A pro-Rajapaksa Bikkhu organasation has urged the former President to form a new political party and contest future elections in order to save the SLFP. Ven Vatinapaha Somananda Thera of the Sri Lanka Freedom Bikkhu Organisation (SLFBO) says that they cannot trust the current SLFP leadership to protect the party. Therefore he said a leader who truly loves the party and the country should be elected by calling a party convention. The Ven. Vatinapaha who is currently under investigation in the Sil Redi case addressing a media briefing said the January 8 mandate is no long valid and that if the former President contests today he would poll over seven million votes. The Thera must mean a Presidential election when he mentions seven million votes and wants Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest a Presidential election. Because, this is the only way he will be in a position to save the doomed party - by being President.
The Thera is clearly in the dark about the ground realities and the constitutional position with regard to the eligibility to contest. Even if the former President forms another political party he cannot contest for the Presidency. The 19th Amendment put paid to the chances of his boss contesting a Presidential Election ever again. With President Sirisena firmly in the saddle as SLFP leader, it defies comprehension as to how Rajapaksa will be in a position to save the party by contesting from a new political party. Besides, a Presidential or a General Election is nowhere near the horizon. One cannot fathom how Rajapaksa will be able to save the SLFP by winning the Local Government elections from a new party, far-fetched as it may be, with President Sirisena holding the reins. How is he going to make inroads into the SLFP by being a member of another political party?
In short Rajapaksa has to essentially be a SLFP President in order to wrest control of the party and salvage it. This is no longer a possibility. The Thera while casting aspersions on President Sirisena also has the brass to call for a Party Convention to elect a leader who truly loves the party.
The Ven. Vatinapaha also goes on to accuse President Sirisena of not paying heed to the Bikkhus whom he says have been in the forefront to protect the SLFP, from 1952. The Thera also goes on to note that a number of Bikkhus have been jailed in the recent past, which appears to be a preemptive strike by the Thera against his imminent arrest. President Sirisena has demonstrated his credentials as a true Buddhist and true son of the soil, hailing from an ancient kingdom in the Rajarata which has protected and nurtured the Theravada Buddhist tradition down the centuries although he does not have honourary titles such as Sri Rohana Janaranjana. But the public are aware how former President Mahinda Rajapaksa shrugged off advise by the Most Venerable Mahanyake Theras against having motor races in the vicinity of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, the indulgence of his offspring taking precedence over sacrilege concerns. Besides President Sirisena may have his own reasons for not seeking the advise of the Bikkhus given the current state of play.
Be that as it may, new political parties have no noticeable lifespan in this country, going by experience. Vijaya Kumaratunga who was at the height of his acting career and a bigger draw than Mahinda Rajapaksa could not make any headway after quitting the SLFP with wife Chandrika to form the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party. The SLMP contested by elections in Minneriya, Mahiyanganaya and Kundasale and came a distant second (to the UNP) only in Minneriya where Vijaya himself contested, ahead of the SLFP but losing badly in both other electorates. Besides, being a Bandaranaike, Chandrika could not make any headway with her Bahujana Nidahas Peramuna the same as Rukman Senanayake who broke away with the UNP to form his Eksath Lanka Janatha Pakshaya, despite being the grandson of D.S. Senanayake. Ditto for the Rajaliya party of the Lalith, Gamini duo. All these actors returned back to their original party with Gamini even contesting as a Presidential candidate from the UNP. A political party under Rajapaksa too will go the same way and contrary to the Thera's expectation of salvaging the SLFP, will only open further fissures in the party.
Vigneswaran and ‘Sinhala Only’
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran says he boycotted the Sinhala language since he hated the Sinhala Only Act. As a result he now has to explain the problems in the North to journalists in his broken Sinhala. Nevertheless he has called for Tamil public servants to forget all differences and learn the Sinhala language, lest they be sidelined in a scenario where Sinhala public servants proficient in Tamil are sent to the North. The Chief Minister need not have any misgivings. Even Chandrika, the daughter of the architect of “Sinhala Only” did a mea culpa on behalf of her father, realising his folly.
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