Thank you to all those who helped this victory
Mahinda maama was busy packing up his belongings at Temple Trees to leave for the Janaadhipathi Mandiraya when Basil Malli walked in."What is this big pile of unsent mail?" Basil asked, pointing to a corner.

"Ah, those are the 'thank you' cards that I have to send all those people who worked for me…" Mahinda maama said.


"I thought you thanked everyone who worked for you and voted for you on television the other day…" Basil said.
"Yes, yes," Mahinda maama said, beginning to sign the 'thank you' cards, one by one, "but I still think I should thank some people personally for their efforts…"


"Who are they?" Basil wanted to know.
"Why, we should thank Satellite first and foremost…"
"What for?" Basil asked, surprised, "for asking the people to vote for the person supporting a federal state?"


"No, no," Mahinda maama said, "at least she didn't come on television the day before the election and ask the people to go and vote for Ranil…"
"Then we must thank Mallo also…" Basil suggested.
"Why should we do that?" Mahinda maama wanted to know.


"Why, without his support we won the Gampaha district with over a hundred thousand votes; I can only imagine that this majority would have been a lot less if he campaigned for us…" Basil pointed out.
"Then maybe we should also thank SB too…" Mahinda maama suggested.
"Why is that?"


"Why, he too did not campaign and that helped us a lot, even though he had to stay away for different reasons…" Mahinda maama pointed out.
"And speaking of campaigning, we must also thank Milinda and Naveen…" Basil said.


"Ah, yes," Mahinda maama agreed, "when they went and said the Greens split the Tigers and sank their ships, I was not sure whether they wanted me to win anyway…"


"Although we nearly had our own share of Milindas and Naveens…" Basil observed.
"Who are you talking about?" Mahinda maama inquired.
"Why, Mangala called that priest a 'Mahaththaya' and Somay said he wanted to disband the Armed Forces which nearly cost us the election…" Basil recalled.


"Then we should thank the Elections Commissioner too…" Mahinda maama proposed.
"Why is that?" Basil asked, "he was only doing his job…"
"But thankfully he didn't order a re-poll in the North although he could have and if he did that it could have been all over…"
"Then maybe we should thank Ranil too…"


"What would we thank him for?" Mahinda maama was puzzled.
"Why, he kept on harping on this 'Perakum Yugayak' theme…" Basil explained, as Mahinda maama finished signing all but two cards.
"And I have finished signing all the cards except these two…" Mahinda maama said.


"And who are those special cards for?" Basil queried.
"They are for the two people who mattered most in this election, being the people who made the difference…"
"And where are those cards going to?" Basil wanted to know.


"Ah," Mahinda maama said, signing one of the cards, "one is going to someone in the jungles of Kilinochchi; without whose support I would have been the one thinking of retirement today…"


"That maybe so," Basil agreed, "but what about the other card?"
"That," Mahinda maama said, "is being sent to someone who made everything possible…"


"And where is that being sent to?"
"Ah," said Mahinda maama, "that is going to somewhere in Hulftsdorp…"
Basil thought it is best not to say anything. After all, he thought, he didn't want to spend two years in jail for saying the wrong thing.

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