5th Column

My dear Mahinda maama,
I thought I must write to you because it seems impossible to keep you out of the news these days even though you are out of office. Any publicity is not good publicity though because they seem to be accusing you of all kinds of misdeeds and hauling you and your friends before various Commissions.

It is sad to see that happen to you, Mahinda maama, because we would have liked to remember you as the person who gave strong political leadership in our war against terrorism and prevented the country from being divided. I suppose that could still happen, but I have my doubts about that now.

I think the biggest mistake you made was not calling elections early but not retiring after you lost that election in January. Previously you had told us that the day you leave office, you would retire and live in Medamulana and not worry about politics anymore but sadly, you didn’t keep that promise.

I often wonder why. Was it because those such as Wimal, Vasu, Dinesh and Udaya who couldn’t enter Parliament without you were inviting you back saying they will ‘wake up with Mahinda’ or ‘Mahinda samaga negitimu’? Or was it because the lure of a return to power was too much to resist?

Ultimately, all those who wanted you to return ensured their own passage to Parliament after dangling the carrot of the Prime Minister’s job before you. Some even became ministers in the ‘Yahapaalanaya’ government but you had to be satisfied with merely being an MP for Kurunegala!

Some say that you wanted to return because you had no choice and that if you didn’t, they would have hounded you anyway. I am not so sure about that. If you had returned to Medamulana and led a quiet life, I doubt whether they would have chased after you, appointing all these Commission of Inquiry.

Looking back, even JR, who was fond of absolute power as much as you are, was content to return to Ward Place and stay away from the limelight after he left office. Dearly Beloved was unheard of after he returned to Kandy and even Satellite confined herself to only the occasional angry outburst.

Mahinda maama, it must be strange to realise that those who were so beholden to you only a few months ago now hardly talk to you. Why, when you arrived at the Commission the other day, there were only a handful of your party men with you, probably because they didn’t want to annoy Maithri.

It must also be irritating to know that some of your supporters who had significant accusations made against them during the elections are now ministers or deputy ministers in Maithri’s government, ‘Yahapaalanaya’ notwithstanding, while you have to answer questions from Commissions of Inquiry.

I suppose there will always be those who will be saying that you are only getting a taste of your own medicine. At least, you were not suddenly arrested and then dumped in jail like General Sarath was or abruptly summoned before Parliament and stripped of your office and your dignity like Shirani was.

If it is of any consolation, it looks as if Maithri, despite all the promises he made during his election campaign, is slowly becoming like you. His brother is heading a key government institution, he took his son in the delegation to the UN and when he returned, he had all the fanfare you used to have!

For the moment though, Maithri and the Green Man are working well together and the Blues and the Greens are co-existing in the same Cabinet without bothering each other too much. I suppose that is not surprising because they have been crossing over from one side to the other so many times!

So you need to be careful, Mahinda maama. We all know you are a fighter and have been one for the past forty five years. An intelligent fighter chooses his battles well. In recent times, you have failed to do so. After all, if you didn’t take Sumaney’s advice, you would still be the boss, wouldn’t you?

We heard that Wimal and his gang now want to form a new party and want you to lead that party against the Blues and the Greens at the local government elections. Mahinda maama, having made mistakes in the last two elections, I hope you don’t think that you would be third time lucky!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: Before the general elections, Mahinda maama, we saw you visiting temples almost every day. At that time, you said you weren’t using temples for politics and asked whether you needed permission to visit a temple. If so, why is it that we don’t see you at temples now, especially when you could do with a bit of spiritual comfort at a time when everyone wants to blame everything on you?