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Balachandra had a field day interviewing Samaraweera.

By Charles Perera

Interviewing Mangala Samaraweera, the discarded Foreign Minister of the Cabinet of the President Mahinda Rajapakse, would have been a field day for P.K.Balachandran the pro-LTTE Hindustan Times reporter based in Colombo. The first thought that arises in the mind, reading Samaraweera’s answers to the leading questions posed by P.K.Balachandra is, how come such a man came to be selected to the high post of a Foreign Minister.

It appears that Samaraweera cannot think for himself, he has to be pushed and prodded to get a correct answer. This statement has sense since he himself admits that he does not seek to be the leader of the SLFP nor is he
prepared to go it alone to form the SLFP Mahajana Wing. He first calls Chandrika to help him out by taking over the leadership of he Mahajana Wing.The offer being declined by her, Samaraweera goes to Ranil Wickramasinghe. Ranil Wickramasinghe, another person who cannot take a decision on his own, promises to appoints a committee to look in to Samaraweera’s proposal. Samaraweera like the legendary cat who “shitted” on the rock is nonplussed, and calls his old friends of the JVP and asks for an interview. JVP too wants the same pound of flesh from the President, and being sure they will this time form a peoples’ government in the likelihood of an election, tells Samaraweera that they would accommodate him but not with his allegiance to UNP.

In the interview where Balachandran makes capital of the situation, uses his usual innuendos and twisted phrases to implicate Mahinda Rajapakse, and make any gaps in the relations of India and the Government of Sri Lanka larger and distinct. He quotes Samaraweera and adds that the Mahinda Rajapakse government has “reversed” the “excellent” relations which his predecessors had established with India just in four months. And the tongue loose Samaraweera even lets out matters that should be kept confidential, as a responsible politician what ever happens to personal relationships.

Balachandran jumps to question him on “the controversial issue of UN monitoring of human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Samaraweera says it is “ inevitable” given the policies of the Rajapakse government. This blatantly irresponsible utterance should surely nail him into political isolation. If what I remember was the JVP stand on the issue, this will not please JVP to have Samaraweera in their fold. He goes on to accuse the President Mahinda Rajapakse of xenophobia, and adds that the Rajapakse government had been short sighted and made a strategic error by antagonising
the international community. Balachandra in his report emphasise the words –short sighted and strategic error, by putting them within inverted commas.

Samaraweera suggests sanctions against defence officials and others who have committged human rights violations. He is even against the capture of Toppiagala and says that the government should have gone for talks after capture of Sampur. Samaraweera should be marginalised in politics, the people of Matara who elected him to parliament should give a second thoughts at the next elections. The great heroes who preserved the unity of Sri Lanka came from Ruhuna , traitors have no right to represent the people of Ruhuna

Balachandra as a journalist had played his role but it is for intelligent and reasonable politicians to take care that their answers to interviews by journalists will not be interpreted to the disadvantage of the country.

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