5th Column

My dear Cheerio Sirisena,

I am not sure whether writing to you is the best thing to do first in the New Year, but I am doing so not only to wish you a very happy 2021 but also because you had made some interesting comments a few days ago, saying you want to ‘go it alone’ with the Blue party if you are not given your due place.

You were referring to the ill-treatment you and the Blue party you lead suffer at the hands of Gota maama and the ‘pohottuwa’ chaps. You said that it happened at the general election last year and you were worried that it would happen again if provincial council elections are held this year.

Now, no one would argue with you about what you are saying, Cheerio Sirisena. That ill-treatment continued well after the election when the Cabinet and state ministers were chosen. Only two chaps from the Blue party, the senior Nimal and Mahinda Amarey were accommodated in the Cabinet.

Others from the Blue party were simply ignored or demoted. That is why we have a situation where relative newcomers such as Sabry and Sarath are in the Cabinet while seniors such as Susil, Dayasiri and Duminda, all of them previous party secretaries, have been demoted to being just state ministers.

The biggest omission was you. There was speculation that you will be given a ‘special’ post, to keep you happy- and silent. There was also a rumour that you will be the new Speaker. That didn’t happen either. Some say you didn’t take up what you were given because you weren’t happy with that post.

As a result, you are now only a parliamentarian, just as Mahinda maama was after he lost the election to you. While we readily agree with you that the Blues are being given step-motherly treatment and you have every right to speak up about that, we don’t see any reason why you should be surprised.

Isn’t that what you did too, after your election victory almost six years ago? You marginalised those who were close to Mahinda maama, demoted them and ignored them. Why, didn’t you even make an address to the nation saying that you would never make Mahinda maama PM ever again?

In fact, I think you should be thankful about where you are today. You were the very person who said while contesting the big election against Mahinda maama that you feared you would be ‘six feet under’ if you lost. For all intents and purposes, you are lost now but at least you are very much alive!

I don’t need to tell you, Cheerio Sirisena, that Mahinda maama’s greatest strength- and greatest weakness too-is that he protects those loyal to him at all cost. At the same time, if that loyalty is betrayed, he will ensure that the reverse is true. If you have any doubts, just ask the Field Marshall.

Of course, there are many who wonder why former leaders can’t just be happy with the time they have had at the top and retire gracefully. Recently, only JR did so though many don’t remember him fondly. Mahinda maama, you and even the Green Man seem to have trouble in giving up the reins.

To get back to your original issue- of being ill-treated by Gota maama and the ‘pohottuwa’ chaps and wanting to ‘go it alone’- we must remind you that you did have all the opportunities to ‘go it alone’ for the best part of five years after the people endorsed you over the tried and tested Mahinda maama.

You began reasonably well, keeping your promises and enacting the 19th Amendment that reduced your powers. As your relationship with the Green Man soured, you took matters in to your own hands and sacked him only to be reprimanded by the courts who said that what you did was unconstitutional.

You didn’t cover yourself with glory during the Easter attacks and well before the end of five years, those who wanted a ‘maithree paalanaya’ were saying ‘Aiyo Sirisena’ and wanted to get rid of you. I don’t think anything has happened since then to convince them that you should return to lead them.

As for ‘going it alone’ at the provincial polls, isn’t that what you did at the last local government elections nearly three years ago. That time too, the ‘pohottuwa’ chaps swept the board, the Greens finished runners-up and your Blue party came a distant third. Do you want history to repeat itself?

If you are thinking of your place in history, you don’t need to worry about it, it is certainly assured. Who else in our entire modern history can claim the distinction of single-handedly destroying the two most powerful political parties which ruled the country for seven decades, Cheerio Sirisena?

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS- In the postscript to your biography, ‘Janaadhipathi Thaaththa’, your daughter has written that her proudest moment will be when she writes about how her father gives up all the powers he enjoyed and leaves with clean hands. She would be disappointed now, wouldn’t she, Cheerio Sirisena?