Seeking Victory By Default
Emil van der Poorten
One thing that strikes anyone with any experience of participating in and/or running political campaigns of any description in any part of the world is the ineptitude of the UNP’s strategists during the days since the writ was dropped for a general election.
When/if the Ranil Wickremesinghe/UNP coalition, whose long title escapes me at this time, wins the forthcoming election it will be due to one or both of two factors: the public’s monumental distaste for all that Mahinda and his Minions stand for and did while in power or pure, unadulterated good luck!
The Rajapaksa-led opposition, for its part seems to be stuck for something to use in any “attack-is-the-best-form-of-defence” strategy. Instead they are running around the country, transporting, wining and dining hordes of “catchers” much as they did prior to the Presidential election in an attempt to convince those subscribing to a “hooray for the winning side” (“dinung-paththata hoiyya”) that they better back the Rajapaksa horse in this particular race! There is also the endless bleating about the “Affaire Mahendran,” which is not particularly effective because, apart from the transaction involving a sum of money beyond the comprehension of most Sri Lankans, 99% of those being preached at wouldn’t understand a bond from the proverbial hole in the ground! The UNP coalition, of course, in one of its grosser acts of ineptitude, sought an injunction against publication of the COPE report on the subject, immediately keeping the issue alive and lending credibility to the allegation that they had a great deal to hide! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot (while walking backwards, at that!). As a footnote to that business, the most violent and venal group to ever govern Sri Lanka keep whining about the fact that not every one of the 100-day targets of the Sirisena/Wickremesinghe coalition was achieved. Coming from a government that singularly distinguished itself by its ability to “disappear” its opponents via white vans and was certainly without par in the matter of self-aggrandisement, complaining about the non-fulfillment of someone else’s 100-day national targets takes nerve!
What has fascinated me most about all of this posturing by both sides has been the fact that Mahinda Rajapaksa and his henchmen who are facing time in the crowbar hotel if he doesn’t make a comeback, keep claiming – continuously and without contradiction – that MR single-handedly vanquished the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Read More
