5th Column

My dear Wimal and Udaya,

I thought I should write to you when I heard that you had suddenly been stripped of your Cabinet portfolios by Gota maama. I know most people have more important issues to think of – such as finding petrol or surviving without electricity – but your dismissal is also worth talking about.

Though your removal was sudden, many were expecting it to happen sooner rather than later. That was because you – especially Udaya – were making a habit of criticising Gota maama’s policies and saying publicly that they were not the best for Paradise. You can’t expect him to take kindly to that.

You can hardly blame Gota maama either. I think he gave you plenty of chances. Don’t you remember just a few months ago how Susil was given marching orders instantly just because he made some sarcastic comments at the Delkanda pola? You two have done much more damage than that!

Remember, around the same time both of you supported a court case against a Cabinet decision to sell ownership of a power plant to an American company. If Gota maama was annoyed, he didn’t show it. He probably thought you would mend your ways, but you obviously didn’t and now you are out.

Udaya, the other day you were saying that we should choose between eating apples and grapes, and staying in the dark or getting our priorities right and spending the little dollars we have on buying fuel which can then be used to generate electricity. Are you saying Gota maama got his priorities wrong?

Wimal, you possibly even went a step further. You said we are in the mess that we are in – with power cuts and a fuel shortage – because Basil maama was acting on his own, without listening to what the experts at the Big Bank were saying. Surely, you can’t criticise malli and be in aiya’s Cabinet!

We do know that both of you had an axe to grind with Basil maama. Wimal, it was you who called him the economic assassin or ‘aarthika ghaaathakaya’ a few years ago. Days ago, you said he was clueless and ignorant. Both of you were not very fond of Basil maama. The feelings were mutual.

After your dismissal, Udaya, you called Basil the ‘Ugly American’ and said that we should all fight to gain independence from being under American rule. Wimal, you said that despite the executive powers and parliamentary majority at his disposal, Gota maama was being manipulated by Basil maama.

You dragged old Vasu too into your press conference. He says he will not attend to his duties as a minister. As much as I respect his stance, at the age of 83, and given the token Ministry of Water Supply, I am not certain it makes much of a difference whether he attends to his duties or not! 

Wimal, you say you will not accept a ministerial position under Gota maama ever again. He won’t offer you one, either, because you yourself said Basil maama had threatened to quit the government if both of you were in it. So, spare a thought for Gota maama – he didn’t have much of a choice, did he?

Still, Wimal and Udaya, for the average citizen, your claims about wanting to save the country now sound very hollow. You worked tirelessly to bring the ‘pohottuwa’ to power with almost the same lot who were booted out by the people seven years ago. So, you too are responsible for our present plight.

Some, such as SB who lingers like a bad smell and has made yet another comeback, will be rejoicing at this turn of events. Still, Gota maama must also realise that appointing different ministers to replace you will not get us fuel, or electricity, or foreign exchange reserves, and we will all continue to suffer.

It was also interesting to see new ministers being sworn in. Lokuge went into Gota maama’s office and came out with a new ministry. Asked about other new ministers, he said, they were in that office but he didn’t know who got what! Like everything else Gota maama does, it all seemed very chaotic.

Now you tell us you will get together with 11 political parties and decide what you will do next. The reality is that we haven’t even heard of most of these smaller parties. Without the ‘pohottuwa’ to cling on to, even the membership of your two parties can be accommodated in a few three-wheelers.

What you said about your future plans is quite interesting because you didn’t rule out getting together with Aiyo Sirisena and his blue camp. Just so you know, Wimal and Udaya, Aiyo Sirisena destroyed the Blues and the Greens singlehandedly, so you must be aware of what you are getting yourself into.

On the other hand, few people are convinced that you are doing this all for our sake. It is true that you don’t like Basil maama but you were careful not to say a word against Mahinda maama. So, is this all a drama staged to pave the way for Namal baby to take over and you will await your time until then?

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: You may not realise it but what you learnt this week was also what Aiyo Sirisena learnt seven years ago, though you laughed at him then: no matter how hard you work for the Medamulana clan, you do not matter, unless you have the ‘R’ name. Or, put very simply, blood is thicker than water!