Let’s look forward to the New Year as a year of change full of the unexpected

We begin the New Year with a Government firmly in power, but completely out of control. In that I mean, the President who governs by decree is being dealt a body blow by incompetent buffoons manning every Ministry. If I may refer to some of these incompetents by name they must begin with the Prime Minister, bless his soul, who makes stupid statements that the Government hastens to say, are not policy but the opinion of an individual. He should be in retirement enjoying pleasures and pastimes instead of making comments on subjects on which he knows nothing.

Then there is the long list of others all failing in their tasks, from Johnston Fernando and his plastic crate fiasco, to Maithripala Sirisena for putting price controls on all pharmaceuticals, without fully understanding the market forces and trade names, where the same drug can command different prices depending on the Brand name and its considered reliability. Then there are those like Champika who tries to let the mud slide off of him and washes his hands from blame despite the gross ineffectiveness of the public power projects with disasters such as Norochcholai, which is now a white elephant. Wimal Weerawansa is now engrossed in blaming the govt. for lack of more  free university places, and is vociferous in his opposition to the Private Universities Bill.

Need I say that Bandula Gunewardena is together with SB Dissanayake embroiled in the A level result fiasco along with their respective deputies, whilst the cross over Grero looks more like the joker in the pack. Then there is Janaka Bandara Tennekoon on the case of the revision of the Local Authority election processes to include first past the post and a hybrid of proportional representation in a new Bill.

Disaster Management Amaraweera is trying to blame the lack of accurate weather forecasts on the inadequacy of the equipment and not the incompetence of the departments. Mahinda Samarasinghe has been tasked with presenting the LLRC report to the external community, and is finding it difficult to even make an appointment to present this report in the international arena.

Basil as Tourism minister is trying to explain how a Rajapakse favorite is now known as an underworld thug who also happens to moonlight as the Chairman of the Tangalle Pradeshiya Sabha, and who in turn has killed a tourist putting the industry into a tizzy!! Ghotabhaya now has to explain how this thug was permitted to carry an AK47 to shoot in the air for Christmas Eve or for any other purpose.

With a cast of characters like this running or should I say ruining this country, the opposition is fiddling!! 

We wish the change we expect is a dynamic rise in a man of vision and competence to rise up from the ashes and sweep this rotten basket of Apples right where it belongs, as compost never to see the light of day!

Best Wishes for all your simple plans and let us hope your ideals will be fulfilled in the name of the land of our birth so that she may have the strength to steam roll this band of thugs once and forever.