Thaaththa,” Bindu Udagedera asked, “what is this new political party?”
“There are so many political parties now,” Bindu’s father Percy said, “I’m not sure which political party you are referring to…”
“Why, thaaththa,” Bindu said, “there is this new alliance that everyone is talking about…”
“Ah,” Percy said, “that is the alliance of the Greens…”
“But thaaththa,” Bindu argued, “it is not an alliance of the Greens, they say there are twelve parties in it…”
“That may be true,” Percy said, “but you should count the number of parties you have heard of before…”
“Well,” Bindu conceded, “I suppose we can only say that we have heard of about four of them before…”
“And,” Percy said, “even among those four parties, there are only two parties that really matter…”
“Then,” Bindu wondered, “why did the Greens get together and form this alliance if it is just a collection of tiny parties?”
“Well,” Percy suggested, “they obviously believe they can win an election when it is held…”
“How can they be so confident, thaaththa?” Bindu wanted to know, “after all, Uncle Ranil was defeated twice, first by Satellite and then by Mahinda maama…”
“They may be having their reasons for being so confident, Bindu…” Percy declared.
“And what do you think those reasons are?” Bindu wanted to know.
“To begin with,” Percy said, “don’t assume that their candidate for this election will be Uncle Ranil once again…”
“But thaaththa,” Bindu protested, “he is the leader of their party and this new alliance, isn’t he?”
“He may be the leader but that does not mean he should always be the candidate,” Percy argued, “remember, Mahinda maama was not the leader when he was the candidate from the Blue party…”
“But thaaththa,” Bindu asked, “does that mean Uncle Ranil is not sure of winning if he contests?”
“I don’t think he would agree with that,” Percy said, “but I also don’t think he will contest…”
“Then,” Bindu demanded, “who will be contesting, thaaththa?”
“That is the big question, Bindu…” Percy declared.
“Why do you say that, thaaththa?” Bindu inquired.
“Well,” Percy explained, “they say that they will put forward a ‘common’ candidate…”
“And what exactly do they mean by a ‘common’ candidate, thaaththa?” Bindu was puzzled.
“I suppose what they mean is that this candidate will be endorsed by all parties but not belong to any particular political party…” Percy suggested.
“Then thaaththa,” Bindu pointed out, “that would mean that this ‘common’ candidate would have to be acceptable to all the parties…”
“I suppose you could say that,” Percy agreed.
“But thaaththa,” Bindu observed, “it wouldn’t be easy to find a candidate acceptable to all parties, would it?”
“That would appear to be quite a difficult task, Bindu,” Percy agreed, “but they seem to be confident they can find one…”
“And who is this person?” Bindu was curious.
“That is what they are not telling us…” Percy said, “but there are several possibilities…”
“And what are these possibilities?” Bindu wanted to know.
“Well,” Percy said, “people are talking of two gentlemen by the same name…”
“And which one of them wants to contest?” Bindu inquired.
“Ah,” Percy said, “there was a time when one of them would have really wanted to contest because he became very popular after some of the verdicts he delivered…”
“So,” Bindu asked, “what has happened to him now?”
“He appears to be keeping a low profile these days,” Percy observed, “especially after he retired and had some of his verdicts overturned by those who succeeded him…”
“What about the other gentleman with the same name?” Bindu queried.
“He is the hot favourite these days…” Percy said, “and I believe even this new alliance is pinning their hopes on him…”
“But thaaththa,” Bindu remembered, “what about the Reds? Would they support him too?”
“I think so,” Percy said, “in fact, some say that he may have been proposed by the Reds themselves…”
“And what are his chances of winning an election, thaaththa?” Bindu asked.
“He could give Mahinda maama a close fight,” Percy said, “except for one handicap…”
“And what is that, thaaththa?” Bindu asked.
“What if after all this fuss about a ‘common’ candidate,” Percy asked, “Mahinda maama calls for a General Election first?”
Bindu didn’t quite know what to say to that.