5th Column

My Dear Jayakody sahodaraya,

I thought of writing to you because you have suddenly gone from being ‘which Jayakody?’ to a person that everyone is talking about. Even our good old ‘Maco’ referred to you as ‘Prince Win Flag’. Now though, there is no need for such disguises. The cat is out of the bag. You are in the limelight.

You may wonder why many, including those who support the maalimaawa, are demanding your resignation. Please don’t misunderstand. While you have been indicted on charges for your actions when you were a government official years ago, you are still entitled to the presumption of innocence.

In that sense, this is less about you and more about the highest standards of clean government that Anura sahodaraya and the maalimaawa chaps promised during their election campaigns. We want to hold them to that promise and not to shift the goal posts when it comes to one of their own.

We recall how Anura sahodaraya, while campaigning, was asked how he would ensure zero tolerance of corruption. He told us the story of an MP named Polgampola who was accused of smuggling someone into Japan under a false pretext and was asked to resign, even before the news got out.

Yet here you are, a minister to boot, indicted in a court of law and continuing to be in the Cabinet and holding the same important portfolio which by the way is also a hot topic of discussion. That is again because of the awarding of another tender. Can’t you or the maalimaawa see how bad that looks?

I didn’t think I would ever say this, but now I feel awfully sorry for that Ranwala fellow. We all made such a fuss about his doctorate. He resigned because he couldn’t prove that he had one. He only misled people. Yet, he had to go.

When he left, he said he would be providing us with proof of his doctorate in due course and that he was resigning only to avoid embarrassing the government. He hasn’t done that yet but that is another story. Ah, the maalimaawa does maintain high standards, we thought to ourselves and were happy.

Anura sahodaraya was asked about your situation recently. He said you can continue as a minister because the charges against you related to your actions as an official. If it was about your actions as a minister, he wouldn’t think twice about sacking you from Cabinet, he said. That is interesting, isn’t it?

Ranwala said he had a doctorate long before he was Speaker, even before he was in Parliament. Yet he had to resign from the Speaker’s post. Also, if someone was to be charged with murder or some other serious offence before they entered Parliament, they can still be a minister based on this argument!

Jayakody sahodaraya, remember Premalal, better known as Choka Malli from the Pohottuwa camp? He was convicted of murder but retained his seat on the basis that he had filed an appeal – which he did win. Similarly, ‘Kappam’ Prasanna remained the Chief Government Whip after being convicted.

These are cases the maalimaawa have been shouting from the rooftops about when they were in the opposition. They promised to introduce a culture of ‘clean politics’ but all that seem to be forgotten now. As I said before, this is not about justice being done, it is about justice also appearing to be done.

There is also another aspect to all this, Jayakody sahodaraya. A tender to purchase coal is now under scrutiny. Bimal himself says the tender procedure was followed but the coal was of poor quality. Unfortunately, the minister under whose purview this comes under happens to be none other than you!

Besides, electricity rates have been increased. There is talk of power cuts. These are matters beyond your control like the war in West Asia, but every time these issues are discussed, people will question your suitability to hold that job, talk about the charges against you and then blame you.

We hear the opposition is planning a motion of no confidence on you, based on all this. That brings back memories of a similar motion against Keheliya some time ago when he was a minister. The government at the time vigorously defended him then, and look where he has ended up now.

I am not saying you are in the same league as Keheliya, but the fact that you are mentioned in the same sentence by many must be an eye opener. That is why, Jayakody sahodaraya, sometimes it is better to go when people ask why you are leaving without waiting until they ask why you are not leaving.

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: In a similar situation, Old JR asked EL from Kandy to resign. The Sun newspaper gleefully headlined the news, ‘EL tenders his resignation’. He was later appointed Speaker. That could prove a neat solution for Anura sahodaraya too, what with the one who speaks also embroiled in a court case!