Mangala Awa (Mangala?s advent)
or Awa Mangala (funeral)?
Dilrook Kannangara
Ranil has taken up Mangala’s plight. He knows the in-equation
of 17 UNP defectors verses two SLFP defectors. In terms of parliamentary
seats, it is another loss for Ranil of 15 seats. His media empire (3
newspapers owned by his mother, 3 radio stations owned by his brother
and a TV station, 2 newspapers owned by his staunchest supporters who
was a political loser himself in the SLFP, 3 more TV channels owned
by his friends who never call a spade a spade – obviously they
never called the LTTE a group of terrorists, few other media institutions
owned by characterless criminals willing to team up with others) is
in full swing trying to prove that 2 is greater than 17!
On the face of it, most Sri Lankans agree that Mangala and Ranil belong
together; so were their politically bankrupt fathers. What are the repercussions
of admitting Mangala into the UNP refugee camp? Firstly, those UNP voters
who are conscious enough will feel ashamed. The above media have told
enough about Mangala; Mangala’s former friends will quote these
reports. No UNP voter from Matara is going to cast a preference vote
to Mangala and Mangala would no longer come from the SLFP camp either.
Only option is the national list. If you look at the UNP national list,
it is easier for a camel to creep through a needle hole than a Sinhalese
to get to parliament from the UNP national list. Obviously, more important
persons in the UNP deserve this scarce opportunity.
Suppose they somehow overcame these obstacles and appointed him as a
national list MP, then there is the problem of ministries. If Mangala
is not the ports, aviation, foreign and posts minister, he would jump
again. On the other hand, if he is given such powerful ministries, at
least three disgruntled UNPers will cross the floor.
How will Mangala fair with other friends of Ranil, especially the influential
ones? They have a very bad opinion about him for many reasons. Firstly,
he engineered the downfall of the submissive UNP regime in 2004, he
has participated in rallies/meetings of what they call ‘Sinhala
nationalistic’ movements, as the media minister the media under
his command referred the UNP masters as terrorists, he is from Matara
- renowned for its low nonsense tolerance citizenry and he cannot be
trusted owing to his cross-overs and that of his father’s. Therefore,
these influential masters will be very unhappy for taking Mangala into
the UNP.
Hence, there is a strong case that Mangala’s advent to the UNP
will result in the demise of either the UNP or Mangala (or even both).
Some voters may even mistake Mangala for Ranil and vice versa!
How about his other alternative, the JVP?
Sadly, the JVP didn’t entertain his allegations that the UPFA candidate
sought support from the LTTE to win the election. They know too well
that Mangala left because his greedy ambitions were not met. Mangala’s
life style, disposition, associations and company do not go with the
JVP’s heavily guarded public perception. Therefore, it is highly
unlikely that he would be accommodated in the JVP. Besides, he will
definitely not want to be under Somawansa Amarasinghe.
Overall, it is a political dead end for Mangala as his acceptors are
likely to pay for his sins. Until the next parliament is elected, Mangala
and Sripathi will go around seeking a sponsor. As a last resort, they
may go it alone, which means they become the laughing stock of the voters
as we have seen such individuals like AJ Ranasinghe, H Wijetunga, SL
Gunasekera, Tilak Karunaratna and even Lalith Athulathmudali playing
snakes and ladders with their political careers.
If they are to stay in meaningful active politics, they should return
to where they were comfortable and where their voters felt comfortable.
However, in their desperation they destroyed the trust, good name and
other good perceptions their voters (no point bothering about others)
placed on them. They have done irreparable damage to their own credibility
vultured upon by the UNP and the LTTE for petty and short-term gains.
These vultures pecked on the coffin of Raviraj, MP for similar gains
and then dumped it once they got the publicity they wanted. Actually,
they still wish the assailants be remained a mystery. Mangala will be
used as a toilet paper and will be disposed as such by them.
What about the SLFP? There will not be any vote reduction owing to Mangala
crossing over, as he did not develop an otherwise UNP vote base in Matara.
Actually, a Trojan horse was evicted from the SLFP. It is no secret
that SLFPers were made ashamed by some of Mangala’s statements
and conduct. Most used Mangala as a cover-up of Ranil’s failures,
pathetic disposition and weaknesses. Besides, there is no room for career
progression for him within the SLFP; obviously, Mangala cannot be made
the PM.
I remember the advertisement that appeared in the press before the 1994
August General Election for Mangala. It read, mangala (good luck) for
us/ for Matara/ for the country. It took only the loss of one ministry
that turned it into the awamangala (death knell) of an otherwise promising
politician. It is unfortunate that Ranil-controlled-media was unable
to see the teachings of Buddhism come to pass in a dramatic manner.
Greed breeds misery; indeed it does. Who else should learn this important
lesson than the greediest of all – Ranil - who cannot wait until
the term finishes on this parliament. His greed knows no bounds as he
did the same against the parliament that was elected in 2000, went to
court demanding a presidential election in 2005 and has teamed up with
the nation’s enemies to grab power by whatever means. Apart from
a very unstable government from 2001-04, he achieved nothing. A nation
that believes in age-old teachings about greed eagerly waits the day
when others can learn a lesson from Ranil’s greed.
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