Briefings
and explanations
With less than a month to go for the April polls, candidates from
the main parties are competing to have their faces on the idiot
box. The most convenient way to do so is by organising media briefings.
Last week a senior Cabinet minister seized the opportunity when
two of his colleagues presided over a media briefing. Once the briefing
was over the minister was seen stopping journalists from leaving
the premises.
A distraught
minister was pleading with the journalists, 'Please spare ten minutes
of your time for me, I have to explain the story about a police
detention'. The police detention was of a lorry load of cattle being
transported for slaughter. It so happened that a letter signed by
the minister approving the transport of the lorry load of cattle
was found inside the vehicle. The minister only wanted to "deny"
any involvement. To what level has the polls campaign sunk!
Long
way to go
It seems like there is a long way to go to bridge the gap between
the SLFP and the JVP, though much has been said about the close
ties between the parties after the alliance was formed. It looks
like the SLFP is finding it hard to address its colleagues honourably.
The invitation for the Alliance press conference sent out last week
had a neatly printed card which read Honourable Dinesh Gunawardena
and Honourable Susil Premjayanth, while the JVP members were addressed
as Mr. Wimal Weerawansa and Mr. Vijitha Herath. It's definitely
not a printing error, just trying to find a honourable title for
"sahodarayas".
Wriggling
out
Wimal Weerawansa, being a former journalist sure knows
how to get out of a difficult situation when answering the media.
A foreign scribe posed a question with the aim of targeting the
JVP and the SLFP on their different campaign trails, to which the
former JVP MP explained in "detail" that this time the
JVP was not contesting on its own. It has formed an alliance and
the symbol used is the betel leaf. The answer took the form of an
elder teaching the basics. The persistent scribe questioned as to
whether the two parties will campaign on their own. He still did
not get a definite answer just a curt reply that the parties will
campaign jointly as well as individually.
Laughing
stock
At a joint trade fair between two leading Colombo schools
held last week, a senior military officer wasted no time at his
alma mater in demonstrating his military power. The officer was
seen surrounded by heavily armed body guards, keeping an eagle eye
on their boss.
Little
did they know that they were the laughing stock of many, as there
were more senior officers both in service and retired enjoying the
true spirit of the carnival with hardly any security. |
