5th Column

Oh genius Junius what shall I do?
Satellite was in Dreamland and in her dreams, she was asking for advice from Junius about what she should do now, since elections had been called following orders from Hulftsdorp…
"What do you think I should do now?"

"What I have always said, 'thama thamange arakshaawa thamanma salasaa gatha yuthui'…"
"You mean I will have to look after myself…"
"Yes, that is exactly what I mean…"
"But what about all these people around me?"
"You will be surprised at the speed they vanish…"
"How do you know they will vanish? They have all been very loyal to me…"
"They are not loyal to you; they are only loyal to the power you wield…"
"How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me, I speak from my own experience…"
"So, what you are saying is that they will all abandon me and rally around our nominee…"
"That is exactly what will happen if you don't play your cards well…"
"What should I do then?"
"Well, you can use my bahubootha viyavasthaawa to your advantage…"
"I thought I had, until that judgment was delivered…"
"Ah, that was the first mistake you made…"
"Why, what did I do wrong?"

"Why, you trusted the man with the wig. Remember, I picked someone from the unofficial bar and he started criticizing me. You picked someone from among the attorneys and look what he did to you…"
"But it is too late to do anything about that now…"
"Of course there were other little things that you could have done…"
"Like what, for instance?"

"Why you could have put the whole issue of the date of the election to the people at a Referendum just like I did…"
"But I am sure the people would have said they want an election this year especially after that silly jana bala meheyuma..."
"That depends on how you conduct the Referendum, isn't it?"
"I admit I didn't think of that aspect…"

"But don't forget, you are still the boss, at least for a few more months…"
"So, what should I do in those few months?"
"That will depend on who you think will win…"
"We only gave the nomination to that chap thinking he won't win…"
"Why did you that?"

"When he loses, we can say that he failed and then hand over the leadership to Mallo and look rather democratic about it too…"
"But now that chap appears to have got the Reds on his side…"
"Ah, the Reds, I don't think they command more than a few thousand votes these days…"

"But remember, in this contest every single vote is important because you need more than half the votes to win…"
"But I am not really interested in winning or losing now…"
"Ah, that makes matters so much easier…"
"What do you mean by that?"

"Why, see how everyone is putting forward conditions to your nominee with the promise of supporting him…"
"Yes, but what can I do about that?"

"Why, you can put forward your own conditions to ensure that your immediate future is safe and sound and say that if not, you will dissolve Parliament…"
"I see what you are trying to suggest, but there is a small problem with that…"
"What problem is that?"

"Our man is smiling from cheek to cheek and agreeing to all the demands put forward to him by everyone and getting everyone's support. I don't think he has any intention of keeping any of those promises…"
"Then, he's a smart chap and I am not sure I can help you…" Junius said and beat a hasty retreat.

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