8th October 2000

Choose wisely and vote early

My Dear Voter,

I thought of writing to you today because just two days from now, you will have an important task to do- that of selecting the 'honourable' members of our next Parliament. Already, hundreds of candidates may have come to you with thousands of promises. What all of them want is a vote for their party, and even more importantly, a 'manaape' against their number.

The choice you make must be an important one because most of these candidates would have spent millions of rupees to try and get that vote. And, more importantly, the campaign for the election has already cost over a dozen lives!

I know, voter, most of you must be thinking whether to vote blue or green. I know it must be a difficult choice. The lady wants you to vote for the blues because, if the greens win she would not be able to work with them and there could be chaos. On the other hand the lad wants you to vote for the greens because he says that the blues have not kept most of their promises.

I guess that what both of them say are true. But I was more than a little puzzled when the blues started accusing the greens of having some links with the Tigers. This so-called theory is based on a piece of paper which has no date or signature but the blues rushed to tell the country about it. To me, dear voter, that was a bad tactic because it only showed that they don't have anything else to say for themselves!

On the other hand, most people say the greens also have done nothing while in the opposition and they are blaming their leader for that. Well, at least they have lost quite a few members of their party because most of them have defected and become blue, orange or brown. Isn't that itself an achievement?

But then, dear voter, if you look at the blues, I'm sure you would be confused. That is because there are blues, greens, reds and purples among them. Our good PM- who will be remembered in history for saying that Susie didn't win silver because she wore a yellow band- swears that their new constitution will be amended. But Satellite and Seeni Bola insist that they will pass the same old constitution even with a simple majority. Then there is Dinesh who says he will fight for the majority but then there are others- Rauf, Thonda junior and Varatharajah in the same team. How they will all work together must surely be a question bothering you!

Given these choices, dear voter, I am sure at least some of you will look around for other options. The reds are there and they were harassed quite a lot during their campaign. They appear a disciplined and organised lot but I know that because of what they have done in the past and because of some of their policies, most people still don't want to trust them. Nevertheless, I think we should have some of them in Parliament, just to keep the blues and greens on their toes and to remind them when they try to get too big for their boots.

Then, there are the bow and arrow chaps who say that they want to represent the majority community. A lot of people do seem to think that they are a necessity and having a few of them in the House is not a bad idea either. But history is against them because these so-called 'third forces' in our country have lasted only a short while so we must hope that history will not repeat itself!

Anyway, dear voter, I agree that the choice before you is a difficult one. But, you must do your duty because, as someone once said, every country gets the government it deserves. Remember, you will not have a chance to make choices for another six years and you will have to put up with whoever you select for a long time. So, you have to decide whether you will trust our country with the same set of jokers who now run it or replace them with others.

Of course, dear voter what you must remember is that all these people who came to your doorstep these past few weeks will rarely visit you in the next six years. And of course, you already know that most of those promises that they have made to you will not be kept. So, think about it and vote with your head- and not with your heart!

Yours truly, Punchi Putha

PS- Remember, voter, whatever your choice, remember to cast that vote early on Tuesday and be vigilant about what happens. After all, you can't leave the task of ensuring a free and fair election to Dayananda, Susie and her yellow ribbon bunch and a few others- because, Seeni Bola has been working overtime to ensure a free and fair election, hasn't he?

The Jungle Telegraph

Editorial/ Opinion Contents