From the Blue Corner

When elephants turned sleeping dogs

By Paakshikaya

My unseen friend, Viruddha Paakshikaya, was a rather agitated man (or woman) last week. It seems quite clear that Viruddha Paakshikaya and his leaders in the UNP are rather red-faced (or is it egg-on-their-faces?) about the revelation of Cabaret strippers performing at their LA fun(d) raiser.

Viruddha Paakshikaya makes a feeble attempt to justify this incident by saying the strippers were reputed "dancers" from a Brazilian troupe and that they performed for President Clinton at the Democratic Convention. I only hope his leader doesn't try to emulate Clinton in every aspect — that would be biting much more than he could chew!Anyway, possibly your international affairs advisor will now get another Brazilian national honour for bringing the Brazilians still closer to your leadership. Bravo! le Salutante!

I shall say no more about that major faux pas. But I must say more about another issue raised by Viruddha Paakshikaya. He makes a meal, if I may so, about our Professor G.L. Peiris "spraining his ankle trying to keep pace with Foreign Minister Kadirgamar" in Washington, New York and London, and about him having dinner with Jayantha Dhanapala in New York. "When everyone knows", as Viruddha Paakshikaya says, "it was done to spite Kadirgamar because the public perception is that Kadirgamar blocked Dhanapala from becoming UN Secretary-General."

Firstly, one must realise that it is quite in order in civilised society, unlike in the UNP, to break bread with anyone as long as it is done in good faith. Just because Kadirgamar did not have dinner with Dhanapala, it does not mean GL should "abstain" too.

Dhanapala, we all know, is not a pariah. He was one of our best ambassadors. Your leader also had dinner with him and guess what, Anura Bandaranaike stayed with him.Then, Viruddha Paakshikaya, I think I must clear this talk about Dhanapala not being appointed by this government (the President, Minister Kadirgamar or anyone else) as the next UN Secretary-General.

It's amazing how this kind of balderdash — or poppy cock — gets currency in this part of the world. I once read in a Sinhala newspaper column that Dhanapala was not made the UN Secretary-General by this government. Then, this columnist went on to say that the Secretary-General is the man who declares war and peace in the world. It is not only that the columnist was misleading his readers, but also whoever leaked that story to the unsuspecting columnist, leaked it that way.

Anyway, Viruddha Paakshikaya, to put the record straight and hopefully, to put the matter to rest I shall recount the events as they actually happened.

The United States was not happy with the then incumbent Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros Ghali of Egypt. They wanted him out even without going through a second term which is the usual practice at the UN.

Then, everyone got excited. The Africans said the "remaining" second term must also go to an African, but they couldn't find a candidate. Meanwhile, the Asians felt that if the Africans cannot find a candidate, it was the turn for an Asian candidate on the usual geographical basis, the last Asian Secretary-General being the Burmese U Thant.

Then, others said it was time to do away with the geographical basis and award the post to a woman on this new gender equality agenda of the West. The Irish President and the Japanese head of the UN refugee agency were talked of then.Sri Lanka was getting ready to vote for Ghali anyway if he contested, because Egypt was a friendly country. So, even at this stage, Viruddha Paakshikaya, Sri Lanka was not even considering an Asian candidate, leave alone backing its own man.

Knowing the writing was on the wall with a US veto facing him, Ghali withdrew from the race. Suddenly, the Africans threw up the name of Kofi Annan and we agreed like everyone else. So how on earth did Sri Lanka or Dhanapala be in the running for this job?

What really did happen was that later, Dhanapala was asked to go to Vienna as a possible head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Then, President Kumaratunga said, 'No'. And I know, Viruddha Paakshikaya, she is now sick of all this malicious gossip about this issue.

Viruddha Paakshikaya refers to "an advisor on international affairs" saying that Dhanapala went "beyond the call of duty" to serve the UNP's Foreign Minister, A.C.S. Hameed.

It is a known fact, Viruddha Paakshikaya that Dhanapala was given special leave of absence by Hameed to work in Geneva with some Disarmament institute.

This was very unusual and caused a lot of heartburn in the Foreign Ministry then because they felt Hameed favoured Dhanapala and the work he did was of no real use to Sri Lanka anyway.

On his return, he quickly had the benefit of the old-Trinity-tie to be close to our Minister Kadirgamar. He was asked to be in New York as our ambassador to the UN. Aha! But, though Minister Kadirgamar was willing to send him there, our Madam Prime Minister asked that H.L. de Silva, PC be sent there instead.

Then, Dhanapala asked for Washington. He got it pronto. Then he chaired the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference in New York, while being our Ambassador to Washington. Some say he did a wonderful job. Others say it was a sellout to the Big Boys like America. Ask the Indians and the Pakistanis, Viruddha Paakshikaya, and they will tell you so.

Then, came President Kumaratunga's intervention. She told Dhanapala, he can't go to Vienna and asked him to serve our country in Washington. Dhanapala decided otherwise, quit and got himself a job at the UN!! Aha!

Why I went out of the way to explain this saga is that Viruddha Paakshikaya was as ill-informed as the general public on this so-called Kadirgamar vs. Dhanapala "fight". I have heard in clubs and living rooms, what about Dhanapala? being asked regularly when they discuss what an honourable man Kadirgamar is.

When you UNP types try to throw mud at our Foreign Minister who has certainly gone beyond the call of duty in serving his country against the menace of terrorism — a task which has not been done by a hundred Dhanapalas — it makes me want to retort forcefully and so I did so, at length.

National consensus

Now, Viruddha Paakshikaya, let me get down to another issue - the private sector's call for a national consensus on some of the critical issues facing the nation. Why is the UNP dragging its feet and not participating in this exercise?

They are reportedly miffed at Minister G.L. Peiris calling their all-party Conference a political stunt and that he used harsh words such as "vacuous" and "irrelevant" to describe the UNP's suggestion for unconditional talks with the LTTE.

But in a brilliant move — a master stroke that could only can come from the daughter of two Prime Ministers — President Kumaratunga said she would lead the PA team at these talks — sidelining G.L. Peiris. But what did your UNP do, Viruddha Paakshikaya?

You still don't want to come. Why? Because you feel we are going to have an election very soon and you don't want the problem solved now. You want to, or you want to think you can, solve the problems if you win the elections.

That is wishful thinking, Viruddha Paakshikaya about both winning elections and solving the problems we face, most of which were created by the UNP.

So now the UNP which prided itself as the darling of the private sector and the Maha Nayakes of Capitalism is now wielding an axe against the business community.

And all this reminds me, Viruddha Paakshikaya, I have not completed Ranil Wickremesinghe's Top Ten Business Buddies I promised you sometime ago.

I wonder on which side they are right now. With Ranil Wickremesinghe or with their colleagues in the private sector? Knowing some of them, they must be on both sides — with the PA by day and with Ranil Wickremesinghe by night.

Your party chairman His Worship Karu Jayasuriya is a great private sector man himself. He is a director of several companies. Your leader's advisor (self-appointed) whom I referred to recently in my column is a great private sector man. A banker without a bank. You also have one-time heads of the GCEC as your leader's top advisors now. This guy really knows to invest. There are also garment exporters, tea exporters, tea brokers, bankers (with banks), car retailers, con-agents, wholesalers, and a host of such private sector not-so-young urban professionals around him. I will deal with all of them very soon.

Has the UNP now abandoned the private sector? Is the UNP angry that the private sector is doing business with the government? Surely, they can't be. Their own "International Affairs Advisor" did business with them not so long ago. So, why the change of heart? Cheap politics at the expense of the Nation, that is what it is.

You made a big noise about our leader saying that dogs may bark about the setbacks suffered by the armed forces but what she said was that though "Dogs may Bark" the security forces must go forward towards their ultimate goal — the defeat of the LTTE.

Viruddha Paakshikaya says the country has gone to the dogs. Then, why cannot your UNP be a responsible opposition — not an opposition crawing for power - and join hands with us to solve the problems we face?

Why are they, if I may say so, adopting a dog-in-the-manger approach to national issues? Let's face it, Viruddha Paakshikaya, today's opposition, in the face of our achievements, is leading a dog's life, and is hoping against hope that every dog has its day.

As for us, Viruddha Paakshikaya, we don't mind the opposition's attitude of non-cooperation, because we don't believe in the "dog eats dog" policy for success. Instead, our policy regarding the opposition is, shall we say, "Let sleeping dogs lie!"

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