Unpopular trait of a popular President.

(Mangala was a friend in the worst of time…….Ranil is a friend in the best of time)

By Charles Perera

The President Mahinda Rajapakse is spoken of as a magnanimous man, sympathetic, compassionate, kind, sincere and faithful to his family and friends, as well as to all people of the country. If he has all those qualities only when he is with the people wearing his mask of the President, and if he is full of hatred, anger, cruelty, pride, vicious and revengeful, as a man without his mask of the President, then he is neither a good man, nor a good President. Because it is essential to be a good man first, in order to be a good President.

A man should be the same whether he wears the crown of a king, or without a crown at all, it is only then he is a magnanimous man, or a President for that matter. The President shows himself as an epitome of religious piety, a Buddhist to his fingernails. But going to temple, offering flowers to the Buddha Image, giving dana to the Sangha, listen to Buddhist sermons every poya day, and wearing the white thread of protection “ pirith noola”, do not make a man a Buddhist. If it does , Ranil Wickramasinghe wearing “pirith nool” thick as ropes round his wrist is also a Buddhist, which we know is not true.

The President is known as a peace loving man. His preoccupation since he became the President is to settle the problem with the terrorists. He says that there is no military solution to the terrorist problem, and he is ready to go to the devil himself for a negotiated political settlement. He once announced that he would go to Kilinochchi to meet Prabhakaran and resolve the problem in peaceful negations directly with him. However, Prabhakaran, wants neither peace, nor a tete-a-tete with the President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse

When every one denounced the Norwegians as most cowardly and working hand in hand with the LTTE and they should be asked to leave the country as persona non grata. The President disagreed, he met the Prime Minister of Norway, and not only agreed to continue to work with Norway to negotiate peace with Prabhakaran, but also signed an agreements with Norway for development projects.

He met his arch rival Ranil Wickramasinghe, agreeing to work with him and UNP he signed a MoU. When every body spoke ill of Chandrika and complained about her to the President. The President avoided discussing her and asked his Ministers to discuss other important matters and not about Chandrika.
Despite the fact that both Chandrika and Anura Bandaranayake, worked against him during his Presidential election campaign, he appointed Anura Bandaranaike as his Minister of Tourism. He showed no grudge against him, nor did he make any remark about Chandrika’s hipocracy.

If Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse is all that magnanimous with his Presidential Mask, he should be the same without his mask, to his family as well as to his friends. A good friend is one who expects nothing from the other, and will stand by him during both the best and the worst of times. A good friend is also one who is ready to forget and forgive the fault of the other, without keeping a grudge, or taking revenge for a wrong done however serious it may have been.

Those who had been with him when he needed friends, and who had not openly or secretly criticised him are special friends, to whom his attachment should be greater. If the President is not such a friend as a man, and if he is good only with his mask on, then he is neither a good man nor a good President. It is essential to be a good man, in order to be a good president.

There is Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is a good man, simple , and who was devoted as a friend of the President . When Mahinda Rajapakse was still not the President , Mangal remained with him, and despite his allegiance to Chandrika, Mangala preferred to stand by Mahinda. Mangala willingly took what ever Ministry was given to him and did a good job of it. His sense of friendship seems greater.

Mahinda Rajapakse was Mangala’s friend, when Mahinda needed him during his election campaign. Mangala was able to get the JVP to support Mahinda. But now the President seems to assert immeasurable contempt to his old good friend Mangala leaving him in the cold. The President if he wanted to appoint a man he preferred as the Secretary to the Foreign Ministry, he could have done so more elegantly notifying his good friend Mangala , before making the appointment. A man who remains with his friends through thick and thin is a good man. If not, that label eludes him, even if he wears a crown on his head.