The Samaraweera Anti Presidential Rhetoric Together With The Trio of Dissentors Put Into Perspective!

Hindsight By Sunil Kumara For LankaWeb\
Feb.15th, 2007

Suddenly dissentors like Mangala Samaraweera seems to besropping up at random and in tandem as an opportunists whose ambitions have turned sour as a result of bad mouthing the President and part of a trio that was booted out of office for the same indsicretion and probably deservedly so! As a result of their disgruntlements particularly in the case of Samaraweera and to a degree in the case of Anura Bandaranaike, the complaints and character assassinations of the president have brought about their downfall typifying what really goes on in the minds of certain top politicians who seem to believe that their idealogies regardless of how insignificant and transparent towards the theme of being politically correct they might be, that it could fashion the destiny of a nation which is the furthest from the truth.This is the same idealogy which has destroyed the political futures of the likes of Ranil Wickremasinghe and Chandrika Kumaratunga now floundering in a sea of uncertainty while also plotting the downfall of the president which does not augur well towards Sri Lanka's well being and this in the eyes of the International Community could be eyebrow raising rather than the innuendos suggested by Samaraweera!

There is an ancient Sinhala proverb which alludes to people who look up and spit where the spittle obviously lands on their own faces and this seems to be a classic example in the case of these dissentors against a very pragmatic President who has brought about much change within Sri Lanka since taking office and is recognized Internationally as a fortuitous and patriotic President so why all the bickering on the part of these individuals? Is it resentment, regret and frustrations against lost privileges, the loss of face and egos involved which if it is indeed the case as it appears to be they should retire from active politics and confine themselves to matters more suited to their puerile mentalities rather than attempt to cause unnecessary turbulences in an already turbulent Nation.In fact they should be ashamed of themselves to be identified as part of the Sinhala nation if there is even an iota of patriotisnm in them!

If according to Samaraweera and his ilk " Sri Lanka is getting isolated internationally as a result of "the human rights violations, killings and abductions going on under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's rule" the furore this would have caused by now would have been so widely publicised internationally that it could have projected the President's resignation or worse! and the fact that it has not, merely amplifies the innuendo Mangala Samaraweera is trying to create .So if Mangala Samaraweera, former Foreign and Ports Minister, who now heads a rebel group in the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has no tangible evidence beyond rhetoric towards the accusations he should shut up in the event that he cannot put up and desist from trying to bring the Government of Sri Lanka to disrepute in the eyes of the International Community which really is a wasted effort!

The other major player in this trio Anura Bandaranaike fast realizing what he stands to lose in maintaining similar rhetoric has suddenly been very contrite as it is reported that he has scampered back to the President and tearfully apologized towards being reinstated as a Cabinet Minister so that he could continue his foreign jaunts, indulgences of pleasure at the taxpayer's expense and carry on as though he has carte blanche towards playing a role of a diplomatic playboy with immunity so what does this all seems to be a privilege and opportunity towards a good life and the temptations of the perks are hardly relinquishable which seems to be the case.The President in hindsight in the case of Bandaranaike who is deserving of some consideration based upon past loyalties has been assigned a post where he will always be in the shadow and supervision of the President in his overseas trips of official designation.

As has been displayed by the bitterness of Samaraweera, Bandaranaika and to a lesser degree Sooriyaarachi everything points towards the frustrations of being overlooked for position of greater prestige and constantly reshuffled almost to the point of demotion, where in the case of Samaraweera his inability to contain his critical tongue which is an affront to the normal order of conduct of a responsible cabinet minister and the principles involved, in bringing to disrepute his superior erodes into the man's self esteem. Does it require that much common sense to use discretion and maintain the decorum needed in how one addresses one's superior, in this case the Head of State and should he not consider himself fortunate that the impositions brought upon him for his conduct have not been more severe!

The third dissident in this trio Sripath Sooriaarachi has in his own good stead maintained a stiff upperlip despite have been in dubious company which has got him into hot water and the chances of his reinstation is probably much better than that of Samaraweera displaying an almost idiosyncratic attitude in Sri Lankan politics where many believe they are above the law to get away with concoctions and innuendo thrown around with rank disregard to the protocols governing their status to moot their cause.A resurgence of the old "Apey Anduwa" concept perhaps?

As said in a recent media presentation it can be safely concluded that the Rajapaksa government must now realise that the battle against the LTTE terrorists has to be fought not only in the jungles of the Wanni, but also in the international arena as a result of the enemies within his rank and file of which the likes of Mangala Samaraweera are outstanding by way of indiscretion.His accusations that the government disregards the concerns of the international community seem totally unfounded and his comparisons that Sri Lanka was being equated with countries like Sudan seems incongruous and lopsided beyond any norm other than those of his own interpretation!!

His insinuations that Governmental responsibility towards investigating the complaints made by the international community regarding human rights violations or the conduct of the Security Forces, comes at a time when these issues have been more than prioritised for the record but on a more sombre note his references to there being a few bad eggs even in a very professional force like the Sri Lankan Army is acceptable in conjunction with its application to the armed forces of any nation where Sri Lanka is no exception. And the fact that this issue is being addressed at this very moment attests to the distortion Samaraweera is trying to image against the Government.

It must also be highlighted that his reference to the government's indifference on being requested to investigate the complaints in regard to the killing of the 17 workers of the French aid agency "Action Against Hunger" in saying to the media that " the powers-that-be in the government objected on the grounds that agreeing to investigate was tantamount to accepting guilt is a treasonous statement by way of disloyalty through direct accusation against the Administration and needs to be viewed objectively towards confronting him. The breaking news on this matter which came out at the time it transpired and acknowledged even by the French Government was that an immediate investigation was bein launched by the Government into what was believed to be an LTTE attrocity so what is Mr.Samaraweera alluding to beyond a figment of his own imagination?

If according to his rationale that "What the government was ignoring in the process, was the fact that such an attitude was only helping the LTTE build a case for sending a UN monitoring or fact finding mission to Sri Lanka" thus far this eventuality has not transpired or been made manifest and the affront to suggest that"We should by all means prevent this. But the only way to stop it will be to stop the human rights violations and investigate the allegations," seems sour grapes in the face of his being booted out of office and to whomsoever this sounds legitimate, actions speak louder than words and it is indeed a very justifiable one in the face of traitors such as these who could attempt to discredit the Government of Sri Lanka and the President, using any means even if they were baseless and concocted! To the contrary it needs emphasizing that it is the LTTE that are blatantly violating the rights of the Tamils in the North and the East of Sri Lanka , recruiting children, cutting off supplies and creating mayhem amongst the civilian polulations in these area which is not fiction but a painful fact and known also to the International Community which is being bombarded with all the fairy tales of the Samaraweera rhetoric!

Such outbursts make it no mean task for any president confronted with such impediments as the Samaraweera accusations are tantamount to, to conduct the smooth functioning of a sovereign democratic nation where insiders through their own personal disgruntlements attempt to discredit what they themselves once embraced as the best means idealogicaly towards governance rather than taking their medicine like real men!

Ironically all these accusations and allegations about Presiential neglect and misconduct come at a time when the UNP and the SLFP are involved in switching camps and renewing new alliances where the President very judiciously has secured his camp numerically as well with the right candidates as replacements for the deserters if the situation may be thus identified and regardless of the cabinet being a record breaking head count it does not circumvent the need for the Nation to be made secure from every aspect of infiltrations towards national destruction by its enemies and the addressing of every need through the formation of ministries relevant to these needs which have for a long time been neglected which is what the president in all probabilities has gone about implementing equitably and to which cause there will always be dissentors regardless of their themes and how realistic they are but mostly shallow!