Why?3 min read

From: “Dinesh Perera” <[email protected]>
Date: Feb 28, 2018 17:33
Subject: Attention: Gehan Gunatilleka
To: “publications@veriteresearch. org” <publications@veriteresearch. org>, “[email protected]” <[email protected]>
Cc:

Dear Sir,

Verite Research, a self-defined interdisciplinary think tank has recently under the guise of flattery tried to make me pen my thoughts on the executive presidency. Verite’s funding and articles of association are difficult to come by. The frequency with which their employees appear on the Maharaja network would indicate a shadowy operation. The individuals who approached me on the matter asked me to pen my thoughts on the abolishment of the executive presidency. Here again as with Verite’s verbose involvement with the local government elections, the institution chooses to focus on trivial matters where it is unlikely to find any concerned opposition. Articles of the constitution, much like the local councils are conveniently forgotten when need be. A lot of things are not done in accordance with the constitution. People who argue that the laws need changing fail to notice that even under the previous regime it wasn’t that laws did not exist but rather that they were flouted. The ongoing court cases are a bid to reestablish the rule of law.

                Social science is not a science. What Maithripala does that needs to be done and won’t be done in a world wherein the President and Prime Minister are from one party is objective oversight. Back in the day the role of inquiry currently being held under the authority of Maithripala Sirisena and sometimes under parliament was done by a separate institution called the Senate. In contemporary constitutional discussions the establishment of a senate is popular amongst most major parties. The senate would act as a continuous body of inquiry and as it would be comprised of multiple individuals representing various segments of society, would be better placed as an oversight institution. The debate surrounding the abolishment of the executive presidency is a red herring. There is no one panacea to the poor societal outcomes of the previous regime. Think Tanks are full of individuals geared to create interesting headlines. Think Tank employees think they are better than everyone else. One of us must look to bring them down a peg.

Daham Sirisena beat up people at a night club. This act was illegal. He faced no consequences. What does Verite and it’s social media think of the matter?

Kind Regards,

Dinesh