By Stanley Perera from Melbourne

My dear General Fonseka,

There is so much of speculation that 1. You are being offered a position as the Secretary to the Ministry of Sports. 2. You are contemplating to contest the forthcoming Presidential Election.

Firstly Secretary to the Ministry of Sports is an insult to you and it is demeaning your status of General of the Sri Lanka Army. In the event you accept the position not only you have to Sir the ignorant and uneducated minister you will have to get up from your seat as an when the minister go past your seat. That chap will go past your seat hundred times a day to make you get up from your seat. In my first open letter to you, I said, that position is good enough to a sergeant of Army. After evaluating the position now I lower it to a Lance Corpral of Army. My dear General, I believe you will not go down to the lower level in accepting a petty position subordinate to the minister of sports who has not played any sports in his life time. The man canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t say cricket. Instead he says ciricket. That man is not loyal to Rajapakse government. The man crossed over to the government to avoid bribery and corruption charges. So, do you wish to serve under such a minister? You are subordinate to the President only after you won the war. People love you as the brave soldier who liberated the north and east from the terrorists. My dear General, the people know you have been through an enormous amount of stress and pressure during the times of war. Certainly you deserve to be respected and rewarded of the highest award. Now that the war is over you must retire and enjoy your life with the family.

My dear General, if you are contemplating in contesting the forthcoming presidential election please think carefully. There are doctors and professors joined the politics. Most of them have become corrupt and un- reliable politicians. Janaka Perera earned a good name as a brave soldier. The moment he became a politician, he was eliminated by the dirty and cruel people. That is politics. You are an honourable soldier who maintains an army discipline. Politics donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t suit you. But I am not the right person to decide what is good for you. After the world war Eishenhover and Vinston Churchill were awarded with the highest position in politics in their countries. But in Sri Lanka it is party politics that matter. Our people have a short memory. The war is over and the victory is also short lived. By the time the next presidential election is on, the people will forget who Sarath Fonseka is. More than anything your opponents will conduct a mudslinging campaign to tarnish your good image. The rumour mongering will destroy your hard earned good name. Rajapakse brothers will capitalise on the winning of the war. They will be foolish not to. They too deserve the credit. Under these circumstances, I suggest you think very carefully wheather the risk factor is worthwhile contesting an election. However, the decision is yours.

Yours faithfully,

Stanley Perera

Melbourne, Australia.