5th Column
Green, green losers of my home!
View(s):My Dear Green Man, Uncle Karu and Sajith,
I thought I must write to you to let you know that Mahinda maama has called for elections to the Uva Province. Of course, most people would assume that you would know about the elections but the manner in which the Greens are going about their work, I suspect that you may still be in the dark!
You may think that the Uva Province is far away from the comforts of Colombo and has only a small population and therefore, not that important. I think Mahinda maama thinks otherwise. He is trying to use it as a yardstick for the next presidential and general elections. Just in case you hadn’t heard, young Harin has resigned from his seat in Parliament to contest from the Greens. That is a good sign although that does not necessarily mean that he is confident of winning. It means that there are still people who are willing to perish, fighting for the Green cause.
From what I heard, Harin is desperately trying to get all of you on the same stage at the same time for his campaign. What has been happening so far is that when one of you gets on the stage, the other gets up and walks away. And you still want people to vote for the Greens. Gosh, you are optimistic!
I also heard that you are trying to find a ‘common’ candidate which seems to be an uncommon commodity. Your names, as well as those of Satellite, the General and the much respected monk are being mentioned. The latter wants to be one only because he wants to abolish the Presidency.
We have had five Presidents and none of them — -with the exception of Dearly Beloved who was Deaf and Blind to the goings on around him — were very popular after a few years in power. Indeed, they enjoyed absolute power and we know that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Even then, I am not sure whether people would vote for you just for the sake of abolishing the Presidency. And, let’s face it, it is a bit ridiculous if Satellite were to become the common candidate making that promise (again!) because she had two terms of office to do so — and she didn’t!
It can also be argued that, at a time when some countries are trying to bully us after we won the war against the Tigers, a strong leadership is needed to withstand these pressures. I think most people would think that a Prime Minister who is at the mercy of Parliament would not be able to do that.
So, instead of trying to change the Presidency, wouldn’t it be better, Green Man, Uncle Karu and Sajith, if you concentrated on the million other shortcomings of the Blues and try to win more votes? After all, if you do win, then you can always get rid of the Presidency and everyone will be happy!
Green Man, I know you cleverly dodged becoming the candidate at the last big election, providing some political rope to the General to hang himself with. Are you up to the same trick once again? Some say you are still interested in running the race but honestly, do you really fancy your chances?
Uncle Karu, I suppose you could argue that you represent the best bet for the Greens at this stage. I wouldn’t disagree with that. However, if you are to run against Mahinda maama and win, you would have to unite the entire opposition — and the most difficult part of that would be uniting the Greens!
Sajith, you should stop sulking in a corner and get to work with the Green Man and Uncle Karu. You are nearly twenty years younger than the Green Man, so your time will surely come. You don’t have to look far for inspiration: your father waited so patiently when other Greens tried to sideline him.
You should also know, Sajith, that the party leadership is no longer an heirloom to be passed on from parent to son though that may have happened with Dudley and Satellite. I am a bit worried, because you might be setting the wrong example, especially to young Namal!
Green Man, Uncle Karu and Sajith, I think if you work together you can at least give the Blues a good run for their money. However, if you don’t, there is a good chance that the rathu sahodarayas will get ahead of you because that Anura chap is doing a very good job of work. Keep that in mind, will you?
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: Trying to win Uva after having lost all the other provincial councils is like Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath trying to rescue our cricket team after everyone else failed. But they did, so you can too. Or maybe I shouldn’t be talking about cricket because we are playing against Pakistan these days and the Bodu Bala Sena might object to that too!