Fast & Furious 8

By T.E., Kotte 

The race is on. Perhaps just a coincidence that elections are in the eighth month, hard on the heels of a highly-successful, idiotic film. Perhaps some parallels there!? A future August (hopefully, finally) Assembly, pun intended, will be more civilised than its forerunner, remote as the likelihood may seem.

The scrum in the body politic is moving fast. The frantic minor parties were able to boost the ego of their erstwhile strongman enough to bring him into the fray, albeit coyly pleading it’s all in the interest of saving the nation. The henchmen were able to blackmail the President into allowing his adversary to re-enter the election lottery. The people are furious. 

The wildcard CBK has a heaven-sent, possibly plausible excuse to re-enter politics to break the MR vote, save the family party, not to mention keep the door open for CBK junior to enter politics at a future date, although seemingly uninterested in politics as at date! She has also promised co-habitation with the Greens. 

Greens need all the help they can get 

The Greens need all the help they can get. Recent threats about not waking a sleeping elephant were received with much amusement. They were perfectly happy, asleep for 20 years. No politico was remotely interested in waking them up. Only their supporters, to no avail. The knee jerk reaction to being awoken suddenly by accident has not gone unnoticed. 

The minor parties are breathing a sigh of relief at the close call they had. Imagine the thought of barely winning one seat in Parliament each without the shelter of their boss? And the pensions after the next five years, not to mention the loot in between? A clarion call to all the progressive leftist forces to join them on their political journey! More like a carrion call. One wonders whether the $ 6,000 per capita income is to go to a plus or a minus.

 

No fire, only smoke!

The Greens meanwhile are still in shock that the President caved in under pressure, notwithstanding obvious public sentiment to the contrary. They are biting their fingernails about what to do next against the behemoth of the UPFA whose disintegration was eagerly awaited. 

Even Dr. SA mooted the fact that the imminent split would be a blessing in disguise, allowing a new blood infusion into the party. Guess again! He was right. Only his judgment was wrong. Knowing the party mafia, he should have known better.

The Greens didn’t need any competition to lose to in the past. Not much changed. It’s back to the same backroom gamers again. The busted budget and the bond issue have taken a far greater toll that they seem to realise. Judging by D.E.W. G’s statement, the Greens were out to shoot the messenger. The green message was: no fire, only smoke!

 

Cohabitation between RW and CBK

So what next but cohabitation between RW and CBK? The odd couple is surely crunching the numbers right now. Can they muster the required seats to form a coalition? CBK may be rid of the vote repellents, so she has a good chance of bringing some clean faces in. 

The Green General Secretary on the other hand says they will nominate anybody of their party members who have not been convicted! How brave, and idiotic! When was anyone on either side of any consequence convicted? Cases are dragged for longer than a Parliament term and witnesses disappear. 

Is there any provision in the Constitution to remove a Parliamentarian if he is convicted for a non-jailable offence? Can they come back to Parliament after serving a jail sentence? Answer, anybody?

 

People are disillusioned

Meanwhile, the people who took the President for his word are totally disillusioned by his decision to allow his arguable enemy to contest under pressure from within his own party! An et tu Brute act by no less than his own General Secretary. 

The people are bewildered when they see the same gang of mobsters getting on one stage, only to set the stage for another feeding frenzy. One hears the fear in their voices at the prospect of another Jurassic Park scenario with all those raptors running amok. Again!

This writer is an optimist. The occurrence of a few days ago was a shock to the system, which is the people.

The dust will settle. The civic forces are the strongest they have been in years. They know they dare not lose their freedom of speech again; possibly under the pain of death should the earlier scenario repeat itself. Is this likely to happen? Not with the people in their present mood. Many have little respect for the Greens as presently constituted but they despise the alternative more. They do not want to lose their freedom again. So the enemy of their enemy is their friend.

 

Give President the benefit of the doubt

What of the President? Give him the benefit of the doubt. He is with the people. He cannot be without the people. His second love is the party. Which party? The Blue one. The UPFA is now a refuse dump and all the refuse is in one place. They have identified themselves beyond doubt in the public eye. Everyone now knows that rejection of the UPFA rids them of all undesirables in one fell swoop. Can there be a neater solution?

Has the President given in to the thugs? All the thugs are in one place. The voters can eliminate them once and for all. The President has given his adversaries all the rope to hang themselves. They are now on the gallows. The public needs only to pull the lever. No votes whatsoever. No guesswork anymore. Just the might of the vote to destroy them. Those on that stage have done it to themselves. That is Yahapalanaya. 

So was the President unfaithful to the public who saved his life? Or was it the best way to return the favour to safeguard the lives of his people? He says he wants to save the SLFP. Did he say anything about saving the UPFA? The refuse bin of history may find another occupant. The people may realise his intentions soon enough. May the President prevail.