CBK Charm Has Won The Heart of Bill Clinton!

By Darmitha-Kotte

The best way to win the heart of a man it is said, is to use all or some of the 64 charms (in Sinhala it is called " hate hathara mayam") a woman has. Thanks to the Tsunami of 26th December 2006, former President of the USA visited Sri Lanka in 2005 to see for himself, the devastation that took place in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Tsunami. As the special envoy of the US Government handling Tsunami Relief opertions in this country, naturally he also had the opportunity to meet our former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Without a doubt, he did get carried away with her charm and the false pretences ofcourse. Little did Mr. Bill Clinton know that the whole Tsunami Relief operation "bungle" in Sri Lanka was thanks to CBK! He came to and went from this country with some very memorable thoughts of the country and its Head of State.

The Lakbima of 6th September 2006 carried an article written by Sunethra Athugalpura " Chandrika for US Relief Work" where it is stated that the former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has been invited as a special representative of USAID to participate in a conference to be held in mid-September. According to the article Mr. Bill Clinton had specially selected 10 Heads of State of whom CBK is one. I wonder whether he selected "10 former Heads of State" since CBK is already history and not our Head of State anymore? Could this be a mistake? The article states that CBK will tour the world together with Mr. Bill Clinton when he travels for US Relief work.

During 2005 Mr. Bill Clinton traveled twice to Sri Lanka to monitor Tsunami relief work but both times he spent more time in the North and East and very little time in the South where the devastation was greater. During those visits, meeting our former President for discussions may have given him the impression that she was doing a tremendous amount of work for our Tsunami Relief victims. It is well known that she is great at being a charmer. He probably does not know, that due to her bungling of the situation, we still have whole families of Tsunami victims living in temporary sheds! How useful such a person would be for US Relief work is a big question mark?

There was also a news item about 2-3 weeks ago that she was also seeking for a UNICEF assignment and that recommendations from our Foreign Ministry was sought by the UN. Nelson Mandela or Bishop Desmond Tutu seeking such high assignments can be fully appreciated because we know how much work they have done in their own countries for the welfare of their own citizens. However, CBK seeking such high posts, goes to show how highly she thinks of herself whereas the rest of the country is fully aware of her problems with punctuality and indiscipline in administration of our country! That she ruled this country more with an agenda of vindictiveness than with a true love for Sri Lankan citizens. After 11 years, there is absolutely nothing to which we could point our finger and say "Chandrika Kumaratunga did this for our country and we thank her for it!"

What contribution can such a person do to help the suffering children of the world is a great mystery. It also shows that the UN as a World Body, is sadly lacking in vision and is risking the reputation of the entire organization by engaging "Time Servers" of no earthly value! These organizations are taking on more, a liability than an asset by engaging her in such noble work. It will be too late when they realize their mistake at great cost to the organizations employing her.

The mere fact that she is the daughter of two highly respected Prime Ministers of this country, does not prove her own capabilities. Her late parents lived with dignity and ruled this country with respect and dignity where as, she has been a great disgrace to her late parents and a total failure in Sri Lanka.

Let us hope that Mr. Bill Clinton and the UN will think again before they "put their foot in their mouth" or as another saying goes " look up and spit on your own face!" It is sad to see her taking her disgrace to international levels without understanding her own shortcomings, inadequacies and limitations. When she was unable to live and rule with dignity in this country, how could she do it elsewhere? We have suffered because of her arrogance but we do not want others to suffer the same!