Roosevelt dominated the American political scene during the twelve years of his presidency, and his policies and ideas continued to have significant influence for decades afterward. Roosevelt is consistently rated by scholars as one of the top three U.S. Presidents, along with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.                                                          Source : Wikipedia

“Whatever said and done , the people are the one and only force which will decide the fate of this country.Anyone can contest for any number of times, but people will decide whther to keep on the seat or not. So other political parties should not worry about this. They have to concentrate on their candidate and see whether he could match MR. More and more opposition parties oppose mR seeking 3^rd term, it will be a known fact that whome do you oppose will become a stronger and stronger.”

J.Yogaraj – Senior Journalist