5th Column

My dear ‘Maco’,

I thought I must write to you when I heard that you had retired after nearly four decades of working with elections in this country and doing one of the most difficult jobs while dealing with some of the most difficult people, politicians of all colours -  and not complaining but doing your job with a smile.

Usually, you are very much in the news, telling us about elections – why they are being held, why some elections are not being held, how to vote, and what we should be doing and not doing. We were used to seeing you on our television screens, often with a quote that conveyed a meaningful message.

So, it was a surprise when we heard that you had finally retired and left the public service with hardly any fuss at all. In a country where politicians are felicitated on their anniversaries and even cricketers are given rousing farewells, that is indeed a pity – but it is also a reflection of what we are as a nation.

In a paradoxical way, Maco, the fact that you were not given a fitting farewell is fitting. Those who are given such send offs are often those who have waived the rules in return for favours. It tells us that you favoured no one – and your record speaks for itself, working with three different governments.

At the time of your retirement, what you said about your job sometime ago is worth remembering. You said that you are not a ‘government servant’ but a ‘public servant’. Very few people are able to make that distinction, and even among those who do, very few people are allowed to work in that way.

Many believed that even your predecessor, Dayananda, was subjected to a lot of pressures when he had the job. He himself spoke about it, referring to the ‘aathathiya’, or tension, that he suffered from, particularly after the big race between Mahinda maama and the Field Marshall 10 years ago.

I am not sure whether you too were subjected to such pressures, Maco, but even if you were, you did not show it and that is why you were popular among the people. They began to believe you and what you told them, instead of believing what their political masters were telling them about elections.

There was a time when you too threatened to resign. That was last year when you said that you will resign if provincial council elections are not held. In the end, the government of the day appealed to you to continue in office, so that the two big elections could be held without fear or favour – and you did.

Now, you have finally retired but those elections to the provincial councils haven’t been held still. To his credit, unlike Cheerio Sirisena and the Green Man, Mahinda maama always held regular elections, even if he conducted them in his own way – but he too seems to have forgotten about these elections!

You have been through some tough elections, Maco. Five years ago, you ensured that the will of the people prevailed, although it was a totally unexpected result. The same people who praised you then began to blame you one year ago, when you accepted Gota maama’s nomination.

The same people who praised you for accepting Gota maama’s nomination then began to blame you when you decided to postpone the next big election because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Still, you did have the courage to stick to your decision, postponing the election not just once, but twice.

You shrugged off these issues with a smile saying that it is part and parcel of your job. Recently, you had to even work with a controversial fellow commissioner who made his views known to everyone. You never rebuked him publicly, preferring to have those discussions with him behind closed doors.

In the last few years, your task was made easier because of the 19th Amendment. Now that they have confined that to the dustbin, your successor’s job will be that much more difficult and we can only hope that he will have the courage to do what is right – despite the pressures that he will be subjected to.

You must be wondering what you should do in your retirement, Maco. Although most people who held your job – except poor Dayananda – were rewarded with the post of an ambassador somewhere, you have said that you will return to your beloved village in Ambalangoda and spend time there.

I am sure you will because you are sincere in what you do – unlike some who make a huge fuss about returning one day to their beloved villages in Polonnaruwa or Medamulana but remain in Colombo, enjoying the perks and privileges they are entitled to in retirement, while still being in office!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: You retired without a fuss on reaching the age of 65 but the ‘other’ Mahinda who is 10 years your senior, celebrated his 75th birthday this week, presenting a budget. Guess what, he wanted to raise the retirement age – what can we say but ‘Many Happy Returns of the Day’ to him too!