Odds & Ends

Anything in common?

Mervyn Silva was appointed on Wednesday as the SLFP organiser for Kelaniya.
The next day when he came to Parliament he was seen engaged in an animated conversation with none other than Sripathy Sooriyaarachchi, the man he replaced as organiser. Wonder what the present and former SLFP Kelaniya organisers have in common.

Not interested

A simple ceremony was held at the Parliament Complex on Wednesday to unveil a portrait of former President J.R.Jayewardene and several UNP and Government MPs attended the function. A notable absentee was Minister Anura Bandaranaike.

Apparently he called the office of the Leader of the House to find out the day’s programme and on being told that a portrait unveiling was scheduled for the day, he had opted to stay away.

Her reaction?

During the course of his speech at the ceremony to mark the unveiling of the portrait of former President J.R.Jayewardene, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe recollected an exchange in Parliament between the late President Jayewardene and the then Speaker late Ananadatissa De Alwis in Parliament in 1977, where Mr. de Alwis asked President Jayewardene if he minded his picture hung next to that of Mrs.Sirimavo Bandaranaike who had been premier prior to him.

“I do not mind it at all,” Mr. Jayewardene had said. The Opposition Leader said now the late leader’s wish had come true and the portraits of the two were now hanging side by side in the Parliament complex.

Wonder what the reply would have been if the same question was posed to Mrs. Bandaranaike?

Minding his own business

T. Maheswaran, the maverick UNP Member of Parliament for the Jaffna District, who often defied his own party on issues relating to the ethnic problem, is now maintaining total silence.

The man is said to be doing business. Earlier when he went to do business various quarters accused him of profiteering from war, but it certainly must be safer than doing politics.

Once Tigers nearly got him, for his luck the bullet did not hit a vital organ as he had bent to receive a garland when the assailant fired.

Enough of rituals

Similarly TNA politicos too are conspicuous these days by their lack of theatrics, especially in Parliament.

That is why they are lobbying behind the scenes for a proper devolution package from the Government. They too appear to be sick of Tigers and politics in general. So now it is up to the Government to come up with a workable solution, cutting short on never ending rituals in finding a remedy.

UNHCR crying wolf

Did UNHCR get its wires crossed early this week about alleged forced resettlement of IDPs in Vakarai and its alleged threat to withdraw from the region in protest too withdrawn the following day. SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson said when its officials visited Vakarai on Thursday they heard no such complaints from the resettled people, other than the problem of lack of drinking water.