POLITICAL SKETCHBOOK                  by Rajpal Abeynayaka  

The JVP: poised to get rid of all that's bad
Vijitha Herath believed that the end justifies the means. Wimal Weerawansa says he did not stage Watergate, you know the Ravi Karunanayake Watergate. But in Watergate, it was not the break-in as anyone who saw the movie "All the President's men" will tell you. It was the cover up.

Vijitha Herath on the other hand loves his cover ups. He is covering up for the President these days. He says with his holier-than-thou face that those who say the Constitutional Assembly should not be a way of getting rid of the Executive Presidency are being mealy mouthed. Getting rid of the Executive Presidency he says is a good thing. So it's mealy mouthed he says, to say that the means of getting Grid of the Presidency are foul smelling. Even if the means are reeking right upto Adam's Peak….

Take Vijitha Herath's logic and it would be good for him to be a street tough for a while. A 'pathalaya', as they call it in the Colombo underworld argot.

It is not a picturesque scenario, but since we do not have many Clint Eastwood movies these days, let us picture it. Vijitha Herath becomes a 'pathalaya' figure. He goes around robbing banks. The Executive President becomes a Banana republic dictator. She goes around sacking Ministers. Vijitha Herath goes around slugging his enemies with a knuckle-duster and knocking them down.

The President becomes a tin pot despot and sacks her whole parliament. Vijitha Herath goes around mugging people and breaking into offices. The President becomes a political hoodlum and uses the state media to hang her opponents on lamp posts, in a manner of speaking. By the end of it all, their opponents are either knocked out flat or they are cowering under grievous assault.

And then, Vijitha Herath, flush with his success as the strong man on the block and with all his loot robbed from the bank says, "so what's wrong if they get rid of my thug status?? Hey, being a thug is not good. Hey, so why are all you good people saying there should be no constitutional assembly to declare all thugs illegal? Come off it, don't be mealy mouthed. Hee-hee. Have a constitutional assembly and declare all thugs out of bounds from this country. From that day onwards, I will not be a thug'' Then he goes home and counts his money.

As for the President, Vijitha Herath says, after his President has knocked out all her opponents silly using the Executive Presidency: "After all we are getting rid of a bad thing no? Don't be mealy mouthed you opponents. Let's all get together and get rid of it. Just let her become Prime Minister then, and hammer you guys silly again. Neat."

Hmm, of these two scenarios only the Vijitha Herath as hoodlum scenario is imaginary but still it means that Vijitha Herath loves the end better than the means. He must like eating durian. Overall the durian is smelly and bad. But if you want to get rid of a smelly and bad durian, make sure that Vijitha Herath eats the juicy and tasty insides first. Else you will be open to the charge of being mealy mouthed.


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