My dear JR,
I thought I must write to you even though you are not with us anymore because you were being remembered recently not only as it was your death anniversary but for a variety of other reasons as well.
Remember, JR, how you made a landmark change in the way our country is governed by introducing a presidential system, replacing the prime ministerial system that had been in operation for thirty years since independence?
Well, now we have had more years of your presidential system than the prime ministerial system. And what is funny about it is that all the Blues who took up the job promised to abolish it as soon as possible but then had second thoughts!
Satellite did so twice and so did Mahinda maama who has now gone a step further by removing the two term limit you had imposed on the job. So, JR, no matter how much people criticize you and blame you for all the country’s problems, there must be something good about this system that you introduced!In fact, these days those who are old enough to remember the time when you ruled the country are experiencing a sense of deja vu. That is because it is almost as if you were in power once again-the only difference being that the rulers these days are from the Blue party rather than the Green!
Now too, JR, we have a government with almost a five-sixths majority in Parliament which can do pretty much what it wants. And just as much as you did what you wanted without caring about the consequences, this government appears to think that it can get away with almost anything!
Why, you used to tinker with the Constitution at the drop of a hat and there were enough parliamentarians at your beck and call to say ‘aye’. We can see the same trend these days and if at all Mahinda maama is finding it easier than you did to get his MPs to say ‘yes’ to whatever he suggests.
And quite in the same manner that you divided the opposition by depriving Mrs. B of her civic rights and causing a leadership crisis, Mahinda maama too has created a leadership crisis among the Greens by enticing their members with cabinet portfolios! Do you remember, JR, how you opened up the economy and got everyone to invest here, especially the Japanese? Well it is quite like that once again, although this time it is mostly the Chinese who are coming here by the dozen!
Then, JR, do you remember how you set up a private medical school saying that privatization should extend to the university system as well and everyone was up in arms? Well, the irony is that the Blues who were also protesting at that time have now adopted the same policy, some thirty years later!
Of course, there is opposition to this again mostly from the Reds but Mahinda maama is keen to deal with it just like you did: baton charging and tear-gassing students and putting them behind bars. Of course, we will have to wait and see whether this will eventually lead to an insurgency, like it did in your time...
So, even though some people criticize you and say that you are the cause of most of our problems I think you can be quite happy with what you did for our country for the simple reason that most of those who followed you have only imitated you. After all, don’t they say that imitation is the best form of flattery?
If there is something you should be unhappy about, JR, it is about what has happened to your own party, the Greens. It is a pity that your nephew and your successor’s son don’t seem to be able to see eye to eye, but then that is hardly your fault, is it?
In fact, although people called you a dictator and not a democrat, we now realize that you were the only President who had the courage to appoint a worthy successor as your Prime Minister. All those who followed you only appointed someone who was not really Number Two but was known not to be a threat!
And who knows, JR, there may well be a time when people really begin to appreciate what you did- perhaps most importantly, leaving when you did after handing over the reins to your successor. These days, no one even thinks of successors because they don’t want to leave in the first instance!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS- I find it ironical that there are statues in the city in memory of three of your cabinet ministers-those responsible for the Udagam, Mahaveli and Mahapola-but none for you who led them from the front and showed them the way and I wonder whether we are an ungrateful nation.
Even then, JR, you can rest assured that your legacy lives on though you are not with us anymore. It maybe not so much in the people being grateful for what you did, but more in the leaders of today following in your footsteps! |
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