5th Column

My dear Mother Lanka,

The year that just ended was one of ups and downs, one of great surprises, some notable achievements, but other equally significant disappointments. I feel that reflecting on last year could benefit us as we look forward to this year.

For those who said the ‘maalimaawa’ chaps will have to abandon government and go home in 2025, giving specific dates as to when this would occur, this didn’t happen. They must be disappointed. The ‘maalimaawa’ are still very much in charge, though that doesn’t mean they are fantastic either.

For those who wanted a Cabinet reshuffle, they did get one, but it didn’t amount to much which was disappointing. There are more than two jokers in the pack and not many aces to play around with, so maybe Anura sahodaraya can’t do much despite having 159 cards to play with.

For those who expected entertainment instead of achievements from the government, they got that in plenty, thanks to the likes of the two Sunils, Wasantha, Nalin and Lakmali. It is disappointing that they keep talking, losing votes for the ‘maalimaawa’ and not even Anura sahodaraya is able to stop them.

For those who demanded local government and provincial polls, they got only the former but not the latter, so those waiting for provincial elections must be disappointed. Both the ‘maalimaawa’ chaps and the opposition try to convince us that they won the election. The truth is somewhere in between.

The ‘maalimaawa’ chaps did win a vast majority of the local councils on offer, so the opposition’s claim is simply not true. On the other hand, the ‘maalimaawa’ also lost over two million votes in six months, so voters are telling them they need to do better or else they could be back at three per cent!

For those who wanted the rule of law to prevail, they go that in some measure. Many were arrested for alleged past misdeeds. Three former ministers – S M, Mahindananda and Nalin – are behind bars, so Keheliya must be having sleepless nights. Still, some big fish – and we all know who – evade the net.

In another instance where the rule of law prevailed, a promise to prune the excessive privileges of ex-leaders was kept. That meant Mahinda maama, Satellite and Aiyo Sirisena all had to relocate. We now hope that the powers that be can equally efficiently relocate those displaced after Cyclone Ditwah.

However, the rule of law suffered a big blow when an alleged underworld kingpin was gunned down in broad daylight in a Colombo courthouse early in 2025. What gives us optimism is the arrest of those allegedly responsible and them being brought back to the country.

These deeds were also possible because of some notable changes. They say new brooms sweep clean. We saw that in the Police, the highest halls on Hulftsdorp Hill, as well as in the commission against bribery. As much as this gave us hope, the lack of a chief for auditing is equally disappointing.

For those who claimed that now, ‘the law is no respecter of persons’, they would have got some satisfaction seeing a former Navy Commander, a former IGP and even a former President in the dock. Still, the same law couldn’t get a former Speaker to test in time for drunken driving after an accident!

For those who wanted bigger changes and the main promises of the ‘maalimaawa’ manifesto being honoured, it was a disappointing year. There was no repealing of the Online Safety Act, only slight changes proposed to the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and no Independent Prosecutor’s Office set up.

For those who had hopes for a new Constitution and the abolition of the Executive Presidency, Harini sahodariya tells us every now and then that it is a work in progress, and it will be ‘not today but sometime later’. That is why everyone is preparing themselves to be presidential candidates in 2029!

The promise of ‘not today but sometime later’ also seems to be the slogan of the ‘telephone’ chaps and the Greens trying to get together. The two camps have been ‘in discussions’ for the whole of 2025 with nothing to show for their efforts, so should we be really hoping for a reconciliation in 2026?

For those seeking consistency, they should look no further than Namal baby. He still runs around with the same people and the same slogans. Many thought the ‘R’ clan were history when Mahinda maama was voted out. He was back four years later. Then, why blame Namal baby for hoping for a return?

So, Mother Lanka, as you recover from Cyclone Ditwah, while pundits still debate whether the human cost of it was preventable or not, we sincerely hope that 2026 will be better for you than 2025 was, and that ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ will mean what it says this year, not what ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ was in 2025!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: At this time, the ‘maalimaawa’ chaps, despite all their faults, failures and fairy tales, are still ahead of each of the main opposition camps. Mother Lanka, you have certainly got the government you deserve. We wonder whether we will ever get the opposition we deserve, even if it is not in 2026?