5th Column

My Dear new IGP,
I am writing to congratulate you on your new appointment. You must be a relieved man after getting the top job in the Police after weeks and weeks of speculation and media reports about three contenders, all with roughly the same qualifications, vying for the post.

You have already made history becoming the first person to be appointed as IGP by the Constitutional Council because previous IGPs were appointed by the President. It would have made your task more difficult because you would have had to please many people, instead pleasing just one person!

Those were the days when the President chose the IGP and no one dared to say a word against it. Now that those days are over and a Council has to ratify all such appointments to high office, there are many making noises about these appointments. It is a sign that democracy is alive and well, isn’t it?

Already, there are people criticising your appointment and I hope you are not too concerned about them. They are saying the Council had no power to choose from the three names nominated by Maithri because they only had the authority to approve or reject a single name nominated by him.

I think by now we have all come to realise how Maithri operates. If there is any way he can avoid making a decision, he will try to do that. So, instead of making his own decision, he merely passed the buck to the Council, so that any praise or blame for the ultimate choice won’t rest with him!

Of course, some would say that it is also a more democratic way of working. Instead of making unilateral decisions, he has referred the decision to the Council. It was the same when he submitted three names to choose an Attorney General, and we didn’t hear many people complaining then.

Now though, some are complaining that the most senior man didn’t get the job. Those who complain are mostly the group with Mahinda maama and what they fail to say is that the most senior man was in charge of Mahinda maama’s security for a decade. Ah, wouldn’t that be convenient for them?

Then there are others who complain that Champika was a member of the Council that chose you. They say that he shouldn’t have participated in the decision making because you were heading an investigation where he was a potential accused. I too think that he should have known better.

IGP, now that you have got the top job, you have said that you will investigate all complaints with equal enthusiasm. I certainly hope so, even if those inquiries are about the murder of ruggerites or motorcyclists being knocked down by ministerial vehicles. That will show your true colours.

Although I know you tried hard to get this job, I don’t envy you and I will tell you why. Of course you shouldn’t be obeying your political masters but previously you at least had a clear idea of who your political masters were and in which direction they were heading. Now, that is wishful thinking.

That is because you have a Blue boss and a Green team who won the elections and a group of Blues who hate the Greens but are in the same team with them because that is the only way they can enjoy the perks of ministerial office. Then, there is a group of Blues pulling in the opposite direction as well.

It is not the ideal way to govern. Most people feel that nothing is happening and that the country is not progressing. Whether we like it or not, that is how it will be for the next five years because there are no major elections. So, the Greens and Blues in government will continue fighting with each other.

Why, just the other day, the Greens announced that there would be an increase in VAT on practically everything and the Blue boss says he won’t allow that to happen. If that is how confused they are about a tax that affects everyone, you can imagine what instructions they would be giving the Police!

IGP, we wish you best of luck. Your predecessor left with his reputation intact because he didn’t give in to demands that were made at the last presidential election. We hope you have the courage to do the same and say ‘no’ when it matters, regardless of whether it is to the Blues or Greens.

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: I heard you say that the Police will no longer be a department but that it will be known as ‘Sri Lanka Police’. I am sure you mean well and that what you want is to eliminate the inefficiencies of a government department but I hope that ‘Sri Lanka Police’ will not end up in the same way as ‘Sri Lanka Cricket’!