CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

The Cock is fed up with kurakkan

The Island Editorial Courtesy The Island 04-08-2007

So, Mr. Arumugam Thondaman left the government with four others on Thursday. That he would shift allegiance was a foregone conclusion, given his differences with the government. Since his pole-vault to the government, he had been grumbling about his portfolio and allied matters. Being a cock-of-the-walk of sorts, Thondaman may not have liked being dictated to by the President’s inner circle. His grandpa and mentor the late Mr. S. Thondaman was one of the few ministers in the UNP government, who had the courage to stand up to President JRJ. Perhaps, Arumugam may have thought of doing a grandpa. It is also alleged that his exit had something to do with a Customs matter.

However, one of his lieutenants is reported to have said they have left because of the way the government is treating the ethnic minorities. If that is the reason then the CWC can never support either of the two main parties that have given a raw deal to the minorities—as well as the majority community. They look after the interests of only the elites belonging to all communities and not those of the ordinary masses with whose votes they get elected. The CWC’s claim of being concerned about the rights of minorities should be taken with a pinch of salt—cum grano salis! For, as far as we can remember the CWC didn’t break ranks with the JRJ administration in 1983, when a government-sponsored pogrom was carried out against Tamils. Nothing worse than that has ever happened to the minorities in this country. Never mind the main parties. What about the CWC’s track record as regards minorities? The CWC has failed to mitigate the suffering of the unfortunate estate Tamils toiling like slaves under trying conditions. It has been in power for decades with the help of its political somersaults but why hasn’t it been able to liberate those innocent men, women and children? Is it that the CWC only uses those hapless people as voting machines without helping them break the shackles of semi-slavery so as to keep its leadership, which is passed from grandpa to grandson, unchallenged?

Thondaman has inherited an interesting party symbol—Cock. But the problem is that he cannot keep his Cock in one place. It is all over the place. Before the presidential election (2005) it was roosting with the UNP but no sooner had Mahinda Rajapaksa won than it sided with him. Both President Rajapaksa and Thondaman demonstrated that they didn’t have an iota of shame by giving each other bear hugs in public.

Now that they have fallen out the government and the CWC will go on a slanging-match the way hippopotamuses invite their mates; they defecate and urinate at the same time, as we pointed out the other day quoting Maneka Gandhi, and then twirl their tails like propellers sending the stinking mess in every direction. Within the next few days, we will have the government spin doctors training their propaganda cannon on the CWC and Thonda lending ammunition to the Opposition to engage the government. There is also the possibility of Thonda being probed. In a way, it is good that politicians fall out once in a way. Else, the people have no way of knowing their sordid operations.

With the exit of Thonda and others, the government has lost five members in the House. If the Up-country People’s Front Leader P. Chandrasekeran breaks ranks with the government, as speculated, the Opposition will have seven more members. SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem struck a discordant note on the Thoppigala victory celebrations much to the consternation of the government and the speculation is that he, too, might drift towards the UNP, which makes his heart flutter.

The government may not face the danger of collapse, as it has the UNP dissidents and the JHU within its ranks and is able to bank on the JVP’s support in an emergency. But, being at the mercy of the Rathu Sahodarayas will be a worrisome proposition for President Rajapaksa, because of their penchant for hijacking governments. In 2001, it may be recalled, the JVP made a prisoner of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who had to depend on them for survival in Parliament. The present situation is, no doubt, very much different from that of the parivasa (‘probationary’) government of President Kumaratunga at that time but having the JVP as a partner is like sharing one’s bed with a porcupine. It is a harrowing experience.

The JVP has already said it would extend its support to the government on a case by case basis. However, the outfit cannot afford to resort to anything that might lead to the collapse of the government. It fears nothing more than a snap election, having learnt a bitter lesson at the last Local Government polls where it went it alone only to be left with egg on its face. It is a case of Hobson’s choice for the JVP. It has to prop up the government to avert disaster. But, it will go all out to make the President eat humble pie in the process.

The government’s loss is the Opposition’s gain. The UNP is cock-a-hoop thinking that its leader’s rajayoga (ascendancy indicated in his horoscope) is beginning to take effect. Ex-President Kumaratunga is also said to have a similar rajayoga according to her loyalists. The present realignment of politics may help the anti-government forces try to win over some more disgruntled SLFPers.

The situation is far from hunky dory for the government. Thonda will also find it extremely difficult to live without power which he is addicted to. As such, the possibility of rapprochement cannot be ruled out.

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