My dear Sajith,

I am writing to you as you seem to be facing an unexpected problem these days, just when you thought you could get the ‘telephone’ party up and running to try and challenge the ‘maalimaawa’ chaps.  I am referring to the problems caused by Uncle Ranil’s recent court appearance, of course.

I wouldn’t blame you if you had thought that the Greens as a party were good as dead and with many of the ‘pohottuwa’ chaps being behind bars or on their way to Welikada, the path was clear for you to take over when the honeymoon with the ‘maalimaawa’ ended. Now it is not quite that simple, is it?

Uncle Ranil has a knack of emerging when he has been written off by everyone. He did it once when, as the lone Green MP, he took up the PM’s post under Gota maama- after you refused, I might add. The next thing we know is that Gota maama is gone and Uncle Ranil has been voted into the top job.

Only a few weeks ago, Uncle Ranil was forgotten by almost everyone, the leader of a party with a glorious past but an uncertain future. Then, someone decides to charge him, put him in the dock and remand him. He becomes the talk of the town again, threatening your job as Leader of the Opposition!

I do sympathise with you, Sajith. When Uncle Ranil was first produced in court, you were not around. Even Aiyo Sirisena was there in a show of support. You may have been overseas at the time but many didn’t know that and they criticized you, accusing you of being ungrateful to your former leader.

There is a sense of déjà vu in this. I don’t know whether you remember because this was when you were six years old and running around in your jungees. Your father broke away from the Greens after a fight with Dudley and formed the ‘Puravesi Peramuna’, just like you did with the ‘telephone’ party.

Your father wrote some scathing letters to Dudley which were made public. Unfortunately, the beloved Dudley passed away soon afterwards. When your father returned for his funeral, he was jeered. With such history behind you, you would have been anxious to prevent a similar situation.

As a result, you had to play catch-up. That is why you visited Uncle Ranil almost daily when he was in hospital. That then led to the rumour mill working overtime, suggesting that the Greens and the ‘telephone’ party want to forget their bitter divorce, let bygones be bygones and get together again.

Indeed, we heard there were some discussions about this and there were those who were quite willing. I don’t think it exactly helped you when your secretary Ranjith said, “we are one family, we have our disputes, some may even leave the family home from time to time but they can always return”.

Not missing a trick, Uncle Ranil added to the speculation when he appeared to offer a concession. Those in the ‘telephone’ party who had their Green party membership suspended when they formed their new outfit, would have that Green party membership restored, he is supposed to have said.

Then, Uncle Ranil invites all of you- Mahinda maama and Aiyo Sirisena included- for the Green party convention, which was supposed to have been held yesterday. We were told it was also shifted from ‘Sirikotha’ to a ‘neutral’ venue. Ah, the divorce is over and this was to be the wedding, we thought.    

We were all awaiting the great spectacle yesterday which would have probably attracted more attention that Bradby Shield game in Colombo on the same day, only to be told that the convention had been postponed. The reason given was that Uncle Ranil needed more time for his convalescence.

Now, that seemed a smart move. It is true that some marveled at the medical miracle that Uncle Ranil was, going from being critically in on Tuesday to being discharged on Friday. Others suspected Lady Justice had been truly blind-sided by the medical reports presented on Uncle Ranil’s behalf.

So, just imagine if Uncle Ranil had emerged on stage at the Green Party yesterday, made a rousing speech and asked you to join him on stage to raise hands together to signal the Green party becoming great again with the return of the ‘telephone’ party. That would have really upset the Lords of the Law.

The convention may be postponed, Sajith, but your problems remain. Many are still hopeful of the Greens and the ‘telephone’ chaps reuniting, hoping it will trigger a resurgence in the opposition. Namal baby is also worried about this I hear, because it will be then curtains for him in four years.

If you return to the Greens, the most you can hope is being deputy leader which you were when you left, anyway. The five years in the ‘telephone’ party would be wasted. So, while those in the ‘Green’ and ‘telephone’ camps get their hopes up about uniting you must be thinking, ‘what’s in it for me?’!

It is a tricky situation. Is that why one of your MPs said ‘the Greens can join us if they want to instead of us joining them’? Had you accepted Gota maama’s offer three years ago, you wouldn’t be in this situation. To lose an opportunity once maybe misfortune. To do so again will be carelessness, Sajith!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS- If you want guidance about how to act now, the ‘maalimaawa’ chaps set an example. They had a dispute with their breakaway ‘peratugaami’ comrades over an office. They settled it with thuggery and intimidation. How about just marching to ‘Sirikotha’ with some goons and taking it over, Sajith?