5th Column - Blame game continues with closed door secret deals

I thought I must write to you again after I heard all these rumours about what you seem to be doing, quite unknown to all of us.

What we heard was that you had been negotiating with a couple of newspapermen and trying to persuade them to get Prabha to the negotiating table.

I would have thought nothing surprised me in this country anymore, but I must say this bit of news quite shocked me, Mahinda maama.

There you were just eight months ago, promising solemnly that there would be no secret deals with the Tigers and that all you would be asking for would be a 'gauravaneeya saamaya'. After all, the so-called 'ali-koti givisuma' was one of the main reasons why people voted for you instead of Uncle Ranil!

And now we hear that you have been trying to work out a secret deal with Prabha behind closed doors. Correct me if I am wrong, Mahinda maama, but no one seems to have denied this story so far and therefore we are inclined to believe it is true.

Now, Mahinda maama, what would the people who voted you into power think of this? And what would the poor Norwegians think of you? And what would that Wimal sahodaraya and his comrades think of you? And last but not least wouldn't Uncle Ranil go green with envy about what you have done?

Then we hear that you were even trying to get that chap from the Irish Republican Army to try and strike some kind of deal with Prabha and that also fell flat because he came back from Kilinochchi saying it was wrong for the European Union to ban the Tigers!

And the tragedy is, Mahinda maama, for all your diplomatic efforts, Prabha is blaming you for not being sincere, Wimal sahodaraya is blaming you for not being sincere, the Greens are blaming you for not being sincere and the Norwegians are also blaming you for not being sincere and we are beginning to wonder if co-incidence can explain all of that!

And with all this happening around you, Mahinda maama, we are quite sure that Prabha must be laughing all the way to his bunker because he must be quite liking the idea of the President talking tough in public but trying to do secret deals with him!

But seriously, Mahinda maama, isn't it time you did something about all this? If you haven't realised it already, there is a fear psychosis in the country where schools and offices can be shut down by one idle threat or phone call. There is some tragic incident at least every fortnight. We do know that this is not something you can settle overnight but right now, you don't seem to be doing anything about it other than having pointless all-party conferences.

Of course, we know that you also have other matters on your mind. Like, for instance, how you would tackle Satellite if and when she decides to return to the country and also how you would win over more Greens by dangling ministerial portfolios before them. But then, I am sure that with all your wisdom, you know which matters should receive priority, so we wish you well!

PS-I thought I might as well ask, why did you forget to invite the Ellawela family for Punchinilame's swearing-in?