5th Column

My dear SWRD and Sirima,
I thought of writing to you in the Land of No Return because your beloved Blue Party is ‘celebrating’ its sixty fifth anniversary this week- although I am not sure whether ‘celebrating’ is the correct word as there seems to be more in-fighting than celebrations now with its members divided into two camps.

There is even serious talk of one group forming a separate party of their own. Curiously, they are claiming that there is nothing wrong with that because that is what you did, SWRD, breaking away from the Green Party and forming the Blue Party because DS wanted Dudley to take over after him!

Whatever the reason, forming the Blue Party was good because it established a two party system in the country although some would argue that it has achieved very little for us because one set of rascals were replacing another set of rascals. No wonder people now say, ‘unuth ekai, munuth ekai’!

This has become worse in recent years because now it is no longer a case of the Blues and the Greens. They have got together and even if we, the people, want to get rid of one lot, they keep returning through what is called the National List and would you believe it, they are governing together now!

SWRD, you may have left the Green Party and formed the Blue party because DS was passing on its leadership to Dudley but the Blue party that you founded turned out to be worse. It was run by your family for more than fifty years, so much so that it became known as the ‘Sri Lanka Family Party’.

Your old foe, JR, noticed this. In the late ‘70s, he won an election by publishing a book which showed the ‘family tree’ of the ‘Bees’ revealing just how many relatives Sirima had appointed to top posts. That, and the economic restrictions Sirima imposed, led to a resounding defeat for the Blues in ’77.

Not content with that, JR thought of wiping out the Blues forever by depriving Sirima of her civic rights. That led to a split in the Blue Party with young Anura taking the side of Maithri, who was Sirima’s deputy and going to courts against her. So, splits in the Blue camp are nothing new, are they?

JR was successful to an extent because the Greens were in power for seventeen years. It was left to another Bee, Satellite, to return from exile and rescue the Blues. Unfortunately, by that time Anura, who had led the Blues while they were in the Opposition, had crossed over to the Greens!

Then, when the leadership finally changed hands, probably because there was no suitable heirs among the ‘Bees’ because poor Anura had left us, Satellite was replaced by Mahinda maama who quickly installed his clan in every aspect of public life in a manner that would have made even Sirima blush.

Very quickly, the Blue Party which had been the party of the ‘Bees’ for half a century became the ‘R’ party in half a decade. Had Mahinda maama had his way he would have ensured that he was the boss for life and that, by the time he left office, young Namal would be old enough to take over the reins.

It would be a sad day if Mahinda maama forms his own party and divides the Blues again. I don’t know why he keeps returning when he can retire gracefully and enjoy the tranquillity of Medamulana. Probably, returning to power is an irresistible thought- and Wimal, Udaya and Vasu mislead him too.

SWRD and Sirima, it must be disappointing to know that the Blues are at loggerheads with each other now. If it is of any consolation, Satellite is still in the thick of things although some say she can only make matters worse. After all, now she prefers the Greens and the Green Man to Mahinda maama!

The differences between Maithri and Mahinda maama are so great that there appears to be very little hope of agreement between the two. However, you can take heart from the fact that stranger things have happened: the Greens once split into elephants and eagles but they are all together again now!

SWRD and Sirima, many compare the ‘Bees’ in Paradise to the Gandhis in our neighbouring land. It seems that just as much as the Gandhi dynasty is on its way out, your own dynasty here is also coming to an end. And if recent events are anything to go by, ending dynastic rule is the best thing to do!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: SWRD and Sirima, thirty five years ago, JR used a Maithri from Rajarata and your son to divide the Blues. Today, his nephew is using another Maithri from Rajarata and your daughter to divide the Blues all over again. It is funny how history seems to be repeating itself, isn’t it?