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Ranil Wickremesinghe

Ranil Wickremesinghe (born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the 9th and current President of Sri Lanka. He also holds several ministerial positions, including the Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment.

Wickremesinghe has led the United National Party since 1994. He has served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on five separate occasions, leading six governments, from 1993 to 1994, 2001 to 2004, 2015 to 2018, 2018 to 2019, and for a few months in 2022. He has also served as the 10th Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2015.

Born to a wealthy political family, he graduated from University of Ceylon and qualified as an advocate from the Ceylon Law College in 1972. Entering active politics in the mid-1970s with the UNP, he was first elected to Parliament from the Biyagama electorate in the 1977 parliamentary elections and was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, by his uncle and President J. R. Jayewardene. He was thereafter appointed as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Employment, becoming the youngest cabinet minister in Sri Lanka.

In 1989, President Ranasinghe Premadasa, appointed Wickremesinghe as the Minister of Industry, Science and Technology and Leader of the House. He succeeded D. B. Wijetunga as prime minister in 1993 following the assassination of Premadasa and Wijetunga's succession to the presidency. He was appointed leader of the Opposition in November 1994 following the assassination of Gamini Dissanayake during the campaign for the 1994 presidential election. Wickremesinghe was the UNP nominee in the 1999 and 2005 presidential elections, but was defeated by Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa, respectively.

On 9 January 2015, Wickremesinghe was appointed as prime minister by President Maithripala Sirisena, who had defeated President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election. His coalition alliance, the United National Front for Good Governance, won the 2015 parliamentary election with 106 seats. Although it fell short of an outright majority, Wickremesinghe was re-elected as prime minister, with over 35 Sri Lanka Freedom Party members joining his cabinet. Wickremesinghe was removed as prime minister on 26 October 2018 by President Maithripala Sirisena with the appointment of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, which Wickremesinghe refused to accept, resulting in a constitutional crisis. The crisis ended with Sirisena re-appointing Wickremesinghe as prime minister on 16 December 2018. He resigned as prime minister on 20 November 2019, and was again succeeded by Mahinda following the 2019 presidential election. He contested the 2020 parliamentary election but failed to secure a seat in Parliament.

He re-entered Parliament as a National List MP of the United National Party, and was sworn in as a member of parliament on 23 June 2021. In May 2022, Wickremesinghe was re-appointed as prime minister by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. On 9 July 2022, Wickremesinghe announced that he was willing to resign amidst mass anti-government protests that saw his personal residence set ablaze, along with the residence of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaska taken over by protestors. He agreed to resign as prime minister once a new government is formed.

Wickremesinghe became the acting president on 14 July 2022, after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country. Rajapaksa resigned on 14 July 2022, and the same day, Wickremesinghe was sworn in as acting president of Sri Lanka. The same day, he decided to formally abolish the presidential standard and remove the style "His Excellency" when addressing the president. On 20 July 2022, Wickremesinghe was elected as the 9th President via an election by parliament. On 21 July 2022, he took the presidential oath in parliament as president of Sri Lanka.

Early life and education
Born on 24 March 1949 in Colombo, Wickremesinghe was the second son of Esmond Wickremesinghe and Nalini Wickremesinghe née Wijewardena. His father was a lawyer who became a press baron taking over the Lake House Group of newspapers. His grandfathers were Cyril Wickremesinghe of the Ceylon Civil Service and the press baron, D. R. Wijewardhena.

Wickremesinghe was educated at the Royal Preparatory School and at the Royal College, Colombo where he was a classmate and friend of Anura Bandaranaike, son of then Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike; and Dinesh Gunawardena, son of socialist leader Philip Gunawardena. Wickremesinghe entered the Faculty of Law of the University of Ceylon at its Colombo Campus which is now the University of Colombo. After graduation, he completed the law exams at the Ceylon Law College and took oaths as an advocate in 1972 after having apprenticed under H. W. Jayewardene, QC. He became an Attorney at law following the changes to the legal profession in 1973. Wickramasinghe received an honorary doctorate from Deakin University in Australia on 14 February 2017 for his significant contributions in reforms in economy, education and human rights.

Political career
Wickremesinghe joined the United National Party (UNP) and progressed through its ranks. He was appointed as the chief organizer of the Kelaniya Electorate in the mid-1970s, and was later appointed as the chief organizer of the Biyagama Electorate, which he won in the 1977 parliamentary elections and entered parliament. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new government of J. R. Jayewardene, and was soon promoted to the post of Minister of Youth Affairs & Employment on 5 October 1977, which made him the youngest cabinet minister of Sri Lanka. During his term as minister, he initiated the Sri Lanka National Guard and the National Youth Services Council (NYSCO), which provides vocational and career training to school leavers. Wickremesinghe was later made the Minister of Education on 14 February 1980.

Under the presidency of Ranasinghe Premadasa, Wickremesinghe was appointed as the Minister of Industry on 18 February 1989, under which he initiated industrial reforms and established the Biyagama Special Economic Zone. In 1990, he was given the additional portfolios of Science and Technology. Wickremesinghe had competition from his senior colleagues in the UNP, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, who had been rivals of President Premadasa. He was appointed the Leader of the House in 1989.

Batalanda incident
It was alleged by the People's Alliance government that Wickremesinghe, as Minister, was the political authority behind an illegal detention centre in the Batalanda housing and industrial complex outside Colombo between 1988 and 1990 which was allegedly run by a government-backed counter-subversive unit as part of the state's operation to put down an armed insurgency by the JVP. The People's Alliance government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, appointed a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate activities of Batalanda and on 3 September 1997 Wickremesinghe was summoned to testify before the commission. The commissions report was released on 12 April 1998. The commission was a fact-finding mission and had no judicial powers; however, it recommended the government to "bring the guilty to book". One of its findings was that "Wickremesinghe and the SSP Nalin Delgoda, are indirectly responsible for the maintenance of places of unlawful detention and torture chambers in houses at the Batalanda Housing Scheme". It further stated that Wickremesinghe held "unauthorised meetings of police officers involved in counter-insurgency operations in the housing complex, and that as such, he had abused his authority". No criminal proceedings took place thereafter.

First premiership (1993–1994)
On 7 May 1993, Wickremesinghe was sworn in as prime minister after President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers and Prime Minister D. B. Wijetunga was appointed president. During his ephemeral term, he was credited for pushing the country through an impressive economic transformation and was generally backed by the business community.

Opposition (1994–2001)
In the 1994 parliamentary elections, the UNP lost to Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's People's Alliance (PA), and Kumaratunga was appointed Prime Minister of the country. Wickremesinghe was defeated in the race for Opposition Leader by two votes by fellow UNP member Gamini Dissanayake, who had re-joined the party. This gave Gamini Dissanayake the default leadership of the party and made him the presidential nominee of the UNP. The UNP was progressing well under Gamini Dissanayake's leadership, when he too was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. Gamini Dissanayake's widow, Srima replaced him as the candidate of the UNP in the 1994 election. Securing just 35% of the vote, she lost to Chandrika Kumaratunga in all electorates except Mahiyangana. Afterwards, Wickremesinghe was appointed as the opposition leader as well as the UNP leader.

Wickremesinghe was seen as a cooperative opposition leader who gave the government a chance to carry out its agenda in its early days.

In the 1999 election, Wickremesinghe was nominated as UNP's presidential candidate. After a tense election campaign in the wake of the violent North Western Provincial Council election, the Tamil Tigers blasted a suicide bomb in an election campaign rally, in which President Kumaratunga lost her right eye. Voting was held two days later 21 December 1999 amidst a wave of sympathy, and Kumaratunga was re-elected with 51% of the popular vote to remain as Executive President. After this electoral loss, Wickremesinghe unsuccessfully led his party in the 2000 parliamentary elections, again losing out to the PA.

Second premiership (2001–2004)
In the parliamentary general election 2001, Ranil Wickremesinghe led UNF to win 109 seats and PA was able to obtain only 77 seats. Consequently, he was able to form a new UNF government and sworn as the 17th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on 9 December 2001. However, Chandrika Kumaratunga still remained the president of the country. This led to a confusing situation where the President and the Prime Minister were from two opposite parties. Although, according to the constitution, both head of state and head of government was the President, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was able to appoint his own cabinet and he had the actual control over the government. President Chandrika Kumaratunga also chaired cabinet meetings as de facto head, but her influence over decision making was strictly limited.

During his second premiership, he proposed to initiate the "Western Region Megapolis" project. Planned with the assistance of architects and town planners of a Singaporean firm CESMA, it proposed to build a large new city in the western province that can rival major cities in the world. However, the project did not proceed after the fall of his government. He also requested international community to assist in development during the ceasefire – the Tokyo Donor Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka was held in June 2003, during which Sri Lanka received more than 4.5 billion dollars in reconstruction and development aid.

Wickremesinghe's foreign policy during his tenant as prime minister pushed closer relations with the west. He expected their economical backing to overcome the economic crisis. He also largely took assistance, especially from Norway, to resolve the ongoing ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. In July 2002 he was able to meet George W. Bush, the President of the United States during that period. It was the first time after 18 years a Sri Lankan leader met the US leader in the White House. This visit was primarily focused on building new relationships based on economical links between United States and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the US government pledged to support his peace efforts with LTTE. He also met the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi and the Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Wickremesinghe believed a political solution based on a United Sri Lanka was the permanent solution to the ethnic problem in the country. He also believed that such a solution could be reached through a peaceful negotiation process with LTTE. Three months after the election Ranil Wickremesinghe's government entered into a ceasefire agreement (CFA) with LTTE. The agreement was signed on 22 February 2002 at different locations in the war zone by both parties and the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jon Westborg acted as the facilitator. It was said that the main objective of this agreement was to find a negotiated solution to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. Both parties agreed to halt all offensive military operations. An international monitoring mission called Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was formed to inquire into any instance of violation of the terms and conditions of this agreement. In the aftermath of signing the CFA, the island was deemed a safe place once again, after decades of war. Especially the tourism industry experienced a significant escalation where the number of tourists arriving in the country was suddenly increased. The A9 Highway was reopened up to Kilinochchi on 15 February 2002 after 18 years.

A few days after LTTE proposed the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA), President Chandrika Kumaratunga sacked three ministers of the cabinet and took over the ministries using her constitutional powers, ending the uneasy coalition between her and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe while he was out of the country. Addressing the nation she claimed that this decision was taken in the interest of national security. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna also decided to ally with PA to defeat the Ranil Wickremesinghe's government which they claimed as a threat to the sovereignty of the country. Consequently, President Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved the parliament on 7 February 2004 which effectively ended Ranil Wickremesinghe's regime.

Peace talks
After signing CFA, Ranil Wickremesinghe held a few rounds of peace talks with LTTE between 2002 and 2003. Prof. G. L. Peiris, minister Milinda Moragoda and minister Rauff Hakeem led the government delegation and LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan and military leader Karuna Amman led the LTTE faction during the peace talks. The Norwegian government acted as the chief facilitator during the peace talks. There were six rounds of peace talks which were held at different locations around the world:

 * 1) 16–18 September 2002, Bangkok
 * 2) 31 October-3 November 2002, Bangkok
 * 3) 2–5 December 2002, Oslo
 * 4) 6–9 January 2003, Bangkok
 * 5) 7–8 February 2003, Berlin
 * 6) 18–21 March 2003, Tokyo

After the Oslo round of peace talks in December 2003, a concluding statement was declared by the Norwegian facilitators which later became known as Oslo Declaration. In this statement it was stated that "both parties have decided to explore a political solution founded on internal self-determination based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka". This was considered one of the most significant incidents in the history of finding a political solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka.

After the sixth round of peace talks in March 2003, LTTE abruptly withdrew from the peace talks. However, in October 2003 LTTE again showed some intentions of entering into the peace process, calling for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA). The proposal was handed over to the government through Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar.

Analysts saw Wickremesinghe was fanning the internecine feuds among the Tigers and systematically weakening them and a foreign policy intended to tighten the global dragnet against the LTTE. Agreements were signed with the US which allowed Sri Lanka to get assistance in terms of military training, military technology, intelligence, special training in counter-terrorism and direct monetary assistance for military development. During the ceasefire period United States Pacific Command assessment team conducted a study from 12–2 Sep, 002 to 24 October 2002, which made several recommendations to strengthen the capabilities of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force in case of the peace process failing. After studying the weakness of the military the study recommended the use of cluster bombs (Which weren't banned until 2010 when the Cluster Munitions Convention came into effect)to destroy unarmoured area targets and recommended arming Kafirs and Mi-24 gunships with guided weapons in case of fighting close to enemy forces. The US also donated the SLNS Samudura during this time.

The opposition and the nationalistic movements of the country strongly opposed CFA and the overall peace process of Ranil Wickremesinghe's regime. They continuously criticized and protested against CFA claiming it as a threat to the sovereignty of the country which ultimately leads the way to a separate state for LTTE, so-called Eelam. It was later claimed by Karuna Amman who defected from the LTTE during Ranil Wickremesinghe's regime that the LTTE dragged the peace talks to smuggle weapons and ammunition including aircraft.

LTTE continuously violated CFA in great many occasions. In August 2007 SLMM agreed that LTTE had violated CFA in total 3830 occasions while government of Sri Lanka had violated CFA in only 351 occasions. Several Sri Lankan Army intelligence operatives were allegedly killed by LTTE during this period.

Opposition (2004–2015)

In the 2004 Parliamentary Elections held on 2 April Ranil Wickremesinghe's UNF lost governmental office. Despite the expectation of a full six-year term, and planned projects cut short by the defeat, the UNP was optimistic that it could regain power in a future election. Within 14 months of UPFA's victory, the radical JVP wing's (composed of over 30 members) parting of ways with the government, left the UPFA's parliamentary composition well short of the required majority. He remained in the post of the Opposition Leader until 2015, when Maithripala Sirisena who was sworn in as the President, appointed him as the Prime Minister.

In December 2004, Wickremesinghe was chosen by the United National Party as its presidential candidate for presidential elections due in late 2005. The Supreme Court decided in August 2005 that the elections should be held that year despite the President's argument that her term would end in 2006. Mahinda Rajapaksa, then prime minister, was nominated as the presidential candidate of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. In the presidential election held on 17 November 2005, Wickremesinghe was defeated narrowly by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who gained 50.29% of the vote to Wickremesinghe's 48.43%. A large number of the minority Tamil population in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country, who were largely expected to back Wickremesinghe were prevented from voting by the LTTE, which had enforced a boycott of the polls.

With the success in defeating LTTE in war, the government held a series of provincial elections in 2008 and 2009 for 8 provincial councils (Eastern, North Central, Sabaragamuwa, North Western, Central, Western, Uva, and Southern). On all occasions, UNP was soundly defeated by a large margin by UPFA. Of all the elections UNP obtained only 30% of the total polled and UPFA was able to gain 59% of the total polled. The margin was 2,527,783compared to 180,786 in presidential election in 2005.

Ranil Wickremesinghe signed an Alliance Agreement with twelve other opposition parties in November 2009 and he announced that a common candidate would be fielded for the presidential election which would be held in 2010. Later, he announced that the former Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka had been selected as the common candidate and pledged to support him.

In August 2012, Minister of Health and SLFP general secretary Maithripala Sirisena alleged that during the 1994 presidential election campaign, all campaign details concerning the UNP presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake were being secretly passed on to his opponent, Chandrika Kumaratunga by Wickremesinghe. Minister Sirisena made this disclosure while addressing an election committee meeting held at Siripura, Polonnaruwa. Sirisena asserted that he has ample proof to validate his claim and allegations. Consequently, both parties started to challenge each other for open media debates.

UNP along with several other parties and civil organizations signed an Understanding Agreement and decided to field the then Secretary-General of Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Maithripala Sirisena as the Common Candidate for the presidential election and the Common Candidate pledged to appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the Prime Minister if he would win the election. In the elections held on 8 January 2015, Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena was selected as the 6th President of Sri Lanka and on 9 January 2015 when he was sworn in, he appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister of the Sri Lankan Parliament.

Dissent within the UNP
After the defeat in the 2004 parliamentary election, a senior member of UNP and a former minister of Ranil Wickremesinghe's 2001–2004 government, Rohitha Bogollagama, switched sides and allied with the government. Soon after the defeat in the presidential election in 2005, Mahinda Samarasinghe and Keheliya Rambukwella defected to the government.

In 2007, Wickremesinghe established a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Mahinda Rajapaksa government agreeing to UNP's collaboration with the government on issues of national interest. However, shortly afterwards, 17 of the UNP's 60 members in parliament, including the group who had challenged Wickremesinghe's leadership, led by deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya crossed over to the governing UPFA ranks in parliament and were given ministerial appointments. The group consisted of senior members of UNP and many of them were former ministers of Ranil Wickremesinghe's 2001–2004 government: Karu Jayasuriya (Deputy Leader of UNP), M. H. Mohamed (former speaker of the parliament), Milinda Moragoda, G. L. Peiris, Bandula Gunawardane, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Gamini Lokuge, P. Dayaratna, Mano Wijeyeratne, Rajitha Senaratne, R.A.D. Sirisena, Mahinda Wijesekara, Naween Dissanayake, Hemakumara Nanayakkara, R. M. Dharmadasa Banda, Neomal Perera and Chandrasiri Sooriyaarachchi. The defection of the party stalwarts to join the government continued thereafter with several members such as; Susantha Punchinilame, Mahinda Ratnatilaka, Nandimithra Ekanayake, Thilanga Sumathipala, R. Duminda Silva, Ravindra Randeniya and Ashoka Wadigamangawa. However, in late 2008, Jayasuriya crossed over once again to the opposition and was given back the deputy leader post.

In February 2008, Wickremesinghe was under pressure to step down from the party leadership to accept an advisory position, from a majority of the UNP's parliamentary group. In March, the UNP working committee decided to create a new post called Senior Leader of the party and appointed Wickremesinghe to the post. This was amid discussion with the UNP's parliamentary group about the need for the Wickremesinghe to relinquish his post (of party leader) so that a new leader could be appointed. However, in late March the party working committee decided that he should remain as the party leader.

Wickremesinghe was accused of being a dictator in UNP during his time as opposition leader. Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thero said that Wickremesinghe was acting like a dictator. On 2010, UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekara accused that within the constitution of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe Rajapaksa is not a democratic leader but a dictator. Former minister and UNP MP Mahinda Wijesekara commented that "We don't need a dictator in the party," saying that Wickremesinghe opposed party reforms.

More than 60 UNP MPs allegedly left the party during Wickremesinghe's leadership as opposition leader.

Third, fourth and fifth premierships (2015–2019)
Following the 2015 presidential election's UNP-led common candidate Maithripala Sirisena having won 51.28% of votes and under Memorandum of Understanding agreement, Wickremesinghe was appointed as prime minister for the 100-day program plan and this was his third term as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. UNP/UNFGG-led by Wickremesinghe won the General Parliamentary Elections held on 17 August 2015, making himself the Prime Minister for his 4th term, with 106 seats in 225-member Parliament of Sri Lanka forming the government (though short of 7 seats to secure the simple majority of the Parliament) defeating the political rivalry UPFA leader and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his bid to return as prime minister after his defeat as president. Wickremesinghe also scored the highest preferential votes in the election with 500,556 votes, beating his rival Rajapaksa by a considerable margin whilst setting a new record as the candidate with the highest number of preferential votes in Sri Lankas' elections history.

Wickremesinghe vowed to regain the majority in the Parliament and make it as the United National Party's Government, at the same time he also promised to secure the futures of younger generations and instantly confirmed that the Government will launch 1 million jobs for the youth as well advancement for the education and health sectors will maintain as promised. He also took steps to develop the former war-zones by touring the affected areas and met civil activists to discuss the issues faced by the Jaffna civilians and schools and to expedite investigations of missing persons. He also took steps to uplift Northern Province communities and to improve their standard of living.

Wickremesinghe also restarted the Megapolis plan which he started in when he was PM in 2001–2004. Surbana was consulted to revise the master plan to suit newer needs. The Ministry of Megapolis and Western development was created for project and the project which expects to convert the currently unplanned Western Province into a major megapolis by 2030 with an estimated population of 8.4 million and expects to solve the issues concerning traffic congestion, waste management and slum dwellers in urban areas. Wickremesinghe also showed interest in Surbana creating a similar plan for Trincomalee in the Eastern province and an agreement was later signed with Surbana for the purpose.

Wickremesinghe proposed major economic reforms and proposed a knowledge based social market economy which will be built on social justice principles that will also focus on the availability of global opportunities for education and strengthening of the health system to face health concerns of the 21st century. He also planned on reducing high income disparity levels in the domestic economy and increasing exports. He launched a plan to reform state-owned enterprise, enter into trade agreements with India and China to increase market access and regain GSP+ to regain EU markets, restructure key investment promotion agencies, develop tourism, attract high spending tourists, and develop the rural economy. Special economic zones and a special financial and business hub in Colombo were also proposed. Wickremesinghe also organized the Sri Lanka Economic forum 2016 with the presence of international investor and Founder Chairman of Open Society George Soros and Nobel Laureate Economist Joseph Stiglitz and many other experts such as Ricardo Hausmann. The forum was seen as a boost to the Sri Lankan economy and during the forum Soros decided to invest in Sri Lanka the initial investments were expected to be around $300 Million. He also launched a loan and grant scheme for small and medium enterprises named "Swa Shakthi" empower rural entrepreneurs and develop the rural economy. However, in 2017, during his tenure Sri Lanka recorded just 3.1% economic growth rate, the lowest for 16 years.

During the Rajapaksa regime which oversaw the rise of lawlessness and abuse of state power by Rajapaksa's government ministers and officers after the defeat of the regime, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe decided to set up the Financial Crimes Investigation Division. This led to arrest Basil Rajapaksa the younger brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his political henchmen who were involved in large-scale corruption also were arrested within months after forming the committee. However several family members and friends of Rajapaksa were questioned by the FCID, Rajapaksa fears that his entire family and friends could be prosecuted and brought down to justice. Former President Rajapaksa asked President Sirisena over the pending charges against his family members and political associations be dropped. However, President Sirisena refused to drop the charges that were ongoing, The meeting between President Sirisena and former President Rajapaksa ended up unsuccessful over the President's refusal to consider the key demands of Rajapaksa to be appointed as prime ministerial candidate and the charges against his family members and close associations to be dropped. Rajapaksa's faction in SLFP criticised that the FCID were used as a tool to revenge on his associations and threatened to take legal action against FCID.

The United National Party led by Wickramasinghe suffered a landslide defeat in the 2018 local authority elections. His party was only able to secure 34 councils out of 340 total councils. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s proxy Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna won 231 councils. After the election defeat some MPs of UNP and party members asked Ranil Wickramasinghe Rajapaksa to resign from the party leadership and prime minister position. Some media reported that President Maithripala Sirisena also urged Ranil Wickramasinghe Rajapaksa to resign from his position. On the evening of 26 October 2018, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister after the United People's Freedom Alliance withdrew from the unity government. He also informed Ranil Wickremesinghe was removed from office. Wickremesinghe said he refused to accept the dismissal claiming that it was unconstitutional which triggered a constitutional crisis. Following rulings by the Supreme court and the Appeal court, Rajapaksa backed down and Wickremesinghe was re-instated at prime minister on 16 December 2018.

Following many internal party negotiations Wickremesinghe agreed to back Sajith Premadasa as the party candidate for the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election. Premadasa was defeated by Gotabaya Rajapaksa who gained 52.25% of the votes against 41.99% by Premadasa.

Foreign policy

His foreign policy in his third premiership was aimed at re-balancing relations with India and the West that were strained during the previous regime and keeping good relations with China as well. He also chose to restart discussions to solve the Indo-Sri Lanka fishing dispute but strongly defended the Sri Lankan navy's right to shoot Indian fishermen that fish in Sri Lankan waters, stating:

"If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed... Law allows me to do that."

His foreign policy was seen as moving away from the Rajapaksa government's isolationist policies, which distanced Sri Lanka from the western world. His policies were seen to attract investments and financial aid.

His government allowed a 99-year lease of a port to a Chinese company which caused protests in 2017.

He also worked to develop relations with Japan and Singapore, choosing them as his second and third foreign state visits after being elected as prime minister. During his visit to Japan, he promised to support Japan's bid to secure a seat on the United Nations Security Council and entered to a "comprehensive partnership" with Japan covering political, economic and security issues. During his visit to Singapore, in an interview with The Straits Times he invited Singaporean submarines and frigates to visit Sri Lanka.

Government bonds controversy
In February 2015 CBSL advertised the sale of Rs. 1 billion in 30 year government bonds at a coupon of 12.5%, though several accounts erroneously cite an indicative rate of 9.5%. The sale was oversubscribed with 36 bids totaling Rs. 20 billion. The majority of bidders, 26, bidded for Rs. 100 million or less at a rate of 9.5%–10.5%. However, a few bidders, including Perpetual Treasuries Limited, wanted interest rates of 11%–12%. On 27 February 2015 the CBSL accepted Rs. 10 billion in bids at rates of 9.5%–12.5%. The issuing of ten times the advertised bonds, and at a higher than expected rate, was alleged to cost the Sri Lankan government an additional Rs. 1.6 billion ($10.6 million), though this was disputed by the Leader of the House of Parliament. A petition was lodged in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka contesting the methodology used to allege such a loss. Perpetual Treasuries was issued, directly and indirectly, with Rs. 5 billion in bonds at 12.5%. Perpetual Treasuries was one of the primary dealers in the sale and is owned by son-in-law of the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Arjuna Mahendran, who was appointed by Wickremesinghe.

On 28 October 2016 the Committee On Public Enterprises, after a lengthy investigation, found Mahendran responsible for the bond issue scam and recommended legal action be taken against him. However, President Maithripala Sirisena announced that he had appointed a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to further investigate the case. The commission handed over the report on Central Bank bond issuance to Sirisena on 30 December 2017, and the Presidential Secretariat made available the full report in PDF form from its website for public viewing. During the investigation Wickramesinghe had to appear before the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry. A group of ministers from the President's party along with opposition MPs failed in a recent attempt to pass a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister in Sri Lanka's Parliament. On 15 March 2018 Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court issued an arrest warrant on Arjuna Mahendra on charges of criminal breach of trust for allegedly providing confidential information of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to Perpetual Treasuries Limited.

Opposition (2019–2022)
Following his defeat, Premadasa left the party to form his own party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya from which he contested the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. Wickremesinghe led the remaining party members in the parliamentary election which was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 parliamentary elections resulted in a landslide victory of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna led by Mahinda Rajapaksa gaining 59.09% of the votes and securing 145 seats in parliament and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya gained 23.90% of votes and 54 seats. The United National Party suffering the worst defeat in its history received a total of 249,435 votes, which was 2.15% of votes cased. For the first time in its history, it failed to win a single seat in parliament, having only gained one national list seat. Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the national list member of parliament of the UNP on 23 June 2021.

Wickremesinghe actively continued to serve as vice chairman of the International Democrat Union and chairman of the Asia Pacific Democrat Union.

Sixth premiership (2022)
By May 2022, the country was in sovereign default and facing hyperinflation, leading to political and social unrest. With events leading to Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation on 9 May 2022, due to the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister on 12 May 2022. He was assured the support of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna members of parliament, while other parties refused to join his cabinet initially.

Reuters described Wickremesinghe as an "economic liberal who has experience dealing with the International Monetary Fund". Wickremesinghe has stated that he intends to form a national government with the participation of all political parties in the parliament and lead the country through the worst economic crisis in its history with less than one million USD in foreign reserves and unable to import essential fuel, food, and medicines, calling the months to come the most difficult in the country's history.

On 25 May, Wickremesinghe was appointed Minister of Finance, Economic Stability and National Policies.

On 9 July, Prime Minister's office announced that Wickremesinghe was ready to resign to make way for an all-party government as protesters stormed and burned his residence that day. Later in the evening, protesters broke into the 115 Fifth Lane– Wickremesinghe's private residence in Colombo and set it on fire.

Presidency (2022–present)
On 13 July, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country to Maldives, with Wickremesinghe claiming the charge of presidency in an acting capacity due to his premiership and imposing a state of emergency in Sri Lanka. Following Rajapaksa's official resignation, Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the acting president of Sri Lanka before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya on 15 July. Wickremesinghe, who had formerly been a National List MP with his party represented by only one seat in the Parliament, became the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Technology, and Minister of Finance all at the same time. Upon becoming the acting president, Wickremesinghe prohibited the usage of "His Excellency" as an honorific prefix for the President and officially abolished the usage of a presidential flag.

On 20 July, he was elected as the 9th President of Sri Lanka by the Parliament of Sri Lanka in a secret ballot to serve the remainder of Rajapaksa's term, which was supposed to end in November 2024. He defeated his main rival, Dullus Alahapperuma, with 134 votes to 82. On 21 July, he sworn in as the ninth (eighth executive) President of Sri Lanka at Parliament premises before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. A day later, he appointed Dinesh Gunawardena as the Prime Minister.

In September 2022 Wickremesinghe visited the UK as the head of state to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, at the invitation of King Charles III.

Crackdown on anti-government protests
Soon after he was appointed as the president, Wickremesinghe vowed to crack down on the 2022 anti-government protests. Wickremesinghe claimed the protestors to be "fascists". Security forces raided the protest site in Galle Face Green in the early hours of 22 July, a day after Wickremesinghe was sworn in. 50 protestors were injured and two were hospitalised. BBC journalists were also attacked during the raid. Saliya Pieris, president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, condemned the raid. British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Sarah Hulton, also expressed concerns.

Handling of economic crisis
Wickremesinghe continued the government policies for economic recovery initiated during the last few days of his predecessor's term. His administration continued power rationing and introduced fuel rationing to control the country's energy crisis, while increasing direct taxes with the aim of increasing government revenue to secure an IMF bailout package by late 2022. These tax increases were largely unpopular and triggered protests organized by the effected sectors. Sri Lanka saw a contraction of 11% of its economy in 2022, with inflation peaking at 54% in December 2022. Wickremesinghe was criticized for hosting celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Sri Lankan independence on 4 February 2023, while the country was amidst a crisis.

A significant milestone was achieved by the Wickremesinghe administration in early March 2023, when Wickremesinghe announced to parliament that the IMF has approved the first tranche of US$330 million of its bailout package for Sri Lanka. The IMF bailout was expected to open up additional support of over US$3.75 billion from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other lenders; paying the way for Sri Lanka to rework substantial part of its $84bn worth of public debt.

Family and personal life
Wickremesinghe married Maithree Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan academic and Professor of English in 1994. Wickremesinghe has made several efforts to keep his private life out of politics. His personal life is rarely publicized or discussed. Maithree Wickremesinghe avoided the political spotlight until Wickremesinghe's re-election as prime minister in 2015.

His paternal grandfather was Cyril Leonard Wickremesinghe, of the Ceylon Civil Service who was the first Sinhalese Land Commissioner and his grandmother was Esme Moonemalle Goonewardene, daughter of Proctor Edward Goonewardene and Ada Moonemalle of Moonemalle Walawwa, Kurunegala whose brother was Theodore Barcroft L. Moonemalle Proctor and Member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.

His maternal grandfather was D. R. Wijewardena son of Muhandiram Tudugalage Don Philip Wijewardena and Helena Wijewardena née Dep Weerasinghe. His grandmother was Alice Ruby Meedeniya, daughter of J. H. Meedeniya Adigar of Meedeniya Walawwa, Ruwanwella and Corneliya Magdleine Senanayake whose mother was Corneliya Regina Senanayake née Obeyesekere, sister of Lambertus Obeyesekere Maha Mudaliyar of Kataluwa Walawwa.

A number of Wickremesinghe's close relations were active in the government. His cousins Ruwan Wijewardene was the State Minister of Defence, Wasantha Senanayake was the State Minister of Foreign Affairs and his aunt Amari Wijewardene was the Sri Lanka High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Honours

 * Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2014)
 * Doctor of Laws (honorary) – Deakin University (2017)

title: Ranil Wickremesinghe


text:
John Chivington

John Milton Chivington (January 27, 1821 – October 4, 1894) was a Methodist pastor and Mason who served as a colonel in the United States Volunteers during the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War. He led a rear action against a Confederate supply train in the Battle of Glorieta Pass, and was then appointed a colonel of cavalry during the Colorado War.

Colonel Chivington gained infamy for leading the 700-man force of Colorado Territory volunteers responsible for one of the most heinous atrocities in American military history: the November 1864 Sand Creek massacre. An estimated 70 to 600 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho – about two-thirds of whom were women, children, and infants – were murdered and mutilated by Col. Chivington and the volunteer troops under his command. Chivington and his men also took scalps and many other human body parts as trophies, including unborn fetuses, as well as male and female genitalia. The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War conducted an investigation of the massacre, but while they condemned Chivington and his soldiers in the strongest possible terms, no court-martial proceedings were brought against him or them. The only punishment Col. Chivington suffered was public exposure and the end of his political aspirations.

Three years prior to Sand Creek, on August 2, 1861, he became the first Grand Master of Masons of Colorado. Several Freemasons, some of whom were present at the Sand Creek Massacre, objected to Chivington's actions and publicly denounced them, while others supported him.

Early life
Chivington was born in Lebanon, Ohio on January 27, 1821, the son of Isaac and Jane Chivington, who had fought under General William Henry Harrison against members of Tecumseh's Confederacy at the Battle of the Thames.

Drawn to Methodism, Chivington became a minister. Following ordination in 1844, his first appointment was to Payson Circuit in the Illinois Conference. On the journey from Ohio to Illinois, Chivington contracted smallpox. He served the Illinois conference for ten years. In 1853, he worked in a Methodist missionary expedition to the Wyandot people in Kansas, a part of the Kansas–Nebraska Annual Conference. His outspoken views in favor of abolitionism put him in danger, and upon the advice of "Congressman Craig and other friends," Chivington was persuaded to leave the Kansas Territory for the Nebraska Territory.

As a result, the Methodist Church transferred Chivington to a parish in Omaha, Nebraska. Chivington left this position after a year. Historian James Haynes said of Chivington's pastoral abilities: "Mr. Chivington was not as steady in his demeanor as becomes a man called of God to the work of the ministry, giving his ministerial friends regret and even trouble in their efforts to sustain his reputation."

In May 1860, Chivington moved, with his family, to the Colorado Territory and settled in Denver. From there, he sought to establish missions in the South Park mining camps in Park County. He was elected Presiding Elder of the new Rocky Mountain District and served in that capacity until 1862. Controversy began to mar Chivington's appointment, who stopped performing his function as presiding elder. Chivington was not reappointed at the 1862 conference; rather, his name was recorded as "located." According to early Methodist polity, describing a minister as "located" means that the minister has effectively been retired. Historian of Methodism Isaac Beardsley, a personal friend of Chivington, suggested that Chivington was "thrown out" because of his involvement with the armed forces. Chivington's status as being "located" did not remove him completely from Methodist politics. His name appears as a member of the executive board of Colorado Seminary, the historic precursor of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology. His name also appears in the incorporation document issued by the Council and House of Representatives of the Colorado Territory, which was approved by then governor John Evans.

Civil War
When the Civil War broke out, Colorado Territorial Governor William Gilpin offered him a commission as a chaplain, but Chivington refused it, saying he wanted to fight. He was commissioned a major in the 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment under Colonel John P. Slough.

During Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley's offensive in the East Arizona and New Mexico territories, Chivington led a 418-man detachment to Apache Canyon. On March 26, 1862, they surprised about 300 Confederate Texans under Major Charles L. Pyron. The startled Texans were routed with 4 killed, 20 wounded and 75 captured, while Chivington's men lost 5 killed and 14 wounded. This small victory raised morale in Slough's army. On March 28, Slough sent Chivington and his men on a circling movement, with orders to hit Sibley in the flank once Slough's main force had engaged his front at Glorieta Pass, New Mexico. Chivington got into position above the Pass, but waited in vain for either Slough or Sibley to arrive. While they waited, scouts reported that Sibley's entire supply train was nearby at Johnson's Ranch.

Chivington's command, among whom there was a detail of Colorado Mounted Rangers, descended the slope and crept up on the supply train. They waited for an hour in concealment, then attacked, driving off or capturing the small Confederate guard detail without any casualties. Chivington ordered the supply wagons burned, and the horses and mules slaughtered. Meanwhile, the Battle of Glorieta Pass was raging at Pigeon's Ranch. Chivington returned to Slough's main force to find it rapidly falling back. The Confederates had won the Battle of Glorieta Pass, but because of Chivington and his forces, they had no supplies to sustain their advance and were forced to retreat. Chivington had completely reversed the result of the battle. Sibley's men reluctantly retreated back to Texas and never again threatened New Mexico.

Chivington earned high praise for his decisive stroke at Johnson's Ranch, even though his discovery of the Confederate supply train was accidental. Critics have suggested that had Chivington returned quickly to reinforce Slough's army when he heard gunfire, his 400 extra men might have allowed the Union to win the battle.

In April 1862, Chivington was appointed colonel of the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment. The darker side of Chivington was revealed in the complaints of a captured Confederate chaplain, who wrote that Chivington had threatened to kill the prisoners whom he took at Johnson's Ranch. In November 1862, Chivington was appointed brigadier general of volunteers, but the appointment was withdrawn in February 1863.

Sand Creek Massacre
"Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice."

In the fall of 1864, several events took place. Major Edward Wynkoop received a letter from Black Kettle requesting a peace council and an exchange of prisoners, and Wynkoop succeeded in holding a conference with multiple Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs, including Black Kettle and Left Hand, and securing the release of some prisoners who had been taken during earlier Dog Soldier raids. Wynkoop and Captain Silas Soule, after the peace conference, traveled to Denver with both the returned prisoners and some of the chiefs. Wynkoop convinced a reluctant Territorial Governor John Evans to meet with the chiefs. Known as the Camp Weld Conference, it resulted in Evans making an offer of protection to those Indians who would surrender to Major Wynkoop at Fort Lyon. The chiefs agreed, and, after gathering their peaceful tribes, camped about 40 miles north of Fort Lyon, at Big Sandy Creek.

Around the same time, Gov. Evans received permission from the War Department to found the 3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment, which would consist of volunteers who would sign on for 100 days. The purported purpose of the regiment was to protect Denver and the Platte road, and it was assigned to the District of Colorado, commanded by Chivington. For political reasons, Evans had stoked the fears of the populace regarding Indian attacks, and he and Chivington had hoped successful military engagements against the Indians would further their careers. But most of the Indian war parties and attacks were occurring hundreds of miles away.

In October 1864, the 100-day enlistment of the 3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment was nearing an end, and Chivington's Civil War enlistment had expired, meaning he would soon lose his command position. After learning of the agreement reached with the chiefs, Chivington complained to the head of the Department of Kansas, Samuel R. Curtis, that Major Wynkoop was too conciliatory to the Indians. Curtis replaced Wynkoop with Major Scott Anthony, who agreed with Chivington's goal of Indian eradication. But Major Anthony requested that Wynkoop stay and advise him for a short period, despite being under orders from Curtis to end the protection of the Arapaho and Cheyenne encamped near Fort Lyon, and end the distribution of provisions that had also been promised. After resettling his mostly Southern Cheyenne people, and hearing from Major Anthony that the distribution of provisions was ended, Black Kettle sent most of his warriors to hunt, leaving only 60 men in the village, most of them too old or too young to hunt. Dog soldiers and other Indian warriors were not part of the Sand Creek encampment.

In November, setting out from Fort Lyon, Colonel Chivington and his eight hundred troops of the 1st and 3rd Colorado cavalry regiments along with a company of 1st New Mexico Volunteer Infantry marched nearly to the reservation. On the night of November 28, after camping, Chivington's men drank heavily and celebrated the anticipated fight. On the morning of November 29, 1864, Chivington ordered his troops to attack.

Captain Silas Soule believed the Indians to be peaceful and refused to follow Chivington's order and told his men to hold fire. Other soldiers in Chivington's force, however, immediately attacked the village. Ignoring the U.S. flag, and a white flag they raised shortly after the soldiers began firing, Chivington's soldiers massacred the majority of the mostly unarmed Cheyenne, taking scalps and other body parts as battle trophies, including human fetuses and male and female genitalia. The attack became known as the Sand Creek Massacre. The Colorado forces lost 15 killed and more than 50 wounded, mostly due to friendly fire (likely caused by their heavy drinking). Between 150 and 200 Indians were estimated dead, nearly all women and children. Chivington testified before a Congressional committee that his forces had killed 500 to 600 Indians and that few of them were women or children. Others testified against him.

A prominent mixed-race Cheyenne witness named Edmund Guerrier, said that about 53 men and 110 women and children were killed.

With Chivington's declaring his forces had won a battle against hostile Cheyenne, the action was initially celebrated as a victory. Some soldiers displayed Indian body parts as trophies in Denver saloons. However, the testimony of Soule and his men resulted in a U.S. Congressional investigation into the incident, which concluded that Chivington had acted wrongly.

Soule and some of the men whom he commanded testified against Chivington at his U.S. Army court martial. Chivington denounced Soule as a liar. Within three months, Soule was murdered by a soldier who had been under Chivington's command at Sand Creek. Some believed Chivington may have been involved.

Chivington was soon condemned for his part in the massacre, but he had already resigned in June or July of 1865 from the Army. The general post-Civil War amnesty meant that criminal charges could not be filed against him. An Army judge publicly stated that the Sand Creek massacre was "a cowardly and cold-blooded slaughter, sufficient to cover its perpetrators with indelible infamy, and the face of every American with shame and indignation". Public outrage at the brutality of the massacre, particularly considering the mutilation of corpses, was intense. It was believed to have contributed to public pressure to change Indian policy. The Congress later rejected the idea of a general war against the Indians of the Middle West.

The panel of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War declared:

"As to Colonel Chivington, your committee can hardly find fitting terms to describe his conduct. Wearing the uniform of the United States, which should be the emblem of justice and humanity; holding the important position of commander of a military district, and therefore having the honor of the government to that extent in his keeping, he deliberately planned and executed a foul and dastardly massacre which would have disgraced the verist [sic] savage among those who were the victims of his cruelty. Having full knowledge of their friendly character, having himself been instrumental to some extent in placing them in their position of fancied security, he took advantage of their in-apprehension and defenceless [sic] condition to gratify the worst passions that ever cursed the heart of man. Whatever influence this may have had upon Colonel Chivington, the truth is that he surprised and murdered, in cold blood, the unsuspecting men, women, and children on Sand creek, who had every reason to believe they were under the protection of the United States authorities."

Later life and death
Chivington resigned from the army in February 1865. In 1865 his son, Thomas, drowned and Chivington returned to Nebraska to administer the estate. There he became an unsuccessful freight hauler. He seduced and then married his daughter-in-law, Sarah. In October 1871, she obtained a decree of divorce for non-support.

Public outrage forced Chivington to withdraw from politics and kept him out of Colorado's campaign for statehood. The editor of the Omaha Daily Herald tagged Chivington a "rotten, clerical hypocrite."

In July 1868, Chivington went to Washington, D.C. in an unsuccessful pursuit of a $37,000 (~$ in ) claim for Indian depredations. He returned to Omaha, but journeyed to Troy, New York, during 1869 to stay with Sarah's relatives. He borrowed money from them but did not repay. Sarah recalled that they returned to Washington in the spring of 1870 and Chivington "spent his time trying to get money without labor. ...

"The early spring of 1871 he skipped as I heard afterward to Canada ... Left me without means of support. I had no desire to live with a criminal."

After living briefly in California, Chivington returned to Ohio to farm. Later he became editor of a local newspaper. In 1883, he campaigned for a seat in the Ohio legislature, but withdrew when his opponents drew attention to the Sand Creek Massacre.

He returned to Denver where he worked as a deputy sheriff until shortly before his death from cancer in 1894. His funeral took place at the city's Trinity United Methodist Church before his remains were interred at Fairmount Cemetery.

To the end of his life, Chivington maintained that Sand Creek had been a successful operation. He argued that his expedition was a response to Cheyenne and Arapaho raids and torture inflicted on wagon trains and white settlements in Colorado.

Chivington violated official agreements for protection of Black Kettle's friendly band. He also overlooked how the massacre caused the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux to strengthen their alliance and to accelerate their raids on white settlers. Until he died, Chivington still claimed to have been justified in ordering the attack, consistently stating, "I stand by Sand Creek."

Legacy
In 1887, the unincorporated settlement of Chivington, Colorado, was established and named after John Chivington. The railroad town on the Missouri Pacific Railroad line was fairly close to the site of the massacre. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was largely depopulated by the Dust Bowl, but some buildings still remain.

Because of Chivington's position as a lay preacher, in 1996 the General conference of the United Methodist Church expressed regret for the Sand Creek massacre. It issued an apology to the Southern Cheyenne for the "actions of a prominent Methodist".

In 2005, the City Council of Longmont, Colorado, agreed to change the name of Chivington Drive in the town following a two-decade campaign. Protesters had objected to Chivington being honored for the Sand Creek Massacre. The street was renamed Sunrise Drive.

In popular culture

 * In George Sherman's 1951 Western Tomahawk, set several years after the Sand Creek massacre, Army Lt. Rob Dancy brags to Julie Madden, whose wagon his patrol is escorting, about having ridden with Chivington years before. The movie's main character, frontiersman Jim Bridger, later tells Julie that his wife had been chief Black Kettle's daughter and that the teenage Cheyenne girl accompanying him, Monahseetah, is her sister and the only survivor of a massacre perpetrated by Chivington and his men. Bridger suspects Dancy to be his wife's murderer and pursues him after Dancy escapes from a battle with the Sioux he had provoked against orders. When confronted, Dancy confirms Bridger's suspicion by claiming to have acted on orders. While Bridger is still beating him up, Dancy is shot by a young Sioux whose friend Dancy had killed (thus initiating the conflict) early in the story.
 * The American television series Playhouse 90 broadcast "Massacre at Sand Creek" on December 27, 1956. It recounted the massacre and the court-martial of Chivington, but changed the names of those involved. Chivington became John Templeton, played by Everett Sloane.
 * Ainslie Pryor had an uncredited role as Chivington in the 1957 film, The Guns of Fort Petticoat, with Audie Murphy as Lt. Frank Hewitt, Hope Emerson as Hannah Lacey, Jeanette Nolan as Cora Melavan, and Sean McClory as Emmett Kettle.
 * The episode "Handful of Fire" (December 5, 1961) of NBC's Laramie western series is loosely based on historical events. A Colonel John Barrington, played by George Macready, and presumably modeled on John Chivington, escapes while facing a court martial at Fort Laramie for his role in the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota in 1890. The Laramie episode reveals that series character Slim Sherman (John Smith) had been present at Wounded Knee and hence testified against Barrington. Then Barrington's daughter, Madge, played by Karen Sharpe, takes Slim hostage. She has papers which she contends justify her father's harsh policies against the Indians. Slim escapes but is trapped by the Sioux and must negotiate with the Indians to save the party from massacre.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: John Chivington


text:
Your Arsenal

Your Arsenal is the third studio album by English singer Morrissey, released on 27 July 1992 by record label HMV.

The album received critical acclaim and reached number 4 on the UK Albums Chart.

Content
Morrissey had been rehearsing with a new band prior to the release of Your Arsenal, which was the first official album of this new line-up.

Commencing with "You're Gonna Need Someone on Your Side", the album represents a clear change in direction for Morrissey from indie pop to a more muscular rock sound; with some elements of rockabilly. It also contains a glam rock influence, due to the involvement of ex-David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson. Songs such as "Certain People I Know", "Glamorous Glue" and "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday", which are respectively influenced by T. Rex, and David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust period songs (e.g. "The Jean Genie" and the last by "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide"). Bowie himself later covered the track "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" on his 1993 album Black Tie White Noise.

Release
Your Arsenal was released on 27 July 1992 by record label HMV. It reached number 4 on the UK Albums Chart.

The album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.

In 2014, Rhino Records issued a "Definitive Master" of the album. This version was remastered and substitutes the original album version of "Tomorrow" for the U.S. single mix. It also includes a bonus DVD of a 1991 concert from Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.

Critical reception
Your Arsenal was praised by critics. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it his "most consistent solo set to date". Bill Wyman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that guitarist Alain Whyte "provides the very melodic, sometimes rockabilly-inflected settings Morrissey demands, and frequently they end up triumphant."

Referring to the album as "a dynamic, invigorating fusion of glam rock and rockabilly" and noting that it "rocks harder than any other record Morrissey ever made", Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic cited Your Arsenal as Morrissey's "finest solo record and his best work since The Queen Is Dead."

Your Arsenal was listed as one of the top 50 albums of 1992 by Q. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Personnel

 * Morrissey – vocals
 * Alain Whyte – guitars
 * Boz Boorer – guitars
 * Gary Day – bass guitar
 * Spencer Cobrin – drums
 * Mick Ronson – production

Certifications and sales

 * }

title: Your Arsenal


text:
User:Acegikmo1/2004

My name is Jonathan Mooney. I am currently a student (Year 1 of 3) at McGill University pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. During the summers of 2002, 2003, and 2004, I worked as a summer employee of the United States Air Force.

I resided in in Saugus, Massachusetts for the first 18 years of my life but have lived in Montréal, Québec since August 2004. I am an alumnus of Malden Catholic High School. I have a personal website and a journal.

I can be reached at [mailto:acegikmo1@aol.com acegikmo1@aol.com]

Contributions
I officially joined Wikipedia in December 2003, although there is evidence to suggest that I had been editing articles since late October 2003. At first, I wrote articles on music I liked, Star Trek, and politics. Then, I frequented the Requested Articles page. Now, I create and edit articles about chemistry, history, music, and science fiction. I also occasionally contribute an article about the Catholic Church.

My article on the New Hampshire primary was "in the news" on the Main Page in January 2004. Thanks to everyone who edited it into excellence.

-

The following articles I have created, completely rewritten, or expanded from stubs. All dates are given in Eastern Standard Time Zone.

December, 2004

 * Bleed Like Me (17 December 2004)

November, 2004
185 edits 3 articles written

 * Boz Boorer (15 November 2004)
 * James Masterton (14 November 2004)
 * Modern Rock Tracks (10 November 2004)

October, 2004
439 edits 5 articles written

 * Apella (23 October 2004)
 * Music for the Masses (15 October 2004)
 * Casino de Montréal (14 October 2004)
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 * How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (8 October 2004)

September, 2004
288 edits 3 articles written

 * Harvey Milk High School (22 September 2004)
 * Ronda (21 September 2004)
 * Heather Monroe-Blum (17 September 2004)

August, 2004
277 edits 3 articles written

 * "Someone to Watch Over Me" (15 August 2004)
 * Hanscom Air Force Base (9 August 2004)
 * "Thirty-Eight Minutes" (2 August 2004)

July, 2004
631 edits 4 articles written

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 * Newbury Comics (25 July 2004)
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June, 2004
311 edits 4 articles written:

 * Responses of Germany and Japan to World War II crimes (20 June 2004)
 * "Extinction" (9 June 2004)
 * List of episodes of The X-Files (9 June 2004)
 * "The Child" (8 June 2004)

May, 2004
350 edits 6 articles written:

 * Click It or Ticket (29 May 2004)
 * "Zero Hour" (26 May 2004)
 * "Rivals" (22 May 2004)
 * You Are the Quarry (18 May 2004)
 * Jack Welch (12 May 2004)
 * Maladjusted (5 May 2004)

April, 2004
100 edits 4 articles written:

 * The Smiths (25 April 2004)
 * Kill Uncle (25 April 2004)
 * Patrick Guerriero (12 April 2004)
 * Viva Hate (11 April 2004)

March, 2004
315 edits 14 articles written:

 * Stephen Street (27 March 2004)
 * Hot chocolate (20 March 2004)
 * Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (14 March 2004)
 * Acylation (14 March 2004)
 * Mary Ellen Withrow (13 March 2004)
 * Hatful of Hollow (13 March 2004)
 * Suicide note (13 March 2004)
 * Bill Wyatt (7 March 2004)
 * Blake Ashby (7 March 2004)
 * U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination, 2004 (6 March 2004)
 * Bureau des Longitudes (6 March 2004)
 * Bona Drag (2 March 2004)
 * Effective nuclear charge (1 March 2004)
 * Synthetic diamond (1 March 2004)

February, 2004
143 edits 18 articles written:

 * "Hatchery" (29 February 2004)
 * Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (27 February 2004)
 * Latent homosexuality (27 February 2004)
 * Harvey v. Horan (25 February 2004)
 * Linux Kongress (25 February 2004)
 * Reusing water bottles (24 February 2004)
 * M&M's (23 February 2004)
 * Helvetia (22 February 2004)
 * Unam sanctam (22 February 2004)
 * Merck & Co. (22 February 2004)
 * Merck KGaA (22 February 2004)
 * Shielding effect (22 February 2004)
 * GeoCities (21 February 2004)
 * Muse (8 February 2004)
 * (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (8 February 2004)
 * Version 2.0 (7 February 2004)
 * Mini-Tuesday (4 February 2004)
 * beautifulgarbage (2 February 2004)
 * Xaverian Brothers (1 February 2004)

January, 2004
84 edits 10 articles written:

 * New Hampshire primary (28 January 2004)
 * Gay Men's Health Crisis (21 January 2004)
 * Noble gas compound (19 January 2004)
 * Iowa caucus (18 January 2004)
 * Pop (18 January 2004)
 * Rick Berman (5 January 2004)
 * "Cause and Effect" (3 January 2004)
 * "Impulse" (1 January 2004)
 * Meat Is Murder (1 January 2004)
 * Strangeways, Here We Come (1 January 2004)

December, 2003
28 edits 5 articles written:

 * "The Best of Both Worlds" (31 December 2003)
 * Garbage (9 December 2003)
 * Think Tank (album) (9 December 2003)
 * Your Arsenal (9 December 2003)
 * Vauxhall and I (9 December 2003)

Wikipedians I've Met

 * Andrew Yaksic, who says that I supposedly enjoy Yaksic.com. "Or...do I?" - me "...yes, I do. =p" - Yaksic
 * ~B+
 * The participants in the Boston Wikimeet (More here)

de:Benutzer:Acegikmo1 es:Usuario:Acegikmo1

title: User:Acegikmo1/2004


text:
Hassan Abshir Farah

Hassan Abshir Farah (Xasan Abshir Faarax, حسن ابشير فرح; June 20, 1945 – July 12, 2020) was a Somali politician. He previously served as mayor of Mogadishu and interior minister of Puntland. From November 12, 2001 to November 8, 2003, he was also prime minister of Somalia. Farah was an MP in the Federal Parliament of Somalia.

Biography
Farah was born in 1945 in the former Italian Somaliland. He hailed from Majeerteen subclan of Darod. Between 1961 and 1965, he attended secondary school in Mogadishu, the nation's capital. He spent the next two years at the Egyptian Military Academy in Cairo, Egypt. Between 1980 and 1986, Hassan also studied at the Somali National University, where he obtained a degree in Law.

Mayor of Mogadishu
Farah's political career began in 1969, when he was a junior member of the military junta that took control of Somalia in 1969 under Siad Barre. His first official role was working as vice district commissioner of Mogadishu. In the 1970s, Hassan was appointed mayor of Mogadishu. During this period, he worked with the National Security Service to have many opponents to the government arrested. He also served as governor of Shabeellaha Dhexe and Bakool, and as the Somali ambassador to Japan and Germany. While governor, he opposed the rising force of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF), which resisted Siad Barre's rule.

Interior Minister of Puntland
In December 1999, acting as the Interior Minister of the autonomous northeastern Puntland region and serving under then-President of Puntland, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Farah ordered the eviction of three NGO workers, citing "unsatisfactory services" as reasons for their dismissal: Eddie Johns of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Remmelt Hummeyn of UNDP and Said Al-Naimari of UNICEF.

Prime Minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG)
Farah was prime minister in the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia from November 12, 2001 until December 8, 2003, when then President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan held a session of parliament, which cast a vote of no confidence with regard to the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Speaker at the time, Abdallah Derow Isaak.

During Farah's first month in office, which was a few months after the September 11 attacks in 2001, he said the United States would be welcome to deploy troops to Somalia for the first time since the withdrawal of US forces from the UN missions of the 1990s, and to help monitor terrorist activities in the country. He was referring to Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya (AIAI), which the US did name as a terrorist organization. On December 15, 2001, he stated there were no members of Al-Qaeda in Somalia, though a rival warlord claimed there were 50 armed fighters of the terrorist organization who had entered the country. In any event, the United States did not deploy any troops to Somalia at the time.

He was the primary representative of the TNG at the October 2002 Somali Reconciliation Conference held in Eldoret, Kenya. However, those efforts failed to produce a lasting settlement, since the TNG was heavily contested by the rival Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC). The Somali National Reconciliation Conference meetings of July 2003 finally settled problems between the TNG and the SRRC, but by then the TNG had lost most of its momentum and funding. The three-year mandate for the TNG officially ended in August 2003, but the organization continued to carry on between the formal date and the creation of the successor TNG of 2004. President Abdiqassim Salad removed the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Speaker in August 2003; the no-confidence vote of the Parliament in December 2003 was undertaken to formalize the decision. Writing from Nairobi, Hassan Abshir and Abdallah Derow Isaak both said any attempts to extend the terms of the TNG were "unconstitutional."

Transitional Federal Government (TFG)
In 2004, Hassan Abshir Farah became the Fisheries Minister of the new Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which replaced the TNG. He was mostly active in the National Peace Process in the country. In late 2006, he secured a $55 million pirate-fighting contract with New York-based Top Cat Marine Security.

On August 1, 2006, Farah resigned along with seven other ministers, in protest at Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi's postponement of talks with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). He said "We had no option but to resign because we believe if the talks are postponed again it will affect the reconciliation efforts".

Puntland presidential elections
In 2008, Farah launched a campaign to run for president of the autonomous Puntland state in the northeastern region's 2008 elections. Abdirahman Mohamud Farole was eventually elected to office in January of the following year.

Federal Parliament
Following the establishment of the Federal Government of Somalia in August 2012, Farah began serving as a legislator in the new Federal Parliament.

Death
Farah died from COVID-19 in Turkey in 2020.

title: Hassan Abshir Farah


text:
Culture shock

Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country, a move between social environments, or simply transition to another type of life. One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign environment. Culture shock can be described as consisting of at least one of four distinct phases: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and adaptation.

Common problems include: information overload, language barrier, generation gap, technology gap, skill interdependence, formulation dependency, homesickness (cultural), boredom (job dependency), ethnicity, race, skin color, response ability (cultural skill set). There is no true way to entirely prevent culture shock, as individuals in any society are personally affected by cultural contrasts differently.

Culture shock is experienced by students who participate in study abroad programs. Research considering the study abroad experiences states that in-country support for students may assist them in overcoming the challenges and phases of culture shock. As stated in a study by Young et al., the distress experienced by culture shock has long-lasting effects therefore, universities with well-rounded programs that support students throughout the study abroad program, including preparation and post-program assistance, can alleviate challenges posed by culture shock, allow for global development and assist with the transition back into the home culture.

Oberg's four phases model

Kalervo Oberg first proposed his model of cultural adjustment in a talk to the Women's Club of Rio de Janeiro in 1954.

Honeymoon
During this period, the differences between the old and new culture are seen in a romantic light. For example, in moving to a new country, an individual might love the new food, the pace of life, and the locals' habits. During the first few weeks, most people are fascinated by the new culture. They associate with nationals who speak their language, and who are polite to the foreigners. Like most honeymoon periods, this stage eventually ends.

Negotiation
After some time (usually around three months, depending on the individual), differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety. Excitement may eventually give way to unpleasant feelings of frustration and anger as one continues to experience unfavorable events that may be perceived as strange and offensive to one's cultural attitude. Language barriers, stark differences in public hygiene, traffic safety, food accessibility and quality may heighten the sense of disconnection from the surroundings.

While being transferred into a different environment puts special pressure on communication skills, there are practical difficulties to overcome, such as circadian rhythm disruption that often leads to insomnia and daylight drowsiness; adaptation of gut flora to different bacteria levels and concentrations in food and water; difficulty in seeking treatment for illness, as medicines may have different names from the native country's and the same active ingredients might be hard to recognize.

Still, the most important change in the period is communication: People adjusting to a new culture often feel lonely and homesick because they are not yet used to the new environment and meet people with whom they are not familiar every day. The language barrier may become a major obstacle in creating new relationships: special attention must be paid to one's and others' culture-specific body language signs, linguistic faux pas, conversation tone, linguistic nuances and customs, and false friends.

In the case of students studying abroad, some develop additional symptoms of loneliness that ultimately affect their lifestyles as a whole. Due to the strain of living in a different country without parental support, international students often feel anxious and feel more pressure while adjusting to new cultures—even more so when the cultural distances are wide, as patterns of logic and speech are different and a special emphasis is put on rhetoric.

Adjustment
Again, after some time (usually 6 to 12 months), one grows accustomed to the new culture and develops routines. One knows what to expect in most situations and the host country no longer feels all that new. One becomes concerned with basic living again, and things become more "normal". One starts to develop problem-solving skills for dealing with the culture and begins to accept the culture's ways with a positive attitude. The culture begins to make sense, and negative reactions and responses to the culture are reduced.

Adaptation
In the mastery stage individuals are able to participate fully and comfortably in the host culture. Mastery does not mean total conversion; people often keep many traits from their earlier culture, such as accents and languages. It is often referred to as the bicultural stage.

Development
Gary R. Weaver wrote that culture shock has "three basic causal explanations": loss of familiar cues, the breakdown of interpersonal communications, and an identity crisis. Peter S. Adler emphasized the psychological causes. Tema Milstein wrote that it can have positive effects.

Reverse culture shock
Reverse culture shock (also known as "re-entry shock" or "own culture shock" ) may take place—returning to one's home culture after growing accustomed to a new one can produce the same effects as described above. These are results from the psychosomatic and psychological consequences of the readjustment process to the primary culture. The affected person often finds this more surprising and difficult to deal with than the original culture shock. This phenomenon, the reactions that members of the re-entered culture exhibit toward the re-entrant, and the inevitability of the two are encapsulated in the following saying, also the title of a book by Thomas Wolfe: You Can't Go Home Again.

Reverse culture shock is generally made up of two parts: idealization and expectations. When an extended period of time is spent abroad we focus on the good from our past, cut out the bad, and create an idealized version of the past. Secondly, once removed from our familiar setting and placed in a foreign one we incorrectly assume that our previous world has not changed. We expect things to remain exactly the same as when we left them. The realization that life back home is now different, that the world has continued without us, and the process of readjusting to these new conditions as well as actualizing our new perceptions about the world with our old way of living causes discomfort and psychological anguish.

Outcomes
There are three basic outcomes of the adjustment phase:
 * Some people find it impossible to accept the foreign culture and to integrate. They isolate themselves from the host country's environment, which they come to perceive as hostile, withdraw into an (often mental) "ghetto" and see return to their own culture as the only way out. This group is sometimes known as "Rejectors" and describes approximately 60% of expatriates. These "Rejectors" also have the greatest problems re-integrating back home after return.
 * Some people integrate fully and take on all parts of the host culture while losing their original identity. This is called cultural assimilation. They normally remain in the host country forever. This group is sometimes known as "Adopters" and describes approximately 10% of immigrants.
 * Some people manage to adapt to the aspects of the host culture they see as positive, while keeping some of their own and creating their unique blend. They have no major problems returning home or relocating elsewhere. This group can be thought to be cosmopolitan. Approximately 30% of immigrants belong to this group.

Culture shock has many different effects, time spans, and degrees of severity. Many people are hampered by its presence and do not recognize why they are bothered.

There is evidence to suggest that the psychological influence of culture shock might also have physiological implications. For example, the psycho-social stress experienced during these circumstances is correlated with an early onset of puberty.

Transition shock
Culture shock is a subcategory of a more universal construct called transition shock. Transition shock is a state of loss and disorientation predicated by a change in one's familiar environment that requires adjustment. There are many symptoms of transition shock, including:
 * Anger
 * Boredom
 * Compulsive eating/drinking/weight gain
 * Desire for home and old friends
 * Excessive concern over cleanliness
 * Excessive sleep
 * Feelings of helplessness and withdrawal
 * Getting "stuck" on one thing
 * Glazed stare
 * Homesickness
 * Hostility towards host nationals
 * Impulsivity
 * Irritability
 * Mood swings
 * Physiological stress reactions
 * Stereotyping host nationals
 * Suicidal or fatalistic thoughts
 * Withdrawal

title: Culture shock


text:
Brendan O'Brien (record producer)

Brendan O'Brien (born June 30, 1960) is an American record producer, mixer, and engineer. He has worked with many groups and artists during his career, such as AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Dylan, Rage Against the Machine, and Bruce Springsteen. O'Brien was also credited on a plethora of nu metal albums with such artists as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Incubus, and more.

Career
O'Brien's career blossomed as a young guitarist with a local Atlanta band by the name of Pranks, signed by what was then Century Artists Management. The management company had what many considered the best of Atlanta and the surrounding region in those days, including the likes of Mother's Finest, Ezra Pound and a dozen other "super-regional" acts. In the late 1970s, he moved on to writing, performing, and recording with the band Samurai Catfish.

O'Brien became a successful local engineer, considered to be the go-to guy to "make a record in a few days for $1500". His studio career was propelled by the success of the first Black Crowes album, Shake Your Money Maker, which he engineered and for which he also performed guitar, bass, and "a potpourri of instruments". The following year he produced and mixed Stone Temple Pilots' debut album Core and engineered and mixed Red Hot Chili Peppers breakthrough album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. These two records launched his career as an in-demand, multi-platinum producer, engineer and mixer. He produced and mixed nearly the entire catalog of Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam. Most of his productions were engineered by Nick DiDia, whom he worked with throughout most of his career.

O'Brien often engineered and recorded his own sessions with the help of various assistant engineers. A majority of the records that he produced and/or mixed were made at Southern Tracks Recording Studio near his home, in Atlanta, from the late 1980s until its closure.

In the mid-1990s, O'Brien became vice president of Epic Records and the Epic imprint 57 Records. He also played a Hammond organ for Bob Dylan's appearance on MTV Unplugged. In 1995, he joined Pearl Jam and Neil Young on keyboards for the Mirror Ball tour across Europe.

In 2002, he won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for his work on Bruce Springsteen's The Rising. In 2009, he was awarded the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. In 2015, he produced Higher Truth, the final release by Chris Cornell.

He produced the Italian bluesman artist Zucchero Fornaciari's 2016 album Black Cat and received production credits for track three of the 2017 EP Cold Dark Place by the progressive metal band Mastodon.

Selected discography
Below is a selection of albums Brendan O'Brien has worked on as a producer, engineer, or mixer.

 * Kansas - In the Spirit of Things (engineer) (1988)
 * Atlanta Rhythm Section - Truth in a Structured Form (engineer) (1989)
 * Springhill - Southern Eulogy (producer, engineer, guitarist) (1989)
 * Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker (engineer) (1990)
 * Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog (mixer) (1991)
 * Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (engineer) (1991)
 * Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (engineer) (1992)
 * Jackyl - Jackyl (producer, engineer, mixer) (1992)
 * The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall (engineer, mixer) (1992)
 * Stone Temple Pilots - Core (producer, mixer) (1992)
 * Pearl Jam - Vs. (producer, engineer) (1993)
 * Aerosmith - Get a Grip (mixer) (1993)
 * Paul Westerberg - 14 Songs (mixer) (1993)
 * King's X - Dogman (producer, mixer) (1994)
 * Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (producer, engineer) (1994)
 * Soundgarden - Superunknown (mixer) (1994)
 * Stone Temple Pilots - Purple (producer) (1994)
 * Neil Young - Mirror Ball (producer) (1995)
 * Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun (producer, mixer) (1995)
 * Dan Baird - Buffalo Nickel (producer) (1996)
 * Pearl Jam - No Code (producer, mixer) (1996)
 * Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop (producer, mixer) (1996)
 * Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire (producer) (1996)
 * Michael Penn - Resigned (producer) (1997)
 * Matthew Sweet - Blue Sky on Mars (producer) (1997)
 * Pearl Jam - Yield (producer, mixer) (1998)
 * Pete Droge - Spacey and Shakin (producer) (1998)
 * Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles (producer, mixer) (1999)
 * Limp Bizkit - Significant Other (mixer, songwriter) (1999)
 * Stone Temple Pilots - No. 4 (producer, mixer) (1999)
 * Korn - Issues (producer, mixer) (1999)
 * Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (mixer) (2000)
 * Lifehouse - No Name Face (mixer) (2000)
 * The Offspring - Conspiracy of One (producer) (2000)
 * Pearl Jam - Binaural (mixer) (2000)
 * The Offspring - Defy You (producer) (2001)
 * Train - Drops of Jupiter (producer, mixer) (2001)
 * Papa Roach - Lovehatetragedy (producer) (2002)
 * Pearl Jam - Riot Act (mixer) (2002)
 * Bruce Springsteen - The Rising (producer) (2002)
 * Train - My Private Nation (producer, mixer) (2003)
 * The Offspring - Splinter (producer) (2003)
 * Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder... (producer) (2004)
 * Trey Anastasio - Shine (producer, mixer) (2004)
 * Audioslave - Out of Exile (mixer) (2005)
 * Bruce Springsteen - Devils & Dust (producer, mixer) (2005)
 * Train - For Me, It's You (producer, mixer) (2006)
 * The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution (producer) (2007)
 * Bruce Springsteen - Magic (producer, mixer) (2007)
 * Velvet Revolver - Libertad (producer) (2007)
 * The Nightwatchman - The Fabled City (producer) (2008)
 * AC/DC - Black Ice (producer) (2008)
 * Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage (producer) (2009)
 * Mastodon - Crack the Skye (producer) (2009)
 * Pearl Jam - Backspacer (producer) (2009)
 * Anberlin - Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place (Producer) (2010)
 * The Nightwatchman - World Wide Rebel Songs (mixer) (2011)
 * Incubus - If Not Now, When? (producer) (2011)
 * Seether - Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray (producer) (2011)
 * The Fray - Scars & Stories (producer) (2012)
 * The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten (producer) (2012)
 * Third Day - Miracle (producer) (2012)
 * The Killers - Battle Born (producer, engineer, mixer) (2012)
 * My Chemical Romance - Conventional Weapons (2012–2013)
 * Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt (producer, mixer) (2013)
 * AC/DC - Rock or Bust (producer) (2014)
 * Seether - Isolate and Medicate (producer) (2014)
 * Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes (producer, mixer) (2014)
 * Blackberry Smoke - Holding All the Roses (producer) (2015)
 * Wakrat - Wakrat (engineer, mixer) (2016)
 * Prophets of Rage - Prophets of Rage (producer, mixer) (2017)
 * Mastodon - Emperor of Sand (producer) (2017)
 * Chris Cornell - Chris Cornell (producer) (2018)
 * AC/DC - Power Up (producer, mixing) (2020)

title: Brendan O'Brien (record producer)


text:
Nikolai Tanayev

Nikolay Timofeyevich Tanayev (Николай Тимофеевич Танаев; 5 November 1945 – 19 July 2020) was a Kyrgyz politician, who served as the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan from 2002 to 2005, under President Askar Akayev.

Career
He served as Deputy Prime Minister under Kurmanbek Bakiyev and was made acting PM on 22 May 2002 after Akayev fired Bakiyev. He officially became PM eight days later when the Supreme Council confirmed him.

As Prime Minister he survived a motion of no confidence vote on 8 April 2004. The legislature voted 27 to 14 to remove him from office, short of the necessary 30 votes.

He was the first ethnic non-Asian Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan since independence.

Revolution and exile
On 24 March 2005 Tanayev resigned as Prime Minister in the midst of the Tulip Revolution. Almost a month later he became special envoy for foreign economic relations in his native Penza region in Russia. However, by June the Acting Prosecutor-General, Azimbek Beknazarov told Parliament that his office had issued an order for Tanayev's arrest. One of the charges relates to 40 million soms ($977,000) in state funds allegedly transferred to a company controlled by his son. He lived in exile in St. Petersburg on 6 Bolshaya Morskaya Street.

title: Nikolai Tanayev


text:
Talk:Zytek Lotus Elise

Untitled
Inquiring minds want to know:
 * "single speed aluminium gear ratio" needs de-obfuscation

 * "at 300 volts" -- NiCd bank voltage, obviously, but is it also condition for achieving that power? (I.e., are we being told power drops substantially as internal resistance builds up during discharge?  New text is my best guess.

 * "combined" probably referred to power output, but are these 150v motors in series, or 300v ones in parallel?

 * "are each mated to a " - each to its own, or each to the same?

--Jerzy 19:27, 2003 Dec 9 (UTC)
 * Pretty clear they lack a common shaft, but what happens when one seizes, or opens a winding?

title: Talk:Zytek Lotus Elise


text:
Bounnhang Vorachit

Bounnhang Vorachit (ບຸນຍັງ ວໍລະຈິດ; born 15 August 1937)  is a Laotian politician. He was previously General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and President of Laos from 2016 to 2021.

Early life
Bounnhang Vorachit joined the Pathet Lao resistance movement in 1951 and worked in the propaganda department of the armed forces in Savannakhet. In 1956, he was transferred to the fighting troops. He studied in Vietnam from 1958 to 1961, then returned to Laos to help prepare for the conquest of Luang Namtha Province. After the victory in Luang Namtha in 1962, he returned to Vietnam and studied at a military college.

In 1964, he returned to Laos and in 1969, became head of the organizing committee of the province Xieng Khuang. In 1972, he became Deputy Commander of the Northern Front in Luang Prabang Province. Here he also joined the coalition in 1974 and became party secretary of the defence forces of the neutral city Luang Prabang. In 1976 he became political leader of the armed forces of the northern half of the country. In 1978, he returned to Vietnam to study political theory. In 1981, he became political leader of the armed forces, and in the same year up to 1991, he also worked as Governor of Savannakhet Province until 1996, when he became Deputy Prime Minister.

Political career
Prior to becoming Prime Minister in 2001, he served as Deputy Prime Minister since 1996. In addition, he was from 1996 to 1999 Chairman of the Lao-Vietnamese Cooperation Committee and from 1999 to 2001 Minister of Finance. On 26 March 2001, he was elected Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of Laos. On 8 June 2006, he was followed by the former 1st Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh in the office of Prime Minister. He himself became vice-president of the Democratic People's Republic of Laos on March 8, 2006 and thus deputy to Choummaly Sayasone.

Bounnhang's ties with Vietnam run deep. He underwent military training there and, after taking part in founding the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975, he studied socialist thought there.

He became Vice President on 8 June 2006, when Bouasone Bouphavanh was appointed as Prime Minister. At the 10th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, he was elected to succeed Choummaly Sayasone as General Secretary on 22 January 2016, effectively making him the leader of Laos. Bounnhang Vorachit is married to Khammeung Vorachit and is the father of three sons and two daughters. One of his daughters, Bounkham Vorachit, was elected to the 11th LPRP Central Committee.

At the 11th congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (2021), he stepped down as General Secretary in favor of Thongloun Sisoulith.

title: Bounnhang Vorachit