President Sirisena, You Are Not Fit To Be Our President
By Soraya M. Deen –FEBRUARY 5, 2019
Soraya M. Deen
President Sirisena,
In late October, you, took Sri Lanka by surprise. The news was terrifying and alarming. 71 years after Independence you singlehandedly threw Sri Lanka into the darkest hour of its history. You ignored and disregarded the supreme law of the country. You abruptly sacked the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, calling him inept and corrupt and in a clandestine meeting you then appointed a new prime minister: Mahinda Rajapaksa, a former president who was your arch rival. When the members of Parliament opposed this, you casually dissolved Parliament.
After many promises not honored, many deadlines not met, on December 15th you reinstated Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, ending a seven-week long standoff that crippled Sri Lanka. You vowed that you will never reinstate him, you publicly blamed and shamed him. You even said that if he is reappointed you will resign from your job and not remain in office even for an hour. Days, weeks and months have passed and you have not resigned.
Today, the country is upset not that you have lied to them, but that they are unable to believe you anymore.
President Sirisena,
For the past three months your words and your actions have emboldened a dangerous new growing politically corrupt leadership. You have legitimized lying and deceit. You have spoken about Buddhist values, and Sri Lanka’s rich cultural heritage. You have spoken about Mandela and the Pope. Yet, you say one thing but do something else. Perhaps you might not agree that it is better to bite ones tongue than eat ones words.
You speak eloquently about all matters that need to change, but fail to change just one thing – that is you.
Credible leaders have integrity. They practice what they preach. They do what they say and say what they do.
President Sirisena,
I write this letter because I believe in a Sri Lanka devoid of hypocrisy, corruption and fear. I also write this letter because I believe in a Sri Lanka that can produce visionary leaders who could restore trust, abandon hidden agendas and guide us to achieve unity, prosperity and peaceful co-existence.
Ever since we have called ourselves a Buddhist nation, the world has looked up to us to embody the teachings of the Buddha. The loving kindness and the hospitality of the majority Buddhist citizens towards the minority citizens when devoid of political manipulation has always been exemplary. But the shield is cracking. Leaders such as you who should promote unity and harmony have embarked on a very narrow path of hate and aversion, that today even our youth are no longer influenced and protected by the dharma.
President Sirisena,
You are not suitable to lead our country until you fully acknowledge that you have lied and misled the nation. You have not only targeted Ranil Wickremesinghe, a man you said who has violated you, you have deliberately and with utmost callousness undermined truth and violated the supreme law of this land – The Constitution.
No one is holding you accountable nor is anyone speaking the truth to you. Danish author Hans Christian Anderson in his short tale “The emperor’s new clothes,” writes about two weavers who promise the emperor a new suit that they say is invisible, while in reality they make no clothes. The emperor parades before his subjects in his new “clothes” no one dares to say that they do not see any clothes on him for hear that they will be seen as stupid.
Are the people around you afraid that they will be seen as stupid or are they truly afraid of you?
President Sirisena,
The founding principles of our country, and the core values of our nation are held together and protected by our constitution. These values have no political and personal affiliations. They are Sri Lankan ideologies. They are sacred. They hold our nation together. They provide safety and security in upholding human rights and the dignities of our people.
The Constitution is the safe keeper of our liberties. As an Attorney at Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, I pledged to uphold and defend the constitution. I am sure you did the same, when you took the oath of your office.
Any willful violation or desecration of the constitution must be challenged by every patriotic citizen with great fervor and urgency. Protecting the constitution is not only the function of the Executive, but that of all Sri Lankans.
Your willful refusal to respond to the concerns of the nation regarding the unconstitutional dissolution of parliament, dragged to the streets scores of women who notwithstanding the rain and sun showed up to make their voices heard. They pleaded with you to restore the status quo. They demanded the truth, because the women of Lanka mothers and sisters, verily believed that the truth is not negotiable. To some it was a value they taught their children every day and they showed up to stand up to that value, when you chose deliberately to ignore it.
