5th Column

Crafty Forty: Sahodarayas doing poli-trick better
My Dear Comrade Rohana,
Even though you may be in the Land of Never Return, I thought I must write to you because your boys have been busy these days, celebrating your party's 40th anniversary.

The sahodarayas currently running the show will argue that they have in fact been more successful than you ever were because they are now part and parcel of the government and sometimes dictating terms to Satellite herself.

To give them credit where it is due, they are not in any hurry to take control like you were first in the early seventies and then in the late eighties. They are satisfied with four relatively unimportant ministries in the government being handled by four relatively unimportant sahodarayas in the party!

We know that this is of course a strategy to take all the credit for any good the government does, while avoiding the blame for any problems that they may encounter. Even more so, it is a strategy to destroy the Blues and become the real alternative to the Greens when they next come to power.

To Somawansa sahodaraya's credit he has played his cards well so far, so much so that even some true Blue ministers like Anura and Mangala have swallowed the bait and are more Red than Blue, though they themselves may not realise it just yet!

The big stumbling block though is Satellite, who sees through all your plans and every so often gives a piece of her mind in the way she knows best. It doesn't help when Wimal sahodaraya goes around calling her a 'bibikkama' either.

So far, so good, you may say, comrade Rohana. But I thought I might warn you about some trends among the reds that may cost your party dear in the next few years to come.

For instance, gone is the image of your party cadre being the typical revolutionary. To his credit Tilvin still manages to look sufficiently emaciated but Wimal sahodaraya with his well cared for hair and hundred and fifty thousand rupee mobile phone is anything but that!

Then, there is a growing perception among the public that the sahodarayas are just as good as breaking their promises and singing a different tune as the Blues and the Greens, when in power.

Your party's inconsistency on matters of importance is just as confusing. For example, they said they would remove the plug to the World Bank or else leave the government. They are certainly still plugged on and their threats to leave the government are as good as Prabha's commitment not to recruit child soldiers.

So, Comrade Rohana while your party has certainly come a long away, they also have miles to go and promises to keep. It is easy to be a third force and then get wiped away. It has happened before to the Samasamaja Party, the Mahajana Pakshaya and Lalith and Gamini's party. You must surely be hoping that you won't join this long list!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: I am sure you must be hoping that by the time your party celebrates its 50th anniversary, they would be in power by themselves. But for that, Somawansa, Tilvin and Wimal must realise that for the first time they are part and parcel of the government now. They can no more sit back and criticise everything, while doing nothing. That, by the way, is the job of the Greens!

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