16 February 2015

Mahinda Rajapaksa is loved and 'loved'

Those who love him are not concerned about 'comeback' but 'comeback' is a survival 'must' for those who 'love' him
A group of essentially one-man parties have organized a rally.  They’ve invited the 5.8 million who voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa in a losing cause on January 8, 2015 to attend.   They have asked for a show of force. 

Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Dinesh Gunawardena, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila are all fiery speakers no doubt, but in terms of political endowments such as membership, party machinery and vote-getting ability outside of alignment with a major party, they are impoverished.   Today, with all MPs from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) pledging support to President Maithripala Sirisena and given their long standing antipathy to the United National Party (UNP), they do not have that political big tree so necessary for them to cling on to if they want to remain politically relevant. 

They clearly need Mahinda Rajapaksa more than Mahinda Rajapaksa needs them.   If one were to assess their chances at a general election contested as a coalition even under the present proportional representation system they would be lucky to get two seats.  Even the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), clinging on to Sarath Fonseka could return only 3 members to Parliament (down from the 40 they had in 2004).  

Ideally, therefore, as far as they are concerned Mahinda Rajapaksa would lead a coalition and help secure enough votes for them to squeeze in.  Those votes would probably come from the SLFP and might end up gifting the bonus seats of relevant districts to the UNP, but it would not help Mahinda’s cause (whatever it may be) at this point.  An all-powerful executive president who becomes a mere Member of Parliament (one out of 225) would look dwarfed.  Why on earth should Mahinda wish such an eventuality on himself?  He, more than anyone else, knows the true weight of an MP.  ‘Lightweight’ would be an exaggeration.

If Mahinda wants to be politically relevant he must remain outside the parliamentary equation.  Today, having recovered a part of a persona that was so crucial in propelling him into the highest political office, the former president is basking in post-election adoration from those who credit him for putting an end to terrorism.  People are going to Medamulana in their hundreds on a daily basis.  This is a phenomenon that we did not see when either Chandrika Kumaratunga or Ranil Wickremesinghe left office.   It would be naïve to count all these as ‘sure votes’ or as evidence of a massive demand for him to enter parliament.  However, should he play a ‘distancing game’ such a demand may grow to a politically relevant magnitude. 

He has made the politically astute move of pledging support to the SLFP and insisting that he will not be part of any moves that cause division in the party.  In short he will not be a spoiler.  He could go further.   He could say for instance that if he has done wrong then let there be a proper investigation and that if found guilty be put behind bars.  He can then add, ‘by the way, since this is all about the primacy of the law, let the principle of equality be applied and all wrongdoing be investigated and all wrongdoers charged in court’.   That would not only make the many wrongdoers currently enjoying high office as well as the favor of the government squirm, it would position him strongly for any future political moves should he be so inclined. 

The only way Mahinda Rajapaksa can remain relevant politically is for him to acknowledge and affirm at every turn that a) Maithripala Sirisena is not only the President of the country he is his (Mahinda’s) president as well, and b) Maithripala Sirisena is not only the leader of the SLFP, he is his (Mahinda’s) leader as well.  He could add that just as he did what his predecessors could not (defeat the LTTE and end the war), his successor is attempting what he himself could not (constitutional reform), observing that both men are SLFP stalwarts.    This would not only help the party but would enhance his stature which (he has to admit) too some severe hits thanks to his own errors.  

Those who love Mahinda, then, should encourage him to remain where he is, which is also where he operates best – on the ground and far away from the cameras. Those who pretend to love him but are only concerned about their political futures would of course want to drag him out of that ‘better zone’ and into a campaign that is scripted to belittle the man. 


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

18 වැනිදා විමල් තම ගොඩ වැඩිකරගැනීමට මහින්දව පාවිචිචි කරනවද ? මෙන්න සාක්කි !!!
දිනක් මහින්ද සහ ඔහුගේ අතිජාත හිතවතා වන විමල් වීරවංශ එක්ව ගං ඉවුරක් දිගේ ගමන් කරමින් සිටින විට ඔවුන් හට එහි සවිකර තිබූ පුවරැවක් දිස් විය... එහි සදහන්ව තිබුනේ දියේ ගිලෙන්නට යන අයෙකුගේ ජීවිතය රැකදෙන අයෙකු හට රැපියල් මිලියනයක් දෙන බවය...
විමල් - ඔයා පනින්න අයියා ... මං බොරැවට පැනලා අයියව බෙර ගන්නං... ගාන අපි දෙන්නා බාගේට බාගේ බෙදාගමු ... ගොඩ නේ !!
මහින්ද - මරැ අයිඩියා එක මල්ලී ... උඹෙ මොලේ තමයි මොලේ ....
මහින්ද හනිකට ගගට පැන්නේය...
මහින්ද - පැන්නට මොකෝ මට පීනන්න නං බෑ ... මාව ඉක්මනට ගොඩට ගනිං බුදු මලයෝ !!
විමල් - පොඩිඩක් ඉන්න, පොඩිඩක් ඉන්න අයියා ... එහා පැත්තේ තවත් බෝඩි එකක් හයි කරලා තියෙනවානේ !
මහින්ද - ඈ ! ඒකේ මොකක්ද ලියලා තියෙන්නේ ?
විමල් - දියේ ගිලී මැරිචිච මිනියක් හොයාගත්ත කෙනාට මිලියන දෙකක් දෙනවා කියලා ! ඹහොම යංකෝ අයියා !!!!!
මහින්ද - හපොයි !!!!

shyam said...

Why is it that people are posting so many derogatory remarks against Mahinda? Is it the fact that they believe that by doing so they could diminish whatever popularity they perceive he has? It goes to show how psychologically affected they are by MR's stature!

The other possibility is that they need someone to crucify for their own lack of morals and virtue!

MR has become the past and a proper mechanism has to be put in place to investigate the allegations in a credible manner without slander!So far we have only seen media showcases to malign certain parties but no concrete action seems to be initiated to bring the so called perpetrators to justice! Why? is it because they do not have concrete facts to proceed with the allegations and are engage in media mud slinging?

Freedom of expression does not mean that you could use it anyway you want to! The recent attacks in France amply demonstrates this fact.

The blog posters who do so have the right to showcase their views and also to publish the remarks of the readers whether it is pro or anti against the article! that is the right however, it does not necessarily mean that it gives the individual moral right to post billingsgate remarks based on personal vendettas and perception!

Time has come to raise awareness of using the social media in a proactive manner rather than using it as a medium for slander!

I would like to conclude by drawing attention to a verse in the book of job:-
"If I justify myself my own mouth shall condemn me: If I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse"

Anonymous said...


“Those who love him are not concerned about 'comeback' but 'comeback' is a survival 'must' for those who 'love' him”
What a statement Malinda Seneviratne!!You deserve an award for this discovery. You know so much about ‘those who love him’ ha? So in your al assessment ‘those who lobe MR’ wants Ranil to be in power? Excellent!

Anonymous said...

I never expected this sort of article from Malinda as I always thought of him as a staunch supporter of nationalist faction - anyways this is superb and very much like what I ( and most of my friends ) think too

Malinda Words said...

People conflate Nationalism with Support for MR. And other things too. I remain a nationalist.