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Past Glory Does Not Translate To Credibility Through Directional And Mood Swings!
A Perspective On The Janaka Perera Candidacy For CM NCP! Through The Perera Periscope For LankaWeb

By Mr. Perera

July 14th 2008

The quintessential Army General whose superficial patriotism for the Nation has seemingly turned sour and transparent as noted and observed astutely by a previous administration and diplomatically sent overseas has now surfaced to run for the position of Chief Minister of the North Central Province!It has to be emphasized that not only will there be many conflicts of interests in this pursuit if permitted to manifest itself by virtue of Universal Franchise but also a possible error of judgement towards selecting someone who seems to have lost his direction and sadly seems to have done an about face towards his former intensity to defeat the LTTE!

The nomination of Major-General Janaka Perera as the United National Party's Chief Ministerial candidate at the forthcoming North-Central Provincial Council election maybe a token of appreciation and respect the party has for the services rendered by the Armed Forces to our country as some zealous writer seems to envision albeit in a bygone era but in reality perhaps a dangerous prospect for Sri Lanka's well being especially because he is contesting on the UNP ticket!.

Major-General Janaka Perera may have won much accolades and glory in his career in the Sri Lanka Army’s Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Services Unit in the ’70s while rising to the position of Chief of Staff having shown great leadership qualities, capacity for endurance and unlimited courage on the battlefields of the North and East of Sri Lanka in the efforts to bring peace to our country at the time he campaigned against the LTTE. But today he has proven most of his critics to be deadly accurate by virtue of some of his anti Government rhetoric as well as linking with the UNP who can never be trusted in its direction relative to the LTTE as it has members who covertly champion their cause towards personal gain using the LTTE as pawns!

Most unfortunately Maj.Gen. Perera has disentitled himself perhaps on the same consensus by simply throwing in his lot with the UNP and lost his credibilities. Especially if he has formed an unhealthy alliance with UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe who is not only a contentious individual relative to the well being of Sri Lanka through his own transparencies and weaknesses. But also a constant campaigner towards undermining the Rajapaksha Administration and Sri Lanka's Armed Forces. There is a real danger to Sri Lanka's well being if anyone once powerful in his capacity as Commander of the Armed Forces, virtually deposed from same for purportedly very valid reasons, is now given carte blanche towards manouvering from the opposite camp and simply, a no no, from the point of Administrative savvy and even national security if said even figuratively in anticipation of a worst case scenario.

It was an expectation of many that as an army officer who has extensive knowledge of war management and war strategies where many were the instances when he applied these techniques to the maximum benefit of the Army and our country that he would continue in this same direction and intensity on his return to Sri Lanka. But for some inconceivable reason he has chosen the wrong side of the fence in aligning with the UNP and to all intents and purposes has virtually negated his chances of being accepted by the people of Sri Lanka as a patriotic hero any longer. He could even pose a potential threat to national security whether inadvertently or not if he ever soft pedals on the issue of the LTTE who are on the verge of elimination and a real danger from many perspectives given the manner in which the UNP attempted to bait the nation using the LTTE as their trumpcard which backfired on them pathetically.

While it is indeed true that during the Government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Major-General Janaka Perera was detailed to Jaffna to lead the thrust against the LTTE which had surrounded Jaffna causing great concern to the then Government, the Armed Forces and the residents, it was this valiant army officer and his soldiers who fought tooth and nail to drive the attacking LTTE forces to retreat to their original positions which eventually led to the recapture of the army camps overrun previously, but there the impact of his greatness ends in a manner of speaking, as years of being distanced from the Military seems to have softened his stance which now spills out to the worthless "negotiated settlement rhetoric" with a subversive enemy as armed and dangerous as the LTTE which at times pervades the rationality of overwhelming them completely.

The years he has spent as a diplomat overseas seems to have changed his total outlook on the crying need for Sri Lanka to be rid of the LTTE completely and one of the foremost campaigners towards the task from which he has digressed appreciably and in this perspective to have him oversee the affairs of the NCP seems foolhardy for many reasons!

The heroics of Maj Gen. Perera were of another time and circumstance and sadly today does not seem to be a semblance of his forcefulness or military savvy which once motivated him in the same vein as the present leader of the Army, Lieut Gen. Sarath Fonseka who has never back-tracked on his resolve to defeat the LTTE in their entirety. Lieut Gen. Sarath Fonseka has made no bones about how he intends to accomplish this! Not true sadly in the case of Maj.Gen. Perera anymore who seems to prefer idle rhetoric!

Whilst the previous North Central Provincial Council Administration may have had many allegations of misuse of public funds, nepotism and corruption quoting a recent news item, to suggest that the United National Party by nominating Major-General Janaka Perera would resolve the woes of the North Central Provincial Council seems wishful thinking towards any reality towards putting the Rajarata on the track to advancement and development. As the mindset of certain pundits blinkered to the point of bias obviously leaning toward the UNP and its motley leader Ranil Wickremasinghe seem to believe.

It is not in essence a dire need for hand picked professionals to serve the party and the country towards any restitution for the NCP either as some misguided theorists believe.The present Administration has a wealth of these types and more! And it is simply political manouvering by the UNP towards gaining a foothold in that region which could translate to dire reprisals from many perspectives for Sri Lanka if the unforseeable eventuality of Maj.Gen.Perera being elected as Chief Minister of the NCP transpires. This could compromise all pledges of faith and recognition of our armed forces who are valiantly defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and it must be noted here that Maj Gen Perera has been classified by some of his critics as a turncoat and a traitor who cannot be trusted regardless of all his accomplishment and past glory. If he cannot throw in his lot with the present Administration and fight the enemy side by side with the present Armed Forces is not worthy of the post he is seeking.

This would also contribute to a total let down of the expectations of the more discerning people not only of the NCP but all of Sri Lanka if someone as adept as Maj.Gen. Perera at switching camps and policies while being openly emphatic about it which translates to being inept at the right kind of loyalties Sri Lanka needs today. If entrusted with any administrative capacity on the UNP ticket rather than the UPFA which could easily be a hindrance to the smooth functioning of the Nation given the lack of national unity particularly if the UNP gets a foothold in the North Central Province towards further Ranil Wickremasinghe shenanigans that close to the areas infiltrated by LTTE terrorists!

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