5th Column

My dear PB,

I thought I must write to you as my first task for the New Year. That is because everyone seems to be talking about what would happen to you in the coming days. No one appears to be quite certain whether you will be in office as the highest-ranking public servant in the country for much longer.

Rumour has it that you want to resign and that you have even submitted your letter of resignation to Gota maama. You must spare a thought for him: He is receiving a lot of resignation letters – from Sabry, from the Board of Directors of the Board of Investment and now reportedly from you!

Gota maama succeeded in convincing Sabry to stay on although he remains quite disheartened by the haamuduruwo’s appointment to that task force. However, the Board of Investment chaps stuck to their decision and resigned. That is why many are waiting anxiously to see what would happen to you.

Some say that the waiting is because Basil maama is overseas. The expectation is that when he returns, he will sort out matters. Still, PB, we also heard that this won’t change your decision to resign and that in your long resignation letter you have spelled out the difficulties you faced in your job.

Let’s be honest, PB, you have been walking along the corridors of power for too long a time to know how decisions are taken in high places. We first heard of you more than 20 years ago when you became Secretary to the Treasury for the first time. Satellite was the big boss and your minister then.

You clearly knew which way the wind was blowing. When Satellite left in a huff because Sarath denied her an extra year and Mahinda maama took over, you had cosied up to Mahinda maama to such an extent that he asked you to stay, one of only a handful chosen by Satellite who survived.

Mahinda maama was not only the big boss, he also took over the Finance Ministry because he didn’t trust anyone else to handle the nation’s purse strings. Since he must have been very busy steering the Ship of State and dealing with a war, you would have done most of his work at the Treasury for him.

Some didn’t like that though. They felt you were acting above your station and dictating terms, even to ministers. You weren’t the most popular official. Wimal called you the ‘aarthika ghaathakaya’ or ‘economic assassin’ but Mahinda maama continued to have faith in you and rely on you.

Perhaps you did more than what you were supposed to do. That is why the highest court in the land found you guilty of exceeding your powers in selling a State institution to a private company. It is ironical that the chap who petitioned the court against you then was Vasu – who is now in the Cabinet!

The highest court in the land was then headed by Sarath. He has said and done a few things he regrets – he himself said so about ‘Helping Hambantota’ – but he went out on a limb in this instance to say that you should never hold public office again – and you solemnly agreed, giving an affidavit to that effect.

Mahinda maama though, being the smooth operator that he is, waited for Sarath to retire and invited you back. You returned to the same court headed by a different person, and were allowed to return. Some will say it makes a mockery of the law, but when murderers are pardoned, does it really matter?

You had to leave the limelight briefly when Mahinda maama lost his job but four years later, with Gota maama at the top, you were invited back, this time to the most powerful job in the public service. Whatever the courts might say, it seemed as if you were indispensable to the ‘R’ clan!

Now however, we hear that ministers are again complaining about you and want you out – and you seem to have had enough too. Gota maama, when asked about it, said it is all being made to look like one person’s fault, when it isn’t. Some will argue that it is – although that ‘one person’ is not you!

PB, we hear you have written a long letter of resignation stating why you couldn’t work efficiently. With so many issues troubling the nation – which can’t even seem to get its gas cylinders to work safely – can we have a glimpse of that letter which will tell us what is rotten in this State of ours?

Some say that even if you leave the top job you have, you may still advise Basil maama. If you do, please advise him on his pronunciation in time for the next Budget. Or else, an ambassadorship might be yours. Either way, it pays not to let the cat out of the bag, like that Agriculture Secretary did!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: There is already speculation about who will replace you and the frontrunner is that Gamini chap. He seems to have all the right qualifications for being Secretary to a ‘R’ boss: like you and Lalith before you, not only has he been absolutely loyal, he has been charged in court too!