8/12/2019 A Presidency Under Threat the Whims of Wimal Weerawansa

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A Presidency Under Threat The Whims Of Wimal Weerawansa

| by Rajiva Wijesinha

For each man kills the thing he lovesBy each let this be heardThe coward does it with a kissThe brave man with a sword( June 1 ! "1#! $olombo! %ri &anka 'uardian The last )ew weeks have seen an a**allingerosion in the image o) the government+ ,n a *iece that traced our un)ortunate decline )rom thegreat military and di*lomatic successes o) ""-! , had written o) cracks within the government!

but a)ter that we had two $abinet .inisters re)using to su**ort the 'overnment in a /ote o)$on)idence+ This is un*recedented! and , believe has never ha**ened in this country be)ore+But there has been total silence )rom senior members o) the government! and , sus*ect , am theonly *erson who has written to the 0resident *ointing out the gross breaches o) eti uette thathave taken *lace+

What is ironic is that it is *recisely the a**roach o) those two .inisters that has so gravely

dented the image o) this government+ , am not sure i) the 0resident has reali2ed this as yet! and, do not su**ose that he is in *osition to analyse the situation care)ully+ But he must reali2e nowthat much o) what he has been *ushed into doing over the last )ew years has contributed to thedisaster that )aces both the country and the government+

, *ro*ose in this series to look through what has gone wrong! and indicate the destructiveim*act o) just a )ew individuals+ , am still ho*e)ul that re)orm is *ossible! because the 0residentis an able *olitician! and is still streets ahead o) everyone else in terms o) *o*ularity+ , believetoo that there is no one else who can *ut through a just and generally acce*table solution to the

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*olitical and ethnic *roblems that beset us+ /asantha %enanayake *ut it very well in theinterview , had with him on his *ro*osal to amend the $onstitution to limit the number o).inisters (available at htt*344www+youtube+com4watch5v67n89Wu/l:;," + amine here one o) the main mistakes those who advise the0resident made way back in ""-! a mistake that continues to haunt us+

7ot many *eo*le have seen the re*ort *roduced recently by a body called white;)lags+org!re*ortedly *re*ared by ?asmin %ooka who was on the @arusman 0anel+ ,t deals with theincident that caused much controversy in @ecember ""-! when %arath Fonseka said that the@e)ence %ecretary had given orders to kill surrendees carrying White Flags+

.inister .ahinda %amarasinghe was asked to conduct a *ress con)erence to deal with thisallegation! and his

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lost + @ayan says that! at the meeting! there were no objections to the decision! but that as theywere leaving the %ecretary e>*ressed some sym*athy )or servicemen who might have over;reacted+

, was reminded o) this story when , saw in the %ooka re*ort his de)ence o) what might haveha**ened to those who had surrendered can you e>*ect a young recruit! barely a month into

battle! to recognise a senior &TT= cadre and make a decision as to shoot him selectively ors*are him5G @ayan has made the *oint that a $olonel has to look a)ter his men! and *erha*s itis understandable that the %ecretary )eels *rotective about those under his command+ But it isalso necessary! )or the re*utation o) the )orce as a whole! to en)orce disci*line and deal withthose who violate it+ Failure to do so leads to condemnation o) the whole+

The %ecretary however understands the world and would listen to reason+ Dn)ortunately! withadvisers such as the 0ieris twins and Wimal Weerawansa! he has little chance to think rationallyabout the *roblems that now )ace us+ But one must still ho*e that the country! the 0resident! andour )orces are not sacri)iced to the whims o) Wimal Weerawansa+