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8/10/2019 A Balance Restored Meeting Mahinda and Maithripala
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remans a vbrant democracy and the race for the to" s"ot n the country s
a rea! one. /hs was made "ossb!e by a sm"!e e"edent that I had been
canvassn# ad nntum et ad nauseam the ntroducton of a vab!e
O""oston canddate n "!ace of &an! )c'remesn#he.
/he two canddates seem rou#h!y even!y "osed. /hus s a ba!ance restored.
/hey are both stron# "ersona!tes, each n ther own dstnct ways.
(ahnda &aja"a'sa
One$on$one, (ahnda &aja"a'sa s #racous and #rounded. -s has been the
case snce I rst 'new hm n 1999, our conversaton s n 3n#!sh.
(ahndas s the cautous condence of a veteran he s not #un#$ho. 5e
comes across as a &ea!st who has sensed the o"non currents for chan#e,
but s re!yn# on hs achevement of rddn# the ct+enry of terrorsm and of
vsb!y, tan#b!y m"rovn# the towns and countrysde throu#h e!ectrcty,
roads and she!ter.
Ironca!!y, for a former "ro#ressve, hs s a messa#e of conservatve
modernsaton, or a messa#e that s "ro#ressve nsofar as the defence of
natona! sovere#nty n the #!oba! South s a "ro#ressve cause and
economc and matera! modernsaton s ntrnsca!!y, soco$hstorca!!y
"ro#ressve. It s on the other hand, a conservatve messa#e n that I for
one cannot dscern any further room for en!#htened structura! reform n
the (ahnda &aja"a'sa trajectory and "roject, un!ess a thrd and na! term
faces stron# "ressures from an O""oston$!ed %ar!ament.
5e s drawn# on maturty and e"erence n a thousand batt!es, but s
hamstrun# by hs c!an and sc!erotc "arty$state estab!shment. (ahnda
&aja"a'sa w!! have to #ht and wn ths e!ecton on hs own "ersona!ty6he
w!! have to romance, "ersuade, convnce and wn bac' the voter, by
hmse!f and as hmse!f. /he m"resson I am !eft wth s that hs man
concerns are natona! sovere#nty and the dan#ers of eventua! transfer of
"ower to "ar!ament whch cou!d #ve a "roto$se"aratst "arty the veto over
#overnmenta! formaton someday.I s"ea' stra#ht from the shou!der as I a!ways have wth hm6whch s why
hs sb!n#s and ther croo'ed, thu##sh crones 7ushed me out of the
System6and sncere!y wsh hm !uc'. )hat I rea!!y ho"e for s that f
(ahnda wns narrow!y, he w!! be freed from hs fam!y o!#archy by the
voters who w!! defeat the ru!n# coa!ton at the "ar!amentary e!ecton. I
te!! hm that for hs sa'e I ho"e the voters w!!, just ths one !ast tme, o"t
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for the %ar!amentary rather than "resdenta! channe! of chan#e.
(ahnda &aja"a'sa s 8the on n )nter. I !eave wth no c!ear sense of
whether he w!! wn or !ose, but wth the noton that even f he resonates
enou#h wth the rura! voter to "u!! o: a wn, I am wtnessn# a scene n the
nevtab!e cyc!e of the tra#c hero, whose tra#c 7aw has been hs nab!ty
or unw!!n#ness to curb the #reedy ecesses of hs fam!y c!an. /he (athr
rebe!!on s the e;uva!ent of the m"eachment that dama#ed %resdent
%remadasa and the
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#an#sta youn# "o!tcos n the %resdents cam"a#n. (athr"a!as s a
(ovement wh!e (ahndas s a (achne. (athr s feedn# o: the ener#y of
the (ovement ts stren#th and wea'ness ben# that t s "redomnant!y
urban, educated, and "rofessona!. (ahnda has the cha!!en#e of
transcendn# hs (achne wh!e re!yn# u"on t. (ahndas (achne s tse!f
"erforated, "ermeab!e, not che7y because there are =*%ers n the System
but because the cha!!en#er, (athr"a!a s a senor S>%er and has
sym"athsers n ts ran's as &an! wou!d not have.
(athr"a!a s a man wth a messa#e he w!! c!ean the "!ace u" save
money and nvest t for the "ub!c benet by c!earn# out the croo's6the
'!e"tocratc c!an. In that cause, I su""ort hm and sncere!y wsh hm !uc'.
)n or !ose, I thn' a !eader has emer#ed whom we shou!d "rotect. 3ven f
he narrow!y !oses the "resdenta! e!ecton, I ho"e to see hm !ead a
coa!ton to vctory at the %ar!amentary one, and become our %rme
(nster, ba!ancn# the %resdent.
- !ar#er hstorca! ;ueston
(athrs crt;ue resonates wth me but I cannot su""ress a !ar#er hstorca!
;ueston whch s essenta!!y ethca!, even mora! f we #ave two terms to
?&? and @A< who fa!ed to save us from terrorsm and dd not try hard
enou#h to do so, shou!d we not #ve (ahnda a thrd term a!most as abonus for havn# acheved what these others dd notB Shou!d we reward
dramatca!!y une;ua! "erformance e;ua!!y, wth two termsB Is t hstorca!!y
far and just that (ahnda shou!d be sent home, havn# saved us from
%rabha'aran, wh!e &an! )c'remesn#he shou!d be nsta!!ed as %rme
(nster, havn# #enu7ected before %rabha'aranB
If t were on!y (ahnda wthout hs ub;utous fam!y, I wou!d have no
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hestaton n su""ortn# hm. Sm!ar!y f t were (athr"a!a wthout &an!
and @handr'a, I wou!d have no hestaton n su""ortn# hm. /he rea!ty s
that nether s the case. Aoth canddates, stron# and worthy men, are
embedded n ther res"ectve reactonary matrces. I sha!! therefore reman
a#nostc and e;udstant o"tn# for b"o!ar "ower$ba!ancn# and rsn#, as
Isaac Deutscher recommended, 8audessus de !a me!ee C8above the fray.
- (ovement has the ed#e over a (achne, but the batt!e n the e!ectora!
arena w!! be, n the na! ana!yss, mano$a$mano, man to man. It s here
that (ahnda may st!! have an ed#e. )hen I !eft /em"!e /rees after two
hours and a bt, 3!vs was st!! n the bu!dn#.
CDayan ?ayat!!e'a was Sr an'as %ermanent &e"resentatve to the =* n
Eeneva from 200F$09, and unt! recent!y, -mbassador to >rance. 5e s the
author of Gon# )ar, @o!d %eace @on7ct and @rss n Sr an'a, Hjtha
a"a %ub!shers, 201J.
Posted by Thavam
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