5th Column

My Dear Mahinda Deshapriya,
I am writing to you because you have in recent days assured us that you will be holding free and fair elections next month for the Provincial Councils in Basnaahira and Dakuna and we are all waiting to see how you would do that.

As far as I know, Mahinda, for an election to be free and fair, all the parties and candidates should contest in a level playing field with no candidate or party having an advantage over another. I really can’t see how you can ensure that although not being able to do so is not your fault either.

If you are not sure about what I am saying, Mahinda, just step out of your office and take a stroll around the Basnaahira palaatha. While you are doing that, count the number of cut-outs and posters you see supporting the Blues and Greens-and the Reds-separately.

Of course, I am not blaming you for that either. I don’t expect you to go around pasting posters and erecting cut-outs to redress the balance between the Blues, Greens and the Reds. But I think you should concentrate more on a ‘free’ election rather than a ‘free and fair’ election, don’t you think?

Then, Mahinda, isn’t it also correct that all these cut-outs are not really legal? Most of these cut-outs show pictures of people who are ‘avanka’, ‘edithara’ or ‘buddhimath’ standing next to Mahinda maama, but that doesn’t make them legal, does it? Maybe you can try your hand at removing them?

I do understand that your ability to implement all the regulations at your disposal is somewhat limited. While you may be a public officer who wants to do an honest job of work, you wouldn’t want to go into early retirement the way Shirani had to, for example!

Previously when elections were held, the Chanda Komasaaris was the star of the show. That will not happen this time because so many ‘stars’ are candidates at this election and we could have had even more ‘stars’ had some others received nominations. I just hope we don’t all see stars at the end of it!

Then there is the question of using the state media for election propaganda, Mahinda. Now, don’t tell me that this is not being done because whenever they show Mahinda maama attending a public function you can bet that he would say something that amounts to propaganda!

Of course I do understand, Mahinda, that most of these issues are beyond your control. So, it was heartening to hear you say that you won’t allow anyone to be elected if they haven’t declared their assets. I heard that one by one, they are slowly submitting information about their assets to you.

That would be quite interesting information to have, wouldn’t it, Mahinda? Can you take a look at them and tell us how all these candidates seem to have unlimited amounts of money to spend for their campaigns and whether what they have declared as their earnings tallies with what they spend?

Despite all these issues, Mahinda, we do have the confidence that you would be able to hold a decent election. I am saying so because, regardless of what many people said, you were able to hold a reasonably free election in the Northern Province a few months ago.

But make no mistake, the stakes are much higher in this election. Bigger names are contesting and all of them want to become ‘palaa babaa’s because they seem to think that it is a stepping stone to Parliament and to even becoming a minister, perhaps. All of them are also desperate to win.

In such a situation, Mahinda, we hope you would have the courage to be fair in your decisions and cancel any election results, if you felt that malpractices had been committed. And of course, you must also try to ensure that there is no ‘jilmart’ when the final numbers are added up and announced!

I hope you won’t leave us in the lurch like many of your predecessors who promised heaven and earth but suddenly decided they couldn’t do anything when it came to delivering on those promises. We hope that you, Mahinda, will have the courage to be different.

What we do know is that — despite what everyone says about too many elections — they are a necessary evil for us! So, we wish you well, Mahinda. We know that you are not doing the easiest of jobs in this country, especially when there will always be someone who will blame you no matter what you do.

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: I am sure you know that doing your job in a certain way will guarantee you a good life after retirement — with possibly a diplomatic posting on some foreign soil — but I hope you would rather be remembered as someone who did your job well — instead of being remembered like your predecessor, who is remembered only for the famous ‘aathathiya’ that he was subjected to.