Guess who has suddenly woken up! What after 19 years the first letters!

It is a great source of amusement amongst UNP elected MPs and all levels of local government representatives to receive an invitation from Hema Premadasa, the former President's wife, to ALL the events, organizes by the family on May 1^st to remember the death anniversary of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa. They ask out loud where has Hema been all this time? This is the first time a written invitation in the region of about 1500 have been sent out in all the years there has been a commemoration.

Actually if truth be told, she has remembered it each year, and done the necessary dutiful activities in memory of her late husband. She decided, (or is it more technically accurate to say it was Sajith) as the UNP were holding a May Day rally in Jaffna, that it would be an idea to compete on the numbers game. I have referred to the latter competition for heads in an earlier blog entry here. The dana on the day and the bana on the day before are covered in the invite, but it has now graduated into something more of a media event to gain personal publicity for Sajith and to be a kill joy for the main event in Jaffna. Let us see who goes.

To cap it all Sirasa TV is using commercials to advertize this event, a clear attack on the UNP hierarchy. It has now turned into a pro Sajith TV station, wishing that the owners want Sajith at the head, so that they could accumulate as much wealth under him, as they did during the reign of terror of the Premadasa years.

The reader must ascertain the truth of each of the statements made here and elsewhere, keeping an open mind, and not accepting anything at face value. There is much to dig up, but with many finds being uncannily like searching for buried treasure and artifacts, which has become a national pastime amongst the elected.

The latest case of who is telling the truth, was the very public fracas, where the Gen Sec of the UNP Tissa Attanayake MP said that Sajith and Dilip sought and received permission to attend this commemoration, and Sajith saying it was a pack of diabolical lies. He maintained that he does not need permission from anyone, in an arrogant tone, that absolutely precludes him from any potential of a future leadership role.

Instead of stage managing a PR stunt he could have politely issued a press release saying that Mr Attananayake was mistaken. He had merely informed the Gen Sec as is usual party practice and courtesy that he and Dilip will not be able to attend the May Day rally in Jaffna as it also coincides with the 19^th death anniversary of his father and is his usual annual duty on that day to pay homage to his memory!! Now wouldn’t that be the most civilized way to crush any doubt? But people argue ‘civilized’ is not a word that can be attached to a deviant.

To add to the irony of it all, he has managed to use Karu Jayasuriya who he successfully ousted from the Deputy Leadership position at the last round of internal elections, as the Chairman of the Organization Committee as if to allay any doubt as to his complicity in the proceedings.

We are in for a interesting internal UNP struggle after the rally with brickbats thrown across each camp, to keep us entertained, we know the outcome no matter what spin is put. Two options cannot be right, so one will be proved to be wrong! The loser will just have to eat humble pie and have only his vanity mirror to look at himself in and see whatever dream he creates in the frame.