Opinion

Dayasiri’s contradictions

29 Jan 2015 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Political melodramas are the most entertaining ‘reality shows’ that are catered to the public at all times. During the recent presidential election, the most popular word in the vocabulary was defection. Of course, those who batted and defected to bat for ‘Team Yahapalanaya’ did emerge as champions. Amongst those who switched loyalties, Dayasiri Jayasekara was one of the first. During his campaigns supporting the ‘Suba Anagathayak’ regime, he was engaged in mudslinging at handy. But at the onset of defeat, he has once again started to kiss the path of ‘Yahapalanaya’. Should such schizophrenic invasions be encouraged into this newborn regime? Following are some excerpts of the speeches that he delivered during these rallies:

Dancing to the tunes of Rajapaksa’s beat, Dayasiri was in a trance state. During a meeting held in Polonnaruwa on December 8, he sang a few lines of the song ‘Sinahawen ho kathawen be maninnata minisa’ by Al Haj Mohideen Beg in mockery to the sudden decision taken by President Maithripala Sirisena to contest as the Common Candidate.

Seduced by the magic of the Rajapaksa regime, he went on accusing the Opposition, and during one of his meetings held in Anuradhapura on December 11, the then North Western province Chief Minister said, “There are 72 vacancies at the Ministry of Health. Maithripala is saying that he will donate all the money to the kidney patients. But we see that everybody else is ready to fund for him. He has signed a contract to get the UNP back in power and defeat SLFP.”
At another meeting held in Chilaw on December 16 he said, “Maithripala didn’t have the guts to shake hands with the President. He just clasped his hands together and like a ‘korawakka’ (water hen) he gestured a traditional ‘Ayubowan.’ We see him wearing Modi’s jacket, and in time to come, I don’t know if he will also wear Chandrika’s jacket.

“When I checked with the Health Ministry, he has used 27 vehicles. We saw him returning unclaimed fuel vouchers. But he couldn’t give any vouchers during 2013/2014 or even before. He also produced a false declaration of assets, but this is not his. If we want to see the actual declaration we should see how his brothers have used them. All what I can say is ‘Nahi verena verani’. He said that he will close the airports and only allow those who he permits to leave the country. To be honest with my feelings, ‘okage homba gelawila yanna denna one’ (must punch him to dislodge his jaw (or snout) from his mouth).” “When our President arrives from the helicopter all of you raise your hands and cheer him. He is our saviour; who saved us from the war and gave us the chance to be like this today.”

During another rally held in Kuliyapitiya on December 17, Dayasiri said, “Maithri doesn’t have even a quarter of the crowd that is gathered here today. That itself shows that our President has grabbed the victory. Maithripala is exercising a ‘sellam vijjawa’ (game of magic) trying to grab the attention of everyone by showing his innocence. But a few days back, a monk told me that if the Mahaweli River continued to be excavated, it will start flowing from Kaduruwela. His brothers are busy mining gems in the river, and we are all going to lose our assets.”

Pulse rates of all politicians started to increase with the heated competition between the two main candidates. During the last election rally held in Kesbewa on January 5, CM Jayasekara said, “President Rajapaksa will mostly benefit from the Colombo District. Maithripala has never shown any leadership qualities. He has only been a secretary to a leader and never a leader. A coconut plucker cannot climb down the tree without the climbing aid around the feet; likewise on January 9, Maithripalata badu set ekak thiyenawanan, ekath ekka bahagena, huragena thamai yanna wenne (if Maithripala is having a tool kit, he will have to climb down with scratches and go away). After he loses on January 9, he might have to give up Modi’s outfit and get into Gandhi’s glasses, walking stick
and robe.”

“This is all a part of a Singaporean conspiracy. Maithripala took off to Singapore in the CX 610 flight which belongs to Cathay Pacific Airlines along with his clan in different flights to share their finances and deposit them there. Under this, the so called ‘Maithri Governance’ half of Sri Lanka will be owned by the

Tigers, all brothers and sisters will get bracelets, all farmers will get chewing gum and all the greedy insurance companies will get their hands on our assets.”
Similarly, he did go round praising his God for all what he has done. Admiring him in the best possible way, he said, “Our President is being attacked from all sides. We took a lot of struggle to establish this government and we should not let it down. Therefore we all should show our support to him. He has his own ‘kurahan satakaya’ and is no replica of anybody.”

“Back in the day, we had a country that didn’t respect the National Anthem. When the National Anthem was being sung, we hear people were just chatting. But H.E. the president ensured that everybody stood up when it’s being sung or played simply because it is the anthem of your Motherland. Those days when you answer the phone all what you can hear is ‘Good morning’, ‘Good night’ and ‘God Bless You.’ But our President Rajapaksa changed this system by asking everybody to say ‘Budu Saranai’, ‘Devi Pihitai’ and ‘Allah Deviyange pihitai’.”

Be it a humble politician or a traitor, they both do can dwell in this household named ‘politics’. But the moral of good governance should not be to collect the maggots of Rajapaksa’s deadwood, but to collect intellectuals who are not double-tongued. As such, while ‘Team Yahapalanaya’ is practicing for a bigger score, they should show no mercy towards those who would return to kiss their feet.

Opinion

Dayasiri’s contradictions

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