5th Column

My dear ‘Bond’ Ravi,

I thought I must write to you because you are making many statements these days about what type of person the Green party’s next presidential candidate should be – even though you have not said who it would be. That is a strange way of trying to win the next big election, which is due in a few months.

It is also strange because none of the other major parties have announced their candidates yet – and they have their own problems. The ‘pohottuwa’ wants to field Gota, but he has many legal issues to deal with, and Aiyo Sirisena is not sure whether he is coming or going, so why are you in such a hurry?

It is also odd because many people had assumed that the Green Man who leads the party would be its candidate. After all, he holds the Number Two slot in the government now, and given his age, this will be his last chance at the top job. Will the party he led for 25 years, deprive him of that?

This time around though, someone should tell the Green Man not to bother. The only person he will get more votes than is Aiyo Sirisena. That is partly your fault, Ravi. One of the main reasons why he is unpopular is the ‘bond’ issue at the big bank – and you were right in the middle of that, weren’t you?

That is what makes your comments about who the next presidential candidate should be, very interesting. First, you say that this person shouldn’t be selected just because he or she is ‘this person’s son or that person’s son”. Can you tell us, Ravi, whose son were you referring to, in this instance?

Of course, everybody is someone’s son, but the only sons of important people who are in the limelight are young Namal, Sajith and Navin. Of them, Namal is too young to run for the top job. That leaves us with Sajith and Navin who are both your colleagues. Were your comments aimed at them, Ravi?

You say that your candidate should have at least passed his ‘O’ Levels in this country. That is a strange qualification to put forward because you sound like the GMOA which wants all its doctors qualified locally. Is it just a co-incidence that Sajith did his secondary education overseas, Ravi?

Then you also say that your next candidate should not be someone who is unable to win his own electorate. We all know that Sajith couldn’t win the Tissamaharama electorate or the Hambantota District at the last big election. That too seems to be another curious co-incidence, doesn’t it, Ravi?

Are you trying to tell us who the Green Party’s next candidate should be, or, are you in fact trying to tell us who it should not be? If it is the latter, Ravi, then we can also tell you who, we too, as voters, would rather not have as a candidate from the Green party – or from any party, for that matter.

We certainly don’t want someone under whose purview the biggest bond scam in the country has taken place. Just imagine, Ravi, if a scam of that scale can take place when someone is the Finance Minister, what the consequences would be if you put that same chap in charge of the entire country.

We also don’t want someone who lives in a luxurious penthouse that costs a million rupees a month and then says that he doesn’t know how it is paid for because it is his wife who handles those matters. Instead of having someone so forgetful and disinterested, we should have the wife as the candidate!

We also don’t want as a candidate someone who, when faced with the prospect of resignation, jumps from one ministry to another and then has to be forced to resign. We also don’t want someone who sneaks back in to the Cabinet, when the issues that led to his resignation have not yet been resolved.

We also don’t want someone whose own party has decided that he should not be holding any responsible position in the party until he has been cleared of allegations against him, but is still masquerading as an ‘assistant leader’ though it is anyone’s guess as to what that really means.

We don’t want as a candidate someone who goes around badmouthing other potential candidates from their own party, just because they can’t make the cut or they feel that their future will be in jeopardy. I hope that by now, you have realised who it is that we really don’t want, Ravi!

Years ago, Lalith and Gamini fought with Preme. It ruined the Green Party. Navin, Gamini’s son has learnt the lesson not to make the same mistake, but you, who call yourself Lalith’s protégé, are determined to do so. So, history will repeat itself and the Greens will be doomed. Think about it, Ravi.

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: The Green Man’s fortunes at presidential elections are like the performances of our cricket team at the World Cup. First, he played twice and lost twice, Then, there were two ‘no results’ for the party – when he delegated the job to outsiders. If he runs again now, he will return to his usual form, lose again and will be all but eliminated – just like our cricket team on Friday. And, make no mistake, just like our cricket team, he will still want to stay on and play the remaining matches too!