So Sri Lanka has again become a blue-blooded lapdog of the West and India?

No leaser person than the US president himself has expressed his happiness on Sri Lanka's this new turnaround which happened in a gap of an almost decade since the former president Rajapaksha's ascend to power. President Obama was very optimistic about Sri Lanka's future and went on to say he would be hoping for "Democracy" in Sri Lanka as if the latter had never been democratic until now. He expressed these views while he was in India some days back. His statement shows how antagonized the US had been with SL while president Rajapaksha was in power which ultimately cost the former president his job becoming a prey to a very successful regime change project by the West and India.

The following links show the sheer intensity of enthusiasm displayed by the West towards this new turnaround. This would surely be unprecedented in Sri Lanka's history. Barely three weeks into its rule Sri Lanka's new administration keeps receiving an unbroken stream of high profile Westerners and they seem falling all over each other to praise the new administration.

UK Foreign Minister Hugo to visit SL

Biswal due here on Monday

UK encouraged by progress of new govt

Canada welcomes reinstatement of Sri Lankan Chief Justice

Costs made being pro-West        

Post-independent Sri Lanka has, of course, been pro-West in the tenures of Prime Ministers and Presidents of D.S. Senanayake, Dudly Senanayaka, John Kotalawala, J.R. Jayawardane, R. Premadasa, D.B. Wijethunga and Chandrika Kumaranathnga.  Except Chandrika's all the pro-West regimes had been UNP governments.

Have we as a county been recipient of a special beneficiary by being pro-West in the past? This is a very pertinent question to ask at the backdrop of Sri Lanka becoming pro-West again under a UNP government. In fact, Sri Lanka has got no special benefits while leaning to the West during the above mentioned regimes.

Rather it was due to the very reason that Sri Lanka became pro-West that it suffered the worst ever post-independent catastrophic foreign interference that led to the full- blown separatist war that raged in the country for three decades. Enraged by president J.R. Jayawardana's (JRJ) pro-West policy suspecting Sri Lanka would be home to contingents of US forces in South Asia, the Prime Minister Indra Gandhi of Congress Government of India trained and armed Tamil separatist militants from Sri Lanka including the LTTE. This blatant violation of Sri Lanka's sovereignty by its powerful and harmonistic neighbour culminated by forcing upon it the 13th Amendment to its constitution and sending Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) which led to the deaths, injuries and raping of women of thousands of Sri Lankans and left a trail of massive destruction to the country.

It is ironical, however, when president JRJ sought the support of the West especially the US when India blatantly violated its air space by dropping food items to Jaffna in 1987 the former simply turned a blind eye and ignored JRJ's pleas for support leaving JRJ and its government completely helpless and isolated. No Western power came forward to JRJ's rescue. The blood bath ignited by India ended in 2009 with president Rajapaksha ending the separatist war and ushering a complete peacefulness to its citizens.                

It is, however, a strange twist of fate that the same India which brutally punished its weak southern neighbour for being the pro-West has now played its biggest role in turning the country to be pro-West. The regime change project jointly orchestrated by the West and India has scored an unprecedented stunning victory by ousting pro-China former president Rajapaksha.  

Vulnerability of the 5.8 million

This new turnaround as far as Sri Lankan citizens are concerned, however, has its own costs. The West has always been for a fragmented Sri Lanka divided on ethnic lines. The new admiration that came into power with its backing is replete with Federalists who are hell-bent to give in to the chauvinist and separatist demands of Tamils and Muslims. These staunch federalists are ruling the roost in every section of the new administration from the newly appointed governors to the provinces to presidential advisors to the most of the members of the cabinet.

The 5.8 million citizens, the greatest chunk of them being Sinhalese Buddhists who voted for president Rajapaksha in the last presidential election are in complete hapless and vulnerable situation now. They staunchly believed that they have to ensure an existence of an undivided motherland for their sons and daughters. They have another great responsibility and carry a heavy burden. It is this very segment of people, of whom a significant portion of them living in the rural areas, who send their sons and daughters to fight against the separatism and for the cause of an undivided motherland. They bear the brunt of the damage in the process as it is their sons and daughters who ultimately made and would make the supreme sacrifices for an undivided Sri Lanka!  

Have Indian/Tamil-Nadu Fishermen stopped poaching in our waters?

Since 09th of January 2015 there hasn't been a single arrest of Indian/Tamil-Nadu Fishermen by Sri Lankan navy. Have Indian freshmen stopped poaching in our waters? Or Have Sri Lankan authorities been turning a blind eye while Indian/Tamil-Nadu Fishermen stealing our fish?

Indian/Tamil-Nadu Fishermen were being arrested at regular intervals by SL Navy for poaching in our northern seas since 2010 and there had been no mercy on the part of the previous SL government. As was pointed out in one of my previous posts: "President Mahinda's no nonsense; no hanky panky attitude towards India is best exemplified by his strong resolve when it comes to Tamil Nadu fishermen's poaching in Sri Lanka's waters. The Bottom Fishing, the most disastrous type of fishing technique in the world engaged by Tamil-Nadu fishermen in our waters, would permanently destroy our fishing grounds. But no other predecessors of president Mahinda had guts to resist India's bullish behavior towards Sri Lanka".

This is the first time in post-independent Sri Lanka a government has shown its defiance towards India. This stance on the part of Sri Lankan government has made India antagonize to such an extent that newly elected Modi's government lamented that the Congress government had allowed a small and weak country like Sri Lanka to act looking at its eyes.  

As now increasingly becoming apparent India has too played a huge role, as same scale as the West did, in the successful regime change attempt in which former president Mahinda Rajapaksha was ousted in the last presidential election. This piece of information titled "Evidence of India's involvement in regime change in Sri Lanka" throw much light to the subject.

Apart from President Mahinda's pro- China policy which brought immense economic benefits to Sri Lanka president Mahinda's clear defiance towards Indian Fishermen poaching in SL waters ruffled quite a bit of feathers in the Indian establishment which has always been following bullish attitudes towards Sri Lanka. As noted earlier India has never been a friend of Sri Lanka and has always been undermining latter's sovereignty.  

No Indian Central government irrespective of the friendliest ever Sri Lankan government to come to power would ever ban Indian/Tamil-Nadu Fishermen poaching in our waters as the Central government would hugely be under pressure from the state of Tamil Nadu.

The former president Mahinda's this brave act which ultimately cost his job was purely aimed at securing vital livelihood to the Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen in the North who have been deprived of their right in the 30 years' long Eelam war. Tamil fishermen, however, shown their gratefulness to the former president in style by voting against him en-masse ousting from his office at the last president election. Besides, if fellow Sinhalese fishermen from the Southern part of Sri Lanka had fished in the Northern Waters, there would have been a big hue and cry on the part of TNA and the Tamil fishermen. It seems to the Tamil fishermen it's ok even if their vital livelihood is deprived for generations to come as the culprits are their own Tamil brethren across the Palk Straight!

The West’s sustained Regime Change Plan has scored a stunning success!

The West's prolonged and sustained regime change plan has paid dividends with Mahinda Rajapaksha being ousted from his office at the Presidential Election that concluded yesterday.  As I noted in one of my previous post this plan by the West culminated with the candidature of Mythripala Sirisena to challenge the President Mahinda.

With Mahinda out of office Sri Lanka will never again be as stable as it had been from May 2009 to 09th of January 2015. This would obviously be the beginning of the end of stability which was brought to the country by Rajapaksha administration following the defeat of LTTE terrorism. As I pointed out in my previous posts the West loathes strong leaders like Mahinda who is not prepared to dance to the whims and fancies of it.  Unlike Russian president Vladimir Putin who is also subjected to a nasty Regime Change Plan of the West a leader like Mahinda who belongs to a weak country of a Third World becomes an easy prey.

The West's intended ulterior motives would be a cake walk as the new administration was elected to power largely by the separatists parties like TNA and SLMC. This is well exemplified by the resounding mandate Mythripala Siresena received from Tamils and Muslims in North & East in particular and in the rest of the country in general.  The two separatist parties requested their respective supporters to vote for Mythripala Sirisena and it paid dividends handsomely against Mahinda.  Both the parties are hell bent for carving out separate Tamil and Muslim administrations in the areas in which each community is in majority and that is what exactly needed for the West to fulfill its nasty machinations.  On the other hand the West would use its maximum opportunities at its disposal to make use of its ardent lackeys who are going to hold very powerful posts in the new administration.  

So this would be the beginning of end of undivided Sri Lanka and the beginning of its fragmentation on ethnic lines!  

Why should Mahinda be re-elected for the third consecutive time?

This discussion should revolve around more of geo-political dynamism rather than narrowing down to local political dynamics which have been the most dominant focus up to date since Mithripala Sirisena defected to the opposition to challenge incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksha at the presidential election to be held tomorrow.    

There is strong tendency among some quarters, especially among anti-Mahinda Rajapaksha elements to pooh pooh foreign interferences or International Conspiracies which are at play against Sri Lanka. Anti-Rajapaksha camp alleges this as just a cheap ruse by Rajapakshas to win votes.

For the first time ever since independence if there was a truly genuine effort on the part of any leader to lay the foundation to make Sri Lanka a strong country which can become an influential actor in international arena, it was Mahinda who did it. It was indeed a daunting and uphill task as he was challenging mighty world powers including the most powerful state on earth. He had to employ three strategies which are fundamental towards achieving the above mentioned goal. They include defying the West's undue interferences in the country's internal affairs, defying India's arm twisting behaviour towards Sri Lanka and aligning with a rising power which is going to challenge the West's domination in the world. 

Defying the West

Rajapaksh's no-nonsense and no-hanky panky attitude towards the West was best exemplified by defying its threats and going ahead in annihilating the LTTE and wiping out the terrorism from Sri Lanka. Unlike his predecessors he knew that policy of appeasing to the West would never allow him to end terrorism of which main goal was the separatism. The West has never been supportive towards the total elimination of separatism and steadfastly wants to have a parallel non-Sinhala administration in North and East so that Colombo is weak and unstable. Rajapaksha ignored the West's pressure by going ahead with an all-out war against the LTTE aimed at its total defeat. The frantic effort made by the West at the final days of LTTE to rescue its leaders was also ignored by President Mahinda. This steely resolve and guts on the part of Mahinda to go against the West resulted in the total defeat of LTTE. As should obviously be the case Mahinda became a target of the list of mortal enemies of the West as he did something a leader of a third world country would have never ever even dared to dream. So one of the West's strongest guns to keep Sri Lanka unstable and weak was eliminated and top of all Mahinda was determined to continue to defy the West. As I noted in one of my previous posts leadership styles by leaders such as presidents Mahinda and Vladimir Putin who are determined to make their countries strong are loathed by the West and are mercilessly targeted. So the prolonged Regime Change initiative by the West culminated with Mythripala Sirisena's candidacy for the presidency.  

Defying India

India has never been a friend of Sri Lanka. India is responsible for two out of three armed conflicts or insurgencies that took place in the island. Tamil militants were trained in India and armed. That was the most deciding turning point in Island's 30 years long civil war. Then sending IPKF to the country and imposing the 13th amendment to its constitution ignited the second Marxist insurgency in late 80's that left a trail of destruction. India's coercive policies towards Sri Lanka continue to prevail unabated even in post-war period which are exemplified by its anti-Sri Lankan stance at the UNHRC which has been supportive to the West. As I pointed in one of my previous posts "President Mahinda's no nonsense; no hanky panky attitude towards India is best exemplified by his strong resolve when it comes to Tamil Nadu fishermen's poaching in Sri Lanka's waters. The Bottom Fishing, the most disastrous type of fishing technique in the world engaged by Tamil-Nadu fishermen in our waters, would permanently destroy our fishing grounds. But no other predecessors of president Mahinda had guts to resist India's bullish behavior towards Sri Lanka". At the same time Mahinda's one of the outstanding act that defies India's arm twisting behaviour towards Sri Lanka has been his allegiance with China which is the most influential rival to India in many spheres. This has, to a larger extent, helped Mahinda to offset India's undue influence towards Sri Lanka.              

Allegiance with China

Mahinda's move to align with China is two forked strategy. Allegiance with China has, to a larger extent, given Mahinda to ward off the West's and India's influence. This has been more of a political strategy employed to make the country strong. The most dominant contribution on the part of China as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, however,  in terms of economical benefits.  Mahinda badly needed and continues to need foreign loans to embark upon a massive reconstruction drive in post-war Sri Lanka especially in North and East. He initially approached India. But his request was turned down. Then he turned to China. So what followed with China's assistance is history.  The biggest beneficiary has been the North and East provinces which bore the brunt of the civil war. The most notable achievement of all has been the construction of Hambantota port which has an immense geo-political value.

China's effort to reinvent the ancient Silk route of which Sri Lanka is located in a very strategic location makes the island immensely important to China's ambitions to become super power. So Sri Lanka's allegiance with China is immensely important to both countries. Sri Lanka' economic rise with China's support is, therefore, a certainty. With Hambantota port being one of the nerve centres in its economic development country's prospects are very much promising.

This is where Sri Lanka has become a pestering thorn in the flesh of the West and India. The latter considers Indian ocean as its own lake while the former tends to lose its naval domination in Asia Pacific's waters as China is in the process of engaged in a massive military modernisation and expansion drive of which Navy has been the biggest beneficiary. Geo-political priorities such as China's rising status towards a Super-Power and its disputes with the neighbours especially with Japan, an ardent ally of the US and home to US's Pacific Fleet have forced China to take this military modernisation and expansion.        

Depriving Sri Lanka a golden opportunity to become a strong state   

So Mahinda has created a situation in which no leader in a developing country would even dared to dream off. A Sri Lanka free of the West's and India's pestering undue interferences with an impressive economic growth with a support of a rising power is certainly heading towards a strong country.

However, in the event of Common Opposition coming into power we would fairly and squarely be back in to pre 2009 period. The Common Opposition has already declared its policy towards the West, China and India. It has been very much critical towards China's involvement in Sri Lanka and covertly expressed that it won't entertain favourable position towards the former. At the same time It openly declared it would be favourable towards India which will leave no stone unturned to make Sri Lanka another Bhutan with a strong and nationalist leader like Narendra Modi at the helm. No elaboration is needed with regard the policy the Common Opposition would take towards the West. The largest constituent party of the Common Opposition, UNP has always been a pro-West while the prominent personalities like former President Chandrika Kumaranathunga, Mangala Samarweera and Rajitha Senarathan are lackeys of the West. So whatever actions president Mahinda took to make Sri Lanka a strong state defying mighty forces would be undone by the Common Opposition depriving a golden opportunity for Sri Lanka to become a strong state which perhaps would never come again. 

We Sri Lankans would soon be heading towards "a shining example for a successful Federal Sate” in the event of Common Opposition coming into power on 08th January!

It was Carl Marx who said that "History repeat itself first as a tragedy then as a comedy". Given the composition of individuals in the Common Opposition, if it gets elected, we seem to be right on our way back to the history in which Federalism, Devolution Package, Sudu Nelums and Peace Projects etc ruled the roost. It seems none of those who were behind the Devolution of Powers and Federal Projects some years ago is missing from the present list. So we would fairly and squarely be heading back to that history, if the Common Opposition Government is elected on 08th January. If we are to recall a few names who owned those projects, they would include Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaranathunge, Ranil Wickramasinhe, Mangala Samaraweera and Rajitha Senarathne.

Within a few months of the new government we would hear many things that sounded familiar to us 15 or so years back. Some of them would be as follows"  

a)    "We soon need to find a solution to the "National Question. 13th amendment to the constitution can be a basis for that".
 
b)    "We would soon be in a war, if some form of a strong power devolution to the North and East dosn't take place. Mahinda has almost taken us to that point due to his racist polices".

c)    "The maximum devolution of power to the provinces would make Sri Lanka strong which will make foreign interferences impossible".

d)    "The unitary character of our country would only be preserved if we are to be magnanimous enough to devolve powers to the provinces with Tamils and Muslims",

e)    "Federalist systems have made countries like Canada, India and the US powerful and stable countries".

Unlike in the past when those Devolution Package Projects were holding sway, Sri Lanka now enjoys a complete peaceful atmosphere. So the Devolution of Power projects would run on steroids.Two chauvinist parties such as the TNA and SLMC which are hell bent to divide the country on ethnic lines would be constituent partners in the new government, the individuals mentioned above would be the key decision makers and would certainly be the Prime Minister and powerful cabinet ministers. And above all the West of which regime change plan includes Mytripala Sirisena's candidacy would be all out there to support Sri Lanka financially and with their expertise. Our Western friends among others would include Norway, the USA and the UK. We would again start hearing some familiar names such as Pakiasothy Sarawanamuttu, Jehan Perera, Kumar Rupasinhe, Jayadeva Uyangoda and Sumathy Sivamohan etc, etc ( The last two individuals have already declared their support to the Common Opposition). We would again be blessed with generous finical support, resources and the expertise of  I/NGOs in the trade who would take some of us around the world to show how successfully the federal systems work in other countries.

In nutshell we would be heading towards one of the best examples of "a state that has devolved powers to the provinces ensuring all the aspirations of all the communities living in the country are met. It would certainly be shining example for a successful Federal Sate"!

Doctored pictures of the legendry artist Dr Lester James Peries by Hela Urumaya remind us similar deception done by LTTE supporters back in 2009!

With a photo- shopped picture of veteran and legendry Sri Lankan artist Dr Lester James Peries going viral on social media and other media after Patali Champika Ranawaka of Hela Urumaya used it to sling mud at the president Rajapaksha, we are reminded a similar deception that happened more than 05 years back.

This happened soon after Prabakharan was killed in May 2009. The LTTE supporters wanted to deceive the world to reinforce their claim that Prabakharan was alive. A picture of Anton Balasingham and Prabakharn taken in January 2005 had been doctored to show the latter was watching TV with sarcastic smile which was showing his own corpse. A moustache, a TV set, and a newspaper being held by Prabakharan had been added while the background of the picture had been made somewhat dark.

In a surprising twist of affaires it is again a former LTTEer, Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP who has been used in this deception too. Dr Lester James Peries's picture has been doctored to appear as KP.    

What is most surprising is to see the depth to which a so called nationalist leader Champika Ranawaka has fallen. Why on earth one should fall to such a low level to doctor a picture of a much-loved, adorable and elderly artist merely aimed at slinging mud at the incumbent president? This also proves the desperation on the part of the whole Common Opposition at the sight of imminent defeat at the upcoming presidential election on 08th January.    

PS: Photo-shopped pictures of Dr Lester James Peries were taken from Lanka Words.com

Former president Chandrika's speech in Jaffna: other disturbing reality emerged as disturbing as LTTE leader being addressed as "Mr. Prabhakaran"!

Former president Chandrika's another public speech has created yet another an uproar. She has been legendary for creating such uproars following her speeches. Unlike all the previous occasions, she has, however, made the speech in question in Jaffna which she could have never imagined to do had the incumbent president Mahinda not defeated terrorism. On top of all she made the speech in the campaign which was aimed at ousting the very person who created such environment allowing her to display her 'legendary skills'.

As could be obvious UPFA's propaganda campaign makes best out of it and would obviously rob a good number of votes meant for the candidate in his support she made the speech. She addressed the LTTE leader as' Mr. Prabhakaran' in the speech. As is exactly expected it has made many a people in Sri Lanka and abroad outrageous.

As disturbing as Chandrika would be playing an influential role in an event of Mythripala Sirisena led government being elected given her track record and the degree of appeasement she entertains towards separatist elements as amply displayed in her speech, there was an equally disturbing reality emerged during her speech. It was the sheer amount of cheer and applaud she received from the audience when she uttered the word 'Mr. Prabhakaran' to the extent she halted her speech for a moment visibly feeling elated as could be observed on this youtube clip. 

This animated response from the audience, the Jaffna Tamil public, shows in style how dear the long gone LTTE leader has still been to a section of people in Northern Province. There is no reason to believe the situation would be different in other regions in the North and East among Tamil people. We observe this scenario despite having the government made massive development drive in the former war torn areas and democratic governance installed by facilitating the Tamil populace of the Northern Province to have their own provincial government.

 
This scenario should be analysed in the backdrop of all the separatist elements supporting presidential candidate Mythripala Sirisena, here in this particular case the TNA.  It would obviously be a case of reversing what we have achieved having made massive sacrifices. The very idea of the regime change project by the West by selecting Mythripala Sirisena to contest against president Mahinda is increasingly materializing to be dividing the country on ethnic lines as I highlighted on of my previous post.

PS: some days back, in a speech in support of Mythripala Sirisena, the former president went on to make an insane claim that she had finished 75% of  the war by the time she left the office.

Leadership styles of President Putin and Mahinda, though loathed by the West, are increasingly recognised as prerequisites for development and strong countries

Stability provided by strong leadership        

In one of my previous posts I highlighted that one of the foremost decisive factors that would decide the future course of post-war Sri Lanka would be its stability. This stability is, by default, ensured by a strong leadership who should be a strong personality plus bold in his actions and taking critical decisions with regard to the national interest.  On the other hand this strong and bold personality should equally be strengthened by the powers vested in his office: in other words Executive Presidency with full powers as far as Sri Lanka is concerned.

In the last 05 years President Mahinda has been able to fit into the criteria mentioned above. Despite numerous challenges that he had to face such as the sheer amount of enmity shown to him by powerful international actors especially by the West both during the war time and the post-war period, his success has been outstanding. (The sustained and vigorous effort by the West for a regime change has resulted in Mythriapala Sirisena coming into contest at the upcoming Presidential Election) This very quality of resolute personality of him and the boldness displayed taking difficult decisions have paid dividends in his efforts in successfully winning a war against ruthless terrorism, rehabilitating and reconstructing post war Sri Lanka. The degree of development that Sri Lanka has been experiencing in the last few years is evident of his resolute character.

There are many world leaders, including some from Europe, who admire President Mahinda's strong and inspiring leadership. They are especially inspired by the exemplary leadership displayed by president Mahinda in eliminating terrorism which was claimed to have been impossible and bringing long awaited peace to the county. They have also been amazed by the scale of development taking place in the post-war Sri Lanka.        

A strong Russia under Putin torments the West  

Emergence of these type of strong leadership in any state which does not dance to the whims and fancies of the West is mercilessly targeted and vilified. There have been numerous examples throughout the world which have become unfortunate victims of the West simply due to the bold stands taken by those states not bowing to the West. The best current example is Russia whose leader Vladimir Putin is loathed by the West and is a victim of a nasty destabilising project. Rise of Putin as a strong leader when Russia was in a total shambles state after a disastrous rule by the post-Soviet President Boris Yeltsin was a turning point in Russia's resurgence. A resurgent Russia under Putin is a thorn in the flesh to the West and is being pushed to the wall with NATO expansion at its very backyard. Though Russia is no longer a great power following the collapse of the Soviet Union it is still an influential regional power who wants to maintain its sphere of influence in the region which came under the Soviet Union. This sustained destabilising project on Russia aimed at eliminating strongman Putin as the president culminated with igniting a coup in Ukraine toppling its pro-Russian president. Now the pro-West Ukrainian regime is being used to destabilize Russia. This was followed by imposition of sanctions which have had debilitating effect on Russian economy.

"Dictators", "Autocrats" and "Despots"

Another popular modus operandi has been the branding of the leaders of those countries as "Dictators", "Autocrats" and "Despots" etc which is a part of isolating the countries internationally or making them international pariah states. At the same time, however, a blind eye is turned towards some real autocratic, repressive and despotic leaders who are in good books with the West and have for long been suppressing their people and running far worse corrupt regimes.  Saudi Arabia, military regimes of Pakistan, the former and the present president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak and Gen. Al Sisi respectively are cases in point.                                            

Vladimir Putin, Europe's new hero!  

However, what the West can no longer keep a lid on is that these types of leaderships such as Russia have inspired the people around the world. This has been the case in Europe in particular. There has been a growing tendency in Europe to rally around such strong leaders. After Charles de Gaulle and Margaret Thatcher Europe has not seen such leaders. In the backdrop of Western Europe which is experiencing the economic downturn and EU's austerity policies, the need of such leaders are strongly felt than ever. Recently Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's Front National party, admired Putin saying that Putin has managed to restore pride and contentment to a great nation. (Front National party in France secured the first place in France in the EU's parliamentary elections in 2014). On the other hand Matteo Salvini, the head of the rightist Lega Nord and a rising star in Italian politics, signed a deal in last October between his and Vladimir Putin's United Russia party based on what he called common values. Le Pen and Matteo Salvini are only just two leaders in Europe who support Putin.

Both strong leadership and presidency will shape Sri Lanka's future

As noted earlier these dramatic leadership roles being played by both the Presidents Vladimir Putin and Mahinda Rajapaksha would have been significantly curtailed hadn't they been empowered by the powerful office of presidency which is common both in Russia and Sri Lanka. (Executive presidency system has greatly been beneficial to countries such as USA, France and China too).

While the styles of leadership displayed by President Mahinda are increasingly now recognised in the world over as a prerequisite to develop countries and ward off the machinations by the vested interested quarters such as the West hell bent to achieve their ulterior motives, it is up to we Sri Lankans to decide whether we are opting to put the country's forward march to a full stop and go back to backwardness.        

PS: Strong leadership style displayed by Prime Minster Modi of India is also widely admired world over and acknowledged to be a prime prerequisite to put India on a strong footing economically.