Oh!
maker of this bahubootha constitution, how long can I stay on?
Satellite thought she needed some advice. She called for help from
the Land of Never Return and Junius appeared before her…
“I am always happy to be of service, Satellite,” Junius
said, “as long as you use my Constitution…”
“It
is true that I am using your Constitution,” Satellite agreed,
“but it is truly a ‘bahubootha viyawasthaawa’…”
“Huh, how dare you say that when you are surviving only because
of it?”
“Although I am surviving because of it, my survival is also
threatened because of it…”
“How
could you say that? It is up to you to use it wisely to ensure your
survival just like I did…”
“But your Constitution is very vague about how long I could
stay on the job…”
“That is even better; then you can use it to your advantage…”
“But your nephew has launched this ‘jana bala meheyuma’
and wants me to hold elections this year…”
“But
you’re the boss, not him. So, you decide when the elections
will be held…”
“That is part of the problem…”
“And
why is that?”
“Now they say that it is the Commissioner of Elections who
decides that…”
“Oh, I am sure you can deal with that. There are means of
winning friends and influencing people…”
“Yes,
we are trying to do that because we have now officially announced
that the polls will only be held next year, so the Commissioner
will find it difficult to take a different decision…”
“Then your problem is solved…”
“Well,
not really because, thanks to your Constitution, I cannot contest
again…”
“That is indeed true but when I was on the job, I don’t
think many would have wanted me to carry on…”
“But at then end of two terms you were eighty three and I
have only just turned sixty…”
“I
am sorry, but I didn’t think of three terms when I drafted
my Constitution because I would have been eighty-nine if I finished
a third term…”
“But it is not only a third term that I am worried about…”
“What is it then that is bothering you?”
“Why,
we don’t have a successor who is good enough to beat your
nephew…”
“You have two contenders, don’t you?”
“Yes, and that is the problem. They are fighting with each
other…”
“Then, as I see it, you have two options…”
“What
are they?”
“You can either use that conflict to try and stay on and offer
an excuse like wanting to preserve the unity of the party or you
can do what I did and leave gracefully without overstaying your
welcome…”
“But to do that I should choose a successor and that is what
is difficult…”
“What is difficult about that?”
“My
heart says Anura and my head says Mahinda. Who do you suggest?”
“Ah, for me, Anura has always been the man for the job…”
Junius said.
As he returned to the Land of Never Return, Junius was happy. He
had, once again, used the oldest trick in the bag to help the Greens:
use Anura to split the Blues. He hoped his nephew would make use
of the opportunity but he wasn’t entirely sure about that. |
