How not to be the Laughing Stock of the Nation

Dilrook Kannangara

It is unfortunate that there are so many close relatives of the President holding high offices in the government, appointed by him. There is no doubt that Gotabhaya is the best defence secretary we ever had, however, the appointment of others into powerful and influential positions makes it a mockery of the whole government. It should be borne in mind that at the 1994 general election there were four of his family members elected to the parliament including Nirupama and her mother. What happened next? The then ruling party, Peoples’ Alliance suffered election defeats in Hambantota district not because of any viable competition from the UNP, but due to complete neglect of the electorate by some of the elected representatives. Thereafter the family presence in parliament was halved.

It is true that there are no major bribery or corruption allegations against the brothers; it is also true that they may be dedicated to the ‘Mahinda Chinathanaya’, but surely there are more suitable individuals to replace some of them.

Without discussing details of family trees, let me explore some of the other ridiculous family monopolies.

1. The Senanayake family members (3 of them) ruled the country in succession and it ended catastrophically in 1956 only to form a shaky government in 1965. The UNP has come a long way under the guidance of JRJ.

2. A large number of mass media in this country is owned by the Wijewardana and Wickremasinghe families; all in all they have one (1) TV station, at least three (3) radio stations, at least three (3) national newspapers! The most ludicrous thing is that in spite of this stranglehold, some of them howl for media freedom. Freedom from whom?

3. Then there is Parabakaran. His wife led the female brigade once, there is the LTTE’s elite Charles Anthony brigade named after his son, his barber being the political wing leader and his son-in-law-to-be leading a Tamil political party!

4. The Bandaranaike-Ratwatte family was one of the other notable ones. Although the father, mother, daughter and son were all elected instead of appointed by another family member, most Sri Lankans believe that it would have been better for both the country and the party had the party sourced candidates for SLFP leadership outside the family.

5. Gandhi family of India had five (5) generations of politicians including an Italian, Mama mia!

When the search for suitable candidates for a post is restricted to a preselected few, the most suitable ones go unnoticed.

It is the duty of all patriotic forces to point out to the President the dangers, humiliation and possible collusion associated with governing the country with associates. Failure to correct the situation will result in belittling even the good endeavours of the government. There’s yet another possibility; in the case of one falling, all the others would fall like a pack of cards. This is not what the country needs.

A good politician should prioritise his nation and his party before his family.