5th Column

My dear Wimal, Vasu, Gammanpila and the ‘Gang of Eleven’,

I thought of writing to you when I heard that you have forcefully expressed your opposition to the some of the decisions taken by Gota maama and his government, particular the decision to sell a power plant to the country which adopted him and of which Basil maama still remains a citizen.

Honestly, I was quite surprised to hear from all of you – especially the likes of Wimal, Vasu and Gammanpila. That is because we usually see you trumpeting the virtues of the government and justifying everything it does – even when a majority of people do not seem to agree with that.

What was also unusual was that, instead of ironing out your differences behind closed doors, you did so publicly, while some of you are still members of the Cabinet. There is this concept of ‘collective responsibility’ in the Cabinet and you could have resigned – but we know you will never do that!

Seeing all this, dear Gang of Eleven, I am not sure whether we should be happy and cheering you on – or really sad about all that is happening. At least at first glance, it appears that we have such a great democracy that even parties within the ruling coalition can openly question and criticise its decisions.

There is a reason to be sad about that too. That is because you appear to be now functioning as an opposition from within the government itself. That begs the question, what is the real opposition doing, anyway? We haven’t heard much from the Greens or the ‘telephone chaps’ lately, have we?

Young Sajith is keeping a low profile. He hasn’t been making much noise for a long time. Soon he will be busy fighting that lady Diana in courts. Eight of those in his camp are regularly voting with the ‘pohottuwa’ – and he is not able to do much about that either. Therefore, his silence is deafening.

Of the parties in your ‘Gang of Eleven’, I was curious to see Dayasiri among you, representing the Blue Party. Of all the parties among you, it is only the Blue Party that has some national appeal, even though that too is fading away fast because of what Cheerio Sirisena did when he was the boss.

Cheerio Sirisena himself was saying he would never have made life difficult for farmers, referring of course to the fertiliser crisis. Given half a chance he will try to rise again. If he does that, the AG may suddenly decide to prosecute him for the Easter Attacks, as has been recommended by a Commission!

On the other hand, Gang of Eleven, the membership of most of your parties put together – except the Blue Party – will fit in a few three-wheelers. So, in terms of the number of votes you command, you only account for a fraction of the 6.9 million which, these days is an endangered species anyway.

The harsh reality is that if you leave Gota maama and his camp and set out on your own at the next elections, you won’t even be elected to Parliament, let alone being in the Cabinet. So, what choice do you really have other than to say ‘Yes, Sir’ to Gota maama and Basil maama and stay put?

We also have questions about those who are leading these ‘protests’. Gammanpila, it was only a few months ago that you were at loggerheads with the ‘pohottuwa’ chaps over the fuel price hike. There was a lot of speculation about you resigning over that no-confidence motion, but nothing happened.

Wimal, you are famous for staging stunts just for publicity. We remember how you staged a ‘fast unto death’ against Ban Ki Moon’s ‘panel of experts’ inquiring into the Eelam War. You said you will fast until the panel was scrapped but you gave it up in return for thambili water from Mahinda maama!

Speaking of Mahinda maama, what he said at the fifth anniversary of the ‘pohottuwa’ party was very interesting. Whereas he has previously spoken of his government being like a ‘saloon door’ where anyone can come and go as they please, he said instead that smaller parties are not mere crutches.

Mahinda maama asked why youth who painted murals on street walls two years ago are now queuing up to get passports to leave the country. So, he doesn’t think ‘api thamai hondatama keruwey’ or ‘we did it best’. He is easily still the best politician in the ‘pohottuwa’ camp – not his two younger brothers!

All this – and the fact you are silent about Gnanasara hamuduruwo or the fertiliser issue – makes us wonder, dear ‘Gang of Eleven’, whether this so called ‘protest’ is in fact a protest – or is it just another drama that is carefully stage-managed to ensure the survival of the ‘pohottuwa’ at the next election?

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: Wimal, Gammanpila or Vasu, if you are so honourable, you can resign from the Cabinet. You can still be rewarded by being appointed a Chancellor of a University, a job that is now given for either protesting too loudly about the government or for talking (of loud noises) in support of the government!