Read this week's Sunday Times for your interesting articles
Among tomorrow's articles are:
- Bouncing cheques will land you in jail
- Chemmani grave site: 90 skeletons discovered so far as excavation picks up to beat the monsoon
- 6700 diagnosed with cancer in first six months
- New organisation to take up cause of retired war heroes and families of fallen personnel
- Lanka's worst-ever maritime pollution: X-Press Pearl ordered to pay US$ 1bn in initial compensation
- Esala Perahera: Seats sold for Rs 15,000 to 50,000
The 5th Column's full text is as follows;
My Dear Satellite,
I am writing to you after some time. That is because we haven’t seen much of you or heard you lately. A few days ago, we saw you at a ceremony to celebrate twenty years of the ‘B’ foundation, only to realise you celebrated your 80th birthday a few weeks ago. So, belated wishes for a happy birthday!
It is best that milestones of our leaders are celebrated privately and not with tamashas at state expense. There was even a time when your father’s death anniversary was a public holiday. Then, the ‘B’ name was on airports and conference halls. That maybe where Mahinda maama got the idea to do the same.
You may have first taken office with the best of intentions. You were able to end seventeen years of Green rule. You also had some clever people like Kadir and Mangala who genuinely wanted to make a difference. It could also be that the war raging in the North and East at the time, held you back.
You were always resilient. Your father and then your husband were assassinated. You lost an eye in a terror attack. You bounced back. Still, you didn’t want an eye for an eye. You didn’t play one community against another. You formed governments with the party accused of killing your husband.
Of our nine elected Presidents, you ruled the longest, even more than JR. If Anura sahodaraya keeps his promise of ending this job- and there are no guarantees of that- this record will stand. It was not easy, three of those years was with the Greens but you fought back to get the Blues back in charge.
That came at a price, though. You named Mahinda maama as second-in-command instead of Kadir. You thought you were forced to pick the rascal over the gentleman. I suspect this is the one decision you still regret. Mahinda maama stole the Blue party from you- until Aiyo Sirisena stole it from him!
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, they say. This is why you worked overtime with Mangala to oust Mahinda maama ten years ago. That is probably the other decision you regret. Aiyo Sirisena betrayed everything he stood for and the Greens self-destructed with the big bank bond scandal.
Seeing you at the ceremony a few days ago was a telling reflection of the state of affairs in the Blue party today. One either side of you were two Green leaders, Uncle Ranil and Karu. The persons to whom you bequeathed the Blue party- Mahinda maama and Aiyo Sirisena- were nowhere to be seen.
Yes, there were a few ‘old faithfuls’ who served the Blue party from the days of your mother such as Nimal, Susil and Fowzie but I thought there were more Greens in that room than Blues. Aiyo Sirisena had done what even JR couldn’t do: destroy the Blue party. It is today a political orphan no one wants.
Seventy-four years ago, when you were six years old, your father walked away from the Green party to form the Blue party. Today, as you celebrate your 80th birthday, those beside you are two Green leaders. So, the Blue-Green rivalry has run the full circle and you are back at where your father left!
Although you have quit active politics, I am sure Satellite, you would dearly love to see the Blue party restored to its former glory. The reality though is that the ‘pohottuwa’, despite all the odds- and court cases- stacked against it, still commands more support among the masses than the Blue party.
To resurrect the Blue party, a charismatic leader who can restore the faith people placed in the party decades ago is needed. Those who remain don’t fit that mould. You are left with those like Dayasiri. Even he doesn’t know whether he is coming or going because he is on the ‘telephone’ party’s list!
Satellite, it has been twenty years since you left office. This might be a good time to look back at what you did- and didn’t do. I think it was a time where there were no great achievements to be proud of. At the same time, there were no great scandals like the ones that are being exposed these days.
Still, a reasonable assessment of your time at the top would be that it was a missed opportunity. You promised so much but delivered so little. You also failed to keep you pledge of abolishing the top job, not just once but twice. We are worried that these same events may be repeating itself right now.
Anyway, Satellite, we must wish you good health and contentment at eighty. Also, you don’t need to worry about having your privileges as an ex-leader withdrawn as long as Mahinda maama is around. Why, they still haven’t been able to send that letter to him asking him to vacate his palatial residence!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS- Of our sixteen Prime Ministers, the offspring of eight entered politics. Of our nine Presidents, the children of three did. As a result, our future is bleak. Whatever your rating as a leader, you didn’t foist young Vimukthi on us. Judging from the calibre of other presidential children, we are grateful for that!
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