5th Column
Why your demands are deemed to be doomed
View(s):
My dear Champika,
I thought I must write to you because your party has been at the centre of attention in the past few weeks, demanding changes to the Constitution, independent commissions to oversee the Police and elections and a reduction in the powers now held by Mahinda maama.
I heard that your party even tried to talk about it to Mahinda maama. Apparently all he could promise was a “chandeta passey slalakala balannam”, saying he will see what he can do after the election, but when your party insisted, he got so annoyed that he got up and walked away from the meeting!
These demands put forward by your party, Champika, are hardly surprising. Those who know you remember you as always being a rebel, which is why you even spent some time in custody when you were an undergraduate studying engineering. Now, even your party seems to be in the mood to rebel!
I suppose the big question for you and your party now is what you do next. In public, you have been telling us that if your demands are not met, you will leave the government and that you will oppose Mahinda maama at the next big election which will be called very shortly.
Are you sure you can follow through with that threat, Champika? There are many who still believe that although that is what you say, that is not what you and your party will eventually do. They say that after all this tough talk, you will compromise and stay on with the Government, like Wimal does.
That is what everybody in the ruling party seem to be doing. Even people like Vasudeva and the Samasamaja chaps, who were initially against the 18th Amendment which allowed Mahinda maama to run for a third term, are now the first to endorse Mahinda maama for the next election.
I don’t think that is because they believe it is the correct thing to do. But they do know that if they oppose Mahinda maama and he wins the next election anyway, they will be in a lot of trouble and probably not even be in Parliament — let alone being ministers — after the next general elections.
Even Rauff who usually likes to have the cake and eat it — and does quite a good job of it as well — is playing his cards close to his chest. I am sure he too would want the changes that you are proposing, but he is quite content to sit back and let you do the talking, instead of making the demands himself!
Then there is Wimal, who too was making a noise about the government not being on the ‘correct path’, and was threatening to quit if his demands were not met. All that happened was that he submitted some proposals to Mahinda maama — and no one talks about leaving the government now.
Champika, I am not trying to compare you with Wimal. He is someone who thinks that Hemingway’s novels are written by Guy De Maupassant, he still hasn’t visited Sigiriya and he launches fasts unto death with Lemon Puff in his pocket. So, we know that he will always be His Master’s Voice.
However, if you are to do something more than what Wimal usually does, you will have to take some hard decisions. I heard that you and your party have thought about this and decided not to vote at the Budget. I am sure you will be the first to agree, Champika, that this doesn’t get you very far.
We all know that Mahinda maama is a master at winning friends and influencing people. I am sure he will promise you that all your demands will be looked into after the elections. After all, he even promised to abolish the Presidency when he first came into office some nine years ago!
You know as well as I do that there is no electricity without coal and no smoke without fire. So, I found it rather amusing that young Pavithra suddenly chose to answer questions raised in Parliament many months ago about issues related to electricity — so soon after your party made those demands.
Those questions related to the time when you were Minister of Power and Energy and what a strange coincidence it was for them to surface now! Of course, if you have done nothing wrong, you need not worry, but you can be sure there will be more of the same to come — just ask Sarath or Shirani!
Many people are waiting to see what your next decision would be, Champika. I hope you and your party have the courage of your convictions to do what you think is best for the country, without thinking what would be best for yourselves. If you do that, the people of this country will be grateful.
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: I am told that a ‘committee’ would be appointed to look into your demands. I am sure you would have heard of how committees are like a visit to the toilet: at first there is a sitting, then there is a little deliberation, then there is some noise and finally you drop the matter!