5th Column

My dear Maithri,
I thought I must write to you because you seem to be having a difficult time carrying out your work while juggling the challenges posed by Modi, Mahinda maama and the May Day – and even provincial councils are daring to defy you. All about you seem to be losing their heads and blaming it on you!

We are of course aware that you are leading a government like no other – because it comprises of Greens and Blues who have been rivals for almost seven decades since the British left our shores. And, to top it all, you are the only Blue leader in this country to be elected with Green votes!

Maithri, I should tell you that most people who voted for you are now asking themselves whether they made the right decision. They chased Mahinda maama out because they felt that he was behaving like a dictator and that his family and a handful of people were running – and ruining – the country.

It took an enormous amount of courage to walk out of Mahinda maama’s Cabinet and challenge him, knowing that Fonny – who did something similar before you – was stripped of his uniform, rank and pension and sent to Welikada in a prison jumper for doing that. So, we do still respect you for that.

Since then, things haven’t quite worked out that way you planned, have they, Maithri? One of your main promises was to bring the culprits of the previous era to book. Two and a half years have passed and most of the ‘culprits’ are still in Parliament, not in prison. How much more time do you want?

What has annoyed many is seeing the same people who sang Mahinda maama’s praises and hurled insults at you from every platform, not only during your election, but even after that – people like SB and Dayasiri – welcomed by you with open arms. So, it is as if we changed only the man at the top!

Among your more disastrous moves was to invite those who lost at the elections back to Parliament from the National List. While the people wanted those such as SB, Thilanga, Dilan, Mahinda Sam and Soysa sent home, they are still in Parliament, holding high office and making the biggest noise!
So, you are doing exactly what Mahinda maama did: buying people over, offering them a ministry and all the privileges that go with it and securing their loyalty, regardless of whether they are crooks or cronies. Instead, the 6.2 million people who voted for you had hoped for a clean government!

Governing with the Blues and the Greens together hasn’t been easy, has it? Whenever the Greens suggest something, the Blues oppose it. When the Blues want something, the Greens don’t like it. That is why there are disputes over the Hambantota Port, VAT and SAITM, to name just a few.

They can’t even agree on a Cabinet spokesman because when Rajitha opens his big mouth and makes a startling statement, we have now come to realise that the opposite is true. Still, it would be great fun to have two Cabinet spokesmen – one green, one blue – and then watch them contradict each other.

Many feel that, at the half way mark of your term, the changes they wanted haven’t occurred. The country is stuck in one place as the Greens and Blues fight each other. Already some say that during Mahinda maama’s time, though there were all powerful cronies, some work was done, unlike now.

Maithri, have you also forgotten that you have been promising a Cabinet reshuffle? You promised one before Vesak. Vesak has come and gone and we are still waiting but it seems as if you can’t get the Greens to agree. Now they say it will happen tomorrow, but I wouldn’t bet more than ten rupees on it.

Talking of reshuffles, ministers in the Provincial Council in Rajarata are having one every day. I can’t blame you for that because Mahinda maama is pulling the strings and his puppets there are dancing to his tune. Be careful though: it would be a disgrace to lose the Council where your hometown is!

If you ask me, most of your problems arise because you are trying to please the Blues, after having won your election from the votes of the Greens. As a result, both the Blues and the Greens claim the government is theirs and they are both unhappy with you. Think about this, will you, Maithri?

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: Why are your ministers making noises about you being the Blue presidential candidate in a few years’ time? Didn’t you promise us that the Presidency would be abolished by then? Or, will you be the third person from the Blue party to make empty promises about abolishing JR’s 40-year legacy?