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Caged in their homes due to the lockdown after the surging Covid-19 pandemic, most Sri Lankans watched the US presidential election on television or through social media.

In the Western Province, where a curfew was imposed, newspaper distribution is disrupted. That, however, did not mean there was no interest.

Woman applies finishing touches to a message for U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Painganadu near the village of Thulasendrapuram, where Harris' maternal grandfather was born and grew up, in Tamil Nadu state, India November 5, 2020. REUTERS/P. Ravikumar

The antics of a garrulous President Donald Trump, seeking re-election and his rival, smirky former Vice President Joe Biden, whilst vying with each other, were also producing world class entertainment.

The vote count was under way after the elections in key states which are dubbed the battleground. Biden is leading and trump has gone to courts to urge that the counting be stopped. Reason – he has declared that he has won. Biden declared it was not over till the very last vote was counted.

That this is happening in a country which preached democracy as a religion to other nations and beat their chests over the value of human rights has become the antithesis all good things. So much so, discerning Sri Lankans who are students of foreign policy matters, were highly amused. “It is more like an election in a third world country and not in the United States,” declared one of them. He noted, “this has never been the case in civilised America where core values were a hallmark.” Commenting on the situation, one US writer declared “democracy may not need darkness to die after all.”

In the neighbouring south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, special poojas were held for the victory of Joe Biden. That was not for the love of whom Americans fondly call Sleepy Joe, but for the success of Kamala Harris, his Vice President aspirant.

The message was also not lost on the hoi polloi who were swallowing up everything fed by the local social media. That such activity had a countrywide reach, like during the last presidential and parliamentary elections, is very noteworthy. So much so, one who had imbibed a large dose from them likened Donald Trump to Mervyn Silva, the loquacious politician, and onetime Cabinet Minister. That is for his irrational behaviour, like for example tying a Grama Sevaka to a tree because a ‘decree’ from him was not carried out. Yet, Silva was not a President by any means.

The counting delays also resonated elsewhere – at the office of the Chairman of the National Election Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya. A call arrived on his mobile telephone when he was cleaning his drawers. His as well as the terms of the other two members in the Commission end next week.

The caller asked, “why are the US election results being delayed?” In his usual gruffy voice he retorted “Eka magen ahala vedak nehe. Egollagen ahanna” or no point in asking me. Asking them, meaning the US authorities. He knew it was a joke and kept on guffawing.

Deshapriya told a friend later such delays had never occurred during his stewardship in Sri Lanka.

UN spokesman clarifies Lankan premier’s presence at anniversary event

At the weekly UN news briefing, Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq was asked about Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presence at an event in Colombo to mark their 73rd anniversary.

His response: “We were asked last week about the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s participation in the UN Day events that we held in Sri Lanka this year. The UN Day event took place to commemorate the anniversary of the Organisation with the participation of a range of stakeholders, including the host government, as is practice in many countries around the world.

“The event also included the participation of youth and civil society speakers from all communities, and highlighted messages on human rights, development and peace and security – the pillars of the work of the Organisation. Our principled stance on human rights and justice in Sri Lanka and the rest of the world is clear.

“We are continuously striving to strengthen the implementation of the human rights due diligence policy with regard to peacekeepers in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.”

Here is a Q&A extract from the news conference.

Question: Yep. My question is that why, the Tamils, when the war is over and they’re attacking past history, don’t they try now to have a coalition, which is so key in international politics? If you continue eradicating the opposition long after there’s peace in the country and it’s prospering, why are they, with this human rights question, still attacking the ones… the Tamils, why are they still not being more quiet?

Spokesman: As you know, we have supported dialogue among all the communities in Sri Lanka, and we continue to do that. And certainly, we believe that there has been some progress on this front in recent years, but much more does need to be done.

All that’s yellow is not turmeric

There is no household in Sri Lanka which does not use turmeric. Though there are large stocks being confiscated after they are smuggled from South India, it is still in short supply in Sri Lanka. Even the Customs have held back stocks.

Recently the  North Western Provincial Council food laboratory examined 92 samples of turmeric. They were collected from different markets from July to September.

Their findings are shocking. Most samples (98 percent) contained flour mixed with a little turmeric. More disturbing in the finding was that 91 percent contained artificial colouring.

They were identified as Tartazine, Sunset Yellow, Cronnosine and Ponccou. The turmeric had been adulterated with them.

Major swindle at Vavuniya Education office; probe continues

The Vavuniya North Educational Zone office was a bit tense and busy this week after officials found out that a Management Assistant attached to the Accounts Department had allegedly swindled millions of money from the funds allocated for the salary of teachers.

The department’s Audit officials are still tabulating the accounts to conclude how much funds were transferred to a third party account under the name of the official who was responsible for finalising salaries with allowances and increments.

By Thursday, officials found that Rs 20.16 million of state funds had been transferred to the personal account of a 25-year-old Management Assistant who is now attached to another state department following a transfer.

To lodge a formal complaint with the Bribery Commission, the officials were instructed by the police to determine how much funds were swindled totally over several months.

Nobody’s snake: DWC takes the slithering way to avoid controversy

The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has been forced to release a rare reptile found in a park, instead of handing it over to the Zoological gardens in Dehiwala to avoid a controversy.

A week ago, a large white snake was detected slithering in a park and wildlife officers captured it and held it in a cage.

But, a group of environmentalists had secretly photographed the reptile.

Following that some people who identify themselves as environmentalists have asked DWC to hand over the animal to them, but another group of environmentalists have protested and urged the DWC to release the animal back to the wild, pointing out that though the reptile is white it had grown to adulthood.

The DWC’s head had ruled the snake should be handed over to the National Zoological gardens claiming the zoo have requested the captive animal.

However, the zoo had insisted that it would take in the snake only after a court order and requested for a letter from the DWC certifying they had captured it from the wild.

As the controversy regarding the snake became publicly known, the DWC officials have secretly released the snake to a secret location to avoid it getting into the possession of any of the groups.

Speaker plays politics in SLPP-Chinese Communist Party virtual meeting

It has been a tradition among Commonwealth Westminster style Parliamentary democracies for the speaker to function independently above party lines. It seems that long tradition is gone when it comes to current Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

He was among the ‘speakers’ representing Sri Lanka Podhujana Peramuna (SLPP) at a workshop titled “Advanced Seminar on Governance Experience” held this week between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the SLPP. The virtual meeting which saw senior officials of CCP taking part from Beijing was organised by the Chinese embassy in Colombo.

A Chinese state TV journalist tweeted about the meeting saying, “this is a ruling party exchange between CCP and SLPP that was aimed to develop institutional cooperation on political and people-to-people exchange levels”.

One wonders whether SLPP salvos back home are taking lessons from the one-party system of CCP on ‘governance experience’ from China as SLPP strategist Basil Rajapaksa told in a recent interview that the CCP and India’s BJP are the model parties they look up to and adopt policies from.