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Southerner, with the friends you have, you don't need any enemies
My Dear Southerner,
I thought I must write to you after hearing of the many battles you were fighting within the Sri Lanka Family Party. But being the veteran politician that you are, I am sure you are not disheartened by all this.

I am sure you know that this is nothing new to the Family Party. It happened first when your founder was assassinated and the Queen Bee was handed over the leadership, even though the Man from Minneriya was the next in line.

Of course, the Queen Bee never let go of the reins until a few years ago and even when she handed over the leadership to her own daughter it was done only reluctantly. But we all recall how the Old Fox exploited this reluctance to keep it within the family by depriving the Queen Bee of her civic rights. At that time, though Maithri should have rightfully been appointed the leader, that led to even more divisions with even the Crown Prince taking Mathri's side.

So, Southerner, with all this history behind it, it is no surprise that your path is being blocked with the Crown Prince still waiting-as he has been for the last twenty five years- for real leadership of the party, let alone the country.

But I know why you must be finding this particularly distressing. We all remember quite well how the Crown Prince and Satellite were fighting for the Family Party leadership at a time when it was apparent that the Blues were about to take charge of the country because the Greens were so unpopular.

At that time, you were very loyal to the Crown Prince and that in fact was why Satellite is so against you, still. But now, the very man you supported is against you and Satellite is against you because she wants to promote him over you!

But I am sure you will be able to withstand the challenges before you, simply because there are so many true Blue party members on your side. But of course the Family Party will continue to suffer while the leadership conflict continues.

It has already lost Gas Labu and Seeni Bola and is about to lose the other Southerner, Richard. Whatever their faults, all these people were valuable politicians and their crossing over to the Greens are a loss-much more than the gains made by Doctor Amunu crossing over to the Blues!

But we must warn you that even more damage can be done if the Blues get together with the reds, which is what Satellite and the Crown Prince want. We know that you don't like this strategy and we hope your view will prevail. If not, the Blues risk losing their identity and the faith the masses have in them.

So, Southerner, we wish you best of luck in your efforts. But with the kind of "friends" you have, you don't need any enemies, so you will need all the luck you can get!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS- Remember the time when the Greens were called the Uncle Nephew Party but it has now come a long way with even Mr. P leading it to the top at one time. So, you can surely take heart that the same can be done with the Blues!

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