5th Column

You did it and now Satellite can have the cake and eat it too!
My Dear Somawansa,
I thought I must write to you in these controversial times when we see and hear a lot about you, although not so much over the state media now!
I must say that for all your threats of leaving the government, no one really believed you until you finally did it-there were many who thought that you would perhaps relinquish just the cabinet portfolios and cling on to the saree pota.

I am sure you won some admirers by sticking to your decision but then, so did Satellite because the lady did not yield despite all your threats and the added disadvantage of losing her Parliamentary majority.

I am sure your ex- cabinet ministers must be finding life a little hard now, even though they pretend they are happier giving up their little luxuries. But then, the top people in your party never took up Cabinet office-perhaps because they always knew it was going to be a short honeymoon with the Alliance.
What is more interesting however is what happens next. You have reportedly said that a new era will dawn soon but I can’t see any of that happening in the near future, especially for the long suffering masses.

It is clear that the Greens don’t want to topple the government because the people are not sufficiently disgusted with the Alliance to throw them out just yet. You too have merely said that you will sit in the Opposition but there has been no talk of toppling governments and forming your own.

So, Somawansa, it does look like Satellite can have the cake and eat it too. She gets rid of the rabble rousers in her Cabinet and none of the major opposition parties can muster enough support to get rid of her minority coalition. Not unless you get your good friends such as Mangala to defect from the Blue camp, anyway!

Of course you have learnt that in politics there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests which is why you are now openly supporting Mahinda for the top job when just one year ago he was actively canvassing against an alliance between the Blues and the Reds.
So, when you say that Satellite will be the last from Bee family to hold the top job, one cannot help feeling a little bit sorry for the Crown Prince who was the main driving force behind the formation of the Alliance at the last election. But then, being on the losing side is his hallmark; he must be used to it by now…
So, Somawansa, we will all watch you with interest in the coming weeks. But you will do well to remember that the people don’t care whether you join the Blues or the Greens; they just know that the cost of living was sky high even when their sahodarayas ran the show!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS- Dear departed JRJ must be having a hearty laugh from wherever he is. His decision to release your comrades from prison nearly thirty years ago is finally paying dividends-you are splitting the Blues like no one had ever done before!

Back to Columns