5th Column

Better strike than resign to win demands
My Dear Seeni Bola,
I thought I must write to you when I heard that you had submitted your resignation. Then, when it was not accepted, I heard that you had agreed to stay on but then I thought I would still write to you.

Seeni Bola, to give credit to you where it is due I must say you have kept a very low profile since turning green for a man who was used to stealing the limelight day in, day out when you were Satellite's 'kokatath thailaya'.

And of course, you are no longer the Minister of Sports and that perhaps helps in keeping a low profile-there are no more Cricket Board elections to interfere with nor are there athletes who need encouragement to strike gold in the Olympics!

But indeed, I was surprised to hear that you were threatening to quit because Treasury officials were denying you money for 'Samurdhi', the scheme so near and dear to you.
But surely, Seeni Bola, you must know by now that is what Treasury officials are like. Why, you and your fellow greens have been telling us for the last one and a half years that there will soon be a pay hike but then we hear the Treasury officials saying that there is no money to pay for it.

Isn't it funny, Seeni Bola, that when politicians promise pay hikes to the people they never bother to ask the Treasury? Isn't it also funny that whenever there is no money the Treasury is to blame but whenever there is a pay hike it is the politicians who take the credit? And isn't it also funny that no matter how poor the Treasury is, there is always room for more ministers to be paid for, especially at times of resignations and cross-overs?

But of course, Seeni Bola, we understand how determined you must feel when you find that you can't find money to provide for those unfortunate millions who depend on you for their livelihood. After all, it is this same determination that saw you go from a backbencher to frontline minister and also made you the proud owner of that house in Hanguranketha that we all saw on television- all in a matter of just a few years!

Seeni Bola, pardon me if I am wrong, but I was just wondering whether you and your fellow politicians couldn't strike-just like the doctors did recently- when you can't get what you want. Just imagine if the whole cabinet went on strike, the whole country would have to come to a standstill, if ministers indeed do as much work as they claim to do! Of course, some will say that it will be hardly noticed, but we must surely try that at least once!

Seeni Bola, the other way to get money when the Treasury refuses you is to go direct to Satellite herself. She did take over the Development Lotteries Board, didn't she? Or, would you rather resign than do that?

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha.
PS- When you next disagree with an official, may I suggest the 'Mahinda method'? Walk into his room when he is not there, smash his chair, lock the room and take the keys. I am told it is quite effective in getting officials transferred and a lot less complicated than writing letters of resignation. Try that next, will you, Seeni Bola?

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