My dear SB...

By Dr. T. Jayasinghe

(February 23, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) feel that this is the most appropriate time to address you and I suppose that you are now resting with your thinking cap on.

First of all, please accept my sympathies on your self inflected (illan kapu) defeat and hope that you have now realised the mood of the country. People may like you personally, as was clearly seen by the preferential vote in your favour. Other than those anti nationals who always vote with the UNP, the masses in general will not vote for - UNP, considering the pro-terrorist stand it has taken.

My dear S.B.,

As a person who had known you and watched you from the Communist Party days of Cotta Road up to the time you left the SLFP, I feel qualified to draw your attention to a few matters, vis a vis President Mahinda Rajapaksa. You cannot contest the fact that the President liked you very much from the very beginning and treated you like a special friend. You also considered him as your brother, friend and hero.

On the first day you came to my humble home at Rajagiriya, along with the President who was then an ordinary M.P., you were introduced to my family as a politician with a great future. This introduction was given because my wife inquired from the President whether she should give tea to his bodyguard as well. Mistaken identity maybe, because you were a raw MP then.

With your exposure to Marxist ideology and socialist politics abroad, coupled with inborn organisational ability, you were able to reach great heights within the party, beating many veterans. Originally, your gift of the gab made you a much wanted person on the political stage. It is also a fact that this very same ability, when misused, ruined you and you are paying for it even now.

I also happened to meet you at Darly Road and at your Ministerial office at Old racecourse in my capacity as a leader of a political group of State employees, and our members were thrilled about your PR and the ability to find solutions to our problems.

You became the General Secretary of the SLFP overtaking a number of formidable contenders and you proved to be the most active General Secretary that the SLFP ever had. On the night before our Annual Conference, I was at the Old racecourse watching you carrying chairs and arranging the seats for the next day. We were compelled to work with you for a few hours and I still feel proud of you.

Coming back to your opposition to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and considering just one favour he did to you in my presence, I strongly feel that you have no moral right to challenge him and go against him. You could remember well how he solved your family problem from his office room at the Ministry of Fisheries. If not for that intervention of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, you would not be with your family today.

Even though you joined the UNP, the President had a soft corner for you and he never snubbed you. He knows that one day you will be with him politically as well. I have a strong feeling that day is not very far.

My dear SB.,

It is obvious that you are qualified to lead the UNP in many ways but you fail to understand that the UNP is a party of the social elite. A UNPer will always consider the social status when it comes to leadership. UNPers of Kotte always voted Mr. Stanley Thilakaratne against Mr. Jinadasa Niyathapala, the UNP candidate. In this background, an ordinary man from Hanguranketha, with no highclass family connections with the social elite of Colombo or the English speaking ex Royal-Thomian capitalist class will never stand a chance to lead a party like the UNP. You may be surprised about Mr. Karu Jayasuriya coming back to the UNP but you should realise that it was a conspiracy hatched at the highest levels only to keep you out. Mr. Karu Jayasuriya had no major problem with the President but the inner circle of the UNP, along with the business community and the Western lobby, persuaded Mr. Karu Jayasuriya. You can now forget about becoming the Deputy of the UNP.

I am happy about the sensible comments you made after the PC elections. That should be the way if you want to impress the people. With this PC election you wanted to start the turn around "Heravumaka Arambuma" having miscalculated the mood of the people. You very well know President Mahinda Rajapaksa is friendly towards all. He has mastered the art of winning friends and splitting enemies effortlessly.

You know that he is not a communalist which he has proved beyond doubt by deeds and words. He is not against any religion. You know his love for the Muslims. He is a proven friend of the Arab world. Count the large number of his Tamil friends around him.

My dear SB.,

Please realise that you are in the wrong camp. You are not born to lead the UNP but you can easily lead the SLFP. Because it is party of the common people. You started your political career as a Communist. I know that you studied Marxist books and saw socialism in practice in a number of socialist countries . Need I tell you more as to which group you fit in. You have a group of friends from Hanguranketha days. Please call them and have a brainstorming session.

My dear SB.,

You are humiliating yourself among a crowd that does not recognise you. It is time "Kalo ayang te" for you to think of a way to serve the country. When you change I will contact you. Wish you all the luck. Subha gamang!

A genuine friend
-Sri Lanka Guardian