5th Column

My dear Sajith,

I thought I must write to you even though it has been a very busy week for you, what with decisions in important court cases going your way and then having to submit nomination papers for the big election. After your performance five years ago, you must be hoping you will be second time lucky!

Sajith, you have many critics, but you must be commended for being able to keep most of your team of ‘telephone’ chaps together for this long. This is despite the best efforts of Uncle Ranil and his southern agents Vajira and Sagala to lure your MPs to their camp with promises of good times ahead.

Of course, Rajitha, the dentist who likes to open his mouth and put his foot in it, did eventually leave after bad-mouthing you in public. In return, you replaced him with Sudarshini, another person in the health sector. You may believe you got a good deal, a bargain, in fact. I am not so sure.

The Field Marshal also finally resigned, so he could contest the big race. You will think that is ‘good riddance of bad rubbish’. He may have been the ‘best Army Commander in the world’ as someone once called him, but as a politician, he won’t be second time lucky and is likely to learn a bitter lesson.

You must also be overjoyed with the decision from Hulftsdorp about Harin and Manusha, especially after the unkind remarks they made about you after they joined Uncle Ranil. So, with Diana also gone home, all three ‘telephone’ chaps who left you have now been sent packing by the courts!

That does however bring its own problems, doesn’t it, Sajith? Many are lining up for Harin’s National List seat. Hirunika was quite hopeful but Sujeeva is also making a claim. So, you will adopt your tactic of watchful expectation and masterly inactivity, avoiding the issue and doing nothing?   

Still, your big achievement last week was forming this alliance and having a grand show to let us know about it. There were many people on the stage with you that day but old GL captured our hearts, waving to the heavens with both hands, as if he was asking for some divine intervention!

Looking at all those people who gathered around you, Sajith, you will indeed need divine intervention for the big race. That is because you told us, two years ago, when Gota maama wanted you to take over as PM, that you didn’t want to have anything to do with the Rajapaksas or the ‘pohottuwa’.

If you looked around that day as you were seated on the stage while everyone else was standing beside you, you would have noticed that many of them were from the ‘pohottuwa’.  So, if people are so disgusted with the ‘pohottuwa’ these days, won’t that go against you at next election, Sajith?

After all, these were not mere minions in the ‘pohottuwa’ either. There was GL who was the Chairman of the party, then there was Dullas who was a media spokesman for Gota maama and there was also Nalaka who was his economic expert. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Among the group led by Dullas and GL, some such as GL, Nalaka and Dilan joined you at the outset but Dullas and Charitha came to the party only at the eleventh hour. We hear that Dullas was knocking at the ‘rathu sahodaraya’s door for some time, only to be told that he was not welcome.

You may have thought that, when it comes to the big race which you are supposed to run in five weeks, it will be ‘more the merrier’. All these people have some votes in their electorates but do you really think that, whenever they cross over, these voters will follow them and vote for you?

Even if some voters do follow them and vote for you, won’t you lose another bloc of votes because people dislike voting for anyone even remotely connected to the ‘pohottuwa’? So, when the numbers are added up, you might end up with less votes than what you had to begin with!

Did it also ever occur to you, Sajith, that most of these ‘defectors’ who are eager to join your ‘sandhanaya’ only want to position themselves, so they can ensure their return to the next Parliament. They probably couldn’t care less as to whether you win the big race or not!

I also wondered whether you are running for the top job or trying to win the World Cup in cricket again. There was Arjuna, Hashan and Vaas from that team, not to mention Dilshan who supported Mahinda maama earlier. Had you roped in Sanath or Murali, you could have fielded a great team!

However, we won’t expect you to resurrect cricket in Paradise, even if you win. You may have the World Cup winning captain and many ‘legends’ with you but also sneaking into your camp along with Dayasiri is Thilanga. With such alliances, do you realise why we are confused about your alliance?

Nevertheless, Sajith, we congratulate you on your nomination and wish you luck. You will need a lot of it. We certainly expect you to do better than the other ‘former President’s son’. Who knows, you may even do better than the ‘former President’s nephew’ but even that is not a guarantee of victory!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: Champika too has joined your alliance. He began with the monks, was then with Mahinda maama, went across to Uncle Ranil, joined you, left you, formed his own party and has now returned. If I were you, I’d be careful. Remember, it was you who said, ‘usa nam security, miti nam kamkaru’!