5th Column

My dear Uncle Ranil,

I thought of writing to you because, in a few days’ time, it will be three months since you took on the top job of the land. It hasn’t been an easy three months, but no one, least of all you, thought that it will be. However, it is a good time to take stock, especially when you have only 24 months left!

The circumstances of how you got that job was disputed by many. How can someone who contested the last election, but came to Parliament through its back door, the National List, be chosen for the most important job in Paradise at it most critical time, they asked.

Nevertheless, your ‘election’ – or ‘selection’ – by MPs in Parliament was entirely according to the process described in the Constitution, which is the ultimate law of the land. If those process are not respected, we risk plunging into anarchy and lawlessness. In that sense, your election was appropriate.

Uncle Ranil, most of our memories of you are as our longest serving Opposition Leader. Then, you were a champion of democracy and fought tirelessly for the freedom of expression. You even scrapped laws that allowed the media to be criminally charged for publishing false information.

As recently as a few months ago, when you were still in the opposition and the ‘aragalaya’ was gathering momentum, you spoke on behalf of the protestors and offered your support. Since taking on the top job, things have been somewhat different.

You haven’t been shy to crackdown on dissent. Soon after you assumed office, you sent helicopters over Galle Face. Many felt it was a not-so-subtle message that how you deal with the ‘aragalaya’ was going to be different to that adopted by Gota maama, despite his reputation as a ‘tough guy’.

You have used the Prevention of Terrorism Act to detain protestors indefinitely. Then you declared High Security Zones on the advice of a minister and a secretary who were the same people who failed to predict the public uprising that ousted Gota maama. Later, you had to ‘reverse’ that gazette.

I am not sure whether you are aware of it, Uncle Ranil, but these are some of the reasons why people are worried about how you will govern over the next two years. Their concern is that they got rid of Gota maama hoping for a less authoritarian government, but they may have got the opposite in return.

We understand that although on paper you are the boss with all the powers of the Executive at your disposal, that may not really be the case. That is because you were dependent on the ‘pohottuwa’ to get to where you are and you are still relying on them to ensure support for you in Parliament.

Is that why, Uncle Ranil, you were unable to form a Cabinet of your own? It has been almost three months since you took over but you have retained Gota maama’s Cabinet except for Sabry replacing GL. Looking at some of the undesirable elements there, I’m sure they weren’t your first choice.

Then, three dozen state ministers were sworn in. Their names could only have been prepared by Basil maama, and were more like the reasons why Gota maama had to leave office. You couldn’t sack ‘miris kudu’ Prasanna after his son used an official vehicle to allegedly assault someone either.

Those appointed to the ‘National Council’, which is supposed to resurrect the country, sounds like a ‘wanted list’ for various offences. The chairmanship at COPE, which exposed many a misdeed under Charitha, has been given to Basil maama’s right-hand man. So, are you really in charge, Uncle Ranil?

You cannot be proud about what happened in Geneva this week. The last time when you were in office as PM, you dealt with Geneva differently with  Mangala’s help. This time though, you didn’t seem embarrassed about the outcome, even if Geneva is not the best measure of our human rights issues.

Your plans to introduce a 22nd Amendment to reduce the powers of the office you now hold – similar to the 19th Amendment which took away those powers from Aiyo Sirisena and gave them to you – have also run into obstacles because the ‘pohottuwa’ chaps are objecting to them, we hear.

We know that this amendment needs a two-thirds majority to become effective and without the ‘pohottuwa’s support, that is not possible. Still, having watched how you operated over the past few months, many have suspicions that you wouldn’t mind too much if the amendment fails to go through.

So, on the one hand, you are a prisoner of the ‘pohottuwa’ despite being the boss. On the other hand, there are times when you do what you want, ignoring consequences. That is why many now say they should have been more careful about what they wished for, when they chased Gota maama away!

People feel Gota maama’s government is still in office, the only change being at the top. If that trend continues, they will treat you as an extension of the ‘pohottuwa’. Waiting for 45 years and being given a final chance by history, is that what you really want your legacy to be, Uncle Ranil?

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: When you addressed us soon after becoming the big boss, you likened yourself to ‘Grusha’ in Brecht’s ‘Chalk Circle’, saying you were carrying someone else’s child. We want you to know, Uncle Ranil, that the child you are carrying are all the children of Mother Lanka – and not just Namal baby!