5th Column

My dear Satellite,

It has been a long time since I wrote to you last but I thought I must write to you after hearing that you have been removed as from the Blue party organiser for Attanagalla, the electorate which the B family dominated for decades. You may be shocked at this turn of events but surely, you are not surprised.

The crime you committed to deserve this fate was to support Sajith at the last big race, or so they say. Ironically, the decision has been made with blessings of Blue boss Cheerio Sirisena, the chap you endorsed at the previous big race, so he could have a job that he could not have otherwise dreamed of.

It is also interesting the chap who informs us of all this is that turncoat Rilasiri of ‘Disce Aut Discede’ fame, who was in Sajith’s camp when he tried to get rid of the Green Man eight years ago. He has since been on Mahinda maama’s side and then on Cheerio Sirisena’s side. So much for loyalty!

Satellite, what we are concerned about is not the fact that you have been booted out of Attanagalla. What is more worrying is the slow death of the Blue party which was founded by your father, maintained with difficulty by your mother and then rejuvenated to a great extent during your time.

Of course, during Ms. B’s time in the Blue party, Mrs. B. always preferred to have relatives in her government. There was little room for others at the top. Felix who ran the show, Lakshman who often acted in her absence, Hector and Siva were from within the family as was the President, Gopallawa.

That is why the Greens published a book called the ‘Seven Year Curse’ during the election campaign in ’77. Its cover had a picture of your family tree depicting many relatives of Ms. B holding top positions in your government. It is no secret that this ‘family rule’ contributed to the Blues’ defeat.

After that defeat and after Ms. B was stripped of her civic rights, instead of appointing her deputy, the other Maithri from Rajarata, as the leader and asking him to contest the first big race, she got kinsman Hector to do the job. That Maithri, broke away from the Blues with your brother, splitting the party.

Unlike Cheerio Sirisena, that other Maithri was a decent man. That is why he didn’t take that battle very far and reconciled with the Blues in later years. Still, it was always a ‘B’ that led the Blue party for its first fifty years, until you made the mistake of passing the baton to Mahinda maama.

Then, it looked as if the ‘R’s will rule the Blue party for the next fifty years or more. That was when you yourself proposed Cheerio Sirisena for the big race. Maybe you thought he wouldn’t win. Anyway, it turned out to be a bigger mistake than handing over the leadership to Mahinda maama.

Look at what Cheerio Sirisena has done. He promised to make our Paradise a heaven on earth by bringing in reforms that will prevent abuse of power by one individual. In his early days- at the last general election, for instance- he also did everything he possibly could to undermine the Blues.

Then, Cheerio Sirisena violated the only good deed he did- the 19th Amendment- by appointing Mahinda maama as PM until the courts told him he couldn’t. He watched idly when the ‘pohottuwa’ bloomed, while allowing the Blue party to slowly wither away and die a slow death.

Now, he wants to get rid of you in Attanagalla while saying he will help the ‘pohottuwa’ to get a two-thirds majority, so they can kill the baby he fathered, the 19th Amendment. That is just so he can curry favour with Gota and Mahinda maama and ensure that he stays in Parliament for a few years more.

This is despite supporting Sajith on the sly during the big race, although Cheerio Sirisena claimed that he was ‘neutral’. Had Sajith won, he would have been the first to cash in, asking for his reward. That is what must make this week’s decision to chase you out of Attangalla, all the more bitter for you.

Anyway, Satellite, I don’t think there is much you can do now. You had eleven years to govern the country during which you did little, although you can argue that you protected the Blue party. Still, I hope you realise that your exit from Attangalla is probably the last nail in the Blue party’s coffin.

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS- When the history of these times is written, Cheerio Sirisena will be known as the man who took over a strong Blue party and presided over its destruction. The Green Man will be identified as the man who took over a strong Green party and led it to its demise. I wonder whose crime is greater?