President plays hell before judges’ swearing-in!

 Sunday, 11 May 2014

Moments before the swearing-in of the new judges of the Supreme Court on April 07 at Temple Trees, president Mahinda Rajapaksa dashed flower pots on the ground, cried out in filth that was heard as far as Galle Road, and practically played hell.

After signing several documents at his office table, he had hurried to the hall where the swearing-in was to take place, but knocked himself against a ceramic flower pot and fell into the ground. Seeing that it had not been placed properly, the president had lifted the flower pot and dashed it to the ground. He further lost his temper after the soil and water in the pot had stained his clothes, and the filth he had uttered had echoed and re-echoed in the Temple Trees.

No one had gone near him. Maddened more by that, he had dashed the other flower pots too, to the ground. After saying a few more choice words, he had left for the upstairs.

Returning to his senses, the president had changed his clothes, gone to the swearing-in hall one hour late and obtained oaths from the judges.

Before he left for Bahrain, the president had ordered an additional secretary at the Presidential Secretariat, Jayasekara, to draft a letter and bring it to him by 9.00 am. In the morning, the president had waited downstairs, without leaving for the airport although it was past 9.00 am, for the man to come. He had arrived around 9.20 am, as he had been held up by traffic congestion.

As soon as he saw him, the president had grabbed him by the collar, pushed him against a wall, and saying, “You, s….b, is this how you work?” and slammed his head against the wall. Others did not go near, as they did not want to be beaten up by the president.

The person who related this incident to us has been employed at Temple Trees under several prime ministers and presidents, before the incumbent head of state. He said, “I have never seen such a bull-headed president in all my life. Madam Chandrika too, behaved like this during her last days. Only the bitch she reared had gone near her. But, she never beat up people. She only abused people in filth, in English. Everyone is like that when their end nears.”