Sarath Fonseka is an angry man, he should keep away from politics
Posted on June 18th, 2010
By Charles.S.Perera
On the day of the Victory Pageant one cannot help thinking of the then Commander of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Armed Forces Mr.Sarath Fonseka. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But if he is not thereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to proudly participate in the event because of his own fault.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Now there is nothing to be proud of this man, who has turned out to be a traitor to his comrades in arms,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a Secretary of Defence who had been his friend, and a President who held him in high esteem.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ To-day, Sarath Fonseka is an angry man. It is a self centred man who is overcome with emotions of anger. A man who feels that he is more important than othersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ whoƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ shows his anger towards those who he thinks have wronged him.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ An angry man cannot accept defeat.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ After his defeatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ from the Presidential elections, he was mentally ill with unbearable anger.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He once even ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ saluted the people at a press conference thanking them for electing him ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as the President.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He said, from the numbers that attended his election meetings he could not have been defeated.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was he said ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ through computer manipulations that he was made the looser.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Anger can lead to lot of mental disorders which psychologists treat in different ways. The root cause of anger is jealousy through intense attachment, hatred or aversion which is the intense dislike, delusion of the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ existence ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ an extra ordinary ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ self and attachment to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ self.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Such a person refuses to understand any thing that is contrary to his way of thinking. An angry man cannot serve any body other than himself.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Therefore Sarath Fonseka is intensely self centred and he cannot be a politician capable of serving the people.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Anger could be treated to keep itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ under ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ manageable control.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In orderƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to change the emotions of angerƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ he should keep the company of people who are reasonable, patient and pacific.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But unfortunately Sarath Fonseka is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-plantedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ amidst men who are frothing mad with anger. They are frothing madƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ perhaps because they have caught the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-virusƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of anger from Sarath Fonseka, or they are angry people by nature and find Sarath Fonseka ideal company, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a case ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of birds of feather flocking together.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The angry men into whose lap Sarath Fonseka has fallen are, Anura Kumara Dissanayake the former JVP stalwart who is now the spokesman for the DNA. He cannot speak without being angry, when angry his face swells, his eyesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ pops out of their sockets. His mouth froths and he screams. So are Tilvin Silva and Vijitha Herath.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They are all like hot chilies boiling in ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a curryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I watchedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lal Kantha another angry man from JVP being interviewed in a TV programme, and I did not see a smile in his face right throughout the interview which lasted 26 minutes.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These are JVP politicians who have completely lost their calm,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ seeking ways and means ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to come back into the political limelight backing a man who Commanded the Government Forces in its war against terrorism.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is all the qualification Sarath Fonseka has, without any ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ political experience to rally the people for a DNA Government.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ An angry politician cannot solve the problems of Sri Lanka, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as such a man is already mentally sick unable to sort out what is good and what is bad. Sarath FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s only reason to be in politics is to take revenge from the President and his brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Nobody seems to know the real reason for his enmity towards the President. If it was because some of the powers given to him under ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the post to which he was designated, had been removed, then it is for selfish reasons. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ One wonders whether all that is only to hide the fact that he had made use of the war to make his family rich.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sarath Fonseka knows by now that he was elected by the interested parties in Colombo and his popularity in the country is nothing to write home about. The Colombo UNP voters must have rallied round him. The UNP ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ vote bank in Colombo appears to be composed mostly ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ people who will vote ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ even to a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-broom stickƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ if it has some connection to UNP.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The UNP Candidate Paba wo had been elected by the Colombo voters was recently interviewed by the Derana television and she made a fool of her self through out that interview.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ She giggled through the interviewƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ without being able toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ express herself.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ UNP constituency that elects such candidates as ParliamentariansƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ seem to lack any idea of who they should vote into Parliament.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In that situation there is no surprise a Colombo constituency also elected Sarath Fonseka as a Parliamentarian. It was a mistake as much as electing Paba as a Parliamentarian was a mistake.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In none of the press conferences given by Sarath Fonseka, had he said any thing sensible, other than to criticise the Government and insult the President and his family. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He is an utter misfit as a politician, and one cannot understand the one time JVP stalwarts promoting a man who has neitherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ socialist nor capitalist political ideas.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Only value he has is in having been the Commander of the Army of the Government Forces that eliminated terrorism.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The elimination of terrorism was a collective responsibility, where the President as well as the Secretary of Defence also ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ paidƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ very important roles.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He would have been a respected and loved war hero if he kept himself away from politics.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Even now it is not too lateƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for him to say sorry for what he had done and settle into a retired life and live respectfully well. He should then contact the President, who ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ will surely pardon him for all his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-mischief ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sarath FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s son in law should be allowed to take the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ responsibility for the part he played in making an illegal living profiting from theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ terrorist war.
June 19th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
I admit full content of this article in toto . We feel sorry of Sarath fonseka for everything he lost. his Idiosyncrasy nature pulled him to a daydream. His betrayal has created a new adage in sinhala “Pons Aka wage” to mean colossal betrayal.
June 21st, 2010 at 1:04 am
Sarath Fonseka (SF) may well be described as an ‘accidental politician’, someone who stumbled into and/or was thrust into politics
He lacked even the barest apprenticeship in the ‘trade’ but was adopted as the common candidate in the Presidential Elections, by a coalition of parties which among themselves had very little in common, beyond an inability to field a candidate from their own ranks and a determination to defeat Mahinda Rajapakse. Widely regarded as a national hero, SF was a popular candidate but ended being defeated.
It is never easy to beat an incumbent president. To beat one riding the crest of a post-war popularity was even more challenging, and SF’s defeat does not, of itself, render him now unsuitable for politics. He was beaten but not disgraced. In fact, he won a very creditable, 40% of the vote.
Now, SF wants not merely to be in politics but he wants the top job. There is nothing wrong in that. He is said to be a man with a big ego. There is nothing wrong with that either. In fact, many successful leaders have been people with big egos.
Why, then, do we call in question SF’s suitability for high political office? The answer is the unattractive side of his character that has became apparent during the Presidential Election campaign and since. SF ran a poor election campaign. He seemed impatient and unable to rein in his temper or temper his tongue. He ran a negative campaign. There was little of substance or clear policies on offer and the campaign was substantially a whinge against the President and of how badly the government had allegedly treated SF. He did little to hide his feelings towards the Defence Secretary and spoke disparagingly about him and the President. But if there was one single incident or thing that was most damaging, it was SF’s interview with the Sunday Leader. That interview, as reported, reflected poor judgement and smacked of disloyalty to both the government and to the service he had commanded. SF has given subsequent interviews to the media, including BBC 4. Some statements he has made in the course of those interviews seem equally ill advised and have only added to his woes.
Sri Lankans admire courage and firmness in battle but Sri Lankans are decent people who also value such things as gratitude and loyalty. And perhaps the perception of disloyalty conveyed by the interviews has harmed SF’s reputation significantly and almost terminally.
Perceptions are all important in politics. And I believe that unfortunately for SF, the perceptions that many Sri Lankans now have of him, as a potential political leader, are not favourable. SF has to take the rap for much of this – politically, he appears to have been his own worst enemy.
Sri Lanka needs good leaders, men and women of integrity and good character, persons who can be inspiring, persons the public can trust and look up to. To me, SF does not fit the bill.
SF is now a member of parliament and whether he continues in that role is of course a matter for him to decide.