Thaaththa,” Bindu Udagedera asked, “what is happening to the Green Party?”
“Why, Bindu,” Bindu’s father Percy asked. “why are you worried about them?”
“Why, thaaththa,” Bindu said, “aren’t they fighting again?”
“I suppose they are,” Percy agreed, “but I am sure they will settle their differences…”
“How can you say that, thaaththa,” Bindu wondered, “they have been fighting for so long now…”
“You may not remember, Bindu,” Percy explained, “but there was a time when it was called the ‘Unge Nedeyange Pakshaya’…”
“Some would argue that title would suit the Blue party now…” Bindu observed.
“I am not so sure about that, Bindu,” Percy said, “but thereafter the Greens were called the ‘Unanduwak Nethi Pakshaya’…”
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“And they have remained that way for a long, long time now…” Bindu pointed out.
“That is of course true…” Percy agreed.
“But thaaththa,” Bindu was puzzled, “didn’t they get together and sort out their differences a few months ago?”
“That is what we all thought…” Percy remembered.
“And wasn’t the Green Man appointed the leader once more and wasn’t his challenger made the virtual Second in Command?” Bindu asked.
“That is certainly what happened…” Percy declared.
“Then why can’t they work together now,” Bindu asked, “after all, the Green Man’s uncle and the challenger’s father once formed a winning combination, didn’t they?”
“Yes,” Percy said, “in that combination too, the Green Man’s uncle led the party and the challenger’s father was the Second in Command…”
“So, if the Green Man’s challenger has now been given the virtual Second in Command position, what seems to be the problem, thaaththa?” Bindu wanted to know.
“Apparently that plan hasn’t worked well for the next generation, Bindu” Percy observed.
“And why is that, thaaththa?” Bindu was curious.
“I am not so sure about that, Bindu,” Percy said, “but all we can see is that there is no ceasefire yet…”
“And what are they fighting about now?” Bindu inquired.
“I think they are now fighting about what they call a ‘National Organizer’ post…” Percy said.
“So, why are they fighting about it?” Bindu demanded.
“The Green Man wants it given to the chap from Kotte but his Second in Command would have none of it…” Percy explained.
“History repeats itself, doesn’t it, thaaththa?” Bindu asked.
“Why do you say that, Bindu?” Percy was puzzled.
“Why, thaaththa,” Bindu remembered, “don’t you remember when the Second in Command’s father was in charge?”
“Of course,” Percy said, “it is difficult to forget those days…”
“And he didn’t want to give the Oxford and Cambridge types their due places, did he?” Bindu queried.
“Yes, he didn’t,” Percy remembered.
“And now,” Bindu said, “the Second in Command doesn’t want to give one of the ‘golayas’ of the Oxford and Cambridge types his due place…”
“I suppose one could put it that way too…” Percy agreed.
“And thaaththa,” Bindu said, “the Greens should very well know the consequences of what happened a generation ago…”
“And what was that?” Percy wondered.
“Why, thaaththa, the Oxford and Cambridge types went their own way and formed their own party and that resulted in an impeachment…” Bindu said.
“And the Greens have never really recovered since then…” Percy pointed out.
“Yes,” Bindu said, “they have been more or less in the Opposition since then, except for a couple of years when the Green Man formed his short lived government under Satellite…”
“And they will be in the opposition for some more years to come if they don’t sort out their differences soon…” Percy declared.
“Well,” Bindu said, “they seem to have done something about it…”
“And what is that, Bindu?” Percy wanted to know.
“Why, they have gone to courts about it…” Bindu said.
“Ah,” Percy said, “that reminds me about the Blue party in the eighties…”
“Why is that, thaaththa?” Bindu asked.
“Why, Bindu,” Percy recalled, “in the eighties, it was the turn of the Blue party to be in disarray and the Crown prince went to courts against his own mother, the Queen Bee, trying to get control of the party headquarters at Darley Road…”“What happened after that?” Bindu was curious.
“Well, the final result was that the Blue party had to wait for seventeen years to return to power…” Percy observed.
“Now that the Greens have also gone to courts against each other,” Bindu asked, “do you think the Green Party will also suffer the same fate, thaaththa?”
“No, I don’t think so, Bindu…” Percy said.
“Why is that, thaaththa?” Bindu wondered, “do you think they will be able to settle their differences among each other and concentrate on fighting the Blue party at the next election?
“No, Bindu,” Percy said, “the way they are behaving now taking all their disputes to the courts, I don’t think they will be able to come to power even after seventeen years…”
“And then,” Bindu suggested, “we can call them the ‘Ussaviyen Nethivunu Pakshaya’…”
Percy was not quite sure what to say to that.
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